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Bob Mansfield To Leave Senior VP Of Tech Role At Apple, But Will Remain To Work On Special Projects
Jul 29, 3:34AM
Bob Mansfield is leaving his role as Senior VP of Technologies at Apple, but will remain at the company to work on special projects reporting to Tim Cook.What Games Are: Self-Publishing On Console Will Not Create The Next SuperCell. But Microconsoles Might.
Jul 29, 3:00AM
It's interesting to watch Microsoft pivot to liberalize their platform and allow self-publishing for indies, but that doesn't mean Xbox will suddenly be the home of the next SuperCell. There's still too much legacy in how console makers think to let that happen. Microconsoles, on the other hand, may well offer that possibility.Jawbone Hires Its First VP Of Data To Focus On The Intersection Of Wearables, Quantified Self And Personalized Health
Jul 29, 1:00AM
Jawbone has made a key hire that shows some of the direction the company is headed towards when it comes to the quantified self and wearables development. The developer and manufacturer of the fitness device UP has brought on Monica Rogati, who was formerly a senior data scientist at LinkedIn, to be the company's first VP of data.Bootstrap 3 Goes Mobile-First, Now Reportedly Powers 1% Of The Web
Jul 29, 12:00AM
The team behind Bootstrap, the immensely popular grid-based, front-end framework for web development, launched the first release candidate of Bootstrap 3 includes over the weekend. Besides a tweaked look and a couple of new features (and also the removal of a few others), the most important change in this update is that Bootstrap, just like its close competitor Foundation, is now mobile first and responsive by default. The announcement coincided with new data from source-code search engine meanpath, which also this weekend announced that 1 percent of the 150 million websites in its index now use Bootstrap.Mozilla, The Late-To-The-Mobile-Party Lumbering Dinosaur Of Open, Is Playing Carriers' Pet To Make Firefox OS Fly
Jul 28, 10:00PM
The first mobile devices running Firefox OS are out in the market. It's too early to say how well Mozilla's fledgling open web HTML5 mobile platform is doing in its bid to steer budget buyers away from Android gateway devices. Which is, make no mistake, exactly the hope of the carriers throwing their weight and influence behind this alternative open platform.Architizer Relaunches To Connect Architects With Other Architects, And Brands, And Clients Too!
Jul 28, 9:29PM
For 100 years or more, architects have relied on a massive catalog sitting on their desk to find the right products to use in their architectural project — this brand of glass, or that brand of toilet. That catalog had a monopoly on the market for a century, but with the birth of the internet, that catalog never made the transition over to digital. But a site that launched back in 2009 as a platform for architects to publish their work, Architizer, is relaunching tomorrow to finally fill that void.Dell's Cloud-Friendly Project Ophelia Inches Closer To Release As Testers Receive Early Units
Jul 28, 8:21PM
Google's $35 Chromecast dongle may have made all the headlines this week, but the folks in Mountain View aren't the only ones working on curious gadgets that plug into your TV's HDMI ports. Dell showed off its Android-powered Project Ophelia dongle all the way back in January, and it managed to turn a few heads... until its tentative launch window came and went without much fanfare. Now, though, it looks like early devices are finally on their way to testers ahead of a full launch in the coming months.The Matrix Of Hell And Two Open-Source Projects For The Emerging Agnostic Cloud
Jul 28, 7:00PM
Docker, an app container service from the co-founder at DotCloud, and Salt, an open DevOps platform from the founder of Salt Stack, were mentioned this past week at OSCON as two of the most exciting new open-source efforts. Complexity comes with the cloud and it fit with enterprise data centers. The Docker team calls this new world of services and devices the matrix of hell. The Salt folks see salvation in speed -- perhaps to save us all from the hell that comes with heavyweight systems that require extensive resources and are slow due to being built when distributed systems were not as common as they are today.Review: Google Chromecast
Jul 28, 6:00PM
"Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic." It's probably the most overused quote in tech writing... which sucks, because I'd really like to use it to describe how I feel about the Chromecast.Fly Or Die: Nokia Lumia 925
Jul 28, 5:30PM
The Nokia Lumia 925 is the Finnish phone maker's latest attempt at wooing hapless shoppers over to the Windows Phone 8 platform, and it's a solid proposition. The real stand-out feature has to be the camera, which is still considered PureView despite being an 8.7MP camera, as opposed to the Lumia 1020's 41-megapixel shooter. Still, the Carl Zeiss camera is loaded with exclusive Smart Camera software, including a special burst mode that takes ten shots at once.How Social And Primary Sources Affect Online Media Brands
Jul 28, 5:00PM
