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Posted: 21 Oct 2011 09:00 AM PDT
 While AT&T is now fighting a legal battle with the Department of Justice to move forward with its ambitious T-Mobile takeover, former Vice President Al Gore expressed skepticism about the massive deal going through in its current form.Speaking at the AsiaD conference yesterday, Gore said that it’s rare for the DOJ to fight so strongly against a merger, reports This is my next. "Well… it's going to be reviewed,” Gore said. “My guess is that the Justice Department so rarely undertakes an initiative like the one they took against that merger. I think it'll be hard to overturn that measure. Both companies will try to put it back together, but they'd be well advised to start looking at other strategies." It’s unclear what those other strategies could be, but it’s becoming increasingly evident that AT&T will have to make some concessions for the $39 billion deal. The FCC also backed the DOJ’s maneuver, which boils down to the merger being anti-competitive since it will reduce the amount of wireless carrier choice for consumers, after remaining quiet about the takeover for months. Gore, who also sits on Apple’s board of directors, also spoke briefly about the passing of Steve Jobs, reports AllThingsD. "There's no one like Steve," he said. "He's the kind of guy that comes along once every 250 years. He was totally unique. So obviously his death is a terrible loss for the entire world. And we'll all miss him. But his legacy lives on.” Photo via This is my next Filed under: mobile, VentureBeat         This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
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Posted: 21 Oct 2011 08:31 AM PDT
 Verizon had a gangbusters third quarter, in which its profits more than doubled compared to last year, the company announced today.While rival AT&T added more new wireless customers in total (2.1 million new customers versus Verizon’s 1.3 million), Verizon landed almost triple the amount of more lucrative postpaid customers, who have on-going cellular contracts. AT&T added just 319,000 postpaid customers, compared to Verizon’s 882,000, a 51 percent jump over last year. Verizon reported profits of $1.38 billion for the quarter, up from $659 million last year, on revenues of $27.9 billion. AT&T’s profits, in comparison, were also up compared to last year (excluding one-time gains during last year’s third quarter). Verizon’s total wireless revenues were up 9.1 percent at $17.7 billion, and the company announced that it now has 4 million total FiOS television service subscribers. The company said it sold 5.6 million smartphones over the last quarter, more than half of which were Android phones. Among those, 1.4 million were LTE 4G devices. Verizon sold 2 million iPhone 4 units during the last quarter, compared to AT&T’s 2.7 million. Verizon didn’t disclose how many iPhone 4S units it sold over its launch weekend — the first time the carrier participated in a new iPhone launch. AT&T said it sold 1 million units between the launch on October 14 and last Tuesday. Just like Apple, Verizon also blamed pervasive next-gen iPhone rumors as a reason for reduced iPhone sales last quarter. Filed under: mobile, VentureBeat         This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
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Posted: 21 Oct 2011 08:14 AM PDT
 Groupon is set to go public on November 4, 2011.After months of hemming, hawing, adjusting statements and balking at the closing IPO window, the company will offer its shares for public trading. They will be listed on the Nasdaq under the symbol GRPN. Groupon hopes to set the share price between $16 and $18 and is attempting to raise around $621 million. This fundraising will leave the company valued at $11.4 billion, down from an already reduced $12 billion estimate yesterday. The investor-pitching roadshow, previously delayed due to earlier months’ market turbulence, will start after the weekend. Previously, sources close to the deal had estimated the company’s valuation to be between $15 to $20 billion. But, as they say, the mighty have fallen. Over the summer, the startup was “swimming in cash” and filed for an IPO in June. Just one month later, the company had to amend its SEC S1 paperwork to show $102.7 million losses for the first half of the year. A couple weeks after that, rampant market volatility began to have a negative impact of the stock prices for recent IPOs, and the IPO window for still-private companies seemed about to close. A record number of IPOs were delayed during the first bit of the market woes, and other companies raised far less than they had anticipated. Currently, Groupon is also dealing with a class-action lawsuit brought by employees. Also in the news, and likely to affect stock prices, we’re reading multiple reports that the service’s daily deals might not be such a great deal after all, and many local SMBs are famously saying Groupon isn’t great for business. However, the company’s Q3 revenue rose 426 percent year over year, from $82 million to $430 million. And if investors are seeing dollar signs, especially over the course of the roadshow, we can expect to hear some good things about the IPO in a couple weeks. Filed under: deals         This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
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Posted: 21 Oct 2011 08:06 AM PDT
 Nintendo announced Friday that its 3DS handheld and Wii console will get access to Hulu Plus‘ trove of streaming TV content before the end of 2011.One of the most pressing issues facing streaming services like Netflix and Hulu is access. Netflix figured that out early and pushed out apps for phones, tablets, game consoles and other connected devices. Hulu has been slightly behind with getting Hulu Plus on every imaginable device, but it’s now on many phones, tablets and consoles. The Wii is one of the most popular devices for Netflix streaming, so it’s important that Hulu is close to a launch on the console. Hulu Plus’ launch on the Nintendo 3DS is not as important as the introduction on the Wii, but it’s still smart. The 3DS has seen much better sales ever since Nintendo dropped the price by 40 percent to $170. While there aren’t nearly as many 3DS units as other major consoles, Hulu wants as many ways as possible to use its service while Nintendo wants to incentivize those on the fence about buying another handheld console when smartphones like the iPhone 4S can play pretty cool games too. To get access to Hulu Plus’ considerable amount of streaming television catalog, you must pay $7.99 per month. Hulu Plus takes the service way above what you can do with regular Hulu.com by letting users watch content in HD, let them watch Hulu on connected devices (like the Wii), and gives you many more episodes of TV to watch. Nintendo also used the announcement as an opportunity to tell its 3DS users that a major system update would happen at the end of November that will enable 3D video capture. Users will be able to record up to 10 minutes of 3D video and they can also create 3D stop-motion animation videos. "Nintendo 3DS continues to evolve with great new features and functions designed to reinforce its position as a premiere entertainment device," said Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aime in a statement. Filed under: games, media         This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
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Posted: 21 Oct 2011 08:00 AM PDT
 Mainstream consumers may be drawn to the iPhone 4S because of its Siri personal assistant. But gamers will want to pick up the iPhone 4S for its ability to play games. The new smartphone from Apple has the ability to run games that are much better-looking than those on the iPhone 4. That’s because the iPhone 4S has the A5 microprocessor, the same one used in the iPad 2 that launched earlier this year. The A5 central processing unit (CPU) is two times more powerful than the iPhone 4′s A4 chip, and the iPhone 4S’s graphics run seven times faster. As a result, the iPhone 4S is going to be a very powerful game platform. That’s important since it will compete against two new portable gaming systems, the Nintendo 3DS that launched earlier this year and the Sony PlayStation Vita which arrives early next year. Gamers are sure to notice that some of the titles are starting to look as good as console games from the not-so-distant past. Here’s a rundown on some of the games that will shine on the iPhone 4S. The most anticipated game will be Infinity Blade II (pictured at top), which has been optimized for the A5. The game, from Epic Games’ Chair Entertainment division, was highlighted at Apple’s press conference for the launch of the iPhone 4S. The game looks pretty awesome and it will sell millions of copies if it does as well as the original game, which launched in 2010. Mike Capps, president of Epic Games, says the quality of this game is pretty close to console quality.  In the original game, you could use your fingers to simulate sword strokes across the screen. Your warrior takes on increasingly tough swordmasters and beasts before reaching the evil boss. If you lose, you start over and appear doomed to run the same gauntlet for all eternity. The touchscreen-based game play should be awesome again on the iPhone 4S. And this new version has also been enhanced to let users created hundreds of customizable weapons. The Infinity Blade II game debuts on Dec. 1.Real Racing 2 is one of the cool racing games from developer Firemint, which was recently acquired by Electronic Arts. This game is easier to handle than a lot of early mobile racing games. You can tweak the controls on the game so that they are easier to handle. The game has 40 miles of tracks and 15 locations. It has 16-player online races, with eight players able to play in the same room via Wi-Fi. The game comes with 30 different cars and has a career mode with more than 10 hours of game play. You can play it from five different camera angles. One nice feature of Real Racing: You can play it on a high-definition TV via AirPlay, which is one of the cool features of Apple’s new iPhone operating system, iOS5: It lets you control the game on your iPhone and see it on your TV set.  