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Referral Platform Zferral Acquires SaaS App Store Cloudomatic
Jan 28, 9:32AM
Web-based affiliate management system and "incentive engine" Zferral has bought SaaS web app store Cloudomatic for cash and equity. Cloudomatic was founded by OnSwipe co-founders Jason Baptiste and Andres Barreto, who will continue on as advisors. The price of the acquisition was not disclosed. 
Nokia Strikes Deals With Tencent, SINA To Bring Location-based Services To Ovi Maps
Jan 28, 9:19AM
Nokia this morning announced two deals with leading Chinese Internet companies SINA and Tencent, who will be integrating with Nokia's Ovi Maps in China. Millions of users of SINA's microbloging service and Tencent's massively popular online community QQ (636 million users and counting) will be able to share their location through Nokia mobile devices, check-in to locations and upload content tied to location, such as recommendations and reviews of restaurants, shops and movie theatres. 
Coming Soon (Maybe): A TechCrunch Book Review Column
Jan 28, 2:59AM
Attention publishers and authors! For a while I've been kicking around the idea of writing a semi-regular book review column here on TechCrunch. I don't mean the pure "tech" books of the O'Reilly oeuvre, but rather works concerning digital culture and how technology is affecting politics, journalism, art and society as a whole. It would probably include the occasional novel too. And might - might - take the form of a very informal book club. The idea is far from fully-formed - and I have to make sure it doesn't clash with Andrew Keen's excellent TCTV show which often features authors as guests. But if you're a publisher or an author and you have a forthcoming book that might fit the bill, do please feel free to let me know - either via this handy web form or by sending a copy to me c/o TechCrunch, 410 Townsend Street (Suite 100), San Francisco, CA 94107. Ebooks and non-US titles welcome. But if it's self-published, it had better be good. 
StackMob Is 'Heroku For Mobile'. And Proud Of It. And Potentially Just As Huge.
Jan 28, 2:36AM
It was almost exactly two years ago that we first wrote about a company called Heroku. At the time, the Y Combinator startup was little more than a good idea: ease the development and deployment process a lot of other startups face by putting it in the cloud. Last month, Salesforce bought them for $212 million in cash. It's no wonder that a new startup, StackMob, doesn't mind being called a "Heroku for mobile". Truth be told, that is a pretty good way to describe what they're doing. They've created a cloud-based system to ease the development and deployment of mobile applications. Or even more simply put, "we're trying to solve the backend services for mobile applications," is how co-founder Ty Amell phrases it. They want to be the single integration point for all the backend needs that an app developer may have.
How Can I Illustrate The Dystopian Hellscape Presaged By Demand's IPO?
Jan 28, 1:31AM
It happens, sometimes. I have what I think would be a fun idea for a joke, only to discover - often half-way through writing it - that someone else has already beaten me to the punch(line). Today, for example, I wanted to write something about Demand Media's IPO. Given the hideously cynical nature of their business, the dreck that passes for their content, the appallingly low rates paid to their writers (who have - apparently - created $1.5bn worth of value) and now a plagiarism scandal (wait - they don't even write their own dreck?), it's clear that Demand is a hideous company. In fact it's absolutely no exaggeration whatsoever to say that buying shares in them is the web content equivalent of buying stock in Nestle Africa or stocking up on Fanta in the 1940s. I mean, yes, there's clearly money to be made, but I wouldn't want that kind of karma. Still, the fact remains that - as I wrote in my Sunday column last week - Demand's brand of SEO horseshit represents the future of web content. And with that in mind, I thought it might be a lark to put together a mock up of what that particular dystopian hellscape might look like. Say, the front page of NYTimes.com, as written by Demand. Imagine, then, my disappointment on discovering that Danny Sullivan has beaten me to it. 
Egypt Situation Gets Worse, People Reporting Internet And SMS Shutdown
Jan 28, 1:16AM
The world is watching in shock at the moment as reports continue to flood in of Egyptians having their Internet connection cut in addition having access to social media services like Facebook, Twitter and Blackberry shut down. Along with The Arabist and CNN's Ben Wedeman, Reuters is now reporting that users in Cairo are experiencing phone and Internet shutdown. "Egypt has shut off the internet," read one headline.
