Augmented reality (AR), the mixing of real-world data with computer-generated information, is currently a hot topic in the web world and is poised to play an even bigger role in the very near future. And cell phones in particular seem to be especially suitable as AR vehicles, meaning the devices will make it possible to impose graphical layers over real-world images while on the go. → Read More
The second batch of 150 tickets to attend our 4th annual summer outing on July 10 at August Capital are available now, courtesy of Eventbrite. They’ll go fast so grab them now. Update: This batch is sold out.
We are also selling tickets for our Real Time Stream CrunchUp earlier that day (a CrunchUp ticket includes entry to the party as well). The CrunchUp is a mini-conference exploring all aspects of the real time stream and its impact on everything from information consumption and search to media and business.
The lineup of speakers includes founders, CEOs, and top engineers from Twitter, Facebook, Friendfeed, Google, Salesforce, Tweetdeck, Seesmic, Collecta, Qik, and more. It is amazing how much activity is going on in this area. The number of stealth companies and products that want to launch at the event alone is overwhelming, and we are working hard to fit as many of them as we can into the schedule. (More details soon).
Friday, July 10
5:30 – 10:00 pm
2480 Sand Hill Road, Menlo Park, CA
Tickets are $20 to help manage the guest list and minimize no shows. Due to extremely limited availability, we regret that tickets are non-transferrable and non-refundable. If you use your name to purchase multiple tickets, your guests must arrive with you to check in at the door. Additional tickets will be released over the next two weeks.
As usual, there will be lots of start-up demos, giveaways, drinks and fun. CrunchUp tickets include expedited entry to the August Capital outing.
Demo tables, photowalls, games and other sponsorships are available to make a memorable impression with MeetUp attendees. Please contact Jeanne Logozzo or Heather Harde to learn more about sponsorship packages and custom opportunities. → Read More
Glam Media, a distributed media network comprised of both its own properties and a publisher network of hundreds of lifestyle websites and blogs, is looking to build an advertising network powered by Twitter.
We know this because a number of third-party Twitter app developers have received an e-mail this morning from Derek Houdyshell, Network Sales and Program Director for the California company, and one of them forwarded that e-mail to us.
This is what the message reads: → Read More
Fujitsu Laboratories, the company’s R&D subsidiary, has announced the development [press release in English] of a transistor for the power supply units of servers that can help reduce electricity consumption of computer hardware and home electronics significantly. → Read More
Distributed call-center outsourcing service LiveOps has launched Livework, new venture that uses crowdsourcing to manage and implement a workforce in the cloud. Livework lets businesses outsource process work to distributed teams of experts and agents, all in a dynamic, on-demand environment in the cloud. Livework is basically a marketplace for outsourcing projects. Any client can advertise the need for virtual work on the platform and work providers can find projects or advertise their services on the site. Companies can operate virtual service storefront, and can bid for workers. Each worker’s profile includes information about their work history, reputation etc. Launched a few months ago, Livework’s marketplace is powered by Liveops’ 20,000 U.S. home based telephone workers. Their service operates as a performance based auction, routing incoming calls to the best performing worker available. Livework uses the results-based routing to schedule works. The top agents make three times more than the average agent. Liveops says the the marketplace is getting about 3,000 applications for work per week but only 50 agents are accepted per week. Businesses can have real-time visibility on work progress on the platform and have the ability to create reports at any time. Liveops takes a cut of the money a business pays to outsourcers. It seems that Liveops is launching this service in an environment that is ripe for the offering. More and more companies are looking to the cloud as a platform for operations and Liveops is offering a place for workers to find work in an economy where unemployment rates are peaking. Competitors to Liveops include Skyclick and oDesk. CrunchBase Information LiveOps Information provided by CrunchBase → Read More
Michael Jackson’s unfortunate passing is a sad event on many levels, and a moment to reflect upon the man’s rich life and career as well as a time to pass support – silent or loud – onto his family, friends and everyone who needs it now that the King of Pop has ceased to be.
For us here at TechCrunch, it’s also an opportunity to take a look at how media, old and new alike, handle news reporting and distribution in this day and age (as well as a sneak peek at how it’ll likely evolve in the near future).