Shadowgun from Madfinger Games uses the Unity game development platform, the browser-based technology that is the main rival to Epic’s game platform. Shadowgun features some very cool 3D graphics in a third-person shooter game. The sci-fi game features some nice explosions, cool shadows and lighting, and decent voice acting.In the game, you play a professional bounty hunter named John Slade in the year 2350. Your mission is to hunt down Edgar Simon, a geneticist who is tucked away in a mountain fortress and protected by a personal army of mutants, cyborgs and genetically-enhanced people. As you fight, you can take cover and use a variety of weapons to take on enemies. It has some technical flaws, though, so the company recently put out a new version.  Game publisher NaturalMotion has launched a realistic horse simulation game called My Horse that should look very cool on the iPhone 4S. The game, developed by MunkyFun, looks like one of the most sophisticated to date in terms of the quality of its graphics for the iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch.The game users realistic animation and physics technology to create some of the best-looking horses you’ll ever see in a game for children. The motions of the horses are physically accurate and you won’t see dumb-looking repetitive movements. Ideal for kids, the game lets you take care of a unique horse, groom it, ride it, and enter it into tournaments. You can wash and feed your horse as if it were a real thing, and you can pay real money for virtual goods in case you want to buy fancy reins or better food for your horse.  Galaxy on Fire 2 HD from Fishlabs has such high-end graphics that it will run only on the iPad 2 and the iPhone 4S. In the game, you play the role of a daredevil space adventurer and mercenary. You are catapulted to the other end of the galaxy as a result of a hyperdrive accident and have to take on an armada of alien space ships. You have to arm your ship with weapons such as lasers or auto-cannon and take on the bad guys. The game has more than 20 star systems and dozens of planets, a bunch of alien races, dozens of customizable spaceships and 100 3D space stations. You can trade around a bunch of commodities. The sound is of your guns is riveting and the music is dramatic. You’ll see lots of cool views of space nebulae and explosions of enemy ships as you boldly go where no iPhone game has gone before. Filed under: games         This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
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Posted: 21 Oct 2011 08:00 AM PDT
 We’ve steadily built GamesBeat into a respected and well-read section over the past few years and are now going to add to that. We’re looking for talented writers who are passionate about writing about the business and innovations in games, and we’re also looking for game reviewers and videographers. We’re looking for both external freelancers and an internal writer.Our games coverage ranges from stories on game startups and fundings to stories about the innovations happening at the biggest game companies and the march of gamification into the larger economy. We’ll cover the spectrum of the game industry, including the disruptions in the industry with new business models and new technologies. We will create a separate site for GamesBeat and will run more game reviews and other news of interest for game players as well. We are starting out small and plan to grow the business into something cool. If you’d like to apply, send a message to dean at venturebeat.com. Filed under: games         This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
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Posted: 21 Oct 2011 05:01 AM PDT
 Editor’s note: This is freelance writer Sebastian Haley’s first game review for GamesBeat. Please offer him some feedback in the comments. This review contains spoilers.  For a game that was officially announced shortly after the release of its award-winning predecessor, Batman: Arkham City has turned out to be a phenomenal accomplishment for all involved. Game developer Rocksteady Studios has unequivocally delivered the greatest Batman game of all-time, and arguably the greatest comic book-inspired game as well, a notch they've had on their belt once before.But honestly that's not nearly as prestigious an achievement as it should be. With as far as the medium has come, Batman: Arkham City should be par for the course, not the exception to the rule. So while it is a great game, and it outright shames what every other studio is doing with their superhero licenses, it is not quite perfect either.Batman: Arkham City is one of the candidates for blockbuster status in a very crowded fall selling season for the video game industry, and that’s very important for its publisher, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, which is trying to build the same reputation in games as it has for movies.
Picking up a year after the events of the predecessor game Batman: Arkham Asylum, former warden Quincy Sharpe has taken the credit for stopping The Joker. Sharpe uses that as a springboard to become mayor of Gotham City. He selects a large section of the Gotham slums and converts them into the titular detention city, now housing prisoners from both Arkham Asylum and Blackgate Penitentiary. If that seems like a ludicrous concept, it quite bluntly is, and part of Batman: Arkham City's writing addresses that without ever truly justifying it. Hugo Strange, a prestigious psychiatrist, is put in charge of Arkham City, and arrests Bruce Wayne during a public appearance at a rally against the existence of the open-air prison. That is how Batman ends up in Arkham City, and so the drama and mystery begins to unfold.
 Batman: Arkham City was penned by Paul Dini, best known for his work on Batman: The Animated Series, Batman: Arkham Asylum, and perhaps most importantly of all, the creation of Harley Quinn. He is no stranger to presenting the Dark Knight's story in the darkest and most believable way this side of Christopher Nolan, but there's something not quite right with Batman: Arkham City. The first major dialogue sequence of the game involves Two-Face and Catwoman. In it, they exchange cheesy one-liners, but the climax comes when Catwoman teases, "Aw, no gun, Harv?" to which Two-Face replies, "Two guns, bitch!" It's almost laughable, and I have to believe that this became a sort of "I'm the Juggernaut, bitch!"-esque inside joke at Rocksteady that they simply forgot to change before releasing to the public. Still, it leaves a bitter first impression that is hard to shrug off for the remainder of the game.Kevin Conroy and Mark Hamill, reprising their roles at Batman and Joker, respectively, do mostly excellent voice-acting jobs, but other characters are hit and miss, and the shoddy story does nothing to help. Other games have certainly done it far worse, but it's also not the 10/10 material that game review aggregator Metacritic (where the average score is 96 out of 100) would imply it is, either. Certain key moments lack the impact they should have, like when Batman tells a character they shouldn't have murdered someone with all of the sincerity and conviction as Anakin Skywalker standing over a headless Count Dooku in Revenge of the Sith. This is especially true during the seemingly undercooked final act, which, while not completely terrible, is still head-scratching on multiple levels. It's hard to know who to blame at times: the actors? The writer? The developers? A certain quantity of camp is expected, but it's not just that. Batman: Arkham City flat-out does not make sense, occasionally, and it is made even more obvious when the game is generally so good otherwise. To Rocksteady's credit, I do appreciate that Batman: Arkham City was planned all along, rather than catapulted into development after the success of the first game. If, like myself, you were left wondering how Joker would ever realistically recover from mutating into a massive TITAN-infected beasty, Rocksteady has done the unthinkable and carried that story thread forward in Batman: Arkham City in a very meaningful way. It is not only nice to have that progression present across both games, but think about it for a minute: How often is some outlandish idea introduced in any form of entertainment, only to be completely ignored after it has served its purpose? It can be attributed to laziness or usually a lack of the talent necessary to intelligently explain the aftermath, but regardless, it happens a lot. Technical difficulties Walking into a game as technically ambitious as this, one must brace themselves for at least some level of defect, especially in the era of "ship now, fix later… maybe." Another ambitious game, Dead Rising 2, had two chances to keep from being a jumbled mess and failed miserably both times, while other games like Grand Theft Auto actually turned some of its technical anarchy into features, albeit unwittingly. Unfortunately, Batman: Arkham City slammed me with a game-crashing bug before I ever even saw the main menu. As is being reported by a slew of other gamers, installing the game on your hard drive can cause severe issues, especially if you did so before updating with the first patch. Of course, the game is new, so figuring this out took several reboots of my console. You may be wondering why I'm detailing this issue right away, rather than towards the end of the review, but since it was the first experience I had with Batman: Arkham City, it's the first thing I'm writing about. Also, don't download anything (like Bejeweled 3, for example) while playing Arkham City, otherwise you will be immediately kicked back to the main menu as the game detects that "new downloadable content" is available. A large number of players are reporting issues with downloadable content (DLC) codes, as well as duplicate Catwomen and the like, though I did not personally experience these.  