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Twitter For Mac Is Like Massively Multiplayer IM — Will It Alter Twitter Itself?
Jan 07, 4:19AM
Back in August, I first got to try out the Twitter Streaming API via the User Streams feature which was being beta tested on a new version on popular third-party client TweetDeck. "Twitter User Streams Is Crack For Realtime Web Junkies," was the title I went with. For this post, I sort of wanted to use the title "If User Streams Is Crack, Twitter For Mac Is A Crack Pipe." Then I thought better of it. Actually, I didn't. I'm simply mentioning it now instead of in the title because I thought the title I used was a bit more in line with what I actually wanted to say. But the truth is that the newly launched Twitter for Mac is one of the most addicting, and more importantly, engaging, products I can recall seeing. Just watching it update in realtime is fascinating enough. But when you actually start to have a conversation with people and can see them responding to you in realtime, it becomes more like an IM service instead of the way we've typically viewed Twitter: with static one-off messages and maybe a reply here or there. And I'm wondering if now that Twitter has added the realtime User Streams to an official product, if it won't fundamentally alter Twitter itself?
CheckPoints Hits A Million Check-Ins, 600K Bar Code Scans
Jan 07, 1:57AM
Fast moving shopping rewards app and TechCrunch Disrupt finalist CheckPoints has hit a couple of milestones this week, 2 1/2 months since its launch. Co-founder Mark Dipaola tells us that the app now boasts 1 million store check-ins and 600K barcode scans, or users scanning the barcodes of participating products in participating stores. Dipaola also expects that the app will clock in about 1/2 a million users (not downloads but actually people who have registered for the service) on the iPhone and iOS platforms by the end of this week. Says Dipaola, "We're heading quickly to a million users, quickly adding on additional clients who want to reach consumers in the aisles where decisions are made."
Ask a VC: Questions about the New Enterprise Boom? Ask Jason Green
Jan 07, 1:55AM
After a Holiday hiatus, Ask a VC is back and we’re kicking off the new year with Jason Green of Emergence Capital. Emergence was started to fund the software-as-a-service craze of the early 2000s. That wave has had mixed results, but Emergence had several of the big hits including Salesforce.com and SuccessFactors. Green himself was [...]
Pandora and the Final, Crucial Internet Radio Frontier: The Car (TCTV)
Jan 07, 12:45AM
At CES this week, Pandora made two announcements that get its popular Internet radio service into cars, one for Toyota and one for BMW. But while exciting, the reality is these are still hacks that use your smart phone to solve the big car Internet radio problem: Connectivity. It's a big problem but a crucial one for Pandora to solve if it wants to realize its mission of being wherever radio is. According to Pandora's CTO Tom Conrad, 50% of all radio listening happens in the car-- and frankly I'm surprised the number is that low. I pulled Conrad away from the madness of CES to ask him when I'd be able to buy or rent a car and see AM, FM, CD, Satellite Radio and Pandora-- all native. Hint: The only thing Pandora has ruled out in getting there is becoming an automaker.
Hours After Launch, Lackluster Apps Inspire A "Worst Of" The Mac App Store
Jan 07, 12:44AM
If you're as chained to Apple products as we are, you probably spent a couple hours this morning exploring the nascent Mac App Store or as I like to call it, the Productivity Toilet. And you are not alone, hours after launch some industrious (and foul mouthed) UI enthusiast has created "Read the fucking HIG," a Tumblr compilation of terribly designed Mac Apps. While we found it on Twitter of course, we hear this has been making the rounds at Apple all afternoon, "I can't stop laughing. Every post is quotable" one employee told us. True. 
The Mac App Store Offers A Taste Of OS X Lion And The Future Of The Platform
Jan 07, 12:17AM
The Mac App Store is going to be huge. Sure, you look at it now and see that it's largely populated with a lot of apps you don't want and will never want. But there are already quite a few gems (namely some key games) on day one. And the smooth execution of how it works makes it very clear that this is the future of software distribution for the Mac platform. And some of those apps themselves also speak to the future of the platform. It's no accident that Apple baked the Mac App Store directly into OS X rather than making it a stand-alone app. Apple clearly means for every Mac user to eventually have it. In a way, you could almost think of it as really the first feature of OS X Lion, we're just getting it a few months early. And why not? If Apple realized they could make it work with OS X Snow Leopard, why force all users to upgrade to get access to it?
