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- Google+ To Integrate With Blogger
- Now Selling At 9,000 Retail Locations, Square Launches A Store Locator
- Apple’s Upcoming Grand Central Store Will Be Ready By Black Friday
- O.co (Overstock.com) Suit Against Brokerage Firms Set For Trial
- Appcelerator Acquires Particle Code To Help Devs Build Games And Apps For Any Mobile Device
- Video-Sharing Startup Shelby.tv Launches Into Public Beta With New iOS App
- Wikleaks Is Running Out Of Cash
- Samsung MV800 Review: For The Narcissist In All Of Us
- Vistaprint To Buy Dutch Photobook Software Company Albumprinter For Up To $90 Million
- Lamenting Orange: Apple Tweaks Smart Cover Color Palette
- No More Missing Out – MoviePilot Lets Fans Follow Upcoming Films
- Motorola Offers Unlocked Bootloader Tool For Droid RAZR, Verizon Removes It
- Berlin: The Birth Place Of The Next Facebook?
- Former RIM VP Tyler Lessard Lands CMO Job At Fixmo
- AT&T Nearly Tripled Wi-Fi Connections In Q3; Data Carried On Network Doubled
- Amazon’s Online Drugstore Soap.com Adds Groceries To The List
- Location-As-A-Service Provider Location Labs Acquires Wirkle And Volly
- Sony PRS-T1 Reader Hacked To Run The Kindle Android App And More
- Chartboost Raises $2 Million In Series A Funding, Already Profitable
- Bonfire.im Brings IM Chat To Twitter, Know If Your Friends Are Online
| Google+ To Integrate With Blogger Posted: 24 Oct 2011 09:07 AM PDT  Up-and-coming social network Google+ will soon be integrated with Google’s blogging platform, Blogger, according to a message now appearing in the “Edit User Profile” section of Blogger’s Settings. The message reads “Connect Blogger to Google+ : Use your Google profile and get access to upcoming Google+ features on Blogger,” and includes links to “Learn more” and ”Get Started.” Unfortunately, the links are dead-ends right now, so we don’t yet know what type of integration is being planned. The “Learn More” link is currently dumping to this “page not found” message in Blogger’s Help Center, while the “Get Started” link simply redirects logged-in users to their Blogger Dashboard. The message was spotted first Alex Chitu of the unofficial Google news source, Google Operating System. Chitu says it’s obvious that Blogger profiles will be discontinued and replaced by Google Profiles – the profiles which are now used by the Google+ social network. He also speculates that the Google+ integration will be used to introduce additional social features that have been provided in the past by Google Friend Connect. That service, which offers social gadgets that can be embedded on personal websites and blogs, now seems to be obsolete since Google+ has arrived. Google has already closed the Google Friend Connect Help Forum and has shut down the Friend Connect discussion group. It’s well past time for Google to officially shut down the actual website for the service too. Friend Connect currently lists gadgets that provide access to blog readers’ user profiles, a “social bar” highlighting members’ activities, a ratings and reviews gadget, a comments gadget and more. Chitu says it’s possible we’ll soon see even deeper integration between Blogger’s commenting system and Google+ comments in the future, thanks to the forthcoming integration. That would position Google+ against Facebook on another front beyond just social networking: blog commenting. Facebook Comments (such as those used here on TechCrunch) provide a way for authenticated users to sign in using their Facebook credentials in order to leave a comment. The drawback, of course, to using a system such as this is that it requires commenters to post using their “real” identity, not a pseudonym. While somewhat effective against trolling and other bad behaviors, it also has it drawbacks. (For more on the pros and cons of Facebook Comments, see Erick’s coverage here). With the recent news that Google+ will soon be supporting the use of pseudonyms, it sets up the social network as a platform that could soon rival Facebook as another option for sign-ins, authentication and therefore, for blog commenting as well. Integration with its own blogging service, Blogger, is surely just the first step. A Google project headed by Vic Gundotra and Bradley Horowitz, Google+ is designed to be the social extension of Google. Its features focus on making online sharing easy for users. “Circles,” think social circles, akin to Facebook’s lists “Sandbar,” a user-unifying toolbar “Sparks,” a search engine for sharing content between users “Huddle,” a group messaging app that allows users to share with certain “Circles” “Hangouts,” group video chatting designed to allow up to 10 users video chat at once Each Google+ user can replace his...
