- This robotics startup is swinging for the fences…
- Sony is breaking into the auto industry…
- The Sandbox is about to go exponential…
Dear Reader,
I want to invite you to join me for an event I’m incredibly excited about.
This Wednesday, March 16, I am going live with my secret “Perceptron” project. This is something completely new that I’ve never spoken about before. We’ll get started at 8 p.m. ET sharp.
I’ve spent five years and more than half a million dollars on this project. It’s all about using bleeding edge technology to spot major 60-day “profit windows” in the cryptocurrency space.
And that’s regardless of what the overall market is doing. The Perceptron helps cut through market “noise” and volatility.
And thanks to its ability to crunch massive amounts of data, the Perceptron can identify these profit windows over and over again.
This is a highly sophisticated, bleeding edge trading system that uses some of the most advanced technology available on the planet.
This is technology that hedge funds would love to get their hands on… except it’s 100% proprietary and only two of us hold the “key.”
We developed the tech in-house with the help of a world-class computer scientist. I even filed a patent with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) to protect our intellectual property (IP).
And after extensive testing, I’m finally ready to put the Perceptron to work for my subscribers. That’s what our event is about this week.
Oh, and I’ll even give away a free trade primed to pop within the next 60 days to those who join me on Wednesday evening.
So I encourage all readers to set aside time to attend. It’s all going down at 8 p.m. ET this Wednesday, March 16. The event is free to join. I just ask that you reserve your spot in advance right here.
See you then.
iRobot is becoming a reality…
Sanctuary AI just revealed its vision for the future of robotics. And I must say, the early stage company is certainly swinging for the fences.
Here it is:
The Future of Robotics?
Source: Sanctuary AI
Here we can see Sanctuary’s vision of a human-like robot infused with artificial intelligence (AI). The company’s goal is to build a general-purpose robot to not only solve the ongoing labor shortages in many industries, but also potentially be used in a home setting.
This is a distinct break from the rest of the industry.
Most robotics companies have focused on robots that can do simple tasks. We’ve talked before about robotic arms that are designed for specific applications. They can flip burgers, move packages, and sort through items in a bin or on a conveyor belt.
These relatively simple, repetitive tasks happen in a fixed setting. That’s the low-hanging fruit.
It’s much harder to make a general-purpose bipedal robot that can function in any environment.
Yet Sanctuary AI believes that it can do this, and so do others. The company just raised $58.5 million in its Series A venture capital (VC) round.
Among the investors were the VC arms of auto parts giant Magna, wireless titan Verizon, and enterprise software company Workday.
It’s interesting to see firms from a wide array of industries making strategic investments in Sanctuary AI. That demonstrates how useful these robots will be for a wide range of tasks. It’s also easy to understand the strategic importance of these investors.
Magna is one of the largest Tier-1 auto suppliers in the world. It’s a key player in automotive manufacturing. Manufacturing robots at scale could be an exciting adjacent industry to break into.
And every robot will need to be connected to a network at all times. That’s where Verizon comes in with its latest 5G wireless network.
And Workday is one of the largest software as a service (SaaS) tech companies serving enterprise customers around the world. It’s not a stretch to envision that they might extend their service offering to robotics as a service (RaaS) at some point in the near future.
To me, this story is even bigger than one company, though.
The industry is beginning to shift towards general-purpose, intelligent robots.
This is an indication that major industry players – including Tesla with its own plans for the Tesla Bot – believe that both the hardware and artificial intelligence software have advanced to the point where this convergence of technology is not only possible, but can be produced at scale at attractive price points.
I expect we will see a wave of new companies entering the space and raising capital later this year. It won’t be long until we start to see robots like those seen in the popular movie I, Robot.
While the movie is very dramatized, it’s a very interesting story line based on some of Isaac Asimov’s science fiction. Both Asimov’s writing and the movie are more relevant today than they ever have been.
Asimov’s vision of the future is finally creeping up on us quickly.
Cars are becoming consumer electronics products…
Consumer electronics giant Sony just revealed its first electric vehicle (EV).
This gives us some insight into the future of transportation.
In The Bleeding Edge, we’ve seen Tesla prove its self-driving software. Ford announced its all-electric F-150, the Lighting. And General Motors’ Cruise is offering driverless taxi rides.
Now, Sony is getting in on the act.
It’s teaming up with Japanese carmaker Honda to manufacture the Sony Vision series. Here’s a look at the all-electric SUV:
Sony Vision-S 02 Concept SUV
Source: Sony
Here we can see a sleek, modern design. And this is more than just a vision.
Sony developed this car along with two titans in the auto industry – Magna International and Bosch. Both companies are two of the largest automotive parts and engineering firms in the world. And Sony is partnering with Honda to manufacture the final product.
