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Announcing The Winners Of The 2010 TechFellow Awards
Dec 03, 4:59AM
Tonight in San Francisco, many of the Valley's stars are coming together for the second annual TechFellow Awards, a fellowship designed to help recognize some of the most accomplished leaders in technology — and to help foster further innovation by granting them $100,000 to invest in startups. The awards program, which TechCrunch co-hosts along with Founders Fund, has been expanded this year to include New Enterprise Associates. Together, Founders Fund and NEA will grant each TechFellow $100,000 to invest in a start-up of their choice, which more than doubles how much each winner is being granted. The fund structure has also been adjusted to allow each TechFellow to share in the success of all 2010 TechFellow companies. Last year's TechFellows helped fund and found fFlick, Bidfire, Quora, Flipboard, HipChat and others (you can see a list of last year's winners here).
Live From SF: The 2010 Techfellow Awards [Video]
Dec 03, 4:00AM
Once again TechCrunch has partnered with Founders Fund and newcomer New Enterprise Associates to present Silicon Valley's best and brightest with TechFellow Awards, which recognize the top high tech entrepreneurs in four categories, Disruptive Innovation, Engineering Leadership, Product Design and Marketing, General Management. 
Meet Cloud Picker, Google's Stealthy New Storage Product
Dec 03, 1:27AM
What is Google Cloud Picker? According to these Blogger Forums, Sites Forums, and others, Google has been testing a new online storage tool called, you guessed it, Cloud Picker. >From these accounts, it appears that the tool is connected somehow to Google Apps, Docs, and Sites, and was presented to users when they tried to insert a file or image into a Google site. When they tried to embed the file, a "Google Cloud Picker" window opened and asked users to log-in to their Google Accounts.
The Amazing Readability Of Google Maps
Dec 03, 1:11AM
It's been my experience that Google Maps has always been the most legible of the online map services, though even the worst have come a long way since the early days. I figured it was just the same magical Google power that returned search results so fast and pushed email to my phone in seconds. But while the juice that makes those things go is largely behind the scenes, the optimizations Google has made to the Maps interface are staring you right in the face every time you use it. But you might not have noticed them. This blog post is a minute examination of those optimizations, and what competitors might look like if they did the same thing. It sounds dry, but I found it an interesting read, and it's also one of those things that you can't un-see.
Google Toying With Naming Social Product "Google +1″ As Sergey Brin Gets Involved
Dec 03, 12:04AM
Yesterday, after some digging, we were able to confirm that the internal codename for Google's upcoming social project is "Emerald Sea". Despite some confusion that it may be called "Emerald City", it is definitely "Sea", we've confirmed with several sources. But there's more. As one of our sources told us yesterday, these codenames quickly evolve. And in fact, it now looks like Emerald Sea may already be a slightly older name. And Google may be close to picking the final name for the product. As of right now, we're hearing it's being called "Google +1" or "Google Plus One".
The Epic Cheap Stocking Stuffers Gift List For Freaks, Geeks and Everyone Else
Dec 02, 11:49PM
Stocking stuffers are a must. These little, often trivial items, can make or break a Christmas morning. Whether you're shopping for a fledgling nerd-in-training or one with a bit more XP, these stocking stuffers will certainly bring them a bit of joy and happiness. All items are under $13, giving the frugal gift giver a bit of breathing room in your holiday budget. Even if you don't have a stocking to stuff this year, there's probably something here to satisfy your requirement as a Secret Santa to either someone at work, or even as just a little gift to yourself.
LivingSocial Confirms $175 Million Amazon Investment
Dec 02, 10:56PM
The rumors are true! Amazon and daily deals site LivingSocial have just officially confirmed their partnership, with the e-tailer investing a whopping $175 million in the latter. This comes at an interesting time for both companies, amidst even more rumors that competitors Google and Groupon will hook up to the tune of 5 billion.
