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More Details On Skype's Big Move To The Web
Dec 05, 3:50AM
Earlier today we broke the news that Skype was ramping up in preparation for new web-based products — a big shift for the company, which has historically offered its extremely popular service via native desktop clients. Now we've heard more details from one source about what this new service may entail. We're still working to firm up the specifics, but here's what we've gathered so far: According to our source, Skype is hoping to launch its web-based service in the first quarter of next year. The launch will likely include integrations on multiple partner sites — Skype is gunning for some big partners, and we hear that LinkedIn has been in discussions about a possible integration (LinkedIn declined to comment).
Yesterday and Today
Dec 05, 12:52AM
Comcast doesn't care about the iPad but that's because they are acquiring NBC which is paid by Microsoft to not care. They released an iPad app that lets me control my DVRs but doesn't let me watch them. I can get NBC shows on my iPad by renting them from iTunes, so I don't blame NBC, just Comcast. The FCC is toothless, Barnes & Noble gives me no reason whatsoever to leave them even a pity tip as I go to the Kindle and iBooks stores to download iPad product, and Adobe…. Ooyala will fix the problem, but Adobe is the problem. As the guy said in the old movie, what we have here is a failure to communicate. What part of yes fails to penetrate the minds of those who see video as the next bubble? Yes, we want video, we want it streamed, we want access to it even if we never stream it because then we can delete it off of our iTunes server to free up enough OS space to upgrade to the next version of the infrastructure. The Chicken Littles announcing that this streaming thing is gonna use up all the Cloud's free space have always and continue to be wrong.
In The Future All Music Videos Will Be About Facebook
Dec 05, 12:30AM
If you haven't already picked up on it here, here and here, Facebook has replaced the nightclub as the de riguer setting for foreign music videos. Much like Gergana's opus "Facebook," Swiss DJ David May revolves the entire narrative of his "Facebook Love" video around meeting and courting a girl on, what else, Facebook. 
The Wikileak China-Google Cables
Dec 04, 11:33PM
A week ago when the first Wikileak cables started coming out, the New York Times reported that some of them shed some more light on the Chinese hacking attacks on Google which led to its withdrawal from operating in China proper. But the actual cables were not released until today. The NYT describes the cables at length in another article today. But the underlying cables are hard to find, so I've reproduced the four main ones below. I found three of them on Wikileaks, and the other on on the New York Times' own Wikileaks documents page. It appears from the cables that Google's troubles in China were going on for years, but it got into particular trouble in 2009 when its Chinese site, Google.cn, wasn't blocking pornographic sites to the level the Chinese government required. At that time, Google also had a link to its main Google.com site on Google.cn, which the Chinese government didn't like either. In particular, one Politburo member, identified by the New York Times as Li Changchun, "discovered that Google's worldwide site is uncensored, and is capable of Chinese language searches and search results. XXXXXXXXXXXX allegedly entered his own name and found results critical of him. He also noticed the link from google.cn's homepage to google.com, which XXXXXXXXXXXX reportedly believes is an 'illegal site.'" The Chinese government then told China's three main telecom companies to stop doing business with Google.
Here Comes The Wetware
Dec 04, 8:46PM
Throw out your touchscreens, kibosh your Kinects: thought-controlled computing is the new new thing. Brain-computer interface technology has been simmering for years, and seems finally ready to bubble out of research labs and into the real world. Earlier this year, friends of mine at the Toronto art space Site3 built a thought-controlled flamethrower, for fun. (Don't you hate how it's always the friends you least want to have the power to project torrents of flame with a flick of their mind who always get it?) Toronto has long been a hub for brain computing, in part because legendary cyborg Steve Mann is a University of Toronto engineering professor. Mann also cofounded the thought-controlled computing consultancy InteraXon, which built the neural installation at this year's Olympics. Both InteraXon and my pyromaniacal friends use brainwave-reading headsets made by Neurosky (whose promise was noted by TechCrunch five years ago) and Emotiv. Today's sets handle much more than mere alpha/beta wave measurement: Emotiv's, in particular, can track eye motion, facial expressions, emotional state, and even directional thoughts.
