VentureBeat |
- eBay shifts into social overdrive at IndyCar event #ebayracing (exclusive)
- Welcome to the world of startup fan fiction – the anorexic edition
- Founders beware: accelerators offer upside, but only if you’re ready
- Nokia releases software fix for Lumia 900 data bug, begs for your forgiveness
- Funding daily: Men’s pants and the smartphones in their pockets
- Facebook justifies its support for CISPA, a bad cyber security bill
- How JackThreads grew from a bootstrapped bedroom startup to 2M members
- GamesBeat Weekly Roundup
- ThoughtLeadr creates self-serve social ad platform, hooks up with Imgur
- Who is the hottest startup at Under the Radar? Vote now!
- Spotify to launch branded apps from AT&T, Intel, McDonald’s, others
- Coupons coming to a Facebook News Feed near you
- Facebook’s mobile shopping spree: First Instagram, now Tagtile
- Judge spanks Apple over kid-baiting apps
- The forecast for RIM: cloudy, with a chance of success
- Google+ to live stream Republican National Convention
- They’re in! Meet the DEMO Spring 2012 Speakers
- Here are Intel’s specs for the next big Windows 8 tablet
- In spite of $96M in losses, Spotify seeks new investors, better revenues
- Microsoft & Edgar Wright team up on Brandon Generator, an interactive story project
| eBay shifts into social overdrive at IndyCar event #ebayracing (exclusive) Posted: 14 Apr 2012 09:00 AM PDT
In an effort to rev up the social engines of race car lovers everywhere, eBay is launching an extreme Twitter conversation hub for the Toyota Grand Prix in Long Beach. eBay, in partnership with social media experience generator BumeBox, is going all-in on social with an eBay Motors’ branded microsite that aims to bring the live and behind-the-scenes drama of the IndyCar event to viewers at home.  click to enlarge The eBay racing page, which pulls in Twitter content with #ebayracing and other hashtags, includes official photos and videos from event participants, fan tweets and photos, a live leaderboard, tweets from the track, a Twitter-powered voting module for cheering on drivers, and social sharing options for site visitors. “We think the needs of the consumer have changed,” BumeBox founder and CEO Jon Fahrner told VentureBeat. “The consumer wants a compelling real-time experience, especially if it’s from a premium brand, and we’re the framework for those types of experiences.” BumeBox, the mastermind behind eBay’s Twitter-ific racing page, makes a sophisticated application that powers real-time social experiences for large companies that want fully-branded “Twitter parties on steroids,” live video experiences, and interactive events on their own websites or Facebook Pages. The one-year-old Palo Alto-based company counts 20th Century Fox and Marc Jacobs as clients. For eBay Motors, already a sponsor of IndyCar events, the social media push is designed to make gearheads think of eBay for their car parts and accessories needs, Fahrner said. This weekend’s Grand Prix is just the first of several #ebayracing events BumeBox and eBay Motors are collaborating on. “We want to make it so that the experience means something to someone at the race and to someone at home,” Farher said. The companies have even put the #ebayracing hashtag on a race car. “It may be the world’s fastest hashtag.” And, according to Fahrner, the campaign should slip in nicely with the existing Twitter culture of racing events. “This is just a natural progression, a reaction to what was organically happening for racing fans.” Filed under: social        
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| Welcome to the world of startup fan fiction – the anorexic edition Posted: 14 Apr 2012 09:00 AM PDT
Let
me
explain
how
I've
transformed
into
such
a
creature.
I
was
fired
a
few
weeks
ago
from
my
IT
job.
I
worked
at
a
law
firm,
helping inept attorneys open
their
e‐ The first ten days were full of distractions. On day 11, I blocked Reddit and Facebook from my browser, instantly tripling my productivity. Since then, I've wired in, spending day and night filling my computer screen with lines of code. The unanswered calls, texts, and e‐mails have accumulated. My minimal costs (cheap server space, over‐priced caffeine) have been funded by unemployment checks, and I've done everything myself ‐ the algorithms, the user experience, and the marketing strategy. Forget lean. This is an anorexic startup. So
here
I
am,
37
days
in.
Today
was
dedicated
to
tweaking.