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| Now Selling At 9,000 Retail Locations, Square Launches A Store Locator Posted: 24 Oct 2011 08:30 AM PDT  Disruptive mobile payments company Square has received a big retail boost over the past few months, with its card readers being sold at Apple, Best Buy, RadioShack, Target and most recently, Wal-Mart retail stores. And to help new users find a brick and mortar retailer where they can purchase a Square card reader, the company is launching a new store locator feature. It’s basically a map of all retail locations nationwide that carry Square card readers, and you can simply type in your zipcode, and you’ll see all the stores that carry the mobile device near your location. Square tells us that card readers are now available in over 9,000 retail locations nationwide, up from only approximately 200 locations this summer. The readers sell for $9.99 in stores but each purchaser can redeem a $10 credit to their bank account. As we reported a few weeks ago, Square’s payments service is now processing $2 billion in payments volume per year. To date, Square has been activated by 800,000 merchants which is up from 500,000 card readers shipped in May. And Square's merchants are now 10% of the reach of the Visa/MasterCard world. While it’s unclear what percentage of merchants buy Square at these retail stores vs. ordering the device for free online, the presence in high traffic stores like Target, Wal-Mart, Best Buy and Apple is great advertising for the company. Square is a revolutionary service that enables anyone to accept credit cards anywhere. Square offers an easy to use, free credit card reader that plugs into a phone or iPad. It’s simple to sign up. There is no extra equipment, complicated contracts, monthly fees or merchant account required. Co-founded by Jim McKelvey and Jack Dorsey in 2009, the company is headquartered in San Francisco with additional offices in Saint Louis and New York City.
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| Apple’s Upcoming Grand Central Store Will Be Ready By Black Friday Posted: 24 Oct 2011 08:23 AM PDT  The holidays are right around the corner, and just like every other brand and retailer, Apple is getting ready for the rush. The soon-to-be Apple Store in New York’s iconic Grand Central Station, which we reported earlier, will be open for Black Friday this year. The 15,230 square foot space was once home to Metrazur Restaurant, but has since been walled off for construction. According to PhoneArena, Apple employees are already undergoing training at a hotel in Times Square, which will continue until November 11. 9to5Mac seems to have secured a spy shot of the new space, taken by an MTA employee. It’s worth noting that the image below only shows part of the new store, which should be one of the biggest Apple stores in the world. Black Friday is also a notoriously busy traveling day, as well as the biggest shopping holiday of the year. It’ll be interesting to see how Grand Central stands up to holiday commuters, Black Friday shoppers and Apple fanbois at once. Started by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, and Ronald Wayne, Apple has expanded from computers to consumer electronics over the last 30 years, officially changing their name from Apple Computer, Inc. to Apple, Inc. in January 2007. Among the key offerings from Apple’s product line are: Pro line laptops (MacBook Pro) and desktops (Mac Pro), consumer line laptops (MacBook) and desktops (iMac), servers (Xserve), Apple TV, the Mac OS X and Mac OS X Server operating systems, the iPod (offered with...
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| O.co (Overstock.com) Suit Against Brokerage Firms Set For Trial Posted: 24 Oct 2011 08:16 AM PDT  O.co, also known as Overstock.com, is today announcing its case against Goldman Sachs and Bank of America subsidiary, Merrill Lynch, will go to court on March 5th, 2012. The company is claiming that the defendants engaged in share price manipulation by “naked short selling” and failing to deliver shares they sold, in order to benefit themselves and their hedge fund clients. The San Francisco action was filed back in February 2007, but a motion to amend in December 2010 was denied. That motion would have allowed O.co to include claims under New Jersey’s Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act. “We believe that Goldman and Merrill manipulated the price of our shares,” O.co Chairman and CEO Dr. Patrick Byrne said in a statement. “As we expect to show in this case, their illegal actions were designed to, and did, make them billions of dollars." Byrne also attempts to gain support for his case, by referencing the current backlash against Wall St. and the Occupy Wall St. protests. “Wall Street's unfettered greed has gutted the financial markets and, with Occupy Wall Street movements growing across the country, people are ready to see the corrupt organizations of Wall Street brought to justice,” said Bryne. “I anxiously await watching Goldman Sachs and Merrill Lynch rationalizing their nefarious schemes to a jury box with 12 Americans in it."
