Facing increasing scrutiny from international and domestic regulators, the Altria Group has decided to write down its investment into the e-cigarette company JUUL by $4.5 billion.
First the company was compelled to limit its sale of flavored tobacco products. Now it may be forced to pull all of its flavored products outright.
None of the company’s troubles have been helped by the wave of vaping related illnesses that have swept through the U.S. causing several deaths in users across multiple states.
First reported by BuzzFeed, the lawsuit was brought by Siddharth Breja, a former senior vice president of global finance at Juul from May 2018 to March 2019.
Breja alleges he was fired for complaining about the charge — a claim that a spokesperson for JUUL called “baseless”.
“[Breja] was terminated in March 2019 because he failed to demonstrate the leadership qualities needed in his role,”a spokesperson for JUUL wrote in an email. “The allegations concerning safety issues with Juul products are equally meritless, and we already investigated the underlying manufacturing issue and determined the product met all applicable specifications.”
The write down by Altria follows an announcement from JUUL that it intends to lay off around 500 people — or roughly 10% of its workforce.
Paidy, a Japanese financial tech startup that provides instant credit to consumers in Japan, announced today that it has raised a total of $143 million in new financing. This includes a $83 million Series C extension from investors including PayPal Ventures and debt financing of $60 million. The funding will be used to advance Paidy’s goals of signing large-scale merchants, offering new financial services and growing its user base to 11 million accounts by the end of 2020.
In addition to PayPal Ventures, investors in the Series C extension also include Soros Capital Management, JS Capital Management and Tybourne Capital Management, along with another undisclosed investor. The debt financing is from Goldman Sachs Japan, Mizuho Bank, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation and Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank. Earlier this month, Paidy and Goldman Sachs Japan established a warehouse facility valued at $52 million. Paidy also established credit facility worth $8 million with the three banks.
This is the largest investment to date in the Japanese financial tech industry, according to data cited by Paidy and brings the total investment the company has raised so far to $163 million. A representative for the startup says it decided to extend its Series C instead of moving onto a D round to preserve the equity ratio for existing investors and issue the same preferred shares as its previous funding rounds.
Launched in 2014, Paidy was created because many Japanese consumers don’t use credit cards for e-commerce purchases, even though the credit card penetration rate there is relatively high. Instead, many prefer to pay cash on delivery or at convenience stores and other pickup locations. While this makes online shopping easier for consumers, it presents several challenges for sellers, because they need to cover the cost of merchandise that hasn’t been paid for yet or deal with uncompleted deliveries.
Paidy’s solution is to make it possible for people to pay for merchandise online without needing to create an account first or use their credit cards. If a seller offers Paidy as a payment method, customers can check out by entering their mobile phone numbers and email addresses, which are then authenticated with code sent through SMS or voice. Paidy covers the cost of the items and bills customers monthly. Paidy uses proprietary machine learning models to score the creditworthiness of users, and says its service can help reduce incomplete transactions (or items that buyers ultimately don’t pick up and pay for), increase conversion rates, average order values and repeat purchases.
A security researcher has found several vulnerabilities in the popular open-source Horde web email software that allow hackers to near-invisibly steal the contents of a victim’s inbox.
Horde is one of the most popular free and open-source web email systems available. It’s built and maintained by a core team of developers, with contributions from the wider open-source community. It’s used by universities, libraries, and many web hosting providers as the default email client.
Numan Ozdemir disclosed his vulnerabilities to Horde in May. An attacker can scrape and download a victim’s entire inbox by tricking them into clicking a malicious link in an email.
Once clicked, the inbox is downloaded to the attacker’s server.
But the researcher did not hear back from the Horde community. Security researchers typically give organizations three months to fix flaws before they are publicly disclosed.
NIST, the government department that maintains the national vulnerability database, said this week that the flaws pose a “high” security risk to users.
Ozdemir said some — though not all — of the vulnerabilities were recently fixed in the latest Horde webmail version. But the Horde community has not publicly acknowledged the vulnerability — or that users of earlier versions of the webmail are still vulnerable.
“It is really very easy to steal people’s email,” he told TechCrunch.
His bug report filed with Horde remains open at the time of writing. We emailed Horde several times, but did not hear back.
Here’s a horror scenario for you: you’re flying in a small plane and suddenly the single pilot who knows how to fly passes out. In the movies, somebody would probably talk one of the passengers through safely landing the plane. In reality, that’s unlikely. Flying planes is hard.
Now, however, planes outfitted with the Garmin G3000 flight deck, will have the option to include a system that will land the plane in an emergency with just the push of a button.
