Technology

Several years ago Google X engineer Max Braun published a medium post on a smart mirror he made and now heback with a new version thatsmaller and smarter. This is a smart mirror I can get behind though I still find smart mirrors completely frivolous.

He published his project on Medium where he explains the process and the parts a person would need to build their own. This isn&t a project for everyone, but Max gives enough instructions that most enterprising builders should be able to hack something similar together.

I recently reviewed a smart mirror and found it a bit silly but still useful. Ideally, like in Maxsmart mirrors, the software is passive and always available. Users shouldn&t have to think about interacting with the devices; the right information should be displayed automatically. Ita balancing act.

At this point, smart mirrors are little more than Android tablets placed behind a two-way mirror. Retail models are expensive to be buy and hardly worth it since a personphone or voice assistant can probably provide the same information. After all, how many devices does a person really need to tell them the weather forecast

Three short days — thatall that stands between you and attendingTC Tel Aviv 2018 — our inaugural day-long mobility intensive taking place on June 7. Well, three days and a ticket. You will need one of those. We&ve created a stellar, info-packed agenda that you won&t want to miss, so go and buy your general admission ticket right now.

Why mobility Itone of the fastest growing, most disruptive technologies on the planet. Why Tel Aviv Because Israelleading the charge on boundary-pushing mobility and everything that hot topic entails. You&ll hear from some of the people designing and building Israellatest mobility technologies — autonomous vehicles, sensors, drones, security and maybe even a flying car or two.

You&ll hear from government officials pushing the edge of alternative transportation and smart mobility, and you&ll hear venture capitalists discussing how mobility startups can scale and navigate international expansion. An entire day focused on mobility techopportunities, challenges and possibilities.

Noted speakers include Uri Levine of Waze, Raj Kapoor of Lyft and Chemi Peres,co-founder and managing general partner of Pitango. You&ll also hear from Anat Lea Bonshtien, chairman and director of Israel&sFuel Choices and Smart Mobility Initiative, Fiona Darmon, COOJVP venture funds, and Natalie Refuah, a partner with the growth capital investment firmViola Growth.

Don&t miss our exhibit hall — more commonly known asStartup Alley.Thatwhere you&ll find 100 early-stage startups showcasing their products, platforms and services across the tech spectrum, including cybersecurity, AR/VR, mobility, robotics, fintech, biotech, artificial intelligence, blockchain and more.

Therestill time to join your peers in Startup Alley. A Startup Demo Table Ticket costs 1,700 ILS, and it buys you two attendee tickets, one demo table at the event, a tablecloth, a tabletop sign and the best networking opportunity in Tel Aviv. We only have a few tables available, so click on the ticket link and take yourplace in Startup Alley.

TechCrunch Tel Avivtakes place on June 7, 2018 at the Tel Aviv Convention Center, Pavilion 10.You have only three days left toscore general admission tickets. We&ll see you in Tel Aviv!

TransferWise might be best known for its international money transfer app, but the European fintech unicorn has always had ambitions of being a broader platform play entirely agnostic of how you access the service. This includes providing banks with access to the TransferWise API to power their own international money transfer features. However, perhaps understandably — given that the company also competes with banks — these partnerships have been small in number.

With that said, today TransferWise is adding what looks like its most significant banking partner to date: BPCE Groupe, Francesecond largest bank. The partnership will see TransferWise provide international money transfer services for BPCE Groupe15 million or so customers, which, the company notes, is the first time a major bank in Europe will directly integrate TransferWiseAPI into its mobile banking apps.

TransferWiseexisting bank partnerships are with EstoniaLHV, and German challenger bank N26. It was due to add U.K. challenger bank Starling to the list, but the integration with the bankapp never materialised and TechCrunch learned last week that the partnership has now dissolved entirely.

Meanwhile, the partnership between Groupe BPCE/Natixis Payments and TransferWise isn&t set to be launched until the beginning of 2019. Once it does launch, the bankcustomers be able to send money outside of the eurozone at TransferWisestandard fees via the banks& app.

&Both TransferWise and BPCE are committed to offering the best possible service and the fairest deal to their customers and this collaboration is an important step in making that a reality for everyone,& says TransferWise. &The service will enable BPCE customers to send money to over 60 countries at TransferWiseusual low fee of 0.5 per cent on most currency routes and at the mid-market exchange rate&.

Adds Kristo Käärmann, co-founder and CEO of TransferWise: &TransferWise has a mission to make money move around the world as fast and as cheaply as email. This partnership is a momentous step on that journey & for the first time a major mainstream bank is offering its customers the chance to benefit from TransferWiselightning fast, low cost service. Itproof that we can scale our technology, which will allow other big institutions to seamlessly integrate with the service&.

On that note, it will be interesting to see how TransferWise continues to walk the tight rope of partnering whilst, in some ways and with increasing feature parity, competing with the same potential partners.

The original target for the companyconsumer and business money transfer app was incumbent banks who typically charge high fees for international money transfers and aren&t always transparent about the way they mark up the underlying exchange rate. And more recently it has launched its &Borderless& account, a multi-currency banking product that includes a debit card and lets you deposit, send and spend money. However, TransferWise co-founder and Chairman Taavet Hinrikus has always insisted that the Borderless account is designed to work as a companion product to your main current account and not a fully fledged bank replacement.