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HTC: The Thunderbolt And Droid Incredible Will Be Updated to Gingerbread In September | Greg Kumparak | 2,011 | 8 | 31 | Good news, HTC Thunderbolt/Droid Incredible owners! You’re gettin’ some Gingerbread! It’s a bit late in the game (Gingerbread been around for nearly 10 months, after all) but HTC has just announced that both the Incredible and the Thunderbolt should be updated to Android 2.3 sometime in September. As usual, there’s no mention of a specific date — but hey, at least it’s officially on the way! It’s beyond disconcerting to think about just how long it’s taking for some devices to get Gingerbread, especially with Google having made very little mention of their Android Update Initiative since . For those keeping count: as of August 1st, of the Android phones floating around out there were running Android 2.3+. |
Speaking Of Dropbox, Here’s My No. 1 Phone Prank | Michael Arrington | 2,011 | 8 | 30 | Everything’s candy and roses for Dropbox today as the company simultaneously breaks out the expensive champagne and whispers “no comment” to anyone . No matter, though, I’m right here cheering them on, too. That’s just how I roll. High fives, all alone, but there in spirit. Anyhow, all this reminiscing about the young days of Dropbox and I kept coming back to this one story. It happened about a year ago, at the Lobby Conference in Hawaii put on by August Capital. I’ve attended the conference each year and it’s a blast. But there’s one big rule – everything is off record – and if I break that rule I’ll get banned from the event. So I spend the weekend somewhat under utilized. I still collect information quietly but don’t say a word until I get back to the real world, and even then I’m hazy on whether or not my sources were drunk on Mai Tais at the time of disclosure. This is all true – just look back at the big stories I’ve broken in the week that follows the Lobby conference each year. Anyway, back to Dropbox CEO . A bunch of us are out at dinner. I’m sitting between and having their first heart to heart after Jay resigned as CEO of Digg. Kevin ate most of the sushi before it got down to me, and Jay drank all the alcohol before it made its way to me. So I was sitting there hungry and thirsty and listening to some of the best content I’ve heard in a long while and I was thinking if a permanent ban from the conference was worth it if I could just sneakily pull out my video camera and get a clip of Jay telling Kevin what he could go do to himself. It was so tempting that I walked down to the other end of the table to see what was going on down there. Drew Houston had just gotten up to talk to someone, but he left his iPhone sitting on the table behind him. As a blogger that phone is a goldmine. I could grab it and start reading emails and probably gets ten great stories out of it before he could pry it out of my hands. But overt physical/criminal acts to get information are frowned upon in our industry. So instead I just did what anyone would do. I opened his phone (no password!), calmly set a random password, and put the phone back down and went back to referee the Rose/Adelson “discussion.” Houston sits down, checks his phone like everyone does. Looks confused because he can’t get past this new password I’ve added. He has that look of panic that says “oh my God I can’t access my own phone, all those emails and voice messages and Twitter replies, etc., until whoever did this undoes it.” He looks straight at me. I look down, not anywhere near him, and he still yells “Arrington you did this! Fix it!” I have no idea why he just assumed it was me right from the start, but I was offended. So I used the defense and denied everything. Luckily someone else jumped in and told him what the password was, leaving Drew in a better mood and me feeling utterly betrayed by my meal mates. People now know that I do this a lot. Senior execs at AOL are a particularly fun group to add passwords to their phones. And people try to do it back. But one thing I have on my phone is a super awesome passcode, so I’m as safe as can be. Figure out your own trick, suckers. |
HP Discovers The Wonderful Power Of Scarcity, And The TouchPad Lives On | Michael Arrington | 2,011 | 8 | 30 | Hot damn, I want one of those . Why? Because they’re sold out! Perception of scarcity is a fascinating human condition. It’s one of the first things we learn as children – that running towards something is usually a guarantee that you won’t get it. But act like you don’t want something, and it’ll come running to you. The creation of the perception of scarcity is a winning, if shallow, tactic in most human relationships. And finally HP has its day. In July HP despite having distribution deals with Best Buy and other major retailers. Apple had sucked all the oxygen out of the tablet market. HP offered its inferior product at the same price as the iPad. But consumers weren’t fooled. No one wants a Dodge at a Cadillac price. But drop that price down to $100 and let people know that they better move quick to get one of the last TouchPads and the perception of scarcity kicks in. The units fly off the shelves. And I and fulfilling that demand, even at a small loss per unit: I say to HP – KEEP MAKING TOUCHPADS, as fast as you can. See what the demand curve looks like at $200, and watch the app developers suddenly get crazy excited about WebOS again. You may have a huge hit on your hands, and a bunch of lemonade from all those lemons. Today the company made another smart move – they’re going to do of TouchPads. Why? Some people are saying that HP probably has volume commitments and this is cheaper than just not building and selling the units at all. The company certainly may have made volume commitments, but my guess is they could have gotten out of those contracts given how much other business they send the factories. Also, why stoke the PR fire again when the TouchPad embarrassment is almost behind you? Nope, they’re just messing with us, and taking another hit on the scarcity bong. It feels so good. People want us. They really, really want us! The company is already hinting that the [editor’s note: awesome]. But while they’re figuring that out one way or another, what better way to keep everyone excited than to create just a few more TouchPads (scarcity!) and sell them in “at least a few weeks.” Now everyone is waiting, with breath appropriately bated, for those hard to get new units. The press will try to figure out the date and location when the TouchPads go on sale. Previously unenthusiastic retailers are making anxious calls to try to lock down as many units as they can. I expect Robert Scoble will be waiting out front of Best Buy the day before, along with a few other hard core TouchPad fans. I can sense the giddiness at HP. Here’s another interesting data point. TouchPads are going for about $300 on ebay right now. That’s a market clearing price – people who have them need to get rid of them fairly quickly, and they seem to be doing just that at around $300. Which just happens to be about the manufacturing cost of the TouchPad. So hell yes they’re going to keep making these things. They can dominate the mid market for tablets, the place Android was planning on settling in at after their first prime time push. After Q4 HP will announce another batch of TouchPad’s will be built, just in time for the holidays, to meet more of that pent up consumer demand. Or the PC spinoff of HP will do it. Someone will. Because selling a device at cost and then bringing in the revenue through the app store is a proven and lucrative business model. This is the best marketing money can buy. HP finally has a hit product and people lining up to buy it. It doesn’t get any better than this. |
Robot Vacuums: Roomba, Smarbo, And Now The Smartphone-Controlled RoboKing | Devin Coldewey | 2,011 | 8 | 30 | When did the robot-vacuum world become such a crowded space? It’s starting to sound like a monster movie: . But it makes sense, when you think about it. We already have “robots” that wash the dishes and make our coffee. Cleaning the floor is just a different set of problems for a machine to solve. And after the smash success of the Roomba, everyone wants to be the next big cleaner bot. Just last week Toshiba introduced the , yes , and now LG is entering the game with the . Yes, the . The Roomba does its job by clever but circuitous circumvention of obstacles, but these new devices are a bit more like the Neato XV-11, which actually maps out the area and plans the best route. The Smarbo adds more sensors, and now the RoboKing brings your smartphone into the mix. It’s come to this: you can now control your robot vacuum with your iPhone. That actually makes it double as a sort of security bot, which makes its 899,000 won (~$750) price a little more palatable. As long as your wi-fi is working, you should be able to log into the robot remotely and drive it around (at 18dB it’s quiet enough to sneak up on your cats with). It also takes voice commands, which is pretty cool. You can tell it to stop working, go charge, or tell you the current weather. O brave new world, with such vacuums in it. [via ] |
Salesforce Adds Realtime Chat, Screen Sharing, And Groups To Chatter; Debuts HTML5 Mobile App | Leena Rao | 2,011 | 8 | 30 | Salesforce’s ‘social network for the enterprise’ Chatter has been the company’s first real foray into incorporating social with business functions. Salesforce Chatter back in November of 2009, and the application into public beta in June 2010 after four months in Salesforce has said publicly that Chatter has been to date, even on a Super Bowl ad for Chatter. And recently Salesforce and made the application , with premium features as an optional add-on. And today, in conjunction with the company’s Dreamforce conference (the theme of which is the social enterprise); Salesforce is debuting a brand new Chatter complete with realtime chat, support for customer groups, a new API, and a brand new HTML5 mobile app. As Al Falcione, Salesforce’s VP of Product Marketing, tells me there are three main components to a company’s strategy for social enterprise. First, the company has to develop a social customer profile, which captures a company’s likes on Facebook, Twitter communications, connections on LinkedIn and more. Basically, customers want social insight into the web presence of potential company they are working with. Second, a company needs to develop and employee social network, where a company’s employees can exchange internal, realtime communications and collaborate on work. And third, Salesforce believes that companies need to develop a Customer Social Network and a Product Social Network. Customer social networks allow companies listen to and engage with customers in an entirely on social channels like Facebook and Twitter. And companies can also bring their products into social networks so they can be part of the conversation, allowing consumers to not just “fan” a product, but become its “friend’” And these premises are the basis for what Chatter has become in this iteration of the ‘Facebook for the enterprise.’ Salesforce Chatter is debuting ‘Chatter Now,’ which adds realtime chat into the applications. Chatter users will be able to collaborate with colleagues, directly in Chatter and see when their colleagues are online (similar to the way you can see your Gmail contacts online), chat with them and share their screen without leaving their Chatter feed. In fact, the whole Chatter experience resembles a cross between Facebook and Gmail. Another new feature that will be added in the next version of Chatter is the ability to create private, social groups for customer interactions. So Chatter users will be able to invite people outside of their organization into their Chatter network to collaborate in these private, secure groups. Within these groups you can share files, comment and more. To invite a client into a group, you can simply send an email invite which will contain a secure link. Lastly, Salesforce wants to allow Microsoft Sharepoint and others users to leverage their files inside Chatter and bring collaboration to files in Sharepoint. Companies will be able to embed Chatter feeds in a SharepointMySite or TeamSite and share documents from Sharepoint to Chatter. And ‘Chatter Connect’ makes other third-party applications social by extending Chatter into other applications, such as intranets and portals, custom mobile apps and other enterprise apps. Similar to many consumer applications like Pandora, Salesforce is leveraging the power of HTML5 to provide a rich mobile experience to users. ‘Touch.salesforce.com’ is a new mobile site that has been built using the latest HTML5 technology, and will allow for cross-platform access for all of Salesforce’s applications in the cloud, including Chatter, the Service Cloud, CRM and more. And all 220,000 custom apps built on Force.com will be mobile with touch.salesforce.com. As Falcione explained social networking and mobile web use is so prevalent in the consumer everyday experience, it makes sense that these actions will bleed into the work environment. And this is much easier accomplished in the cloud. The newest version of Chatter, with private work groups, realtime chat, screen sharing and more aims to replicate some of the features offered by Skype, Gmail, Facebook and others. The social enterprise is no longer an afterthought for many companies; and we may be at the cusp of a huge movement (that is worth more than in revenue) that is even bigger than creating the ‘Facebook for the enterprise.’ The major question is how many ‘social enterprise’ applications do we need in the enterprise, and will there be a few players who dominate the space, similar to the way Facebook and twitter dominate the social consumer space. Jive just filed for a , Yammer is growing, and there is some already taking place. We know Salesforce’s CEO Marc Benioff is extremely bullish on social and will continue to put resources into Chatter and the company’s social strategy. I’m sure we’ll hear more about Salesforce’s social plans tomorrow at Dreamforce, but it should be interesting to see how the space evolves over time. |
“Respect Explorer’s Heritage” | MG Siegler | 2,011 | 8 | 30 | When photos started circulating yesterday of the new interface for Windows Explorer in Windows 8, I was sure they were a joke. Surely, this was an mock-up. Or maybe they were from some Apple fan making fun of Microsoft’s design aesthetic in which more is quite often… more. I mean, there’s no way that this is something Microsoft could actually release — let alone in 2012, right? Wrong. As Windows chief Steven Sinofsky and Windows management team member Alex Simons on the Building Windows 8 blog, these screenshots are very real. And not only that, the entire Windows team has clearly done exhaustive research and put extensive time into this feature. That’s exactly why they’re crowing on their blog. The entire post screams: “look how much homework we did!” At the same time, there’s an undertone to the post: Microsoft is nervous. They’re posting these screenshots now so they can get feedback. To me, this suggests that while Microsoft is confident that they did their homework, they’re not actually confident in the product itself. Nor should they be, given the reaction. While it should be no surprise that Apple diehards dislike the design of the new Windows Explorer, even plenty of Windows watchers are . But in my view, this is worse than your typical “ ” critique. The design and user interface here is quite simply one of the worst things I’ve ever seen in software — let alone something that is going to be used by hundreds of millions of users. It’s not just that it’s extremely cluttered, uneven, and confusing (all of which it is), it’s that it shows that a massive part of Microsoft is heading in the wrong direction when in comes to the future of computing. It’s my belief that simplicity and elegance are increasingly going to win the day as computing continues to be interwoven into our everyday lives. This Windows Explorer disaster shows that Microsoft believes the opposite. Maybe I’m wrong. Microsoft, after all, is one of the largest companies on the planet that makes billions of dollars in revenue each quarter. But I’ve been saying this stuff for the past several years. In that time, Apple, a company which exudes exactly what I’m talking about, has risen from the ashes to become the most valuable company on the planet — jumping far ahead of you-know-who. Meanwhile, PC makers, Microsoft’s key partners in their fight for the future, are dropping like flies. HP, the number one PC maker in the world, is trying to sell off their PC business. Acer, the number two PC maker, just . But again, maybe I’m insane. Maybe I’m out of touch. So to see what a larger swath of the population thinks about this new Windows Explorer interface. After over 1,300 votes, the results are as follows: That’s 73 percent which had a negative reaction to the feature. Sure, I suppose you could argue that many of my Twitter followers are likely to be pro-Apple. But I put the poll on Google+ as well, a place decidedly un-friendly towards Apple. And just look at the reaction around the broader Internet. Maybe those vocal on the web have been brainwashed by Apple. Or maybe, just maybe, the design actually stinks. This morning, an Apple malware blogger to of an iPad homescreen to the new Windows Explorer. Not fair!, he cried — before going on to compare the iPad homescreen to Windows 3.1. Of course, this reaction failed to address two things: 1) That the new Windows Explorer design sucks. 2) The point. I’ll make it a little more clear for the Apple malware blogger: Apple’s vision of the future is iOS — and more broadly, simplicity and touch. Microsoft’s vision of the future is this Windows Explorer abomination. Does Apple have their own file system manager? Yes, Finder in OS X. But Apple does not do blog posts touting it in 2011. In fact, they never talk about it. In the last few iterations of OS X, they’ve made it a goal to remove its usefulness for 99 percent of users. Instead, they’ve brought out Stacks and now Launchpad. And if you really need an individual file, why not use Spotlight? And that’s OS X, Apple’s operating system now. In iOS, there is no file explorer — let alone one with 19 toolbar buttons. Why? Because in Apple’s view, the concept of a “file” is changing. The saving of them and the transferring of them is something that a user should never have to think about. . Maybe I’m overplaying Microsoft vision for Windows Explorer going forward, but if that’s true, than so is Microsoft’s own leadership. “Windows Explorer is a foundation of the user experience of the Windows desktop,” Sinofsky writes. “Explorer is one of the most venerable parts of Windows,” Simons writes. “It’s a bit daunting but also pretty exciting to have the opportunity to revisit and rethink this cornerstone of our product,” he continues. And both of these statements and the entire Building Windows 8 post itself points to the major problem Microsoft faces here. Twice in the post they use the phrase “Respect Explorer’s heritage”. Microsoft has become a baggage handler. With each update, no matter how much they intend to change things, they always end up cramming in the baggage of operating systems’ past. This leads to a weird amalgamation that’s neither new nor old. And quite often, worse than both. “Maintain the power and richness of Explorer and bring back the most relevant and requested features from the Windows XP era when the current architecture and security model of Windows permits.” — the post actually states that as a goal for this new Explorer. This also sounds like a joke. It’s not. Baggage. Baggage. Baggage. Feature creep. Clutter. Apple famously abhors the idea of design-by-committee and focus groups. Microsoft clearly celebrates both. They’re two different styles and ways of working, and that’s fine. Again, both companies are doing well right now. It’s just my belief that at some point in the not-too-distant future, Windows will collapse under the weight of this baggage. And I think this new Windows Explorer is the first clear sign of that. Smartphones and tablets are quickly changing the landscape of computing. The work Microsoft has done with their Metro UI in Windows Phone shows that they’re capable of ditching the baggage and jumping on the train. But unlike Apple, . They’re doubling down on complexity in Windows while playing up simplicity with Metro. Apple is already making moves to unify their entire ecosystem for this future of computing. They’re re-imagining experiences from the ground-up and destroying old paradigms. If Windows Explorer in Windows 8 is any indication, Microsoft is not anywhere near being ready to do the same. Sure, Microsoft may have a Metro skin ready for “Windows 8 tablets”, but it now appears it will be a superficial layer on top of heaps of baggage, not a fundamental re-thinking of computing. It will be 2.0. But hey, I’m biased, right? My preference of Apple products over the past seven years clearly has nothing to do with an eye towards the future of computing — I’m just brainwashed. So are millions of others and millions more each year. We should be looking at these screenshots of Windows Explorer in Windows 8 and seeing the future. We should be looking at the iPad and seeing Windows 3.1. |
EA Exec: New Playstation And Xbox “Hard For Me To Conceive” | Devin Coldewey | 2,011 | 8 | 30 | While gaming company higher-ups for the direction the industry is taking, they do tend to view the sector as an RTS commander views his troops and resources. What they tend to lack in taste and on-the-ground wisdom, they make up in sobriety and larger trends. So it’s no surprise that Frank Gibeau, head of EA Labels, has a relaxed view of the console race. Here are some of his thoughts, , apparently conducted right after they passed around the peace pipe: The way the business used to run where you had these big console transitions just isn’t happening anymore. They’re much longer, the online capabilities are making the way customers interact within the audience very different from when we went from PSOne to PS2. I think that [the age of] big, abrupt change in consoles where we all pile in on top of each other and everything changes overnight is just gone. I don’t see consumers right now banging on the walls for a new platform. They seem to be very happy with their PS3s and 360s. They love the online connectivity, they have great communities and great libraries. This Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood version of the console wars is a little detached from the blood-soaked ground of exclusives, franchise whoring, and rampant fanboyism. But really, it’s hard to argue with. The consoles are in more or less their final generation of games, which is to say there isn’t too much more for developers to discover. This is the period in which many standout games are made, and every year the consoles increase in value and decrease in price. Developing a major game is already ; the benefits of a Playstation 4 or what have you would likely be offset by the long gestation period and low frequency of games for some time. We’ve heard that some studios are already developing for the new console, but the truth is . There’s no way Microsoft or Sony has a ready-to-go console prototyped right now, but they’re probably testing parts and sharing some of that information with partners. In the meantime Gibeau is right: the current consoles offer a monstrous value at a ridiculous price, and that’s not going to change for a while. And if you’re jonesing for a new console, well, there’s always the . That might not really be the right follow-up to a few years on the 360, but hey, it’s new. |
Hands-On: Samsung’s Galaxy S II For AT&T, T-Mobile, And Sprint | Jordan Crook | 2,011 | 8 | 30 | Since February, we’ve been waiting for our turn with the Galaxy S II. With the handset floating around Europe and Asia, it’s been hard to remain patient. But today is the day: the U.S. versions of the Samsung Galaxy S II are here and we’re ready to get up close and personal at Samsung’s media event in NYC. Just how different are the U.S. versions from the international? Has resolution been forfeited for size on that Super AMOLED Plus display? Does it feel as good as it looks? What about that new and improved TouchWiz UI? Is it actually any better? No worries. We’re here to answer all those questions and more. Aside from that awfully exhaustive name, this thing makes me giddy. I’m still a bit torn between this and AT&T’s GSII, but in terms of design, the GSII Epic 4G Touch is quite the looker. The straight edges and rounded corners (opposed to the entirely rounded out T-Mo iteration) look and feel sharp. It also reminds me of another popular phone you might have heard of, the iPhone 4. Here’s the issue: Sprint’s iteration, along with T-Mo’s, has a 4.52-inch Super AMOLED Plus display. It sounds awfully clunky at that size, but it’s actually really wonderful. The problem is that both Sprint’s 4.52-inch display and AT&T’s 4.3-inch display tout 800 x 480 pixels of resolution, which means that AT&T’s display comes off looking super rich and smooth while Sprint’s is a bit pixelated in comparison. In the hand, the Epic 4G Touch isn’t as attractive as it is on the eyes. It feels a bit… cheap – almost like it’s light for how big it is. I know light is supposed to be a good thing, but something about the weight here felt off. I guess that’s your call, but for me it was lacking that nice, solid feel.
I hate to play favorites, but AT&T’s version takes the cake. Why? Because a bigger screen doesn’t always mean a better screen. Like I said earlier, since AT&T has remained true to the 4.3-inch screen on the Galaxy S II, the 800 x 480 resolution on this puppy is absolutely gorgeous. You’d think the variation would be rather minimal between models, but it becomes blatant when shooting pictures and video. The added pixel density makes a difference, especially when the phones are side-by-side. We’re usually not too fond of these custom UIs the manufacturers love to slap on their Android devices, but the new and improved TouchWiz isn’t all that bad. It’s notably faster, and bit cleaner than the previous versions we’ve seen. It’s certainly not our favorite feature of the phone, but at least Samsung is improving in the UI department. Though it’s a hair smaller, the AT&T variant design is more angular than T-Mobile’s. In fact, it is nearly identical to the international Galaxy S II — which is completely okay with us. I mean, that model sell 3 million in its first 55 days on the market. If it ain’t broke, right?
Once known as the Hercules, T-Mo’s GSII is still somewhat shrouded in mystery. They kept this one hidden behind glass, so we didn’t actually get touchy-feely with it. However, I can honestly say this isn’t my favorite form factor for the S II; those curves and that 4.5-inch screen size make it somewhat of a hybrid between the Infuse and the Nexus S, and it just seems less sleek than the other two variants. The screen is nice, but again, has the same pixelated resolution as the Sprint Epic 4G Touch. Since Samsung wouldn’t let pink’s version out of the box, it’s hard to say whether or not it’ll have that “too light” feel like Sprint’s. Either way, this will certainly be one of the best-sellers at T-Mo.
