Hasta La Gadget!

Google seems to have paid at least $500 million to acquire DeepMind, an artificial intelligence startup that has a number of high-profile investors, and that has demoed tech which shows computers playing video games in ways very similar to human players. Facebook reportedly also tried to buy the company, and the question on most people’s minds is “Why?”

More intelligent computing means more insightful data gathering and analysis, of course. Any old computer can collect information, and even do some basic analytics work in terms of comparing and contrasting it to other sets of data, drawing simple conclusions where causal or correlational factors are plainly obvious. But it still takes human analysts to make meaning from all that data, and to select the significant information from the huge, indiscriminate firehose of consumer data that comes in every day.

AI and machine learning expertise can help improve the efficiency and quality of data gathered by Google and other companies who rely on said information, but it can also set the company up for the next major stage in computing interaction: turning the Internet of Things into the Internet of Companions. Google is hard at work on tech that will make even more of our lives computer-centric, including driverless cars and humanoid robots to take over routine tasks like parcel delivery, but all those new opportunities for computer interaction need a better interface if they’re to become trusted and widely used.

https://twitter.com/chadcat/status/427671366163124224

Google has already been working on building software and tech than anticipates the needs of a user and acts as a kind of personal valet. Google Now parses information from your Gmail and search history to predict what you’ll ask about and provide the information in advance. Now has steadily been growing smart and incorporating more data sources, but it still has plenty of room for improvement, and there’s no better way to anticipate a human’s needs than with a computer that thinks like one.

Another key component of Google’s future strategy has to do with hardware. The company’s last high-profile acquisition was Nest Labs, which it bought for $3.2 billion in cash earlier this month. Nest’s smart thermostat also uses a significant amount of machine learning to help anticipate the schedule and needs of its users, which is something that DeepMind could assist with on a basic level. But there’s a larger opportunity, as once again a more human element could help make the Internet of Things a more accessible concept for the average user.

We’ve seen little beyond computers that can play video games from DeepMind, but that demonstration speaks volumes about what Google can do with the company. Robotics and hardware investments like those already made by the company are interesting, to be sure, but DeepMind is in many ways the thread that will draw all these separate initiatives together: There’s an adoption disconnect between technically impressive innovations, and convincing everyday end users to actually embrace them. DeepMind could help humanize tech that seems otherwise deeply impersonal (and in the case of self-driving cars, even anti-human) in a way that spurs uptake.

More human machines could be a big reason why Google has reportedly created an ethics board to supervise the use of DeepMind’s AI tech. Google probably isn’t that worried about the possibility of accidentally creating SkyNet, but when you start building computing devices that think and act like humans, you’re bound to get into fraught moral territory. Both in terms of both what said tech can learn and know about its users, as well as what, if any, responsibility we have to treat said tech differently than any standard computer.

Depending on your view of Google and what it does, the DeepMind acquisition is either troubling or exciting. Of course, it has the potential to be both, as does any potential advancement in AI and machine learning, but I can’t help but be enthralled by the possibilities of the picture Google is painting with its latest big-picture moves. More than any other, it seems to be committed to a future that lives up to the vision of the science fiction blockbusters we all grew up with, and it’s impossible to deny the allure of that kind of ambition.

Personal fitness trackers and sleep trackers are officially mainstream, but deciding between the various devices out there can be tough.

That said, let me direct your attention to the Fitbit Force, the latest and most full-featured product from the quantified-self makers.

The Fitbit Force, unlike the lower-end Flex, has a nice little display on it that shows steps taken, flights climbed, calories burned, as well as sleep information.

It even shows the time of day.

Even better, the Force pairs with Fitbit’s nutrition app, letting you input food-intake information to track your health over time.

In our experience, there’s nothing on the market that is more accurate or robust.

However, the band isn’t my favorite. It’s caused skin irritation for some users, whom Fitbit refunded. Plus, it’s simply not as well-designed as something like the FuelBand.

But hey, you win some and you lose some.

The Fitbit Force goes for $129 and comes in slate blue and black.

Dash, a Techstars New York-backed startup that wants to be like a Fitbit for your car, has now launched. The product includes a combination of a hardware device and smartphone application which offers real-time feedback on your driving, trip logs, access to vehicle diagnostics (that pesky “check engine” light, and who can fix it!), a map showing where the cheapest gas is nearby, and even social features.

Like several of the “connected car” products on the market, Dash’s hardware involves an OBD device you can purchase from either within the Dash mobile application or the Dash homepage. The Dash software will also work with any Bluetooth-enabled OBD device, if you happen to already have one, or you can choose from two types of devices Dash’s homepage points to: generic devices found on Amazon for $10 and up, or a premium OBD LINK LX which is a steeper $69.

The Dash software works with either type of device, the company says. But the premium hardware offers a better build quality, power management capabilities, and connection reliability, among other things.

Once installed, the device connects via Bluetooth with your Android smartphone to communicate with the Dash app.

The app offers you a variety of helpful tools, both when you’re on the road and when you’re off. The app’s design is well done, too – very modern and clean, which is still somewhat of a surprise on Android, though that’s increasingly less of a case these days as developers begin to treat the platform with the respect its larger marketshare has earned.

As noted above, Dash offers a variety of “connected car” features, including the ability to track your trips, watch your gas consumption, find nearby gas prices, detect crashes and alert emergency services, understand the warning messages your car’s computer throws and even locate a reliable mechanic who can resolve the problem. Mechanics are ranked by proximity and star ratings, explains Dash co-founder and CEO Jamyn Edis.

