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It's already pretty darn easy to sign up to attend an event on Eventbrite, but I have to admit that there are still times when I grumble about having to fill out a short form. And if you're an event organizer, you probably want to eliminate any obstacles for potential attendees. That's why Eventbrite is starting to roll out an even faster sign-up process.
CES today issued a press release announcing that DISH's Hopper with Sling technology built-in is the "Best of Show" after all, an honor it will share with existing winner the Razer Edge for the 2013 show. The decision follows the revelation that CNET was ordered to remove the Hopper from consideration after CNET parent company CBS asked them to. CBS is currently involved in litigation with DISH over Hopper functionality.
My grandpa, like so many men with post-WWII PTSD, used hit the OTB downtown for a little Night Train, some betting, and some losing. That was then, this is now. You, too, can crack open a fine ripple and bet on the ponies but now you can do it from the comfort of your laptop. DerbyJackpot.com is, in short, is taking advantage of a legal loophole that makes horserace betting the only legal form of online gambling. And they're making it social.
Facebook Gifts were one of the lower points of Facebook's earnings yesterday, but that doesn't mean the company isn't continuing to innovate on the gifting front. Today, Facebook announced the "Facebook Card," which is a new way for people to give their friends gifts to places like Jamba Juice, Olive Garden, Sephora, and Target, all on one reusable gift card purchased from Facebook.
Using text chat to provide customer service is a pretty standard tool on the web, but when it comes to mobile apps, these chats are still very rare, despite the fact that a lot of online commerce has already moved to mobile. The Y Combinator-backed Hipmob, which offers these chat features and integration with standard IM clients and CRM tools as a service, hopes to become the "premier support service for mobile," as the company's co-founder Ayo Omojola told me earlier this week.
TwelveSouth announced a new iPhone accessory today, one that probably looks familiar if you're aware of Apple's Smart Cover and Smart Case products. The SurfacePad for iPhone is a sheath of Napa leather that wraps around your phone and provides basic level protection while adding a minimum amount of weight and thickness.
Some consolidation in the world of mobile payments and mobile banking: mFoundry is getting acquired by FIS for $120 million. FIS -- a banking and payment provider that works with some 14,000 banks worldwide -- already had a 22% stake in the company; today's deal will see it paying for the remaining 78% in cash. mFoundry provides mobile banking and mobile payment solutions to some 850 banks and retailers, including Bank of America and Starbucks, which uses some of mFoundry's technology to enable mobile payments, which complements the partnership that Starbucks has with Square.
Apple's Mac Pro has been on the chopping block for a long time according to many industry watchers and pundits, and as of March it will actually get the axe in Europe. But the Pro's debatable market appeal isn't what's causing the termination of sales in that region: the existing models simply don't comply with Europe's new regulatory standards for consumer electronics, according to 9to5Mac.
Payments startup Square has scored another retailer partnership, as today Verizon Wireless says it will begin stocking the Square Card Reader in its stores, effective immediately. The readers, which allow iOS and Android users to accept credit card and debit card payments, will sell for $9.97 at Verizon's stores, and come with a $10 credit to users' Square accounts, making the transaction essentially free for consumers. This is the same pricing that Square's other retailers have in place, too.
Ever since the launch of the 500 Startups Accelerator a few years ago, Dave McClure and his crew have filled five classes with recruits that have come through his vast referral network -- recommended by mentors, advisors, and alumni alike. But that will change this time around, as 500 Startups will now leverage AngelList for all applications after successfully testing out the platform.
If you run your own WordPress site, chances are you are using a pretty secure password to keep hackers from posting random stories to your blog. Still, even the best password isn't as good as using Gmail-style two-factor authentication, but unless you are a programmer, chances are you don't have the expertise to make this happen. Authy, which offers two-factor authentication as a service, is hoping to solve this by launching a WordPress plugin today that replaces the standard WordPress login with a more secure two-factor authentication login system.
