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Rosetta Stone iPad App Hits App Store
Jun 03, 3:25PM
Short version: Rosetta Stone launched its iPad app today, which is basically just a lighter version of its core "course" software. The app itself is nothing extraordinary, but the way it teaches languages is pretty awesome. Foreign language has never been my best subject, but I had a blast playing with this app because it feels way more like a puzzle than a language lesson. The worst part is the price: you have to be a Rosetta Stone customer to access the app. 
Microsoft Wants To "App Your Sites"
Jun 03, 3:14PM
Earlier this week, Microsoft registered a bunch of domain names, including AppYourSites.com, AppYourSites.net, AppYourSites.info and more of the same with different extensions (including some country TLDs). If you open any of the URLs in your browser today, you'll simply be forwarded on to the company's search engine Bing, which makes you none the wiser. So why 'app your sites'? Frankly, I don't know, but I can offer you a few theories.
Save The Date: TechCrunch Vienna And Much More, 6 October
Jun 03, 3:11PM
It's been a long time since TechCrunch made its last official event in a german speaking country. Almost exactly two years after TechCrunch Munich and our TCEU Editor Mike Butcher developing a crush on Berlin, we are bringing TechCrunch to Vienna. The event will take place in one of the most prestigious and old-fashioned industrial houses, embedded in an entire week of startups, investors and tech-lovers from all walks. 
Zypr Releases API That Lets You Control Your Favorite Web Services With Your Voice
Jun 03, 3:11PM
Pioneer Electronics today announced a nifty new service called Zypr, a platform that collects your favorite web services all in one place and allows you to control them using your voice -- on any connected device. Today, our experience of the Web is fragmented across devices, as we use each device, be it a phone, tablet, etc, for their traditional uses, yet each of them is connected but few of them are cooperating. Zypr's API is designed to simplify device connectivity to the many devices and applications we use on a daily basis, including in-vehicle entertainment, tablets, TVs, and smartphone apps, aggregating them in a single portal, under a single account. It's a consistent way to access voice UI, maps and routing, local search, social networking, music, radio, etc. from your car, from home, from work, or on your smartphone at the grocery store.
Mobile Q&A App Opinionaided Has Generated 90M Responses To Over 1.2M User Questions
Jun 03, 3:00PM
When we wrote about mobile Q&A app Opinionaided two months ago, the app had generated 40 million responses to about 500,000 questions. In only three months, Opinionaided more than doubled those numbers, generating 90 million responses to over 1.2 million user questions for an average of 73 responses per question asked. Opinionaided says users are spending an average of 2 hours and 33 minutes in the app per month. Opinionaided's free iOS app allows users to get advice and opinions on the fly. Within the app, users can input a question, determine a category (i.e. relationships, politics) and submit it for other Opinionaided users to answer. You can also publish your questions to Facebook and Twitter. After a question is posted, fellow Opinionaided users can comment on the question and the app will calculate the percentage of users that responded positively or negatively. From there, consumers can reply back to the comments or create a new question for peers to vote on.
comScore: Apple Assumes #2 Spot Among Smartphone Platforms In The U.S.
Jun 03, 2:39PM
comScore this morning released some interesting data from its MobiLens service, reporting key trends in the U.S. mobile phone industry during the three-month average period ending April 2011. According to the measurement specialist, 74.6 million people in the U.S. owned smartphones during that period, up 13 percent from the three-month period ending in January 2011. Roughly 234 million Americans ages 13 and older used mobile devices. Google's Android ranked as the top mobile platform, with 36.4 percent of U.S. smartphone subscribers. Apple also gained share, assuming the #2 position with 26 percent of the smartphone market.
Twirpy Patent Troll Threatens Twitter
Jun 03, 1:55PM
A patent troll called Kootol Software has put Twitter on alert. The 'company', which sports a corporate logo (and name) that is suspiciously reminiscent of Google's, this morning said it has sent a caution notice to Biz Stone, Jack Dorsey and co to express "concerns" about possible intellectual property violations. The patent application in question (a patent number hasn't been assigned yet) is titled "A Method and System for Communication, Advertising, Searching, Sharing and Dynamically Providing a Journal Feed."
Tesla Taps Public Markets Again; Raises Over $200M To Develop Model X Vehicle
Jun 03, 1:04PM
Electric car company Tesla Motors has priced its follow-on offering of 5,300,000 shares of stock at $28.76 per share, the closing price for Tesla shares on June 2. Tesla CEO Elon Musk also plans to purchase 1,416,000 shares of stock directly from Tesla at the public offering price and Blackstar Investco, an affiliate of Daimler AG (a Tesla investor), plans to purchase up to 637,475 shares of stock directly from Tesla at the public offering price. Tesla has also granted the underwriter a 30-day option to purchase up to an additional 795,000 shares of stock. Excluding the underwriter option, Tesla will raise around $211 million in this follow-on offering. This money is primarily going towards the development of its Model X crossover vehicle, says Tesla The Model X will be Tesla's first SUV, and will cost around $30,000. Musk has said that this car, which is expected to become available in 2013, will be appeal to mainstream car buyers because of its lower price point. 
