Collen Kriel
Latest from Collen Kriel
Oculus to produce virtual-reality films, creates in-house film studio
Facebook Inc.’s Oculus Rift is exploring the movie space with the launch of a new entertainment in-house studio called Oculus Story Studio. The studio’s focus will be on making virtual-reality films. Their debut piece premiered yesterday, Monday December 26, at the Sundance Film Festival. “This is really tuning in to what a lot of people ...
2.5 hours. That’s how long the Apple Watch battery will last with ‘heavy’ use
With Apple Inc. still on track to ship their watch by the end of March, questions and rumors continue to crop up. The latest rumor about the Apple Watch to emerge is regarding the battery life. The Apple team was hoping for higher figures when it comes to the Watch’s battery life; however, this doesn’t ...
Ringly scores $5.1M to add smart bling to your life
Smart jewelry start-up Ringly has raised $5.1 million in Series A funding led by venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz. New investors to the party included High Line Ventures and Silas Capital. Earlier investors, who took part in Ringly’s $1 million seed round in August 2013, included First Round Capital, Social+Capital, Mesa+, BBV and PCH. To ...
Dropbox acquires CloudOn, continuous international expansion
Following a busy year in 2014, with no less than nine acquisitions, Dropbox has made its first acquisition of 2015 in the form of U.S.-Israeli app maker, CloudOn. The move is part of Dropbox’s international expansion effort and aimed at providing an end-to-end solution to users. CloudOn develops tools that allow users to create and edit ...
Shazam in the big leagues with $30M funding round at $1B evaluation
Shazam Entertainment Ltd. announced on Tuesday, January 20, that they had received $30 million from investors. This latest investment now values the company at roughly $1 billion and becomes only the fifth technology start-up from the UK to have a $1 billion price tag. The investment will go towards expanding into new markets as well ...
Scottish startup pureLiFi raises £1.5M to create light-based Wi-Fi substitute
pureLiFi, the light communications technology company previously known as PureVLC, has raised £1.5 million (approximately $2.26 million) in their latest round of investment. This gives the company a valuation of over £14 million (approximately $21 million). A VC funding round is also in process, which the company aims to close in the second half of ...
HTC to enter smartwatch market alongside release of 20MP camera phone, says report
With Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2015 just around the corner, HTC Corp. is rumored to have both a new flagship smartphone and a smartwatch in the offing. A source familiar with the company’s plans told Bloomberg that the upcoming smartphone, code-named M9, features a 20-megapixel rear camera while the front camera sports HTC’s UltraPixel technology. ...
New Magzter Gold plan gives you 2000+ magazines for $10 a month
For a monthly fee you can now have unlimited access to over 2,000 magazines, including old issues, through Magzter Gold. There is a wide variety of categories ranging from automotive, business, cooking, weddings and everything in between, with titles including Maxim, Inc., Top Gear and Fast Company. The Magzter app has been around since June ...
Google expands Classroom initiative with mobile app for teachers and students
Google Inc. launched their Google Classroom initiative in August 2014 in an effort to make Google Apps for Education simpler for educators to use. Now they are adding to this initiative with the launch of their Classroom-branded mobile app for Android and iOS. The app will increase collaboration between teachers and students, including the ability ...
Transit info app Moovit picks up $50M, plans international expansion
Moovit, an Israeli public transport start-up, has raised $50 million in a Series C funding round, which brings their total funding to approximately $81.5 million and makes the company worth between $300 million and $450 million Founded in 2011 and created by TranzMate Ltd., Moovit is a mobile app for iOS and Android that allows ...