Interested in the full specs run down? Check out our of the official announcements. |
Marvel At Sony’s Microscopic OLED Electronic Viewfinder | Devin Coldewey | 2,011 | 8 | 30 | One of the marquee features of Sony’s , which by the way look excellent, is the new electronic viewfinder. I’ve never been particularly attracted to these things, preferring the mirror-based optical viewfinder on DSLRs or simply the large, bright LCDs on the back of most cameras. But (despite its flaws) changed my mind about the usefulness of the EVF, and I’m ready to accept a camera that’s all EVF, all the time. And it helps that Sony’s new screen is a miracle of miniaturization. some information about the bite-sized OLED panel being used in the new cameras, and seeing the device itself in its tiny glory is a reminder of how advanced our imaging devices have become: Sony’s previous EVF was 800×600 (I believe) and a traditional LCD. The new one is not only more high-resolution at 1024×768, but it’s an OLED panel instead of backlit LCD, giving it ten times the contrast of its predecessor, according to Sony. The ~2.4 million dots making up the panel are all white diodes with red, green, or blue filters; color diodes are not quite ready for prime time yet. The display is wholly owned and manufactured by Sony Mobile Display Corp, and it confirms that Sony is deeply into the whole OLED thing. And by , they’re looking like the company to beat for next-generation displays. Right now the world’s most famous displays are probably the iPhone 4 and iPad displays, and if the are correct, that could continue. But the charms of OLEDs are many and various, and Sony knows it. Hopefully we’ll be seeing more impressive tech like this amazing little EVF over the next year or two. |
Pro Tip: Do Not Buy An iPad From A Dude In A McDonald’s Parking Lot | Matt Burns | 2,011 | 8 | 30 | Asteroid. The iPad is an awesome device, but it costs money. Even second-hand models often command more than a new Android tablet. They’re just that much in demand. But look, if a guy, moreover a guy with as the police report states has a , says he’s selling iPads he purchased in bulk for $300, takes $180 instead, you better check that product out before you drive home. This is unfortunately the sad story of how Ashley McDowell was scammed into buying a wooden iPad. is rather straight forward. Per a police report, Ms. Ashley McDowell, age 22, was approached by two black males in a McDonald’s parking offering to sell her an iPad for $300. They said they purchased said devices in bulk and were passing the savings onto consumers. How nice. McDowell explained that all she had was $180, which the kind gentlemen accepted anyway. Up until this point, it’s hard to argue against Ashley’s logic. I’d take an iPad for $180. Hell, I’d take a dozen. But Ms. McDowell ran head first into stupidity by not inspecting the merchandise. You see, Ashley then exchanges her money for the iPad and drives home where she then opens up the FedEX container, for the first time, to find that *shock* it was a scam. She had purchased nothing more than a rather strange and surprisingly elaborately decorated wooden block, framed with black tape and sporting a replica Apple logo and iOS icons. The police report also describe a sort of “Best Buy sales ticket.” I’m personally more amused that the guys created such an obvious, but complex replica instead of using, you know, a normal piece of wood. Gawker, in their usual asshole tone, Ashley doesn’t deserve her money back as a sort of “stupid tax” and the crooks deserve to keep it. That’s clearly the wrong course of action. The money should go to the policemen who are now assigned to finding these bad men driving, as the police report states, “a white Impala with no rims and no tint” who are scamming unsuspecting little girls out of their daddy’s money. Buy those cops a keg and throw ’em party. 7:10 pm 8/30/2011: Updated the post to clearly state that the descriptions of the crooks are , not my imagination. |
Help Us Celebrate TC Gadgets And Mobile At Our First San Francisco Meet-Up On 9/15 | John Biggs | 2,011 | 8 | 30 | San Franciscans, start your thrusters. On September 15 at 6:30pm TechCrunch Mobile and Gadgets will host our first meet-up at in sunny SF. Sponsored by Samsung, this meet-up will be the first chance for our readers to get ahold of some of Samsung’s latest products including the just-announced Galaxy S II. It is an event not to be missed. We’ll have some finger food, a little dancing, maybe some networking and an open bar. We invite you to meet the entire TCG/M team and chill with some of Samsung’s newest gear and the chance to win a new Samsung Infuse 4G.
Date: Thursday, 9/15/11
Time: 6:30-9:30pm
Location: To RSVP pop over to this and sign up. We’ll be releasing six hundred tickets over the next two weeks so there will be plenty of chances to sign up. Special thanks to Samsung for the sponsorship and we hope to see you in SF on September 15. Samsung Telecommunications America, LLC, a Dallas-based subsidiary of Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., researches, develops and markets wireless handsets, wireless infrastructure and other telecommunications products throughout North America. For more information, please visit . |
Kno’s Textbooks Is Top Back-To-School iPad App With One Download Every 8 Seconds | Erick Schonfeld | 2,011 | 8 | 30 | As students start going back to college, they are downloading Kno’s new app for the iPad in droves. It is currently the No. 1 iPad education app, No. 2 grossing iPad app overall, and a top-25 free app (more popular than even the Kindle iPad app). The app is being downloaded once every 8 seconds. The map above depicts downloads over the past 24 hours. The app itself is free, but then Kno sells digital college textbooks as in-app purchases. Know currently offers more than 100,000 textbooks, which can be annotated, highlighted, and also be read on the Web or Facebook. After abandoning its own oversized textbook tablet, released its digital textbook reader and store on the last June. In recent weeks, Kno added a bunch of new such as automated quizes, an activity stream of notes, integration with Khan Academy videos online, and of molecules generated on the fly. The colleges with the most Kno students so far are ASU and the University of Arizona, Harvard, and UT Austin. The early numbers suggest a strong start for Kno this semester, it’s first real availability among students. The appeal of downloading textbooks to your iPad instead of lugging around paper copies in your backpack is obvious. It doesn’t cost anything to download the app, and paying for one or two textbooks to try it out is fairly low risk for most students. Kno’s real test, however, will come later in the semester when early users decide whether to download more Kno textbooks or head back the the campus bookstore. Below are a couple demo videos showing off Kno’s latest features: |
Samsung Officially Announces The Galaxy S II For T-Mobile, Sprint, And AT&T | Greg Kumparak | 2,011 | 8 | 30 | It’s coming! It’s finally coming! After months of gallivanting around the world with launches everywhere from South Korea to Canada since May (plus a one day delay thanks to Hurricane Irene) Samsung’s Galaxy S II Android superphone is finally heading to the US. , Samsung used their press gathering in New York today to announce aesthetically unique Galaxy S II variants for three major US carriers: T-Mobile, Sprint, and AT&T. Verizon, meanwhile, is holding out for News of these devices is coming in as we speak, and this post will be updated as the information is made available. First off the block with an announcement was Sprint, who confirmed the prior leaks that their variant would be dubbed the oh-so-wordy “Samsung Galaxy S II Epic Touch 4G”. Sprint’s device will ship on (they claim they’ll be the first to launch it), at $199.99 on a 2 year contract. AT&T simply says their variant will launch , but have released the specs below. Interestingly, the 4.3″ display on AT&T’s variant is smaller than the 4.52 incher found on both Sprint and T-Mobile, but AT&T’s model is also the slimmest of the lot (at 8.89mm)
AT&T Samsung Galaxy S II Specifications T-Mobile has just issued their press release — so far, they’re simply calling it the “T-Mobile Galaxy S II” rather than its previous “Hercules” codename or any other fancy title. No specs besides a 4.52″ inch screen have thus far been mentioned, though it’s almost certainly nearly identical to Sprint/AT&T’s model’s (save for obvious differences, like no WiMax or Sprint ID) |
TC Cribs: A Magical Journey Through Box.net (In The Cloud) | Jason Kincaid | 2,011 | 8 | 30 | We’re back for a new episode of , and this time we’re scoping out our first enterprise company: . Don’t worry, despite what you may have heard about enterprise software, this office isn’t dull in the slightest. In fact, it’s loaded with lush greenery, oddly placed stuffed animals, and unicorns abound. Even better: one of the cofounders is a magician. Stay tuned til the end for a trick that will leave you impressed and vaguely grossed out. Also be sure to check out our previous episodes of TC Cribs: |
Zurb’s Reel Lets You Get Instant Feedback On PowerPoint Presentations | Jason Kincaid | 2,011 | 8 | 30 | Think back to the last time you put together a PowerPoint presentation. Try not to shudder. If you’re like me, you probably had a few moments when you wondered if the slide you were working on made sense — or if it was even worth including at all. You may have turned to a coworker to get their opinion, but they didn’t have any context about the rest of the presentation and were eager to get to lunch, so their input probably wasn’t a big help. If this sounds familiar, then a nifty new app called may be just what you need. It’s the latest app to come from interaction design firm , and it lets you get near-instant feedback on every slide or photo in your presentation. The app is super-simple, which is sort of the point. Upload an image, PDF, or PowerPoint file, and the app will convert it into an online slideshow that’s also viewable in mobile browsers. That’s not exactly unique, but Reel has a nifty trick: it’ll let you leave a comment beneath each slide, where you can explain what you’ll be saying on stage when the slide is shown. Your friends (or Twitter followers) can then vote as to whether they like the slide using a Thumbs Up or Thumbs Down, so you can quickly figure out what works, and what doesn’t. You can find an example . ZURB isn’t planning to charge for the app (this seems like a good way for them to get publicity). Their past projects include , an app that lets you get feedback on your site design while it’s still in mockup form. |
null | Leena Rao | 2,011 | 8 | 31 | null |
Samsung Chromebooks Drop In Price: Deadpool Or New Models? UPDATE | Matt Burns | 2,011 | 8 | 30 | The long-awaited finally hit retails in June but they’re already seeing significant price reductions. Both Acer and Samsung entered the market with modestly priced options with the Samsung models commanding a slight premium. But not anymore. Amazon just dropped the price on the Samsung Chromebooks by 7% to 10% with the WiFi-only model and . That’s down from their MSRP of $429 and $499, respectively. With Chrome OS still in its infancy and niche products not lasting very long in today’s market, it makes you wonder if Google or its hardware partners are slowly giving up hope on the platform or simply prepping for new models. Chromebooks were to be the next big thing. The instant on, snappy web experience, long battery life were to draw in the customers. But try to find one in a store. Office Max, Staples, Office Depot, Walmart, and Frys do not offer either of the Chromebooks. The only retailers are Amazon and BestBuy.com — they’re not in Best Buy Stores. This limited exposure will ultimately doom the platform. Consumers cannot buy what they do not know exists. This price drop puts the nicer Samsung models just slightly higher in price than the Acer models with only $50 separating the two. This lower price, even though it’s technically 7% to 10%, drops the Samsung models out of the price points of traditional Windows notebooks. Much like with the HP TouchPad with the iPad, it’s hard to recommend a Chromebook when a full power Windows model can be had for the same price. Chromebook are likely not going the way of the TouchPad. Google isn’t HP. As proven by the struggling Google TV platform, the company seemingly likes to give hardware more time than it does software where it often kills under-performing products rather quick. Google and Acer/Samsung need to come up with a different, hopefully more broad, retail strategy going forward otherwise while the Chromebooks might not be swimming in the deadpool, they will certainly be wading in the pool of obscurity. : Samsung reached out to us and apparently the lower price is part of a “limited, two-week only, back-to-school promotion on Amazon for the Series 5 Chromebook.” [Thanks for the tip, Nate] |
OnLive Teams Up With GameSpot To Embed Game Demos In Reviews | Devin Coldewey | 2,011 | 8 | 30 | Game reviews are always inadequate, in that while they can describe how it feels to control your guy, or how the level design is frustrating, you can only kind of get it. Video reviews help, but you can never be sure you and the reviewer are on the same page — more so than with books and movies, I’d say. and GameSpot are hoping to change that up a bit by adding instant game demos to reviews, so if you’re curious how a game plays, you can just… play it. You can see it at work on . Unfortunately you need to download a plugin, free of course, but even that low barrier might be too much for people just skimming the review. They’re not the only ones doing this: in February we saw a , which pushes games to your browser with no plugin at all. I’ve got Crysis 2 running in the next tab over right now. That said, who does it first isn’t really the point. Both companies have impressive streaming technology and the winner will be the one with its fingers in the most pies come 2012 or 2013, when streaming gaming really goes mainstream. I love the idea of clicking to fire up a demo, not just because it makes the review more effective (the reviewer can even say “try this in the demo below”) but also because demos these days are . It’s almost as much trouble to download and install the demo as it is to actually buy the game. This partnership should be fruitful, and it brings up the whole question of exclusivity for demos — instant play on reviews could be one of those “premium” features reserved for registered or paying members. People tend to find away around those barriers, though. |
HP: We’re Producing One Last Run Of TouchPads To Meet Demand | Jason Kincaid | 2,011 | 8 | 30 | Ten days ago, HP announced that it was going to be liquidating its TouchPad, the WebOS-powered iPad competitor that launched early this summer. When it first launched the device was going for $500; a later price drop to $400 didn’t do much to help sales. But the liquidation sale sure did. The new pricetag: $99. All TouchPads available from both HP and retailers alike were sold out within a day or two. And since then, technophiles eager to get in on the deal have been refreshing their inboxes, Twitter feeds, and HP’s websites to find out when the remainder of HP’s unsold inventory would become available. HP just announced its answer: not for a few weeks. But there’s some good news: instead of simply emptying out its warehouses, HP is actually going to manufacture a run of TouchPads to meet demand. HP doesn’t explicitly say that the new run of TouchPads will also be sold at $99. But a later question in the FAQ still references that price, so it seems like it may still be in place. If that is indeed the case, HP is likely taking a significant loss on every device sold (iSuppli pegged the cost of each unit at — I doubt they’re spot on, but if they’re even in the right ballpark, HP is taking a loss). There’s an argument that HP might simply be willing to pay its way to a substantial tablet marketshare to spur a stronger WebOS ecosystems and in the future. But that could be a very expensive tactic. Alternatively, this might be a way to help build goodwill in the community, though now that HP is getting out of the consumer PC business, it seems like this wouldn’t be HP’s biggest priority. : As pointed out in the , another strong possibility is that HP either has, or has committed to buying, a certain number of TouchPad parts, and that it might make more sense for them to assemble and sell them than to scrap them. Finally, as TC editor Michael Arrington , it’s possible that HP will find a way to churn these out for a much lower price than everyone expects, perhaps by sacrificing screen quality. People have shown that they’re willing to cough up $100, maybe even $200, for a device that doesn’t come from Apple — if HP could get a device in that sweetspot, then make additional revenue through content and app sales, it could have a hit on its hands. Then again, if HP had figured out a way to pull this off, then they wouldn’t be selling the devices in a limited run. Either way, I’m in for one as soon as they go on sale. From the , which is currently bogged down by a ton of traffic: Q: When is HP getting more HP TouchPads? One week, two weeks, a month?
A limited supply are coming and it will be a few weeks before they are available. As we know more about how, when, and where TouchPads will be available, we will communicate that here and through email to those who requested notification. We can tell you that HP’s Small and Medium Business team has sold out of HP TouchPads and will not have more inventory. Q: Can you comment on whether HP had to manufacture more to meet the recent demand?
HP will be manufacturing a limited quantity of TouchPads with webOS during our fourth fiscal quarter 2011, which ends October 31. Q: Will HP continue to make more TouchPads with webOS to meet the demand?
HP is discontinuing the development of webOS devices and is winding down device operations within our fourth fiscal quarter 2011. |
Sprint Galaxy S II Photos and Specs Leaked Hours Before Announcement | Greg Kumparak | 2,011 | 8 | 30 | Whoops! With just a few hours to go before Samsung finally announces the details surrounding the U.S. launch of the Galaxy S II , things are starting to get leaky. At least three variants are expected to be debuted tonight: one each for T-Mobile, AT&T, and Sprint. Thanks to the last-minute leak of a Sprint training manual, though, the details for that last variant — now known to be the absurdly named Samsung Galaxy S II Epic 4G Touch — have debuted a bit early. We’ve got specs! We’ve got photos! What more could you want? Pro tip: with the holidays coming up, be aware that saying you’re going to give someone an “epic touch” for Christmas leaves room for misinterpretation.
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Zynga Debuts Newest Facebook Game: Adventure World | Leena Rao | 2,011 | 8 | 30 | Zynga just a trailer for its newest social game on Facebook— . According to the game’s Facebook page, the game’s tag line is ‘team up, explore lost worlds, unearth adventures in Zynga’s newest game, Adventure World.” From the video, it looks like the game is developed around a number of different puzzles, maps, and lands. And similar to Zynga’s other Facebook games, your friends are a part of the experience. Basically, think Indian Jones meets FarmVille. Zynga has been churning out games of late, releasing , a , and It’s unclear from the video when the game will be released, but we’ll keep you updated on the launch of AdventureWorld. [youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wlkZLfMpak4&w=560&h=345] |
Talkatone iPhone App Now Lets You Make Calls Through Facebook | Alexia Tsotsis | 2,011 | 8 | 8 | , the service that make phone calls over Wifi and 3G for free with Google Voice has expanded its offerings to Facebook with its new app release. As of today the Talkatone iPad and iPhone apps now let you call your Facebook friends using VoIP over Wifi and 3G networks and let you receive free push notifications for Facebook Chat, which are actually quite useful if you’ve long turned off Facebook SMS notifications (as you should). In order to use the Facebook calling features you need to download the Talkatone app, sign in using Facebook Connect and invite your friends to talk. The pretty annoying caveat is that whoever you’re calling also needs to download the app in order to partake. Your simple request for a phone call posts the Talkatone invite to their wall with the message, “XXXX, I am calling you on Facebook from Talkatone. You can get it on your iPhone, iPod touch or iPad, and call me back for free.” It’s incredibly spammy, which is I guess the price you pay for free phone calls. While services like and also lets you make voice calls over Facebook, creator tells me that what sets Talkatone apart is that Talkatone does not use cell minutes and instead relies on your data plan, only allowing people to call when they have Wifi or 3G. “In my ideal world phone numbers and cellular minutes will be obsolete,” he says. Dayanov also tells me that the service now has 1.2 million downloads and around 150K+ daily active users. The new Facebook empowered app, which hasn’t received any press, is currently at #11 in Social Networking iPad apps. Dayanov plans on tackling video calling next. |
Riots Get Mapped On Google As London Burns | Mike Butcher | 2,011 | 8 | 8 | I can’t quite believe I am writing this. London is my home town, where I was born. For whatever reason – a flashpoint around the by Police on Thursday? Social deprivation? Youth unemployment? The economy? Boredom? Good weather? Easy access to the ability to organise online? Frankly take your pick – London is turning into patchwork of riots and looting across the capital which appear to flare up at random. They started in the north over the weekend, but, like a virus – a meme even – have spread. Large parts of Croydon in the south are now on fire. And yes, there is even a link to technology, but, I guess we already . In that instance we found what appeared to be a genuine link between the free, fast and private group-messaging ability of the BlackBerry Messaging network and many rioters. Paid Content has followed up that BlackBerry is “assisting Police” – but there appears to be no plan to shut down the network. Meanwhile Twitter is alight with information under various hashtags, possibly the biggest is . There are a number of journalists out there covering events live (I will update this post with some examples). But they don’t get much braver than : Now, tonight, two maps have been created where you can follow reports of where incidents are happening. I have to say I am in two minds about posting this. On the one hand I’m not posting it to get traffic to this site (at times like this, who cares). But I am posting it in case it is of help to anyone caught up in the violence or, understandably, wanting to avoid it. The first is a map put together by . It’s a map of the UK which he says shows “affected areas (since Saturday but mostly tonight, Monday), with sources where appropriate”. So far it includes incidents in London and Birmingham. You can Tweet @jamescridland with a “verifiable source”, which is presumably something like a tweet from a journalist or person on the ground. Click on the image for the map. The second is a map which, although less useful, does illustrate the extent of public feeling about the whole thing. It just shows Tweets with a UK postcode and the #londonriots tag. In some ways it may also ‘map’ live incidents but in my opinion it would need a better method to do that. Click on the image. And a new one Stay safe people. |
Facebook Clusters Topics In News Feed, Opens Can Of Worms | Alexia Tsotsis | 2,011 | 8 | 8 | Facebook has been trying to figure out its News Feed since it launched in 2006, and of course because it’s Facebook every time it changes absolutely anything it seems to throw users into tumult. Earlier today the company in its quest to try to make sense of the sheer amount of realtime data it processes: Aggregated Topic clusters in the Facebook News Feed. Facebook is on creating an unfiltered News Feed, which would open the floodgates on the entire stream of things shared (right now the feed is algorithmically filtered by things like how close you are to the person who shared it, recency and intentional actions like Likes). I’m guessing in preparation for that massive change the News Feed team thought, “Hey, what are some ways we can make this less of a shit show?” And what did they come up with? While I’m not sure what they ultimately have in store, what they launched today was Page aggregation by Topic, so that whenever your friends post something related to Apple for example, it gets aggregated into a cluster with all the other stories about Apple and tags the Apple fan page. For example a couple of stories about the iPhone resulted in this semi-relevant cluster about the iPhone. Except that my post wasn’t relevant at all. Facebook has said that it will be using Natural Language Processing to match words in status updates to brand pages, but it will not be using human editors or sentiment analysis to filter out or cluster negative or positive stories, or corral unrelated elements. “There will inevitably be comical or unsavory combinations of posts,” says Inside Facebook’s See the Jesus cluster above. While it seems obvious that Facebook is doing this to increase in engagement on Fan Pages, it doesn’t seem to add very much value to users and is a toss for brands. It seems like this could potentially run into many of the same with its attempts to assign user-generated content to branded content. With 700 million users, the potential for false positives is amazing. We might as well start the “Posted About Fail” Tumblr now. But while the requisite “I hate any and all change” uproar has commenced on where the new feature was announced, I haven’t heard much complaining in my own (relatively more tech savvy) News Feed. Perhaps because the feature doesn’t seem to be implemented across the board. I personally haven’t seen a cluster since around 3pm PST today and one user reported that the feed was recently aggregating links the old-fashioned way a. k. a ” … 5 of your friends shared a link.” Maybe someone up there in Palo Alto realized what they were trying to accomplish was pretty damn hard and unlaunched? I’ve asked Facebook PR if they’ve pulled back at all on the feature and have yet to receive comment. |
Video: Functioning CNC Mill Created From LEGO | Devin Coldewey | 2,011 | 8 | 8 | While I may have created some sweet spaceships in my days constructing , I never guessed how serious people would get with their blocky creations. , , even a and a . So I shouldn’t be surprised that someone has created a CNC mill with their Mindstorms NXT set. It looks a little bit shaky, I have to say, so I doubt we’re reaching micrometer precision, but a few stabilizing blocks and it’d be more than sufficient for creating the occasional figurine or 20-sided die. [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Re9F6Tp-B_A&w=640&h=390] Incredibly, this isn’t actually the first CNC mill to be made from LEGO — by a long shot. In fact, the at the LEGO Mindstorms community has several, going back to March of 2008 (there’s even video). There’s even an egg-decorating device using CNC principles. Sure, why not? [via ] |
Get Ready For A Photo App Explosion With iOS 5 | MG Siegler | 2,011 | 8 | 8 | At this point, it’s already clear that the iPhone has become camera many people use on a daily basis. The iPhone 4 is now (and that’s true even though it’s being undercounted — ). And apps like Instagram, Hipstamatic, and Camera+ are , despite being iPhone-only. But some upcoming changes in iOS 5 point to an even brighter future for the iPhone as a camera. We’re likely to see an explosion of photo apps as a result. Specifically, iOS 5 will include Core Image. This was previously announced at WWDC, but the current beta builds going around now point in the direction of what this should mean. With the latest beta (version 5), a ton of effects have been added. Last week, . Among the bullet points: Several filters have been added since beta 1. The current list now includes the following filters: CIAdditionCompositing, CIAffineTransform, CICheckerboardGenerator, CIColorBlendMode, CIColorBurnBlendMode, CIColorControls, CIColorCube, CIColorDodgeBlendMode, CIColorInvert,CIColorMatrix, CIColorMonochrome, CIConstantColorGenerator, CICrop, CIDarkenBlendMode, CIDifferenceBlendMode, CIExclusionBlendMode, CIExposureAdjust, CIFalseColor, CIGammaAdjust,CIGaussianGradient, CIHardLightBlendMode, CIHighlightShadowAdjust, CIHueAdjust, CIHueBlendMode, CILightenBlendMode, CILinearGradient, CILuminosityBlendMode,CIMaximumCompositing, CIMinimumCompositing, CIMultiplyBlendMode, CIMultiplyCompositing, CIOverlayBlendMode, CIRadialGradient, CISaturationBlendMode, CIScreenBlendMode,CISepiaTone, CISoftLightBlendMode, CISourceAtopCompositing, CISourceInCompositing, CISourceOutCompositing, CISourceOverCompositing, CIStraightenFilter, CIStripesGenerator,CITemperatureAndTint, CIToneCurve, CIVibrance, CIVignette, and CIWhitePointAdjust. “CI” obviously stands for “Core Image” and the part after that explains what many of the effects mean and/or do. All iOS 5 developers will now have access to many of these advanced tools. Simply put, it should make image/photo processing much simpler to implement and execute. Previously, developers had to use the weaker Core Graphics to manipulate images on the iPhone. Or they had to jerry-rig their own solutions to tap into something like OpenGL for more powerful functionality. While filters may seem like a simple feature, they’re not easy to create from scratch. iOS 5 will now give developers built-in options and a base so they no longer have to create from scratch. These Core Image options will also significantly speed up image processing for many of the apps out there already using some filters. The reason is that it gives developers easier access to OpenGL, which is what developers currently use for things like video game graphic rendering — it’s significantly more powerful than Core Graphics, but harder to access. Does the mean the end of Instagram, Path, Camera+ and the like? No, those guys will likely continue to operate on the more advanced end of the spectrum. Camera+’s “Clarity” filter, for example, is likely far beyond what iOS 5 will offer out of the box. But it will be another step towards the commoditization of filters as a whole. If an app has camera functionality, many more will now likely include them because, why not? You’ll also likely see more apps that focus on video as a result of these additions to iOS. And there should be many more that focus on “crazy” photo effects. Of course, the next iPhone itself may have an even bigger impact in the space. Rumored to have an 8 megapixel camera with a new sensor, the device will also likely be much faster when it comes to processing power. Combine this with the changes in iOS 5 and we’re likely going to see another leap forward in mobile photography. And don’t forget the largest player in the photo space, Facebook. Work continues on . Meanwhile, Google appears to be attacking the space from a of . And support for Tweeting pictures will now be . |
