November 2017 – X TECH NEWS

Google Home learns how to multitask

On November 30, 2017 By admin

Google’s smart speaker got a little smarter this week, with the addition of a multitasking feature. The new capability makes it possible for the device to accomplish two different missions at the same time. It was rolled out with little fanfare and first noted by CNET. We’ve since confirmed the

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FPS fighting robots are good family fun

On November 30, 2017 By admin

The Ganker robot and the GEIO battle bot from GJS Robot are fast, powerful and fun. Controlled by an app on your phone, you see what they see and fight other …

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Google Cloud brings in former Intel exec Diane Bryant as COO

On November 30, 2017 By admin

There are now two Dianes running the show at Google Cloud. The company announced that Diane Bryant has been hired as the COO of the division. She joins Diane Greene, who came on board as Senior VP of Google Cloud in November 2015. Greene appeared to be excited about the

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Google Assistant can now help you find a plumber and other local services

On November 30, 2017 By admin

Google Assistant is about to get a bit more home-savvy. The voice assistant will be gaining local discovery skills that will help you locate home services nearby. The company specifically detailed that Assistant would be gaining insights to help users locate “nearby services like an electrician, plumber, house cleaner and

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Dropbox acquires publishing platform Verst, will shut it down on Dec. 21

On November 30, 2017April 2, 2018 By admin

The team behind Verst is joining Dropbox, in an acquisition that marks the end of the Verst publishing platform. The startup actually started life as DWNLD, a platform that transformed websites into mobile apps. It raised a $12 million Series A led by Grelock Partners before shifting focus to Verst,

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Google might bring Nest back into its own hardware business

On November 30, 2017 By admin

Google might fold Nest back into the Google, well, fold. The company is considering integrating Nest, which is a separate company under mutual parent Alphabet at the moment, back into Google’s hardware business. The re-integration, first reported by Wall Street Journal, is a move that Google is considering as a

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GM and Cruise on track to field a self-driving ride hailing service by 2019

On November 30, 2017 By admin

GM and Cruise have articulated more specifically when they want to put their self-driving service on the roads, at today’s investor call for the company from San Francisco. GM said that they can make it happen within two years, with a fleet ready to go to work by 2019 based

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Microsoft’s Edge browser is now available for Android and iOS

On November 30, 2017April 2, 2018 By admin

Last month, Microsoft announced its intentions to bring its Edge Browser to iOS and Android, as it works to broaden its reach on third-party mobile devices. After being made available in preview form for roughly a month, the app officially hits iOS and Android’s respective app stores starting today. The

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H2O.AI snares $40M Series C investment led by Wells Fargo and Nvidia

On November 30, 2017April 2, 2018 By admin

H2O.AI started almost six years ago with a mission to simplify and democratize artificial intelligence. Today the company announced a $40M Series C round. Nvidia and Wells Fargo led the round with participation from New York Life, Crane Venture Partners, Nexus Venture Partners and Transamerica Ventures. Today’s investment brings the

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LG shakes up its struggling mobile division with new top executives

On November 30, 2017April 2, 2018 By admin

If you’ve stopped paying attention to LG in the last couple of years, you’ll learn everything you need to know from the first paragraph of its latest press release that highlights a “sweeping realignment to better address the challenges ahead.” The company’s in a tough spot. It makes good and

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WeWork has big plans for Alexa for Business

On November 30, 2017 By admin

Amazon is soon to announce Alexa for Business, and WeWork is one of the first partners to have hopped on the platform. WeWork’s vision is to use technology to help businesses make the most out of their physical space, all while customizing that space to each individual’s personal needs. The

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There are now 25M active business profiles on Instagram

On November 30, 2017April 2, 2018 By admin

Instagram announced this morning that it now has 25 million active business profiles, up from 15 million in July. The company throws out a lot of different statistics (back in September it said it had 800 million monthly active users, 500 million daily active users and 2 million advertisers), but

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New Destiny 2 Alexa skills let you ask Ghost to do stuff in-game

On November 30, 2017 By admin

Destiny 2 fans will know that you get your own virtual assistant of source in the game world – Ghost, who sort of floats around and guides you. The new Alexa skill for Destiny 2 allows you to ask Ghost to do a number of things for you, including provide

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Innovid acquires Taykey to provide more data to video advertisers

On November 30, 2017April 2, 2018 By admin

Video advertising company Innovid has acquired another advertising startup, Taykey. We’ve written about Taykey as a tool that companies can use to target their ads based on the topics that their desired audience is interested in. Innovid says that by combining Taykey’s analysis with its own data about video engagement,

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Uptake nabs $117M at $2.3B valuation for industrial predictive analytics

On November 30, 2017April 2, 2018 By admin

A company that is seizing the opportunity to provide predictive analytics to the industrial world — regardless of whether a business has made the (often costly) transition to internet-of-things “smart” systems — is today announcing that it has raised a significant round of growth funding to double down on the