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Trivantis Acquires Flash Content Creation And Digital Signage Platform Flypaper
May 11, 2:21PM
E-learning software developer Trivantis has acquired Flypaper Studios, a startup that allows users to create flash-based web presentations without any programming experience. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. Flypaper, which raised $6.5 million, allows users to create, edit, share, track and reuse Flash and video content. Users can leverage the startup's existing templates and components, or can create their own to develop interactive Flash-based presentations or videos. 
Marketplace For Home-Cooked Food Gobble Raises $1.2M From Founder Collective, Reid Hoffman And Other Angels
May 11, 2:00PM
Gobble, an online marketplace for home-cooked food, has raised $1.2 million in funding from an all-star roster of investors including Reid Hoffman (via the Greylock DIscovery Fund), Felicis Ventures, Founder Collective, SV Angel, Morado Venture Partners, Thrive Capital, Keith Rabois, Jack Abraham, Lorenzo Thione, Benjamin Ling, Noah Goodhart, Craig Shapiro, and Doug Chertok. Gobble is a way for consumers to find homemade food in their neighborhood. While some sites like Munchery (which we covered here) aim to bring personal chefs to the masses, Gobble is focused more on providing home cooked food in an online marketplace setting. The site is the brainchild of Stanford graduate Ooshma Garg, who ate healthy homemade food at home but found it difficult to find time to cook in college and afterwards, when she worked at a startup. 
AT&T To Sell The Cisco Cius
May 11, 1:39PM
Remember a few months ago when you kind of cared about the Cisco Cius and then you realized it was just a little screen made for video meetings and wasn't really a consumer device? Well, prepare for that realization again because AT&T is about to provide HSPA+ data service for this thing and presumably sell it to government and institutional buyers.
Alpine Data Labs Scores $7.5 Million To Help Companies Analyze Troves Of Data
May 11, 1:33PM
Incubated within big data company Greenplum (acquired by EMC in 2010) and following 15 months of product development, Silicon Valley-based Alpine Data Labs launches its solution for "Big Data Predictive Insight" in the United States today. The company is also announcing that it has landed $7.5 million in Series A funding from Sierra Ventures, Mission Ventures and Sumitomo Corporation Equity Asia. The company is also backed by Stanford University. 
Boxee Outs The Boxee Box 1.1 Firmware, Revamped Browser And New On-Screen Controls Highlight The Update
May 11, 1:21PM
Boxee Box owners rejoice! It's new firmware time! Boxee previously committed to a three month update cycle, which meant the next firmware was coming out sometime this month. Boxee just so happened to announce it this morning and it brings a world of changes to the little streamer including 16 new languages supported out of the box. There's so much more, though, too. The browser reportedly got a massive upgrade and now fully supports bookmarks, browser history, and HTML 5 for sites like HBOGo. The browser's OSD also got a new coat of paint, including the web video playback screens that now include more content controls. 
Pageonce Raises $15 Million, Aims To Make Your Smartphone The 'Wallet Of The Future'
May 11, 12:50PM
Do you like your wallet? Too bad. Pageonce, the one-stop shop for managing your financial accounts, wants to turn your smartphone into the wallet of the future. Though, the last time I checked, Apple wasn't planning to offer the iPhone in leather. Or snakeskin. We're still getting excited over the fact that it comes in white. But that's not slowing down Pageonce, which allows you to track your bank accounts, credit cards, investment and travel plans, monitor bills and manage your money, from your mobile phone -- and the Web, if you're old school like that. 
Former eBay, Oracle Execs Raise $11 Million For "Gift Network" FreeMonee
May 11, 12:41PM
Today sees the launch of the "first-of-its-kind" national gift network FreeMonee, founded by an impressive team of veterans from some of the largest companies in banking, retail and e-commerce, with experience at organizations like eBay, Oracle, Best Buy, Cisco, Visa and ClairMail under their collective belts. The company has secured $11 million in Series A funding from Opus Capital, Redpoint Ventures, Sutter Hill Ventures, Pinnacle Ventures and Contrarian Group, the fund directed by Peter Ueberroth. Ueberroth also serves on FreeMonee's board with former Levi Strauss CEO Phil Marineau.