Autoland combines all of the navigation and communications tech in the plane and combines that with a sophisticated autopilot. Once a passenger activates the autoland feature — or the plane determines that the pilot is incapacitated — the system will look at all the available information about weather, remaining fuel on board and the local terrain to plot a route to the nearest suitable airport. It’ll even alert air traffic control about what’s happening, so they can route other planes around you.
The system also then takes over all of the touchscreens in the plane that are part of the G3000 flight deck and displays a simplified interface that allows the passengers to talk to air traffic control — and very little else.
Taking all of that information into account, the plane then plans the decent, lands the plane and shuts down the engines.
“The vision and development of the world’s first Autoland system for general aviation was a natural progression for Garmin as we looked at our aircraft systems and existing autonomous technologies and recognized it is our responsibility to use these building blocks to deliver a technology that will change lives and revolutionize air travel,” said Phil Straub, Garmin executive vice president and managing director of aviation.
It’s important to note that this is meant to be a system that’s only activated in the case of an emergency. Since it automatically alerts the authorities when somebody presses the button, nobody is going to activate it unless it’s absolutely necessary — and the FAA would surely want to ask you a few questions.
It does show, however, that we’re getting closer to a time where autopilot systems get significantly smarter. The number of variables a system like Autoland has to deal with is relatively small compared to those an autonomous car in a city has to navigate, after all. And autopilot systems for planes have already become quite sophisticated.
The launch partners for Autoland are Piper and Cirrus, who are making it an option in the 2020 models of the Piper M600 turboprop and Cirrus Vision Jet, pending FAA authorization. Those cost a few million dollars, though, so you better save up. Existing planes with the Garmin G3000 cockpit may also be retrofitted with the autoland capability, but that’s up to the manufacturer.
Given how old the general aviation fleet in the U.S. is, you’re not going to see any planes with this feature at your local airport anytime soon, though. Most of those 1970s Cessna 150s for rent at your local FBO don’t even have an autopilot, after all.
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Publishers must be bold in adopting user-centric models to win the web’s war for attention. Spot.IM founder and CEO Nadav Shoval joined TechCrunch’s Travis Bernard for a discussion on why publishers must be community-centric.
GoPro’s first foray into the 360-degree action was the GoPro Fusion, and while it was a strong first offering, the new GoPro MAX ($499) is a very different – and much improved – immersive action camera that has a lot to offer experienced videographers and voices alike. To be sure, the MAX has trade-offs, but taken together, it presents arguably the best overall combination of features and value for travel and adventure vloggers who don’t want to break the bank or haul a huge amount of kit while they get out and explore.
It’s hip to be square
The new GoPro MAX’s form factor is both familiar and different for fans of the company’s Hero line. It’s almost like you stacked two Heros on top of each other, with a square box instead of a small rectangle as a result. The design helps accommodate both the dual optics that GoPro uses to achieve its 360-degree capture, as well as the built-in touchscreen display that can be used as a selfie viewfinder, too, when operating in Hero mode.
The ruggedized case can survive submersion in water up to 16 feet deep, and it’s splash proof as well. There are additional protective lenses for the two dome-shamed cameras in the box, as well, which GoPro advises you use in potentially messy environments to protect the optics. Both front and back sides of the camera also feature grills for microphones, which can capture 360 immersive audio when the camera is operating in 360 mode, or act as truly impressive directional shotgun mics when vlogging or working in Hero mode.
Like the new Hero 8, the MAX has built-in GoPro accessory mounts, that fold out of the body on the bottom. This ensure you won’t have to pack the MAX in an external cage to attach it to the wide range of available GoPro mounts that exist out there, cutting down on bulk and the amount of stuff you need to pack when you take it out on the road.
The rubberized coating ensures you can keep a firm grip on the camera when you’re using it without any accessories, and GoPro’s easy to access and prominently placed external buttons mean that you can control shutter and power while you’re using it in even the messiest circumstances. Removable batteries mean you can charge and keep a few on hand to ensure you don’t miss an opportunity to get some great footage.
360 or not to 360
The MAX is a very capable 360-degree camera, on par with some of the best in the market. It handles stitching automatically, and when paired with the MAX Grip + Tripod, it’ll even get rid of any awkward stitch lines where you’re gripping the camera. Using their software, you can then use the 360 footage to create a lot of compelling effects during edits, including panning and transitioning between views, zooming in and out, and basically pulling off final edits that you wouldn’t even be able to get with a few different cameras and shooters all going at once.
That said, there are some limits to the 360 shooting: You can see where GoPro’s software has stitched together its two wide angle captures to achieve the effect, for instance, even if only slightly. And while the tools that GoPro provides for stringing together edits are surprisingly user-friendly, you will need to spend some time with it in order to make the most of the tools available – novices can easily create somewhat disorienting cuts before they get there bearings.
