Exclusive – SmallRivers, a fledging Internet startup based out of Switzerland that has developed a Web app called Paper.li that basically lets you turn Twitter streams, tags and lists into daily online newspapers, has landed more cash after inking a $1 million seed funding deal back in 2008.
Investing in this new round are a group of unnamed ‘reputed Web 2.0 business angels’ along with German investment and media group Econa and Kima Ventures, the early-stage investment firm started by French entrepreneurs Xavier Niel and Jeremie Berrebi. → Read More
Adidas has a hit on their hands, I think — not just with these “Wings 2.0″ shoes designed by Jeremy Scott. The Star Wars line of originals was also a huge hit. Custom, short-run gear like this is blowing up — even mad designs (like these) are going to find buyers (like me). Combine expert curating with the long tail effect and… yeah. Wings on your shoes. More pics below. → Read More
There are no maps for these territories, friends. Here is the first music video shot on the iPhone 4. It’s seriously a fun piece of cinema and really points out the blinding fact that the age of the huge video or cinema production is slowly but surely evolving into something much more streamlined. More details after the jump. → Read More
Let’s be honest; riding a bicycle is a great way to save money and the environment, but it can be dangerous at times. In some cities, it can be downright deadly. So what can you do to protect yourself? You could become a militant bicycle rider that hunts down bad drivers, or you could learn the safest route. The good news is there’s an app for learning the safe way to go. → Read More
Just a quick note in case you’ve been gnawing your keyboard in anxiety: yes, people are still working on making OLED displays better. And bigger. There have been scaling issues, but the big display companies have spent the last year or so fiddling around with the little tiny displays (and enormous ones) and as a result, have achieved some level of “know-how.” They are going to use this “know-how” to create “real products,” presumably OLED TVs and displays. But will they be 3D?! Inquiring minds want to know! → Read More
This is great. If it actually works, it’s like the Surfaceless Surface crossed with… I don’t know, Cooking Mama. Intel Labs’ Tabletop Computing is about natural interactions with real objects, on regular surfaces. Of course, I doubt your kitchen is naturally dark enough to support a projected interface like this one, but they’ll figure something out. Sure, it’s Jetsons stuff and we probably won’t see anything like it for some time, but remember this day, friends, remember this day when in 2025 you’re virtually mixing ingredients in the iBlender App for iKitchen. Intel and this lady did it first. [via HardOCP] → Read More
Not unlike Mark Zuckerberg a few years ago, a couple of British Oxford university students realised there had to be a better way to network online – but they took a rather different approach. After studying how their college’s clubs and societies worked – and running a few themselves – David Langer and Andy Young came up with GroupSpaces in 2007. Three years later they’ve expanded beyond university campuses to hit 500,000 group memberships and are now set to go international with the injection of $1.3m investment. The round comes from Index Ventures and leading angel investors including Dave McClure, Chris Sacca, Simon Levene, Meagan Marks, Ariel Poler and Quincy Smith of CODE Advisors.
This is the first investment announced from the new Index Seed Fund and as such Index partner, Mike Volpi, will take a board seat. Existing investors Stephen Bullock and Simon and Michael Blakey of Avonmore Developments also participated in the round. That line-up attests to the interest this startup is creating – it’s extremely rare for this many high-profile Silicon Valley angel investors to invest in a UK startup. The cash will be used to expand their engineering and marketing teams in both the UK and US. → Read More
Here’s a cool looking shirt from The King of Games, commemorating the 20-year anniversary of the Super Famicom’s release in Japan. Comes in either gray or white and you can pre-order for about $62. Wait..really? That’s super souped.
Click through to find out how to get one. → Read More
Ask any geeky dad and he’ll tell you that he did a fair amount of research for their stroller and/or car seat. That’s just the way our type work, partly because there are so many sweet stroller and car seats out there. With that in mind I present to you the 2010 Bumbleride Flite. But first, some justification. → Read More
Short version: A competent and useful, but ultimately limited handset. Recommended for GPS lovers, but not for Android lovers. → Read More
Wesabe, an online personal finance site that looked to help users better keep track of their spending trends, is shutting down. The startup’s homepage now consists of a letter to Wesabe users instructing them to download their account information by July 31, at which point nearly all of the service’s features will be taken offline and data deleted. The lone feature that will remain online indefinitely is the site’s ‘Groups’ page, where members can trade advice about their finances (this part of the site is being taken over by one of Wesabe’s current customers).
