Month: February 2023
OnePlus 11 Concept brings water cooling to a phone with questionable results
OnePlus hypes up “Active CryoFlux” but even its own benchmarks aren’t impressive.
Enlarge / The OnePlus 11 Concept was apparently assembled by tiny welding robots. (credit: OnePlus)
It’s Mobile World Congress this week, which means entering the wild world of concept phones. Usually, these are flexible display devices that will never see the light of day, but this year OnePlus has the “OnePlus 11 Concept” phone. This has a liquid cooling system called “Active CryoFlux.” We will try to decipher this thing, but our first blazing red flag is that OnePlus does not go into much detail.
It’s worth noting that OnePlus has made several concept phones, which have never really affected the company’s consumer products. One phone put electrochromic glass in front of the camera lenses, rendering them invisible when they weren’t being used. Another phone would change colors. Neither feature ever made it into a consumer phone.
OnePlus’ press release says the system features “a piezoelectric ceramic micropump at its core, connected to pipelines sandwiched between an upper and lower diaphragm. The micropump takes up an area less than 0.2 cm², enabling cooling liquid to circulate around the pipelines without significantly increasing OnePlus 11 Concept’s weight and thickness.”
Milky Way’s Supermassive Black Hole Caught Dragging an Enormous Cloud – CNET
At the heart of our galaxy, a black hole has been dragging a dusty blob into its gravitational whirlpool.
At the heart of our galaxy, a black hole has been dragging a dusty blob into its gravitational whirlpool.
Daily Crunch: Mobile World Congress 2023 kicks off with new features for Android, Chromebook and Wear OS
Hello, friends, and welcome to Daily Crunch, bringing you the most important startup, tech and venture capital news in a single package.
Daily Crunch: Mobile World Congress 2023 kicks off with new features for Android, Chromebook and Wear OS by Christine Hall originally published on TechCrunch
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There’s another episode out of Inside Startup Battlefield, the podcast mini-documentary getting a behind-the-scenes look at the TechCrunch Disrupt Battlefield. Maggie just dropped the new EP: Getting to know the Battlefield 200. Oh, and if you want to speak at TechCrunch Disrupt, you can apply now to speak!
The TechCrunch Top 3
Don’t you just love a new feature?: We have a team over in Barcelona for the Mobile World Congress, and one of the top stories coming out of there is the slew of new features Google has announced for Android, Chromebook and Wear OS. We’ll let Aisha give you the scoop, but it involves productivity, connectivity and accessibility. You know, the equivalent of the three educational “Rs,” but instead for mobile.
A reason to wear sunglasses at night: Speaking of Mobile World Congress, Xiaomi unveiled its lightweight AR glasses with a “retina-level” display, Ivan writes. Also, check out Ivan’s other Xiaomi story on its 13 Pro flagship.
This phone is cool, literally: OnePlus has been on a roll this month with new products, and now today, Brian reports on its gaming concept phone with a glowing liquid cooling feature.
Startups and VC
Card collectors often dispute how much their cards are worth. New Jersey–based CollX raises $5.5 million to provide a free iOS and Android app to card enthusiasts that enables them to scan their trading cards and get value in return, Ivan reports.
Anthropic, a buzzy AI startup co-founded by ex-OpenAI employees, has begun offering partners access to its AI text-generating models, Kyle reports. The first commercial venture to announce that it’s integrating Anthropic models is Robin AI, a legal tech startup that’s raised over $13 million. Quora’s experimental chatbot app for iOS and Android, Poe, uses Anthropic models, but it’s not currently monetized.
And we have five more for you:
Gotta keep ’em separated: Devin explores how SepPure’s nanofilters massively reduce energy cost of industrial separation processes.
Evernote layoffs: Bending Spoons recently acquired Evernote, and now it lays off 129 Evernote staffers, Kyle reports.
Pahk the Cah, etc.: Ron takes a look at how Boston offers a world of advantages for startup founders.
Valuable clouds: Kyle reports how cloud security startup Wiz, now valued at $10 billion, raises $300 million.
