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App Stores At War As GetJar Bans Opera Mini: "We All Have To Make A Living"
Mar 09, 11:42AM
Begun, the alternative app stores war has. According to a tweet from GetJar Networks, which provides an alternative, platform-agnostic mobile applications marketplace, the Opera's Mini browser has been kicked off the alternative app store offered by the Lithuanian company. The reason for the ban (based on later messages GetJar posted on Twitter - they say an explanatory blog post is coming soon) is that Opera Mini now boasts an app store of its own, courtesy of a partnership with Appia (formerly PocketGear).
Avangate Raises $5.5 Million, Helps Software Makers Sell Products Online
Mar 09, 10:36AM
Avangate, an Amsterdam, The Netherlands-based company that enables software makers to sell their products online as well as to manage a solid distribution network, has raised €4 million euros (roughly $5.5 million) in funding. Eastern European venture capitalist 3TS Capital Partners has acquired a minority stake in Avangate, out of what it is informally known as the 3TS Cisco Growth Fund. Founded in 2005, Avangate offers a combination of an eCommerce platform, a partner management system and a worldwide affiliate network.
China Authorities Delay Nokia Siemens Networks' $1.2B Deal With Motorola
Mar 09, 9:19AM
Telecom gear company Nokia Siemens Networks' acquisition of Motorola's wireless networks infrastructure assets will be delayed further beyond the Q1 deadline as Chinese regulatory authorities continue to review the deal, the company announced this morning. The joint venture had originally announced that it would be acquiring Motorola's network unit for $1.2 billion in cash in July 2010. In a press statement, Nokia Siemens Networks says the transaction is still pending anti-trust approval from China's antitrust authorities and that closing activities will not be completed in the first quarter of this year, as previously targeted.
Stupid EU Cookie Law Will Kill Its Home-Grown Startups Stone Dead
Mar 09, 9:07AM
As if European startups weren't already at a notional disadvantage in addressing smaller markets, having access to less venture capital and being geographically spread out, a new EU-wide law proposes to hobble its innovation companies by slapping big privacy warning signs all over their sites. >From 25 May, new European laws will dictate that "explicit consent" must be gathered from web users who are being tracked via cookies. That translates into warnings which will put off consumers from EU sites, while US-based startups will be free to continue as they are. How convenient huh.
BlackBerry PlayBook Will Come With 7digital Music Store Installed At US Launch
Mar 09, 8:59AM
BlackBerry maker Research In Motion this morning announced that it will launch its PlayBook tablet computer with 7digital's music store pre-installed. The music store will come installed on the tablet at its launch in the United States and Canada, with further international roll out in 2011, the companies said.
Stack Overflow, Now Stack Exchange Inc, Raises $12M From Union Square Ventures And Others
Mar 09, 6:17AM
Vertical Q&A site network Stack Overflow has just announced new funding, in a $12 million Series B round lead by Index Ventures, Spark Capital, and their first investor Union Square Ventures. This brings the company's total funding to $18 million. It will also be changing its name to Stack Exchange Inc to better reflect its cross vertical aspirations. Index Ventures' Neil Rimer, Spark's Bijan Sabet and Paid Content founder Anil Dash will be joining the board (Sabet as a non-voting member). Congrats guys!
DailyBooth So Excited About iPad 2 Camera That They Close A $6 Million Venture Round
Mar 09, 4:25AM
DailyBooth, a site where (mostly) teens have conversations via text and photos of themselves, has closed its first big round of funding - $6 million - in a round led by Ignition Partners. Previous investor Sequoia Capital and a number of angel investors also participated in the round. Devices like the iPhone 4, with a front facing camera, are particularly DailyBooth-friendly. The new iPad, also with a front facing camera, is just an enthralling to the company. "DailyBooth is positioned to benefit from the growing iPhone, Android and Tablet markets, as the front-facing cameras on these devices are transforming mobile photo publishing," they say.
