When I added FilmLoop to the TechCrunch DeadPool last month based on rumors of mass layoffs, it was clear there was more to the story. The thirty person company had raised $11.5 million in capital and by any calculation should have still had at least $3 – $5 million left in the bank. They were trailing Slide, RockYou and Photobucket in their market, but had just launched a completely new platform that was getting good reviews. FilmLoop wasn’t dominating the market, but they were not on the ropes, either. More of the story has leaked, from multiple sources close to the company. Here’s a rough timeline of what appears to have happened: January 2005: FilmLoop raises $5.5 million from Garage Technology Ventures (Guy Kawasaki) and Globespan Capital Partners. May 2006: FilmLoop raises $7 million from troubled venture firm ComVentures. Roland Van de Meer joins the board of directors. October 2006: FilmLoop 2.0 launches. Company and investors are optimistic about FilmLoop November 2006: ComVentures, under pressure from its own limited partners to clean up its portfolio and discard any unprofitable startups, meets with FilmLoop to tell them they must find a buyer by end of year. The FilmLoop founders made it clear that they thought they had a good chance at success and did not want to sell. However, ComVentures’ ownership percentage, plus certain rights they have (called “drag along rights”), can force the other investors and the company founders to sell. December 2006: ComVentures proposes Fabrik, another one of their portfolio companies, as the acquiror. FilmLoop was unable to find any other acquiror in the last two weeks of the year. Fabrik acquires FilmLoop for little more than the cash ($3 million) that FilmLoop has remaining in its bank account. Due to liquidation preference rights, the founders and all employees walk away with exactly nothing. In effect ComVentures forced a fire sale of FilmLoop and Fabrik, another company ComVentures invested in, happened to be the only viable acquiror in that limited timeframe. FilmLoop’s desktop and other software will play a part in a future Fabrik consumer storage product. SimpleTech, also acquired by Fabrik and announced today, will provide another piece of the product. It’s clear that ComVentures had a significant interest in forcing a sale to Fabrik on such a short timetable, during the holidays, when competitive bids would be impossible to find. It’s also clear that this sale was → Read More
I’m no gamer but I love StumbleUpon Video – so tonight’s announcement that the crowdsourced video discovery tool is going to be available on the TV via a customized version made for the Nintendo Wii sounds like great news to me. If you’ve never seen StumbleUpon you should make sure to check it out; the company provides a browser toolbar that takes you to unexpected web pages that fit your interests as defined by your self categorization and subsequent thumbs up and down to pages served up. The combination of personalization and serendipity is addictive. The video section of the site doesn’t require a browser toolbar to use. If you’re someone who questions the quality of video on YouTube, some time with the collectively vetted selections at StumbleUpon could help change your mind. The company will host the Wii version of the site at Stumble.tv. More than 6 million Wii consoles have been sold since they went on sale last Fall. I’d love to embed a video of Conan O’Brien beating Serena Williams in Wii Tennis here, but it’s been taken off YouTube via a copyright claim. Thanks to all partied involved for stifling my creative aspirations. Sending video from the web to the TV is something that no shortage of companies are doing or are seeking to do. I’ve thought for some time that establishing content deals with hardware makers was the way to do this – but the more ways we see it happen, the more convinced I am that total openness is is inevitable. StumbleUpon videos are primarily from YouTube and Google Video but industry momentum is such that it should just be a matter of time until everything is available almost everywhere. StumbleUpon is celebrating its 5th anniversary tonight and is also releasing version 3.0 of its browser toolbar, which will integrate video along with standard web page stumbling. The company was rumored to be up for sale in November, but the sale hasn’t materialized. They’ve raised a mere $1.5 million in financing and generate revenue by charging advertisers 5 cents per visitor sent to their page inserted occasionally into the path of stumblers. → Read More
You may have noticed a few posts today written by retired TechCrunch writer Marshall Kirkpatrick, who recently left us to become Director of Content at Portland startup SplashCast. Marshall graciously agreed to come back and write for TechCrunch for the next week or so while I’m away in London to speak at the Future of Web Apps conference. It’s good to see him back in the TechCrunch saddle. I miss his writing and look forward to reading his stuff. → Read More
