The Network (that’s what I’m going to call all the “Crunch” sites from now on) covered the private beta launch of ZumoDrive last month, so there’s no need to get into details again, but we wanted to inform you that the service is now available to the public.
Update: Seems we jumped the gun on Monday, but everything is now live. Hit the jump for screenshots. → Read More
Mendeley, makers of a desktop and web application designed to make it easier for academics to manage and discover relevant research papers on any topic, has raised $2 million in early-stage funding from some high-profile investors, including Stefan Glänzer, early seed investor in and former Chairman of Last.fm, former Executive VP of Digital Strategy and Business Development for Warner Music Group Alex Zubillaga and ASI, the investment vehicle of Skype’s former founding engineers.
The connection with the popular social music network Last.fm doesn’t stop there, since the company is pushing to become the “Last.fm for research”, which means the startup essentially aims to enable academics to manage and sharing their research paper inventory and at the same time discover like-minded people and papers thanks to a recommendation and matching algorithm. → Read More
Panasonic, Philips and Sony today announced they joint forces to consolidate the Blu-ray licensing business. The aim is to offer a single license that not only covers patents for Blu-rays but also DVDs and CDs. If things go well, we as consumers could get cheaper movies, music or games in the process.
Full press release after the jump. → Read More
Nintendo today in Japan announced three new colors for the DSi [JP]: Pink, lime green and metallic blue. The new handhelds will be sold in Japan from March 20 and cost ¥18,900 ($196), just like the regular models in black and white. → Read More
This morning, Mountain View-based startup Appcelerator is taking the wraps off its second Preview Release for Titanium, an open-source developer platform meant to compete with Adobe AIR and the likes for building rich internet, mobile and desktop applications.
Titanium PR2 comes with a number of new features that are worth taking a look at, like an extensible Module API and built-in support for Linux and a wide range of programming languages like Python, Ruby and JavaScript in addition to C++. More technical details are outlined on the company blog Appcelerant. → Read More
UK start-up Imagini has secured a significant $13.5 million in a second round of funding (the first round was undisclosed). The additional investment comes from Horizons Ventures, NorthZone Ventures and Atomico. Imagini has an interesting technology called VisualDNA which effectively works out people’s personality types by presenting them with picture choices – instead of, say, asking users to type in their profile. The Flash-based quiz is not unlike a game, and can be quite addictive once you get going. The result is that Imagini says online retailers get a 37% uplift from customers after they get profiled. So whether you picked the Grand Torino over the Lamborghini really does say something about you. → Read More
The World Economic Forum has just published its annual list of Young Global Leaders, recognizing “between 200 and 300 outstanding young leaders from around the world for their professional accomplishments, commitment to society and potential to contribute to shaping the future of the world”.
The list of honorees, besides celebrities like Coldplay’s Chris Martin and F1 legend Michael Schumacher, includes a good number of people from the technology and Internet industry, so here’s a quick run-down of the names you might know:
Mark Zuckerberg – founder and CEO of Facebook
Kevin Rose – founder of Digg
Chad Hurley – co-founder and CEO of YouTube
Josh Silverman – CEO of Skype
Michael Birch – founder and CEO of Bebo
(more after the jump) → Read More
Google has released a new upgrade for its popular App Engine service that allows developers to pay to extend their application’s resource quotas beyond those that have historically been offered by the free service. According to Google this has been the platform’s most oft-requested feature, as developers with rapidly growing applications have been unable to expand beyond the set thresholds to meet demand. Developers will be able to set aside a specified amount of money each day, which will be distributed across fees related to CPU usage, bandwidth, storage space, and email (you keep any money that isn’t spent that day). For more details, check out the company’s blog post here. → Read More
We’re big fans of of Microsoft Surface, the interactive multitouch tabletop that acts a bit like an iPhone on a much larger scale (though the technology used is completely different). In fact, we like the Surface so much that we’re one of the few private organizations to actually have one. So today when I saw some new technology may well work itself into a future version of the innovative product, I was more than a little enthused.
The new technology showcased today allows Surface-like devices to effectively project two different images in the same space. One of these projections is shown on the display as it normally would be, while the other is projected through it, so that it appears on anything that is held above the Surface (watch the video if this doesn’t make sense – it’s very cool). The technology works by rapidly alternating which of the images are projected at a speed that makes the transition undetectable to the human eye. The technology can also be applied to a basic hand held electronic viewfinder that can shift the user’s perspective of the Surface image in real-time (again, see the video). → Read More
Last month we reported that MySpace was planning to launch a webmail service – a move that could instantly make it one of the web’s largest Email providers (provided a substantial portion of its users took advantage of the feature). Today we’ve received a number of tips that MySpace has introduced some new messaging features that indicate that the transition is well underway. Most notably, the site now allows users to send a message to multiple friends at once, as seen in the shot below.
The feature works as advertised: as users begin typing their friends’ names, an autocomplete window opens with a list of matches. Each picture in the ‘To’ line is a link to that user’s MySpace profile, which makes it easier to confirm that you’re messaging the right friend.
