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HTC Will Replace One Series Smartphone Screens In The U.S. For Free During First Six Months
Feb 18, 2:21PM
HTC’s big push for more smartphone buyers in 2014 might not focus on hardware, despite an incoming new flagship; instead, the company is announcing a host of new customer service initiatives that could convince potential customers it’s the Android maker they want to hitch their cart to this year. A new program that offers free screen replacements to U.S.-based owners of the HTC One line of devices for the first six months of ownership is part of that push. The plan overall is called HTC Advantage, and it includes the previously announced software support for a minimum of two years from the phone’s launch, as well as between 25 and 50GB of free Google Drive storage for two years from time of purchase. Remember, though, these offers are all U.S.-only, and are limited to devices in the HTC One line – which currently includes the One, One Mini and One Max. Still, it’s an appealing package, and will likely become even more so when HTC introduces its next-generation flagship One device March 25. Not only will you be guaranteed a device that’s more or less up-to-date for the duration of your contract if you buy a sign up for a new one when the device launches, but you’ll also be protected against your own clumsiness for the first six months of owning your new gadget. While the storage and software support are nice, I suspect the breakage insurance will be the big seller for the average buyer. It’s rare to go a full day anymore without seeing someone carrying around a top-end smartphone with the tell-tale cracked spiderweb pattern of shattered front glass. I’d say as many as a quarter of the people I know are, at any given time, making due with a phone with a broken screen because of the cost of replacement and/or contract limitations. Six months’ protection isn’t going to get you through to the end of your contract, but it’s a lot better than nothing. U.S. customers can get their screen replaced under the Advantage platform by sending their device out free to HTC, and getting it back within eight to ten days. Paying $29 will get you overnight shipping for faster turnaround, and the plan includes refurbishment or replacement of hardware if the broken glass is only the surface indicator of deeper problems, providing you’re still within the term of your original warranty. AndroidWattpad Updates Its Social Reading Apps With Inline Commenting And Offline Access
Feb 18, 2:13PM
Wattpad, an online community where readers can find and discuss a variety of free stories, is announcing updated versions of its iOS and Android apps. The two biggest changes in the updates, which went live last week, are probably the addition of offline access and inline commenting. Offline reading seems like an obvious feature for a reading app, since you might want to read on an airplane or in the subway. In Wattpad's case that doesn't just mean allowing users to read the stories that they've added to their in-app library, but to interact with them, too. Co-founder and CEO Allen Lau told me via email that with "millions of users from all parts of the world," offline access is particularly important for those who don't have fast or consistent Internet connections.HTC's Next-Generation Successor To The HTC One Gets Its Debut March 25
Feb 18, 2:02PM
The HTC One was one of the best smartphones of 2013, according to just about anyone you could ask – the flagship Android device from the Taiwanese company bucked the trend of its major competitors using Google’s mobile OS by incorporating a sleek metal case into its device design. On March 25, we’ll see how HTC follows that act with its next flagship handset, according to new invites received by press (via Engadget). The launch event will happen in New York and London, and it’s very likely that what we’ll see is the device that’s been making the rumor rounds with the codename “M8.” The M8 has enjoyed a large number of leaks so far, including an apparent photo that shows industrial design very much in keeping with the current look of the HTC One. That’s potentially a very good thing: The microperforated speaker grills and flat metal look of the HTC One are iconic, and insiders laud the ergonomics and quality of the device’s construction. However, other attempts to copy but modify that look (i.e. the HTC One Max phablet) have not been nearly as well received. The M8 is said to stick pretty close to the original, however, and will hopefully avoid any cheapening effects. It’s going to be a little bit bigger with a ‘minimum’ 5-inch display, 1080p output, and a more powerful Snapdragon 800 processor than the one currently used. It’ll supposedly ship with Android KitKat 4.4 on board, and have a twin-sensor camera as its primary differentiating factor: Said camera would allow for refocusing of focal depth after a picture is taken, and improve other editing features including the deletion of certain objects form a photo entirely. Originally, many thought we’d get a peek at the HTC One successor at MWC this month in Barcelona, but now it seems that won’t be the case. Still, not long to wait before we see what HTC has in store for its big bet for 2014.GuestDriven Raises $3M To Expand Its Hotel Guest Interaction And Rewards Platform
