Have you ever thought of having a cool coffee mug that could heat your tasty beverages? Well dream no more…the Nano Heated Mug has arrived on Kickstarter. Nano Heated Mug can keep your hot beverages at the ideal drinkable temperature for 45 minutes and keeps charge for 7+ refills. Sound like a winner for the […]
Erik Finman is a twenty-something bitcoin maximalist as famous for his precocity as he is for his $12 bet on the currency a few years ago. Now, Finman, who built his first company while still in high school, is launching a new startup called CoinBits, which allows users to passively invest in bitcoin. The idea, according to Finman, is to democratize access to the currency by letting everyday folks invest nominal sums through well-known mechanisms like roundups on transactions made with a credit or debit card or through regular transactions from a customer’s savings or checking account to bitcoin through CoinBits. Every transaction also helps Finman’s own bitcoin holdings grow, and makes the young entrepreneur a little wealthier himself through his bitcoin holdings. Users can make one-time investments of $10, $25, $50 or $100 through the web-based platform and can establish a level of risk for their holdings. Finman’s app collects no commissions on transactions, and 98% of the bitcoin is stored offline — for safety. “Overall, investing in bitcoin is complicated and can feel almost impossible,” said Finman. “Coinbits allows you to put that spare change in bitcoin. For example, if you spend $1.75 on French fries, that remaining 25 cents is invested automatically.” Withdrawals are handled by CoinBits, which will give users same-day processing for a 50 cent-fee, and offers an easily downloadable record for accountants to deal with any gains or losses associated with bitcoin. Given the fractional nature of these investments, and the volatility of bitcoin, it’s hard to know what real value investors can reap from these small transactions, but it’s a less risky way to experiment with building bitcoin holdings than take a huge flyer on the market. ... Read More
Livekick, a startup that gives customers access to one-on-one personal training and yoga from their home (or hotel room, or elsewhere), is announcing that it has raised $3 million in seed funding. The company was founded by entrepreneur Yarden Tadmor and fitness expert Shayna Schmidt. Tadmor said that with all his travel for work, his fitness routine “really eroded,” so he contacted Schmidt and asked her to train him remotely — they’d connect via FaceTime, he’d mount his phone at the gym and she’d supervise his workout. “We trained this way for a while, and then we realized: Hey, this is something that other people can really benefit from,” Tadmor said. So with Livekick, users can sign up for one, two or three live, 30-minute sessions with a remote trainer, who they’ll connect with via the Livekick iOS app or website. (After a two-week trial, pricing starts at $32 per week.) The workouts will be tailored to the space and equipment that you have access to, and the trainers will also assign other workouts for the rest of the week. Tadmor and Schmidt contrasted this approach with companies like Peloton and Mirror, which are bringing new exercise equipment and classes into the home, but which don’t offer one-on-one interaction with a trainer. Tadmor said this individualized approach is not just better-tailored to each user’s needs, but also more effective at keeping them motivated. And Schmidt said the live interaction also ensures that people are doing their workouts correctly and safely. As for the trainers, Schmidt said this gives them a new way to find clients, particularly during their off-hours. “For trainers, the hours that users are never booked are usually noon to 4pm — they never get a client because people are at work, obviously,” she said. “So we can give trainers in London those hours because for a user in New York, that’s morning. We can really fill their schedules [and] help them make some more income.” Beyond consumer subscriptions, Livekick also offers a corporate program called Livekick for Travelers. And just to be clear, the service isn’t just for frequent travelers, as Tadmor noted: “If you live in New York, you have access to a lot of fitness options, but most people don’t. You’ve got to do a lot of commuting to get to a studio with great trainers, and so part of what we’re trying to bring is really let you do that from the comfort of your home.” And while we recently covered the launch of a similar service called Future, Livekick actually launched in September, and Tadmor said the average retention rate has been over six months. The round was led by Firstime VC, with participation from Rhodium and Draper Frontier. “With its leading technology and ethos to make exercise accessible and affordable, we believe Livekick has the capacity to improve the lives and health of millions,” said Firstime’s Nir Tarlovsky in a statement. Peloton raises $550M at a valuation of $4 billion ... Read More
Facebook plans to launch its cryptocurrency by the first quarter of next year, reports BBC News. The company is expected to reveal more details about the currency this summer, before testing begins later in 2019. The currency, which is being referred to internally as “GlobalCoin,” will reportedly be available in around a dozen countries at launch, where it’s expected to offer people affordable and secure payments without the need for a bank account. The currency will need to overcome numerous technical and regulatory hurdles before it can be launched. According to BBC News, last month Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg met with the Bank of England’s governor Mark Carney to discuss the opportunities and risks of the planned digital currency.... Continue reading… ... Read More
Microsoft is working on a new design of its Surface Pro, expected to debut later this year. While the Surface Pro design hasn’t largely changed since the Surface Pro 4, Microsoft is expected to trim the display bezels, add a USB-C port, and make the next Surface Pro design a little more rounded like the Surface Go. We’ve seen a patent that hints at a thinner Surface keyboard, and now one has appeared that shows a Surface Pro with a USB-C port and a new Type Cover model. Spotted by Windows United, the new patent details how Microsoft plans to use magnets to prevent the Surface Type Cover from flapping around when it’s not in use. You currently fold the keyboard under the device to use it as a tablet, and it’s held in place simply by how... Continue reading… ... Read More
Efforts to adapt games to TV and film have generally been poorly received -- but the cultural and business climate we're in may be perfect for Sony's new venture... Read More
Contested trademark is thought by fans to be a possible title for the next Elder Scrolls game... Read More
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