Hi there!
Here's the latest feed from TechCrunch.
Add feeds@feed2email.net to your contact list to make sure you receive all your emails
Make sure to visit feed2email.net to get more feeds sent to your inbox.
To find out which feeds you are subscribed to, or to get further help, just reply to this email.
Motorola And Huawei Settle Patent Lawsuit
Apr 13, 12:17PM
In case you hadn't heard, Motorola Solutions and Chinese telecommunications company Huawei Technologies have been embroiled in a nasty patent lawsuit. In January, the Chinese company has filed a lawsuit to prevent Motorola from giving Nokia Siemens (which acquired Motorola's wireless network for $1.2 billion last year) Huawei's IP information. Today, Motorola and Huawei have issued a joint statement announcing that the two companies have settles all litigation. Both parties have agreed to withdraw and dismiss their claims from the courts. Huawei has actually entered an agreement with Motorola Solutions and Nokia Siemens that allows Motorola Solutions to transfer its commercial agreements with Huawei for a fee, and allows Nokia to receive and use Huawei confidential information revealed to Motorola. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. And Motorola is also dismissing a prior complaint filed against Huawei, which alleged that the Chinese company was conspiring to steal trade secrets from former Motorola employees.
Former OfferPal CEO George Garrick Joins SocialShield
Apr 13, 12:00PM
SocialShield, a startup that helps parents monitor their kids' online behavior without violating kids' privacy, is announcing a new CEO today, George Garrick. Garrick, who was an investor in SocialShield, is a seasoned technology exec that was most recently the CEO of Offerpal (which is now TapJoy) as well as Mochi Media. Garrick was also previously the CEO of Jingle Networks, Wine.com, PlaceWare (which was acquired by Microsoft), FlyCast Communications, Information Resources and A.C. Nielsen. 
Dailyplaces Turns Ups The Social, Adds Realtime Chat To Locations
Apr 13, 10:40AM
Dailyplaces, the social recommendation service for places, has upped the social today by adding realtime chat to its iPhone and Android apps. Dubbed 'Places Chat', users can communicate directly and in realtime with other users that are checked-in at the same location. Additionally, it's possible to chat with other users that aren't nearby via a user's friend-list. The thinking behind the feature is to enable users to converse with each other around locations so that they can ask about the place, give recommendations or even book appointments, says the Frankfurt, Germany-based startup.
For The Electric Vehicles Market, Small Batteries Mean Big Sales
Apr 13, 7:28AM
For the electric vehicle market, it looks like small is the new big, especially when it comes to batteries. According to a new study by Lux Research, the market forecast for energy storage devices for electronic vehicles is bright. Lux sees the sector's overall growth rising from $13 billion in 2011 to $30 billion by 2016 -- a compound annual growth rate of 18 percent. And what will cause this prodigious (and steady) growth spurt? Well, in spite of the current popularity of plug-ins like the Chevy Volt and the Nissan Leaf, Lux sees big returns in small vehicles. The bulk of growth, the study says, will be driven by "more humble" vehicles, like e-bikes and micro-hybrids. 
OpenBuildings Unveils Its New Architecture Database And Raises $2 Million In Funding
Apr 13, 6:48AM
The world is full of interesting and amazing buildings that are constantly being photographed and admired. But where do you go online to find them? If you're one of about 50,000 registered users, the answer is OpenBuildings. Or perhaps you're one of the 250,000 people that have downloaded their iPhone app. Either way, that base is about to expand thanks to a great-looking new site and a fresh round of funding. OpenBuildings is an online database of buildings around the world. Right now, they have over 40,000 buildings in their archives with more being added each day. Started in 2010 by a group of architects studying in London, construction professionals and architecture lovers have quickly latched on to the site. And the new site should attract even more users. 
TekTrak: Mobile Location App Helps Reunite A Family After The Japanese Earthquake
Apr 13, 4:59AM
When disasters of scale happen, like the massive 9.0-magnitude earthquake that struck Japan and sent tsunamis rippling across the globe last month, one of our first reactions is to immediately try to establish contact with those we care about who might have been affected. By phone or by email, by whatever means possible, we scramble to get in touch. Of course, natural disasters often wreak havoc on our lines of communication and, with many people simultaneously attempting to reach loved ones, cellular networks quickly become overloaded. I, personally, will never forget the anxiety of struggling to find and reach relatives in Lower Manhattan immediately following the September 11th attacks. Unfortunately, the disaster in Japan was no different. Phone lines were either down or those that were available quickly became overloaded with calls, and many people had to spend anxious hours waiting to find out if loved ones were alive and safe. Yet, while technology sometimes has the tendency to abandon us in moments of need, it is also a tool that reunites us. We learned today that, TekTrak, a mobile tracking and security app, provided one Japanese family with this very ability following the March 11 quake. The family (who asked to remain anonymous) was unable to locate their daughter in the disorder, who was at school over an hour from where they lived -- or to reach her on the phone. 
