Ryan has spent more than five years covering business, technology, and telecom-related subjects for a variety of publications based in New York and San Francisco. Ryan currently works as a writer for TechCrunch.
Videopixie has created a marketplace devoted entirely to connecting users who have video with those who can edit it. By doing so, it’s providing a way for anyone to have beautiful videos created out of raw footage from professional video editors and animators. → Read More
Men’s clothing retailer Combat Gent wants to be the place where young people turn when they need a new suit or dress shirt for work. To do so, it’s raised $1.84 million in seed funding from a group of investors that includes Tony Hsieh’s VegasTechFund, MHS Capital, Naxuri Capital, Blazer Ventures, Point Nine Capital, and Flint and Tinder’s Jake Bornstein. → Read More
Last Summer, Turner announced that it was creating a startup incubator focused just on young companies that were creating products for media businesses. The incubator, called Turner Media Camp, would leverage the conglomerate’s vast expertise in video and publishing to find companies with innovative ideas and help them find customers. → Read More
Tred, which hopes to provide a service that’s like “Uber for car test drives,” is finally launching its service to the public. The company, which hopes to streamline the process of buying a car by bringing on-demand test drives to your home or office, will first become available in Seattle. → Read More
Second screen startup GetGlue just keeps on trucking. Originally launched as an app for checking in to your favorite TV shows and collecting stickers, the company has been steadily expanding its business to include content discovery for shows on the iPad or on your TV. Now it’s hired longtime digital media exec Evan Krauss as President to help with that. → Read More
FiftyThree, the startup behind the wildly popular drawing app Paper, has closed a Series A round of financing from Andreessen Horowitz, we’ve learned. The investment was led by Chris Dixon, and could help the company to expand with new products for its iPad fan base. → Read More
There is no shortage of apps on the market to help users find new, interesting videos to watch and enjoy. But video discovery startup Squrl still thinks there’s work to be done. The company just released a new version of its iPhone and iPad app that provides new ways to share with friends and find content that is more personally relevant to them. → Read More
Online multichannel network Fullscreen has become the latest in a series of YouTube partners to raise funding. The company has officially closed a funding round led by The Chernin Group, which also included investment from Comcast Ventures and WPP’s investment arm, WPP Digital. → Read More
A growing number of YouTube creators and multichannel networks are beginning to grumble about the revenue share that the site has with its partners and their inability to monetize their huge audience of viewers on the site. And, increasingly, they’re looking for off-YouTube solutions to better distribute and monetize their videos. → Read More
Over the past year, Los Angeles-based startup ZEFR has been using its technology platform to help content owners identify and monetize videos on YouTube that have been uploaded by fans. Now it’s hoping to extend its technology to brands with a new product called BrandID that enables customers to figure out just how many of their fans are discussing their products on the video network. → Read More
Airbnb has released the results of a new economic study in one of its major international markets. After a similar study conducted in San Francisco last year, Airbnb this time is profiling the effect that its peer-to-peer marketplace on housing accommodations has had for hosts and nearby businesses in Paris. → Read More
On-demand transportation startup Uber is making a serious commitment to its UBERx service. Today on the Uber Blog, the company confirmed what we reported last week — that it will be cutting fares on UBERx rides in an effort to be more competitive with ride-sharing apps like Lyft and SideCar. → Read More
Online event ticketing startup Picatic is taking a novel new approach to signing up event organizers and getting them to use its services. The company’s new FairPay initiative will allow users to pay what they want after their events are successful. → Read More
Animoto has made a big update to its iPhone app, which reduces the number of steps it takes to create videos on the mobile app. With the simplified workflow, Animoto hopes even more users will start taking advantage of its tool. → Read More
Last summer it seemed like the subscription video segment in Scandinavia was heating up, as both Netflix and HBO announced plans to make their services available in that market. Now, less than a year later, Amazon-owned LOVEFiLM is pulling out of the region, the company has confirmed. → Read More