Beyond that, the only in-game "glitch" I experienced was getting stuck in a wall once, and to be fair I was gliding around like an idiot. Batman: Arkham City is surprisingly sound, and an absolute technical marvel in many regards. What Rocksteady has achieved with their drastically enhanced Unreal 3 engine genuinely reveals the brilliance of the Arkham engineers, all of whom have hopefully been given a very large raise. No longer confined within asylum walls, Batman is free to explore Arkham City using his iconic cape and grapple gun, plus his newly found, limited free-running skills (though they thankfully do not play as big a role as the prologue would lead you to believe).Learning to glide with Batman is relatively painless, though mastering the nuances of flight requires a bit of skill and practice. There are eight augmented reality side missions to put your gliding and dive-bombing abilities to the test, and doing the first four will even reward you with a Grapnel Boost, allowing Batman to gain extra glide with his grapple gun. Eventually, you could glide and dive your way from one end of Arkham City to another, should you be so inclined. And although initially daunting, you'll soon learn that the game world is not all that large. At least, not the outer areas. You'll be heading inside and deep below the streets for every major mission. Seamlessly moving from an underground lair that you've just spent an hour exploring sans loading times back to the streets of Arkham City is where you realize just how impressive the tech truly is. At the same time, you'll be doubling back to revisit many of these areas throughout the game. It's not horribly blatant or recycled, but it's definitely noticeable nonetheless. There is a misleading sense of scope at work here. Filed under: games         This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
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Posted: 21 Oct 2011 12:16 AM PDT
 If you think your iPad 2 is completely secure after enabling the passcode protection feature for iOS 5, then think again.Apple blog 9to5 Mac, citing a German site, reported a security flaw that allows anyone with one of Apple’s Smart Covers to gain access to the device — giving them free rein on emails, messages, browser history, contacts and any application with stored login information (Facebook, mobile bank account apps, Twitter, etc.). The flaw can be exploited on a locked iPad 2 by holding down the power button, which will eventually prompt you to slide a horizontal scroll button to turn off the device. With the “power off” screen still up, close the smart cover. When you lift up the cover again the “power off” screen is still present, but clicking cancel brings you to the home screen — thus bypassing the need to enter in the correct passcode. The trigger seems to be when the iPad is put to sleep (locked), which cannot be done by clicking the power button again. However, the iPad 2 can get around this because it uses magnet sensors from the Smart Cover to lock the device when the cover is on and unlock it when taken off. Since the first generation iPad isn’t compatible with Smart Covers, it doesn’t suffer from the flaw. Some iPad owners are reporting that the security exploit isn’t limited to iOS 5, and will also work on version 4.3 of the operating system. I can’t confirm if this is the true because I don’t have an iPad running 4.3, nor do I have the desire to roll back the operating system to an earlier version. Although, anyone who is running 4.3 on their iPad is more than welcome to test the exploit and let us know if it works. (Just drop us a comment below, or email us at tips@venturebeat.com.) Presumably, Apple will issue a fix in the next iOS update, which is due out any day now. In the meantime, if you’re worried about your iPad 2 geting compromised before the update is released, there is a temporary solution. As 9to5 Mac points out, iPad owners can disable the Smart Cover locking/unlocking function found in the Settings app under the “General” tab. Filed under: mobile, security, VentureBeat         This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
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Posted: 20 Oct 2011 11:34 PM PDT
 Reports have surfaced today of a new PlayStation 3 jailbreak titled “JB2,” according to Eurogamer.Rumors recently began spreading throughout Indonesia that a USB dongle was being used to play bootleg copies of PlayStation 3 games. We contacted a Sony representative, who replied saying the company is looking into the hack and has no further comment. Sony, maker of the PlayStation, has seen its fair share of security issues with its popular gaming console and corresponding network. In mid-April 2011, hackers took down the Sony PlayStation Network for a total of six weeks, leaving players angered at Sony’s response time and communication about the security breech. Involved hackers stole private user information including a rumored 10 million credit card numbers. But the jailbreak that “JB2″ follows came even before this attack. In early April of the same year, a young hacker named George "Geohot" Hotz circumvented the security system and distributed jailbreak software allowing users to play unauthorized games on their PlayStation 3 consoles. Sony found Hotz and entered litigation, which eventually ended up in a settlement. The jailbreak was thought to be a product of hacker collective Anonymous’ inspiration. The group was later also blamed for the Sony PlayStation Network outage, but denied involvement. The “JB2″ is said to be a USB drive dongle that connects to the PlayStation 3. When the console is rebooted, it takes on the presence of a developer device from which the dongle can insert its code. When the process is complete, unauthorized games can be played on the machine. Games released after the 3.6 PlayStation update, however, cannot be played from the hard drive and must come in the form a bootleg Blu-ray disc, which the machine reads as authorized. The confirmation of the hack comes from a gaming forum titled, “PS360 Crunch.” According to the post, the dongle will cost $45 with the following games available for immediate play: FIFA 2012, PES 2012, Driver San Francisco, God of War Origins, X-Men Destiny, and Sniper Ghost Warrior. More games are expected as well as instructions on how to create your own discs. The hack has not yet been officially confirmed by Sony, but a video of the dongle has surfaced.  Filed under: games         This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
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Posted: 20 Oct 2011 06:56 PM PDT
 Coupons.com may have raised $30 million just a few weeks ago, but CouponCabin has leapfrogged that with a whopping $54 million first round of funding, with the goal of expanding its offerings and the number of merchants it works with. CouponCabin differentiates itself from other coupon sites by continuing to verify whether the coupons it offers actually still work, something its user base likely appreciates. They’re so committed to quality coupons that if a user tries to use a coupon that is no longer valid and reports it, the company will give he or she a $25 gift card. Retailers the company offers coupons for include Target, Dell, RadioShack, Best Buy, Champs Sports, Home Depot, Kohls and Kmart. The company said the funding will go toward building up its consumer base and focus more on grocery stores and local businesses. “Among other initiatives, this investment will enable us to grow our local, grocery and printable coupon offerings, making us the deepest and broadest consumer destination for coupons on the web,” said CouponCabin founder and CEO Scott Kluth in a statement. “This investment will also help us better engage with more than one million fans on Facebook.” CouponCabin’s round was led by growth equity firm JMI Equity, which has also invested in online firms like DoubleClick, Adknowledge, Business.com and DoubleVerify. JMI Equity will hold a minority stake in CouponCabin thanks to the investment. Whiting, Ind.-based CouponCabin was founded in 2003. Last year, CouponCabin generated $500 million in online retail sales for its wide range of merchants, and it claims to have saved users more than $300 million since 2003. In 2011, the company has posted more than 100,000 offers from more than 3,500 stores. Filed under: deals         This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
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Posted: 20 Oct 2011 06:15 PM PDT