Gillmor Gang 12.4.10 (TCTV)
Dec 04, 8:00PM
The Gillmor Gang went skinnydipping in the politics and technology of the Streaming Era. Kevin Marks took on the technical discussion, suggesting there is really no difference between downloading and streaming. Of course, he's absolutely correct. What there is a difference is between the content cartel getting a fivespot per view and a buck a view or a penny a view if you're one of those guys who are streaming NetFlix endlessly at 8 bucks a month. That would be me, if in fact there was any interesting product on NetFlix after Comcast gets through suing them into oblivion. I got your Net Neutrality right here, pal. Andrew Keen objects to my constant use of the term "cartel", accusing me of being old as do a stream of Tweets in the chat room. Of course I'm old, enough to know better; why would I still be using FriendFeed? CrunchGear editor John Biggs makes his Gang debut from his Brooklyn lair, hoping that everything will soon come into his broadband connection so he can avoid risking his life going to the movies. And Robert Scoble couldn't be happier driving around the Bay Area listening to streamcasts of his favorite startups. As he says, we're just waiting for Hollywood to name its price so we can get it when and where we want it. If Neil Young can have an iPad app, then anything is possible. Video Ahead
Friendly, The Hugely Successful Unofficial Facebook iPad App, Goes Free
Dec 04, 7:12PM
As we're all well aware, Facebook doesn't offer an iPad app. Well, maybe we're not all so aware of that. Because Friendly, an unofficial app made by Oecoway, has been a massive hit on the platform. In fact, it has over 500,000 active users, co-founder Cyril Moutran tells us. And that's pretty amazing considering that they have been charging for the app. But you can probably expect that number to explode even further, as they've decided to make the app free. To be clear, there will still be a $0.99 version of Friendly, but the only difference from the new free version is that it won't have ads. Undoubtedly, most users won't care about that and will opt for the free version. And the app will rack up even more downloads because 1) again, Facebook doesn't have an official app and 2) Friendly is a very solid way to use Facebook on the device.
TRON: Legacy movie review (TCTV)
Dec 04, 6:30PM
Part of the TRON press event included an advance screening of TRON: Legacy. We've been under embargo not to review the movie, but someone broke the embargo, so we are no longer going to keep it secret. If you do not like movie spoilers, do not click to read more and do not read on, because I'm going to tell you what I think about the movie and I'm going to include some information about it that you might not want to know. I'm not going to give away major plots, because I hate that, but I'm going to go into some of my thoughts on the movie. If you are curious about seeing TRON and don't mind a tidbit of information, read on.
Our Favorite Reviews of 2010
Dec 04, 6:15PM
Picking our favorite things of 2010 is hard but picking our favorite reviews isn't. Here are some of our best chunks of opinion, in no particular order, expressing the mirth and wisdom of the entire CG staff. 
Google's Possible "+1″ iPhone App, Facebook Similarities, And Social "Loop" Groups
Dec 04, 6:09PM
Since we broke the news a couple days ago that Google's secret social project, formerly known as "Emerald Sea", is now being called "Google +1", we've gotten more confirmation about the naming. This includes people more confident that this could well be the name Google ends up going with. We've also heard a couple other new interesting tidbits about the project. The first is that Google may be testing an iPhone app for +1, which would presumably launch alongside the web variation of the service. One source reports seeing a Google employee's iPhone with an app called "Loop" on it. This was apparently Google's social project in native app form. The source says that it looked similar to Facebook and had large portions that were still in development.
Toddlers Pick iPhone Over Windows 7 Phones 10-1
Dec 04, 4:42PM
Flashcards for toddlers is a huge business. Ok, I actually have no idea how big of a business it is. But I know parents think they're an important part of the development of their child, and I have witnessed that toddlers will actually tolerate them for short periods of time. The direct feedback loop is key. All of this stuff is moving to touch devices, obviously. Children love them, and get how to use them immediately. Anyhow, interesting data from iTot Apps, the creator of a popular flashcard app for toddlers call, aptly, Toddler Flashcards. The company, by the way, was founded as a hobby by iLike cofounder Hadi Partovi and and Nat Brown, the ex-CTO of iLike.
Social Networking: The Present
Dec 04, 4:16PM
Editor's note: This is the second of a three-part guest post by venture capitalist Mark Suster of GRP Partners on "Social Networking: The Past, Present, And Future." Read Part I first. Social Networking in Web 2.0: Plaxo & LinkedIn Next began the era of "spam-based" networks of which Plaxo (founded in 2002) was the king. Co-founded by Sean Parker (yes, the same one who worked with Mark Zuckerberg in the early days of Facebook), it encouraged groups of people to email everybody in their email address books and "connect" on Plaxo so that when any of their contact information was changed online it could by synchronized with everybody's local computer version and thus we could all stay in touch. There was a backlash against the Plaxo spamming yet it paved the way for everybody who came after them to get users to drive viral adoption and we'd throw up our arms and say, "oh boy, here goes another social network that my friends are going to spam me about" mentality that made it acceptable for everybody who came afterward.
