It’s no secret (at least, not anymore) that Samsung is scrambling to diversify its mobile platform offerings. Bada, while smart, is kind of a bust, and Android is currently hanging in the balance until everyone figures out just what Googorola‘s plans are.
In the meantime, Samsung’s been a busy little bee, signing a deal with Microsoft to cross-license patents in exchange for Android royalties and collaboration on Windows Phone. But that’s not all. In conjunction with Intel, Samsung is backing the launch of a new open source Linux-based OS called Tizen, which will inevitably replace the recently abandoned MeeGo platform. → Read More
The Android tablet electoral races are done. There’s a new mayor in Droidville. But this guy didn’t roll into town with pomp and circumstance. He strolled down Main Street and simply offered more than any other candidate, extolling a plan based on down-to-earth sensibility and affordability. Meet the Kindle Fire.
Amazon just unveiled the Kindle Fire, which will, without question, dominate the sub-iPad tablet market for years. Amazon did it right by copying Apple’s formula: tablets do not sell on specs; Amazon barely touched on the Fire’s hardware during its announcement. Instead, Jeff Bezos, doing his best Steve Jobs impersonation, stood tall on the stage and ran through a long list of features that makes the Fire an iPad alternative the world wanted.
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The Internet Advertising Bureau just released its numbers of the first half of 2011, and it looks like internet ad revenue reached record highs during the time period. Internet ad revenues rose 23.2 percent — to a record $14.9 billion — in the first half of 2011. The rate of growth more than doubled year-over-year, as last year’s first-half ad revenues were $12.1 billion (and represented an 11.3 percent increase over 2009)
Internet ad revenues for the second quarter alone also reached new heights, increasing 24.1 percent to $7.7 billion. That’s up from the Q2 2010 numbers of $6.2 billion, which is up 13.9 percent from 2009. Display ads totaled more than $5.5 billion in the first six months of 2011 and increased 27.1 percent over the same period in 2010.
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Kicking it into fifth gear and zooming out of stealth and into the public sphere today is Wheelz, a new person-to-person car sharing platform for campuses — designed to connect students who have cars with student who need ‘em. Granted, when I first heard the basics on Wheelz, I immediately thought, “gadzooks, another car sharing platform!?” What about RelayRides, GetAround, Zimride, and Zipcar? These are all by and large great young businesses, adding value to the space; sure they’re not all targeting campuses, but I wasn’t so sure we needed another one.
Whether you feel the same way or not, Wheelz begs to differ. Launching initially at Stanford University, the startup is bringing campuses a technology and service platform that allows students and other campus dwellers to connect safely and easily — through Facebook integration, a good-looking iPhone app, and its proprietary in-car hardware system, called DriveBox. → Read More
Jeff Bezos announced a new family of Kindle’s today, including the Kindle Fire and Kindle Touch. But he also had one more thing. The Kindle Fire tablet is coming with an entirely new mobile browser called Amazon Silk. The browser is “cloud-accelerated” in that it splits tasks between the cloud and the device.
“It is very challenging for mobile devices to display modern websites rapidly,” says Bezos. “So we wondered is there some way we can use the incredible computational horsepower of Amazon EC2 to accelerate mobile web browsing.” → Read More
Today at Amazon’s press conference in New York city, the company announced the Kindle Fire 7-inch tablet.
But that’s not all CEO Jeff Bezos had to say — the Amazon boss spoke on the success of Kindle as a service, noting that four years ago “Amazon had 90,000 books. Today we’re over a million, and that doesn’t include the copyright-free texts.” → Read More
Looks like the Kindle Fire wasn’t all Amazon had planned for us. Amazon has revealed a new line of E-Ink Kindles that looks to bolster their “traditional” eReader lineup. The three new models have taken the stage: the $79 Kindle, the $99 Kindle Touch, and the $149 Kindle Touch 3G.
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Mobile device management company Zenprise is today introducing its new enterprise-grade mobile DLP (Data Leakage Prevention) that aims to help I.T. departments with the growing “bring your own device” to work trend. The Zenprise Enterprise Mobile DLP will be offered as an optional add-on to the company’s larger solution, the Zenprise Mobile Enterprise Security Framework, when it launches later this fall.
At first, the new product will specifically target iOS devices, including the Apple iPad, but an Android version is in the works. → Read More
Amazon’s not-so-secret project is finally unveiled and is the company’s first real tablet contender. The Kindle Fire is Amazon’s prize fighter in the battle for tablet dominance. But the new LCD-equipped Kindle isn’t in the corner alone. Amazon also took the wraps off of two new, more-traditional Kindles, including a $99 touchscreen model and a stripped-down $79 option.
The Fire itself is rather characterless and dull. It looks a lot like the 7-inch BlackBerry PlayBook (probably for good reason) and features just enough tech to pass as acceptable. There’s a tw0-point multitouch screen (the iPad has a 10-point screen), and an unspecified CPU although reports place a TI OMAP CPU at the core. There are no physical buttons on the black slate along with little Amazon branding. The Fire doesn’t have a camera, mic or 3G connectivity although it does pack WiFi. It’s all about the experience → Read More
We know the iPhone 5 is being debuted soon and reports point to Sprint as the new carrier. But just how popular will the device be off the bat? InMobi, one of the largest independent mobile ad networks, is releasing a study that forecasts the scope and effect of the iPhone 5 announcement in North America.