Ustream Is Also Coming Bundled On Verizon's 4G Android Phones
Jan 06, 11:57PM
Verizon is really looking to push the capabilities of its 4G network when it arrives on Android handsets later this year. Earlier today we wrote about a partnership the carrier had forged with streaming music service MOG to put that company's apps on every 4G Verizon Android phone. Now Ustream has announced a similar partnership: every 4G Verizon Android phone will be shipping with Ustream installed as well. The application will let you both broadcast and view live video streams, with integrated chat and social network integration for posting your videos to Facebook, Twitter, etc. Obviously this is good news for Ustream in terms of getting exposure, and, as with MOG, this is the kind of application users are going to be eager to try to test out their new speedy connections. 
Tumblr's Bold Strategy: User Generated Content, After A Fashion
Jan 06, 10:54PM
Depending on how you look at it, it's either a classic example of fiddling while Rome burns, or a masterstoke in brand positioning. In fact, come to think of it, maybe Tumblr's decision to hire a "fashion director" and to pay for twenty bloggers to attend New York fashion week is both of those things. Certainly, you might think the company would have other priorities: like solving its persistent up-time problems - an issue that affects far more than the twenty lucky Tumblrs who will "receive complimentary flights, accommodation, and will be whisked off to lunches, dinners, and cocktails with a roster of to-be-confirmed brands and designers". At the same time, though, the Fashion Week junket addresses something that might cause even more of a challenge for Tumblr in future: the generation of original, re-bloggable content.
Personal Raises $7M From Steve Case And Others To Help Consumers Protect Their Digital Data
Jan 06, 10:23PM
Under the radar startup Personal has just announced a round of funding from a group of impressive backers. Personal has raised $7.6 million in a Series A round of investment from Grotech Ventures and Steve Case's Revolution LLC with participation from Allen & Company and Eric Semler of TCS Capital Management (although this SEC filing indicates the startup raised $7.3 million) Founded by the same management team that built business mapping application The Map Network (which was acquired by NAVTEQ in 2006), Personal aims to give consumers control over their digital data. Details are still sparse on how Personal does this, but the company says that it helps users prevent companies tracking, compiling and selling digital information without the consumer's consent. 
Salesforce Buys Web Conferencing Platform DimDim For $31 Million In Cash
Jan 06, 9:16PM
Salesforce is continuing its shopping spree into 2011. The company has announced that it has acquired DimDim, a web conferencing service for $31 million in cash. DimDim, which has raised around $9 million in venture funding, provides a browser-based web conferencing platform that doesn't require the installation of any desktop software and is based on an open source platform. The platform provides real-time collaboration capabilities, the ability to share documents, record sessions, whiteboard and use video, voice and phone conferencing. 
Live from Verizon's 4G Press Conference at CES 2011!
Jan 06, 9:08PM
We're Live at Verizon's Press Conference in Las Vegas. The bandwidth is all kinds of shaky, but we'll keep the updates coming as long as the bandwidth Gods allow it.
MOG Lands Deal With Verizon, Will Come Preinstalled On All 4G Android Phones
Jan 06, 9:00PM
Here's some big news for MOG, the premium music service that lets you pay $10 a month to stream an unlimited number of songs to your computer and your mobile devices (the mobile apps also let you download entire albums to your phone and save them locally, which is very handy). Today the company has announced that it's landed a deal with Verizon, and it's a big one: MOG will come preinstalled on all 4G Verizon Android phones. MOG will also be featured in Verizon's V CAST app store, and users will be able to sign up for MOG accounts using Verizon carrier billing. This is a big win for MOG, which has the challenge of convincing people to pay for a subscription music service (no easy feat) and is up against some strong competitors like Rdio and Spotify (if it ever launches in the US). 
Fly Or Die: Does Flipboard Have A Chance?