Walgreens Completes $409 Million Acquisition Of Drugstore.com
Jun 03, 12:56PM
Roughly 10 weeks after drugstore giant Walgreens announced its intention to acquire online retailer Drugstore.com for approximately $409 million, the company this morning said that it has completed the purchase. The transaction includes all websites directly owned and operated by Drugstore.com, as well as its corporate office and customer service and distribution center operations.
Say Hello To EA's New Online Direct-To-Consumer Gaming Platform 'Origin'
Jun 03, 12:10PM
Electronic Arts is today debuting Origin, a direct-to-consumer gaming platform, as first reported by the Wall Street Journal. According to the placeholder website, expect Origin to go live around 9 AM Pacific time. The platform will enable gamers to discover, buy and download more than 150 games from EA at its debut, with exclusive limited edition copies of EA games like Battlefield 3 and FIFA 12 coming later.
WPP Buys Brazilian Digital Agency Grïngo
Jun 03, 12:01PM
Possible Worldwide, a WPP Digital company, this morning its acquisition of a majority stake in Gringo, a Brazilian digital agency. The deal is meant to expand the global footprint of Possible Worldwide, which counts companies like Microsoft, Nokia, Dell, Google and BBC among its clients. Grïngo, which has 65 employees, works for clients like Coca-Cola, Absolut Vodka and Microsoft and has racked up a large number of industry awards over the years.
Adam Bosworth Unveils Keas, The Game That Keeps You Healthy
Jun 03, 11:58AM
After two years in stealth, Adam Bosworth is finally ready to start talking about his health startup Keas. Keas is not a Mint for health, although it began that way. Bosworth, who previously launched Google Health at Google and before that was known as the father of XML at Microsoft, founded Keas two years ago with $10 million from Ignition Partners and Atlas Venture. He thought he would build a Mint for health, but discovered that people don't want to measure their health. So instead, he turned it into a game. Keas is a game that keeps you healthy. You pick three goals a week, which can range from exercise to eating more fruits and vegetables to reducing stress. You get points for accomplishing your goals and for taking health quizes. If your company signs up for it, you can get rewards as well, including cash (HR departments are willing to pay for programs that will keep employees healthy and productive). 
Still Think The Mouse Isn't Dead?
Jun 03, 8:08AM
We've been over this. But many of you felt the need to argue — passionately — about the fate of an input device we all use today: the mouse. I say it's dead. Well not dead, dead — yet. But the wheels are clearly in motion. Many disagree. And I thought it was worth bringing up again upon seeing the demo video that Microsoft put out there for Windows 8. I mean, does anyone still think the mouse isn't dead? I can understand that after Apple put a gun to the head of the mouse with the release of the Magic Trackpad, people were skeptical. "Apple has basically no market share!," was the basis of most of the basic arguments. The bigger point was that we're moving into a world where touch is king, lead by the smartphones and tablets. These devices are going to start influencing our more traditional computers, not the other way around.
SV Angel: "We Won't Pass On Old Entrepreneurs"
Jun 03, 8:01AM
There has been a lot of discussion recently about the "peak age" of entrepreneurs. "Old Guys Rule," said Vivek Wadhwa in 1999, citing data that showed that men over 40 who were married and with children have the highest chance of success (no data was shared on female entrepreneurs). But more recently there's been a definite trend, particularly in the consumer Internet and mobile space, towards very young founders. The peak age is around 25, said one venture capitalist, drawing a comparison to professional athletes. And SV Angel shared data on stage at TechCrunch Disrupt last week showing that more than 2/3 of startups that have $500 million or higher exits are started by entrepreneurs under 30 (see image above). To counter the counter-argument, Adeo Ressi argued earlier this week that older entrepreneurs are actually performing better on their Founder Institute aptitude tests, and they expect great things from them.
Spark, Lightbank And Yuri Milner Get In On OnSwipe's $5M 'Series Awesome'
Jun 03, 4:47AM
Tablet publishing platform Onswipe is announcing a $5 million round of "Series Awesome" funding today after their one million in seed funding in January. The round will be led by Spark Capital and followed on by Lightbank, investment badass Yuri Milner, Lerer Ventures, Betaworks, Morado, Eniac and Thrive Capital. And they're really calling it a Series Awesome; Co-founder Jason Baptiste explained the need to raise even more cash, "We realized what we are building is a larger opportunity than we ever thought while growing at a breakneck speed. In order to own the market we went out and raised a Series Awesome from the best group of investors possible that share our goal of world domination. And yes...the legal docs actually say Series Awesome."
One More Thing, The Rap Song
Jun 03, 4:13AM
Apple's big developer conference, WWDC, is coming up next week, and what better way to prepare than with a rap song? Cory Smith, the man who brought us Developers, The Rap featuring Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, now has one for Apple. It is called One More Thing, and I've embedded it below. Here is a sample (see what I did there?) of some of the lyrics:
Juice In The City Reels In $6 Million To Help Moms Take On Groupon
Jun 03, 4:03AM
Juice In The City, a site that pairs moms with local businesses and daily deals, announced tonight that it has raked in $6 million in seed funding from Tandem Entrepreneurs and HU Investments. The startup will use the infusion of funding to continue pushing into new markets and to create jobs for moms across the country. Founded in 2010, Juice In The City aims to bring moms big deals on things they really want to do, so the startup features daily deals at locally owned businesses -- just like that Groupon thing. Yet, unlike Groupon, Juice In The City's core team consists of a growing community of mom bloggers, mom groups, local vendors and local sales moms. As you can tell, there are some moms involved. Take that, Groupon.
