Over the last few days, the TechCrunch tips box has been flooded with pitches from companies looking to capitalize on ‘Swine Flu’, the potentially pandemic disease that is currently freaking out a significant portion of Earth’s inhabitants. Now that everyone is stressing about it, what better time to make a buck, right?
First, there’s Flu Shirts, an online T-Shirt marketplace brought to you by some of the people behind Groopvine. The store has a variety of shirts mocking the current hysteria, emblazoned with taglines like “Maybe the Muslims were right about pigs” and “My dad went to Mexico and all he got me was swine flu”.
Then there’s Swine Fighter a Flash game from the guys who brought you HeyZap. Gameplay consists of clicking on diseased pigs to inject them with something and make them say, “Oink!” → Read More
You’ve likely already seen it, but it’s still a little unbelievable to me that Gmail included feces as one of its emoticons. If you haven’t seen it, go ahead, check it out, it’s there (the very last one on the bottom row). And now, we’re getting more emoticons — a whole hell of a lot more.
A new feature in Gmail Labs, Extra Emoji, adds dozens of these different colorful icons as possibilities to send via Gmail. Emoji is the Japanese term used for emoticons, which are hugely popular in that country. So much so that support for them was added to only the Japanese version of the iPhone. And it’s the Japanese who actually made this Gmail Labs feature as well. Specifically, “all of these extra emoticons are straight from the secret underground labs of some of the top Japanese mobile carriers, used with permission,” Google writes on its blog. → Read More
If what I’m getting out of the dubious Google translation of this page is correct, this freaky component is a heatsink for your CPU. But it’s so big, and the fan is… also so big! It looks like cool air is pulled in through the vents on the bottom of the four-barreled aluminum “T-Shooter” and blown out the top by a full-size fan constantly sucking air out of the pipes. Does this create some kind of cooling vortex? Is there really enough surface area? Can the heat possibly creep so high as to necessitate some five inches of heatsink? → Read More
I came across some very interesting news today. I was mostly minding my own business, hammering away at our various sources in the hardware industry and trying to dig up some sort of information on exactly when the Palm Pre (pictured right) might be launching, and how many of them will be available. Rumors are flying about both of those issues over the last couple of days.
And then, wham! A whole new rabbit hole to jump down. One of our better sources indicated to us that Palm is “very far along” on a second Pre-like device and currently has plans to put it on the market in the late part of 2009, possibly as early as the Fall.
This is too soon for a second generation device (Apple releases new generation iPhones yearly). and Palm won’t be expecting people to upgrade their Palm Pre to this new device just a few months after buying a Pre. It’s addressing a different part of the market. → Read More
Not much is known about the the upcoming movie of Wall Street 2 other than it will once again team up actor Michael Douglas as Gordon Gekko and director Oliver Stone. When 1938 Media’s Loren Feldman heard the news this morning, he decided to come up with his own script—on Twitter. Over the course of more than twenty Tweets, starting with this one, he roughed out the basic plot lines of the movie. Well, it could be the plot of the movie if Oliver Stone decides to make it about the Web 2.0 crowd. Something tells me that Owen Van Natta, Jason Calacanis, and Henry Blodget aren’t going to make the final cut. Well, Blodget might.
Below is a (slightly edited) version of Feldman’s Twitter script for Wall Street 2. I think Feldman should make a puppet version of the movie. (Script note: “Bud,” you’ll remember was the character played by Charlie Sheen in the original movie): → Read More
If a pizza box transforms into four plates and a smaller box for leftovers, I say that qualifies as a gadget. This thing looks a lot more practical than that cardboard PC we saw a while back. If this becomes a standard (and why wouldn’t it?), these guys stand to make a lot of money — like the guy who invented the little “table” that keeps the cheese from hitting the roof of the box. And more importantly, they’ll have saved a ton of paper and water due to lessened use of disposable plates and dishwashers.
Check out the video. It looks easy enough. And who doesn’t like tearing cardboard? → Read More
I came across some very interesting news today. I was mostly minding my own business, hammering away at our various sources in the hardware industry and trying to dig up some sort of information on exactly when the Palm Pre (pictured right) might be launching, and how many of them will be available. Rumors are flying about both of those issues over the last couple of days.
And then, wham! A whole new rabbit hole to jump down. One of our better sources indicated to us that Palm is “very far along” on a second Pre-like device and currently has plans to put it on the market in the late part of 2009, possibly as early as the Fall.