After
squashing
a
pesky
bug
in
the
image‐mapping
code,
my
app
is
fully
functional,
and
looks
decent Mike Frankel is a student at Columbia Business School. When he's not busy crunching numbers, he runs Melted In Marketing, a digital strategy consulting service. He also runsFreeIndie.Com, a free music website. You can connect with him on Twitter or Facebook. Check out how the story ends at theanorexicstartup.com Filed under: dev, Entrepreneur, offBeat        
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| Founders beware: accelerators offer upside, but only if you’re ready Posted: 14 Apr 2012 05:36 AM PDT
First of all, these programs are venture funds at the core. They can help you develop as an entrepreneur, but ultimately they're designed to make money for their investors. No doubt the mentors, advisors, and VCs involved enjoy working with entrepreneurs and early-stage companies. But the truth is, like any investor, they require a return on their investment of time, money, and connections. This point should go without saying, and it actually helps align your incentives to build a successful company. But, don't be surprised if you experience "tough love" in the program—it may be personal, but it's definitely business. Think boot camp, not band camp, and be prepared for rigorous feedback over an intense few months. This brings me to my second point, which is: haters are going to hate, and advisors are going to advise. One of the common pain points I've heard from friends in all the top accelerators is that they get tons of feedback, much of which is confusing and even conflicting. If you ask for a critique, you get criticized—and knowing what to filter is on you. Have conviction in your decision-making, or risk paralysis by analysis. Never have I taken so many meetings in such a condensed timeframe or chatted so much about Dibsie and social commerce. And some folks just don't get it (which has sometimes made me wonder if I do). But what I've learned is to seek out the folks that really understand our space and our goals, and to elevate their feedback above the noise. Accelerator programs tend to do exactly what they advertise—they accelerate your business. The downside is that they don't promise which direction that acceleration will work in. Accelerators are in the business of picking strong entrepreneurs and strong ideas that (hopefully) can become strong companies. But as I said, this is business—and I've had plenty of advisors tell us what won't work, and when we're wasting our time. If your concept holds water, you should emerge a stronger company than when you entered. If your model is weak, try to fail quickly and pivot. I'm not sure who decided that three months was a magic number for accelerator programs. In my opinion, the number seems arbitrary, and it presents challenges. Three months is not much time to grow your fledgling user base, close huge deals, or in some cases raise money—especially if you're still iterating on the product development side. Your time in the incubator can provide a good window to hone your pitch and stress-test your hypothesis, but it's helpful to go in to the program with your idea as well-formed as possible. Move as fast as you can, and start gathering metrics early so you have the building blocks to demonstrate progress. Blink, and your three months can be over. Whether you're ready or not, "Demo Day" waits for no one. All programs culminate in a one to two-day pitch event (ahem, looking at you 500 Startups and Y-Combinator) with graduating companies announcing all of the great progress they've made in the previous three months. Demo Day typically draws a phenomenal lineup of professional investors who want to review multiple companies and founders in one efficient presentation. It's a great opportunity for companies like Dibsie to kick-off discussions with a number of potential investors—but there are drawbacks to keep in mind. For one thing, Demo Day builds transparency into the market, which can be both a good and bad thing. Investors get a look at who's attending, who's interested—and who's not. Companies can showcase their product and business to a large audience, but give up the option of working in stealth. Demo Days also dictate timing in ways that can prove challenging. In most cases, they build in a free time-option, since investors have low incentive to commit ahead of Demo Day presentations. On the upside, they can provide a useful catalyst for your investment round. The challenge and the goal should be to make the schedule work for you. Net-net, accelerators are an amazing addition to the startup landscape. They provide some timely capital, and amazing access to top investors, advisors and industry professionals. It's tough to downplay one-on-one access to figures like Fred Wilson, Peter Stern, and Chris Dixon—all of which I've had the pleasure of pitching at ERA. But remember these folks also regularly attend meetups, conferences, and post blogs and videos online—and therefore, should not be the sole reason you apply. Programs are not about idea validation, personal recognition, group dinners, or speakers. Accelerators are about building a successful business. Or as Ronnie Coleman so eloquently puts it: if you want to be a bodybuilder, "you gotta lift that heavy-ass weight".
Filed under: dev, Entrepreneur        
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| Nokia releases software fix for Lumia 900 data bug, begs for your forgiveness Posted: 13 Apr 2012 09:29 PM PDT
Lumia 900 owners can rest easy, as Nokia has just released a software update that fixes the data connectivity bug in its new flagship handset. A crippling data bug probably wasn’t the best news for Nokia shortly after launching the Lumia 900 — Windows Phone’s potential savior, and a device that I called the best $100 smartphone yet. But at least the company has made good by offering a $100 credit — effectively making the phone free — for anyone who buys it until April 21. The update fixes a memory management issue in the Lumia 900 that led to a loss of network connectivity. Nokia’s swift response to the issue is commendable, though I’m surprised the company didn’t notice the issue before the phone actually launched. Nokia already apologized to users for the issue earlier this week, but the company made sure to do so once again on its new Lumia 900 update site. You can get the Lumia 900 update by going through the Zune software on PCs, or the Windows Phone Connector on Macs. Nokia is also going the extra mile by letting Lumia 900 owners swap their phones for an updated model in any AT&T store. Photo: Sean Ludwig/VentureBeat Filed under: VentureBeat        
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| Funding daily: Men’s pants and the smartphones in their pockets Posted: 13 Apr 2012 05:11 PM PDT
