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Will Nokia Become The IBM Of Handsets?
May 16, 2:44PM
Tech industry insider and Mobile Review Editor Eldar Murtazin hit us with what could be the most shocking bit of leaked Nokia news since his infamous N8 hands-on last year. What happened? This morning Murtazin posted some crucial information regarding the ongoing Microsoft/Nokia deal on his personal blog. 
B&N Serves Up 1 Million Nook App Downloads
May 16, 2:27PM
Barnes & Noble just announced that Nook Color users have downloaded over 1 millon apps so far, including Angry Birds, Drawing Pad, and Pulse. Obviously 1 million apps in comparison to the numbers downloaded (notice they didn't say "sold") is fairly paltry but it's a great start. This bit of news confirms what we've been saying for a while: the Nook is kind of a stealth Android device and, barring problems with processer power and general usability, it's a fine entry-level tablet.
eBay Takes Auto Marketplace Mobile With Dedicated Motors iPhone App
May 16, 1:51PM
It's no secret that eBay has been pushing a significant mobile strategy of late, and today the company is rolling out a new app in its mobile family—an eBay Motors iPhone app. eBay said it made sense to launch a dedicated app for the Motors vertical (one of the company's strongest auction place verticals) , which sells cars, parts and accessories, because the volume of purchases made via eBay's main mobile apps. Currently, 90,000 parts and accessories and 2,000 cars are purchased per week globally from eBay's general mobile apps. 
SanDisk Acquires Flash Disk Maker Pliant Technology For More Than $327 Million
May 16, 1:10PM
Flash memory storage solutions provider SanDisk has acquired Pliant Technology, a developer of enterprise solid state drives, the company announced this morning. Under the terms of the agreement, SanDisk will pay approximately $327 million in cash plus earn-out. 
Bitly Gets A New CEO
May 16, 1:09PM
Three years after founding bitly as a home-grown startup inside betaworks, John Borthwick is passing the reigns to a new CEO, Peter Stern. Borthwick will remain CEO of betaworks and concentrate on new products and investments. Stern comes most recently from Zenbe, a webmail platform and mobile that went through a Facebook talent acquisition last November. Stern, who was a co-founder, didn't go to Facebook. He's more a New York kind of guy. Back in the 1990s, he founded Datek, one of the original online brokerages. 
Mobile Payments Startup Billing Revolution Raises $6.6 Million
May 16, 1:00PM
Mobile payments startup Billing Revolution has raised $6.6 million in Series B funding, led by DCM and SK Telecom Ventures. This latest funding round will be used to hire marketing, business development and product staff. Launched in 2008, the startup startup that offers a single-click billing and payment service for transactions on mobile phones, including Android and iPhone devices. Once consumers are ready to buy a digital or physical product from the Web from a vendor that employs Billing Revolution's service for payment, they are taken to Billing Revolution's purchase page where they input credit card information from their phone. 
VMware Buys Cloud-Based IT Management Service Provider Shavlik Technologies
May 16, 12:15PM
Virtualization software giant VMware this morning announced that it has agreed to acquire Shavlik Technologies, a provider of cloud-based IT management solutions for small and medium businesses. Financial terms of the acquisition, which is expected to be completed later this year, were not disclosed.
StackMob Raises $7.5 Million To Be The 'Heroku For Mobile'
May 16, 12:00PM
StackMob, a cloud-based system designed to ease the development and deployment of mobile applications, has raised $7.5 million led by Trinity Ventures with StackMob's existing investors, Harrison Metal and Baseline Ventures, participating in the round. StackMob, which is currently in private beta, is a fully hosted and managed platform that allows developers to build, deploy and manage feature rich mobile applications, similar to what Heroku did for web applications. The suite of services are designed for rapid development and implementation. 