Distributed call-center outsourcing service LiveOps has announced the closure of a Series C round of funding for $28 Million. The round was lead by Benchmark Capital, a new investor in the company and a fund that rarely makes later stage investments. Benchmark’s investments in the consumer space, which more readers here may be familiar with, include Pageflakes, Bebo and Yelp among others. Palo Alto based LiveOps offers web based management of more than 10,000 home based telephone workers. Here’s what makes them interesting: their service operates as a performance based auction, routing incoming calls to the best performing worker available. Top workers participate in IM communities to discuss methods of increasing productivity and solving problems. I like seeing the web make work more interesting and perhaps services like this will help decrease the drudgery of call-center work. At the very least, it will likely make the business more efficient. Unlike previously profiled Sky-Click, an all Skype powered call center solution, LiveOps doesn’t use VOIP at its core. (Update: The company contacted me after publication and corrected this point. LiveOps uses VOIP up to the agent’s phone.) Prior to today, the company raised a $1 million A round and a $10 million B round from CMEA Ventures and Menlo Ventures. Former eBay COO Maynard Webb became the LiveOps CEO in December after being introduced to the company by Benchmark’s Bill Gurley. Gurley says Webb’s background, LiveOps’ early success and the company’s strong use of the web all made the investment compelling. Benchmark is also an investor in ODesk, another distributed workforce service for software developers. A big part of the belief behind LiveOps is that home based workers are happier, more productive and less subject to turnover than workers in traditional brick and mortar call centers. That industry is plagued by turn over, Gurley says, including churn experienced when one company finds a good city to place a call center and competitors all rush in. The combination of self-scheduling and the comforts of home with the management of competition made possible by the web and telephony’s evolution sounds like a strong approach to business to me. → Read More
P2P and web video sharing service Veoh will relaunch Tuesday with some important new features and a new look. Cynics looking for interesting video sites post-GooTube will find Veoh of real interest. The company has Michael Eisner on its Board, content deals with companies like Us Magazine and United Talent Agency and most important – some very good looking technology. Starting this week, all users of Veoh will be offered video recommendations using an algorithm developed by Ted Dunning, developer of MusicMatch (now Yahoo!Music). Pro users can charge viewers to rent or own DVD quality videos downloaded through the P2P Veoh player. Pro users can have their videos automatically cross-posted to YouTube, Google Video and MySpace Video and automatically transcoded to QuickTime for iPod viewing. Pro users will receive reports on the number of views and comments their videos have recieved across YouTube, Google Video and MySpace Video. This is likely to become a popular service; the viral video trackers at VidMeter will launch a similar service across 13 sites next week. Other new features will include a very nice multi-video embeddable player. The functionality isn’t as flexible as a number of other companies’ offerings but it looks great. Users can display their favorites or other channels they’ve subscribed to. http://www.veoh.com/seriesplayer_embedded.swf?inVeoh=false&type=uf&id=&user=marshallk&player=favorites Perhaps the biggest part of the relaunch will be the P2P Veoh Player. It will support full length downloads from Veoh, torrents, video sites around the web and any RSS feeds. A new browser bookmarklet will let you download videos from any site. The company highlights YouTube, Metacafe and others – presumably there’s some transcoding going on. The Veoh player can also be connected to your TV and controlled by remote. It’s like Joost for User Generated Content as well as select content partners. All in all, it’s a very impressive relaunch. Presuming that users are willing to download the P2P application to their desktops, Veoh could end up seeing very wide use. If it does well in ease of use (and it looks like it does) it could fit the bill as a top-notch one-stop video service. → Read More
If you don’t want this, you should seriously think about why you’re even at a website like this one. Made up of over 5000 individual bricks, the Ultimate Collector’s Millennium Falcon is the magnificent point where obsessive Star Wars geekery and perfect Lego hobbyism meet. For $500 you get the largest Lego set ever assembled, dedicated to building the most lust-worthy starship of all time. The Millennium Falcon is the pinnacle of what we all want our vehicles to be, from scooters to cars. We want them to be a character in our lives, to have their own personalities, even at the cost of a bit of carbon scoring. That is why this is not just the biggest Lego kit ever, but it is also the most alluring. (If any of your Star Trek types have anything to say about these claims, now is the time). Not only is the final model immense (32″ long is immense for a Lego model), but it’s designed to scale with Lego’s mini-figures, and includes Luke, Han, Obi-Wan, Chewbacca and Princess Leia. Fun fact: those five were never all in the ship at the same time. Ultimate Collector’s Millennium Falcon [Lego Store] → Read More
Electronic Arts announced today that it has acquired San Francisco based online karaoke site SingShot for an undisclosed sum. Kareoke sites are real crowd pleasers and this is the third in a year to be acquired. Fox Interactive Media acquired kSolo in April, then Yahoo! scooped up Bix in November. All three acquisitions brought experienced social media executives into the fold of larger companies – Nimrod Lev from kSolo, Mike Speiser from Bix and now SingShot CEO Ranah Edelin and CTO Niranjan Nagar who previously helped build Rhapsody Digital Music before it was acquired by Real Networks. The SingShot team will join the EA Sims Division, but EA says the technology “can be applied to several different community projects within EA.” That’s similar to what Yahoo! said when it acquired Bix. Speiser went from head of Bix to product management for Yahoo! Groups, 360, and Photos under the title VP of Community As a large company, it doesn’t hurt to have a nice, small, successful karaoke site in your portfolio – but what’s probably most important is the infusion of executives who have built successful social media sites before. → Read More
