Monday, October 14, 2019
Apple aims to make India one of its key global production hubs
Surfing the reverse mullet with Alexis Ohanian
For many years the allure of Silicon Valley was contingent on the ability to move here. Its ecosystem didn’t work remotely. “We see a very strong indication that where you’re located does matter… come to Silicon Valley,” intoned Joe Kraus of Google Ventures at the first Disrupt conference I ever intended, speaking for essentially all VCs, including Y Combinator.
Easy enough if you’re American. Much, much trickier if you need a visa to get there. Is it still true that the Valley doesn’t work remotely? Or is there another path for startups from faraway countries these days? Last week I sat down with Alexis Ohanian in his ancestral homeland of Armenia to discuss this.
Every nation seems to have its own set of incubators and seed investors these days. Armenia is no exception: I met Ohanian at the launch event for Aybuben Ventures, a VC fund “for Armenia and The Armenians.” (As I wrote last week, the Armenian diaspora is a big deal.) But what happens next, when you need to raise a serious Series A, but your local market realistically isn’t big enough to support your company?
Even five years ago you would have had a lot of trouble tapping into the Valley. Since then, though, things have changed. The price of Bay Area talent — and real estate — has led to the rise of “mullet startups,” as coined by Andreessen Horowitz’s Andrew Chen. Such comapnies have their headquarters in the Bay to take advantage of the Valley, but their tech teams somewhere cheaper and more spacious. “Business up front, party out back.”
Ohanian’s point is that there’s no reason the mullet model can’t work backwards: launch a company with a strong tech team in some remote location, then, when you hit the inflection point, open a Bay Area office, move the executive team there, and turn yourself into a mullet startup. (Aided by the fact that if coming as a company, your visa options widen to include e.g. the EB-5 Immigrant Investor Visa.) Call it the “reverse mullet,” exemplified by e.g. PicsArt.
This model is especially viable for nations which have deep engineering / tech talent, so that the “party out back” tech team becomes an ongoing competitive advantage. (This is part of why Ohanian keeps hammering home the importance of learning to code during his visits to Armenia, something which is probably easier in a nation which already features compulsory chess education.) All of which sounds great in theory —
— but it’s not like we see a herd of unicorns with reverse mullets out there … yet. If we do, though, that will be an exceptionally interesting new growth model, with significant ramifications — a way for Silicon Valley to essentially metastasize to the rest of the world. This in turn will, ironically, reify its primacy as the center of the global tech industry, the sun around which all the faraway planets orbit, after so many prophecies of decentralization. Count the reverse mullet unicorns in three years, and if there are more than a mere few, we’ll know the answer.
Google Pixel 4, Pixel 4 XL to Launch Today: How to Watch Live Stream
npm is moving back to its developer roots, founder says
Bird’s chief legal & policy officer is leaving the company
Bird, the $2.5 billion electric scooter business, is losing its chief legal and policy officer. David Estrada, who was hired last year from Kitty Hawk, is joining another mobility company, SoftBank-backed Nuro.
A spokesperson for Bird tells TechCrunch Estrada is leaving the Santa Monica-based company to be closer to his family. Nuro, for its part, is based in Mountain View, CA.
Bird’s former chief legal officer, David Estrada.
Estrada, who previously oversaw public policy at the electric aircraft company Kitty Hawk as its chief legal officer, has been responsible for Bird’s compliance and government relations efforts as the company scaled to over 100 global cities. Prior to joining Kitty Hawk, Estrada spent nearly two years as Lyft’s vice president of government relations and worked as the legal director for Google X, partnering with states on legislation around autonomous vehicles, Google Glass and drone delivery.
Nuro, founded in June 2016, has emerged as a key player in the rapidly-expanding autonomous delivery sector. The company has attracted a whopping $1.03 billion in venture capital funding to date, according to Pitchbook. SoftBank funneled an astounding $940 million into the business earlier this year at an undisclosed valuation. In addition to SoftBank, Nuro is backed by Greylock and the Chinese venture capital firm Gaorong Capital.
The company has been developing a self-driving stack and combining it with a custom unmanned vehicle designed for last-mile delivery of local goods and services. It began piloting grocery delivery in 2018 in the Phoenix suburb of Scottsdale.
