Looks like massively funded daily deal sensation Groupon has turned its attention to the budding ecommerce market in Latin America. The company has apparently acquired Chilean deal site ClanDescuento and opened a new site called ClubeUrbano in Brazil.
We were alerted by Spanish-language press reports and blogs on the former news item, but were ironically made aware of its new Brazilian site through what will undoubtedly be one of its fiercest competitors in the country, freshly financed ClickOn. → Read More
Sometimes coincidences are almost too good. Is this one?
By now, you’ve heard the story about the unfortunate Apple engineer who lost his iPhone 4 prototype at a bar one evening. Gizmodo, the site which ended up purchasing the prototype, also outed the person who lost it: Gray Powell.
This evening, local Bay Area affiliate ABC7 led off their coverage of tomorrow morning’s iPhone 4 launch with the Gizmodo story. They then went to one of the local Apple Stores to interview the first person in line. What they failed to realize though just how coincidental this man’s name was. Yes, Gray Powell. → Read More
Since Chrome OS is an open source project (well okay, technically, Chromium OS is), it’s fun to take a look at the Google Code page for it from time to time to see what progress is being made. Most of it is tech-speak-heavy, but every now and again they throw in a nice little mock-up of some new features/functionalities/designs.
Tonight, we got a tip about how Google is envisioning Chrome OS to look these days. As you can see from the first image below, the design has been simplified quite a bit. While it’s still basically just Chrome (the browser), a lot of the unnecessary clutter we saw early on has been removed. As you can also see from the image, you’ll be able to browse without being logged in to a Google account → Read More
Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak is no stranger to waiting in line outside of the Valley Fair Apple store in San Jose; He found his way to the front of the line for the launch of the original iPhone, and then joined it again for the subsequent launches of the iPhone 3G S and the iPad.
It should come as no surprise, then, that Woz is camped out at that very location right this second, awaiting the launch of the iPhone 4.
Update: This post now contains video of Woz riding a Segway around a mall. In other words, it is now complete. → Read More
Remember those robed “prophets” wandering about WWDC declaring that the “end of native” was coming? Turns out they were from a company called Sencha and were foreshadowing the launch of Sencha Touch, a slick, HTML-5 based mobile app framework. Today the company is announcing some more exciting news: it has closed a $14 million Series A funding round led by Sequoia Capital, with participation from Radar Partners. Joining the Sencha board are Jim Goetz (Sequoia) and Stratton Sclavos (Radar).
Since it was founded in 2007 under the name Ext JS, the company has developed open-source JavaScript products that have been implemented by the likes of Best Buy, Juniper Networks, and Time Warner Cable. The company says that it plans to use the new money to expand on its HTML5-based products like Sencha Touch, which is aimed toward developing sophisticated web applications compatible with mobile, touch enabled devices, like those that run Android and iOS (you can see a screenshot of some demo apps above). → Read More
Can’t get enough of the cassette tape nostalgia products? Well buddy, forget those other ones, because this is the best I’ve seen — mainly because it’s the most like the real thing. As long as you don’t need to put your phone in your pocket or anything like that (why would you want to?), this seems like a pretty sweet accessory. → Read More
Look, I’m all for sustainable living and renewable energy sources, but I don’t let them get between me and a taste. Fortunately, most of the time, I’m drinking from reusable pint glasses or recyclable cans and bottles — so a little wastefulness here and there won’t break my moral bank. And these disposable wine glasses are just too ghetto-fabulous not to love. → Read More
Sandisk has created a new line of write once, read many SD cards, mainly intended for law enforcement. I suppose you could use one for taking pictures of grandma, but I don’t really see the point for personal use. Well, maybe for weddings and graduations and such, but part of the attraction of digital cameras is that you can erase pictures without worrying about it. → Read More
Internet Conga Line is a new take on the ChatRoulette phenomenon. But this time serial UK entrepreneur Alex Tew has approached the issue of how you meet random people on video chat without… hitting the masturbators.
