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Down And Out: Spotify Stops Its Music Download Service In Europe, But How Many Were Using It Anyway?
Jan 04, 12:21PM
Spotify has made a mark in the music business with its hugely-popular music streaming service, now with 20 million subscribers, 5 million of which pay monthly for its streamed service. But the company had also hedged its bets by also offering downloaded music services, competing against the likes of Apple's iTunes and Amazon in the process. All that now appears to be changing: the company has halted music downloads to regular customers, unless they have gift cards with a specific download link.Now 2.5M Users Strong, Crowdsourced Learning Platform StudyBlue Grabs $9M To Help Students Study On The Go
Jan 04, 11:25AM
Today, Wisconsin-based startup, StudyBlue, announced that it has raised $9 million in series A-1 funding led by Great Oaks Venture Capital. The Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation (WARF) also contributed to the investment, which will allow the startup to continue building on its strong, recent growth. StudyBlue, which allow students to create their own online and mobile study tools in a digital backpack through which they can store, study and share course material, has grown to a user base of 2.5 million students strong.Cisco And NXP Throw Their Weight Behind Cohda Wireless To Bring The Internet Of Things To Your Car
Jan 04, 10:45AM
Looking backwards, the automobile of today looks almost superintelligent. While some of us may have expected (read: hoped for) the flying car by 2013 and, sure, the internal combustion engine still reigns, the majority of vehicles today are basically computers on wheels. The average car today has around 50 microprocessors, give or take. But, given how quickly automotive technology is advancing, it's clear that we're just beginning to scratch the surface. Hell, California recently legalized road-testing of autonomous cars, and Sergey Brin thinks self-driving cars will be on public roads in the next five years. Today, Cisco and NXP Semiconductors announced their intention to join the smart car bandwagon and help push automotive technology forward. The companies this morning announced a dual investment in Cohda Wireless, an Australian developer of hardware and software solutions for connected vehicles that allow cars to wirelessly communicate with one another (and with infrastructure) to prevent collisions -- among other things.Early Studies Show Facebook Mobile App Install Ads Perform Well For Devs, Indicating Big Revenue Potential
Jan 04, 9:55AM
Chances are you may have seen one yourself, but just how well are Facebook mobile ads promoting app installs performing? AdParlor, one of Facebook’s advertising and marketing partners, has provided us with some data to show that the answer is rather well, although the experience of another developer points to some of those good gains possibly being short-lived. The gains of a strong app install model are potentially not just good news for developers — who need more than app store rankings these days to get their apps seen, installed and used — but also investors — who need to keep seeing evidence of solid business models in Facebook’s business. AdParlor recently ran a four-week campaign with a large global gaming company (it doesn’t say which one), with app instill ads placed in the mobile news feed. AdParlor found News Feed ads to be one of the most engaging and effective ad placements on Facebook’s platform at the moment, with average click-through-rates of 0.5% (ie, how many people click on the ads) and sometimes higher depending on the vertical. AdParlor, the divsion of online advertising network Adknowledge that handles Facebook advertising for hundreds of companies like Groupon, L’Oreal, American Express, Coca Cola, LG, OMD, Mindshare, Starcom, says that this particular campaign was for a role-playing game, with the aim being (as it is with many Facebook ads) to drive more players to the game’s iOS app. The ad delivered 10 million mobile impressions and drove thousands of iOS installs over four weeks. Tracked and optimized for the most effective cost-per-install by country, this is how different countries broke down for cost-per-install: What these numbers, all under $3, show is that the cost-per-install — meaning the amount of money it is costing developers to get users to act on their ads — is still remaining relatively low. In other words, a lot of users are clicking on the ads and downloading. That’s something Kate Simille, a product director at app developers Miso, has also noted, with even more cost-effective results: Miso recently decided to buy mobile ad units on Facebook’s mobile platform to promote a new app, Quips, along with ad units on two other networks, mDotm and Tapjoy. Their conclusion: Facebook far and away had the best results, with $0.45 Average cost-per-click (CPC) (not install); a 6% conversion rate of installs (actions) to clicks, with the average cost per user at $1.73.Google Quietly Removes Censorship Warning Feature For Search Users In China