I like this idea of paint-on screens. It makes sense in that unobtrusive modern way. Granted most white walls would be sufficient for projection, but if you want something more specific consider this. The Mighty Brighty projection screen paint is highly reflective white paint. It’s that simple really. The paint starts at $190 and goes up to $580. Is it worth it? Probably not, but I still kind of dig it. Product Page [via OhGizmo via Gizmodo] → Read More
http://web.splashcast.net/p/ Neat video by Michael Wesch, Assistant Professor of Cultural Anthropology, Kansas State University. The video presents a broad overview of the difference between 10+ years ago on the web and the social web of today (“Web 2.0″) — focusing on how HTML was used for defining structure and stylistic characteristics (“form”), whereas XML has separated form and content, facilitating data exchange for all kinds of mash-ups. We’re seeing today with the “widgetizing” of the web that all kinds of content is being made available to be plugged-in to webpages — allowing for wider distribution of content. Michael’s video asks the question of who will organize all this data — and tells us that we will. He brings to light that with every link we click and webpage we visit — we are teaching the machine. It makes me think of the movie “I, Robot” or “The Matrix” — humans not working for “the man,” but rather working for “the machine.” In the movie “I, Robot,” robots eventually start learning how to feel, react, and eventually take us over. I don’t know the current status of artificial intelligence (AI), but I do know that there are over 2mm blogs created every month — most of which are people spewing about life in a wide-open journal format. Eventually, I would think AI will be able to sift through all this information and methodically sort it, understand it, learn from it, and possess their own thoughts and feelings — possibly even take us over! I’m sure there’s data to back me up on this, but today compared to 10 years ago — people are way more comfortable with the Internet and have less privacy concerns. Or at least the younger generations that have grown up with the Internet aren’t as concerned with privacy — and spew what’s on their mind to the entire world via the web. Maybe someone will be smart enough to learn / organize people’s thoughts / ideas / feelings and search will revolutionize from the poor “search results” experience we are complacent with (and have come to expect) — and instead we will each be empowered with the exact answers / information we are seeking at any given moment (using the collective information mass on the web). Editor’s Note: This post was written by guest contributor Steve Poland, whose blog Techquila Shots brainstorms web start-up ideas. → Read More
Over the weekend, some sites were posting rumors about a red Blackberry Pearl coming out. I e-mailed my peeps who do PR for T-Mobile and they say there will be no Blackberry Pearl in red or any other color coming out soon. Sorry office-working, corporate chicks – looks like you’ll have to settle on a black or white Pearl come Valentine’s Day. → Read More
The former heads of Gathering of Developers (G.O.D.), a video game publishing company, which launched in the mid-1990s before being bought out by Take 2 Interactive, have returned. Industry veterans Mike Wilson, the former CEO of GOD, and former president Harry Miller have officially announced the launch of a new independent game publisher, Gamecock Media Group. Said Wilson about the name, “Honestly, it is just a little bit of just having some fun and being silly. And I think the industry needs to lighten up just a little bit. Another part of it is just putting our money where our mouth is in terms of being a publishing label, and not being a brand that matters so much to gamers.” Currently the company has five titles in the works for next generation consoles, PC and handhelds including: Hail to the Chimp (Wideload Games), Fury (Auran), Insecticide (Crackpot Entertainment), Mushroom Men (Red Fly Studios), and Hero (Firefly Studios). Upstart Video Game Publisher to Focus on Small Developers [NY Times] → Read More
, we receive info that Microsoft is working in conjunction with Google, Dell, HP, Intel and Philips. A report in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer suggests that the companies plan to submit a new will soon submit a prototype device to U.S. regulators for testing. The report goes on to claim that MS will be developing the prototype and the rest of the coalition’s involvement remains unclear. The device is intended to take advantage of the new airwaves that will be freed by Feb. 2009 when all TV stations are required to convert to digital signals. In the meantime, Microsoft’s prototype device is said to be capable of sensing signals that broadcasters aren’t using and migrate to open frequencies. Microsoft, Google want FCC to test wireless device [Seattle PI] → Read More
