Data caps on your broadband, while in principle sound troublesome, are at least understandable. Bandwidth is a limited resource and we all have to share it, and presumably if we all were maxing our connections out all the time, we’d tax the system beyond its capacity. But who uses the most bandwidth and when is a more practical thing to investigate, as knowing that could prevent congestion at peak hours and so on.
Some studies and theories have suggested that so-called bandwidth or data hogs, in other words people who use the entirety of the product they paid for, aren’t really a great source of congestion, and the data caps intended to prevent such users from maxing out all the time aren’t an effective countermeasure. This study says as much, and has some interesting stats as well. → Read More
Familiar, the artist formerly known as Picadee, launches in beta today. Familiar has an incredibly simple yet compelling value proposition, namely that billions of screens worth of untapped real estate are worth taking advantage of …
Familiar is basically a socially programmed screensaver (yes, screensaver) which allows you to share and display photos with contacts you select through Facebook and via email. In the beta version, all photos you upload to Familiar will turn into a collective screensaver for the people you’ve connected with, combining with photos that other users have shared in Familiar’s ‘The Shuffle’ function. → Read More
Amazon is debuting another holiday shopping app, but this offering is geared towards kids. Amazon Santa is a free app for Kindle Fire and the iPad that allows children and their parents to create holiday Wish Lists to share with friends, family and of course, Santa Claus.
Basically, Amazon Santa brings the e-commerce giant’s wish list functionality in a kid-friendly app. Kids can browse and search more than 500,000 toys, games, books, clothes and other kids items. Kids can then make holiday wish lists that can be shared with loved ones. Of course, kids under a certain age will need to a little help from parents in creating wish lists.
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App developers don’t exactly have a plethora of monetization options, which is why, alongside in-app purchases, they’re becoming increasingly reliant on mobile advertising. For this reason, they want to get the most out of their ads, and, really, they want to sell directly to customers. Unfortunately, for most small teams, this just isn’t in the cards. Which is where startups like Burstly enter the picture.
While there are plenty of mobile ad mediation solutions to choose from, Burstly CEO Evan Rifkin thinks that the current batch isn’t doing enough to empower developers to take complete control over monetization opportunities. For example, the startup offers a storefront for developers that enables them to establish their own branded portal where advertisers can directly purchase placements in their apps. → Read More
This week we bring you the Fujifilm X10, the Galaxy Tab 8.9, and my new standing desk. The standing desk, incidentally, is my second desk, which puts me firmly in the 1% camp when it comes to home workstations.
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One of the companies at Disrupt SF 2011 that escaped the horror of presenting on stage was Network Optix, whose impressive video handling technology was a little too practical for presentation. They’ve been busy the last few months in improving their product and forging business relationships, and have just announced that they’ve raised $750K with which to continue development.
Their product is what they call Enterprise Video as a Service, and is designed around the idea of handling all the complex transcoding and bandwidth issues associated with viewing and manipulating video on different platforms. Sound complicated? It is. But it’s also pretty cool. → Read More
I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t tried my hand at making music with various iPad apps. I’d also be lying if I said any of that music sounded even halfway decent. Imagine someone getting into a fist-fight with a duck. Add some reverb and a terrible bass track. It generally sounds like that.
That’s clearly a limitation of my own musical abilities, though, as dudes like the one in this video are managing to make entire songs with nothin’ but the iPad, a handful of apps, and their own golden pipes.
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Asana wants its task-list tool to feel so simple that you only encounter complexity when it’s useful. In other words, the opposite of how most enterprise software feels. And it has just added a little new piece of complexity in the form of a feature that lets you sync tasks to calendars. The result is users having to make smarter decisions about which tasks matter most, which should end up helping their productivity.
The feature looks obvious enough. A drop-down in the project menu lets you syndicate any task with a due date to apps like Apple iCal, Microsoft Outlook or Google Calendar. Select the sync option, and you can either click to add to Gcal, or click the URL to add to iCal, Outlook or other services. You can then use your calendar app to fine-tune things like how often you sync.
