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Fujifilm Reveals 19 New Cameras For CES – Here Are Some Of Them
Jan 05, 7:59AM
The compulsion in camera makers to release a dozen or more cameras at a time is understandable, I guess. Get 'em all out of the way so the PR company isn't always worrying about this or that release date, embargo time, or what have you. But for your humble blogger, it is something of a trial. In this case Fujifilm has revealed their CES lineup of point-and-shoots, and there are no less than 19 of them. And that's not counting the rumored X1 interchangeable-lens camera we are also expecting. Let's take a little sample of Fuji's offering. There's nothing groundbreaking, just so you know, but if you're in the market for a point and shoot, take a quick look. If you'd like more complete specs and the whole lineup, go to Fuji's CES page; these are just our highlights.Apple Reportedly Butting Heads With Content Producers Over iTV
Jan 05, 5:19AM
There's a problem with the idea of an iTV, rumors of which have been sloshing about for a long time, but with greater intensity since Steve Jobs' biography hinted at one. Unlike an Apple TV, an iPhone, an iPad, or other devices, an Apple TV wouldn't be tied to a Mac, and it wouldn't take advantage of iTunes the way those devices do. It'll be related, of course, but it doesn't promote the "hub" idea that drives iPhone owners to buy Macs, Mac owners to buy iPhones, and all the other crossover purchases that interweave the Apple ecosystem. Instead, it would be an Apple-designed window into content that Apple has very little control over. And while you can bring a new idea to the TV space, as set-top boxes and Google TV have, you can't make the TV space play nice. Google learned that the hard way. And it looks like Apple may be facing a similar challenge.Fly Or Die: The Nokia Lumia 710 And The Meizu MX
Jan 05, 5:01AM
I've been playing with the Lumia 710 for a week or so now and I'm pleased to report that Nokia may have a chance. The phone, while a bit chintzy, is inexpensive, fast, and feature-rich. I doubt you'd be able to find a device as easy to use and comfortable as the 710 at a $50 price with two year contract. We also tried the Meizu MX and came away, well, un-awed. It's a cool phone, it's only available in China right now, and there are a few bugs to work out before it could consider a second life on this side of the pond. I was more kind to it than Erick, but we're both equally trepidatious.Google Ventures, Mark Cuban And Others Invest $1M In Social CRM Startup Nimble
Jan 05, 4:25AM
Customer relationship management startup Nimble has raised $1 million in funding from notable investors Mark Cuban, Jason Calacanis, Don Dodge, Dharmesh Shah and more! Nimble CEO Jon Ferrara views Nimble as a combination Hootsuite, Yammer and Salesforce. Unlike CRM tools like Salesforce, which Ferrara equates to stagnant databases of customers, Nimble takes into account that today's salespeople are social.Do Blogs Need Comment Reels? Yes, and Here's How
Jan 05, 4:00AM
Commenting on blogs is broken. But what we need is a solution, not an abandonment of the concept. The question comes up every few months, but new social commenting technology means there are better answers now than ever before. Over the last day MG Siegler, MacStories, and mobile developer Mike Gemell have all written about choosing the nuclear option and turning off comments entirely on their sites. Their key reasons for doing so seem to be: 1. Comment reels are full of trolls, bile, and spam links 2. There's no way for popular sites to keep up with comments on old posts 3. Comment reels give random people too much visibility and distract from primary content Here are my proposed solutions to these problems.Why Is Aol Still Charging People For "Email"?
Jan 05, 3:35AM
Now this is just hilarious. Apparently this Arizona woman has been paying for "email" for almost a decade -- even though it's been available free for a while and free for Aol users since 2006. According to a year-old "New Yorker" article by Ken Auletta, over 75% of the dial-up portion of Aol's 3.5 million subscribers are like Traci Casale. So why are theseWhy Don't Smartphones Have A "Guest Mode"?
