Tech:NYC Digest: November 22

Tech:NYC Digest: November 22

November 22, 2021 • Estimated Reading Time: 7 minutes

Monday, November 22, 2021

In today’s digest, mask mandates return to upstate New York, PCR-quality rapid tests at home, and software for work-life balance.

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  • Case counts are rising again, particularly in the Midwest and Northeast, and experts are warning those numbers will continue to climb as more people are expected to travel for the Thanksgiving holiday. (New York Times)

    • Several counties in New York have now surpassed positivity rates of ten percent, particularly in Western New York and the Finger Lakes. Erie County officials today announced a mask mandate at all public indoor spaces will be enforced beginning tomorrow. (WGRZ) 

    • NYC is faring much better with a 1.6 percent positivity rate.

  • Airlines are reporting their first flights carrying international tourists to New York in 20 months are fully booked, a sign the city's tourism industry is on the upswing. (New York Times)

    • Still, the biggest rebound won’t be seen until next year — officials project only 2.8 million foreign travelers will visit this year, a steep plunge from the 13.5 million who visited in 2019.

  • A long-awaited report from the New York State Assembly confirmed the sexual harassment allegations against former governor Andrew Cuomo, along with claims he used state resources while drafting his memoir and withheld information regarding the deaths of nursing home residents from COVID. (Gothamist)

  • A new COVID-19 molecular test from Detect delivers PCR-quality results to users at home in one hour and is only slightly more expensive than a rapid antigen test. (Axios)

In other reading:

Almost two years into the “new normal” of work, there’s been an obvious leap in interest for tools to disconnect from work and maintain that ever-elusive work-life balance.

And those tools are being developed by the big tech companies we all know, bolstering a burgeoning new direction for employee experience software. (Bloomberg)

Earlier this year, Microsoft expanded its “Quiet Time” function:

  • The tool blocks work notifications during certains days and times, and is now available across its chat platform, Teams, and the Outlook email manager.

  • The company’s Virtual Commute feature also saw 50 percent more users between August and September this year.

  • The changes come following its survey showing half of users felt burned out, citing remote work as making it harder to disconnect.

Apple has added a “Personal” mode to iPhones:

  • The setting allows you to mute work-related notifications by limiting which contacts and apps can ping you during the times you designate as personal time.

  • Some third-party apps will display your status to those who try to contact you.

The idea behind these upgrades is they’re meant to be easy — and quicker than worrying about setting up an out-of-office reply.

With more people working in remote settings — or hot-desking into their offices for just part of each week – “BYOD” (bring your own device) has become more common. As a result, more people are getting work emails on personal computers and phones, making it more important that workers have easy ways to “down tool” themselves when they decide it’s appropriate.

In other reading:

  • Remote Work Can Be a Very Bad Way to Start a Career (New York Times)

  • Why Bosses Are Inflexible About Flexible Work Arrangements (Wired)

  • Big Tech’s push of smart home devices as the latest work-from-home tools (Washington Post)

  • Helaina, a New York company developing a new kind of infant milk, has raised $20 million in Series A funding. Spark Capital and Siam Capital co-led the round and were joined by Plum Alley Investments and Primary Venture Partners. (TechCrunch)

  • Sword Health, a New York-based maker of physical therapy hardware, raised $163 million in Series D funding. Sapphire Ventures led the round and was joined by insiders General Catalyst, Khosla Ventures, Founders Fund, Bond, Transformation Capital and Green Innovations. (Bloomberg)

  • November 30: Virtual: #notapitch: Unofficial Feedback on Your Idea/Prototype from a VC, with Brooklyn Bridge Ventures partner Charlie O’Donnell. Register here.

  • December 6: Virtual: Crypto and Institutional Investors, with Anchorage co-founder and president Diogo Mónica, Paxos head of strategy Walter Hessert, and Canvas Ventures principal Grace Isford. Hosted by Protocol. Register here.

  • December 7: Virtual: 2022 Predictions in Tech: The Roaring 20s, with Tribeca Venture Partners partner Brian Hirsch, Eniac Ventures partner Hadley Harris, 645 Ventures partner Nnamdi Okike, and Work-Bench partner Jessica Lin. Hosted by Tribeca Venture Partners and Fenwick. Register here.

  • December 9: Virtual: Building in the Open, with Cockroach Labs CEO Spencer Kimball, Solo.io CEO Idit Levine, Timescale CEO Ajay Kulkarni, and others. Hosted by Work-Bench. Register here.

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