LG and Yahoo! announced today that Yahoo! Go 2.0 service will begin shipping on LG’s mobile phones. The service is said to redefine the mobile Internet experience for users. With its unique design, users are able to personalize content and search efficiently with Yahoo!’s oneSearch function. The service also features Yahoo! Go widgets, personal channels for email, local information, maps and news. It also has photo sharing, which hopefully integrates with Flickr. It will be available in more than 70 countries later in 2007. More info as it becomes available. LG Electronics and Yahoo! Announce Strategic Mobile Partnership → Read More
Enterprise RSS vendor Attensa released a new iteration of its attention-data focused RSS service this morning. The race to see which enterprise RSS vendor can figure out how to drag the business world kicking and screaming into using a technology (RSS) that seems undeniably good for it continues. New in version 1.1 of Attensa’s enterprise feed server are the following capabilities, all of which are logical, smart additions to an RSS suite. Whereas the product previously shipped as a server with software already installed, the company now offers a full installation pack that can be installed on hardware purchased otherwise – as well as a fully hosted solution. The “virtual server” is intended to alleviate security concerns and the hosted solution is aimed at small businesses. Also new is the ability for department or project heads to determine their own teams’ selection of subscribed feeds. This was previously administered on one level, from the top down. A body of persistent search options has also been added to the feed server product. Both of these steps might seem strange to consumer level RSS users, but in some highly controlled enterprises, a free hand at subscribing to any and every feed they find is not what many companies seek for their employees. Attensa told me that one customer, a large bank, has bank tellers using their product just to receive promotional updates – whereas another customer, a pharmaceutical company, wants their research librarians to be able to subscribe to anything. Other changes to the service include increased sophistication in reporting, with reading habits reported and searchable down to the level of the individual, and a new administrative capability to allow or block particular kinds of RSS enclosures. Attensa faces competition in the enterprise RSS market from Newsgator and KnowNow. All three are very different services; Attensa focuses on automatic customization of reading lists and reporting attention data or user behavior. Any of these three companies’ products have the capability to revolutionize an organization’s relationship with information, yet it seems that none of them are selling a whole lot of product. Older companies are either going to start using RSS or they will soon have their lunch eaten by upstarts for whom feed reading is an important part of the work flow. → Read More
Designed to protect your precious, precious 13-inch MacBook, the U-Suit has a leather exterior and a hard-yet-lightweight ABS plastic material inside to protect your notebook from scrapes, bumps, dust and dirt. Because the shell is two separate pieces—one for the top, one for the bottom—all your ports, air vents and the optical drive remain accessible when the U-Suit is on. → Read More
I hate long video, but this was basically the only way to show you all what WinMo 6 would look like and include. Take a gander if you dare. The real meat is in the beginning, but it’s interesting to see all the improvements. → Read More
Anyone can put a boom box on the shelf and turn it on; but setting up a set of surround sound speakers, and getting the optimal audio fidelity takes a little more effort. Speakers are often considered the soul of your system, and generally 50% of your total budget should be spent on the speakers. The first thing to consider is the size of the room, followed by what you listen to the most. Are you rocking out, or watching chick flicks with a lot of dialog? → Read More
Perhaps imitation really is the sincerest form of flattery. Woo-Young Kwak, who is the head of mobile handset R&D at LG, says that Apple’s iPhone is a complete copycat of the LG Prada phone. Kwak goes on to say that they stole the design after the Prada phone won the 2006 iF Design Award. What do I think? I think it’s a coincidence and Kwak is acting like a big baby. But with two big name companies like LG and Cisco attacking Apple, maybe Jobs and Co. should start playing it a bit more safe when it comes to dreaming up a new product. LG hasn’t said anything regarding legal matters, but don’t be shocked if they sue Apple in the next month or two. LG R&D Head insists “Apple Phone Copied Prada Phone [Textually] → Read More
What do we know about Windows Mobile 6? For starters, it’s coming to the T-Mobile Dash before it comes to anything else in the U.S. and it’s also coming to Cingular, but there is definitely no real information on which handsets will run it. → Read More
In celebration of our deep appreciation for the TeleNav service and in recognition of its continued global expansion (US, Canada, Brazil, China, Italy and more to come), we’re launching a contest that will be open to anyone within TeleNav’s service range. To enter, send an email to contest at crunchgear dot com explaining your best stories of directional retardation (use the subject: “getting lost”). The winner will receive a TeleNav Bluetooth GPS Receiver and three months of service. The contest run from today until Friday at noon ET. We’ll post the best stories and you all will vote on the winner. So let’s get started. → Read More
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