 Yesterday’s massive layoffs at daily deals site BuyWithMe were the result of shrinking capital markets, the company’s chief operating officer said today.The announcement that BuyWithMe, the No. 3 daily deals site on the Web, was cutting significantly more than half its staff followed an unsuccessful attempt to raise capital at a $500 million valuation. BuyWithMe Chief Operating Officer David Wolfe said in an email that the company was the victim of an increasingly-hostile investment landscape for daily deals companies. “The capital markets willingness to invest in *daily deal* businesses has dried up,” said Wolfe. He outlined some of the company’s recent efforts to boost customer acquisition and strengthen audience retention, which was to be aided considerably by the money they were looking to raise. Those plans were cut short. Wolfe: “We were a little late”“Our game plan was to raise a significant amount of capital to push this comprehensive service offering deeply into markets and, as a result, change the basis of competition in the daily deal space. We were a little late,” said Wolfe.This time last year a national daily deals player unable to raise money would have been almost unimaginable. After rejecting Google’s $6 billion buyout offer, Groupon in January went back to the private markets and raised a whopping $950 million Series D round of funding led by the likes of Morgan Stanley, Yuri Milner’s DST and Greylock, among others. However, the national competition continues to grow more fierce, as customers and merchants become more savvy about flash offers. As we reported today, however, industry experts such as Vinicius Vacanti, CEO of Yipit, and Martin Tobias, CEO of Tippr, believe that there has never been a better time for daily deals offered by large Web players like Google or Amazon who can capitalize on their existing audience. Capital markets are drying upA report released yesterday showed that capital markets are, indeed, shrinking. The study by PricewaterhouseCoopers and the National Venture Capital Association showed that venture capital investing dropped by 12 percent during the third quarter of 2011, compared with last year. There were 876 deals completed in the quarter, down from the 1,015 in quarter two 2011.Deals site HomeRun was recently acquired by Rearden for an undisclosed sum, which included at least $83 million in cash, according to an SEC filing. Such a liquidity event is looking like a better and better exit for deals sites in these uncertain times. “We fundamentally believe in the future of the *daily deal* (performance based online advertising for offline businesses) and want to be around to see another day,” said Wolfe.  Filed under: VentureBeat         This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
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Posted: 20 Oct 2011 06:10 PM PDT
 Steve Jobs and Eric Schmidt had a bitter falling out with each other over Google’s creation of its Android mobile operating system, which Jobs felt was a grand betrayal.Schmidt was a member of Apple’s board from 2006 to 2009. But the two companies began to compete with each other, at first without knowing it, when Apple launched the iPhone in 2007. The story was captured in Walter Isaacson’s biography of Jobs, which will be officially released Monday but has been leaked to the New York Times and the Associated Press. The AP said the that Schmidt quit Apple’s boadr as Google and Apple went head-to-head in smartphones. Jobs was livid in January, 2010, when HTC introduced an Android phone that boasted many of the popular features of the iPhone. One of those was a “multitouch” screen where multiple fingers could be registered on a touchscreen. Google’s first Android phone did not have such a touchscreen. Apple sued and Jobs told Isaacson in a profanity-filled rant that Google’s actions amounted to “grand theft.” Jobs said, "I will spend my last dying breath if I need to, and I will spend every penny of Apple's $40 billion in the bank, to right this wrong. I'm going to destroy Android, because it's a stolen product. I'm willing to go thermonuclear war on this." At a cafe in Palo Alto, Calif., (where the two men were photographed), Jobs told Schmidt he was not interested in settling the lawsuit. "I don't want your money. If you offer me $5 billion, I won't want it. I've got plenty of money. I want you to stop using our ideas in Android, that's all I want." Schmidt, meanwhile, denied that there was discord with Jobs. "We understood it was a possibility when I joined the board," he said of the business conflicts. "We had adult conversations about it at the beginning and the end. "All those reports in the press were wrong," he added. "After I left the board, they had me to events and to private dinners." Jobs died of cancer on Oct. 5. Filed under: mobile, VentureBeat         This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
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Posted: 20 Oct 2011 05:32 PM PDT
 An early copy of Steve Jobs’ biography by Walter Isaacson has leaked to certain news outlets. These publications are The New York Times, The Huffington Post, the Associated Press and CBS News. Jobs’ biography will officially be released on October 24. Here are the latest tidbits of the story Jobs refused to tell anyone else:Michael Liedtke of the Associated Press on Jobs, Google and the Macintosh: Jobs’ relationship with Larry Page was as volatile as it seemed. Liedtke tweeted that Jobs thought of Google’s Android program as “grand theft,” and he had an irreparable relationship with Erick Schmidt, but was able to mend his relationship with Larry Page. In fact, Page came to Jobs for advice on how to be a good chief executive officer, and while Jobs’ immediate reaction was to say “f-you” to Page, he remembered how HP co-founder Bill Hewlett advised him in his younger days. “Figure out what Google wants to be when it grows up. It’s now all over the map,” reads the biography’s account of Jobs’ interaction with Page. Later Jobs came to Page with a sharp advising tone, warning Google was making products “that are adequate but not great. They’re turning you into Microsoft.”  Of Macintosh, Jobs’ biography had a couple entertaining anecdotes. Jobs let Bill Gates in on his plans for the Macintosh computer early. He codenamed the product that would eventually be Gates’ biggest PC competitor “Sand.” Jobs must have felt highly of the computer as the acronym stands for, “Steve’s amazing new device.”His opinion of Gates was less amazing, however. “Bill is basically unimaginative and has never invented anything … He just shamelessly ripped off other people’s ideas.” Once the Macintosh came into existence, famed artist Andy Warhol convinced Jobs to share one of its first iterations with Mick Jagger, lead singer of the Rolling Stones. Jobs agreed but upon arrival, Jagger didn’t know who he was. “I think he was on drugs. Either that or he’s brain damaged,” said Jobs. The New York Times on Jobs’ fight with cancer: Steve Jobs’ battle with cancer began in 2003, and he was reluctant to turn to science for help. Instead — to the stress of his family and friends, particularly wife Laurene Powell — Jobs turned to herbal remedies and other exotic treatments. "The big thing was that he really was not ready to open his body," said Powell, who urged him toward chemotherapy according to the biography. She told Isaacson of Jobs’ decision, “The body exists to serve the spirit.” When he finally turned toward science, Jobs put in his all. In fact, he had a $100,000 procedure to test the DNA sequence of his tumor and the sequence of his normal DNA to concoct personalized medications for his condition. His biography says Jobs predicted he would be the first "to outrun a cancer like this" or the last "to die from it." The Huffington Post on Jobs and Obama: As many know, Steve wasn’t only a technology pioneer, but also a design and marketing impresario. His eye for simplicity and minimalism were what many credit with the success of Apple’s user-friendly products. Steve Jobs also offered his creative eye to another leader: the President of the United States Barack Obama. The offer was to design Obama’s 2012 political ads, even through he heavily criticized the administration. “He had made the same offer in 2008, but he’d become annoyed when Obama’s strategist David Axelrod wasn’t totally deferential,” Isaacson wrote. “You’re headed for a one-term presidency,” Jobs told Obama when he met him in 2010. Jobs only met with Obama last minute when the president was on a West Coast visit. He met the president at the San Francisco Airport after waiting five days for a personal invitation he never received. CBS News on Jobs and his father: On 60 Minutes this coming Sunday, Walter Isaacson talks about Steve Jobs and his relationship with his father. Jobs was given up for adoption as a baby. He later met his sister, novelist Mona Simpson. After finding Simpson, Jobs enlisted her to help him locate his birth father. The man he eventually found was named Abdulfattah “John” Jandali, a man Jobs met without ever knowing the two were related. Isaacson writes Jandali ran a restaurant in Silicon Valley that Jobs had undoubtedly patronized. “‘Everybody used to come there,’” Jandali told Simpson before he ever knew Jobs was his son. “‘Even Steve Jobs used to eat there. Yeah, he was a great tipper.’” Simpson refrained from telling Jandali and instead told Jobs where he could find his father. Jobs never reached out to the man. “When I was looking for my biological mother, obviously, you know, I was looking for my biological father at the same time, and I learned a little bit about him and I didn’t like what I learned. I asked her to not tell him that we ever met … not tell him anything about me,” Jobs says in a video-taped interview with Isaacson. Filed under: VentureBeat         This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
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Posted: 20 Oct 2011 05:26 PM PDT
