I’m not sure how I feel about this.
The object you’re looking at right now is what the city of London calls a “smart bin.” Built by Renew, the smart bins are being installed on the streets of London and have two massive LCD screens slapped on the sides.
According to the Daily Mail, the screens will display news from the Economist and stock quotes. → Read More
We’ve gotten a few discrete glances as what could be RIM’s first next-generation BlackBerry in the past, and now we may have a name to go with it. Originally code-named “London,” BlackBerryOS reports that the BBX-powered device will henceforth be known as the “Surfboard.”
Erm, yeah. I”m not thrilled either.
As odd as the name may be, it doesn’t come completely out of the blue. RIM filed for the BlackBerry Surfboard trademark in the Canadian Intellectual Property Office in July 2010, and has been sitting on it since then. → Read More
Just this morning we reported on the creation of a Google Group whose members are discussing how to use facial recognition technology to identify looters from London’s riots in online photos. Now, a second site has come to our attention which makes the process of identifying rioters even easier, no special technologies needed.
The site, called Zavilia.com, is simply posting all the photos of looters it can get its hands on, and offers a short form alongside each image where you can type in the criminal’s name. → Read More
A new Google Group called “London Riots Facial Recognition” has appeared online, in the wake of the riots that rocked the U.K. capital over the weekend. The group’s goal is to use facial recognition technologies to identify the looters who appear in online photos.
The group appears to be thoughtfully considering its actions, in threads titled “ethical issues,” and “keeping things legal,” for example. They’ve also stated that “it’s important we only use legal sources for images.” → Read More
This is what an 80 gigapixel photograph of London looks like. It is, in fact, the highest resolution photo ever taken. What’s that… oh, I think I can see Chelsea tumbling down the league table from here! → Read More
I have no idea why it seems to be “Europe week” for me, but here’s some more news from across the pond: Seedcamp has raised a new €3 million fund. I’m a huge fan of Seedcamp, even though I’ve given the co-founder Saul Klein a hard time about some of its winners in the past.
It is a combination of Y Combinator, a competition like TechCrunch Disrupt and a super angel, but one that aggressively takes itself on the road every month to find the best startups in emerging markets, particularly Eastern Europe. (It’s not unlike my own obsessive emerging market reporting. Oh wait, it’s completely different. They have actual money to invest.)
We caught up with Seedcamp’s other founder Reshma Sohoni to find out more about Seedcamp’s newly enlarged global ambitions. The video is below. → Read More
The London Underground, commonly known as the Tube, will be getting Wi-Fi. There will be a six-month trial period beginning on November 1 at the Charing Cross station. → Read More
In this week’s show, we talk to one of our favorite angel investors, Saul Klein, who just wrapped up his third annual Seedcamp in London. In addition to being a partner at the powerful Index Ventures and having a British accent — which lonely expat Paul can’t get enough of– Klein is impressive because he’s one of the only angel investors who has made what is traditionally an intensely local way to invest work globally. He holds mini-Seedcamps all over the world, and the annual London event included entrepreneurs from 16 countries. Just two weeks ago, Fred Wilson gave Klein props as the guy to get to know if you are trying to start a company in a fringe market and don’t have a lot of investing contacts.
In this video, Klein tells us about the overall theme of this year’s Seedcamp, and we dig in on the company we liked the best (Spoiler Alert!) and the company we liked the least (Spoiler Alert!). We then ask him why with so much going on in fast-growing economies in Africa, South America, Asia and the Middle East we should still care about stodgy old London’s tech scene, and he gives a pretty good answer. We wrap up with a discussion about Klein’s latest experiment: He’s relocated to Israel for a year to figure out why returns have fallen off in a country with so much technical and entrepreneurial talent.
Then Paul and Sarah say goodbye to Klein and have a fight about incubators. Paul tells people to get on a plane to the Valley if they want to start a company; Sarah loses it and calls him names. A lot of eye-rolling ensues.
