Matching AI Modality To User Intent: Designing The Right Interface — Smashing Magazine

Indian tech tycoon bets $30M of his own money to build AI alternative to Microsoft Office

Serial entrepreneur Bhavin Turakhia is self-funding a $30 million bet on Neo, a new enterprise work platform designed from scratch for the AI era. Neo combines project management, documents, file storage, and AI into a single product, positioning itself as an alternative to Microsoft Office and Google Workspace. Turakhia argues that legacy workplace software cannot be meaningfully upgraded with AI bolt-ons and must be rebuilt entirely. Built in just three months using AI-assisted development, Neo is currently in internal use across Turakhia's companies and plans to roll out to mid-sized businesses soon. The startup has 18 engineers and aims to grow to 45 by year-end.

Uber for Dogs: How to Stop & Think for Design – Master.dev Blog

A brief pointer to Jacky Gilbertson's essay arguing that real design work starts with understanding the problem, why it matters, and who it's for — not with pixels and colors. The core message is that pushing pixels without answering those foundational questions isn't truly design.

AI video startup Higgsfield eyes a $5bn valuation

Higgsfield AI, founded in March 2025, is in talks to raise $300M–$500M at a $5bn valuation — four times its January 2025 valuation of $1.3bn. The company has hit a $500M annualized revenue run rate, up from $200M at end of 2025, with roughly 70% coming from enterprise customers. DST Global is among potential investors. Higgsfield's tools generate ~4.5 million video clips daily and power marketing agents for hundreds of Fortune 500 brands on Nvidia hardware. A notable milestone: a 15-person team used Higgsfield to produce a 95-minute feature film in 14 days for under $500K. The company competes with Kling, Runway, Google's Veo, and OpenAI's Sora. Risks include the round not yet closing, potential revenue volatility, and a crowded market where cheaper rivals could erode its position.

Startup Battlefield Australia application closes in days: Apply before July 6

TechCrunch Startup Battlefield Australia applications close July 6, 2026. Eight selected startups will pitch live at Stripe Tour Sydney on August 19, 2026, competing for up to $15,000 in Stripe fee credits and automatic entry into Startup Battlefield 200 at TechCrunch Disrupt in San Francisco. Past participants include HealthMatch (raised $25M+) and FluroSat/Regrow Agriculture (raised $60M+), collectively raising over $85 million after competing at the last Sydney event in 2017. The competition is free to enter with no equity taken.

Dominion Dynamics raises CA$139M for Arctic defence tech

Ottawa-based Dominion Dynamics has closed a CA$139M Series A — the largest in Canadian defence history — led by Georgian with participation from Valor Equity Partners, Bessemer, OMERS, RBC, and others. The company builds two products: AuraNet, a command-and-control software platform that unifies sensors and communications into a single operating picture, and Scout, an autonomous drone designed to fly alongside crewed fighter jets. Both were tested during a Canadian Armed Forces Arctic exercise. The raise comes as Canada ramps up defence spending toward NATO's 5% GDP target by 2035 and pledges to direct 70% of defence procurement to domestic firms. Dominion has grown to a 25,000 sq ft manufacturing facility in Kanata, Ontario, and plans to exceed 100 staff by year-end.

Queue raises $12.6M for its autonomous robotic pharmacy

Queue, a Silicon Valley startup, has emerged from stealth with a $12.6M seed round led by AlleyCorp, bringing its total funding to $18.6M. The company has built what it claims is the world's first fully autonomous robotic pharmacy — a self-contained machine that accepts sealed wholesale bottles and dispenses filled, verified prescription vials in under 60 seconds with zero human involvement. It can dispense up to 600 pills per minute across 250 medications and claims a 96% reduction in dispensing costs. The startup targets the growing US 'pharmacy desert' problem, where one in three pharmacies has closed. Regulatory hurdles remain, as most US states require a licensed pharmacist to authorize prescriptions, and Queue has yet to demonstrate the system at scale across multiple sites.

Why Your App Feels Slow Even When It’s Fast — The Psychology and Science of Perceived Performance

Ngay cả ứng dụng có tốc độ kỹ thuật nhanh vẫn có thể cảm thấy chậm do yếu tố tâm lý, như quy tắc 400ms của Doherty Threshold. Các kỹ thuật như skeleton loaders, progress bars hay optimistic UI giúp đánh lừa não bộ, khiến người dùng cảm nhận tốc độ nhanh hơn.

Lập trình viên nên đọc bài này để hiểu cách không chỉ tối ưu thời gian thực thực tế mà phải giải quyết cảm giác chậm chạp của người dùng—vì một UI phản ứng nhanh nhưng không "ngon miệng" với tâm lý người dùng sẽ khiến họ bỏ app ngay cả khi hệ thống thực sự hiệu suất cao.