August 24th, 2011

Embedded Serial Number Helps Photographer Find His Stolen Camera

photoequipmentsmall

A photographer, John Heller, had $9,000 worth of gear stolen at a shoot in Hollywood. After giving up all hope of ever getting his Nikon D3 back, he checked with a site called GadgetTrak that scans Flickr and other image upload sites for photos matching the serial number of his DSLR.

In a few seconds he had found shots with serial numbers matching his D3 belonging to a professional photographer. With the help of the police he got his gear back and now the tracking service is a recommend site for LAPD detectives on the hunt for fugitive cameras.
→ Read More

August 24th, 2011

Hulu Plus Makes Android Tablet Debut With Vizio

vizio-tablet1

Hulu Plus has found its way to a handful of Android devices these past few months, but today it makes its first official appearance on an Android tablet — just maybe not the one you were expecting. → Read More

August 24th, 2011

Pixable Adds Twitter To Intelligent Social Photo And Video Aggregator

pixable

Pixable, a startup that develops sleek social photo creation and categorization tools, is integrating images from Twitter into its intelligent social photo and video aggregation service today.

Pixable’s Photofeed a Facebook app and companion mobile apps intelligently sorts and categorize your friends’ Facebook, Instagram and Flickr photos as well as Facebook, Vimeo and YouTube videos. → Read More

August 24th, 2011

Use Yammer Connect To Integrate Log-Ins And Feeds Into Third-Party Applications

yammer

Enterprise social networking platform Yammer is expanding the reach of its network today, launching Yammer Connect. The new plug-ins allows users to bring their Yammer identity to other business applications and an Embed feature enables companies to embed Yammer feeds into their intranet or other apps.

Using a JavaScript API, developers can add the Yammer Login Button to their applications via Yammer Connect. The Login Button eliminates the need for Yammer’s more than three million users to maintain multiple user profiles across business applications. So similar to the way you use Facebook Connect to log into consumer apps, Yammer Connect allows workers to authenticate business apps with their Yammer identity, and all of their profile details will automatically be completed. And users can share activity from third-party applications with colleagues back on Yammer.
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August 24th, 2011

Tinypay.me Raises $1 Million, Moving HQ to San Francisco

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E-commerce platform Tinypay.me, which emerged from 2010′s Le Web conference as a sort of Twitter for e-commerce, has just raised $1 million from Aksoy Internet Ventures. The money will be used, in part, to relocate company headquarters from the Netherlands to the heart of the action: San Francisco.
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August 24th, 2011

Point, Apple: Court Issues EU-Wide Preliminary Injunction On Galaxy Smartphones (Update)

bannedgalaxy

A pretty sizable chunk of Europe was dealt a rather massive blow this morning in the form of a preliminary injunction on some Galaxy smartphones. Of course, this was at the behest of Apple. The tablets — the Galaxy Tab 10.1 and Galaxy Tab 7 — made it out of the court room alive, which is a pretty big deal for Samsung who just a few weeks ago had to deal with an EU-wide preliminary injunction on the GalTab 10.1.

The German court eventually lifted that ban temporarily across the EU with the exception of Germany. Ya know, since the court actually has the right to rule in its own country. Unfortunately, Samsung’s smartphones are now under attack, as the Hague court in the Netherlands issued an EU-wide preliminary injunction on the Galaxy S, Galaxy S II, and Galaxy Ace, which will go into effect in mid-October. → Read More

August 24th, 2011

On The Road To TwitBook: Are Facebook’s New Sharing Features Defensive Or Preemptive?

tom-anderson

A few weeks ago I asked if Google+ was putting Facebook on the defensive. After yesterday’s Facebook announcement, I don’t think there’s any question. Many journalists have described the promised changes as giving users “new control over privacy” and suggested that Facebook is just giving us a chance to be more private like G+. Some have even suggested that this new focus on privacy is an “about-face” from Facebook’s former philosophy. I’d like to suggest that Facebook hasn’t changed their attitude about privacy at all. My gut tells me—and this is truly a hunch, no insider info here—that the announced changes are mostly significant because Facebook is actually preparing users for something much bigger. Facebook is being more reactive now then they’ve ever been, but it’s not just because of G+. It’s also because of Twitter.  Actually, it’s because Twitter offers a possible vision of G+’s future. Sound confusing? Let me explain.

