We haven’t heard too much from Fancy.com — a competitor to Pinterest and other sites focused on social commerce — since they raised $26 million in October 2012, but it looks like this is changing today. Fancy has apparently acquired Samplrs.com — a specialist in artisanal foods, which it sells by subscription as well as a la carte. The news, which we received via anonymous tip, was reportedly… → Read More
If you do a search for “AngelList” in the Apple App Store, you’ll only get four results – and one is an app featuring quotes from entrepreneurs. In other words, there’s not a lot of selection despite AngelList’s readily available API. That being said, in the past an app called AngelList Wings has served as a useful resource for browsing, searching and following early-stage startups, founders and… → Read More
Google seems to be looking to bring its ambitious Google Glass wearable computer to market much faster than many likely anticipated, according to the Verge. Google told the site that it hopes to have a “fully-polished” version of Glass available for sale to ordinary consumers by the end of 2013. The cost will be under the $1,500 Google was asking for developer-targeted editions of the headsets put… → Read More
Hard-working Americans may no longer need to buy a plane ticket to sin city to lose their kids’ college savings: Online gambling is now legal in Nevada, and may soon be available nationwide. Nevada unanimously passed an emergency measure to legalize gambling in the state and open up opportunities to enter legal compacts with states for their own residents. → Read More
For almost as long as Apple’s iPhone has been in existence, analysts have claimed to see visions of a low-cost version of the device aimed at developing and prepaid markets. It’s easy to see why these visions have grown in magnitude and gained a more vocal following over the years: entering that market would, in theory, broaden Apple’s potential appeal by hundreds of millions of new customers. But… → Read More
As American science students struggle to compete with the global competition, Oklahoma is moving forward with a law that could ban Biology teachers from failing students who argue that humans co-existed with dinosaurs. The state legislator’s committee in charge of education standards has approved a law that would forbid teachers from penalizing students who argue against widely accepted… → Read More
While trying to speed up its iOS and Android apps, Facebook accidentally stripped out too much data about news feed posts by Pages. This caused bugs in Page Insights that led to misreporting of metrics, causing admins to believe their posts reached fewer people than they actually did, in most cases. Bug fixes are now rolling out and accurate data will flow into Page Insights starting Monday. → Read More
Subscription commerce startup MeUndies has a brand new look and all new products. The company, which provides monthly shipments of boxers, thongs, and other underthings, is rolling out a new design for its website. It’s also introducing a new, ultrasoft fabric for its products, as well as a line of other basics, including t-shirts and socks. → Read More
It’s rare to come across a service that’s directly tackling a problem affecting a large number of people out in the real world, but AppCertain is doing just that. Designed for parents whose children use an iOS device like the iPhone, iPod Touch or iPad, this new app monitoring service sends out email alerts informing parents of the apps their kids have just installed, what those apps do, and… → Read More
While I hate using Buzzfeed-style headlines, this video warrants the hyperbole. We’re all familiar with the magic of quadcopters – they can fly in formation, roll around obstacles, and even interact with each other. This video demo, however, takes the cake. These little fellows are flying in formation while balancing a reverse pendulum. They’re essentially doing baton tricks in mid-air. → Read More
Even though Facebook admitted that its detour into HTML5 didn’t fully pay off for its mobile strategy, a host of startups like Ludei and GameClosure are still betting on the technology. They’re hoping that increasing complexity of dealing with all those Android devices plus new iOS formats, along with improvements in HTML5 standards will eventually make it viable for game developers. → Read More
A handful of cases seem to have leaked out for the forthcoming Galaxy S IV smartphone from Samsung. Since the phone has not yet been announced, we should approach each and every one of these cases with a hearty helping of salt. However, sometimes case makers get their hands on information we don’t quite have, such as dimensions, meaning their cases can shed some light on what’s coming next.