The recent InMobi consumer smartphone survey uncovers that 41% of current mobile users in the U.S., Mexico, and Canada plan to buy an iPhone 5—potentially making it the most successful launch from the consumer electronics giant to date. The study also finds that over 50% of those users will make the purchase within the first six months of the iPhone 5 launch, which inMobi says could take Apple significantly ahead of its June 2011 market position, and increase its mobile platform market share from 27% in June (comScore) to 41%. → Read More
![storming_the_bastille[1]](http://tctechcrunch2011.files.wordpress.com/2011/09/storming_the_bastille1.jpg?w=288 "storming_the_bastille[1]")
There are two sides to the story of Google’s move to create a massive, seven storey startup / developer hub slap bang in the middle of of Shoreditch, where so many London/UK/European startups seem to be congregating. Drawn by the cluster effect and the plethora of events in the area aimed at developers, Google’s move surely makes sense. But behind the scenes I happen to know that Number 10 has been lobbying for this kind of move for some time. → Read More
Watch this space because beginning at 10am Eastern/7am Pacific we will be live from the Amazon event in New York City. What are we expecting? The Fire, of course – Amazon’s newest Kindle that will come with a full-color, touch-sensitive screen and perhaps a few other tricks including Prime ebook subscriptions and a more robust and compelling Amazon app store. We’ll update this post during the event, so refresh early and often.
UPDATE – Here we go. Getting started now. → Read More
It won’t be long now before Amazon kicks off their big press conference, where the much-awaited Kindle tablet is rumored to make its first public appearance. We’ve learned recently that Amazon will be calling it the Kindle Fire, and the company seems to have quietly confirmed the name on their website. → Read More
We covered quite a few personal assistant robots from Japan in the past, but none of them were labeled as “personal porters”. But now Professor Gen Endo from the Tokyo Institute of Technology has built a unique prototype of a robot that follows the owner around and can carry stuff for them, too.
Owners simply pull the robot with the help of a cord, and the self-propelled, battery-powered robot follows them everywhere. Thanks to a set of 4 wheels (and much like a space exploration rover), the robot can overcome most obstacles in a pedestrian environment. In its current form, the little guy can run for 2,5 hours (5km) on a single charge. → Read More
You’d have to be living in some cave to not know that IP wars are all the rage this season, especially with our favorite electronics/software companies. Samsung, in particular, has been the target of all-mighty Apple, and had quite the difficult year.
But alas, Microsoft has swooped in, and the two have decided to cross-license their patent portfolios. This would better protect both companies from outside attacks moving forward. → Read More
Ocean Group, a massive private holding company founded by entrepreneurs Timur Sardarov and Oliver Ripley, has announced the creation of – and a $100 million investment commitment in – a new digital media and technology subsidiary called Black Ocean.
Sardarov and Ripley will spearhead Black Ocean’s investments in video, social, mobile, and e-commerce technologies. → Read More
Employee rewards services company Achievers, formerly known as I Love Rewards, has raised $24.5 million in a Series C round of financing led by Sequoia Capital, with earlier backers JLA Ventures, GrandBanks Capital and the Ontario Venture Capital Fund participating. The round brings the company’s total of funding raised to $38 million.
Achievers targets organizations between 500 employees, up to Fortune 500 companies, looking to enhance employee engagement through social software. → Read More
Parking In Motion has raised an undisclosed amount of capital in a Series A financing round co-led by IDG Ventures and Fontinalis Partners, the investment firm co-founded by William Clay “Bill” Ford Jr., the great-grandson of Henry Ford (and Executive Chairman of Ford Motor Company).
The additional capital will allow Parking In Motion to deliver its real-time parking database to automobile navigation systems, mobile phones, tablets and other data aggregators. → Read More
Hitachi Maxell, in cooperation with Murata, has announced [JP] the so-called Air Voltage for the Japanese market today, a combination of a wireless charging pad (dubbed “Energy Stand”) and jacket (“Energy Cover”) specifically for use with the iPad 2. According to Maxell, the device is the first of its kind (mass-produced).
The way it works is that users put their iPad 2 into the jacket, place it on the pad and let the Air Voltage system charge the tablet – no cables required. Maxell says that the wireless power transmission of 10W takes about 3 hours for a full charge, as long as charging the iPad the conventional way (AC adapter). → Read More
We’ll all been there. You are craving that delicious sandwich from that place a couple of miles from your home for lunch, when you realize your wife took the car to go shopping (again). So you hop online, looking to compare prices for the best private aircraft and nearest available flight, and begin to search frantically for a website where you can quickly charter a helicopter or small private jet so you can get that smoked salmon and avocado sandwich pronto.
PrivateFly.com feels your pain, and has established a private aircraft booking service that lets you find, compare and book your private charter jet or helicopter flight all in one, online place. The company has just raised £2 million from a number of private investors to roll out internationally.
Read on at TechCrunch Europe. → Read More
