Technology

Startups are strange beasts. Founders and investors are obviously so super-focused on building their companies that sometimes they forget to delve into the big issues behind tech and startups. Plus, do they ever know whatgoing on outside their laser-focused view Sometimes itgood to take stock.

Thatwhy we&ve built The Europas Awards - Unconference (July 3) in association with TechCrunch, to give you a heads-up on the big issues, time to network, and time to celebrate with peers and friends, on a great day in London.

So what is The Europas

• Key Founders and investors speaking • No secret VIP rooms, maximum Speaker interaction • Ultra-high quality crowd, largely invited • Convivial, relaxed atmosphere conducive to networking • Intimate &breakout& sessions with key players • Journalists from major tech titles • Percentage of profits will be donated to charity • A stunning awards dinner and party which honours both the hottest startups and the leading lights in the European startup scene

The Unconference

Pull up a front row seat at our Unconference as some of the most incisive and prescient thought leaders in tech will discuss and debate some of the biggest issues, opportunities and challenges in tech. You won&t want to miss these panels:

• Should We Stay or Should We Go Now What next for Europeantech economy as Brexit looms We&re joined by LocalGlobe partner Suzanne Ashman, BGF partner, Wendy Tan White, and Eloise Todd, CEO of Best for Britain to dissect what the Leave ramifications are for the tech ecosystem.

• The Disinfoconomy: We were all shocked, shocked, to learn that Facebook had allowed commercial entities access to our private data with no oversight into how that data was being used and for what purpose. Our panelists debate what next for businesses peddling in private data, do consumers care enough to change their behaviour, what impact has this had on the media, and is there a way to sort all this mess out

• Mapping the Future of Transportation in an Autonomous Age: The era of the autonomous vehicle is nigh! But how will AVs interact with our existing transportation landscape in our current gridlocked cities Bill Gross-backed AIPod thinks it has a solution. CRO and co-founder Steve Gledden unpacks the details.

• AI + Startups & A Non Starter So you wanna be an AI startup, but therethe pesky little problem of enough data. Paul Dowling of Dreamstake Ventures leads a discussion with Steve King of social prediction startup Black Swan and Draper Esprit partner and long-time health tech investor Vishal Gulati on the data challenge.

• APPily Ever After or APPocalypse now Dating Apps in a Post #MeToo World. Dating apps have radically reshaped how we form relationships, our attitudes toward sex, sexism, objectification and desire — and quite frankly, what constitutes good manners. We&re joined by Olivia June, founder of vina.io, and more to come.

• TWO tracks on Crypto and Blockchain:

We&ve got TWO tracks on Crypto and Blockchain this year, one dedicated to understanding the ins and outs of investing, token economics, and ICOs; the other to the industries being disrupted by the use of blockchain or DLT. We have panels looking at social impact; the media, creative industries and visual arts, digital identity, and financial services. These panels are meant to get you clued up quickly and to explore the most exciting startups in these verticals.

• Startup Central Zone

Finally, we&ve got Startup Central, with panels packed with advice on fundraising from seed to C and beyond. You&ll want to join the Future of Funding panel, a deep dive into raising money through ICOs, traditional venture capital, and crowdfunding. We&re excited to be joined by Ali Ganjavian, founder of Studio Banana. Yes, hethe Kickstarter darling behind the Ostrich Pillow. Our favourite tech journos, including Steve O&Hear of TechCrunch, join our popular Meet the Press panel, where you&ll get to turn the tables and grill reporters on what they think makes a tech story.

• Pitch Roulette

At the end of the day, join us for Pitch Roulette, where some of Europebiggest VCs will be giving selected startups feedback on their pitch.

Slowly but surely, Amazonbeen turning its Fire tablets into Echos. It started with push to talk Alexa function. Last year, the company added a hands-free mode for the voice assistant. Now, itadding Show Mode, which brings the same title card UI you get on the companyscreen-enabled smart speaker.

