Well, it’s a big day for Microsoft! Their first official retail stores are dated and partially located, Gates mentions that Project Natal is coming to Windows, and now it appears that Apple has cried uncle with the Laptop Hunters ads. Actually, it probably depends on who you ask. Microsoft will say that its shopping farces were effective, not just on consumers but on the competition as well. Apple might say that their prices have become more competitive after a recent price drop on certain models, so the ads aren’t accurate any more — if they say anything at all. → Read More
While this keyboard would be pretty hard for any hunt-and-peck typist to use, it really is a great way of showing the power of some brands. The speed at which your mind can connect the lips logo with the Rolling Stones and R, or the swoosh with Nike and N is pretty striking. Lacoste took me a second, along with a couple others, but by and large these logos are pretty much adequate replacements for the letters of the alphabet. They’re just symbols, after all. → Read More
The short version: if you have the money to spare, these headphones are the only thing you need for your gaming and media PC. Logitech’s newest G-series lineup is impressive, but I noted when it was announced that unless you’ve got serious cashflow, you really need to look elsewhere. The most unabashedly luxurious option was the G19 keyboard with its built-in LCD screen, but I found it to be an immature platform and a memory hog to boot. The G35, though not without its quirks, is an absolutely excellent piece of hardware and though it will run you north of a hundred bucks, it’s probably the only headset you’ll want or need for a long time. → Read More
With the latest Harry Potter film already setting box office records, there’s no doubt we’re about to see a big surge in the public’s interest in witchcraft and wizardry. Unfortunately, Harry Potter fans will find a limited selection of wizard-centric apps the App Store: there’s currently only one official app available, and it’s mostly a promotional vehicle for the movie rather than an engrossing game. Fortunately, there are a handful of other wizard apps on the marketplace, and one of them — a free game called Magic Wars(iTunes Link) — may be exactly what you’re looking for.
The game was put together by pocketfungames, a Y Combinator startup that specializes in iPhone games. The company originally planned to focus on dating-based applications, but has since shifted gears, looking to take advantage of the fact that many iPhone games still fail to leverage the phone’s Network Effect and integrate social features. In some senses this is a return to the company’s roots, as it was was previously a developer of social games on Facebook. → Read More
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Tech jobs site Dice.com has recently released data that indicates that tech jobs are still largely unavailable. Dice reported that its available technology jobs totaled 48,993 in June, which is down 43.7% year over year. And unemployment numbers have hit record highs. As there are fewer jobs available, there is increased pressure on the unemployed or those looking for jobs to be able to access listings at any time, from any device.
Personforce, a startup that powers jobs and classified sites for VentureBeat, Business Insider, paidContent, the Harvard Crimson, the Stanford Daily and TechCrunch’s CrunchBoard, is launching a mobile jobs platform that lets any job board or career site to turn its website into an iPhone, Android, or BlackBerry app. → Read More
Short Version: When it comes to “pocket projectors” the BenQ Joybee GP1 is a smidge to hefty to put into your back pocket, but it’s a full-fledged DLP projector powered by LEDs and has a built-in USB reader. A native resolution of 858×600 (SVGA), 100 ANSI Lumens and a 2000:1 contrast ratio make the 1.4lb projector well worth the $500 price tag. I can now play my Xbox 360 from anywhere.
Update: We just got word from the folks at BenQ that the GP1 will ship with a software bundle that will allow users to convert any file into a format that the GP1 can accommodate, so no one will have to worry that their stored files will be incompatible. → Read More
The GP2X handheld gaming emulator gets a little more mainstream this week as a product now available from ThinkGeek.com. → Read More
Among the legion Asus netbook offerings (like Nintendo, “too much of a good thing” means nothing to them), the T91 has stood out due to its swivel-screen and tablet-like design. Whether a netbook version of the reasonably popular (and expensive) convertible laptop/tablets was warranted is really a moot point. Asus was going to make every flavor of tiny notebook they came up with whether it had a market or not. After all, netbooks didn’t really have a market when they came out, did they? → Read More
Looks like Microsft may well have a hit on its hands in Windows 7. In just eight hours, Windows 7 pre-orders outpaced the total number of pre-orders for Vista on Amazon UK. Vista was available for pre-order for a full 17 weeks, so this is something of an accomplishment for Microsoft. → Read More
NetVibes, the startup that lets you assemble all your favorite widgets, feeds, social networks, email, videos and blogs onto a customizable homepage, is rolling out helpful “drag and follow” widgets for Facebook, MySpace and Twitter tomorrow.
NetVibes has offered Facebook, MySpace and Twitter widgets for some time now. Once you insert the respective widgets onto your NetVibes homepage, now you will be able to click on any friend, screen name or hashtag in the widget, then drag it outside and drop it on your page to create a new custom widget. The new widget will follow a person or topic. For example, you can take the stream of a news source or friend from Twitter and create a separate widget that tracks only their stream. → Read More
I’ve been in London for two weeks pretending to be part of the Traveling Geeks contingent of bloggers. But really I’ve been doing some deep investigative work on this whole Last.fm scandal.
II showed up at their offices and guess what I found? A pile of servers sitting in a corner waiting to be delivered to the RIAA. Sure, they said they were just old servers… likely story.
