Hey, Brooklyn, let’s meet up tomorrow

Hello, Brooklyn! I’m restarting my series of micro-meetups in New York with a special tasting at the Van Brunt Stillhouse. The founder, Daric Schlesselman, is a friend of TC and showed off his wares at the last New York Disrupt and he’s offering us a special tasting on Thursday, November 10, 2016 at 7:00 PM. It’s way down in Red Hook, so put on your hiking shoes and let’s see what we can see.

This is more of a social gathering, but I’d love to hear your pitches. You can RSVP hereand I hope to see you at the Stillhouse.

The address is 6 Bay Street, Brooklyn, NY and the tasting costs $10, payable at the place. We can stroll over to another spot for beers after we’re done.

LeEco’s Super Bike isn’t electric, but it sure has a lot of gadgets attached

The LeEco Super Bike may be the perfect analogy for the company that created it. It’s a strange amalgamation that patches together a lot of disparate ideas in a less than elegant way. It’s clearly trying really hard and will no doubt alienate some people with its over-eagerness.

Also, weirdly, it’s not electric.

That last point was the first thing a rep mentioned to me before looking at the bike earlier today. It’s a strange thing to lead with, but it’s likely already proven a pretty big source of confusion among consumers, so might as well cut that confusion off at the pass, really. It does seem a strange piece of technology to omit from “the world’s first super bike.”

At first glance, it brings to mind the bicycle that caused Pee-wee such a headache in the mid-80s. The frame of the thing is a rounded triangle, reminiscent of the Starfleet insignia turned on its side. It gives the bike an added sense of aerodynamics, I suppose, but mostly it just looks weird.

There are a trio of big buttons along the top bar; one controls the front-facing light, another snaps the back-wheel parking brake in place and a third takes shots via an optional front-facing camera, and is otherwise vestigial.

On the tail of the bike, above the rear wheel, are a pair of lasers that shoot red laser pointer-like lines out the side, creating a theoretical safety barrier to keep cars from getting too close. The lights were particularly effective in the lights of the exhibit space, but will presumably operate much better at night when they really matter.

The focal point of the Super Bike’s superness is a four-inch touchscreen that sits up front, between the handlebars, running what the company has deemed “Bike OS” (for obvious reasons) atop Android. The display was actually fairly responsive, and there’s something to be said for built-in GPS, as someone who has gotten lost on his bike several times in the city can certainly attest.

Actually using the mapping functionality while riding is another issue entirely. A four-inch screen is still pretty small when you’re trying to find the next turn while cruising down the street. Pretty clear how that could ultimately be a recipe for disaster, even with all the laser lane markers in the world deployed.

The display also can be used to do things like selecting music, played through a set of downward-facing on-board speakers.

As with most of the company’s non-smartphone/TV offerings, there’s no word yet on pricing or availability here in the States. Though the company assures us that the Super Bike will be available here in some form or other. It’s pretty clear the company mostly wanted to overwhelm its new American audience with all the different things it does in one lavish and bizarre press conference.

And really, the Super Bike is the perfect microcosm of that approach.

SentiOne raises $3.5 million to monitor social media

While it’s not exactly sentient, SentiOne sure sounds like it should be. This Polish company watches social media for brands allowing you to create an instant monitor for any topic. Founded by Bartek Baziński, Michael Brzezicki and Kamil Bargiel, the company raised $3.5 million from Venture TFI and Trigon TFI Group to build out their platform internationally.

The company has been working on the problem since 2011, but they are now able to generate a sentiment analysis in a few seconds, a feature that few systems offer. They have 1,200 customers and are growing at 5.02 percent. It’s a basic, powerful tool for companies and they seem to be taking to it.

“Vast majority of tools on the market, including market leaders do not let you try out and buy their products online, because they’re too complex,” said Bargiel. “We’re the next gen of social listening, we made it so simple and affordable that everyone can start monitoring their brand in 60 seconds.”

The company is focused on Europe now and has a net of bots that finds and stores mentions on their own servers.“We’ve built a database of over 12 billion mentions and counting that can be searched in real-time back to 5 years,” he said.

