Crypto is hard. Wallets are hard. NFTs are hard. Connecting to DApps, distributed apps, is hard. Brave is trying to make that simpler by building all of this functionality right into its privacy-safe browser. In this episode of TechFirst with John Koetsier, I chat with Brendan Eich, CEO and co-founder of Brave. We chat about the new functionality in the Brave browser, why building a wallet natively into a browser is safer than doing it via an extension, and his vision of the future. Links: Brave...
Nov 16, 2021•27 min•Season 1Ep. 219
Most smart homes are aftermarket affairs: cobbled together bits and pieces of Alexa and Google and Apple HomeKit to make our lights go on, our music play, our security systems work, and our blinds to go up and down. What about building it in from the start? KB Home has built over 650,000 homes in the US. The company was the first builder to make every home ENERGY STAR® certified, and is now making a concerted effort to make every home smart. In this episode of TechFirst with John Koetsier I chat...
Nov 12, 2021•24 min•Season 1Ep. 218
There are perhaps a billion buildings on the planet. Maybe a million of those are of significant size, and all of them are going to be smart at some point in the future. The problem? Every smart building is a one-off. Every building is unique. There's no way to make them -- or 10s of millions of warehouses or factories -- smart in the same way, at the same time, quickly, cheaply, easily. That's a problem Mapped is trying to solve. In this episode of TechFirst with John Koetsier, I chat with CEO ...
Nov 05, 2021•27 min•Season 1Ep. 217
How do CISOs sleep at night? By failing fast, apparently. In this episode of TechFirst we chat with HP chief information security officer Joanna Burkey and Siemens USA CISO Kurt John on hacking, cracking, and yes ... even sleeping at night. You are going to get hacked, says John. And yet, he can sleep at night because the point of his cybersecurity is to fail fast but fail noisily and recover quickly. 45% of workers are buying their own computers 68% say security wasn't a factor 74% of IT teams ...
Oct 28, 2021•26 min•Season 1Ep. 216
Can an entire farm be a complex multi-component robot? According to AppHarvest CTO Josh Lessing ... sure. Kind of. AppHarvest builds greenhouses that know what's happening. Can control light. Control fertilizer and irrigation. Even control pollination, and when is the right time to harvest the crop. Plus, of course, actually harvest the crop by robot. In this episode of TechFirst, we chat about the future of farming ... and there's a lot of technology involved. Achieving 20-100X better productiv...
Oct 26, 2021•15 min•Season 1Ep. 215
Apple is complicit in Chinese censorship. There’s simply no other way to put it. Thousands of apps have been deleted from the Chinese Apple App Store, including recently a Quran app and a Bible app. Plus hundreds of games, social apps, and more. Apple has to do business in China. That's just realistic. And it has to obey the laws of countries it does business in. That's also just realistic. Sideloading could enable both. Links: Support TechFirst with $SMRT coins: https://rally.io/creator/SMRT/ B...
Oct 16, 2021•11 min•Season 1Ep. 214
The Carbon Robotics self-driving farm bot kills weeds with lasers: 8 150-watt lasers, to be precise. That’s pretty cool, but much cooler is that no toxic herbicides are required. That’s safer for the farmer, better for the soil, and produces better crops. In this episode of TechFirst, we check out the robot, talk to the CEO of Carbon Robotics Paul Mikesell, and see the results on the fields. Links: Carbon Robotics: https://carbonrobotics.com/ Support TechFirst with $SMRT coins: https://rally.io/...
Oct 14, 2021•22 min•Season 1Ep. 213
Do you want sushi by drone? Ice cream or coffee in 2 minutes? Wing is Google's drone division (OK, Alphabet's!) and is doing just that right now in three locations around the world. They're planning to scale globally and in the U.S., but are working out all the kinks and regulatory permissions. And they just announced some exciting news: first of its kind rooftop drone stations at a mall. You order on an app, a retailer preps your item, attaches it to a drone, and it flies to you at 110 km/hour....
Oct 06, 2021•13 min•Season 1Ep. 212
Avi Bar-Zeev has been working on the metaverse for 30 years. He’s one of the key people behind Microsoft’s Hololens, co-founded Keyhole which became Google Earth, helped define Second Life’s technology, and has worked with Apple on, presumably, its rumored smartglasses. In this episode of TechFirst with John Koetsier, I chat with Ari about the metaverse, what it is, what it isn’t, and how AR and VR connect (if they do). We also talk about what AR should be, about how it could fail, and the very ...
Oct 06, 2021•30 min•Season 1Ep. 211
Here's (almost) everything Amazon announced for smart home just two days ago, including Amazon Astro, Ring Always Home Cam, Ring Alarm Pro, Ring Video Doorbell, and more Ring, Ring, Ring everything. There's also the Echo Show 15 and the Amazon Glow. But the big picture is how Amazon is competing with Google and Apple in smart home ... and it's not even close. Apple has almost nothing for smart home beyond HomeKit. Google has a few Nest products, but has been very slow to release more ... Links: ...
