Latest news with #CynthiaChen
Business Insider
27-05-2025
- Business Insider
A Block product designer spent 2 months vibe coding a dog ID app. Her top tip: Sometimes AI needs to be 'babied.'
When Block product designer Cynthia Chen first dreamed up the idea of an app that could catalogue dogs spotted in the wild, she shelved it. "The hurdle was so big, so I never did anything," she said. For five years, the dream sat untouched. Today, it's live on the App Store. Dog-e-dex — a playful name inspired by Pokédex (not DOGE) — lets users snap a picture of a dog, identify the breed using image recognition, and add it to a personal collection. Chen has two cats and hopes to own a dog someday. She built the app in about two months in her spare time with no formal engineering training — just pure vibe-coding. "I have a lot of experience building products with other functions, like with engineers," she said. "But this is my first time actually building something myself." Vibe coding, a term coined in February by OpenAI cofounder Andrej Karpathy, refers to the process of feeding prompts to AI to write code. As Karpathy puts it, developers can "fully give in to the vibes" and "forget the code even exists." From dogs to code Chen started with the app design in October and looked for a developer on Fiverr — an online marketplace for freelancers — but the cost was "intimidating." Then she realized she could use AI. She turned to platforms like Replit, ChatGPT, and Cursor. It wasn't until she discovered Anthropic's Claude in January that things started to click. She manually copied the code from Claude into Xcode — a tool for building apps on Apple devices — even when she didn't fully understand how it worked. "It was like magic." "Every time I pressed the preview button, it was an exciting little gift opening," she added. Building Dog-e-dex wasn't smooth sailing. Her initial prompts correctly outlined the core functionality, but the app was "generating random dog breeds." With a lot of trial and error, she figured out how to integrate an image recognition tool to detect actual breeds. Along the way, she discovered that she didn't know what a backend was — the data and infrastructure that make an application work. "Engineers would be like, 'What's your data schema? Where are your images stored?' And I was like, 'I have no idea, it just works,'" she said. Chen said when she was stuck, she leaned on her engineering friends. But she credits much of the work to Claude. If there's one thing she'd do differently, she would have started with a thorough feature list. Without one, she had to redo a lot of the foundational setup along the way, she said. Prompting AI is like 'gentle parenting' Chen has advice for people who want to vibe code: Treat prompting AI like "gentle parenting." "You have to be very intentional, very specific, and I think you have to be very nice," she said. One word matters: Changing a prompt from "Can you please build a navigation tab bar" to "Please build a custom navigation tab bar" can lead to very different results. The first generates a standard, built-in tab bar like the ones in iOS apps. The second creates a version with original style and behavior. Sometimes, AI needs to be "babied," she added. When Claude got stuck, Chen would break down instructions step-by-step until it understood. Design, she said, was "really hard to prompt," which gave her confidence that design jobs like hers are safe from AI disruption. AI can't replace creativity — that's 'uniquely human' Chen said the creativity needed to solve problems with AI feels "uniquely human." While vibe-coding another app, she ran into a hiccup: The AI struggled to render a drawing at a small scale. She then exported the drawing as an image then resized it into a thumbnail. "The AI didn't think of that, I thought of that," she said. And while AI is trying to mimic personality — with varying results — it's humans who still think big picture. "A computer can't just be random and funny, or think of a dog app," she said. Chen thinks that what's holding people back isn't technical know-how. "The limit is our imagination or our own sense of curiosity, our own sense of agency. It's no longer technical limitations," she said. "Just try things. Don't worry about if you'll fail or not," she added. Dog-e-dex is still in its early days, with about 75 downloads from the App Store. Chen said she plans to begin marketing it soon. In the meantime, she finds joy in seeing users share the dogs they've collected and hearing how the app has added a bit of fun to their walks. One user messaged her to say they collected their late dog in the app as a way to remember their furry friend. "That was really touching," she said. "When it impacts someone's day and makes it better or fun or more delightful in any sort of capacity, that I think is the most heartwarming."
Mint
26-05-2025
- Business
- Mint
Xiaomi surpasses Apple in the global wearables market in Q1 2025: Canalys report
Xiaomi regained the crown for top wearable band vendor in Q1 of 2025, leaving some of the top brands, including Apple, Garmin, and others, behind in the race. This was possible due to the latest innovations in the Mi Band and the Redmi Watch series, gaining much popularity in the market according to the Canalys study. The report highlighted that Xiaomi gained 44% annual growth in shipments to 8.7 million units. The major growth was driven by Redmi Band 5 sales, bringing the company to the top spot. With Xiaomi dominating the market, Apple took the second place with only 5% growth in shipments. Know more about the Canalys study and how the wearable band market has evolved over the years. You may be interested in In the latest Canalys report, it was highlighted that the global wearable band market saw a 13% jump in Q1 2025, with over 46.6 million units. This data was calculated based on three categories: basic bands, basic watches and smartwatches. Globally, Xiaomi has the highest number of shipments with 8.7 million units, followed by Apple with 7.6 million units. While the Q1 was for Xiaomi, Apple is expected to regain its position by the second half of 2024. Jack Leathem, Analyst at Canalys, said, 'Xiaomi has upgraded its Mi Band and Redmi Watch series with refreshed designs and advanced data capabilities, bringing comprehensive features down the price segments, boosting its value proposition.' Therefore, the launch of Xiaomi Smart Band 9 and Redmi Band 5 played a huge role, and the price segment also played a major role this quarter for smartwatch buyers. On the other hand, Huawei, Samsung, and Gramin are not so far in the competition as they also retained the top 5 position. Huawei is almost closer to Apple with 7.1 million units in shipment, most of which are GT and Fit series watches. Additionally, Samsung experienced a 74% growth in shipments with 4.9 million units due to its premium positioning in the market. The report revealed the most important factors for buying a smartwatch, and the top priority for consumers is price point and battery life. While the health tracking features are the third important factor. Cynthia Chen, Research Manager at Canalys, also highlighted how buyers are shifting towards ecosystem experiences, than hardware features.
