⚔️ The battle of the tech giants
Hey 👋
How's it going? Experian sponsors this week's edition of Haystack Digest.
We are the world’s leading global information services company. We empower consumers and businesses to take financial control, manage their data with confidence and prevent identity fraud and crime. We have 20,000 people across 44 countries and we’re constantly investing in new technologies, talented people and innovation. Experian works in and has committed to, a fully hybrid environment.
Check out their current opportunities on the Haystack app 📲
🚀 Big Tech & Startups
With TikTok In Sights, Google Quietly Acquired An AI Avatar Startup For $100M — www.forbes.com Google has acquired Alter, an AI startup that offered a tech stack to developers that could be used to create avatar systems, the company confirmed to TechCrunch. The publication reports the deal happened for $100 million, but the company did not confirm the figure.
The battle to be the best continues.
Tech giants, like Google, have fears of being out of the loop against their competitors over at TikTok. TikTok is now offering in-app avatars to their users, so how can Google keep up?
Google has recently acquired Alter, for a staggering $100M. Alter is an AI startup offering a tech stack to developers that can be used to create avatar systems.
Not familiar with the company? What if we referred to them as Facemoji instead? Facemoji originally received investments from the likes of Twitter. It looks like the takeover happened some months ago though, with developers speculating about the start of the acquisition when the startup's website had gone down.
It seems that nothing can get past developers 🕵️
🔭 Science & Futuristic Tech
This robotic tentacle gripper is gentle, practical and terrifying! — www.theverge.com Engineers from Harvard have designed a robotic tentacle gripper. Instead of trying to recreate the complexity of the human hand, it uses multiple pneumatic filaments to grab onto objects without requiring much intelligence.
Our hands are quite useful, aren't they? We probably use our hands to carry out most tasks without even realising it. But Harvard isn't satisfied enough with that...
Engineers from the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) have developed and designed a 'jellyfish' inspired gripper. So, how does it work? ⬇️
The scientists have somewhat described the actions of the gripper as throwing it at an object and finding out 🧐 The mechanism has been developed in an attempt to solve the ever-vexing gripper problem in robotics: that is, the challenge of designing something that grabs as well as a human can.
Its purpose? The scientists are hopeful that the mechanism can be attached to robots that pick up fruit and veg in warehouses or even be used on undersea drones that examine fragile sea creatures and coral.
If you're on desktop, scan the QR code to check out new roles 👇
Or, if you're on mobile, click here.
🧑💻 Dev, Data & Design
Developer Stories: Meet Sana, a Software Engineer and React enthusiast. — www.haystackapp.io Meet Sana, a software engineer passionate about working with React. Read more about her journey into tech as well as her mission to inspire other women.
What was your biggest inspiration for breaking into tech?
I’d say that my biggest inspiration was the lack of inspiration. I love a good challenge, and since I wasn’t encouraged to get into tech the same way my male peers were, that motivated me to work hard and get into a field that interests me.
There’s still a renowned problem that there aren’t enough women in tech. What do you think the biggest problem is and how can we break the stigma to encourage more women to get into coding?
I’ve met a lot of girls that are really surprised that I’m in tech but after asking them more questions I realise that they don’t really know much about it. They always imagine a geek behind a computer screen and don’t see themselves represented. So I think one of the main issues is that there are not enough female role models in tech that share their experiences, both positive and negative.
⚙️ Miscellaneous
Twitter plans to charge a monthly fee for your blue tick ✔️
Instagram's bugs suspended accounts for no reason 🤦
Technology is bringing lost history back 🏛
Netflix is investing in gaming, recently acquiring Spry Fox 🕹
🔥 Highlighted Opportunities
Seriös Group | Newcastle upon Tyne HQ
📌 Currently hiring for 7 opportunities including a Test Consultant
Opencast | Newcastle upon Tyne HQ
📌 Currently hiring for 15 opportunities including Technical Architect
Dye & Durham | London HQ
📌 Currently hiring for 2 opportunities including Senior DevOps Engineer
Hofy | London HQ
📌 Currently hiring for 2 opportunities including VP of Engineering
Atom bank | Durham HQ
📌 Currently hiring for a Data Engineer - 4-day week
Apexon | Sunderland HQ
📌 Currently hiring for 12 opportunities including Senior Java Developer
📲 New on Haystack
Indiespring
📌 Currently hiring for 2 opportunities including Native Android Developer