Social networks for cancer patients and survivors are not new. There’s the KnowCancer Community and Planet Cancer for younger survivors, for instance. Now there is I Had Cancer, a new resource for cancer patients, survivors, and friends and family who are supporters. The site just launched in private beta. If you have cancer or know somebody who does, we have 250 invites that you can sign up for on the beta site using the code: C55484. (People can also sign up for the beta on the regular site and will be notified when that launches).
I Had Cancer was founded by a team out of Squeaky Wheel Media in New York City: Mailet Lopez, Robert Boyle (who also created local Q&A app Crowdbeacon), and Anthony Del Monte (president and founder of Sqweaky Wheel). Lopez is a survivor of breast cancer, and she started out wanting to create a blog for other cancer survivors called I Had Cancer. But that evolved into a full-fledged community support site where survivors and family members can share their cancer stories and help others who are going through the same experience. → Read More
Chinese search giant Baidu’s investment in Qunar officially closed this week, and the two teams are working on integrating Qunar’s search results into Baidu’s travel vertical now. I caught up with Qunar’s CEO Chenchao Zhuang for his first Western interview about the deal to talk about what the deal means for the company and China’s Web scene broadly.
This $306 million deal is not only a big one in dollar amount, but it could represent a seminal turning point in the Chinese Web. Until now, Chinese Web companies have had a strong bias towards going it alone. Much like earlier eras in Silicon Valley, success is considered to be an IPO not an acquisition. But there’s a lot of pressure on that to change, and most industry watchers feel it’s just a matter of time– and of course, price. → Read More
Let’s face it. While Uber is generally awesome and is on track to disrupt the taxi business, the service is still too expensive for many consumers to use on a regular basis. The company dropped its prices in June after San Francisco-based taxis went on strike, but this was temporary. Today, Uber revealed that it is testing reduced rates in its San Francisco market.
Comparing the test to the “golden ticket” from Willy Wonka and The Chocolate Factory, Uber says that a random 600 users in San Francisco will be able to access reduced rates (anywhere from 10%, 20% or 30%). If you’re in the test, you’ll automatically receive the reduced rates when using Uber with your account. → Read More
Huge news! The iPad is trumping Android tablets in the enterprise! Actually this is rather small news and could probably be assumed by just about anyone who knows what they’re talking about. Either way, the smarty arties at Good Technology kindly mapped out the stats sans assumption.
Tablets made up 27 percent of Good Technology’s mobile device activations (the network includes 49 of the Fortune 100 companies and 182 of the Fortune 500 companies), and of those activations, more than 95 percent were iPads. → Read More
My, how Y Combinator has grown. It wasn’t that long ago that the prestigious startup incubator had a dozen or so startups per batch. These days, class sizes are more like 60, and the alumni network is huge: in total, Y Combinator has invested in some 317 startups.
Given how many YC startups there are, it isn’t really surprising that a lot of them have some overlap, or are at least tackling similar problems. Today, YC is announcing an event that’s taking advantage of that fact: the Ad Innovation Conference.
The event, which takes place on September 14, will feature fifteen YC companies involved in building new ad-related technologies. Among the topics that will be covered: → Read More
While searching for music gadgets here at the Summer NAMM conference in Nashville TN, I was reminded of one of the bright stars that garnered “Best In Show” rating from the winter version of this bi-annual conference. While the MB 800 has been anticipated since its announcement last winter, I heard today that the item is planned to ship within the next 4-6 weeks, and possibly as early as August 15th.
What is the Gallien Krueger MB 800 you ask? It is 800 watts of bass amplification housed in a 4.9 pound case. Let me just say that again…800 watts in a 4.9 pound case. As someone with vivid memories of carrying fragile and heavy tube laden amp heads to-and-fro, I find this form factor impressive. And it sounds good too. I coaxed GK Sales Manager Jason Finley into playing it a bit, so I could capture a few sounds. → Read More
It’s Friday and not only do we have 8 Seattle Space Needle Facebook t-shirts to give away, but we have one Amazon Kindle to give away as well!
Earlier this month, you may have remembered hearing something about an “awesome” announcement Facebook made. Something having to do with Facebook/ Skype Video Calling? Well, Facebook promised to send Michael Arrington a couple Seattle t-shirts and now we want to give them away to our readers.
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After experimenting on 24 adults, a research team at the University of California, Berkeley has determined that viewing content on a stereo 3D display hurts your eyes and your brain. The scientific term is “vergence-accomodation,” which means that the eye must constantly adjust to both the distance of the physical screen and that of the 3D content.
This can supposedly cause visual discomfort, fatigue, and headaches, which I had thought were just a part of life but apparently there’s a scapegoat: 3D technology. → Read More
While I’m sure these are 100% safe, it’s a little odd to see this wee one sitting in a Belkinz cardboard high chair that folds flat and is completely disposable if/when junior goes lateral on the mashed potatoes.
