Author : zebethcontrol

‘She Matters’ is the name and mission of a BIPOC-focused postpartum care startup • ZebethMedia

By zebethcontrolPosted on October 18, 2022Posted in Battlefield 200, Biotech & Health, Disrupt, postpartum care, She Matters, Startups, TechCrunch Disrupt 2022No Comments

After Jade Kearney suffered postpartum depression and anxiety but was dismissed by care providers, she hoped to create a platform where Black women like her can access culturally competent care. Her experience led her to found and lead She Matters, a digital health platform focused on supporting Black women experiencing postpartum comorbidities, and providing cultural competency training for care providers. The company is part of the Battlefield 200 at ZebethMedia Disrupt 2022. “It’s not only up to black women to understand terminology around postpartum care, and understand maternal health and submerge ourselves in all things birthing,” Kearney said. “It’s up to the health care system and health care professionals to meet us halfway and be culturally competent and help us.” Training requires providers to attend courses but also interact with Black women in the community. Kearney told ZebethMedia they require those interactions so doctors can better understand the communities’ concerns and needs. At a given time the company can train upwards of 500 care professionals per contract across all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and 3 U.S. territories. Image Credits: She Matters In addition to providing physicians training, She Matters allows individuals to access what they call “The Pink Book”, making a reference to The Green Book used by Black motorists in the Jim Crow era. The book is an interactive map that users can use to find what they believe are “the safest hospitals across 14 states with the largest African-American populations in the United States.” Individuals can also request to be part of the She Matters community to access events and information from qualified physicians. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, infant mortality rates are highest among BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) communities, especially among Black birthing people. For every 1,000 live births close to 11 infants pass away. Additionally, Black women are four times more likely to die during childbirth and 80% more likely to be admitted to an emergency room during postpartum than their white peers. The hope for companies like She Matters is that by increasing cultural competency, the rates above will lessen. “The only way a doctor can truly help you is if you feel comfortable being honest with what you’re experiencing, and there are a lot of barriers to honesty for black women,” Kearney said. “There’s so much negative history between black women in the healthcare system, that it makes it hard to get to the root of a lot of postpartum maternal illnesses in general because we’re afraid of doctors, we feel like we won’t be heard. And if you look at the health care system in America, it needs to be improved because it is steeped in systemic racism.” Although the company’s main focus is on Black birthing people, the company will be releasing We Matter as an additional product line in 2023 to better serve other historically marginalized communities. We Matter will include Ella Importa (Latinx/a community focus); Native Her (Indigenous community focus); and They Matter (LGBTQIA+ community focus).

Here’s a peek at what’s happening on day one at Disrupt • ZebethMedia

By zebethcontrolPosted on October 18, 2022Posted in Disrupt, Startups, TechCrunch Disrupt 2022No Comments

