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Sittercity Raises $22.6 Million To Connect Families With Caregivers
Apr 27, 2:07PM
Chicago-based startup SitterCity has raised $22.6 million in funding led by New World Ventures and Baird Venture Partners, with Apex Venture Partners, I2A, and Point Judith Capital participating in the round. This brings SitterCity's total funding to $30 million. Benedict Rocchio, BVP partner and Adam Koopersmith, partner with New World Ventures, will join the company's Board of Directors. SitterCity goes beyond just connecting families with child care. The site also offers access to caregivers for pet care, eldercare, home care and tutoring. Sittercity guides clients through an in-depth screening process of potential caregivers, which includes background checks, references and parent reviews. 
Openstack-based Midostack Lets Companies Scale And Manage Flexible Virtual Networks With Commodity Hardware
Apr 27, 2:03PM
In July last year, Rackspace caused quite a splash in the cloud computing world when it decided to opensource the software behind its cloud storage and computing platforms to create Openstack, an Iaas-based cloud platform (more on that from the Scobleizer). Fast forward 9 months, and we are seeing over 60 companies worldwide (Dell, Cisco, Intel, NTT Data to name just a few) developing solutions based on Openstack. Tokyo-based Midokura is currently working to solve a hard problem that has barely been tackled before: flexibly virtualizing networks. Midokura's key technology is called Midonet, a network virtualization platform that creates a control layer on top of the physical network. The company says it's the only one to have "a true virtual network model" in a cloud stack.
We Translate Apple's Q&A On Location Data So You Don't Have To
Apr 27, 1:55PM
1. Why is Apple tracking the location of my iPhone? Apple is not tracking the location of your iPhone. Apple has never done so and has no plans to ever do so.We don't know where you take your iPhone. We're not
RIM Acquires Social Calendaring Application Tungle.Me
Apr 27, 1:19PM
RIM has picked up another company today—social calendaring application Tungle.Me. The startup taps into your social graph and simplifies the process of finding and connecting with friends and colleagues. Tungle.me, which we've previously written about here, offers users a free web-based application that lets you share calendars across companies and platforms, schedule meetings with individuals or groups inside or outside their company and propose multiple meeting times in invitations. The service currently syncs with a number of calendar applications, including Outlook, Google Calendar, and Apple iCal.
LinkedIn Takes A Data Dive To Examine What's In A Professional Name
Apr 27, 1:00PM
There have been many studies examining the most popular and ideal names for CEOs and professionals. But what's better than examining the actual data from over 100 million professionals from around the globe? Professional social network LinkedIn has done a deep data dive on the top CEO names, and most popular names by industry and country. LinkedIn contrasted CEOs with the average LinkedIn professional to find the top names that are over-represented among CEOs. The top CEO names found on the network, in order, are: Peter, Bob, Jack, Bruce, Fred, Deborah, Sally, Debra, Cynthia, and Carolyn. One trend LinkedIn highlights is that the most over-indexed CEO names for males tend to be either short or shortened versions of popular first names. Female CEOs, on the other hand, use their full name to project a more professional image, reports the network. 
PapayaMobile Raises $18 Million For Mobile Social Gaming Network
Apr 27, 12:45PM
PapayaMobile, the developer of a plug and play technology that incorporates social gaming elements into iOS and Android games, has secured $18 million in Series B funding led by Chinese venture firm Keytone Ventures and DCM. This brings Papaya's total funding to $22 million. PapayaMobile hosts mobile games on its social network, which is comprised of over 15 million users and offers mobile developers the tools to build social gaming apps on Android and iOS. Since launching the gaming platform last year, 350 applications have integrated PapayaMobile. PapayaMobile has experienced over 375% growth in its user base since opening its social gaming network in June of 2010. 
The White iPhone Is Official, Available April 28
Apr 27, 12:39PM
Apple has just announced the availability of the white iPhone. Unlike the black iPhone, it is able to reflect all colors of the visible spectrum, thereby making it white. It will be available tomorrow at Apple retail stores, AT&T, and Verizon wireless. It will also be available in the following countries on Thursday, April 28: White models of iPhone 4 will be available in Austria, Australia, Belgium, Canada, China, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, Macau, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Singapore, South Korea, Spain, Switzerland, Sweden, Taiwan, Thailand, UK and the USStandard pricing. Our long national nightmare is over.
Apple Responds To Location Tracking Kerfuffle, Says It's Innocent, Blames Bugs
Apr 27, 12:34PM
Apple aims to - finally - set the record straight about the gathering and use of location information by iOS devices. The entire Q&A can be found below. Apple starts off by stating that it has never tracked, and will never track the location of a customer's iPhone. The company goes on to say it's partly to blame for any 'confusion' about it, though, because users haven't been 'educated' to fully understand the technical issues with providing mobile users with fast and accurate location information.