Down Goes The Internet… Again. Amazon EC2 Outage Takes Down Foursquare, Instagram, Quora, Reddit, Etc | MG Siegler | 2,011 | 8 | 8 | Are you trying to use the web right now? Just stop. It’s largely broken. As indicated by about 20 tips in the last few minutes and pretty much all of Twitter, Amazon’s EC2 service appears to be down. That means services like Reddit, Heroku, Foursquare, Instagram, Fab, Quora, Turntable.fm, Netflix and many, many others are down. If this sounds familiar, it’s because . So far, it looks like the outage has been . : It looks like the outage may be , so not all of EC2. Still, all of the companies above and hundreds of others are clearly affected right now. : And after roughly 40 minutes of downtime, the Internet appears to be coming back online. Amazon’s confirms that it’s being resolved. https://twitter.com/#!/davetufts/status/100757599871438850 AWSh…. — Shervin Pishevar (@shervin) https://twitter.com/instagram/status/100756402829656065 ec2 east appears 100% down — Harry Heymann (@harryh) EC2 East down = forkly down :( — Martin May (@HiroProt) First the market, then AWS. Is the sun gonna rise tomorrow? — Wesley Barrow (@wesleybarrow) We are experiencing some unexpected downtime due to Amazon EC2. Will update as soon as things are back to normal. — Yobongo (@Yobongo) Update on AWS status page, "We are investigating connectivity issues for EC2 in the US-EAST-1 region." — Andrew (@andrew311) |
Why No AMD-Powered Smartphones? | Chris Velazco | 2,011 | 8 | 8 | With companies chomping at the bit to enter the growing mobile space and take advantage of the opportunities therein, it’s almost more intriguing to explore why some companies throw their hats in the ring. Case in point: AMD — the second largest x86 processor manufacturer in the world has yet to make their play. Why haven’t they made their push into mobile, just like everyone else? Well, if AMD SVP Rick Bergman is to be believed, it’s because they believe . Rather than try and force their way into an already crowded market, Bergman said AMD has “other areas it can focus on in order to grow.” Perhaps it’s a smart move for the perennial also-ran of the x86 processor race. ARM has already carried off the lion’s share of the mobile processor market, striking lucrative licensing agreements with companies like LG and Texas Instruments, meaning their processors now power a huge number of mobile devices. If AMD really wanted to compete, it would require a little bit of luck and a lot of cooperation — either with Intel to combat ARM’s stranglehold on the market, or with ARM to one-up their longtime rival. Neither of those options probably sounded very appealing. For AMD, the future largely remains in their traditional desktop, server, and notebook offerings, but the higher-ups have set their sights on another booming market: tablets. Their Z-series processor, launched back in June, was AMD’s first step into tablet computing. While it hasn’t popped up in any must-have tablets yet, AMD remains hopeful that their graphics and processor technologies will align with the growing performance and battery needs of tablet customers. Their rival in graphics, Nvidia, thinks the same, however, and has as well. So is that it for them? Have they decided to watch the smartphone wars unfold from the sidelines? Not exactly: Mr. Bergman hinted that they may make a move “if the right circumstances come up and we can see a way to impact the market.” We’ll see if that conservative strategy pans out, but as my old Latin teacher used to say, |
Airbnb Rolls Out 24/7 Phone Support, Additional Safety Features | Jason Kincaid | 2,011 | 8 | 8 | Less than two weeks ago, red-hot startup got rocked by a wave of negative press after one of its guests blogged about the traumatizing experience of coming home to her apartment to find it by a guest. Airbnb’s initial response was lackluster at best. But after a couple of , Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky wrote an that reaffirmed that the company understood the concerns and was going to do everything it could to make things right. He promised a $50,000 insurance guarantee for hosts, as well as additional safety features that were on the way. And a week after that apology, we’re seeing the fruits of their efforts. Today Airbnb has a new 24-hour support hotline, giving users a safety net in case something goes wrong. The logistics and personnel required to staff the line would have been too costly for a scrappy startup, but the extremely company can afford it, and this will do a lot to help reassure customers. Another important new feature to help boost safety is VoiceConnect, which now allows hosts to call potential guests to do a quick screen, without revealing their phone numbers. This works a bit like Google Voice — you initiate the call using the web interface, then immediately get a phone call from Airbnb, which routes you to the potential guest’s line. Calls are recorded by Airbnb for security purposes. Next is an improved references system. This has been around for a while (as ‘recommendations’), but Airbnb now has better integration with Facebook that makes it easier for users to build up their reputation even before they’ve received reviews from other Airbnb users. And that’s important, because the service is young enough that many users are trying it out for the first time. Another addition: there are now video profiles — currently for hosts only — that let hosts create a video that’s shared as part of their listing. These launches come on the heels of a series of other safety features that have rolled out over the course of the last week. These include (you can validate your profile by connecting it to third-party services like Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn) and an integrated ‘photobooth’ feature that makes it easier for members to take a snapshot of themselves (and gives them less of an excuse not to have one). Finally, in a blog post on August 5, Airbnb that it was using a tool on its new that allows the community to vote on the changes it wants most. Less than five days after releasing that tool, Airbnb implemented the top two requests: it now allows hosts to mandate that all potential guests have a profile photo, and hosts can now decline reservations without that impacting where their space will appear in search results. The post explains that while it’s been possible to decline reservations before now, your results ranking would be negatively impacted if you rejected a reservation. |
Rewriteable, Non-Electric E-Paper Makes Big Promises, But Is It Really Useful? | Devin Coldewey | 2,011 | 8 | 8 | A new display technology called is making the rounds today. It’s developed by ITRI, a Taiwanese company that has produced and displays in the past. i2R is essentially a plastic substrate with a heat-activated liquid crystal coating: you pass it through a thermal printer and a 300dpi monochrome image is impressed on its surface — until you want to rewrite it, which you can do up to 260 times by their calculations. Putting aside the obvious comparisons to, say, , I’m not sure this technology is the paper-killer ITRI and some sites think it is. I have several issues with the technology: -The display is advertised as not consuming electricity. That’s something that can be said of any bistable display — e-ink is the same way, and once made to display something, it will display it without using electricity as long as it isn’t interfered with. And i2R may not require electricity (to be specific, it has no underlying circuitry, making it a closer analog to paper), but its thermal printing device certainly does. Essentially, it requires electricity in the same way e-ink does: to change what is displayed. Presumably the crystals wear out after a time, however, limiting the rewrites. -Heat activation limits the ways in which people can interact with these displays. The advantages of a circuit-capable substrate is the ability to include sensors such as IR or resistive touch arrays, allowing for people to write on or “click” content. Obviously the point here isn’t interactive content but reusable displays, but the gains are questionable. -No attached memory means changing what’s on the display/paper is an involved process of feeding it through its special writer. Doing this with dozens of i2R displays doesn’t look like anything a shopkeeper would want to do. -I’m not sure which is worse for the environment: 260 pieces of A4 being recycled, or one A4-sized piece of plastic that isn’t being recycled (I doubt the crystal coating can be removed well enough to reprocess the substrate). -It’s glossy! On the plus side, $2 per A4 sheet is cheap compared with other display technologies; A 6″ e-ink display costs $60 or so. Obviously you won’t be plastering your walls with Kindles. And 300dpi is enough to get some very detailed graphics or codes on there. While I’m skeptical, I think the issue is simply that ITRI (and Reuters) are overselling it. This isn’t a wholesale replacement for paper, or e-ink for that matter: it’s a niche technology that can and should be applied in an institutional way. Think bus passes, temporary ID cards, class handouts, the sort of things that need to be rewritten semi-frequently from a central source but are mostly interacted with as static pieces of information. A “For sale!” sign isn’t the right application for this technology, and more traditional “displays” like whiteboards are also safe. . I don’t think this is the narrator’s beat, though. “It doesn’t require a backlight to print,” indeed. |
YC-Backed Leaky Is Hipmunk For Car Insurance | Alexia Tsotsis | 2,011 | 8 | 8 | Launching in beta today in California is the YC-funded . Like a for car insurance, Leaky’s premise is simple enough; visit the site and you’ll be prompted to fill out an online questionnaire covering all sorts of vehicle-related questions like make, model and mileage of your car as well as demographic information like education level and employer. When you complete the quiz, Leaky immediately serves up a selection of car insurance quotes from five of the top insurance carriers as well as others, including Geico, Esurance and Allstate. While individual car insurance providers already have the “fill out questionnaire” -> “get quote” functionality on their individual sites, no one in the US is aggregating realtime quotes from multiple providers like Leaky is. And unlike UK counterparts and , where regulations are relatively uniform, Leaky has the added challenge of insurance restrictions being different for each individual insurance companies across all 50 states. “Insurance companies each have a different perspective how much money you’re going to cost the company,” co-founder tells me “Depending on a customer’s claims history different companies have different philosophies on how to underwrite risk for different customers and each database has different pricing models.” Basically this means that Leaky has to crawl the APIs for five or more insurance carriers, for the fields corresponding to the answers to 40 questions, across 50 states. “When we first started writing code in January we thought it would take a couple of months, then we realized it was a beast,” co-founder says. Indeed, many in the insurance sector purport themselves to do exactly what Leaky actually does (which is hard) but instead incorporate some cop-out lead gen or spammy element. Traff explains that Progressive just estimates what your car insurance quote would be based on publicly available data. He tells me that services like Carinsurance.com and Insurance.com only show quotes from their partner agencies, which tend not to be in the top ten. He also says that leadgen services like Netquote have you fill out a questionnaire but do not result in online quotes, rather in a series of sales phone calls over the next couple of days. Sounds horrific. Free for users, Leaky plans on monetizing by charging affiliate fees for every customer it brings to insurance companies. Nix and Traff tell me that they estimate they’ve saved the 700 people who’ve signed up an average of $313 a year. They estimate the size of the auto-insurance premium market to be $200 billion annually, $20 billion of which results from carrier switching. So if it’s actually saving people money and has the potential for profit, why the name Leaky? Nix says, “Well most people find insurance really boring and we wanted a domain name to make people think ‘What the hell? How’s that related to insurance?’ And as it turns out, it’s working because we are having outstanding recall of our domain name!” The founders expect to have expand to all insurance companies across all states in the next 60 days. [vimeo http://vimeo.com/27388706 w=500] |
Disney And Carnegie Mellon Create Motion Capture On The Go | Chris Velazco | 2,011 | 8 | 8 | By now, we’ve all seen behind-the-scenes footage of motion capture in action — and the occasional handful of colored balls, spouting off dialogue and gesticulating wildly. It used to be that such work could only be done within the confines of a studio, a closed space where a camera would have as little trouble as possible picking up those little points of articulation, in hopes of translating them into lifelike movement for a CGI bobcat or something. Now, according to , a recent breakthrough will allow mocap to take place just about anywhere. The big idea? Instead of actors being filmed by cameras, . By attaching about 2 dozen tiny cameras to actors’ bodies, filmmakers will be able to capture movement that may not be feasible in enclosed spaces. Imagine a long, drawn-out chase scene: instead of having multiple takes of a guy jumping over a trashcan and leaping for a fire escape being stitched together, the body-mounted system could record all the video data needed in one go. The technique, called “Structure from Motion”, isn’t quite there yet though. It hinges on precise placement of those cameras on the body, which are then calibrated with external reference structures. Once the video data is collected, it’s all processed to create a moving skeletal structure that replicates the wearer’s movements, but it comes at a cost. It requires a considerable amount of computing power to produce the finished product, and at this point a minute of footage may require up to a full day of rendering. Takaaki Shiratori, a post-doc associate presenting the technique at SIGGRAPH 2011, says “anyone will be able to do motion capture in the not-so-distant future.” A bold claim, to be sure, but where’s the fun in innovation if you can’t wildly speculate about the future? Given the type of equipment involved, we may even see homegrown mocap sooner than we think. GoPro cameras, while not cheap, perform impressively when mounted on the or a , so what’s to stop an impressionable young filmmaker with a credit card from buying a ton and strapping them to his or her body? The software required would be a stumbling block for sure, but if it happened to go open-source, just imagine what some imaginative up-and-comer could do. |
YC-Funded Snapjoy Will Organize Your Photos For You (And Make Sure You Don’t Lose Them) | Jason Kincaid | 2,011 | 8 | 8 | As an intelligent TechCrunch reader with the gift of foresight, you’ve probably backed up your hard drive — and all of the precious photos locked inside — to at least one cloud service, just in case the unthinkable happens and you lose both your computer your local backup. But you’re unusual. Many of your friends probably haven’t backed up their photos at all, which means they’re one crashed drive away from losing those memories forever. And even if that drive doesn’t crash, their photos are likely buried in several layers of folders where they’re gathering a thick coat of digital dust. , a Y Combinator-funded startup that’s launching today, wants to fix that: they’re offering to keep your photos backed up and organized automatically. And they’re taking on the likes of Flickr, iPhoto, and Picasa as they hope to become your go-to app for photo management. The web-based service, which launches today to the public, looks nice — you can try a live demo . After uploading some photos (a process which Snapjoy says is significantly faster than some competitors) the app categorizes your photos for you, using metadata to try to intelligently place the correct photos in each album. Unfortunately the service doesn’t pay attention to any albums you’ve already created using apps like iPhoto, which could frustrate some users. But Cofounder Michael Dwan says that most users typically sort their photos into albums that are similar to the ones Snapjoy creates (arranged primarily by date) — or they haven’t created albums at all, in which case Snapjoy is a big improvement. Another nifty feature: if you upload the same photo multiple times (which is easy to do if your photos aren’t very organized), Snapjoy will ignore the duplicates. If you’re on a Mac you can download Shoebox, a native client that makes it easy to drag and drop photos to automatically upload them to the service (it will also detect when you’ve inserted an SD card, so you can quickly upload new photos). Dwan says that the company has more native applications in the works, including an uploader for Windows and an iPad app. By default, everything uploaded to Snapjoy is private — the site is looking to become the repository for all of your photos, after all. But you can still share photos with select groups of friends, and if you grant permission, a friend can actually copy one of your photos into their own Snapjoy album (a feature that will come in handy when you’ve, say, gone on a trip with some friends). Down the line Dwan says that the site will add more social network functionality for those who want it (like Facebook integration), but it will still keep the default private. Of course, Snapjoy is still a nascent two-person startup, and there’s no way of knowing whether it’ll be around in a few years — which is key if you’re using it for backup purposes. Dwan says that the company knows it still has to prove itself, and that users will also be able to download full archives of their photos (at the resolution they were originally uploaded them) whenever they’d like. The service is initially free of charge for everyone. In the near future it will begin charging for users that upload a lot of photos (more than a few gigs), though it will be inexpensive, on the order of a few dollars per month. |
Twitter Officially Switches: R.I.P. Old Twitter, Long Live #NewTwitter | Leena Rao | 2,011 | 8 | 8 | Twitter’s redesigned and feature-rich web interface (a.k.a. #newTwitter), which was , has been completely rolled out, according to a That means that Twitter users can no longer use the old version of the site, which has been the case for nearly a year. You can access more information about #NewTwitter Of course, this means that all Twitter.com users will be using the same application, which is sure to make things a bit easier for Twitter when it comes to feature and design rollouts. The company also released an of Twitter.com for the iPad. [youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rIpD7hfffQo&w=560&h=349] |
Hackers Show DIY Defense And Disaster Response Gear At Defcon | Devin Coldewey | 2,011 | 8 | 8 | I tend to think of as a sort of massive free-for-all, with thousands of hackers all trying to be the one that replaces the speaker’s Powerpoint slide with a skull and crossbones, that sort of thing. In fact, it’s just a bunch of people who like to fiddle with stuff — whether it’s security, hardware, code, or what. It’s the people who tend to not just think “I wonder if…” but who then say “Maybe I’ll try it.” And in this case, they’ve even got the public good in mind. If only we could say the same about congress! Rafael, an Israeli defense contractor, makes the , a wireless camera that can be launched from a 40mm grenade launcher. The trouble with this system is that 40mm grenade launchers aren’t particularly easy to come by, they’re illegal for private citizens to own, and cost a fortune. A pair of hackers is that could cost under $500, putting this useful tool in the hands of local police forces, rescue teams, and curious civilians. Instead of using a grenade launcher, Vlad Gostom and Joshua Marpet are using a 37mm flare launcher — something you can buy at your local bodega. Well, maybe not that close, but they’re around. They designed a custom payload for launch: at the apex, a parachute will deploy and the camera will begin transmitting an image of the area directly below it to the operator. This could be really helpful for seeing briefly the other side of rubble or other obstacles, though there are of course packbots and throwable cameras for that as well. The prototype still a bit buggy right now and their goal height (250ft) is just half of the Firefly. That said, at $500 it costs a fraction as much and was designed by two guys who thought it would be cool, not a high-tech defense corporation. A little polish and it could be a real product. My suggestion? Kickstarter. TechWorld highlights two other projects, one a rather shabby but cool flying surveillance station, and the other a simple solution for . The latter could be used by people trapped by debris to communicate with each other or rescue teams, no cell signal required. It’s nice to see these positive and interesting projects coming out of Defcon. I may have to drop by next year if I can build up the courage. |
Man To Line Up Over A Month Early For The iPhone 5 (But Mostly For Attention) | Greg Kumparak | 2,011 | 8 | 8 | Each time a new iPhone is set to hit the shelves, I get my pre-order in nice and early. Waiting in line is for chumps, right? Then Launch Day Eve rolls around, and I end up carting myself off to the Valley Fair Apple Store and camping out for 14+ hours anyway. Not for the product, mind you — it’s more so to surround myself with eccentric people and see what the hardcore early adopter/Apple fanbase looks like. You know, for science or something. Friends and family call me crazy. (“You’re going to sleep in a ?!” they’ll say. “For a ?!” as if Valley Fair transforms from a posh shopping mall to an in-door version of the streets of Compton as soon as the sun goes down. ) I’ve got on this guy, though. He’ll be camping out for the iPhone 5 (which, of course, hasn’t actually been announced yet) for over a month, and has turned his would-be time-wasting into an entrepreneurial experiment of sorts. Meet Rob Shoesmith, a marketer (of course!) from the UK. Realizing that an abundance of public power outlets and WiFi hotspots would allow him to do his job from just about anywhere, he decided to do what any sane person would do: live in a tent outside of an Apple Store in London’s Covent Garden district. For over a month. His quest isn’t just for the iPhone 5, though — in fact, Apple’s latest handset seems to be more of a secondary objective at this point. Taking advantage of all of the attention that comes with being that-guy, he chose to leave all of his cash at home and rely instead on gifts and sponsorships.. and it’s working. The amount he’s received varies depending on who you’re talking to (largely because some details are getting lost in the back-and-forth currency translations, and because some of the “sponsorships” [like access to a car] are loans rather than permanent presents), but it’s easily in the range of tens of thousands of dollars. So far, he’s received everything from Solar-powered iPhone chargers and web cams to shampoo, aftershave, massive boxes of candy, and uh.. a box full of garden gnomes. His next goal? A security guard to watch his stuff while he sleeps. Imagine the laugh we’ll all get if Apple launch the iPhone 5 in September! Then imagine him laughing as he trucks his mountain of sponsorship gear back to his flat, and how he can forever pitch himself as the guy who got an insane amount of press coverage for . iPhone or no iPhone, this guy wins. You can find Robert’s blog (where he seems to be blogging less about his upcoming adventures in living on the street and more about the free stuff he’s getting) and follow him on Twitter . Updated for clarity — while Robert plans on being out there for weeks on end, he’s out campin’ on the sidewalk just yet. Which, to be honest, makes all the swag he’s received thus far that much crazier. |
Google Accidentally Posts Details About Its Next Android Search App Update | Jordan Crook | 2,011 | 8 | 8 | In a post on their Mobile Blog (since removed), today announced an update to its Google Search app for , bringing a few new features that should improve your overall search experience. None of them will change your life, but since we know what to look forward to, we might as well look forward to it, am I right? The update will group suggestions by type, with the web suggestions appearing up top. Travelers, nomads, and peeps outside of the States will also get to see country-specific suggestions and search results as long as they’re in a country with a Google domain. Another fun feature is the ability to remove history items by performing a long press, and we all know there’s nothing more embarrassing than having an awkward search history. Have you ever been the only one in your group of friends with a decent smartphone? If you have, you already know how handy this feature will be. Google included a couple helpful tips for using the app, one of which we found to be pretty exciting. Some of you may have already discovered this, but there just so happens to be a way to search through other apps on the phone using the Google Search app. All you have to do is go into the settings section of the app and check out “searchable items.” The has also undergone a little makeover, now sporting a new, smoother user interface. Within the UI, users can tap the arrow to the right of a search suggestion or history item to make a quick change before searching. Google has removed the post (which you can peep in screen grab form), and there’s no telling when these features will roll out, but at least we know what to expect. |
null | Jordan Crook | 2,011 | 8 | 30 | null |
What’s the Fastest Web Browser in the “Real World?” Chrome. | Sarah Perez | 2,011 | 8 | 8 | benchmarks division, Gomez, has just released new data from a website measurement project whose goal was to determine what the fastest web browser is in the “real world” of desktop users. The project only measured load times of users on broadband connections. The data, collected over a one-month time frame, captured the results of 1.86 billion individual measurements on over 200 websites. The results of the test? No surprise here – the winner is Google Chrome. In the chart below, you can see the page load time (blue) is lowest (3.433 seconds) for Chrome 12, Google’s Web browser. On the high end is Apple’s Safari 4 (6.149 seconds) and IE 7 (6.006 seconds), neither of which are the curent versions. The second metric, perceived render time (green), refers to the amount of time it takes for the visible portion of the page to load in the browser. Again, Chrome did well here (2.374 seconds), but in this case, Firefox 5 did better (2.18 seconds). To be clear, Gomez doesn’t test browser speed capabilities in a lab environment, it measures real-world performance – that is, a measurement of how the population experiences web browser performance. Traditionally, this data has been used by businesses that want to test their web applications after deployment. As a Google Chrome user myself, these findings back up what I already believed regarding Chrome’s performance – that thing is fast! However, it also makes me think that Firefox 5 may be worth a second look. More data from this report will be released at a later date, Compuware says. |
This Sexy Coffee Gadget Probably Won’t Ever Exist | Jay Donovan | 2,011 | 8 | 8 | What is it? A laser cutter? A mod photo enlarger? A microscope? A tattoo remover? Nope, it’s a coffee maker, but an extremely svelte coffee maker. In fact, I imagine this little -friendly caffeine inducer would look pretty sweet in your typical “ ” or ad agency lobby. Clearly, we’ve come a long way since days of yore when a was enough you get you by in the couture circuit. To answer whether or not industrial design student Tali Shilo’s lovely little actually exists yet is another question. Looking in the I don’t see it — though unlike many concepts from Yanko, this one actually seems like a practical design for the real world. That said, I’m not sure why it’s being billed as a “minimalist” machine, when it’s electrically powered and requires fancy coffee packets. are probably a little more minimalist, but this one is definitely cool. [via ] |
