Getting folks to check into apps is hard. But what would happen if we could automatically check into events – like TV shows – automatically? Today at TechCrunch Disrupt Beijing, a Chinese team is trying to take the check-in business into a whole new level.
→ Read More
Here are some of the past week’s stories on TechCrunch Gadgets: → Read More
My first thought as I looked at 8 Securities, a new startup launching today at TC Disrupt Beijing, was, “I didn’t know financial dashboards could look sexy.”
But that’s exactly what the Hong Kong-based startup has done: it’s built a service that combines elements of StockTwits, E*Trade, and iGoogle’s personalization to allow users to build a largely customized web interface for absorbing financial information and dealing with trades. Users can add widgets containing graphs, stock tickers, video streams, and other content, which they can arrange in whatever way they’d like. → Read More
Anquanbao is a cloud-based software program that helps protect websites from security violations like malware and denial of service attacks. Its product can be easily installed on any website. All that the administrators need to do is change his or her domain settings. Since abusive bots and crawlers waste bandwidth and server resources, Anquanbao’s product also helps websites load faster.
→ Read More
Founded by husband and wife team Jonathan and Danielle Jenkins, OrderWithMe is a group buying site specifically designed for the small Western businesses who are having trouble navigating the somewhat unintelligible world of Chinese manufacturers. By allowing companies to buy in bulk, OrderWithMe can offer the same deals that larger retailers get, which means up to 70% discounts on fashion and furniture items.
→ Read More
Google’s official Android Market is not available in China, leading to a plethora of independent markets – over 70 at last count. The system works – sort of – but users may find it annoying because you actually don’t know how to find the good stuff. China is still lacking any sort of innovative search mechanism to help people identify the apps they really need in daily life.
Discovering the apps should not be boring, and the core value of Qiuqiu is to bring the pleasure of discovering apps during different activities. Qiuqiu’s app search engine is unique because it offers results based on your location, the time of day, and the things you like and do. Each scenario is expressed by a series of apps – education apps for the school day and travel apps for your vacation. It’s a compelling and interesting change from the traditional “editor’s choice” and selected apps lists found in many markets. → Read More
Battlefield company AlphaOutlook has just launched their native social media monitoring service for the Chinese market. Founded by CEO Chad Pankewitz, the company currently has a major client, Burson-Marsteller in China.
“China’s social media and Internet landscape has many unique characteristics that render the existing tools and platforms inoperable in China,” says Pankewitz. “There are 485 million people online and 900 million mobile users in China. We believe it is important to give businesses, inside and outside of China, the tools they need monitor, track, and gain meaningful insights into the millions of online conversations taking place in real-time. Understanding these conversations and social media trends is critical for making the right business decisions in China.”
→ Read More
“Why can’t credits be as convenient as credit cards?”
This is the question with which TechCrunch Disrupt Beijing startup Richi opened their presentation, kicking off our first ever international Startup Battlefield. Why can my coffee shop points only buy me more coffee? If I don’t have enough loyalty points on one card to make a rewards purchase, why can’t I use some from another bank?
The problem, they say, is a lack of openness — and that’s a problem they aim to solve. → Read More
As is abundantly clear from all the entrepreneurial activity on display at TechCrunch Disrupt Beijing, China is growing as a startup center. In the third quarter of 2011, $1.3 billion in venture capital poured into China, up 84 percent, according to Dow Jones VentureSource.
At the same time, VC dollars slid 12 percent in Europe to almost exactly the same amount: 951 million Euros or $1.3 billion. (For comparison, U.S. VC dollars rose 29 percent to $8.4 billion in the third quarter). Are we at a crossroads where more venture capital will end up in China than in Europe? → Read More
In an interview at TechCrunch Disrupt Beijing today, YouTube co-founder Steve Chen reminisced about selling his company to Google. “Was there any way you could not have sold?” Sarah Lacy asked? Hindsight is 20/20 Chen replied.
Chen revealed that the entire $1.65 billion YouTube acquisition was completed in one week’s time. Chen met with executives from both Google and Yahoo, including Yahoo’s Jerry Yang, at a Denny’s in Palo Alto, “We didn’t want to meet at offices, so we were like, ‘Where’s a place that none of us would go?’”
