Mobile app analytics firm Flurry released a new report comparing the U.S. mobile app inventory to traditional Internet display advertising spend, and the results are impressive. According to data pulled from over 100,000 mobile apps on Flurry’s network, app inventory is poised to absorb the equivalent of the U.S. online display ad spend by the end of 2011, says the firm, assuming current trends… → Read More
Crowdbooster, a Y Combinator-backed startup, is debuting its intelligent social media optimization, monitoring and analytics platform for companies and brands. What differentiates Crowdbooster from other monitoring platforms is that the startup’s technology works behind the scenes to understand a user’s social activity, and then makes recommendations about what to share, when, and with… → Read More
Pushpins, Inc., the makers of a mobile app for saving on groceries, have launched a new service called SimpleUPC targeted towards mobile app developers. SimpleUPC, which is available as an API (application programming interface), provides product information as a service for the use in mobile apps like barcode scanners, shopping lists and nutrition trackers.
The API contains data on over… → Read More
These days, it’s getting tough for companies that make eBook readers to differentiate. Brief forays into jumbo models aside, Amazon’s Kindle has kept things simple and elegant since day one, while Barnes and Noble went the full-featured Android route with the Nook Color.
Sony, to their credit, was among the first to make readers with appeal that extended beyond hardcore techno-literature… → Read More
Reports from Bloomberg and the WSJ this morning say that the United States Justice Department is looking to block AT&T’s proposed $39 billion acquisition of T-Mobile on antitrust grounds.
According to the Bloomberg report, the Justice Department filed its complaint in federal court, which included the following excerpt:
“AT&T’s elimination of T-Mobile as an independent, low… → Read More
Music streaming service Spotify is releasing a new API today, called ‘libspotify,’ which allows third party iOS developers to write applications for the iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad with Spotify inside the app.
And these apps can include Spotify’s catalogue of more than 15 million tracks. Libspotify for iOS is available to Spotify Premium users as of today. It’s unclear if the startup will be… → Read More
You may remember Noca, a startup that wanted to disrupt the payments industry with a debit transaction product that promised low transaction fees for merchants. Today, the company is debuting its credit card offering, which aims to provide a secure, payments experience for both merchants and consumers.
Here’s how it works. Consumers get to choose a PIN (called Noca PIN) at checkout, allowing… → Read More
Today at the IFA conference in Berlin, Sony Ericsson announced its new Xperia smartphone, the Xperia Arc S. Unfortunately, details were pretty sparse in the initial announcement, but here’s what we do know:
The phone will first be available in October of this year. It’ll run on a 1.4GHz processor and will sport Sony’s Reality display powered by Sony’s mobile Bravia engine. The Arc S can also… → Read More
If ever your iPhone or iPad starts acting wonky, chances are you pack it up and head on over to your nearest Genius Bar. It’s a hassle, but it’s a small price to pay for your beloved iStuff. Still, ease of use is one of Apple’s key standards for a device, and that extends way past a navigable interface.
That said, Hardmac is reporting that Apple has internally announced a new web-based… → Read More
“It’s not about who makes them first, but who makes them better.” That’s how Sony’s Sir Howard Stringer announced his upcoming tablets. Zing.
Meet the S and P, everyone. Sony just took the wraps off its first generation Android tablets a few moments ago at its 2011 IFA press event. But, as with most non-Apple product launches these days, there isn’t much to report since Sony used teasers and … → Read More
HTC’s Jetstream (nee Puccini) has been the stuff of rumors for weeks now, but AT&T has officially announced the 10.1 inch tablet this morning.
The Jetstream is HTC’s first to run Android 3.1 Honeycomb, complete with a version of the Sense UI specifically tweaked for the tablet’s larger form factor. A 1.5 GHz dual-core Snapdragon processor powers the Jetstream, and it packs two cameras: an 8… → Read More
Ford Motor Company and the leading car-sharing network Zipcar have just announced a partnership that establishes Ford as Zipcar’s largest auto source for Zipcar’s University program. The new, two-year alliance will reach students at over 250 university campuses here in the U.S.
Ford will start shipping its vehicles, primarily the 2012 Ford Focus and Ford Escape, to colleges starting this week. → Read More
Samsung made it known at last night’s big announcement that they intended the Galaxy S II series to be more IT-friendly than its predecessor: improved Exchange support and on-device data encryption were just some of the highlights. This was apparently just the tip of the IT iceberg, as VMware has just announced a partnership with Samsung to integrate support for their View 5 and Horizon Mobile… → Read More
IBM is announcing the acquisition of i2, a company that provides intelligence and investigation management software for law enforcement, defense, national security and private sector organizations. Financial terms were not disclosed.
