Because the stream of realtime palaver that is Twitter needed even more platforms to be consumed on even more devices, the company has just announced that it has started to roll out its HTML5-based Twitter.com for iPad, and that all iPad users should have it accessible within the week. → Read More
There is much anxiety in Japan related to accommodating their aging population. Their elderly and infirm number in the millions and that figure is growing out of proportion to the rest of the country. Caring for them is naturally on everyone’s minds — including those of roboticists. And research organization RIKEN is updating its medical assistance bot in order to help caretakers with the task… → Read More
It’s a cliche by now, but there’s no question that the launch of the iPhone in 2007 changed the future of mobile devices forever. Even the actual phone portion of the device saw huge improvements: visual voicemail, relatively easy contact management, and quick access to your recent calls. And, err, the dialer has looked just about the same ever since. As has Android’s dialer, which is basically… → Read More
Online advertising company ValueClick is on a bit of an acquisition spree. After acquiring mobile ad network Greystripe earlier this year, the company is buying personalized ad technology company Dotomi. The deal is valued at $295 million, consisting of approximately 55 percent in cash and 45 percent in ValueClick common stock. Dotomi will become a subsidiary of publicly traded ValueClick. → Read More
We’ve seen a number of startups emerge that are using a sampling box as a way to help consumers discover products, including Babbaco, Foodzie, BirchBox and BeachMint. Blissmo is the latest company to join the mix with the launch of the Blissmobox, which allows consumers to discover organic and eco-friendly products that safer and better for them, their families and their planet.
The Blissmobox… → Read More
So let’s say you walk into a Best Buy looking for a new tablet. You walk up to the guy in the blue polo and tell him what you’re looking for. After taking you to the tablet section, he whips out a handkerchief and blindfolds you. “They’re all really good!” he promises. “The one on the left is $499, the one in the middle is $549, and the one on the right is an even $600. Which can I wrap up… → Read More
In many ways, tablet-focused readers like Pulse, Flipboard, and now Editions, are the next phase of RSS readers. But they’re RSS readers that the masses will actually use because they’re actually user-friendly and oriented around experience and visuals. But because they’re so tailored for user experience, they often need partnerships beyond a simple RSS feed to bring in the necessary information… → Read More
While Angry Birds tends to get all the credit for being the game that has endlessly owned the App Store, it’s not alone up at the top. ZeptoLab’s Cut The Rope was the first game to come along and (temporarily) knock the Birds from their #1 spot back in October of 2010 — and in the months since, it’s rarely spent any time not in the top ten.
With the license still proving to be an effective… → Read More
Sony Alpha Rumors has received a boatload of information, though none of it complete, about Sony’s newest Alpha cameras and accessories. This comes hot on the heels of another Alpha leak, showing off the upcoming NEX-7. I won’t repeat all the details here, but it’s a nice little info tease to hold you off until the rumored August 24 launch date. → Read More
Recently a few startups have started to appear with mobile apps allowing you to point a smartphone at an object and view some kind of augmented reality object or information associated with it. Usually they’ve done this by being activated by some kind of QR code or similar. Others have started to appear with apps where no code is needed. Blippar is one such startup that is poised to release an… → Read More
Every phone geek loves to debate how long it’ll be before we’ve trashed our wallets in favor of paying for stuff with our phones in the real world — but what about online?
Tailing a similar announcement by Verizon a few months back, T-Mobile has just announced that they’re opening up their carrier billing system to online retailers, allowing T-Mobile customers to charge things purchased on… → Read More
The Verizon/Sprint 4G war has been shifting into high gear lately, and with Verizon’s LTE network capable of faster performance, Sprint has had to play up some of their other accomplishments to try and pick up some momentum.
They certainly won’t be letting you forget that they 1) offer the first 4G wireless network from a national carrier, 2) have the most 4G devices, and 3) are apparently… → Read More
Technology polymath Esther Dyson has always been interested in healthcare and especially how data and personal devices can make us healthier. She is an active investor in a few healthcare startups and sits on the board of personal genomics company 23andMe. In the video interview above, she explains how startups can help change healthcare for the better: “Don’t fight the system, erode it.” → Read More
One look at Grand Theft Auto 4 and you’re probably not thinking, “Little Timmy or Susie would just love that game.” No one wants their kids desensitized to reasonless mass murder or the dreaded F-bomb, and understandably so. Let the kids be kids.
Well it turns out if you own a Windows-powered phone, you now have access to the Entertainment Software Rating Board app, where you can check… → Read More
Facebook has just bought Push Pop Press. Started by former Apple employees Kimon Tsinteris and Mike Matas, Push Pop Press helps authors and publishers convert physical books into iPad and iPhone-friendly formats.
