Wishpond Launches Mall360 To Bring Your Local Shopping Mall Online
Like Milo before it, Wishpond launched in late 2010 to build a local search engine that aggregates realtime inventory and product listings from brick and mortar retail stores -- from big chains to mom and pop shops. The startup has since focused its efforts on developing social commerce solutions for retailers, launching tools like Social Store, which allows any... Read more...
TechCrunch, May 21, 9:34pm
Machinima Gets $35M In Funding, Led By Google
After weeks of speculation, online video distributor Machinima announced Monday that it has closed a $35 million funding round led by Google, which also included existing investors Redpoint Ventures and MK Capital. The new financing comes as Google's YouTube has been investing heavily in bringing in all sorts of new original programming.
The Machinima network is the largest single page view generator for YouTube, with more than 1.6 billion video views in the month of April. And YouTube is an invaluable partner for Machinima, as it is the company's primary distribution and monetization platform. With the funding, Machinima says it will invest in content and global sales, as... Read more...
TechCrunch, May 21, 7:16pm
Disrupt NYC Day 1: Your Startup Battlefield Companies
Our very first day of Disrupt NYC is over and the conference started off with a bang. We had memorable chats, dove into fashion for a bit, hung out with the Startup Alley companies and witnessed 15 startups launch their products in our first day of the Startup Battlefield.
Even though we will have brand-new companies launching tomorrow while fighting for the ultimate prize of $50,000 and the Disrupt Cup, we wanted to take a moment to highlight all that we saw today. There were some brilliant companies, so be sure to check all of them out below. The Internet was buzzing with positive words about each. This is going to be a tough battle. Which... Read more...
TechCrunch, May 21, 7:12pm
How civil asset forfeiture allows police to take your money
Civil asset forfeiture is where the government can take your property, even if they never convicted you of an offense. It's a blatant violation of due process. But, we as Americans allow government to get away with it. Why? Well, part of the problem are the anti-drug zealots....read more Read more...
The News is NowPublic.com - developing - recent stories, May 21, 6:42pm
Bermuda Election 2012:Suicide or Sanity?
“We had to deceive you” plp govt. you can put lipstick on a Cog but it's still a lying Pig!Desperation of plp propaganda machine,David Burt, laverne & plp zealots arrogance of pigs at the...read more Read more...
The News is NowPublic.com - developing - recent stories, May 21, 6:34pm
Babelverse Is Out To Democratize Translation
Babelverse won the opportunity to appear at TechCrunch Disrupt from the Startup Alley and with little notice ended up giving a slick pitch. Essentially this is a solution for universal speech translation, powered by a global community of human interpreters: it means anyone can be an interpreter. We covered its launch back in January but here's a quick rundown.
Machine translation, as we know, is not reliable. So what we're looking here is a marketplace for translation.
People practice to interpret and... Read more...
TechCrunch, May 21, 6:21pm
Sprint’s EVO 4G LTE Has Cleared U.S. Customs, Pre-Orders To Be Filled As Early As May 24
Sprint's launch plans for the HTC EVO 4G LTE were ruined last week when shipments of their shiny new Android handset were held up by United States Customs, but we're hearing that they may been hitting doorsteps and store shelves sooner than expected.
According to Sprint, the devices are now currently sitting safely in Sprint's warehouses and are expected to start trickling out into the world "on or around May 24." Read more...
TechCrunch, May 21, 6:19pm
Tagbrand Gives Fashionistas An App To Check-In Their Brands
"All people wear clothes!" declared one of Tagbrand's founders on stage at Disrupt today. That's true, but let's review.
DailyBooth was (is still perhaps?) a phenomenon for a time as people became accustomed to sharing their daily lives in a more quirky manner than mere video can afford. (Ok, OK, it's a bunch of teenagers sharing their zits, but work with me here, people). Now Tagbrand wants to apply that model to fashion, but with a tagging twist.
The model is simple enough. Take and upload photos of what branded clothes you are wearing and tag them. Effectively, it's a photo check-in for brands, or 'Foursquare for fashion', if you... Read more...