With more than 4,500 customers in 150 countries, i2 is provides intelligence analytics for crime and fraud prevention in sectors such as banking, defense, health… → Read More
Marketing technology company Fiksu has released new data that shows a downward trend in mobile application installations on iPhone. The increase, in broad terms, is marginal, given the size of the iPhone’s user base, but any non-upward movement is curious.
Says Fiksu, there was a drop from 4.505 million iPhone app installs per day in June to 4.25 million app installations per day in July. → Read More
This whole system of two-year contracts and early termination fees is far and away the worst thing about owning and enjoying a smartphone. Granted, contracts reduce the actual price of the phone by quite a bit, but it’s still super annoying to sign on with some brand new superphone only to have some super-duper phone launch a few weeks later.
And if the contract itself wasn’t annoying enough… → Read More
Striiv is launching a new device today that blends gaming, fitness, and more. The device itself is a little larger than an Apple Nano, and includes a high-resolution color screen. Striiv acts partly as a pedometer to track your activity and also allows you to play games, and use your activity to donate to charities.
The device, which you can attach to a keychain or to a belt, tracks simple… → Read More
The first round of ultrabooks are upon us. Acer and Asus are said to have several models ready for an IFA debut later this week, but Notebook Italia just located a product page for the Acer Ultrabook S3 that went up a bit premature and confirms that these next-gen notebooks, ultrabooks, will rock your socks. → Read More
Wikio Group, best known for operating the Wikio news engine, has secured $25 million in financing from investors and is changing its name to ebuzzing, an existing product in its portfolio.
Gimv, one of the main investment companies in Europe, is investing $14.5m, alongside existing shareholders and the founder, Pierre Chappaz. The idea is to become the leader in social media in Europe. What… → Read More
RootMusic, the company behind BandPage, a platform that helps musicians make the most of their Facebook presence, has raised a Series B round of funding to the tune of $16 million after raising $2.3 million earlier this year.
The financing round was led by GGV Capital with new investor Northgate Capital and existing backer Mohr Davidow Ventures participating. → Read More
Epson announced [JP] the Colorio E-820 for the Japanese market today, a photo printer and wireless keyboard set somehow designed like a computer from the 1970s or 1990s (at least when looking at the top menu). The newest in a line of similar devices, this 5,760×1,440dpi inkjet printer is suitable for printing both pictures and postcards without a PC.
Users can create postcards by choosing… → Read More
Like a catwalk model pivoting on the runway, Garmz, a startup which allows upcoming fashion designers to cut out the traditional network of buyers and sell clothes straight to consumers, is today rebranding as Lookk and announcing new Seed investment.
Eden Ventures has taken the lead on the investment. Terms were undisclosed but sources say Eden went in for just over £500,000. Other Angels… → Read More
Nokia this morning announced that Tero Ojanperä, former CTO and currently Executive Vice President and a member of the company’s ‘Leadership Team’, is leaving the flailing phone manufacturer at the end of this month, after serving Nokia for 21 years.
He will take on a new role as managing partner of a new investment fund called Vision+. Amusingly, Vision+ has already formed a deep partnership… → Read More
Yesterday, we reported about Sony, Hitachi and Toshiba planning to establish a joint venture for small and mid-size LCD panels in Japan. And today, the three companies, plus major shareholder Innovation Network Corporation of Japan, made the plan official.
As reported, the semi-public organization will control 70% of the venture (to be set up by the end of the year), with the other partners… → Read More
Here are some of yesterday’s stories on TechCrunch Gadgets: → Read More
Earlier this year, during CES 2011, Sony showcased a prototype of a wearable 3D display that looked much like those virtual reality helmets we’ve been seeing since the 1990s. And today, the company announced that it’s actually ready to start selling the OLED device, dubbed “Personal 3D Viewer”/ HMZ-T1, on November 11 – in Japan. → Read More
Everything’s candy and roses for Dropbox today as the company simultaneously breaks out the expensive champagne and whispers “no comment” to anyone asking about the news. No matter, though, I’m right here cheering them on, too. That’s just how I roll. High fives, all alone, but there in spirit.
Anyhow, all this reminiscing about the young days of Dropbox and I kept coming back to this one… → Read More
Hot damn, I want one of those HP TouchPad tablets. Why? Because they’re sold out!
Perception of scarcity is a fascinating human condition. It’s one of the first things we learn as children – that running towards something is usually a guarantee that you won’t get it. But act like you don’t want something, and it’ll come running to you. The creation of the perception of scarcity is a winning, if… → Read More
Salesforce’s ‘social network for the enterprise’ Chatter has been the company’s first real foray into incorporating social with business functions. Salesforce originally announced Chatter back in November of 2009, and the application launched into public beta in June 2010 after four months in private beta. Salesforce has said publicly that Chatter has been its most successful product launch to… → Read More
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