Welcome to the first day of ZebethMedia Disrupt! Yeah, baby, we are ready to jump right into a jam-packed day dedicated to the growth and success of the entire early-stage startup ecosystem. Check out our day-one highlights to whet your appetite and then dig in! Latecomers always welcome: Buy a pass right here. You’ll find all the day’s programs, stage location and times listed in the Disrupt agenda and in the event app. Expo Hall & Demo Booths Head to the expo hall each day to check out early-stage Startup Battlefield 200 exhibitors and sponsor booths. Investor ReceptionReceptions | 12:00 pm Meet and network with fellow investors attending ZebethMedia Disrupt at this Investor Luncheon OPEN TO INVESTOR TICKET TYPES ONLY. Live on Stage: ZebethMedia’s EquityTC Plus Stage | 9:05 am Start your day off right — join Mary Ann Azevedo, Natasha Mascarenhas and Alex Wilhelm at the ZebethMedia+ stage for a live recording of Equity, the podcast about the business of startups. They’ll unpack the numbers and nuance behind the headlines and will wade through the hype to keep you up-to-date on the world of business, tech and VC. Come for the news and analysis, stay for the jokes — and for breakfast! Winning the War on RansomwareTC Plus Stage | 11:30 am Ransomware attacks are escalating at an alarming rate. We’ll hear from experts about what winning the war on ransomware looks like and how startups can play their part — with Brett Callow, threat analyst at Emsisoft, and Katie Moussouris, founder and CEO of Luta Security. How to Secure Those Hard to Find HiresTC Plus Stage | 10:50 am Hiring is not easy, even in the best of times. With a tight tech talent market and an increasingly remote-friendly — and therefore globally competitive — corporate landscape, founders have never had more places to hire from and more competitors to measure up against. So we’re going to talk with Chris Herd (Firstbase), an advocate for remote work, and Emil Yeargin, VP of talent at Gusto, which is not only hiring but also helps other companies manage their staff. And we’ll hear from Janine O’Neill (Sequoia), who knows a thing or two about hiring for startups. We’ll go deep on hiring with a special focus on hard-to-fill roles. Framing Innovation Through Collaborations Big and Small with AT&TTC Plus Stage | 2:10 PMConnectivity isn’t a nice-to-have for innovation. It’s mandatory, and collaboration between AT&T and startups at all stages could push the world forward and provide the framework for innovation. Join this session with AT&T CTO Jeremy Legg and a special guest panelist as they discuss the key elements your startup needs to drive tomorrow’s next connectivity innovation breakthrough. Marc’s LoreDisrupt Stage | 10:00 am Billionaire Marc Lore sold his startup to an everything store, twice. After inking deals with Amazon and Walmart, the Quidsi and Jet.com co-founder has launched Wonder to tackle a common problem — food delivery — in an unconventional way. Get ready for a delicious conversation. Bankrolling the Blockchain with a16z CryptoDisrupt Stage | 10:25 am Venture firm Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) is the largest and one of the best-known funding sources for web3 startups. Alongside a16z founder Marc Andreessen, general partner Chris Dixon has been integral to the firm’s rise as a giant in the crypto VC world — he was an early investor in startups, including Coinbase, Uniswap and Oculus VR. Hear from Dixon about how a16z crypto is putting its massive $7.6 billion pool of capital to work by backing early-stage web3 companies. ZebethMedia Startup Battlefield presented by Capital Connect by J.P. MorganDisrupt Stage | 10:50 am & 2:30 pm ZebethMedia’s iconic startup competition is back, as entrepreneurs from around the world pitch expert judges and vie for the Startup Battlefield Cup and $100,000.Live Making Care Actually WorkDisrupt Stage | 1:40 pm Cityblock Health has experienced considerable growth on the back of a care model designed to actually meet the recipients of care where they already are — while still satisfying the needs of payers. It appears to be true accessibility in a framework that works with the existing U.S. healthcare infrastructure, but we’ll hear from CEO Toyin Ajayi about the work that remains to be done. Breaking Into the Healthcare Monolith: Strategies for working with Payors and Providers with InterSystemsRoundtable | 10:30 am How do you build a health-tech startup that can achieve high growth? What can startups do to make their technologies more compelling to the biggest players in healthcare: payors and health systems? In this session we will discuss the pain points of getting into healthcare, as well as strategies to open doors to these organizations for pilots and sustainable revenue. You’ll leave this round table discussion with a list of best practices from InterSystems’ 40+ years in the healthcare industry. Design and Scale Using Behavioral ScienceRoundtable | 11:00 am We are building technology for the future but have forgotten that our users still rely on a brain that hasn’t changed in 40,000 years. To design and scale successful products, learn how to leverage the power of behavioral science, and cater to the ancient decision-maker inside all of us — with Shirin Oreizy, founder and CEO, Next Step. The CPO-to-CEO Pipeline with Egon ZehnderRoundtable | 11:00 am The product function has never been as important as it is today. As we see it continuously evolve and expand in importance, are product leaders poised to develop into the next generation of CEOs? Join a discussion with advisors who offer their expertise in evaluating future CEOs, hearing how other product leaders have made this transition. Additionally, compare notes with others on what this trend, along with the expanding mandate of the product role, could mean for the function. Why nine out of ten startups fail with MayfieldRoundtable | 1:00 pm Two-time entrepreneur Dheeraj Pandey (former co-founder and CEO of Nutanix and current CEO and co-founder of DevRev) will talk about what he learned from founding a company and taking it to a