Feb 18, 2:00PM
These days, many hotel interactions with their guests happen through third-party platforms: The Travelocities, Yelps, and Foursquares of the world get the feedback that hotels need and depend on, and this generally happens in a public forum. One-to-one interaction and the direct relationship between hotel and guest has fallen somewhat by the wayside in a web-based, connected world. Montreal-based GuestDriven wants to help put the guest relationship back in the hands of the hotel, and today announced a $3 million Series A to help its platform accomplish that. GuestDriven offers hotels a platform that provides real-time guest interaction, allowing businesses to send them messages, tips, perks and rewards before, during and after their stay. The startup calls it a “Guest Relationship Management platform,” and it’s designed to provide hotels with the kind of actionable data they need to identify what’s working for their business, and what isn’t. It also helps hotels manage guest relationships down to the level of each individual, as well as identify key social influencers among their customers and reward them for broadcasting positive messages about their stay on social networks. “Most reservations come in from third-party products, and those products don’t provide CRM data points for the hotels,” explained GuestDriven CEO and co-founder Anthony Zebrowski in an interview. “There’s a mass push on price that becomes the determining factor of where you’re booking. At the same time there are 12-14 different IT systems on the hotel side that lack any ability of talking to each other, so there’s no real CRM or contextualization.” Already, GuestDriven is being used in around 115 hotels, but the company wants to expand in a big way and focus on the U.S. market, and that’s where this funding comes in. The round is led by PlazaCorp, Real Ventures and Structure Capital. Previous investors include strategic investors from the hospitality tech world including Joe Poulin from Luxury Retreats and Peter Kern, who sits on Expedia’s board of directors. With it, GuestDriven plans to expand its salesforce to drive its push, as well as hire additional engineers and other personnel. A direct line of communication is a valuable tool for hotels looking to strengthen their relationship with guests and build return customers, but the data play is the bigger story here. Much of the modern travel industry is moving towards a model where access to customer data is held by third-party platform providers,FireLayers Comes Out of Stealth With YL Ventures Funding To Control Enterprise Apps
Feb 18, 1:58PM
Over in the world of Enterprise, subjects such as security, compliance and governance remain dull but essential issues. In this arena SkyHigh Networks (backed by Sequoia and Greylock) and Netskope (backed by Lightspeed) are targeting the cloud application control market and doing a pretty good job of it. But now there is a new player on the block: namely FireLayers. This Israel/San Francisco-based startups today emerges from stealth mode to introduce a… you guessed it… policy-based security, compliance and IT governance platform for cloud applications. It's also announced undisclosed funding from YL Ventures, though we understand it amounts to several million dollars.TicTail eCommerce Platform Lands $8 Million Led By Thrive Capital
Feb 18, 1:00PM
TicTail, a DIY ecommerce platform out of Sweden, has today raised $8 million in Series A funding led by Thrive Capital. The company, which is a lot like Etsy in its mission to make online storefronts easily accessible and creatable by DIYers, will use the money to open up an NYC office.Social Analytics Company Socialbakers Raises $26M More
Feb 18, 12:44PM
Socialbakers, a social media analytics company founded in 2009 and headquartered in Prague, is announcing that it has raised $26 million in Series C funding. The round was led by Index Ventures, with participation from previous investor Earlybird Venture Capital. Socialbakers has now raised a total of $34 million.