AdSense For Images Pixazza Surpasses 100M Unique Monthly Visitors; Hires CFO
Apr 27, 12:30PM
Pixazza, a Google Ventures-backed photo tagging service that has been compared to an "AdSense for Images," has hired a new executive officer today, appointing Terry Murphy has Chief Financial Officer. The company has also surpassed 100 million unique visitors per month, which is up from 70 million unique visitors per month in March. Murphy joins Pixazza from Risemart, where he was CFO. Previously, Murphy was the senior vice president of finance for virtual call center company LiveOps. In his six years at LiveOps, he helped led the company's financial operations during a period of explosive growth as annual revenues increased from $18 million to $140 million. In his new role, he will direct Pixazza's finance, accounting, human resources, facilities and legal functions.
CloudPassage Raises $6.5 Million For Cloud Server Security Software
Apr 27, 12:00PM
CloudPassage, the developer of cloud server security software, has raised $6.5 million in Series A funding led by led by Benchmark Capital. CloudPassage offers a server security and compliance product specifically built for elastic, dynamic cloud environments. While companies are able to deploy security firewalls around content stored in data centers, as companies move to the cloud for servers, they face a security challenge of securing a dynamic, scalable environment. 
Viewdle Releases SocialCamera For Android: Instant Photo Tagging, Sharing
Apr 27, 11:55AM
Visual analysis company Viewdle this morning launched an Android app called SocialCamera that allows users to instantly tag photos, add captions and share them on Flickr or Facebook, by email or MMS. The demo video below explains how the app works in more detail. The Android application, which is still in beta and not to be confused with Justin.TV's Socialcam app, is free of charge and should be available through Android Market today.
My Dinner Date With The White iPhone
Apr 27, 10:55AM
There it was. Like the White Tower of Ecthelion, glimmering like a spike of pearl and silver. It was 15 feet away from me. The white iPhone. Tonight I was at dinner with a couple of friends when something caught my eye. I cut into our conversation. "Look at the table next to ours. Is that the white iPhone?" Both of my friends, geeks like me, got excited. Yep.
CenturyLink Buys IT Infrastructure Services Company Savvis In $2.5B Deal
Apr 27, 10:43AM
CenturyLink this morning announced that it will acquire all outstanding shares of Savvis common stock in a cash and stock merger valued at $40 per share, or a total of approximately $2.5 billion, plus net debt of approximately $0.7 billion which will be assumed or refinanced at close. Under the terms of the transaction, Savvis stockholders will receive $30 per share in cash and $10 in shares of CenturyLink common stock. The consideration represents an 11 percent premium over Savvis' closing stock price as of the close of trading on April 26, 2011.
Hey BT, We Put A Countdown Clock On Your Ineptitude
Apr 27, 9:55AM
We recently brought your attention to the scandalous delays BT Openreach is capable of when being asked, in simple terms, to connect a central London building up to a fibre broadband connection. At the same time the UK government - and the local Greater London Authority - has been convening meeting after meeting to try to work out how to help the emerging technology cluster in East London, we have, in effect, a monopoly lumbering on, blind or just plain stupid when it comes to the level of service most modern businesses expect of each-other.
Facebook, It's Time For An iPad App
Apr 27, 9:29AM
The other day I was browsing through the App Store on my iPad when I noticed something: both the top free and top paid applications for the device were apps for accessing Facebook. And as I kept going down the top apps lists, I kept seeing Facebook apps. In fact, of the top 40 apps (free and paid combined), a full 7 of them were ways to use Facebook on the iPad. In other words, nearly 20 percent of the top apps being downloaded for the iPad are apps that allow you to use Facebook on the device. And not one of them is actually made by Facebook. Because they refuse to make their own iPad app for some seemingly illogical reason. Facebook, it's time.
Nokia To Cut 4,000 Jobs Worldwide, Transfer 3,000 Symbian Jobs To Accenture
Apr 27, 8:31AM
It was inevitable. Nokia this morning announced plans to 'align its global workforce and consolidate site operations'. That means significant layoffs and reorganizations across the board, of course, so here are the details: First off, Nokia will be cutting its workforce by roughly 4,000 employees by the end of 2012. The giant phone manufacturer has partnered with Accenture to transfer all its Symbian software activites, including about 3,000 employees, to the latter company.
Google Realtime Search Quietly Adds Quora, Gowalla, Others
Apr 27, 7:44AM
Google Realtime Search is nothing new. For months it has existed as its own area within the search engine's navigation to search for things happening in realtime. But up until now, that has meant mainly Twitter (thanks to Google's data deal with that company). But earlier today, it appears Google flipped the switch to make Realtime Search a lot more useful. Namely, they've added results from services like Quora, Buzz, Gowalla, and yes, even Facebook. As pointed out in this Quora thread, it looks like Google flipped the switch to include the data from the services listed above (as well as others) this afternoon. The fact that Quora co-founder Adam D'Angelo and CFO Marc Bodnick voted up this Quora posting suggests this did in fact just happen today.
15 Years Of Photo Sharing Exits Vs. YouTube
Apr 27, 6:56AM
The recent proliferation of early stage financing for photo-sharing startups like Path ($11.2 million), Picplz ($5 million), Instagram ($7.5M) and Color ($41 million) is leading some to speculate that we are in a crazy picture sharing bubble. But are photo sharing investments just another sign of irrational exuberance? Curious about how photo sharing exits stacked up, we looked into some of the most notable ones over the past 15 years and put them into the above infographic. 
