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Is Apple Too Quick To Shut Down Potentially Hacked Accounts?
Mar 25, 12:29PM
A reader, Mike, sent in a tale of woe so odd and draconian that I'm not even sure what to think of it. On one hand, Apple is protecting its interests when it comes to fake gift cards and other potentially costly hacks and, on the other hand, their reaction is far out of proportion to the actual situation. Mike's account was hacked in January of this year and $80 worth of iTunes cash drained from his account. This is similar to the hack that occurred over the summer resulting in "about 400" hacked accounts and continues even to this month as evidenced by this thread in Apple Support. Mike writes: A few weeks after Christmas my iTunes account was hacked and the $80 in gift cards I was given for Christmas were drained by the hacker. I contacted Apple, was treated well and had the fraudulent purchases restored. After securing my account, things were back to normal until a week ago.
Spotify Turns Off Third-Party Display Ads Following Malware Attacks
Mar 25, 12:11PM
Some users of the free, ad-supported version of digital music service Spotify are getting hit by malware-based attacks, reported The Register earlier today, echoing a report from Netcraft. Netcraft explains that at least one attack used a Java exploit to drop malicious executable code on a victim's computer, with security software identifying one of the malicious payloads as Trojan horse Generic_r.FZ.
Yellow Media Sells Vertical Media Publishing Subsidiary For $745 Million In Cash
Mar 25, 11:52AM
Canadian Internet conglomerate Yellow Media is selling its vertical media publishing business Trader Corporation to funds advised by Apax Partners for a total purchase price consideration of $745 million, payable in cash at closing. Trader, formed in June 2006 with the integration of Classified Media Holdings and Trader Media and acquired by Yellow Media shortly thereafter, publishes approximately 160 publications and 22 websites covering four product verticals: automotive, real estate, general merchandise and employment. Its online properties attract close to 3.5 million unique visitors per month. 
Take A Deep Breath Google, Facebook Isn't Doing Search Just Yet
Mar 25, 6:17AM
I can imagine this post, titled "Facebook Testing Web Search Box At Top Of Site" was flying around Google's cubicles today. Probably with a few expletives attached as commentary. This certainly wouldn't be unprecedented. They targeted Microsoft years ago with their online Office competitor, and Microsoft fired back with Bing and seems to be quite willing to invest billions of dollars for as long as it takes to grab search share from Google. Now Google is targeting Facebook with their social efforts. There's no reason at all why Facebook wouldn't go into search. For us users, it's all good. Competition brings better products to the market at lower prices. And Google needs more competition in search. But...phew! The screenshot that All Facebook got is a fake, or the result of third party software messing with a user's browser (my guess is photoshop is the culprit). So take it down to DEFCON 2, Google, Facebook isn't launching search just yet.
Seattle Startup Thinkfuse Scores $500k By Hanging Around During Y Combinator Demo Day
Mar 25, 5:58AM
Angel investors gorged on one of their twice-a-year feeding frenzies at Y Combinator's demo day earlier this week. Among other things, SV Angel and Yuri Milner finally got to see what they invested in a couple of months ago when they made a blanket $150,000 convertible debt offer to all new Y Combinator companies. One smart Seattle startup called Thinkfuse took advantage of all that investor focus by traveling to Silicon Valley last week, right before the demo day. And in less than a week they closed their own angel round - $500,000 - from investors like Ali and Hadi Partovi, SV Angel, Founder's Co-op, Scott Banister and other angels. The company is still in private trials with select users, but they're focused on the enterprise space. "If you're still using email or sharepoint for status reports, we're here to save you," says the website. For now, that's all they're saying.
Podio Is Like A Yammer With Its Own App Store And App Builder
Mar 25, 3:00AM
Like a souped up Yammer with its own App store attached, Danish online workspace Podio launches to the public today after two years of being in beta. In the same space as Box.net and 37Signals, Podio aims to be a complete work platform for enterprise -- sort of like all inclusive web-based Intranet for companies. Founded by Anders Pollas, Jon Froda and Kasper Hultin, the Danish startup took up Tommy Ahlers (who is best known for selling ZYB to Vodafone in 2008) as a CEO and investor in August, all in all raking in $4.5M in funding.
