Justin.tv has already gone in two directions. The main one is Twitch.tv, a video game-focused version of the original video streaming site, that by all accounts has booming traffic and revenue. The other one is SocialCam, a mobile video app spinout that’s also getting serious traction now. But the namesake cofounder Justin Kan is going in a third direction, with a new startup called Exec… → Read More
What does the launch of Facebook Timeline for Pages mean for your brand? Unprecedented control, an opportunity to boost engagement, but also lot of initial work. A host of new features became available this morning when Facebook gave all Pages around the globe the option to upgrade to the Timeline redesign. Here’s how they work, and how to use them to benefit your business. → Read More
Miami-based streaming music startup Senzari, backed by $2 million in angel funding, is continuing its international rollout today with an entrance into its third market since its U.S. launch into private beta last December. Today, the company is announcing that it’s dropping the invite-only status as it moves into Spain, where it has signed a strategic partnership deal with MTV Spain.
The… → Read More
After launching the Ultrabook Fund to invest in tablet technologies, Intel Capital, the investment arm of chip giant Intel Corporation, has created a $100 million fund to invest in technology innovation in the automotive industry.
Called the Intel Capital Connected Car Fund, the new venture vehicle will be targeted primarily at investing in technologies that will deliver in-vehicle… → Read More
Apple may be a big dog in music and movie sales and rentals, but it’s definitely not a big dog in ebooks. That’s what makes this note from Seth Godin particularly galling. In a post on PaidContent, Godin writes that Apple has refused to sell his new book Stop Stealing Dreams because it contains links to Amazon in the bibliography.
The reason cited is that there were “Multiple links to Amazon… → Read More
Are you ready for the iPad 3? We are. We’ve got all kinds of coverage on when Apple’s unveiling the little darling, what you should expect, and whether or not a little iPad is even something Apple would consider.
But to break up the monotony (and annoyance) of truth mixed with rumor, I decided to hit you guys with a straight-up lie. So to be clear, this is not the iPad 3. Not even close. → Read More
Oracle and SAP have been offering ERP (enterprise resource planning) software for sometime now to help businesses manage operations, including billing, time sheets and more. But small businesses can’t afford some of these legacy solutions and are looking for a simpler, easy to use product in the cloud. Enter AffinityLive, a SaaS that essentially helps businesses manage all of their work, and data… → Read More
On the heels of Box’s strong growth in 2011 — now at 8 million users and 100,000 businesses — and plans to offer the service to the Feds, comes another sign of the enterprise-cloud storage startup’s fast growth: it is moving into Europe.
Today the company is announcing a deal with Podio, a social business collaboration platform, to offer storage services to Podio customers. → Read More
If Windows Vista was Microsoft’s folly – a mish-mash of ideas not fully baked and aimed at multiple constituencies – Windows 8 is Microsoft’s rebirth. To get ecstatic about it isn’t quite the direction I’d like to take this mini-review, but let’s just say that Microsoft is on the cusp of getting things right.
As we said before, Windows 8 will ruffle a lot of feathers. The first and most obvious… → Read More
Mobile app marketing firm Fiksu has new data today on the effect the post-holiday rush on mobile devices had on the number of apps downloaded throughout the month of January. In short, downloads skyrocketed last month, even beating December’s numbers. iOS downloads reached an all-time high last month, the firm says, up 12% from its previous high in December, when the devices were originally… → Read More
Tired of just hearing about Windows 8 all the time? Well then, you’re in luck — Microsoft has finally released the Windows 8 Consumer Preview to the public, so people outside of the tech bubble finally have the chance to take Redmond’s new OS for a spin. → Read More
When Toshiba first entered the tablet space, they specifically told us “we’re not focusing on thin and light, we’re focusing on usability.” This was true — both the Thrive and Thrive 7″ have a host of ports and the big guy even has a removable battery.
But it would seem that Toshiba is ready to switch up the strategy, as the company is today announcing the world’s thinnest and lightest… → Read More
Startup NimbleCommerce wants to become the daily deal platform for media companies (often the traditional ones that are struggling to make money online), and today it’s announcing a big customer — Digital First Media, which manages the MediaNews Group (the second largest newspaper chain in the United States) and the Journal Register Company.
Altogether, Digital First says it reaches 57… → Read More
Facebook Pages around the world can now upgrade to Timeline, allowing businesses to express themselves more visually through a redesign consistent with what was pushed to user profiles this fall. Major new features include the option to pin posts to the top of the feed for one week, and receive and respond to private messages from users. Pages can also upload a big cover image and feature posts… → Read More
Wallpapers! Microsoft is holding a big Windows 8 event today at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona where it’s expected to announce (release?) the final Windows 8 beta. Plus, as if that isn’t enough, the Windows 8 wallpapers and lockscreens are supposed to be unveiled. I know, right? Wallpapers! Lockscreens!
