Startups

Here's the 3D-printing institute in Obama's State of the Union

A little over a year ago, 3D printing was a funky new technology that you might find at modestly sized booths in the basement level of the Las Vegas Convention Center at CES. Tonight, President Obama mentioned it in the same breath as Apple and Intel during his State of the Union address, while talking about ways to create new jobs and manufacturing in the United States. Here's the passage from the transcript:

After shedding jobs for more than 10 years, our manufacturers have added about 500,000 jobs over the past three. Caterpillar is bringing jobs back from … Read more

Snapchat Android beta goes live, then self-destructs

The long-awaited update for a Snapchat video-messaging app for Android was available briefly last night.

Snapchat announced last night that it would allow people to download its private beta Android application. However, the application was only made available for a few hours and can no longer be downloaded from the company's site. Those who were able to access the program needed to force their Android handsets to install non-market apps.

Snapchat currently offers an Android and iOS application. However, the program only allows for the sharing of photos. The Snapchat update for Android lets people send video clips to … Read more

Samsung's Open Innovation Center seeks startup juice

Samsung yesterday announced the launch of a new Open Innovation Center in Silicon Valley with an aim of connecting the conglomerate with the latest and greatest software ideas.

David Eun, Samsung Electronics executive vice president and leader of the Open Innovation Center, announced its opening yesterday at the D: Dive Into Media event. He told All Things Digital's Kara Swisher that while the company's hardware efforts are going well, the Open Innovation Center is designed to deliver a "thoughtful integration" of hardware with software.

According to Eun, the Open Innovation Center is based on four ideas:… Read more

Uber strikes key deal with California regulators

Uber, the on-demand driving service, has temporarily resolved an issue it's been facing with California, the company announced yesterday.

The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC), which regulates some driving services in the state, last year issued citations and fines against Internet-based Uber for allegedly operating a "charter-party carrier" service that failed to include insurance coverage and enrollment of its hired drivers in a substance abuse program. CPUC also argued that Uber failed to provide evidence of workers' compensation insurance.

Two other driving services, Lyft and SideCar, were also included in the citation, which fined all three companies $… Read more

OpenTable gobbles up Foodspotting for $10 million

OpenTable, a company that provides online restaurant reservations, has acquired Foodspotting, a site and apps that let users post photos of the food dishes they encounter at eateries.

The companies announced the deal today, saying that OpenTable will pay approximately $10 million in cash to acquire Foodspotting. The acquisition comes after Foodspotting inked a deal with the restaurant-reservations company to share user photos of food dishes in OpenTable listings. OpenTable didn't say what its plans are for Foodspotting, but it did say the photos are a "taste" of what to expect.

Still, Foodspotting users won't lose … Read more

Amiigo fitness bracelet knows what exercise you're doing

We've seen fitness trackers before, but here's one with impressive smarts. The Amiigo can automatically identify more than 100 activities with custom algorithms.

Amiigo is a waterproof bracelet and shoe clip that not only counts how many bicep curls or golf swings you do, but monitors your heart rate, blood oxygen levels, skin temperature, activity level, and the number of calories burned, according to the gadget's crowdfunding campaign on Indiegogo.

Sensors and machine-learning algorithms identify the exercise you're performing, and store the data in the device before uploading it to your mobile device. The tech can discriminate between running on the treadmill, for instance, and exercising on an elliptical machine. … Read more

Leap Motion strikes exclusive launch deal with Best Buy

Leap Motion, the makers of the innovative Leap hands-free motion control system, said today that it has struck its first retail partnership, an exclusive launch deal to sell the device at Best Buy.

According to Leap Motion, Best Buy stores and BestBuy.com will begin taking pre-orders in February and selling the Leap sometime this spring. The deal comes on the heels of the company's recent agreement to bundle the device with Asus PCs once it launches, as well as a $30 million B round of funding.

The San Francisco startup's technology is capable of measuring motion with … Read more

Junk your QWERTY for this 10-key keyboard

LAS VEGAS--The QWERTY keyboard you're using has a basic layout that dates from the 1870s Sholes and Glidden typewriter. Why the heck are you still using it?

If you're always typing on the go, on-screen and compact QWERTY keyboards can be a real pain when writing a critical e-mail, text, or tweet. Florida-based In10did thinks it has an ideal solution with this compact, touch-type micro keyboard with wireless Bluetooth connectivity.

DecaTxt has a completely different key setup than a QWERTY keyboard, and it takes some time to get your head around it. … Read more

OpenCandy brings the bucks to desktop software

LAS VEGAS--If you want to make money off of apps, you must develop for mobile, right? Wrong, says SweetLabs' Chester Ng, who points to his company's success with its OpenCandy project to help developers earn a living.

The problem is both cultural as well as logistical, Ng said in an interview outside the Las Vegas Convention Center. Desktop software, especially on Windows, has a long history of being developed as freeware. But pitching a secondary software purchase to the user during the installation process had been poisoned, he said.

"The problem is that developers don't like the … Read more