Rolls-Royce Spectre EV to launch next year with 260-mile range • ZebethMedia

By zebethcontrolPosted on October 18, 2022Posted in electric vehicle, EV, rolls-royce, Spectre, TransportationNo Comments

Rolls-Royce plans to deliver its first EV, the Spectre two-door coupe, to customers late next year as it transitions toward becoming a fully electric brand by 2030. The company estimates that the Spectre will travel up to 260 miles on a fully charged battery, deliver 577 horsepower and zip from 0 to 60 mph in 4.4 seconds. Those are similar figures to the Cadillac Celestiq, another rarefied EV announced this week starting north of $300,000. The Spectre will likely be priced above $400,000, in line with the rest of Rolls-Royce’s portfolio. The four-seater fastback sports 23-inch wheels — seen for the first time on a Rolls-Royce production two-door coupe in almost a century — and the brand’s widest-ever grille. Unlike competitors, Rolls-Royce skipped the hybrid phase in its path to becoming a battery-electric brand. However, its parent company, BMW Group, builds several hybrid models, including its forthcoming XM, a 644-horsepower plug-in hybrid crossover that ranks as BMW’s most powerful production model. Most ultra-luxury brands are launching plug-in hybrids prior to producing fully electric models. Bentley, which launched its first plug-in hybrid model last year, is preparing to build its first EV in 2025. Aston Martin plans to produce its first battery-electric model in 2026, following the launch of its 1,000-horsepower Valhalla plug-in hybrid at Pebble Beach. McLaren, which launched the Artura plug-in hybrid this year, plans to produce its first EV in 2028. These will be far from the most expensive EVs on the market. Both Rimac and Pininfarina began producing $2.5 million battery-electric hypercars this summer. The Rimac Nevera and Pininfarina Battista share common DNA — Rimac supplies Pininfarina with its 120-kilowatt battery pack and powertrain — and deliver 1,900 horsepower.

Apple will release iPadOS 16 and macOS Ventura on October 24 • ZebethMedia

By zebethcontrolPosted on October 18, 2022Posted in Apple, Apps, Hardware, ipados 16, macos venturaNo Comments

Apple is releasing iPadOS 16 and macOS Ventura on October 24, the company confirmed on Tuesday amidst a slew of other announcements. iPadOS 16 includes Stage Manager, which offers easier multitasking and switching between apps. The feature was previously only compatible with the M1-powered iPad Air and the 11-inch and 12.9-inch iPad Pro models released last year, but will also be coming to third and fourth-generation iPad Pro models. Stage Manager automatically organizes apps and windows, allowing users to drag and drop windows from the side or open apps from the Dock to create groups of apps. The window of the app users are working on is displayed in the center, and other open apps and windows are arranged on the left-hand side in order of recency. The feature also works with macOS Ventura to create a kind of sidebar where the rest of your open apps sit. The windows are organized by stacks, and your messy desktop files disappear into the ether. When windows are minimized, move over to that left side bar, rather than the tool bar. macOS Ventura also comes with a feature called Continuity Camera, which allows your to use your iPhone as a webcam when you download Ventura on your macOS and iOS 16 on a compatible device. Apple also announced today that its new M2 iPad Pro will launch on October 26. The iPas Pro is getting a spec refresh revolving around an upgrade for the M1 to an M2 chip. The new chip includes eight CPU cores, with a performance bump of around 15%. The GPU is 10 cores, with a stated 35% performance boost, according to Apple. The company also announced a new new version of its entry-level iPad that Apple simply calls “the iPad.” It’s a dramatic refresh as Apple is swapping the familiar design with rounded edges and a home button. Instead, the iPad now looks more like the iPad Air and iPad Pro. The device starts at $449, which is more expensive than the previous version, which was priced at $329. In addition, Apple announced the newest Apple TV 4K today, which features a lower price and more storage. The new Apple TV 4K will be available to purchase on November 4 and will come with an updated Siri remote with a USB-C port for charging. Apple also notes that the A15 Bionic chip delivers up to 50% more CPU performance. The new Apple TV 4K also has HDR10+ and Dolby Vision support for better video quality.