Better still, Amazonintroducing a Show Mode Charging Dock, a stand that effectively transforms the Fire into a makeshift Show. Place the tablet into a dock and it starts charging and automatically flips into Show mode, so you can do all of the standard Echo activities from across the room.

The dock works with both the most recent Fire HD 8 and 10 (if I had to venture a guess, I&d say the 7 will probably be getting the functionality, as well). If you already have one of the devices, the feature will be coming through an over-the-air update starting July 2. Once itin place, it will play nicely with other Echos in your home, using AmazonESP (&Echo Spatial Perception&) feature.

I&d have to imagine a new, less bulky version of the Show is in the works. In the meantime, this is a pretty compelling alternative — and a chance for Amazon to be a bit more competitive with the numerous third-party devices Google unveiled back at CES. The tablet+dock package is ultimately a cheaper option than the Show$230 price tag (though that device is discounted to $160 at the moment).

The docks themselves run $40 for the eight-inch and $55 for the 10 (both are discounted $5 for the time being). If you don&t already have the tablets on-hand, you can pick up a bundle for $110 and $190, respectively. Picking up this configuration also gives you a lot more flexibility versus just going in on the Show.

As for what the Show brings to the table Better built-in mics and speakers are the primary answer. Ultimately, however, I suspect Amazon isn&t really concerned about some of its devices cannibalizing others, so long as it gets more Amazon products out in the world.

A week after appointing a CEO for its healthcare joint venture with Berkshire Hathaway and JPMorgan, Amazon today announced an acquisition that underscores how it also hopes to have a more direct — and more commercial — role in the world of healthcare in the coming years. The company has purchased PillPack, an online pharmacy the lets users buy medications in pre-made doses.

Terms of the deal have not been disclosed by Amazon, but sources close to the deal say it was for just under $1 billion. PillPack had reportedly been in talks with Walmart — one of Amazonbig rivals — for an acquisition, and we confirmed that this was indeed the case. &But someone& — that is, Amazon — &came along offering more.&

According to PitchBook, PillPack was last valued at $361 million after a round of funding in 2016.This deal is expected to close in the second half of 2018.

The move (and that reported valuation hike) signal how heated the e-health market is becoming, and also how Amazon views it as a key frontier in its bid to be the go-to place for anything a consumer (or medical organization) might want or need in the area of healthcare.

The might of Amazon in commerce plays a massive role in how the market is poised to develop: it buying the company is not only a signal of how PillPack will likely get scaled out (not least through Amazonhealthcare JV) but also because of how other pharmacy companies will have to respond. So far, the market is punishing the rest for not already being where Amazon appears to be going.

&PillPackvisionary team has a combination of deep pharmacy experience and a focus on technology,& saysJeff Wilke,AmazonCEO of Worldwide Consumer, in a news release. &PillPack is meaningfully improving its customers& lives, and we want to help them continue making it easy for people to save time, simplify their lives, and feel healthier. We&re excited to see what we can do together on behalf of customers over time.&

PillPack has a license to operate in all 50 states in the U.S. and has other accreeditations such as URAC AND VIPPS, but it doesn&t seem to be operational in international markets. Its PharmacyOS — the system it has built that forms the basis of the company — is a platform that helps manage patient data and figure out how to balance meds together in safe doses for its customers.

The challenge that the company is addressing is very real: the US is a huge consumer of medicines, and some of that has tipped into a large epidemic of abuse. While there are a lot of things that will have to happen to tackle that in the long and short term, at least helping to provide controlled doses of what patients are being prescribed is one aspect of how to tackle the problem.

It looks likeTJ Parker, co-founder and CEO of PillPack, will be staying on to run the business.

&PillPack makes it simple for any customer to take the right medication at the right time, and feel healthier,& he said in a statement. &Together withAmazon, we are eager to continue working with partners across the healthcare industry to help people throughout the U.S. who can benefit from a better pharmacy experience.&

PillPack, based in Manchester, New Hampshire, started out at TechStars in Boston in 2013, when it was still led by Katie Rae, and over the years it had raised $123 million with investors including Accel, Accomplice, Charles River Ventures and Menlo Ventures.