Zynga Close To Acquiring Whereoscope, The App That Lets You Track Your Kids
Jan 28, 12:39AM
Back in August we wrote about a Y Combinator-funded company called Whereoscope that helps parents keep tabs on their kids using a location-aware smartphone application. Now we're hearing that the startup is about to be acquired by a company that's in an entirely different space: Zynga. Our understanding is that a term sheet has been signed but the deal has not yet closed, so it's not a sure thing yet. Both Whereoscope and Zynga declined to comment. If it does close, we believe it will be for sub-$5 million, likely in valuable Zynga equity. Given the fact that Zynga isn't exactly focused on child location monitoring, this is probably a talent acquisition. But it's a quick and positive outcome for the founders, especially given that the app launched less than six months ago. 
Facebook Shares Dip 7% In Most Recent SecondMarket Auction
Jan 28, 12:34AM
A week ago Facebook shares were being traded at $28.26 per share, a $70 billion valuation. In this week's auction at SecondMarket the per share price declined just over 7%, to $26.25, a $65.5 billion valuation with around 2.5 billion shares outstanding. That's a $5 billion decline in valuation. 670,000 shares were sold for a total of around $17.5 million. Did it peak? I have no idea. We still have to update our two week old chart showing a high valuation of $50 billion. Maybe things are just cooling down for a while. We'll know more after next week's super confidential Facebook share auction. Here's the email.
Five Reasons The PSP2 Won't Succeed
Jan 28, 12:31AM
Sony has announced the PSP2 (temporarily named the "Next Generation Portable"), perhaps the final boss of handheld consoles. It's far more powerful than its destined competitor, Nintendo's 3DS, and incorporates social and locational data, 3G, a monster 5" OLED screen, and a number of other features detailed here. It is to be one of the linchpin platforms for the world's most recognizable entertainment electronics company, a stomping ground for new games, media, and services. And I think it's going to go down in flames. Why? It's got its competitor beat on nearly every spec, it's got the backing of droves of Sony fanboys, and million-selling franchises just waiting to be put on its crisp 960x544 screen. How can it fail? I'd say by not addressing the fundamental needs of a handheld gaming console and ignoring strong trends in the market.
Vodafone Egypt Remains Silent As Access Goes Down Ahead Of Friday Protests
Jan 28, 12:26AM
Some worrying reports are coming out Egypt right now - to add to all the other worrying reports I guess. Respected blog The Arabist reports that DSL and 3G services have been taken offline in Cairo. This is confirmed by CNN correspondent Ben Wedeman, on the ground in Cairo. Now, coincidentally or not, this has come literally within the hour after AP TV posted a video of a man being shot point blank by police. The man appears to be dead, though that is not confirmed. The main ISPs in Egypt at TEDATA, whose own site appears to be down, Vodafone, and Egynet. In addition, Italy-based Seabone has reported that there was no Internet traffic going into or out of Egypt after 12:30 a.m. local time. 
As MySpace Implodes, Tagged Doubles Staff And Gives Everyone A Raise
Jan 27, 11:19PM
I recently over heard someone saying of MySpace - "It used to be dirty, underground, seedy and successful. Now it's prom at a private school." The company is struggling to reinvent itself. But traffic continues to plunge. Comscore says they had 80 million worldwide unique visitors in December. They had around 90 million in October before the big redesign. A year ago they had 120 million uniques, says Comscore. So it's no surprise they let half their staff go, some 500 people, in early January. Another, smaller, social network has apparently found a say to be relevant in a Facebook world. San Francisco based Tagged logged revenues of over $30 million in 2010 and are profitable with a staff of 50. We reported on that in late 2010 when I interviewed founder Greg Tseng. They've been profitable for the last three years.
LinkedIn's Largest Shareholders And How Much They Own
Jan 27, 11:16PM
LinkedIn's S-1 filing was released today, and the filing includes a wealth of information that we've never seen before. This includes sales, profit, revenue breakdown and more. One interesting data point shared in the filing is LinkedIn's largest shareholders and how much each shareholder owns. Out of the 5 percent stockholders, the company's largest shareholder is LinkedIn's founder and chairman Reid Hoffman and his wife Michelle Yee, owning 19 million shares or 21.4 percent of the company. He's followed by Sequoia Capital (16.8 million shares or 18.9 percent), Greylock Partners (14 million shares or 15.8 percent) and Bessemer Venture Partners (4.6 million shares or 5.1 percent). 