European Social Games Publisher Pretty Simple Raises €2.5 Million
May 16, 11:45AM
The first name that comes to mind when we talk about social games in Europe is probably Wooga. But the German-based social games publisher has a number of local competitors dispersed throughout the continent. In France, one of the names that has gotten a lot of attention is Kobojo, who is behind PyramidVille and Goobox. Well, now there is a new kid on the block: Pretty Simple. And the company has just raised €2.5 million with Idinvest Partners (formerly AGF Private Equity) to produce 2-4 new games per year.
First To File Raises $2 Million For IP Document Management Service
May 16, 11:30AM
First To File, a patent document management service, has raised $2 million in Series B funding led by Foundation Capital. This brings the startup's total funding to $4 million. First To File is a SaaS, patent document management service for organizations and companies that deal with IP portfolios. The startup's software provides a way to manage all patent related documents and knowledge; and automates the storage, management, and analysis of legal documents.
Which Startup Is Cleared For Launch As Europe's Next €100+ Million Exit?
May 16, 11:01AM
This is a guest post by Monty Munford, blogger at Monty's Outlook and freelance Mobile/social consultant is (also a Bollywood actor, next movie out April 2011). He tweets @montymunford. Eighteen entrepreneurs from around the UK recently spent a week on the West Coast of the US as part of Webmisson. As part of the visit, the group attended the TechCrunch offices in San Francisco and were part of an impromptu Q&A with TechCrunch's Sarah Lacy. In a good-natured discussion, the question was posited to Lacy that perhaps business people in Europe, and especially London, were 'nicer' than their Silicon Valley counterparts. Lacy, somewhat witheringly, replied that maybe that was so, but which London-based companies had $10+ billion valuations? 
Primedia Acquired By TPG Capital For $525 Million
May 16, 10:41AM
Primedia, which helps people find apartments, houses for rent or new homes for sale through websites, mobile and print publications, this morning said it has entered into a definitive agreement to be acquired by affiliates of private investment firm TPG Capital. Under the terms of the agreement, holders of the outstanding common shares of Primedia will receive $7.10 per share in cash, representing a transaction value of approximately $525 million. 
Former Sirius CEO Joseph Clayton Takes Over The Reins From Ergen At DISH
May 16, 10:24AM
Satellite TV and video-on-demand company DISH Network this morning announced today that Joseph P. Clayton has been named the company's president and chief executive officer and has been appointed to its board of directors, effective June 20, 2011. The company's iconic co-founder, Charles Ergen, will step down from his operational role at the helm of the company but remain as chairman of DISH Network. Clayton previously served as chairman of Sirius Satellite Radio, from November 2004 through July 2008, and served as CEO of Sirius from November 2001 through November 2004. 
Ask.fm Adds Video Answers To Its European Formspring
May 16, 10:12AM
Ask.fm, a European Formspring competitor, has added video answers to its conversational Q&A service. Rather than answering questions in text, the browser-based feature lets anybody with a webcam record and upload an answer in video to questions sent to their Ask.fm profile, which can be from other Ask.fm members or submitted anonymously. It's pretty straightforward, with the 'Record video answer' sitting right next to the regular answer button, while the video recording functionality itself is powered by Flash.
Autonomy Buys Iron Mountain's Digital Archiving, Online Backup Business For $380M
May 16, 10:12AM
Cambridge, UK-based infrastructure software company Autonomy this morning announced that it is acquiring a number of assets of Iron Mountain's digital division - including the latter's archiving, e-discovery and online backup business units - for $380 million in cash. Dr. Mike Lynch, CEO of Autonomy, said in a statement that they've been wanting to close such a deal for a while now.
Boticca's High-End Marketplace For Fashion Accessories Scores $2.5 Million
May 16, 8:37AM
I have no idea if Lady Gaga, Jessica Alba or Cameron Diaz have good taste. But whoever is designing their fashion accessories is also selling pieces on Boticca.com. The London-based startup that launched it's high-end designer marketplace in October 2010 has been getting quite a bit of attention from investors over the last few months. Finally, the team is announcing that it has closed a £1.5 million (or $2.5 million) round - primarily for developing editorial content, additional market channels and adding new people to the team.
