IoE Startup Culture
By Andrea Ozretic | May 13, 2013, 12:23 PM | Techonomy Exclusive
With our May 16 Techonomy Lab: Man, Machines, and the Network in Menlo Park this week, we look at five startups delivering connectivity to consumers in various aspects of their lives. BERG Cloud of London pivoted from design consultancy to cloud service with its own connected products. In 2006 BERG built the Availabot, a puppet-like, vaguely humanoid USB-plug-in gadget that notifies users when their contacts are available to chat by standing up, and then falling down when contacts go offline. One day the notion of the Net existing only behind a screen will seem odd, predicts BERG Cloud’s Matt Webb. “To me the Internet won’t stay trapped behind the glass; we’ll see it flip. It’ll be everywhere.” More
Digital
By Techonomy Media | May 12, 2013, 11:36 AM
In partnership with Campus Tel Aviv (powered by Google Entrepreneurs), Techonomy will facilitate a series of conversations on June 5th in Tel Aviv about Israel's emerging role as a tech superpower. The two-hour event will begin with a talk by Techonomy's David Kirkpatrick, followed by a panel discussion entitled "Can Israel Be the Tech Capital for the Next Five Billion?" The panel will include Israeli innovation experts Yosi Abramowitz of Energiya Global Capital, TheMarker's Guy Rolnik, GetTaxi's Shahar Waiser, and Yahal Zilka of Magma VC. Kirkpatrick will moderate the discussion. More
Business Startup Culture Video
Techonomy Video | May 10, 2013, 11:52 AM
At a Dell Women's Entrepreneurship Network dinner, Techonomy's David Kirkpatrick spoke with XO Group co-founder Carley Roney about her company's trajectory since 1996. Roney says barriers to entry are much lower for startups today than when she and her husband David Liu were launching The Knot, XO's signature enterprise. "Now you can iterate more quickly and test things and segment," says Roney. "None of those things were possible at the time." With resources scarce, Roney says her team had to launch with a clear business plan. More
E-Commerce Global Tech
By Doug Young | May 10, 2013, 9:24 AM
Less than two weeks after buying a major stake in leading Chinese microblogging site Sina Weibo, e-commerce leader Alibaba is back on the acquisition track with word that it’s on the cusp of another deal to buy a similar strategic stake in mapping services firm AutoNavi. While this newest deal would be a bit smaller than the Weibo tie-up, it marks the latest transaction in a nascent M&A wave among China tech firms that looks set to gain momentum during the rest of the year. More
E-Commerce Global Tech
By Doug Young | May 9, 2013, 1:32 PM
Having let the markets get pumped up with huge expectations for its upcoming mega IPO, e-commerce leader Alibaba now appears to be trying to temper some of those high hopes in the run-up to an offering that is likely to be the biggest ever for a Chinese Internet firm. The reason for the sudden change of tone? Apparently the company wants to avoid following in the footsteps of social networking giant Facebook, whose IPO was so overhyped by the time it finally occurred that it was almost bound to result in failure and major disappointment. More
Energy & Green Tech Life Science
By Adrienne Burke | May 8, 2013, 2:56 PM
A fundraising campaign for a DIY biology project to genetically engineer "sustainable natural lighting" was going gangbusters on Kickstarter. And that was before it was featured on page B1 of the New York Times today. But not all of the attention has been supportive. More
(Via The New York Times)
Government Manufacturing
By Karen Edelman | May 8, 2013, 2:37 PM
Ethical technological question of the day: If technology is neither good nor evil, but simply a means to an end, what happens when that end has potentially dangerous consequences? Cody Wilson, a University of Texas at Austin law student, has developed a working gun—which he calls The Liberator—using a 3D printer, and he’s made the design available on his website, Defense Distributed. Wilson's home-made firearm becomes all the more striking as the cost of 3D printing drops precipitously, with low-cost printers poised to enter the mass market. More
(Via The New Yorker)
Manufacturing
By Adam Ludwig | May 7, 2013, 2:38 PM
Designers have used 3D-printing websites like Shapeways to manufacture and market their wares for several years now, while some intrepid DIY makers have taken production into their homes by investing in desktop 3D printers from New York-based MakerBot. But 3D printing machines have yet to make their way into mass-market retail stores. Until now. Last week Staples announced that it will sell the Cube 3D printer, made by South Carolina-based 3D Systems Corp., in select stores. Priced at $1,299, the machine sells for almost half the cost of Makerbot's Replicator 2. More
(Via Newsfactor)
Energy & Green Tech IoE
By Kevin Maney | May 7, 2013, 11:32 AM | Techonomy Exclusive
Dire predictions about the mushrooming number of cars jamming the world’s roads and clogging the world's air may never come true. Instead, a dawning era of super-optimized car sharing is poised to shrink demand for cars. Even General Motors and Ford Chairman Bill Ford have invested in technology that can help make it happen. More
Digital Government
By David Kirkpatrick | May 7, 2013, 10:33 AM
When even the UN starts appealing to the global crowd for direction and buy-in you know the tools of communication and leadership have really begun to change. This essay in The Guardian by a UN assistant secretary-general explains the many ways in which the organization is asking how to meet its so-called Millenium Development Goals. It includes the amazing statistic that there are now more mobile phones in the world than toilets. That's why it is using SMS and other mobile querying methods alongside web surveys and in-person meetings in places like the Amazon. More
(Via The Guardian)
