Depending on how you look at it, this is either the first floating four-wheeler, or the first jet ski with wheels. Either way, it’s awesome from just about any perspective. → Read More
HBO GO’s Latin American expansion continues today, with the service’s launch in Columbia. The debut there follows the launch of HBO GO in Brazil earlier this year, where it saw 177,000 visits in its first week. In Columbia, the service is being made available to HBO/MAX subscribers on MiDIRECTV, but HBO says that it’s working with other pay TV operators in the region for future roll-outs.
The… → Read More
Microsoft will finally launch a preview of Internet Explorer 10 for Windows 7 in mid-November, the company announced today. With the Windows 8 launch less than two weeks away, Microsoft has obviously been focusing on the release of Internet Explorer 10 for its new operating system lately. Internet Explorer 10, after all, will be an integral part of Windows 8, both on the Metro/Windows 8 UI side… → Read More
Apple’s web traffic share among mobile devices is huge, according to new numbers from Chitika. The online ad network is seeing 43 percent of smartphone web usage coming through iPhones up to the 4S, plus another 3 percent from the iPhone 5 alone. By contrast, the Samsung Galaxy S III is driving 2 percent of mobile web traffic on its network, combined with 15 percent across all other Samsung mobile… → Read More
Deluxis is trying to build an a la carte TV service online that where consumers will be able to pick and choose the channels they want to watch online. Rather than paying upwards of $100 a month for a bundle of hundreds of channels that users never watch, they’ll be able to purchase the five or six channels they actually want, paying for each individually. → Read More
A new study today from NPD DisplaySearch shows the progress of smart and connected TVs in recent years and during Q2 2012. Connected TVs did well are doing well around the world, with shares growing rapidly in key emerging markets. Growth is at a relative standstill in North America, however, as access to free, premium content via the web and through open standards remains a roadblock. → Read More
More established companies are turning to skunkworks projects — relatively independent teams within large companies — to compete with nimble startups or just generate fresh ideas. One example is Dell’s most recent foray into Linux laptops. Another is Deltek‘s new web service/mobile app Kona, a social task management app that’s taking on Asana and Do.com. → Read More
Twilio’s CEO Jeff Lawson gave a passionate keynote today at his cloud telephony startup’s conference today peppered with big stats and quotes like “Communications is now in the domain of software. We focus on the user, and we will win.”
Twilio now powers big names in tech like Uber, eBay and Hulu, has 150,000 developers and is expanding internationally to disrupt ye old telecom industry. → Read More
When you think of BuzzFeed, a few things come to mind. For me, it’s animated GIFs, hilarious posts and a killer community. The company, founded by CEO Jonah Peretti, is on a mission to create its own vertical as a publication, and has taken a step today to grow even more. BuzzFeed has hired former FINS Director of Product Management, Dao Nguyen, as its “Director of Growth.”
What does that title… → Read More
Rumors of an impending ISIS launch have been swirling around for a while now, but the company has just finally put an end to all that speculation. In keeping with previously leaked documents, ISIS has confirmed that its carrier-led mobile payments system will indeed officially go live in Austin, TX, and Salt Lake City, UT on October 22. → Read More
App developers pay huge sums for ads that gets them installs, and Facebook wants to gobble up that spend. So today Facebook begins allowing all developers to buy its recently announced app install ads that appear in the mobile News Feed. Until now, just a few partners had access.
