Founded by Steve Spurgat and Chuck Reina, New York-based and newly launched VYou is a combination of Formspring, YouTube and Twitter (“Formspring + video + crack.” is a popular description amongst its beta users). The core function of VYou is to enable a video conversation, allowing you to send and receive messages with friends and experts at your own pace. You can also follow users and create, store and share pre-recorded video responses accordingly. → Read More
About a month ago, we noted that LeWeb would be getting a bit more TechCrunch flavor this year. For the seventh iteration of the popular tech conference based in Paris, France, organizers Geraldine and Loic Le Meur decided to make their startup competition a bit more like a mini-TechCrunch Disrupt. That is, of the 16 startups launching, 3 will get time on the big stage to present in front of everyone and a winner will be chosen. And that won’t be the only TechCrunch influence felt.
As you can see on the just-released program for LeWeb ’10, TechCrunch names are all over the agenda. A group of us are slated to interview some of the big names in tech on stage during the two-day conference, which takes place on December 8 and 9 this year. And there seem to be a range of other interesting talks and panels as well. → Read More
Despite the technical arguments that T-mobile’s 4G-like HSPA+ network is technically 3G, T-mobile have decided to run with the 4G moniker, marketing it as “America’s Largest 4G Network” as they roll it out across many cities in the US.
To back up this news, T-Mo News have received a photo of pamphlet holder that shows off the new slogan (shown after the jump).
Despite the technicalities, T-Mo’s HSPA+ network is still faster than Sprints competing 4G WiMAX network, with a promised max download rate of 21mbps, compared to WiMAX’s 10mbps. → Read More
It looks like Windows Phone 7 is off to a good start — at least in Germany — with German operator O2 reporting that they have sold out of the first batch of HTC HD7 handsets amidst higher-than-expected demand, with sales in the 5-figure range. Vodafone Germany are also reporting that pre-orders are higher than expected, and are ordering more stock, while German Telekom are reporting strong pre-orders for the Samsung Omnia 7 and HTC Mozart. And, finally, German carrier E-plus — who carry the LG Optimus 7 — have said that the OS is receiving a “very positive response”, and that they are expecting to increase their stock in mid-November. The HD7 is expected to launch in the US on November 8 through T-mobile. [via WM Power User] → Read More
It was with much celebration that every geek’s favourite video player — VLC — made its way onto both the iPad and the iPhone, so it is with a heavy heart that I write this post.
Over the weekend, iLounge received word that Rémi Denis-Courmont, one of the primary developers of the VLC Media Player, sent a copyright infringement notice to Apple.
“Whaaaa!?” I hear you cry, “but that doesn’t make sense!” Well, the reasoning behind it is that it’s violating the GNU General Public License (GPL) that VLC is distributed under. → Read More
JAKARTA–It was only a few days ago I was sitting in a wheelchair getting a blood transfusion.
It was Friday night in Singapore, and I was at Clarke Quay– a pseudo-outdoor mall of clubs. It’s like a smaller scale version of the Las Vegas strip frequented by Singaporean college kids, goofy Western expats and hot Asian girls, mind-bogglingly shimmied into too-tight dresses. → Read More
Over the Halloween weekend, Phone Arena received word that Verizon will launch the totally lust-worthy Samsung Continuum — as well as the entry-level Android-powered Motorola Citrus, and the utterly forgettable Samsung Zeal — on November 11.
You can be forgiven for not instantly knowing what these phones are, so let me take a moment to remind you. Just follow me through the jump… → Read More
Above is the Team page for Synapse, the Pandora-like music recommendation plugin Mark Zuckerberg and former Facebook engineer and Quora founder Adam D’Angelo built in 2002, while they were in high school together. You can access the entire site through the Web Archive here. Aol, Microsoft and WinAmp all expressed interest in buying the WinAmp program and Zuckerberg and D’Angelo reportedly received up offers of up to 2 million dollars, which they famously turned down. → Read More
Last Wednesday, I got my hands on a new Meisterstück Le Grand Traveller pen. I haven’t touched my MacBook Pro since. It’s twelve months old. RIP.
Stop. Take a deep breath. Before my opening paragraph gets you all worked up, consider what I’m saying here. I’m saying that my TechCrunch options just cashed out and I’ve just used some of the money to buy an awesome new pen. And it’s beautiful. And I want to write a post all about how awesome and beautiful it is.
No – wait – I’ve just looked back at that lede, and you’re right. I am saying more than that. I’m saying that my new pen is so perfect in every way that my purchasing it spells the inevitable end of my MacBook. What’s more, I genuinely and unironically believe that the awesomeness of my pen is such that its halo effect will render your MacBook – and those of everyone you hold dear – useless as well. → Read More
It’s finally happened. MG’s love for all things Apple has manifested itself in physical form, and he now wears an iPhone to work every day. The doctors say we should try to make him feel like this is normal, so I’ve taken to donning a matching Android handset. Clashes are frequent — the hallway leading to TC HQ literally isn’t big enough for both of us, and the rest of the team is tasked with making sure we don’t push each other’s buttons.
Or maybe it’s just time for a special Halloween edition of OMG/JK. Click through this post to watch the video.