 Hewlett-Packard said that its longtime tech expert Shane Robison will retire on Nov. 1. Robison is the executive vice president and chief strategy and technology officer at HP. That’s a long way of saying that he’s the top tech dude. He’s the first major executive to depart since Meg Whitman replaced Leo Apotheker as chief executive.Robison spent 11 years at HP and he came to the company with Carly Fiorina’s acquisition of Compaq in 2001. Robison was a member of the company’s Executive Councl and he helped shaped the company’s corporate strategy and technology research agenda. He led many of the company merger deals and R&D efforts. The loss of someone like Robison is a big one, and it means that Whitman, who has very little background in tech R&D, will lose a very key advisor as she presides of the world’s largest technology company in revenues. "Shane has been a powerful innovator for our business groups and other corporate divisions," said Whitman in a statement. "His passion for research and development has ensured that innovation continues at HP." Robison’s departure isn’t good for HP as it tries to figure out what it wants to do. HP no longer has the wherewithal to participate in every tech market. That was why Apotheker acquired software companies and was prepared to spin off the PC business. But he communicated so poorly that the move cost him his job. One key issue is whether HP will continue to create supercomputers and software in support of Intel’s Itanium chip, which has been a huge joint program since 1994. The chip and computers based on it are profitable, but Intel’s core x86 chips are still selling much better and Itanium hasn’t lived up to its original expectations. Whitman will have to make the call on such things in the absence of Robison. Whitman said HP will not replace Robison. That could be a recipe for disaster. Filed under: VentureBeat         This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
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Posted: 20 Oct 2011 05:18 PM PDT
 Google accidentally published a YouTube video today that introduced some big changes to its popular email product Gmail.In the video, which is now marked as private, Gmail UX Designer Jason Cornwell says “We’ve completely redesigned the look and feel of Gmail to make it as clean, simple and intuitive as possible.” For the most part, this is true based on the images in the demo. The overall design is largely taken from a Gmail preview theme, which is currently available to all users. However, there are plenty of new additions and drastic changes worth noting. First of all, there’s a ton of white space — making elements like the “important” arrows and message labels stand out like a sore thumb. Unread messages in the Inbox stay white while old messages are slightly shaded. The Gmail navigation has also been refreshed. The top nav bar now consists of buttons with action icons instead of text descriptors ( e.g. – archive, spam, delete, etc.). The left-sidebar navigation is much cleaner than the current version. Links to Contacts and Tasks are gone, or at least hidden from view. The most prominent element in the sidebar is a brightly colored “Compose” button. Opening a message brings you to the default conversation-view mode that features profile pictures next to each message snippet. Honestly, the new Gmail design looks dangerously similar to Facebook’s message center. (See side-by-side comparison below.) The navigation (left sidebar), advertising placement (right sidebar) and list of people in the conversation/suggested users (top of right sidebar) are in identical locations on both Facebook and the new Gmail. I wouldn’t be surprised if Gmail eventually started treating all messages between two people as one continuous conversation (with no distinction between Instant Messages and emails) like Facebook does.  Unlike Facebook, the inbox doesn’t have a fixed width and users can choose one of four display density types. This is a nice addition that’s also available in the preview mode theme. And speaking of Gmail themes, the video also revealed a variety of new “high-definition themes”, which were little more than high-resolution background photos that cancel out everything else on the page. Seriously, if you use one of those photo backgrounds Gmail instantly becomes Flickr. Hopefully, Google will allow users to upload their own custom themes when the refresh rolls out to everyone. We’ve embedded screenshots from the Gmail video below. Let us know what you think of the design changes in the comments. Filed under: social, VentureBeat         This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
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Posted: 20 Oct 2011 04:43 PM PDT
 Steve Jobs refused to get an operation for his cancer until it was too late, Jobs’ biographer Walter Isaacson, confirmed in an interview with the CBS show 60 Minutes.In an interview with Steve Kroft, Isaacson said that Jobs was urged to get an operation for pancreatic cancer. At first, Jobs tried alternative medicine and waited nine months before agreeing to the surgery. When they did the surgery, the doctors found the cancer had spread beyond the pancreas. In the interview, Isaacson said, “I’ve asked [Jobs why he didn't get an operation then] and he said, ‘I didn’t want my body to be opened…I didn’t want to be violated in that way.’” Jobs’ wife and others urged him to to get the operation, but Jobs moved too late. Fortune first reported that fact in 2008. Andy Grove, a friend and mentor to Jobs and the former head of Intel who had survived prostate cancer, told Jobs he was “crazy” for not getting surgery. Art Levinson, chairman of Genentech and a member of Apple’s board, pleaded with Jobs to have surgery. Isaacson’s book will go on sale Monday, Oct. 24. It’s being published by Simon & Schuster. Previous books have chronicled Jobs’ belief in alternative philosophies and his vegetarian diet, so it’s not surprising that Jobs tried to find other ways besides surgery to be cured. Cancer experts interviewed by the San Jose Mercury News say that Jobs could still be alive had he had surgery earlier. The New York Times also obtained an early copy of the book. According to its report, Jobs relied on remedies such as fruit juices, acupuncture, herbal remedies and other treatments — some that he found on the internet. That infuriated and distressed his family, friends and physicians. Jobs was first diagnosed with cancer in October 2003, after a CT scan. He was operated on in secret in July 2004. About that time, Jobs also turned to technology. He was one of 20 people in the world to have all the genes of his cancer tumor and his normal DNA sequenced. The cost was $100,000, according to the 600-page biography. Isaacson conducted more than 40 interviews with Jobs, who died Oct. 5. Jobs told Isaacson that he was either going be one of the first "to outrun a cancer like this" or be among the last "to die from it." Filed under: VentureBeat         This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
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Posted: 20 Oct 2011 03:45 PM PDT
 According to Facebook, European publication The Guardian expects to have one million installs of its Facebook application by this weekend.Facebook announced the news applications feature at its developer conference f8 in September. The point of news apps is allow people to find content through friends socially. Indeed, f8 was framed around friends’ influence on what you read, listen to, buy, do and more. Since then The Guardian, Yahoo, The Independent, and the Washington Post have all created news apps. Other publications will be able to develop their own apps once Facebook officially launches its new open graph. “Facebook has always been a place to discover news through friends,” said a Facebook spokesperson in an e-mail. “Now for those who want to have social news experiences on Facebook and news sites around the web, there are more ways to do so.” Currently, the Guardian’s application allows you to read its most popular and latest content directly on Facebook, check out its fan pages, and an activity stream how your friends have interacted with the app. In turn, you can share what you are reading with friends and will soon be able to describe your interactions with Facebook’s new vocabulary. The new vocabulary will allow you to do more than just “like” something, but insert your own action. Of course, you can remove the app whenever you like. The social network has worked with the above new app launch partners, but will let go of the reigns when the features go public. Other launch partners, which include USA Today, The Economist, The Huffington Post, will be releasing their own versions in the coming weeks. Check out the gallery of Facebook news apps:           Filed under: social, VentureBeat         This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
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Posted: 20 Oct 2011 03:27 PM PDT
 Apple is taking its latest mobile operating system, iOS 5, on the road to woo developers across the world. The company announced a lineup of nine cities its Tech Talk World Tour will visit between November and January.The iOS roadshow is a long-standing Apple tradition that allows members of the developer community meet with Apple’s iOS experts, and to get their hands dirty playing with the latest operating system for the iPhone, iPad and iPod touch. Stops on this year’s tour will include Austin, Beijing, Berlin, London, New York, Rome, São Paulo, Seoul and Seattle. In the statement on its website announcing the tour, Apple specified that it was only open to developers who currently have an iOS app in the works or in the App Store: We want to help iOS developers take their apps to the next level using the exciting new technologies in iOS 5. Our team of experts will visit nine cities around the world, covering advanced coding and design techniques that you can take advantage of in your apps. Since Tech Talks are highly technical, it's important that you have experience programming with the iOS SDK and have an app actively in development or on the App Store.With new features such as Siri, iMessage, Twitter integration, improved notifications and reminders, there is a lot for app creators to be excited about. 
