Duncan Riley
Latest from Duncan Riley
Live virtual reality streaming startup NextVR takes $80m Series B as part of push into Asia
Live virtual reality (VR) streaming startup NextVR, Inc. has raised $80 million Series B in a round that included China Assets Holdings, Citic Guoan Information Industry Co., CMC Holdings, Founder H Fund, NetEase, VMS Investment Group, SoftBank, and Spectrum 28 Capital along with existing investors Formation Group, Time Warner Investments, Comcast Ventures, Stephen Ross’s RSE ...
Customers take a 36% haircut on their bitcoin wallets as Bitfinex socializes losses post hack
Customers of hacked bitcoin exchange Bitfinex (BTXNA, Inc.) are set to take a serious haircut on their bitcoin holdings after the company announced it would be taking 36 percent of the balance of their bitcoin wallets to offset losses following the hack of the company early August. The 36 percent figure represents a generalized loss ...
Facebook user study finds cat owners are more likely to be sad and lonely
The meme based on that “crazy cat lady” may have some basis in truth, with a new study from Facebook, Inc. finding that cat people are more sad and lonely compared to people who own dogs. According to the study of 160,000 users, Facebook found that on average people who own dogs have 26 more friends than ...
Hackers compromise Oracle’s MICROS point-of-sale division, steal passwords
A Russian, organized cyber crime group has breached hundreds of computer systems at Oracle Corp., according to an influential security blog. KrebsOnSecurity claims that the hackers have compromised the customer support portal for companies using Oracle’s MICROS unit, a division that manufactures and sells computer hardware, software, and services for the restaurant point of sale, hotel, hospitality, ...
Yahoo picks up TV shows as Hulu ends free, ad-supported streaming service
Hulu, Inc. is discontinuing its free, ad-supported streaming service, and is instead offering some of its content for free on Yahoo, Inc., the company announced Monday. The move by Hulu to drop direct free streaming, despite the company being founded on that exact model back in 2007, did not come as a complete surprise given ...
FTC to crack down on celebrities, influencers who don’t clearly disclose paid product placements
The days of celebrities and influencers taking money for content and product placements without disclosure may be numbered, with news that the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is cracking down on the practice. The crackdown on paid posts will require celebrities and advertisers to be explicit in telling viewers that the content has been paid for ...
Airbnb raises new round of $850m on $30b valuation
Online accommodation marketplace Airbnb, Inc. is raising a new round of $850 million on a $30 billion valuation, according to a filing the company made with the State of Delaware. According to Bloomberg, the filing did not indicate who made the investment, and Airbnb has declined to comment. The valuation figure on the round is ...
Apple expands its AI lineup by acquiring machine learning startup Turi
Apple, Inc. has made a serious play in the artificial intelligence (AI) space by acquiring machine learning startup Turi, Inc., a company previously known as both Dato and GraphLab. The acquisition price is believed to be $200 million according to Geekwire who broke the story. Founded in 2013, Turi offers a machine learning platform that ...
Hackers stole over 100 vehicles by using a laptop to start them
Two men in Houston, Texas have been arrested for stealing over 100 vehicles by using a laptop computer to hack into the cars to start them. Michael Arce, 24, and Jesse Zelaya, 22, were arrested last weekend after officers caught them stealing a Jeep Grand Cherokee with a laptop and then driving it to southwest ...
Facebook changes news feed to penalize clickbait articles and sites
Facebook announced Thursday that it was changing the way its news feed selects stories by penalizing sites and stories that use clickbait headlines to attract traffic. The company explained the changes as being about making sure the news feed delivered “authentic communication” to users, who are said to like seeing authentic news stories the most. ...