This is too soon for a second generation device (Apple releases new generation iPhones yearly). and Palm won’t be expecting people to upgrade their Palm Pre to this new device just a few months after buying a Pre. It’s addressing a different part of the market. → Read More
In case you own a netbook and miss watching your movies on it or burning data on DVD, there is now solution from Japan. A Tokyo-based company called Century has come up with a netbook stand that doubles as a DVD super multi drive [JP]. → Read More
Robin Klein’s open letter to the UK government about how to stimulate startups got a lot of response from TechCrunch Europe readers. We’ve decided to run two responses to his letter, making their own case for how government intervention should take place. The below is by Simon Cast, (@Simoncast) a freelance Product Strategy/Product Management analyst. The other response is here. TechCrunch Europe posted an open letter by Robin Klein of The Accelerator Group to the Chancellor of the Exchequer Alistair Darling and Lord Dryson Minster for Science and Innovation about what to do with purported stimulus funds. BVCA wants the money to go to large VC funds whereas Robin Klein wants to see the money channelled to supporting very early stage companies (amounts less than £100k). Robin’s logic and reasoning is sound and I agree with them. But it is not a good use of the money for two reasons. Tech (web) Focused The idea is far too technology (read web) focused. There are lots of opportunities throughout the UK for entrepreneurs to create businesses; many, indeed most, outside the world of the web. Why shouldn’t someone starting a lawn-mowing business have access to early stage funding as a technology developer? Both create value. We in the technology sector tend to be myopic about start-ups, small businesses and entrepreneurs. Richard Branson can hardly be accused of creating a technology business and yet he is by most measures the UK’s most successful entrepreneur. Yes, technology creates long term value and wealth, but the vast majority of wealth is created by companies outside of the technology sector using technology and not developing it. It is created by a lawn-moving business using twitter to alert their customers that their lawn is done and having a website where clients can go and book a visit using something like BookingBug to provide the functionality. The lawn-mowing business is creating value through better customer service and consequently generates wealth. Would a business angle or early seed stage fund invest in such a company? What about if it is located in the hinterlands of Wales? Relying on Judgement The mechanism for distributing funding relies on someone making a judgement call as to what is potentially a good opportunity. The act of making a judgement takes time and as many commentators pointed out in response to the open letter, time is very precious at the early stages of → Read More
Robin Klein’s open letter to the UK government about how to stimulate startups got a lot of response from TechCrunch Europe readers. We’ve decided to run two responses to his letter, making their own case for how government intervention should take place. The below is by Jens Lapinski (@jenslapinski), the CEO and Co-Founder of aiHit, a London-based business information company with VC backing. He was previously VP Analysis & Consulting at Library House, where he advised organizations on innovation programs and investment policy. The other response is here. What the UK needs is a large and sustainable investment ecosystem that covers seed, early, and expansion stage. For the last 50 years, various UK governments have experimented with a mixture of programs and initiatives. I suggest we build future initiatives based on the past’s success, not by repeating the many mistakes that have been made. 1) Seed Phase – Seed new companies by bringing back a modified SMART Award By far the most successful program that the UK has ever run in terms of giving early stage money was the £45k SMART Award program. The program required founders to invest £15k in their company and, if qualifying conditions were met, they received a £45k grant. This program invested in both startups and product ideas of established companies. The former worked well, the latter not. Later on, the program’s responsibility was given over to the regions and the brand was abolished. I would suggest revitalizing the SMART program with the following criteria: £15k own investment, £45 grant by government, provided following criteria are met: – Company younger than 18 months – Company less than five employees – This is grant money, not equity investment, not a loan The grant should be centrally administered. There should be no regional focus. All government loan or equity investment programs at this stage that I am aware of don’t work well. I would therefore make this a grant. This program’s aim is to help early stage companies get off the ground that then grow to employ many people. I would rate a success any company receiving money that lasts for longer than three years and that employs more than ten people at this stage. 2) Early Phase – Seed new VC Firms by creating seed funds in cooperation with established VC firms The key problem in Europe’s investment ecosystem is the slow birth of new VC → Read More
In an effort to spread the word about its Chrome browser, Google commissioned 11 short videos about the browser. My two favorites are after the jump.
I think the first one could actually be used as a TV commercial. It wins for best use of color. And the tune is catchy—makes me want to buy a Chrome browser. Wait, I forgot. It’s free. → Read More
One of the most social video experiences I’ve ever had on the Web was watching the Obama Inauguration speech on CNN.com alongside a live chat stream of commentary from all of my Facebook friends. It was like being in a giant living room that stretched across the country and hearing everyone’s reaction as the event unfolded.