Facebook is making a big bet on the app economy, and wants to be the top source of discovery outside of app stores. → Read More
Commerce Sciences, the Palo Alto-based e-commerce startup backed by $1.8 million in seed funding from Eric Schmidt’s Innovation Endeavors, Genesis Partners, and others, is rolling out a feature called one-click personalization which allows online retailers to customize the shopping experience to individual website visitors. → Read More
Developers, Developers, Developers, Developers. Twiliocon is going on this week in San Francisco, it’s the second annual conference for the company that makes telephony easy for developers to integrate into their products. Today, the company running it, Twilio, announced that it is releasing beta support for the WebRTC standard for its client product. This means that Twilio stays on the cutting… → Read More
Facebook is testing out a new way of picking up mobile users in international markets — a crucial part of its strategy to continue building out its user base as subscriber growth slows in markets like the U.S. In India, Facebook has launched Talktime, which gives users 50 Rupees (about $1) in calling credit when they sign up to Facebook via their mobile devices. It also offers users a further… → Read More
Google today launched two new APIs for Google Maps that are specifically geared toward tracking the location of vehicles, mobile resources and employees. By announcing these new APIs on its enterprise blog and by asking developers to go through its sales team to purchase access, the company is clearly signaling that these features aren’t so much meant for casual apps, though it’s easy to see how… → Read More
Online social influence is something that can really rub people the wrong way. Klout obviously believes in it wholeheartedly; others, not so much. Now, in a move that’s sure to generate its fair share of criticism, Klout has updated its iPhone app with Passbook support, allowing users to create their own “Klout Card,” which lives in Passbook and can help users “show off [their] influence.” → Read More
CloudOn, the popular free productivity app that lets its users read and edit Microsoft Office files on their tablets, is launching version 2.5 of its apps for iOS and Android today. CloudOn is adding support for non-Latin characters to its app with this release, which means that the company can now offer its service globally. In addition, CloudOn is launching a number of new features to the app… → Read More
A lot of mobile language software wants to be the equivalent of an automatic universal translation app, listening to spoken phrases and translating them using natural language processing and audio recognition, but we’re not there yet. Enter Mantaphrase, a startup with a vision of quick, focused conversations across languages that help travellers get exactly the info they need quickly. → Read More
New Enterprise Associates, the venture firm that has backed Groupon, Salesforce, Workday, Fusion-io, and others, is opening an outpost in Chicago, to serve its growing portfolio in the region. The announcement was made in conjunction with an investment in Chicago-based payments platform Braintree. → Read More
ScaleBase, a Newton, Mass.-based startup that helps companies keep fast-scaling databases up-and-running, today announced that it has landed $10.5 million in series B funding, led by Bain Capital Ventures and Ascent Venture Partners, with participation from its existing investor, Cedar Fund. Having raised $4 million from Cedar in 2010, the investment brings the startup’s total funding to just… → Read More
PayNearMe (formerly Kwedit), a cash-based payments network, is today announcing a partnership with property management software maker AppFolio. This deal will allow tenants to pay their rent using cash at nearby 7-Eleven or ACE Cash Express stores at any time of day or night. → Read More
The officers at AndroidPolice have spotted a 32GB Nexus 7, Google and Asus’ addicting mini-tablet, for $249 on the Staples website. The new model, which many believe should have been launched with the first batch of 8 and 16GB slates, should sell for less than the 16GB model. → Read More
IOVOX, a provider of telephony analytics which we’ve covered before, has secured investment from London-based Octopus Investment. Specifically from the Octopus Titan 4 Venture Capital Trust (VCT) and Octopus Titan 5 VCT. The cash will be used for expansion. Although terms were unreleased, we understand the investment allows the founders to retain control of the direction of the company, which… → Read More
Our meetups are the things of legend. There’s beer, sometimes food, but more important than any of that, TechCrunch promises the most wondrous geek party you’ve ever attended. And the latest round of meetups is almost sold out.
There are just a few tickets left for the Detroit and Chicago meetup; Toronto sold out within a matter of days, so RSVP now. If our past meetup tours are any indication… → Read More
Samsung has already begun to roll out Android 4.1 Jelly Bean updates for international Galaxy S III owners (Spain, France, Austria, and Romania have recently joined the Jelly Bean party), but what about all the GSIII owners locked into contracts with Verizon, AT&T, and the like? Well, the Korean electronics giant has announced that it plans to begin releasing the update in the U.S. in “the… → Read More
Apple’s new iPhone 5 is facing supply challenges, with shipping times via Apple’s website continuing to sit at 3-4 weeks, and stock reportedly scarce in-store as well. That’s because of challenges in the assembly process, according to a new report by the Wall Street Journal which cites an unnamed Foxconn executive as its source. → Read More
NewsCred, which offers licensed content to publishers and brands, has acquired a publishing startup called Daylife.
The financial terms of the deal are not being disclosed. NewsCred did say that say that it expects to bring all of Daylife’s employees over to NewsCred. The company also said that the acquisition should effectively double its revenue and customer base. → Read More
New York City-based Aereo, a startup that streams network TV over the internet, has today expanded its list of supported devices beyond Apple devices and Roku to all major web browsers.
If you haven’t yet heard about Aereo, and you live in New York, you better put your listening ears on. → Read More
Amazon subsidiary Quidsi, which currently operates sites like Soap.com, Diapers.com and the newly launched eco site Vine.com to name a few, will launched two more sites this week, AfterSchool.com and Bookworm.com. Both sites are targeting families with children, the former featuring over 70,000 items for “children’s activities” and the latter offering 45,000 children’s books to start. → Read More
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