Sep 30, 2021•13 min•Season 1Ep. 210
Can I only experience a Facebook metaverse in Oculus Quest? Can I only enter your virtual event with an HTC Vive Pro? Or can we build connections, doors, windows, and pathways through all digital realities that anyone can access with smartphone, laptop, or -- yes -- a VR headset? In this episode of TechFirst with John Koetsier, I chat with Hans Elstner, the CEO of Rooom. Rooom offers the "first all-in-one platform for content in 2D, 3D, AR and VR." In other words: digital realities that anyone c...
Sep 25, 2021•18 min•Season 1Ep. 209
We know carbon fiber is strong: 60X stronger than steel. The problem has always been finding ways to 3D print it at speed, and for large objects. Arevo says it's found the solution: "'the world's first high speed additive manufacturing system for continuous carbon fiber composite structures." It's literally the size of a shipping container, and it can print a volume about a meter cubed. Companies pay hundreds to thousands of dollars per kilogram for carbon fiber products, and Arevo says it has t...
Sep 17, 2021•23 min•Season 1Ep. 208
Epic sued Apple for the right to sell in-app purchases in Fortnite itself and not pay Apple a 30% cut. And it won ... but also lost, as the judge ruled in favor of Apple on nine of the ten claims Epic made. But the big deal is payments in apps. And that changes everything. Here are the most interesting rulings, findings, and facts unearthed in U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers' 185-page report. Links: Support TechFirst with $SMRT coins: https://rally.io/creator/SMRT/ Buy $SMRT to join a...
Sep 14, 2021•31 min•Season 1Ep. 207
Some robots won't replace us. Some will augment us: make us faster, stronger, bigger, more capable. Sarcos Robotics has built both robots that you can wear and robots you can operate, and just recently unveiled the Guardian XT to complement the Guardian XO. One you wear, and it helps you lift 200 pounds with minimal effort. The other you teleoperate in VRwhile wearing motion-capturing clothing. Weld, cut, lift, bolt ... you can do it all in dangerous situations from the safety of the ground, or ...
Sep 08, 2021•16 min•Season 1Ep. 206
Four months ago I interviewed Lightmatter CEO Nick Harris on his photonic supercomputer. There are now almost 400K view and 2,600 comments ... with lots of questions. In this episode, Harris answers the biggest ones. - is this real? - does the chip do what Lightmatter says it will do? - RGB vs CMYK? - how do you do linear algebra with light? - where can I get this? - capacitance issues - can it run DOOM? - can it run Crysis? - why hasn't NVIDIA done this already? - how does this interface with q...
Aug 30, 2021•24 min•Season 1Ep. 205
US President Biden said his goal is that 50% of cars sold in 2030 will be zero-emission vehicles: less than 9 years away. So … is that doable? Maybe, but the US needs 10X more rare earths for magnets. Currently, less than 2% of cars on American roads are electric. About 17-19M cars are sold in the US annually, and a little over 300,000 are EVs. So we’re at about 2%. One of the things you need is batteries. The other is electric drivetrains, and for that you need rare earths for magnets: neodymiu...
Aug 27, 2021•20 min•Season 1Ep. 204
Presumably Tesla isn’t busy enough building “full self driving” or cars that have half-year waitlists for new buyers. (Or worse: anyone wondering where Cybertruck is?) Now CEO Elon Musk has revealed a new project: Tesla Bot. Tesla Bot is a 125 pound 5’8” humanoid robot. Launch goal: some time next year. Links: Support TechFirst with $SMRT coins: https://rally.io/creator/SMRT/ TechFirst transcripts: https://johnkoetsier.com/category/tech-first/ Forbes columns: https://www.forbes.com/sites/johnkoe...
Aug 20, 2021•6 min•Season 1Ep. 203
What could an AI-focused 22nd most powerful supercomputer in the world and 100 new AI faculty do for the University of Florida? I chat with UF provost Dr. Joseph Glover and NVIDIA's Cheryl Martin about what they're planning. Short version: massive impact. We're talking AI-driven climate change research, medical research and infusing artificial intelligence throughout the entire curriculum of a massive university that graduates 10,000 students annually. Links: Support TechFirst with $SMRT coins: ...
Aug 18, 2021•15 min•Season 1Ep. 202
There are now seven mobile games that pull in over $100 million in an average month, according to a new App Annie report. And 810 scoop up more than $1 million every month. In 2019? Only two made over $100 million/month. In other words, mobile gaming is huge and massive and still growing fast ... 16X faster revenue growth than PC/Mac gaming and home console gaming. Links: Support TechFirst with $SMRT coins: https://rally.io/creator/SMRT/ App Annie's report: https://content-new.appannie.com/en/in...
Aug 11, 2021•8 min•Season 1Ep. 201
If I had a dollar for every 3D startup that has failed, I'd probably have ... a few hundred bucks. Getting no-glasses no-headset 3D right is insanely difficult. But Look Glass Factory CEO Shawn Frayne says he's done it. It's shipping now, and I have friends who say it's the best thing they've ever seen. He's been working on it for literally half his life ... and it has the potential to revolutionize photography, memories, and maybe more. Think collaborative work in 3D. Think your everyday monito...