A new company called Connected Data wants to change the way people do cloud storage, with a dedicated, Internet-connected storage device called the Transporter. After a successful Kickstarter campaign, the company is looking to get the product in more people's hands, and will be helped in that pursuit by $6 million in Series A funding led by Floodgate, with participation from Northgate Capital.
42Floors, the Y-Combinator-incubated startup that has built a search engine for the office rentals market, has raised another $12.3 million -- funding that founder Jason Freedman says the company will use to take its service to markets outside of San Francisco and New York, including its first international move to London by the end of this year. The Series B round was led by new investor NEA, with participation from existing backers Bessemer Venture Partners and Thrive Capital, as well as new investor Columbus Nova Technology Partners.
This just in from the land of crazy: Republican Senator Lamar Alexander says that "video games is [sic] a bigger problem than guns." We've included the full quote and video below of his Interview with NBC's News' Chuck Todd, responding to a question about background checks for gun owners.
Munich, Germany-based online fashion moodboard startup, Stylight, has secured a multi-million euro investment from SevenVentures, the venture subsidiary of media company ProSiebenSat.1. The exact amount has not been disclosed. ProSiebenSat.1 operates 29 TV stations across Europe -- and this reach will also benefit Stylight, as the startup said the company will give it "extensive media coverage".
Braintree, an Accel and NEA-backed payments company that’s now processing more than $6 billion a year, is launching a new payments layer that lets users sign up to pay for goods and services without having to re-enter their credit card details. Say you use one app in Braintree’s network — like Airbnb. If you’re a new user to Uber, you won’t have to re-enter your credit card all over again because it may be stored in Braintree’s network. They’re calling it Venmo Touch, which keeps the brand of the startup Braintree bought in August for $26.2 million. When you sign up for an app in the Venmo network, you’ll have the option of saving your credit card details in it so they can be used in other apps on the platform. The idea is that by removing one step of friction, more users will go through and complete transactions. The default is checked to opt in users, and Braintree is keeping the initial beta really small with apps like HotelTonight, TaskRabbit and Wrapp. “There’s tremendous overlap in the customer bases of these apps,” said Braintree CEO Bill Ready. “Putting in your card information into an app is painful and people are doing it 10 to 15 times.” Braintree recognizes that a credit card might belong to a particular user through device fingerprinting, which collects a number of attributes about a device to create a unique ID. Ready wouldn’t reveal what inputs the company is using to fingerprint devices, but they could include the device model, browser, network and so on. You’d use enough inputs (potentially hundreds) to create enough combinations so that it would be highly improbable to create duplicates. They also don’t store financial details locally on the phone. “Your data is stored in the cloud,” Ready said. “If we see anything suspicious, we can prompt for the CVV again.” Braintree has about 35 million uniques on its network and processes more than $6 billion in transactions a year. $1.5 billion of that is on mobile devices. The company’s clients include Uber, Rovio, LivingSocial, Airbnb, Fab.com, GitHub, OpenTable, LevelUp, TaskRabbit and HotelTonight. They charge 2.9 percent plus 30 cents of each transaction. Ready says the business is profitable even after paying the payment networks and credit card companies their transaction fees. The company has raised at least $69 million in two rounds from Accel Partners, NEA, Greycroft Partners and
A new update out today for Angry Birds Star Wars adds 20 new levels to the game for free, via the new Escape From Hoth content pack. It brings new types of enemies via the "mynock pigs," and adds another boss fight into the mix as well as new bonus levels. I don't know how close to canon this is, but it looks like fun and it's a free extension of Angry Birds gameplay.
ABI Research has put out its latest projections on the lay of the land for smartphones and tablets worldwide in 2013: it says that there will be 1.4 billion smartphones, and 268 million tablets in active use this year, with Android keeping its lead in handsets and iOS continuing to dominate in tablets. Microsoft and BlackBerry will continue to remain in the game in smartphones with small shares of the market -- but big enough to keep developers interested. In other words, it won't be a two-horse race, ABI tells me: "Maybe a race of two horses and two ponies."