My guess, then, is that Facebook is announcing to users more front and center access to “privacy features” because Facebook is actually planning to make an even bigger push into the public, Twitter-like sphere. → Read More

August 24th, 2011

To Heck With iPad Stands, Help Kickstart Some Handmade Pens For A Change

RedBlack_Side

This is what I like to see: people Kickstarting some really amazing stuff. How amazing? Try a handmade pen made of multiple pieces of wood spliced together and top-of-the-line clips and gel-inks. The pen, called the Exemplar, is half-length and costs a mere $100 (relatively cheap for a handmade pen, but still). However, it’s made by two North Carolinian lads, Cass Baltz and Bart Creasman, which adds a certain bit of old country panache.
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August 24th, 2011

StackMob, The “Heroku For Mobile”, Partners With… Heroku!

Screen Shot 2011-08-23 at 11.26.57 PM

We’ve written about StackMob twice, both times calling it the “Heroku For Mobile” in the title. Yeah, “X For Y” titles are pretty lame. But I mean, that’s pretty much exactly what StackMob is — and they embrace it. In fact, they embrace it so much that today they’re announcing a key partnership with… wait for it… Heroku!

StackMob is integrating with Heroku as an add-on that extends the mobile platform to all Ruby developers on Heroku. This means APIs, OAuth, Push Notifications, and analytics for mobile are all coming over in the integration. With these easy-to-implement solutions, developers can spend less time worrying about backend development for both desktop and mobile and more time worrying about frontend implementation. → Read More

August 24th, 2011

Motorola Atrix’s “Most Powerful” Claims Shot Down In U.K.

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There’s a fine line between a bold advertising campaign and playing fast and loose with the truth, and it looks like Motorola may have just tip-toed over it. According to the U.K.’s Advertising Standards Authority, Motorola has been banned from calling their Atrix handset “the most powerful smartphone in the world.”

While the Atrix launched domestically back in February, it made its U.K. debut as an Orange exclusive this past May. Unfortunately, that launch window put it right up against the release of the Samsung Galaxy S II, which packs a a 1.2 Ghz processor into its svelte frame. ASA officials took issue with the fact that the Atrix, in spite of the lofty claims surrounding it, actually has a slower processor than the Samsung Galaxy S II.
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August 24th, 2011

Google to Settle with U.S. Government for $500 Million

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Today, regulators will announce a $500 million settlement with Google over charges related to advertisements for illegal online pharmacies. The pharmacies appearing in Google ads were operating outside the law, leading to a Department of Justice investigation into Google’s advertising practices – an investigation which decreased Google’s profits by 22%, reports the The New York Times.
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August 24th, 2011

(Founder Office Hours) Napkin Labs: Should Startups Move To Be Close To Venture Capital?

Riley Gibson is the CEO and co-founder of the Boulder based Napkin Labs, a startup that helps companies manage and engage their Facebook fans and Twitter followers. Napkin Labs launched an updated version of the service today (read, Napkin Labs Lets Brands Better Understand Their Customers (And Turn Them Into Collaborators). Prior to launch, Gibson flew to New York to get advice on building his company during Founder Office Hours with Hunch Co-Founder Chris Dixon and First Round Capital’s Managing Partner Josh Kopelman.

Based in Colorado, Gibson suspects his company might be at a disadvantage because it is not located near vast sources of venture capital. He wonders if moving will help. → Read More

August 24th, 2011

Dwolla Launches “Proxi” For Proximity-Based Mobile Payments

1. Home page proxi

Online and mobile payment platform Dwolla just launched a new feature called “Proxi” which allows users to send and receive cash-based mobile payments based on their current proximity to another connected device. The technology bypasses the need for special hardware, like Square’s plastic dongles or NFC chips built into a phone, in order to make mobile payments.

Instead, the interface provides a simple way for Dwolla’s users to find nearby contacts and send them money using only the mobile app itself. → Read More

August 24th, 2011

China Never Received An Application For Approval Of Googorola Deal

google-china

The era of Googorola is nearly upon us, and the implications of such a deal are still greatly unknown to most of us. We could see some pretty amazing (and odd) gizmos and gadgets spawn from this little get together, and we can definitely expect a stronger Android platform than ever before. Other Android OEMs have remained relatively at bay thus far, but that could change in an instant when they see the first flagship Moto handset with a purely Android experience. In fact, an end to MotoBlur may be the most exciting result of Googorola, indeed (at least to us end users). But there are a few things that need to happen first.

Google has obviously started on its trip through the obstacle course that is the United States regulatory approval system. In Google’s original statement on Wednesday, it claimed that the deal was subject to regulatory approval in the U.S., the EU, and other jurisdictions. Funny, one of those other jurisdictions happens to be one of the biggest in the world: China. And Google has yet to send China’s Commerce Ministry an application for approval. → Read More

August 24th, 2011

Fad Or Future? Booktrack Adds Music, Sound Effects To E-Books; Peter Thiel Invests

booktrack

A new startup called Booktrack launched this morning (actually, the NYT launched it yesterday), in an effort to create a whole new genre of e-books.