See Who Is On Your Flight And At Your Airport With Planely
Dec 02, 10:20PM
Flying out to attend TCDisrupt in New York, a bunch of us were delighted to discover we were all on the same plane together, the infamous #VX22. Let's face it, being on the same flight with someone you know is pretty fun most of the time, as a plane flight is a pretty unique shared experience and oftentimes results in a lasting bond. Don't believe me? Shortly after sharing #VX22 with TechCrunch staff, I too started working for TechCrunch.
Speaking Of… Jeff Bridges & Olivia Wilde in TRON Legacy, Part 3 & 4 (TCTV)
Dec 02, 10:14PM
Greetings programs! I have the ultimate TRON interview for you: Jeff Bridges. I had 3 minutes with Bridges, so I asked him this question from TechCrunch fan "itbedave": I'm curious as to what Jeff Bridges thinks of blue screen acting then (original TRON) vs. now (TRON Legacy) - and if it's "advancement" has enhanced or ruined acting in big Hollywood films?Jeff, who plays Kevin Flynn, loved this question and went into detail about his feelings around motion capture. Unfortunately, I didn't get to ask him if Flynn abides or if he drinks White Russians, but I think you'll love his response. He's not a TechCrunch reader yet, but maybe we can convert him. I'd love to see some Bridges in the comments, wouldn't you? Video Ahead.
Hitwise: Groupon Is Getting 79% Of U.S. Group-Buying Visits Vs. 8% For LivingSocial
Dec 02, 9:56PM
As Groupon weighs a $5 billion+ acquisition offer from Google and LivingSocial is believed to be about get a $100 Million to $150 million cash infusion from Amazon, it is instructive to look at the difference between the two companies. Hitwise looked at a 81 group-buying sites and came up with the chart above, which shows that Groupon commands 79 percent of U.S. visits to the group buying category, whereas No. 2 site LivingSocial only has an 8 percent share. This is what market leadership looks like, and explains why Google may be willing to overpay for Groupon. In general, the Internet coalesces around market leaders for different categories—the gorillas. And the gap between No. 1 and No. 2 is usually vast. It was true in auctions (eBay), e-commerce (Amazon), search (Google), and social networking (Facebook). And it will happen in social commerce as well.
Meebo CEO Seth Sternberg On Why He's Pushing For Website Check-Ins (TCTV)
Dec 02, 8:52PM
Now that people are just starting to get comfortable with the concept of the check-in for geo-location, it is starting to spread to other areas like product check-ins, TV show check-ins, and website check-ins. Just a couple weeks ago, Meebo introduced website check-ins as a new feature for its Meebo Bar. And before that, at our last Disrupt conference in San Francisco, two of the startups (Badgeville and OneTrueFan) launched entire companies around the concept of the website check-in. So why would you ever want to check into a website? I ran into Meebo CEO Seth Sternberg today at SAI's Ignition conference in New York City, who explains in the video after the jump. 
The Version Number Is Dead. Google Barely Whispers The Launch Of Chrome 8
Dec 02, 8:11PM
Chrome 8 is here! Chrome 8 is here! The latest greatest version of Chrome! Joyous day, right? Don't tell Google that. The search giant announced the (stable) launch not on their Google blog, and not even on their Google Chrome blog, but on their Google Chrome Releases blog. And in the post, they devote a whole two sentences to it. The rest is all about bug fixes. But to those who follow Chrome closely, this shouldn't be a big surprise. Ever since they shifted their strategy to release a new version of the browser every six weeks or so, the version numbers have become a mere afterthought. Before today's update, the Chrome stable build was version 7, the beta was version 8, and the dev was version 9. And I'm sure Chromium (the open source browser on which Chrome is built) will hit version 10 shortly.
Google App Engine Now Streamlines Push, Boosts API Limits And More
Dec 02, 8:01PM
Google's App Engine, a platform that helps developers build web applications by streamlining some of the work they'd typically have to do themselves, is getting a big upgrade today. The App Engine team is calling today's 1.4.0 release the biggest they've done this year, with features that include: a new Channel API that makes it much easier to build real-time Push events into your app; 'Always On', which lets developers pay $9 per month to keep three 'instances' of their application alive at all times; and Warm Up Requests, which automatically load instances of applications just before they're needed, which helps reduce load times when users begin accessing the application.
