Zynga and AT&T have just announced a strategic partnership, in which the social gaming giant will bring customized games and content to the carrier’s customers. Financial terms of the agreement, which is the first of its kind for Zynga and a U.S. carrier, were not disclosed.
According to the release, mobile games such as Words with Friends and Zynga Poker as well as customized content will be featured for download on AT&T’s shelf in Android Market later this year. AT&T customers will also receive free credits in select games and Zynga giveaways at AT&T sponsored events. → Read More
As he told me when he came into our San Francisco studio earlier this week, Reputation.com CEO & Founder Michael Fertik is “ecstatic” about our new reputation economy. In today’s Web 3.0 personal data rich economy, reputation is replacing cash, Fertik believes. And he is confident that his company, Reputation.com, is well placed to become the new rating index of this digital ecosystem.
But Fertik isn’t ecstatic about the way in which new online products, such as facial recognition technology, are exploiting the privacy of online consumers. Arguing that “data is the new oil,” Fertik believes that the only people not benefitting from today’s social economy are consumers themselves. Rather than government legislation, however, the solution, Fertik told me, are more start-up entrepreneurs like himself providing paid products that empower consumers in our Web 3.0 world of pervasive personalized data. → Read More
Microsoft loves them some Android. Google’s mobile OS is turning into a major cash source as Microsoft convinces more Android OEM makers to hand over royalties concerning some of Microsoft’s patents. A recent report states that Microsoft has made five times more from Android than their own Windows Phone 7 — without building, supporting, or developing a single Android device.
Both Velocity Micro and General Dynamics just entered into such an agreement where both will pay an undisclosed royalty to Microsoft. HTC signed one of these patent-protection deals with Microsoft back in 2010 and reportedly pays Microsoft $5 for each handset it sells. → Read More
We’ve covered the HTC ChaCha’s journey to the States pretty exhaustively, from its debut at Mobile World Congress, to the rumors that it was heading for AT&T, to the last-minute name change from ChaCha to Status (presumably as a result of this lawsuit filed by ChaCha. As in the company, not the phone. A phone can’t file a lawsuit, silly; it doesn’t even have hands.) Well, the journey’s pretty much over: this morning, AT&T threw up a Facebook fanpage for the Status, pretty much confirming everything. As usual, they’re keepin’ mum on the price/release date for now. I don’t often play prophet, though the birds-eye-view this job provides would allow me to. I don’t think I’d be going out on a limb in saying this, though: this phone.. won’t be a raging success. Between the antiquated-looking form factor, the odd screen size, and the gimmicky Facebook button, people just don’t seem interested. → Read More
We’ve written extensively about the vacuum created on the iPad by the lack of an official native Facebook application. That may change soon — there are reports that an official app is finally on the way — but there are already a handful of companies that have been able to take advantage of the opportunity, to the tune of millions of users. One of these apps is MyPad (formerly known as Facepad), which has now been downloaded nearly 10 million times since it launched five months ago.
This week, the company is launching an updated version of its application, which includes improvements to some of the core Facebook features you’d expect — chat, photos, News Feed, and so on. But this update also introduces a new component: games. You can download the free version of the app here. → Read More
Customer Relationship Management is an old business. There are tons of CRM solutions, both generic and industry specific. Mobile development shop MConcierge has recently announced a new solution for CRM in the hospitality industry that they’re calling GRM: Guest Relationship Management. According to MConcierge, the point of GRM is to provide a top quality experience for guests that goes beyond just an average hotel stay. “Guests aren’t simply buying a room but an experience. By building more unique preferences the hotel brand can better customize the stay,” says Anthony Zebrowski-Rubin, CEO of MConcierge. “By building a profile of a guest based on onsite transactions, on and offsite interests, hotel preferences, and real time social profiled preferences contextualized to the type of property, the guest profile arms the hotel with information to action real positive communication with the guests.” → Read More
Remember back in April when we reported that Friendster, one of the first dedicated social networking sites, was to unequivocally delete all user profiles photos, blogs, messages, groups and whatnot by May 31?
This morning, Friendster relaunched as yet another social gaming portal, powered by Facebook Connect (interesting comments over at Hacker News). → Read More
A new study by Yahoo (embedded below) shows that online video watching habits are shifting. People are watching longer videos and watching more at night during primetime. The chart above shows when people watch videos online. The blue line is today (2011) and the dotted line is two years ago (2009). The two lines show more than a 30 percent divergence during primetime.
So what changed? Peak online video viewing today is during prime time, between 6 PM and 9 PM. Only two years ago, prime time showed the biggest dip in online video viewing as people turned off their computers and turned on their TVs. But now, more people are streaming TV shows and movies from services like Netflix and Hulu, and they tend to watch those videos during the same time period they previously watched regular TV. While people may not yet be cord cutting, this data suggests that online watching does encroach upon regular cable and satellite TV watching. → Read More
It’s no secret that Accel is making major investments in the online payments space, funding both Wonga and e-payments company Yapstone. And today the venture firm is announcing a $34 million Series A investment in Chicago-based online payments company Braintree. Accel partner Ryan Sweeney will be joining Braintree’s board.