Jan 04, 9:37AM
Google has quietly disabled a feature that notified users of its search service in China when a keyword had been censored by the Chinese government's internet controls, according to censorship monitoring blog GreatFire.org. The blog reports that the change was made sometime between December 5 and December 8 2012, with no official statement from Google to announce or explain its removal.Strategy Analytics: Samsung To Extend Lead Over Apple's iPhone In 2013, And Take 33% Of Global Smartphone Market
Jan 04, 8:44AM
Samsung will increase its lead over Apple in the smartphone space this year, according to analyst Strategy Analytics. Speaking to Reuters, the analyst said it expects the Korean electronics giant to achieve 35 per cent year-on-year growth in smartphones in 2013, fulled by its broad portfolio of handsets. This is slightly higher than the 33 per cent growth it's projecting for Apple.Teen Brags On Facebook About Drunk Driving, Gets Arrested
Jan 04, 6:38AM
Police made an example out of a teenager from Oregon who boasted about driving drunk on Facebook. "Drivin drunk... classic ;) but whoever's vehicle i hit i am sorry. :P", wrote the clueless 18-year-old. According to local news channel KGW, two people tipped the officers via Facebook about the post. After inspecting the most-likely-profusely-sweating/hungover teen's car, the damage on his vehicle matched that of two other vehicles hit earlier that New Year's morning.Tencent Hires Peter Cheng, Former COO Of AdChina, As It Seeks To Bolster Advertising Revenue
Jan 04, 5:39AM
Tencent, China's largest Internet company by revenue, announced today that it has hired Peter Cheng, the former chief operating officer of AdChina, as the general manager of Tencent's online media group advertising platform. Cheng will take charge of all Tencent's advertising platform-related business and report to Liu Shengyi, the senior vice president of Tencent and president of the online media group. The move comes after Tencent warned of slowing advertising spending in the Chinese market.Tinder: Finding Traction On Campuses, IAC's New Dating App Makes It Easy To Break The Ice
Jan 04, 4:43AM
Regardless of what you think about digital dating sites, they encourage us to close our computers and get out there and meet new people. In short, they bring people together. The problem is, of course, that there are infinite variations on social and mobile dating, from compatibility engines and social, Facebook-based platforms to game-ified bracelets and live video dating. Then there are the quasi-dating, people-meeting sites like Grouper. Some work, most don't. A new startup out of IAC's business accelerator, Hatch Labs, thinks it has a shot to catch your attention amidst the noise by throwing out the bells and whistles and keeping it simple. Launched in October, Tinder is an iOS app that focuses on the social and mobile aspects of dating, while attempting to get rid of the creepy factor.Sina Weibo Accounts Of Prominent Bloggers, Journalists & Activists Shuttered As China Clamps Down On Internet Users
Jan 04, 4:23AM
The last week has been a troubling one for observers of Internet censorship in China, and things just got worse as several bloggers and activists had their Sina Weibo accounts shut down over the past few days, the Washington Post reports. The account closures come one week after the Chinese government passed a law requiring people to use their real names when signing up for Internet and phone services, a sign that the Communist Party intends to tighten its grip even further on China's netizens (who currently make up the world's largest group of Web users), and just three days after Chris Buckley, a New York Times reporter, and his family were forced to leave China after they weren't issued a new visa by the end of 2012.Forrester Report Says Apple Will Sell $39 Billion In Macs and iPads To Businesses Over Next 2 Years
Jan 04, 3:44AM
Forrester Research is reporting that Apple will sell $39 billion in Macs and iPads through 2014. According to the firm's latest report, Apple will sell $7 billion worth of Macs and $11 billion in iPads to the corporate market this year. In 2014, Apple will sell $8 billion in Macs and $13 billion in iPads.Amazon's R&D Group Lab126 Embarks On Hiring Spree As Kindle Business Expands