America's First Pipeline-Fed, Hydrogen Fueling Station Now Open In Los Angeles
May 11, 12:27PM
America's first pipeline-fed, retail hydrogen fueling station opened in Torrance, California, within Los Angeles county on Tuesday. The station will provide hydrogen for fuel cell and hybrid vehicles in the area. It was built through a joint effort by Toyota, Air Products and Shell alternative energies, with funding from the South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD) and the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). The station's first customer was the owner of a Honda FCX Clarity. A handful of hydrogen fuel cell black cabs have already hit the streets in London. Hydrogen fuel cell forklifts are already widely available, and used in warehouse fleets from Wal-Mart to Whole Foods. Fuel cell cars — promised by manufacturers including Toyota, Daimler, GM, Honda, and Hyundai — are not slated for mass market availability until 2015, though. The dominant clean vehicle technology available in the U.S. remains the battery electric vehicle. Fuel cells cars produce zero greenhouse gas emissions, and have a 130- to 430-mile range...
Tencent's Q1: Profit Up 61%, Nearly $1 Billion In Revenues, 700 Million IM Users
May 11, 12:14PM
Tencent, a major provider of Internet and mobile services in China, this morning revealed earnings for the first quarter of 2011, reporting a better-than-expected 61 percent jump in net income. The company's profit rose to 2.87 billion yuan (roughly $442 million), up from 1.78 billion yuan (roughly $274 million) a year earlier. Total revenues were 6,33 billion yuan (approximately $975 million), an increase of 14.7 percent over the fourth quarter of 2010.
As Twitpic Signs Picture Agency Deal, Mobypicture Hands Control Back
May 11, 12:04PM
Hey, remember back in the old days when you could post a picture on Twitter and not have it ransacked by news organisations and picture agencies? Yeah, those days are gone. All these picture sharing apps are looking lovingly at the feed of images coming in and licking their lips. Whether you like it or not, one day these apps will have to monetize and there is gold in them there photos... So there's been a huge blow-up around the use of these images. Twitpic is being reported as claiming the copyright on your images. And entertainment news and photo group WENN has signed a deal with the photo app, " to represent those images." Oh really? How convenient for everyone. But what about the users?
58% Of Mobile Web Users Get Their Content Fix Through Browsers: Jumptap
May 11, 11:31AM
Yes, smartphone apps are still in vogue, and most mobile app stores continue to grow by leaps and bounds. Yet consumers spend more time engaging with the mobile Web on their smartphones than through ad-supported apps, mobile advertising startup Jumptap says in its STAT (Simple Targeting & Audience Trends) report. The company claims more than 58 percent of mobile internet users in the U.S. are getting content through their browser(s).
Exclusive: BranchOut Raises $18M For Facebook-Focused Professional Network
May 11, 8:50AM
Exclusive: BranchOut, a professional social network for Facebook, has raised $18 million in Series B funding led by Redpoint Ventures with Accel Partners, Norwest Venture Partners, and Floodgate also participating the the round. This investment brings BranchOut's total funding to $24 million. Geoff Yang, founding partner of Redpoint Ventures, will join Accel Partner Kevin Efrusy on BranchOut's board. Launched in July 2010, BranchOut has often been compared to a LinkedIn for Facebook because it allows you to network and find jobs through your friends on the social network. BranchOut's Facebook app lets you search for companies and then shows you all your friends who either work there or know somebody who does. The application does what LinkedIn hasn't done with Facebook— it unlocks the massive amounts of career data about your social graph on the world's largest social network that was just impossible to get to before.
Stealth Startup Inporia Raises $1.25 Million From Ron Conway, 500 Startups And More
May 11, 7:55AM
Add another stealth eCommerce startup attracting pre-launch funding from eager investors to your list. That is, of course, if you have one. Last month, we covered Decide, a Seattle-based company looking to bring transparency to the online consumer shopping experience that has raised $8.5 million pre-launch. And now Inporia, a new startup that's also currently in stealth mode, is looking to add a new spin on the apparently tired eCommerce model with a touch of gaming and a dollop of social. The startup is the brainchild of serial entrepreneur Ryan Junee, perhaps better known as an advisor to 500 Startups, StartMate, co-founder of Omnisio (later acquired by Google), and former Product Manager at YouTube. Junee isn't saying much about what we can expect from Inporia, other than the fact that the startup sits "at the intersection of eCommerce, machine learning, and social data" and will be "combining many of the social and gaming techniques that work so well for Facebook games". 
