One way to know for sure that you’re at a developer conference: The crowd gets really excited when you announce a new Calculator app.
The addition of the app got (by far) the biggest applause pop at WWDC 2024 so far.
The biggest arrival here is the addition of Math Notes.
The addition feature effect does the math for you.
At once, the feature makes iPad an even more interesting option is the academic segment, though plenty of teachers will no doubt balk at an app that does all of the work for users.
This partly explains why Belgium-based startup Qargo has now raised £11 million ($14 million) in a Series A round led by Balderton Capital.
With the logistics industry facing rising operating costs, decarbonization pressures, hikes in fuel prices and cyber attacks, companies in the space are in tricky times.
There is clear pressure to digitize the industry to introduce cost savings.
While the transport industry does use legacy software platforms like Mcleod Software, Rose Rocket and Dash Doc, many of these platforms are from an earlier era.
In a statement, Rob Moffat, partner at Balderton Capital, said, “Logistics is a $5T market globally but is often overlooked by software companies.
“The real cause of the environmental crisis is partially citizens, but not entirely.
The first responsibility falls on the state, the political decision makers and the companies.”The free app, which does not require an account to use, queries you about your lifestyle.
The MyGlimpact app then takes that data and runs it through the company’s cloud-based software, which assesses a person’s impact in each of 16 categories.
If everyone lived like me, we’d require the resources of 2.93 Earths, according to the app.
The idea of an environmental footprint, not just a carbon footprint, has been around for a while.
The cross-border payments market is forecasted to reach over $250 trillion by 2027, according to the Bank of England.
So it’s no surprise that one of the trends among Y Combinator’s Winter 2024 batch of nearly 30 fintech startups is how to more easily move money globally.
Users get a U.S. bank account and access to low-cost local payment rails.
InfinityWhat it does: Cross-border banking for small businesses in IndiaWe heard from a lot of childhood friends during the past two days, so it was refreshing to see two siblings form a company.
Businesses in India account for $700 billion in cross-border trades per year, and Infinity makes 1% from those transactions.
X warns that you might lose followers as it does another bot sweepX is warning users they may see a reduction in their follower counts as the company attempts to clear the network of some spammers and bots in a large sweep.
Today, we're kicking off a significant, proactive initiative to eliminate accounts that violate our Rules against platform manipulation and spam.
While we aim for accuracy in the accounts we remove, we're casting a wide net to ensure X remains secure and free of bots.
But these days, Musk is touting how X is seeing record traffic, without clarifying if his own numbers include bots and spam.
X also shared a link to a form where users inadvertently affected by the bot sweep could appeal.
Why does every startup want to help you get paid?
Then I wrote about Remofirst, a startup out to take on the likes of Deel and Rippling, too, securing $25 million in Series A funding.
Also, Tage wrote about how UAE-based RemotePass announced it had raised $5.5 million in Series A funding led by Istanbul-based 212 VC.
Paris-based business banking startup Qonto is using an undisclosed portion of its cash reserve to acquire Regate, an accounting and financial automation platform.
Argyle raises $30M to expand automated income, employment verificationSynctera raises $18.6M in Series A-1 funding (TC covered Synctera’s Series A here.)
When it was first unveiled in the summer of 2021, Xiaomi’s CyberDog designed was best described as a more nightmarish version of Boston Dynamics’ Spot.
Announced this past summer, CyberDog 2 looks a bit more friendly than its predecessor.
The robot dog is still no Sony Aibo.
Watching it do its little dance really did remind me of a scaled down version of Boston Dynamics’ familiar robot.
The above video also suggests that the robot dog might one day replace the real thing, owing to its ability to speak back.
In an unannounced update to its usage policy, OpenAI has opened the door to military applications of its technologies.
While the policy previously prohibited use of its products for the purposes of “military and warfare,” that language has now disappeared, and OpenAI did not deny that it was now open to military uses.
Unannounced changes to policy wording happen fairly frequently in tech as the products they govern the use of evolve and change, and OpenAI is clearly no different.
It’s a substantive, consequential change of policy, not a restatement of the same policy.
Even a strict “no military” policy has to stop after a few removes.
In a sea of AI-enabled gadgets at CES, the rabbit r1 (all lowercase, they insist) stands out not just for its high-vis paint job and unique form factor, but because of its dedication to the bit.
“The phone is an entertainment device, but if you’re trying to get something done it’s not the highest efficiency machine.
After all, that’s what our so-called “AI assistants” have supposedly been doing for the last five or six years.
Even so, even if the rabbit r1 is better or cuter, people prefer simplicity and convenience.
Why would they pay money to carry a second device when their first one does most of those tasks?
Oklahoma took a stand against diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) last month.
The state’s governor, Kevin Stitt, signed an executive order defunding DEI efforts in public colleges and universities and banning it in other state agencies.
He said the move would take “politics out of education” and encourage “equal opportunity rather than promising equal outcomes.” Affirmative action itself has been banned in the state since 2012.
But public colleges aren’t the only ones being affected; this is part of a broader backlash to DEI that has become prevalent in many industries, from technology to academia to fashion.
Supporters of DEI say these initiatives help everyone get ahead, especially marginalized communities that have been historically disenfranchised.
