Brian Heater
Hardware Editor
The Latest from Brian Heater
Understanding how fundraising terms can affect early-stage startups
Fenwick & West partner Dawn Belt breaks down some of the terms that trip up first-time entrepreneurs.
E-bikes and earbuds among the first third-party hardware to support Apple’s Find My tracking
Yesterday we noted that Apple launched a new Find My Certification Asst. app, designed to test support for third-party hardware. Find My, of course, has been a long-standing feature for Apple’s own
Google I/O will return as a virtual event May 18-20
When the pandemic arrived in the U.S. early last year, companies scrambled to figure out what to do with their long-standing, in-person developer events. For Apple and Microsoft, that meant going virt
Highlights from Berkeley SkyDeck’s virtual demo day
With 17 startups participating, Berkeley SkyDeck’s Demo Day isn’t the largest cohort we’ve seen by any stretch. The collection of companies is, however, defined by a wide range of focuses, from
Rapid raises $12M for its manufacturing robotics
Bay Area-based Rapid Robotics today announced a $12 million Series A. The new round, led by NEA, brings the company’s total funding up to $17.5 million. It joins a recently closed seed round, announ
Robotic exoskeleton maker Sarcos announces SPAC plans
While it’s true the VC world has gone SPAC-happy, the reverse merger method hasn’t been a huge driver in robotics thus far, with some notable exceptions like Berkshire-Grey. This morning, however,
LG’s exit from the smartphone market comes as no surprise
It was time for LG to move on. Frankly, the only surprise was that it didn’t do so sooner.
Labor relations board sides with Amazon employees over firings
Last year, Amazon fired Emily Cunningham and Maren Costa. The pair of employees had been among the company’s most outspoken critics on staff, openly taking Amazon to task for environmental and labor
Amazon addresses pee bottle denial tweet
Amazon kicked off the holiday weekend by backtracking slightly on a social media offensive that unfolded in the waning days of a historic unionization vote. The earlier comments reportedly arrived as
Starship Technologies CEO/CTO Ahti Heinla joins TC Sessions: Mobility 2021
For obvious reasons, food delivery was among the categories that soared during a year of COVID-19 related lockdowns. The question remains how these changes will impact both grocery and restaurant deli
Big box robots
So, let me preempt this by saying that there are plenty of robotics verticals worth getting excited about. But at the moment, everyone sure seems focused on warehouse fulfillment. It’s understandabl
Ballot counting for Amazon’s historic union vote starts today
Vote counting begins today in the historic effort to unionize Amazon’s Bessemer, Alabama fulfillment center. The warehouse — which opened exactly a year ago to meet ramping up demand as COVID-
Celebrity video request site Cameo reaches unicorn status with $100M raise
Cameo, the celebrity video site you’re probably familiar with if you’ve celebrated a birthday in the last three years, announced this morning that it’s raised a $100M Series C. The round, which
Apple’s WWDC stays online-only, kicking off June 7
Apple this morning announced that it will be returning to an all-virtual format for a second year. The company went online-only for the first time in 2020, as COVID-19 ground in-person events to a hal
Google Nest Hub 2 review: The solid smart screen adds sleep tracking
Two-and-a-half years later, the Nest Home Hub remains one of my favorite smart screens on the market. Maybe that’s a commentary on the rate of improvement in the category, or maybe Google just got t
Niantic CEO shares teaser image of AR glasses device
Oh hello. What’s this then? A Niantic-branded AR headset? Perhaps? John Hanke, CEO of the Pokémon GO developer teased what could be a first-party head-mounted wearable, as the company makes a more
This is Boston Dynamics’ next commercial robot
Boston Dynamics’ transition from a decades-long research robotics firm to a company that productizes and sells hardware has been a fascinating one to watch. There have been some tough lessons along
How I Podcast: Science Vs’s Rose Rimler
The beauty of podcasting is that anyone can do it. It’s a rare medium that’s nearly as easy to make as it is to consume. And as such, no two people do it exactly the same way. There are a wealth o
Amazon goes on the offensive ahead of next week’s union vote counting
This week’s Amazon public relations push will no doubt go down as one of the odder public-facing strategies in tech. As some of the company’s biggest rivals were getting ready to virtually testify
Drone data scanning company Skycatch announces a $25M raise
Skycatch today announced a $25 million raise, led by ADB Ventures and Wavemaker. Founded in 2013, the Bay Area-based company provides centimeter-accurate 3D scanning services, primarily for constructi