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Foursquare Releases Explore And Leaderboard Data Via API
May 10, 2:47PM
When Foursquare upgraded its mobile app last March at SXSW, it added some excellent new features which made the popular geo app even more compelling. Among these is a revamped leaderboard which shows how many points you've earned in the past 7 days compared to just your friends (I know I check in a lot more now in the hopes that I can one day beat Fred Wilson). The other one is a new Explore feature that gives you recommendations of nearby places to eat, drink, and shop based on where you are and your friends' past check-in behavior. Now these two features, along with the information users get after they check-in, are available to outside developers via Foursquare's API. 
Sequent Software Raises Funding, Aims To Simplify NFC Mobile Payments
May 10, 2:40PM
Redwood City, California-based Sequent Software, formerly known as Sparq Mobile Solutions, has raised an undisclosed amount of capital in a Series A round of funding led by Opus Capital and SK Telecom Ventures. Sequent provides near-field-communication software, enabling its customers and partners to deploy NFC payment systems to allow consumers to make payments and other transactions with their mobile devices.
NetSuite Is Pushing into Enterprise Software, Lands Groupon as Marquee Customer
May 10, 2:36PM
NetSuite, one of the handful of companies to build a big company out of the early 2000s software-as-a-service funding frenzy, is now making a push into cloud based enterprise software, according to several announcements being made this morning by CEO Zach Nelson at SuiteWorld, the company's user conference being held in San Francisco. As with most of these user conference announcements, there will be the usual fanfare and big-name guests trotted out-- in this case, Oracle President Mark Hurd and Yammer CEO David Sacks. But NetSuite is also announcing two new enterprise customers: Qualcomm and Groupon. Both companies are using NetSuite for their international operations specifically, and the latter is an impressive win. Groupon has been called the fastest growing company in history and NetSuite isn't just selling them software for one part of the organization-- NetSuite sells core enterprise resource planning, financial software. 
Marc Andreessen On Skype Deal: "Microsoft Is Buying Something With A Real Head Of Steam"
May 10, 1:38PM
Microsoft may have overpaid for Skype with its $8.5 billion all-cash offer, but it was bidding against a sure IPO. While $8.5 billion may look expensive now, it is a pre-emptive strike to take Skyoe off the table before an IPO. Microsoft's bid had to be high enough to convince the company and its investors they were better off taking the Microsoft offer now. From what I can gather, there were nibbles by other suitors such as Google, but no other serious offers. Microsoft was bidding against the IPO. The investors, which include Silver Lake Partners and Andreessen Horowitz, and Joltid, look like geniuses now. Andreessen Horowitz, in particular, comes out smiling from this deal. Skype was one of its first investments. It was a big, risky play at the time, and now it's paid off in spades. "It is so far our best and only exit," quips Marc Andreessen, who spoke with me by phone this morning after the deal was formally announced.
Why Microsoft's Skype Purchase Means A Face-Off With Apple's Facetime
May 10, 1:36PM
Microsoft's purchase of Skype for $8.5 billion in cash is a massive bet for the tech giant. Although it look like it may well have over-paid by $4.5 billion, and bid against companies who weren't seriously in the running (Google and Facebook), owning Skype means Microsoft has a much better positioning in mobile. But that's not all. The implications of this deal for Facebook are actually far more interesting. Since Microsoft is an investor in Facebook, the latter will now have deep access to its investor's assets.
Motorola Snaps Up SunUp
May 10, 1:28PM
Motorola Mobility this morning announced that it has acquired network operations management software maker SunUp Digital Systems. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. Founded in 1992 and based in Santa Clara, California, SunUp develops operating software for IPTV, DTH, Digital Cable, and content distribution networks.
PayNearMe's Cash Payments Product Can Now Be Used For Money Transfers, Bill Pay And More
May 10, 12:55PM
We've frequently covered PayNearMe, an alternative payments product from the company formerly known as Kwedit, because its compelling services for the unbanked. e "unbanked" refers to consumers who don't have traditional bank accounts or cannot qualify for credit cards. PayNearMe allows people who don't have or don't want to use credit or debit cards to purchase products with cash at more than 6,000 7-Eleven stores in the continental U.S. Today, PayNearMe is rolling out new functionality that allows users to pay bills, transfer money, pay utilities and even pay for a bus ticket using its payment option.
