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We first saw Microsoft’s vision of the future of gaming last year when a patent filing revealed a novel system that projects images from a video game all over a room, extending the gaming experience beyond the TV screen. Our interest was piqued again when a video demo of “IllumiRoom” made the rounds earlier this week alongside rumors that the exciting new feature might be available on Microsoft’s next-generation Xbox. The feature would undoubtedly give the next Xbox an edge over rivals but unfortunately, Microsoft has confirmed that IllumiRoom won’t be included in its next-generation video game console at launch.

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Machine learning is everywhere these days as companies and organizations find themselves trying to make sense of data sets far too large and complex for the human brain alone. On Tuesday, Skytree cashed in on the hype with with an $18 million Series A round led by U.S. Venture Partners along with delivery giant UPS and Sun Microsystems co-founder and former CEO Scott McNealy. Skytree launched in February 2012 with $1.5 million in seed funding.

Machine learning is such a hot topic right now because data volumes are becoming so large and complex that humans alone can’t query their ways through them fast enough or intelligently enough to spot latent patterns among the mess of data. It’s the algorithmic engine that powers a bunch of Google services and your Netflix recommendations, as well as web content-curation service Prismatic and alternative-underwriting platform ZestFinance. As we covered in some detail at this year’s Structure: Data conference, machine learning is particularly powerful when its ability to correlate tens of thousands of variables is paired with human judgment about what really matters.

Skytree, for its part, sells a product called Skytree Server that lets users run a wide variety of machine learning algorithms across whatever data they have. It might be an oversimplification, but Skytree is essentially a souped-up version of statistical-analysis packages like SPSS or SAS that’s designed to run fast — and, more importantly — without sampling across a scale-out server architecture. In March, the company also rolled out the beta version of a new product called Adviser that can run on a laptop and walks more-novice users through the analysis of their data, including what methods were used and why, and whether the findings are statistically significant.

I suspect we’re just seeing the opening salvo in what will be a rush to fund machine learning startups over the next couple of years. Skytree is among a number of increasingly promising startups in the space, including (but certainly not limited to) Ayasdi and Quid. As more individuals see the promise of machine learning and get skilled in applying it to their particular problems and datasets — as UPS apparently has — it could become become one of the go-to analytic methods in the big data era.

Related research and analysis from GigaOM Pro:
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“Trust is the key to our community,” says Airbnb’s Vivek Wagle. “There is no place for anonymity in a trusted community.”

And with that, Airbnb announces a move that is likely to ruffle the feathers of some users, while engendering a more serious trust in the service in others. Today, the online service that connects travelers with location renters all across the world is unveiling a heightened verification process which they call Airbnb Verified ID. It will force users to match their online IDs (via Airbnb accounts, Facebook, or LinkedIn) with their offline identities, verifiable with a government-issued ID or some sort of official questionnaire.

“Verified ID provides a connection between the online and offline spaces. Airbnb users can earn a “Verified ID” badge on their profile by providing their online identity (via existing Airbnb reviews, LinkedIn, or Facebook) and matching it to offline ID documentation, such as confirming personal information or scanning a photo ID. The name provided by both channels must match for verification to succeed,” says Wagle.

Airbnb is dipping its toes into the new verification, only requiring a random 25% of users to get verified. Users who wish to make last-minute bookings will also be asked to verify their identities. That percentage is likely to increase quickly, as Airbnb says that their end goal is to make all users have a verified ID.

Of course, you may be forced into verifying your account if you want to book certain locations. Hosts can now require that guests are verified.

At Airbnb, hosts can set reservation requirements that they feel comfortable with. Some may choose to only invite guests into their homes who have verified their IDs. If you would like to book with a host who requires their guests to verify their IDs, we’ll prompt you to do so in order to complete the booking process. Any host who requests their guests to verify their ID must also get verified.

If you want to verify your account, you can start the process here. Or, you can simply wait for Airbnb to require it. If Airbnb asks you to do so during a booking, you’ll have 12 hours to complete the process.

Airbnb has to know that this is a bold move. For some users, this will be a deal breaker. That’s unavoidable from Airbnb’s perspective. But there are few online services other the Airbnb where this sort of thing makes sense. I mean, people are hosting and booking homes and apartments with strangers. For a company that has had its share of negative press regarding poor user experiences, this is definitely a strong move to show that they’re all about trust and legitimacy.

Alpha Payments Cloud said Tuesday it raised $12 million from an angel investor. Singapore-based Alpha Payments is a payments-focused cloud-based IT firm. The company has launched an enterprise app store for the payments industry.

PRESS RELEASE

Alpha Payments Cloud (APC), a payments-focused cloud-based IT startup, launched today the payments industry’s first comprehensive enterprise app store. The company raised $12 million from an angel investor to introduce new cloud-based payment platforms that change the way payment products are developed while simplifying and connecting the payments world.

APC’s enterprise app store is designed to connect merchants, banks and payment products to one payments ecosystem and provide the flexibility to easily find, select, switch and combine products.

“We are positioning ourselves to be the Android of the payments industry,” said Oliver Rajic, CEO of Alpha Payments Cloud. “We are removing barriers of entry like upfront costs, providing access to global distribution channels and boosting time to market for all parties. Our new technology and fresh approach create a frictionless payments ecosystem that fosters product innovation.”

Benefits for Merchants
· Merchants can easily select and switch among a variety of payment products in more than 35 categories, including fraud, chargeback management and multi-currency acquiring.
· APC’s dynamic API enables merchants to customize product combinations and consolidate current integrations.
· APC offers a unique business intelligence tool that allows merchants to consolidate multiple reports into a single smart reporting tool.

Benefits for Banks
· APC provides banks with instant access to dozens of new products, which leads to additional revenue channels and speeds product development.
· APC’s global acquiring solution and international footprint enable banks to service multi-national merchant volume across North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific and Latin America.

Benefits for Payment Product Providers
· Payment products can expand reach and revenue with quick access to global merchants as well as Asia-Pacific, EU and U.S.-based distribution channels.
· With shorter integration cycles, product providers see a simplified sales cycle and quicker access to revenue.

By hosting its products entirely in the cloud, APC can achieve processing speeds up to 100 times faster than traditional methods, which provides improved decision-making capability when it matters the most – at the time of the transaction.

For a personalized demo of Alpha Payments Cloud’s enterprise app store, email [email protected] or fill out the website contact form.

About Alpha Payments Cloud
Alpha Payments Cloud is a payments-focused cloud-based IT firm dedicated to providing merchants, banks and payment product providers unprecedented access to the global payments world via one integration and platform. Alpha Payments Cloud developed the industry’s first comprehensive cloud-based enterprise app store for payments. Founded in 2011, the company is headquartered in Singapore with offices in Dublin and New York City. For more information, visit www.alphapaymentscloud.com.

The post Alpha Payments Raises $12 Mln appeared first on peHUB.

The PlayStation Vita is in a bit of a rough spot. It doesn’t have a lot of great games. Sony hopes to remedy that situation by just a bit today with the handheld’s latest release.

Soul Sacrifice, a new title from Mega Man creator Keiji Inafune, launches today in the US exclusively for the PlayStation Vita. In celebration of the game’s launch, Sony has gone all out with a live action trailer that would be right at home in a direct-to-VHS movie about mystical warriors from the farther realm.

Soul Sacrifice, and its Monster Hunter-inspired gameplay, has already proven popular in Japan. Unfortunately, the genre has never really caught on in the US. That being said, it could find more success on the Vita as the handheld is starved for content.

To further tempt Vita owners, Sony will be offering the following items to those who purchase a digital copy of the game.