Bird has overcome a number of unique hurdles with many more afoot, including pushback from local governments who were aggravated by the sudden appearance of hundreds of scooters. At Nuro, Estrada will have the opportunity to focus on the future of unmanned delivery, another sector faced with regulatory challenges and political barriers.
Pornhub removes Girls Do Porn, months after a lawsuit by 22 women and days after the channel's owners and staff were charged with federal sex trafficking counts (VICE)
Pornhub removes Girls Do Porn, months after a lawsuit by 22 women and days after the channel's owners and staff were charged with federal sex trafficking counts — After months of knowingly working with porn production company that was accused of lying to women, Pornhub finally removes its official page from its platform.
Industry bodies helping Indian tech ecosystem get its voice
Huawei could resume business with US suppliers but will it get its Android license back
Huawei, which has been banned from sourcing supplies from US firms, could resume business with its US counterparts, according to a report by New York Times. Huawei was placed under a blacklist by the US Commerce Department on the grounds of national security. Because of the ban, Huawei is prohibited from obtaining a license to add Google Play Services to its devices along with Google Core Apps like Search, Maps, Gmail and the likes which reduces the prospects of its products in the international market.
As a result, Huawei had to launch its flagship Mate 30 Series using the open source version of Android and Huawei’s own appstore called App Gallery.
Based on the new report, a meeting was held last week where U.S. President Donald Trump ordered officials to give a green light to a select few US companies to resume supplies to Huawei. The operative keyword is that the goods supplied have to be non-sensitive to national security.
Based on the report, a slew of other publications started conjecturing that this could mean Huawei could be getting its Android license back from Google, allowing the company to install Google Core Services and Play Services in Huawei and it’s sub-brand Honor’s devices.
However, nothing has been officially confirmed by either Google or the U.S. Commerce Department (which issues the license) which maintained that the present “status quo holds.”
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Nubia Red Magic 3s with Snapdragon 855+, 5000mAh battery launching in India on October 17
Gaming smartphones seem to be all the rage right now in the Indian smartphone market. Almost every smartphone maker is either unveiling a gaming-centric smartphone or focussing on gaming in its offerings. OnePlus, Oppo, Xiaomi and many other smartphone makers offer some sort of gaming mode on their handsets, which are touted to improve their phone’s performance while gaming. There are also handsets by companies like Nubia, Asus, Xiaomi and others, which are dedicated devices for gaming. Nubia already offers the Nubia Red Magic 3 gaming smartphone in India and it has now announced that it will follow up with ṭhe Nubia Red Magic 3S.
Nubia Red Magic 3s specsNubia has confirmed October 17 as the India launch date for its Red Magic 3S smartphone via the Red Magic India Twitter account. Since the device has already been announced, except for the price, we know almost everything about it. The handset is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 855+ SoC and comes in 8GB and 12GB LPDDR4X RAM versions that are paired with 12GB and 256GB of UFS 3.0 internal storage. Equipped with a 6.65-inch Full HD display, it sports a 19.5:9 display aspect ratio. There’s a fingerprint sensor on the back and the handset is backed by a 5000mAh battery.
Coming to the optics, the Red Magic 3s one gets a single 48MP Sony IMX586 sensor on the back. The sensor is paired with an f/1.7 aperture lens and is capable of capturing 8K videos at 15fps. On the front is a 16MP sensor with an f/2.0 aperture lens. The handset comes in Eclipse Black, Mecha Silver and Cyber Shade colour models but it is unclear whether it will be made available in all the three versions in India.
Nubia Red Magic 3s expected priceIn China, the 8/128GB version of the Red Magic 3s is priced at CNY 2,999 (Rs 30,162 approx), while its 12/256GB version is sold at CNY 3,799 (Rs 38,184 approx). The handset can be priced slightly higher in India since the Red Magic 3 is priced starting at Rs 33,999 in the country.
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Porsche has a new, cheaper version of the all-electric Taycan
Porsche introduced Monday the Taycan 4S, a third version of its all-electric vehicle.
The 4S, which will offer a performance battery plus option, looks like the Taycan that Porsche unveiled in September. And indeed, inside all of the Taycans, including the 4S, are the same chassis and suspension, permanent magnet synchronous motors and other bits.