Done Deal! Big Deal. Smart Deal? Microsoft Buys Skype For $8.5 Billion In Cash
May 10, 12:10PM
The deal is done. Microsoft is buying Skype for $8.5 billion in cash in its first sizeable acquisition since August 2008, when the Redmond software giant spent $486 million on Greenfield Online. In fact, this is Microsoft's biggest financial bet to date in terms of M&A, trumping its $6 billion+ purchase of aQuantive, which dates back to May 2007, in size. The $8.5 billion question: did Microsoft overpay for Skype?
Did Microsoft Overpay For Skype? Hell Yes — By $4.5 Billion
May 10, 12:10PM
With Microsoft having confirmed its acquisition of Skype, sources tell TechCrunch Europe that Redmond outbid its closest rival, Google, by almost two-to-one. Meanwhile, Facebook is said to have never been in the running. According to a source who claims knowledge of talks held between all parties, Google came in second at a price of $4B, while Microsoft will be paying $8.5B. This suggests that Redmond is paying significantly over the odds for Skype, although only time will tell if it turns out to be a smart deal. What is known is that had Microsoft been aware of the price that Google was willing to pay it almost certainly would have come in lower.
Pneuborn Robotic Babies Will Claw At Your Dreams
May 10, 12:00PM
The store downstairs from your apartment specialized in junk. Its owner was a small man, his face sagging and acne scarred, his front shirt pocket bulging with a pack of Marlboros and his hands always, always fiddling. He died a week ago and his shop has been locked since. At night you hear a baby crying through the floor. A mewling, a squeal, silence for an hour, maybe two. You stare in the near dark at a stain on the ceiling, straining to hear the noise again. There it is. A baby's cry.
Exclusive – Crime (City) Pays: Social Gaming Startup Funzio Raises $20 Million
May 10, 12:00PM
San Francisco-based social gaming outfit Funzio has raised $20 million in its first round of institutional funding, TechCrunch has learned. The Series A financing round was led by IDG Ventures and China-focused investment firm IDG Capital Partners. Rick Thompson, co-founder and former chairman of Playdom, also participated in the round and serves as chairman of Funzio's board.
Webpop Sets Its Sights On WordPress, Launches Cloud CMS Optimized For Designers
May 10, 12:00PM
There are tons of sites out there that help you build a website, but most of them are built for novices or, on the other end, developers. Many of them rely on template-systems: The user is given a couple stock molds to choose from -- you can change a few colors, add a logo, and that's about it. For example, those with Macs might be familiar with iWeb, which allows you to use a few pre-existing templates to publish your own website. These services are great; they've made building websites so simple your grandmother probably has one.
AddThis Indeed: Clearspring Raises $20 Million As It Rides Social Sharing Boom
May 10, 11:58AM
The name Clearspring Technologies may not be terribly familiar to you, but chances are you've often clicked on or at least come across its AddThis buttons, which are plastered on publisher sites Web-wide. The U.S.-based social sharing platform company this morning announced that it has raised a whopping $20 million in a Series D round of funding led by Institutional Venture Partners, with existing backers such as NEA and Novak Biddle Venture Partners participating.
Salesforce Finally Fully Integrates Jigsaw Data Into CRM
May 10, 11:55AM
Just over a year ago, Salesforce acquired Jigsaw, which provides crowd-sourced data services in the cloud. The startup crowdsources information on professionals and companies and currently has a database of information on more than 24 million professionals at nearly 4 million companies. Now Salesforce is integrating Jigsaw's data into its CRM product, giving sales representatives greater, realtime intelligence when curating and following up on leads. So Jigsaw will be natively available to all 94,000 users who are using Salesforce's CRM. Jigsaw's data, which was previously only available via an app on the AppExchange, will be available for free. Salesforce says that the Jigsaw community adds 36,000 new contacts and updates an additional 12,000 existing contacts daily. 
