It’s the end of the year, and that means many publications are rolling out their annual “best of” list. I don’t know if *we’re* doing anything along those lines, but I *do* have a bone to pick with 1UP. They’ve a delightful little list of 10 things the Xbox 360 did to change gaming forever. You already know most of the list before reading it: Achievement Points, Microsoft Points (1UP calls them “convenient” to use across Microsoft’s various services, as if dollars can’t be used in exchange for goods and services…), Kinect, and general entertainment use (things like Netflix streaming). But the one thing that has my dander up? That the Xbox 360 ushered in an era of HD gaming. Ha! → Read More
A couple weeks ago, SimpleGeo launched a couple of their APIs, Context and Places, into public beta and they were told that was probably a good cut off point for new products before the holidays. But they didn’t listen. Today they’re launching a bunch of things right before holiday break starts for many people.
So what did they want to get out the door before the new year? The biggest thing is what’s known as JSONP / JavaScript SDK, which is a new feature of their APIs that allows anyone to enable location on any website they control. This is done with two things: GeoIP and the W3C’s Geolocation API. The former is a technology used while they wait for more browsers to adopt the latter. Essentially, it looks up your IP address on the fly and geocodes it. → Read More
Know about Uber yet? It’s one of those startups that I’ve been fascinated with since I first heard about it last summer. It lets you call for black car service via a mobile application, watch it come to you via GPS, and all charges are automatically billed to your credit card.
In the future I think the service could expand to let anyone become a “driver,” much like AirBnB lets anyone rent out their home like a hotel. For now though the service is limited to black car services and is available only in San Francisco (and one fun night in Paris). → Read More
It’s video time, folks. Here is the latest episode of one of our newest TCTV shows, Fly or Die. (For those of you paying attention, before it was called Death/Star for the pilot, but we changed it to make the name clearer). Fly or Die is a review show where Crunchgear editor John Biggs and I take on three new products and argue which ones will become huge hits or mark them for death. The twist is that an executive from one of the companies is watching the show and appears as a surprise guest. John and I don’t know who the guest will be until the end.
In this week’s episode, we talk about the prospects for the Samsung’s Nexus S Android phone, the Barbie Video Girl, and the AR.Drone remote controlled flying toy. The Nexus S is the latest Android phone (read our full review). I’ve been playing with a loaner for a few days, and it is definitely the best Android phone out there today. As you’d expect, the Google apps look great on the phone, especially the new Google Maps for Android with the 3D buildings. In general, it seems faster than an iPhone just in terms of the responsiveness of the apps and browser load times, and the apps are getting better. But the iPhone still beats Android hands down in the overall quality of its apps. Still, I would seriously consider getting a Nexus S. Biggs feels differently. → Read More
Parker for iPhone, a new app by Streeline Inc. developed in partnership with the Los Angeles Department of Transportation (LADOT) and Alan Cooper Design, gives drivers real time data about available parking spaces in L.A.
Streetline’s goal is to help communities cut traffic congestion, wasted energy, drive time, and noise and air pollution from cars… → Read More
Want to attend one of the hottest tech award shows of the year? Here’s your chance. The second batch of Crunchies Award tickets are on sale now, through Eventbrite. The first batch of tickets sold out in under 90 minutes, so if you want to come you better act fast.
Remember that nominations are still open and will remain open until Christmas Eve, when the clock strikes 12am PST. Everyone is eligible and encouraged to vote daily for their favorite people, products, and companies of the year.
The Crunchies Awards will celebrate the best tech accomplishments of 2010. The award ceremony will be held at the beautiful Palace Of Fine Arts Theater in San Francisco on January 21, 2011 at 7:30 pm PST, with our after party following right after at the Exploratorium. Along with our co-hosts, GigaOm and VentureBeat, we will announce the winners from all categories live on stage. → Read More
Berlin-based social games startup Wooga is rapidly turning into the Zynga for Europe. Its latest social game on Facebook, Happy Hospital now has one million players. And its Monster World and Bubble Island games both now have one million Daily Active Users each.
These bring wooga in a line with Zynga and EA/Playfish – the only developers with more then one game over one million daily players.
At Le Web I caught up with CEO Jens Begemann who told me about their growth so far and the tech scene in Berlin. → Read More
Tis the season to be suing the pants off your nearest rivals. Activision’s lawsuit against former Infinity Ward gents Jason West and Vince Zampella has expanded to include—you guessed it!—EA. Activision claims that EA “set out to destabilize, disrupt and to attempt to destroy Infinity Ward.” Ooh! West and Zampella left Infinity Ward earlier this year, and have since formed a company called Respawn Entertainment, which will create games for EA. Oh: the lawsuit against EA is worth a cool $400 million. Why innovate (or even iterate) when you can litigate? → Read More
Mozilla just released the latest version of Firefox 4 Beta for both the Web and mobile phones (Android and Maemo). The desktop version now supports the WebGL 3D graphics standard without the need for a plugin and syncing different browsers across devices is now an easier process.