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| Appcelerator Acquires Particle Code To Help Devs Build Games And Apps For Any Mobile Device Posted: 24 Oct 2011 08:03 AM PDT  As native mobile applications continue to surge in popularity across multiple, incompatible operating systems, the demand for powerful developer tools that can simultaneously deploy across all of these platforms (and the web) is stronger than ever. So it’s not a big surprise when a hot startup in the space gets snapped up. Which is exactly what just happened this morning: Particle Code, a company that lets developers build games and apps for multiple platforms at once, has been acquired by direct competitor Appcelerator, the makers of the popular tool Titianium. The acquisition price isn’t being disclosed. The deal is the result of the Particle Code’s hardcore development chops, and a smart bet made by the company’s founders Galia Benartzi, Yotam Shacham, and Yudi Levi sixteen months ago. Back in June 2010, the trio were founders at a social gaming startup called Mytopia, which was acquired by online gambling company 888 (Mytopia had launched at TechCrunch 50 in 2008). The acquisition included twelve of the games that Mytopia had developed, with an acquisition price as high as $48 million, depending on how those games performed. But there was something that Mytopia didn’t sell: the development platform it had built to help it produce those games — which they realized could potentially be more valuable than the games themselves. So they sold the games, licensed the development platform to 888, and then spun off the developer facing platform as its own bootstrapped independent company, Particle Code. The company launched at (and won) Demo Fall 2010. Which brings us to today. There are several solutions on the market for distributing native applications to mobile platforms (namely iOS and Android, and sometimes Windows and Blackberry). And it’s a space that’s seen a lot of consolidation recently — Adobe recently acquired Nitobi, the developer behind PhoneGap, which can turn web apps into native apps. Today’s news continues this recent trend. Benartzi says that Appcelerator was interested in Particle Code for a few key reasons. The biggest is that the company has a heavy focus on developers — 12 of its 14 employees are engineers. And their experience has revolved around making games compatible across multiple platforms. Benartzi explains that historically Appcelerator’s Titanium product has done quite well at generating buzz and major clients (who include NBC, ZipCar, eBay, and others). But few of the apps built using its tools have been games, in part because games have such low tolerance for performance issues (you can afford to have a slowdown when you’re browsing text-based lists or static images, but jittery graphics in games can be deal-breakers). Appcelerator is planning to use Particle Code’s expertise on this front to make Titanium more game-friendly. It’s a smart move by Appcelerator: games have proven to be the most popular applications across all the popular smartphone platforms, and could prove very lucrative, particularly if it decides to start offering subscription plans that revolve around in-app payments (right now Appcelerator Titanium offers enterprise-focused subscription plans, but this seems like a next logical step). This is Appcelerator’s second acquisition this year, after it acquired web IDE Aptana in January. The company has seen some huge growth over the last year — it’s up to 1.6 million total developers (it was at 100,000 12 months ago), and 30,000 applications have been made for iOS and Android so far (up from 5,000 in the same time span). Particle Code is the company behind the Particle Platform, a cross-platform SDK that enables simultaneous development across all modern smartphone platforms. Particle Code is based in Palo Alto, California and was founded in May 2010 by social gaming veterans to enable the creation of complex rich media applications for multiple operating systems using a single codebase. Particle-powered applications can be instantly compiled into both HTML5 and native apps for iOS, Android, Windows Phone, BlackBerry and WebOS. The Particle platform is... Appcelerator provides open source platform for building and managing rich Web, Desktop and Mobile applications.
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| Video-Sharing Startup Shelby.tv Launches Into Public Beta With New iOS App Posted: 24 Oct 2011 07:49 AM PDT  Shelby.tv, the video-sharing startup (and stars of Bloomberg’s TechStars reality show), is today exiting out of its private alpha phase and launching into a public beta. The service, founded by Reece Pacheco, Dan Spinosa, Henry Sztul and Joe Yevoli, aggregates the video links your friends are sharing across social networks in order to offer you personalized video recommendations. It’s now available in the iTunes app store as a native app for the iPhone or iPad. The new service automatically pulls all the videos your friends share on Facebook, Twitter and Tumblr into a curated video channel with videos you can watch, favorite and then re-share. There’s also a browser bookmarklet that lets you save any video on the web into Shelby.tv for later viewing. The product is dead-simple to use, and enters into the popular (if somewhat crowded) personalized video space. According to a company blog post, the newly launched iOS app has been improved based on user feedback and is now offering improved speed and performance. One notable addition is the new de-duplication feature which smartly removes duplicate copies of videos which have been shared by multiple friends. There are also different ways to filter videos in the app’s guide – by your favorites (the “like view”), by your saved videos (“watch later” view) and by the “timeline view” which shows you all the videos your friends are sharing. At any time, you can pull down on the video guide to refresh your recommendations. Shelby.tv has $1.73 million in total funding, having most recently received a $1.5 million round this summer, from Avalon Ventures and a number of angels. You can learn more about the iOS’s app’s features in the video below, or just download it here on iTunes. Shelby.tv is the most amazing way to discover and enjoy web video.