RED and Fuji are building Frame.io’s Camera to Cloud right into their cameras • ZebethMedia

By zebethcontrolPosted on October 18, 2022Posted in Adobe, frame.io, Hardware, red cameraNo Comments

It’s been eighteen months since Adobe acquired Frame.io, the video collaboration service that helps anyone from freelancers to large production houses streamline their review and editing workflows. One of the core features of Frame.io is its Camera to Cloud (C2C) technology, which greatly speeds up the process of uploading and sharing video in the middle of the production process. Until now, though, that still involved plugging memory cards or hard drives into another computer and uploading clips to the cloud. Now, as Adobe announced today, some camera manufacturers will build C2C right into their devices. The first partners here are RED and Fujifilm. RED, which has long enabled C2C for its cameras through a Teradec CUBE 655, will now bring the ability to upload Redcode RAW files from its V-Raptor and V-Raptor XL cameras right to Frame.io, without the need for any intermediary steps. Fujifilm’s X-H2S, too, will get support for C2C in the near future. Image Credits: Adobe Unlike the RED cameras, which retail for over $25,000 (without all of the necessary accessories) and are all about video, the $2,500 Fujifilm X-H2S — like all mirrorless cameras these days — handles both video and photo. Using Fujifilm’s FT-XH file transfer attachment, photographers will soon be able to use C2C right from their camera, starting in Spring 2023, when Fujifilm plans to launch an updated version of the camera’s firmware. “While shooting to the cloud certainly speeds up your workflow, there’s more to it than just that. It also increases the flexibility and control you have over the way you work. Imagine your raw camera footage being instantly backed up and accessible to anyone without downloading or shipping a drive. That’s what we’re doing, and the Camera to Cloud ecosystem we’re building is the key,” Frame.io’s Michael Cioni explained in today’s announcement.

Adobe makes selecting and deleting objects and people in Photoshop and Lightroom a lot easier • ZebethMedia

By zebethcontrolPosted on October 18, 2022Posted in Adobe, AI, Apps, lightroom, photoshopNo Comments

Photoshop and Lightroom are incredibly powerful tools for manipulating images, but since the beginning of time, the most frustrating part of working with these tools has been selecting specific objects to cut them out of an image, move them elsewhere, etc. Over the years, the object selection tools got a lot better, but for complex objects — and especially for masking people — your results still depend on how much patience you have. At its MAX conference, Adobe today announced a number of updates across its photo-centric tools that make all of this a lot easier, thanks to the power of its AI platform. In an earlier update in 2020, Adobe already launched an Object Selection tool that could recognize some types of objects. Now, this tool is getting a lot smarter and can recognize complex objects like the sky, buildings, plants, mountains, sidewalks etc. But maybe more importantly, the system has also gotten a lot more precise and can now preserve the details of a person’s hair, for example, in its masks. That’s a massive time saver. Image Credits: Adobe For those times when you just want to delete an object and then fill in the empty space, using Photoshop’s Content-Aware Fill, the company now introduced a shortcut. Shift+Delete and the object is gone and (hopefully) patched over in with an AI-created filler. On the iPad, mobile users can now remove an image’s background with a single tap and they also get one-tap Content-Aware fill (this is slightly different from the one-click delete and fill feature mentioned above, but achieves a very similar same outcome. iPad users can now use the improved Select Subject AI model as well to more easily select people, animals and objects. Image Credits: Adobe A lot of this AI-powered masking capability is also coming to Lightroom. There’s now a ‘Select People’ feature, for example, that can detect and generate masks for individuals and groups in any images — and you can select specific body parts, too Unsurprisingly, the same Select Objects technology from Photoshop is also coming to Lightroom, as is the one-click select background feature from the iPad version of Photoshop. There’s also now a content-aware remove feature in Lightroom. All of this is powered by Adobe’s Sensei AI platform, which has been a central focus of the company’s efforts in recent years. But what’s maybe even more important is that these efforts have allowed Adobe to turn these features into modules that it can now bring to its entire portfolio and adapt them to specific devices and their use case. On the iPad, for example, the background selection feature is all about deleting that background while in Lightroom it is only about selecting it, but in the end, it’s the same AI model that powers both. Image Credits: Adobe This is, of course, only a small selection of all of the new features coming to Photoshop and Lightroom. There are also features like support for HDR displays in Camera Raw, improved neural filters, a new photo restoration filter, improvements to Photoshop’s tools for requesting review feedback and plenty more.

