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Scandit, the company behind a barcode scanning platform that leans on computer vision and augmented reality (AR), has raised $80 million in a series C round of funding led by G2VP. The fresh funding, which consists of both equity and debt, comes as social distancing measures has led to a spike in demand for home deliveries and “click and collect” services, which typically rely on portable scanning devices at various stages of a product’s journey from a warehouse to the consumer’s home.

Virtual reality (VR) has been given a renewed sense of purpose due to a global pandemic that has led billions of people to adapt to a new “remote” world order. And Peter Chou wants to be at the forefront of this resurgence.

Alice&Bob has raised $3.3 million to join the quantum computing arms race by accelerating research that promises to make this next generation computing more stable.

Microsoft has shared few usage numbers since acquiring Skype for $8.5 billion in October 2011. Skype’s monthly active users, for example, haven’t been updated since August 2015 — 300 million has been the number for years. But the coronavirus has shaken up the communications space for everyone, even Skype. With usage exploding due to COVID-19 and working from home policies, the company has been eager to talk up Skype along with Microsoft Teams, its fastest-growing business app ever. Microsoft has now confirmed plans to invest in Skype, including adding new features, regardless of its plans with Teams. As we’ve learned more about the company’s plans for Yammer, Microsoft’s strategy for its communication apps is becoming clear.

For more than two decades, I’ve been involved on both ends of the venture capital spectrum. Currently, for a good portion of the week, my title is president and CEO of cloud file services company, Nasuni. On nights and weekends, however, I devote time to my duties as managing director at Sigma Prime, an investment firm I’ve worked with for a long time that’s focused on enterprise technologies. I’ve previously worked full time as a VC investor and have also held other senior operating roles.

A group of AI researchers from Facebook, Virginia Tech, and National Tsing Hua University in Taiwan say they’ve created a novel way to generate 3D photos that’s superior to Facebook 3D Photos and other existing methods. Facebook 3D Photos launched in October 2018 for dual-camera smartphones like the iPhone X, which uses its TrueDepth camera to determine depth in photos. In the new research, the authors use a range of photos taken with an iPhone to demonstrate how their approach gets rid of the blur and discontinuity that other 3D methods introduce.

Sharks both fascinate and frighten me. I’ve loved learning about sharks, their evolution, and their place in the world for as long as I can remember. But at the same time, the longest recurring nightmare I have involves a great white devouring me (29 years and counting, thank you, brain!).

Let’s be honest: Innovation is rare within large organizations. Their work processes have proven themselves, so any disruption to them, or the thinking behind them, is met with considerable internal resistance. This is why many large organizations acquire the innovation they need by buying startups and quickly scaling their technologies.

(Reuters) — The new robot barista at a cafe in Daejeon, South Korea is courteous and swift as it seamlessly makes its way toward customers.

In yesterday’s announcement of the new Linux Kernel 5.7 RC7, Torvalds wrote: “The biggest excitement this week for me was just that I upgraded my main machine, and for the first time in about 15 years, my desktop isn't Intel-based. No, I didn't switch to ARM yet, but I'm now rocking an AMD Threadripper 3970x.”