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| Wikleaks Is Running Out Of Cash Posted: 24 Oct 2011 07:43 AM PDT  Wikileaks is running out of cash. Or, rather, it can’t get its cash because of an economic blockade by Visa, Mastercard, Paypal and other financial institutions. The credit card companies started blocking payments to Wikileaks last year, and the inability to collect donations from the public via credit cards and other electronic transfers is taking its toll on the organization. In a message on its website, Wikileaks announces that it will cease publishing new leaks until it gets its finances in order:
Then it asks for a donation to help fight the evil banks. Of course, most people will find it difficult to donate if Wikileaks cannot accept credit cards. But there are other ways to get money to the leak-gathering organization, including bitcoin, Flattr, and, of course, direct deposit. Only about 5 percent of donations come through these alternate means. Below is Wikileaks founder Julian Assange in a smart-looking sweater explaining the dire financial situation Wikileaks is facing (and, of course, asking for money). WikiLeaks is a not-for-profit media organization. Their goal is to bring important news and information to the public. They provide an innovative, secure and anonymous way for sources to leak information to our journalists (our electronic drop box). WikiLeaks has sustained and triumphed against legal and political attacks designed to silence their publishing organisation, journalists and anonymous sources. The broader principles on which their work is based are the defence of freedom of speech and media publishing, the improvement...
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| Samsung MV800 Review: For The Narcissist In All Of Us Posted: 24 Oct 2011 07:43 AM PDT  Short Version: While the idea of a flip-out screen for self-portraits is just a tad gimmicky, the MV800 is one sweet little point-and-shoot. Whether you’re straight-up obsessed with yourself, or a narcissist is hidden deep within, this thing just begs you to take pictures of yourself. And if your experience is anything like mine, you’ll really, really enjoy it. Features:
Pros:
Cons:
Long Version: Point-and-shoots have recently been overrun by stellar phone cameras, but that doesn’t mean there’s no market left for them. No matter how many cool tricks your phone’s camera can pull off, the Samsung MV800 can do it better, I assure you. Hardware: The MV800′s claim to fame is its flip-out 3-inch LCD screen, connected to the device by a single hinge. In my time with it, the hinged screen seemed sturdy enough. I felt a little looseness at one point when the camera was flipped out, but overall I’d say the flip-out screen shouldn’t give you any trouble. When it’s flipped out, the backside of the camera has a textured black finish, which really enhanced my ability to grip the camera when taking self-portraits. On the back, you’ll also find a secondary shutter button, making it much easier to (again) take self-portraits. But there’s more to the flip-out screen then self-portraits. Sometimes you need to hold the camera up high or down low to get the shot you want, even though your face can’t necessarily follow suit. The screen lets you see what you’re shooting from just about any angle. The MV800 is equipped with a Schneider-Kreuznach 26mm wide-angle lens, with 5x optical zoom. To be honest, image quality isn’t necessarily this little guy’s forte. Of course, that’s not to say that MV800 pictures are bad, but it certainly can’t compete with what you see from DSLRs, micro four thirds and other more high-performance systems. I took a few test shots with the MV800 and my Olympus E-PL2 micro four thirds camera to show you the difference. Along the left side you’ll find a microUSB port for charging and HDMI out, which should be welcome news for anyone looking to take advantage of the MV800′s 720p video capture capabilities. On top you’ll find your standard shutter button, zoom toggle, and a power button, while battery, microSD card access, and your tripod slot is located on the bottom of the camera. In terms of build, feel in the hand, and general aesthetics, the MV800 has its bases covered. Software: If the narcissistic nature of the MV800′s hinged screen didn’t get you, my bet is the software will. Anyone who enjoys taking pictures for fun (rather than as a serious hobby, or career) will enjoy fiddling around with the software features on this camera. To start, the interface is super easy to understand, even if you know absolutely nothing about photography. Along with Smart Auto and Program settings for both video and stills, the MV800 offers different scene options to let you get the best shot based on your environment. Along with your standard filters (my favorites