Braintree essentially powers and automates online payments for merchants and companies online. The company provides a merchant account, payment gateway, recurring billing, credit card storage, support for mobile and international payments, and PCI Compliance solutions. BrainTree has become a one-stop-shop for all the services a business needs to receive payments from anywhere in the world. → Read More
SoloPower— a manufacturer of flexible, thin film solar cells and modules— has raised another $43.7 million in an equity round this month, according to a new SEC filing. Investors in the round include: Greentech Capital in New York, and Thomas Weisel Partners in San Francisco. Earlier investors in the company include: Hudson Clean Energy Partners, Crosslink Capital, Convexa, and Firsthand.
In February this year, SoloPower locked a $197 million loan guarantee from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Loan Programs Office to build a “facility that, when completed and at full capacity, is expected to produce approximately 400MW of thin film Photovoltaic (PV) modules annually,” according to a company press statement. → Read More
A Japanese company called Global Wave has developed a special film, which can be used to transform any given 2D LCD screen into a naked-eye 3D display – just applying it to the LCD is enough. Global Wave says the so-called Pic3D sheet is the first of its kind. → Read More
That didn’t take long. Tons of people haven’t even gained access to the Google+ field trial yet, but that hasn’t stopped Chinese authorities from blocking Google’s brand new social networking project, reports Ren Media.
Indeed, Just Ping and the Greatfirewallofchina.org website both confirm that plus.google.com is not accessible from mainland China. → Read More
Following the security breach in the PlayStation network in April (77 million PlayStation Network user accounts were compromised), Sony saw a radical management reshuffle in its gaming division, Sony Computer Entertainment (SCEI), today. As you could expect, big S denies a connection between both incidents, but today’s decision probably doesn’t surprise anyone. → Read More
Gotham’s most eligible bachelor needs a good set of wheels. Circa The Dark Knight, he drove a Lamborghini Murcielago LP640 but that raging bull has since hit the wide open spaces of the retirement pasture. Mr. Wayne’s latest ride is apparently the very new Lamborghini Aventador LP 700. This news comes by way of some pics taken on the scene of Batman: The Dark Knight Rises that clearly show a Gotham-plated Aventador sitting rather close to the Wayne mansion. The original post on Luxury4Play’s forums has since been deleted but Autoblog snagged the pics before it disappeared. Trust fund superheros have all the fun. → Read More
While hyperlinks are a fundamental backbone of the web, they’re also a bit odd. After all, hyperlinking is for the most part a subjective process. Someone decides if and when to link to something. It nudges the web from a completely open story into more of a choose your own adventure one. But what if we could change that?
That’s what HotSpots, a new feature from Apture aims to do. Most of you will know Apture as the contextual add-on service that both publishers (through simple JavaScript) and web surfers (through browser extensions) use to augment their web experience with information. What you may not know is that thanks to this service, Apture has access to some really good data. A lot of it. And the key part of that data shows exactly what users highlight when they browse webpages. → Read More
They’re at it again folks, and it only gets uglier and uglier.
Samsung has filed another complaint against Apple, according to the International Trade Commission website, this time to request an import ban against the iPhone, iPad, and iPod.
Should the ITC choose to investigate the complaint, we won’t get a final decision for at least 16 months. → Read More
Connected, a startup that manages all of your personal relationships on the web, has raised $500,000 in funding led by Trinity Ventures with 500 Startups, Ignition Partners, Christopher Michel, Michael Hoydich, and Mark Gray participating.
Via a web app, Connected integrates with Gmail, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Google Contacts, Google Calendar, and Google Voice to become a personal relationship manager. Connected builds comprehensive profiles for each of your contacts with your entire conversation history as well as their latest status updates, photos, and work history from across their social profiles. → Read More
MediaMall, the folks behind the popular PlayOn media software, just announced the closed beta of PlayLater, a so-called DVR for online video. The service, which is available in a closed beta starting today, allows users to “record” online programming from over a dozen service for viewing later either on the computer it was recorded on or a device loaded with the retail version of PlayOn.
Believe it or not, the term DVR is actually appropriate here. I’ve used the service and it actually records the programming and wraps the video file in a DRM-laced .plv container that’s only playable on approved programs. How does it work? I have no idea, but it does and MediaMall’s breakaway success with PlayOn says this company knows media streaming. → Read More
The Optimus Mini Six is a smaller and less expensive way to add a bit of OLED magic to your desk rather than springing for the full-size keyboard. This little guy is in the early production stages according to the company’s official blog. Apparently they plan on releasing it later this year with the full-size Optimus Popularis coming next year. Knowing the company’s history of delays and missed deadlines, the fact that the Mini Six hit the production stage of its life is almost meaningless. It might still be months before it ships — if it ever does. But at least the dream is alive! → Read More