But alas. The wallpapers from the Consumer Preview release leaked early. Win8China got… → Read More
SugarSync, an application that syncs your data across desktop computers, laptops, mobile phones, and even televisions, has raised $15 million in series D financing led by new investor Coral Group with participation from existing investors Draper Fisher Jurvetson, Sigma Partners, Hatteras Venture Partners and Hercules. This brings SugarSync’s total funding to $50 million. Yuval Almog of Coral… → Read More
Apparently there are still dedicated gamers out there. Sony stated on Tuesday that the Vita is exceeding its expectations and over 1.2 million units have sold worldwide. The Vita hit the U.S. and European market last week after launching in Japan in the middle of December 2011. Sony announced in early January at CES that only 500k Vitas sold in its home market. Many pundits and outlet stated the… → Read More
Accessibility has become quite the theme here at Mobile World Congress: Nokia and ZTE have announced new low-cost devices to bring push Windows Phone into developing markets, and Google chairman Eric Schmidt highlighted the importance of connecting all people.
Sweden-based Doro is trying to help in their own way — the company has recently pulled back the curtain on the PhoneEasy 740, an… → Read More
When news broke this week that Yahoo is accusing Facebook of violating as many as 20 of its patents, it took some people by surprise — but at least one patent expert saw it all coming from a mile away. Erin-Michael Gill first publicly predicted a Yahoo/Facebook patent battle back in November 2011, so TechCrunch TV reached out to Gill to get his insights on the situation, now that things have… → Read More
This is another one for those who love to mark the consumerization of enterprise technology: iCharts, the cloud-based charting service that once described itself as the “YouTube for interactive charts”, has now picked up $3.1 million in funding to try to do precisely that: make its platform something used by the public at large.
The Series A round comes from a group of private equity investors… → Read More
If there’s anything to be learned from the past year, it’s that media people are mostly power vultures — pulling out their forks and knives at the slight sign of vulnerability from those that have influence. Oftentimes some are so eager for the kill that they slip up and impale themselves on those very knives — the pattern repeats over and over again.
Earlier this month, after being beat up… → Read More
Back in October, ReportGrid raised $750K from investors like Launch Capital, David Cohen, Walt Winshall, Doug Derwin, and Ed Roman — not long after it graduated from TechStars’ summer program in Boulder. The interest in ReportGrid was due to the fact that the company offers data analytics as a service (or DAaaS, if you prefer), providing companies with nifty scalable cloud database and… → Read More
EmployInsight, a web-based platform for measuring and quantifying employees’ “soft skills” in the workplace, has raised $1 million+ from Founder Collective, Launch Capital, Sean Glass, Phil Bronner, Jarrod Yuster, David Cohen, Gus Fuldner and other angels, the company is announcing today. The startup is also revealing one of its first enterprise clients, and it’s a big one: the New York Stock… → Read More
Tello, a SaaS and mobile app that allows customers to give businesses realtime feedback on customer service, has raised $2.7 million in new funding led by True Ventures and Bullpen Capital. The company, which debuted at TechCrunch Disrupt in 2010, previously raised $1 million in seed funding from Dave McClure, True Ventures, Founder Collective, Chris Sacca, Aydin Senkut, Russ Siegelman, Marc… → Read More
Kickstarter is seemingly a place where people go to make iDevice accessories. Some are hits, most are not. The Sonastand is clearly the former. Apple’s Johnny Ives would probably even approve of this one.
The story goes that the Sonastand’s creators are, as one of them puts it on Reddit, two normal nerdy dudes trying to do their thing. To be honest their creation is not very novel but it’s… → Read More
Unless Apple is conning the world, the iPad 3 should be announced next week. It, like its forbears, is the subject of many a rumor, some more likely than others. We’ve collected most of them here in this post with arguments for and against, for your convenience and flaming pleasure.
Of course, we’ll be there to cover the event live, and will (if past events are any indication) get a nice… → Read More
Ad targeting. Google+ is designed to power ad targeting, and for that it only needs you to sign up once. This lets it combine the biographical information you initially enter such as age, gender, and places you’ve lived with your activity on Search, Gmail, Maps and all its other products to create an accurate identity profile. And this powers targeting of more relevant ads it can charge more… → Read More
Big M&A news in the email marketing world. Vocus, the publicly-listed provider of cloud-based marketing and PR software, has acquired iContact, a company that provides email marketing services for small and medium sized businesses. The total acquisition price is $169 million.
iContact’s email marketing software automates the process of creating, sending and tracking email communications… → Read More
Durham (a city in North Carolina) is looking to vitalize their already burgeoning startup scene by giving away the “World’s Smallest Office,” a moniker I once reserved for my attic bathroom but can now be rendered unto a bit of space in the front of a Cafe in Durham’s beautiful Downtown.
Although the office shown above appears to be more like a monkey cage than a formal workspace, the… → Read More
Austin, TX
Seattle, WA
San Diego, CA
Menlo Park, CA
San Francisco, CA
Berlin, Germany