In Amazon's Android Appstore, Fat-Fingering Will Cost You — Literally
Mar 25, 1:07AM
A couple days ago, in writing up some thoughts on Amazon's new Android Appstore, I noted that the app buying process may be a little too easy. You see, just scrolling through the feed of apps, I accidentally clicked a buy button. That immediately triggered a transaction. And guess what I found out today? There are no refunds. You might not think this is a big deal because while the Android Market gives you 15 minutes to get a refund (down from 24 hours) Apple's App Store also technically doesn't have an app refund process (though you can get one if you jump through some hoops). But there's a big-little difference between the App Store and the Appstore (besides the tiny name difference, that is): an entire click.
AT&T Broadband Metering Is Shoddy And They Know It
Mar 25, 12:01AM
The question of broadband metering is becoming more important by the day. And while there's much to be discussed about the cost of bandwidth, the trends of consumption, the public money involved in the infrastructure, and so on, one basic fact today is this: AT&T wants to put caps on your bandwidth, but they can't be trusted to measure it correctly. That's not a situation consumers should take without protest. Readers over at Broadband Reports are noticing marked differences between AT&T's measurements and their own. One user found differences of several orders of magnitude. Now, if AT&T (and of course Comcast and others) are unwilling to allow for wiggle room in their GB caps (fees start the byte over 250GB), why should we allow wiggle room in their measurement? After all, we don't let grocers use poorly (or maliciously) calibrated scales.
Video: ShopSquad's CEO Explains Their Personal Shopper Network
Mar 24, 11:38PM
Yesterday we wrote about ShopSquad, a new startup that looks to use the web to connect shoppers with expert shopping assistants. The company just closed $1.25 million in seed funding, with participants in the round including Josh Silverman (former CEO of Skype and Shopping.com), David Sacks (former COO of PayPal, CEO of Yammer), Jeff Fluhr (founder and former CEO of StubHub), Selina Tobaccowala (founder of Evite.com) and Charles Carmel (VP Corporate Development at Cisco). In light of the news, we invited ShopSquad CEO Charles Katz to stop by our TechCrunch TV studio so that we could ask him a few questions about the new service. Check out the video interview above, in which I ask Katz to outline how ShopSquad works, and how the site plans to make sure that its advisers really know their stuff. I also briefly discuss my summer working at Office Depot. Tune in!
Digital Polling Utility CivicScience Scores $1.2 Million In Seed Funding
Mar 24, 11:12PM
Pittsburgh-based startup CivicScience, an intelligent polling utility that offers a host of audience measurement and analytics tools for publishers and advertisers, has raised $1.2 million in seed funding from a group of institutional and angel investors to expand its platform partnerships and automation technology as well as ramp up its hiring efforts. The seed round's investors include marketing research company, The NPD Group, national polling company ALR, and Kevin McClatchy, director of The McClatchy Company and former owner of the Pittsburgh Pirates. The seed round adds to the $1.6 million in funding the startup has already raised, bringing total investment to $2.8 million. "Another polling startup?" you may ask in exasperation. Yes. (And personally, speaking non-objectively, my allegiance is with GoPollGo, the addictive and hilarious brainchild of former TechCrunch developer, Ben Schaechter.) But seeing as CivicScience is currently polling 11 million people per month and its software is being used by organizations like The International Brotherhood of Teamsters and The National Rifle Association, the startup shouldn't be offhandedly dismissed. (Unless of course you want to be haunted by the ghost of Charlton Heston.) 
Easy Cash!? Google Beats 'Google Money' Scammers, Is Awarded $1.6 Million
Mar 24, 10:00PM
As an intelligent, tech-savvy reader of TechCrunch, you're probably pretty good at spotting online scams — from Nigerian Princes to friends "stuck" in London, many of us have trained ourselves to mentally rule out any offer that seems too good to be true, especially when it includes words like "Easy Cash". But there are still plenty of people who fall prey to online scammers. Back in December 2009, Google filed suit against a number of scamming rings that were rampantly promoting sites promising "Easy Cash with Google" (of course, they offered nothing of the sort). Now the courts are siding with the search giant, ordering the rings to cease their behavior and to pay Google $1.6 million. 