But this version is a little lighter, cheaper and a skosh slower than the high-end versions of the Taycan that were introduced just seven weeks ago.
Porsche has always said it would have multiple versions of the Taycan. In September, the German automaker showed what $1 billion of initial investment looks like with the Taycan Turbo S and Taycan Turbo — the more powerful and expensive versions of its all-electric four-door sports car with base prices of $185,000 and $150,900, respectively.
Meanwhile, the base version Porsche Taycan 4S is more than $80,000 cheaper than its leading model.
The 4S will be available with two battery sizes. The standard 4S starts at $103,800 and comes with a 79.2 kWh battery pack and a pair of electric motors that produce 429 horsepower (320 kW). With the launch control engaged, the horsepower jumps to 522.
Customers who opt for the performance battery plus version of the 4S will shell out at least $110,380 for a vehicle with a 93.4 kWh battery and dual electric motors that can produce up to 563 hp (420 kW).
Both of the 4S models have a top speed of 155 miles per hour and can travel from 0 to 60 mph in 3.8 seconds.
The Taycan 4S is scheduled to arrive in U.S. dealerships in spring 2020.
The 4S is no match for the Turbo S, the most powerful Taycan, which has an output of 616 hp
(or 751 hp with the launch control engaged). The Turbo S has a maximum torque of 774 pound-feet and can travel from 0 to 60 mph in 2.6 seconds. Of course, that kind of power comes at a price. The Taycan Turbo S starts at $185,000.
Porsche has yet to release the EPA battery range estimates for the 4S — or for the Turbo S or Turbo for that matter. The EPA range estimate for the North American market is pending for all of the vehicles. Under Europe’s WLTP estimates, the Turbo S can travel 256 miles on a single charge, while the Turbo has a range of 280 miles.
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Google Play Store shuts out payday loan apps
Sunday, October 13, 2019
iPhone SE 2 to launch in Q1 2020: Report
If information circulating the internet is to be believed, then Apple could launch the iPhone SE 2 in Q1 2020. The smartphone is expected to have a starting price of $399 (Rs 28,350 approx. directly converted) and will come in two storage variants - 64GB and 128GB. In a research note obtained by MacRumors, Ming-Chi Kuo highlights some of the specifications of the smartphone. He says that the device will be powered by the A13 Bionic CPU, the same which is powering the iPhone 11. The SE 2 will have 3GB LPDDR4X RAM along with two storage options - 64GB and 128GB. The smartphone will be available in three colour options - Space Gray, Silver and Red. The device will not support 3D Touch.
There is still crucial information missing from the leak. For starters, we don't know if the size of the display has increased or will remain the same as the original SE. We also don't have information about the camera setup of the smartphone or the display resolution. According to Mac Rumors, “Kuo expects the new iPhone SE 2 will be a popular upgrade option for existing iPhone 6 and iPhone 6S owners.” the iPhone SE had a 4-inch display, which is tiny by today's standards. The iPhone 6 and 6s, both sported a 4.7-inch display. Could this mean that we will see an increase in the size of the iPhone SE display with the SE 2?
When it comes to the current selling iPhones, the iPhone 11 Pro has a 5.8-inch display, the 11 has a 6.1-inch display and the 11 Pro Max has a 6.5-inch display. It could be that the iPhone SE 2 caters to those still looking for a small compact smartphone from Apple.
We’d suggest you take this information with a grain of salt as the iPhone SE 2 has been a part of the rumour mill for years now.
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Google Pixel 4s full features and specs appear on Best Buy Canada
Ahead of the official announcement on October 15, Best Buy Canada has already listed the Google Pixel 4 and Pixel 4 XL for pre-order. The product page has revealed key details about the two phones. It fully detailed the Pixel 4 lineup by highlighting the key specifications of the devices and comparing them with the Pixel 3a and Pixel 3a XL. The product page went live at the end of last week, but it has been removed from the site now.
The listing mentioned four bullet points under “What makes Pixel perfect.” It focused mainly on photography and software. The phone is touted to help users take studio-like photos anywhere. The next photography highlight that the listing showed was “original quality” storage on Google Photos.
