As stuff like Google Glass becomes mainstream, we’re going to see a lot more wearable computing devices around. But one thing that isn’t clear is how we’ll control them. One idea is to use gesture control, which would enable users to communicate with wearable computers without having to use a whole separate smartphone or other device to do so.

But so far, gesture control for most devices — like the Xbox Kinect, for instance — has depended upon cameras watching user movement. That means remaining in a fixed space and using pre-programmed gestures that are not exactly natural, but can be picked up by cameras. As a result, today’s gesture control technologies are far from perfect. In fact, most to date are just downright bad.

Y Combinator-backed startup Thalmic Labs believes it has a better way of determining user intent when using gesture control. To do so, it’s developed a new device, called MYO, which is an armband worn around the forearm. Using Bluetooth, the armband can wirelessly connect to other devices, such as PCs and mobile phones, to enable user control based on their movements without directly touching the electronics.

Thalmic Labs was founded by University of Waterloo Mechatronics Engineering graduates Aaron Grant, Matthew Bailey, and Stephen Lake. After leaving school, the three began collaborating on building the technology behind the Myo armband. Altogether, the company that they’ve built now has 11 employees.

“Before we graduated, we were interested in the area of wearable computing,” Lake told me. According to him, the team realized that a ton of research had been done on heads-up display technology, like the kind used in Google Glass. But there was a lot less energy placed on the technology used to control wearable computing devices. And so, the founder set out to build it.

The first product they’ve developed is MYO, which uses a bunch of sensors and machine learning technology use the muscles in your forearm to determine what gestures users are making with their hands. Once it’s done that, users will be able to manipulate what’s happening on screen for different devices.

Sample applications of the technology involve being able to manipulate and edit slide presentations remotely. Users could also control wireless devices with the MYO armband — like for instance, the Sphero gaming ball. In the future, The Thalmic team hopes to enable control of stuff like Google Glass without actually touching the display.

For users, the armband will be available for pre-order for $149 at www.getmyo.com. But it’s not just end users that the team is trying to get on board — it’s also hoping to court developers as well.

To do so, Thalmic Labs is introducing an API that will allow third-party developers to build applications that can take advantage of its gesture control technology. The idea is to create a platform that will enable others to build their own applications based on MYO gesture control.

“We’re really interested in what third-party developers can do. Everyone we’ve talked to has a different idea for it,” Lake told me. The company is hoping to harness some of that creative energy to build things that it would have never thought of.

While it’s unclear how popular the MYO armband will actually be, Thalmic Labs hopes that other developers will help to create applications that make it more valuable. The company also appears to have some interesting IP that could be pretty valuable. It has already filed for a couple of patents, and has more filings on the way.

Thalmic Labs is currently part of the Y Combinator Winter 2013 class of startups, and has raised $1.1 million in seed funding. In addition to Y Combinator, that funding has come from investors such as ATI Technologies founder Lee Lau, HP Canada CEO Paul Tsaparis, Rypple co-founder Daniel Debow, and Dayforce CEO David Ossip.

via TechCrunch http://techcrunch.com/2013/02/25/thalmic-labs-myo/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Techcrunch+%28TechCrunch%29

johalputt Ryan Lawler TechCrunch

05:12

Content recommendation and distribution startup Taboola has grown quickly over the past year or so. It’s looking to accelerate that growth, adding another $15 million in funding led by Pitango VC, along with participation from existing investors Evergreen Venture Partners, WGI Group, and Marker. That funding will be used to double headcount and open offices in new, strategic markets.

Taboola provides a marketplace for the distribution of video and article content between publishers. The company, which was founded in 2007, got its start suggesting videos, but recently began offering relevant article recommendations. That new vertical has not only increased the number of recommendations it makes each day, but also has helped grow revenues pretty dramatically over the past year.

The company has grown from serving up 500 million recommendations each day last June to more than 1.5 billion daily by the end of last year. That’s due to the adoption of its EngageRank technology not just for video recommendations, but also for full-text article recommendations as well. Publishers such as Bloomberg, The Weather Channel, BusinessWeek, and others have started using the full-text suite since it’s been made available. As a result, the startup reported that revenue in 2012 grew 7.5x year-over-year, thanks in part to more publishers adopting its platform for content recommendations and distribution.

The new funding follows a $10 million round from last June, and brings its total amount raised to $40 million. It comes as Taboola is planning agressive international expansion. Already, the startup has offices in New York City, Israel, and London, and recently hired former Groupon executive Nadav Rosenberg to head up expansion in Europe.

With the new funding, Taboola CEO Adam Singolda says the company will double headcount, from about 70 to 150 by year’s end. The company also plans to open new offices in strategic markets such as France and Australia. Taboola is also moving into an expanded New York City headquarters in the coming weeks.

While Taboola today is focused on working with premium publishers to enable them to better monetize and distribute their articles, Singolda says he sees an opportunity to enable other publishers to use the platform. That could mean extending its technology to anyone in a self-serve platform that could be used by anyone, not just major brands and publishers. Some self-serve tools are already available for its existing clients, but we could see these used by others over the next few years. In the meantime, Taboola will continue focusing growth on publishers in new and interesting markets.

via TechCrunch http://techcrunch.com/2013/02/19/taboola-15m-more/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Techcrunch+%28TechCrunch%29

johalputt Ryan Lawler TechCrunch

05:12

In the U.S., when we’re hungry and feeling lazy and don’t want to cook, we’ve got GrubHub and Seamless to order food from online and on mobile apps, and to have that food delivered to us. In Brazil, they have iFood. The online food delivery service, which also has mobile apps for Android and iPhone, just raised $2.6 million from Latin American mobile content company Movile.

The strategic funding from Movile is aimed at helping to get users more aware of the iFood service. Movile is a provider of mostly mobile content, partnering over the years with carriers to distribute video and other content to feature phone users in Latin America. But now that smartphones are becoming all the rage, it’s looking for ways to cash in on its mobile expertise. Like, by making investments in startups like iFood, which are increasingly using mobile technologies as part of their businesses.

iFood wasn’t always mobile. In fact, it didn’t have any mobile apps at all until just about six months ago. But since launching apps for iPhone and Android, the number of orders it’s taken on those platforms has grown rapidly. In just six months, mobile orders have gone from zero to 20 percent of its overall business. And that growth is expected to continue.

All in all, iFood is delivered more than 50,000 orders a month, from more than 1,000 different restaurants throughout Brazil. And the startup’s revenues are increasing at a rate of about 10 percent per month, with no slowdown in sight. It expects to be used by more than 5,000 restaurants and food chains by 2014. That’s a $4 billion opportunity in Brazil alone.

While iFood is currently focused on its home market of Brazil, there’s of course a huge opportunity to expand into other Latin American markets, and eventually maybe even the U.S. It’ll be helped in that pursuit by Movile, which could help it get distribution in new mobile markets.

via TechCrunch http://techcrunch.com/2013/02/06/movile-2-6m-ifood/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Techcrunch+%28TechCrunch%29

johalputt Ryan Lawler TechCrunch

04:48