Push comes to shove
May 16, 4:45AM
At 35 thousand feet you can see the future of push notification more clearly. The in-flight WiFi won't sustain FaceTime or Skype video, but it handles IM just fine. GTalk is buried in the Gmail menus; it has no iPhone or iPad version. Neither Skype nor Facebook Chat have iPad versions, but they do support push notifications through iPhone. Facebook Chat sends push notifications but goes offline after a small interval. But Skype both supports push notification and maintains a connection. While I type in Pages, I receive pushes in realtime at 35 thousand feet. As John Taschek pushed just now, easily worth $2billion. He pushed not only from his iPad2 but his Droid and PC. Works on the Mac too. While Google times out on its stupid web-only gadget I am multitasking across 3 or 4 OSes, depending on whether you think OS/X is anything more than a deer in iOS's headlights. This is big news for Microsoft as long as Steve Ballmer can deprecate Windows.
Initial Thoughts On The Samsung Series 5 Chromebook
May 16, 1:46AM
Google has finally made good on their promise to deliver Chrome OS to the world this summer. Or they will, on June 15 when the first Chromebooks are available. Considering that I'm potentially the perfect type of user for such a machine — that is, nearly everything I do these days is in the browser — I've been very interested in the OS/product development. Last week, I got my hands on one of the first models for a bit, and I thought I'd post some initial thoughts. Following the formal unveiling on day two of Google I/O, Samsung and Google held a joint event to further show off the hardware to a group of journalists and give us some hands-on time with one of the first Chromebooks, the Samsung Series 5. I got to play with one for about 20 minutes. And while this is far from a full review, my initial impression is that it's good. Really good. Especially for a first crack at a product.
@J_Pinet Tweets IMF Chief's Arrest Before US Media And Gets Accused Of Conspiracy
May 16, 12:52AM
"a friend in the US just told me that #DSK was arrested by the police in a NYC hotel one hour ago."
It was the middle of the night in Paris when the news broke that Dominique Strauss-Kahn, the Chief of the IMF, had been pulled off an Air France flight and arrested for sexual assault. Coincidentally, he was also set to announce his candidacy for the 2012 French presidential elections next month - and could therefore become one of the strongest opponents of President Sarkozy. But now it looks like the Parti Socialiste may have to nominate someone else...
Single? Married? It's Complicated? Wear Your Relationship Status With Buump
May 15, 11:36PM
Facebook may have over 600 million users but there's still one problem: all the info is online! How on earth are you supposed to know if that cutie you just met is single or married without access to his or her profile?! Ok, yes, you could just ask - but that's not very tactful now, is it? So, rather than having to muster up any courage and attack the subject head on, we could all just wear our relationship status and make it easier for everyone. At least, that's what Buump thinks we should do. The company sells colorful plastic bracelets featuring the 5-different relationship status options in English for €5.99. There is also an additional pack with the 5 "looking for" options sold for the same price. And you can buy all 10 bracelets for €10.99 (the site also lets you buy in bulk and customize your own bracelets for orders of 1,000 or more).
The Chilling Story of Genius in a Land of Chronic Unemployment
May 15, 9:59PM
Ever since he could remember, Ibrahim Boakye had a knack for understanding how things worked. There were things he could just do that no other kids-- let alone adults-- could understand. By the time he was five-years-old everyone had stopped questioning it, and neighbors were calling on him to fix their broken toasters, irons, or anything that was the least bit mechanical. By his early teens, he was getting things out of the dump and fixing them for fun. Soon after that, he was teaching himself to code. He's made an outsized living no one in his family could have anticipated by outsmarting other people on computers ever since. It's never been about money or even in those early days about doing good deeds around the neighborhood. He gets an intoxicating rush from solving the hardest technical problem he can find and from knowing that he's the best.