But the feature that caught my eye is in the new mobile version of the beta. You can save any web page as a PDF, which is a handy way to read it later, especially if your connection goes down. On Android, you hit “Site Options” and then “Save as PDF.” The page is then available in the downloads menu → Read More
The Sony Bloggie camera is for taking pictures and videos with. It is my understanding that some people would be particularly interested in this hardware and so we are pleased to offer two of these items to two of our readers. Does that sound nice? Sure it does. → Read More
After yesterday’s slightly sheisty and very-much-controlled “leak” of a half dozen ultra close-up shots of the Verizon-4G-ready HTC Incredible HD (otherwise known as “Mecha”), I’m almost tired of seeing this thing. But for every tired Greg, there are a few hundred Android geeks just chompin’ at the bit for another spy shot — so let it be. → Read More
Do you carry an iPad? Do you need it always stuck to your hand? This is the product for you. This $60 case protects and attaches your iPad to your hand, ensuring you can be “that guy” when people mention iPads. I ran this old girl through her paces and thanks to a very special assistant I discovered that having an iPad stuck to your appendage is not a fun way to live. This patent pending device offers a more ergonomic way to hold your iPad and encourages proper posture, tapping, and Rolfing positions.
Why would someone use this? Probably because they were a doctor or something and needed to make rounds. Otherwise, this is kind of a hindrance to normal existence, especially considering the iPad is strapped down pretty hard to your hand. It’s not uncomfortable by any stretch, but it’s pretty hard to yank off if you need to get at your sidearm or katana.
For $60 this is a pretty pricey single-use item and I wouldn’t recommend it as an “around the home” device. However, if you’re using the iPad for any inordinate length of time on a daily basis, it’s worth a look.
Click through for my hands-on video. → Read More
Net neutrality is at risk, we’ve got representatives breaking down into tears on TV, and the world can’t seem to agree whether Julian Assange is a cool dude or not. Now that we’ve got all that non-sense out of the way, how about some important news? SillyBandz (otherwise known as “those wonky rubberband bracelets that are vaguely shaped like dinosaurs or milkshakes or whatever when you take them off”) is now an iPhone game. → Read More
It seems like it was only *the day before today* when in-game ads were all the rage. I even remember candidate Obama taking out campaign ads in one of those racing games. Those days may be coming to an end, with EA saying that micro-transactions, and not in-game ads, are the *true* source of additional revenue for publishers. That’s good news and bad news. It’s good news for those of you who *hate* to see in-game ads, but it’s bad news for those of you who *equally hate* having to pay 75 cents every time you cast a spell in an MMO, or shoot off a round of ammunition in an FPS. → Read More
Google’s next big revenue model? New York City landlord. The search engine just posted on its own blog that it has today sealed the reported >$1.8 billion dollar deal to purchase 111 Eighth Avenue in Chelsea, where it already occupies 550,000 square feet. As part of the deal, Google will be leasing out the building to continuing and new tenants.
Google also reports that over 2000 Googlers currently work in the building and that the company plans on hiring more to fill up the massive space — At 15 stories and 2.9 million square feet, 111 Chelsea (also known as 76 Ninth Avenue) is New York City’s fourth largest office building. → Read More
We’ve covered Tunerfish, Comcast’s attempt at social video discovery, several times. Incubated by the Plaxo team, Tunerfish made its real world debut in June; featuring a deal with HBO. And in August, Tunerfish released its first iPhone app, allowing users to interact with TV shows on the go. Today, the Tunerfish is extending its mobile platform to Android phones with the launch of a new free app.
Similar to the iPhone app, Tunerfish for Android allows people to share with a single click what they are watching, on their social network(s) of choice. Tunerfish also displays which TV shows are trending among your friends, which gives users a way to discover shows they are not yet familiar with. And users are encourages to check-in to shows and movies. → Read More
Polyvore, the startup lets web shoppers pull their favorite items any online store and mix and match to create personalized outfits online, is debuting a new analytics tool. Style Analytics provides retailers with metrics about their brand’s perception on the site.
The Style Analytics tool will rank brands on Polyvore based on engagement level with their clothing and accessories. The tool aims to be a resource for fashion companies to learn how Polyvore’s community are interacting with a brand. For example, Polyvore will let designers know how many “sets” are created with their clothes, what products are used the most in Polyvore sets and how the brand ranks compared to other designers on the site. → Read More
When SGN founder Shervin Pishevar took the stage at TechCrunch Disrupt this past September to preview his latest game, MiniTycoon Casino, he made a big bet. He predicted that the game would eventually be doing $1 million in revenue a month for the company. Well, the game launched in November, and now, just a little over a month later, they’re close. They’re on track to hit the number sometime within Q1 2011, Pishevar tells us.
And that’s possible because MiniTycoon Casino has already been a big hit for SGN. The game already has over 600,000 users who have collectively generated 300 billion chips. Some other quick stats: 400,000 virtual gifts have been sent. Over 8 years and 3 months is the total time spent playing the game in aggregate so far. And 76,000 friends have been “hired” in the game to staff the casinos. Business is booming. → Read More
Barely one day after the FCC passed a form of Net Neutrality, pleasing no one in the process, opponents have already committed themselves to repealing the “hostile takeover.” Sen. Jim DeMint, from South Carolina, has come out against the new rules, saying that “unelected bureaucrats rammed through an Internet takeover.” I suppose we should ignore the fact that AT&T, no friend of Net Neutrality, has been his third biggest campaign contributor over the past five years. But that’s just a coincidence. → Read More
A few days ago I was driving across the snowy Midwest (don’t ask) and watching the View (don’t ask again) while I was getting ready to check out of my St. Louis hotel room. The View has daily giveaways, and they vary wildly in quality. It’s basically like old-school radio-hour sponsorships where the ladies hawk a product and give it away to the audience and everyone cheers, but it’s really all a paid-for ad.
Monday’s was brought to you by Yahoo. They were touting Yahoo mail as the best way to keep in touch during the Holidays for, you know, all those people who don’t have email already. Since mail accounts are already free they gave away a purple “Power Stick” to upload your holiday photos into your mail account instead. As far as I could tell, it was just a purple USB drive. → Read More