Nigeria’s AltSchool increases course options amidst soaring tech-skill demand • ZebethMedia

By zebethcontrolPosted on October 18, 2022Posted in AltSchool Africa, Nigeria, Startups, TechCrunch Disrupt 2022No Comments

After launching its inaugural school of engineering earlier this year and raising pre-seed funding, Nigeria’s AltSchool has expanded its catalog to include data and product schools, responding to the growing demand for these technical skills by youth and employers. Among the new courses are product marketing, design and management, and data science, engineering and analysis. This is in addition to a software engineering course where students specialize in either frontend, backend, and cloud engineering. AltSchool’s co-founder and CEO Adewale Yusuf told ZebethMedia that since launch, the school has received increased interest for the courses it offers, pointing to a growing pool of youth that are keen on careers in tech. To paint a picture of the demand, AltSchool, one of the exhibitors at ZebethMedia Disrupt 2022, received 9,200 applications in its initial call, but could only admit about half. “The year has been great so far; we’ve experienced tremendous growth. We got an exemption from California’s Bureau of Post-Private Secondary Education (BPPE), are on the path to $1 million Annual Recurring Revenue, and we have helped people get jobs in more than seven countries,” said Yusuf. Tuition at AltSchool costs $30 per month, an equivalent of a dollar a day, making it a learning path that is much more affordable than traditional college options. The school currently has students in over eight countries across Africa, having recently set up a hub in Rwanda to support its growth beyond West Africa. For admission, students are required to pass an entrance assessment test, but the online school offers a three-month probation for those that do not meet the metrics in the first round. Its courses are short, lasting up to a year (including an internship), enabling the school to churn talent out fast enough to meet the market demand. Overall, the demand for developers is expected to grow especially within the startup ecosystem, which already hires half of Africa’s developers, as more startups are launched or scale up powered by VC funding. Additionally, tech giants like Amazon and Google are scouting for talent in Africa further raising the demand for local developers. “The demand for technical talent is at an all-time high. And companies are looking outside of their primary market to hire talent. This is a significant opportunity for African countries like Nigeria and Ghana among others, as English is the primary Language, and the time zone is favorable,” Yusuf said. Yusuf founded the startup together with Akintunde Sultan and Opeyemi Awoyemi in October last year after noticing a knowledge gap among software engineers while running TalentQL, another startup that recruits and manages remote talent on behalf of companies. They launched AltSchool to upskill these software engineers lacking “foundational knowledge” and to train people making a career switch to technology. The school has partnered with higher learning institutions across Africa to offer diplomas to students.

Foxconn pushes deeper into automotive with an electric pickup and crossover • ZebethMedia

By zebethcontrolPosted on October 18, 2022Posted in electric pickup, Foxconn, hon hai, TransportationNo Comments