Sugar Inc Raises Another $15 Million To Grow Its Women-Focused Media Empire
Apr 13, 4:00AM
Sugar Inc, a media company that caters exclusively to women, has closed a $15 million funding round led by Institutional Venture Partners, with participation from existing investor Sequoia Capital. The company has now raised $46 million in total since it was founded in 2006. Sugar's flagship site is PopSugar, and it also home to social shopping site ShopStyle, a free blogging platform for users called OnSugar, and a variety of topical blogs including FitSugar (fitness), PetSugar, and BuzzSugar (gossip). It draws 20 million visitors per month between its sites.
Meet Duolingo, Google's Next Acquisition Target; Learn A Language, Help The Web
Apr 13, 3:13AM
In 2005, then-Carnegie Mellon PhD grad student Luis von Ahn had an idea for a game. In one of the first examples of true crowdsourcing, he had people looking at images and labeling them to improve image search. Google acquired ESP Game in 2005 and renamed it Google Image Labeler. In 2007, now-Professor von Ahn had another idea. He realized that all the time people wasted typing in CAPTCHAs could be used for some good: helping to digitize books. Out of Carnegie Mellon he launched the project as reCAPTCHA, a startup. And guess what? In 2009, Google bought it as well. Now von Ahn is back again.
Apple Announces Final Cut Pro X At NAB
Apr 13, 2:25AM
It's NAB (the National Association of Broadcasters conference) in Las Vegas, that means lots of new camera and video stuff. It's more pro gear than consumer stuff, which is probably why Apple took over the Final Cut Pro User Group Supermeet there to unveil the newest version of their professional video editing software. They're calling it as revolutionary as the original Final Cut released back in '99. Guess the rumors were right. After a preamble where they described FCP has having over 2 million users and teasing the competition, they launched into the new features. They're still in the middle of the presentation, but so far it appears we have 64-bit, a revamped UI, and a ton of automatic clip-optimization going on in the background by utilizing Grand Central Station.
Kiip's Brian Wong On Taking Risks As Young Entrepreneur
Apr 13, 1:16AM
After taking his mobile ads startup out of stealth on Monday, Kiip founder Brian Wong has a lot on his plate, mainly putting a recent $4.3 million in funding and novel product and business model to use. And Wong can't even drink legally yet! We brought him into the TCTV studio this morning to talk about about the inspiration behind Kiip among other thing. Wong says the idea came to him after he did an "iPad creep," or sneak-peeked at everyone's iPads while walking down an aisle on a plane. He realized that everyone was playing games, figuring out that games were a holy grail of engagement, but that game ads basically took up a piece of your screen without adding any value.
Could Flip Have Survived On Its Own? (TCTV)
Apr 13, 12:32AM
When people build startups, we measure their measure success not only by how big is their exit, but also by how many lives their products touch and how long their brands lasts in the minds of consumers. Cisco's decision today to shutter its Flip Video business two years after paying $590 million for it raises a series of questions which startup founder/investor Chris Dixon and I address in the video above. Why didn't Cisco sell the business? Was the tax write-off bigger than anything Flip could have fetched? But namely, was it inevitable that Flip would have failed on its own because it got in the way of the iPhone, or could it have adapted if it stayed independent? There is no right answer here. Imagine if Netflix had been acquired early on by Blockbuster or some other lumbering giant—it would never be where it is today. On the other hand, Android is great example of a company that flourished because it was acquired by Google and given the resources to become the powerhouse that it is today. 
The Moral Of The Story Is Never Sell Half Your Company For $1,000
Apr 12, 9:30PM
Paul Ceglia may just be a con man, or he may turn out to be the greatest tech investor who ever lived. After all, anyone who invested early in Facebook looks like a genius today. Peter Thiel turned his initial $500,000 investment in Facebook into a 10 percent stake that would be worth at least $5 billion today at the latest $50 billion private valuation. Facebook investor Jim Breyer of Accel Partners tops Forbes' Midas List. And now we have Paul Ceglia, a convicted felon who claims that Mark Zuckerberg sold him half of Facebook in 2003 for $1,000, and he has the contract and emails to prove it. He later put in another $1,000 for a total investment of $2,000, but if he gets anywhere close to what he's asking for (half of Zuckerberg's share, which could be worth as much as $10 billion), he could go down as the best tech investor in history. Whatever happens, this incident holds several lessons for any would-be entrepreneur or engineer. In the video below, angel investor and Hunch co-founder Chris Dixon and I discuss what every founder needs to know before they give away any part of their company. The decisions made in the first 6 month usually end up being the most important. The biggest takeaway from this incident: Whatever you do, don't ever sell half your company for $1,000.