TechCrunch, May 21, 6:00pm
4 Climbers Die on Mt. Everest
4 Killed on Mt. Everest by Altitude Sickness Four climbers were killed on Mt. Everest over the weekend. The four died due to altitude sickness and high winds while approaching or returning from the summit, which is...read more Read more...
The News is NowPublic.com - developing - recent stories, May 21, 5:51pm
Stevie Turns Your Social Feeds Into TV Shows
We spend more and more time on social networks, but sometimes it can feel like work. I mean, scrolling through your news feed isn't work work, but it's not quite as easy as vegging out on your couch and watching TV.
That's where a new startup called Stevie comes in, with a website launching today at Disrupt, along with mobile apps that function as remote controls. Stevie looks at content shared in your social network feeds and elsewhere on the Web, and it assembles that content into TV shows that you can watch, shows with names like The Comedy Strip, Music Non-Stop, and Celeb TV. Naturally, the shows incorporate video content that your... Read more...
TechCrunch, May 21, 5:47pm
StyleSaint Wants To Turn Virtual Fashion Tear Sheets Into Custom Apparel
As we covered earlier today, the fashion vertical in tech has exploded, with myriad unique companies clamoring to take a bite out of Amazon's lunch, and a chunk out of the trillion dollar apparel industry. One of the most unique premises I've seen thus far is StyleSaint, a startup which at first glance seems like a Pinterest for fashion, but with a unique real-life twist.
To use StyleSaint in its current form, log in with Facebook or Twitter and create an account, once logged on, you can chose from... Read more...
TechCrunch, May 21, 5:35pm
Led By Former Microsofties, GitHub Brings The Party To Enterprise With New Windows Client
GitHub, the source code hosting and collaboration service, has been growing like gangbusters. The site now has over 1.6 million registered developers, hosting over 2.8 million repositories on everything from jQuery and Ruby on Rails to node.js and Redis. At the outset, Github was just a side project, a tool to make developers' lives easier (its first slogan: "Git hosting: No longer a pain in the ass.") Github is still a boot-strapped operation, but as both its user base and its own hacker collective (now at 73 strong) have grown, there has been an increasing demand for tools that fall outside... Read more...
TechCrunch, May 21, 5:33pm
Punch! Launches A Platform For Building Interactive iPad Apps, Sans Developers
It's a familiar story in the tech world: A company wants to build a consumer product, finds that the necessary tools aren't available, creates its own tools, then realizes it has created a broader platform.
David Bennahum offers some examples: Zip2. Vignette. TypePad. And yes, his startup Punch!, where Bennahum is co-founder and CEO, and which is launching its publishing platform at Disrupt. Read more...
TechCrunch, May 21, 5:24pm
The Power Of Disrupt: gTar Raises $30,000 On Kickstarter In Two Hours
Incident took the stage this afternoon at TechCrunch Disrupt NYC and debuted the gTar. It's safe to say that they are already a major contender for the Disrupt Cup.
The startup wowed the crowd with their iPhone-powered teaching guitar. The judges loved it. The crowd loved. And most importantly, fans turned to the startup's Kickstarter campaign where funding took off like a rocket. Prior to hitting the stage, the gTar had raised just a touch above $10,000. Now, almost exactly two hours after their Disrupt debut, their Kickstarter funding (a.k.a. pre-orders) is north of $42,000 and rising fast. Read more...
TechCrunch, May 21, 5:20pm
Digital Video Consolidation: Avail-TVN Picks Up $100M From Carlyle, Buys UK’s On Demand Group For $27M
A double-whammy in the digital video space today: Avail-TVN, a video services provider that works with companies like NBC, Univision, and brands like Mattel, has announced that it has picked up $100 million in financing led by the Carlyle Group, and it is using those funds to make an acquisition outside of the U.S., buying rival video service provider On Demand Group in the UK from its existing owner, SeaChange International, for $27 million. Avail-TVN says that the deal will make it the largest provider of... Read more...