Cision Canada
20-05-2025
- Business
- Cision Canada
Pulnovo Medical Welcomes EQT as a New Investor Following CE-MDR Approval, with Continued Support from Qiming Venture Partners
HONG KONG, May 20, 2025 /CNW/ -- Pulnovo Medical, a globally recognized pioneer in medical devices for pulmonary hypertension (PH) and heart failure (HF), has received new investment from EQT Group, a top-tier global private equity firm, as a new investor, alongside continued support from Qiming Venture Partners. This latest investment, following Pulnovo Medical's recent CE-MDR certification in Europe, marks a major step forward in expanding treatment options for patients with pulmonary hypertension globally. It is expected to accelerate the company's global expansion by supporting international clinical trials, regulatory approvals, indication expansion, and commercialization. Founded in 2013, Pulnovo Medical addresses a critical unmet need in cardiovascular care by developing a first-in-class medical device based on pulmonary artery denervation (PADN) core technology. It was awarded US FDA Breakthrough Device designation in 2021 and FDA Humanitarian Use Device designation in 2023. Its catheter and generator received China NMPA Approval as a breakthrough device in late 2023, followed by FDA clearance of the 9F sheath in 2024. In March 2025, the company obtained CE-MDR certification, marking a key milestone toward global commercialization. Zoe Zhu, Director in the EQT Private Capital Asia advisory team said: "Globally there is a significant unmet clinical need for patients with pulmonary hypertension and heart failure, Pulnovo's PADN solution offers new hopes for these patients with strong clinical evidence supporting improved outcomes and growing endorsement from the global medical community. EQT is excited to support Pulnovo Medical by leveraging our deep expertise in healthcare and life sciences, along with our global network, to help advance their mission of delivering novel cardiovascular solutions to patients in need worldwide." Cynthia Chen, Chairwoman and Executive Chair of Pulnovo Medical, stated: "We sincerely thank EQT and Qiming Venture Partners for their continued trust and partnership. Since day one, Pulnovo Medical has remained focused on addressing real, unmet clinical needs—developing original, scalable, and evidence-based solutions rooted in frontline care. While the path to transforming clinically driven innovation into global standards is challenging, we remain committed to delivering meaningful, science-based medical value to patients around the world."
Yahoo
03-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Pulnovo Medical Announces Closing of Nearly $100 Million Series C Financing
SHANGHAI, March 2, 2025 /CNW/ -- Pulnovo Medical, a globally recognized pioneer in medical devices for pulmonary hypertension (PH) and heart failure (HF), has announced the closing of nearly $100 million Series C financing. This round was co-led by Qiming Venture Partners and existing shareholder Lilly Asia Ventures, with existing investors OrbiMed and Gaorong Capital participating on a super pro-rata basis. The proceeds will be used to advance Pulnovo Medical's global clinical trials, international business expansion and strategic initiatives. The financing round was oversubscribed by two times, marking one of the largest fundraises in the Asia-Pacific innovative medical device sector in recent years. This reflects leading institutions' confidence in Pulnovo Medical's global strategy and technical capabilities. Founded in 2013, Pulnovo Medical is a pioneering medtech company recognized in international guidelines. The company leverages its extensive clinical expertise to drive scientific advancements and global commercialization. The company focuses on developing superior therapeutic solutions for various stages of HF to enhance patient outcomes. Pulnovo Medical's core product, PADN (Pulmonary Artery Denervation) technology, is an innovative and effective minimally invasive treatment for PH that has successfully obtained market is a condition that can lead to heart failure and mortality, with limited treatment options. PADN uses radiofrequency ablation to target the pulmonary vascular endothelial sympathetic nerve, effectively reducing pulmonary artery pressure and slowing disease progression. PADN received FDA Breakthrough Device designation for Group I, Group II, and Group IV PH in 2021. PADN was included in European Society of Cardiology and European Respiratory Society Guidelines in 2022. In 2023, Pulnovo Medical achieved the Humanitarian Use Exemption Device designation for Group I PH. The RF catheter and RF generator received market approval in China in late 2023, becoming a commercially available interventional device in the field globally. In 2024, Pulnovo Medical's accessory product, the 9F sheath, received FDA clearance. Cynthia Chen, Chairlady, Executive Chairwoman and President of Pulnovo Medical, announced that the proceeds of this round will support two upcoming FDA trials for Group I PH and Group II PH (chronic heart failure combined with PH) planned this year. Under the leadership of the executive team, the company has transformed from a laboratory to a globally structured firm with offices in the US, Singapore, as well as Hong Kong SAR and four cities in Chinese Mainland, including Beijing and Shanghai. William Hu, Managing Partner of Qiming Venture Partners, said, "Pulnovo Medical's breakthroughs in interventional treatments for PH and HF are impressive. The company's PADN technology is now commercially available in Chinese Mainland, Hong Kong, and Macau, and in 2024, global multicenter trials were initiated in Portugal, Serbia, Georgia, and Southeast Asia. Following the FDA Breakthrough Device designation, the global clinical trials further validate the technology's leadership and clinical value. As a long-term healthcare investor, Qiming is committed to supporting innovators with global visions. We are confident in Pulnovo Medical's potential and will support its international expansion and commercialization, bringing new hope to patients worldwide." View original content: SOURCE Pulnovo Medical View original content: Sign in to access your portfolio