Y Combinator-Backed Kicksend Launches In Beta To Make Sharing Big Files A Breeze | Rip Empson | 2,011 | 8 | 8 | When it comes to file sharing, there is no shortage of tools and services to help you transfer your files, big and small. There’s the old tried and true approach on email, or using VOIP services like Skype, or cloud-based services like and , or the browser-based , to veterans like and . Then there’s newcomer, the social and sharing-focused Minus, and Sendoid, whose launch . The list is long, but new sites continue popping up, because no single business has a stranglehold on the market, and each method of file sharing has its drawbacks — and its limits. A new startup launching in beta today, incubated in the most recent summer batch of Y Combinator companies, called , aims to make it even easier to send and share large files, especially with one’s non-technical friends and family members. There are plenty of file sharing services available, but many of them are confusing to use or have needlessly complicated UIs, are expensive, or come with too much fine print. Even Dropbox, though it’s relatively easy to use, requires an installation process — which may be too involved if you just want to send a few files. Email is great for small files, but with Gmail’s capacity restriction at 25 megabytes, for example, one needs to go elsewhere to send larger files. And sending via IM and Skype is synchronous, meaning that you need the other person to be online in order to accept the transfer. So Kicksend is trying to offer a better way that lets users automatically receive and download files, even if they’re not there to push the “accept file” button. For now, there are two ways to use Kicksend: Through a web and desktop app. (Mobile, the important third piece to the puzzle, is on its way and should be available soon.) Users can sign up for an account or just login with their Facebook account to view which of their friends and family are already using Kicksend. Once a user is logged in, they follow a simple three-step process to send the files. Simply drag and drop the files (of any size) into the interface/prompt on Kicksend’s homepage and select the recipients, (the recipients need only an email address, they don’t have to be Kicksend users), and, then, press send. Fairly straightforward, methinks. Kicksend also makes it easy for users to create lists of recipients, allowing easy group file sharing, and because the site offers realtime functionality, users will see instant notifications (Growl-style) on both the start of transfer and completion. Each file also has its own comment thread, which makes it easy for users to enter into a private conversation about the specific files being sent. Kicksend’s group file sharing and lists are similar in conception to Google+’s circles (except for file sharing, of course). The site is currently free for up to 1GB of sending bandwidth, and, according to Kicksend Co-founders Pradeep Elankumaran and Brendan Lim, the startup’s future monetization strategy consists of adding premium features, wherein users will likely get a 10GB capacity per month, as well as delivery alerts, and a full set of detailed analytics. The startup also plans to add an enterprise plan for businesses, which will offer notifications, analytics, as well as the ability to mark certain files as fully “private”. So far, just on a word-of-mouth basis, Kicksend has amassed 15,000 registered users and has sent over 40,000 files. At this point, the founders said, photos have been the most popular files shared, but musicians have also been using Kicksend to transfer large GarageBand files, as the use cases continue to diversify. Kicksend’s desktop apps, available both for Mac and Windows, allow users to easily send big files, automatically downloading the files to the recipient’s computer. The founders gave the example of the case in which someone sends you a large batch of photos via Kicksend, and the desktop app automatically receives the files and will instantly organize them on your hard drive — all with direct hooks into your social graph via Facebook connect. The startup’s backend infrastructure is also optimized for content delivery, so that it can rout any type of media and data to any end point; and when the startup launches its mobile apps, users will be able to take a photo on their phone and instantly rout the image to any other device. The web app, too, is seamless and easy to use, allowing a user to browse all the files he or she receives and sends. The UI is simple, and really seems intended to have Kicksend become part of the infrastructure of one’s daily life, both on the desktop and on the web. Your parents are going to love it. Kicksend’s current investors include Y Combinator, Start Fund, and SV Angel. |
Someone Finally Made A Browser Extension That Helps You Find The Tab Making Noise | Alexia Tsotsis | 2,011 | 8 | 1 | You know what really grinds my gears? Having 15 browser tabs open and one playing music and not knowing which one is playing music and having to scroll through all the tabs in order to find the one that’s playing music in order to kill it because it’s making you crazy and by the time you’ve killed it you’ve lost track of what you were working on in the first place so you have to thumb through all the tabs again just to get back to your work and by that time you can’t work BECAUSE YOU HAVE ALREADY THROWN YOUR LAPTOP OUT OF A SIX STORY WINDOW. This noisy browser tab thing bugs me so much so that months ago I the universe in prayer, “Can someone please make a browser extension that tells you/kills whichever tab is making noise?” Well it looks like my request has been answered, finally, in the form of the Chrome extension. Created by , Mute Tab scans web pages for embed plugin HTML tags that are likely to make sound such as <object>, <applet>, <audio> or <video> and changes the icon on the tab of the possibly offending page to the Mute Tab musical note icon. You can then mute the app by right clicking on the page and selecting Mute, which either mutes it while it plays (Safe) or shuts off the plugin (Unsafe). Mute Tab also lets you drill down into the precise details of what tabs making noise by clicking on the Mute Tab icon in your browser bar, showing what tags might be the culprit on each page. Unfortunately there’s no way to mute a Flash game without shutting down the game entirely (Sorry Farmville fans). While it’s to tell exactly browser tabs are making noise (because of plugins like Flash running shared instances in Chrome), Mute Tab is a noble attempt at solving the by at least giving you a partial workaround to the whole “throwing your laptop out a window” thing. You’re welcome. |
Broadcaster Or Blogger, Cent2Cent Helps Anyone Charge For Video | Roi Carthy | 2,011 | 8 | 1 | Generally speaking, video producers have a much easier time producing content than monetizing it. This is because the monetization side of the equation has two x-factors that are hard to get right. The first being the ‘with what to monetize’ factor–that is, the mechanism that facilitates the billing aspect of the user-flow. The second, being the ‘how to monetize’ factor– this being the model(s) under which the content is charged for. Enter , an Israeli company with a video monetization solution that is versatile enough for both high-end tv broadcasters (NBC is a client), and low-end bloggers. And with over 200,000 paid transactions to date, they might be on to something, too. One immediate benefit with Cent2Cent is that choosing its monetization solution doesn’t require the content owner to bet the entire house on it. By this I mean that monetizing via Cent2Cent doesn’t require the content to be migrated to Cent2Cent’s hosting infrastructure. Content can be encased within a JavaScript wrapper, or for those that want more programmatic control, there are also a SOAP/REST APIs. For those however that do require hosting, Cent2Cent is integrated with Kaltura, so that’s solved as well. And to round off, there are also plugins for Drupal & WordPress. The second key benefit with Cent2Cent’s solution is that monetization options are quite varied. These include: Daily/Weekly/Monthly/Recurring Subscription plans, Pay-per-View, Bundles and Packages, and Metered plans (by number of views, or time viewed). On the face of it, all these options can be overwhelming, but this is where Cent2Cent’s built-in diagnostic tool can assist the content owner make monetization decisions. The module collects viewing data that it segments for insights to be deduced. For example, a content owner can discover that 2% of users viewed more than ten videos, while 5% viewed more than five. Both segments fit more of a subscription model, as opposed to the rest of the users which could be offered only a pay-per-view purchase model. Cent2Cent began its commercial activity in October 2010 and has raised $500,000 from private investors to date. [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MBlHJOBLiAo&w=620&h=480&hl=en_US&fs=1&] |
Folding, Electric Vienna Bike Is Dorky But Practical | Devin Coldewey | 2,011 | 8 | 1 | The US has yet to join the rest of the world in the large-scale deployment of powered bikes, and I doubt this particular item will change that, but it’s always worth noting when a nice, practical vehicle like this shows up. This one is called the Vienna Bike, and it’s designed by Valentin Vodev of , a design studio (naturally) based (naturally) in Vienna. Its narrow (only 35cm wide) trike frame means extra stability for the load in the back while still providing bike-like handling. The platform in the back extends and there’s an interesting hexagonal pod that fits onto it for stowing groceries, helmets, or— trees, apparently. There’s an electric motor that can propel it independently, or you can set it to pedal-assist. Pixstudio claims the bike will go up to 60km on a charge, though I presume that’s with no cargo and a Vienna-sized passenger willing to pedal a bit. And another source says 40-60 miles, which is obviously more — so maybe they’re not quite sure about that yet. In addition to a range which, whether 30 or 60 miles, is suited for a day’s errand-running, it folds up for storage, as you can see at right. Like I said, practical, right? If it’s not too heavy, it could easily be taken up a flight or two of steps to an apartment. Say, apartment. The Vienna Bike seems to be an evolution of the studio’s , which has been upgraded, smoothed, and painted to produce the new version. It’s not available for purchase yet, being just today shown in “working prototype” form to the public . [via ] |
CollegeBudget Brings Daily Deals And Group Buying To Campuses | Rip Empson | 2,011 | 8 | 1 | I think it’s safe to say that Facebook is the leader when it comes to collegiate and high school social networking. I expect that won’t hurt anyone’s feelings. When it comes to meeting people at college, beer is always a good choice, or there’s Facebook, or some may now prefer . While social networking is essential on any campus, there are also a few tools social networks can integrate to become a more useful resource for students. Take it from , which offers college students a social platform where they can also access official grade records and view comprehensive reviews about professors, classes, departments, and campuses. It’s a great resource for high school students looking for a deeper dive into colleges they’re considering, as they can tap into admissions data and real student feedback about prospective schools. Or, because CampusBuddy has official grade records for classes (the platform currently has over 80 million grades from hundreds of institutions), students that are looking to get more information on how difficult certain classes are can view grade trending data with a few clicks. You can read our initial coverage of CampusBuddy and follow-up coverage . And since its launch in 2008, CampusBuddy has been seeing some good traction on campuses across the U.S. The startup’s founder and CEO Mike Moradian tells me that, between its website and Facebook app, CampusBuddy is at over 200K monthly active users, with over 1.5 million total, and revenue has quadrupled over the last year. Thanks to this growth, CampusBuddy is launching a new initiative called , which aims to bring daily deals and group buying to campuses across the country. With the exploding popularity of daily deals, Moradian says, this wasn’t an opportunity to miss. But, more importantly, he thinks that it’s a great way for students to lower the cost of their college experience. In addition to student deals, CollegeBudget is looking to bring social buying to every level of the campus experience, including textbooks and student loans — and one day in the future, potentially tuition. The company is kicking off its public launch with “Back-to-School Palooza”, which will feature over 100 merchants offering deals at 50 percent (and higher) discounts. There are deals on , , , etc. But it’s only for college students; you have to have a working “.edu” email address to sign up. Since launching in private beta in March, CollegeBudget has already signed up 600K college students from the CampusBuddy platform, and has already saved college students over $1 million collectively. Moradian tells me that he thinks CollegeBudget will be appealing to brands looking to tap into the highly-coveted college-age demographic. The platform also offers brands social media marketing campaigns at no cost, so that merchants signing up to offer student deals receive a YouTube testimonial video made by a college student, as well as social media blasts to CollegeBudget’s 130K-plus Facebook fans and Twitter followers. CollegeBudget also distinctively delivers a complete social media marketing campaign to merchants,
with no upfront cost. Merchants who sign up to offer student deals through CollegeBudget receive a
YouTube testimonial video made by a real college student, and social media blasts to CollegeBudget’s over 130,000 Facebook Fans and 3,000 Twitter Followers. of the type of YouTube marketing that’s included in the platform. It’s a great resource for college students looking for targeted discounts on the stuff they need while at school, and for brands, they have a built-in access to students, and for CampusBuddy, which was primarily making money through textbook sales, subscriptions and advertising, it will provide another source of revenue. In terms of the cut CollegeBudget will be taking from deals, Moradian tells me that the site is trying to make the experience as easy as possible on merchants and will be flexible on their cut in an attempt to accommodating different industries. But, on average, it will be offering merchants 60 percent. CampusBuddy is fully bootstrapped at this point, the founder says, and isn’t in any hurry to raise, as they’re “big believers” in the bootstrapping method. Which is a breath of fresh air. Oh, and as an addendum: CollegeBudget mobile apps are coming soon. Merchants can sign up to offer student discounts . |
“Open” Web Browsers Now Majority Of Web — WebKit Continues Rise | MG Siegler | 2,011 | 8 | 1 | A month just ended, which means new stats. In the world of web browsers, there are two particularly interesting ones of significance. One points to “open” web browsers now in the majority amongst those that surf the web. Another points to WebKit browsers passing Firefox, to claim the number two position amongst web surfers. As first noticed , StatCounter’s that Firefox and Chrome, when combined, now account for over 50 percent of web browsing. Technically, Firefox now has a 27.95 percent share, while Chrome has 22.14 percent. Combined, their 50.09 percent easily beat IE’s 42.45 percent. “According to StatCounter, open-source browsers now serve the majority of the Web!,” Beverloo wrote this morning. Technically, that’s sort of inaccurate since it’s and not Chrome itself that is open-source, but we’ll let it slide. Any way you slice it, the milestone is pretty amazing. Especially when you consider that as late as 2006 by some counts, IE still had over 90 percent market share. StatCounter’s numbers also show something else: Chrome is rising so fast that it should surpass Firefox in the next few months. As the numbers above indicate, the two are now just under 6 percent apart — the closest they’ve ever been. And while Chrome continues to rise, Firefox has been falling for the past year. If that trend continues, Chrome should surpass Firefox before the end of this year. Of course, that’s just one measurement tool. There are many out there. And another shows something else interesting for the month of July: WebKit browsers are now second to only IE, earlier today. point to this milestone. They have Chrome at 13.49 percent and Safari at 8.10 percent. Combined, that puts the WebKit-based browsers at 21.59 percent, just ahead of Firefox’s 21.47 percent. IE still has 52.71 percent share, by their count. Why the discrepancy between the two sets of stats? One reason is that NetMarketShare’s numbers include all browsers on all platforms, while StatCounter’s numbers focus on computer-based browsing. In other words, mobile browsing is included in one, but not the other. That’s why Safari is much higher in NetMarketShare’s numbers (StatCounter has Safari at 5.17 percent — still an all-time high there). Another reason for the differences are is that the two services rely on different ways of getting their numbers. Regardless, the trends are clear when you look at both sets of stats: IE continues to fall, Firefox continues to dwindle, Safari continues to rise slowly, while Chrome continues to skyrocket. This means good things for both “open” web browsers (Chrome + Firefox) and WebKit browsers (Chrome + Safari). For what it’s worth, TechCrunch’s own numbers show the same basic trends: Chrome and Safari have been on the rise for some time now, while Firefox and IE have been falling. The difference is that Chrome is already the dominant browser on TechCrunch ( ) — in fact, it’s now nearly a full 10 percent past number two, (and long-time champ) Firefox. Chrome had a 32.64 percent browser share amongst TechCrunch readers in July, while Firefox had 23.59 percent. https://twitter.com/#!/beverloo/status/97961803170058240 |
Alfred Lin Considers Leaving Sequoia for Airbnb; Moritz Convinces Him to Stay | Sarah Lacy | 2,011 | 8 | 1 | If you read the comments on any our about the , you’ll see plenty of people saying that Airbnb needs to take a page out of the Zappos playbook. It turns out, they tried. In the Web world, Zappos is as legendary for its US-based, expensive, top-knotch customer service as Nordstrom is for service in the retail world. Indeed, one of the reasons was a top Nordstrom executive Fred Mossler was recruited by Zappos founders Tony Hseih and Alfred Lin early on. Well, it turns out Airbnb was close to doing something very similar. We heard from several sources close to the situation that Alfred Lin– current / former Zappos COO and CFO– seriously considered leaving the firm to join Airbnb as COO, before Sequoia’s Mike Moritz talked him into staying at the top Valley firm. Lin downplayed the whole thing, saying he’s regularly approached by companies to take on senior operating roles and has declined all opportunities in order to focus on his career as a venture capitalist. He added that if he did try to leave, and Moritz wasn’t upset, he’d “be concerned he wasn’t doing a great job at Sequoia.” Airbnb’s hire would have been quite a coup. As we’ve written before, Lin has the Midas Touch as an entrepreneur and operator with some under his belt so far. And given the current press surrounding Airbnb, a C-level hire from the company synonymous with great customer service would have been a clear PR win. But Sequoia’s senior partnership– particularly uber partner Moritz– were reportedly so upset to hear the news that they aggressively lobbied Lin to stay and ultimately convinced him. It was surprising to me that Lin joined Sequoia to begin with, given how much success he has had as an operator and how much he clearly excels at that difficult stage of pushing a good idea into a great business. Those people are always in short supply in the Valley. He said in an interview that he sees all that operating experience as a differentiator in the venture world today, and one reason he enjoys his current job so much. Airbnb’s loss will be many a Sequoia portfolio company’s gain. |
Google Ventures Invests In Coupon Startup Whaleshark Media | Michael Arrington | 2,011 | 8 | 1 | had already raised in capital to roll up the online coupon space. Now they’ve raised $10 million more in a round led by Google Ventures, with some participation from previous investors. They’ve also added Homeaway CEO to the board of directors. Sharples will be useful. He grew HomeAway into a monster. He raised s from Austin Ventures (which also backs Whaleshark) and others and . Like HomeAway, Whaleshark is growing via lots of acquisitions. It’s the same model applied to a different market. Whaleshark is broadly competitive with daily deal sites like Groupon, or at least has a similar business model. Google Venture’s investment isn’t surprising given how Google has been on this space over the last year. The company is doing very well. Revenue will top $50 million this year, and more than 100,000 businesses offer coupons on Whalehark’s various sites. A thousand more are added weekly, says CEO . !50 million people have visited their sites in the last year. |
Not Only Do iCloud Web Apps Exist, They’re Beautiful | MG Siegler | 2,011 | 8 | 1 | Perhaps you recall that back in June, there was some confusion as to whether or not there would be web apps for Apple’s upcoming iCloud suite of products. While we maintained from the beginning that , some were certain — something which . Anyway, this eventually led Apple to clarify that yes, . Still, it wasn’t clear just how robust they’d be, or when they’d be available beyond “this fall”. Today, we’re getting more answers. has just gone live. That seems to be a pretty good sign that the web component will launch alongside iCloud itself at some point in the next few months. And if the log-in screen is any indication, the web apps are going to be beautiful. But actually, we don’t have to rely on just the log-in screen, because while it may be meant for developers to test out (only they can use the iOS syncing features found in iOS 5), actually, anyone can log on and see what the iCloud.com apps look like. Again, beautiful. Not that this should be surprising. One of Apple’s strengths has always been aesthetics. But what’s equally nice is just how slick the apps function. Both in Safari and Chrome, all the apps feel responsive and feature many subtle transitional touches presumably using HTML5. In addition to iCloud.com going live, Apple has also posted more information about iCloud pricing. “5GB of free storage is plenty for most people. But if you need extra space, you can always buy additional storage,” Apple notes on the site. Those prices are: Of note, your iCloud Photo Stream, iOS apps, music, and TV shows you buy from iTunes/the App Store do not count against your 5GB of free storage. |
Porting iOS to Android: Spotlight Mobile Shares The Pitfalls And Perks | Jason Kincaid | 2,011 | 8 | 1 | If you attended (or watched) our last week, you’ll remember that a lot of the discussion revolved around the of using the iOS and Android platforms. The debate was particularly interesting because it featured Matias Duarte, Android’s Director of User Experience, and it touched on everything from designing apps to the data each platform gives developers access to. Now Nick Farina, the cofounder of , has written an extensive (and timely) recap of their experience porting their app over to Android (Spotlight Mobile has also developed several premium applications, including the Barnes & Noble Bookstore). This is hardly the first blog post to explore the issues involved with making the jump, but it’s more thorough than most and does a good job explaining the pros and cons of both platforms (it’s also perfectly understandable for those of us who aren’t accomplished developers). You can find his full post . Among the highlights from Farina’s post: Again, if you’re a developer you’d probably do well the read the whole post . It’s a fascinating read. Meridian, which before, is an app that lets venues create custom, GPS-enabled guides. For example, the Portland Art Museum currently uses the app to give users maps around each exhibit (complete with audio narration for various pieces), as well as maps to key locations in the museum, like the restrooms. |
TechCrunch Europe Ad-hoc #CrunchUp this Wednesday in London | Mike Butcher | 2,011 | 8 | 1 | London is sunny for a change and the river is the beautiful so let’s take advantage of it. We’re having a totally impromptu, ‘organised at the last minute’ CrunchUp/Meetup/WhateverUp meetup this Wednesday, 3rd August. The last time we did this . We’re a bit over-due for another! So we want you to come along in your startup garb, bring t-shirts, to hand out and even a flag if you’re feeling creative. But wait, I hear you ask – why are we not having this at “ ” I hear you ask? Well, because it’s a change of scene, lots of other people not in London want to come in to a big transport hub like Waterloo, it’s central for West London startups… and everyone knows where it is. Huge thanks to our drinks sponsors:
– , Founder of Cambridge Healthcare
: We’re a media technology company
– thanks to
“social analytics with 1,000 days of tweets”
– So, the details: : Wednesday, 3rd August. 4pm onwards until whenever. We’re going to bag as many tables as we can, so come and help! so we have an idea of numbers. It’s free. Royal Festival Hall (not Strada), . (See also images above). Waterloo (follow the crowds to the SouthBank/Royal Festival Hall) or Embankment (walk over the bridge to the Southbank / Festival Hall) : The Southbank has free WiFi! : The RFI has a cafe inside which serves hot and cold food. : The “Official” hashtag for this event is #CrunchUp If for whatever reason the Southbank Centre doesn’t work out we’ll switch to the BFI Film Cafe which is literally under Waterloo Bridge. Or, if anything else changes so we can email you. : I will any relevant info, or follow the hashtag #crunchup on Twitter. There is no agenda other networking and having fun in the sun. OK, we may announce a secret plan… Want to buy everyone a drink? and we’ll promote you before and during the event to our collective 50,000 Twitter followers (an d the rest). Clear? See you there! |
iOS App Scans Printed Music Notes, Plays Them In Real-Time (Video) | Serkan Toto | 2,011 | 8 | 1 | I am extremely unmusical (on the verge of being tone-deaf) so I can’t decide whether this new iPhone app is good or bad: Japan-based musical instrument maker has developed a camera app that scans music notes printed on paper and plays them back in real-time. Dubbed [JP], the app is said to be the first of its kind. Kawai claims the app also works with handwritten notes, those printed in different colors and under weak lighting. Gakufu Camera also offers a few other bells and whistles, for example a function that allows you to store the notes you scanned first and play the melody afterwards. Gakufu Camera is only available in the at the moment for iOS 4.0 and up (price: 350 yen/$4.50). But as Kawai is a global company and the app is already available in Japanese and English, expect it to hit other markets rather sooner than later (we’ll keep you posted). This video shows the app in action (explanations in Japanese, but music fans will get it, I am thinking):
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zw266QT-_h4&w=425&h=349] Via via [JP] |
What OMGPOP Learned From One Million Downloads of Puppy Love | Erick Schonfeld | 2,011 | 8 | 1 | It is true. Everyone loves puppies. Online gaming site wisely chose to be its first iPhone game. In the mobile game, you take care of puppies, give them to children and increase the happiness in the world. In the two weeks since launch, the game has been downloaded almost one million times already, and is among both the top 100 free Games and top 100 grossing Games (players can by bones and other virtual items for 99 cents and up). Beyond these , OMGPOP CEO Dan Porter offers the following stats. A quarter of the people who have downloaded the app, or 250,000, are daily active users. Two thirds of those are actually playing the game versus signing up. (A very high 94 percent of people who download the app actually open it up at least once). And so far the company is seeing active users spend an average of about 8 cents a day on virtual goods (amortized across all users, with some power users spending more than $50 on currency packs which can be traded in for better puppies, room decorations, and dog beds. The game is already making about $20,000 . In terms of where all of these downloads are coming from, it is a combination of cross promotion on omgpop.com and its Facebook apps (20 percent), paid advertising (20 percent), and free exposure via iTunes charts and viral sharing (60 percent). “For every user we pay to acquire we are seeing 6 more users for free,” says Porter. What was his biggest mistake? “If we had to do it all over again, we would have only supported iPhone 4,” he says. The game plays best on the iPhone 4 because it takes advantage of all the hardware to render those cute puppies, but as it became more popular people with older phones started downloading it also. Initially, it got hundreds of 5-star reviews, but then started accumulating lots of 1-star reviews as the game crashed older iPhones. Once you launch your app, you have to keep supporting the same devices you started out with, and iPhone 4 users make the most money for OMGPOP anyway. |
HTC Vs. Apple, Round II: UK Edition | Jordan Crook | 2,011 | 8 | 1 | and are at it again — but this time the fight has migrated over to the UK. On July 29 in London, HTC filed a lawsuit against Apple, . There hasn’t been any word confirming that this lawsuit is tied to the current patent tussle between the two phone makers, but it would be quite the surprise if it wasn’t. We had thought that the dispute would grow quiet, after reports circulated that conversation-style with Apple. Apparently, that’s not quite panning out. Just two weeks ago, a U.S. judge of Apple when the company requested an ITC import ban on HTC’s “personal electronic devices.” According to the judge, certain HTC phones infringe on two of Apple’s patents, making the Taiwan-based company vulnerable to attack. The July 15 ruling wasn’t : Apple filed a similar complaint in March of 2010, as well. HTC has tried hard to protect itself, picking up S3 Graphics — and more important, S3’s robust patent portfolio — for $300 million. |
Airbnb Offers Unconditional Apology, And $50,000 Insurance Guarantee | Michael Arrington | 2,011 | 8 | 1 | It’s never too late to fix bad press with a straightforward, unconditional apology. That’s what the world got from Airbnb today. It was the first time that the company addressed the on its blog, and CEO offered an unconditional apology. : Last month, the home of a San Francisco host named EJ was tragically vandalized by a guest. The damage was so bad that her life was turned upside down. When we learned of this our hearts sank. We felt paralyzed, and over the last four weeks, we have really screwed things up. Earlier this week, I wrote a blog post trying to explain the situation, but it didn’t reflect my true feelings. So here we go.
