Reading, which began as a solitary activity, is increasingly becoming a social experience. We share links constantly on Twitter and Facebook to the latest blog posts and articles we are reading, and electronic books such as Amazon’s Kindle allow you to share your highlights and notes with the world. A few days ago, betaworks soft-launched a new product called Findings, which is aimed at sharing passages from digital books and the web.
Findings is a pet project of Betaworks CEO John Borthwick and author Steven Johnson. The service lets you share your highlights from Kindle books as well as articles on the web via a bookmarklet. But it is not intended to be a web clipping service. It is really more about reading in the digital age, sharing quotations from books and other writings that resonate with you and making them your own by collecting them into a feed. In many ways it harkens back to an earlier form of reading hundreds of years ago when Englishmen would hand-assemble their own collections of quotations into a “commonplace book.” → Read More
There’s been some hubbub lately about Secure Boot, a hardware-verified, malware-free operating system bootstrap process that aims to improve the overall security of computers. Part of the UEFI specification which is slated to replace the aging BIOS with which many of us are familiar, Secure Boot can forbid the loading and execution of unsigned operating systems. Microsoft is requiring that Secure Boot be activated and enforced for any OEM systems that want to use the “Designed for Windows 8″ logo. The nature of the technology, and Microsoft’s recommended implementation of it, could remove control of the overall system from the end user, and in this configuration Secure Boot may prevent Free Software operating systems from loading.
After some initial hysteria on Slashdot (where else?), calmer minds have prevailed, and have reviewed the UEFI Secure Boot specification in some detail. It’s a pretty marked change from the old BIOS: the use of public key cryptography makes the whole thing considerably more complex. But there’s nothing about Secure Boot, prima facie, that specifically locks out Free Software operating systems. → Read More
While the debate is still ablaze over whether cell phones actually cause damage to the brain and/or body, San Francisco recently lost patience and went ahead passing legislation requiring cell phone shops to display posters that warn customers of the potential risks their beloved cell phones may impose. Along with the posters, retailers would also be required to put warning stickers on window displays, as well as hand out fact sheets to customers.
But, in predictable fashion, the CTIA has filed a lawsuit opposing the ordinance (just like it so successfully did the last time San Fran tried to pass the bill). This time around, the judge seems to side more with the CTIA than the city, giving a firm “No” to the sticker and poster ideas, while revising the fact sheet with his own edits. → Read More
Flash sales giant Gilt Groupe is acquiring the troubled daily deals startup BuyWithMe, which recently saw over half its staff laid off after the company failed to raise the funding it needed to survive. Beginning November 1st, BuyWithMe will officially become a part of Gilt, according to a report from BetaBeat, which has been covering the BuyWithMe saga for the past couple of weeks.
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Google just announced the major refresh of Google TV. It adds a bunch of new features to the platform including Android Market and a TV & Movies. I’m not entirely sure this new coat of paint will help sell the house per se, but it will certainly make the current owners happy.
The update will slowly hit existing Google TV units starting with the Sony models on Sunday with the Logitech boxes getting it shortly thereafter. As with most mass roll outs, you might be waiting in line awhile until a spot opens on the server. Thankfully Google released these demo videos that show off a bunch of the new features to pass the time. → Read More
Google TV is finally ready for prime time a year after it officially launched. Starting on Sunday, the update will first roll out to the Sony Internet TV units with the Logitech Revue units getting it shortly thereafter. Existing users will probably love the update as it brings a redesigned interface and a selection of the Android Market. It seems to be exactly what the platform should have been when it launched last year. But for everyone else, either those looking to cut the cord or supplement pay TV with Internet video, it’s still a tough sell. All the downfalls associated with Google TV a year ago still exist. While the system might not be half-baked anymore, I’m still not sure if Google TV deserves a place in your living room. → Read More
This week, with support from the White House and the Obama administration, the Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC) announced the launch of a new startup accelerator and investment company, Gen Y Capital Partners. The new program will provide seed capital for tech-enabled startups created by Gen Y’ers (those under the age of 35).
Like many accelerators, Gen Y Capital Partners (GYC) will provide mentoring, education, and assistance with living expenses. But the best part of the program? Getting in means getting rid of your federal student loan debt. → Read More
I promise I’ll stop harping on RIM for a while, but I couldn’t resist — the BlackBerry Porsche P’9981‘s product page has gone live, and it affords us several new looks at the silliest-looking RIM device in recent memory. → Read More
Looking to take a trip from San Francisco to Los Angeles without putting a major dent in your wallet? Ridejoy, a YC-backed startup that’s launching today, might have exactly what you’re looking for. The service allows drivers who are already planning to take a roadtrip to ‘sell’ their extra seats to other users. The net result: drivers earn money on trips they were planning on taking anyway, and Ridejoy passengers get a door-to-door lift, in some cases for less than they’d pay for a bus ticket.
You may have seen Ridejoy before, at least in an early form: it did a one-off trial for Burning Man this year with BurningManRides.com — a site that helped people coordinate their trips out to the Nevada desert. 1600 people signed up, 1150 rides were posted, and 400 rides were completed over a three-week span. In a neat twist, five pilots offered rides-by-air, completing a total of ten plane trips.
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In Silicon Valley, failure has been democratized. You don’t need a lot of money to fail. Nor do you need any previous experience. Take, for example, Brian Wong and Roger Dickey – two young Silicon Valley entrepreneurs who, in spite of their youth, are already steeped in failure. Wong, who was the youngest person ever to receive venture capital funding and is now the CEO of the mobile rewards network Kiip, once worked at Digg – the paragon of a failed Silicon Valley technology start-up. While Dickey managed to build 16 sixteen (yes, that’s SIXTEEN) failed Facebook apps before getting lucky with Mafia Wars.