In… → Read More
Online college courses are replacing traditional classrooms at a crazy-fast pace, yet it is still unknown whether they are actually better for students. A new large-scale study of 40,000 community and technical college students finds that, compared to traditional courses, students in online courses receive worse grades and are more likely to drop out. The negative impact of online study is… → Read More
Windows Phone 8 is Nokia’s big play for the future, but as a result of focusing on those devices and their higher-end target market, the company is giving up ground to firms like Huawei and ZTE with lower end devices. But the Finnish company may be looking to get its budget-friendly groove back with the introduction of new, basic handsets not based on Microsoft’s mobile OS, to be unveiled at MWC… → Read More
Credit card company Visa is ramping up its partner program to help integrate its payments technologies in mobile devices and platforms. The new initiative, called the Visa Ready Partner Program, aims to help mobile device manufacturers, technology partners, mobile network operators, and others gain access to Visa IP, licenses and more. → Read More
In a new report from mobile ad platform Millennial Media, the company compiles its data on mobile device share across its network for all of 2012, revealing that tablets in particular accounted for a rising percentage of impressions, with Android devices stepping up their game considerably. The Kindle Fire and Samsung tablets were the big share winners, helping Android slates grab a considerable… → Read More
The European Union’s two-year long antitrust probe into Google’s search practices may be resolved after this summer, according to a Reuters report. The news agency quotes EU Competition Commissioner Joaquin Almunia, telling a conference today: “We can reach an agreement after the summer break. We can envisage this as a possible deadline.” → Read More
Back in January 2011, Orange acquired 49 percent of Dailymotion for $78 million (€59 million), and declared that they wanted to buy out the remaining 51 percent. But Dailymotion had to wait two years before further talks. By spending $80.6 million (€61 million) for the remaining stake, Orange acquired 100 percent of Dailymotion for $168 million (€127 million). → Read More
7digital, the streaming music company that offers a direct-to-consumer service but also partners with the likes of Samsung and Pure to power respectively its Music Hub and radio music services on connected devices like smartphones, tablets and music players, today announced a significant international expansion into the emerging markets of India, Brazil, Argentina, Colombia and South Africa, where… → Read More
Customer service software provider Zendesk announced a security breach that affects users of Twitter, Pinterest and Tumblr. Zendesk said that the hacker downloaded email addresses of users who have contacted those three websites for support, as well as support email subject lines. Tumblr and Twitter have notified affected users (see below), while Pinterest is expected to the same. A report on… → Read More
BoxTV, Times Internet’s online streaming video service, doesn’t just want to become the Netflix of India–it also sees itself as an Indian film discovery platform for viewers in other countries. It is now available for all viewers after its limited launch in September. → Read More
When we first met PayrollHero.com, it was aiming to change the way small business timekeeping is done in Asia. With a $1 million seed round from 500Startups, LX Ventures, Futura, and others, it looks like they may do just that. → Read More
As I start my trip in India along with Dave McClure’s “Geeks On A Plane,” I am reading about all of the startups in India that are used to proving that the country is making inroads and is relevant. It’s a story that I’m very familiar with in emerging markets: a group of VCs and entrepreneurs that want to prove that India is worthy of time, effort and, more… → Read More
Apple’s shares were hit after investors worried that a hiring freeze at Foxconn’s China plants is related to slowing iPhone 5 sales. Foxconn suspended recruitment at its factories in Zhengzhou and Shenzhen and it also reportedly postponed the construction of a new factory. Though this may point to slackening demand for the iPhone 5, it could also mean that Foxconn is preparing to adjust its… → Read More
FastPay recently announced that it has placed $100 million in credit with digital media companies.
That’s $100 million used to deal with the common cash flow challenge in the ad business, where it can take 60 days or more to get paid by the advertiser. That can be a problem if, for example, you need to pay the publisher in 30 days. So FastPay provides the funding to help companies deal with… → Read More
Blog commenting systems are bizarre, broken and dated. TechCrunch recently switched from Facebook Comments to Livefyre – a change that, for the record, I had no say in. I’m not sure I see value. I don’t agree with some of the sentiment expressed here, which almost makes it sound like this site, and all its authors, missed the trolling days of TechCrunch Past. We don’t. → Read More
Intel will not be left out of the party when it comes to being central in the mobile app ecosystem. The company today acquired a set of HTML5 development tools, originally created by appMobi and used by some 150,000 developers, and has hired staff from appMobi that worked on the product to continue to maintain it. appMobi, meanwhile, is going to forge ahead as a standalone company, focused on the… → Read More
Perhaps aware of the tsunami of news that will hit during Mobile World Congress, we are seeing an increasing amount of news releases coming out before the actual event. France Telecom/Orange has already told us about one device — an Android smartphone with Fujitsu aimed at the senior market — and now it is following that up with three more, own-branded, Android handsets aimed squarely at the… → Read More
Make way for one more player in the European mobile payments space, and a big one at that. Today, the online payments giant PayPal announced that from this summer it will be rolling out PayPal Here in the UK, its first foray into the European market, equipped with a new piece of hardware to accomodate the chip-based cards prevalent in this part of the world. → Read More
Wordpress, Blogspot and Tumblr have done a great job of making website creation accessible to anyone, but the novice can still be a bit overwhelmed by the back-end, especially when these platforms are built specifically to be as complex as they are simple, to expand the potential demographic.
But a YC-backed company called Padlet (formerly Wallwisher) is launching into public availability, and… → Read More
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