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Technology
The world of phone-based AR has involved a lot of promises, but the future thatdeveloped has so far been more iterative and less platform shift-y. For startups exclusively focused on mobile AR, therebeen some soul-searching to find ways to bring more lightweight experiences to life that don&t require as much friction or commitment from users.
8th Wall is a team focused on building developer tools for mobile AR experiences. The startup has raised more than $10 million to usher developers into the augmented world.
The company announced this week that they&ve built a one-stop shop authoring platform that will help its customers create and ship AR experiences that will be hosted by 8th Wall . Ita step forward in what they&ve been trying to build and a further sign that marketing activations are probably the most buoyant money-makers in the rather flat phone-based AR space at the moment.
The editor supports popular immersive web frameworks like A-Frame, three.js and Babylon.js. Ita development platform, but while game engine tools like Unity have features focused on heavy rendering, 8th Wall is more interested in &very fast, lightweight projects that can be built up to any scale,& the startupCEO Erik Murphy tells TechCrunch.
8th Wallinitial sell was an augmented reality platform akin to ARKit and ARCore that allowed developers to build content that supported a wider breadth of smartphones. Today, 8th Wallteam of 14 is focused on a technology called WebAR that allows mobile phones to call up web experiences inside the browser.
The main sell of WebAR is the same appeal of web apps; users don&t need to download anything and they can access the experience with just a link. This is great for branded marketing interactions, where expecting users to download an app is pretty laughable; moving this process to the web with a link or a QR code makes life much easier.
The startupcloud-based authoring and hosting platform is available now for its agency and business users.
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Read more: 8th Wall’s new Cloud Editor helps customers quickly build mobile AR experiences
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Kepler Communications, the Toronto-based startup thatfocused on developing and deploying shoebox-sized satellites to provide telecommunications services, is opening up registration for those interested in getting their first developer kits. These developer kits, designed to help potential commercial customers take advantage of its Internet of Things (IoT) narrowband connectivity deploying next year, will then be made available to purchase for elect partners next year.
This kind of early access is designed to give a head start on testing and integration to companies interested in using the kind of connectivity Kepler intends on providing. Kepler‘s service is designed to provide global coverage using a single network for IoT operators, at low costs relative to the market, for applications including tracking shipping containers, railway networks, livestock and crops and much more. Kepler says that its IoT network, which will be made up of nanosatellites designed specifically for this purpose it plans to launch throughout next year and beyond, is aimed at industries where you don&t need high bandwidth, as you would for say HD consumer video streaming, but where coverage across large, often remote areas on a consistent basis is key.
IoT connectivity provided by constellations of orbital satellites is an increasing area of focus and investment, as large industries look to modernize their monitoring and tracking operations. Startup Swarm recently got permission from the FCC to launch its 150-small satellite constellation, for instance, to establish a service to address similar needs.
Kepler, founded in 2015, has raised more than $20 million in funding, and has launched two small satellites thus far, including one in January and one in November of 2018. The company announced a contract with ISK and GK Launch Services to deploy two more sometime in the middle of next year aboard a Soyuz rocket.
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Write comment (97 Comments)Facebook today announced it has filed suit in California against domain registrar OnlineNIC and its proxy service ID Shield for registering domain names that pretend to be associated with Facebook, like www-facebook-login.com or facebook-mails.com, for example. Facebook says these domains are intentionally designed to mislead and confuse end users, who believe they&re interacting with Facebook.
These fake domains are also often associated with malicious activity, like phishing.
While some who register such domains hope to eventually sell them back to Facebook at a marked-up price, earning a profit, others have worse intentions. And with the launch of Facebookown cryptocurrency, Libra, a number of new domain cybersquatters have emerged. Facebook was recently able to take down some of these, like facebooktoken.org and ico-facebook.org, one of which had already started collecting personal information from visitors by falsely touting a Facebook ICO.
Facebooks& new lawsuit, however, focuses specifically on OnlineNIC, which Facebook says has a history of allowing cybersquatters to register domains with its privacy/proxy service, ID Shield. The suit alleges that the registered domains, like hackingfacebook.net, are being used for malicious activity, including &phishing and hosting websites that purported to sell hacking tools.&
The suit also references some 20 other domain names that are confusingly similar to Facebook and Instagram trademarks, it says.
OnlineNIC has been sued before for allowing this sort of activity, including by Verizon, Yahoo, Microsoft and others. In the case of Verizon (disclosure: TechCrunch parent), OnlineNIC was found liable for registering more than 600 domain names similar to Verizontrademark, and the courts awarded $33.15 million in damages as a result, Facebookfiling states.
Facebook is asking for a permanent injunction against OnlineNICactivity, as well as damages.