It starts innocently. One day you find yourself replacing Apple Maps with Google Maps when it becomes available. Or maybe you fall in love with a new email application. You find, after not really using the default calendar app that there are more robust options out there. → Read More
Today at its E3 press conference, Microsoft announced that it has integrated with Twitch to allow live streaming and viewing from its upcoming Xbox One game console. The integration will allow Xbox Gold Live customers to instantly broadcast their game streams to their own Twitch channels, as well as view the streams as others. → Read More
Streaming service provider Twitch is updating its software development kit to help its developer partners increase engagement with players and viewers that are tuning in to their games. The new online toolkit will be especially useful for community portals, providing more social features, as well as tools to improve content discovery. → Read More
Competition is heating up in the on-demand transportation industry, but unlike other segments of the market, there’s no lock-in that keeps customers loyal to one service or another. Users looking for a way to get from one place to another seemingly only care about the cost, convenience and reliability of the service. → Read More
Airport car rental startup Silvercar has increased the number of markets it hopes to launch in by the end of the year, as it seeks to more aggressively make its services available to more potential customers. Now available at three airports, it hopes to add a fourth by the end of the month, and expects to be in seven different markets by the end of 2013. → Read More
Uber is planning an aggressive strike against mounting competition in the on-demand transportation market, as it will lower fares for its low-cost UberX service by as much as 25 percent in San Francisco. According to multiple drivers, UberX could see those fare reductions take hold as early as next week, as the company seeks to steal business from peer-to-peer ride services like Lyft and SideCar. → Read More
Good news for New Yorkers who don’t want to walk outside and raise their hands in an effort to attract the attention of a yellow cab passing by: The New York State Supreme Court has issued a ruling blocking a temporary restraining order, which had put into question the legality of taxi e-hail providers like Uber and Hailo operating in New York City. → Read More
Over the past few years, Showyou has created an app which makes it easier for video viewers on a mobile phone or tablet to find new content, and share it with friends. Now Showyou wants to use the app and the audience that it’s built up to give video creators and curators a way to build their own channels and monetize them. → Read More
Comedy Central has released a standalone app for watching and discovering awesome stand-up comedians. The app, called CC:Standup, has more than 6,000 videos from 700 comedians. That will allow stand-up fans not just to find hilarious clips from their favorite comedians, but to find others that they might not have known about. → Read More
ClubLocal works by connecting users with pre-vetted home service professionals, without having to search Yelp or the phone book when they need a plumber or an HVAC technician. It’s already signed up professionals from several different segments of the market, including Plumbing, Handyman, Electrical, Heating and Air Conditioning, Appliance Repair, and Auto Detailing. → Read More
Indie movie distributor SnagFilms is preparing a new, more social user experience, and is ready to launch that experience in private beta. The startup’s new website, at SnagFilms.com, will launch later this summer to enable viewers to watch — and share! — free, ad-supported indie flicks with like-minded individuals. → Read More
When the Odwalla and the Red Bull dry up, when the weekly happy hour becomes crappy hour, when you have to peel your own eggs — these are the leading indicators that your company is in trouble. That’s one of the key takeaways — for me, at least — of a wide-ranging Reddit AMA with a user calling himself former_zyngite. → Read More
Airbnb is taking the offensive in the fight against regulators, providing legal support for Nigel Warren, a host who recently was fined $2,400 by an administrative law judge. The company, which provides a peer-to-peer marketplace for people to make their homes available to rent to others, says it is committed to fight the ruling “until justice is done.” → Read More
E-sports streaming startup Twitch has already seen massive growth in its audience since launching to the public just about two years ago. Now it’s hoping to better monetize that audience, with the creation of an in-house sales team to go after big advertisers in the video game industry. → Read More
The latest app to take on email is Boxer, which was founded by Pyra/Google/Thing Labs/AOL veteran Jason Shellen, along with OtherInbox alum Ian Ragsdale and the team behind email app Taskbox. The app, which goes live today, is designed to give users more powerful task management and to-do options while tackling email. → Read More
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