While the company wouldn’t comment on its webmail plans, MySpace has confirmed that the new feature launched today, and also detailed some of the other upgrades to the site’s messaging functionality. The site now offers an at-a-glance view of your sent messages so you can see if your friends have read them (frankly I find this feature to be a little creepy, but it’s not uncommon in standard Email clients). Users will also be able to attach video files to their outgoing messages. → Read More
Previously invite-only, the public beta of Quake Live – Quake III in your browser! – will open today. A countdown timer on the website indicates that we’ll all be able to “frag” each other, as you kids say, at around 11:00 PM Eastern tonight. Let’s all go fragging together, shall we? → Read More
Short Version: The HV675 walks the line between ease of use and speed when it comes to getting video content from your computer onto your TV. There’s no complicated networking to set up, no CDs or DVDs to burn, and most readily-available file formats will work just fine. → Read More
My Problem: I needed internet connectivity in my garage, which is the only thing on the first level of my house. Thing is, my garage seems to be built like a friggin’ faraday cage – the wireless signals just don’t survive the journey through whatever freaky space age insulation they used during construction. The router and modem are on the second level, and running ethernet cables across hallways and a flight of stairs seemed like a quick way to end up with someone busting their noggin. The Solution: the Belkin Powerline AV+ Starter Kit. → Read More
The Government has made a step-change in policy towards open-source IT. In a publication today, Tom Watson MP, Minister for Digital Engagement, has effectively said that open source solutions are going to be given far greater opportunity at government level. That means a number of thiings, not least of which is the opportunity for companies outside the usual coorporate IT structures to pitch for government contracts and also use government data in the open source world. He says Government will take “further positive action to ensure that Open Source products are fully and fairly considered throughout government IT” and “publish our data in terms of Open Standards” and even more significantly look for “the same degree of flexibility in our commercial relationships with proprietary software suppliers as are inherent in the open source world.” Read: Microsoft et al will be asked for more “flexibility”. Here’s the statement: Open Source has been one of the most significant cultural developments in IT and beyond over the last two decades: it has shown that individuals, working together over the Internet, can create products that rival and sometimes beat those of giant corporations; it has shown how giant corporations themselves, and Governments, can become more innovative, more agile and more cost-effective by building on the fruits of community work; and from its IT base the Open Source movement has given leadership to new thinking about intellectual property rights and the availability of information for re–use by others. This Government has long had the policy, last formally articulated in 2004, that it should seek to use Open Source where it gave the best value for money to the taxpayer in delivering public services. While we have always respected the long-held beliefs of those who think that governments should favour Open Source on principle, we have always taken the view that the main test should be what is best value for the taxpayer. Over the past five years many government departments have shown that Open Source can be best for the taxpayer – in our web services, in the NHS and in other vital public services. But we need to increase the pace: We want to ensure that we continue to use the best possible solutions for public services at the best value for money; and that we pay a fair price for what we have to buy. We want to share and re-use what the → Read More
We’re big fans of of Microsoft Surface, the interactive multitouch tabletop that acts a bit like an iPhone on a much larger scale (though the technology used is completely different). In fact, we like the Surface so much that we’re one of the few private organizations to actually have one. So today when I saw some new technology may well work itself into a future version of the innovative product, I was more than a little enthused.
The new technology showcased today allows Surface-like devices to effectively project two different images in the same space. One of these projections is shown on the display as it normally would be, while the other is projected through it, so that it appears on anything that is held above the Surface (watch the video if this doesn’t make sense – it’s very cool). The technology works by rapidly alternating which of the images are projected at a speed that makes the transition undetectable to the human eye. The technology can also be applied to a basic hand held electronic viewfinder that can shift the user’s perspective of the Surface image in real-time (again, see the video).
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4jrPHILnILo&hl=en&fs=1]
→ Read More
Apple has been a niche company for years that has survived by selling a few computers with a high mark-up instead of the industry norm of cheap systems at high volume numbers. It has worked so far, so why would the company deviate from the established path? It [probably] won’t. → Read More
Here’s how to disable the Tabs on Top feature in Safari 4. Open Terminal in OS X and type:
defaults write com.apple.Safari DebugSafari4TabBarIsOnTop -bool NO → Read More
After weeks of dealing with Firefox running like a pile of hot garbage on both of my Macs, I made the jump over to the Safari 4 Beta as soon as word of it broke this morning. All was well until I went to go log in to pay my gas bill, when I suddenly realized that I had no idea what the passwords were for my less frequently used services. 1password keeps track of all that junk for me, and suddenly 1password was no where to be found. I was alone. Fortunately, it’s a pretty easy fix. → Read More
Hitachi announced today [JP] it has developed a methanol-based fuel cell, which is 45% smaller than the company’s existing fuel cells. Hitachi also claims its quieter and “greener” than power generators fueled by gas or diesel. The 100W prototype can generate power for about 1.5 hours on 0.45 liter of methanol. → Read More
