So, yeah, there was a short-lived TF2 bug that allowed for unlimited sentry guns and dispensers. Want video proof? We got it. → Read More
Could Logitech have the best customer service in the tech world? Maybe, maybe… → Read More
In December, Google touted a big win for Google’s cloud-based communication and collaboration suite, Google Apps: the City of Los Angeles planned to equip its 34,000 employees with Google Apps. This would replace Novell’s GroupWise system, the e-mail technology provider that LA had previously been using. LA had evaluated 14 e-mail technology providers for a revamp of the city government’s communication and collaboration platform, and ended up picking Google Apps. The deal was reported to be worth $7.2 million. But it hasn’t been a smooth transition for LA to move over from GroupWise to Google Apps; and it appears that the City administrators are questioning the move thanks to productivity, security and slowness issues with Google Apps.
In an inter-departmental correspondence sent from LA City Administrative Officer Miguel Santana to the Chair of the Information Technology and Government Affairs Committee in mid-April, Santana wrote that current pilot users of Google Apps were experiencing “issues and problems that have negatively affected their productivity and department operations,” which could cause the delay of the Citywide implementation of the “Google system.” → Read More
Almost exactly one month ago, Verizon added Push-to-talk support to the BlackBerry Tour! Hurray! Unfortunately, it cost $5 extra a month. Un-hurray. It looks like Verizon might be having a bit of trouble getting people to sign up — or, at least, they want to kickstart the number of people using it. They just dropped the price down to an always-welcome amount: free. But you’ve gotta act (somewhat) fast. → Read More
The next Call of Duty game will not be about saving Infinity Ward employees from Activision. I’m a little disappointed. → Read More
NTT DoComo, Japan’s largest cell phone carrier (55 million customers), is currently running a pretty bizarre viral promotion campaign in this country (both on- and offline). The company has set up a weird website [JP] that, for some strange reason, shows Darth Vader running around Tokyo and asking who’s his boss (“Who is my boss” is the official tag line of the campaign). → Read More
Call me a sucker for a Pathfinder, Casio’s monstrous sports watches designed for hiking, camping, and cage fighting. The PAW5000 uses the same quad-sensor movement as the other Pathfinder models including a digital compass, altimeter, barometer, and thermometer.
Instead of an LCD display, however, the central seconds hand acts as the main indicator, offering a physical view of the various read-outs and cleaning up the face considerably. → Read More
Your Canadian friends must be excited. → Read More
If you run a website that accepts Salesforce leads directly, chances are it’s running on WordPress. Chances are also that you’re getting emailed each of those leads, which you then have to copy-and-paste back into Salesforce, to put them into your system. Not anymore.
Salesforce has just launched a WordPress-to-Lead plug-in that allows you to place a sign-up form on any WordPress post or page, which then automatically puts that data into your Salesforce account. No more email required. It’s the first “Consumerprise” play that Salesforce has attempted. → Read More
We’re going to sit out the rest of the iPhone discovery because it’s basically throwing good bits after bad but read this line from from the Wired story on Brian Hogan, the kid who “found” the iPhone: → Read More
If you run a website that accepts Salesforce leads directly, chances are it’s running on WordPress. Chances are also that you’re getting emailed each of those leads, which you then have to copy-and-paste back into Salesforce, to put them into your system. Not anymore.
Salesforce has just launched a WordPress-to-Lead plug-in that allows you to place a sign-up form on any WordPress post or page, which then automatically puts that data into your Salesforce account. No more email required. It’s the first “Consumerprise” play that Salesforce has attempted. → Read More
Docstoc, an online document sharing site that caters primarily to small businesses and professionals, has just added a big dose of new content to its premium Docstore. Through a partnership with digital media distributor Overdrive.com, the site has added a collection of 100,000 books from a smattering of well known publishers as well as 150,000 new ‘professional’ documents, which include research reports, legal forms, and other content you’re probably not going to find sitting at your local bookstore.
Among the publishers that are included as part of the Overdrive.com partnership are McGraw-Hill, Random House, and Simon & Schuster. Included in the collection are book series like the ‘For Dummies’ books, Frommer’s travel books, and Microsoft guides. → Read More
Come May 25, you’ll be able teach that punk Anderson Silva a lesson. Well, on your Xbox 360 or PS3, that is. → Read More
Lala – where music will stop playing …
In a brief message that was just posted on the Lala.com website, Apple has announced that the service will be shut down on May 31st, 2010. Apple will not be accepting new users, and existing users will be able to log in only until the end of next month.
Does this mean we can start raising our hopes for iTunes in the cloud? → Read More
One of the most interesting speakers that took the stage at The Next Web conference held in Amsterdam this week was Robert Cailliau, a Belgian computer scientist who, together with Sir Tim Berners-Lee, developed the World Wide Web now almost 20 years ago.
After his talk, I had an interesting conversation with the man, which I captured on video.
I was admittedly a bit unprepared, but we talked about everything from his dislike of modern mobile phones, the way social networks suck you in and never let you out, the iPad’s browser and Javascript to Web browsers that don’t adhere to standards. For instance, around the 5:38 mark in the video he explains why he isn’t on Facebook: “I can get in, but I can’t get out. I don’t know what happens to my data.” He also has issues with Skype.
Needless to say, it’s something you want to watch. → Read More
We love cheap and functional projects and this DIY iPad case is about as pure as it gets. → Read More
It’s not only Japan, but Korea is developing advanced robots, too. Case in point: Mahru, the dancing humanoid, made by the Korea Institute of Science & Technology (KIST). And this robot is way more impressive than similar models we’ve seen before. → Read More
Well if that don’t beat all. Apple sold 8.8 million iPhones while Motorola sold 8.5 million last quarter. The crazy part is that those are all, obviously, iPhones while Motorola’s entire line consists of smart and feature phones. Including Droid and Devour.
Apple has eclipsed Motorola as the biggest mobile phone maker in the US, while fresh research tells us iPhone-driven global smartphone sales grew 50 per cent in the first quarter. Meanwhile, over half a million iPhones sold in just five months in South Korea.
App store analytics startup Distimo has taken a deep look at Apple’s App Store today. The number of iPad apps are growing rapidly since the release of the device nearly a month ago, with the App Store now counting 4,870 iPad apps. That’s a 32.7% increase in apps over the past two weeks. To break down the stat further, there are now 3,437 iPad-specific apps, with 1,433 universal apps that work on both the iPad and iPhone. You can download the report here.
Unsurprisingly, the largest application category on the iPad is Games with 1,577 titles (32%), followed by Entertainment and Books with 455 and 396 titles, respectively. From the launch of the iPad, gaming apps dominated the iPad App Store. → Read More
Just three years ago, IMVU was burning cash at a rate of half a million per month and still not profitable. The 3D virtual world, where souped-up avatars run amok, was gaining users but not on a path to sustainability.
Fast forward to 2010, IMVU is increasing its staff by 50% (going from 60 to 90 employees) and is on track to double sales this year. Currently, the company is at an annual revenue run rate of $40 million— and according to CEO Cary Rosenzweig the Palo Alto based company should hit a $60 million annual revenue run rate by the end of this year. For the last two years, revenues have roughly doubled from $11 million in 2008 to $22 million in 2009 and now $40-plus million in 2010. That’s a lot of real world dough for a company whose fortune is based on virtual currency and an endless factory of avatar accessories. IMVU says the next stage of growth will be defined by new international markets, Macs and of course, Facebook. → Read More