On first viewing it appears there are actually four full video and audio chats going on. Personally I suddenly didn’t feel so trepidatious, as one does with ChatRoulette. As Tew says himself, “it’s a fundamentally different experience to meet people in groups.” → Read More
As brands and businesses flock to Twitter and Facebook, they are looking for ways to engage with consumers. Businesses are using coupons, personalized messages and more on social networks as tools to connect with prospective and current customers. Offerpop is entering the arena, offering a social marketing platform to help businesses create, run and measure campaigns on Twitter and Facebook.
The application is designed to be easy-to-use, with no coding or training required. Offerpop offers marketers a number of different apps to engage with consumers. The New follower app makes it easy for businesses to automatically send a welcome message or a special offer
to new followers. For example, you could send a special offer as a “thank you” to people who
respond to a “follow us on Twitter” program. → Read More
YouTube always has had a way with pranks. Some time in the last hour, the world’s largest video portal activated a new button on some videos that looks like a tiny soccer ball. Clicking it will activate an endless, incredibly annoying sound that sounds vaguely like a swarm of insects. Or, for anyone who has been watching the World Cup, like the dreaded Vuvuzela — an instrument commonly played in South Africa at football (soccer) games. South Africa is, of course, the host country for this year’s World Cup, and fans watching the games have been subjected to the vuvuzela’s mindless drone for hours on end.
The noise is so annoying that television networks have taken measures to filter it out, and guides have popped up showing viewers how to block it from their TV sets and computers. But despite complaints, FIFA has decided not to ban the vuvuzela because of its traditional significance. → Read More
Just a heads-up to let you Mac users out there that Counter-Strike: Source, “the number one online action game in the world,” is now available on Steam for Mac. → Read More
Well, it’s not going to win the Nobel Prize, but this little invention is one of those few that makes you think “wait, how come I didn’t think of that?” I mean, who uses those little strings anyway? Lots of people just take ‘em out. They’re vestigial, is what they are. Why not let the hoodie evolve? And a few whiteboard sketches later, there’s the HoodieBuddie. Get it, because of the earbuds? → Read More
Samsung dropped a few high-end feature-phones today into T-Mobile’s lineup: the Gravity 3, Gravity T, and the . “The , you say? Surely not.” But yes, the phone is called the . I guess if companies like Motorola get to choose all-caps for their product names, we mustn’t begrudge Samsung an emoticon.
The phones themselves are of the full QWERTY feature-phone variety, focusing on social networking and text messaging. They use T-Mo’s new “Social Buzz” feature, which has alerts and popups for social events like status updates and so on. → Read More
The iPhone 4 is trickling into people’s hands before Apple really wanted them to; but not everyone is jumping on the upgrade bandwagon. Whether your contract term hasn’t yet expired, or you just don’t feel compelled to upgrade to the latest device, we’ve got a giveaway bundle that’ll make you happy to keep using your iPhone 3G or 3GS! Headphones, docks, skins, portable power, and more: this giveaway is valued at more than $400. And you can have it all! Details inside! → Read More
Looking around the web, it’s clear that live video streaming is on the rise. News sites are frequently embedding breaking content, artists are live-streaming their concerts as a promotion vehicle, and celebrities are increasingly broadcasting the mundane events of their daily lives (apparently lots of people like watching that sort of thing too). But there are still plenty of question marks — what exactly do people want to watch streamed live? How are they going to watch it? And how does YouTube play into all of this? Last week I sat down with Ustream CEO John Ham who shared some of his thoughts on the future of live streaming and how his company would fare over the next few years.
Our conversation was spurred by recent rumors that YouTube may be preparing to launch a live streaming service of some kind. → Read More
It’s been a while since we’ve heard from Booq, but you may remember our reviews of the Mamba Shift and Boa Squeeze. The identifying characteristics of Booq bags are a slick exterior and pocket-packed interior, and the new Catch doesn’t disappoint there. It’s a messenger/shoulder bag with a bit of structure to it so it doesn’t collapse when empty. Personally I like my bags to be as big as the stuff in them, but this way is legit too. → Read More
You probably know that Yahtzee has a serious love affair with the original Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time. It’s kind of creepy, really. So it’s no surprise that he enjoys the new one, which emulates the original more closely than any of the other sequels. There’s still a lot to find fault with, however. Not sure how combat couldn’t be fixed after this long, though. Come on, guys. You do two things in PoP games: run and fight. You couldn’t get both to work? → Read More
San Francisco, CA