→ Read More
The Mighty Eagle himself sits down with us at Disrupt BJ and talks about Rovio’s plans for the future, the Rovio’s desire to become more than a games company, and how the Birds won’t end up like Pac-Man.
→ Read More
At the Android Fever panel here at Disrupt Beijing, Wang Hua of Innovation Works, John Lagerling, Director of Android Global Partnerships at Google, and David Chao of DCM. These folks are bullish on Android, noting that there are currently 40 million android phones in country and that China is number three in terms of development kit downloads.
→ Read More
TechCrunch Disrupt Beijing kicked off with a bang this morning: Pony Ma, founder, Executive Director, Chairman, and CEO of Chinese giant Tencent took the stage for a fireside chat with our own Sarah Lacy. Tencent, for those who aren’t familiar with it, is one of the world’s biggest Internet giants. The company sees $3 billion in revenue and $1 billion in profit annually, with services that include web portals, games, social networks, and IM. According to Forbes, Ma is the 9th richest person in China.
The interview spanned many topics, ranging from Tencent’s past to the role China will have as the web continues to grow and mature. And it was notable for another reason: this was the first time Ma agreed to be interviewed on stage by a foreign journalist.
You’ll find my takeaways below, and a recording of the whole interview above — it’s well worth watching. → Read More
InnovationWorks founder and former Googler Kai Fu-Lee took the stage at TC Disrupt Beijing today with Sarah Lacy to talk about the startup ecosystem in China.
InnovationWorks is a Chinese incubator focusing on early stage internet companies in China – interest in startups is exploding, and InnovationWorks saw 7,000 resumes in response to open applications for its first batch, “There’s nothing that matches the Chinese entrepreneurs desire for success,” he said. → Read More
Mobile development firm appMobi is launching a new HTML5-powered browser for iOS on Monday which will bring additional capabilities typically found only in native apps to the mobile Web. The MobiUs Web App Browser, as it’s being called, works both as a standalone browser alternative or in conjunction with Apple’s mobile Safari, similar to the way browser extensions work on the desktop Web.
Although HTML5 can already tap into some of a smartphone’s sensors, like the GPS and accelerometer, for example, appMobi’s MobiUs Web App Browser will go beyond HTML5′s current capabilities to provide access the smartphone’s camera, the ability to scan QR codes and barcodes, support for augmented reality, accelerated graphics, the ability to lock the rotation of the device and more.
→ Read More
As proven by the massive success of the Angry Birds plush line, the world has a hungry for real-world Angry Birds wares. No where is that more apparent than Beijing, where the halls of countless toy shops and electronics stores are filled foot to ceiling with sundry Bird-themed goods, from sweatshirts and jeans to candy and balloons. The catch? Rovio didn’t authorize any of it.
Where others may see a problem, Rovio Mobile’s Mighty Eagle (read: CMO) Peter Versterbacka sees opportunity. He roams these aforementioned shops in search of unauthorized goods — but not to complain or throw around legal orders. He’s there to find the best unofficial Angry Birds items… so he can copy them. → Read More
First up, Tencent CEO Pony Ma, and then YouTube’s Steve Chen. → Read More
After many sleepless months, our first ever international Disrupt conference will be starting at 9 am Beijing time/6 pm PST. Even if you didn’t make the trip over, you can still catch all the excitement on our livestream thanks to Tudou and Ustream.
In case you can’t watch the whole event, check out Alexia and my top picks for today in the video above.
We are kicking off the first day of TechCrunch Disrupt Beijing 2011 at 6pm PST. We’ve embedded the livestream of the event below. → Read More
It is hard to pull of a good futuristic dive watch design as more traditional looks tend to be more timeless. Clerc however has done well with their Hydroscaph collection. Check out a review of the Clerc Hydroscaph Limited Edition Chronograph watch here.
→ Read More
Although most of the Hackathon Hackers escaped before we could interview them, we corralled two interesting groups backstage and asked them about their products and experience at TechCrunch Disrupt Beijing.
First we had Tianji Connect, an interface to the local LinkedIn clone that allows you to look up anyone on the Internet and see their experience and skills. → Read More
