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After (Finally) Raising Funds, Storybricks Pivots To Give Games Studios An AI Boost
Dec 05, 10:49AM
Storybricks, the AI gaming startup co-founded by serial entrepreneur Rodolfo Rosini, has announced that it's pivoting. Gone is the company's super-ambitious mission to create a new browser-based MMO that would let users turn stories into games. Instead, harnessing much of its core tech, the startup aims to build the best artificial intelligence (AI) engine for online games by giving characters emotions -- and licensing this engine to third-parties.Rocket Internet Raises Another $26M For Lazada, Its Asian Amazon Clone, As It Ramps Up Its Marketplace Ambitions
Dec 05, 9:38AM
Rocket Internet is continuing its aggressive push in Asia, and is turning to more investment to do it: today the company announced that Lazada, its online shopping mall -- think Amazon here -- has picked up another €20 million ($26 million), this time led by Summit Partners. It will be using the investment to help push a "marketplace" model, where, similar to Amazon it will offer a platform for smaller merchants to sell their products, providing the logistics and fulfilment that underpins it.Nokia Unveils Latest Windows Phone 8 Device: Lumia 620 Packs 3.8 Inch ClearBlack Display, NFC, Costs $249 (Before Taxes)
Dec 05, 9:34AM
Marko Ahtisaari, Executive VP of Design, Nokia, has unveiled its latest Windows Phone 8 device: the Nokia Lumia 620. The product design chief was speaking at the LeWeb conference taking place this week in Paris. The phone is smaller (and cheaper) than other Windows Phone 8 Lumia devices — with a 3.8 inch screen, 1GHz dual-core Snapdragon S4 processor and Nokia’s ClearBlack display to improve the viewing experience outdoors in bright sunlight. (Full device specs can be found here.) Nokia is also adding some new casing colours with this Lumia device — overlaying one translucent colour layer over an opaque layer to produce new “bold blends” with a “depth effect” — such as lime green and orange. Seven colours are being offered in all, with exchangeable shells — in gloss and matte finishes. “We knew there was space in the portfolio for something more compact,” said Ahtisaari. “Something that fit beautifully in the palm of the hand. But something that still had the camera, a solid camera, and the signature apps that Nokia is noted for. And as well we wanted something that would take our pure colour story and just give it a burst of playfulness — mix it up a little bit.” The more compact form factor of the Lumia 620, means Nokia has opted for a “softer, rounder” form factor than for its other two — larger — Windows Phone 8 devices: the Lumia 920 and 820, noted Ahtisaari. The Lumia 620 also includes NFC for linking up with accessories such as speakers, an “especially loud speaker” on the back of the phone, a “very fast” five megapixel camera and Nokia-specific Windows Phone 8 apps/features — such as SmartShoot, Cinemagraph, City Lens, Lenses, Maps, Music, Drive and Transport. Also on board: a front-facing camera for videocalls. The design chief said the phone will cost $249 (before taxes) — its cheapest Windows Phone 8 device by far — and is set to ship in January, to Asia-Pac, Middle East and Africa first, with Europe and Canada following “soon thereafter”.Europe Gets Its Entrepreneur Mojo Back With The Europas And Europioneers
Dec 05, 9:23AM
Europe is clearly switching its cultural gears. From saying how things can't be done, to saying how thing can be done, our cultural mindset is changing, whether our politicians like it or not. The media might still be in the long grass of austerity, but here on the lawn, we're celebrating entrepreneurship. So today it's rewarding to see that a great event like The Europas, the annual awards for tech startups in Europe awarded by peers in the industry, is to be joined by another awards scheme, Europioneers, which will celebrate two top entrepreneurs individually, this time with the European Commission's blessing.The Gangnam Style Onslaught Continues With An Official Live Wallpaper For Android Devices
Dec 05, 7:34AM
It's been, what, five months since PSY's Gangnam Style first made its YouTube debut? You'd think that Gangnam fever would've died out long ago, but it just keeps chugging along -- the video recently beat some Justin Bieber garbage to become the most-watched thing on YouTube, and some expect it to hit 1 billion views in short order. If all that weren't enough, there's now an official Gangnam Style live wallpaper for Android-toting K-Pop fanatics to throw their money at.Feds Close The Once-Heralded Apps.gov Cloud Storefront
Dec 05, 7:31AM
The U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) has closed Apps.gov, the once-heralded cloud storefront established in the first months of the Obama Administration by former Federal Chief Information Officer Vivek Kundra.Nokia Announces The Lumia 920T's China Launch
Dec 05, 7:17AM
Nokia announced today that it is partnering with China Mobile to bring the Lumia 920T to Chinese consumers. It will be the first Windows Phone to support the country's TD-SCMA standard, and the first Windows Phone 8 device available in China. The phone will be available by the end of the year for RMB 4599 (about $739) without a contract.NYC's Mayor Challenges Designers, Hardware Hackers, And Policy Buffs To Reinvent The Humble Payphone
Dec 05, 6:46AM
With cell phones as ubiquitous as they are (a recent report from the Pew Research Center purports that around 85% of American adults have one), it seems safe to say that the age of the pay phone is winding down. That said, they haven't outlived their usefulness yet and now New York City seems dead set on dragging them into the 21st century. That's why earlier tonight mayor Michael Bloomberg issued a curious challenge to the city's numerous hackers and designers. Their task? To give those payphones a much-needed revamping.Yahoo's Not Quite Done With Alibaba: Its People Person Jacqueline Reses Just Joined The Board