Bitly News Tries To Create A Hacker News For The Rest Of Us
Dec 02, 8:00PM
What are the headlines people are sharing the most? A new headline aggregation site called Bitly News tries to answer that by showing the most clicked-on shortened bit.ly links on Twitter. Bitly News is not an official bit.ly product. It is an independent hack by Jeff Miller built on top of both the bit.ly and Twitter APIs. (John Borthwick, CEO of both bit.ly and betaworks, just mentioned the site on-stage at SAI's Ignition conference as an example of somebody using bit.ly's APIs). With billions of shared bit.ly links every month, there is a pretty broad reach of links to mine. Bitly News is modeled on Hacker News, the headline news site for developers. The site only shows headlines and where they come from in rank order. Each headline links directly to the original story. Under each headline you can see how many times it's been clicked on and when it was posted. You can comment on Bitly News or click through to bit.ly to see more stats for that headline.
ExtensionFM Becomes exfm: An Extension That Makes The Web Your Social Jukebox
Dec 02, 7:48PM
I'm the type of music listener who finds one album he likes and listens to it constantly for about 6 months. Then I move onto the next album. One that's often old. Part of the reason for this is that I don't have a really good way to find new music. Pandora is basically my radio and finds me good stuff some of the time, but it's usually either old music or stuff I already own. If I want to be hip to what's new, I rely on my social graph to recommend things. And exfm is maybe the perfect tool for that. Previously, exfm was known as ExtensionFM, but with the latest version (version 2), they've changed up their branding and launched a wide range of new features. The key to the entire thing is still the Google Chrome extension. When installed, it allows you to browse the web as you normally would, but it alerts you when playable music files are on a webpage. If you find one, you can listen to it with the exfm player, or you can add it to your queue to listen to at anytime. You can even keep browsing to other sites and exfm remembers where it found the music, so it will stream continuously from there.
WhaleShark Media Closes A Whale Of A Financing, Buys RetailMeNot
Dec 02, 7:45PM
WhaleShark Media, an online coupon rollup play, launched in June 2010. It was primarily funded by Austin Ventures, which has strong experience rolling up the home rental market with HomeAway. The general idea for WhaleShark was to copy the HomeAway model. The company just raised a monster round of financing - some $90 million - from Austin Ventures, Norwest Venture Partners and Adam Street Partners. And they spent most or all of that round buying the largest online coupon startup on the market, Australia's RetailMeNot. Brian Sharples, the founder and CEO of HomeAway, is also an investor in WhaleShark.
Video: Kevin Bacon Hawking The Logitech Revue As A Kevin Bacon Superfan
Dec 02, 7:41PM
Here's Kevin Bacon playing Kevin Bacon's biggest fan in a video not so cleverly disguised as an ad spot for the Logitech Revue Google TV unit. Because if anyone could rescue Google TV from the bowels of beta testing hell, it would be Kevin Bacon. Well, maybe. Perhaps Kevin Bacon is rad and all, but personally someone with a bit of authority might be better suited for the role as the Revue's ad man. Someone like, well, Jeremey Clarkston. "Google TV: It's made by Google, works with your cable and is so easy even your mum could probably use it. But is it any good?" Anyway, the Kevin Bacon video is after the jump. Enjoy, it's probably the best thing you'll watch on the Internet today.
Google Earth Engine Revealed At COP 16
Dec 02, 7:30PM
Today at the United Nations' conference on climate change COP 16 in Cancun, Mexico Google.org introduced its latest philanthropic project, the Google Earth Engine— an analytics tool for earth scientists and conservationists especially. Google.org dubs their product "a planetary-scale platform for environmental data & analysis." A product web page said...