below), Samsung also included the ability to take 3D photos, as well as live panoramic shots. Then things get really interesting. Samsung included a feature called Magic Frame on the MV800, which is pretty fun to play around with. There are two uses: you can use magic frame with a picture you’ve already taken, or in one of Samsung’s preset frames. It basically brings in a little window (shaped like a circle, square, or heart) in which you can lay one picture on top of another. So let’s say I have a picture of a billboard… I can use magic frame to put a picture of my own face on the billboard, which would pretty much make me a movie star. If, on the other hand, you aren’t feeling creative enough to handle both the primary and secondary shot, Samsung has plenty of different frames in which you can supplant your face, or anything else for that matter (save for ghosts, which are invisible). Here are some of my favorites: The MV800 also features picture-in-picture mode, which will be pretty useless to anyone fluent in Photoshop, but then again that isn’t the MV800 demographic. This camera was made for people who usually can’t figure out cameras, or Photoshop for that matter, and a few of them may just want a picture of their kid’s baseball team, with a close up on their kid’s face in the bottom corner. Or something like that, I guess. Then we have Funny Face, which uses the camera’s facial recognition technology to distort your face in awkward/funny ways. It’s pretty similar to PhotoBooth on a Mac, just with more options and face recognition. There are also modes for certain types of pictures, which sets the camera to all the right settings for whatever it is you’re trying to capture. The worst and most awkward feature by far on the MV800 is its Pose Guide. You have a variety of different poses to choose from (as performed by some dark-haired model girl), which are then “sketched” into the LCD view finder for you to mimic. This is super weird. Not only is it awkward as hell to try and match the given pose, but you’re also then comparing yourself to whoever this girl is that Samsung deemed attractive enough to appear all over their cameras. And she is attractive enough, which just made me feel not so attractive. Since I assume many owners of this camera will be teenage girls who heart taking Facebook profile pics, the more self-esteem the camera can offer the better. The MV800 comes with a built-in photo editor, along with a StoryBoard feature. Storyboard lets you choose a handful of pictures from your library, and compile them together in interesting ways, or even add a fun border. It’s features like these that make the MV800 more useful than gimmicky. Whether you want to add funky effects, create a special and unique memory, or simply crop out that random guy’s hand, the MV800 never makes you change platforms. You could literally do just about anything you wanted to a picture on the camera, take it straight to the nearest photo printer, and never involve a computer throughout the process. Conclusion:
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| Vistaprint To Buy Dutch Photobook Software Company Albumprinter For Up To $90 Million Posted: 24 Oct 2011 07:40 AM PDT  Vistaprint this morning announced that it is buying European photobook software solutions provider Albumprinter for €60 million (~$83.3 million) in cash, with up to €5 million (~$9 million) in earn-out, if certain performance-based requirements are met in 2012. Albumprinter, based in Amsterdam, with a manufacturing presence in the Hague, has generated roughly €37 million (~$51.5 million) in revenue in the trailing twelve months ended September 30, 2011, according to a statement. Net income margin for the same period was about 8%, and EBITDA was approximately 16% (approximately €6 million). Read the rest of the story on TechCrunch Europe.
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| Lamenting Orange: Apple Tweaks Smart Cover Color Palette Posted: 24 Oct 2011 07:39 AM PDT  In addition to refreshing their line of MacBook Pros, it seems as though Apple couldn’t resist the opportunity to tweak their iPad 2 Smart Cover lineup today. It’s with a heavy heart that I report the orange polyurethane Smart Cover has shuffled off this mortal coil, and has been replaced with a more staid dark grey option. Tragic, I know. The change seems to have left Apple’s Smart Cover page in a bit of a tizzy — not only does it still show the erstwhile orange cover, but the link to purchase Smart Covers currently leads to a dead end. I like to think that Apple’s web team is so distraught over the decision to axe the orange case that they can’t think straight, but alas, this snafu shall soon pass. For those of you who have already moved on, the new (and rather fetching) dark grey Smart Cover will run you the usual $39.
