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Rocket Internet's Easy Taxi Lands $7M From iMENA To Expand In The Middle East
Oct 23, 8:32AM
Rocket Internet and iMENA Holding have announced that they will partner together to launch mobile app Easy Taxi in the Middle East and North Africa. iMENA will invest $7 million into the app's regional rollout, which started today in Saudi Arabia. 
Samsung Expands Gear Smartwatch Compatibility - To Galaxy S4, S3, Note 2 & More Via Update Due Soon
Oct 23, 8:04AM
Samsung has first mover advantage in the smartwatch space, launching its Galaxy Gear wearable last month. However the mobile companion device only worked if you also picked up Samsung's just released Galaxy Note 3 or Galaxy Note 10.1. Which means the vast majority of Samsung's existing user-base are currently denied the chance to indulge their smartwatch-owning fantasies unless they also upgraded their main phone or bought a new tablet. But not for much longer.
Intel Capital Invests $65M In Startups Ranging From Interactive Video To Wireless Electricity
Oct 23, 7:50AM
Intel Capital announced investments in 16 companies, totaling $65 million. The investments spanned cloud services, datacenter technologies, mobile and consumer-related services. The investments are as follows: - CloudFX of Singapore is a cloud strategy consulting company that helps companies re-architect IT infrastructures, operations and helps institute DevOps style practices.
Walmart's VUDU And Sony Pictures Introduce Online Extras For Digital Movies
Oct 23, 7:01AM
Sony Pictures has teamed up with Walmart's Vudu to start offering additional content and features to viewers who buy movies through the streaming video service. The partnership is designed not just to provide more reason for customers to own digital movies, but could also be used by other studios and retailers.
With $2.6M From SoftTech, 500 Startups & More, BetterDoctor Wants To Take The Pain Out Of Finding The Best Local Care
Oct 23, 5:11AM
After a frustrating search to find the best local doctor in San Francisco during a "series of family emergencies," Ari Tulla teamed up with friend and co-founder Tapio Tolvanen to do something about it. The result of what Tulla calls his "vendetta against the broken healthcare system" is BetterDoctor, a search engine and ranking service for doctors, which launched in September.
Gillmor Gang Live 10.22.13 (TCTV)
Oct 23, 3:00AM
Gillmor Gang - Robert Scoble, Dan Farber, Kevin Marks, Keith Teare, and Steve Gillmor. Live recording session tonight at 8pm Pacific. Like us on Facebook at Facebook.com/GillmorGang
Prism Skylabs Raises $15M Round Led By Intel To Use Surveillance Cameras For In-Store Analytics
Oct 23, 1:38AM
Video analytics startup Prism Skylabs announced today that it has raised $15 million in Series B funding. The company launched at TechCrunch Disrupt in 2011 (co-founder Ron Palmeri is also co-founder of MkII Ventures and Layer, which took the top prize at the most recent Disrupt). It says it can use footage from existing security cameras to provide retailers and other businesses with "web-style analytics".
Two iPads To Tango
Oct 23, 1:32AM
I walked into today's Apple event positive that the iPad mini with a retina display, if unveiled, would be the one iPad to rule them all. I was sure that such a device would so thoroughly upstage the 9.7-inch iPad, that there would be no shortage of folks wondering why the larger sibling even continued to exist. And actually, that proved to be prescient. Apple no longer sells the device simply called "iPad". Enter iPad Air. The new heir apparent to the iPad throne.