What are we even paying for?: Spade turns credit card transaction gibberish into clear, actionable data, Christine reports.
Using predictive LTV to juice up marketing campaigns
Image Credits: ChrisBaynham (opens in a new window) / Getty Images
Last fall, Voyantis CEO Ido Wiesenberg shared a TC+ post with several tactics for reducing customer acquisition costs via predictive modeling.
In a follow-up, he explains how to use predictive lifetime value (LTV) to create “more targeted, effective acquisition strategies that focus on acquiring and retaining customers.”
Adding predictive LTV to decision flows helps identify lucrative customers early in the sales cycle, but it can also shorten underperforming ad campaigns, set performance targets and help teams adjust budgets midstream.
Three more from the TC+ team:
Making more: Why so many gigafactories? It’s not just EVs driving demand, by Tim.
Acquiring more: Going private: A guide to PE tech acquisitions writes, by Jeff Laborde.
Raising more: Biotech proved a surprisingly bright spot in 2022’s startup correction, by Becca.
TechCrunch+ is our membership program that helps founders and startup teams get ahead of the pack. You can sign up here. Use code “DC” for a 15% discount on an annual subscription!
Big Tech Inc.
The hubbub over the weekend was that a new round of Twitter layoffs included Esther Crawford, the chief executive of Twitter payments who oversaw the company’s Twitter Blue verification subscription. She had been one of Elon Musk’s most public cheerleaders following his acquisition of the social media giant. Rebecca reports that some 50 people were part of the layoffs.
And, just when you thought we might get a break from AI chatbots, Aisha writes that Snapchat now has one that is powered by OpenAI’s GPT technology. That’s right, folks, it’s called “My AI” and for $3.99 per month, you too can give it a whirl. Go ahead, ask it for birthday gift ideas for your BFF.
And we have five more for you:
Thank you for your patience: Dish subscribers are not having a good day. The U.S. satellite television provider was hit by a multiday outage after a reported cyberattack, Carly writes.
Losing all self-driving control: Following a recall, Tesla pauses its rollout of Full Self-Driving beta software. Kirsten has more.
Don’t go breakin’ my heart: Lauren reports that Spotify is doing away with the heart button and will instead implement a “plus” sign.
Two Pokémon walk into a bar: Amanda writes on a few new Pokémon features, including Pokémon Go’s integration with Scarlet and Violet, an update on Pokémon Sleep, and Pokémon’s partnership with Netflix to launch the stop-motion series “Pokémon Concierge.”
Paired up: Mobile carriers, including AT&T and Verizon Wireless, teamed up with AWS and Microsoft to launch Open Gateway, which Ingrid writes is a set of Twilio-like APIs that will enable these carriers to tap into network services for more development.
Daily Crunch: Mobile World Congress 2023 kicks off with new features for Android, Chromebook and Wear OS by Christine Hall originally published on TechCrunch
Conservative News Corp. empire says hackers were inside its network for 2 years
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Some States Consider Legislation Making 4-Day Workweeks More Common
A CBS News review found that at least half a dozen states, to varying degrees, are considering legislation to make four-day workweeks more common. From the report: Among those states is Maryland, where lawmakers recently introduced a bill proposing a pilot program “for the purpose of promoting, incentivizing, and supporting the experimentation and study of the use of a 4-day workweek by private and public employers.” It would allow some employers that participate to claim a tax credit. Del. Vaughn Stewart, who represents Maryland’s 19th district and is one of the bill’s sponsors, said if workers can get more rest, they will be able to function better. “We’re expecting that workers can be at least as productive in a 32-hour week as they are in a 40-hour week,” he said.
John Byrne, CEO of the Baltimore software company Tricerat, said he saw the productivity of his 37 employees and the company’s profits increase after making the switch to a 32-hour workweek. “We’ve asked the employees to ruthlessly look at their work, get rid of extraneous meetings, extraneous phone calls, paperwork, things of this nature, and reduce down the amount of wasted work,” Byrne said. Byrne said his company is now drawing younger employees. […] But advocates like Boston College professor Juliet Schor said the idea might require prodding from the government. “Historically, time reduction has always involved government,” Schor said.