[Via 9to5Mac]
Filed under: VentureBeat         This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
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Posted: 20 Oct 2011 03:01 PM PDT
 Microsoft executives gave some details and forward-looking statements about the company’s business — both the high points and the struggles — in an earnings call this afternoon. And it looks like Steve Ballmer is still doing a great job.Microsoft posted record earnings for the most recent quarter — $17.37 billion, a figure that represents 7 percent year-over-year growth. All things considered, you can credit the growth to business tools (including big, boring server tech) and games (including the new exciting Gears of War 3). It’s the same story, roughly, from the beginning of this year: Microsoft is winning in business tech and games tech. The bright spotsEnterprise sales didn’t fare too well in the Q3 earnings report, but as Chief Financial Officer Peter Klein noted at the time, “We have a great product pipeline. We don't have visibility into exactly what business spending will be, so we're just going to have to work through that in the next couple quarters."And work through it they did. This quarter, the Business division earned $5.62 billion, and the Servers & Tools division posted $4.25 billion. Together, these two areas accounted for around 57 percent of Microsoft’s total revenues. “PC sales to emerging markets continued to outpace other markets,” said Bill Koefoed, general manager, investor relations. This finding is similar to what Intel revealed in its earnings this year. “As we look toward to holiday season, we’re particularly excited about Ultrabooks,” said Klein, referring to the super-thin laptops from Intel. Both Koefoed and Klein had positive remarks on Office 365, the company’s end-to-end cloud service for businesses, which encompasses not only its desktop Office software, but also its server software, such as Exchange and SharePoint. Games has been quite a bright spot for the company for some time now, with Xbox’s popularity only growing with the availability of the controller-free Kinect hardware. “There will be over 70 Kinect titles available for the holidays,” said Koefeld, noting that TV content for Xbox Live is also coming in the next couple months. “We believe we have the most compelling entertainment offering in the living room,” he said. Keep in mind that corporate signings tend to be cyclical. One great quarter for enterprise sales doesn’t necessarily guarantee repeat performances throughout the year. Klein stated the company expects unearned revenue to follow seasonal norms throughout the fiscal year. The downsidesWhat about Windows Phone 7? Are we still looking at a potential sleeper hit, or is Microsoft ready to talk numbers?“We are well positioned to become the third mobile ecosystem,” said Klein. Koefoed added, “We also signed a broad agreement with Samsung on the development and marketing of Windows phones.” Bing’s ad revenues were below expectations, however, continuing to work with Yahoo on improving ad revenues is the company’s “number-one priority.” Koefoed said Microsoft is “laser-focused” on getting the revenue per search up in the months to come. As far as Yahoo is concerned, “This is a long term alliance.” The company’s acquisition of Skype was a hot topic during the Q&A portion of the call. Klein said Microsoft is expecting “low single digits” of percent growth for revenue for the second quarter and “growth in the teens for the full fiscal year.” However, revenue from Skype was not part of today’s posted earnings, and the company is still very much in the beginning stages of figuring out how Skype will figure into its larger business, including its mobile and advertising offerings. Filed under: VentureBeat         This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
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Posted: 20 Oct 2011 02:01 PM PDT
 Microsoft said today that its Xbox 360 video game console was the best-selling console in the U.S. for the ninth consecutive month. That, and the good reception for Gears of War 3, an exclusive for the Xbox 360, helped push the company’s game revenues upward.Gears of War 3 sold more than 3 million copies in its first week with initial sales starting on Sept. 20. The sci-fi game franchise (pictured above) had already sold 13 million units, so the additional sales pushed the lifetime sales of Gears of War to 16 million units, or $960 million at retail. Pretty soon, you can expect that amount to top $1 billion. For the third quarter ended Sept. 30, Microsoft reported revenues for Entertainment and Devices (which sells games, retail software, Zune, and Windows Phone 7 software) were $1.96 billion, up from $1.79 billion a year earlier. Operating income was $352 million, down 9 percent from a year ago. Bill Koefoed, general manager of investor relations at Microsoft, said in an analyst call that gaming remains an important part of living room entertainment and that the company will soon launch TV entertainment on Xbox Live. Among the big titles coming this fall are Forza Motorsport 2, Kinect Sports 2, and Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary. All told, more than 70 games using the Kinect motion sensor are coming this season. Microsoft’s Xbox Live online gaming service has more than 50 million users. Filed under: games         This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
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Posted: 20 Oct 2011 01:20 PM PDT
 Microsoft has just posted record revenues of $17.37 billion for the most recent quarter.Highlights of the quarter run the gamut from business products (the company’s productivity server offerings, including Lync, SharePoint, and Exchange, grew double digits, and its Dynamics business grew 17 percent) to consumer products (as expected, it was a good quarter for Xbox, Kinect and the Gears of War franchise). The fiscal year 2012 first quarter, which ended September 30, 2011, saw a 7 percent increase year over year. Revenues beat Bloomberg’s estimate of $17.2 billion. Operating income was $7.2 billion; net income was $5.74 billion. Diluted earnings for shareholders were $0.68 per share, a 10 percent year-over-year increase. "We saw customer demand across the breadth of our products, resulting in record first-quarter revenue and another quarter of solid EPS growth," said Peter Klein, chief financial officer at Microsoft, in a statement. "Our product portfolio is performing well, and we've got an impressive pipeline of products and services that positions us well for future growth." The software giant’s Business Division, which includes the Microsoft Office suite of business and productivity software, earned $5.62 billion during the quarter, an 8 percent year-over-year increase. Microsoft’s Server & Tools division reported $4.25 billion in first quarter revenue, representing a 10 percent increase from revenues during Q1 2011. And, according to a statement from Microsoft, “Xbox was the top-selling gaming console in the U.S. for the ninth consecutive month. The company launched the Gears of War 3 game [an Xbox exclusive title] with over three million copies sold in the first week.” In fact, Xbox sales are going so well that one Microsoft rep told VentureBeat earlier this month, “Gears of War 3 has set the bar as the top game launch of the year, kicking off the biggest holiday in Xbox history with a bang. While we don't share sales projections, we're really happy with the results thus far and are kicking off what promises to be our biggest holiday yet in Xbox history." The Windows and Windows Live Division posted $4.87 billion in revenue, showing 2 percent year-over-year growth. While the company hasn’t revealed any specifics about Windows Phone 7 or Bing earnings, it did say that the search engine… excuse us, decision engine was rapidly gaining market share, growing 350 basis points year over year. As for the mobile division, we’re still standing by our assertion that it might turn out to be a sleeper hit, but Microsoft isn’t trumpeting any big numbers just yet. As some of you may recall, Microsoft purchased Skype for $8.5 billion earlier this year. The company will begin including Skype revenues in its earnings next quarter. Stay tuned for more details from the company’s earnings call with shareholders after the closing bell. Filed under: VentureBeat         This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
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Posted: 20 Oct 2011 12:16 PM PDT
 Daily Deals site BuyWithMe, which gorged itself buying smaller rivals, has laid off more than half its workforce, the company’s chief executive officer Jim Crowley announced yesterday. BuyWithMe was the No. 3 daily deals site in the U.S. behind Groupon and Living Social.“We were told on Tuesday at 5 pm an alarming majority of employees were being laid off with no severance, and a small group of employees would be retained in a last-ditch effort to sell the company,” Ian Boschen, BuyWithMe’s former of director of marketing, told VentureBeat. He said fewer than 10 of the 100 New York-based staff members remain. We have contacted BuyWithMe for confirmation, but it has not yet responded. The layoffs come after the Boston-based company was unable to raise a new round of financing at a valuation of $500 million. BuyWithMe had raised $21.5 in Series A and Series B funding as of July 2010, according to CrunchBase. Crowley said in a statement to employees that the company was reducing its headcount in order to continue to serve customers and merchants in some capacity: "BuyWithMe did have a significant reduction in staffing this week. We did this so the company is in the best position to continue to serve its merchants and members. As an organization we're continuing to pursue our business and to support our customers throughout the country."Another former employee of BuyWithMe told BetaBeat the company burned through its cash trying to buy its way to growth and profitability, but was unable to make the strategy play out successfully. In the past year, the company acquired deal sites Scoop St, DealADayOnline, Swoop, LocalTwist and Edhance, a loyalty program. "We would buy a new company and see growth from some of their users, but that's it," the former employee told BetaBeat. At issue was the fact that BuyWithMe was investing heavily to build its own technology in an effort to create a viable national brand based on deals. However, the challenge of building a generic, national franchise may have proved too much. “I think that this is further proof that the branded side of daily deals sector is over, “said Martin Tobias, the CEO of Tippr, a leading provider of white-label deals technology for publishers and websites. “I expected it. I’m not surprised,” Tobias said. Is the news a bad omen for the daily deals sector as a whole? Companies such as Groupon and BuyWithMe have been very successful in creating awareness that local businesses can reach new customers online, though it remains to be seen whether their prodigious, and expensive, marketing efforts will result in long-term success. Yesterday, Groupon announced the schedule for its IPO roadshow, with a significantly lower valuation than was expected. Groupon has repeatedly come under fire for its accounting practices, and the company spent $432 million on marketing and customer acquisition in the first six months of 2011, according to company filings. Vinicius Vacanti, CEO of Yipit, a daily deals aggregator and industry data provider, thinks brands and media companies with existing audiences are poised to capitalize on the awareness created by pioneers such as Groupon. "What really matters to the space is that the Googles and Amazons are expanding," said Vacanti. Both Tobias and Vacanti think media brands with an existing audience that are beginning to promote their own deals through existing channels, rather than trying to create consumer brands from scratch, will win. Tobias said that over the past six months more than 200 media brands have begun offering their own deals, and around 90 of them are using Tippr. While consumers’ appetites for deals may not be waning, the landscape is very challenging to any startup looking to get in on the deals space. The door may be closed for any company with national ambitions, unless it’s very crafty.