New Records In Cleantech Offer Hope For More Affordable Solar Power, LED Lights
Jun 03, 2:51AM
Cleantech companies— especially in solar— love to talk about how they're breaking records. They issue press releases left and right about the most efficient this, that and the other. Such claims fizzle if they haven't been verified by a third-party lab. They can also feel like greenwash, or Cola War style brand standoffs. Broken records we love to hear about, though, are like these from cleantech ventures Lighting Science Group and Flisom (in Switzerland)...
Delays? Fragmentation? Advertising? Some Overcast Appears Ahead Of iTunes In iCloud
Jun 02, 11:19PM
Once far off in the distance, iCloud is now quickly approaching. It will be a new service with many layers that Apple will first unveil on Monday during the keynote at WWDC. But the most interesting layer, at least from a consumer perspective initially, is the music one. And the details continue to emerge about what's likely coming. Today, two reports state that Apple has finalized deals with all four major music labels. CNet notes that Universal is now on board as are many publishers. The LA Times confirms this and suggests that the publisher deals could be completed tomorrow. That means the service will be set for a Monday debut.
CodeGuard Raises $500K To Monitor And Protect Websites
Jun 02, 11:15PM
CodeGuard, a startup that launched at TechCrunch Disrupt last week, has already raised a round of funding. The company has just announced a $500,000 round from Imlay Investments. CodeGuard, which was the audience choice winner from Startup Alley, helps protect and monitor websites from attacks and data thefts. The startup provides a virtual version control system and stores site data in the cloud. Backups are stored hourly or daily, allowing users to see what files have changed. If there is a hack or suspicious change in data, webmasters can quickly revert to the last known "clean" version. 
Startup Canada: FounderFuel Launches Accelerator Program In Montreal
Jun 02, 10:08PM
Today, another early-stage accelerator program hits Quebec's largest city, joining Year One Labs and others in an effort to support and grow Canadian entrepreneurship. FounderFuel was created by the team behind Montreal Start Up, a venture investor that has backed Beyond The Rack and the recently-launched Real Ventures, a $50 million seed-stage venture fund. Today, Real Ventures announced that it will be contributing over $2 million to FounderFuel's accelerator program. 
Note to Self: If the Halls Clear at Conferences, IPOs Are Near
Jun 02, 9:38PM
In Silicon Valley the terms of venture capital deals, the prices of valuations and the real stories of ousters are routinely dished, whether they always show up in the press or not. Sure it's all off the record or on background or whispered at a coffee shop, but people who live here love what they do and when companies and valuations grow this quickly, it's hard to keep the juicy details under wraps. So when they can't dish, what do they do? Hide. 
Groupon's IPO Filing Reveals Incredible Growth And $2.6 Billion Revenue Run-Rate (Charts)
Jun 02, 9:00PM
Groupon finally filed for its IPO today and now we can see it's finances laid bare. Groupon has been growing at an astounding rate. Last year, it's revenues grew more than 22,000 percent to $713 million. And in the first quarter of 2011 alone, it nearly matched all of its revenue from last year with $644 million in sales, up 13,575 percent from a year ago. If you annualize Groupon's first-quarter numbers, you get a revenue run rate of $2.6 billion for 2011, and that is not even factoring in any growth in subsequent quarters. So the $3 billion to $4 billion estimates that were thrown out a while ago for 2011 revenue look very achievable.
Pandora Prices IPO At $7 To $9 Per Share At Valuation Over $1B, Raising $141.6M
Jun 02, 8:20PM
Music streaming service Pandora has just filed a new version of its S-1 that indicates the company will be pricing its stock at $7 to $9 per share. Pandora's stock will be traded on The New York Stock Exchange under the symbol "P." According to the filing, Pandora aims to raise as much as $141.6 million in the offerring, and will offer offering 5,000,682 shares of its common stock with the selling stockholders are offering 8,683,318 shares of common stock in the IPO. The pricing of the stock puts Pandora's valuation at over $1 billion.
The Groupon IPO: Who Owns What
Jun 02, 8:17PM
Groupon has just filed its form S-1, paving the path for an IPO in the near future (the news isn't a big surprise, as an impending IPO has been rumored for some time). As part of the process the company has to disclose many of its key stats — like the fact that it has Q1 2011 revenues of $644 million but is actually still losing money because of its rapid expansion. It also outlines the cap table, giving an overview of who owns how much of the company. As you can see in the table below, Groupon has Class A and Class B common stock, which are identical save for the increased voting rights given to class B (how many more votes each Class B share gets is yet to be determined or disclosed as there's actually a blank in the S-1 where it says how many votes per share Class B gets).
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