Microsoft Would Really Prefer If You Called The Surface RT Just "Surface" From Now On
Oct 23, 12:45AM
Microsoft has renamed, or partially unnamed its Surface RT tablet to merely the “Surface.” The Surface RT struggled in the market through its first year in the wild. It has been mostly replaced by the new, and quite nice, Surface 2. However, Microsoft intends to continue selling the Surface RT for some time, perhaps getting rid of unsold inventory, at a reduced price. You can now purchase three different Surface devices: The Surface [RT], the Surface 2, and the Surface Pro 2. Why the name change? Consumers were confused as heck at what it was, how it was different from the Surface Pro, and so forth. Microsoft admitted as much earlier this month. Microsoft provided a statement on the name change to Tom Warren of The Verge, stating that “To stay consistent with the naming structure of our new offerings, Surface RT is now referred to as 'Surface,'” Right, then. Tom also found out something else that I am working to confirm: The desktop tile is gone on new Windows RT 8.1 devices. Microsoft appears to have hidden it. I don’t like this. Microsoft is moving to kill the desktop on Windows RT 8.1. Here’s what this looks like next: Microsoft releases a Metrofied version of Office. Now, you don’t get kicked to the desktop when you fire up Office. Now, the average consumer never goes to the desktop on Windows RT 8.1, unless they add the tile to their Start Screen. For all intends and practical purposes, that means desktop is over for Windows RT 8.1. Call me sentimental if you will, but that just doesn’t feel right from a product perspective. I’m working to confirm the change with Microsoft, and will update this post when I get said affirmation. Top Image Credit: Vernon Chan
Meet Nexmo, The Telecom API Firm On Track For $40M In 2013 Revenue
Oct 23, 12:39AM
Given the massive global popularity of messaging, the market in play is enormous. Nexmo is a quickly growing company that provides carrier-direct SMS and Voice APIs that developers can use to reach phones around the world. Vying for traction in the space with competitors like Twilio, Nexmo has raised raised $3 million earlier this year, and unlike so many other young technology companies, is profitable. However, it is a somewhat quiet company.
TechCrunch TV Apple Event Wrap-Up: Software Free And Now, New iPads And Macs
Oct 23, 12:17AM
The Apple event in San Francisco today was a big one, in terms of just how much stuff Apple trotted out between software updates, pricing bombshells and new hardware. The iPad underwent a makeover and lost some weight with the new iPad Air, and the iPad mini stepped up to the big leagues with an uncompromising 64-bit A7 processor and Retina display.
Fashion GPS Gets Cozy With Editors, Provides Access To Product Stills
Oct 22, 11:42PM
Three years after it began powering the event management logistics of fashion week, Fashion GPS is going one step deeper into the seasonal editorial cycle. Its newest feature, Styles 2.0, launched today as a platform for PR agencies to push out assets to editors after the shows are over, when they begin requesting styles for shoots. 
Content Recommendation Service (And Rumored IPO Candidate) Outbrain Raises Another $35M
Oct 22, 11:02PM
Outbrain is announcing that it has raised $35 million in new funding. If you've ever read an article and found a widget at the bottom recommending stories you might also like (which can come from multiple sites), there's a good chance those recommendations were provided by Outbrain. It's not the only content recommendation service, but in my experience it remains the best known. The company says it has been installed on more than 100,000 sites and has a network of 700 "premium publishers" that includes CNN, Hearst, Rolling Stone, and Fast Company. It also says it serves 100 billion recommendations each month, including both organic and paid recommendations. The company makes money by including sponsored content. 
TechCrunch TL;DR: Apple's October Keynote In A Nutshell
Oct 22, 10:51PM
Apple wrapped its October event at the Yerba Buena Center in San Francisco earlier today and, as promised, there was plenty to dig into. We've pumped out plenty of stories dissecting Apple's myriad announcements, but in case you're looking for a highlight reel of sorts, we've put together a quick rundown of everything Apple pulled back the curtain on.
Twitter Sets Up $1 Billion Credit Line, MoPub Had $6.5M In Revenue In First Half Of 2013
Oct 22, 10:18PM
Twitter has just announced via an S-1 amendment that "the Company entered into a revolving credit agreement with certain lenders which provides for a $1.0 billion revolving unsecured credit facility maturing on October 22, 2018." The credit could help Twitter if it suddenly wanted to make an acquisition, expand, or pay for unforeseen costs.