Android And Chrome: Anywhere And Everywhere
May 11, 1:50AM
Google is approaching a watershed moment in its internal platform wars. The time is nearly at hand when they will have to decide once and for all what Android is, what Chrome OS is, and where they are both going. This is not to say it has not been internally decided and even worked out to the decimal for some years ahead — but they're going to have to break it to the world sooner or later, and today's I/O event may have been a powerful hint. The hint is in two announcements today: one expected and more or less standard for Google (Music), the other a surprise (Open Accessory Toolkit). Google is laying the groundwork for a two-pronged OS assault a little ways down the road: Chrome OS everywhere, and Android anywhere.
PaaS PHP Fog Launches To The Public
May 10, 11:23PM
Like a Heroku for PHP, PHP Fog is launching to the public today in order to help PHP developers deploy and scale their applications in the cloud. Raising $1.8 million in a round lead by Madrona and followed on by First Round, Founders Co-Op and others. PHP Fog launched in private beta in December and is now available for all members of the public. Aside from focusing solely on PHP, what PHP Fog does differently than Heroku (and all encompassing competitor dotCloud) is that it provides users with an PHP app store, which lets people build out Drupal and Heroku sites without needing to know how to code. The service starts out as free with shared hosting and then ranges from $29 - $249 depending on how many servers you want dedicated.
(Founder Stories) Meebo CEO: "What If We Could Completely Change The Game?"
May 10, 11:15PM
Should founders innovate based upon customer feedback or is it better to develop from within and let consumer adapt. In this episode of Founder Stories with host Chris Dixon, Meebo's Seth Sternberg discusses his philosophy: "Users tend to be very good at giving you incremental product suggestions." But they are not product visionaries. "They may be asking for something that would be revolutionary," he says, "but they don't realize they are asking for it." When receiving such incremental suggestions, Sternberg instinctively skips the baby steps and instead asks the question, "what if we could completely change the game?"
Google Finally Delivers On Promise Of Admin-Free Chrome Frame Installs For IE
May 10, 10:23PM
Today at Google I/O in San Francisco, Google developers Amit Joshi and Alex Russell took the stage at a breakout session to announce an important milestone: a version of Chrome Frame that doesn't require admin rights to install. While this might not jump out at you as a huge thing, it's big news for millions of users stuck working at offices or schools with older machines where admins won't allow them to upgrade to newer, modern browsers. And some 30 percent of these users were not even able to install plug-ins for IE. Now there's a way around that with the new dev build of Chrome Frame. You can install this within IE without needing admin access.
Hands-On With Android 3.1 On The Motorola Xoom
May 10, 9:40PM
Google announced Android 3.1 earlier today at I/O. More surprising than the OS itself (which was expected, really) was that it was rolling out to Verizon Xooms today. Google failed to announce when it was hitting other devices beside Google TV, which will get it this summer, and the Galaxy Tab 10.1, which will get it in the next few weeks. As announced, the UI is much the same. You can't tell 3.0 from 3.1 visually. One of the only noticeable differences is that the widgets can be resized. Previously, widgets such as email and bookmarks had a preset size — now they can be stretched and morphed to better fit a user's preferences. The home button also returns you to the previously selected homescreen rather than the main center one. 
Android Chief Rubin Hints At A New Nexus Device In Time For The Holidays
May 10, 8:50PM
Today at Google's I/O conference in San Francisco, a group of executives sat down the with press to answer questions about the announcements made during the keynote earlier in the day. Much of the news revolved around Android, as did many of the questions. And since Android head Andy Rubin was present, someone decided to ask about the future of Google's own Nexus brand of devices. Google doesn't actually manufacturer these devices but instead works closely with an OEM and carrier partner to produce a device that provides users with a clean and pure version of Android. Given that Google is now working more closely with carriers and OEMs to push up-to-date Android across the board, some wondered what this might mean for the Nexus devices?