Jan 06, 8:49PM
It's time for this week's episode of Fly or Die, the TCTV show where CrunchGear editor John Biggs and I look at three new products and debate their longterm chances of survival. In today's show, we discuss Windows Phone 7, the just-announced Casio Tryx digital camera, and the popular Flipboard iPad app. At the end of the show, a special surprise guest appears from one of the companies involved to respond immediately to our criticisms of his product. That's the best part of the show, so be sure to watch until the end to catch it.
Apple Goes After The Parody @CeoSteveJobs Twitter Account
Jan 06, 8:38PM
Days after California passed a bill criminalizing certain online impersonations, the person behind the @ceoSteveJobs Twitter account tells us that someone from Apple has complained to Twitter about the @ceoSteveJobs Twitter account. The tipster (who wants us to call him Christof) tells TechCrunch that Twitter has received a "valid report" i.e. either from "the user being impersonated or someone legally authorized to act on behalf of that user/entity" that the account is in violation of the Twitter parody policy, which holds that usernames and profile names should not be the exact name of the subject among other things.
The CrunchGear Team Interviews Alan Mulally, CEO Of Ford
Jan 06, 8:36PM
We were fortunate enough to have the opportunity to talk with Ford CEO Alan Mulally about the current line-up of cars and the technology that goes into them. Mr. Mulally has the unique honor of being CEO of Ford during the recession, and Ford was the only company that didn't need a government loan. Perhaps this is due to Alan's background as an engineer in Boeing in the 60's. He went on to become the CEO of Boeing, and is in fact considered to be one of the major reasons that Boeing was able to compete with Airbus during that period. Mr. Mulally had quite a bit to say about the MyFord technology, the current car line up, and some hints about the future of Ford. Click through for the video and we'll have a higher-res version up shortly.
Skype Adds Group Video Calling To Enterprise Offering
Jan 06, 8:19PM
It's been a big week for Skype. The company launched video chat capability to its iPhone app last week and announced the acquisition of mobile video startup Qik today. The company has made another announcement, launching group calling functionality to its business offering for Windows PCs (the feature had previously been added to its consumer clients for Mac and Windows computers last year). The new version of Skype for enterprise allows businesses to have video calls with up to 10 concurrent participants, adding to the client's existing chat, screen sharing and conference call features. Group Video Calling for businesses is available from Skype for $8.99 per user per month. 
Textfree Users Made 2.5 Million Voice Calls In Ten Days (And They've Sent 6 Billion Messages Total)
Jan 06, 8:18PM
Last fall at TechCrunch Disrupt, Pinger, the company behind hugely popular texting application Textfree, announced that it was adding voice support to its application — a big deal, given that it adds voice calling to the iPod Touch and it allows iPhone users to make calls without burning their AT&T minutes. The feature was in beta for around two and a half months (during which it was tested by thousands of people), and it went live for everyone on December 21. Today, Pinger is announcing just how well it's done: between December 21 and December 30, users made 2.5 million voice calls. That's a lot of talking. On an average day, Textfree hands out somewhere on the order of 15,000 free phone numbers to its users (when you sign up for the service you get a new, unique phone number, which your friends can use to text and call you).
Forget Apple Keynotes, Japan's New Year Sets Record With 6,939 Tweets Per Second
Jan 06, 8:07PM
Remember when there were so many tweets during a Steve Jobs' Apple keynote that it use to cripple Twitter? Then remember when Michael Jackson's death took things to a whole new level and did the same? Well apparently, neither of those events have anything on New Year's in Japan. As they note on their blog today, Twitter saw 6,939 Tweets per second (TPS) four seconds after midnight on January 1st in Japan. This is a new record in terms of TPS — in fact, it more than doubles the previous record of 3,283 TPS set during Japan's victory over Denmark in the World Cup last summer. "In fact, on New Year's Eve, that all-time TPS record was shattered more than 68 separate times within a single 3-minute period," Twitter notes.