Twitter is currently experiencing a widespread service outage that appears to be intermittent, according to our checks with the web client, third-party apps and website service status checking tools. Other TC staff are able to access the service on and off every few minutes, but it seems like the stream is interrupted, and third-party clients like Tweetbot still appear to be having trouble connecting at all, although they're still able to send and receive direct messages.
For parents, Amazon's latest additions to its original video lineup is kind of a big deal. Today, the company says it has green-lit five new children's test pilots to beef up its catalog of original video content on Amazon Instant Video and Prime Instant Video, as well as on European counterparts LOVEFiLM UK and LOVEFiLM Germany. One of the new pilots, "Teeny Tiny Dogs," is produced by The Jim Henson Company and created by Howard Baker of "Rugrats" fame. Another is an animated series called "Creative Gallery," which comes from Angela Santomero. Parents may not recognize her name, but they'll know her work - she's also the creator of "Super Why!," as well as Emmy-nominated "Blue's Clues," and "Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood," the latter which extends the legacy of Mister Rogers' world of make-believe into a new series.
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Eventbrite Registration Gets Even Easier With One-Click Sign Ups For Free Events
Jan 31, 7:05PM
It's already pretty darn easy to sign up to attend an event on Eventbrite, but I have to admit that there are still times when I grumble about having to fill out a short form. And if you're an event organizer, you probably want to eliminate any obstacles for potential attendees. That's why Eventbrite is starting to roll out an even faster sign-up process.CES Awards The DISH Hopper "Best Of CES" After All, Drops CNET As Awards Partner
Jan 31, 6:52PM
CES today issued a press release announcing that DISH's Hopper with Sling technology built-in is the "Best of Show" after all, an honor it will share with existing winner the Razer Edge for the 2013 show. The decision follows the revelation that CNET was ordered to remove the Hopper from consideration after CNET parent company CBS asked them to. CBS is currently involved in litigation with DISH over Hopper functionality.DerbyJackpot Makes Betting On The Ponies A Little Less Sketchy
Jan 31, 6:47PM
My grandpa, like so many men with post-WWII PTSD, used hit the OTB downtown for a little Night Train, some betting, and some losing. That was then, this is now. You, too, can crack open a fine ripple and bet on the ponies but now you can do it from the comfort of your laptop. DerbyJackpot.com is, in short, is taking advantage of a legal loophole that makes horserace betting the only legal form of online gambling. And they're making it social.Facebook Unveils The "Facebook Card," A Reusable Gift Card That Holds Multiple Balances From Different Stores
Jan 31, 6:34PM
Facebook Gifts were one of the lower points of Facebook's earnings yesterday, but that doesn't mean the company isn't continuing to innovate on the gifting front. Today, Facebook announced the "Facebook Card," which is a new way for people to give their friends gifts to places like Jamba Juice, Olive Garden, Sephora, and Target, all on one reusable gift card purchased from Facebook.YC-Backed Hipmob Wants To Become The Premier In-App Customer Service Tool
Jan 31, 6:00PM
Using text chat to provide customer service is a pretty standard tool on the web, but when it comes to mobile apps, these chats are still very rare, despite the fact that a lot of online commerce has already moved to mobile. The Y Combinator-backed Hipmob, which offers these chat features and integration with standard IM clients and CRM tools as a service, hopes to become the "premier support service for mobile," as the company's co-founder Ayo Omojola told me earlier this week.Twelve South's New SurfacePad Gives Your iPhone A Smart Cover
Jan 31, 5:41PM
TwelveSouth announced a new iPhone accessory today, one that probably looks familiar if you're aware of Apple's Smart Cover and Smart Case products. The SurfacePad for iPhone is a sheath of Napa leather that wraps around your phone and provides basic level protection while adding a minimum amount of weight and thickness.Mobile Banking And Payment Startup mFoundry Sold To FIS For $120M On $165M Valuation
Jan 31, 5:32PM
Some consolidation in the world of mobile payments and mobile banking: mFoundry is getting acquired by FIS for $120 million. FIS -- a banking and payment provider that works with some 14,000 banks worldwide -- already had a 22% stake in the company; today's deal will see it paying for the remaining 78% in cash. mFoundry provides mobile banking and mobile payment solutions to some 850 banks and retailers, including Bank of America and Starbucks, which uses some of mFoundry's technology to enable mobile payments, which complements the partnership that Starbucks has with Square.Apple Reportedly Discontinuing Mac Pro Sales In Europe Starting In March [Update: Confirmed]