SparkLabs Global Adds Former Disney Interactive Exec As Advisor, Invests In Good.co And Zanbato
Feb 18, 12:34PM
SparkLabs Global announced today that John Pleasants, the former co-president of Disney Interactive and former COO of Electronic Arts, has joined the fund as an advisor. SparkLabs Global, which focuses on seed-stage startups around the world, also disclosed new investments in Good.co and Zanbato.Apple Patents Headphones With Integrated Activity, Health And Fitness Tracking
Feb 18, 12:33PM
Apple has been granted a patent by the USPTO today (via AppleInsider) that could fit in with its apparent plans to get into health and fitness tracking in a big way: the document describes a headphone system that builds in sensors to detect heart rate, temperature, perspiration and other info to track a user’s movements and activity levels. The patent describes ways of integrating this monitoring system into both earbud and on-ear type headphone designs, with accelerometers and other sensors embedded in each. They could communicate data back to an attached iOS device via cord, or wirelessly using Bluetooth. Sensors might be housed either directly within the headphones themselves, or in a detachable component that can be removed when not in use. The patent also includes a description of a system for controlling playback via head movements using the headphone accelerometers, too. While the patent was originally filed in 2008, the concept is much more practical in terms of being something we could see in real shipping product now. Just last week, we wrote about The Dash, a Kickstarter project that aims to put fitness sensors into headphones with a device shipping later this year. Breakthroughs in the miniaturization and availability of components have made this concept much more fiscally realistic at this stage. Apple is reportedly moving into a greater focus on health and fitness with iOS 8, the upcoming version of its mobile OS. A previous report from 9to5Mac says that update could feature a new dedicated app called “Healthbook” that keeps track of a user’s vitals and activity data over time. Apple is also rumored to be working on a smartwatch, but if it were to integrate activity and health sensors into the headphones it ships with devices anyway, that would make it a lot easier to get users on board and engaged with the platform. On the other hand, it might lessen the appetite for any standalone tracker like an iWatch. This is an older patent, and we haven’t heard much from the rumor mill about Apple working on such a solution, so don’t hold your breath for any kind of health tracking earbuds coming from Cupertino anytime soon. Still, it’s interesting to see yet another example of Apple’s interest in the health and fitness monitoring market, especially one that originated so early in the history of the trend.Intacct Raises $45M To Bring Bean Counters To The Cloud
Feb 18, 12:30PM
Fifteen years and one popped Internet bubble after it was first launched, the auditing software company Intacct is still alive-and-kicking… and raising new venture dollars. The company, which was founded in 1999, has just raised $45 million in new equity and debt funding. This very late stage round was led by Battery Ventures and included a $15 million debt facility from Silicon Valley Bank, according to a statement from the company. Intacct has remained intact and sees its business flourishing thanks to the software-as-a-service business model, according to Chelsea Stoner, Battery Ventures’ newest general partner and a new director on the Intacct board. Falling prices for hardware and software development tools, and the use of the internet to distribute software has reduced the cost of IT for businesses significantly – giving small and medium sized companies the ability to buy technologies to simplify life for human resources, accounting, and resource planning folks which were previously only available for large enterprises. Software applications that were built for businesses – like Salesforce, Workday, NetSuite and others – have already made venture capitalists billions of dollars, but investors said there’s still more growth ahead. “The cloud market is still only 10% of the overall application software market today,” said Stoner. “Over the next ten-to-fifteen years that really is going to grow. It should be up to 50%.” One of the categories of business user that has been slowest to adopt cloud-based technology is the chief financial officer, Stoner said. Audit functions are considered so central to businesses that few companies were traditionally willing to let the tools that crunch their numbers be outsourced. But these days as long as the company holds the beans, they’re less concerned about where those beans actually