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HTML5 Is An Oncoming Train, But Native App Development Is An Oncoming Rocket Ship
Feb 09, 8:18AM
HTML5 versus native apps. It's a debate as old as — well, at least three years ago. And pretty much since the beginning of that debate, there has been a general underlying current among the geek community that HTML5 is good and native is bad. Native is what we have to deal with as we wait for HTML5 to prevail. But what if that never happens? Let's be honest: right now, most HTML-based mobile apps are a joke when compared to their native counterparts. It's not even remotely close. In fact, you could argue that the discrepancy isn't much smaller than it was three years ago. And considering that the App Store was only on the verge of launching at that point, in many ways, the discrepancy is even bigger. Just look at mobile games now, for example.
R.E.M. Stands For R.E.M.I.X. (The SoundCloud Singles)
Feb 09, 5:30AM
R.E.M.'s upcoming album Collapse Into Now is coming in March, but the band is already getting the buzz going with a little crowdsourcing experiment. A couple days ago, the album's producer released some tracks from the song "It Happened Today" in files that can easily be imported into Garageband, the music mixing software that comes on new Macs. Fans are invited to remix the song and upload their new versions under Creative Commons license to SoundCloud. The individual tracks were also released under Creative Commons license so that anyone can download and remix them as long as it is not for commercial use. Producer Jacknife Lee writes: 
Valleywag's Ryan Tate Publishes Photo of Zuckerberg's House; Days Later, Stalker Shows Up
Feb 09, 4:12AM
A few months back, I had a few harsh words for Valleywag editor Ryan Tate over his decision to pay a paparazzo for photographs of Mark Zuckerberg's house and girlfriend. Specifically I said... GO FUCK YOURSELF. I mean, seriously, Ryan, how did you even write those words without slitting your wrists and bleeding out pure shame onto your copy of Pageviews For Dummies? Even if you accept that Facebook's handling of user privacy was a misstep (which I don't entirely), to argue that it's analogous to following someone around with a camera all week and publicising his home address on the Internet just defies belief. Especially when that person is a billionaire who is more of a target than most for the assorted freaks and lunatics who slosh about online.So what happened next?
NYC Hack Is Back
Feb 09, 3:08AM
There's something happening in New York City. New York Tech Meetup just announced they will be presenting hack demo at every one of their sold out events, New York's first Music Hackday is hitting this weekend and it will be quickly followed by Foursquare's first hackday the weekend after. Did the TC Disrupt Hackathon prefigure a growing trend here in the Big Apple? This past weekend Columbia students demoed their best hacks, concluding their week-long DevFest 2011. Students had a week of workshops from local startups like Foursquare, Aviary and Bit.ly. The results were team hacks for everything from Facebook-generated birthday cards to time-sensitive, class-based messaging systems. Demos were presented to an audience that included New York startup luminaries including Fred Wilson, Chris Wiggins, Dave Jagoda, Steve Jacobs, Justin Singer and Thatcher Bell. Here are some of our favorites from DevFest 2011.
i/o Ventures Is Now Taking Applications For Its March 2011 Program
Feb 09, 2:35AM
i/o Ventures, a workspace incubator that launched just over a year ago, is accepting applications for the start of its March 2011 program. The deadline for applying is March 15th. The five or six startups who pass muster can take a 4-6 month long spot in the i/o Ventures 7,000 square foor loft/coffee shop as well as $25,000 in seed money. Each of the companies in each class gives up around 8% of the company for the package deal. The six companies in the last batch have all benefited greatly from being a part of the incubator, with two acquisitions and 4 financings between them: Damn The Radio was acquired by Fanbridge, SocialVision was a acquired by an undisclosed suitor, AppBistro raised around 700K from angels like Alfred Lin, Anomaly has raised a 500K round it will soon disclose more details about, Apprats has raised 400K from Dave McClure and other LA angels and Skyara is in the middle of financing a round.
Stealth Startup Bubbli Raises Funding, Wants To Create A New Kind Of Photograph
Feb 09, 1:52AM
Smartphones with built-in cameras have sparked a wave of hot startups focused on photos, including Path, picplz, and Instagram. But Bubbli, a new startup that's currently in stealth, has some plans that sound even more ambitious: it wants to use camera phones to create a new kind of photograph. The startup has just closed around $2 million in funding in a round led by August Capital, and it plans to soft launch at TED in the beginning of March (they'll be presenting on stage). So what exactly does Bubbli mean when they say they want to reinvent photos? You've got me — the startup says it wants to "bring the real world to the flat web", by capturing places instead of just a rectangular image. It sounds like it could be a sort of panoramic photo, possibly with an augmented reality layer on top, but at this point the company isn't talking.