Jan 31, 5:19PM
Apple's Mac Pro has been on the chopping block for a long time according to many industry watchers and pundits, and as of March it will actually get the axe in Europe. But the Pro's debatable market appeal isn't what's causing the termination of sales in that region: the existing models simply don't comply with Europe's new regulatory standards for consumer electronics, according to 9to5Mac.Verizon Wireless Stores Now Selling Square Card Readers
Jan 31, 5:14PM
Payments startup Square has scored another retailer partnership, as today Verizon Wireless says it will begin stocking the Square Card Reader in its stores, effective immediately. The readers, which allow iOS and Android users to accept credit card and debit card payments, will sell for $9.97 at Verizon's stores, and come with a $10 credit to users' Square accounts, making the transaction essentially free for consumers. This is the same pricing that Square's other retailers have in place, too.For Its Sixth Class, 500 Startups Accelerator Will Use AngelList For All Startup Applications
Jan 31, 5:00PM
Ever since the launch of the 500 Startups Accelerator a few years ago, Dave McClure and his crew have filled five classes with recruits that have come through his vast referral network -- recommended by mentors, advisors, and alumni alike. But that will change this time around, as 500 Startups will now leverage AngelList for all applications after successfully testing out the platform.Authy Brings Two-Factor Authentication To Self-Hosted WordPress Sites
Jan 31, 5:00PM
If you run your own WordPress site, chances are you are using a pretty secure password to keep hackers from posting random stories to your blog. Still, even the best password isn't as good as using Gmail-style two-factor authentication, but unless you are a programmer, chances are you don't have the expertise to make this happen. Authy, which offers two-factor authentication as a service, is hoping to solve this by launching a WordPress plugin today that replaces the standard WordPress login with a more secure two-factor authentication login system.After A Successful Kickstarter Campaign, Connected Data Raises $6M For Its Transporter Secure Cloud Storage Device
Jan 31, 5:00PM
A new company called Connected Data wants to change the way people do cloud storage, with a dedicated, Internet-connected storage device called the Transporter. After a successful Kickstarter campaign, the company is looking to get the product in more people's hands, and will be helped in that pursuit by $6 million in Series A funding led by Floodgate, with participation from Northgate Capital.YC Alum 42Floors Raises $12.3M Led By NEA To Take Its Office Rental Search Engine US-Wide And Beyond
Jan 31, 4:59PM
42Floors, the Y-Combinator-incubated startup that has built a search engine for the office rentals market, has raised another $12.3 million -- funding that founder Jason Freedman says the company will use to take its service to markets outside of San Francisco and New York, including its first international move to London by the end of this year. The Series B round was led by new investor NEA, with participation from existing backers Bessemer Venture Partners and Thrive Capital, as well as new investor Columbus Nova Technology Partners.Republican Senator Says 'Video Games Is A Bigger Problem Than Guns'
Jan 31, 4:56PM
This just in from the land of crazy: Republican Senator Lamar Alexander says that "video games is [sic] a bigger problem than guns." We've included the full quote and video below of his Interview with NBC's News' Chuck Todd, responding to a question about background checks for gun owners.German Fashion Moodboard Startup Stylight Secures "Significant" Multi-Million Euro Series B From ProSiebenSat.1′s SevenVentures
Jan 31, 4:53PM
Munich, Germany-based online fashion moodboard startup, Stylight, has secured a multi-million euro investment from SevenVentures, the venture subsidiary of media company ProSiebenSat.1. The exact amount has not been disclosed. ProSiebenSat.1 operates 29 TV stations across Europe -- and this reach will also benefit Stylight, as the startup said the company will give it "extensive media coverage".Braintree's New Payments Layer Lets Users Sign Up For Apps Without Re-Entering Their Credit Card Data
Jan 31, 4:00PM
Braintree, an Accel and NEA-backed payments company that’s now processing more than $6 billion a year, is launching a new payments layer that lets users sign up to pay for goods and services without having to re-enter their credit card details. Say you use one app in Braintree’s network — like Airbnb. If you’re a new user to Uber, you won’t have to re-enter your credit card all over again because it may be stored in Braintree’s network. They’re calling it Venmo Touch, which keeps the brand of the startup Braintree bought in August for $26.2 million. When you sign up for an app in the Venmo network, you’ll have the option of saving your credit card details in it so they can be used in other apps on the platform. The idea is that by removing one step of friction, more users will