At VentureBeat, we come across a lot of funding news every day. In order to bring you the most information possible, we're rounding up the quick-and-dirty details about the funding deals of the day and serving them up here in our "Funding daily" column. Veracode grabs $30MVeracode, which provides mobile security software, has closed a $30 million funding round. The company tests applications and other mobile software for malware and other risk factors. Meritech Capital Partners led the round with Atlas Venture, .406 Ventures, and StarVest Partners. Bonobos grabs funding for men’s clothingBonobos, an online clothing brand, has raised $16.4 million in funding from Nordstrom. The menswear company launched its products exclusively online at first, and is now moving offline. Bonobos will begin selling its wares in Nordstrom stores. If you’ve got a funding tip for us, send it to tips@venturebeat.com Filed under: deals        
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| Facebook justifies its support for CISPA, a bad cyber security bill Posted: 13 Apr 2012 05:08 PM PDT
After lots of public outcry, Facebook has published a letter today explaining its support for controversial cyber-security legislation, the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act, or CISPA (PDF). CISPA intends to grant companies more leeway when it comes to collecting and sharing data about their consumers (or users, in the case of social networks) — specifically, data regarding security threats. Essentially, the bill’s goal is to enable companies to share this information with the government to help fight and prevent cyber security attacks. Currently, most businesses are hesitant to share such precious information with third parties for fear of violating antitrust laws. The bill has broad support from over 100 House co-sponsors from both sides of the aisle. Critics of CISPA often incorrectly refer to it as a new version of international copyright infringement bill SOPA, which would have given the government the authority to shut down websites accused of internationally committing acts of piracy. But while CISPA only intends to thwart security threats, many believe it could end up paving the way for copyright holders to begin policing the net. Critics also point out that it promotes the idea of companies creating extensive user databases, intercepting or modifying communications under the guise of security, and blindly complying with government requests for private user information. Facebook, however, believes CISPA’s cyber security benefits greatly outweigh any of the potential negative impacts critics have cited. “We recognize that a number of privacy and civil liberties groups have raised concerns about the bill – in particular about provisions that enable private companies to voluntarily share cyber threat data with the government. The concern is that companies will share sensitive personal information with the government in the name of protecting cybersecurity,” wrote Facebook VP of Public Policy Joel Kaplan in the letter. “Facebook has no intention of doing this and it is unrelated to the things we liked about HR 3523 [a.k.a. CISPA] in the first place — the additional information it would provide us about specific cyber threats to our systems and users.” Facebook isn’t alone in its support of CISPA. Other companies that support the bill include AT&T, Microsoft, Verizon, IBM, Intel, and over 25 others. Facebook’s entire statement follows below. Let us know your thoughts in the comments section. Via Facebook:
Plastic toy soldiers photo via jcjgphotography/Shutterstock Filed under: media, security, social, VentureBeat        
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| How JackThreads grew from a bootstrapped bedroom startup to 2M members Posted: 13 Apr 2012 03:18 PM PDT
Q: Where did you get the idea for your business? Jason Ross: Growing up, I had always been into clothing inspired by the street, skate, and surf worlds, especially during my college years. I realized that there was this huge hole in the market for guys like myself who were looking to buy the brands that we loved — but at affordable prices. I began to research the private shopping club model that was taking off in Europe, and I set out to bring it to the U.S. and address the lack of online retail options for guys. Q: How did you fund your startup? Ross: With no initial investors, I worked endless odd jobs at night trying to make ends meet, took out credit cards and personal loans, and I relied on the support of my family and friends. In total, there was $85,000 in personal debt — however, the money I earned from night and weekend jobs, as well as bootstrapping the business, ensured I was always chipping away at the debt I had accumulated. As a young entrepreneur, it’s easy to feel stuck when there is little to no funding in a project. One of the best things I did was to constantly seek help and advice from mentors, retail professionals, and e-commerce experts. I had a great relationship with a professor at Ohio State who assigned the production of my website to his class. This helped cut costs on web development. Q: Which startup hires were crucial for your company’s success? Ross: For the first two and a half years, I was the only JackThreads team member. I met my first employee a few days after launch the site — a young guy who had just graduated from Ohio State. He fixed every bug on the website in only two weeks! Then it was just the two of us until we hired someone to ship packages full-time. As different tasks in the company became too much for either one of us to handle, we have hired new team members and watched our company continue to grow. However, I learned pretty quickly that hiring someone to fit a job function — rather than a role in the bigger picture — is a huge mistake. Hiring slow and waiting for the person who was the best match proved to be a much better strategy. Q: What has been the lowest point/biggest struggle for your startup? Ross: As the company grew, I approached more and more brands and develop relationships with vendors at trade shows and conferences. Showing up at every event helped to cement these relationships, and they have proved invaluable to the business. But further down the line, I realized that I had focused so much on growth that I didn’t pay attention to the technologies we used to support customer demand. This nearly destroyed my business; we got to a point where we outgrew our technology platform and had to rebuild a brand new one in order to operate the business most efficiently. Even this has come with challenges. Q: What has been the proudest moment of your company career…so far? Ross: One proud moment arrived when five suitors simultaneously sought to either invest in or acquire JackThreads. It was difficult to choose who to work with and who to pass up, but I trusted my gut instinct to make one of the best business decisions I’ve ever made. We were acquired by Thrillist.com in 2010, and have been working closely together ever since. I’ve learned important lessons from Thrillist’s management