There have been a lot of questions swirling around, and I would like to apologize and set the record straight in my own words. In the last few days we have had a crash course in crisis management. I hope this can be a valuable lesson to other businesses about what not to do in a time of crisis, and why you should always uphold your values and trust your instincts. With regards to EJ, we let her down, and for that we are very sorry. We should have responded faster, communicated more sensitively, and taken more decisive action to make sure she felt safe and secure. But we weren’t prepared for the crisis and we dropped the ball. Now we’re dealing with the consequences. The company is also offering all users a blanked $50,000 guarantee against damages to hosts: Airbnb Guarantee
Starting August 15th, when hosts book reservations through Airbnb their personal property will be covered for loss or damage due to vandalism or theft caused by an Airbnb guest up to $50,000 with our Airbnb Guarantee. Terms will apply to the program and may vary (e.g. by country). This program will also apply retroactively to any hosts who may have reported such property damage prior to August 1, 2011. This goes above and beyond what I would have considered necessary. Insuring against valuables is a bit of a slippery slope and can encourage fraud. I think insurance against property damage probably would have been enough, along with a warning for people to remove valuables and personal information from their homes before renting. Regardless, it feels like Airbnb is now on top of this. And since the guarantee is retroactive, who’ve had past issues are able to collect. Nicely done, Airbnb. This is yet another example of how shining a light on something makes it a lot less of an issue than keeping it hidden away in the shadows. The only odd thing from the post is Chesky’s statement ” Earlier this week, I wrote a blog post trying to explain the situation, but it didn’t reflect my true feelings.” He’s clearly . I’d be interested in knowing which parts of it didn’t reflect his true feelings. It’s an odd statement. |
Start Fund And SV Angel invest $9 Million In New Y Combinator Startups | Michael Arrington | 2,011 | 8 | 1 | Earlier this year SV Angel and Yuri Milner partnered on a new venture fund, , to invest $150,000 in every new Y Combinator startup. All but one company from that class took the money. And LikeALittle, the holdout, had already taken funding from both Milner and SV Angel. At TechCrunch Disrupt in New York a couple of months ago SV Angel said they were to the most recent batch of Y Combinator startups. The terms are the same – $150,000 in convertible debt with no cap and no discount on conversion. If you don’t speak venture capitalist, here’s what that means – other than gifting someone money, this is the most favorable a startup can raise money. It’s very easy to say yes to this. And “yes” is once again what the startups are saying. All but three of the 63 new Y Combinator startups have accepted, and SV Angel’s David Lee says he expects one or two more to accept soon. That means the total size of the investments will be $9 million or more. Unlike before, SV Angel and Yuri Milner are investing separately. Previously SV Angel wand Milner were each limited partners in Start Fund. Now, Start Fund is completely controlled by Milner, and SV Angel is investing separately. $100,000 of each investment comes from Start Fund, $50,000 from SV Angel. MG Siegler reported on a similar investment offer to be made to all new AngelPad companies (AngelPad is a Y Combinator competitor). What AngelPad is doing isn’t quite the same, however. They’re valuing startups for the investment instead of offering convertible debt. As an investor, the AngelPad deal is better. As a startup, the Y Combinator deal is better. But offering easy terms to startups may be best for the investors, too. If startups think the terms are too onerous then the best ones won’t take the deal. The negative selection issue means only the losers will take the money. AngelPad should be wary of that. I’m an , which means I’m now an indirect investor in all of these new Y Combinator startups as well. I was not an investor in the previous SV Angel fund that invested in the prior batch of Y Combinator startups. |
Another Reason Facebook Wants a Web of Real Identities: Commerce | Semil Shah | 2,011 | 8 | 1 | Last week, Facebook’s marketing head, Randi Zuckerberg, a stir when she asserted that online anonymity has to go away. But the reason large, powerful networks are pushing for a world in which our verified and authenticated identities exist online to stop cyber-bullying and to create incentives for users to behave more nicely. This is about money. Part of the company’s drive is also to help users leverage their online identities to transform and accelerate online commerce. The topic of online identity and anonymity is polarizing. Powerful interests have strong incentives to build a web where real identities rule. Other powerful interests will fight relentlessly to protect and preserve spaces for users to interact, either anonymously or through pseudonyms. These kind of statements bring out vocal arguments on the other side, and this being Facebook, those voices get louder. There’s a on the topic by that’s on the website of the Electronic Frontier Foundation—she quickly covers the arguments for and against using real identities. Unfortunately, none of these debates address the heart of the matter in this specific context, which is that for networks like Facebook, the game is to encourage its users to leverage their real identities online so that Facebook can accelerate its ability to . I don’t mean this in a cynical way. We could argue until we’re (Facebook) blue in the face about whether or not the web needs real identities or spaces for anonymity. There’s no right or wrong answer. My own personal view, in order to frame this piece, is that I think the notion of privacy online has been dead for years, and that I’m willing to give up a bit of my privacy and use my real name so long as it can make modern life more interesting and save me time and/or money. We know the deal by now—Facebook knows our friends and family, our interests, and scores of other pieces of bio-data. As we keep the Facebook tab open in our browser, or as we launch the Facebook app on our phones, they can start to pinpoint advertisements to us based on a constellation of personalized variables. Launching the Facebook mobile app at a shopping mall and getting personalized information is helpful, but this is still only about boosting the speed of commerce—helping us locate, decide, and transact in less time. What about fundamentally transforming and driving commerce through identity authentication and payments? Think about what happens when you purchase an airline ticket to travel. You have to visit the airline or travel site, login to the site (assuming you have an account with them), then select a route on specific dates, select seats, and then finish the transaction by entering payment information (usually a credit card), your billing address, and sometimes additional verifications imposed by the TSA. Before the flight, you’ve got to “check-in” and print out your boarding pass (or send it to your phone). At the airport, you may have to check luggage and then everyone has to go through a battery of security checkpoints, each time showing a boarding pass and/or a form of government-issued identification, all the way to when you get to your seat. When you deplane, assuming you checked luggage, you have to wait around for your bags (assuming they’ve arrived where you have), and oftentimes sit around with no idea where it is or when it’s coming. Then you have to wait in long car rental lines or navigate your way to various shuttles or modes of public transportation. Lather, rinse, repeat. There are literally thousands of these types of transaction mazes to which we constantly subject ourselves. But, it doesn’t have to be that way forever. Imagine, for instance, being able to pay for an airline ticket by just hitting a Facebook button on the airline’s site while you’re logged in or on your mobile phone. I would argue that most users would be willing to sacrifice a bit of privacy and anonymity in exchange for having their identity and payment information authenticated such that it compresses the time it takes to initiate and complete a series of transactions when we travel. It’s just that today, we don’t yet have the choice. (And Facebook would need to go further than it does today to verify people’s real identities and tie into real-world payment systems). Compressing these transaction steps and making commerce more efficient is made significantly easier by being able to leverage real identities online. While Facebook may have good intentions in publicly advocating for an eradication of anonymity online as it will help make the web a nicer place, I believe the real reason is that the company has a rare opportunity to make much of our lives easier and save us time by helping accelerate traditional commerce—and that they can capture a piece of the economic value of each slice. I certainly don’t mean to suggest that they will succeed automatically in doing it, nor that the task is not fraught with myriad risks, but this is an opportunity worth pursuing and we should expect the company to fully do so. As the web is slowly being washed and cleaned up, real identities will have to be a big part of the equation. Of course, there will also be places were we can interact online either through pseudonyms or anonymously to freely discuss ideas, though in each case, it’s more likely that the site owner will know who’s been naughty or nice. As comforting as it may sound, there’s no such thing as anonymity online—there’s only pseudonimity. And while we can use pseudonyms to help protect our identities in some online fora, to actually drive commerce and make those transactions more efficient (both for buyers and sellers), transactions need to be backed against real identities. If the last decade of “social networking” is actually going to create massive economic value, sites like LinkedIn and Facebook are going to need to do something with all of our individual and collective data—and I don’t mean showing users hyper-targeted display ads. The real economic potential these types of companies have is in verifying and authenticating our identities so that they can provide us with an interesting and fun online experience, connect with parts of our professional and personal lives, and potentially power a new type of commerce that could generate massive sums of revenues and profits while saving us all a tremendous amount of time, money, and stress. |
After TV Show Rentals Fizzle, Apple TV Pivots Back To Purchases | MG Siegler | 2,011 | 8 | 1 | A quiet update this morning to the Apple TV, seems to indicate a pretty big change in strategy. Of course, Apple would never frame it this way, but with the emphasis now squarely back on purchases, it seems pretty safe to say that the television show rental model was a failure. To be clear, there are still rentals available on the device. But it’s the same limited selection of shows that have been in place for months now — Glee, Bones, 24, etc. And Apple doesn’t even have a section anymore highlighting which shows you can actually rent. This is a big departure. Previously, you could rent TV shows on the device. This was a bit odd since Apple has much more TV content available to buy. But in order to get it, you had to buy it on your computer (or iPhone/iPad/iPod touch) and then stream it to the Apple TV. That’s no longer the case. The update to Apple TV today brings the ability to purchase any TV content available on iTunes. And you can also easily access content you’ve previously purchased via the cloud — though it looks like the shows are still in the process of rolling out, . To be fair, perhaps Apple had this . Because the latest Apple TV model only comes with enough storage space for buffering, TV purchases previously did not make sense. But with iCloud, content can now be streamed directly from Apple’s servers to your Apple TV. This works beautifully. I just purchased a season of from the Apple TV and nothing actually needed to download. It was only when I clicked on an episode to watch it that the device began calling for it from the cloud. One has to imagine that this model will come for movies as well. Though for right now, movies are still rental-only on Apple TV. Interestingly enough, my purchase of didn’t download the entire season anywhere, not even iTunes on my computer (though I can download it there now if I choose). This also points to the future of iTunes. that it’s not music, but video that is . Because HD versions of movies and television shows take up gigabytes of storage, the more you download, the more likely you’re going to run out of room even on standard desktop computers. Full seasons of HD TV shows can easily take up over 50 GB of storage. Again, that’s just season of show. At some point, the only way that works is in the cloud with an unlimited amount of storage. And when you need to pull something down to take it with you, you can do that. That’s the model Apple now has in place with the television change. My colleague , and the first real move by Apple to take the Apple TV beyond a “hobby” device. I agree, this is step one in that direction. But in my view, this move is even more about transitioning iTunes to the right model to be able to fully utilize iCloud. Apple TV is coming along for the ride, and is the perfect front-end to show how this change will work. And it shows just how much TV rentals did not work. It was a year ago that talk began to circulate about Apple attempting to convince the networks to do $0.99 TV episode rentals. , but it ended up being far from great because only Fox and ABC got on board. Unlike music, books, movies, and even TV show purchases, where Apple has started with a few partners and gotten all the major partners on board eventually, that didn’t happen with TV show rentals. The overall selection was far too limited for the model to ever take off. Today’s Apple TV update seems to be a full admission of that. |
Make The TechCrunch Executive Assistant Do Anything You Want On Zaarly Tomorrow | Elin Blesener | 2,011 | 8 | 1 | Many of you may know this, or may not, but Michael Arrington has an amazing new assistant, . Greg came to us from Hollywood and we have been kindly teaching him the ropes of TechCrunch and what to expect. However, we are not sure we prepared him for this. Since Greg is somewhat new to San Francisco, he still doesn’t know the city well. So, Mike has decided to give Greg a different job for a day. Have you ever wanted to be able to make someone do something, anything, and then watch it happen? Well starting tomorrow morning at 10am PT, you may be able to do just that. Greg’s job for tomorrow is to fulfill things that YOU want him to do. Imagine the possibilities. Want to have Greg bring you food from your favorite restaurant? Or maybe have Greg mow your lawn while you are at work? Our TCTV crew, , and me, will be following him tomorrow as he fulfills things you want him to do for you.
1) Browse for things you want him to do and vote.
2) Tweet us what you want him to do, using the #ZaarlyGreg hashtag (make sure to include a link to the Zaarly post).
3) If you don’t see what you want Greg to do on Zaarly, post something you want Greg to do. Include the #ZaarlyGreg hashtag on both Twitter and in your own Zaarly post. We will be going through all of the suggestions tonight and tomorrow, picking the ones we want to see Greg complete. Just for fun, and knowing Greg, here are some examples we came up with (feel free to use them, or come up with your own): $15 for a mid-day karaoke session, screaming a Backstreet Boys song at the top of his lungs
$10 to drink 10 beers in 20 minutes
$5 to dig a hole in your backyard and then fill it up again
$2 to have him walk your dogs while you are working As you can see, the possibilities are endless. What would you want Greg to do if you could make him do anything for a day? Make sure you let us know on and on Twitter, using the hashtag #ZaarlyGreg! All the proceeds will go to . |
null | Chris Velazco | 2,011 | 8 | 8 | null |
“Blind Camera” Doesn’t Take Pictures, Retrieves Others’ Shots Instead | Devin Coldewey | 2,011 | 8 | 1 | This is an interesting little concept/design piece that’s more about the act of taking pictures than, you know, actually taking pictures. The Buttons camera isn’t fitted with a lens or any way to take a shot at all — but it’s shaped like a camera and has a “shutter” button and LCD screen. You hit the button and after a while a picture will show up, but there’s a little more to it than that. When you hit the button, it begins searching the net for a picture, any picture, taken at that exact moment. The picture might show up after a minute or two, or maybe not for hours. Not very useful as far as an entertainment device, but it’s kind of fun to think about: somebody, somewhere, pressed that button at the same time you did. And the only reason you know that, and saw the picture, is because you pressed your button then. The device isn’t going to be sold or anything, obviously, it’s more of a bit of conceptual art than anything, but the overlap with the gadget world seems to make it relevant. and some videos that nearly crashed my browser. [via ] |
With Google, There Will Be Bad Blood | MG Siegler | 2,011 | 8 | 6 | “I have a competition in me. I want no one else to succeed.” I’m reminded of Daniel Plainview’s admission in when thinking about Google. While the company is still largely beloved by the public, sentiment seems to have turned against them amongst their peers, and even amongst many of the startups around Silicon Valley. While these tensions have been building for months — and even years, in some cases — we’re seeing this on display more clearly than ever now thanks to . But why? Why is Google now a villain to many in the industry? I don’t believe it’s because they’re evil, I believe it simply relates to the Plainview quote. Increasingly, Google is trying to do everything. And they have the arrogance to think that they can. And it’s pissing people off. “Microsoft and Apple have always been at each other’s throats, so when they get into bed together you have to start wondering what’s going on,” Google Chief Legal Officer, David Drummond, this week when accusing those two companies of trying to destroy Android. And he’s right. After decade of being bitter rivals, Apple and Microsoft now seem to have aligned interests. But you don’t have to wonder what’s going on, it’s very apparent: they both hate Google. The two recently , spending billions to make that happen. And before that, they attempted to do the same with the Novell patents (though the DoJ blunted some of that attack). Next up for the dynamic duo: . Apple is definitely exploring acquiring them, and don’t be surprised if Microsoft is right there to help once again, to ensure Google doesn’t get them. All of this is even more interesting when you consider that it was once . And it was a common vision that brought them together as well — appropriately, the end of the Microsoft-dominated computing world. The two got so close, that Google then-CEO Eric Schmidt even joined Apple’s board of directors. And Google was instrumental in helping create some of the early applications for the iPhone (Maps, YouTube, etc). It seemed like . Then things got very complicated when it became clear that Android and the iPhone would soon become very direct competitors. The rest has been history. But while Apple and Microsoft have been the two highest profile Google combatants in recent months, they’re far from the only ones. At least just as big of a Google antagonist (and perhaps even more so) is Oracle. While the Apple and Microsoft lawsuits against Android threaten to disrupt the platform and/or make it more expensive, Oracle’s lawsuit threatens to destroy it. Oracle is suing Google over the unlicensed use of Java in Android — its core. If one of two damning emails are allowed to be used as evidence, Google could be in some serious trouble. Those emails appear to extend the idea of Google’s arrogance. As Android chief Andy Rubin , “If Sun doesn’t want to work with us, we have two options: 1) Abandon our work and adopt MSFT CLR VM and C# language – or – 2) Do Java anyway and defend our decision, perhaps making enemies along the way.” They obviously chose the latter. And while Sun is no more, Oracle now controls the rights to Java. A very big enemy has been made along the way. The list continues from there. Facebook and Google . Now, with Google+ giving Google a significant presence in Facebook’s social game for the first time, tensions are higher than they’ve ever been. While the two sides have been fighting publicly, behind the scenes, it’s worse. This is true even though many of Facebook’s employees are former Google employees. Facebook’s alliances with Microsoft can’t help matters either. For a long time, Yahoo was Google’s most direct rival. You might think that after Google quickly dominated them in search, there would be peace now. Nope. Yahoo also has no love for Google still to this day. When Microsoft was attempting to buy Yahoo a few years ago, Google was seen as one potential savior. And they almost were, until the DoJ began looking into a potential Yahoo/Google search partnership and Google had to back out. Instead, Yahoo was forced to tie up with Microsoft. These days, you’ll hear Yahoos complain behind the scenes that Google often just takes ideas they implemented first but never caught on because Google is the dominant player in the space. Amazon and Google are also . Amazon is about to in a big way later this year — and they’ll be doing so with their own flavor of Android. They also have a competing Android app store. And while this may seem like Amazon entering Google’s space, remember that Google went after Amazon first. While Google hasn’t really be able to compete in the cloud storage and services businesses so far, it hasn’t been for a lack of trying. Out of any of the larger entities in the space these days, is seems like Twitter and Google should have interests that align the most. Like Facebook, many of Twitter’s employees are ex-Google. And while a search deal a couple years ago seemed to pull the two close together, that deal has since expired, and there is no sign it’s going to ever be renewed. Google has tried to buy Twitter a few times, and Twitter has backed away each time, most recently leaving billions on the table. And while both sides say fairly complimentary things about each other in public still, behind the scenes, again, it’s not good. Many Twitter employees flat out don’t trust Google. And Google+ has exacerbated that situation. Speaking of failed Google acquisitions, after Google tried and failed to buy Yelp and Groupon, they moved forward on products that competed directly with them. In the process, Yelp has felt Google was them in search results. Bad blood galore now. On the smaller startup side of things, both and turned down massive acquisition offers from Google. Part of it was because the startups wanted to remain independent, but a large part was also that neither groups of employees wanted to work for Google. Naturally, Google has since been working on products that compete with both — not only Google+, but also mobile apps created through Google’s Slide division. The list goes on and on. At this point, it would be easier to list tech companies that are completely friendly with Google — because there aren’t many. Again, most won’t speak out publicly about this — partially because Google is still one of the largest acquirers out there and not everyone is Twitter, Color, Path, Groupon, or Yelp, that will turn down hundreds of millions or billions — but if you talk to individuals that work at other companies, it becomes very clear very quickly that there is not a lot of love for Google out there anymore. In my view, this stems from Google’s desire to do everything — which could . Once just a search company, they now actively compete with Apple, Microsoft, Oracle, Facebook, Amazon, Twitter, Yelp, Groupon, Color, Path — again, just to rattle off a few. Obviously, it’s Google’s right to do what they think is best for the company. And certainly they have the money to take on all of these different projects. But the alienation of other companies — many of which were former allies — isn’t helping them. And if any of these Android lawsuits — bullshit or not — go through, or if they fail to eventually obtain the patents necessary to protect themselves, Google could find themselves in serious trouble. And if that happens, will anyone be around to lend them a hand? At this point, I think there will be more companies waiting to kick them when they’re down. Increasingly, this is the reality bubbling just under the surface: others in the space look at Google and see nothing worth liking. They see an enemy. As Plainview says to his own son at one point, “this makes you my… competitor.” |
OMG/JK: An Argument Over Microsoft’s And Google’s Argument Over Patents | MG Siegler | 2,011 | 8 | 6 | This week’s episode of OMG/JK is a bit top-heavy. There simply wasn’t a ton of news this week beyond the one giant fight that broke out between Google and Microsoft over the patent issue. Channeling that spirit, Jason and I get into an argument about the argument. Is Google right? Is Microsoft right? Do they both look like huge asses? Then we move on to talk a bit about the new Gmail Labs functionality that adds a third viewing pane to Google’s online email service. On this we mainly agree: it needs a lot of work. Watch the episode above and find some relevant links to what we talk about below. And yes, I have a giant beard.
