Brian Heater
TechCrunch
New York, United States
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Discover and connect with journalists and influencers around the world, save time on email research, monitor the news, and more.
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Recent articles by Brian:
Singapore-based Sesto Robotics targets international expansion with $5.7M raise –
Singapore-based industrial robotics firm Sesto this week announced a $5.7 million raise, featuring TRIVE, WTI GmbH and SEEDS Capital (Enterprise Singapore’s VC wing). The round follows a similarly sized $4 million Series A, back in 2018. Sesto has had a busy few years since that round — as have many in the industrial robotics category, […] → Read More
The year of living autonomously –
Even in the era of the virtual event, it tends to take me a few days to recover from the whirlwind of CES. Frontloading the year’s big hardware news is a bit less than ideal, but perhaps the changing nature of the big tech event will bring adjustments to the news cycle, as well. For […] → Read More
This device attaches magnetically to a face mask to monitor the wearer’s vitals –
Perhaps 2022 will be the year consumer health tracking moves beyond the wrist. We’ve seen Oura’s rise over the past few years and a CES that brought with it a couple of ring fitness trackers. Following Google’s addition to vital and sleep tracking on the Nest Home, Sengled is adding the feature to a smart […] → Read More
Second Amazon warehouse union vote planned for next month via mail-in ballot –
The National Labor Relations Board today issued an announcement detailing plans for a second vote among Amazon’s Bessemer, Alabama warehouse employees. The planned follow-up would be conducted via USPS mail-in ballots, which will be mailed out February 4 and counted March 28. Late last year, the director of the NLRB’s 10th region announced that a […] → Read More
3 views on CES 2022 –
CES is still a fantastic car show — but if you work at a hardware startup, it's time to rethink your media strategy. → Read More
Let’s talk CES gadgets –
Long gone are the days when CES actually stood for “Consumer Electronics Show” — the CTA has seen to that in its various small print. I recommend you check out our recent best of CES 2012 story for a look back on the days when things like smartphones took center stage at the event. Mobile […] → Read More
At CES 2022, metaverses metaversed the metaverse –
In the lead up to CES, I wrote a piece reflecting on top tech of CES 2012. It was an interesting exercise for a number of reasons — not the least of which was recalling the buzzwords from 10 years ago. That year, LTE and ultrabooks topped the list. One had a great run. The […] → Read More
Lululemon names Twitch exec Mike Aragon CEO of Mirror –
Months after the surprise departure of Mirror founder Brynn Putnum, Lululemon today announced that it has former Twitch Chief Content Officer Mike Aragon to run the connected fitness brand. Effective January 17, Aragon will be stepping into the CEO for both Mirror and Lululemon’s Digital Fitness line. “Mike Aragon has an impressive track record of […] → Read More
Consumer Robotics Show –
CES has always been a weird show for robotics. That’s not an indictment of the show itself, so much as a comment on the state of robotics generally. It’s true the organization behind the show dropped the name “Consumer Electronics Show” some number of years ago (a fact it continues to be very insistent about […] → Read More
Reflections on another strange pandemic-era CES –
In the weeks leading up to CES, we made a difficult decision. With omicron cases skyrocketing around the country in the lead up to the holiday travel season, we canceled our flights and re-strategized. It made for a chaotic last few weeks of the year, but as long as the show continues to be held […] → Read More
As CES goes hybrid, connected fitness companies have another big year –
CES hasn’t traditionally been the healthiest week for me. Aside from some unintentional intermittent fasting, TechCrunch really has the habit of doing it up with our team dinners at the show, to say nothing of Matt’s near religious devotion to a Mexican place named Tacos & Beer. In my defense, I will say that there’s […] → Read More
Doosan announces $33.7M raise, as it introduces a robotic camera system at CES –
Doosan Robotics this week announced $33.7 million in funding, led Praxis Capital Partners and Korea Investment Partners. The fundraising news arrives as the Seoul-based company shows off its wares at CES in Las Vegas. The company says the funding will be used to increase research and development and attract new partners as it looks to […] → Read More
Power1 is an iPhone battery case with a spot for your AirPods –
Perhaps PodCase was ahead of its time. It certainly made sense for devoted Apple fans: a one-stop portable charging solution for one’s iPhone and AirPods. The product also had the pedigree to match, including Pebble co-founder (and future YC partner) Eric Migicovsky. Ultimately the project failed to reach its lofty $300,000 Kickstarter goal. For its […] → Read More
Google expands Fast Pairing beyond headphones –
This year’s CES is likely to be fairly light from Google on the hardware front, but the company’s got a number of new software features to announce. Chief among them are some key updates to its Fast Pair offering, which has thus far largely been the domain of earbud pairing. A handful of new additions […] → Read More
Ring’s alarm system gets a broken glass detector –
Amazon-owned Ring’s home security ecosystem got another key piece of the puzzle this week at CES. The new Ring Alarm Glass Break Sensor is designed to detect the sound of breaking glass up to 25 feet away, sending a notification to the app, so the user can act accordingly. It also can be set to […] → Read More
Waverly Labs brings its translation tech to retail transactions with Subtitles –
We’ve been covering Waverly Labs for a few years now, primarily focused on the company’s wearable language translators. Today at CES, the Brookyln-based hardware startup unveiled a new form factor for its tech — designed for real-world interactions, and removing the need to share in-ear devices (something that seems like a net positive when we’re […] → Read More
OnePlus 10 Pro will launch with a beefy battery and latest Snapdragon –
OnePlus has seemingly taken a page out of co-founder Carl Pei’s book with the 10 Pro launch. Gone, it seems, are the days where we get everything we want to know about an upcoming device in one handy location. Instead, the company’s meting out information about its latest flagship, piece by piece. Overnight we got […] → Read More
This lightbulb can monitor your vital signs –
Here’s a fun left-field idea from CES this week: a smart lightbulb capable of taking health readings, including heart rate, temperature and tracking sleep. Necessary? Not in the slightest. Interesting, yeah, sure. On the face of it, the product operates in a similar capacity as the latest Nest Hub — and uses a similar technology. […] → Read More
Hyundai sends Boston Dynamics’ Spot robot into the metaverse –
One thing’s for certain: Hyundai has some grand ambitions for its robotics development. And thus far, the automaker has been willing to put its money where its mouth is, most notably in the form of its acquisition of Boston Dynamics, which valued the robotics pioneer at north of $1 billion. Robotics are, predictably, taking centerstage […] → Read More
Anker debuts a 2K webcam with built-in lighting, speakers and more for $220 –
One thing I’m expecting to see a lot more of this week: good remote work gear. There’s plenty of room for improvement in the field, and as we stare down the beginning of year three of this global pandemic, you’ve got to assume most hardware companies have something up their sleeve, even if they missed […] → Read More