and business model. Even more so, there is so much value in our collaboration, since our brands and products are featured in Thrillist's daily e-newsletters that are sent to over 3 million subscribers. Today, we’re a $50 million dollar business with offices in SoHo, NY and separately in Columbus, OH. Our 80,000-square-f00t warehouse is located in Brooklyn. We’re constantly expanding the network of brands we’re working with, acquiring new customers, and growing our team. Q: What unique piece of advice can you pass onto other entrepreneurs? Ross: One of the toughest careers out there is being an entrepreneur, and the only way to get through it is to be genuinely passionate about what you’re doing. I’d heard this advice a million times before, but ignored it early in my career. You have to love what you do every day, and you have to be extremely passionate about it. I created a company that was truly an extension of who I am and something I honestly cared about. That alone got me through all the hurdles that inevitably go with starting a company. Q: What common misconception about entrepreneurship have you think is untrue? Ross: I think it’s a misconception that you need a substantial amount of financial backing when initially launching a business. You definitely need to raise some sort of capital, but my experience creating JackThreads is proof that there are definitely ways to limit costs and do it on a bootstrapped budget. For example, instead of hiring a company to build the website, I worked with a professor in the computer science department at Ohio State University to have his students build the site as part of a class project. I also had no marketing budget in the first year, and so I cold-called blogs and other online publications with hopes that they would promote JackThreads by offering their readers special membership codes or links. In that first year alone, we reached 35,000 members without spending anything on marketing. Q: How do you see the experience of online retail/shopping clubs changing in the future? Ross: The men’s online shopping space is currently thriving, but it’s definitely close to reaching a saturation point. I think that the trend of retailers trying to be all things to all people will eventually burn out, and the sites that really focus on a niche demographic will gain loyalty from their audience and continue to do well. JackThreads focuses on a very specific group of guys — ages 18-35. I think there will be longevity in specificity, personalization and consistently delivering consumers products that are directly relevant to their needs. Scott Gerber is the founder of the Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC), an invite-only nonprofit organization comprised of the world’s most promising young entrepreneurs. The YEC leads #FixYoungAmerica, a solutions-based movement that aims to end youth unemployment and put young Americans back to work. Filed under: Entrepreneur, VentureBeat        
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| Posted: 13 Apr 2012 02:41 PM PDT
If you follow VentureBeat, but don’t regularly check our GamesBeat site, here’s a list of the best games stories we ran over the last seven days that you may have missed. With all the PAX East 2012 previews and downloadable game reviews hitting, this was a busy week. Among the news, Commodore founder Jack Tramiel passed away at 83, and Sony killed off its Qore digital game magazine. Other GamesBeat stories included: Kinect/voice support coming to Skyrim PAX East 2012: Loadout game is like a Looney Tunes cartoon directed by Quentin Tarantino (preview) UK-based startup game company reaches one million players…and counting Sony kills off Qore digital game magazine Spirit Camera: The Cursed Memoir is creepy enough while it lasts (review) Spec Ops: The Line is hiding something (preview) Retro graphics and relaxing puzzles help Fez rise above a troubled history (review) PlayJam partners with Miniclip to bring gaming to Smart TV The 4 best finds at PAX East 2012 Spirit Camera: A scary event for a scary game (video) Why Max Payne 3 could be this year's next big blockbuster video game PAX East 2012: BioWare faces its (not-so) angry fans And the following stories also appeared on VentureBeat: Game sales fall 25 percent in March despite hot sales of Mass Effect 3 At 2.5B games played a month, King.com reaps benefits from its casual Saga titles on Facebook Health insurer Aetna to give away Mindbloom Life Game Warhammer Online: Wrath of Heroes enters open beta GameStop stores in California to require DLC warning on used games Why video games are good for you — the cheat sheet Commodore founder Jack Tramiel dies at 83 PAX East 2012: Storytime with 20-year game veteran Jordan Mechner Filed under: games, VentureBeat        
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| ThoughtLeadr creates self-serve social ad platform, hooks up with Imgur Posted: 13 Apr 2012 02:36 PM PDT
While attempting to make ads into engaging stories, Twitter’s Promoted Products and Facebook’s Sponsored Stories are changing the way advertisers reach social networkers. Smaller social sites lacking the resources to build their own story-themed ad platforms have a new partner in ThoughtLeadr, a startup exiting stealth mode today. San Francisco-based ThoughtLeadr has created a self-service ad platform for small to mid-sized social properties with limited resources. The company is announcing its first partnership with Imgur, an image hosting and sharing service that generated 2 billion page views in the past month and is widely popular with Reddit users. ThoughtLeadr’s ad platform, launching in May, lets the Imgur’s of the world make cash off their creations in a mostly-holistic fashion. The startup builds custom social-ad units, similar in style to a Sponsored Story on Facebook or a Promoted Tweet on Twitter, to provide partners with their own plug-and-play ad networks.  sample Imgur ad “[Companies] give us access to their firehose of data. We break it down and we understand what all the users are interested in, and then they … treat us like a traditional display ad,” ThoughtLeadr founder and CEO Todd Cullen told VentureBeat. “They put a little snippet of our Javascript on their site, and we’ll build custom social ad units that look just like their system.” So with the Imgur partnership, for instance, ThoughtLeadr will run a promoted image in the top left-hand slot on Imgur’s gallery page. The image will resemble typical Imgur content but include a marker to denote that it is sponsored content. The end goal is to create an ad that Imgur visitors engage with and share out to Twitter, Facebook, Reddit, and so forth. When the product officially launches in May, ThoughtLeadr advertisers can run and manage ad units across partner sites using the administrative dashboard seen below. ThoughtLeadr is currently self-funded. The startup has seven employees and has been working in stealth mode for 12 months.