Like The Screencasts In The EightBit Video? Try Sound Stage For Mac
Mar 09, 3:10AM
Earlier today my colleague MG Siegler wrote about EightBit, a new social game and included the above video, with plenty of demo screencasts of the EightBit app. Those screencasts were via Sound Stage 1.3 for Mac, a desktop app that in addition to recording HD desktop screencaps, hooks into an iOS simulator to take screen captures of iPhone app demos. The app launched its new revamp yesterday and is currently the #1 developer tool in the Mac App Store, just breaking into the top 100 paid apps. Along with its basic functions, it allows you to customize backgrounds and directly upload your videos to YouTube. 
Memolane Launches Its Personalized Internet Time Machine To The Public
Mar 09, 2:19AM
Back in November we wrote about Memolane, a new startup that lets you import and visually browse through your tweets, Facebook updates, Flickr photos and the rest of your content littered across the web. Today, after months in an invite-only beta, the service has gone live to the public, and it's unveiling a handful of key new features just in time for its launch. For those that haven't used it, Memolane is a sort of timeline of your online life. After authenticating with any of the 10+ supported third-party services, which include Facebook, TripIt, Foursquare, and more, Memolane will import your content and arrange it in a slick timeline view. It's pretty cool — you don't realize just how segmented your online life is until you've seen tweets from a recent trip positioned next to the corresponding Flickr photos and Foursquare checkins. 
Twitter Succumbs To Backlash, #Dickbar No Longer Covers Tweets
Mar 09, 2:09AM
Oh poor #Dickbar, we've spent about five days bemoaning how terrible a UI you were and now you've been pinned down, unable to roam freely over tweets like the days of yore. Kowtowing to user and blogger feedback, Twitter has updated Twitter for iOS and the #dickbar, as it was humorously dubbed, now no longer covers tweets but firmly stays put at the top of the app. Hmm ... Sounds painful. Twitter also apparently fixed some bugs.
Apparently Only eHarmony Is The eHarmony Of eHarmony
Mar 09, 1:48AM
As long-time readers are likely aware, from time to time we get legal threats (or potential legal threats) sent our way. But instead of running off to go cower in a corner, we like to post these threats — particularly when they're ridiculous. And most of them are just that. Take this week, for example. In this past week alone, we've gotten not one but two emails from two different companies on the same issue: brand and trademark usage in our headlines and articles. The two companies in question, TV Guide and eHarmony, don't like us using their names as frames of reference for other products and/or services. 
Beverage Companies Go Sustainable With Biodegradable Plastics, Ramped Up Recycling
Mar 09, 12:32AM
Coca-Cola (nyse: KO) announced plans today to invest $24 million, along with ECO Plastics Ltd. (which will contribute about $5 million of that) to build a new, plastic bottle recycling facility in Lincolnshire, England. In recent weeks, the company also struck a landmark deal to sell its 30 percent plant-based plastic to Heinz, which will begin to use it in ketchup and condiments packaging in June. Another major beverage player, SodaStream (nasdaq: SODA) announced today that it will soon ship its flavored syrups in bottles that can decompose in a landfill in five years. Regular plastic bottles take 450 years to decompose, according to general waste industry estimates...
Holy Misleading Conclusions, Batman! The Facebook Netflix-Killer That Wasn't
Mar 08, 10:33PM
This morning, news broke that Warner Brothers had begun a test on its Facebook Page wherein it's going to allow users to rent The Dark Knight for 30 Facebook Credits (which translates to $3). It's apparently the first time a movie studio has offered a full-length movie for rent on Facebook, and boy, does it have people in a tizzy. The Hollywood Reporter quotes a Goldman Sachs analyst as saying, "Facebook represents a new potential entrant that few in the investment community were concerned with prior to this announcement, so we believe it does indeed represent an incremental negative for Netflix shares." And PaidContent says that the new partnership has led to a big drop for Netflix's stock (it's down 5.76% on the day). Unfortunately these reports of a new Facebook movie initiative, which is supposedly going to compete with Hulu and Netflix, are completely misleading. Facebook doesn't actually have a partnership with Warner, nor is it launching a movie rental service. Oops.