The beauty of the MAX, however, is that 360 is just one of the capabilities it offers – and in fact, that provides the basis for much more interesting things that most users will get plenty more value out of. Foremost among these is HyperSmooth, which, when combined with MAX’s exclusive horizon levelling feature, makes for some of the smoothest, best quality stabilized video footage you can get with any camera without a gimbal.
By default, horizon levelling on the MAX will work in both landscape and portrait modes, and switch between those orientations when you turn the camera 90 degrees. But if you lock the orientation to landscape, you can rotate the MAX freely and the horizon stays level, with footage staying smooth and stable – to an almost spooky degree.
There can sometimes be a slightly noticeable fuzziness when you pivot from one orientation to the other in captured footage, but it’s barely detectable, and it only happens if you rotate fully 90 degrees. Otherwise, the horizon stays look and footage stays smooth, regardless of how much movement, bounce or jitters you have holding the camera. It’s amazing, and should be experienced in person to truly appreciate how much tech went into this.
The perfect run-and-gun mix
That is one reason that this is the camera you want with you when you’re out and about. But it’s not all the MAX offers in this regard. GoPro has made use of the 360 capture to implement so-called ‘Digital Lenses,’ which change the field of view, and adjust distortion to get at final results that can really change the look and feel of the video you capture. There’s a new ‘Narrow’ mode that’s even more constrained than the typical ‘Linear’ mode GoPro offers, and a new Max SuperView mode that pushes wide beyond previous limits for a really dramatic look.
Because the camera is capturing 360 content at 6K, you don’t get 4K resolution when it’s cropped down to Hero mode. But you do get up to 1440p as well as 1080p options, which are plenty for most vlogging and travel log purposes. This is one area where there’s a compromise to be made in exchange for some of the flexibility and convenience you get from the MAX, but in my opinion it’s a worthwhile trade-off.
As mentioned, you also get a ruggedized camera that can even snorkel with you in the MAX 360, as well as a selfie screen and highly capable microphones built-in (in the video above you’ll notice that there is some deterioration in sound when it detects water). It really seems like GoPro did everything they could to ensure that if you wanted to, you could easily just grab the MAX and get out there, without worrying about packing any accessories beyond maybe their Shorty tripod or that MAX grip I mentioned.
Bottom Line
GoPro’s Fusion was a compelling camera for a specific set of users, but the MAX feels like it might be flipping the script on the whole GoPro lineup. In short, the MAX seems like a great default option for anyone new to action cameras or looking for a comprehensive all-arounder that’s easy to learn, but becomes more powerful in time.
The MAX’s amazing stabilization is also probably better suited to vlogging and social video than it is to the actual action camera set, because it’s so smooth and refined. You can alter to what extent it triggers, of course, but overall MAX just seems like a device that can do magic with its built in software for aspiring content creators who would rather leave the DSLR and the gimbal at one – or who never thought to pick one up in the first place.
The beauty of podcasting is that anyone can do it. It’s a rare medium that’s nearly as easy to make as it is to consume. And as such, no two people do it exactly the same way. There are a wealth of hardware and software solutions open to potential podcasters, so setups run the gamut from NPR studios to USB Skype rigs.
We’ve asked some of our favorite podcast hosts and producers to highlight their workflows — the equipment and software they use to get the job done. The list so far includes:
Some days it can be tough to know what to do with all of those tossed salads and scrambled eggs. Brooklyn-based comedian Anita Flores started a podcast. A Frasier podcast, no less. Each episode of the series examines a piece of everyone’s favorite “Cheers” spin-off with a different guest, including recent appearances by Rachel Bloom and John Hodgman.
I record my podcast at More Banana Productions’ studio in Brooklyn. I’m lucky to call Caitlyn Moldenhauer, creator of More Banana, my producer. She makes sure that everything sounds great. This is Caitlyn’s studio.
It’s a beautiful space that captures the essence of what More Banana is all about: A podcast network with women-led production. Books with female authors scattered about, an RBG candle, art from women comic book artists and designers and a signed Prince poster. The studio is designed to be bright and comfortable, against other recording studios that tend to be dark and dungeonesque.
In terms of what kind of equipment, we use Rode Microphones and a Rodecaster Pro. We record mainly in Audition with an SD backup, because you always need a backup! Our setup allows for a simple plug and play for up to three microphones and is really simple to master. The studio also teaches women to engineer and edit podcasts, so it’s important that we have a setup that isn’t a barrier to learning as we introduce people to podcasting.