TechCrunch, May 21, 5:14pm
Robin Gibb dies of cancer at age 62
Robin Gibb, British singer and founder of The Bee Gees, died at age 62 after an operation performed on him because of intestinal colon and liver cancer who suffered since he was diagnosed in 2010, according to...read more Read more...
The News is NowPublic.com - developing - recent stories, May 21, 5:11pm
Parenting Fail at Laundromat: Washer Takes Kid for Spin
Parents put their child into a washer at the laundromat to scare him, but when the auto-lock system kicked in, the kid was in for the ride.As a man put his son into a washer at the laundromat, he thought it would be...read more Read more...
The News is NowPublic.com - developing - recent stories, May 21, 5:07pm
Will Smith and Gary Barlow Perform 'Fresh Prince' Theme on BBC
In one of the world’s most unlikely duets – Will Smith and Gary Barlowjoined forces on The Graham Norton Showto sing themuch-loved theme tune to TV show The Fresh Prince of Bel Air. Talking to...read more Read more...
The News is NowPublic.com - developing - recent stories, May 21, 4:52pm
KurbKarma: A Social Network, And App, To Find Parking Where And When You Need It
We have all been there: you are in your car, you need to park, and you cannot, no matter how much you try, find a space. You see cars pulling away, but it's too far for you to get there before another car swoops in. You see people walking and you trail them, hoping they're heading to a vehicle. It's a frustrating state of affairs, but a new startup, KurbKarma, is launching today at TC Disrupt New York to try to solve it.
“Parking where and when you need it” is the basic idea here: you have people who have spaces they are about to leave; and you have people who need spaces. The app ( Read more...
TechCrunch, May 21, 4:46pm
Open Garden Lets You Crowdsource Your Mobile Connectivity
What if you couldn't just share your Internet connection with the few WiFi devices tethered to your phone or hotspot, but with pretty much everybody around you? Open Garden, which is launching at Disrupt today, lets you create a mesh network that ties together all the Open Garden-enabled devices around you into one large network that then automatically shares Internet access and bandwidth between all of these devices. Basically, Open Garden wants to become a crowd-sourcing platform for mobile bandwidth. Read more...
TechCrunch, May 21, 4:35pm
Camden removes yellow lines and replaces them with signs
Hundreds of drivers are being caught by “a naked street parking con” after nearly a mile of double yellow lines were removed in central London. The lines on the streets around the British Museum have been replaced by small signs saying restricted zone and metal studs...read more Read more...
The News is NowPublic.com - developing - recent stories, May 21, 4:29pm
A Summer Place
In a distant time far removed from the harsh realities of today for me there was that summer place. A place where we all felt safe and warm especially on those cool summer nights. This is the period in my life where the youthful adolescence morphed into a new awakening. No...read more Read more...
The News is NowPublic.com - developing - recent stories, May 21, 4:27pm
CallApp Uses Social Data To Build A Smarter Smartphone Contact Book
One of my least favorite moments of the day comes when my iPhone rings and the number isn't in my contact book. Is it an important call from an entrepreneur? A random PR person pitching me? Or just a telemarketer? I won't know until I pick up.
CallApp, a startup launching today at Disrupt, wants to eliminate those awkward moments, for starters. It's creating what CEO and co-founder Oded Volovitz calls a "universal social contact book." It's drawing data from social networks and other data sources to give users more context about phone calls and other communication. The data also comes from CallApp users — users can edit CallApp listings, and if they can... Read more...
TechCrunch, May 21, 4:23pm
Comcast, Time Warner Cable, Cablevision, And Others Will Share Wi-Fi Hot Spots
Imagine for a moment that you are sitting in your front yard in a lawn chair, sipping lemonade while attempting to read the latest news on your WiFi-only iPad. You're just out of range of your WiFi signal. Your neighbor's signal is super strong, but that selfish hooligan didn't leave it wide open for you to leach onto. Wouldn't you love to be able to use a portion of his spectrum anyway while away from your own?