Email Delivery System SendGrid Announces New Pricing Model, Now You Can Pay-As-You-Go
May 10, 11:50AM
Unlike most, SendGrid, the TechStars-incubated email management and delivery system, loves dealing with overloaded inboxes. In fact, it loves email so much that it has delivered over 9 billion emails for more than 23K companies. This is probably why, since graduating from TechStars, the email enthusiast has raised over $5 million in funding, and brought on former Oracle executive Jim Franklin as CEO in March. While many of us would likely consider ourselves heavy email users, SendGrid targets the addicts. Or, I should say, targets the high performers and enterprises -- businesses that have an output of millions of emails per month. (I passed out just thinking about that.) Examples include businesses like Foursquare, Swipely, and Hootsuite. The startup offers businesses a way to manage emails generated by their web applications and can handle services like subscription, bounce management and complaint feedback. For businesses, it's a very useful tool.
Proformative Raises $1.1 Million For Online Corporate Finance Community
May 10, 10:24AM
Proformative, which operates an online resource and community website for corporate finance, accounting and treasury professionals, has raised $1.1 million in funding in a Series A round led by Bullpen Capital and Mike Maples. 
As A Stable Build Appears And Avatars Align, A Full Chrome OS Launch Seems Imminent
May 10, 7:52AM
We're just a few hours away from the kick off of Google I/O — the search giant's huge annual conference for all things Google. Well, most things. The social stuff isn't being talked about. Google TV probably won't be getting much love either. But everything else appears to be on the table. And naturally, that includes Chrome OS. Chrome OS has always been an interesting project for Google. For one thing, it would seem to compete with Android, Google's other operating system (from the looks of it both Android head Andy Rubin and Chrome head Sundar Pichai will play important roles at I/O). But the more pressing issue (at least for now) is that the project has been delayed a few times already — and we're now a full six months past the initial targeted push to consumers. And while developers have gotten their hands on demo hardware and software, most people have still never seen Chrome OS. Again, that should change very soon.
Airbnb Cozies Up To Facebook To Help You Feel More At Home When Away From Home
May 10, 6:41AM
There are dozens of reasons why Airbnb is awesome. Take its truly disruptive model, for instance. Or if that doesn't do it for you, how about the fact that you can use it to rent entire countries? But if there's one weakness with the service, it's that using it for the first time can be a bit unnerving. Who am I staying with? How do I know that their apartment isn't really a dump? Reviews and ratings take care of some of this, of course. But a new feature should help users feel much more at home immediately: Social Connections. Airbnb Social Connections allow you to hook up the service to your social graph via Facebook Connect. Click one button, opt-in, and you're good to go. In the listings for cities around the world you'll now see an avatar if a Facebook friend of yours is friends with the host or has reviewed the host. It's absolutely brilliant.
3Crowd's CrowdCache: Reinventing The Content Delivery Network For The Masses
May 10, 6:08AM
Content Delivery Networks (CDNs) are not sexy. Most people have no idea they exist; those that do know that they make the web snappier by replicating content on multiple servers, typically in different locations. Big names in the space include Akamai and Limelight. Some CDNs offer APIs that make common tasks like video streaming easier. Not exactly the sort of thing people talk about around the water cooler. But CDNs may be about to get a lot more exciting. Today a startup called 3Crowd is launching a new technology called CrowdCache. The gist of it is pretty straightforward: CrowdCache looks to turn traditional commercial CDNs on their head by letting anyone create a CDN of their own using their own servers and PCs. Or, as founder Barrett Lyon puts it, it's essentially allowing you to create your own (benevolent) botnet and use it to serve up content on the cheap. And if it works, it could have some major implications.
Without The Labels, Google's Music Locker Service Will Look Like Apple's Ugly Sibling. Again.