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Eric Schmidt’s Commerce Fantasy | Alexia Tsotsis | 2,011 | 8 | 6 | During conversation with friend yesterday (in which he was trying to figure out how he would hypothetically accept payments for a pizza he delivered via mini-drone helicopter) I realized how dinky our current mobile payment options are; Should he attach a iPhone and Square dongle to the delivery box? Make customers sign up for ? Set up a PayPal account and/or only deliver to people who have a Nexus S? The conversation highlighted the fact that, with Google Wallet , mobile payments are at the precipice of massive change. It reminded me of Google Chairman Eric Schmidt’s vision of the future of mobile commerce, which he related to press while at Sun Valley’s Allen & Co conference last month. In Schmidt’s “Commerce Fantasy” you’re driving down the street, and somehow your phone knows you need new pants. Roll with me here … The phone somehow realizes there’s a pants store on the left and a pants store on the right and knows that through Google Offers the store on the right has the cheapest pants deal. Your GPS says,“Turn right for your pants.” When you walk in the store, its system understands it’s you and that you need new pants and so the salesperson comes out with your pants, of course. You tap your phone to pay, and boom, pants. While the reporters at the briefing giggled at the audacity of Schmidt’s vision, the reality is that current mobile payments technology is aching to displace the archaic tyranny of credit cards and cash registers, and will, eventually, win. Come fall buying pants will never be the same. |
Invite Your Friends To Google+ With New, Tweetable Link | Sarah Perez | 2,011 | 8 | 6 | Google just made it easier for you to invite friends to its new social network, Google+, by providing a short link you can post on the web or share with others over instant messaging. In order to get the link, says Google product manager , you simply click the “invite friends” button on the right-hand side of the stream – the same place invites were found before. This news was announced yesterday by Google engineer , but the functionality didn’t go live until last night. With the new feature, you have the ability to invite 150 more people to the network. Smart thinking, Google. Use Twitter to get more sign-ups! I like it. I remember wasting hours on Twitter last month, handing out invites by manually (and painfully!) copying and pasting email addresses sent to me through @ replies or direct messages into the Google Plus invite form. This is so much easier. I can just tweet out a link and be done with it! I think I’ll , actually. And it looks like I’m not the only one, if is any indication. There is one minor problem with the link, though – you have to shorten it yourself if you post to Twitter or you’ll end up with . Why didn’t Google provide an automatically shortened link using its own URL shortening service ? You know, the one it called ? That seems like a missed opportunity indeed. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4IJPOhT4nOU |
Welcome To The Panopticon | Jon Evans | 2,011 | 8 | 6 | And so . Carnegie Mellon researchers recently combined Facebook profile pictures and ‘s facial recognition software to identify supposedly-anonymous pictures from a dating site. Now they’re planning to demo a that identifies faces by tapping into cloud-based image databases and recognition software. What’s next? That’s a question I’ve been thinking about for a long time. Facial recognition via cloud computing is a major plot point in my novel , which I wrote some seven years ago. When I got a few years back, I promptly started musing about the benefits of a surveillance society. Which is on the way, make no mistake—if it isn’t here today. There are cameras everywhere already. I don’t just mean the nearly monitoring Britain, or the similar system : I mean the world’s hundreds of millions of phone cameras, all of which will soon to cloud repositories. has , and I agree, that police will soon wear always-on cameras while on duty, for legal reasons. Meanwhile, keeps ticking along nicely, making facial recognition software ever faster, more powerful, and more accessible; cameras get ever better, cheaper, and more innocuous; and drones start taking to as well as Afghanistan’s. Add it all up, and we’ll soon spend much of our lives in sight of cameras that can and will identify us by our faces in near-real-time. A comment on said: “When I go out in public, nobody knows my name unless I tell them. If one were to demand that this be changed, that everyone be forced to wear an ID badge with key facts at all times, one would be denounced as a totalitarian.” Well, soon enough that’s pretty much going to be the case—at least in France, where earlier this year, and maybe in and the too. There won’t be any point in : a single correctly labelled picture of your face anywhere on the public Internet will be all that is required to cross-reference all other pictures of you ever. I don’t mean to be a paranoid conspiracy theorist. Most of this would all still happen without any government initiatives or ban-happy mobs. The death of public anonymity is a natural side effect of improving and increasingly ubiquitous technology. That’s why the ongoing brouhaha about “real names” on Google Plus, and their apparent insistence on even after , is actually important. Soon enough, pseudonymity and anonymity will exist online; in the real world, barring plastic surgery, they’ll be more or less extinct. Which is bad news for everyone. Pseudonymity shelters whistleblowers, dissidents, and the along with trolls. Everyone assumes that real names make conversations more polite, but I’m not so sure. Here at TechCrunch, we to using Facebook Comments in part for that reason; and it worked at first; but— http://twitter.com/arishahdadi/status/98856169287843841 (Feel free to prove him right!) “There are myriad reasons why individuals may wish to use a name other than the one they were born with,” . Over at , many are cited. , “The people who most heavily rely on pseudonyms in online spaces are those who are most marginalized by systems of power.” , “It’s a given in our system of government that staff need to stay neutral, and never, ever criticize their elected bosses in public … They’re but one group for whom the Internet offers an anonymous outlet. For every anonymous weasel in a political forum, there’s a considerate citizen with an opinion that needs shelter to be voiced.” But my favorite citation is this: “Using a pseudonym has been one of the great benefits of the Internet, because it has enabled people to express themselves freely—they may be in physical danger, looking for help, or have a condition they don’t want people to know about,” according to, believe it or not, , back in February. Unidentified, pseudonymous, identified: “We believe all three modes have a home at Google.” Boy, a lot can change in six months, eh? Jesus Ruiz Fuentes, . |
YC-Funded Interview Street Streamlines The Search For Great Programmers | Jason Kincaid | 2,011 | 8 | 6 | Talk to any tech company and they’ll tell you that hiring quality programmers is an incredibly difficult task — the smaller companies often have a hard time getting in front of the best candidates, and the large and ‘hot’ companies are inundated with applications, many of them sub par. is a new Y Combinator-funded startup that’s setting out to fix both of these problems — and to save everyone involved a whole lot of time. The service, which comes out of beta today, makes it easy for tech companies to test applicants’ skills using puzzles (and it makes it easy for potential applicants to figure out who’s hiring). Head to the site and you’ll see that it’s broken into two sections: one for ‘Challenges’, and another for ‘Recruit’. The first is catering to engineers looking to land jobs at companies like Dropbox, Facebook, or Airbnb. Sign in and you’ll be able to take one of three coding challenges, which you’ll complete using a web-based IDE (you can copy and paste your code into the app if you’d like). The web-based code checker supports C, C++, C#, Java, PHP, Python, Ruby, Haskell, MySQL, and Bash, and generates results immediately. Click the second tab and you’ll be in the half of the site that’s geared toward recruiters. Here, companies can create their own tests, and they can manage their dashboard of applicants. [vimeo http://www.vimeo.com/27123926 w=400&h=225] Right now the coding puzzles on Interview Street are pretty standard, but cofounder Vivek Ravisankar says that in the future, the company wants to offer more ‘real-world’ tests — things like deploying an application to AWS, or integrating functions from Twitter’s API into an iPhone app. Ravisankar explains that the programming puzzles prospective engineers take as part of their application process often don’t apply directly to the roles they’d be filling, and Interview Street wants to change that. At launch Interview Street is offering three puzzles to solve, and it will be adding more in the coming weeks . The site will also soon be allowing companies to upload their own puzzles (so, for example, Facebook could upload its own puzzle and test cases that all prospective applicants would have to complete). Of course, many tech companies already offer puzzles to potential applicants. But Ravisankar says that the typical submission process for these is clunky, with applicants sending attachments that have to be manually tested by an engineer. Interview Street automates this process. So far the service is in use by major companies including Facebook and a bevy of Y Combinator alums like Dropbox, Airbnb, and Justin.tv. The service offers a 30 day free trial. After that plans begin at $99 a month, with pricing scaling upward depending on how many tests applicants are taking (the higher-end plans also let you take advantage of a ‘live playback’ mode, so you can see an applicant’s thought/coding process, and a white labeling feature). Competitors to Interview Street include (covered ) and (covered ). |
Gillmor Gang 8.6.11 (TCTV) | Steve Gillmor | 2,011 | 8 | 6 | The Gillmor Gang — Robert Scoble, Danny Sullivan, Kevin Marks, and Steve Gillmor — talked patents and PR, Spotify, and everything except Google+ for the first time in weeks. It’s not that G+ has jumped the shark; in fact, it is the shark on which realtime video streaming will emerge when YouTube finally goes live. It’s a race with iCloud to get there, with AirPlay-enabled Spotify stoking the fire in the near term. Social signals are gaining value as feature sets and hardware mature, as we harvest our laboriously-created investments in individual and virtual spheres of influence. For the Gang’s part, we’re going to begin broadcasting live from and to the iPad as events warrant it, starting with a trip to the heart of the emerging Social Enterprise at EvolutionCRM in New York next week. @Mention Cloud: @stevegillmor @scobleizer @dannysullivan @kevinmarks @jtaschek @borthwick |
The Web Is 20 Years Old Today | John Biggs | 2,011 | 8 | 6 | That’s right – the world’s first website, a placeholder page written by Sir Berners-Lee way back on August 6, 1991 in the then-nascent Hypertext Mark-Up Language, is celebrating its 20th birthday today. And, on this important anniversary, we ask what hath the web wrought? In the past two decades we’ve been given ecommerce and spam, we’ve torn down the music, news, and publishing industries, and we’ve LOLed at more CATS than we can count. We’ve seen , the dissolution of the line between and , and the end of . We’ve seen new modes of communication drive out unwanted regimes at home and abroad and we’ve heard the endless howl of a million voices calling out at once, most of them in comments on this site. We’ve also seen lots of the aforementioned porn. The original (can there be an original?) page is mirrored and it’s a fascinating look at the seed crystal that catalyzed change to the world as we knew it in those heady pre-Internet days. Also porn. Happy birthday, Web. Here’s to another 20 happy, healthy years. UPDATE – You guys win. Mea culpa. |
Daily Crunch: Movement | Bryce Durbin | 2,011 | 8 | 6 | Here are some of yesterday’s Gadgets stories:
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CouchSurfing Raises $7.6 M; Will Users Cry “Sell Out”? | Sarah Lacy | 2,011 | 8 | 24 | is one of those rare Web companies– like Mozilla or Craigslist– that has eschewed the normal Silicon Valley values of growth, greed and venture capital. Started in 2004 and smaller than some for-profit iterations it inspired, the company has turned away investment offers for years, happy to focus on doing right by its community of three million or so surfers. Its user profile contains questions like “What is your personal mission in life?” It’s one of those startups that uses the word “community” to mean people that have lasting, real-world connections to one another, not just the new industry jargon for “eyeballs.” And its CEO Daniel Hoffer still talks a bit like a man running a combination of an ashram or an online dating service: But as of today, CouchSurfing is going all corporate on us. B Corporate to be specific. The company is announcing a $7.6 million round of funding and its transition from a nonprofit to a B Corporation. B Corporations are a relatively new classification that allow socially responsible companies to function like a for-profit company, but they’re regularly audited by a certifying body that decides whether they’re living up to their do-gooding promises at the same time. The dual-bottom-line approach is echoed by who their investors are: Socially responsible Omidyar Ventures and the more classic VC Benchmark Capital. The big question I had for Hoffer: Didn’t you just embrace the worst of both worlds? Now you have investors to answer to, and no matter how warm and fuzzy they may be, they are investors who will want a big return. Investors are going to want to see a hell of a lot more user growth than three million users over six years, and could push the company towards business models that could make that community balk. Meantime, CouchSurfing is still holding itself up as a company trying to do something good, not simply provide a service or utility. It can never brush aside user concerns with “we have to do what’s best for the business.” He brushed such concerns aside saying, “I think the best possible structure is the one we have. One of the challenges with nonprofits is it’s difficult to adapt quickly and easily from a business model perspective because you need clearance from the IRS. Now we get that flexibility and we’re still making a statement.” The message he hopes comes across loud and clear to his community: “We are the same organization we have always been; we are merely changing our legal structure.” For instance, he insists CouchSurfing will still be about free accommodations, and that the company will find other ways to make money. To date, it has charged only for doing background checks on guests and hosts. Some things will of course change. The company which has been appropriately virtual and nomadic until now is moving to a proper headquarters in San Francisco and will aggressively hire engineers. Indeed, one of the big reasons they decided to take funding and switch the company’s classification was to make it easier to recruit stock-option seeking engineers. And one can only hope some of that money will go towards contingency plans for any Airbnb-like . Like Airbnb several months ago, CouchSurfing boasts a stellar track record of millions of visits without nefarious incidents. But the question of whether that scales as the company grows is– like anything in social media– an open one. Matt Cohler of Benchmark Capital– who is joining CouchSurfing’s board– noted that people raised the same fears about meeting people over online dating networks and social networks back in the day. I countered that those people aren’t necessarily immediately sleeping on your couch. Both Cohler and Hoffer pointed to the existing reputation systems already in place on the site. Additionally, part of the surrounding the Airbnb episodes was that unlike Craigslist or CouchSurfing people were paying for the service, so there was an expectation of higher scrutiny. Either way, I imagine it’s a question users will ask as CouchSurfing seeks to expand its audience. |
Steve Jobs the Patron Saint of Perfectionists | Saul Hansell | 2,011 | 8 | 24 | The most amazing thing about Steve Jobs and the revival of Apple he engineered over the last 15 years is so improbable it is. Most of the digital innovations that have transformed our lives have been logical outgrowth of increasing power and decreasing cost of semiconductors. Someone was going to invent personal computers, cell phones, the Internet, even search engines. But there was nothing the slightest bit inevitable about a company whose digital products are perceived as so distinctive they attract dominant market shares despite premium prices. As recently as 2002, personal computers were seen as such a commodity business—dominated by high volume and low costs—that Hewlett Packard paid $25 billion to buy Compaq and vault past Dell to be the No. 1 in the market. Last week, HP, still the leader, said it is considering abandoning PCs altogether, at least partially a concession that Apple was taking an increasing share of the market and most of the profits. I haven’t been a Mac user since I sold my first generation model—with 128K of memory and one floppy drive. But I recently walked into an Apple store and fondled the latest MacBook Air. I was blown away by how the use of multi-touch gestures and a few other innovations transformed the experience of this very mature category of products. Again. The succession of new products from the iPod to the iPhone to the iPad has become the business lore of our age. A keynote by Steve Jobs is anticipated, at least by many, more eagerly than the State of the Union address. Even aspects of the computer business that most rivals see as—product sourcing, manufacturing process, and even retail store operations—have become areas of disruptive innovation at Apple. Jobs created a growing snowball of innovation, hype, customer loyalty, and scale that could be seen with astounding force in the iPad. Here was a product category that was entirely new (except for some ). But instantly it was a hit—not just among gadget geeks—but with tens of millions of people who saw something that immediately appeared useful and alluring. They trusted that Apple could deliver something that would just work without the glitches and disappointments that dependably accompany the first generation of products from lesser companies. Behind this success was not an engineer, like the troika that until recently led Google, nor a professional manager, like the succession of leaders at HP, nor even an entrepreneur like Michael Dell. Steve Jobs was an impresario, in the tradition, more than anything, of a classic Hollywood studio boss (which he also was in his spare time). It’s fitting that Jobs is now the largest individual shareholder of the company founded by one of the 20th Century’s all time great perfectionists: Walt Disney. This approach didn’t make apple a pleasant company to deal with or to work at. Everyone at Apple worked with the anxiety that they must meet the impossible demands of Jobs or endure his anger. To the public and even to Apple’s biggest partners the company was about as responsive as Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory; no one ever went in and no one ever came out. And yes to work at Apple was to accept the lot of an Oompa Loompa. The company took secrecy to such an extreme that employees were divided into small groups and ordered not to talk to each other, let alone anyone outside of the company. My one encounter with Jobs was true to form. In 2004, I had just started covering consumer electronics, and I was about the battle between iTunes and Microsoft’s initiative at the time “Plays for Sure,” an effort to create an open standard for music formats. This was before Apple’s reputation—and the arrogance it enabled– blew past all previous records. Still, when I asked Jobs at the end of a press conference to discuss Apple’s strategy in the music market, he blew me off saying “We don’t like to talk about that.” We all know lots of people who are nice. We know many people who are smart. We’ve seen a bunch of corporate leaders who have the rare combination of skills to surf the waves spawned by Moore’s Law. But it’s hard to think of anyone besides Steve Jobs who through the sheer force of will, self-confidence, vision and perfectionism could upend the powerful forces of technology to make so many products that delighted so many people precisely because they were improbable. |
Intuit Partners With Verizon Wireless To Sell Square-Competitor GoPayment At Retail Stores | Leena Rao | 2,011 | 8 | 24 | Inuit’s reader, which competes directly with is making a significant move in the mobile payments space today, with Verizon Wireless to sell its credit card readers in Verizon Wireless’ 2,300 retail stores and business-to-business sales channels. two years ago, GoPayment offers a complimentary app and credit card reader to allow small businesses to conduct charges via their smartphones. GoPayment is available for iOS, Android and Blackberry phones and the card reader simply plugs into the audio jack of a phone or tablet. The credit card data is also encrypted, (and never stored on the phone). Now, GoPayment will be offered in retail outlets and on Verizon Wireless’ website for $29.97 but you can receive the reader for free with activation of a GoPayment account and a mail-in rebate for the purchase price. Similar to Square, the GoPayment mobile payment app is free and the basic service has no monthly, transaction or cancellation fees, and offers a 2.7 percent rate for swiped transactions. and actually both eliminated the per transaction fee. While Square’ reader has been free for some time now, it was only in the past year that Intuit its model to offer the its GoPayment card reader for free. A paid version of GoPayment is also available for more high-use businesses for $12.95 a month and provides rate of 1.7 percent for swiped transactions. With the partnership, Intuit is offering Verizon Wireless customers two months of free service when they select this monthly paid plan. Verizon says that customers who purchase a smartphone for their GoPayment use will need to subscribe to a Verizon Wireless Nationwide Talk plan beginning at $39.99 for monthly access. Tablet and smartphone users require a data package starting at $30 monthly access for 2GB of data. Chris Hylen, general manager of Intuit’s Payment Solutions division, frames the partnership around attracting small businesses that are using Verizon Wireless’s smartphones or tablets. And a move to Verizon makes sense considering that the carrier features the iPhone, Android phones and BlackBerries. It’s also important to note that this is GoPayment’s second retail availability—Intuit’s reader is available on Apple’s retail site ( and VeriFone). For basis of comaprison, Square’s device is selling at the Apple store for $9.95 but users get a $10 square credit when they sign up for an account. Hylen explains: “Rather than lose out on potential business, anyone who sells a product or a service can now easily and affordably give their customers the option of paying with plastic…GoPayment is meeting a huge need and is one of the fastest growing mobile payment solutions in the market. With Verizon Wireless, we’ll help even more people discover that they too can process credit card payments on the phones or tablets they already own.” Of course, a vote of confidence by a carrier as popular as Verizon is sure to help GoPayment remain competitive with Square, who took an recently, as well as VeriFone and other smaller players like Hylen tells us that there are number of reasons to choose GoPayment over competitors, including Intuit’s ‘trusted brand,’ the company’s ‘focus on consumers,’ 24-hour customer service support, security, and most importantly, the integration with Intuit’s immensely popular accounting software Quickbooks. GoPayment can also sync transactions with recent versions of QuickBooks. GoPayment also supports up to 50 users on one account, which is ideal for businesses with multiple employees who work in the field. GoPayment is actually one of Intuit’s fastest growing businesses and Hylen says the service is on track to process over $1 billion in transactions for the year. Intuit declined to reveal how many businesses are using GoPayment but did say that customer acquisition has gone up by eight times since January. Intuit says that it will consider similar partnerships in the future. I will say that the whole rebate trap does throw me off a bit, and considering that many people forget to send in their rebates, the credit option that Square adopted with their Apple deal seems like a better fit for the consumer. But there’s no doubt that an endorsement from a carrier is a win for Intuit’s GoPayment and should help boost usage. |
EscapeCapsule Lets You Use Your iPhone 4 In Water, Sand, Mud, Snow, And Other Gross Stuff | Jordan Crook | 2,011 | 8 | 24 | There really should be no argument when I say that a case for your is nothing short of necessary. Unless you’ve got cash to burn, the iPhone is just too damn expensive to leave unprotected. The only problem is that most of them make your phone pretty clunky, which sucks since Apple works hard to make the iPhone as slim as possible. Unfortunately, the only trade-off for all the heft is protection against impact. But what if you drop your iPhone in the toilet? The folks at Catalyst have an answer for you: EscapeCapsule. This thing is more than just a tough exo-skeleton. Made from a high-impact clear polycarbonate, the case protects against water, rain, snow, sand, mud, impacts, scratches… everything. Did I mention water? You can also double-check whether or not the case is securely sealed around the phone through the clear shell. Catalyst says the phone’s hardware buttons are protected through a specially designed membrane, as is the touchscreen. The camera works surprisingly well with the cover on, proof of which can be found in the video on . The case also comes with an attached lanyard to go around your wrist while you’re playing in the ocean with your iPhone. Because with the EscapeCapsule, you can play in the ocean with your iPhone. Crazy. The case comes in a number of colors, but if you make a pledge on Kickstarter you’ll get Catalyst’s Kickstarter-only edition Capsule — a green case with a white glow-in-the-dark rubber bumper and a glow-in-the-dark lanyard. It’ll take a $50 pledge to pre-order your very own EscapeCapsule, which is an OK deal considering Catalyst plans to sell the case for $70 when it officially becomes a reality. As of right now, Catalyst has 28 days to reach its $30,000 funding goal. It has thus far received $3,780. Head on over to to check out a video of the EscapeCapsule in action. |
Apple’s COO Tim Cook Replaces Steve Jobs As CEO | Leena Rao | 2,011 | 8 | 24 | Apple’s Steve Jobs has from his position as CEO and Apple has just that COO has taken over as CEO. As COO, Cook was responsible for all of the company’s worldwide sales and operations, including end-to-end management of Apple’s supply chain, sales activities, and service and support in all markets and countries. He also headed Apple’s Macintosh division and plays a key role in the continued development of strategic reseller and supplier relationships, ensuring flexibility in response to an increasingly demanding marketplace. Before joining Apple, Cook was vice president of Corporate Materials for Compaq and was responsible for procuring and managing all of Compaq’s product inventory. Previous to his work at Compaq, Cook was the chief operating officer of the Reseller Division at Intelligent Electronics. Cook also spent 12 years with IBM, most recently as director of North American Fulfillment where he led manufacturing and distribution functions for IBM’s Personal Computer Company in North and Latin America. Jobs will be Chairman of the Board of Apple and Cook will take a position on the board as CEO. Jobs actually submitted his resignation to the Board today and ‘strongly recommended’ that the Board name Tim Cook as CEO. In January, Jobs took an from the company, and while he remained as CEO, Cook took on the day-to-day operations for Apple. Jobs’ previous medical history includes Pancreatic cancer as well as a liver transplant. In 2004, Jobs contracted Pancreatic Cancer, which he beat. Then Jobs underwent a liver transplant in 2009, and also made a full recovery. During Jobs’ absence in 2009, then COO Tim Cook took over Apple’s day-to-day activities. Check out my colleague MG Siegler’s analysis from January: The full release is below: Apple’s Board of Directors today announced that Steve Jobs has resigned as Chief Executive Officer, and the Board has named Tim Cook, previously Apple’s Chief Operating Officer, as the company’s new CEO. Jobs has been elected Chairman of the Board and Cook will join the Board, effective immediately. “Steve’s extraordinary vision and leadership saved Apple and guided it to its position as the world’s most innovative and valuable technology company,” said Art Levinson, Chairman of Genentech, on behalf of Apple’s Board. “Steve has made countless contributions to Apple’s success, and he has attracted and inspired Apple’s immensely creative employees and world class executive team. In his new role as Chairman of the Board, Steve will continue to serve Apple with his unique insights, creativity and inspiration.” “The Board has complete confidence that Tim is the right person to be our next CEO,” added Levinson. “Tim’s 13 years of service to Apple have been marked by outstanding performance, and he has demonstrated remarkable talent and sound judgment in everything he does.” Jobs submitted his resignation to the Board today and strongly recommended that the Board implement its succession plan and name Tim Cook as CEO. As COO, Cook was previously responsible for all of the company’s worldwide sales and operations, including end-to-end management of Apple’s supply chain, sales activities, and service and support in all markets and countries. He also headed Apple’s Macintosh division and played a key role in the continued development of strategic reseller and supplier relationships, ensuring flexibility in response to an increasingly demanding marketplace. |