Jan 05, 12:39AM
"Hey, can I see your phone real quick?" Oh, crap. What tabs did you leave open in Safari? Did you delete those photos (you know, those photos. The ones you promised her you'd delete?) That My Little Pony app that you totally-installed-just-to-test-your-download-speed-seriously-shut-up... is it still there? Quick, hand it over before you pique their curiosity! Or say "no" and be the weirdo who wouldn't hand their phone over to a friend for a second. If only there were some sort of on-the-fly middle ground — a "Guest Mode", if you will.Colin Gillis: Yahoo's Business Model Is "Looking Increasingly Archaic"
Jan 05, 12:38AM
Wall Street was not super-impressed with today's announcement of Yahoo's new CEO Scott Thompson. The stock was down 2 percent in the morning and ended the day down 3 percent. I spoke with analyst Colin Gillis of BGC Financial in the video above who says the drumming the stock got was "less a vote on Scott's ability" than a "vote on Yahoo not going private."Not So Evil: Google Penalizes Chrome's PageRank For Policy Violation
Jan 05, 12:23AM
"I love the name of honor, more than I fear death" - Julius Caesar. Google does too, apparently. The company has lowered the PageRank of its Chrome download page after violating its own paid link policy during a sponsored blog post campaign for the browser by Google's ad agency Unruly Media. Google's head of webspam Matt Cutts responded to criticism of the campaign last night, saying his team "has taken manual action to demote www.google.com/chrome for at least 60 days". Some accuse Google of lying about not knowing it was buying sponsored blog posts through Unruly. I argue it might have thought it was buying StumbleUpon Paid Discovery or other legitimate ads.Mogees: Multitouch On Any Surface With A Contact Microphone
Jan 04, 11:20PM
Here's an interesting little project that, while it's unlikely to grow into a major product, nevertheless demonstrates the potential of alternative interfaces. Bruno Zamborlin's Mogees (an abbreviation of "mosaicing gestural surface") takes input from a contact microphone and analyzes it to determine the placement and direction of gestures on any surface through which vibrations can be detected. I wrote a while back about how the "finger on a glass touchscreen" wasn't the be-all and end-all of user interaction. The stylus, for example, has much life left in it. And interfaces we haven't even thought of will emerge as well. Why not a puck that turns your table into a touchable surface? It really has to be seen to be understood.Healthcare Field of Dreams In Idaho: Health System Opens Innovation Center
Jan 04, 10:31PM
Fifteen years ago the Internet was revolutionizing global communications and computing so companies were looking for the most advanced markets to test their technologies. Locales such as Korea and Singapore portended the future. Today, no less than reinvention of healthcare is taking place. A key question is which locales will provide a similar testbed for healthtech. It's not always the obvious places. Healthcare providers such as the Mayo Clinic have been at the vanguard of adopting new technologies and approaches. However, this remains a provider-centric approach and the Mayo Clinic has far more resources than a community hospital or clinic. Ultimately, a broader community-focused effort can demonstrate how new approaches can scale nationally across a wide array of settings. That is, an approach that spans all income and demographic sectors as well as a range from urban to rural settings.Groupon Merchant Center Now Shows If Customers Love or Hate Your Deals
Jan 04, 10:04PM
To combat the lack of transparency around customer satisfaction with daily deals, Groupon today launched a new version of its Merchant Center. It includes the real-time percentage of deal customers who would recommend the business to a friend, plus their comments. Customer satisfaction is a big question for merchants wondering if they should start or continue running daily deals. Data on satisfaction rates is scarce, though. Worse, a 2010 study showed that just 36% of customers spend more than the value of a deal, and just 20% return to the business. The feature could be a double-edged sword, encouraging retention or desertion depending on a merchant's feedback.Microsoft's Newest Flight Simulator Goes Freemium
Jan 04, 8:46PM