Further, Soli features are expected to be named “Quick Gestures.” The listing highlighted it by mentioning a “new way to control your phone.” Google will be integrating the Soli Radar chip on the Pixel 4 series to track a user’s hand gestures. It can be used to execute a task that’s assigned to that particular gesture. However, it may not work in India.
The last point focused on Google Assistant. The next-generation Assistant’s functionality was referenced as “Send texts, get directions, and even plan your day, all from the palm of your hand.”
The product page also showcased full specifications of the Pixel 4 and Pixel 4 XL. According to the listing, Google Pixel 4 lineup will sport a dual 12MP + 16MP rear camera setup. On the front, it may come with an 8MP selfie shooter.
Google Pixel 4 is expected to feature a 5.7” Full HD+ OLED display. On the other hand, Pixel 4 XL is touted to come equipped with a 6.3” Quad HD+ OLED display. Both the smartphones are expected to come with a 90Hz refresh rate, which Google is planning to call Smooth Display.
Both the Pixel 4 and Pixel 4 XL will be powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 chipset. They will come with 6GB RAM with 64GB/128GB storage options. The phones are likely to not have a fingerprint sensor since the listing mentioned “Face Unlock” under authentication.
The Google Pixel 4 will pack a 2800mAh battery, while the Pixel 4XL may come equipped with a 3700mAh battery. The phones are said to come in three colour options: Just Black, Clearly White and Oh So Orange. The latter may only be exclusive on pre-order.
Recently, the Canadian pricing of Google Pixel 4 and Pixel 4 XL were leaked as well.
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Nubia Red Magic 3S Officially Confirmed to Launch in India on October 17
2019 Apple iPad with 102-inch screen now on sale starting at Rs 29,900
As a successor to the popular long-standing 9.7-inch iPad, Apple launched the new 7th-generation 10.2-inch iPad about a month ago along with the new iPhone 11 series. Now, it’s finally on sale on multiple online and offline outlets, including Amazon.in and Flipkart. The base variant, which comes with Wi-Fi-only connectivity and 32GB of internal storage space, costs Rs 29,900. The range goes all the way up to Rs 48,900. The new iPad is available in Space Grey, Gold, and Silver colours.
Like previous generations, the new 7th-generation iPad sells in two major variants: Wi-Fi-only and Wi-Fi + 4G. Both variants in turn come with two storage options: 32GB and 128GB. While the base variant with Wi-Fi-only and 32GB storage costs Rs 29,900, the Wi-Fi-only variant with 128GB storage costs Rs 37,900. The Wi-Fi + 4G variant with 32GB of storage is priced at Rs 40,900, leaving the top-end Wi-Fi + 4G variant with 128GB of storage with a price tag of Rs 48,900.
Like the 6th-generation iPad, which was launched in March last year, the new 7th-generation model is powered by Apple’s A10 Fusion chip. Like its predecessor, it is also compatible with the 1st-generation Apple Pencil. The biggest noticeable difference is in the display department. Gone is the well-recognised 9.7-inch Retina display and in its place is a slightly larger 10.2-inch Retina unit. Though there’s an increase in screen resolution (1620 x 2160 pixels), the pixel density remains the same at roughly 264 pixels per inch.
In addition to supporting third-party Bluetooth keyboards, the new 7th-generation iPad can connect to the Apple Smart Keyboard, something the previous-generation iPads can’t do. The new iPad is expected to come with iOS 13 out of the box. Apple recently rolled out iOS 13 (and eventually iOS 13.1.2) to many of its devices, including ones as old as the iPhone 6s and iPhone SE. You can read more about iOS 13 and how to go about installing it on an eligible iOS device here.
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Disney, Fox, and WBD say they have agreed to discontinue their Venu Sports streaming joint venture and will focus on existing products and distribution channels (Alex Weprin/The Hollywood Reporter)
Alex Weprin / The Hollywood Reporter : Disney, Fox, and WBD say they have agreed to discontinue their Venu Sports streaming joint venture...
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Jake Offenhartz / Gothamist : Since October, the NYPD has deployed a quadruped robot called Spot to a handful of crime scenes and hostage...
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Lorena O'Neil / Rolling Stone : A look at the years of warnings about AI from researchers, including several women of color, who say ...