Kindle Books Overtake Paperback Books To Become Amazon's Most Popular Format
Jan 27, 10:56PM
Has the pixel to print tipping point been reached? Last July we reported that Amazon's Kindle eReader books had surpassed hardcover books in terms of sales, selling 143 Kindle books for every 100 hardcover books. Now that lead also holds for paperbacks with 115 Kindle books sold for every hundred paperbacks. The statistic for hardcover books itself has doubled, with three times as many Kindle books as sold as paperbacks in 2010. Free Kindle books are excluded from this number or it would be much higher.
Microsoft Still More Profitable Than Apple — Barely
Jan 27, 10:55PM
A week and a half ago, after Apple announced their blowout earnings for the holiday quarter, I wondered if the third and final pillar of Microsoft's financial strength over Apple was about to fall: profit. In 2010, Apple surpassed their longtime rival in market cap and revenue, but profit has remained elusive (mostly because Microsoft mainly sells high-margin software while Apple mainly sells relatively lower margin hardware). Well it's still elusive — for at least one more quarter. As I suspected, Microsoft was barely able to eek out a profit win over Apple. For the quarter, Microsoft earned $6.63 billion in profit compared to Apple's $6 billion. Assuming the trends hold, Apple should indeed take the profit crown next quarter.
Tracing The Origins Of Leaked Oscar Screeners
Jan 27, 10:42PM
The Oscar nominations came out a few days ago, and like a bunch of dorks we've been discussing the merits of each movie in our little chatroom. So far we've unofficially given thumbs up to Winter's Bone and Black Swan, while Devin and Greg have admitted to liking The Social Network. (I patently refuse to watch the movie.) Why am I bringing this up? Because every year around this time unscrupulous individuals leak their Oscar screeners to the Internet, allowing the rest of us to join in on the fun. One enterprising gentleman has put together a spreadsheet with various screener-related information for your perusal. It's actually a continuation of a long-running spreadsheet, tracing the origins of screeners, leaks, cam copies, and the like for the past several years.
LinkedIn Files For IPO; Revenue $161 Million For The First Nine Months Of 2010
Jan 27, 9:43PM
Professional social network LinkedIn has just submitted its S-1 filing with the SEC, indicating that it will file for a public offering. The maximum proposed total offering price is $175 million but this is just a placeholder amount. The company also announced the filing on its blog. In terms of revenue, during the nine months ended September 30, 2010, LinkedIn's net revenue doubled to $161 million from $80.6 during the same period in 2009. Net income for the first nine months of 2010 came in at $10 million. 
Microsoft Sold 8 Million Kinects In 60 Days
Jan 27, 9:26PM
Microsoft earnings just got released 10 minutes before market close, and aside from growing revenues 5% in the 2nd quarter to $19.95 Billion, their slides reveal some interesting numbers on their entertainment and gaming unit, mainly that they sold 8 million Kinects in the two months since launch. Said Peter Klien about the Kinect's success, "We are enthusiastic about the consumer response to our holiday lineup of products, including the launch of Kinect. The 8 million units of Kinect sensors sold in just 60 days far exceeded our expectations. The pace of business spending, combined with strong consumer demand, led to another quarter of operating margin expansion and solid earnings per share growth."
Amazon's Jeff Bezos: "We Had Our First $10 Billion Quarter"
Jan 27, 9:20PM
Amazon just released results for its for its fourth quarter ending December 31, 2010. The company's sales came in at $12.95 billion, which is up 36 percent from $9.52 billion in fourth quarter 2009. Net income increased 8 percent to $416 million in the fourth quarter, or $0.91 per diluted share, compared with net income of $384 million, or $0.85 per diluted share, in fourth quarter 2009. Analysts expected $0.88 per share on revenue of $13 billion, which is short of the quarter's sales of $12.95 billion. Founder and CEO of Amazon, Jeff Bezos said in a statement: We had our first $10 billion quarter, and after selling millions of third-generation Kindles with the new Pearl e-ink display during the quarter, Kindle books have now overtaken paperback books as the most popular format on Amazon.com. Last July we announced that Kindle books had passed hardcovers and predicted that Kindle would surpass paperbacks in the second quarter of this year, so this milestone has come even sooner than we expected - and it's on top of continued growth in paperback sales.
Microsoft Grows Revenues 5% In 2nd Quarter To $19.95 Billion [Slides]
Jan 27, 9:02PM
Microsoft just released positive earnings for the fifth quarter in a row, with second quarter revenues of $19.95 billion, a 5% increase from last year. Diluted earnings per share were $0.77 per share. The company beat the street as analysts expected revenue to come in at $19.14 billion and diluted earnings per share of $0.68. Operating income and net income for the quarter were $8.17 billion and $6.63 billion, a decrease of 4% and 0.4%, respectively, over the same time last year. 