Video: Pomplamoose Covers The Angry Birds Theme (And Records It With A Samsung Infuse 4G!)
May 10, 8:32PM
As if Angry Birds hasn't pervaded our society enough, bands are now covering the Angry Birds theme on YouTube, just in case that tune isn't already on a never-ending loop in your head. The band Pomplamoose, which has already shot a number of cover videos, including Beyonce's Single Ladies and Michael Jackson's Beat It, puts a rather dramatic spin on the Angry Birds theme song, slamming heads into pianos and throwing punches left and right. 
Nuance Buys Enterprise Print Management Software Developer Equitrac For $157M In Cash
May 10, 8:26PM
Nuance, a company that develops imaging and voice recognition technologies, has announced the acquisition of print management and cost recovery software developer Equitrac. Nuance is shelling out $157 million in cash for the company, and the deal is expected to close in September of this year. Equitrac's software helps businesses effectively manage their printing environments, reduce printing costs, increase security and lessen their environmental impact. Users can print documents from their desktop as usual, then use card-swipe or log-in identification at a printer to view and select their documents for on-demand printing. In a hospital setting for example, care providers can securely access and print standardized forms or specific patient reports from printer. 
Sequoia And IDG Put $10 Million Into Mobile App Developer Sourcebits
May 10, 8:04PM
Startup Sourcebits has raised $10 million in Series A funding from Sequoia Capital and IDG Ventures today. Sourcebits, which has operations in both India and Atlanta, creates apps for the iPhone, iPad, Android, BlackBerry, Palm Pre and Windows 7 mobile platforms. The company, whose client base includes companies ranging from Fortune 500 companies to small start-ups, has developed over 300 apps, 20 of which are in the top 100 in the Apple App Store, Android Market and other app stores. Some of startup's more popular apps include Robokill, Knocking Live, Daily Deeds, Night Stand, Skyfire, Beast Farmer and more. 
Google's New Partner Android Update Initiative: Very Promising — Maybe; We'll See
May 10, 7:15PM
Today at their I/O conference in San Francisco, Google had a range of things to announce, many of them about Android. By far the most interesting thing to me was the notion that Google is finally getting their carrier and OEM partners in line with regard to Android updates. Well, that's the plan anyway. The actual details are very thin at the moment.
Uber To Dump Hundreds of AT&T iPhones, Switch To Verizon
May 10, 7:15PM
Uber is a black car service that you can schedule via a mobile app. It's slightly more expensive than taxis, but it is absolutely worth it, and I now rely on it to get around in San Francsico. The way it works is that black car drivers have an iPhone with their own special Uber app. When someone requests a car, the drivers close to that person see the request, and any of them can grab it. They then pick up the passenger and take them to wherever they want to go. Everything is tracked via GPS and billing is automatic to your credit card. It's perfect. Except when it isn't. Yesterday I requested a car and even though the app showed the car as arrived and on top of me on the map, it was nowhere to be found. I called the driver (a handy feature in the app), but our connection was so bad that we couldn't communicate. So I hit "cancel" (a $10 charge to me) and walked to my destination instead. 
Andy Rubin On Android's Openness: Light On Community, Heavy On Open Source
May 10, 6:55PM
If you've been following the rise of Android, you've probably seen some of the controversy around how open (or not) Google's hugely successful mobile OS actually is. In October Android Chief Andy Rubin provided his first definition: a command that can be used to download the Android source. But that didn't convince everyone, and the issue came to a head last month when it was revealed that Google would not be releasing the source code to Honeycomb for months — putting tablet manufactures who haven't received early access behind the curve. Today during a press Q&A at Google I/O, Rubin gave a more detailed explanation on how he views Android 'sopenness, explaining that there is a difference between open source and a community-driven project (and that Android skews heavily toward the former). The reason, he explains, is that developers need to be able to count on certain APIs being available on all Android devices running a given version of the OS. Here's a paraphrased quote:
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