When I spoke to Wong and Dickey earlier this week at FailCon, they both embraced the idea of failure. It’s all about “mental resilience”, they told me. Every setback is a “learning opportunity”, they said, and they described failure as “the ultimate rebirth”. Great failures of the past include Thomas Edison and the Wright Brothers, they explained, while Groupon’s Andrew Mason and Zynga’s Mark Pincus are today’s heroic failures, guys who failed so fast and frequently that in the end that had to get something right. → Read More
A class action lawsuit filed against Facebook over its FriendFinder feature was dismissed yesterday by a California federal judge. In the case of Robyn Cohen, et al. v. Facebook, a group of the network’s members alleged that Facebook misappropriated users’ names and likenesses to promote its Friend Finder service, which suggests new Facebook friends to a user who chooses to upload his or her email contacts.
The Robyn Cohen case was actually dismissed previously on June 28, 2011, but the plaintiffs filed an amended complaint. Thursday’s order dismissed this complaint. The judge ruled that the plaintiffs did not show any economic harm from Facebook’s alleged use of their names and likenesses.
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Listen up, fanboys, because this is one you won’t want to miss. The iPhone 4S has been officially jailbroken.
iClarified reports that the iPhone Dev-Team found a way to get Cydia running on both the iPhone 4S and the iPad 2, though the jailbreak is “VERY preliminary.” There are still big pieces missing and plenty of work left to do, so unfortunately the jailbreak won’t be released to the public. The jailbreak is also said to work for the iPad 2, and there’s a video to prove it. → Read More
New figures from Facebook reveal how often the social networking site’s users are hacked. In the blog post announcing the forthcoming “Trusted Friends” feature, Facebook also an included infographic detailing Facebook’s security measures. One figure in particular jumped out at security researchers: every day, “only .06%” of Facebook’s 1 billion logins are compromised. Or, to put it another way, 600,000 logins per day are compromised.
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RIM’s ailing PlayBook has seen its fair share of price cuts at your local big box retailers, but here’s a deal just for all you businessfolk out there. From now until the end of the 2011, RIM is running a buy-two-get-one-free deal on their tablets through their network of authorized resellers.
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The Kindle Fire is about to get some major competition and as early as November 7th. The Digital Reader, pretty much the best source online for ebook news, has several sources indicating that B&N will have a large announcement on November 7th. The next Nook Color is expected to headline the show.
The Nook Color set the standard late last year for enhanced ereaders. By using a color LCD screen and a highly curated Android release, the Nook Color was an instant hit and was no doubt the template for Amazon’s Kindle Fire. But Barnes & Noble isn’t just going to roll over and let the Fire steal the market it created. Enter the next-gen Nook Color. → Read More
A few days ago, I wrote about the possibilities for Steve Jobs’ final “One more thing…” It seems pretty clear at this point that when he passed away earlier this month, he was still hard at work on a few new products for Apple. One was probably the next iPhone (meaning the one after the just-released iPhone 4S). Two other possibilities include digital textbooks and most notably, an Apple television set. All of this got me thinking.
Under Tim Cook and the rest of an extremely experienced and capable executive team, Apple is clearly in good hands going forward. Yes, Apple fell a bit short of Wall Street expectations last quarter, but they still destroyed their own, and next quarter promises to be a blowout. Further, all the talk of Apple’s internal university to instill the “Apple way” in employees even without Jobs is good news as well. But the truth is that Apple will not likely face their first true post-Jobs test until they release their first truly new product. That execution will shed light on Apple’s future. → Read More
It seems factors like the smartphone gaming revolution, the rise of social games, and shrinking video game sales do have an impact on Nintendo’s business strategy after all. Various Japanese media, i.e. the country’s biggest business daily The Nikkei, are reporting today that Nintendo is planning to offer in-game virtual item sales for 3DS titles.
The background here is that Nintendo’s sales from its “digital” business (downloads of classic games, for example) currently account for under 5% of the total. This number is much higher for other “traditional” video game makers: Konami, for example, is now making more money with social games (which are very popular in Japan) than with packaged software. → Read More
Design sales site Fab.com is growing fast; adding nearly 200,000 new members the past 30 days alone, and processing ten thousand plus orders per week. That’s impressive for a startup that started an entirely new business centered around online flash sales of design items from scratch in June. Of course to mitigate this growth, the company has to make a few key hires in operations and finance.
The company has named Beth Ferreira as its new COO. Prior to joining Fab.com she was a an operations consultant to a number of startups including Birchbox, Pixable, JOOR, Nestio, RedRover Networks, fundedbuy, ofakind, and postling. Before that, Ferreira was VP of Operations & Finance at Etsy and a member of the investment team at VC firm Flatiron Partners. She has also held positions at The Boston Consulting Group and at the Union Bank of Switzerland. → Read More
Before the Samsung Galaxy Nexus even goes on sale, Samsung has managed to take the lead against Apple to become the largest mobile phone maker by revenue in the third quarter of 2011.
Nokia still holds the crown for mobile phone sales by volume, while Apple has dropped behind both to take the number three spot in terms of revenue. → Read More
Japan-based Murata caused quite a splash in the tech world with their awesome unicycle humanoids a while back, and now the company is applying the robot technology used in those machines for something that’s not just entertaining to watch. The advanced balancing system in particular is what makes their newly developed “assistance car” so special.
As you can see in the video embedded below, the car stands upright on its own without falling over. Thanks to the built-in power assist system, it just takes one finger to make it move forward or back “automatically”, making Murata think of turning the prototype into a walking aid, baby carriage, or some sort of shopping cart in the future. → Read More