Filed under: social        
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| Who is the hottest startup at Under the Radar? Vote now! Posted: 13 Apr 2012 01:39 PM PDT
VentureBeat is happy to be sponsoring the “VentureBeat People’s Choice Award” at the Under the Radar conference on April 26, 2012. There are 32 startups presenting at Under the Radar, from AppFog to Zadara. The companies are tackling a wide range of markets (mobile security, platform-as-a-service, performance monitoring, database scalability, and more), and they’re at varying stages of growth. But for this award, only one thing matters: Who can collect the most votes? Check out the contestants’ profiles or see below for links to each company’s website. Then scroll down to the poll below and cast your vote! The winner will be announced at the Under the Radar Award Ceremony, hosted by VentureBeat. The winner will receive an interview in VentureBeat as well as the glory and envy of fellow Under the Radar participants. (Alas, we will not be able to present you with the Stanley Cup.) Voting opens immediately and closes at noon on April 26th. I’ll be presenting the award at 5pm that evening, so get your votes in now! Good luck and happy voting! And, you can get $200 off your ticket to Under the Radar if you use the code 'vbeat' when checking out. Here are some more details on the conference. Under the Radar: Consumerization of IT Enter promo code “vbeat” to receive $200 off! Register Link: www.undertheradarblog.com/register/ Here are links to each of the companies in the contest:
Top photo credit: Justin Henry/Flickr Filed under: VentureBeat        
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| Spotify to launch branded apps from AT&T, Intel, McDonald’s, others Posted: 13 Apr 2012 01:21 PM PDT
Streaming music startup Spotify will soon launch branded applications from AT&T, Intel, McDonald’s, Reebok, and more. The move will help the company find greater revenue possibilities. Adding apps from big brands presents a great opportunity for Spotify to make more money. Chief executive officer and founder Daniel Ek recently confirmed that his company had posted losses of about $96 million in its two years, and that it will continue to spend money to make money. The cost of licensing music for streaming is so expensive Spotify has to attract a huge number of paid users so it can eventually become profitable. The company has 3 million paid users across 13 countries, but many more free users that listen to advertising to get access to music. Apps are one of the best things now offered inside Spotify’s platform, and I regularly use them to help find new music or re-visit old classics. Here’s hoping that these branded apps, which will also take a stab at curating music, will match the quality of other apps presently available. The branded apps will appear inside Spotify’s PC and Mac programs in the coming weeks, with Ek planning to introduce them on stage at Ad Age’s Digital Conference in New York. Spotify branded app image: AdAge Filed under: media        
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| Coupons coming to a Facebook News Feed near you Posted: 13 Apr 2012 12:26 PM PDT
Coupon-junkies can soon skip the newspaper and instead get their fix from the News Feed — no manual clipping required. Facebook has partially turned on its Offers program, a new initiative that lets brands and businesses disperse discounts and promotions throughout the social network. Brand fans can simply click to digitally clip the offers from their News Feeds. Here’s how the program works: Local businesses and brands can create offers — not to be confused with deals of the Groupon variety — from their Facebook Pages, and then push those discounts out to the folks that “like” their Pages. You, the Facebook user, are greeted with offers from the Pages you “like” in your News Feed. You can click “Get Offer” to claim — a.k.a. clip — the promotion, and Facebook will follow-up with an e-mail that you’ll need to show to redeem the discount. So say, for instance, you “like” Joe’s Java on Facebook. Should your coffee spot post a discount, like $1 off your next latte, you would find that offer in your News Feed, click the “Get Offer” button to claim it, check your e-mail, and then head off to Joe’s to present your electronic coupon. You can also share the offer with your Facebook friends. Of course we’re talking about Facebook here, so be wary of one little catch: For every offer you claim, a story is posted to your Timeline (profile), though you can adjust the settings to limit who sees this activity. As with any new Facebook feature, we expect a mixed reaction from Facebookers. There’s bound to be vocal group of users who hate the idea of coupons in their News Feeds, and a crowd of happy campers anxious to save a few bucks at their favorite haunts. Facebook first announced its new Offers program in late February when it revealed its reworked advertising products. The product is in beta, meaning that only a select group of businesses can currently run offers through Facebook. “Facebook has been rolling out Offers since fMC and it's now available in Beta in Japan, Turkey, Australia, New Zealand, and Singapore,” a company spokesperson told VentureBeat. A handful of U.S. clients also have the ability to run offers, we’re told.
