Nintendo Teams With Pokémon Go Studio Niantic on AR Apps

Nintendo Co. has struck a long-term deal to develop augmented reality smartphone apps with Niantic Inc., the Google spinoff whose smash hit Pokémon Go introduced AR to a mainstream gaming audience.

The pair announced a long-term agreement in Tokyo Tuesday to turn Nintendo content into AR apps, which work by superimposing digital images onto the physical world. They will start by releasing a Pikmin app in 2021, based on the puzzle-solving series created by Nintendo’s creative fellow Shigeru Miyamoto in 2001.

San Francisco-based Niantic becomes Nintendo’s fourth smartphone app development partner, potentially giving the Kyoto-based company’s mobile efforts a much-needed push. Since 2016, Nintendo has developed fewer than 10 smartphone games with outside partners DeNA Co., Cygames Inc. and Line Corp. Nintendo’s shares rose more than 2% in early trading in Tokyo.

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Keanu Reeves Comic 'BRZRKR' to Become Movie, Anime Series for Netflix

Keanu Reeves’ comic, BRZRKR, is getting the full Netflix treatment.

The streamer has picked up the screen rights to the Boom! Studios-published comic, whose first issue hit shelves only two weeks ago, and is developing it as a feature adaptation as well as an anime spinoff.

Reeves will star in both projects as well as produce. Also producing are Ross Richie and Stephen Christy for Boom! Studios along with Stephen Hamel of Company Films.

Per Netflix and Boom!, BRZRKR is a "brutally epic saga about an immortal warrior’s 80,000 year fight through the ages. The man known only as 'B' is half-mortal and half-god, cursed and compelled to violence, even at the sacrifice of his sanity. But after wandering the earth for centuries, B may have finally found a refuge — working for the U.S. government to fight the battles too violent and too dangerous for anyone else. In exchange, B will be granted the one thing he desires — the truth about his endless blood-soaked existence … and how to end it."

The feature will adapt the comic, which is intended to run for 12 issues, while the anime will explore different elements of the BRZRKR universe.

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Digbi Health Secures $5.4M in Series A Funding

Digbi Health, a Mountain View, Calif.-based provider of a gut microbiome & genetic risk based precision care program, completed a $5.4m Series A funding. 

The round, which brought total funding raised to date to $8.5m, was led by Accel, with participation from Wisdom LLP and seed backers Ocean Azul Partners and Seraph Venture.  

The company intends to use the funds to continue to expand its business reach forging additional payer, employer and Third-party administrator (TPA) partnerships, along with its product offering, engineering, gut microbiome and data science teams in the US and India. In addition, Digbi Health will add to its existing clinical research partners – West Virginia University Medicine, UC Irvine Medical School, while investing in an FDA approval pathway for Software as a Medical Device (SaMD) targeting functional bowel disorder.

Founded in 2018 by CEO Ranjan Sinha, Digbi Health provides a clinically proven genetics and gut-microbiome based digital care program for managing obesity and associated inflammatory digestive, skin and cardiometabolic illnesses

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More U.S. Law Enforcement Organizations Choose WhiteFox for Drone Detection and Tracking

The use of drones in criminal activities is on the rise, and law enforcement organizations are using new equipment and tactics for prevention and prosecution. 

WhiteFox Defense Technologies, Inc. has delivered the DroneFoxTM Counter UAS (CUAS) system to a major US city’s police department. DroneFox is an omnidirectional drone detection, identification, and mitigation system. The system has demonstrated the ability to detect and track drones at ranges over 15 km during customer testing. The system enables the user to assess the threat level, including the drone and pilot’s location and movement in real-time – a massive advantage in a world quickly experiencing a rise in drone threats.  

Drones continue to be used in criminal activities, including monitoring police movements during protests, capturing harassing photos of private citizens, and interfering with law enforcement helicopters, such as a near-collision with an LAPD helicopter. Waco, TX, recently saw a string of robberies that began with burglars using drones to spy on vacant homes before stealing over $200,000 in cash and valuables. As consumer drones become more accessible, the need for counter-drone technology becomes imperative. DroneFox  locates and tracks reckless and malicious drones. Authorized users can also employ DroneFox to mitigate drone threats, safely landing them. This rich dataset and analysis capability enables law enforcement to better respond to drone incidents.  

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U.S. Pay Equity Laws Miss Key Components to Promote Fairness and Help Businesses Comply, Says New Report from Syndio & Fair Pay Workplace

SEATTLE, March 11, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- U.S. federal and state pay equity laws all lack at least some of the key components to make the laws effective for employees and feasible for companies to comply, according to a new report. Syndio, a leading EquityTech analytics platform with a mission to ensure fairness and equity are part of every employment decision, and Fair Pay Workplace, a nonprofit organization offering a transparent and trusted certification standard for employers dedicated to true pay equity, today released, The State of Pay Equity Laws in the U.S.—2021.

In the nearly 60 years since the federal Equal Pay Act of 1963 was signed into legislation, 44 states have enacted pay equity laws. Yet, despite the passage of these well-intentioned laws, progress on closing the pay gap in the U.S. has stalled. The report from Syndio and Fair Pay Workplace outlined 10 components that any law should include to ensure fair pay, and make it possible for companies to comply. 

"Despite a growing number of state and federal rules encouraging pay equity, the U.S. is persistently behind in closing the pay gap," said Maria Colacurcio, CEO of Syndio. "Many laws stifle employers' ability to make progress on pay equity, while others have flaws that don't fully protect the people who are not being paid fairly. To move the needle on pay equity, it's important to ensure any new laws protect the rights of individuals and are feasible for companies."

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