The team created their tool when they were attending the Gdansk University of Technology. It was a proof of concept until they realized that these sorts of tools were missing on the market. Using their skills in language processing they were able to test sentiment analysis in 20 languages, a massive improvement over the competition. This means a German company can test sentiment in Spain and vice versa. The team is using the cash to expand further and build out their potentially sentient network of sentiment robots. I, for one, welcome our sentient brand-aware overlords.

Microsoft says it will push for diversity and security from the Trump administration

Although Donald Trump’s presidential campaign never netted much support from tech companies, at least one company is now congratulating him on his election victory.

“Every president-elect deserves our congratulations, best wishes and support for the country as a whole. The peaceful transition of power has been an enduring and vital part of our democracy for over two centuries, and it remains so today,” Microsoft chief legal officer Brad Smith wrote in a blog post.

Smith said that Trump’s victory was driven by economic disparity, noting that job growth has not grown evenly for those who have college degrees and those who do not. Trump’s supporters felt “left out and left behind,” he added, noting that Microsoft will work to create new jobs to address the gap.

However, Smith’s post also offers a quiet repudiation of Trump’s anti-immigration and anti-encryption stances.“As we think societally about these new opportunities to address those who have been left behind, it’s critically important that we appreciate the continuing national strengths that serve the country so well,” Smith wrote, noting that diversity has a place in strengthening the economy and encouraging job growth. “We’re committed to promoting not just diversity among all the men and women who work here, but the type of inclusive culture that will enable people to do their best work and pursue rewarding careers.”

His comments on diversity were echoed at eBay, where CEO Devin Wenig issued a memo to employees reminding them of founder Pierre Omidyar’s immigrant background. “As I travel to our offices around the world, I have the privilege to interact with people of countless nationalities and backgrounds. This diversity is one of the most valuable assets we have as we drive our business forward,” Wenig wrote.

Smith also subtly went to bat for consumer privacy and access to encryption (Trump has called for tech companies, most notably Apple, to provide backdoor access to the government).

“People will not use technology they do not trust. We’re committed to developing technology that is secure and trusted, both for Americans and for people around the world,” he wrote, referencing Microsoft’s recent legal victories against the Justice Department on these issues. “As we’ve won the cases we’ve brought, we’ve been reminded of one of this country’s greatest strengths, its strong Constitution, independent judiciary, and the overarching rule of law.”

Peter Thiel’s Big Gamble

Peter Thiel should rightly be admired for sometimes seeing what many others cannot. He understood the power of online money transfers well before most traditional financial institutions. He wrote Facebook a check when it was little more than an interesting startup from another Harvard dropout. Most recently, he anticipated what few of his peers predicted could possibly come to fruition: a Trump presidency.

Of course, Thiel more than recognized that Trump’s ascendancy was unstoppable. He spoke out publicly on Trump’s behalf, including in a keynote speech at the Republican National Conventional. He also donated to Trump’s campaign.

If Trump retreated back to the world of reality television and his real estate dealings after this year’s election, as was widely expected to happen, Silicon Valley and the rest of the business world would eventually forget about Thiel’s ringing endorsement of Trump. As distance grew between Trump’s political aspirations and his ability to initiate global annihilation, the tech community would have been increasingly willing to forgive and forget.

Instead, Trump is now President-elect of the United States of America. And no matter what your position on that outcome – whether you consider him a genius for acknowledging an angry republic and for cutting his way to the most powerful office in the world virtually single-handedly, or you deem him a shallow narcissist who has repeatedly shown disdain for women, minorities, civility, and critical thinking generally — he is wholly inexperienced as a politician. Things will be said that can’t be unsaid. Mistakes will invariably made.

Some of these missteps will impact the people that Peter Thiel knows or wants to know. They will also serve as a constant reminder of his support for Trump.

You might think it’s good news for Thiel that Trump isn’t going away, that Thiel will become a powerful and sought-after conduit to the Oval Office. Maybe so. Unless the next president pleasantly surprises the tech world, however, it seems just as likely that the extreme opposite is going to prove true, that Trump’s years in office will turn Thiel into the pariah that many in Silicon Valley were eager to cast him as during this divisive campaign season.

Thiel made his contrarian bet, and he was right. Now he may discover how deeply unpopular it makes him.