The kit, made by an Australian firm, is available for purchase but it might be a little hard to find around these parts. It is good for kids who are up to 20 months of age and seems like a perfect solution toting to restaurants, grandma’s house, and other places you might not want to drag your entire high chair.
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Kyocera did what a clever cell phone manufacturer whose home market has the oldest society in the world (over 20% of the Japanese people are 65 or older) has to do: it manufactured a cell phone specifically designed for the elderly. While the basic concept isn’t new, the way the so-called Mi-Look [JP] works certainly is. → Read More
Any new US Spotify users will be busy creating playlists and sharing them with their friends. This is an awesome part of the service which is really the central point of why Spotify can become so addictive compared to other services like Mog and Rdio. A while back a clever little startup realised there was gold in them there lists and created a site to allow users share their lists outside of Spotify more easily.
ShareMyPlaylists has now secured £250,000 in angel funding, this time from Angel investor Mark Pearson, chairman of Markco Media Ltd / MyVoucherCodes. Pearson has also invested in UGC media site Blottr.
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Centuries from now, archeologists will come upon a cache of these Sprout biodegradable watches and find only their movements, the thin wafers of silicon corroded into each other like the Antikythera mechanism and surrounded by Big Gulp cups and Pringles cans, a testament to a brand’s dedication to eco-friendliness.
See, the cases, bands, faces, and bezels of these watches, which range from $30 to $75, are made of biodegradable products include bamboo, cotton, resin, and mineral crystals.
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In the land of mobile, patents have never been more crucial. He with the most patents has the most power. Period. In the last few months alone we’ve seen Apple and Samsung duke it out, Apple and HTC take it to the mat, Google chat it up with InterDigital, and I won’t even start on Nortel.
Billionaire investor Carl Icahn — notorious for pumping money into companies and then bossing them around — has taken quite the interest in Motorola Mobility’s patent portfolio. → Read More
According to Gartner Group report, there are 141.1 million mobile payment-ready devices in circulation and that the vast portion of the world’s population (mostly in Asia) is actively using NFC and other techniques to pay for items via mobile. However, the US is lagging wildly in this regard, with nearly no activity in the space at present even though two-thirds of young people would be happy to wave their phones in front of a candy machine to grab a bite. Sadly, two-thirds of older folks would balk at the opportunity. → Read More
Two weeks ago, during an exhibition in Tokyo, Panasonic showcased an Android-based e-book reader/tablet hybrid without revealing too many details. Fast forward to today, and we have the complete spec list of the device (now named “Raboo”) plus price and availability (in Japan, at least). → Read More
There are plenty of companies that are trying to digitize the loyalty card space. Punchd, which was just acquired by Google, lets customers accrue digital versions of buy-10-get-1-free cards. PlacePop also offers a similar application. Now SparkBase, one of the largest processors of traditional private label gift and loyalty card programs to the financial and merchant services industries, is launching its mobile version of loyalty cards. → Read More
Dow Jones VentureSource released its second quarter numbers for the venture industry today, and there’s a reason they’re not dominating the headlines. They’re pretty boring: Overall investors put $8 billion into 776 deals in the US in the second quarter, a decrease of 5% in terms of invested cash and 2% in terms of deals. The median amount raised per deal was $5.2 million, up from $4.6 million a full year earlier. Yawn, right?
But the fact that the numbers are so unremarkable is what makes them interesting. It reinforces what people like me have been arguing for months: A handful of hot companies does not a bubble make. → Read More
As a barely 23-year-old, my deepest connection to most classic Rock songs is through a PlayStation game. My favorite PlayStation game. You may have heard of it — it’s called Guitar Hero. So when Activision said that it was calling it quits on Guitar Hero, I found myself humming: “lay your weary head to rest, don’t you cry no more.” Ok, maybe I exaggerate. But it was a sad, sad day — not just for me but for fake guitar players everywhere. Since then I can’t bring myself to play, a little tinge of sadness poking at me every time I pass the now-dusty collection.
But it’s been a little less than a year, and Activision has told Forbes that the whole “Guitar Hero is over” thing was a bit of a fib. → Read More
Something of a black comedy involving white hot startup Color and still-green-behind-the-ears Instacolor.
Red in the face, the developer behind the latter app, which combines the key functions of Instagram and Color, was forced to change its name to Instalook after the Color folks developed a gray mood about the Instacolor name.
Color’s lawyers earlier this week sent a cease & desist to the developer of Instacolor Instalook, asking him to change the name of the iPhone app pronto.
Color says it is prepared to turn to the courts if the developer, Rakshith Krishnappa, fails to “immediately discontinue all unauthorized use of Color labs’ trademark”. → Read More
SkyGrid, a startup that offers a powerful business news aggregator, is bringing its news reader to Android tablets today. The company previously launched Android, iPhone and iPad apps.
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