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| No More Missing Out – MoviePilot Lets Fans Follow Upcoming Films Posted: 24 Oct 2011 07:38 AM PDT  One of the annoying things about the movie industry is that if you blink while the promotion for a new release is on – about 48 hours in marketing terms – you effectively miss the launch. It’s a bizarre scenario which means that much of the marketing dollars are spent in only a few days before a new film hits the screens and are only aimed at the 'first weekender' fans. But many people – myself included – follow actors and their IMDB profiles to see what is ‘to be released’. So there’s a behaviour there industry is just not capitalising on. Step forward today MoviePilot. This new recommendation and discovery platform brings upcoming films to fans based on their taste. That twists the old marketing model on its head and makes the whole process much more efficient.
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| Motorola Offers Unlocked Bootloader Tool For Droid RAZR, Verizon Removes It Posted: 24 Oct 2011 07:19 AM PDT  Soon-to-be Droid RAZR owners, this one’s for you. If you’re looking for a reason to be angry this Monday morning, I’ll do you one better with a reason for anger and a target toward which you can direct that rage. Ausdroid reports that Motorola has provided a bootloader unlock solution for its new Motorola Droid RAZR (which is a shock in and of itself after the way Moto has previously handled the bootloader unlock situation). The catch? Verizon has decided to remove said solution from its models. Verizon’s decision does make sense, in a way. An unlocked bootloader is less secure. However, in most cases an unlocked bootloader voids the user’s warranty on the phone. If that’s the case, then Verizon either has happy customers with unlocked phones or customers who need a new phone because they bricked their last one. Seems like a win, win to me. Company: Motorola Mobility Website: motorolamobility.com Motorola is known around the world for innovation in communications and is focused on advancing the way the world connects. From broadband communications infrastructure, enterprise mobility and public safety solutions to mobile and wireline digital communication devices that provide compelling experiences, Motorola is leading the next wave of innovations that enable people, enterprises and governments to be more connected and more mobile. Motorola (NYSE: MOT) had sales of US $22 billion in 2009 Verizon Communications Inc. delivers broadband and other wireline and wireless communication innovations to mass market, business, government and wholesale customers. Verizon Wireless operates America’s largest wireless network that serves nearly 102 million customers nationwide. Verizon’s Wireline operations include Verizon Business and Verizon Telecom, which brings customers converged communications, information and entertainment services over Verizon’s fiber-optic network.
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| Berlin: The Birth Place Of The Next Facebook? Posted: 24 Oct 2011 07:01 AM PDT  TechCrunch TV recently featured Jeremy Rifkin, author of The Third Industrial Revolution, who argues that Europe will be the next cradle of innovation. To that end, we’re increasingly finding VCs in Europe looking for the best hubs for those innovators. And we recently argued that the axis of power was swinging behind both London and Berlin. But EarlyBird Capital was the first VC to open an office in Berlin this year and others like Accel and Index have become regular visitors. Below, Roberto Bonanzinga, partner at Balderton Capital, argues why he thinks Berlin could produce the next Facebook.
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| Former RIM VP Tyler Lessard Lands CMO Job At Fixmo Posted: 24 Oct 2011 06:43 AM PDT  In a high-profile departure, Tyler Lessard quit his job as VP of BlackBerry Global Alliances & Developer Relations at Research in Motion (RIM) at the end of last month. He worked at RIM, a sinking ship, for over a decade. He’s now landed at mobile risk management company Fixmo, the company announced this morning, following a $6.5 million capital infusion secured last June. Lessard will be leading the company marketing and product strategy as CMO. "Fixmo provides mobile solutions to protect and manage enterprise mobile devices. Fixmo Sentinel™ provides powerful device assurance so you stay informed if any of your mobile devices enter a compromised state. Fixmo Mobile Monitor & Analyzer provides comprehensive enterprise device management. Fixmo Tools is an essential set of productivity and utility applications for BlackBerry® users. Fixmo Inc. has offices in Toronto, Washington, Amsterdam and Tokyo.