Working with these three firms certainly gives Sony’s EVs credibility. What’s more, Sony announced that the first model will be available for sale in 2025.
In the automotive industry, the final design with all components needs to be in place at least three years prior to manufacturing. So if Sony is gearing up for a 2025 launch, that means the design is already locked in.
Of course, this begs the question… Why is Sony trying to break into the auto industry?
After all, making cars is a tough business. It’s capital-intensive. And the margins are relatively small.
Well, Sony is trying to find a growth opportunity here. The company has missed out on the best market opportunities in the consumer electronics space over the past decade.
First, Sony got boxed out of the laptop market. Then it completely missed the shift to smartphones. Outside of Japan, Sony has little presence in the smartphone market.
Plus, the top smartphone companies integrated the “music player” functionality into smartphones. That made Sony’s audio devices largely irrelevant.
Because of this, Sony’s revenue growth has been lackluster for years.
Other than the PlayStation, Sony’s electronics brands are largely in decline.
And Apple’s been one of the companies eating into Sony’s growth. Sony is clearly trying to get a leg up on Apple’s car, Project Titan, by trying to launch its own EV first.
With a 2025 launch, Sony is trying to beat Apple to the punch. I’m sure that’s a major driver. And it must be feeling the pressure. While we don’t know exactly when Apple will launch its car, the latest rumors indicate sometime between 2023 and 2025.
That said, I don’t think Sony’s move into the auto industry will be terribly successful. There’s just nothing that stands out in its plans.
And the biggest omission is around autonomous driving. As regular readers know, this is a massive trend, and it has been a huge differentiator for the EV market leader – Tesla. And Sony appears to have no plans for autonomous driving whatsoever.
Yet the bigger picture here is that cars are becoming a lot more like consumer electronics products than ever before.
The fact that Sony and Apple are both getting into the space is a perfect example of how consumer electronics brands feel that they can leverage their expertise in user experience in the context of a (very) large consumer electronics device – a car.
As a result, we are going to see a dramatic shift in the industry.
Companies will design cars to look and feel more like the consumer electronics that people use every day. This will force carmakers to get more creative with their designs, particularly in the interior of the car.
The incumbent automotive market is getting squeezed right now. On one side are the upstarts that have already delivered fantastic products like Fisker, Lucid, Rivian, and Tesla.
And on the other side there will be consumer electronics giants with strong brands like Sony, Apple, and many others.
The Sandbox is following a tried-and-true growth strategy…
The Sandbox, a popular metaverse game we’ve been tracking in these pages, just released a second update to its metaverse.
It’s called Alpha Season 2. And it’s modeled after popular games like Fortnite.
Fortnite has been very successful in offering frequent updates called “seasons.” These constant updates drive more users in. And that’s been a big part of Fortnite’s growth strategy.
So The Sandbox is following suit here. And The Sandbox metaverse has now registered over two million users in the past 13 months.
This may not sound like a lot. But attracting the first few million always takes the longest.
The more users and high-profile names The Sandbox brings in, the faster it’ll grow. This is known as the network effect. And once it kicks in, platforms can go from two million to 20 million users very quickly.
So The Sandbox is primed for growth with the adoption of the “seasons” model. It always keeps users/players coming back, as there are always interesting additions and incentives with every new release.
And I should point out that The Sandbox metaverse is already home to big names. In fact, it’s the very same metaverse where Snoop Dogg boasts his virtual estate. It’s also where Warner Music will build the first digital concert venue.
The virtual world looks like popular Web 2 games Minecraft and Roblox with a block-like look and simplistic feel.
A Floating Castle in The Sandbox
Source: VentureBeat
But the big difference is that this game uses blockchain technology. This enables Web 3 economic incentives that will drive rapid growth.
The Sandbox features a native digital asset called Sand (SAND). And users can earn SAND by completing quests inside the metaverse. However, SAND is real money. We can convert it directly into other digital assets like Ethereum (ETH). And then users can exchange it for U.S. dollars or other fiat currency should they choose.
Of course, that alone isn’t unique to The Sandbox. Minecraft and Roblox also feature in-game currencies.
In other words, SAND is completely fungible.
So The Sandbox has the potential to become one of the largest gaming platforms in the world. This is absolutely a metaverse we will continue to track closely.
And I’ll continue to work hard to put the best metaverse opportunities on my readers’ radars as this technology develops. This space is growing so quickly and attracting so much money, even a little exposure can be powerful. To find out more, simply go right here.
Regards,
Jeff Brown
Editor, The Bleeding Edge
P.S. Don’t forget to set aside an hour or so to join me for the “Perceptron” reveal on Wednesday evening. I promise it will be unlike anything the industry has seen before.
We’ll start at 8 p.m. ET. For more information go right here.
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