200 employees? 3 products? Hmm. Electronics 5 people. Mechanics 5 people. Programming 5 people. Assistant of bosses 5 people. Shouldn’t be more than 20 people. 200??? For what?
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Robotics Company Anki Shutting Down
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You forget this thing needs media production, marketing, probably has more than 5 software developers and you need People who know how to make physical products, industrial designers, then game designers, character designers.
And then there’s overhead plus sales, supply change management, quality control....
Somethings may be outsourced but I definitely see more than 20 working on this.
Anki, a robotics company known for its Vector and Cozmo home robots along with AI-based Anki Drive cars, is shutting down, reports Recode.
Anki CEO Boris Sofman today told all Anki staff that they would be terminated on Wednesday and would be given a week of severance pay. Anki has nearly 200 employees.
Just days ago, employees were told that Anki was aiming to find additional funding after a round of financing fell through. To date, Anki had raised more than $200 million in venture capital from investors like Index Ventures and Andreessen Horowitz.
Anki in 2018 said that it had earned $100 million in revenue in 2017 and expected to exceed that number in 2018, but that wasn't enough to keep the company afloat.
In a statement to Recode, Anki said that it did not have the funding to support its business and reach its long-term product roadmap.Anki was founded by roboticists from Carnegie Mellon University and in 2013, launched its first product, Anki Drive, AI-based cars that drove themselves with customer input. After that, Anki came out with Cozmo, a robot aimed at kids, and then Vector, a more advanced robot that sold for $250.
Article Link: Robotics Company Anki Shutting Down
This whole thing was just a cool gizmo - I don't understand why anybody would believe that this company could ever continue to exist... Of course, their contribution to the further development of AI (even in such a form), must be heralded.
Instead, you ... require an infinitely more complex array of systems and organs, all of which are fragile in the face of damage, disease, and decay. The balance of your good health can be easily and quickly upended by any one of those.
I'd rather rely on an app that still works, but won't be updated
This was bound to happen from the day one when thier demo failed on the Apple stage. I never really understood the business plan. There was some article on Macrumors sometime back about their product, which surprised me that they are still surviving.
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You just mentioned the problem it solves
It is useful but not at that price, definitely not. I was facing a similar problem, where my cofee would get cold as i'd be moving around attending issues in office, only to realise my coffee is dead cold when am about to have it.
I tought of buying those usb disk that keeps cup warm, but i bought a small mug/thermos which keeps it hot for about 2 hrs and warm upto 3 hrs. Cost me about $15 or so if i remember correctly.
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You just mentioned the problem it solves
It is useful but not at that price, definitely not. I was facing a similar problem, where my cofee would get cold as i'd be moving around attending issues in office, only to realise my coffee is dead cold when am about to have it.
I tought of buying those usb disk that keeps cup warm, but i bought a small mug/thermos which keeps it hot for about 2 hrs and warm upto 3 hrs. Cost me about $15 or so if i remember correctly.
Literally no AI. The thing couldn't even stop itself driving off tables, even with sensors on the bottom to stop just that.
It was a big con.
I agree with you- once I bought for navigation Pioneer HUD SFX1 with large great virtual screen on the middle of car bonnet, but 2 years after that CoPilot withdrew support (even I had fully paid lifetime service for it from them), so my HUD navigation initially worth $1000 become just electronic junk!!
Not surprised at all, considering the lack of feedback and updates from Anki. The Vector had so much potential, but even that late save with Alexa integration was too little too late. Vector needed to be four times the size and actually serve a purpose, but it was just a toy. Sad to see this company go though, some very creative and brilliant people there.
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I'm curious if their servers and app will be taken down, otherwise I'm with you. If I can pick up a Vector for $50 I'd bite.
Thats exactly how it does not work. The Apple Design team has (had) 30 people.
Media production and marketing are outsourced by default.
Production is outsourced by default.
A product this (little) complex won't have more than 5 software developers.
This hits deep on a personal note. My dad passed suddenly last year, and the last thing he bought on Amazon, which arrived after he died, was an Anki Cozmo robot.
Sorry for your loss.
No, the app is not required to drive a Tesla. All you need is the fob or keycard.
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So, really - is there any way to connect these cars together outside of the app that they are no longer going to be supporting? They seriously need to open source this stuff as a last hail mary...
Thanks, but the question was rhetorical.
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FWIW, they’ve already shutdown some or all of their online services. So, the apps have already had their functionality reduced.
Seems that the internal car requires its own app to work. I’ve already seen a video from a Tesla owner using iOS to unlock the door. When entered into the car and using iPhone XS, if the app is launched the internal car display turns off, requiring the car to be fully shut down and powered back up!
You’ll need that to obey road speeds. #dependancy
- seems this situation you do need some sort of an app to run “with” you.
I don’t have first hand experience yet I find it idiotic to consolidate all driver necessary controls and read outs into a tablet screen that consolidates creature comforts and other data & controls in the middle of the car.
Seems that the internal car requires its own app to work. I’ve already seen a video from a Tesla owner using iOS to unlock the door. When entered into the car and using iPhone XS, if the app is launched the internal car display turns off, requiring the car to be fully shut down and powered back up!