Handybook Hoovers Up $10M To Bring Its On-Demand Cleaning And Household Services To 5 New Cities
Oct 22, 9:30PM
Are you unhappy with your cleaning service? Your local handyman? Thanks to the advance of the Web and adoption of mobile services, a handful of startups have popped up to take advantage of an opening they see in the fragmented and slow-to-change home services space. As many local cleaning and repair services continue to live offline, offer atrocious websites (or none at all) and show up late, Handybook launched in June of last year to help people find better, trustworthy professionals to take care of their household needs. 
Distimo's New App Lets You Track Analytics, Competitive Intelligence & App Store Leaderboards Right From Your iOS Device
Oct 22, 8:59PM
Mobile analytics firm Distimo launched a new application for iOS users on iPhone and iPad today, which allows anyone - even non-developers - to keep an eye on app store trends. The company, which currently offers a suite of tools for mobile app publishers that allow for tracking downloads, purchases, rankings, revenues and more, is primarily targeting its developer customers with the new release, of course. However, Distimo also thought to include its Leaderboard rankings, which will give its new app broader appeal. 
Former BabyCenter Exec Tina Sharkey Hired As CEO Of Sherpa Foundry
Oct 22, 8:45PM
Scott Stanford and Shervin Pishevar’s Sherpa Foundry has brought on BabyCenter executive Tina Sharkey as its CEO. Previously, she was CEO of Johnson and Johnson wholly-owned subsidiary BabyCenter, and prior to that co-founded iVillage and built out AOL Networks. Sharkey, who also sits on the board of HomeAway and Brit + Co, will be tasked with running operations at the “vague by design” company builder/incubator launched by Stanford and Pishevar earlier this year.
SkySQL Raises $20M To Support Open-Source Relational Database MariaDB
Oct 22, 8:14PM
SkySQL has raised $20 million to deepen its support for MariaDB, the fast growing open-source relational database and the emerging database of choice for Wikipedia. The round was led by Intel Capital with participation from California Technology Ventures, Finnish Industry Investment, Open Ocean Capital and Spintop Private Partners. Until late this year, MariaDB had primarily been an engineering project but this year it emerged as a foundation SQL technology for Wikipedia and major Linux distributions such as Fedora and OpenSuse, said SkySQL CEO Patrik Sallner. The round validates SkySQL’s approach to make MariaDB, the fastest-growing open-source database and considered the premiere alternative to MySQL. SkySQL will use the funding to invest in the MariaDB open source project, support the SkySQL community and develop commercial offerings for scaling the MariaDB database server. For example, SkySQL offers support such as helping companies transition to MariaDB from MySQL by providing bug fixes and other support services. It will also deepen its integration with NoSQL databases. MySQL has emerged as a standard due to its performance and transaction capabilities. NoSQL has gained wide acceptance for its scale-out features. The combination of the two database technologies is evident of the trend for “NewSQL,” databases, which SkySQL hopes to capitalize upon. One of MySQL’s drawbacks is its poor scalability on cloud services such as Amazon Web Services. The database requires a lot of focus on development to shard on to different servers. Facebook and Google can do it but others do not have the skills. The capability to provide this scaling is getting built into MariaDB and offered through SkySQL. Last September, SkySQL launched a service for scaling database on Amazon Web Services. The service is meant for database administrators, but in particular has the end user in mind who may lack the technical skills to deploy enterprise database environments to a cloud environment. With the service, an IT manager can use an administrative console to manage instances, isolate and reconfigure individual nodes on the network, and back up and restore. Those are sophisticated capabilities that would otherwise require deeper database administrative skills to perform. The company certainly has the pedigree to make its database technology acceptable in the mass market. In April, the company merged with Monty Program, the major force behind MariaDB. The merger reunited the original members of the MySQL AB team. But the challenge will come from the increasingly splintered database community. Developers like the simplicity of NoSQL and its easy deployment. It has its faults but developers need ways to produce faster, especially in this age when application development
Hands On With The New 2013 Retina MacBook Pros
Oct 22, 7:54PM
Apple has updated its 13- and its 15-inch Retina MacBook Pro laptops today, with changes that make both machines more powerful under the hood and that actually result in a size and weight savings for the already-svelte 13-inch Retina Pro.
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