Toast, the Boston-based technology developer for the restaurant industry, has launched a new handheld point-of-sale device and a kitchen display system to integrate the front and back of any restaurant. Using the devices any waiter can become an expert on menu offerings at the touch of a button. The new device lets waitstaff know when items are in or out of stock, what ingredients are in which dishes, and can find potential drink pairings for meals, the company said. The integration with the back-of-the-house kitchen management system means that waiters also get a notification when food is ready without having…
Author: geekfenceblogger
Gold House is a new nonprofit seeking to support Asian Americans in business and culture, and today it’s launching a tried-and-true initiative to bring big names together — a list. The A100 list names 100 of the most influential Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders. Not surprisingly, it’s got Hollywood celebrities like Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Chrissy Teigen (as well as Crazy Rich Asians director Jon M. Chu, who I interviewed a couple years ago), but tech, startups and venture capital are also well-represented. In fact, the Gold House team sent me the 30 names that represent the tech industry on…
Last week at a conference in France, Amazon announced a new Alexa feature that makes it possible to use the smart assistant as repistory for small bits of information. That feature is starting to roll out today to users in the U.S. as “Remember This.” The skill goes like this: say, “Alexa, remember Brian’s birthday is May 11,” and Alexa will respond, in kind, “Okay. I will remember that Brian’s birthday is May 11.” Then, when you need to remember Brian’s birthday (May 11), you say, “Alexa, when is Brian’s birthday,” to which Alexa will respond, “This is what you…
Lego – or LEGO – is expensive and kids – my kids in particular – want a lot of it. Our basement looks like the returns department of a major toy store, covered from corner to corner with toys and, most notably, and endless minefield of little building blocks. And we enjoy building models and imaginative play and my youngest child, Guthrie, loves Star Wars. But all that quality plastic is expensive and the Star Wars kits are the most expensive of all. What are we to do? Add his favorites to holiday gift registries so his grandparents can buy…
There’s nothing altogether unusual about a holiday-related sale, but Google’s decision to drop its Clips camera by $50 through May 13 does leave one wondering if the company’s had some trouble moving the first-generation product. Announced alongside the new Pixel phones back in October, Clips finally hit the market at the end of February. Google hasn’t discussed sales figures, but it seems likely the product didn’t catch the world on fire. The messaging around the device has been a bit confusing from the consumer perspective, and the $249 price point drew a fair bit of criticism, including our own review.…
Facebook wants to prove it can earn businesses money, not just build their social media audience. This morning, just before its big F8 conference, a “Facebook Analytics” app for iOS and Android appeared in the app stores. It touts the ability to “stay on top of your growth, engagement, and conversion efforts on the go. Easily view key metrics and reports, check automated insights, and receive notifications when changes occur.” As social marketing has matured, companies aren’t content just getting Likes, followers, and reach. They want to sell stuff. Between store fronts on Facebook, marketing bots on Messenger, professional accounts…
The UK parliament has issued an impressive ultimatum to Facebook in a last ditch attempt to get Mark Zuckerberg to take its questions: Come and give evidence voluntarily or next time you fly to the UK you’ll get a formal summons to appear. “Following reports that he will be giving evidence to the European Parliament in May, we would like Mr Zuckerberg to come to London during his European trip. We would like the session here to place by 24 May,” the committee writes in its latest letter to the company, signed by its chair, Conservative MP Damian Collins. “It…
Hustle 20X’d its annual revenue run rate in 15 months by denying clients that contradict its political views. It’s a curious, controversial, yet successful strategy for the startup whose app lets activists and marketers text thousands of potential supporters or customers one at a time. Compared to generic email blasts and robocalls, Hustle gets much higher conversion rates because people like connecting with a real human who can answer their follow-up questions. The whole business is built around those relationships, so campaigns, non-profits, and enterprises have to believe in Hustle’s brand. That’s why CEO Roddy Lindsay tells me “We don’t…
Late last year, US airlines united to announce a ban on the use of smart luggage, over battery combustion concerns. The new rules required that bags with built-in electronics have a removable battery, in case they needed to be checked. At the time, Bluesmart CEO Tomi Pierucci called the news “an absolute travesty” in a comment to TechCrunch, noting that his startup was “getting punished,” despite the fact that any number of consumer electronics faced similar issues. This morning, the executive told TechCrunch that the ban has led the company to wind down operations and sell its remaining assets to Travelpro.…
It has emerged that Cambridge Analytica, the political consultancy firm at the center of a data misuse storm involving Facebook user data, has also been banned from advertising on Twitter’s platform. Facebook suspended the company’s account in March after fresh revelations were published about how user data had been passed to the company by a developer on its platform — although the Guardian newspaper originally linked the firm to Facebook data in a story published in December 2015. A Twitter spokesperson confirmed to us what the company describes as a “policy decision to off-board advertising from all accounts owned and…