Editor’s Note: Semil Shah is a contributor to TechCrunch. You can follow him on Twitter at @semil. Throughout high school and college, I took a heavy dose of political science and history classes. As a result, those teachers and professors stressed the importance of investigating primary source documents and analyzing them on their own merits versus secondary sources (like textbooks, for instance), even though we were all issued textbooks, essays by subject matter experts, and a range of other interpretations. Eventually as college ended, the courses focused more on the primary source and our own interpretation of it. Fast forward to today. At least in the world of startup technology news, which moves too fast to be captured by textbooks or print-versions of magazines, primary sources remain important, but social sources — at least for me — trump all. Of course, in early-stage, private companies, obtaining primary sources is difficult. In my world of tech news, like many, Twitter is my main source of information and how I surf the web. Specifically on Twitter, however, I do not follow any "news sources" directly. There is too much information out there. As a result, I try to follow people who've I've grown to trust who read and share articles or random blog posts. In order for me to read something, I need a social signal to trigger and capture my attention. "Who" shares it with me matters. The "source" matters still, just not as much. And, in some cases, the source online can be propped up by a brand and hold power in its distribution. Real estate to create content online is infinite. There is no barrier to entry to create information, to build an audience, to generate page views, and to peg those against ads. Therefore, at least in my small world of online tech news, social sources reign supreme. I'm guessing many of you reading this may feel the same way. The social signal from following a friend or trusted industry source motivates me to gain interest in a link, to read the story, or save for later. The most critical piece of information in that decision is not where the link originates from and resides, but rather who has shared this link. In a way, the tweet itself, as a unit of social currency, is more important than the source itself. One product which demonstrates the pervasiveness ofHow Apple Gets At-Home Workers To Work
Jul 28, 3:55PM
When a leaked memo broke the news earlier this year that Yahoo was ending its work-from-home program, CEO Marissa Mayer was both lauded and lambasted for the decision. Companies such as Best Buy followed suit by announcing they too would end their flexible work options, while some industry observers called the move an "epic fail.Publicis And Omnicom Are Merging To Form A $35.1B Advertising Leviathan
Jul 28, 12:38PM
Today Publicis and Omnicom, two of the "big five" global advertising and marketing agencies, announced a "merger of equals", in which the two will combine to create the world's biggest agency, with some $22.7 billion in annual revenues and a market capitalization of $35.1 billion. The pair say that the new Publicis Omnicom Group initially will be jointly run by the two existing CEOs, John Wren from Omnicom and Maurice Levy from Publicis, and headquartered both in New York and Paris, with a holding company HQ in the Netherlands.Angels Get Carry For Helping A Startup Raise Money With AngelList Syndicates
Jul 28, 12:49AM
AngelList is testing out a new service that lets angel investors syndicate deals with each other, a feature that could allow startups to raise venture-sized rounds of money with relative ease. Called Syndicates, the private-beta product lets any accredited investor on the AngelList fundraising platform essentially create, lead and collect carry for a fund of angel money for a specific startup. The carry part could help motivate an angel who truly believes in the startup to put in the hard work of helping it raise all the money it thinks it needs. In a world where more startups than ever are trying to raise money, and more investors are competing to find the best ones, this model may quickly become popular. Here’s a bit more about how it works, as gleaned from the newly-public FAQ from AngelList, the resulting conversation around the news on Twitter, and a conversation with AngelList cofounder Naval Ravikant. The news, we’ll note, was broken by anonymous startup personality Startup L. Jackson… who presumably has investor-level access to AngelList, whoever he or she is. VCs and their limited partners (the entities who put money into VC funds) already use carry to align their interests. In addition to the VC partners collecting a set management fee for each fund, the carry provides them with a percentage of the profit for the fund. In the AngelList implementation of the concept, the lead angel picks the percentage carry that they’ll get from a positive return in the company if it has a liquidity event. They can set this to zero, which would make the most sense if they’re relatively unknown and most concerned with building a reputation. Or they can set any amount above that — 40% could make sense, for example, if you’re a top angel and looking to monetize your reputation and deal flow. The FAQ provides the following example of how a lead angel would use Syndicates: Sara decides to invest in a startup and asks for a $250k allocation in the company. She personally takes $50K of the allocation and decides to syndicate the rest. She shares the deal with investors and specifies that she is charging a 20% carry on the remaining $200k of her allocation. Sara’s capital and her co-investor’s capital is pooled into a $250K fund which invests in the startup. Sara’s co-investors pay carry for her access, governance and value-add. She sourced the dealWhy You Should Never Digital Detox Alone
Jul 27, 10:57PM
For the first time in years, I spent 72 hours without Internet or cell phone reception. While I didn’t experience any life-altering epiphanies that some claim comes from a digital detox, I now enjoy a handful of very meaningful relationships that never would have existed, with the constant temptation for shallow interactions with dozens of peoples’ avatars, thousands of miles away. I learned that when you’re stuck with people, you’re forced to find meaning in conversations that otherwise wouldn’t have seemed more entertaining than YouTube at the time. I don’t buy the snake oil that cutting ourselves off from the net makes us better thinkers; access to the world’s information has made me more informed and creative. But, the Internet can’t give you friendship, nor can it help you discover ideas that people have never told anyone about. Last week, I had the fortune of testing the “never detox alone” hypothesis at two back-to-back business conferences held in the mountains. The first, Summit Outside, was an invite-only Burning Man-like