Photo credit: sdc2027/Flickr [via The Verge] Filed under: social        
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| Facebook’s mobile shopping spree: First Instagram, now Tagtile Posted: 13 Apr 2012 12:19 PM PDT
Facebook acquired another mobile startup Friday, just in time for the rollout of its Facebook Offers feature. The newly purchased company, Tagtile, focuses on customer rewards and mobile marketing. Tagtile helps physical stores connect to customers over smartphones. Businesses install a small Tagtile cube, which visiting customers can tap their phone on to get rewards points and discounts. Shoppers must download the Tagtile app first (available on iPhone and Android), which then pushes targeted marketing material to their phone based on stores they visit. The box also provides data to the business to help them find out what marketing efforts actually work, as well as how many people are using the service. The company will run its normal service for the time being, thought it is no longer accepting new business. Tagtile also notes that its offerings will eventually cease since “Tagtile as it exists today won’t be part of what we do at Facebook,” according to a post by the company. It seems the team does hope to be able to expand the product within Facebook, however, and “do it on a much, much bigger scale that we could have on our own.” Facebook released its Offers product today, which allows customers to purchase deals directly from their news feed. These can be redeemed using Facebook’s mobile app at the store. Whether Tagtile’s technology and team will be integrated into this area of Facebook commerce remains to be seen. The social network also recently acquired mobile photo app Instagram for a whopping $1 billion. Facebook is rightfully getting more focused on its mobile front. Terms of the Tagtile acquisition have not been released. hat tip TechCrunch Filed under: mobile, social        
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| Judge spanks Apple over kid-baiting apps Posted: 13 Apr 2012 12:11 PM PDT
Last year, Apple tried to have a court case thrown out from a group of angry parents whose children were racking up large iTunes bills from in-app purchases. Now, a District judge in California is saying no to Apple’s request and letting the case stand in court, reports Paid Content. The problem started with children downloading free apps and games, then using their parent’s iTunes accounts to purchase credits in the form of coins, prizes, or other cartoony currency. The apps were considered “bait apps” because, while free in the App Store, they often required in-app purchases to play the game. When parents began receiving bills as high as $338.72, they became upset because the apps were supposed to be free, Paid Content wrote. Because of a fifteen-minute login window that used to exist, children didn’t need to ask their parents to approve the purchases. Apple has since removed the 15 minute window loophole. A series of class-action lawsuits were brought against Apple and later combined into one lawsuit. Apple then fired back, asking for the case to be thrown out. U.S. District Judge Edward Da Vila made a ruling on March 31, 2012 saying the parents who filed the class actions suits had suffered sufficient harm for the case to stand. The case didn’t grab attention until tech lawyer Venkat Balasubramani covered it on Eric Goldman's Law Blog. As it stands, Apple is expected to file its defense May 24. The company will rely on contract law to uphold its iTunes Terms of Service, which the company believes covers it in the case. However, there is a dispute about how the Terms of Service apply to minors, which may affect the outcome. You can read the full court documents below. Children playing with tablet image via Shutterstock Filed under: games, mobile        
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| The forecast for RIM: cloudy, with a chance of success Posted: 13 Apr 2012 12:00 PM PDT
There is no doubt RIM's fortunes have been receding of late. The share of BlackBerry smartphones in North America is plummeting (although still strong in other parts of the world) and revenues are down. Competition is fierce. Can new management and stated objectives for future products at RIM turn things around or is it too late? Despite what some believe, I don’t think it's necessarily over for RIM and BlackBerry. It still has a loyal, if shrinking, following in the enterprise and government. And in other parts of the world like Latin America and Indonesia, it’s a leading consumer smartphone brand. However, without being a leader in North America, long term prospects are bleak. RIM needs to recover from a market perception of being old, clunky and uncool. And it needs a compelling user experience fueling that perception change before it can regain momentum. To that end, RIM needs to start executing on its long delayed vision, including getting BlackBerry 10 out to market post-haste on new, compelling and competitive products that replace the stop-gap BlackBerry 7 devices (but without turning off its current loyal fans by offering a completely radical new design). If BB10 slips past the fall of this year, we expect it will get even uglier for RIM. We believe the new management team (led by new CEO Thorsten Heins) understands the urgency of their current situation, and they seem to be making some moves that weren’t taken before, including management shakeups and bringing in some new faces. (Although the team certainly wasn’t brave enough for former co-CEO Jim Balsillie’s radical plan to reinvent the company.) Heins seems to be open to exploring all kinds of business models from licensing to ODM outsourcing, which we see as positive. Despite the doom and gloom, it is important to note that RIM is still making money (the last quarter would have shown positive earnings if RIM hadn’t booked a loss for write-down’s), so they are not without resources, nor are they without some compelling technologies (e.g., QNX, Balance, Cascade). Management recently stated they would focus less on the highly competitive and cut throat consumer market. However, RIM can’t afford to completely ignore the consumer space, as so much of business buying is now influenced by consumer attitudes and desires. We believe RIM should focus on pro-sumers, while decreasing focus on the lower end of the consumer market (it’s hard to make money in low end smartphones and tablets, which is becoming a key market for the Android camp). RIM refocusing on its strengths is a good thing. It’s okay to be a smaller company with good margins, and that seems to be the direction RIM is pursuing. Further, its core business users are willing to spend more than consumers, so targeting these higher margin accounts is a smart move. One positive note for RIM did emerge recently. RIM stated that they sold about 500,000 PlayBooks last quarter. Part of that substantial increase in sales was due to the fire sale price used to clear out inventory. But there's a significant number of units in the market (>1.5 M) to potentially leverage if RIM can keep the momentum going. Of course, this is nowhere near iPad numbers, but at least RIM is moving forward with a device that has potential for its core business users. Further, the PlayBook with OS 2.0 indicates what the BB10 experience will be like (they both share the same core OS DNA), so continued acceptance of the PlayBook may be a leading indicator of how well BB10 devices will be received (assuming the final device hardware is as compelling as the OS). Bottom line: RIM needs to execute and get the new OS out quickly. It will continue to bleed market share until then. And if the new devices with BB10 aren’t compelling, it won’t be able to keep the business users they now have for long either, given the increased momentum to other platforms. A lot is at stake here. BB10 is really a make or break for RIM. RIM seemsto understand this. Now it just requires execution. Most organizations (and users) are in a wait and see mode until the new devices become available, after which RIM will be judged accordingly.