go through and complete transactions. The default is checked to opt in users, and Braintree is keeping the initial beta really small with apps like HotelTonight, TaskRabbit and Wrapp. “There’s tremendous overlap in the customer bases of these apps,” said Braintree CEO Bill Ready. “Putting in your card information into an app is painful and people are doing it 10 to 15 times.” Braintree recognizes that a credit card might belong to a particular user through device fingerprinting, which collects a number of attributes about a device to create a unique ID. Ready wouldn’t reveal what inputs the company is using to fingerprint devices, but they could include the device model, browser, network and so on. You’d use enough inputs (potentially hundreds) to create enough combinations so that it would be highly improbable to create duplicates. They also don’t store financial details locally on the phone. “Your data is stored in the cloud,” Ready said. “If we see anything suspicious, we can prompt for the CVV again.” Braintree has about 35 million uniques on its network and processes more than $6 billion in transactions a year. $1.5 billion of that is on mobile devices. The company’s clients include Uber, Rovio, LivingSocial, Airbnb, Fab.com, GitHub, OpenTable, LevelUp, TaskRabbit and HotelTonight. They charge 2.9 percent plus 30 cents of each transaction. Ready says the business is profitable even after paying the payment networks and credit card companies their transaction fees. The company has raised at least $69 million in two rounds from Accel Partners, NEA, Greycroft Partners andRovio Adds 20 New Levels To Angry Birds Star Wars With Escape From Hoth Episode
Jan 31, 4:00PM
A new update out today for Angry Birds Star Wars adds 20 new levels to the game for free, via the new Escape From Hoth content pack. It brings new types of enemies via the "mynock pigs," and adds another boss fight into the mix as well as new bonus levels. I don't know how close to canon this is, but it looks like fun and it's a free extension of Angry Birds gameplay.1.4B Smartphones In Use By 2013; Only 45M Windows Phones, 20M BB10s As Android, iOS Lead In 'A Race Of Two Horses And Two Ponies'
Jan 31, 3:53PM
ABI Research has put out its latest projections on the lay of the land for smartphones and tablets worldwide in 2013: it says that there will be 1.4 billion smartphones, and 268 million tablets in active use this year, with Android keeping its lead in handsets and iOS continuing to dominate in tablets. Microsoft and BlackBerry will continue to remain in the game in smartphones with small shares of the market -- but big enough to keep developers interested. In other words, it won't be a two-horse race, ABI tells me: "Maybe a race of two horses and two ponies."Twitter Currently Experiencing Widespread, Rolling Service Outage [Update: Resolved]
Jan 31, 3:23PM
Twitter is currently experiencing a widespread service outage that appears to be intermittent, according to our checks with the web client, third-party apps and website service status checking tools. Other TC staff are able to access the service on and off every few minutes, but it seems like the stream is interrupted, and third-party clients like Tweetbot still appear to be having trouble connecting at all, although they're still able to send and receive direct messages.Amazon Expands Its Original Video Lineup With Five New Children's Pilots, Including Those From The Jim Henson Company & Blue's Clues Creator
Jan 31, 3:12PM
For parents, Amazon's latest additions to its original video lineup is kind of a big deal. Today, the company says it has green-lit five new children's test pilots to beef up its catalog of original video content on Amazon Instant Video and Prime Instant Video, as well as on European counterparts LOVEFiLM UK and LOVEFiLM Germany. One of the new pilots, "Teeny Tiny Dogs," is produced by The Jim Henson Company and created by Howard Baker of "Rugrats" fame. Another is an animated series called "Creative Gallery," which comes from Angela Santomero. Parents may not recognize her name, but they'll know her work - she's also the creator of "Super Why!," as well as Emmy-nominated "Blue's Clues," and "Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood," the latter which extends the legacy of Mister Rogers' world of make-believe into a new series.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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Many entrepreneurs, investors, and early employees in startups in the state of California are now starting to receive big bills in the mail for back taxes that they never expected to owe. That's because in late December, when many of us were heading out for the holiday break, the state's Franchise Tax Board 
Today 
Nokia has announced via its Conversations blog that the long-awaited Windows Phone 7.8 update, which brings a few of the features from Windows Phone 8 to older hardware, has begun rolling out to owners of Nokia 510, 610, 710, 800 and 900 owners and will continue to do so over the next few weeks through February, pending operator approval.