We have guests that come in to the studio, but a lot of them are in different states. In those cases, we use Google Hangouts or a phone number to speak with guests. We record the Skype feeds often, although when we can we prefer if guests calling in remotely record themselves with a studio, or close to it, microphone setup. For I’m Listening, the guests who call in on Skype often make the episode feel like an actual radio show. It’s an homage to the format of Frasier Crane’s radio show “The Dr. Frasier Crane Show.” So the sound of a Skype recording fits for that podcast, but not for all of them. We always prefer in-the-room sound instead of over digital.
Most importantly, we have a studio pet: Caitlyn’s French bulldog, Ella. She welcomes all of our guests at the door, and it absolutely sets the mood pre-recording. I usually don’t tell my guests there’s a dog (unless I know they’re allergic), so it’s always a fun surprise to see their reaction. Nothing like having a cute dog to fill a lull in conversation! It should be a law that all recording studios come with some kind of cuddly pet.
I recently recorded a special episode of “I’m Listening” in my apartment, I can’t reveal too much, but let’s say it involved eating tossed salads and scrambled eggs. The studio equipment that we use out of studio is the same Rode Mics and sound board (the Rode Procaster), which is really portable and works in non-studio spaces for the most part. We always use dynamic microphones because they help in spaces that you can’t always control for background noise, echo, etc. Caitlyn runs the sound board during these recordings to make sure all the audio sounds great.
Disney’s new streaming service, Disney+, doesn’t launch until mid-November, but it may have already signed up over a million customers in the U.S., according to new data from analytics firm Jumpshot, out this week. The firm, which gathers data from a panel of online consumers to gain insights, is not the only one forecasting a promising start for the upcoming streaming service.
In mid-October, analysts at UBS said they polled 1,000 consumers and 86% said they had heard of Disney+. In addition, 44% said they were “likely” to subscribe — a figure that put Disney+ ahead of Disney’s internal forecasts from April of 20 million to 30 million U.S. subscribers by 2024. (Disney also expects 60 to 90 million worldwide subscribers by that time.)
Similar to comScore, Jumpshot uses a panel of 100 million devices to gather its consumer insights. The firm claims to be able to view data about consumer searches, clicks and transactions, including those behind walled gardens, like Amazon, Netflix, Google, and others.
In the case of the Disney+ data, Jumpshot tracked the number of visits to a sign-up page, then how many users followed through to purchase. It uses a statistical calibration from the panel to represent the U.S. internet population at large.
Its data for Disney+ is limited to the U.S. and only includes mobile web and desktop purchases during the pre-sale time frame of August 25 through October 14.
Jumpshot is also among the first to gather insights about the makeup of the early Disney+ subscriber base.
The firm found that 31% of the Disney+ subscribers already stream on at least one existing over-the-top platform, like Amazon, Hulu or Netflix. Of those, 19.4% stream from Amazon Prime, 9.1% stream from Hulu, and 18.5% stream Netflix.
In addition, 12.5% stream on multiple platforms already, which means they’re adding Disney+ to a fuller streaming lineup.
Jumpshot’s data is useful, but can’t yet paint a full picture of Disney+ consumer interest in the U.S. Many U.S. consumers will simply gain access to the new service by way of Verizon, which partnered with Disney to offer a free year to its new and existing 4G LTE and 5G unlimited wireless customers. (Disclosure: TechCrunch’s parent, Verizon Media Service, is owned by Verizon). Others may be waiting to sign up after the service launches, perhaps through a TV platform app, instead of the Disney+ website.
However, Jumpshot data is based on tracking consumer activity, not on polls.
That said, other studies have also confirmed there’s strong interest in Disney+ — stronger, in fact, than some other soon-to-launch rival streamers. A HarrisX poll, for example, found 21% of U.S. households intend to sign up for Disney’s streaming service, versus just 11% for HBO Max. Hub Entertainment Research’s poll found that 1 in 4 TV U.S. consumers said they’ll sign up for Disney+, versus 6% for Apple TV+.
Meanwhile, a TV Time and UTA IQ study delved into brand awareness, and found Disney+ and AppleTV+ had the highest levels of awareness at 88% and 63%, respectively, among the upcoming services. This was followed by HBO Max (37%) and NBCU’s Peacock (28%).
Notably, Disney+ wasn’t only appealing to families with children, the study also found. Families were no more or less likely to subscribe than those without kids, indicating that Disney is doing well in appealing to adults by way of its franchises, like Star Wars and Marvel.
It still remains to be seen how the streaming wars will pan out when Disney+, Apple TV+, HBO Max, Peacock and Jeffrey Katzenberg’s Quibi all make their U.S. debuts. Most consumers, after all, have limits on how much they can spend on subscriptions. And TV is only one of many subscriptions we have these days, alongside those for music, news, gaming, and more.