Record Industry: Limewire Could Owe $75 Trillion – Judge: "Absurd"
Mar 24, 9:59PM
So we're all pretty desensitized by now to the mind-blowing stupidity on display by the record industry in its foolhardy attempts at assigning damages in piracy cases — was anyone surprised when they told one woman, who had shared 24 songs, that she owed nearly two million dollars? Yes, ridiculous. But this — this is beyond ridiculous. This is... sublime. The record companies suing Limewire were asked to estimate the damages that should be paid by the file-sharing service. Their estimate? $400 Billion on the low end, and at the high end — $75 trillion dollars. That's more than the GDP of the entire world. The judge, in a refreshing stroke of good sense, deemed these potential damages "absurd" and the plaintiff's approach "untenable".
Marketing Intelligence Service Motista Raises $4.5 Million in Series A
Mar 24, 9:41PM
Motista, an on-demand consumer intelligence solution for marketers, has raised $4.5 million in series A financing led by El Dorado Ventures. El Dorado Partner Tom Peterson will be joining Motista's board of directors. Motista is not disclosing its total funding numbers, but the company was originally backed by founders Scott Magids and Alan Zorfas and several angel investors, who collectively invested several million dollars, according to Marketing Director Paula Cavagnaro. Motista also announced that it will be bringing its headquarters to Silicon Valley, relocating operations from Maryland to San Mateo, CA. Founded in 2007, Motista aims to develop consumer data and connection metrics in an effort to provide marketers with more intelligent ways to help brands reach their customers. Which is basically another way of saying that the startup surveys and collects data on consumer habits, allowing your business to learn more about what kind of products your customers are buying and why -- as well as how to better target them. 
Find The Best Stuff Around You With Village Voice Media's "Best Of …" App
Mar 24, 9:12PM
In the era of crowd-sourced recommendation services it's hard to remember that people actually recommend stuff for a living. My old employer Village Voice Media, which built the foundation of its 14 print publications and 20 online properties like the SF Weekly and The Village Voice by mostly doing just that, has today taken these efforts mobile with its "Best Of" app. With "Best Of," VVM has taken its already existant "Happy Hour" and "City Guides" apps one step further, partnering up again with GoTime in order to create an recommendations app that utilizes the premium content produced for VVM's yearly "Best Of" issue. Just open the GPS-enabled app in order to get editorially-curated local recommendations in the Food and Drink, Arts & Entertainment, Sports and Recreation and Shopping and Services categories. 
Google Goes After Big Media Ad Dollars With New Video Search Ads
Mar 24, 8:57PM
Google is launching a new 'Media Ads' format for video ads on Google.com. The ads will appear as small thumbnails with a play button, and when a user clicks on the thumbnail, the video ad will expand and take over the Google search page, playing the video ad in a larger player. The ads seem to be a natural extension of Google's existing ad products, but are interesting when you consider the focus on media. Clearly, Google is going after big ad dollars spent by media companies when promoting new movies, TV shows, and more on the web. This is another way to grab a piece of that pie. So for example, if you search for Lincoln Lawyer, a recently released movie, on Google, you'll see a search ad below the search box. When you click the ad, instead of being taken to a new site, a trailer video will pop up and play within the search screen. Essentially the format attaches a video player to existing AdWords ads. 
Google Begins Testing Android In-App Billing — Full Launch Next Week
Mar 24, 8:42PM
Finally. For quite some time now, Android developers have been waiting for the arrival of an in-app payment and billing system. Originally, Google said this was coming last year, but it was delayed by Christmas — or something. A few weeks later, Google showed off how it would work, but noted that it wouldn't be available until this spring. Well, it's finally just about here. As is noted on the Android Developers blog today, Google has just opened up testing of the In-App Billing system. Writes Google:
Audible.com Audiobooks Now Available (For Real) On Kindle
Mar 24, 8:06PM
You can now download more than 50,000 Audible.com audiobooks on your Kindle via your Wi-Fi connection. You've always been able to download Audible audiobooks from the site itself, then transfer them to your Kindle via a USB, but now you can do so wirelessly. 
RT: Twitter En Route To Floor Of UK Parliament
Mar 24, 8:04PM
Anti-Twitter people should probably click elsewhere for a few minutes, for it looks like the micro-blogging service is one step closer to making its way to the floor of the British House of Commons. I long for the day when our very own congressmen can tweet "distinguished gntleman from ohio wrng about budget, follow me 4 truth."