Jan 04, 2:41AM
Amazon's Lab126, the secretive R&D group behind the Kindle, is apparently on a hiring spree, as noted by the EETimes, which speculates that the organization may be planning to spin out the lab as a stand-alone company. There are currently about 250 job openings available, with most based in Silicon Valley, but several in Hyderabad, India, one in Shenzhen, China and another in Tokyo.TC Cribs: A Trip To Airbnb's Headquarters, Where The Coolest Rental Properties Are Re-Created
Jan 04, 12:18AM
Welcome back to Cribs, the TechCrunch TV series that takes you inside the offices of the industry's hot companies to see what it's really like inside the belly of the tech innovation beast (and check out the free food and fun perks that often help power it.) In this episode, we visited the downtown San Francisco headquarters of Airbnb, where we received a tour from co-founder and CTO Nate Blecharczyk.Google Isn't A Monopoly If Consumers Choose Speed Over Options
Jan 04, 12:13AM
While the Federal Trade Commission absolved Google of monopoly accusations earlier today for prioritizing its own products in search results, it's questionable whether the search giant can ever be considered a monopoly, if consumers continue to rely on Google to offer up solutions without the inconvenience of comparison shopping other services. There's countless review websites to help me choose the best restaurants, a handful of map applications to give me the quickest driving directions, and a litany of coupon search engines to find me the cheapest price. In the interest of efficiency, more and more users may want a company like Google to recommend a restaurent, present driving directions in Google Maps, and offer a great coupon--all in one search.Imagining The Future: Ray Kurzweil Has "Unlimited Resources" For AI, Language Research At Google
Jan 03, 11:44PM
Last month, famed inventor, entrepreneur and futurist, Ray Kurwzeil, announced that he was joining Google as a director of engineering. Many have wondered what Kurzweil's new position would mean for Google and the billions of people its global reach directly or indirectly touches. Would they be uploading Kurzweil's brain into their datacenters? Become the next Skynet? Speaking at an event at Singularity University today, X Prize Chairman Peter Diamandis and Kurzweil shared in a dialogue that sheds a bit more light on just what Kurz-Google will mean.Unitus Seed Fund Raises $8M From Khosla, 500 Startups To Back Ventures That Fight Poverty In India
Jan 03, 11:29PM
Poverty is a huge problem in India. But just because there's social good to be done doesn't mean there isn't money to be made. So a year after its launch, Unitus Seed Fund has raised $8 million to invest in for-profit startups that help people in India at the bottom of the economic pyramid. 500 Startups, Vinod Khosla, and other angels contributed to the fund that is already having an impact.Art.sy Now Showing Permanent Redirect To Artsy.net As Conflict In Syria Escalates
Jan 03, 10:52PM
Art.sy, the New York City-based startup that has created a Pandora Radio-like discovery engine for artwork, has attracted some controversy over the years because of its domain name -- .sy is the official domain suffix for the Syrian Arab Republic, a currently war-torn country which is the subject of several U.S. sanctions.comScore: U.S. Holiday Shoppers Spent $42.3B Online, Up 14% From Last Year
Jan 03, 10:20PM
After announcing some early post-Christmas numbers, comScore just released its final analysis of U.S. online holiday spending for 2012: shoppers bought a total of $42.3 billion worth of goods online from November 1 to December 31. That's up 14% from the $37.2 billion comScore reported last year, but a bit lower than expected as shoppers slowed down around mid-December.The Bonsai Is A Shaving Accessory That Hopes To Be One Designer's Contribution To Water Conservation
Jan 03, 10:01PM
The Bonsai is gadget with a soul, one that hopes to make a global difference by changing the way we go about an activity many do on a daily basis. It's a shaving accessory, and it's being funded via Indiegogo right now, with creator Craig Battin and his team looking for $125,000 to turn their final prototype into a production shipping device.Source: Shutterfly To Acquire Slick Photo Sharing And Storage Startup ThisLife
Jan 03, 9:20PM
We've heard a rumor that Shutterfly, the photo and personal publishing company founded in 1999, is set to acquire online photo sharing and storage startup ThisLife. We're hearing the acquisition price is around $25 million.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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