NASA Has Found A New Type Of Life Right Here On Earth
Dec 02, 7:24PM
There's several big announcements coming up later today. The biggest is probably the World Cup bids, and the tension is evident. (More on that later.) Then we've got UFC's Chael Sonnen appearing before the California State Athletic Commission to explain his elevated testosterone levels during his fight with Anderson Silva back in August. Last, Nasa. Yes, somehow Nasa has rubbed two nickels together and has very possibly found something truly exciting—a new form of life! Gather 'round, put down your copy of Angry Birds, and let's sing a song.
Confirmed: Ebay Acquires Milo For $75 Million. Investors Make A Killing.
Dec 02, 6:28PM
An update to our post earlier today: We've confirmed that local shopping startup Milo has in fact been acquired by eBay, for $75 million. Business Insider first reported on the possible deal earlier today. Milo CEO Jack Abraham confirmed the acquisition via a Tweet and eBay issued a press release. Investors in the company certainly did well. They raised just $5 million in venture capital. We've heard that True Ventures, which led the Series A round, owns some 25% of the company prior to acquisition. If accurate, they just pocketed nearly $20 million, a 10x or more return on an investment made a year ago.
Zynga Buys Mobile Gaming Developer Newtoy
Dec 02, 5:39PM
Social gaming giant Zynga has had a big week. The company launched a new game, CityVille, last night; debuted FarmVille in Japan; and teamed up with American Express to allow cardholders to exchange rewards for virtual goods. Today Zynga announced on a conference call with the media to announce that the company has acquired Texas-based gaming company Newtoy. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Updating. Founded by brothers Paul and David Bettner, Newtoy has created a number of hit iPhone apps, including Chess With Friends, WeRule and Words With Friends. Words With Freinds has been downloaded 12 million times. 
ngmoco Launches Their First Android Game: Pocket God
Dec 02, 5:35PM
Back in September, we uncovered that ngmoco, a smashingly successful app development house that had long worked exclusively on iOS, was working on Android tools and games. We couldn't get official confirmation from the company right off the bat (they decided signing off of AIM and ignoring my emails would be a better idea), but they went ahead and announced it three days later. At the time, they announced that their popular game We Rule would be the first to make the jump from iOS-land; turns out, that's not the case. Swooping in and snagging the title of ngmoco's first Android app? Pocket God.
NYC's FinTech Innovation Lab Calling Tech Talent To Wall Street
Dec 02, 5:22PM
Big Apple business leaders are at it again—trying to make New York City as sweet a home as can be for tech startups, this time with a 12-week bootcamp-type program, called the FinTech Innovation Lab. The lab is geared for entrepreneurs with skills and concepts that could benefit Wall Street. According to a statement from the New York City Investment Fund, the U.S. financial services industry employs nearly 233,000 technology workers, including approximately 25,000 in New York City. The FinTech Innovation Lab is accepting proposals through January 31, 2011. Applicants are required to have at least a working alpha version of their technology ready to be tested for either the institutional or retail financial services market. 
Mingleverse Raises $1.4 Million For Online Voice And Video Chat Platform
Dec 02, 5:17PM
Mingleverse, which operates an online voice and video chat platform, this morning announced that it has raised $1.4 million in seed financing from Yaletown Venture Partners, unnamed angel investors and Mingleverse CEO Ron Stevens. Mingleverse plans to use the capital to ramp up marketing efforts for its mobile offering and move forward with integration into social networking platforms to help meet the needs of cellular carriers.
SkyFire for iPhone Brings The Flash To France, Germany, and Italy
Dec 02, 5:10PM
After a slightly rocky (but still crazy fruitful) U.S. launch and a seemingly less painful debut in the U.K., SkyFire for iPhone is continuing its international roll out today. Best known for being that browser that offers up Flash Video playback support on iOS by way of some monkey-in-the-middle proxy magic, SkyFire has been surrounded by its fair share of hype & controversy. Now, everyone in France, Germany, and Italy gets to join in on the fun!
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