Edis and Brian Langel both previously worked at HBO before starting Dash, where Edis was VP of R&D, which included tech strategy for HBO GO, and other skunkworks projects using augmented reality, video search, smart TV apps, Nike Fuel-like hardware for HBO Sports and more. Before that, he spent a decade at Accenture, working on large-scale technology projects and strategy for a variety of clients, including Sprint, British Telecom, Fox Interactive, MySpace, Warner Music, PlayStation and many more.

Meanwhile, Langel, now Dash CTO, had previously built the backend architecture for HBO GO, and worked on HBO Sports. He has also worked for Union Pacific Railroads and McGraw Hill.

For a long time, the two had been looking to work on a project together around the idea of smart, connected devices. And when the company was founded back in June 2012, the landscape for connected car was fairly barren. 

Today, that’s not necessarily the case.

“What’s different and fresh about our approach here is that we’re tackling cars as a platform – one that we think is really under-leveraged as a consumer technology,” explains Edis. Plus, he adds, “we’re technologists. We love data and we think we can improve our lives by using data, whether that’s physical fitness with Jawbone, or whether that’s home and HVAC using Nest.”

With Dash, the improvement also includes a focus around safety and overall smarter driving. In the case of the former, while the app is in “in transit” mode, it will actively warn you through auditory alerts when something goes wrong (e.g warning you that you were breaking too hard, or other bad behaviors). But instead of just being an annoying robot “backseat driver,” Dash gamifies the experience, pitting you against friends or other nearby in a competition to earn the better “drive score.”

Meanwhile, similar to Prius, the app will inform you while driving of your fuel economy, allowing you to make adjustments in response.

Edis says that all this is just the beginning, too. The company is working on a bevy of other features, including targeted promotions that are based on your driving, location and other non-personally identifiable features, an iOS application, and partnerships around its developer API which would see Dash able to communicate with other smart devices, like those which Edis calls “trigger services” or other smart home platforms.

The seven-person New York-based company has raised an undisclosed seven-figure round of seed funding from Techstars, VCs (with car manufacturers as LPs), and angels including Foursquare co-founder and CEO Dennis Crowley, Makerbot co-founder and CEO Bre Pettis, Dave Morin, and others.

Dash now competes with a number of ODB apps and similar services in an ever-crowded market, including YC-backed Automatic (whose “Link” dongle is a bit pricier at $99.95), Carvoyant, CarMD, Torque, Car Doctor, and many others.

The Dash app is live on Google Play here.

This week, we’re all about hardware startups disrupting entertainment. And Apple, of course.

According to the WSJ’s latest rumors, Apple is working on two larger model iPhones — one with a 4.5-inch display and the other with a 5-inch display — both made of metal.

Meanwhile, Avegant is working on a more mainstream version of the Oculus Rift headset, Zipi is trying to solve your headphone problems, and Guitar Wing brings a bit of flair to your face-melting rock.

And poor Natasha is sick with some ill.

We discuss all this and more on this week’s episode of the TC Gadgets Podcast, featuring John Biggs, Matt Burns, Jordan Crook, Natasha Lomas and Darrell Etherington.

Enjoy!

We invite you to enjoy our weekly podcasts every Friday at 3 p.m. Eastern and noon Pacific. And feel free to check out the TechCrunch Gadgets Flipboard magazine right here.

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Intro Music by Rick Barr.

I’m sure many of you have, of late, been lying awake at night – as I have, on many a lonely evening in your London garret, listening to the wind blow through the rain-soaked city as you dab plaintively at the condensation on the window – about what on earth your “Wearable Strategy” is going to be. I mean. Seriously. What the hell are we going to do about it? Yes, there might be a revolution going on in the Ukraine and Syrian children being garrotted in the street by Asma al-Assad, but where are we going to get our next version of Google Glass and will it summon Uber cabs with two blinks, for pity’s sake? But at least now someone has come to our rescue.

In a stroke of genius, British resident Daniel O’Connell has launched what I think you’ll agree is going to be required reading from now on: WhatTheFuckIsMyWearableStrategy.com (or wtfimws on Twitter).

Launched last week, not long after the veritable Wearable Orgy that was CES, he threw it up “For fun.” So modest huh?

“The idea started with a talk by @iancrocombe called ‘WTF is my wearable fashion strategy?’. I thought it would be funny to build on his idea and create the generator,” Daniel tells us.

But, he “had no idea it would strike such a chord.”

And it has.

The site has received almost 60,000 unique visitors since Friday last week, giving out helpful answers such as:

“HEADSET THAT QUIVERS WHEN YOUR BUS IS DUE”

“PAIR OF SANDALS THAT SWITCHES THE TELLY ON WHEN IT’S WINDY”

“E-CIGARETTE THAT FLASHES WHEN SOMEONE LOGS INTO YOUR FACEBOOK ACCOUNT”

Why does he think the site struck such a chord? Are wearables over-hyped, perchance?

“Everybody’s clearly going bonkers over wearables, especially after CES, and people are probably asking themselves the question. Are they over-hyped?”, he muses.

“It depends what we make of them. If we solve the obesity problem and predictively prevent heart attacks then no. If we create loads of short-lived, useless, branded junk, then yes, definitely.”

Blasphemy! We love branded junk!

Doesn’t Daniel have any wearables himself? He does not, although he does “love” Nike+ running.

Out of the ones he detests, he says Google Glass (the current version) “looks far too stupid to be considered by even remotely style conscious individuals. This is the challenge wearables face. Most people just aren’t into Star Trek cosplay.”

Sorry, Daniel, you lost us for a moment there. We’re committed to Glassholes going mainstream, here at TechCrunch Towers.

Have any of the answers on the site been discovered to be real products?

“Not yet, although there are some real products that look like the generator invented them (Durex, I’m talking to you).”

You hear that, Durex? Get on that Wearable Condom Strategy this instant!

Oh.

Additional reporting by Sarah Perez

[Photo: Shutterstock]