Adobe's Wallaby Can't Jump Very High
Mar 08, 9:54PM
Earlier today, Adobe Labs released Wallaby, a way to convert simple Flash games and animations into HTML so that it is readable on "devices that do not support the Flash runtimes." Those would be iPhones and iPads. In other words, Wallaby is Adobe's way of bowing down to HTML5 and, by extension, to Steve Jobs who has always insisted that there is no need for Flash because HTML5 will take over. Adobe's capitulation to Apple has been going on for a long time—first with Flash converters for iPhone and iPad apps, and now with Flash in the browser. Remember that Apple at first tried to block Adobe's moves, but eventually relented. So Wallaby is a converter for Flash content on the Web that makes it Apple-friendly (it really works with any Webkit browser). That's all well and good, and the way it should be, except this Wallaby cannot jump very high.
Hey Facebook Lawyers, Here's A Mark Zuckerberg Action Figure
Mar 08, 9:26PM
Still fresh from their run-in with Apple's legal department over the Steve Jobs action figure (which resulted in the figure getting pulled), the folks at M.I.C Gadget have moved on to the next biggest tech target and turned Zuck into an Adidas flip-flop wearing, huge Like Button wielding action figure. The limited edition figure, called "The Poking Inventor" to "to avoid getting sued by a multi-billion dollar social network that can probably ruin your life and the lives of your family and everyone you know" costs $70 bucks. Mike just bought one, so there's only 299 left.
HubSpot Takes $32 Million Investment From Sequoia, Google Ventures And Salesforce
Mar 08, 9:25PM
In January we reported that digital marketing startup HubSpot was close to taking a new venture round. That deal is now closed, and the company will announce that they've taken $32 million from Sequoia Capital, Google Ventures, Salesforce and previous investors. HubSpot, which is headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts, has raised a total of $65 million in venture capital. The company has 4,000 customers, they say, who use HubSpot to help manage their website and generate leads. Revenue is at a $25 million run rate annually, up from $10 million a year ago, says CEO Brian Halligan.
Google Instant Previews Go Mobile, Are Handier Than Ever
Mar 08, 9:22PM
Android may be the first thing you think of when you hear the words "Google" and "mobile", but the search giant has also been putting a lot of work into improving its web apps — especially search. In November it launched Google Instant for mobile devices, and today it's introducing a feature that may be even more useful: instant previews. Run a query on Google.com from your smartphone, and you should see a tiny magnifying glass next to each search result. Tap it, and you'll see a nifty thumbnail preview of the site, allowing you to get a good idea about its contents without having to fully load the page (which can be time-consuming on mobile data connections). You can also swipe between thumbnails of the other top matches. Google has offered visual previews of sites for several months on the desktop version of its search engine, but I find them much handier on mobile.
Dennis Crowley Unsubscribes From Unsubscribe.com; World Explodes
Mar 08, 8:41PM
A few days ago, Foursquare founder Dennis Crowley sent out the mildly amusing Tweet above declaring that he was unsubscribing from Unsubscribe.com, a service that aims to help you clean up your inbox by making it one-click easy to unsubscribe from mailing lists. It works pretty much as advertised. The problem is that it puts you on its own mailing list and periodically sends emails reminding you to use the service. Yeah, that kind of defeats the purpose. Unsubscribe. But what happens when a high profile CEO like Crowley tells his 26,576 Twitter followers that he's had it with your product? Apparently, the world explodes. It's so meta.
