Glympse Partners with Chevy to Make Your Car More Connected

by Nibletz Staff in Startup News, Startups
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location sharing

Yesterday at the Consumer Electronics Show Chevrolet announced the launch of their new AppShop, which will include Seattle-based Glympse.

Glympse also announced a partnership with Jaguar Land Rover. The company already partners with Mercedes-Benz.

The Glympse app allows users to share their location with friends in real time for a short period. Have a coffee with a good friend, but afraid you’re going to be late? You can choose to let them track your progress, so they know how far away you are. The company is backed by Menlo Ventures and Ignition Partners and has raised $7.5 million.

While the app itself is a simple idea, and one many people could dismiss, as we move into an “Internet of Things,” Glympse is well-positioned. As our tendency to use our phones while driving rises, so do deaths at the hands of distracted drivers. Many car companies are moving in the same direction as General Motors. In theory, a car connected with our favorite music, news, and location apps will keep the cell phone put away and our hands on the wheel.

“We listen to our customers, and they want more choices like they have with their smartphones,” Alan Beaty, senior vice president of Global Chevrolet, said in a statement. “They’re telling us they want more integration, more options, and more control in a safe manner.”

That’s great news for Glympse, which has been busy adding partners in the last year. Verizon, Samsung, Mini Cooper, BMW, Ford, and Garmin (among others) are already partners with access to the Glympse platform.

Along with Glympse, Chevrolet announced 9 others apps in their AppShop:

  • iHeartRadio
  • Priceline.com
  • The Weather Channel
  • NPR
  • Slacker Radio
  • Tune In Radio
  • Kaliki
  • Cityseeker
  • Eventseeker

Glympse is the only location-sharing app included in the Chevrolet AppShop.

NY Startup Founder’s Baby Was Sitting In Wet Data: Internet Of Things Comes To Diapers

by Kyle in Everywhere Else, Internet, New York, Startups
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Smart Diapers, Pixie Scientific, Sensors, NY Startup, Internet of things

Back in October when All Thing’s Digital’s Kara Swisher was speaking at Chicago IdeaWeek, she said that sensors would be the big thing this year. She was absolutely right. There are sensors monitoring everything from your car, to your workout, to your dog’s workout, and now a baby’s diaper.

Last year Yaroslav Faybishenko, the founder of New York startup Pixie Scientific was in the car with his wife and their baby daughter. His wife had asked him if their daughter had a wet diaper. According to this New York Times article, that’s when Faybishenko realized his daughter was sitting in data.

Now you may be thinking, like I was, that sensors to tell if your baby had a wet or soiled diaper may be on the brink of pure laziness. Typically a parent can smell or otherwise observe that their baby’s diaper is full. No sense in getting an app for that, but Pixie Scientific’s “Smart Diapers” are much more than that.

With the Smart Diaper, a urine analysis square is put inside the diaper and when it becomes wet it’s scanned with a smartphone app. The app returns helpful data about the levels of glucose, ketones, proteins, and other things found in urine.

According to babycenter.com, urinary tract infections in babies can be very hard to detect. Sometimes a fever is the only symptom. When a baby has a fever without any other kind of symptoms it can be troubling to the parent. They’re also difficult to detect because it’s hard to get a bacteria free sample from a young baby. Smart Diaper’s technology would provide a great data source for pediatricians.

How much data?

Well there are 360 million diapers changed per day.

smartdiaper2

Smart Diapers aren’t just about UTI’s though. The sensor can tell if the baby is properly hydrated or if other harmful things are in the urine. There is a sensor with a qr code built in that is on the outside of the diaper. The parent just scans the qr code with their iPhone and all the data sent to the cloud comes back down to their phone with a complete analysis of the child’s latest urine.

Smart Diapers has taken to Indiegogo to raise $225,000, they have 59 days left as of the writing of this article. They’ve received a ton of national press including appearances on ABC News, BBC, CBS, and more.

You can support them at Indiegogo here.

 

This Louisville startup puts sensors in a tooth brush.

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