Watch Out Austin! Dogpatch Labs Is Opening A Makeshift SXSW Office
Feb 09, 1:07AM
If the above is what your SXSW workspace usually looks like, you're in luck: For the first time, Polaris Venture Partners will be opening up a temporary Dogpatch Labs office in Austin during this year' SXSW so entrepreneurs who need a place to work or just hang out can find a safe haven away from all the Interactive craziness. The Austin branch of Dogpatch Labs will be located at Treehouse Pub, at 501 East 6th Street and will have all the amenities of Dogpatch New York, Cambridge and San Francisco: Free food, desks, WIFI, space, and (yes) foosball. Those wishing to avoid ill-chosen roomies, drunk co-workers or just mingle with like-minded people can sign up here. Polaris Ventures partner Peter Flint tells me they are trying to sign up as many entrepreneurs as possible so don't be shy.
PSA: Covering The iPhone In 4 Feet Of Concrete May Affect Signal Strength
Feb 09, 12:04AM
Remember "Antennagate"? Oh wait, you don't? Well let me remind you: it was pretty much the biggest deal ever... for a whole two weeks. Actually, let me rephrase that: it was pretty much the biggest deal ever for some of us in the tech media who were able to write dozens upon dozens of stories about an issue that absolutely no regular person was likely to care about. Don't believe me? Maybe you'll want to ask any of the 16 million-plus people that bought an iPhone last quarter. Or maybe any of the 14 million-plus that bought one the quarter before that. The antenna issue was apparently such a big deal that not only did the iPhone chart record sales each quarter for Apple, but the reports of customers being upset with the product and returning it were basically unheard of. Damn, that pesky antenna — it nearly ruined Apple!
The Great Valentine's Day Nook Color Case Gift Guide
Feb 08, 10:55PM
You know the drill: Valentine's Day is next week so here's come Nook Color cases that would make great gifts. Herp derp. We looked at Kindle cases yesterday so it only makes sense to look at the B&N counterpart. Not surprisingly, there's a much smaller accessory market for Nook Color cases and that's reflected in this gift guide. There simply aren't that many to choose from and Barnes & Noble seem to understand this. The bookseller just put several very nice cases on special for the upcoming holiday. Check 'em out. The official B&N cases are by far the best quality ones I tested.
The Optimism Of The Gadget Maker
Feb 08, 10:11PM
We are at a strange point at whatever economic upturn we're experiencing in the world economy. Things aren't quite "right" yet, many are still out of work, and the general sense is that business spending has flatlined. However, things are looking up. How can you tell? Gadget makers are advertising again. During the dot-com bust, and more recently during the housing crisis, gadget spending tanked and, as a result, gadgets on the aggregate were boring retreads of the same old stuff - laptops, monitors, tower PCs, and phones. Cast your memory back to 2008 when things were just getting rough. What were the the most popular devices? Netbooks: me-too machines made for the price-conscious consumer. There is nothing aspirational about a $500 6-inch EEE PC. 
Despite Pushback From Pubs, Apple Will Make iTunes Subscription Billing Mandatory
Feb 08, 9:59PM
When Rupert Murdoch's The Daily launched last week, Apple's VP Eddy Cue got on stage to announce one-click subscriptions for iPad publications through iTunes. The Daily already has the one-click billing option as a feature, and Cue promised it would be made available to other iPad newspaers and magazines soon. Cue then started to make the rounds of print media companies in New York City to explain how subscription billing will work on the iPad. Who will have control over subscriber revenues and data has long been a point of contention between print publishers and Apple. The magazine and newspaper companies want to be able to control subscription billing by sending readers to their own sites to process iPad app subscriptions, but Apple is insisting that they use iTunes. To get through this impasse, I've heard that Apple is offering a compromise. Publications might be allowed to route subscribers to their own websites or payment portals to grab their credit card numbers, but they will also have to offer the option of subscribing through iTunes. 
Blue Marble Energy Raises $1.3 Million More To Make Carbon-Neutral Fragrances, Flavors And Fuel
Feb 08, 9:36PM
According to a new SEC filing, Blue Marble Energy attracted another $1.3 million investment — this time in a series A-1 convertible note deal — to create carbon neutral alternatives to petrochemicals. Blue Marble's biochemicals can be used to manufacture everything from food and perfume, to plastics, adhesives and synthetic textiles. The company also produces renewable energy from biomass. One of the company's best known products is its perfume line, EOS, made partly with spent beer brewery grain from Freemont Brewing...