Facebook Instant Credits Are Tripling Virtual Goods Sales For OMGPOP
Jan 27, 8:52PM
Now that Facebook will require all games on the social network to use Facebook Credits, it is adding new features to encourage players to spend money on virtual goods. At the Inside Social Apps conference a couple days ago, Facebook announced new features to help grease the wheels of its budding virtual economy. One of these features is "frictionless micropayments," or instant credits, which allows players to buy up to 30 credits in-game without having to stop the game, and even without having to enter a credit card number. One game developer, OMGPOP, is already using it as part of the beta, and it is working out great. OMGPOP CEO Dan Porter tells me that "Facebook credits drives higher transaction volume on Facebook—especially the instant credits." He adds that " because of instant credits we are seeing a higher than usual conversion rate, probably 3 times higher than a standard Facebook game, but the transaction value is lower because there are fewer items and they are priced less." So it is tripling the number of virtual goods it is selling, but not the dollar amount.
Social Questions: Quora Gets An – Unofficial – iPhone App
Jan 27, 8:47PM
Social Q&A startup Quora recently hired an iOS developer, so chances are we'll soon see an official iPhone (and iPad?) application emerge, even if its website already functions quite well on smartphones. While you await said official app, be sure to check out Social Questions. Developed by Thomas Ricouard, the app will let you access and browse the Quora mobile website with a couple of handy additional shortcuts and faster navigation. 
Salesforce Mimics Twitter And Facebook; Adds Likes And @Replies To Chatter
Jan 27, 8:38PM
For Salesforce, Chatter is the company's major foray into the social enterprise and a way to capitalize on the "Facebook for the Enterprise" market. Salesforce Chatter, which was originally announced in November of 2009, was launched into public beta in June 2010 after four months in private beta. In the realtime collaboration platform's first three months open to the public, Chatter has been adopted by 20,000 companies; with 25 percent of Salesforce's client base using the platform. And most recently Salesforce debuted a new version and made the application free for users, with premium features as an optional add-on. Today, Salesforce is adding a number of new features, including Trending Topics on the network, and the ability to 'Like' actions, post a hashtag and send @replies to contacts in status updates. Sound, familiar you say? Clearly Salesforce drew inspiration from both Twitter and Facebook for the new features. Ironic considering that Salesforce founder and CEO Marc Benioff was quick to denounce Chatter as a social network when the platform first launched in 2009.
On iOS Devices, Native Apps Trump Web Apps (Infographic)
Jan 27, 7:27PM
Appsfire, one of the leading mobile app discovery platforms, has analyzed 1,000 devices from its users to gain some insight with regards to the native app vs. Web app debate. It's 2011, so the research was of course comes accompanied by an infographic. The infographic, which you can find below, is pretty self-explanatory. While Web apps accessed through mobile phones become more powerful every day, native applications still seem to dominate. According to Appsfire, owners of iOS devices typically spend only 10 percent of their time in a mobile browser, inclusive of Web apps.
Look Out, Skype: Viber Coming To Android In March
Jan 27, 7:23PM
We're pretty big fans of Viber around these parts, as evidenced by Robin calling it "amazingly amazing" when it launched for the iPhone last month. Built to allow 100% free VoIP calls over 3G and WiFi, it's one of a small handful that dares venture into the same territory as the seemingly-untouchable giant, Skype. Whether or not Viber ever finagles any sizable chunk of the mobile VoIP market out of Skype's grasps, competition is always a good thing. Vibers main drawback, at this point, is that it's only available for iOS. As it's built only for Viber-to-Viber calls, that meant the free calling goodness was limited to others rockin' an iPhone or iPod Touch. Viber promised an Android app was on the way — and today, we've learned a bit more about when we'll see it.
Instagram Taps Hashtags To Bundle Pictures; Brands Quickly Jump On Board
Jan 27, 7:00PM
Did you come to the Crunchies? If so, did you use Instagram to take a picture? If so, did you hashtag it with anything? If you did, you helped create something cool, you just didn't realize it. One of the things that makes Instagram great is its simplicity. You take a picture, add a filter, upload, and then off you go to explore other pictures in the stream. Unfortunately, unless you happen to be looking at the stream around the time a picture is taken, you may never see it. Sure, Twitter, Facebook and other integration points help with this somewhat, but there simply hasn't been a good way to surface older pictures on Instagram before. A new feature launching today may change that.
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