Foxconn, the Taiwanese manufacturing giant that makes Apple’s iPhones, unveiled Tuesday two electric vehicle concepts at its third annual Hon Hai Tech Day as the company tries to diversify its business and take on the automotive market. The two vehicles, a Model V electric pickup truck and Model B electric crossover hatchback, is a message to automakers (and specifically, Tesla): Foxconn is open for business. At the event, Foxconn’s chairman Liu Young-way said the company wanted to replicate its level of success manufacturing consumer gadgets into producing EVs for automakers. Young-way even said he hopes Foxconn will one day make cars for Tesla. Foxconn’s Model V electric pickup. Image Credit: Foxconn In the U.S., the company is already working with Lordstown Motors and Fisker to produce EVs on their behalf, and is also partnering with Taiwanese automaker Yulon Group to build its Model C, an electric SUV that was first revealed this time last year at Foxconn’s last Tech Day. While the main event was the Model B crossover and the Model V pickup, Foxconn also showcased the Model C, which the company says can travel from 0 to 60 miles per hour in 3.8 seconds and a range of 435 miles. Foxconn expects the Model C to be delivered to Yulon in Taiwan in the second half of next year. Foxconn Model B electric crossover. Image Credit: Foxconn The Model B crossover will be based on the Model C platform, but will come with a new body design, according to the company. It will have an S-duct design, which is often seen on aircraft, a streamlined roof and an air curtain that will reduce air turbulence and allow for a drag coefficient of 0.26. The Model B will have a range of about 280 miles, Foxconn said. Details for the Model V were scant, but Foxconn says it will be Taiwan’s first self-developed electric pickup and will have a payload of up to 1 ton and a towing capacity of 3 tons (of course no word on how that towing will affect range). The all-terrain EV pickup will have a double-cab, five-seat configuration, and will feature a range of sensors around the vehicle which Foxconn says “not only improves safety, but offers intelligent technology to users.” We’re interpreting that as an advanced driver assistance system. Foxconn’s strategy leans heavily into vertical integration. The plan is to standardize software and hardware that will be shared across its vehicles as well as help its automaker customers like Lordstown Motors and Fisker. Vertical integration isn’t certainly not new. Tesla is famous for it. Today, an increasing number of automakers including legacy companies like General Motors, are pushing even deeper into that strategy. Foxconn says its HHEV.OS software platform will help shorten the development time of vehicles for a more rapid launch. “We used to make PCs and mobile phones. From now and into the future, we will create EVs,” said Young-way in a statement. “In the EV industry, we are resolute about CDMS: This means contract design and manufacturing service. This commitment will not change. In the next 10 years, Hon Hai in the EV industry will redefine CDMS in the automotive field and continue to promote vertically integrated technology services.”

Apple’s new Apple TV 4K gets a performance upgrade and lower price • ZebethMedia

By zebethcontrolPosted on October 18, 2022Posted in Apple, apple tv, HardwareNo Comments

Apple announced the newest Apple TV 4K today, featuring a lower price, better performance, and more storage. Plus, the A15 Bionic chip delivers up to 50% more CPU performance and 30% more GPU performance than the previous model. It also has HDR10+ and Dolby Vision support for better video quality. The new ‌Apple TV‌ 4K will become available to purchase on November 4 and consumers will get an updated ‌Siri‌ remote with a USB-C port for charging. There are two configurations that consumers can choose from– Apple TV 4K (Wi-Fi) and Apple TV 4K (Wi-Fi + Ethernet). The first option, Apple TV 4K (Wi-Fi), will be available at a new, lower price of $129 and will come with 64GB of storage. The more premium model will have 128GB of storage, Gigabit Ethernet, and Thread networking. The new starting price is a far better value than last year’s $179 model, which only had 32GB of storage. “Apple TV 4K is the ultimate way for Apple users to enjoy their favorite entertainment on the biggest screen in the home, and now it is more powerful than ever,” said Bob Borchers, Apple’s vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing, in a statement. “The new Apple TV 4K is unlike anything else out there, given its seamless connection to other Apple devices, ease of use, and access to amazing Apple content.”

Albany Amazon union vote fails • ZebethMedia

By zebethcontrolPosted on October 18, 2022Posted in Amazon, Government & Policy, union, unionizingNo Comments

The latest effort to unionize among Amazon warehouse workers fell short by a wide margin this morning. The National Labor Relations Board tallied results from last week’s vote, showing a significant win for the corporation’s anti-union push. Of the 949 eligible fulfillment center staff near Albany, New York, 643 votes were cast in total. The vote against won 406 to 206, with 31 challenges and four voided ballots. The challenged ballots are nowhere near the number required to close the gap. As ever, the final results need to be certified by the National Labor Relations Board, and if past is any prologue, a challenge seems likely from the union. The involved parties have five days to issue a formal challenge to the results. No doubt a decisive decision such as this will be seen as a major setback for unionization efforts that have been gaining momentum in the company for a number of years. This April, workers at a Staten Island fulfillment center voted in favor of Amazon’s first union. Overall, however, the results have been a mixed bag, including failures to unionize at another Staten Island location and one in Bessemer, Alabama, which was the initial flashpoint for the growing efforts. Meanwhile, workers across the U.S. recently won an hourly wage increase from $15.70 to $17 an hour, as the effects of inflation continue to be felt across the country.