“The ability to launch and expand to a bunch of cities is almost impossible to do now,” said Vacanti.
[Photo Credit: Warren Goldswain/Shutterstock] Filed under: media, VentureBeat         This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
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Posted: 20 Oct 2011 12:00 PM PDT
 Everyone’s got an opinion — something that the mobile question and answer company Opinionaided has tapped into with its popular iPhone app. Today, the company is releasing its long-awaited Android app, which will help to spur on Opinionaided’s skyrocketing growth and increasing use engagement.As of September, active users are now spending 3 hours and 25 minutes on the app, compared to around two and a half hours in August. Opinionaided users gave over 10 million responses to over 250,000 questions last weekend alone. Clearly, users are finding something addictive about the service, which allows you to take a picture on your phone, ask a question, and instantly receive responses. "What is most significant to us is that we are creating a social utility based on helping others, with little judgment or bias,” CEO Dan Kurani said in a statement today. “By adding the Android app, we are able to cultivate a larger and more inclusive community of mobile users." Kurani tells me it took the company some time to put together the free Android app, which is now available on the Android Market. The Android app still doesn’t have some of the sharing features that the iOS app has, but Kurani says they’re coming soon. In my brief testing of the Opinionaided service, I was struck by just how quickly responses to my questions came. That near-instant engagement even surprised Kurani when the app was first launched. He says that users are now seeing between 50 and 100 responses per question, with an average of 70 responses. Kurani attributes the impressive users engagement to the company’s focus on on opinion Q&A, instead of fact-based Q&A like Yahoo Answers. Opinionaided is based in New York City and has raised around $5.5 million across two rounds of funding. Filed under: mobile, VentureBeat         This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
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Posted: 20 Oct 2011 11:57 AM PDT
 SocialTwist announced today it snagged former Omniture worldwide channel sales exec Mark Dillon (pictured left) and GT Nexus cofounder Vijay Sundaram for its own executive staff, in addition to a 60 percent increase in revenue.SocialTwist provides incentives to a company’s current customers in exchange for referrals on their social networks. The company puts a lot of stock in what many of us already know — people consult their friends before making a purchase. Particularly if that friend has heralded the product on their social network. A SocialTwist client’s customers can access a dashboard from which to share a product across Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, LinkedIn, and less social hubs like e-mail or blogs. They are provided with a link to the promoted product and then compensated on their referrals. Thus far, SocialTwist has seen significant growth year-over-year. Last year’s third quarter compared to this year’s represents a 60 percent growth in revenue. Dillon, who previously worked for Omniture, a subsidiary of Adobe, is now SocialTwist’s Chief Revenue Officer and Sundaram who co-founded GT Nexus, will take on the roll of chief marketing officer. Last August, the scalped another big name company exec, Sanjeev Agrawal, for its president. Agrawal was once the head of product marketing for Google and vice president of marketing and cloud services at Motorola. But beefing up its upper ranks with big names can only go so far in a sardine-packed industry. Offering someone a reward for spreading your message is not new, nor is crowdsourcing. But the company has some big name customers already and can build off of that base. They include Coca Cola, Jamba Juice, Old Navy, Barnes and Noble, eBay, and Proctor and Gamble. Filed under: social, VentureBeat         This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
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Posted: 20 Oct 2011 11:33 AM PDT
 Network giant Cisco has acquired video optimization software company BNI Video for $99 million in cash, the company announced today.BNI Video helps Internet service providers manage their video services, including entitlement, billing and quality control. As VentureBeat previously reported, BNI Video offered a good solution for older cable providers unable to keep up with the growing trend of TV moving online. Cisco said it plans to integrate BNI Video’s technology with its Videoscape service, which will make it useful for service providers that are beginning to deliver more video over the Internet to consumers. BNI Video is one of many companies Cisco has purchased to strengthen Videoscape. In August 2010, the network equipment company acquired online video distributor ExtendMedia to enhance its video-over-IP capabilities. And in February, Cisco purchased Inlet Technologies to boost Videoscape’s video encoding abilities. Founded in 2009, the Boxborough, Mass.-based startup previously raised a total of $16 million in funding from Cisco Systems, Comcast Interactive Capital, Time Warner Investments, Charles River Ventures and Castile Ventures. Cisco is scheduled to close its acquisition of BNI Video in January 2012. Filed under: deals, enterprise, VentureBeat         This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
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Posted: 20 Oct 2011 11:05 AM PDT
 2012 could be a quite a year for Windows Phone 7. Several new developments with Microsoft’s upstart mobile platform were revealed yesterday at the AsiaD conference that could help it become a much bigger player, including less expensive hardware options and the addition of LTE and NFC capabilities. Several research firms, including Gartner and IDC, have predicted the Windows Phone 7 platform will be the No. 2 overall smartphone platform in the world by 2015. What hasn’t been clear up to this point is how well Microsoft could emulate Android’s success of flooding the market with all types of phones from various manufacturers. Andy Lees, head of the Windows Phone division at Microsoft, cleared some of that up yesterday at AsiaD. First, Lees noted that Microsoft expects the base cost of manufacturing handsets running Windows Phone 7 to drop by more than half from when the platform was introduced last year. With help from major chip maker Qualcomm and other parts makers, the company believes powerful Windows Phones will be manufactured for less than $200, which will greatly help with selling more units to carriers and consumers. For comparison’s sake, the new Apple iPhone 4S costs about $196 to manufacture, according to IHS iSuppli. So far, huge manufacturers Samsung and HTC have brought Windows Phone 7 devices to market. But soon Nokia will also be in the game and will try to leverage its position in Europe and emerging markets to sell a ton of Windows Phones. Another major point that Lees brought up during his talk concerned the power and abilities of future Windows Phone hardware. In 2012, Microsoft will support 4G LTE functionality to the Windows Phone lineup and NFC (near-field communications) for mobile payments. Additions like that will help keep Windows Phone 7 competitive with iPhone and Android devices. Microsoft also used its time in the spotlight to show off three upcoming Windows Phones running the greatly improved Mango operating system. The phones are the HTC Titan, Samsung Focus S and Samsung Focus Flash. You can see the three phones in the above photo, and all three of them look like slick pieces of hardware. The three will be released on AT&T in the near future, and we have no doubt Microsoft will be shouting loudly when they are released to try to lure buyers away from the iPhone 4S, Motorola Droid Razr, Samsung Galaxy Nexus and other top-notch smartphones this holiday season. Would you consider buying a phone running Windows Phone 7? Will U.S. consumers start responding more to Microsoft’s calls? Filed under: mobile         This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
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Posted: 20 Oct 2011 10:47 AM PDT