Twitter: No Plans For A Windows Client — But Never Say Never
Jan 06, 7:46PM
At one point, a long, long time ago, Twitter was just a super simple website with some SMS integration. Then it became a slightly more robust website. Then it became an iPhone app. Then an Android app. Then an iPad app. Then a very robust website. BlackBerry, Windows Phone, etc. Now, as of today, there's an official Mac desktop client, Twitter for Mac. Just about all of the bases now seem to be covered — except one: Windows. Following the Twitter for Mac launch this morning, I asked the company if they had plans to do a Windows-based desktop version next. "For now, we only have the Mac version. We don't have plans for a PC version -- though we never say never," a Twitter representative told me. In other words, eventually, yes there probably will be one.
Confirmed: Skype Buys Mobile Video Startup Qik
Jan 06, 6:43PM
It looks like Skype has just picked up mobile video startup Qik. According to a release, Skype has entered an agreement to buy the startup. Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed but sources tell Business Insider that deal was around $150 million. We've embedded the release below. At last count, Qik, which enables mobile phones users to record and stream videos in realtime, has 5 million users. 
French Groupon Clone Scores €1.5 Million to Conquer More French Territory
Jan 06, 6:24PM
Perhaps now that Groupon is happily being valued at $4.75 billion, investors all over the world are getting all the more interested in the local group daily deal platforms. Brand new Moroccan clone MyDeal is rumored to be raising a round and France's Dealissime closed its first round of funding back in July. And now another French Groupon clone, Bon-Privé, is announcing that it has raised €1.5 million. This is the first round of funding for the French startup founded back in February 2010. In-line with most of the Groupon clones, Bon-Privé offers between 40 and 90% discounts on exclusive offers to bars, restaurants, shows, etc. The site is currently live in 4 French cities - Paris, Toulouse, Nantes and Nice - and is planning to cover 10 French cities by the end of the year, starting with Bordeaux, Lille, Marseille, Lyon and Strasbourg.
Contest: Happy CES Day! Here's A Windows Phone HD7
Jan 06, 6:11PM
Happy first day of CES! What a trip its been - three full days of wild-eyed fun so far and two and a half more to go. To make the medicine go down, we're going to give you two!
Twitter For Mac Comes With A Secret Backdoor To Thank The MacHeist Loyalists
Jan 06, 5:55PM
As we confirmed yesterday, the news of Tweetie 2 for Mac (aka Twitter for Mac) launching today was real. Erick doesn't seem to like the app too much, but he's also a TweetDeck addict. My immediate reaction is that it's like the original Tweetie for Mac but much faster and cleaner. In other words, I love it so far. But there's something else. A little secret of the app, with a backstory. Those following Tweetie 2 for Mac news closely will recall that originally the app was in development when Twitter acquired the product and its developer, Loren Brichter. Their main goal there was to get Tweetie for the iPhone, which they quickly turned into Twitter for iPhone. But fans were disappointed when Twitter for iPad then launched a few months later to talk that there were no plans to do anything with the Tweetie for Mac product. One group of users were particularly upset by this: MacHeist users.
Will CODA Pull A Tesla? Electric Vehicle Makers Raise Another $76 Million
Jan 06, 5:49PM
CODA Holdings (or CODA Automotive) the Santa Monica, Calif. company that plans to sell all-electric sedans in the U.S. this year, raised another $76 million according to a company statement today. The company's total equity funding, with this round, reached about $200 million. CODA's new backers include Harbinger Capital Partners and Riverstone Holdings, who were joined by earlier investors AERIS Capital and the Angeleno Group. In addition to producing electric vehicles, CODA manufactures power storage systems for transportation and utility businesses, through a joint venture with Chinese Lishen Power Battery, LIO Energy Systems...
comScore: Android Passes iPhone In Total U.S. Subscribers
Jan 06, 5:46PM
The latest mobile subscriber estimates are out from comScore, and for the first time in November, 2010, Android passed the iPhone in total number of U.S. smartphone subscribers. Comscore estimates there are 61.5 million smartphone subscribers in the U.S., and 26 percent of them own an Android phone versus 25 percent with an iPhone. In the previous month—October, 2010—Apple still edged out Google with 24.6 percent market share versus 23.5 percent. These numbers are for all existing smartphone subscribers, which is different than sales of new phones—where Android is also ahead of the iPhone. 
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