Booktrack creates synchronized soundtracks for e-books that aim to “dramatically boost the reader’s imagination and engagement”.

The startup’s technology combines music and sound effects with text, automatically paced to one’s reading speed. → Read More

August 24th, 2011

Napkin Labs Lets Brands Better Understand Their Customers (And Turn Them Into Collaborators)

Napkin-Labs-S

Social networks like Facebook and Twitter act as truly effective channels by which companies can interact with their customers and receive near-instantaneous feedback on their products and brands. Of course, the information obtained by way of social networks can still be somewhat of a fire hose.

While social networks provide surfeit casual feedback for brands to take advantage of, they often lack the kind of deep insight into product development, design concepts, or what a company might be doing to better serve its customer base. Companies want to be more effective in communicating with their active user base and valued customers in a collaborative way that actually leads to better products and a better user experience, rather than the alternative. → Read More

August 24th, 2011

TCTV: Presenting The TechCrunch Gadgets Webcast

We’ve long wanted to put together a videocast for TCTV focusing on gadgets but, because we were too lazy, it never happened… until now. Please excuse the quality as we’re working out the bugs but we wanted to get something up this week, thereby ensuring we actually do this on a regular basis.

This episode is all about tablets. First we talk about Samsung’s belief that 2001 is prior art in the tablet space and then we talk about ten things to do with your brand new $99 TouchPad. Please: enjoy. → Read More

August 24th, 2011

Mobile Enterprise Apps Developer Taptera Raises $2 Million From Salesforce, Angels

taptera

Taptera, which builds enterprise iPhone and iPad applications, has landed $2 million in Series A financing in a round led by well-known Silicon Valley investor (and former Oracle exec) Terence Garnett, who will also be joining the startup’s board.

Other participants in the round include Salesforce.com and a slew of company CEOs and professional investors, including M.R. Rangaswami and former HP executive David Murphy. → Read More

August 24th, 2011

Social Gaming Network PapayaMobile Hits 25M Users

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Today, PapayaMobile, the social gaming network for Android, is announcing a new milestone: it has topped 25 million users, which represents over 940% growth since the beginning of last year. The company attributes the increase to both the growing demand for mobile social games as well as the rapidly expanding Android install base worldwide.
→ Read More

August 24th, 2011

ePals Acquires Media Personalization Platform Newstogram, News Site DailyMe

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ePals, developer of a social learning network, this morning announced that it has acquired Newstogram, maker of a media personalization and content recommendation platform. Also included in the deal was news site DailyMe – both are businesses owned by a company called Nexify.

The transaction was in ePals stock and amounted to about $3 million. → Read More

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Prova Systems — Received $50k in Unattributed funding from Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Northeast Pennsylvania
1.27.2012
Fearless Studios — Company added to CrunchBase
1.27.2012
Fearless Studios — Acquired by Kabam.
1.27.2012
Fearless Studios — Acquired by Kabam.
1.27.2012
1.27.2012
Avila Therapeutics — Acquired by Celgene for $925M.
1.26.2012
1.25.2012
Timekiwi — Acquired by Overblog.
1.25.2012
Prova Systems — Received $50k in Unattributed funding from Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Northeast Pennsylvania
1.27.2012
Antisense Pharma — Received $11M in Series F funding from MIG Fonds and Global Asset Fund
1.26.2012
Edison Pharmaceuticals — Received $4.1M in Series E funding
1.26.2012
Broad Institute — Received $32.5M in Grant funding from Klarman Family Foundation
1.26.2012
CN Creative — Received £2M in Series A funding from Advent Life Sciences
1.26.2012
John Stockdale — Invested in Verbling.
1.26.2012
MIG Fonds — Invested in Antisense Pharma.
1.26.2012
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1.26.2012
Fearless Studios — Company added to CrunchBase
1.27.2012
Dawin Electronics — Company added to CrunchBase
1.27.2012
PointsPay — Company added to CrunchBase
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Easilydo — Company added to CrunchBase
1.27.2012
Edison Pharmaceuticals — Company added to CrunchBase
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PointsPay — Product added to CrunchBase
1.27.2012
Free Youtube Download — Product added to CrunchBase
1.27.2012
League of Legends - Multiplayer Online Battle Arena — Product added to CrunchBase
1.27.2012
Codeine Framework — Product added to CrunchBase
1.26.2012
Codeine — Product added to CrunchBase
1.26.2012
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