The second Microsoft announced Windows Phone 7 last month, the same question began pouring in en masse: “Will this run on my current Windows Mobile 6.5 device?” Microsoft was quick to crush everyone’s hopes , saying that no WinMo 6.5 devices were up to snuff. “But what about the HD2? That things like brand new and crazy powerful! Surely it must be upgradeable!”, said the masses. “Nope!” responded Microsoft. Then some pundit insisted the HD2 would be upgradeable (his insiders said!), then Microsoft denied it again, rinse/repeat/etc. While everyone else has been asking a bunch of silly questions over and over, it seems that a group of hackers have managed to get the job done. Unless this is a seriously well-executed series of fakes, you’re looking at an early, early build of Windows Phone 7 on the HD2. → Read More
So we know that Apple’s iPad has started shipping, and this morning the company also confirmed that the device will be on sale in all 221 of its retail stores across the United States as well as “most Best Buy stores” this Saturday, beginning at 9 AM.
Apple also said its retail stores will offer a free Personal Setup service to every customer, helping them customize their new iPad by setting up their email, loading their favorite apps from the App Store, and more. Furthermore, all US Apple retail stores will host special iPad workshops to help customers learn more about the product. → Read More
How to Train Your Dragon, from DreamWorks Pictures opened on Friday and promptly blew fire over most of the competition. Numerous outlets reported the film was Number 1 at the box office this past weekend, despite somewhat slower ticket sales than expected. → Read More
The European Commission and the U.S. Department of Justice have just approved Cisco’s $3.4 billion acquisition of video conferencing company Tandberg. According to the release, the transaction remains subject to review in Brazil; however, the antitrust approvals from the European Commission and Justice Department represent the final regulatory approvals required before the transaction can close. The deal, which was announced last Fall, is expected to close in the coming weeks.
Cisco and the Norway and New York-based Tandberg both develop competing tele- conferencing technologies. The release says that the European Commission took into account Cisco’s ambitions to incorporate Tandberg’s technologies to further “interoperability between its multi-screen video conferencing products and competitive products.” As a condition of the approval of the deal, Cisco is required to appoint an independent monitor, who must be approved by the Commission, to oversee the implementation of these commitments. Once the Commission approves the independent monitor, the deal can close. → Read More
The pending $30 billion merger of Comcast and NBC-Universal is going to complicate things for Hulu, the second most popular online video site after YouTube. Hulu is a joint venture between NBC, News Corp/Fox, and (since last year) Disney/ABC. It was created by the TV networks as a counterweight to YouTube, a safe place where they could run their full-length TV shows online with their own ads.
Comcast, however, is championing TV Everywhere, which is an entirely different model for professionally-produced Web video. TV Everywhere is going to put TV channels online behind a paywall where only existing cable subscribers can watch them. Once Comcast owns a part of Hulu, there will be more pressure to put parts of Hulu behind a paywall as well. One knowledgeable industry source speculates that “Comcast will push Hulu very hard to become an authenticated destination for TV Everywhere.” → Read More
The Zune HD has seen modest price drops the last few weeks with the Zune HD 32 now available at the ever important $199 price point. With a lite dose of speculation, it now all makes sense seeing as there is clearly a Zune HD 64 launching in the near future. → Read More
Browser maker Opera Software has released its latest ‘State of the Mobile Web’ report this morning, which is based on the usage of its Opera Mini browser for mobile phones. Each month, the conclusion is always the same: mobile web usage around the world keeps on growing and growing. In February, Opera Mini had over 50.5 million users, a 1.7% increase from January 2010 and more than 145% increase compared to February 2009.
Opera says that the 50 million plus users viewed more than 22 billion pages in February, which actually represents a 6% decrease from January (Opera claims this is because February only has 28 days compared to January’s 31.) Since February 2009, page views have increased by 200%. In February, Opera Mini users generated over 330 million MB of data, with consumption down by 1.9%. Since February 2009, data traffic is up over 164%. The top 10 countries for Opera Mini usage in February remained the same with users mainly centralized in Russia, Indonesia, India, China, Ukraine, South Africa, Nigeria, the United States, Vietnam and the United Kingdom. → Read More
So we know that Apple’s iPad has started shipping, and this morning the company also confirmed that the device will be on sale in all 221 of its retail stores across the United States as well as “most Best Buy stores” this Saturday, beginning at 9 AM.
Apple also said its retail stores will offer a free Personal Setup service to every customer, helping them customize their new iPad by setting up their email, loading their favorite apps from the App Store, and more. Furthermore, all US Apple retail stores will host special iPad workshops to help customers learn more about the product. → Read More
Avnet, a publicly listed global distributor of electronic parts, enterprise computing, storage and others products, has agreed to acquire Bell Microproducts in an all-cash merger for $7 per share.
This equates to an equity value of about $252 million and a transaction value of approximately $594 million, assuming net debt for Bell of $342 million at face value as of December 31, 2009. → Read More
Scripped.com, a San Francisco-based developer of online screenwriting software, has merged with competitor Zhura. Financial terms of the merger were not disclosed, although Scripped said the deal size is in the “seven-figure range”.