You’ll need that to obey road speeds. #dependancy
- seems this situation you do need some sort of an app to run “with” you.
I don’t have first hand experience yet I find it idiotic to consolidate all driver necessary controls and read outs into a tablet screen that consolidates creature comforts and other data & controls in the middle of the car.
You don't need any apps to drive a Tesla. All cars use software to help drivers interact with their cars. Tesla's just happens to be far more elegantly implemented because they control the entire software and hardware stack. I've owned a Model 3 for over a year now, and it is hands down the best car I've ever driven.
Seems that the internal car requires its own app to work. I’ve already seen a video from a Tesla owner using iOS to unlock the door. When entered into the car and using iPhone XS, if the app is launched the internal car display turns off, requiring the car to be fully shut down and powered back up!
You’ll need that to obey road speeds. #dependancy
- seems this situation you do need some sort of an app to run “with” you.
I don’t have first hand experience yet I find it idiotic to consolidate all driver necessary controls and read outs into a tablet screen that consolidates creature comforts and other data & controls in the middle of the car.
The Tesla app just provides quality of life functionality. It’s not required to operate the vehicle.
I didn't say it was required to operate the vehicle.
To be clear ... that centre console tablet IS an app: meaning without that running you cannot control: Climate Control, determine your GPS route, nor your speed and it's relation to speed limits. EverythingApplePro YouTuber experienced an issue with his non-jailbroken iPhone XS Max that when using or launching the iOS Tesla app ... it turns the internal display of the Tesla car OFF. To me ... that's an APP issue and it's within the car which a driver MUST have running .. hence it's an APP. Also why I've stated (with inference) the driver cluster: Speed, navigation, mirrors, door controls should ALL be separate from that centre Tablet.
When updates or glitches like this occur more often you'll see what I mean.
PS: I find it asinine that the driver needs to move his eyes away from line of site with the road, and no peripheral vision to see current speed in order to adjust to the roads changing speed limits: not all roads are 100Kmh all the way. Some, while entering school zones changes, taking your eyes off the road even for 2 seconds or 1 second could affect your braking time and could put a child crossing the road for a ball, bus or to goto their parents car very dangerous. Not about that.
Back on topic ... Why didn't Anki allow their toys to be part of Apple's Everyone Can Code platform?
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Sorry .. not ALL cars. Maybe modern cars yes. Again I didn't say you NEEDED an app (focusing on traditional apps on our tablets/mobile smartphones) to drive the car. I was stating that a traditional iOS app (used by EveryThingApplePro YouTuber actually; forgot to mention who yesterday), affected the internal system which IS in fact an application or a collection of application that are consolidated into a centre tablet screen. When that screen goes off ... which YOU NEED for your current speed, in order to obey speed limits of the road you're on, then yes you require it. It's still an application and neglecting to understand that, you misunderstand my point.
PS: Model 3 has NOT been available for sale for an entire year yet.
Production July 2017 – present
(EDIT ... when did it actually go on sale to the general public? When did you purchase it)?
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Good point. Think I’ll install the app on one of my old iPads fro my Vector just in case
First deliveries took place in July 2017. First deliveries to non-employees and non-previous owners started in December 2017. I took delivery in April 2018.
I've rebooted my screen only thrice in that time (and two of those instances were because LTE coverage dropped out and I was trying to get streaming music back quickly). The screen comes back up in about a minute, but everything still works in the meantime. I can even activate and control Autopilot while the screen reboots. Speed isn't an issue as long as you're going with the flow of traffic. Tesla did a very good job making sure driving functions are completely sandboxed from screen interactions (different computers in fact).
Do you have a link for when EverythingApplePro's screen turned when launching the iOS app? I can't find it. If it was a legit bug (and from all the messing around he does with his car), I'm sure it's already fixed.
There are other cars that don't have the speedometer directly behind the steering wheel. Prius and Mini Cooper are two off the top of my head. And continuous line of sight is not critical for driving, in fact, it's dangerous because that would require not checking your review and side view mirrors.
Regardless, once you drive a Model 3 you realize how easy it is to check the speed. It takes no effort. I instantly adjusted to it. And I quickly developed the muscle memory to turn on climate controls without looking. Most of the other stereo functions I can do with voice commands.
I've rebooted my screen only thrice in that time (and two of those instances were because LTE coverage dropped out and I was trying to get streaming music back quickly). The screen comes back up in about a minute, but everything still works in the meantime. I can even activate and control Autopilot while the screen reboots. Speed isn't an issue as long as you're going with the flow of traffic. Tesla did a very good job making sure driving functions are completely sandboxed from screen interactions (different computers in fact).
Do you have a link for when EverythingApplePro's screen turned when launching the iOS app? I can't find it. If it was a legit bug (and from all the messing around he does with his car), I'm sure it's already fixed.
There are other cars that don't have the speedometer directly behind the steering wheel. Prius and Mini Cooper are two off the top of my head. And continuous line of sight is not critical for driving, in fact, it's dangerous because that would require not checking your review and side view mirrors.
Regardless, once you drive a Model 3 you realize how easy it is to check the speed. It takes no effort. I instantly adjusted to it. And I quickly developed the muscle memory to turn on climate controls without looking. Most of the other stereo functions I can do with voice commands.