It’s a bit cliché, but it’s true all the same: the best features are often the ones that make you smack yourself on the forehead and ask why you didn’t think of them (or why nobody else did).
Which the reaction I immediately had when I heard about a new feature that Hipmunk, the flight and hotel travel search engine, is launching this morning. Today the service is adding support for Google Calendar integration, which means it can check its flight listings against your schedule to figure out which ones will work best for you.
Now, calendar syncing is hardly a new concept for travel sites — many of them will let you automatically sync your booked flights and reservations into your calendar. But Hipmunk says that it’s the first travel site to delve into your schedule and find potential conflicts to help you book those flights in the first place.
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Exclusive - BlueCava, a startup that has developed technology that enables its customers to identify unique connected devices such as smartphones, TV set-top boxes, gaming consoles, computers and more, has raised $9.5 million in funding in a round led by VC firm S3 Ventures. Earlier backers, angel investors and billionaires Mark Cuban and Tim Headington, also participated in the round. → Read More
UserVoice, makers of tools for managing customer support and feedback, is today launching a new reporting tool for businesses using its “Instant Answers” service. The service, which is built into the UserVoice Full Service system, allows companies to automatically connect their help requests to available Knowledge Base entries in order to provide an immediate answer to incoming queries.
With today’s launch of the reporting tool, those companies will now be able to tell how effective their Knowledge Base is at providing those answers to their customers. → Read More
London-based Just-Eat, the online food ordering company originally founded in Denmark in 2000, is putting the $48 million it raised earlier this year to good use. After taking over local rival, London online food delivery company Urbanbite, Just-Eat’s Canadian business has acquired GrubCanada. → Read More
There is a very special peripheral for future owners of Mario Kart 7 on the 3DS coming soon, but it’s not made by Nintendo itself: video game accessory maker Hori announced a steering wheel that’s specifically designed for the game and that’s officially licensed by big N.
The device will feature large L and R buttons for better control. → Read More
With the Groupon roadshow underway and the countdown to its IPO expected to culminate on November 4th, the long-anticipated arrival of the daily deals giant on the public markets is almost at hand. But the journey hasn’t been without its fair share of hiccups. While the company currently owns a 54 percent share of the daily deals market and there were some bright spots in its third quarter earnings report, the daily deals juggernaut has fallen from a once hoped-for $25 to $30 billion valuation to one that will likely be around $11.4 billion.
Comparatively speaking, going with that questionable early valuation from its underwriters, at as much as 62 percent off, Groupon itself now represents one helluva deal for the eager coupon clipping investor. Thanks to some hilarious characters on the team at Runningshoes.com, we now have an awesome mock deal in which Groupon itself is offering its common stock for the discounted price of $16 a share. → Read More
The world got a first glimpse of the “world’s first spherical flying machine” back in June this year, but its maker, Japan’s Ministry of Defense, decided it’s time to showcase it publicly a few days ago in Tokyo. And as you can see in the video embedded below, their ball drone is pretty awesome.
The drone can stand still in mid-air, fly vertically and horizontally through narrow spaces at up to 60km/h, and (which is very cool) keep on moving when it hits the ground or a wall. Thanks to three gyro sensors in its body, the machine can keep also flying even if it’s hit by an obstacle. → Read More
Mobile ad network Millennial Media, is releasing its quarterly report which gives a view into how each OS, device and manufacturer is performing on one of the largest remaining independent ad networks in the world. In Q3, Android continued to dominate the mobile ad network, and led the Connected Device and Smartphone OS Mix on Millennial with 56% of the impressions. iOS was the second largest Connected Device and Smartphone OS in Q3 with 23 percent of impressions.
iOS remained the leader as the top Connected Device OS. iOS impressions grew 60% year-over-year in Q3. In particular, iPad impressions grew 456%, and iPod Touch impressions grew 30% year-over-year. The iPhone accounted for 54% of the iOS impressions Millennial’s platform, while iPod Touch and iPad combined to make up the other 46%.
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Google has announced the ability for advertisers to bid for phone calls, in addition to bidding for clicks, for Google search ads on computers and tablets. Currently, only advertisers maximum CPC bid for phone calls factor into ad rank.
With bid-for-calls, these bids can also factor into ad rank as well. Higher ranked ads surface higher in search results, and can therefore generate more phone calls (and clicks, too). → Read More
Looks like Google this morning rolled out a brand new design for its Chrome Web Store, and it’s a major improvement.
The updated Web app marketplace, first released in December 2010, is all about the software, now boasting large squares with attractive app visuals. → Read More
From Russia with love: two Moscow-based investment firms have led a $17 million funding round for B2B social networking and e-invoicing company Tradeshift, valuing the company at $137 million according to a press statement distributed earlier this morning.