Exclusive: The Bleak Financial Numbers From The MySpace Sale Pitch Book
Apr 12, 9:06PM
Back in 2008 MySpace was on a roll. They racked up $900 million in revenue and the company was still growing. But a year later top execs started to bail (the smart ones went early). Within two months cofounder and CEO Chris DeWolfe was gone. We've gotten a copy of the confidential MySpace pitch book that parent company News Corp. has distributed to potential buyers. Notably, that pitch book doesn't include any historical financial or user data about MySpace at all. Everything is projected out and forward looking, and even then it's bleak. Revenue for fiscal 2011, ending June 30, 2011, is expected to be just $109 million. Expenses for the year are projected to be $274 million, and the company will lose a whopping $165 million for the 12 month period. That's after massive waves of layoffs, although I expect much of the costs of the layoffs are included up front in 2011 expenses.
Jajah Brings Its Facebook Calling To Android, iPhone Coming Soon
Apr 12, 8:43PM
Want to make a long distance call on the cheap? You've got plenty of options, including the likes of Google Voice, Skype, and numerous other VoIP providers. But things can get a little tricky if you don't know someone's phone number, or they don't already have Skype installed. Today VoIP service provider Jajah, which was acquired by Telefónica in 2009, has a solution that will appeal to Facebook users: a new feature for its Android application (iPhone's coming soon) that lets you call your Facebook contacts. That sounds a bit confusing, but the feature is straightforward in practice. After installing the app on your phone, you'll be asked to authenticate using Facebook Connect. You'll then be able to see a list of all of your Facebook friends who are currently logged into Facebook Chat. 
Power Assure's Software To Make Cisco Blade Servers More Energy Efficient
Apr 12, 8:35PM
At the Intel Developer Forum in Beijing today, Power Assure — a green IT business from Santa Clara, Calif. — revealed that its energy management software is now compatible with Cisco's Unified Computing System (UCS) Blade servers. According to Jed Scaramella, a research manager for servers at IDC, here's how fast blade servers, in general, are gaining traction in the market: In 2010, the server blade market in the U.S. was $2.7 billion, representing approximately 14 percent of the U.S. server market... [IDC] expects the blade segment to grow 19.8 percent in 2011 to $3.2 billion in the U.S - compared to the total U.S. server growth of 2.4 percent. On a worldwide level, the blade market is expected to grow 22.4 percent in revenue over the next year to $7.3 billion, which is relative to total server worldwide revenue growth of 3.5 percent...
Facebook Comments, Now On Over 50K Sites, Get More Social With Latest Upgrade
Apr 12, 8:23PM
Facebook Comments, which people either love or hate, have just been amped up by Facebook, to increase the ever elusive "user engagement," which just means get moretraffic. We've been using Facebook Comments for just about a month, and I am personally thrilled at the improved quality of discussion, despite being bothered by annoyances like not being able to edit into comments.
NASA Names The Space Shuttles' Final Resting Places
Apr 12, 7:18PM
30 years ago today the Space Shuttle Columbia blasted off on its first mission. Two missions ended in disaster, but a total of five different shuttles spent a collective 1289 days in space over 132 missions. The program is set for retirement after Atlantis' final voyage later this month. The three remaining shuttles, along with the Enterprise prototype, are going to need cozy homes. Of course every museum around the US wants one, but there are only four shuttles to go around with one already reserved for the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum. The shuttles new homes are to cover the $28.8 million cost of prepping and transporting the massive shuttles, but those costs should be easily recovered with ticket sales. NASA has been talking with suitors for the last few months and today used the historic anniversary to announce the winners.
Social Commerce Network Lockerz Raises $30 Million
Apr 12, 6:38PM
Social commerce network Lockerz has raised $30 million in new funding, according to a new SEC filing. We've confirmed the raise with a spokesperson for the company. Lockerz previously raised $30 million from KPCB, Liberty Media and the CEO of Liberty Greg Maffei. As we've written in the past, Lockerz revolves around the idea that influencers within a social network can become brand and content advocates and affect the behavior of their friends. The network, which has 18 million members worldwide, is primarily targeted towards men and women ages 13 to 30, attempting to build a community of trendsetters and tastemakers who love to shop, play and connect on the Web. Users can earn points and discounts on brands by sharing content on the site. Founded by Kathy Savitt, a former Amazon and American Eagle Outfitters exec; Lockerz eventually wants to be the go-to commerce homepage for teens and young adults.
With Five New Apps, Zoho Is Now The Largest Developer On The Google Apps Marketplace
Apr 12, 6:15PM
Zoho is launching five apps on the Google Apps Marketplace, making the productivity suite developer the largest software provider on the marketplace with 11 apps. While some vendors (i.e. Netkiller) also provide a similar number of features to Google Apps customers, Zoho is the largest software developer on the marketplace measured by number of apps. Zoho's new applications include Zoho Creator, Zoho Discussions, Zoho Meeting, Zoho Reports and Zoho Wiki. Currently, Zoho has tens of thousands of customers using Zoho applications in the Google Apps Marketplace, which launched a little over a year ago.