It wouldn't be a BlackBerry press event without something totally unexpected and semi-weird thrown in the mix. Today, at BlackBerry's media conference revealing BlackBerry 10, the company appointed Alicia Keys as the new Global Creative Director. 
Uber has brought its premium taxi calling app to Singapore—the first country in Asia to get it. The company has been trialing its service here for the past week. According to users who have tried it out here, it runs Mercedes Benz S-Class sedans, setting it above the usual smaller Toyota cabs that the dominant service, ComfortDelGro runs. Of course, it charges a premium for the luxury, and fares are about 50 percent more costly than the regular cab, going for about $5 as a base charge and costing $10 as a minimum fare on top of that. Here’s the price list for Singapore. The company is planning its official launch in the island state around late February, and has started hiring a small base of local staff. It was speculated that Uber would choose Tokyo for its Asian debut, since its founder, Travis Kalanick, had visited the land of the rising sun to explore the option. Hong Kong may also be next; Uber has hired someone on the ground there. Uber has had its fair share of run-ins with the law in the US. Since its launch in 2010, Kalanick has been served with cease-and-desist letters from the California Public Utility Commission and the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency. He got one in Boston as well, got sued in Chicago, and faced blocks in Washington D.C.. In Singapore, taxi drivers are regulated by the government, so an individual cab driver that isn't tied to any of the cab companies still needs a taxi license. Uber might circumvent this rule and not have to register itself as a taxi company here by claiming its cabs can't be flagged on the road, and are private to those hailing them via their smartphones. But since Kalanick isn't new to lawsuits, the company looks like it's taking its typical "launch first, ask questions later" approach to the market. He plans to be in Singapore late February to launch the service officially.
You know, for a company that made its mark thanks to devices with physical QWERTY keyboards, BlackBerry really didn't spend much time chatting about the Q10. It's going to hit the street well after the all-touch Z10 does so it's an understandable move, but I've heard many a person begrudgingly stick with an ailing BlackBerry because of its top-notch keyboard. Thankfully, I managed to corner a Q10 for a little hands-on time, and its keyboard is just as good as ever -- the big question is, how's the rest of it?
There's a ton of good news today for Lyft. The company has struck a deal with the California Public Utilities Commission that will remove fines and allow it to continue operating in the state. It also announced plans this morning to expand its service to Los Angeles. The move into L.A. marks the first expansion market for Lyft, which became available to riders in San Francisco last summer.
Microsoft just made a 
RIM's accessories are almost as interesting as its first BB10 shipping hardware, and in addition to an external battery charger, they've also got a Bluetooth Speaker/speakerphone that's extremely portable, delivers decent sound and won't cost you an arm and a leg. Plus, the unique design means it clips onto your sun visor in the car for hands-free communication.