Steve Jobs: The End Of An Era | John Biggs | 2,011 | 8 | 24 | We all know the broad strokes: a boy is born to a graduate student and her Syrian boyfriend. She places the boy for adoption. He comes to live with Paul and Clara. The boy grows up in Santa Clara county. It’s flat, lots of one story buildings, mostly middle/upper middle class, outside of the bad parts. Parts of it are pretty, parts aren’t. He wasn’t coddled. His biological mother makes his adoptive parents promise to send him to college. In fourth grade he has a great teacher and, presumably, another and another. His parents scrape to send him to Reed. He drops out of college and starts dropping in on classes that interest him. He makes money returning bottles and he hits the Hare Krishna temple now and then for a free meal. He takes calligraphy, eschews the typical coursework, and at age 20 he and a buddy start a company. He’s a buddhist with a temper. He cuts down rivals and builds up a team of 4,000 dedicated to his singular vision. He’s ousted, builds another company or two, and comes back. He’s kind of a hippie, enjoying Bob Dylan and the Beatles. He loves music. He’s leaving, now, the victim of something gnawing at his health like sea spray whittles a wooden pier. Where does that leave Apple? And where does that leave us? I wasn’t always a Mac lover. I thought they were over-priced and pretty, the candy colors far too silly for my 486 tastes. Any chip that had the word Power in its name was overcompensating, I wagered. But over the past decade I learned the satisfaction of a machine that just works. It’s a machine that the boy put most of his life into, a machine that has the heart of a much older thing, a thing that lay blinking and frantic in a Stanford computer lab somewhere and then, over time, shrank down to something you and I can fit into our pockets. Many complained that the ecosystem that he created was a walled garden, but I’d equate it to a pasture. “The reason everything looks beautiful is because it is out of balance,” wrote Zen master Shunryu Suzuki. “But its background is always in perfect harmony.” In the front, anything can happen. In the back, perfect calm and order. There is a strain of Internet thought that requires us to tear down, to refuse to see the other side. There will be plenty of that going on in the next few days as talking heads talk. But name one CEO who, on leaving his company, will raise such a wave of well-wishes and interest? When Michael Dell dodders off or Howard Stringer plops into a club chair for his final cigar, will anyone care the next day? We all know the broad strokes: The man got sicker, he almost quit, kept at it. He embraced a successor and groomed him to be as calm a force as he once was. He kept us surprised, entertained, constantly speculating. We wondered where he was. If he was well. We all know the broad strokes: He isn’t well. He’s stepped down. Another Buddhist (or near enough to one) said “The mark of the immature man is that he wants to die nobly for a cause, while the mark of a mature man is that he wants to live humbly for one.” Godspeed, Mr. Jobs. We’ll miss you. |
null | Greg Kumparak | 2,011 | 8 | 1 | null |
Blue For Facebook Sure Looks Like Color’s Next Hue | MG Siegler | 2,011 | 8 | 24 | Sometimes the need to test outweighs the need for total secrecy. I’m going to assume CEO shares that belief. The past two days has been filled with some seemingly bland pictures. But they’re not bland — they’re test pictures. And they’re sent from a new app called “Blue”. I don’t know much about the app itself, but I was able to dig up a little bit of information — including the logo above. Judging from the name alone, I think it would be pretty safe to assume that this is at least one of the new projects the Color Labs team is working on after . And there’s a bit more hinting at this being Color’s next project — namely that many of the developers listed on the work at Color (and a number work at Apple as well, where Nguyen worked prior to Color Labs). The app currently has 29 monthly active users listed. A bit more: it appears that they settled on the “Blue” name recently after using the codename “TestJckJck” (seriously) for several weeks. You can find that Facebook app , again with several Color/Apple people as developers. Nguyen has been testing TestJckJck on his own profile for some time now. Blue certainly has a better ring to it. My guess right now is that Blue is a new mobile app with deep ties into Facebook Photos. That’s interesting since Facebook may be in that regard. Earlier today, that Facebook was readying a range of photo filters to use in a mobile app. This may all be related somehow. One more thing: the for Blue for Facebook contains “bluecolor”. : We’ve since confirmed with multiple sources that Blue will indeed be Color’s next app. |
Mobile Payments Company Boku Expands Direct Carrier Billing Deals In France | Leena Rao | 2,011 | 8 | 24 | Today, mobile payments company is launching direct carrier billing agreements with two of the largest mobile carriers in France— Bouygues Telecom and SFR, offering over 32 million French customers the ability to pay for virtual goods and services using only their existing wireless service account. Historically, mobile payments companies face the challenge of lofty carrier rates. Wireless carriers have charged roughly 30% to 40% to process transactions made via mobile phone accounts, making it very difficult for mobile payment companies like Boku to scale beyond virtual goods. These transactions costs are passed down to developers using Boku, which are then passed to the consumer. To avoid these costs, Boku has been negotiating direct relationships with carriers as a way of possibly avoiding these costs. While the company declined to reveal the financial terms of the agreements, Boku says the France rates are similar to those negotiated in the U.S. and Germany. These deals give Boku nearly 100% coverage of the French mobile market, which is nearly 50 million mobile subscribers total. Bouygues Telecom and SFR are actually launching a new service, called Internet + Mobile, allowing consumers to purchase goods online and use Boku to pay with their mobile phone number. Boku says the purchase process only requires two-clicks and gives online merchants access to a full range of price points of up to 10 Euros. Direct carrier relationships only serve to reinforce the strength of and demand for mobile payments for companies like Boku and competitor Zong. And Zong was actually acquired by eBay earlier this year, for . Companies have also been eyeing Boku and the company has become a possible acquisition target for both Google and Apple. |
Social Enterprise Company Jive Files For $100M IPO; 2010 Revenue Was $46M | Leena Rao | 2,011 | 8 | 24 | Social enterprise giant Jive has just and will raise as much as $100 million in the offering. Modeled to offer Facebook-like features to enterprises, Jive’s software combines computing with social collaboration to offer fully-featured social networks for businesses. Its suite of applications help businesses collaborate on a variety of tasks, including holding discussions, communication, sharing documents, blogging, running polls, and social networking features and more. Some of the key information in the filing relates to revenue. For the years ended December 31, 2008, 2009 and 2010, and for the six months ended June 30, 2011, Jive’s total revenues were $16.9 million, $30.0 million, $46.3 million and $34.0 million, respectively. The company actually took a loss in 2008, 2009, 2010 and the six month period ending in June 2011. Losses appeared to actually increase—the company lost $27.6 million in 2010, and $30.6 million this year. The company says that it is continuing to invest revenue back into infrastructure, development of and sales and marketing, and expects operating expenses to increase significantly. Jive also says that it is in the process of transitioning its customer data centers from a third-party service provider to a co-located facility managed by Jive’s own network operations team, which will require significant capital. As of June 30, 2011, Jive has 635 enterprise customers, including Hewlett-Packard Company, SAP AG, T-Mobile and UBS AG, with over 15 million users. The company currently had 358 employees as of June 30, 2011. Jive says that it plans to use the proceeds of the offering to pay down outstanding loans ($20 million) and towards general corporate purposes, including working capital and potential acquisitions. In terms of investment, Jive has raised a total of , and the company’s largest investor Sequoia Capital owns over a third of Jive (36 percent). Kleiner Perkins owns 14.24 percent of Jive. |
Steve Jobs Resigns As CEO Of Apple | MG Siegler | 2,011 | 8 | 24 | Title says it all. More to come. For now, the letter from Steve Jobs himself: To the Apple Board of Directors and the Apple Community: I have always said if there ever came a day when I could no longer meet my duties and expectations as Apple’s CEO, I would be the first to let you know. Unfortunately, that day has come. I hereby resign as CEO of Apple. I would like to serve, if the Board sees fit, as Chairman of the Board, director and Apple employee. As far as my successor goes, I strongly recommend that we execute our succession plan and name Tim Cook as CEO of Apple. I believe Apple’s brightest and most innovative days are ahead of it. And I look forward to watching and contributing to its success in a new role. I have made some of the best friends of my life at Apple, and I thank you all for the many years of being able to work alongside you. Steve : Apple has confirmed that , following Jobs’ own recommendation. Considering that Cook has filled in for Jobs in the times of his medical leaves (including the one he has been on this year), this has been widely if and when it came time for Jobs to step down. Also as requested, Jobs has been elected as Chairman of the Board and will remain with the company in that capacity. Cook will join the Board as well. |
Facebook Turns To Stack Overflow To Power Developer Forums | Jason Kincaid | 2,011 | 8 | 24 | If you’ve ever roved around Facebook’s developer forums, you may have noticed that — aside from being loaded with complaints and bug reports — they’re pretty basic. There’s nothing wrong with them per se, but they feel like a pretty generic forum install, and not a hub for developers on one of the web’s most popular web platforms. Today, Facebook is announcing how it’s going to fix the situation: it’s abandoning its old forums, which it says are “showing their age”, and launching a custom site on Stack Overflow, the Q&A hub that’s very popular with programmers (and is loaded with helpful content). You can find the new site at . The benefits from the swap are obvious. Stack Overflow has a robust reputation system, a more structured Q&A platform, and is generally easier to sift through. Stack Exchange is the parent company of Stack Overflow, which is one of a network of 60+ Q&A portals. In a post the news, Stack Exchange Chief of Staff Alex Miller writes that this the Facebook launch also marks the introduction of a new feature for the platform, which allows for the creation of custom mini-sites. But facebook.SO isn’t just a sub-domain, it’s an entirely new feature set that we’ve been considering and working on for months. Ever since launching, we’ve gotten requests to start dedicated communities for niche programming topics, but we’ve always been hesitant to do so for fear of balkanizing the great community we already have. So we came up with a solution that provides the best of both worlds. We can now create a mini-site by selecting relevant tags (in this case, anything Facebook related) and grouping together just the content from those tags. When you visit a mini-site, you’ll see only the content from those tags. Not only will you be able to see only questions related to Facebook, but the reputation on the user ranking pages will also only show reputation earned on questions tagged Facebook. |
Screw You, GameStop. | Greg Kumparak | 2,011 | 8 | 24 | We’re through, GameStop. I turned a blind eye when you offered me peanuts for a game that you were still slinging used for bucks shy of full retail. I shrugged it off when your employees endlessly pressured me to pre-order games that I didn’t want I set foot in the store. I laughed when I was turned away for trying to buy a new release on launch day sans preorder, only to have a copy appear as I went to leave. These were all prices I was willing to pay, I figured, to support one of the last remaining brick and mortar game stores. But breaking the seal on brand new copies of games to take out (valuable!) things you don’t like, then selling the game as new? Yeah, I quit you. Yesterday morning, a long awaited title called was finally released to an eager audience. Tucked inside the box was a little surprise: a coupon for a free copy of the same game through the still relatively new game streaming service, — something which, if purchased directly through OnLive, would cost $49.99. At least, there was to be a coupon… The reports started trickling in fairly quickly: for some reason, the coupon seemed to be absent from nearly all copies sold through GameStop. What had happened? Had the folks at the factory forgotten to pack some of the coupons? Nope. Had GameStop worked out a distribution deal to keep the coupons from ever finding their way into their copies? Nope. GameStop employees had opened the boxes, removed the coupon, and put the product back on the shelf… after orders from above to do so. The first evidence came from an e-mail acquired by , allegedly sent by a GameStop Field Operations Manager. The key bit is bullet point #1: “Please immediately remove and discard the OnLive coupon from all Regular PC versions of Deus Ex: Human Revolution,” it read. Surely, this couldn’t be real! A corporate command to , throw out something tradable for a , and act like nothing happened? But sure enough, after word got out: Regarding the Deus Ex OnLive Codes: GameStop’s policy is that we do not promote competitive services without a formal partnership.
Square Enix packed a competitor’s coupon within the PC version of Deus Ex: Human Revolution without our prior knowledge and we did pull these coupons.
While the new products may be opened, we fully guarantee the condition of the discs to be new. If you find this to not be the case, please contact the store where the game was purchased and they will further assist. Note the wording. “May be” opened? Try opened. And what a guarantee! If your disc doesn’t work for some reason, they’ll give you a new ( presumably equally stripped down) copy. But if you’re just pissed that you’ve been shorted a coupon worth $50? La la la la, we can’t hear you. The GameStop-owned service with which OnLive is a “competing service” is called Impulse, which GameStop launched back in July after acquiring . Look, GameStop: if you want to work out a deal with the distributor to get special copies without the coupons, that’s reasonable. People will still be annoyed they got shortchanged, but it’s at least not . But opening a , removing a coupon exchangeable for a $50 product, and then sticking it back on the shelf? Terrible. Could a customer have walked in, purchased the game, removed the coupon, and returned the box for a full refund? No? Then this is not okay. Alas, they went with the shady route — and now they’ve gone and given OnLive more marketing than that silly coupon ever would have. |
Acer Lost Almost $250 Million Last Quarter Alone, Remains Stoic | Devin Coldewey | 2,011 | 8 | 24 | Acer, recently the world’s second-largest shipper of PCs, has had a rough year. But in March by upper management to abandon their goal of dethroning HP and instead focus on making better, more distinguishable products. The result: . At least they knew it was coming — but losing millions of customers and a huge proportion of your worth isn’t something any company likes having to do. The company is taking heavy losses — twice as heavy, in fact, as Reuters’ analysts estimated. 6.79 billion dollars (Around $250 million) went down the drain in Q2. That’s their biggest loss ever and the first time they did worse than they forecast. The results indicate that, as Acer’s chairman J.T. Wang admits, “trying to break even this year becomes impossible.” But I doubt they were planning on turning the whole company around in less than a year. Despite the losses and job cuts, Acer remains stoic. They feel the tablet “fever” is lessening and people will return to notebooks (I’m not sure I agree). And while it’s unlikely that they have any interest in (or ability to) buy HP’s PC business, Acer’s president Jim Wang did comment that spinning it off was a natural thing for HP to do. He added, cryptically, that Acer would be working to satisfy its customers’ needs, “including HP’s existing customers.” What a thing to say! Again, though, with billions in losses every quarter, the last thing Acer needs is a $10 billion millstone around its neck from HP. What he probably meant was that Acer may be stepping into HP’s shoes during the confusion. If they can stabilize fast enough, then while HP’s Personal Systems Group is in handoff mode, Acer can sweep in and carry off a few million customers. But before that happens, expect more bad news. ( to reflect the fact that the 6.79 billion figure was in Taiwanese dollars. Very dumb of me not to catch that when a $7bn loss would likely bury the company) |
Zillow’s Q2: Revenues Up 116 Percent To A Record $15.8M, Hits Profitability | Leena Rao | 2,011 | 8 | 24 | Real estate listings site Zillow reported its first earnings as a public company today, after in mid-July. Zillow record revenues of $15.8 million in the second quarter, up 116% year-over-year. Net Income for the quarter came in at $1.6 million, compared to a net loss of $2 million in the same period a year ago and a net loss of $0.8 in the first quarter of 2011. This quarter marked the company’s first quarter of GAAP profitability Zillow saw record Marketplace Revenues of $9.7 million, up 269% year-over-year. Premier Agent subscribers, which contribute to Marketplace revenues, totaled 13,385 at June 30, 2011, up 180% from 4,777 at the end of the second quarter of 2010. Display revenues increased 30% to $6.1 million from $4.7 million in the second quarter of 2010. The company’s Average monthly unique users grew 93% to a record 20.8 million in the second quarter of 2011 compared to 10.8 million average monthly unique users for the same period in 2010. And July 2011 marked another record traffic month with 23.2 million unique users to Zillow’s websites and mobile applications, a 98% increase from July 2010. Zillow CEO Spencer Rascoff said of the company’s first earnings as a public company: “The second quarter was outstanding for Zillow with record revenues, traffic and mobile usage. It marks our first profitable quarter on a GAAP net income basis and our fourth consecutive profitable quarter on an Adjusted EBITDA basis..We’re extremely pleased with our progress and rapid growth, yet we believe we’ve only scratched the surface of our opportunity.” Profitability for the company is a big deal considering that while revenues were growing for Zillow, the company had been taking a loss each quarter for the past three years. Zillow, which initially filed its in April, currently lists over 100 million U.S. homes, including homes for sale, homes for rent and homes not currently on the market. Zillow a mortgage marketplace in 2008, and subsequently expanded into and . According to Experian Hitwise, Zillow.com is the third most visited Real Estate site in the U.S and received 5.36% of Real Estate visits in March 2011, which is a 53% increase compared to March 2010. |
Samsung: We’re Not Buying HP’s PC Business | Jordan Crook | 2,011 | 8 | 24 | Since HP made the announcement it would be , there have been questions over who would scoop it up. A number of different OEMs fit the bill and have the cash to take on HP’s Personal Systems Group, but one in particular seemed to be looking for an outsourcing partner before HP ever made its announcement. that Samsung had been in talks with Quanta, Compal and Pegatron to possibly outsource notebook orders, its sources including HP on the list of suitors as well. “The sources added that Samsung’s actions seem like it is already in preparation to take up Hewlett-Packard’s (HP’s) PC business,” wrote Digitimes. But Samsung begs to differ. Whether this is true or not remains to be seen, but Samsung swears it’s malarkey. On the , the company made the following statement: “The recent rumors that Samsung Electronics will be taking over Hewlett-Packard Co.’s personal computer business are not true. We hope this clarifies any confusion that may have occurred.” Well, there you have it folks: A Samsung-HP love affair is not in the cards at the moment. Though it probably wouldn’t be a great fit, anyways. Samsung’s focus seems to be geared toward higher margin products like its . Shipping 10 million HP notebooks just doesn’t quite fit into that equation. |
Tactical Messenger Bag Takes Preparedness To The Next Level | Chris Velazco | 2,011 | 8 | 24 | I’ll be the first to admit that I usually rock a man-bag on a daily basis, but rarely have I ever considered using something as hardcore as the . While my usual load-out consists of the AOL-issued work laptop and a camera, the TDM bag packs compartments for use that goes above and beyond the ordinary. In addition to the traditional 15″ laptop compartment, for example, the bag lives up to its tactical namesake by including magazine pockets that can store up to 4 AK magazines. Expecting a hairy day? Be sure to load up the medical insert with your gauze, compression bandages, and intubation kit (you do have an intubation kit, right?). The TDM’s Cordura body also means it’ll look no worse for wear as you fight your way onto the 8:15 train everyday. Don’t worry about having enough space for your daily documents or week’s worth of rations: the TDM’s main pocket measures 5.5″ deep, so corporate drones and survivalists alike can go for broke. It is quite the looker too: available in black, coyote, and foliage, the TDM will fit just as well in civilian life as it does while under deep cover in Bolivia. This level of preparedness will cost you though: interested parties can pick one up from ITS for $350. [via ] [youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6bHxktc4Oac&w=640&h=345] |
RIM’s New QNX BlackBerrys Will Run Android Apps | Chris Velazco | 2,011 | 8 | 24 | RIM announced well in advance of the PlayBook’s launch that it would be able to , but , PlayBook owners still have nothing to show for it. RIM may not play the waiting game again with their forthcoming string of QNX-powered BlackBerrys though, as the word from Waterloo is that they will be able to run Android apps right out of the gate. close to the project have said the Android App Player will be part of the stock software on QNX BlackBerrys when they launch in early 2012. While the addition could potentially add thousands of apps to RIM’s underpopulated App World, it may not be as straightforward as one may hope. When RIM revealed the concept of the App Player, they noted interested users couldn’t just download Android apps from the market and have them run. Rather, developers would have to repackage their code into order to make it into BlackBerry App World. RIM makes it sound like a trivial process (developers will “be able to quickly and easily port their apps”), and they should certainly hope it is — an inconvenienced dev may not see the need to deal with the process if it turns out to be a headache. While RIM’s most recent BlackBerry efforts have been generally well-received, its aging OS can only do so much. QNX is quite possibly BlackBerry’s last chance at holding onto mobile relevance, and superior Android app support could only help the cause. The PlayBook’s App Player launch (supposedly slated for this fall) will be one to watch: if it performs well, then RIM may have just the one-two punch they need to stay in the game. If it doesn’t, well, I’ll miss those keyboards dearly. |
Urwerk Releases A Pocket Watch For The Technophilic Dandy | John Biggs | 2,011 | 8 | 24 | That’s not the Terminator’s gallbladder you’re looking at there. It’s actually a pocket watch made by , a noted designer of extremely high-end timepieces for folks like to think they are Jules Verne. The watch, called the UR-1001 Zeit Device, tells the time down to (up to?) the century and even has a register for 1,000s of years aka millennia. Why? Because they wanted to, that’s why. It’s made of Aluminium Titanium Nitride, a tough metal used in milling machines and drill bits. I doubt any of us will go down to the jewelry shop pick one of these up built up a very useful guide to the Zeit Device’s various features. I also can’t imagine any of us surviving to see the clock tick over to the next century let alone the next millennia, so we’ll have to take Urwerk’s word for it that their watch will survive that long. Whether you’re a James Bond villain timing the launch of your space laser or an immortal crusader tasked with guarding the Holy Grail for centuries, Urwerk has you covered. |
Disrupt SF Hackathon Registration Open! Plus Last Day for Early Bird Tickets | Tarikh Korula | 2,011 | 8 | 24 | is officially open for our fourth Hackathon, and we’d love to make it our biggest yet! We promise more pizza, more caffeine and more glory than ever. We had 700 registrants for the last event in New York — let’s top it! The format remains the same – a little less than 24 hours to create a hack on site and present a working demo to an audience of developers, press and industry insiders. has proven that you can build a Weekend-hacked, Seed-funded, Series-A-ed, Acquired-by-Skype, all-in-about-a-year startup from a TC Hackathon. (Props to for their monstrous hustle). But the goal of these increasingly awesome events isn’t to build startups–we want to give developers a platform to shine. For every GroupMe there’s a ; for every there’s a ; for every a . It’s that mixture of utility and whimsy that keeps the Hackathons, and our industry for that matter, fresh. Much of the field is built behind the scenes by the hard work of talented developers and Hackathons are a the best way we’ve found to spotlight them. The first Hackathons were organized by , and and we’ve had a blast doing it. This time around will be taking the helm. He’s a seasoned hand, having organized Hackdays past for Yahoo and even along the way! It’s going to be a great event. While we aim to accommodate everyone, it’s best to to make sure you’re in! For those of you that aren’t hackers, today is the LAST DAY to get the best priced tickets for Disrupt SF. Check out the list of all-star guests and speakers , and the agenda . Disrupt SF will have amazing after parties, and even better battles as startups fight for the ultimate Disrupt Cup and $50,000. You do not want to miss this. Get your early bird tickets now . |
Surprise! Sandisk Is Still Making MP3 Players | John Biggs | 2,011 | 8 | 24 | Amazingly, someone is still making MP3 players for the mass market. I’m pleased to present the $70 Sansa Clip Zip, a tiny, portable media player that comes in 4 GB and 8 GB varieties (the 4GB model costs $50). The Clip Zip comes in 7 colors including red, blue, and orange and is compatible with almost any audio format. It also has a microSD slot so you can expand the player to 32 GB. It also has a teeny tiny LCD screen and a simple interface. Way back in the old days, SanDisk was fairly famous for its fully featured MP3 players but those days are long gone. However, if you’re looking for a simple player for a kid or grandparent this might be the way to go: it’s idiot proof, rugged, and isn’t quite as expensive as a Zune or iPod. |