Keen On… The Domino Project: Seth Godin Reinvents the Book Business (TCTV)
Feb 08, 8:29PM
Over the last fifteen years, innovation maven Seth Godin has written twelve best-selling books about breaking all the traditional rules in business. But Godin's thirteenth book, a little thing about initiative which will be published next month, threatens to be the biggest rule-breaker in his destructive career. Godin's thirteenth book may well be unlucky for the traditional publishing business. You see, Godin's big new thing is the Domino Project, a next generation publishing venture that he is launching with Amazon. And one of the first books published by the Domino Project will be his own little thing about initiative. Video ahead.
Mildred's TV Parlor Is Almost Here
Feb 08, 8:04PM
Ray Bradbury's 1950s novel Fahrenheit 451 had a lot of stuff about book burnings. But it captured my imagination when I read it in 7th grade because of the TV Parlors - entire rooms where the walls were completely covered in TV screens, creating an immersive, interactive, 3-D experience. The protagonists wife, Mildred, desperately wants the fourth wall size screen to complete her TV Parlor. And we all kind of want that, too. Forget that 60 inch television or 30 inch monitor. We want screens that cover walls. Screens we can touch. Microsoft has done some interesting stuff with cheap infrared lasers and a projector that can create a touch experience on any wall. See this 2008 post where I tested the device.
Twitter Photo Sharing Platform TwitPic Adds Video Support
Feb 08, 8:02PM
Twitter media sharing site TwitPic is expanding beyond the world of photos today. The startup is launching video support today, which will allow users to upload video from the site itself, as well as from mobile and desktop clients that support TwitPic. TwitPic, which now has 17 million users, says that it is growing by over 30,000 new users everyday. Adding video is a logical next step for TwitPic, which has focused solely on allowing users to upload photos to Twitter until now. The Twitter photo sharing horse race is undoubtedly competitive. Rivals Yfrog already supports video uploads and Plixi was just acquired by social network Lockerz. Twitter also recently partnered with TwitPic and others to include inline photos in-stream in the new version of Twitter's interface. 
With A Site Revamp, Plancast Invites Social Event Discovery To The Party
Feb 08, 8:00PM
At launch, all startups need a direction. At the same time, those most open to tweaking that direction as a service grows often have a better chance at finding a path to success. Some may call this a "pivot", but sometimes it's less of a change than that. Sometimes it's just focusing more on certain aspects of your service rather than others based on how users are naturally using it. Plancast is currently undergoing such a metamorphosis. When they originally launched in November of 2009, co-founder Mark Hendrickson (a TechCrunch alum) thought the best way to describe his service in a manner that people would quickly understand was as a "Foursquare for the future". "Our emphasis was on the user's ability to share that type of information with a familiar audience who'd want the basics (place, time, etc), might want to join in, and perhaps start a conversation around it. We shied away from considering ourselves an "events" service because we wanted to facilitate a long tail of plans, including travel and grabbing drinks, that could lead to serendipity," Hendrickson says, looking back. But again, that was before anyone was really using the service. Now that it has been live for over a year, Plancast has learned quite a bit about what their users want. And what they want is, in fact, events.
The Power of Velveeta: Shopkick Announces 3 Million Product Scans
Feb 08, 7:37PM
Sleeper location-based service Shopkick is quietly amassing some impressive numbers. Its users are still small, at about 750,000 compared to Foursquare's 5 million users, but those users are doing totally different and far more monetizable things. Ten percent of users use the app every single day, and later today Shopkick will announce a new milestone: Users have scanned more than three million products at 250,000 locations nationwide since its August launch. Compare that to TechCrunch Disrupt finalist CheckPoints, boasting 600,000 barcode scans. 
CrunchGear's Valentine's Day Gift Guide: Gifts For Guys
Feb 08, 7:29PM
Your guy is great, am I right? He's fun, he makes you laugh, and he can, in a pinch, be counted on to do laundry. He even, occasionally, shaves! Why not reward this positive behavior the way Cesar Milan, the Dog Whisperer, rewards an unruly dog: through forceful direction and, when the time is right, kind words and a treat. Here are a few great items for your geeky SO this Valentine's Day and we've tried to find items that you can pick up in the next few days. While it's always nice just to go out for dinner and a movie, why not make this year a bit more special? Read more... 