Like many others, I had Twitter open in one of my browser tabs when the first reports of Jackson’s hospitalization and at the time rumored cardiac arrest started circulating. At first, there was no indication that the news had been confirmed by anyone and people were just frantically retweeting messages carrying lots of question marks while trying to find an online news source to serve as a beacon for further updates on the story. → Read More
I’m not a svelte man anymore, I’ll admit. Two kids – I ate them both – and lots of beer have forced my metabolism to run, cowering, resulting in size changes that would swallow the average man. This product is what I need. The BodyTrace is a wireless scale that sends your shame to the Internet, allowing you to follow your slow decline – or incline – into our out of lassitude. It will be available in November for $119 and it costs $19.99 for a three month weight loss subscription. The system also includes a grouping feature so you an add your friends and family to your fight – or even create social groups of like-minded fat losers – and the service also makes suggestions for eating and working out. You can also upload progress pictures and cry when they never change, not once. → Read More
Our posts earlier this week about the alarming amount of click fraud at Facebook left more than a few unanswered questions. The problem is real and was confirmed by Facebook. But what wasn’t clear is exactly how or why it was happening. Now, after we’ve interviewed a number of advertisers and fraudsters, we know exactly how and why they are doing it.
First the why. Click fraud is serious business on the big search engine advertising networks because the bad guys can make serious money. Sign up for an Adsense account and put those ads on parked domain names or wherever. Then all you have to do is start clicking those ads like crazy, using bots or cheap labor. The search engines fight this via obvious and not so obvious means, and an arms race begins. To win you need access to a lot of good IP addresses and not get too greedy. And like inflation and the government, a little click fraud is tolerated by Google and others. It keeps the dollars flowing. → Read More
Apple is nearly tripling its stake in UK-based Imagination Technologies, boosting its interest to 9.5 percent with the purchase of 2.2 million new shares at £1.4275 ($2.35) each – the mid market close price on 25 June – and another 11.52 million shares.
In total, Apple is spending £3.14 million (approx. $5.17 million) for the new shares, exactly the same amount it paid last December when it purchased a 3.6 percent stake in the microchip maker. → Read More
Okay, the situation surrounding the App Store and its approval process continues to get weirder and weirder.
As you may have heard, an application featuring nudity first appeared in the App Store yesterday. Today, that app was removed, which everyone presumed was a move by Apple. But the developers said that the removal was its own doing because its servers were getting slammed with picture requests. Then more applications claiming to have nude photos started appearing. And now Apple is apparently saying none of these apps will be allowed in the App Store. But that seems to contradict its own rating system that now clearly allows for nudity.
This makes no sense. To the point where I’m not sure there is anyone actually in charge of all of this for Apple. Instead, I’m starting to think this whole system is run by a group of people, all with different thoughts on the approach Apple should take with apps. And none of whom seem to communicate with each other very well. → Read More
Twitter has a history of killing off features in order to stay up. And it looks like it had to do that again today, in the wake the avalanche of tweets that are flowing in following Michael Jackson’s death. Gone are Search and Trending Topics from logged-in Twitter account main pages.
It’s probably not that tweets that are so bad for Twitter right now, it’s the searching for tweets to get information about not just Michael Jackson’s passing, but also Farah Fawcett’s and Ed McMahon’s. Plus there’s a whole trend of celebrity deaths being erroneously reported that probably isn’t helping Twitter too much either. → Read More
Today, we got the latest version of the live-streaming app Qik, a version that will work on the iPhone 3GS. No, we didn’t get it through the App Store, because Apple or AT&T or both still won’t allow for applications that stream live video from the device to be accepted into the store. So instead, just like before, we have to settle for the ad-hoc version, which is fine, but severely dampens the application’s potential reach.
