We’ve had more or less the same comment system since the early days of CrunchGear, but what with the mothership switching over to Disqus and our own system creaking under the weight of tens of thousands of posts, we’ve decided the time is right to make the switch. If there are some issues with your comments over the next day or so, we apologize, but we’ll try to make sure the transition is as smooth as possible. It’s working through the backlog now: OH GOD, it’s going to take forever! And incredibly, it converts the most recent comments last! Yeah, that makes a lot of sense. Don’t worry, your old comments still live, and you can still comment in the meantime. Email us at Tips@CrunchGear.com. → Read More
Boticca, which launched out of London late last year, is an ecommerce startup which creates a marketplace for limited edition designer original jewellery and other accessories. Created by former Accel Partners associate Avid Larizadeh and co-founder Kiyan Foroughi it’s in a similar space to Gemvara and Jewelmint, but emphasises design, especially creating an emotional connection between its designers and its customers.
I met with with Larizadeh at DLD who explained on TCTV some of the thinking behind the site, which has been designed to be super user friendly and to tell a story behind the designs. → Read More
We’ve heard for a while now that Cisco plans to put out a Flip camera with wi-fi built in, but so far the rumors haven’t produced an actual product. Until now. → Read More
Two million! Good for Samsung! Although I can’t say I’d advise anyone to buy one of these devices, the Galaxy Tab probably was the best (if not the most affordable) of the 2010 stopgap generation of tablets. The sales of the iPad dwarf this, of course (nearly 8 million in the same period), but hey, like they say, first is worst, second is best, and third is… HP, I guess. Seriously, though, don’t buy one until you see the sequel, which might be announced in like two weeks. [via Electronista] → Read More
Mendeley, dubbed “the Last.fm of research”, is on a roll right now.
The startup offers a secure online database for scientists, academics and researchers to store their research papers in the ‘cloud’, making it easier to share those documents with peers. The system also helps researchers find and connect to like-minded academics in similar fields by looking at and extracting relevant meta-data from the millions of research papers stored in its database.
Last year it rolled out new premium packages after customers requested features such as more storage. → Read More
Sony has announced the PSP2 (temporarily named the “Next Generation Portable”), perhaps the final boss of handheld consoles. It’s far more powerful than its destined competitor, Nintendo’s 3DS, and incorporates social and locational data, 3G, a monster 5″ OLED screen, and a number of other features detailed here. It is to be one of the linchpin platforms for the world’s most recognizable entertainment electronics company, a stomping ground for new games, media, and services. And I think it’s going to go down in flames. Why? It’s got its competitor beat on nearly every spec, it’s got the backing of droves of Sony fanboys, and million-selling franchises just waiting to be put on its crisp 960×544 screen. How can it fail? I’d say by not addressing the fundamental needs of a handheld gaming console and ignoring strong trends in the market. → Read More
Attention publishers and authors!
For a while I’ve been kicking around the idea of writing a semi-regular book review column here on TechCrunch. I don’t mean the pure “tech” books of the O’Reilly oeuvre, but rather works concerning digital culture and how technology is affecting politics, journalism, art and society as a whole. It would probably include the occasional novel too. And might – might – take the form of a very informal book club.
The idea is far from fully-formed – and I have to make sure it doesn’t clash with Andrew Keen’s excellent TCTV show which often features authors as guests. But if you’re a publisher or an author and you have a forthcoming book that might fit the bill, do please feel free to let me know – either via this handy web form or by sending a copy to me c/o TechCrunch, 410 Townsend Street (Suite 100), San Francisco, CA 94107.
Ebooks and non-US titles welcome. But if it’s self-published, it had better be good. → Read More
It was almost exactly two years ago that we first wrote about a company called Heroku. At the time, the Y Combinator startup was little more than a good idea: ease the development and deployment process a lot of other startups face by putting it in the cloud. Last month, Salesforce bought them for $212 million in cash. It’s no wonder that a new startup, StackMob, doesn’t mind being called a “Heroku for mobile”.
Truth be told, that is a pretty good way to describe what they’re doing. They’ve created a cloud-based system to ease the development and deployment of mobile applications. Or even more simply put, “we’re trying to solve the backend services for mobile applications,” is how co-founder Ty Amell phrases it. They want to be the single integration point for all the backend needs that an app developer may have. → Read More
A sure sign that things a changin’ over at RIM HQ, the keyboard-less Curve Touch — codenamed “Malibu” — has today leaked out into the wilds of the web, courtesy of CrackBerry.com.
This comes just a week after we spied a keyboard totin’ next-gen Curve, known internally as the “Sedona”, so those die-hard keyboard fans need not fret: mid-range Blackberry lovers will have a choice of hard and soft keyboards.