Nikon Updates Its Coolpix Line With New High-End And Rugged Point And Shoots | Devin Coldewey | 2,011 | 8 | 23 | It’s been a camera-ish day today. Canon early this morning, Sony just updated its , and now here we have a bundle of Nikons just coming out. Do they plan it like this, to make things difficult for us bloggers just trying to relax on a warm Tuesday night? Well, let’s get on with it. I’ll make it quick for you. Some of these are actually quite decent. First up, we’ve got the P7100, successor to the . This is the top-end compact camera for Nikon, popular among photographers as a quickie back-up. It’s substantially the same (10.1 megapixels, 7x zoom, 640×480 LCD, 720p video), but adds a few new features. You’ve got an updated image processor, new on-screen interface, and the ability to zoom while recording video. The body has gained a dial on the front, bringing the total dials on this thing up to six, if I’m not mistaken. The LCD also tilts now, but it doesn’t rotate. It’s an improvement, but not a big one — and that sensor needs a boost. If Canon’s next G-series ups the ante, Nikon’s going to be left behind — the way they left Canon behind last year with the P7000. It’ll cost $500 in September. Next, the AW100. This is your rugged point and shoot, able to go 33ft underwater, survive a drop of five feet, and resist temperatures down to a “frigid” 14°F. The back-illuminated sensor produces 16 megapixels at up to 3200 ISO, and will record 1080p video. You’ve got a 5x zoom on the front and a 3″ 480×320 LCD on the back. My favorite part: it’ll record movies at 60, 120, or 240fps. That’s some solid slow motion, though I assume it reduces the resolution. The bad news? This mother will set you back $380 come September. That’s more than any rugged point and shoot I’ve used, though to be fair it does sound than any rugged point and shoot I’ve used. Next you have the vast assortment of S-series cameras. I’ll forgo the details ( ) and give you the nicknames I’ve assigned them: “The one with a projector you’ll never use” – $430 (!) “The skinny one with the OLED touchscreen, and apparently you hold it vertically?” – $300 “The rich kid’s camera with the nice screen and 14x zoom” – $330 “Good enough” – $230 What’s the take-away? These are all a bit expensive, really, but if you have cash to spare, the AW100 strikes me as the best deal for a take-everywhere camera. Plus it does super slow motion, which is even more fun than it sounds. I’d wait for Canon’s response to the P7100 (i.e. the G13) before committing, if you’re okay with that. : that they are available for preorder. |
The Newest Version Of Yahoo Mail Now Has 100 Million Monthly Active Users | Leena Rao | 2,011 | 8 | 23 | The latest version of Yahoo Mail up to users a few months ago and the company is a new milestone today—100 million monthly active users. Additional features in the new version of Yahoo Mail include integrated notifications and messages from Facebook, Twitter, Zynga and other email providers within the interface. Yahoo has also made the client more customizable with 50 themes, improved search and made the client is speedier. Within Yahoo Mail, users can also use IM clients from Yahoo, Facebook, and Windows Live. Yahoo has also announced that it is adding a few features after receiving customer feedback, including putting the message toolbar at the bottom of messages, the ability to switch between paginated and infinite scrolling views, and more. As in May, Yahoo had close to 90 million accounts and is the largest email provider in the U.S. Worldwide, Yahoo has more than 289 million people using its email client. But the email service is facing from other clients like Gmail and Microsoft Hotmail and is losing some of its marketshare. For basis of comparison, Zynga’s CityVille crosses monthly active users in January. |
Slovenia Launches Supervizor, An Official Public Web App For Monitoring Public Spending | Devin Coldewey | 2,011 | 8 | 23 | The threat of corruption is ever-present in areas like government spending, where miles of red tape, billions in assets, and a legitimate need for secrecy at times presents a potential trifecta for would-be defrauders. Slovenia, only a few notches lower than the of course upstanding USA on , is no nest of vipers, but as a country in transition from communism, their risk is perhaps greater. But the set of data is smaller, more manageable — which makes unified and transparent for monitoring of government spending more feasible. The country’s Commission for the Prevention of Corruption has just launched such a tool, called , and it’s live right now if you don’t mind operating it in Slovenian. The display of information is quite slick, as you can see, and intended for public consumption: Compared to, say, the US Patent Office website, which I’ve been navigating frequently of late, it’s a breath of fresh air — though the two are not strictly speaking in the same category. The data right now goes back to 2003, just before Slovenia joined the EU, likely coinciding with an improvement and increase in bookkeeping for that particular transition. It’s like the Ministry of Finance and Public Payments Administration, and the Committee is careful to say that it takes no responsibility for their accuracy. A strange appendix to a service where accuracy and responsibility are paramount, one is tempted to remark, but the sad truth is that numbers like this are only as strong as the weakest link in the chain, and in a bureaucracy (and all governments are bureaucracies to some extent) there are many, many links. All the same, the information is not hiding in endless monospace text files linked from obscure ministry sub-pages. This is about access and transparency, things which ideally might lead to accountability but are not necessarily its companions. It’s also tempting to say that something like this can’t be scaled. Surely enough, scaling won’t be easy, but then again, if you tried to describe the databases being managed by Facebook right now to a sysop or designer from five or ten years ago, they’d probably say they couldn’t scale what they had either. We’re still some distance from being able to track spending at quite this level of granularity, and with this level of accessibility, but there are plenty of projects that aim to do just that. . I found that putting the initials of their seems to work, but for example “vojaški” (“military”) doesn’t. Kudos to the engineers and designers who put Supervizor together; I hope we’ll see more of this kind of transparency from other governments and companies. : I really should have included a link to , which does substantially similar tracking of federal grants and contracts (though not state or city). I should admit that I didn’t think the US’s site would be as solid as it is, though I don’t think it provides as great of detail as Supervizor. Mea culpa, but at least it’s good news. [via and ] |
Sony Updates Alpha And NEX Line With NEX-5N, NEX-7, A65, A77 | Devin Coldewey | 2,011 | 8 | 23 | It’s been difficult to avoid news about Sony’s new line of digital cameras these past few months. Leak after leak has exposed body designs, lenses, sensor sizes, and other specs. They’re all official now, though, and while I won’t subject you to a case-by-case analysis of which rumors were on and off, I will say they were mostly on the money. The new gear looks very promising, as well. Let’s take a look at the new camera line. I’ll try to be concise; camera spec comparisons tend to drag on, and if you want to compare closely, a dedicated photo gear site will have the whole shebang for you to peruse at your leisure. This will be a summary. The $600 NEX-5N and $1200 NEX-7 get articulating LCD screens, and the NEX-7 gets a new 24MP APS-C sensor (the 5N is 16MP APS-C). Both now record full 1080p at 60, 30, or 24fps, or 640×480 at 30, but no 720p. The 7 also has a sweet built-in 1024×768 OLED EVF, one of the headline features of this whole line. It also has more manual controls on the body: two dials up top for controlling aperture and so on. Apart from the megapixel difference, they have mostly the same capabilities feature-wise, though of course those capabilities will be more easily accessed on the 7. If you want the EVF but don’t want to pay the big bucks you can pick up the FDA-EV1S, which seems to have the same specs as the 7’s, for $350. The NEX-5N will be available next month, and the NEX-7 will ship in November. The $900 A65 and $1400 A77 get 1024×768 EVFs as well, and both take 24MP photos. The A77 has a better burst rate, more autofocus points, higher ISO capability, and its LCD is more adjustable. The flash is better, wider, and faster. On the body, the A77 has a rear dial (an indispensable feature for pros), and a joystick instead of a circular d-pad. That may be a bit concise, but without delving into details, those are the main differences. The cameras will be available in October. My opinion? Well, if you insist. These are some really convincing specs. If I wasn’t already invested in Canon to the tune of… I’d rather not say… I’d be jumping on these. The NEX-5N, though, doesn’t seem very compelling to me as a premium model without those top dials or the EVF. If it had just one, it’d be a more realistic buy. As it is, I think the NEX-7 might live up to its $1200 price. It’s too bad that nice Zeiss lens on it isn’t more compact, though, it’s a waste of a slim body to put such a beast of a lens on there. As for the SLRs — if you can live without the rear dial and don’t rely too much on multiple autofocus points or flash (i.e. how I’ve been shooting for years), the A65 is definitely the better buy. You’re getting substantially the same body, the exact same sensor, and 80% of the features of the A77… and losing four ounces off the weight into the bargain! We’ll try to get these into our hot little hands for review soon. In the meantime, I think that NEX-7 just became my new object of desire.
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Fukushima Robot Operator’s Blog Deleted – Internet Steps In | Devin Coldewey | 2,011 | 8 | 23 | An anonymous blogger known only as S.H. has been posting detailed daily descriptions of the at Fukushima. The blog included technical details and personal anecdotes, but nothing sensitive to national security. In early July, however, the blog was discontinued and later deleted altogether. The videos S.H. had uploaded to YouTube were made private. The origin of this purge is unknown, though it’s certainly conceivable that higher-ups felt the blog was too revealing and asked that S.H. take it down. You can’t delete something from the internet without anyone noticing, however, especially a blog like this, full of interesting and timely information related to the ongoing reactor containment efforts. So when it disappeared, IEEE Spectrum took it upon themselves not only to save a cached version of the blog, but to . It’s a powerful demonstration of the durability of internet-based media — and an interesting read in its own right. The blog is a mix of technical commentary and the normal human aspect of the job. Here are a few excerpts, to give you the flavor (formatting mine to save space): Today, along with charging the batteries of the robots, it was my turn for training. I did operate them a little yesterday, though. The training takes place in a low radiation outdoor area, but we wear full radiation protection clothing and gear, which diminish my thinking abilities. Ordinarily, I’m not good at thinking (LOL). The training is designed to replicate as close as possible the actual task. First I tried to open a heavy steel door (with a common round knob). They said that I was the first person to succeed in opening a door with such a knob, in fact. Today we went and used two PackBots to measure the radiation levels on the first floor portion of the No. 3 nuclear reactor building where the Warrior cleaned (decontaminated) yesterday.
As a result, the radiation levels dropped on average about 10%.
If you are just looking at the measurement results, they still look pretty high, but on the other hand, if you just look at the difference [in certain areas], you get the feel that it was quite effective.
There are places where the level dropped to a maximum of 80 Sv/h. The first one who got up to go to the bathroom, Mr. S, said, “Hey, there’s someone else here. Who’s that?” So I got up to look, and there was someone sleeping on the tatami floor. . . I looked at his face and didn’t recognize him. I woke him, asking, “Who are you? Are you in the right room?” He was kind of confused as well.
“? ? ?”
“What room is this?” he said sleepily.
He smelled a little of alcohol, so he probably got drunk and slept in the wrong room. You get the idea. There are pictures of the operating environment, the bots, and so on. All in all, a valuable record of the recovery and cleaning effort around the reactors. One commenter at IEEE who works with the same robots has already mentioned he found some useful information — from an abridged, incomplete translation! While I can understand that this kind of thing should also be shared within the operator’s official environment (reports and such), this blog was clearly a non-destructive outlet for unofficial information. The pictures and video were also retained: [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PUhCPuDbUjg&w=640&h=390] disappeared in July and as yet no one has commented. Interestingly, it doesn’t really signify whether it was shut down voluntarily or because of pressure from S.H.’s supervisors. The fact is that because it was worth something to someone, the deletion of this content was out of their hands. It’s a form of internet archaeology. In fact, to enshrine the kitch goldmine that was Geocities. And while that was a bit of a lark, the principle applies equally to more serious content, like S.H.’s blog. Content that manages to disappear from the internet is usually pretty meritless. Truly sensitive information, like that released by Wikileaks or black hat hackers, is nearly impossible to eliminate completely. What is the endgame here? Polarization. If official government programs have to worry about their workers’ personal blogs, they may simply forbid them from having them at all. On the other hand, to satisfy the thirst for real-time information and “transparency,” more official channels for this kind of data will have to be set up. Will these channels be closely regulated? Yes. Will they be as revealing and interesting as blogs like S.H.’s? No. Will they be better than what we had five years ago? Probably. There will always be a demand for deep-undercover anonymous bloggers and the like, but the methods to suppress and the methods to create are in a constant arms race. Sometimes you’ll be able to get it from the tap, but sometimes you’ll have to get it bottled, as it were. In the meantime, if you’re at all interested in the cleanup effort or practical in general, do check out . If you speak Japanese, you can see some of the posts , and the is still partially intact. |
Former HP Global Gaming Head Rahul Sood Talks About Acquisitions, Brands, And Palm | John Biggs | 2,011 | 8 | 23 | Curious to find out the possible thinking behind HP’s recent actions, we began to look at the parallels in past behavior by tech giant HP. The most interesting example comes from VoodooPC, one of the first high-end gaming PCs for the mass market. Led by Rahul Sood, HP bought VoodooPC in 2006 and the last product to come out of that branch was launched in 2009. In short, we wanted to know if HP was where good ideas go to die. Mr. Sood was kind enough to answer a few questions. We at TC have been talking about how great VoodooPC was. We all loved the hardware and I remember unpacking the boxes and hearing the drums. It was consumer done right. I also think there are a lot of parallels between Voodoo and Palm in this case. Do you agree? : I appreciate the kind words, and I know my friends at HP will also appreciate them as well. Let’s just say if you’re going to make a strategic acquisition, no matter how large, you need to have patience to blend cultures and allow the companies to mutually flourish. It’s been less than a year since I left HP – and about 1 year since the Palm acquisition was announced. One year goes quickly in a large organization. It takes the average person 8 months to “on board” themselves into a new organization. I think these acquisitions should be protected by people who can effectively blend cultures and who can curate a vision that people can rally around. …and did I mention patience? If you don’t have patience you risk blowing up the strategy. Yes there are plenty of parallels between Palm and Voodoo that could be drawn. If future Rahul could go back to 2006 Rahul I would have some good advice for him — but believe it or not I still would have gone through with the deal, but I would have managed it differently. What could have HP done to save the TouchPad? Anything? : I find it interesting that the TouchPad went from a total failure to selling out just by changing the price. It proves that there is a market, somewhere between $100-$300 for this product. It also brings up some fundamental business rules that go back to the days of Sun Tzu; “When strong, avoid them. If of high morale, depress them. Seem humble to fill them with conceit. If at ease, exhaust them. If united, separate them. Attack their weaknesses. Emerge to their surprise.” In the case of the Touchpad HP tried to go head to head with Apple, probably not the right approach, especially since they launched it when it wasn’t fully baked. Either way, you should not go head to head with Apple, there’s no need to. They could disrupt the market at a lower price to gain significant adoption of webOS, and then work to build some back-end recurring revenue via applications, partnerships, search, shopping, etc. They could eventually turn up the heat and scale the business by open sourcing webOS and building a solid app model that caters to their enterprise customers. There’s plenty of ways the TouchPad could have become a success – but it takes time, patience and vision to figure it out. Where is HP headed? Do you have any idea? Will they go the IBM route? : By “IBM route” I assume you’re comparing HP PSG to Lenovo (or what once was IBM’s PC business). I disagree with this widely quoted comparison.
HP PSG is a giant with an insanely large footprint. Their biggest strength is the number of “ports” they have in the market The world needs hardware to make money on software. There is no bigger hardware company than HP. If only they could better leverage their footprint in a meaningful way they’d be almost unstoppable. So if they choose to go “the IBM route” HP risks missing the winning formula of IBM and they could end up forgetting about the consumer and focusing on the enterprise. In my opinion catering to the “enterprise” is such an old school way of thinking. Companies should cater to people, and the enterprise will follow, because real people run the enterprise. RIM is having a tough time because the competitor that displaced them is catering to real people.. not Wall Street… not the enterprise. I also find it telling that an officer of the company was quoted on CNBC yesterday saying, “HP’s board of directors will make the final decision in the best interest of our shareholders”. I believe if you build beautiful products that excite your customers then shareholders will ultimately benefit. I believe if you cater to shareholders then customers will suffer. So if you ask me where HP is heading, I would tell you listen to what the leaders are saying and try to make sense of it. I think they have giant problems to solve, lots of complex internal issues, and when you’re under stress you sometimes overlook things. It’s amazingly frustrating to see good products give up the ghost. How did you feel about Voodoo? Do you miss the brand? : I still have a Voodoo tatt on my leg. I have Voodoo branding throughout my home. Voodoo will always be a part of me, it was once a huge part of HP’s strategy and I can’t help but feel bad about it. Yeah I miss the brand, the people, the culture. …but I made the right decision to move on, I was too emotionally attached to it. I love Microsoft’s entertainment business, it’s such a fun place to work. It reminds me of Voodoo in many ways. What does a company need to be successful in branding and consumer sales? : A company needs to know who they are and where they came from. They need leaders who dream about their products and experiences creating the vision with people who dream about rows and columns supporting them. They need to establish a clear vision and strategy that people understand and can rally around. They should live, eat, breath, sleep the brand – and they naturally become evangelists for it. The successful brands establish a soul, the brand becomes a living breathing entity within the DNA of the organization. They also need great people. The best of the best… Finding and retaining these people is difficult — especially when you are in the Valley. Never has there ever been a better time for cool start-ups to get their juice. The acceleration for growth on tech start-ups is so slick that we’re seeing companies go from 0 to hundreds of millions or billions in valuation in less than 5 years. It’s unbelievable. So the talent pool for great “Tech DNA” is getting smaller and smaller – and the Valley is easily the most competitive area on earth for attracting and retaining great talent. Think about it, you’ve got Facebook, Google, Apple, Zynga, then you’ve got companies who haven’t upgraded their facility in decades. As a college grad you can go to Facebook or Google and work in a beautiful inspirational environment — it’s hard to compete. As companies mature, people start to look elsewhere to expand their horizons. HR and Recruiting could be one of the most important strategic functions of any business in the tech space….and yet in some cases they are probably the area that get the least investment because they are setup with the wrong charter. This is why I find Microsoft fascinating. Microsoft is the oldest, most established tech company, they have done a great job of keeping up with the times. You should check out our facility in Seattle… It’s pretty sick… Can you buy Palm and run it for all of us? You have that kind of cash, right? : I think HP should open source webOS. I think the vision of breaking up HP is cloudy at best. I did ask HP many times to sell Voodoo back to me, even came up with a couple of proposals. If they open sourced webOS and gave me back Voodoo then we might have something. Maybe Arrington can pull some strings and we can go into business together? I would like to end by saying that HP treated me with the utmost respect. I was super stoked when we were building cool products like Voodoo ENVY and HP Blackbird and helping to shape HP’s overall strategy. I was sad to leave the company, but I was left with little choice. I’m very happy where I am now. Microsoft’s entertainment business is such a cool place to work — I mean really cool. I would encourage your readers to check my latest , I’m going to write a series of them in the next week or so. |
About.me Wants You To Be The Face Of Its New Times Square Billboard Ad Campaign | Leena Rao | 2,011 | 8 | 23 | Personal profile startup , which is by our parent company AOL, is looking for the and is kicking off a contest to feature profiles housed on the site in a new ad campaign. For background, About.me free profile pages. On your dedicated profile page, can include your name, bio and links to Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and other sites that have information about you. Users can also upload high-resolution photos to the site, making profiles look fairly sleek and professional with minimal effort. You can check out co-founder profile The company is about to embark on a huge ad blitz and is trying to find the faces of the campaign from existing and new users. New and existing About.me users will be asked to opt in to the contest on their profile, and once opted-in, any visitor to that profile can vote on the About.me page to be featured in the campaign. The contest only launched a few hours ago and is already gaining on Twitter. Three lucky About.me users who have the most votes will be featured in the Fall campaigns (which includes a billboard in New York City’s Times Square, as well as other billboards, ads in taxis and in-flight ads), and will be flown to New York along with a guest to attend a special event for the kickoff of the billboard campaign. Seven runners-up will also be featured in the billboard and other advertisements. The last day of voting is September 20, so time is ticking to get your face in the middle of Times Square! Disclosure: TechCrunch is also owned by AOL. |
MakerBot Takes $10 Million In Funding From Foundry Group, Angels | Devin Coldewey | 2,011 | 8 | 23 | , creator of home 3D printers, has from a number of investors, the bulk coming from Foundry Group. Also included in the round were Bezos Expeditions, True Ventures, and RRE, along with a dozen or so angel investors. The company started in 2009 with around $75,000 in seed money, and since then has put together and sold some 5200 of their compact fabrication machines. We saw them in action at the very first TechCrunch Disrupt NYC, and since then they’ve been a regular feature on this blog. MakerBot also just added Brad Feld to their board, and are now hiring. The hardware space is a difficult one to bootstrap in, but founder Bre Pettis thinks we’ll be over the next few years. While services and software tend to offer quicker scaling and consequently more immediate returns, there’s still a place for devices and accessories in the world, especially if they’re unique. are impressive, but with competition from fabrication-by-mail services like , the barrier for entry to their self-powered 3D printing world is still quite high. The home fabrication business is changing as well, and competitors (not to say imitators) will see the opportunity to iterate on MakerBot’s design and offer more speed, materials, and so on. That said, the ability to obtain a microwave-sized rapid prototyping machine for under a thousand dollars is one of these signs of the times we tend to unfairly play down. It’s absolutely amazing that this is possible in the first place, but the business realities may not allow it to grow at the rate the tech industry tends to find exciting. More details about the funding, as well as links to the various angels involved, |
One Year Later, Facebook Killing Off Places …To Put Location Everywhere | MG Siegler | 2,011 | 8 | 23 | It was almost exactly one year ago that Facebook , their location-based offering. Reading the press at the time, you would have thought it was going to be the Foursquare-killer, the Gowalla-strangler, the Loopt-beheader, etc. Nevermind that Facebook with all of them for the launch — those guys were done. Fast forward to today: Foursquare recently raised a large round of funding valuing them . And Facebook is killing off Places. To be clear, Facebook is not ducking out of the location game itself. In fact, you could say that they’re doubling-down on it. But they are moving away from the game that the “check-in” services have been playing. And a result of that is Places being killed off and being replaced by new “Nearby” area, along with the bigger privacy changes today. Reading over Facebook’s on the location changes, it wasn’t entirely clear what these changes meant for the concept of the check-in itself. But appears to make it a little more clear. As I read it, check-ins will remain as a part of the product, but they’ll no longer be emphasized. It seems that the hope is that people will move away from thinking of location in terms of “checking in” and instead think about it in terms of tagging your location to what ever it is you’re doing — sharing a thought, posting a picture, etc. As the new location page makes clear, Facebook now views location usage in three main ways: Past. Present. Future. This is smart, as it’s something none of the other location services have really nailed yet. And now that location is being emphasized on every Facebook action (though it can easily be turned off) — and not just on mobile — a lot of people are going to use it. Location as a layer of context is about to get a big upgrade. All of this is also smart from a location-based advertising strategy. It’s more data and more strong signals. What I’m not yet clear on is what this means for Facebook’s location-based deals service. Launched alongside Places last year, it would seem that this never really took off. And Facebook doesn’t mention it today. I’ve reached out to them to clarify. The video on the location info page details how location tagging will work. The default on facebook.com appears to be city-level, and there’s a secondary location button to add an actual venue (which is then inserted into your status message). You can also add location to photos you’ve already posted. The video also points out that on mobile devices there will still be a check-in button, but the functionality will be different. It apparently will only exist as a part of a status update and there will be no more big blue “Check In” button that inserts your check-in into a stream of other check-ins (and again, no more Places area itself). Instead, once you select a place, it will simply be tacked on to the end of your status message. Location sharing will also be tied to the more direct and simplified privacy changes Facebook outlined today. : Here’s what Facebook has to say on the check-in deals: Once someone tags where they are on Facebook, they will be directed to the News Feed. If the Place is offering a Check-in Deal, the title of the deal will appear below the News Feed story. You’ll then be able to click on the deal title and will then be taken to the claim flow. Below, find the flow diagram of how it will now work. |
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