This week’s topics include the forthcoming Verizon iPhone, which seems to finally be more than just an Apple fanboy’s pipe dream. And who could forget the infamous white iPhone — the chink in Apple’s armor that keeps reminding the public that Steve Jobs is not quite omnipotent. We also discuss the company formerly known as UberCab, which is facing a new foe: the City of San Francisco. → Read More
This guest post was submitted by SGN founder and Executive Chairman, Shervin Pishevar. The entrepreneur and angel investor was a co-founder of Hotprints and Hyperoffice and has made several investments, including Nowmov, Aardvark, Thread.com, Gowalla, and Qwiki.
As an update to my previous essay on Democratizing Talent, I would like to introduce you to Josh Beattie. Josh is a 17-year-old director who uses standard equipment to compose his own music and shoot inspiring short films. Someone who read my Democratizing Talent article sent his video to me. He is additional proof of the web’s power to break down traditional walls and help talent rise to the top. → Read More
In a New York Times profile on Twitter co-founder Evan Williams, the company revealed a few interesting stats showing the growth trajectory of the network. Twitter now has 175 million registered users, which is up from 145 million users in September. That means the startup added around 30 million users in just under two months. And Twitter has added 70 million users since April.
This is impressive growth considering that Twitter had a total of 58 million users in 2009 (and 503,000 users three years ago). That’s a 200 percent increase from 2009 to 2010 in terms of users. And the year isn’t over—it’s conceivable that at the rate Twitter is growing, the company could be ringing in the New Year with 200 million users. So what’s contributing to this massive growth? → Read More
In conjunction with the company’s developer conference, PayPal announced a slew of news and product releases this week, including a new micropayments product and an apps platform for businesses. But tucked away in a release was another piece of news from PayPal that could be huge. PayPal just released a new version of its popular iPhone app that allows users to find businesses near their immediate location that accept PayPal as a form of payment. Launching in San Francisco initially, the feature encourages merchants to attract nearby customers to their stores by posting deals and promotions to the app as an incentive for customers to visit their businesses.
Customers can search by category and location, and find and select stores, services, or special offers. Users can pick up the goods or services in person, but pay the merchant using their PayPal app. Users can also use tags from Bling Nation, a startup that has partnered with PayPal to use the startup’s mobile payment chips to deduct funds from a PayPal account. → Read More
I read blog posts by Don Dodge and Glenn Kelman today about people jumping from Google to Facebook and it got me thinking about entrepreneurs.
Most people have an aversion to risk, my college economics professor told me. Which means they have to be rewarded to take on that risk. The higher the risk, the higher the possible payout has to be for people to jump.
We make risk/reward decisions every day, all day. Do I go skiing, and enjoy the rush of flying downhill even though there’s a small chance I’ll blow out a knee? Should I go to college or just get a job and start earning money now? Should I eat the high fiber and generally healthy thing on the menu, or go for the cheeseburger? Should I hit the restroom before the movie starts? Etc. → Read More
As promised, my guest on Ask a VC this week is James Chan of Neoteny Labs, an early stage investment firm with operations in Singapore. Chan isn’t some banker-fied expat, he’s a “son of Singapore’s soil” as he phrases it. He was educated in the system, served his two years in the army and got a scholarship to study in the US, part at Carnegie Mellon University and part at Stanford.
That scholarship came with a hefty price: He had to come back and work for the Singapore government for six years or pay hundreds of thousands of Singaporean dollars to get out of it. Yeesh, those are some strings, Pinnochio. → Read More
What you see here is part of an art project called Dead Drops. USB drives are stuck into walls around New York City and users are encouraged to connect and upload and download whatever they want. Knowing New York these things will soon either be coated in slime or filled with chork porn it’s definitely a fun project. → Read More
Halloween is an exhibitionist’s paradise, and nowhere do more (safe for work) exhibitionists congregate online than places like DailyBooth, a site which allows you to upload a photo of yourself, um daily.
YC-funded DailyBooth has decided to get into the Halloween spirit this year (or is just really good at spotting opportunities for marketing itself) and is running a program that allows users to strut their Halloween stuff using the hashtag #trickortreat. → Read More
Nearly a year ago, Microsoft pulled together a group of reporters for Bing Fall Release event. The highlight of the presentation was a demo showing off some nifty new features in Bing Maps. The problem? All of this stuff required Microsoft’s Silverlight browser plug-in to work. I berated the company for once again pushing users towards a more proprietary web. So today it’s time to laud them, as they seem to be backing away from that strategy.
During last week’s Professional Developers Conference (PDC), ZDNet’s Mary-Jo Foley asked Bob Muglia, Microsoft’s SVP of the Server and Tools Business, why the company failed to highlight Silverlight in a meaningful way this year. His answer was rather surprising. → Read More
The Quirky Contort is basically a four port USB hub with a trick: it also acts as a cable organizer so after you plug in all your goodies you can keep them all wrapped up and neat. The device costs $29.99 for pre-order ($35 when it comes out). → Read More
During the Back to the Mac event, Steve Jobs made a particularly witty remark that made the audience giddy with laughter:
“We asked ourselves, what would happen if a MacBook and an iPad hooked up? Well, this is the result, we think it’s the future of notebooks.”
There is always a deep strategic intent with the things that Apple does, especially when it comes from Steve Jobs. The first phase in “hooking up” that took place between the MacBook Air and iPad foretells a deeply converged future on many levels. → Read More