Any leak worth its salt also provides some specs, and this one — while only focussing on the CDMA version — is as artery hardening as you could hope for. → Read More
PS3 owners will be prompted to update their system to firmware version 3.56 today. Why is that? Hmm, could it possibly have something to do with Sony trying to prevent your from jailbreaking your system? Yes, obviously. (“This is a minor update that adds a security patch.”) If you update your system say goodbye to being able to hack your PS3 to pieces… for now, at least. And maybe for a good while, too, given that Sony has managed to win a restraining order against Geohot. → Read More
So, you’re a big Rubik’s cube buff. Can solve any cube in five minutes, think people who can’t are fools? Well, sounds like you need a new challenge. How about this 17x17x17 puzzle cube by puzzle designer Oskar van Deventer, and printed using Shapeways? Should keep you busy for a few years. Too bad it costs two thousand dollars, whaaat! → Read More
ScreenReach, maker of the Screach app and accompanying platform for creating interactive experiences on smartphones, has raised a second round of funding: £500,000 from Hotspur Capital Partners. This follows earlier investment from Tom Maxfield, a founder of Sage, shortly after ScreenReach graduated from the Difference Engine accelerator program. The new funds announced today will be used to “spearhead global growth”, says the Newcastle, UK-based company. → Read More
You hear that thumping? That’s my heart a-pitter-patterin’ over just what got dropped off at MobileCrunch HQ: the world’s first dual-core smartphone, the LG Optimus 2X. It’ll be a few days before I’ve had enough time with this device to weigh in with our official review — but in the mean time, enjoy our humble gallery of hands-on stills below. Let me know if you have any questions about this one, won’t you? → Read More
It happens, sometimes. I have what I think would be a fun idea for a joke, only to discover – often half-way through writing it – that someone else has already beaten me to the punch(line).
Today, for example, I wanted to write something about Demand Media’s IPO. Given the hideously cynical nature of their business, the dreck that passes for their content, the appallingly low rates paid to their writers (who have – apparently – created $1.5bn worth of value) and now a plagiarism scandal (wait – they don’t even write their own dreck?), it’s clear that Demand is a hideous company. In fact it’s absolutely no exaggeration whatsoever to say that buying shares in them is the web content equivalent of buying stock in Nestle Africa or stocking up on Fanta in the 1940s. I mean, yes, there’s clearly money to be made, but I wouldn’t want that kind of karma.
Still, the fact remains that – as I wrote in my Sunday column last week – Demand’s brand of SEO horseshit represents the future of web content. And with that in mind, I thought it might be a lark to put together a mock up of what that particular dystopian hellscape might look like. Say, the front page of NYTimes.com, as written by Demand.
Imagine, then, my disappointment on discovering that Danny Sullivan has beaten me to it. → Read More
Microsoft earnings just got released 10 minutes before market close, and aside from growing revenues 5% in the 2nd quarter to $19.95 Billion, their slides reveal some interesting numbers on their entertainment and gaming unit, mainly that they sold 8 million Kinects in the two months since launch.
Said Peter Klien about the Kinect’s success, “We are enthusiastic about the consumer response to our holiday lineup of products, including the launch of Kinect. The 8 million units of Kinect sensors sold in just 60 days far exceeded our expectations. The pace of business spending, combined with strong consumer demand, led to another quarter of operating margin expansion and solid earnings per share growth.” → Read More
The world is watching in shock at the moment as reports continue to flood in of Egyptians having their Internet connection cut in addition having access to social media services like Facebook, Twitter and Blackberry shut down.
Along with The Arabist and CNN’s Ben Wedeman, Reuters is now reporting that users in Cairo are experiencing phone and Internet shutdown. “Egypt has shut off the internet,” read one headline. → Read More
When I look back over all the mice I’ve reviewed in my time, one particular thing always comes to mind: “What the hell are you doing with your life?” But then I get over it, dry my tears, and continue thinking about how many mice come and go, but there are a few that still stand out as the best. The Death Adder is one of them; I reviewed it a couple years back, after it had already been out for some time, and although I love me some G500 and Xai, the Death Adder is still number one with me. So you can be sure I’m happy to see it given some love in the form of a new special edition.
The “Black Edition” Death Adder is just that: black. On account of its complexion. The funny thing is, it was already black. Yes, I’m looking at mine right now, definitely black. → Read More
Back in August we wrote about a Y Combinator-funded company called Whereoscope that helps parents keep tabs on their kids using a location-aware smartphone application. Now we’re hearing that the startup is about to be acquired by a company that’s in an entirely different space: Zynga.
Our understanding is that a term sheet has been signed but the deal has not yet closed, so it’s not a sure thing yet. Both Whereoscope and Zynga declined to comment.
If it does close, we believe it will be for sub-$5 million, likely in valuable Zynga equity. Given the fact that Zynga isn’t exactly focused on child location monitoring, this is probably a talent acquisition. But it’s a quick and positive outcome for the founders, especially given that the app launched less than six months ago. → Read More
A week ago Facebook shares were being traded at $28.26 per share, a $70 billion valuation. In this week’s auction at SecondMarket the per share price declined just over 7%, to $26.25, a $65.5 billion valuation with around 2.5 billion shares outstanding. That’s a $5 billion decline in valuation. 670,000 shares were sold for a total of around $17.5 million.
Did it peak? I have no idea. We still have to update our two week old chart showing a high valuation of $50 billion. Maybe things are just cooling down for a while. We’ll know more after next week’s super confidential Facebook share auction.
Here’s the email. → Read More
Some worrying reports are coming out Egypt right now – to add to all the other worrying reports I guess.
Respected blog The Arabist reports that DSL and 3G services have been taken offline in Cairo. This is confirmed by CNN correspondent Ben Wedeman, on the ground in Cairo.
Now, coincidentally or not, this has come literally within the hour after AP TV posted a video of a man being shot point blank by police. The man appears to be dead, though that is not confirmed.
The main ISPs in Egypt at TEDATA, whose own site appears to be down, Vodafone, and Egynet. In addition, Italy-based Seabone has reported that there was no Internet traffic going into or out of Egypt after 12:30 a.m. local time. → Read More
San Francisco, CA