get counted. In fact, there are several younger companies pursuing the audit market with cloud-based offerings. Perhaps the most well-funded is New Zealand’s Xero, which raised $150 million in October 2013 from Matrix Partners and Peter Thiel’s Valar Ventures. That company, which is publicly traded in New Zealand and Australia, could hold a public offering in the U.S. in the not-too-distant future, according to people familiar with the company’s plans. Intacct has raised $135 million since its launch from new investors like Battery and Morgan Creek Capital Partners and previous backers Bessemer Venture Partners, Costanoa Venture Capital, Emergence Capital Partners, Sigma Partners, Split Rock Partners and Silicon Valley Bank. “[This] isCandy Crush Maker King Files For U.S. IPO
Feb 18, 11:58AM
The studio behind addictive matching puzzle game Candy Crush has begun the process of filing for its U.S. IPO with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Re/Code reports. The UK company will look to begin trading on the New York Stock Exchange under the ‘KING’ ticker symbol should everything go according to plan. Last year, Candy Crush was the top earning title on any mobile platform according to mobile app analytics firm Distimo, since it occupied a top spot on both iOS and Android all year. Candy Crush was released halfway through 2012, but it has managed to retain much of its momentum since then, which is impressive in the fickle casual games market. As Re/Code points out, however, King’s revenue declined between the third and fourth quarters of 2013, so it may need its next hit to come along sooner rather than later. Currently, however, King’s games bring in 1.2 billion daily plays from 128 million daily active users according to the most recent numbers from the company, of which 73 percent come from mobile devices. Candy Crush has definitely been a defining moment for the company, but it has been in the casual games business since 2003, and in its IPO King cites its massive built-in player network (which includes 324 million monthly active users in total) as a key competitive advantage. Still, it’s hard to deny that Candy Crush has been the overwhelmingly dominant source of growth for King. In its IPO documents, the company reveals that it apparently grew from a profit loss of $1 million in the first quarter of 2012, to a profit gain of $269 million in the fourth quarter of 2013. The company is looking to raise $500 million with this IPO according to its filing. King admits in its list of potential risk factors that “a small number of games currently generate a substantial majority of our revenue,” and that even developing new games could just recirculate its existing audience instead of growing a new one, but also says it plans to strengthen its new game and intellectual property development pipeline, and expand its existing titles to new platform and geographies to retain its competitive edge.Telefónica Expands Wayra Accelerator Network To Asia Via Tie-Up With China's VIV Incubator
Feb 18, 11:24AM
Telefónica's global network of 14 Wayra Academies, which each incubate a yearly crop of tech startups in the hopes of spotting the next big thing so their carrier overlord doesn't have to, has gained a new addition to that tally -- via a partnership with Chinese incubator Virtue Inno Valley (VIV).Sony Beats Its PS4 Sales Target, With 5.3M Consoles Sold In 3-Months
Feb 18, 9:41AM
Sony has surpassed it own full-year target of selling five million PS4 units by the end of March, reporting today that it had sold 5.3 million units as of February 8.Language-Learning Platform TutorGroup Raises $100M From Investors Including Alibaba
Feb 18, 4:51AM
English-learning platform TutorGroup announced that it has raised a $100 million Series B round from investors including Chinese Internet giant Alibaba Group, Singaporean investment firm Temasek, and Qiming Venture Partners. TutorGroup says it plans to use the funding to grow its business in Asia and expand in the Americas.UPDATED: Fin, The Bluetooth Ring That Turns Your Hand Into A Wireless Controller, Hits Its Funding Goal
Feb 18, 4:02AM
Back at CES in January, TechCrunch met Fin, the Bluetooth ring that went on to become one of our Hardware Battlefield finalists. Fin, which turns your hand into a wireless controller for smartphones, TVs, and other connected devices, just reached its $100,000 Indiegogo goal. Now Fin is aiming for its stretch goal of $150,000, which will make the ring available for a discounted price to visually impaired people.A Networking Protocol For Labor
Feb 17, 10:00PM
