Finance sites like Yahoo Finance and Google Finance haven’t changed much in the past ten years. The fonts are different. Maybe there’s some more real-time quotes and fancier, interactive charts. But at their core they all follow pretty much the same formula: dump as much data on the individual investor as they can and let them figure it out. Wikinvest, which started out as a crowd-sourced investing site, is trying to change all of that with a complete redesign that is being turned on tonight for members who log in.
Over the past two years, Wikinvest has become a great resource for researching stocks but some of its most interesting data was hidden away. It is not a daily habit like other finance sites, attracting only about 500,000 unique visitors a month. The redesign aims to change that by putting all of Wikinvest’s industry- and company-specific data front and center. Each stock page has a chart, key metrics, a news feed, wiki analysis, and opinions from bulls and bears. → Read More
I believe a new form of subliminal message has been discovered. Actually, it’s no so much subliminal as just constantly right there, but using the icons on your dock to spell stuff out is pretty slick. Or nerdy. I can’t decide. If only there were a word that combined those two things… other than my own name.
And… yes, I believe I’ve figured out a way this can benefit prime-time television as well! → Read More
If you’ve got an area you’d like to fill with shelving, this looks like a great solution — if you don’t mind the industrial look. And the brilliant part is that it takes almost no craftsmanship skill to make — just measure, decide on shelf sizes, then take a trip to the local hardware store.
Useful if your books are heavy or you’ve taken to collecting really big rocks. → Read More
The Redfly (or REDFLY if you like their all-caps nomenclature) is a great, well-made device… which only supports the ugly grand-daddy of mobile OSes, Windows Mobile. Sure, it’s easy to underestimate the venerable OS, but there’s a reason everyone’s excited about everything other than WinMo. With BlackBerry growing in popularity, it could be an excellent partner for Celio, whose market is being eaten up by netbooks and such.
Imagine a Redfly working with a BlackBerry Storm 2 — less crappy soft keyboard, more screen space, and no cumbersome extra interfaces. → Read More
You might not think that we here at TechCrunch have a lot in common with the band Blink 182. But actually, we do. We both now have our own branded TweetDeck applications. You can find ours here.
TechCrunch TweetDeck users will get all the features of the normal version of TweetDeck (Twitter, Facebook, 12seconds, etc, integration), with the added bonus of the TechCrunch Column, as an option. This column features tweets from TechCrunch’s writing staff. It’s seriously riveting stuff. Why just last night, our own Robin Wauters tweeted out, “Cleaning up disks, creating backups etc. Necessary evil.” → Read More
With ad pricing from ad networks changing constantly, publishers not only have to keep a pulse on revenue from impressions, but also on which ad network is delivering the best value. In fact, publishers can benefit greatly from diversification in this dynamic environment. PubMatic, an online ad optimization service and TechCrunch 40 company, is launching a new product, Ad Price Prediction, that matches the optimal ad network with every ad impression with real-time functionality.
Ad Price Prediction’s algorithm has been developed using data collected by PubMatic’s ad optimization service over the past three years. The company processes more than 100,000 data transactions per second through ads served for 6,000 publishing customers, and has applied this data to its technology to enable real-time processing. → Read More
Western Digital announced today that they are releasing an updated version of the extremely popular My Book World Edition, increasing the maximum capacity to 4TB, and adding a built-in RAID system for additional data security.
It’s interesting to see Western Digital blurring the line between external drives and NAS devices. I’ve had a couple of the My Book products, and found them to be reliable, but I moved away from them after setting a NAS up on my home network. However, when you consider the fact that the new My Book has Gigabit ethernet in addition to the standard USB 2.0, there’s almost no reason to buy a NAS instead of this drive. → Read More
When Facebook’s Vanity URL landrush kicked off nearly two weeks ago, over 500,000 people registered their new names in a matter of 15 minutes. Over the following weekend, nearly 6 million users staked their claims. The most desirable names, like ‘Jason’ or ‘Mike’, were snapped up in a matter of seconds (if they weren’t already registered by a Facebook employee before the landrush even began). Needless to say, a lot of people were left in the dust, forced to settle for something other than the vanity URL they’d been dreaming of for weeks.
Well, if you’re a member of the unlucky masses, here’s your chance to get the name you’ve always wanted. Sort of.