gathering of 800 young social entrepreneurs in the Utah Mountains. Completely cut off from the Internet, attendees slept in tents, could go horseback riding, dance to A-list DJ’s under a full moon, or attend spirituality-themed talks. I left Summit Outside with more friends and business ideas than I have at any other conference–some from people I’d know for years, but thought I didn’t even like very much. On the flip side, CEOs and investors that normally would have avoided a tech journalist like the plague, were forced into uncomfortable conversations that unexpectedly led to great ideas. The Internet has spoiled us; at the slightest hint of boredom or unpleasantness, we escape to the Internet. Modern life is a constant elevator pitch. Potential friends and projects that don’t enjoy a good first impression get tossed out. Indeed, Summit Series itself has built a thriving company on top of the theory that the best business relationships start out as friendships. Since 2008, Summit Series has held a pricey annual conference of socially oriented entrepreneurs. Held on a cruise ship, at a ski resort, and in a makeshift camping mountain village, the Summit conferences intermix crazy-fun activities, such as shark tagging in the Caribbean, with A-list speakers, from the likes of Richard Branson and Bill Clinton. Now, Summit has raised $40 million to purchase a mountain and build permit home in Eden, Utah forCrunchWeek: Google Chromecast, Apple's No-Growth Q3, And Earnings Madness
Jul 27, 10:00PM
Welcome to a brand new episode of CrunchWeek, the show that brings a few of us writers together in front of the TechCrunch TV cameras to dish on some of the more interesting stories from the past seven days.Snapchat And The Beauty Of Ephemeral Photography And Fleeting Creativity
Jul 27, 8:00PM
Traditionally photography is about preserving a moment in time; you take a picture literally because it'll last longer. The entire art is built around a quest for permanence, and archival desires. But with Snapchat, you're casting off those things you photograph almost as soon as you take the picture – in many cases it's less permanent than just continuing to look at something. For a an avid hobbyist photographer, it's somewhat counterintuitive, but also very liberating.Gillmor Gang: Christmas in July
Jul 27, 5:00PM
The Gillmor Gang — Robert Scoble, Kevin Marks, Keith Teare, and Steve Gillmor — celebrate Google's gift to StreamTV. ChromeCast is cheap, small, simple, and extensible, just in time to kickoff the run up to Apple's big move to the Big Screen. It's a win-win for everybody involved, except maybe Microsoft and its XBox offering. Suddenly 3 screens and the cloud has shrunk to 2, or maybe 1. It's no cakewalk for Google, who must navigate and resolve desktop and mobile OSes and native hardware only seen briefly held to the ear of Eric Schmidt. But Chromecast altering the landscape, making the new Nexus 7 into a peripheral controller for the TV rather than the other way around, will shake up Hollywood's world view just as Netflix is reprogramming our kids' attention from channels to apps.SETT Is A New Blogging Platform That Has Community At Its Heart
Jul 27, 3:50PM
Although blogging is nearly as old as the Internet, it still feels like something is amiss. From Dustin Curtis’ Svbtle to Ev Williams’ Medium, there is a feeling afoot that existing platforms for blogs and long-form content still need a lot of improvement. Five years ago, early platforms like Blogger gave way to micro-blogging and networks like Tumblr. Now we’re seeing the pendulum swing back with platforms for longer-form stories and media. SETT is a blogging platform that’s looking to emphasize community, so that new users can find a right audience immediately and long-time bloggers can interact with higher-quality commenters and contributors. Aside from features that are now standard these days like a news feed of content and WYSIWYG editing, SETT has a top bar where it’s easy for bloggers to track comments or even private messages from others in the SETT community. From the start, when new users sign up for an account, SETT refers readers to your site. It has a word-matching system internally that compares posts to one another. If a reader happens to like a post about one topic, the platform will recommend other similar ones to them. The site is the brainchild of a long-time blogger named Tynan (who declines to use his last name online ever) and Todd Iceton, a developer who worked for Nutshell Mail, the company that was acquired by e-mail marketing giant Constant Contact. Tynan has been actively blogging for six years but found that it was a bit of a slog for any new user. “For people who are just starting out, their biggest hurdle is just getting that community first,” he said. There are other features meant to enhance a reader’s relationship with a blogger like a simple, one-click e-mail subscription system. Subscribers get notified of new posts and new comments on posts they’ve decided to individually follow. Readers can also start their own independent discussions about posts in a community section, where they can see who is online and which posts are being actively read by a lot of users. The site has had about 100 or so active blogs in beta form, but they’ve opened it up since. Some of the more popular voices on the platform are entrepreneurs like Dick Talens, who co-founded 500 Startups-backed Fitocracy and blogs about how to stay in shape. The bootstrapped startup earns revenue through premium or subscription accounts that rangeReminder: The London Pitch-Off+Meetup Is Monday
Jul 27, 3:10PM
In preparation for TechCrunch Disrupt Europe I've been running around the Continent for more than a month, hitting the Balkans for a huge tour and Warsaw for an amazing meet-up. Now I'm back for a meet up+pitch-off with our own Mike Butcher and the rest of the UK team. Tickets are free so grab yours now.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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