Posts

Max Q: International Astronautical Congress 2019 recap edition

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2) So-called 'Old Space' or established companies vs./collaborating with so-called 'New Space' or younger companies, and 3) who will own and control space as it becomes a resource trough, and through what mechanisms. There's a reason SpaceX wants to send its newest there that early, however – beyond being aggressive to motivate the team. The goal is to use that demonstration mission to set up actual cargo transportation flights, to get stuff to the lunar surface ahead of NASA's planned 2024 human landing. from Yahoo Tech https://ift.tt/3678Ymt

Uber Eats' delivery drone is a VTOL speedster

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An unmanned aerial system capable of vertical take-off and landing might transport your Uber Eats orders in the future. The ride-hailing company, which has been expanding its repertoire recently, has unveiled a new design for its food delivery drone at the Forbes 30 under 30 Summit. Uber's drone design has rotating wings with six rotors "for increased speed and efficiency" and can carry meals for up to two people. Its battery can only last for around eight minutes, including loading and unloading, and it only has a range of 12 miles for a roundtrip delivery -- but that's OK, because Uber expects to use it for just a part of the process. from Yahoo Tech https://ift.tt/31TzJaw

Market research platform Milieu Insight raises $2.4 million to launch in more Southeast Asian countries

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Milieu Insight, a Singapore-based market research and data platform, announced today that it has raised $2.4 million in pre-A funding. The round, led by MassMutual Ventures Southeast Asia, will be used on product development and to launch in four new Southeast Asian countries, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines and Vietnam. The startup’s platform, called Milieu Surveys, is already available in Singapore and Thailand and has signed more than 45 clients. from Yahoo Tech https://ift.tt/2WjW5AY

Tiqets, a platform for booking museums and other attractions, raises $60M led by Airbnb

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Airbnb is best known as the place you go to find somewhere to stay that's not a hotel when travelling. Tiqets, a startup out of Amsterdam that has built a platform for booking tickets for museums and other attractions, has raised $60 million in a Series C round led by the travel giant to expand its platform and wider business. The investment also includes backing from previous backers HPE Growth and Investion, and it brings the total raised by Tiqets to $100 million. from Yahoo Tech https://ift.tt/2WljaDi

ByteDance denies it will go public in Hong Kong next quarter

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ByteDance has responded to a report in the Financial Times that said the Chinese Internet startup plans to go public in Hong Kong as early as the first quarter of next year. "There is absolutely zero truth to the rumors that we plan to list in Hong Kong in Q1," said a spokesperson for the company, the owner of TikTok. The Financial Times reported that ByteDance, which was founded in 2012 and is backed by investors including SoftBank, is preparing for a public listing by retaining law firm K&L Gates and hiring a chief legal officer and former U.S. officials to help address concerns by U.S. lawmakers that TikTok can pose “national security risks,” such as being compelled to turn over data from American users to Chinese authorities. from Yahoo Tech https://ift.tt/2NkbdKD

Facebook staff demand Zuckerberg limit lies in political ads

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from Yahoo Tech https://ift.tt/336qc16

'Game of Thrones' pair won't make a new 'Star Wars' trilogy after all

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That new trailer for The Mandalorian isn't the only Star Wars news to come out tonight, as Disney has announced that a planned feature film trilogy from David Benioff and D.B. Weiss is now off. The deal was announced with much fanfare about a year and a half ago with plans to release the first movie in 2022, but in the time since, Lucasfilm released Solo: A Star Wars Story to disappointing results, Benioff and Weiss signed a huge overall deal with Netflix worth a reported $200 million and the Game of Thrones finale happened -- some of us have different feelings about that. According to the pair in statements released to Deadline and The Hollywood Reporter, the problem is just one of those things: "there are only so many hours in the day, and we felt we could not do justice to both Star Wars and our Netflix projects." Other things that have changed include the details around Disney+, and that Marvel boss Kevin Feige is working on a Star Wars project, in addition to the pla...

Facebook's Preventive Health tool urges you to take screening tests

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Facebook has launched a new health-focused tool a few months after making its blood donation feature more widely available in the US. It's called Preventive Health, and it was designed to urge you to become more proactive about your health. The social network says you can use the tool on its mobile app to find out what kind of preventive screenings are recommended for your sex and age -- say, blood sugar and cholesterol tests or a mammogram -- by the US health organizations it worked with. from Yahoo Tech https://ift.tt/2JrJDJZ

Revisiting Jumia’s JForce scandal and Citron's short-sell claims

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In advance of Jumia's November financial reporting, it's worth revisiting the company's second quarter results, the downside of which included some negative news beyond losses. What appears to have struck the market more than revenues or losses was Jumia offering greater detail on the fraud perpetrated by some employees and agents of its JForce sales program. At quick glance, Citron's primary claim — that Jumia's SEC filing contained discrepancies in sales figures — shares some resemblance to Jumia's own disclosures. from Yahoo Tech https://ift.tt/31ROMBt

Facebook unveils its first foray into personal digital healthcare tools

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Nearly a year and a half after the Cambridge Analytica scandal reportedly scuttled Facebook's fledgling attempts to enter the healthcare market, the social media giant is launching a tool called "Preventive Health" to prompt its users to get regular checkups and connect them to service providers. The architect of the new service is Dr. Freddy Abnousi, the head of the company's healthcare research, who was previously linked to an earlier skunkworks initiative that would collect anonymized hospital data and use a technique called "hashing" to match the data to individuals that exist in both data sets -- for research, according to CNBC reporting. The company's initial focus is on the top two leading causes of death in the U.S.: heart disease and cancer -- along with the flu, which affects millions of Americans each year. from Yahoo Tech https://ift.tt/31YaF21