Developer Alex Gonzalez of Branch Interactive has put together an application that will allow you to to generate a Facebook application in your name, giving you the URL apps.facebook.com/NAME. So instead of Facebook.com/jasonkincaid, I would be apps.Facebook.com/jasonkincaid. Sure, it has the four extra letters designating it as a Facebook application, but it’s hardly an eyesore. → Read More
Wiimbledon is days away and we’ve got a ton of great stuff up for auction on eBay. If you want to play in the tournament this Saturday in Brooklyn at Barcade then sign up at Eventbrite. Otherwise just drop on by Barcade between 10AM and 5PM to enjoy all the fun. So, what’s up for grabs? → Read More
I’ve always said that the W-series from Pentax should be the only point and shoot in their lineup, but I, apparently, know nothing of marketing and business strategy.
Today marks the arrival of the optio W80. It’s not only waterproof, but now it’s shockproof, dustproof and coldproof. Dunk it under 16-feet of under, drop it from 3.3-feet high or subject it to sub-freezing temps (14 degrees Fahrenheit) and the W80 will keep on kickin’. → Read More
These 7-inch MiMo USB monitors aren’t NEW new but they are now being sold at ThinkGeek, which is new. Just a shade under $130 gets you a USB-powered 7-inch monitor with an 800×480 resolution. → Read More
The rumor mill is churning, churning. Not too much, though, because it only squirted out a little bit of Zune HD-related info: some leaked Microsoft documents say the OLED-screened, Tegra-powered, HD-outputting next-generation media player will be coming out on September 8th. They also say there will be 16GB and 32GB versions, which seems right. The question is, will it have the value to compete with the iPod Touch? → Read More
So one thing I’ve noticed when looking at the accessory packs for handheld gaming units, is that they usually have a bunch of crap you don’t need. I mean, who actually uses an individual plastic case for each of their games? It’s silly. The people at Penguin agree with me, and they’ve produced their “10 in 1 Travel kit” that appears to only have the stuff you actually want, and they skip the extra stuff to keep the cost down. → Read More
TechCrunch Editor Sarah Lacy’s book Once You’re Lucky, Twice You’re Good came out in paperback edition earlier this month. We posted some of the new Twitter history that she included in a new chapter included in this edition a few weeks ago.
You can buy the book here. But since most of you are way too cheap to actually pay for a book, we’re going to give away 15 signed copies for free (postage included!).
Here’s what you have to do – retweet this story using the retweet button at the bottom of this post (or just click here) by midnight California time tonight. We’ll choose 15 at random and contact you for delivery details. Good luck, and enjoy the book. → Read More
Who says that the zoo is boring? I would pay money to see a tiger play with a Panasonic Toughbook. Good money, I tell ya. [PSGallery=7l0ia10grlf] → Read More
Another public official of South Carolina shames himself: Governor Mark Sanford is extremely sad that he got caught cheating on his wife. The video is here, the transcript is here. Bottom line, he says “I’ve been unfaithful to my wife.” Read all about it everywhere.
All I’m wondering is, where’s South Carolina Attorney General Henry McMaster when we need him? Adultery is serious business. This is clearly, somehow, all Craigslist’s fault. For example, how do we know that Sanford didn’t meet his mistress in the adultery section of Craigslist? And also, can we please kick South Carolina out of the Union now? → Read More
Huzzah! After almost a year in development, the Novint Falcon has gone native with Valve’s Orange Box — that’s Half-Life 2, Team Fortress 2, and Portal. “Native” meaning that you no longer need a special version of the game to use the Falcon. What does that say to me? It’s time to really review this thing, since everyone involved clearly believes it’s fit for human consumption now. → Read More
I like the Apple TV as a device, but its remote is awful. It’s the same little dinky white one that used to come with all Apple computers a few years ago. While it’s pretty good for using the FrontRow feature on a computer, your computer also has a keyboard for navigation and things like searching — the Apple TV does not. And so the white remote by itself is painfully slow navigating the Apple TV. But with an update to both the Apple TV and its Remote app available for the iPhone and iPod touch, Apple has completely revamped the way you can navigate the system using gestures and multi-touch.
Watch the videos below to see it in action, but to say this is improved is beyond an understatement. Rather than clicking those little buttons dozens of times, you can now just slide around the iPhone screen to move around. And it’s much easier to get to the iPhone’s keyboard to do things like searches — a funtionality which is basically unusable with the white remote. → Read More
Here are some of the topics from today’s podcast… The new HTC Hero Nokia and Intel announce a “strategic long-term partnership” Sirius iPhone app Game Gun! Wiimbledon! LISTEN: Show Link | RSS Feed | iTunes Link → Read More
And just who will be the cover athlete(s) for Pro Evolution Soccer 2010? → Read More