Facebook Director Of Monetization Tim Kendall Steps Down
Dec 04, 4:06PM
Tim Kendall, Facebook's Director of Monetization, has left the company. This is particularly noteworthy because Kendall first joined Facebook nearly five years ago, in June 2006. He architected all of the company's early monetization strategies, although in recent years there have been a handful of high level hires, mostly from Google, that have come in as peers or above him. One of those more recent hires, David Fischer, sent an email out announcing his departure, saying " it is safe to say we would not be where we are today without Tim:"
Five Days of Festivus Contest: Win $500 To Spend On Presents
Dec 04, 3:50PM
Our friends at Wishpond are offering $500 to the winner of this week's super contest that you can win just by surfing the Internet. That's right! Five hundred clams just for doing what you do every day anyway. First, the Wishpond spiel: Wishpond is a platform that powers a local product search engine and iPhone app. As a consumer you can find what you want at both big-box retailers and small boutique stores in your neighborhood (Wishpond is in more than 100,000 locations in North America). If you can't find it, you can just "wish" for it. Like Priceline for travel, Wishpond brings you the power to negotiate—make a "wish" to your local merchants and let them make you a deal. Also, consumers can get green and support their local communities and merchants this season. Local shopping makes a big difference to the air we breath and the communities in which we live.Now, for the real meat of the deal. For the next five days we're celebrating the five official parts of Festivus. You must participate each day to win, so no slacking off.
Skype Staffing Up For A Big Push To The Cloud
Dec 04, 3:15PM
As Skype prepares for an IPO in the next year, the VoIP company has been looking for new ways to expand its business both in terms of revenue and product development. One avenue the company is exploring to bring in more revenue is through enterprise offerings, via B2C and B2B offerings. However, it looks like Skype will be moving its VoIP offerings to the cloud. We spotted these job postings on Skype's website, indicating that the company is looking to build a team of cloud and web technology engineers. According to the postings, these staff members will "build an infrastructure capable of supporting hundreds of millions of users." The products, will deliver "voice, vide
SkyGrid Brings Realtime News Aggregator To Android Phones
Dec 04, 2:40PM
SkyGrid, a startup that offers a powerful business news aggregator, is bringing its popular application to Android devices today. SkyGrid's app allows you to add filters to news streams, with the aim of giving you the most important news right as it's happening. Using the startup's patented algorithm, Information Velocity; SkyGrid measures what news is spreading the fastest across the world, and brings that content directly to its apps.
Shortage of Engineers or a Glut: No Simple Answer
Dec 04, 2:00PM
Ask a child if there is a shortage of ice cream in the world, and no doubt, the response will be an emphatic yes—there certainly is. And ask a tech CEO if there is a shortage of engineers, and you will get the exact same answer. That's the story I used to tell, based on my research on engineering graduation rates and outsourcing trends. In 2005, my team shattered the myths about India and China graduating 12 times the numbers of engineers as the U.S. (we found that the U.S. graduated more than India did in 2004, and the quality of Indian and Chinese graduates was not comparable to that of American schools). And our survey of 78 executives from companies that Lou Dobbs (remember him?) harangued for "Exporting America" revealed that they weren't going offshore because of shortages of U.S. talent or deficiencies in the skills of Americans, but because it was cheaper and these companies needed to be closer to growth markets. The argument that I made, and that the opponents of skilled immigration also make, is that if there was, indeed, a labor shortage, then engineering salaries would be rising and companies would be paying huge bonuses to attract and retain talent. This wasn't the case a few years ago. But with Google giving 10% pay hikes to all of its employees and offering hundreds of thousands of dollars in retention bonuses, this appears to be happening today. In Silicon Valley, there seems to be a talent crunch: most startups, venture capitalists, and big company executives say it is very hard it is to hire the right talent; they claim that wages are rising. But national unemployment rates are hovering around 10%, and tens-of-thousands of highly experienced computer programmers and technical specialists can't find work. How can this be?
Facebook Shares Only Gain 1.2% Since Last Week
Dec 04, 8:49AM
Ok, I flat out love these auctions that SecondMarket are holding for privately held Facebook shares. Last week the first one closed, and $40 million of stock changed hands at $20.76 per share, valuing the company at roughly $50 billion. This week's auction has now closed. Only 475,000 shares moved, compared to 1.9 million last week. The auction closing price edged up 1.2% to $21.01, about $10 million worth of stock total. Stay tuned for next week's auction. What do you think the closing price will be? Closest guess gets a TechCrunch tshirt.
Shopping Rewards App CheckPoints Launches On Android
Dec 04, 4:14AM
TechCrunch Disrupt finalist CheckPoints is a mobile shopping rewards app that lets consumers choose their own rewards. Despite not being available for OS3 users until recently, CheckPoints is currently the fastest growing mobile shopping application (in the same space as Shopkick and Barcode Hero), amassing its first 100K users in one month and its last 100K users in the past two weeks. The app is free to download and use, and lets shoppers earn CheckPoints by checking into over a million participating locations and scanning the barcodes of a number of featured products including Belkin, Tyson, Energizer, Kmart and more. You can redeem CheckPoints for prizes like cash, gift cards, airline miles and gadgets.