I also discovered that Last.fm is getting into a new business: Michael Arrington Target Practice Kits ™. I got a demo in the office (see video after the jump). Ev, can I put you down for a case? → Read More
Can’t afford an iPhone? Don’t want to be locked into a two-year contract? Introducing “The Quantum” — just like the iPhone, except not at all like the iPhone. → Read More
VoIP startup Jajah has just scored major deals with eHarmony and Match.com, two of the web’s most popular dating sites, to provide online daters with semi-anonymous voice chat. The new features are part of Jajah’s ‘Platform for Dating’, which is also currently being tested on a number of other dating sites (though Jajah won’t name them, yet).
The new feature offers a good middle ground between the text interactions you typically go through on dating sites and actually meeting your potential match face to face. The integrated Jajah widget will allow you to talk with a prospective match though an online voice call, without having to divulge any of your real contact information should things turn messy.
Voice chat is a premium feature on both eHarmony and Match.com, going for around $5/month. Jajah declined to share any details regarding the revenue split between the dating sites and the VoIP service, but it sounds like the company is going to be generating quite a bit of money from the deal, especially given the negligible costs associated with actually connecting the calls. → Read More
In the region of 15 startups in London got a nasty surprise yesterday when it turned out they could be made homeless. Several tech startup companies had been paying rent to the company which managed offices in 19 Greek Street in London’s West End. But this management firm has now gone bankrupt. Meanwhile it transpired that the landlord of the building had not been receiving rent income from this, now management bankrupt firm, for some time. Many of the startups were also subletting some of their desks to other startups – but no-one knew this was effectively illegal under the terms of their contract. The startups had a visit yesterday from a ‘property security officer’. However, Paul Walsh of Wubud said the situation was likely to be resolved amicably. He told me via email: “I’m one of 3 companies sub letting but it’s all good as we’ll have a new lease agreement with the landlord. I have 6 companies renting desks in my office so that’s a lot of startups in total – not to mention the fact I’m operating 4 companies from there.” Walsh had previously advertised a desk in the building without knowing he was not allowed to do so. Hopefully the whole mess will get sorted out – or at least the startups will find some more office space. → Read More
Well, well! We heard it was happening, but I’d forgotten about it until now. And as I said before, you can laugh about it all you want, but I think it could be great. Having an idealized Microsoft experience available, the way Apple makes an idealized Apple experience available, will be invaluable to Redmond’s interests.
After all, they’ve got a hot new operating system, lots of solid hardware, and however you want to slice it, lower prices. That said, having one right next to an Apple store is pretty… well, bold would be a kind word for it, but you know what I mean. → Read More
Griffin Technology released a new iPhone app today called iFM Radio Browser that works like a search engine for radio stations. The essence of the app is that you can search for local radio stations (with the help of the iPhone’s built in GPS capability) and view what is currently spinning on any of the stations it finds in your area.
This is a new paradigm in station-flipping for sure. → Read More
ReceiptFarm, effectively a UK clone of the US-based Shoeboxed startup which scans receipts and send it back to you in a file of your choosing, has come out of beta and now taken the site live. I’ve checked it out and it pretty much does what it says on the tin. Although I think I’d prefer a service that did this with business cards… They are offering 50 TechCrunch Europe readers a 20% discount on their new service if they plug in the word TECHCRUNCH when they register. But that’s not the awesome bit. The awesome bit is that they are running a draw giving away a classic ZX Spectrum. Unfortunely people need to tweet using the hashtag #moonfarm. Queue howls of protest from Twitter users… That’s not a great idea is it? → Read More
Short Version: Friends, this is the nerdiest and coolest Nintendo DS Lite case that a Transformers fan could ask for. What kid (12-year-old or 35-year-old) wouldn’t want their DS too look like Bumblebee or Megatron? Do you see the stylus that each set comes with? Pick one up for your kid or yourself. They’re only $20. → Read More
I don’t post things like this very often but as it seems like it could help a few startups out there here goes. Let me know if you’d like to hear more about these kinds of schemes or not and I’ll give it some thought. There’s a fine line with this kind of post, but I’m up for anything promoting that helps the startups scene in Europe in the right way. Qualcomm Ventures Europe is running something called The Qprize Competition: There’s $100k prize money for a European startup, plus the opportunity to compete with the winner from India, China and the US to win a further $150k, for a total of $250k funding. They’re targeting very early stage companies, although it’s “buyer beware” in terms of what kind of pound of flesh they want form the winner. QPrize is a new global investment program with a (fairly low, it has to be said) $500,000 early-stage fnd for external companies and non-employee entrepreneurs. It is an International Business Plan Competition, with one semi-finalist for North America, Europe, China and India. Each semi-finalist will each receive $100,000 funding and will be invited to San Diego, California to compete for the Grand Prize. The Grand Prize winner will receive an additional US$150,000, for a total prize of US$250,000. Companies selected are those who haven’t raised any institutional funding. The key sectors are: Consumer/enterprise applications and services Communication devices Semiconductor and component technologies Mobile platforms Digital media and content Healthcare technologies and services CleanTech. The final date for application is July 31st, and all applications should be submitted via the QPrize website. → Read More
San Francisco, CA