Amazing Video Of Google All-Hands Meeting Circa 1999: There's Silly String Everywhere
Apr 27, 6:33AM
What an amazing blast to the past. Google is a massive company today — burdened by corporate politics, layers of management, and countless legal battles — and it's sometimes easy to forget its more humble beginnings just over a decade ago, when it wasn't all that different from the startups we write about every day on TechCrunch. But in the video above we get to jump back to December 1999 to witness a Google all-hands meeting led by Larry Page and Sergey Brin, when the startup had fewer than 60 employees. After some new employee introductions the meeting shifts to a birthday celebration — there's silly string, singing, and an overwhelming sense that everyone there is just happy (or will be as soon as they get their cake).
Chris Dixon, The Pirate In The Arena
Apr 27, 2:58AM
I've written many times before about the difference between a true startup founder and, well, everyone else. Israeli investor Yossi Vardi often quotes Theodore Roosevelt in a 1910 speech about "The Man In The Arena": It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.I used a lot more words to more poorly describe the same thing in my Are You A Pirate post last year.
Groupon: "Getting It In The Ass" In China
Apr 27, 2:39AM
A Global Mobile Internet Conference kicked off last night in Beijing. The opening event was an on-stage interview with John Liu, head of Google's China operations, followed by a panel discussion with several entrepreneurs and executives from MSN and Zynga. The interview was titled "How foreign companies can succeed in China", a rather amusing title considering that no foreign Internet company has ever achieved a dominant position in the People's Republic. 
Google Chrome Can Now Clean Up Flash's Cookie Mess
Apr 26, 11:35PM
I still don't particularly like the fact that Google decided to bundle Adobe Flash with their Chrome web browser about a year ago. Apple preference aside, the last thing I want is the buggy, often insecure, and performance killing plug-in shoved in my face. More importantly, I think it's a maneuver that will only serve to slow the transition to HTML5. But Google has their reasons. And today, we see one of the good ones. Google has maintained since they started bundling Flash that it was mainly to ensure they could make it more secure for their Chrome users. They do this by both sandboxing it and auto-updating it when the security patches regularly appear. But a new feature has just hit the Chrome dev builds which also now allows users to easily clear Flash cookies from within the browser.
Exclusive: The Pioneer AppRadio Will Put The Look Of iOS On Your Dash
Apr 26, 11:19PM
Pioneer is about ready to launch a car audio head unit that features an GUI remarkable similar to iOS, complete with apps, iTunes, and iPhone connectivity. Meet the Pioneer AppRadio, model number SPH-DA01. This unannounced double-din head unit hit the FCC database yesterday and a tipster wrote in to answer many of our questions. Obviously, given the name, this is a radio designed around iPhone and iPod. The UI features homescreens, each with two rows of three app icons each. (like the mock-up shows) We hear it feels "exactly like the iOS experience" but since it doesn't actually run iOS we're mighty curious how the AppRadio will sit with Apple corporate.
Gideon Yu: "The Drama Of Being A Venture Capitalist Isn't Really For Me"
Apr 26, 10:35PM
Gideon Yu, the former CFO of Facebook who left two years ago to become a partner at Khosla Ventures, is leaving venture capital to become the chief strategy officer of the San Francisco 49ers. "The drama of being a venture capitalist isn't really for me," he tells me. But he insists, "I am absolutely not leaving tech." Yu will remain on the boards of Square and Meebo, and says he works one day a week at Square. He wants to remain active investing and helping startups, but not as a full-time venture capitalist. One option was to become an affiliate partner, but that didn't work out. Instead, he plans to keep investing his own money as an angel investor. The rumor in Silicon Valley is that he left Facebook with stock worth $500 million. He won't comment on his net worth other than to say that he made more than he ever thought he would. 
Milk Completes $1.5 Million Angel Round, Packed with Valley Names
Apr 26, 10:22PM
Kevin Rose has completed a hefty $1.5 million angel round for his new mobile development lab, which we first reported in March, Milk. Rose went for the more-is-more approach, pulling in a wide-syndicate of Valley elites, including TechCrunch's Michael Arrington. Other angels include Ron Conway, Tim Ferriss, Dave Morin, Philip Rosedale, Evan Williams, Shervin Pishevar, Joshua Schachter, Anthony Casalena, Ashton Kutcher, Philip Kaplan, Chris Sacca, Gary Vanyerchuk, Tony Hsieh, Chamath Palihapitiya, Matt Mullenweg, Matt Williams, Tony Conrad via True Ventures, and Rob Hayes. As we predicted, the list is rounded out by Floodgate's Mike Maples and Greylock's David Sze, two of Digg's biggest investors who are betting on Rose again. Missing from the list are a few other Digg angels like Reid Hoffman and Marc Andreessen, but it's an impressive mix of VCs, angels and Web personalities.
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