May 10, 3:29AM
Flashback: Moscone Center, San Francisco. Google's Vic Gundotra is pacing the stage, rolling off one new awesome Android feature after another. There's Fro Yo, the new version of Android that does laps (literally) around iOS. And then for a real a-ha moment: a sneak peek at Google Music, a service that would let you purchase songs from your desktop and 'push' them to your phone wirelessly, among other things. It was billed as a preview and no firm date was given, but nobody guessed we'd be waiting for a full year. But there were delays, deals didn't get worked out, and Google was beaten to the punch by Amazon's Cloud Drive, which launched in March. This evening the WSJ reported that after a year of (failed) discussions with the labels Google will finally be launching a music service tomorrow at Google I/O — and it's very similar to Amazon's, which also doesn't have approval from the labels. I spoke with Google's Jamie Rosenberg, head of digital content and strategy for Android, who confirmed the news. And while he says that Google will improve on Amazon's offering in many ways, one month from now I'm guessing it will look significantly less impressive.
Is Microsoft About To Overpay For Skype?
May 10, 2:19AM
The deal buzzards are swirling around Skype, and Microsoft may end up with the prize. Om first reported the rumor, which is now getting major play by the WSJ. Microsoft is in final negotiations to buy Skype for $7 billion, according to the WSJ report. The final price might go closer to $8 billion. Google and Facebook were also sniffing around Skype, which put off its IPO earlier this year to buy more negotiating time. Microsoft will certainly be overpaying for Skype, which is a better fit for Google or Facebook. But Microsoft is desperate for a legitimate Internet business beyond Bing.
Longreads Goes Social With Community Picks And Aims For Sustainability
May 10, 2:10AM
If you're a fan of reading long-form content online, you probably already know what Longreads is. If not, you should. It's the best way to find content between 1,500 and 30,000 words on the web. And today they've upped the discovery element a bit by making it more social. "Community Picks" is a new area of the Longreads website which scans Twitter for the most tweeted (and retweeted) Longreads articles. It then displays these on the website ranked by either most popular or newest. This adds another layer of stories on top of the traditional stock of Longreads editors' picks.
Attention 'Dear Sophie'-Inspired Parents, You Can't Actually Create A Google Account For Your Kid
May 10, 1:19AM
"It's probably something that Don Draper would come up with if Larry and Sergey were his clients." -- Steven Levy "Google's Sophie's Choice" By now you've probably seen or read about Google's warm and fuzzy 'Dear Sophie' commercial, which debuted last week and aired during a coveted spot on Saturday Night Live this weekend. In the commercial, which was inspired by a true story, Sophie's dad Daniel sends her emails about special moments in her life like her first birthday, Father's Day and the birth of her sister, as well as general dad silliness like stuff title "Giggles.mov."
AdGenesis Aims To Be The Match.com of Video Advertising, Pair Brands With The Right Viewer
May 10, 1:04AM
As online video advertising continues to grow, and expands to mobile, brands are looking for ways to get more bang for their advertising buck, and viewers continue to yearn for and expect video advertising that is more personalized, targeted, and relevant. And obviously the same is true for brands and advertisers -- they, too, want to be able to customize their ad experience to reach consumers that they know will care about their products. So, as technology and the web tools we use on a daily basis continue to get smarter, so should advertising, right? AdGenesis, a New York-based video advertising startup, wants use the dating, or match-making game, to make the serving of video advertising a more intelligent arrangement. It hopes that its service will bring consumers and brands together for a rewarding, lifetime relationship of loyalty and happiness -- not just in a marriage of convenience. In other words, the startup is a white label video advertising platform that partners with publishers to match branded content to a large network of eager, opt-in customers.
Evernote-Rival SpringPad Now Supports Honeycomb And Offers Offline Access Via Chrome Web App
May 09, 11:50PM
Evernote rival Springpad is announcing support for Android Honeycomb tablets and is also debuting offline access via its popular chrome web app. Similar to Evernote, Springpad serves as a multi-platform digital notebook. The service allows you to jot down notes, save websites, images and more. Springpad will then categorizes your saved content, and allows you to share your notes, set reminders and more. The app goes a step farther to analyze your content and then serve you alerts to relevant news, offers and deals. The app's semantic data technology allows you to save products, books, movies, recipes and more, and automatically get enhanced information, including price drops, local availability and coupons.
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