Video below. → Read More
Pip pip and cheerio! The London Tubemaster General, Mayor Boris Johnson ESQ 1st Class Deceased is proposing that the tube lines in London have Wi-Fi coverage. While he does not want cellular coverage – then they’d have to have quiet cars – but he does wish people to enjoy email, saying “I think people do want the facility of looking at their Blackberry, or whatever it happens to be.” → Read More
Mayor of London and Top Gear slowpoke Boris Johnson is trying to make London one of the most wired cities, just in time for the Olympics. During a recent conference, Johnson announced a plan to install wifi hotspots in “every lampost and bus stop.” → Read More
Bravo to George Lucas for making a mockery of many of our childhoods. The Star Wars creator (and destroyer) has approved the production of “Star Wars: A Musical Journey,” a musical that will open in London next year. → Read More
The superrich and political élite will be able to fly from London to New York in three hours once 2015 rolls around. A new supersonic jet, the Aerion, is in development that will be able fly at mach 1.6—that’s 1,217 mph. And it’s not like this is a mock-up or anything. The company has already received 50 $237,000 deposits for the first models. The supersonic jet is being marketed as something that will change the way business is conducted. Need to go from SoHo to Soho Square to sign a contract post-haste? Hope on the America-made Aerion and be back home in time for dinner. Again, not that any of us, or even any we know, will ever fly on this thing, but it’s nothing if not an engineering marvel even if it doesn’t look as fancy as the Concorde of yesteryear. → Read More
The iconic TX4 taxis that crowd the streets of London are going to be getting an overhaul. In the interest of reducing costs, improving air quality, and replacing the aging fleet, they’ll be introducing new TX4 E electric taxis starting in early 2009. I think we can all agree that the air in London could use a bit of scrubbing; maybe they could mount big filters on the tops of these things as well. Pricing hasn’t been determined, but I think taxis pay for themselves pretty well, especially when the price of gas is taken out of the equation. In fact, the new taxis, running on the vaunted LiFePO4 batteries, will be running at the cost of about one American dime per mile. And yet you’ll still be paying a quid a minute for the privilege. Strange that. → Read More
Details of the much-discussed Oyster card hack have been published and released at a security conference that’s being held in Spain right now. What a long, awkward sentence. The hack takes advantage of a security flaw in the Mifare Classic RFID chip. This chip is used in, among other locales, the Oyster card that’s used in the London public transportation system. The researchers have defended their publishing of the hack by saying more harm would be done by not publishing the information. They added, hey, let’s assume Bad Guys (organized crime and the like) already know about the vulnerability, and may already be making money off it. Besides, officials said they can detect if someone uses a modified/hacked Oyster card within the system. The security paper can be read in its entirety here (it’s a PDF), which I found via Cryptome. Additional documents can be found here. via BBC News → Read More
The highly anticipated (?) Nokia touchscreen phone, the company’s first, will debut next week at a big song and dance press event in London. The phone is codenamed “Tube,” and not a damn thing is known about it. Nokia has always stressed its commitment to making touchscreen phones, including both low-end and high-end devices. And now we endure about a week’s worth of rumors, till the device’s unveiling on October 2. → Read More
Electronic Arts sure knows how to annoy people, especially unsuspecting British motorists. The publishing giant staged one of those “free gas” giveaways at the weekend in London to promote Mercenaries 2. (Specifically, EA was handing out free gas cards worth £40.) Needless to say, people freaked out, traffic became a mess, and a politician now wants an apology, calling the stunt “irresponsible and downright dangerous.” Reminds me of that time Microsoft had a Zune truck blaring music in the wee hours in New York a few years ago. No, not a legitimately dangerous, but just as annoying. → Read More
http://current.com/e/88856223 “Give me a good reason why you’re filming around.” BakelBlog discusses some of the filming restrictions proposed in the UK and the resulting reactions of “community support officers” when folks try to film in public streets. → Read More
A new art installation in London and New York lets passersby look clear across the Atlantic. The Telectroscope, a 37 by 11-feet telescope of sorts, connects the two cities using fiber optic cable, with an HD camera on either end. If you’re in New York, looking through the Telectroscope shows you London, and vice-versa. Pretty cool, and much better than other New York public art displays—”The Gates” comes to mind. There’s a few videos of it on YouTube already. It’s on display from now until June 15. I think I may use some of my holiday weekend to check it out. via CNN → Read More
If the thought of sticking your dirty-ass feet into a new pair of shoes that you bought from a vending machine because you somehow lost your regular pair of shoes doesn’t appeal to you, then maybe this machine’s not for you. Shoppers, hobos, and late-night footwear forgetters near Carnaby Street in London will be able to pick up a pair of emergency shoes at the new Onitsuka Tigers vending machine. It holds two dozen pairs of shoes spanning half a dozen different sizes. I’m not sure how much they cost, but I’ll be in London in two weeks so I’ll try to swing by, snap some photos, and get prices. I will not, however, be purchasing these shoes. via Geekologie → Read More