NITDA Sponsors 13 Nigerian Startups to GITEX Global Startup Movement

The 36th GITEX Technology Week also included the GITEX Global Startup Movement, which hosted more than 420 startups from 60 countries, and more than 1,000 entrepreneurs under one roof to invest, sell, and learn. NITDA also sponsored about 13 of Nigeria’s game-changing startups.

To promote international interest in ICT opportunities in Nigeria and across the continent, Nigeria’s National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) hosted an Africa Investment Forum at the recently concluded 36th GITEX Technology Week.

“From digital oilfields running on drones and robotics, to smart grids distributing electricity generated from renewable energy, the energy sector in Nigeria and Africa hosts tremendous investment opportunities. GITEX Technology Week’s Africa Investment Forum provided the opportunity for companies to find new investment opportunities under one roof,” said Dr Isa Ali Ibrahim (Pantami), Director General of Nigeria’s National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA).

With its focus on emerging markets, the GITEX Global Startup Movement is attracted a strong field of innovative entrepreneurs from Africa, among which included these startups from Nigeria, Geniigames, Wecyclers, DIYLaw, Astrosand, Phinnx, Rotors and Pilots, ebooks, Chowhub, Jaramobile, GoMyWay, Pinfoot, ArtNigeria and Logical Address, showcasing and competing for $160,000.

“Dubai connects Africa to global investors and companies. The energy, oil, and gas sector in Nigeria and Africa is rapidly undergoing digital transformation, and key players can discover the latest innovations and business opportunities at GITEX Technology Week,” said Trixie LohMirmand, Senior Vice-President for Exhibitions and Events Management at the Dubai World Trade Centre, which hosts GITEX Technology Week.

In an Interview at the African Investment Forum, the Hon. Minister of Communication, Barr. Abdul-Raheem Adebayo Shittu, said, “although the Government has no business with business. But what our government does its best to encourage Investors, entrepreneurs and startups to be able to do their best and become the best that they can. The Nigerian government is going out of its way now to really encourage all startups and one of the you know very positive steps that government has done is to financially support 16 startups to come from Nigeria to this place all expenses fully paid by government.”

Additionally, he said, “we are going beyond that to also, do a register and a handbook of all these startups, all their contacts, their names, their information about what they are doing, to pack it together and distribute them to the international community for both Nigerian potential investors and potential foreign investors would have access to all of these startups and we believe this sufficient for them to starts collaborating and developing the ideas that our startups have.”

The GITEX Global Startup Movement ended with positive partnerships for startups like Geniigames, who are in talks with the pitch competition winners Acacus Technologies, a Dubai based tracking solution startup on potential collaboration.

Huawei To Consolidate Growth In South Africa With New Service Centres

When the Chinese multinational networking, telecommunications equipment and services company launched its store at Vodacom World in Midrand, Johannesburg in February 2014, they made history as that store became the first Huawei store in Africa. At the event, the company actually revealed their expansion plans which centered on opening additional stores in other parts of South Africa in the nearest future.

Many never knew how far or near that future will be until recently when they announced the official opening of the first two Huawei customer service centres in Johannesburg and Cape Town. These service centres which aside fulfilling their pledge of expanding the tentacles of the company in the country, are majorly targeted towards providing customers with top-notch service in these centres. Services such as training sessions, onsite device repairs, free engraving of devices and sales of extensive range of accessories will be offered at the centres.

Charlene Munilall, GM of Huawei Consumer Business Group SA even asserted that:

“As an innovative brand, Huawei intends to create an interactive space where every customer is important and will be treated as such by our in-store tech heroes. We understand that consumers seek holistic experiences to fit their lifestyles and our service stores succeed in providing this.”

These newly opened stores have been designed to incorporate technology, service, and repair in a flawless manner with the aim of handling to consumer, the convenience they crave from a typical multipurpose free wifi-enabled hub.

“We have seen significant growth in South Africa. Launching a local store is a key element to cater to the growing demand from our customers and further establish our brand in the country,” said Mr Bruce Wong, Huawei Key Account GM for Vodacom.

When this same commitment will spread to other African countries is a question no one has a concise answer to, but its tilting more towards sooner than later because according to Wong “Africa has great potential and is a key market for Huawei.”