Dec 05, 6:27AM
Yahoo may have finally reached a deal this past September to sell a 40% stake in China's e-commerce giant Alibaba for $7.6 billion, but with a 23% stake left in Alibaba, it's not out of there altogether yet. Today, Alibaba announced that Jacqueline Reses, EVP of people and development at Yahoo, is the latest Yahoo to join Alibaba Group's board of directors.Kindle FreeTime Unlimited Offers Restricted Access To Content For Kids From Disney, Nickelodeon, DC Comics, And More
Dec 05, 5:00AM
Amazon today launched FreeTime Unlimited, a subscription service that offers movies, games, and books for the kids. The launch follows the recent software update to Kindle Fire, which introduced FreeTime, a profile system designed to restrict access to certain content.Facebook's Comeback Continues: $FB Set To Replace Infosys On The NASDAQ 100 Next Week
Dec 05, 3:21AM
Facebook will replace Infosys on the NASDAQ 100 Index on December 12th, about seven months after its IPO, NBC is reporting tonight. The news followed Infosys' recent announcement that it would be moving its listing to the New York Stock Exchange from NASDAQ in order to make its stock more available to international investors.Uber Is Launching Version 2.0, With A New Design, Fare Estimates, And Foursquare Location Data
Dec 05, 2:43AM
I just downloaded the latest version of Uber, and I was presented with a brand spanking new design, as well as message announcing Uber 2.0, explaining that it's "a thorough overhaul" and that "as one of our top riders, we're giving you the keys to our latest iPhone app before anyone else." (Hey, I do spend more money on Uber than on food.) The company declined to comment for this story, which is a bit odd, but we've heard that it's throwing a party tonight, so there's a good chance that's when it plans to officially launch the app. To be clear, version 2.0 (or, technically, version 2.1.0) is already available in the Apple App Store, but it sounds like not every user is seeing the new design.PeopleBrowsr Claims "Twitter Changed Position On Eve Of Discovery" Over Federal Jurisdiction Request
Dec 05, 2:29AM
Tonight, PeopleBrowsr, the company that filed a restraining order against Twitter to keep a hold of its firehose of data after Twitter decided to end the deal it had in place with them, came out to discuss the latest in its case. PeopleBrowsr says that "Twitter changed its position", and shared this as background:Zimmerman Social Media Witch Hunt, Now Shameful With New Pictures Of Bloody Nose
Dec 05, 12:51AM
The presumption of evidence means very little to an angry Twitter mob. Days after George Zimmerman was arrested for a messy altercation that tragically left 17-year-old Trayvon Martin dead, celebrities and civil rights groups broke out the digital pitchforks, ready to condemn the man before cooler heads could examine the facts. Now, a picture of Zimmerman's bloody nose from the night of the attack has given significant credibility to Zimmerman's plea of self-defense.AOL's Advertising.com Group Acquires Retargeting Startup Buysight
Dec 04, 11:23PM
AOL just announced that it has acquired Buysight, a startup offering ad targeting and retargeting. The startup will become part of the Advertising.com group, which includes AOL's various ad platforms, such as Advertising.com, ADTECH, The AOL On Network, goviral, and Pictela. (AOL also owns TechCrunch.) In the acquisition press release, the group's CEO, Ned Brody, said Buysight's technology will be incorporated into AOL's Adlens optimization technology.The Reality Of The Global Messaging App Market: It's Really Freaking Fragmented
Dec 04, 11:20PM
It would be easy to assume that Facebook or Apple's iMessage are in a natural position to reach global dominance in smartphone messaging. But the reality is that the landscape looks very different and is very fragmented -- at least for now. There are plenty of apps, WhatsApp included, that have tens of millions of users or dominant marketshare in their home countries of Korea, Japan or China.Mr. Kalanick Goes To Washington: How Uber Won In DC
Dec 04, 11:20PM
Uber won a huge victory today, as the D.C. city council approved a legislative framework for a new class of transportation services. The company has had its ups and downs with local regulators throughout the country, from San Francisco to New York to Boston to Washington, D.C.Past Unlawful Injunctions Shouldn't Cloud Samsung Galaxy S III's Future
Dec 04, 11:05PM
Editor's note: Brian J. Love is an assistant professor of law at Santa Clara University School of Law, where he teaches courses in patent law and remedies. On the heels of losing a jury trial and a billion-dollar verdict to Apple in August, Samsung must now attempt to persuade U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh not to issue an injunction banning sales of phones found to infringe Apple's patents.Gift Guide: Favorite Board Games For All Ages
Dec 04, 10:48PM
Back in the olden days, before the kids had their smartphones and their Nintendo tapes and their Tivo, families used to get together in a room, open a paper box, and remove a set of boards and pieces. By following a set of rules, families could play these "board games" together and have loads of fun until the candles burned out and someone died of dysentery.DreamIt Ventures Teams Up With Blue Cross, Penn Medicine To Launch An Accelerator For Health Startups
Dec 04, 10:33PM
While accelerators may be in a bubble, they're also beginning to have a measurable, positive impact on the ecosystem. The real opportunity, though, is not in creating another Y Combinator, but in building vertical-specific accelerators that bring together industry partnerships to create learning and business opportunities for their startups. In healthtech, there's Rock Health, Blueprint, Healthbox, New York Digital Health Accelerator and Startup Health to name a few.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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