Why Big Web Companies Don't Come out of Europe, Plus More Spotify Promises (TCTV)
Dec 04, 2:23AM
Why don't more big Web companies come out of Europe? According to European investor Klaus Hommels, it's not the usual excuses we hear like un-start-up-friendly labor laws or a culture against taking business risk. It's that the European Union is just too fragmented of a market no matter what continent boosters would have us believe. Hommels explains in the video below-- realizing full-well he's another German likely getting some hate mail from our readers. While I had Hommels on Skype, which he invested in, I had to ask him about his other notorious Swedish investment, Spotify. Rumors are swirling for the countless time in last two years that the company has finally gotten the labels on board and a US launch is imminent. I'll believe it when I see it, but kudos to them if they've finally pulled it.
Confirmed: The Groupon/Google Deal Is Off
Dec 04, 1:10AM
Google's much-rumored acquisition of Groupon is off, we've confirmed with a source with knowledge of the deal. The news was reported earlier by Chicago Breaking Business, and we've verified that the deal is indeed off. The two companies have been in serious negotiations for at least the last week, with reports stating that Google was bidding as much as $6 billion for the red-hot local deals company. Our source has also verified that Groupon's annual revenues are now at a $2 billion run rate, which is much higher than the figures that had previously been circulating (this number was reported by AllThingsD a few minutes ago). The $2B figure is the total value of Groupons sold — half of the cost of the Groupon goes back to the merchant.
Did Groupon Just Spurn Google's $6 Billion In Favor Of An IPO?
Dec 04, 1:07AM
Chicago Breaking Business News is reporting that Groupon has walked away from $5-$6 billion dollars offered by Google in widely covered deals talks. Citing two sources, the report says that the deal did not go through and that the company might still elect to IPO in 2011. If these reports are true, than this will be the second time Google will have failed to go into local, with Yelp talks also falling through. And walking away from that amount of money is pretty incredible. However the situation could very well still be fluid and the companies could continue to flirt until Groupon either goes public or takes perhaps even more money. 
Feds Finally Closing the Net on America's Most Wanted Barbie (since Klaus)
Dec 03, 11:32PM
Remember a few months back when I warned John Biggs that spycam Barbie was child abuse waiting to happen? Well guess what, America? I freaking CALLED IT. The FBI - avid TechCrunch TV readers to a man - just made the plastic doll the subject of an official FBI memo, with agents warned that she might be implicated in sex crimes. Like a plastic Julian Assange. Says the Huffington Post... 'Beware of Barbie. That seems to be the message from the FBI after an internal memo reportedly leaked from the agency's Sacramento field office this week. The memo (PDF) warns that Barbie Video Girl, a doll with a built-in video camera capable of recording for about 30 minutes, is a "possible child pornography production method... The FBI memo, dated November 30, seems to be a few months behind TechCrunch, where reviewer Paul Carr called the product "child abuse waiting to happen" during a review at the time of the product's release. He described it as "creepy," then read from a press release from the PR firm that sent Tech Crunch the toy: "Unsuspecting subjects won't know that Barbie is watching their every move."
Ask a VC: Jeremy Liew on Suits, Marijuana, and his most Underrated Investment (TCTV)
Dec 03, 11:07PM
I'm hearing rumors that Ask a VC is getting big in pockets of Harvard Business School, which explains an increasingly sophisticated caliber of email questions over the last few weeks. Appropriately, we had the only suited VC in Silicon Valley on this week to answer them. (Ok, not in that picture. That was taken before his "MadMen" phase.) Jeremy Liew of Lightspeed Venture Capital joined me this week, and we talked about how important engineering is to a startup, what you should do after you get your MBA, and whether the social games game is over and Zynga is the default winner. At the end, we dive into Liew's portfolio a bit: He talks up ShoeDazzle, and I grill him about the future of RockYou.
The Biggest Gilt/Groupon Knockoff Network You've Never Heard Of (TCTV)
Dec 03, 10:41PM
We all know that the early success and insta-revenues of companies like Gilt Group and Groupon have inspired more clones than Jango Fett. But while profitable and growing, my impression was that most of them are one-off rounding errors compared to Groupon's swelling revenue estimates - numbers that seem to go up in the press by $100 million every time they don't have any real news on this story. So imagine my surprise when I learned that Klaus Hommels was running a network of nine Gilt Group-style and seven Groupon-style companies that together makes up the third largest player in the market. The Gilt Group-esque network, called Globalsquare AG, started in less than two years ago and has a $400 million revenue run rate; the Groupon-ish network, called Group Buying Global AG, was layered on top of it and already has a $200 million revenue run rate-- in less than six months.
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