BlackBerry didn't only unveil the Z10 today, it also introduced a couple of accessories, including the external battery charger for the LS1, the Z10's 1800 mAh battery. The external charger is extremely slim and portable, and houses a covered slot for a spare battery, as well an integrated micro USB cable that slides nicely into the case when not in use.
We're right in the thick of RIM's big BlackBerry 10 announcement in New York, and it's been nothing if not eventful so far. CEO Thorsten Heins just recently unveiled the new BlackBerry Z10 (full review here) a little while ago, and now the topic of conversation has turned to something else: availability. RIM's first BlackBerry 10-powered device will first appear in the UK and Canada, with sales beginning tomorrow across the pond and Feb. 5 in the Great White North for $149.99 on a 3-year contract.
PlayHaven, the gaming service provider that helps studios monetize their players better, just grabbed Google Admob’s Charles Yim as COO. He’ll oversee the company’s international expansion, developer relations and business development. He had a similar role at Google where he managed the ad network’s key relationships with the biggest game developers like Rovio. He joined AdMob on the business development team before the company was acquired for $750 million by Google in 2010. (“Mobile cowboy” is a nickname he got at SXSW a few years ago for wearing cowboy hats and boots all the time.) PlayHaven is a company that’s had nine lives, I mean, pivots. It started as a gamer’s social network that transitioned into making communities for mobile games. Now it focuses on maximizing lifetime revenue from players for developers. It launched a product last year, that implemented an HTML5 layer inside games so developers could automatically swap in and out promotions based on a player’s history or demographics. A “whale” that spends a lot would be shown different adverts than a player who advances in a game without spending anything. That helped the company rack up 4,000 developers on its platform, close an $8 million round of funding in November and grow to about 60 employees. Yim had advised the company through this evolution. “I’ve known the CEO Andy Yang personally and watched the development of the company,” said Yim. “They’ve identified product-market fit, they’re ready to scale and I’ve to come help them out.” PlayHaven’s business has two prongs — an in-app advertising network that reaches about 100 million monthly uniques and a platform of revenue maximization tools. Those tools segment out users based on their spending habits, and help developers understand which ads or promotions to show them. “If you look at the tools in this industry today, it reflects the maturity of this ecosystem,” he said. “We no longer just slapping ads on top of games without much thought about what’s the best point in the game to show an ad, who are the appropriate users to show an ad to or not show an ad to.” They face dozens of competitors that overlap slightly (though not totally) with their mission. Big service providers like Flurry and Tapjoy help developers acquire users, but they’re not necessarily primarily focused on maximizing engagement or retention. Chartboost is another competitor that recently raised $19 million from Sequoia
BlackBerry''s big day is here, and so is the first BlackBerry 10 smartphone. A company's hopes are resting on this bold (no pun intended) new device, and to some extent, a nation's as well. I've been using the BlackBerry Z10, the flagship BB10 handset, for the past week now, and in that time I've been putting this new smartphone through everything I could think of to throw at it to see if BlackBerry is finally fielding a device that can roll with the big boys.
The BlackBerry keyboard is dead, long live the BlackBerry keyboard. Despite the full throttle touchscreen focus of its new mobile platform, BlackBerry 10, RIM has not forgotten its most fervent fans' adoration of those little black keys and has thrown them a bone -- or rather a handset. Meet the hybrid BlackBerry Q10.
No more RIM-shots allowed if you are among those who like to joke about the trials and tribulations of the Canadian handset manufacturer. Today the company said that it was dropping its Research In Motion name and would from today be known as BlackBerry only. It finally aligns its branding with company name.
Google 
After what feels like 
E-sports streaming provider Twitch is getting a huge validation of its platform from one of the biggest video game franchises out there. Today the company is announcing that gamers playing Call Of Duty: Black Ops 2 will soon be able to instantly stream their game sessions online with a single click.
