Hasselblad is known for high megapixel counts, but this is getting a bit ridiculous. On the other hand, the engineering solution they’ve employed to create that count is really interesting. Most camera makers, including Hasselblad, increase the pixel count of their sensor by reducing the size of the photosensitive wells and pushing them closer together. This has some benefits, but also drawbacks… → Read More
Google is holding an event tomorrow in New York City. While everyone seems to be aware that it’s a partner event to announce the NFC strategy for their Android phones, Google has refused to confirm it. Well, they don’t have to. One of their partners just did.
We just got an email from the PR firm representing ViVOtech, wondering if we were going to the Google event tomorrow. They try to talk… → Read More
Whatser, the location-based service that lets users share their favorite locations with friends and discover new ones, is rolling out a new money-making feature today: Brands can now create collections of their favourite locations, which users of the platform can then ‘follow’.
Collections are a form of location curation so in this sense brands get to put their stamp on places that are worth… → Read More
TechCrunch Disrupt Battlefield finalist Getaround is already disrupting the current car sharing industry, only a day after its launch. As we wrote yesterday, GetAround is a car rental market place where you can rent a car by the day, hour or week through a smartphone app. Getaround’s all inclusive package, which includes insurance, 24 hour roadside assistance, a Getaround car-kit, iPhone app and… → Read More
A recent evening news report from North Korea showed the insides of a computer manufacturing facility, where the country claims to be developing its own PCs. A little digging has shown that one of the laptops in question is actually a super-low-cost netbook already on the market here in the US, but buying OEM hardware doesn’t mean they aren’t working on something of their own. The other PC, for… → Read More
At the TC Disrupt startup battlefield finals, after Sonar CEO’s product demo (Sonar is an app that introduces you to the people relevant around you) TechCrunch editor Michael Arrington asked founder Brett Martin, how much he spent to build the service.
When Martin replied that Sonar took around $250K to date to build, Arrington commented, “This is better now than Color could ever hope to be,”… → Read More
If you’re short on cash and desperate for the speedy joys of 4G connectivity, go ahead and cancel your late-night plans for tomorrow. The pink carrier is offering the T-Mobile G2 and the Sidekick 4G smartphones during its After Hours special tomorrow night, from 9 p.m. to 3 a.m. And get this: they’re free. Of course, you’ll have to sign up for a new two-year contract with T-Mobile to… → Read More
Enamored of the shiny orange Brammo Enertia electric motorcyle adorning the stage during the latest presentations here at Disrupt NYC, Michael Arrington decided that it should be given away. Never mind that it wasn’t ours to give, and that we were already significantly over time. Once the idea took hold of his mind, he was not to be dissuaded, and after a short talk with Brammo CEO Craig Bramscher… → Read More
As some of you may have read, I was all set to step on a plane on Sunday to head to New York City for TechCrunch Disrupt. Then a giant volcano exploded.
But being stranded in Iceland wasn’t all bad. First of all, it’s a beautiful country. Second, when some local entrepreneurs read about our misfortune, they got together and organized an event: TechCrunch Erupt. My friends and I headed over to… → Read More
Despite the fact that Microsoft didn’t find it important enough to mention during yesterday’s VIP reception, we think the launch of a web-based version of the Windows Marketplace in conjunction with the Mango roll-out is newsworthy. Just like the App Store, Android Market, and Amazon Appstore for Android, a web-based Marketplace will give users the option to browse and download apps from their… → Read More
Uncle Owen! Aunt Beru! Uncle Owen! The Lars Homestead is the actual building used during the filming of Star Wars and it still exists – in a considerably diminished state – in Tunisia. The igloo house is now falling apart but a group of dedicated film buffs – and one watchmaker – want to return the home to its original, super sci-fi state. → Read More
Good news for Scotland. Amazon is to create 900 jobs in Edinburgh, some 500 permanent and 400 temporary jobs. The new centre will handle both internet and telephone customer queries for Amazon.co.uk including technical support for Amazon Kindle and MP3 services.
There’s something of an incentive to do this: The new facility is being supported by a £1.8m grant from Scottish Development… → Read More
4Chan and Canvas founder Christopher Poole (Moot) took the stage to talk to Erick Schoenfeld about creating vibrant online communities. Poole revealed that that the eight-year-old 4Chan is averaging 8 million users according to Quantcast and 18 million users according to Google.
Note: Poole says that the Google numbers used to be 14 million and shot up to 18 because of a recent Google Analytics… → Read More
Today at TechCrunch Disrupt in New York City, Google’s Marissa Mayer sat down with our own Michael Arrington. She’s an old pro dealing with Mike — she’s actually been to every event we’ve ever put on. And she knows that as long as she has some new data to give him, he won’t push on the other, more uncomfortable things he likes to push on. Or at least, he won’t push as hard.