Mike Maples: Why I Don't Go for the Flip and the Three Deals that Got Away (TCTV)
Mar 08, 8:31PM
Floodgate's Mike Maples came in the studio yesterday to pre-tape an episode of Ask a VC, and while we had him here we picked his brain about the state of the venture industry. We started by talking about why his firm, Floodgate, is out of step with the broader Super Angel movement. Not only does Maples not believe you can make money through a spray-and-pray-and-flip approach, he doesn't want to disrupt the existing venture capital ecosystem. He wants to be a part of it. We also talk about whether it has gotten too easy to start a company these days. Unlike much of the Valley, Maples still considers success to be a $1 billion outcome, and no matter how many companies get started, statistically only about 15 of them wind up being worth $500 million. There is a downside to those thousands that don't-- it wastes the time of talented would be executives, CTOs or even entrepreneurs who are working on a bad idea. While many VCs say they'll back any great entrepreneur no matter the idea, Maples says a big reason he turns down deals is because he loves the entrepreneur but thinks the idea "isn't worthy" of him or her. 
Report: Number Of Malware-Infected Web Sites Has Doubled In Past Year
Mar 08, 8:25PM
A new Dasient report says that the number of Web sites infected with malware has doubled in the past year. That means we're now just short of 1.2 million Web sites out there infected with malware. Wonderful. Big deal, you say. Some 1.2 million Web sites out of the entirety of the Web can't be so bad, right? Well, that means that in about three months of Web surfing the average person now has a 95 percent chance of running into malware.
Fearing iTunes-Like Domination, Hollywood Plots Netflix's Downfall
Mar 08, 8:24PM
Shocking news: Hollywood is not a fan of Netfix. Movie studios have started to become concerned with the company's growing influence, and they're determined to prevent it from becoming the next iTunes, so big and powerful that it can dictate terms. The solution? Turn Netflix into a "swap meet," where users can only find low-quality movies, that is, not the top-of-the-crop Hollywood blockbusters that so many Americans seem to enjoy.
Just In Time For SXSW, Foursquare Ups The Game And Adds Recommendations
Mar 08, 7:11PM
We're now just days away from SXSW. And a service that launched there two years ago and made a name for itself last year, is aiming to make another splash this year: Foursquare. The service will tonight launch an updated version of their app, 3.0, which will contain a number of feature upgrades. Chief among them: a new "Explore" section, new types of deals, and a revamped leaderboard for points earned in the app. Yes, Foursquare is putting some fun back into the game element of the service. 
HomePipe Raises $1.1 Million For Cross-Platform Content Streaming Service
Mar 08, 7:00PM
Startup HomePipe has raised $1.1 million in Series A funding from a group of angel investors, including Mark DiSalle. This brings the startup's total funding to $1.8 million. HomePipe, which launched in March of 2010, allows users to access, view and share digital content (e.g. high resolution photos, videos, presentations, documents, and music) stored on a home or work computer from any web browser or mobile device. What makes HomePipe unique is that users can stream their iTunes library to their Android phone. 
Breezy Gets $750K From Accel And Others, To Advance Its Mobile Printing Platform
Mar 08, 6:30PM
Mobile printing company Breezy is announcing its first angel round today with a roster of investors that include Accel's Rich Wong, Felcis Ventures' Aydin Senkut, Jeff Clavier of SoftTech VC, Eniac Ventures and others. The financing closed at $750K. Serving the mobile printing niche also occupied by products like AirPrint, Breezy lets users who download its software print or fax a document via mobile from a series of compatible printer options in its network (Printers have to be connected to the the service to be compatible). The app currently works with Blackberry, Android, and Windows Phone 7 and an iPhone app is currently in the pipeline. The app is free to download, but the Breezy premium printing service costs $5 a month or $30 a year if you'd like to print out stuff without the Breezy watermark.
EduLender Raises $1 Million For Student Loan Comparison Search Engine
Mar 08, 6:25PM
Chicago startup EduLender, which is a comparison search engine for student loans, has raised $1 million in seed funding from Hyde Park Angels, Kapor Capital, Sandbox Ventures, New World Ventures, Excelerate, and OKCupid co-founder Sam Yagan. A graduate of Chicago startup incubator Excelerate Labs, EduLender offers online tools, services, and information for college students and family members looking to make informed decisions about the college financial aid process. 
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