New legislation in New York, California and in the U.S. Congress would require companies that work employees more than 32 hours a week to pay overtime. Similar proposals have failed in the past and some critics have argued that a four-day workweek is not suited for all employers. Even supporters of the concept acknowledge it’s not for everyone. “We don’t think this is something that every single industry and every single business can do, but that’s what we want to study,” Stewart said.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
A CBS News review found that at least half a dozen states, to varying degrees, are considering legislation to make four-day workweeks more common. From the report: Among those states is Maryland, where lawmakers recently introduced a bill proposing a pilot program “for the purpose of promoting, incentivizing, and supporting the experimentation and study of the use of a 4-day workweek by private and public employers.” It would allow some employers that participate to claim a tax credit. Del. Vaughn Stewart, who represents Maryland’s 19th district and is one of the bill’s sponsors, said if workers can get more rest, they will be able to function better. “We’re expecting that workers can be at least as productive in a 32-hour week as they are in a 40-hour week,” he said.
John Byrne, CEO of the Baltimore software company Tricerat, said he saw the productivity of his 37 employees and the company’s profits increase after making the switch to a 32-hour workweek. “We’ve asked the employees to ruthlessly look at their work, get rid of extraneous meetings, extraneous phone calls, paperwork, things of this nature, and reduce down the amount of wasted work,” Byrne said. Byrne said his company is now drawing younger employees. […] But advocates like Boston College professor Juliet Schor said the idea might require prodding from the government. “Historically, time reduction has always involved government,” Schor said.
New legislation in New York, California and in the U.S. Congress would require companies that work employees more than 32 hours a week to pay overtime. Similar proposals have failed in the past and some critics have argued that a four-day workweek is not suited for all employers. Even supporters of the concept acknowledge it’s not for everyone. “We don’t think this is something that every single industry and every single business can do, but that’s what we want to study,” Stewart said.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
AI Art Just Got Slapped With A Crucial And Devasting Legal Blow
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See Glorious Green and Red Aurora Shimmer in Stunning Video – CNET
It’s party time on the sun, and Earth is enjoying a spectacular light show.
It’s party time on the sun, and Earth is enjoying a spectacular light show.
More trepanation news: Evidence of brain surgery in Bronze Age Israel
Remains of one of two brothers found buried together showed signs of trepanation
Enlarge / Two Bronze Age skeletons (brothers) were found at Tel Megiddo in Israel. One showed evidence of trepanation. (credit: Kalisher et al., 2023/PLoS ONE, CC-BY 4.0)
Just a couple of weeks ago, we reported that scientists had analyzed the skull of a medieval woman who once lived in central Italy and found evidence that she experienced at least two brain surgeries consistent with the practice of trepanation. Now a recent paper published last week in the journal PLoS ONE has reported evidence of trepanation in the remains of a man buried between 1550 and 1450 BCE at the Tel Megiddo archaeological site in Israel.
Cranial trepanation—the drilling of a hole in the head—is perhaps the oldest known example of skull surgery and one that is still practiced today, albeit rarely. It typically involves drilling or scraping a hole into the skull to expose the dura mater, the outermost of three layers of connective tissue, called meninges, that surround and protect the brain and spinal cord. Accidentally piercing that layer could result in infection or damage to the underlying blood vessels. The practice dates back 7,000 to 10,000 years, as evidenced by cave paintings and human remains. During the Middle Ages, trepanation was performed to treat such ailments as seizures and skull fractures.
In the case of the medieval woman’s skull, an oval area in the center of the cross-shaped defect was evidence of a well-healed trepanation procedure. Metal surgical tools were probably used to make a cross-shaped incision to the top of a head, scraping away the scalp from the bone—a trepanation method that is historically well-documented—which could also explain the signs of inflammation and/or infection. The second surgery likely occurred shortly before the woman’s death. It’s one of the few archaeological pieces of evidence of trepanation being performed on early medieval women yet found, although why the woman in question was subjected to such a risky invasive surgical procedure remains speculative.