Facebook Tries To Squash 21 Squatted Domain Names
Mar 24, 7:46PM
Facebook is trying to gain ownership over 21 domain names that include the term 'facebook', including KillFacebook.com, FacebookStuff.com and FacebookSafety.com. The domain names are all currently owned by a company called Domain Asset Holdings, a known domain squatter based in Potomac, Maryland. Indeed, when you visit those URLs, they are all listed for sale - some even feature the reserve price (FacebookCheats.com is priced $4,000 and AboutFacebook.com even double that). 
The Color Of Money
Mar 24, 7:11PM
People. Colors. Apps. Cats. Bacon. Organic. Bieber. Mobile. Social. Local. Pivot. That's the key slide in a faux-deck making the rounds this morning on the web. The subject of the ridicule? Color, the just-launched social sharing mobile app. Why such animosity towards a new player in a crowded space? Well, there are 41 million reasons. The most fascinating aspect about Color right now isn't the product at all, it's the intense backlash occurring on Twitter and the tech blogosphere. And what's fascinating about the backlash is that the vast majority of it also has nothing to do with the product itself. Instead, it's about the $41 million in funding that Color raised pre-launch. (For some context, that's more than the price Yahoo paid for Flickr in 2005.) The general tone of the backlash seems to range from the all-too-predictable "BUBBLE!" to the oddly spiteful "how dare they". Again, fascinating. But let's take a step back for a moment.
Facebook Relaunches Questions: No Threat To Quora, More Emphasis On Friends
Mar 24, 7:00PM
Last July, after months of rumors and leaked screenshots, Facebook launched a Q&A product called Questions. At the time, I said it had the potential to be "massive": with 500 million (now 600 million) users, the site had the chance to take on Q&A sites like Yahoo Answers, which can be a huge source of traffic. And it was also directly taking on Quora, the buzzed-about startup that has a contentious relationship with Facebook, in part because it was founded by former Facebook CTO Adam D'Angelo and engineer/manager Charlie Cheever. But Questions never took off. Facebook has limited access to the product to a small percentage of users, and over the last few months we've gotten several tips that the product wasn't really getting traction. Today comes news that seems to confirm those rumors: Facebook has just announced a revamped version of Questions that has very little in common with the original product. And it's no longer any threat to Quora.
Forrst Gets Seeded With $200,000
Mar 24, 6:44PM
Coders hang out on Stack Overflow. Designers hang out on Forrst. The invite-only site for Web developers and designers just raised a $205,000 seed round from Dave McClure's 500Startups, Nate Westheimer, Sahil Lavingia, Adam Schwartz, and Jim Sokoloff. Forrst is a forum for Web designers where they can share designs and code to get feedback from other designers, ask each other questions, or write posts about design topics. It also offers an About.me-like profile page for designers called Forrst.me, witha picture and links to that person's Forrst posts, Twitter, GitHub, and Tumblr accounts. Here is founder Kyle Bragger's Forrst.me page. 
Color.xxx Pitch Slides Lampoon Tech Bubble Absurdity
Mar 24, 6:43PM
If you're like most people in the tight-knit incestuous family we'd like to call the tech industry, all of the headlines in this Techmeme cluster on mobile social photo-sharing app Color nabbing $41 million are actually declaring one thing, "Tech Bubble, Now Official." While the Color team, helmed by Lala founder Bill Nguyen and BillShrink's Peter Pham is impressive, the media frenzy surrounding the company's funding and launch is pretty jarring. I mean WSJ's "Sequoia To Color Labs: Not Since Google Have We Seen This" headline reads like it's from the Onion. 
Ford Announces Partnership With AT&T To Connect Focus Electric To The Cloud
Mar 24, 5:15PM
Today, Ford announced their partnership with AT&T to provide wireless service for the upcoming Ford Focus Electric. AT&T transmits vehicle data -- much like Audi and T-Mobile -- to Ford's cloud that owners can access via any Android, BlackBerry, or iOS smartphone or web browser. 
DST's Yuri Milner Buys $70 Million Home In Silicon Valley
Mar 24, 4:59PM
Yuri Milner, founder of Moscow-based venture firm DST, has purchased quite a home in Silicon Valley, say multiple sources. The 25,000 square foot home, built just a few years ago, sits on a tidy 11 acres. The price? $70 million. For personal reasons we aren't going to print the address. But we've heard that Milner isn't there much anyway and has no immediate plans to move to the U.S. 
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