As such, Mayer noted… → Read More
A powerful phone with less-than impressive storage space is potentially one of the most peeving situations imaginable. And apparentlyKINGMAX seems to agree, as the Taiwan-based manufacturer has debuted the world’s first-ever 64GB microSD card, which should be sufficient for just about everyone. The 64GB microSD card from KINGMAX can store approximately 30,000 digital photos (in their original… → Read More
Today we tried something new at TechCrunch Disrupt: a special, on-stage office hour with Y Combinator cofounder Paul Graham. The goal was to reproduce the sessions that Graham and other YC partners hold with each of the startups who participate in Y Combinator — except the startups at Disrupt were getting sage advice in front of a few thousand people. And boy, was it awesome.
Six companies… → Read More
Do you like foosball AKA fussball? Do you like digital things? Well, you’re in luck because this foosball table is digital. Using a photosensor and an Arduino board, this table allows you to transmit the score to iPhones and other Wi-Fi devices. There is also a method for scoring and sharing scores using web apps. → Read More
TechCrunch Disrupt winner and alum Qwiki took the stage today for an update on news from the startup. What makes Qwiki so compelling is its ability to generate media on the fly that combines text, audio, and animated photos. It presents information in a highly visual way, assembling photos and spoken text from Wikipedia and other sources to create visual guides to millions of topics.
The company… → Read More
Ollie is a blimp. He flies around and follows people and doesn’t want to intrude but just wants to chat if you’re not too busy. It gets excited when you talk to him and then floats around “exploring” his surroundings until he notices something interesting. He likes funny stuff. He’s also made of foil and floats around autonomously and flaps his cute little fins when he’s happy.
Yep. It’s a… → Read More
Enamored of the shiny orange Brammo Enertia electric motorcyle adorning the stage during the latest presentations here at Disrupt NYC, Michael Arrington decided that it should be given away. Never mind that it wasn’t ours to give, and that we were already significantly over time. Once the idea took hold of his mind, he was not to be dissuaded, and after a short talk with Brammo CEO Craig Bramscher… → Read More
Kickstarter started as a way for bands to fund projects without asking for money from Grandma. Now it’s the go-to site for nearly any self-funded projects and the company recently surpassed the facilitating of $60 million in funding of random music albums, films, and gadgets created by ordinary people.
At TechCrunch Disrupt NYC John Biggs sat down with Kickstarter’s Yancey Stickler along with… → Read More
Do you need a little something for your retro-gaming man cave? Something that says “I’m a classy guy, but that doesn’t mean I can’t beat Contra in one life,” perhaps? This lamp might be your style. → Read More
With today’s announcement by Twitter CEO Dick Costolo of the Tweetdeck acquisition, the shape of the next layer of micro messaging begins to come into focus. What BetaWorks CEO and co-founder John Borthwick was calling hypothetical yesterday when we talked backstage at TechCrunch Disrupt is now a fait accompli, if it wasn’t already so then. He described how Betaworks was at work modeling a desktop… → Read More
Brightpearl, which provides a cloud-based integrated suite of applications for SMEs, has secured $5 million in Series A funding from Notion Capital and Eden Ventures. Both VC firms have previously backed the Bristol, UK-based startup to the tune of $1.5m.
Founded in 2007 by Chris Tanner, Brightpearl’s pitch to SMEs is that its SaaS helps take away the pain of implementing information systems and… → Read More
Another month, another special edition camera from Casio: this time it’s blue cartoon cat Doraemon (super-popular in Japan and many countries in Asia) that gets the Exilim treatment. Technically, the so-called Doraemon’s Bell×CASIO EXILIM EX-Z800 [JP] is nothing special, but it’s – as you can easily see – designed to be a hit with kids. → Read More
MobiCart, the free service that lets users build a native storefront for Apple’s iOS, has announced that ex-Google European Director of Online Sales and Operations, Stephen Lusty, has invested £100k in the UK startup in addition to joining as Chairman.
The company had previously scored $500,000 in a seed funding round in March this year led by the UK’s Finance for Business North East Angel… → Read More
Oh, Sprint. You know us too well. “Invitation-only event” and “hands-on demonstrations” are some of our favorite phrases, but you had us at “Luncheon”. We’re not quite sure what Moto and Sprint are cookin’ up here in this “latest collaboration”, but we’ll be in New York City on June 9th to find out. Got any guesses and/or wishful… → Read More
Seattle, WA
San Diego, CA
Menlo Park, CA
Berlin, Germany
Boston, MA
Berlin, Germany