Honeycomb Has A Fighting Chance Against The iPad
May 15, 9:47PM
If you'd asked me a week ago what I thought about Honeycomb, the tablet version of Android, I would have said that it was in very bad shape and that it would be several months before it could even hold a candle to the iPad 2. Because despite my excitement to see Android take on Apple's ridiculously successful iPad, my experience with the Motorola Xoom — the first Honeycomb tablet — has been decidedly poor. >From day one things were off to a bad start. At first, Android Market would crash literally every time I opened it. The Android team fixed that pretty quickly, but the OS was still riddled with weird bugs: swiping between home screens is laggy, widgets go blank and need to refresh, and there are myriad other glitches that pop up at random. And even beyond the bugs, there are weird quirks in the OS that feel poorly thought out (seriously, why does the 'Home' button look like an Up arrow?). But now I've had some time to test out the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1, the new tablet that was given to Google I/O attendees and will be available in stores beginning June 8. And after spending the last couple of days using it around my apartment, I'm much more optimistic. In fact, I'm guessing this device is going to do very well, and that it foreshadows a bright future ahead for Honeycomb. 
Busting Super-Injunctions On Twitter: Another Symptom Of An Over-Entitled Age
May 15, 8:10PM
This weekend finds me in London, whirling around in the eye of the book launch storm and with very little opportunity to keep track of what's making news in the world of technology. Fortunately here in the UK there's one tech story that's impossible to miss: an anonymous Twitter user has been posting details of legal injunctions, taken out by celebrities to keep their alleged misdeeds out of the public eye. Inevitably, a debate is raging both in the traditional press and online: does Twitter render so-called "super injunctions" redundant? What's the value in gagging a newspaper when the same allegations can be published anonymously online with impunity? Is there a place for secrecy in today's open and connected world?
Connecting The Dots On eBay's Local Shopping Strategy
May 15, 4:07PM
It's no secret that eBay has been heavily investing in a local commerce strategy. The central core of this is trying to capitalize on the $917 million online-to-offline buying market, which Forrester estimates will eventually reach $1.3 trillion (although this number seems low) and account for nearly 50% of total retail sales by 2013. Virtually every acquisition in the past year (besides the company's $2.4 billion purchase of GSI Commerce) has been of a company that is dabbling in local payments or linking to merchants (Milo, RedLaser, Where, FigCard). If you look closely, a clear strategy is emerging that positions eBay at the center of mobile shopping, local commerce, and payments (through PayPal). Let's connect the dots. eBay's first foray into the local commerce arena was though the acquisition of barcode scanning mobile app RedLaser last June. RedLaser's barcode scanning technology allows users to comparison shop on the go. Anyone can scan a barcode on an item at a store and then automatically access any eBay listings of the product on the marketplace. Sellers can also use the scanning technology to scan an item and list the product in very little time. RedLaser's technology was quickly integrated into eBay's dedicated iPhone and Android apps. 
The Illusion Of Social Networks
May 15, 2:21PM
The world is full of illusions. Magicians use a cascade of mirrors, smoke, and misdirection to trick their audiences into believing the unbelievable. In the process, they mystify them, capturing their attention. None of these magicians, however, hold a candle to the illusions provided by the characters who dance on television channels. For decades, the masses have been planted in front of the tube, waiting for packaged content to tickle their eyeballs and smooth the edges of modern life. And now we have the Internet, especially social networks, where the multiple forms of content shared by people and brands form signals that amplify in even greater ways. Today, those who participate in various social networks online also engage in a form of magic, using illusions to broadcast signals to their audiences. Instead of studios producing content on television, the willing participants play the part of studio and producer, using a variety of mechanisms to interact with audiences. We share check-ins from concerts and sporting events, and send Instagrams to make sure others know how yummy weekend brunch looks. We are in the age of the ubiquitous status updates, constantly sending ambient signals, where our audience has only two choices: to form some loosely-tiled mosaic of who we are—or to tune out entirely. 
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