The company says it took this issue to the courts because OnlineNIC has not been responsive to its concerns. Facebook today proactively reports instances of abuse with domain name registrars and their privacy/proxy services, and often works with them to take down malicious domains. But the issue is widespread — there are tens of millions of domain names registered through these services today. Some of these businesses are not reputable, however. Some, like OnlineNIC, will not investigate or even respond to Facebookabuse reports.
The news of the lawsuit was previously reported by Cnet and other domain name news sources, based on courthouse filings.
Attorney David J. Steele, who previously won the $33 million judgement for Verizon, is representing Facebook in the case.
&By mentioning our apps and services in the domain names, OnlineNIC and ID Shield intended to make them appear legitimate and confuse people. This activity is known as cybersquatting and OnlineNIC has a history of this behavior,& writes Facebook, in an announcement. &This lawsuit is one more step in our ongoing efforts to protect peoplesafety and privacy,& it says.
OnlineNIC has been asked for comment and we&ll update if it responds.
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Read more: Facebook sues OnlineNIC for domain name fraud associated with malicious activity
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Write comment (93 Comments)Motorcycle racing series Supercross isn&t quite ready to add an EV class.
The sport — where riders race high-performance machines on jump-filled stadium tracks — currently fields only gas-powered two-wheelers.
Supercross was poised to launch an all-electric class this month, by converting its junior program to a new e-moto manufactured by KTM — Supercross Director of Operations Dave Prater told TechCrunch in April.
&We haven&t one-hundred-percented it yet, but itfairly close and we&re…going to race that electric KTM in October,& he said.
That won&t likely happen for the upcoming 2020 season, but input from Supercross and KTM indicates the launch of a junior EV class could be imminent.
On why it didn&t kick-off in October, &That would be a KTM question,& Prater told TechCrunch on a call this week.
&As a company, we&re embracing EV racing. At the moment, we&re beholden to the OEMand how quickly they want to introduce it into the mix,& he added.
The first-mover OEM could still be KTM and the first electric class the juniors.
&The KTM Junior racing in Supercross is an incredible experience for a small group of kids and their parents. Atsome point we might start using the SX-E5,& KTMGroup Marketing Manager for North America Tom Moen told TechCrunch in an email.
&We can&t have them racing something that is not readily available,& he added.
KTMSX-E5 launched in the U.S. this month, but won&t be available in dealerships until late November, according to Moen.
So for now, there appears to be a timing gap between Supercross and KTM.
Another area to watch for the introduction of e-moto competition — according to Moen — is outdoor dirt series Motocross, the rules of which (like Supercross) are governed by the American Motorcyclist Association (AMA).
&The AMA…is working on classes for the AMA Loretta Lynnchampionships for 2020, which is the national amateur MX series, the finals happen late summer, this is much more important racing wise,& Moen said.
TechCrunch has an inquiry into AMA for confirmation and will update accordingly.
One hurdle to entering electric motorcycles in AMA gas racing is how to classify battery powered two-wheelers compared to internal combustion engines that the AMA classes based on displacement, AMA off-road racing manager Erek Kudla explained to TechCrunch in April.
The other potentially larger hurdle (as SupercrossDave Prater alluded to) is the lack of an OEM-produced competition e-moto capable of racing at or near the specs of the high-performance gas machines that run in Supercross and Motocross.
California based EV startup Alta Motors had come the closest toward creating an e-moto toward that endeavor, but went bankrupt before getting there.
In addition to its junior SX-E5, KTM debuted its Freeride E-XC adult off-road e-motorcycle in the U.S. in 2018, but KTM didn&t indicate if this was the bike it was planning to reconfigure for motocross.
For the moment, it looks like seven to eight-year-olds racing KTMSX-E5 in Supercross could be the nearest bet for EV motorcycle competition.
And Supercross creating an all EV junior class has a spot of relevance in the overall transformation of global mobility — namely the conversion of the motorcycle industry to electric.
Factors such as declining sales among young people and competitive pressure from EV startups are pushing the big names toward E offerings. Harley-Davidson launched its first e-moto, the $29K LiveWire, this year as part of a full EV pivot.
Zero Motorcycles is challenging HD with its new $19K SR/F. And rumors have floated on Ducati developing an e-moto, after the Italian company debuted two e-bicycles.
Harley and e-moto companies such as Zero have spoken of the importance of early adopters to embrace e-motorcycles. Harley made moves this year to reach the earliest of early adopters when it acquired kids e-bicycle company StaCyc.
Launching one of motorcycle racingfirst all-electric classes with juniors and pairing it to Supercrossstadium venues could become more than an EV gateway for OEM KTM.
It could actually start young riders on e-motos before they&ve ever ridden gas and keep them running on voltage into teen and adult years.
For the motorcycle industry at large, that means creating a future EV market versus trying convert one with preferences set in fossil-fuel the past.
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Read more: Supercross’s anticipated EV class not ready for primetime in 2020
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