In the letter, Wesabe CEO Marc Hedlund writes that the site has been operating on a shoestring budget lately, which has led to both some poor customer experiences and the potential for security issues, which is why they’re pulling the plug: → Read More
A HREF=”http://www.crunchgear.com/tag/final-fantasy-xiv/”>Final Fantasy XIV for the PC now has a release date: September 30, 2010. There’s two editions, a standard edition and a collector’s edition. The standard edition will retail for $49.99 and the collector’s will go for $74.99. What do you get with the collector’s edition, hmm? → Read More
It’s summer and that time of year that August Capital graciously hosts us on on their fabulous deck so we can throw a roaring party that sends the VCs running from Sand Hill Road for the month of August. Actually, this year marks our 5th annual summer outing at August Capital and we can’t thank David Hornik and the other August Capital partners enough for keeping the traditional alive.
It’s also time for our summer CrunchUp, a one day conference held before the party. We started putting these together when we realized that people were traveling in from around the country just to attend a party. We decided we wanted to spend the whole day with entrepreneurs. First it was the Mobile Web Wars, then the Real Time Stream. This year, we’re really excited to announce that Stanford’s Arrillaga Alumni Center will host our conversation. → Read More
Well, it took a bit longer than other iPhone apps that aren’t, you know, the most downloaded apps of all time, but Facebook has finally today updated its iPhone app to be iOS 4-compatible.
A couple weeks ago, I ripped Facebook for releasing an update without this support (and a broken UI to boot). Competitors like Twitter and LinkedIn were iOS 4-compatible either before or immediately after the launch of the new OS on the 21st. Facebook version 3.1.4, which has just gone live, finally gets Facebook up to speed. → Read More
And so it begins. The European Commission this morning launched a consultation on key questions regarding the contentious issues of net neutrality and the open Internet.
The consultation covers such issues as whether ISPs should be allowed to adopt traffic management practices, prioritizing one kind of Internet traffic over another. This has become an issue with the onset of broadband and Internet services which require more bandwidth, such as VoIP or online TV. Essentially, the EC wants to find out whether these practices would create any problems (economical, technical or otherwise) and have ‘unfair effects’ for users. → Read More
Buried deep in the frozen tundras of a Russian podcast, Google’s plans for the next step in Android have been uncovered. I have to say, it cuts down on my excitement somewhat that with Android, you’re constantly aware of the improvements you’re unlikely to get. In this case, even the few 2.2 users out there are left behind. Here’s what we know. → Read More
A bizarre Tweet sent by video streaming technology company Move Networks have prompted many to wonder if the company is close to shutting down. The Tweet reads: “Want some slightly used company assets and some amazing video streaming IP rights? $150,000,000 and it’s yours! Foosball table included.” NewTeeVee reports that the company’s CEO Roxanne Austin, the former president and COO of DirecTV, is resigning and that the majority of Move Networks’ entire staff was laid off.
Move Networks allows broadcasters to deliver live and on-demand high-quality video to PCs and other web-enabled devices. As of early last year, Move powered HD video streaming for a number of major media properties, including ABC, Fox, the Discovery Channel, and Animal Planet and even acquired Inuk Networks. → Read More
Okay, it’s not really alive. They stuck a fork in that poor bastard for good. That said, they seemed to like the form factor enough to patent it — if not anything else about the device. If the dimensions shown here reflect what the device really would have been like, I miss it more than ever. Pretenders like the Kno will never win my heart, Courier! You’re always be the only dual-screen touch device for me!* *Probably not true [via TechFlash] → Read More
When in doubt, write about World of Warcraft. Jinx, the geek-friendly online store, has three new t-shirts that may be of interest to you. Unfortunately, they’re Europe-only, so you’ll have to get your guild-mate from Liverpool to send ‘em to you. → Read More
We have made the decision to focus exclusively on Windows Phone 7 and we will not ship KIN in Europe this fall as planned. Additionally, we are integrating our KIN team with the Windows Phone 7 team, incorporating valuable ideas and technologies from KIN into future Windows Phone releases. We will continue to work with Verizon in the U.S. to sell current KIN phones. These words from Microsoft serve as the epitaph for the Kin series of socially-oriented handsets and their ecosystem. It’s been less than two months since the handsets and service were announced, and rumors of incredibly low sales had us questioning the lifespan of these little guys not long after. Add to that the weird interface and inexplicable pricing, and it’s clear in retrospect that the Kins never had much of a chance. In fact, we heard the project was canceled before it was even officially announced. → Read More