Filed under: mobile, VentureBeat        
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| Google+ to live stream Republican National Convention Posted: 13 Apr 2012 11:51 AM PDT
Continuing efforts to push its new social network into the mainstream, Google will live stream this year’s Republican National Convention on Google+, the company announced in a blog post today. Google+ will also serve as the official social platform for the convention. Google+ and YouTube users will get an exclusive backstage pass to connect with Republican leaders off the podium via Google+ Hangouts, as well as streaming key events. The 2012 RNC is schedule for late August in Tampa, Fla. This is hardly the first time Google has offered up Google+ live streaming coverage of a political event. Back in October, the social network live streamed a Hangout between leader of Tibetan Buddhism the Dalai Lama and Archbishop Desmond Tutu. More recently, President Barack Obama participated in a Google Hangout for the social network back in January. Adding coverage of political events/discussion to Google+ is a smart move for the company, because it may actually draw in people who normally don’t like to explore new social platforms. It’s also a good way for the company to gain a slight advantage over Facebook in the political race. Republican mascot photo via VIPDesignUSA/Shutterstock Filed under: social, VentureBeat        
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| They’re in! Meet the DEMO Spring 2012 Speakers Posted: 13 Apr 2012 10:19 AM PDT  Box's Aaron Levie speaks at DEMO last year DEMO hits Silicon Valley on Tuesday! We’ve got a blockbuster lineup of companies — about 80 of them — set to demonstrate new products. We’ve also got a star lineup of investors, executives, and entrepreneurs to provide feedback. Others, including the CEOs of Netsuite, Box, Intuit and more, will provide insights into core trends right now. VentureBeat co-produces the event. Below are some of the speakers and sages. Most of the action will be Wednesday and Thursday. And no, it’s not too late to register for the event, to join the 1,000 or so folks on hand to see the action. A host of tech press, investors, and biz and corporate development ecosystem players will be networking in the halls.
J
David Friedberg is the founder and CEO of The Climate Corporation, a unique technology platform that helps people and businesses adapt to climate change. The company protects a $3 trillion global agricultural industry from the financial impacts of adverse weather – the cause of 90% of crop loss – with real-time customizable insurance. He was also one of the founding members of Google's Corporate Development team, identifying and leading several of Google's largest acquisitions. At one point he functioned as Business Product Manager for AdWords, which became Google's primary revenue source.
Chuck Ganapathi, the man who created Salesforce.com's Chatter, the company's largest product development effort ever, has left to join Accel Partners as Entrepreneur in Residence. During his time at Salesforce.com, he championed and led the acquisition of two start-ups: Dimdim, a real-time collaboration platform, and GroupSwim, a community platform with semantic filtering technology. He also integrated the acquired technology and teams from two file sharing and collaboration start-ups, Koral and SlideAware.
David Gutelius is Jive in the interesting title of chief social scientist and was previously founder and chief executive of Proximal. He was trained in economics but is a specialist in social network theory, developed machine learning at SRI International, working to help the U.S. military analyze data and people in a network and surface critical information.
Ross Fubini was the Co-Founder and a Board Member of Cubetree, a Gartner Visionary enterprise social collaboration company which is used by the Fortune 100 including SAP, Intuit, and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. He currently serves as an advisor to Kapor Capital, Palantir Technology, Facebook Causes, and other early stage technology companies. From 2010-2011 Ross was a Vice President for SuccessFactors which acquired his company CubeTree in 2010.
Nirav Tolia is Co-founder and CEO of Nextdoor.com, a consumer Internet startup that is dedicated to helping neighbors create stronger and safer neighborhoods. Nextdoor is funded by Benchmark Capital, where Nirav served as an Entrepreneur in Residence. Prior to Benchmark, Nirav was COO of Shopping.com, a company created through the merger of Dealtime and Epinions, where Nirav was Co-founder and CEO. Prior to Epinions, Nirav was an early employee at Yahoo!. He graduated from Stanford University and is originally from Odessa, Texas.
