Dyson buys battery firm Sakti3

With the latest acquisition by tech company Dyson, we can expect a boost in the battery life of its vacuum cleaners. Dyson just bought battery technology firm Sakti3 for US$90 million dollars. The manufacturing and technology firm previously invested $15 million into Sakti3. According to the company’s founder James Dyson, they plan to deliver new products using Sakti3 technology and build a battery production plant. The advanced solid-state battery technology is expected to be integrated within Dyson’s systems in a year or two.

Dyson and Sakti3 founder Ann Marie Sastry won’t say though if they plan to bring Sakti3’s technology into electric cars. Sakti3 previously claimed their batteries were twice as efficient as Tesla’s car batteries. Dyson isn’t ruling out licensing the technology to other companies. He said the batteries by Sakti3 don’t overheat like other liquid batteries and can charge “in a matter of minutes as opposed to a few hours.”

Source: USA Today

Apple buys Perceptio, startup specializing in advanced smartphone AI

The buying spree for Apple continues. This time, Apple has bought Perceptio. The startup specializes in developing technology to let companies run artificial intelligence systems on smartphones. What differentiates them is it isn’t sharing as much user data in the cloud. This seems in line with Apple’s stance of user data protection. And since this collects less data, they can stand by that idea. Again, Apple won’t confirm details about the deal and just issued the standard: “Apple buys smaller technology companies from time to time, and we generally do not discuss our purpose or plans.”

Source: Bloomberg

Apple’s latest acquisition could help you talk with Siri better

If you’ve been wanting to have a more natural, human-like conversation with Siri, that might be in the cards for you. Apple just bought VocalQ, a company that works on letting voice assistants comprehend natural dialog. The technology they developed allows the voice assistants to ask follow up questions if they misunderstand your command. This is already miles away from the current digital assistants, such as Google Now, Siri, and Cortana, which can’t even remember your last question and ask you to incessantly repeat a misheard command. Apple won’t say what they plan to use the technology for but it wouldn’t be a surprise if they leverage it for Siri. Or at least we hope they do.

Source: The Next Web

BlackBerry completes acquisition of AtHoc, secure crisis communications provider

The AtHoc software platform enables people, devices and organizations to exchange critical information in real time during business continuity and life safety operations.

BlackBerry has completed the acquisition of AtHoc, a leading provider of secure, networked crisis communications. AtHoc will operate as a division of BlackBerry. AtHoc’s Chief Executive Officer, Guy Miasnik, will lead the division as part of BlackBerry’s senior leadership team reporting to John Chen, Executive Chairman and Chief Executive Officer.  

The AtHoc software platform enables people, devices and organizations to exchange critical information in real time during business continuity and life safety operations. The service offers a argeted, secure alert that will enable companies to distribute confidential data during an emergency situation, and give them the ability to audit the usage. The opportunities to assure a safer, more secure world are endless.

Click to read more ...