In the gaming world, there are gamers, there are hardcore gamers... and then there are flight sim players. These guys exist on a plane of dedication that they reside on almost exclusively, with a degree of commitment matched only by their spiritual brothers: the train sim players. Alas, no level of dedication can pay to keep the lights on if the fan base simply isn't big enough... hence the layoff of Microsoft's entire Flight Simulator team back in 2009. Looking to start afresh and bring new blood (and new wallets) into the fan base, Microsoft's taking a different approach with their latest game, Flight: it's going freemium.Kodak Reportedly Preparing For Bankruptcy Auction Of Patents
Jan 04, 8:45PM
Poor Kodak. At this point, they're just along for the ride. The last few years have been rough on them, and they've made a few big decisions that haven't panned out. I must admit that while my unsolicited advice to them was sound, it probably would have to have been put in place a decade ago for them to have avoided the current state of things. As it is, the WSJ has word that they are planning to file Chapter 11 and do a court-supervised auction of their many digital imaging patents. It's sad, but the truth is that while Kodak is very much still a valuable company, it's simply not a viable business any more. Their efforts to change the business they're in came too late — and now they're in the business of going under.Credit Karma Launches Free Credit Monitoring, Enrolls 100,000 Users In A Day
Jan 04, 8:18PM
Credit Karma, the online service for keeping track of your credit score, has launched a new feature: free credit monitoring. Within the first day of its existence (the option became available just yesterday), the company has managed to enroll an impressive 100,000 users for the opt-in credit monitoring service. The move brings Credit Karma's total user base to over 4 million.Are You The World's Best Programmer? Compete In Facebook's 2012 Hacker Cup
Jan 04, 7:56PM
Facebook has announced its 2012 Hacker Cup, a global computer programming competition. The event will serve as an important recruiting tool to attract great coders to the company, which is constantly battling for fresh engineering talent with other tech giants. In each round, competitors will try to solve complex algorithmic problems as quickly and accurately as possible. Finalists are flown to Facebook HQ, with the winner named the world's best hacker. Hopefully, the event will go smoother than last year, where instructions were vague and scattered, leading to confusion and frustration.Microsoft, OEMs Pledging $200 Million For Windows Phone Marketing Push
Jan 04, 7:50PM
If you're not a Windows fan, then these next few months may not be too pleasant for you. WinSupersite's Paul Thurrott reports that Microsoft and OEM friends like Nokia and Samsung will be spending around $200 million in order give Windows Phone a big marketing push in early 2012.Lightbank, OCA Put $1M In Auto Repair Marketplace BodyShopBids
Jan 04, 7:00PM
BodyShopBids, a site that allows consumers to solicit custom auto repair estimates by uploading a photo, has raised $1 million in led by OCA Ventures with New World Ventures and Lightbank participating in the round. Basically, BodyShopBids is a marketplace for auto repairs. The platform connects consumers who need auto body repairs with body shops through a bidding system. Consumers upload a photo of their damaged vehicles and will receive around 4 custom quotes from nearby body shops within 24 hours. A personal BodyShopBids concierge also educates consumers on the repair process and work needed. From there, the consumer can choose an estimate and book an appointment with the body shop.@WalmartLabs Acquires Mobile Agency Small Society
Jan 04, 6:23PM
@WalmartLabs, the retailer's digital technology division, has acquired Portland-based mobile agency Small Society. The company helped businesses create, develop and launch iOS applications, and has served a number of high-profile clients, including DoubleTree, Starbucks (the original app), Amazon (the Amazon Deals app), Whole Foods, the Democratic National Convention, WordPress, ZipCar and others.Android Market's "Featured Apps" Seeing Explosive Download Numbers
Jan 04, 5:11PM
Getting featured in the Android Market is starting to have a meaningful impact for mobile app developers. According to the recent news from fitness app maker RunKeeper, the company saw a 637% increase in downloads since November after just a few days of being a featured app in the Android Market "Health & Fitness" section. But is RunKeeper seeing the boost because of the New Year's resolution-making crowd? Or is being featured in the Android Market really bumping up download numbers in the extreme for anyone who makes it there?If at any time you'd like to stop receiving these messages, just send an email to feeds_feedburner_com_techcrunch+unsubscribe-hmdtechnology=gmail.com@mail.feed2email.net.
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