Solar energy 'breakthrough' could replace fossil fuels in some industries

If solar energy is truly going to take over from fossil fuels, it needs to be hot enough for not only generating power, but replacing industrial processes outright -- and even the 1,049F of the best solar concentrator systems wouldn't cut it. Heliogen, howeve Read more at Engadget

Google's Files app now streams local media to your Chromecast[To top]

Google just made it decidedly easier to beam your personal media collection to your Chromecast device of choice. An updated version of the Files by Google app includes long-in-the-making support for playing your audio, photos and videos on any Chromecast-capa Read more at Engadget

VoltServer adds a data layer to electricity distribution in a move that could help smart grid rollout[To top]

Stephen Eaves, the chief executive of a new startup which promises to overlay data on electricity distribution has spent years developing data management technologies. Eaves first company, the eponymous Eaves Devices focused on energy systems in aerospace an Read more at TechCrunch

John Carmack takes a step back at Oculus to work on human-like AI[To top]

Six years ago John Carmack left the company he founded, iD Software, to join Oculus VR as its Chief Technology Officer and push forward the future of virtual reality tech. Today the engineer behind many developments in 3D gaming has announced that a new "cons Read more at Engadget

Disappearing car door technology not yet widely adopted[To top]

This promotional video promotes a car door that slides under the car instead of opening outwards. The terribleness of the idea wedded to the "upper middle-class England in the 1980s" marketing gives it an almost vicious quality, as if intentionally mocking th Read more at Boingboing.net

A closer look at Google's Fast Pair technology: How it builds on Bluetooth[To top]

Google adds a slick and easy-to-use interface to Bluetooth audio devices. Bluetooth has a lot of user experience issues, but one of the most annoying is the process of getting devices paired together. Google took it upon itself to address the problem, at leas Read more at Androidcentral.com

From flavored fireworks to 50-ton jellies, these 'experience designers' will explode your senses[To top]

Whether it's cooking with lava or encasing an entire steamship in jelly, experience designers Bompas & Parr are always experimenting. Their latest invention? The world's lightest dessert, made with the same technology that NASA is using to capture comet dust. Read more at Mashable

Microsoft Taps Eric Holder to Audit AnyVision Over Concerns of Face Recognition Surveillance[To top]

Microsoft is bringing on former US Attorney General Eric Holder to investigate whether AnyVision, a facial recognition company it invested in over the summer, violated Microsofts ethics guidelines, according to an NBC News report Friday. Read more... Read more at Gizmodo.com

Like Y Combinator, but for Hollywood Scripts[To top]

Imagine Impact uses machine learning to sift through applications for its screenwriter boot camp and identify new voices.
Read more at Wired

Microsoft to probe work of Israeli facial recognition startup it funded[To top]

Microsoft Corp has hired former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder to investigate whether the use of facial recognition technology developed by an Israeli startup it funded complies with its ethics principles, the company said on Friday. Read more at Reuters

How to Watch Mercury's Transit Across the Sun This Morning[To top]

Last week, we wrote about one way to get perspective on your problems by comparing them to, well, the size of entire planets and galaxies. Read more... Read more at Lifehacker.com

What is OLED and what can it do for your TV? - CNET[To top]

OLED, or organic light-emitting diodes, can produce some of the best picture quality of any display technology. Curious what makes them different? You've come to the right place. Read more at Cnet.com

Alibabas Singles Day sales top $38 billion[To top]

After 24 hours of frenzied buying and selling, and weeks of advertising and promotions before it, the Alibaba Group said today its sales hit another record high on Singles Day, the biggest shopping day on the planet. The Chinese e-commerce giant said its 11t Read more at TechCrunch

LA-based Maslo pivots to professional services, launching an AI product for executive coaching[To top]

When the Los Angeles-based startup Maslo launched its first product in early 2018, the company was focused on a direct-to-consumer tool designed to encourage mindfulness and self-awareness through a machine learning enabled avatar that would respond to indivi Read more at TechCrunch

Nanoracks just booked a SpaceX launch to demo tech that turns used spacecraft into orbital habitats[To top]

SpaceX is going to launch a payload for client Nanoracks aboard one of its new rideshare missions, currently targeting late 2020, that will demonstrate a very ambitious piece of tech from the commercial space station company. Nanoracks is sending up a payload Read more at TechCrunch

7 secrets to winning with IoT in the digital marketplace (Infographic)[To top]

IoT isn't just technology -- it's business transformation. Here's how to create an industrial-strength foundation to launch your strategy from. Read more at Venturebeat.com

Uploadcare raises $1.7M for its CDN platform[To top]

Uploadcare, a startup that aims to make using CDN platforms cheaper and easier for businesses, today announced that it has raised a $1.7 million seed round led by Runa Capital and Vendep Capital, with existing investors Vaizra Capital and LVL1 Group participa Read more at TechCrunch

Freshworks raises $150M Series H on $3.5B valuation[To top]

Freshworks, a company that makes a variety of business software tools from CRM to help desk software, announced a $150 million Series H investment today from Sequoia Capital, CapitalG (formerly Google Capital) and Accel on a hefty $3.5 billion valuation. The Read more at TechCrunch

And the winner of Hardware Battlefield at TechCrunch Shenzhen 2019 is Okra[To top]

We started the competition with ten hardware startups vying to take home the Disrupt Hardware Battlefield cup at TechCrunch Shenzhen 2019. They all pitched their hearts out to our team of judges who deliberated at length and chose their 4 favorites who came b Read more at TechCrunch

Streaming services are contributing to the ever-growing amount of loneliness. It's time technology innovated to address the problem.[To top]

Ivan Marc/Shutterstock Andrew Reid is the founder and CEO of Rival Technologies. He says that he shares the common appreciation for Netflix and the era of streaming it ushered in. But he also worries about how streaming contributes to high rates of loneliness Read more at Entrepreneur.com