Google Continues To Embrace Native iPhone Apps As Google Translate Hits App Store
Feb 08, 7:26PM
At one point, as tensions were rising between Google and Apple, it seemed as if the search giant would forgo native app development on the iOS platform and instead only offer service those users through HTML5-based web apps. But lately, that approach has been changing, quickly. In just the past few months, we've seen apps like Google Voice, Latitude, and Places all launch natively. And today brings another: Google Translate. Google Translate has previously been available on the iPhone via an HTML5 experience since mid 2008. But again, now iPhone users are getting a native experience with some significant new additions. Those include the awesome "speak-to-translate" and "listen to your translations". Another new feature allows you to enlarge translated text to full-screen mode so you can more easily show it to someone you're trying to communicate with.
TokBox Shutters Consumer-Facing Live Video Chat Platform To Focus On Building Out API
Feb 08, 7:07PM
Video chat startup TokBox is announcing a significant transition in its business today. The company is announcing that it will be shuttering its consumer-facing web-based video chat application, and focusing on building out its recently launched API has a business. TokBox's multi-user video chat from the browser has close to 2 million registered users. However, TokBox has been on a bit of a roller coaster rise with the video chat technology as its main product. In 2009, forced to fire 30% of the company's total staff and shuffled the executive lineup. In the search for more revenue, TokBox unveiled paid features on its platform in early 2010. 
If Sarah Lacy's New Book Hits #1, We're Throwing A Party
Feb 08, 6:48PM
Last night I reviewed TechCrunch Editor Sarah Lacy's new book Brilliant Crazy, Cocky: How The Top 1% of Entrepreneurs Profit From Global Chaos. It shot up from #23 on the list of top entrepreneurship books to #2 overnight. And that's just for the Kindle. The hardcopy is also for sale on Amazon but hasn't hit physical bookstores yet. Here's the thing. We don't like being #2. We like being #1. And we're almost there. So if you people just buy a few more copies of the book, and you sure won't be disappointed, it'll be at the top of the list.
Content Is Back – So It's Natural That Getty Images Signs Style Video Factory CraneTV
Feb 08, 6:47PM
With all this recent talk of acquisitions and content strategies, it's clear that content is coming back. Dare I even say... Content is King? (Shudder... no, let's not go there). Suffice it to say that content production is turning into a big deal with the likes of Demand Media commanding strong interest in their IPO. Meanwhile, the old content companies are producing video, but not nearly at the rate of knots of the young upstarts. And a case in point today is Crane.tv, a premium online video magazine for contemporary culture, which has figured out how to produce lots of video aimed at a high-end audience. Today it has signed a deal to provide content to Getty Images video entertainment library. Getty Images, a leading creator and distributor of still imagery, footage and multi-media, works in over 100 countries. 
Dell Windows 7 Tablet Coming "Later This Year"
Feb 08, 6:20PM
The Windows 7 scene market is about to get a big boost from a big player. Dell just announced a whole series of new business computers and notebooks -- generally stuff we pass over -- but one little paragraph made the whole thing worth reading. It teases nothing less that 10-inch Windows 7 tablet aimed right at businesses. HP Slate? You've got some competition. Just like its HP counterpart though, this model seems destined for the enterprise market meaning it likely won't end up at Best Buy. It's pretty clear that major computer makers have zero interest in releasing a consumer-oriented Windows 7 slate device even though it's clear there's a market for such a thing.
Yahoo BOSS Will Now Cost You, But It Is Still Five Times Cheaper Than Google's Search API
Feb 08, 6:17PM
When Yahoo handed search over to Microsoft, it shut down some of its developer programs but one that survived was Yahoo BOSS, its search API for other websites. Last summer, however, Yahoo announced that BOSS would no longer be free for developers. Today, Yahoo finally released the upcoming pricing for Yahoo BOSS. Unlimited searches across the Web will cost 80 cents per 1,000 searches, with cheaper prices for a more limited index (40 cents), images (30 cents), and news (10 cents). Sites that generate enough search volume can apply for Yahoo search advertising to also be shown. A portion of any resulting revenues presumably would be applied against the charges, and maybe even help developers make a little money off search.
Facebook Makes It Official: We Bought The Old Sun Campus In Menlo Park (And Don't Forget We're Hiring!)
Feb 08, 6:13PM
Why has Facebook brought together big time press from Agence France, Bloomberg, ABC 7 and TechCrunch together here at Menlo Park City Hall? Because it's hiring, and it wants to announce it by purchasing a building. David Ebersman, the CFO of Facebook and Menlo Park mayor Rich Klein made the announcement: As we previously reported, Facebook will be moving from the space it has leased on S. California Avenue and 1050 Page Mill Road in Palo Alto into Sun Microsystems' old headquarters, an 11 building, 57 acre, 1 million square foot property on the Bayfront Expressway in Menlo Park. 
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