 Today, Google is bringing Google+ social features into Google Reader.The move gives us a glimpse into what the company has planned for its Plus-themed products and, in fact, the future of all Google web tools. During a long visit to the Google campus this week, we learned that Google+ is more than a social network or a collection of communication tools; it’s Google’s plan to bring social information into everything you do on the web, from shopping to search to email and beyond. And this expansion (or infiltration, depending on your attitude toward social media) begins today with Google Reader, the company’s RSS feed-parsing product, which itself was in dire need of a major facelift anyhow. We confirmed with a Google rep that, yes, the Reader overhaul today is a perfect example of Google’s intentions with regards to Google+ and the rest of Google’s consumer Internet products. In addition to some user interface changes, which will be similar to the kinds of design changes made over the past few months to Google Calendar and Google Docs, Google Reader is going to have some new, Google+ powered social features that will make it easier to share specific posts and news articles from your RSS feeds with specific Google+ circles. “We're going to bring Reader and Google+ closer together, so you can share the best of your feeds with just the right circles,” Google engineer Alan Green wrote today on the official Google blog. “We think the end result is better than what’s available today, and you can sign up for Google+ right now to start prepping Reader-specific circles.” Green also noted that since some of Reader’s existing social features, such as friending and following, will be duplicated by the new Google+ features, some of the old mechanisms will be retired next week. And if you don’t like it, Google says you can take your data and … well, do whatever you want with it. Departing users will be able to export their subscriptions, likes, friends and shared and starred items. “Your data belongs to you, after all,” Green concluded. Filed under: social, VentureBeat         This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
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Posted: 20 Oct 2011 10:35 AM PDT
 Sony Online Entertainment’s Free Realms online game has pulled in 20 million registered users since its launch in the spring of 2009, the company said today.That’s a pretty big milestone for a fantasy massively multiplayer online game. Sony Online Entertainment, the San Diego, Calif.-based division of Sony, has been able to do it because the title is free-to-play, meaning users can play for free and pay real money for virtual goods such as decorations or weapons. Sony has never disclosed its monthly active players, which is a more telling feature, since it shows how many players enjoy the game on an ongoing basis rather than those who just tried it out once. The game is available on the PC, Mac, and PlayStation Network, and it features a bunch of minigames, adventures, and other game play activities. It is aimed at a wide audience, including teens. John Smedley, president of Sony Online Entertianment, said that the benchmark is a testament to the company’s success with the free-to-play business model. Sony continues to refine the game so it can continue to attract new players. The company is offering a special promotional in-game varsity letterman jacket to each player who logs in from Oct. 21 to Oct. 31. Filed under: games         This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
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Posted: 20 Oct 2011 10:18 AM PDT
 The iPhone 4S looks the same as its predecessors on the outside. But on the inside, it’s a technological wonder that costs about $196 for Apple to make, according to a teardown analysis by IHS iSuppli.The teardown reveals the key components and their costs, and it also reveals Apple’s key suppliers of major components. The bill of materials (or cost of all components) is $188, not counting an $8 cost to manufacture the devices, based on preliminary estimates from market analyst IHS iSuppli. The estimates don’t include any software, licensing, royalties or other fees. The wireless module is a custom-made set of components from Avago Technologies. That part allows the iPhone 4S to be used in multiple wireless networks on a global basis. The module has a dual-mode design, which supports wireless standards for all of the partners that use Apple. Most other phone makers create a different model to support each wireless carrier, but Apple will offer the iPhone 4S on a worldwide basis. The Avago section uses an ACPM-7181 converged power amplifier module, which amplifies a radio signal before it is transmitted. The part is unique because it can support both 2G and 3G cellular network technologies across multiple bands of the radio spectrum. It thus reduces the number of components and board space required. The Avago device cuts on costs because it merges two different chips from Skyworks Solutions as well as another one from TriQuint Semiconductor. That’s a big victory for Avago, IHS said. Apple is also using Korea’s Hynix Semiconductor for the NAND flash memory for the first time. That could be a result of the worldwide litigation between Apple and Samsung, which has been a big supplier in the past. Toshiba has also supplied flash in the past. The base model with 16 gigabytes of flash costs $196 to make. The 32-gigabyte model costs $207, and the 64-gigabyte model costs $245. The iPhone 4S has many common elements with the iPhone 4. But “The new device's status as a world phone has resulted in fascinating design and component changes," said Andrew Rassweiler, senior director of teardown services for IHS. He said the Avago module gives Apple a tech advantage over most of its rivals. Qualcomm also scored a victory by landing the deal for the MDM6610 baseband processor, or the wireless radio, which carries a cost of $15. Qualcomm was in the CDMA version of the iPhone 4, but Intel also had a chip in the HSPA version. Qualcomm now has the baseband processor all to itself. The iPhone 4S taps Hynix as a major supplier of flash, which costs $19.20 in the 16-gigabyte model. Toshiba has been listed as a second source for the NAND flash. In the 32-gigabyte version, the flash costs $38.40. It costs $76.80 in the 64 gigabyte model. That makes the memory the expensive subsystem in the iPhone 4S. Apple designs the iPhone’s A5 applications processor. Samsung still makes that part, as it did the A4. The camera module has been significantly upgraded. The phone now includes an 8-megapixel camera instead of a 5-megapixel camera. The camera uses a backside illumination image sensor that improves photo quality, particularly in low light. The camera subsystem costs $17.60 and was made by Sony, with OmniVision as a second source. The display and the touchscreen systems are the same. The display is $23, while the touchscreen is $14. Other unchanged systems include the WiFi, Bluetooth, FM radio from Murata and Broadcom, and the audio codec from Cirrus Logic. Filed under: mobile         This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
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Posted: 20 Oct 2011 10:06 AM PDT
 Motorola’s Admiral, the phone maker’s latest Android smartphone, will start selling next week for $99 with a Sprint contract.In the under-$100 price range, we’re accustomed to seeing flimsy, teeny-bopper touchscreens, but this bad boy seems geared toward the professional and enterprise market. The specs include a 3.1-inch touchscreen, a 5MP camera, a 1.2GHz processor and a text-friendly QWERTY keyboard. The Admiral will ship with Android 2.3, a.k.a. Gingerbread. Also, as the militaristic name might suggest, this model is equipped for rugged conditions. In fact, the unit seems reinforced for every naturally occurring consumer-electronics challenge except water, ironically. In a statement, Motorola said the Admiral is “designed to meet Military Standard 810G for dust, shock, vibration, solar radiation, low pressure and high and low temperatures.” The Admiral also features scratch-resistant Gorilla Glass. The Admiral is Sprint’s first phone featuring the carrier’s Direct Connect services, a portfolio of push-to-talk features that includes instant one-to-one calling, audio/text alerts for outgoing calls, and multiplayer calling for teams and groups of up to 200 people. "We know our customers will appreciate this tough Android-powered smartphone that combines 3G data speeds with push-to-talk capabilities. It is designed to offer mobile professionals instant communications and mobile broadband data access when it matters most while being able to withstand the toughest environments," said David Owens, Sprint’s vice president, product development. The new phone will appear in Sprint retail stores on Sunday, October 23 and through online Sprint retail channels on November 13. Filed under: mobile, VentureBeat         This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
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