The same dynamic on much smaller scale is happening with popular TV shows on Facebook and MySpace. Splashcast, which has created apps for about 20 different TV shows, two weeks ago introduced a new feature called Chatter into its embedded video players. For instance on Facebook it has apps for The Simpsons, The Office, Family Guy, and more. Once you install each app, you can watch episodes of teh show, many of them streamed through Hulu. SplashCast tells me that it is getting about 7 million monthly video views from one million unique viewers across all of its apps, with Hulu videos being the fastest growing proportion of that. → Read More
If you’re a social site maven who happens to be dying to dabble with the Pre, Palm wants to talk to you. Palm has just announced a “Real Reviewer” program, in which they’ll be giving a select chunk of socialites a “current-model” Palm phone (read: probably the Pre), along with six months of service. This is by no means the first time a phone company has proffered up a device in exchange for reviews; companies loan bloggers, journalists, and reviewers of other titles their latest gear on a daily basis. But that’s a bit different – reviewing stuff is part of our job description. That said, this isn’t the first time a company has opened up testing to the non professional, either. Nokia, for example, started up the “Nokia Pilot” testing program last year. However, I think this may be the first testing program specifically targeted at the Twitter/Facebook/Indie blog group – and if they pick their participants correctly, this could be a genius move. Major blogs and magazines carry a certain level of inherent authority, but any influence they have is rarely due to a personal connection with the reader. People tend to trust the opinions of people they know, even if they only e-know them. Get the kid who has (and communicates with) 5,000 followers to rave about the Pre, and Palm will have piqued the interest of a lot of folks they’d have otherwise missed. If you get picked, you won’t be getting something for nothing – but what they’re expecting isn’t exactly grueling labor. In exchange for the half-year of free Pre, they want you to share any and every thought you have about the device on your favorite social network, blog, or whichever other soapbox you prefer. If you’re interested, applying isn’t too tough. Answer 9 or 10 questions about yourself, ranging from “What phone do you currently have?” to “How would you describe yourself in 1 word?” (Ooh, ooh! Go with “delicious”! If nothing else, it’ll creep them out enough that they’ll pick you out of fear.), and then wait until Palm picks their favorites come May 8th. What have you got to lose? Sign up here. CrunchBase Information Palm Palm Pre Information provided by CrunchBase → Read More
As we first reported way back in December, Facebook Chief Privacy Officer Chris Kelly today officially launched his campaign for the office of Attorney General of California. You can find his campaign homepage here and, of course, he’s also vying for fans on his Facebook page (complete with custom Facebook application).
At this point Kelly has announced his intention to form an “exploratory committee”, and plans to remain at Facebook for the immediate future. Should he continue in the race (which there doesn’t seem to be much doubt of) he would take a leave of absence, when he’d likely be replaced with Facebook’s new Public Policy Director Timothy D. Sparapani, who Facebook hired last month in anticipation of Kelly’s departure. → Read More
Looking to take pictures of lions? Or perhaps neighbors half a mile away? Well, this 1200mm f/5.6L Canon prime should sort you out. And it’s only $100 per millimeter!
For telephoto enthusiasts — nature and sports photographers, birdwatchers, stalkers — this is the Canon holy grail. Unfortunately, like most holy grails of photography, it costs a mint due to being an extremely limited edition.
“More than twelve, less than twenty” is the official count. → Read More
Earlier this month, FriendFeed opened the beta testing area of its site to test a major redesign and a big new feature: Real-time updates. Today, it has removed the beta label from the new features, and pushed them live to the regular site.
Initially, there was quite a bit of concern from beta testers that the real-time updates were simply too much information being thrown at you, too quickly. But over the past several weeks, that talk has quieted quite a bit, and users seem to be acclimated to the live updating functionality. Of course, there have been some who also chose to use the regular, more static FriendFeed site still, so it will be interesting to see how those users react now. → Read More
Firemint, the company behind the best selling iPhone game ‘Flight Control‘, has put together a fascinating report outlining the sales trends the company has seen over the last month, from March 24 to April 25. The application has dominated the App Store over the last few weeks, reaching the #1 paid spot in over a dozen countries (though it’s currently fallen to #7 in the US). Since launching on March 6 the application has been downloaded over 700,000 times. It’s unclear how much money the application has actually made – it’s currently marked as ‘on sale’ for a limited time, but even at its current 99 cent price point the app’s developers will have made $485,000 dollars after Apple’s 30% cut.
For those of you who haven’t played it, Flight Control is a highly addictive game that involves directing tiny aircraft to their landing pads. The game strikes the perfect balance between accessibility (you can figure out how to play it in about two minutes) and offering a significant challenge. It may not be the sort of game you’d want to sit and play for hours at a time, but it’s a perfect diversion for the doctor’s waiting room or a bus ride. → Read More
Workday, a financial and human resources SaaS provider, has secured $75 million in Series E funding led by New Enterprise Associates (NEA) (which contributed $45 million) with existing investors Greylock Partners and Workday CEO and co-founder Dave Duffield also participating. Duffield founded PeopleSoft, which he sold to Oracle in January 2005 for $10.3 billion. The company has raised a total of $150 million in funding.
Workday, which currently has over 80 customers, plans to use the funds to extend its product portfolio and support the company’s expansion. Workday’s software, Workday Human Capital Management and Workday Financial Management, helps companies manage human resources and finances in a single system. → Read More
