Hesyina New Technology, Innovation and Gadgets

  TuSimple, a publicly traded company specializing in self-driving trucks, has announced its entrance into the Japanese market with regular test runs on the Tomei Expressway. This move indicates TuSimple's focus on expanding its Asia-focused business. Japan has recently amended its laws to allow Level 4 autonomous vehicles to operate on public roads, presenting a ripe marketplace for TuSimple. The country is facing a labor shortage due to its aging population, and autonomous vehicles can offer a solution to this issue. Japan plans to launch a self-driving lane on sections of the New Tomei Expressway by 2024, equipped with sensors, cameras, and 5G networks. Commercial operation of Level 4 autonomous trucks is expected to begin in 2026. TuSimple sees self-driving technology as a promising solution for the driver shortage in Japan's logistics industry and aims to build partnerships with local companies and meet customer demand in the region. While TuSimple positions itself as a U....

  The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted various aspects of business, including the way software-as-a-service (SaaS) companies sell their products. With social distancing measures in place, in-person meetings were replaced by virtual platforms like Zoom and Microsoft Teams. Surprisingly, both vendors and buyers found that virtual meetings could be productive, leading to the adoption of remote practices even as COVID restrictions ease. Recognizing the gap in existing sales tools for online meetings, Richard Einhorn and Max Elster founded Minoa in 2022 to cater to the growing trend of remote B2B sales. Minoa is a sales platform designed to help SaaS vendors and their customers track the lifecycle of a deal asynchronously. It offers tools for value management, quoting, pricing, and more. What sets Minoa apart from other tools is its focus on including customers in the sales platform, unlike many incumbents that primarily serve vendors. As companies incorporate more specialized SaaS servi...

  Enterprises and marketplaces operating across multiple geographies and products have long relied on a hodgepodge of third-party services cobbled together by teams of engineers. These makeshift solutions, akin to Dr. Frankenstein's creations, often suffer from bugs and missing functionality. At worst, their complexity can even conceal malicious activities. Recognizing this disparity, three payments engineers came together to establish Payrails, a startup that has developed a framework for building and operating stable enterprise payment services. Today, the company announces a funding round of $14.4 million, driven by leading investor EQT Ventures, along with participation from General Catalyst, Andreessen Horowitz, and HV Capital. This "seed extension" follows the original seed round of $6.4 million, led by A16Z and HV Capital, which we covered last year when Payrails emerged from stealth mode. Although the startup does not disclose its valuation, CEO Orkhan Abdullayev ...

  Apple has acquired Mira, a startup specializing in augmented reality (AR) headsets. The acquisition, for an undisclosed amount, was confirmed by The Verge. Mira, founded in 2016 by Ben Taft, has been developing AR headsets and software for various applications, including attractions at Universal Studios' Nintendo World theme parks. Prior to the acquisition, Mira had raised $17 million from investors such as Blue Bear Capital, Happiness Ventures, and Sequoia. Initially focused on consumer AR experiences, Mira later shifted its focus to industrial applications, which is considered a more lucrative market. The startup had previously secured contracts with the U.S. Air Force and Navy, among others. It is unclear whether these contracts will continue under Apple's ownership. While the extent of Mira's involvement in Apple's AR roadmap is not specified, The Verge reports that Jony Ive, Apple's former product designer, was an advisor to Mira at one point. The acquisition...

  At Apple's annual WWDC 2023 conference, the company unveiled its long-rumored augmented reality (AR) headset called the Vision Pro. The headset features a ski goggle-like design with a continuous front panel acting as a lens and concealing a fan for cooling. The chassis includes a swappable band and a dial for adjusting the tightness. Zeiss collaborated with Apple to create magnetic lenses for prescription wearers. The Vision Pro has a separate battery pack connected by a wire, providing up to two hours of use. The device features two displays, one for each eye, with a total of 23 million pixels. The UI remains in view thanks to a custom 3D lens, and features like HDR and wide color enhance the image quality. The headset includes IR cameras for eye tracking, downward-facing cameras for hand tracking, and lidar sensors for real-time object tracking. The R1, a new Apple chip, powers the Vision Pro and processes data from the device's 23 sensors. It is designed to eliminate lag ...

  Indian edtech giant Byju's has filed a complaint in the New York Supreme Court to challenge the acceleration of the $1.2 billion term loan B. Byju's accuses Redwood, a lender, of conducting predatory tactics and demands the disqualification of Redwood. Byju's claims that Redwood purchased a significant portfolio of the loan with the intention of making windfall gains, primarily trading in distressed debt. Byju's stated that it will not make any payments to the term loan B lenders until the dispute is resolved. Byju's decision to take legal action follows the lenders' alleged unlawful acceleration of the loan term based on certain non-monetary and technical defaults. Byju's further alleges that the lenders, through their agent GLAS Trust Company, took unwarranted enforcement measures, including seizing control of Byju's Alpha and appointing their own management. The lenders also initiated litigation in Delaware, which Byju's claims is an attempt to ...