In addition to merging with Zhura, Scripped also announced that it has raised $250,000 in new funding from private angel investors. Co-founder Sunil Rajaraman remains CEO of the merged company, while Break Media CEO Keith Richman and co-founder and former President of BitTorrent Ashwin Navin have been added to its Board of Advisors. → Read More
Here are some stories from the past week on CrunchGear: PAX East 2010: It’s a 3D world, and we’re just living in it Why not a third iPad App Store post? Project Natal knows you live in a tiny apartment Turn up the mic, I can’t see Low-tech coffee: it’s the way to go → Read More
The iPad is coming alright – shipping notices have started popping up this morning, although I’d wager you won’t see the first ones effectively arrive until the 3rd of April. At launch day, expect at least 100 apps straight out the gate, and likely double that.
We got a heads up from Carnegie Mellon student Rich Hong this morning: he built a widget dashboard app for the iPad, and it’s definitely worth checking out the sneak preview video. → Read More
Never let it be said that I don’t admit when I’m wrong. I mean, granted, I don’t particularly like being wrong – and I especially don’t like being wrong in the full glare of the public spotlight. But on the vanishingly small number of occasions when – due to some inexplicable glitch in the universe – I happen to be wrong, never let it be said that I don’t admit it. A case in point… READ MORE → Read More
Quora, a new startup founded by ex-Facebook employees, has closed a first round of funding, and it’s a big one. Benchmark Capital has led the round and general partner Matt Cohler has taken a board seat at the company (Cohler is a former Facebook exec).
Both Quora and Benchmark have confirmed the funding, but they won’t comment on the size of the round or the valuation. Our source for the story says it was an $11 million round that valued the company at $86 million. Additional investors may join the round as well.
Elevation Partners was also rumored to have bid aggressively on the deal. → Read More
So you think you’ve got a bright flashlight. You got nothing! This guy built his own, with 500 LEDs (which consume a shockingly low 50 watts when it’s powered up. This guy is so good, he wasn’t just content to build the most ridiculously bright LED flashlight in the world, oh no. He also built a custom interface for it that allows him to make it flash, control the power levels, and even signal for help. So here’s to you, extreme flashlight guy. Sure, you did this a while ago, but it’s so cool it deserves a mention on a slow Sunday afternoon. [via Hack N' Mod] → Read More
The lack of Flash on the iPad is a sore point for many and often listed as one of its greatest potential weaknesses. Not allowing Flash on the iPhone is bad enough, but on the larger iPad with full-screen browsing, its absence will be much more noticeable. Or will it? Already the Web is adapting. Videos powered by Brightcove, for instance, will stream in an HTML5 video player when it detects an iPad. On the iPhone browser, the video thumbnail will open up the Quicktime player. It will also work on Android phones.
Brightcove CEO Jeremy Allaire is agnostic about the Flash Vs. HTML5 debate. “HTML5 is great,” he says. “It is an open standard, and firmly entrenched in the Apple device platform. Flash can’t reach those platforms for political and business reasons.” But HTML5 simply cannot do everything Flash can, especially when it comes to supporting advertising, audience measurement, customized players, and social sharing. So he decided to bring HTML5 video to parity with Flash for anyone who uses Brightcove. (Note that this is for videos playing in the browser. Brightcove already supports video playback in iPhone apps). → Read More
No Tegra chip for you! iFixit tore down the Nintendo DSi XL and found, not surprisingly, a bigger DSi. It’s running the DSi’s ARM processor and the motherboard is big enough to fit in the case, but that’s about it. Click through for more findings: → Read More
I’m beginning to be suspicious of the slow trickle of iPad App Store news. I mean, first there was a leak, then there was a slightly more comprehensive leak, and now there’s a video… I wouldn’t be surprised if people were to find iPads hidden among their Easter eggs later. Well, deliberately leaked or not, this video shows what to expect from the store, and yes, it’s almost exactly what anyone would have guessed.
It’s a little disappointing that they’re doing it in such a safe way, but I guess they can’t risk too much on a crazy UI when they’re trying to popularize the form factor. → Read More
Never let it be said that I don’t admit when I’m wrong.
I mean, granted, I don’t particularly like being wrong – and I especially don’t like being wrong in the full glare of the public spotlight. But on the vanishingly small number of occasions when – due to some inexplicable glitch in the universe – I happen to be wrong, never let it be said that I don’t admit it.
A case in point… → Read More
One of about a half dozen tabs that I always have open in my web browser on my desktop or laptop is Google Reader. Even though other sources such as Twitter and Facebook are now better at uncovering news more quickly, Reader remains a great catch-all backup plan for the content I read online. But I’m increasingly finding myself browsing for news on my iPhone. And sadly, all the Google Reader applications that have launched over the past few years have, in my opinion, sucked. And I’m hardly the only one who thinks that. But that changes, today.
An app called Reeder, by Silvio Rizzi, has always been a nice-looking app that syncs with Google Reader. Unfortunately, it has also been clunky, and slow, and lacking some features such as state-saving. But the latest version, 2.0, which just went live in the App Store last night, corrects all the issues I had with it. It’s wonderful. I have absolutely no doubt this will be one of my most-used apps now. In fact, I’m so sure of it, that I’ve already placed it on my the first page of apps on my iPhone screen. → Read More
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