So how does the iPhone 3GS version of Qik compare to the one that worked on the iPhone 3G? Overall, video quality-wise, I would say the iPhone 3GS version of Qik and the iPhone 3G version look about the same. This is despite the 3GS having a nicer camera (3.2 megapixels versus 2). And even though the iPhone 3G didn’t have video camera capabilities, Qik was able to build its own encoders to use the regular camera for video capture. The iPhone 3GS of course, can do video, and it has APIs that give developers access to it. But it would seem that Qik is still limiting the quality of the video that gets streamed, to ensure better live performance. → Read More
I was not aware they allowed dementia patients unbox iPhones on camera. However, it is very funny. → Read More
Foursquare, the location-based social networking service, is about to activate Push Notifications in the new version of its iPhone app, due shortly. I’ve been beta testing it out for the past week, and I’m happy to report that it works brilliantly. But be warned: Some of you will not like this idea.
Applications using Push have been rolling out over the past week. None so far have been bigger than the IM clients like AIM and Beejive, as instant messaging is an obvious use of Push messages. But location can work quite well too, as Foursquare is proving, but only for a certain kind of location app.
Foursquare is all about explicitly “checking-in” places. That is to say, when you go somewhere, you have to boot up the app, load the site or send a text to let it know you want to check-in there. It doesn’t do it automatically, even if you have the app open. Because of this, Push Notifications make sense, since they ping your followers when you check-in somewhere. And you really shouldn’t have to worry about privacy because you are the one checking in to a place, on purpose, to let the people you know — that you personally allowed to let follow you — see where you are. → Read More
Brand loyalty is a powerful thing, especially when it comes to technology. Consider the battle brewing now between Google and Microsoft’s new search engine, Bing. Even if Bing proves to be just as good as Google, it might not matter because of the strength of Google’s brand. An independent usability and consumer preference study, which we’ve obtained and embedded below, suggests as much. It was conducted by the Catalyst Group, a usability research and design firm located in New York City.
The study was an intense focus group in which 12 subjects were monitored with eye-tracking cameras as they conducted searches. Afterward, they were interviewed and completed a survey. Prior to the test, all the subjects used Google as their main search engine. Following the test, 4 out of the 12, or one third, said that overall they preferred Bing. The other 8 said that they preferred Google because they were already familiar with it, used other Google products, or that Bing’s improvements are simply not enough to make them switch. → Read More
Oh man, it’s hot outside. Maybe Al Gore is onto something. Just think that if you’re this hot, your computer must be roasting. We’ve got the solution: the Domino A.L.C. This compact liquid cooling system installs easily into even cramped cases. It’s self-contained, has an external LCD display, audible alerts, and works with both Intel and AMD CPUs. The best part? It could be yours for just the price of a comment. → Read More
Ever since I’ve been in Silicon Valley, I’ve heard mass anxiety about the state of higher education, particularly when it comes to training the next generation of tech thinkers, innovators and worker bees. But for all those speeches and pledges to change things, the situation only seems to be getting worse.
According to a new study released today by the Bay Area Council, the Campaign for College Opportunity and IHELP, some 40,000 new jobs are created every year in California that need people with degrees in science, technology, math or engineering. To meet that need the state would have to see a 90% upswing in these types of degrees. The study hints at a “devastating” impact the current shortfall of techy grads could have on the state’s $1.7 trillion economy if more people don’t go into these fields.
Of course, these groups recommend all sorts of investments in the University of California and other state education systems, but here’s a quicker, cheaper solution no one wants to admit outside the board rooms of Silicon Valley: Remove H-1B Visa caps.
The new study argues that international workers won’t be enough given the hightech explosion of jobs around the world. Ok, so let it fill some of them. Education is like the mess masquerading as the American healthcare system—there’s simply no quick fix. After all, the study doesn’t talk about a shortage in people going to college, just going into these fields. Is more money really going to change what people want to study? We need high tech workers: The India Institutes of Technology are graduating nearly 4,000 engineers per year who presumably would like jobs. And if they come here, they help build tech companies and we get tax revenue. How is that not a win-win?
Below is an interview I did with Hoffman about the topic a few months ago. He boldly argues that instead of restricting H1Bs, the government should just levy a payroll tax on them. That way there’s no argument that it’s a “cheaper” option for employers– it’s a pricey last resort, but one most tech CEOs would still jump at. → Read More
