Smartphones are the latest invisible ally of the Fed

Throughout my business career of some 60 years, I have always been fascinated by change — the dynamics of change and how businesses, governments and people respond to change. Or fail to respond. Throughout history, major technological trends have had a profound, and often invisible, impact on governments and traditional institutions. In the digital era,… Continue reading Smartphones are the latest invisible ally of the Fed

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Tesla recalls 2,700 Model X vehicles over potentially dangerous seat flaw

Tesla is voluntarily recalling 2,700 of its Model X vehicles over a flaw in the third-row seat that may be dangerous in an accident. In the meantime, the company has advised owners via email that they should not use the third row seat until it is replaced. The issue was discovered while doing seat strength… Continue reading Tesla recalls 2,700 Model X vehicles over potentially dangerous seat flaw

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Altitude Digital raises $17.5M as it launches its new ad platform for publishers

Altitude Digital says it has poured $20 million into its just-launched Arena platform for publishers. That sounds like a lot of money for one product, but Altitude is also announcing that it has raised $17.5 million in new funding. Arena is Altitude’s customizable, self-serve SSP — that’s the industry acronym for supply-side platform, which is what… Continue reading Altitude Digital raises $17.5M as it launches its new ad platform for publishers

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Get ready for the new Kindle

Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos teased a new Kindle device for this week. While the company has yet to make an official announcement about the new ereader, Tmall.com’s official Kindle page leaked the device. Tmall quickly removed the device, but Kindle Fere spotted the mistake and The Digital Reader’s Nate Hoffelder picked it up. Meet the… Continue reading Get ready for the new Kindle

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Salesforce acquires MetaMind

MetaMind, a Palo Alto-based AI startup founded in July 2014, is being acquired by Salesforce. According to a new post published at the company’s website by CEO Richard Socher — a Stanford PhD who studied machine learning, deep learning, natural language processing and computer vision — Salesforce plans to use its technology to “further automate and personalize customer support,… Continue reading Salesforce acquires MetaMind

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Home improvement platform Houzz enters Singapore, its second Asian market

Houzz, the home decorating and renovation platform with a unicorn valuation, has launched a site and apps for Singapore, its second Asian market after Japan. Based in Palo Alto, Houzz raised a $165 million Series D round at the end of 2014 earmarked for expanding overseas, bringing its total funding to about $213.6 million. The seven-year-old… Continue reading Home improvement platform Houzz enters Singapore, its second Asian market

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Slidebox brings its Tinder-like photo management app to Android

A new application called Slidebox aims to help Android users clean up their photo library by swiping to delete unwanted photos, as well as use other tools to more easily organize photos into albums. It’s sort of like a “Tinder for Photos” with a few extra features, in fact. The app is now one of many… Continue reading Slidebox brings its Tinder-like photo management app to Android

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