The investors are ru-Net and Kite Ventures, with earlier backer Notion Capital also participating. → Read More
Fans of marginalia: Take note. Subtext is a startup that is attempting to bring those incisive notes (or sophomoric jokes) you used to leave in the margins of textbooks or your favorite fiction online — and make them interactive. Subtext is bringing a new social eBook reading experience to the iPad.
If you’ve ever paid the extra cost for a fuller music listening experience, a behind-the-scenes look at the band, a DVD, etc., then you can probably get a sense of what Subtext is trying to do with reading. Except that the startup wants to offer an enhanced reading experience that, while adding neat additions and sidenotes, author commentary, and Web connectedness (for free) — doesn’t distract from the reading experience. → Read More
These are bittersweet days for Tony Fadell. The man who oversaw 18 generations of the iPod and the first three versions of the iPhone is finally launching his new company, Nest Labs, today. It has been eighteen months in the making and marks a new era for thermostats– and quite possibly other neglected categories of home electronics.
But he’s also recently lost his former boss and long time friend Steve Jobs. In this final segment of our sit-down interview with Fadell, he talks about the Steve Jobs he knew. He also talks about the future for Apple, and what he hopes Apple’s legacy will be for entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley.
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Even if you read our story earlier tonight on iPod Godfather Tony Fadell’s new company Nest Labs and its new Learning Thermostat, you may still be wondering how anyone could make a thermostat an object of beauty. So we sat down with Fadell to get a video demo of the device that brought him out of retirement and has been eighteen months in the making.
True to the Apple aesthetic it’s one big dial you can spin and push to control a sophisticated array of features.
It’ll be the first thermostat marketed directly to consumers. Can they get excited enough to plunk down a couple hundred dollars? My husband and I are finally putting a new heating system in our drafty San Francisco Victorian. After this demo, I was sold. How about you? → Read More
You’ve probably seen the new Apple Siri commercial with people talking to their iPhones like they would to a personal assistant because, well, it is a personal assistant. It sets up meetings, reminds you to do things, shows you how to tie a bow tie. Well, Team Coco at Conan O’Brien had a little fun re-imagining the commercial with what looks like two guys from Brooklyn.
Yeah, you pretty much know what they are going to ask: “How far am I right now from diarrhea town?” → Read More
For the last eighteen months, the tech world has been anxiously awaiting news of what iPod godfather Tony Fadell is up to. His staff has been sworn to secrecy since word got out he was leaving retirement to do something new. Despite reporters camping out in front of his office with cameras, the news somehow stayed a secret– no small feat in the ever-leaky land of Silicon Valley.
No doubt the anticipation raised expectations in fan boys’ minds that the next great entertainment or communication device was going to be unveiled by the former DJ who oversaw 18 versions of the iPod and the first three versions of the iPhone.
Fadell is well aware that those fan boys may be in for some confusion or some disappointment today. Because he’s announcing what finally got him to come out of retirement and start a new company: A desire to reinvent thermostats. → Read More
Enterprise I.T. company GroupLogic is today unveiling the latest update to its mobilEcho Mobile File Management (MFM) service with the launch of mobilEcho 3.0. Most importantly, the new version now adds support for the iPhone, in addition to the previously supported iPad. And the company says it will have support for Android by next quarter. → Read More
Back in 2009, TechCrunch Founder Michael Arrington wrote that CNET (and parent company CBS) were sniffing around gdgt, the then-brand-new community/review site/blog by Peter Rojas and Ryan Block. While CNET was considering an investment at the time, an acquisition was said not to be an option.
Oh, how time can change things. Two years later, we’re not only hearing that CNET is now in talks to acquire gdgt, but also that the deal could be announced as early as this week. → Read More
Hackers, are you ready? The Disrupt Beijing Hackathon is almost here. Not only is this our fifth time hosting the Hackathon at TechCrunch Disrupt, but it is our very first time hosting it overseas. The Hackathon has become an incredibly popular event, where hackers of every stripe come together to build cool products and businesses — from funny to useful, from bizarre to essential. The goal of the Hackathon is to push innovation forward.
What’s more, ALL hackers who finish their hacks AND present in the 24-hour allotted time period will get FREE tickets to Disrupt Beijing!
而且, 所有完成并且在24小时中展示所做项目的程序员将获得Disrupt北京大会的免费门票！
We have been lucky enough to receive support from some amazing companies. These companies will be helping hackers by hosting their own API platforms, providing educational workshops, and offering exciting prizes from their own contests. Make sure to check out the contests and prizes below, and make sure to get your ticket soon! It’s our first Hackathon overseas and one you don’t want to miss. → Read More
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