The core advancement of the Internet was the capability to move information very quickly across a decentralized network of nodes. That advancement was predicated on the development of protocols like HTTP, SMTP and Bitcoin that codified how such data should move to accomplish our tasks.70,000 People Are Playing Pokemon Collaboratively – And You Can Watch Live
Feb 17, 8:28PM
There are things on the Internet that we humans were not built to understand. Over on Twitch, the largest platform for livestreaming esports and other gaming content, 70,000 people are playing Pokemon in unison and the world is watching. The host cooked up a script that takes game commands from the stream’s chat interface, and feeds them into the game itself. So, people are shouting LEFT, RIGHT, and so forth in some sort of virulent cacophony to control the little Poke hero. Right. The Internet is strange, but this is hilarious. You shouldn’t be working, so enjoy: IMAGE BY FLICKR USER ALIISDAIR UNDER CC BY 2.0 LICENSE (IMAGE HAS BEEN CROPPED)Despite Protest, The USA Freedom Act Remains In Holding Pattern
Feb 17, 7:11PM
Coming off a day of global protest — both offline and off — that sent tens of thousands of emails and phone calls into the United States Congress, it appears that the USA Freedom Act hasn’t budged on Capitol Hill. According to The Hill, the bill is stuck fast. Despite the recent protests dubbed “The Day We Fight Back” that argued in favor of the Act, Congress hasn’t yet changed its mind in terms of action when it comes to the NSA; Legislators appear to be waiting for the administration to nod its head one direction or the other on the bill. As The Hill’s Hillicon Valley wrote today: In the House, Judiciary Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.) seems to be waiting for the Obama administration to take a formal position on the USA Freedom Act, authored by Rep. James Sensenbrenner (R-Wis.), before scheduling a markup. Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) wants to see what recommendations Attorney General Eric Holder and top intelligence leaders make by a March 28 deadline set by President Obama. With both chambers apparently in a holding pattern, it is not clear what immediate impact the protests had. This is of course not surprising; anyone expecting massive, and immediate change was hoping for too much. If you need a quick primer on the USA Freedom Act, head here. (Don’t worry too much over the name of the bill. Yes it’s rah-rah, but in this case, not ironically so.) TechCrunch recently spoke to Trevor Timm, the co-founder and the executive director of theFreedom of the Press Foundation on the protests, a conversation during which he noted that at one point, the day of protest was kicking 5,000 calls per hour into Congressional offices. His take on the potential impact of the prior day’s protest: What impact may the day’s protests have? In Timm’s view, the effort will perhaps encourage Congress to debate the USA Freedom Act, and oppose Senator Feinstein’s FISA Improvements Act, which in his view would “legalize mass surveillance.” According to Timm, the “USA Freedom Act has the best shot of real reform.” Given The Hill’s reporting, I’d warrant that the protests had the warmest of reactions in its simple volume. But that appears to be it. TechCrunch spoke again with Timm, who indicated optimism for change: It’s a shame Congress is not moving quicker on an issue that clearly means a lot to millions of Americans across party lines.Send In Your Questions For Ask A VC With Next World Capital's Ben Fu And Translink Capital's Jay Eum
Feb 17, 7:10PM
This week, we have two VCs who will be joining us in the studio (separately) for Ask A VC— Next World Capital's Ben Fu and Translink Capital's Jay Eum. As you may remember, you can submit questions for our guests either in the comments or here and we'll ask them during the show.Through Its Network Of Mentors, HackHands Offers Live Help For New Programmers
Feb 17, 6:51PM
With sites like Codecademy and Stack Overflow, there are plenty of ways to learn programming and get help online — but there's nothing like a live human being who can answer your questions and look at your code, according to the co-founders of a new website called HackHands. One of those co-founders, Forest Good, described the site as an "Uber for programming" — in other words, it allows you can get programming help at the moment that you need it. The company has built out a global network of mentors, so Good said you should be able to visit the site at any time, describe the problem that you're facing, and then get connected to a mentor within 15 minutes. The two of you are connected via video chat (powered by TokBox), and you can also work on the code together in a collaborative text editor (or just share the relevant screen on your computer).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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