But there’s more going on. The core interface lets you create projects for different sets of task lists, and within that, creating any task is as simple as hitting return on a project page then writing a few words. The date-creation option is purposefully buried in a window to the right of the list, that you need to click on to open. This means that if you create a calendar date for the task, it’ll be because date is going to be pretty important for whatever the task is. The importance of the date implies that you’re going to want to track it carefully. → Read More
All the world’s music and no way to figure out what to listen to next. This was the problem with Spotify until today. Its flimsy What’s New and Top Lists discovery channels showed you what’s popular, but there was no way to learn about artists or get recommendations from experts. And the radio feature? Ugh, it followed a great track by UK indie rockers The XX with a 10 year old Creed song. But during the launch of its app platform this morning in New York, Spotify unveiled new integrations that unlock the potential of its massive music catalogue. Last.FM contributes band biographies, Rolling Stone provides celebrity and editor playlists, and Songkick helps users find nearby concerts from their favorite bands. The apps could inspire longer listening sessions that expose users to more ads, get them more attached to their paid accounts, and share more links that drive referral traffic from Facebook. → Read More
With today’s launch of Startup Texas, Texas becomes the latest U.S. state to join the growing list of regions in the Startup America initiative. The Startup America national campaign, chaired by Steve Case, co-founder of AOL and Chairman of the Case Foundation, is meant to encourage and accelerate entrepreneurship across the country, especially in regions where it can benefit from a push, like Colorado, Illinois, Massachusetts, Tennessee, Connecticut and Florida, all of which are already program participants. → Read More
Nick Carr insists that the Internet is wrecking our brains. But not everyone shares Carr’s techno-cultural pessimism. One of the most articulate champions of the Internet’s impact on our mental cognition is the Duke University professor Cathy Davidson, whose book Now You See It: How the Brain Science of Attention Will Transform the Way We Live, Work and Learn argues that the Internet is both the cause and effect of our new brain power. → Read More
Sony is making a big push in retail these days, as COO Phil Molyneux outlined this morning at a press conference in New York City. As he explained Sony’s retail plans to us, in that lovely British accent, one thing kept popping up in my mind: Apple.
Sony’s retail strategy, in many ways, seems to be taking cues from Apple’s in-store success over the past few years. That’s not to say that Sony is straight-up copying Apple by any means. Even in a business perspective, Sony’s focus has shifted toward products that support its media platforms, which is just what Apple does. Still, Sony seems to be following Apple’s example (whether in business or retail) in its own individual way. → Read More
Recurly, a startup that makes it easy for other companies to manage their subscription billing, has released a payment gateway designed specifically to handle the unique requirements of recurring billing.
Recurly’s service allows businesses to quickly implement a subscription billing system, handling tasks like credit card number storage (it also supports integration with financial software like QuickBooks).
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Socialtape is an app for iPhone or iPad that shows you videos shared on Facebook and allows you to comment on them. So far so simple.
Here’s the thing. The way we consume video is different from most other other content. Watching single video takes more time than, say, clicking on the image or scanning a shared article. And watching videos in the office can be problematic… However, Socialtape may show a new way forward. → Read More
91-year-old Ray Bradbury has finally agreed to make his books, most notably Fahrenheit 451, available in digital format after Simon & Schuster released his body of work back into his name. Bradbury has complained that the Internet is a distraction, at best, and has thus far refused to allow his books to appear on ereaders.
The e-edition costs $9.99 and is available on the Kindle and Nook.
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Our favorite manhacks, the Quadcopters, are currently building a 1,500 piece styrofoam sculture in the FRAC Centre in Orleans. The robots follow a pre-set plan but can sense each other in space and assess which pieces have already been placed, resulting in a ballet of tiny, flying machines that are about as smart as a barn sparrow. → Read More
Everyone’s favorite check-in service Foursquare is rolling out a major redesign of its developer site today, with a focus on making it easier for new developers to find their way around. The website now offers better organized links to guides and resources, a revamped Getting Started Guide and a new “Showcase” section which promotes some of Foursquare’s own favorite apps.
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WiMax network operator Clearwire may not be long for this world if they don’t make the the right decision about a looming debt payment. Bloomberg reports that the company owes $237 million in the form of an interest payment due on Thursday, and the wrong choice could spell the end of the beleaguered network operator. → Read More
Less than a month after securing $500K from Founders Fund, health prediction service 100Plus has brought its funding up to $1.25 million. The new $750K in funding comes from Reid Hoffman and John Lilly via Greylock Partners’ Discovery Fund, Aydin Senkut of Felicis Ventures, and Ian Sobieski and Nicola Corzine via Band Of Angels’ Acorn Fund. The plan for the money? Developing the front and back end of the forthcoming 100Plus product so it can increase your lifespan. Co-founder Ryan Howard tells me the team is almost ready to launch its “crystal ball for your future, with insight into the 2 different versions of you — one that eats cheesecake for breakfast, and one that drinks a powershake.” Given the rate it’s taking funding and the quality of its investors, some see riches in 100Plus’ future.
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