Social Browser Flock Shuts Down
Apr 12, 5:43PM
Flock, the social browser we had high hopes for back in March 2005, is officially in the deadpool today with a gone fishing note attached to its website. The note reads:
"Support for Flock browsers will be discontinued as of April 26th, 2011. We would like to thank our loyal users around the world for their support, and we encourage the Flock community to migrate in the coming weeks to one of the recommended web browsers listed below.
Friends Don't Let Friends Take Education Advice From Peter Thiel
Apr 12, 5:41PM
My friends, my followers on Twitter, and people who've read my previous posts know that I have a very strong opinion about education: that it is absolutely necessary in order for you to build a foundation for success. Despite having appointments at five elite universities, I am not a proponent of elite education. Rather, my research led me to conclude that ivy-leaguers may be able to get their buddies from Sequoia and Kleiner to return emails, but aren't going to be any more successful at building companies; that what matters is gaining a basic education and completing what you started—not the ranking of the school you graduate from. I am one of the people who Sarah Lacy predicted would be "pissed" when they read her post quoting Peter Thiel as saying "we're in a bubble and it's not the Internet. It's higher education". Peter Thiel may have made the right calls with Paypal; he certainly made a smart decision by investing in Mark Zuckerberg. But he is no expert on education. The message Thiel is sending to the world with his fellowship, which rewards students for dropping out of school, is wrong. The best path to success is not to drop out of college; it is to complete it. Yes, I know that Thiel is targeting exceptional students and is rallying against elite, expensive education. But as the title of Sarah Lacy's piece shows, as does the controversy it has generated, the message that is getting out is that all "higher education" isn't cost justified—for any student.
Keen On… George Friedman: Why Technology Is American Culture + Book Giveaway
Apr 12, 5:26PM
How important is the technology sector to the US economy? According to George Friedman, the author of the New York Times bestselling The Next Decade: Where We've Been…and Where We're Going, technology is American culture. Rather than Coca-Cola, it has been the personal computer that has swept the world, spreading the American language and distributing the central American values of individual freedom and empowerment around the world. While Friedman recognizes that other countries can copy US technology, he is bullish on American prospects in the 21st century because of our unrivalled skills in marketing. So where are we going in the next decade? According to Friedman, the iPad and Twitter aren't fundamental technological breakthroughs. But he does think that we are on the brink of another technological revolution in non silicon, non binary based computing – a change, he says, that will have as profound an impact on the American economy as the personal computing revolution of the Eighties.
Glitch Has Finally Ironed Itself Out: Beta Next Week And $10.7 Million In New Funds
Apr 12, 5:06PM
It has been well over a year since we first looked at Glitch, a new massively multiplayer online game from Tiny Speck. At the time, they were in their very early alpha stage, but co-founder Stewart Butterfield expected a full beta to happen later in the year. Obviously, that never happened. Despite progress, Glitch remained in alpha. But next week, the game finally opens up to beta testing, Butterfield has announced today. Also announced: Tiny Speck has raised a fresh $10.7 million Series B round from Andreessen Horowitz and Accel to spur the full-on push.
Google Docs Brings Pagination To The Browser
Apr 12, 4:59PM
Google continues to make its cloud-based Microsoft Word competitor-Google Docs more feature rich. And one of the goals for Google was to recreate the editing and writing experience in desktop applications within the Docs interface in the browser. Last year, Google upgraded its document editor that added new functionality to the browser-based application and today the company is bringing pagination to Google Docs. With the new feature, you can actually see visual pages on your screen, similar to the experience of editing a document in Microsoft Word. From Google's blog post: Pagination adds visual page breaks while you're editing your documents, so now you can see how many pages of that report you've actually finished. Google also shows headers at the top of each page, and at the bottom of pages. And manual page breaks move text onto a new page. You can also choose to hide page breaks.
AutoTech Video: A Week In A Prototype Toyota Prius Plug-in Hybrid
Apr 12, 4:44PM
The Chevy Volt and the Nissan Leaf are enjoying lots of free publicity right now. Each of their unique approaches to cleaner mobility has drawn a lot of hype. What about the car that started it all? What's the next step for the Toyota Prius? Though battery technology does not yet rival the energy density of gasoline, that hasn't stopped the Chevy Volt and Nissan Leaf from trying. Toyota, with their more than 14 years of hybrid experience, must have a better solution, right?
If at any time you'd like to stop receiving these messages, just send an email to feeds_feedburner_com_techcrunch+unsubscribe-hmdtechnology=gmail.com@mail.feed2email.net.
To stop all future emails from feed2email.net you can reply to this email with STOP in the subject line. Thanks