The company has been heralded by design enthusiasts and the mainstream alike. In 2009 former Vice President Al Gore used to software to create the book Our Choice. In 2011 the company… → Read More
I just couldn’t keep my big Tweeter shut. When I publicly dismissed the soundness of his widely hailed report on European VC, Jason Whitmire of Earlybird Venture Capital challenged me to openly discuss the facts in a dialogue exceeding 140 characters. So I guess I owe him a response.
Based on the work of their summer intern, Jason and his partner Hendrik Brandis have published a “report”… → Read More
Who doesn’t want to be more efficient, smarter and healthier? According to Kleiner partner Chi-Hua Chien, the mobile revolution can, potentially, do all three – developing applications and services on our smartphones that make us more efficient, smarter and healther. And that’s why Kleiner, Chien admitted to me when I interviewed him at our Mobile First CrunchUp event last week, is crying… → Read More
Kleiner Perkins is announcing a new investment this morning in stealth company Erly. Interestingly, Eric Feng, newly appointed partner at KPCB and previously founding CTO of Hulu, is starting the new new social company with two other former Hulu employees, Eugene Wei and Andrew Lin, who were previously Head of Product and Head of Engineering at Hulu, respectively.
Feng, who just joined the… → Read More
Have you been itching some Verizon 4G love in a package that’s just a hair more portable than their also-just-announced HP Pavilion dm1? I know I haven’t, but Verizon has just announced their first 4G capable netbook, the Compaq Mini CQ10-688nr all the same. → Read More
Apparently Apple isn’t the only company running an App Store with a penchant for secrecy.
In a blog post this morning, mobile developer Shifty Jelly has publicly called out Amazon for covertly offering the company featured placement on its unofficial Android Appstore as the ‘free app of the day’. This is a well-known promotion that Amazon has openly talked about, but there’s a twist: instead of… → Read More
Globant, an Argentinian software development, IT services and maintenance outsourcing giant has acquired Nextive, a San Francisco-based mobile and social technologies company that works for clients like Zynga, Crowdstar and GSN.
Financial terms of the acquisition were not disclosed. → Read More
The dream of a personalized magazine tuned just for you keeps showing itself on the iPad. Today’s edition comes from AOL Editions, which is finally coming out after much fine-tuning and a silly video. (Disclosure: TechCrunch is also owned by AOL). Editions assembles a digital magazine for you once a day from a variety of online news sources and blogs—The Atlantic, Businessweek, CNNMoney, Forbes… → Read More
Appistry, a St. Louis, MO-based developer of cloud solutions, has raised $12 million in funding in a Series D round led by private equity firm eXome Capital. Stuart Mill Capital and other private and existing investors also participated.
The round, which includes term debt, pushes the total of capital raised by Appistry to over $34 million. → Read More
Breaking up is hard to do, but T-Mobile and Radio Shack seem to be handling the split rather well, all things considered. After Radio Shack alleged that T-Mo materially breached the terms of their agreement, the two have gone their separate ways. Or at least, they will on September 15. This is more of the awkward, still-living-together phase.
In the mean time, Radio Shack has moved on to the… → Read More
Sprout, a company that offers an easy-to-use platform for building HTML5-based ads, has been acquired by mobile ad network operator InMobi. Financial terms of the deal are not being disclosed. Sprout had raised a total of $10 million from Global Venture Capital, Polaris Venture Partners, Global Venture Capital, and Mitch Kapor.
Sprout got its start as a builder for Flash-based widgets that… → Read More
Today’s the day Mike Arrington’s new assistant Greg will be wandering the streets of Silicon Valley, doing everything — and anything — that you ask him to do.
We’ve already received a bunch of hilarious tasks (dares?) — but we want even more to make sure Greg is thoroughly embarrassed occupied, so please keep them coming. Since all of the money is going to charity, the Golden Gate Labrador… → Read More
There goes Zediva. A federal judge issued a preliminary injunction against the video streaming start-up by ruling that the company violates copyright infringement. The injunction will effectively shut down Zediva, but due to a legal technicality, it won’t officially be issued for another week.
Zediva should have seen this coming. The company billed its streaming service as a DVD rental over the… → Read More
Now there’s no question that Android’s flexibility has endeared it self to many a smartphowner out there, but I’d imagine that not everyone is as cognizant about security as they should be.
Case in point: a nasty new bit of Android malware discovered by security researcher Dinesh Venkatesan at CA Technologies records all of your conversations to your SD card when activated. → Read More
Like a miniaturized, wearable Chumby, the WIMM micro communications device looks interesting and, given enough support and interest, could actually be interesting. The device looks like a tiny iPod Nano but features Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. It is supposed to play nicely with your Android phone and runs its own stripped-down version of Android to display messages, handle exercise monitoring, and… → Read More
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