Vine, Twitter’s latest foray into video sharing, seems to be having some service issues at the moment. We’ve been trying to access and use the app here at TechCrunch with no progress, and Vine has tweeted to confirm the service issues. Vine launched last Thursday and has had a whirlwind of a week. Though relatively buggy for an app launched by a major company like Twitter, Vine was welcomed by the tech blogosphere as the next Instagram, as it lets you share six-second looping videos (with or without sound) to all your favorite social networks. However, the fun ended quickly as users noticed a slight porn problem on the app. A porn clip called “DildoPlay”, which showed up on the app’s Editors’ Picks section on Monday, made matters even worse. Twitter claims that the clip was chosen because of “human error.” Then, Apple removed Vine from the App Store’s Featured section, presumably after seeing that a porn clip had been featured within the app. Vine has since started censoring the app, filtering out searches for various porn-related search terms. Today, the string of obstacles gets a bit longer with the reported service outage. Vine is experiencing a temporary service interruption. Thanks for your patience. — Vine (@vineapp) January 29, 2013 Is everyone looking for the newly-hidden pr0n on Vine all at once, because the service appears to be down. — Eric Zeman (@phonescooper) January 29, 2013 We’ll be sure to update the post as soon as Vine is back up and running. Stay tuned.
"In the 21st century we can no longer afford to have an immigration system where less than 10 percent of the people who come here do so based on the skills that they bring to this country," said immigration reform leader, Senator Marco Rubio, as he introduced a new high-skilled immigration bill. Once a country where "Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free," was the mantra of immigration, the overwhelming presence of technology is changing America's values to prioritize the promise of innovation over the world's neediest.
Corning announced its quarterly results today, and the company beat Wall Street expectations despite a drop in quarterly earnings, thanks in part to a 14 percent year over year increase in sales. Sales for Q4 2012 topped $2.14 billion, with sales of Corning's Gorilla Glass, the ultra durable material used in the construction of many smartphones and tablets including Apple's iPhone and iPad exceeding $1 billion for the year.
Five months after 
Apple has made some amazing upgrades to the iPhone since it launched in 2007. We've met Siri, moved from plastic to glass to anodized aluminum, and experienced a number of design changes both physically and on the software level. But one thing that has changed very little since 2007 is Apple's Photo gallery. But 1UP Industries founder Jeff Bargman has plans to change all that with a new iOS app called PhotoSocial. In his own words, it's a modern day photo gallery that's socially aware.
There are whole host of new smartphones waiting for their time to shine at Mobile World Congress (not to mention 
Temple Run was one of the biggest games of 2012, so it only makes sense that the guys from Imangi Studios 
Back in December, analytics startup 
Toronto's 500px got its popular photo sharing iPhone app back on the iTunes App Store today, following a takedown that Apple said stemmed from multiple user complaints about pornographic material. The app returns with an age-gate warning, advising that the content in the app is for 17+ audiences, and also adds a new "Report Photo" button to help users quickly tag things they find offensive for potential removal from the network.
Another day, another vote of investor confidence for educational gaming. Today, 
The Calgary, Canada-based fashion network 
A buddy of mine who lives in Shenzhen said that the best tech business to be in - the one that offers the most profit for the least amount of work - is soft goods, meaning cases, bags, and other paraphernalia. Don't tell that to the guys at 
Apple's next iPad might look like an enlarged iPad mini, according to new pictures received by 9to5Mac that claim to represent the device's new back casing. The pics aren't "verified," the blog says, but 9to5Mac's track record is solid, with another example that it generally posts good info coming earlier this week. And let's face it, Apple has nowhere to go with the big boy iPad except for slimmer and lighter, if it wants to keep the thing appealing.
Mark your calendars, Android fans -- HTC has just started sending out invitations to press events in New York and London on February 19. Granted, those invitations are very vague (no teasing any big features
In 2006, 
The 
Google's philanthropic arm, Google Giving, has awarded a grant to the Raspberry Pi Foundation to fund 15,000 U.K. schoolchildren to get their very own Raspberry Pi micro computer to learn to code. The size of the Google Giving grant has not been disclosed but the Model B Pi, which the kids will be getting, retails for $35 -- so taken at face retail value the grant is worth $525,000.