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| AT&T Nearly Tripled Wi-Fi Connections In Q3; Data Carried On Network Doubled Posted: 24 Oct 2011 06:32 AM PDT  After reporting earnings last week, AT&T is announcing an impressive number of Wi-Fi connections made over the third quarter. Via AT&T devices, users made 301.9 million Wi-Fi connections, which is more than 37 connections every second. Connections nearly tripled (up more than 282 percent) versus connections made in the third-quarter 2010. AT&T, which offers 29,000 Wi-Fi Hot Spots in the U.S., says that most of its smartphone customers get access to the carrier’s Wi-Fi network at no additional cost as part of their plan, and Wi-Fi doesn’t count toward customers’ monthly wireless data usage. The number of hotspots has also increased, says the telecommunications company, especially at stadium and hospitality locations. The number of AT&T Wi-Fi Hot Spots at hotels has quadrupled in 2011, and hotel locations account for approximately 40 percent of the total AT&T Wi-Fi network traffic. In the third quarter, AT&T also launched Wi-Fi in a number of New York City Park. And AT&T’s acquisition of Superclick should help expand AT&t Wi-Fi services in the hospitality industry.
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| Amazon’s Online Drugstore Soap.com Adds Groceries To The List Posted: 24 Oct 2011 06:00 AM PDT  Amazon-owned Quidsi has tackled diapers, drugstore items, pet supplies and toys in its empire of retail verticals. And today, Quidsi’s Soap.com is adding groceries to the list, with a new category for non-perishable food items. For background, Quidsi launched with Diapers.com, which quickly became the biggest seller of diapers online. Last year, it expanded into drugstore items with Soap.com and this year (post Amazon acquisition); Quidsi expanded to pet supplies with Wag.com. and toys with YoYo. Soap.com’s new Grocery category now lists more than 10,000 non-perishable food items, including coffee and tea, snacks, cereal, pasta, baking ingredients and canned items. The current selection features a fix of everyday, mass-use brands as well as more speciality, hard-to-find brands. Sample brands on-site include Cheerios, Kettle Chips, Senseo, Celestial Seasonings Tea, The Gluten-Free Pantry, Eden Foods Organic and Energ-G Foods. As with all Quidsi products, ll orders arrive in 1-2 days, with free shipping for orders over $39. Quidsi CEO Marc Lore says that the addition of groceries was a natural extension of Soap.com, and customers have been asking for these goods since the site’s launch last year. Soap.com officially launched to the public in July 2010 and has since doubled its product selection. Of course, Amazon also offers non-perishable grocery items and is expected to expand this service in the coming year. Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN) is a leading global Internet company and one of the most trafficked Internet retail destinations worldwide. Amazon is one of the first companies to sell products deep into the long tail by housing them all in numerous warehouses and distributing products from many partner companies. Amazon directly sells, or acts as a platform for the sale of a broad range of products. These include books, music, videos, consumer electronics, clothing and household products. The majority of Amazon's... Quidsi is one of the world’s fastest growing e-commerce companies and parent of Diapers.com (baby care), Soap.com (household essentials) and BeautyBar.com (prestige beauty). The company’s mission is to make life easier by creating a new type of e-commerce experience, delivering in 1-2 days, and providing incredible customer service. Quidsi is redefining e-commerce by combining the focus and customer connection of a specialty store with the scale, efficiency, choice, value and reliability of a massive global retailer.