Aug 11, 2021•19 min•Season 1Ep. 200
Amazon is the beast, the bear, the devil that controls over half of digital retail in America. And they've copied successful products for Amazon Essentials ... because they see all the data. But could that be a great thing for brands? Perch has raised over $900 million to buy, build, and grow microbrands, mostly on Amazon. And executive Mike Frekey is pretty pumped about it, calling Amazon the largest platform brands have at their disposal for growth. We chat about the future of retail, e-commer...
Aug 02, 2021•22 min•Season 1Ep. 199
Will AI replace us, or make us better? According to AI expert Slater Victoroff, AI is a bionic arm that's going to make us better and faster, whether we're a doctor, lawyer, data scientist, builder, carpenter, or care aide. I also chat the Victoroff, the CTO and co-founder of Indico, about what work will look like in the future, how much white collar and blue collar work will get taken over by AI and robotics, and how we're using AI now for work ... and will be in the future. Links: Support Tech...
Jul 23, 2021•21 min•Season 1Ep. 196
Mashing those buttons may not take massive muscles. But long-term success in eSports takes physical and mental fitness. At least according to Counter-Strike: Global Offensive star JW, a member of the Fnatic esports team. With other eSports stars he's been working out with Freeletics, an AI-powered fitness program. The biggest benefit? Faster, clearer thinking, JW says. Links: Support TechFirst with $SMRT coins: https://rally.io/creator/SMRT/ TechFirst transcripts: https://johnkoetsier.com/catego...
Jul 17, 2021•17 min•Season 1Ep. 195
Smart electricity startup Amber just signed a significant agreement with German giant Infineon to bring its technology closer to market. Amber's tech is a solid state solution for managing and controlling electricity, including transforming AC to DC. That makes electricity software controllable: a 100-year leap in technology. "By controlling the sine wave electricity and you can chop it and dice it and slice it and you can manipulate it and you can even turn it to a straight line DC by with the ...
Jul 14, 2021•19 min•Season 1Ep. 194
Throw everything cool and techy in a blender and what do you get? Million Doge Disco. It's an augmented reality game similar to Pokemon Go with NFTs ✅ and blockchain ✅ and augmented reality ✅ and partying ✅ and Tamagotchi ✅ and Dogecoin ✅ and ... free money. Or free Dogecoin, at least. One million free Dogecoin. Which you have to capture, then dance with, and babysit while they increase in value. Yes, it's insane. And so is (in a good way!) its founder and CEO Gary Lachance, who co-created the D...
Jul 08, 2021•18 min•Season 1Ep. 193
There's a dirty little secret of most wearable tech, and the dirty little secret is ... it's not actually wearable. It's strappable, it's mountable. It's not actually something that you wear in any traditional meaning of that word. One startup in New York, however, is trying to change that. Imagine smart thread woven right into all of your clothing -- no straps, no attachments, just clothing and data. To chat more and learn more, I'm talking to the CEO and founder of Nextiles, George Sun. Links:...
Jun 30, 2021•23 min•Season 1Ep. 192
What if building a robot was like picking options on a car? I'll have the vision module, the speech module ... better give me a wheeled transportation package for this one, a flying navigation module for that one ... I'll take LIDAR and a natural vision module ... and so on ... Ohmnilabs offers an modular robotics platform that lets companies configure autonomous robots. They have customers like Google, Amazon, Apple, and Toyota, and they 3D print components so you can test new versions quickly....
Jun 23, 2021•14 min•Season 1Ep. 190
Whether you want to be Dick Tracy or you want to just not take your phone on a hike, there is now a solution: Wristcam. It's the only camera available globally for Apple Watch, and I got a sample to test. I also spent some time with the CEO and CMO of Wristcam chatting about what it does, how it works, what quality people can expect, and whether it's a boat anchor on your wrist. You can take pictures, video, and yes ... even video chat live with Wristcam. Links: Wristcam: https://www.wristcam.co...
Jun 17, 2021•16 min•Season 1Ep. 189
Next-day delivery? Same-day delivery? Super-lame. What about 5-minute delivery? That's Manna from heaven ... or manna from drones. Manna is running autonomous drone delivery right now in Galway, Ireland, and has the licenses in place to take the service across Europe and maybe Canada. This tiny startup is beating Amazon to the immediate delivery punch in Europe. And the US? That's a problem: regulation is way, way, way behind. In this episode of TechFirst with John Koetsier, I chat with Bobby He...
Jun 12, 2021•24 min•Season 1Ep. 188
Medical AI has a bright future. Apple’s focus on health data collected by wearable technology and new capabilities for streaming that data to doctors just guaranteed it. I just posted to my Forbes column, and here's a few expanded thoughts on what we just saw at Apple's World Wide Developer Conference. Support TechFirst with $SMRT coins: https://rally.io/creator/SMRT/ TechFirst transcripts: https://johnkoetsier.com/category/tech-first/ Forbes columns: https://www.forbes.com/sites/johnkoetsier/ F...
Jun 07, 2021•10 min•Season 1Ep. 186