Filed under: DEMO        
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| Here are Intel’s specs for the next big Windows 8 tablet Posted: 13 Apr 2012 10:08 AM PDT
Intel unveiled an impressive list of specs for upcoming Windows 8 tablets at a conference in Beijing today. The specifications are Intel’s blueprint for tablets that should be in consumers’ hands later this year. On paper, at least, the tablets seem iPad-competitive — or better. Weighing in at a fairly standard 9mm thick and 1.5 pounds (or lighter), the tablets will be available in 10-inch models and 11-inch hybrids with physical keyboards. The magic comes in the form of Intel’s Atom Z2760 “Clover Trail” chip. We first saw prototypes of this 32-nanometer chip earlier this year at CES, where Intel execs showed the technology paired with Windows 8. Intel has been experimenting with mobile chip capabilities a lot over the past few years, and that testing is definitely paying off. The dual-core-capable chip seems designed with high performance and small devices in mind. It brings features like a burst mode and hyperthreading to the table, both of which allow for temporary performance enhancements on an as-needed basis. Connectivity options include WiFi and 3G/4G, as well as NFC features and WiFi Direct. Gamers and mediaphiles will appreciate the advanced imaging capabilities, and Intel is also touting advanced security features for business applications. Here’s Intel’s full list:
Earlier this week, Intel announced the launch of Studybook, a tablet just for students. Fueled by strong sales in its core PC chips business and bolstered by its newer focus on mobile chip research and development, Intel recently reached its highest overall chip industry market share in more than 10 years with 15.6 percent of the total market, up 2.5 percentage points from 13.1 percent in 2010. hat tip: Cnet Image courtesy of rangizzz, Shutterstock Filed under: mobile, VentureBeat        
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| In spite of $96M in losses, Spotify seeks new investors, better revenues Posted: 13 Apr 2012 09:49 AM PDT
Streaming music service Spotify hasn’t made many friends in the music industry, mostly because it’s bringing fewer paid subscribers to the table than record labels had anticipated. But, that isn’t stopping the startup from trying to pick up more funding. In an interview with Swedish business-focused daily newspaper Dagens Industri, Spotify CEO and founder Daniel Ek confirmed that his company had posted losses of around $96 million in its two years of existence, saying, “The question of when we’ll show a profit actually feels irrelevant.” Nevertheless, Ek said, Spotify is still open to taking more high-dollar rounds of venture capital funding from big-name firms. But first, the company will be focusing on, if not turning a profit, at least beefing up revenues. Saying the company is focusing on sales and is expecting to show more than $800 million in revenue for 2012, Ek continued, “We know we are making money on each new user we get, whether it’s a free user or paying. Therefore, all user growth [is] positive for us.” Like most businesses, Spotify has had to spend money to make money. Ek revealed that one of the company’s biggest barriers to profitability has been coming into new markets, including the U.S., which has taken a heavy toll on the company’s coffers. “Every time we enter a new market, it is extremely capital intensive because we need to invest in local music rights,” the CEO told DI. As for funding, Ek said, “We have no need of more capital in the current situation in order to operate the business plan we have. But I have learned to always take the money when you do not need the money. We utilize the principle that if an investor can add strategic value and the valuation is good, we are interested.” And by a good valuation, Ek means something in the range of $4 billion. But don’t get your hopes up for a Spotify IPO. “We want to build this company long term. Therefore, the stock exchange is not an option for us,” Ek concluded. Image courtesy of ra2, Shutterstock Filed under: Entrepreneur, media        
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| Microsoft & Edgar Wright team up on Brandon Generator, an interactive story project Posted: 13 Apr 2012 09:27 AM PDT
If you need proof that not everything that happens on Friday the 13th (today) is bad, then look no further than Microsoft’s Brandon Generator. The Random Adventures of Brandon Generator, which launched today, is a four-part animated story done entirely in HTML5. It’s part of an attempt by the giant technology company to highlight the vast creative possibilities available to web developers without the need for third-party plugins, like Adobe Flash. It should play across any device with an Internet connection and a modern web browser that supports HTML5. The production contains various references to Microsoft products, like Bing and Internet Explorer. The story was written by the brilliant Edgar Wright (who is responsible for Shaun of the Dead, the film adaptation of Scott Pilgrim, and British TV show Spaced), and follows the tale of comic book artist Brandon as he fights a nasty case of writer’s block. The noir-esque artwork is done by Tommy Lee Edwards (illustrator of Batman and Hellboy comics) and voiced by Julian Barratt, who is perhaps best known for playing man about town Howard Moon on The Mighty Boosh. It’s quite possibly the greatest thing that’s ever happened on a Friday the 13th ever — a conclusion I reached after hearing the following quote from the first episode: “An infinite number of monkeys were out there somewhere creating Shakespeare, and kicking his ass. He had to come up with something.” While Wright has written a plot for the series, the Brandon Generator allows users to interact with the story by submitting prose, drawings, and audio messages to help guide the character in future episodes. The best of these submissions will end up getting added to a gallery. Part one of the story is available today, with the next three episodes debuting every few weeks to incorporate the submitted materials. Check out some screenshots from the project embedded below. Images via Microsoft; Via The Verge Filed under: media, VentureBeat        
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After working from his bedroom for two and a half years, Jason Ross launched 
Shervin Pishevar joined Menlo Ventures as a Managing Partner in 2011 after a successful career as an entrepreneur and angel investor. His focus is on consumer technology investments, specifically in the gaming, mobile and social web industry sectors. Shervin works closely with portfolio companies Uber, Shaker, Warby Parker and Mr. Number, and was the driving force behind Menlo’s investment in Tumblr. During his first few months at Menlo Ventures, Shervin helped launch the Menlo Talent Fund, a $20M seed fund that invests in innovative early stage deals within a 24 to 72 hour timeframe.
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