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| Location-As-A-Service Provider Location Labs Acquires Wirkle And Volly Posted: 24 Oct 2011 05:59 AM PDT  Location Labs, a location-as-a-service provider and makers of mobile parental control utility Safely, is today announcing the acquisition of two companies in the mobile space, Wirkle and Volly. Wirkle, a mobile product development firm, and group messaging company Volly will bring their product portfolios, IP and team to Location Labs as a part of their respective deals. Although the terms of the deals were not disclosed, the cumulative value of both companies was in the millions. Location Labs may not be a household name, but its technology is pre-loaded onto millions of mobile phones in the U.S. The company’s Sparkle mobile platform serves as the basis for Safely, and is shipping pre-installed on all of Sprint’s smartphones. In addition to Sprint, the company also counts among its partners AT&T and T-Mobile, and its solutions power the carrier-branded Family Locator apps as well as Sprint and T-Mobile’s ”no texting while driving” services. The new acquisitions will help Location Labs further expand into becoming a full-fledged mobile security company, says CEO Tasso Roumeliotis. “Symantec protects data on your PC, but your mobile phone is a personal security device,” he explains. The company plans to delve deeper into what a phone can do to help users stay secure, even going so far as to protect you when you have to walk through a darkened parking garage alone. But how will it do so? Here, Roumeliotis plays a bit coy but hints that Location Labs is already working with 911 providers to set up some sort of mobile alerting capabilities (perhaps SMS). It’s also building out services that could provide alerting functionality for those sort of “non-emergency” emergencies – like when you have a flat tire or run out of gas, and need a friend to come get you. Wirkle has experience with mobile platform development which will help speed the time to market with these new solutions, while Volly’s group-messaging functionality could be used within Location Labs’ current and future safety and security apps. San Francisco-based Location Labs previously raised $26 million in venture financing from Draper Fisher Jurvetson, BlueRun Ventures, Qualcomm Ventures, Intel Capital and Mitsui Ventures. It now has 150 employees, is profitable and no longer considers itself a startup. Location Labs is the leader in mobile location-as-a-service with consumer products that enhance the personal safety of millions of users and a location platform that enables 4,300+ developers to build their own rich location based applications. The company operates the world's most successful mobile location-based personal safety service, powering nearly a dozen products for Tier 1 carriers, including AT&T, Sprint, and T-Mobile. Recent accolades include: 2010 Inc. 500 list of America's Fastest Growing Private Companies and San Francisco Business...
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| Sony PRS-T1 Reader Hacked To Run The Kindle Android App And More Posted: 24 Oct 2011 05:56 AM PDT  There’s finally a legitimate reason to buy the new-ish Sony PRS-T1 Reader: You can hack it and install the Kindle Android app. I kid. However, there is a new hack for Sony’s least expensive ereader that allows for root access, effectively opening up the device to all sorts of Android uses. This of course includes the Kindle app. Apparently it’s a relatively easy mod as The Digital Reader notes it’s relatively foolproof. Just download the installer to the reader and give it time to do its thing. After that, the reader will reboot and you’ll be able to play Fruit Ninja on an inexpensive eink screen. Sony readers have long been a fan favorite and the latest round that included the T1 are the lowest cost options yet. They’re nearly completely open and support almost every ebook file format. But this latest mod opens the door for all sorts of new uses. Sure, the Sony readers aren’t as popular as the Kindle but they have a dedicated following who enjoy their open nature and quality hardware. Other venders should take note.
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| Chartboost Raises $2 Million In Series A Funding, Already Profitable Posted: 24 Oct 2011 05:55 AM PDT  The new direct-deals mobile advertising marketplace Chartboost is announcing today that it has raised $2 million in Series A funding, after having just launched at the beginning of the October. Investors in this rounded included TransLink Capital, SK Telecom Ventures and XG Ventures, the latter a former investor in Tapulous before its Disney acquisition. Chartboost, too, has a Tapulous connection, given that it was created by former Tapulous employees, Maria Alegre, now Chartboost CEO, and Sean Fannan, CTO. The service they built is not just another ad network but a technology platform providing free ad-serving technology. Developers use the Chartboost SDK to serve ads promoting other publishers’ apps – ads which were typically set up as direct deals. But instead of mediating these direct deals through an ad network, Chartboost publishers get a 100% revenue share on the ads. Chartboost itself operates under a freemium model: the ad-server technology is free when used for direct deals or internal cross-promotion, but the opt-in ad network offers revenue sharing with publishers. The network allows publishers to maximize the unsold direct-deals ad inventory. Notable Chartboost publishers currently include TinyCo, Storm8, Pocket Gems, Gameview Studios, The Playforge, Funzio, OMGPOP, Com2us, Fluik Entertainment, Sunstorm Interactive, Ace Viral, Camigo Media, Neon Play, Lakoo and Devsisters. Alegre says that the new funding will help Chartboost to scale and reach more publishers worldwide, but the company is already profitable.
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| Bonfire.im Brings IM Chat To Twitter, Know If Your Friends Are Online Posted: 24 Oct 2011 05:55 AM PDT  So far Twitter users have gotten by with Direct Messaging when they want to be more intimate with their friends. But what if they could do Facebook-chat style instant messaging? That’s the offering today from Bonfire.im, a brand new disruptive startup which promises to change the Twitter experience in quite a fundamental way, by adding IM-syle Presence. Suddenly you could now know if your friends were online or ont. However, they hope Twitter will like this new plugin since it keeps users stuck to the web site. That means ad dollars for Twitter.
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