Well, you still can't, however... Read more...
TechCrunch, May 21, 4:19pm
K3 Server Is Making Enterprise Application Integrations More Efficient, Reduces Work By Half
How is data moved between systems? In the enterprise environment, point-to-point application interfaces are either handled with expensive and cumbersome utilities or, more likely, with custom code...and frankly, a lot of manual labor. BroadPeak Partners has a better idea. The company is today introducing its application known as K3 Server, a system that aims to disrupt the traditional enterprise interface market by making it easier for I.T. to build, and for end users to tweak, the way code is handled, transformed, reconciled, mapped and enriched as it moves in between systems. Read more...
TechCrunch, May 21, 4:09pm
Major Steal: King.com Poaches Talent Behind EA’s Sims Social To Lead New London Studio
King.com, the European-casual-gaming-company-that-could, is cementing its ascendance on the Facebook platform by poaching one of the key producers responsible for EA's Sims Social and opening a new game development studio in London. The company just hired Catharina Mallet away from EA to lead the new studio, which should have 40 people by year-end (with her departure first being noted by Business Insider last week).
King.com, which started in Sweden and Read more...
TechCrunch, May 21, 4:00pm
UberConference Aims To Fix Crappy Conference Calls
We all hate conference calls -- having to dial in, manually enter a room code and sometimes having to enter a passcode on top of that. Once you've actually logged in, there's a whole lot of talking on top of one another, and a lot of re-introducing yourself so that everyone knows who's talking at any given time. UberConference, which was created by Firespotter Labs and is being launched as part of the Startup Battlefield at TechCrunch Disrupt, hopes to fix all that by providing a visual interface to all others on the call.
Audio conferencing is not just a pain in the ass, but it's also a huge business -- a $3 billion business -- that's mostly controlled by big... Read more...
TechCrunch, May 21, 3:57pm
At TechCrunch Disrupt, Startup Alley Is Where the Shootouts Happen
Well folks, while you may think all the action is on stage at TechCrunch Disrupt, the flip side of the coin is the enormous amount of buzz, energy and networking that happens in Startup Alley. Today there are 44 companies exhibiting in the Alley itself, not to mention the 20+ companies in the Israeli pavilion which makes its second appearance at Disrupt. We'll have another brand new 47 companies in Startup Alley tomorrow. You can check out all the companies today... Read more...
TechCrunch, May 21, 3:45pm
Chicago Anti-NATO Protest: Photos & Video
Photos & Video from May 20 Chicago Protest A two-day NATO summit, held behind closed doors at Boeing's headquarters in McCormick Place, was met with thousands of protesters. The anti-NATO demonstration was...read more Read more...
The News is NowPublic.com - developing - recent stories, May 21, 3:42pm
Movie Review: The Pirates! Band of Misfits
Rated: PG Length: 88 minutes Directors: Peter Lord, Jeff Newitt Genre: Animation, Adventure, Family Stars: Hugh Grant, Jeremy Piven, Salma Hayek Stars: 4 out of 5 Fans of Bristol, UK-based Aardman Animations have followed the studio from the days of its work on Peter...read more Read more...
The News is NowPublic.com - developing - recent stories, May 21, 3:39pm
America Lost Early Opportunity To Solve UFO Mystery In 1947
In 1947 post war America was still recovering from the effects of global war on the US economy and the huge influx of veterans coming home and seeking jobs. However, something happened in Roswell, New Mexico that sparked what would be a decades long controversy that rages to...read more Read more...
The News is NowPublic.com - developing - recent stories, May 21, 3:29pm
In Fond Memory of Tuskegee Airman Carey Lee (Popo) McCrae Sr.
As was her habit, stopping by her elderly father's home in West Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to look in on him one day in 1995, my sister in law Jacq happened to answer the telephone. The man on the other end of...read more Read more...
The News is NowPublic.com - developing - recent stories, May 21, 3:12pm
A Look Back at the First Two Men in Black Movies
With the third installment in the film series "Men in Black" due out soon, one's mind naturally turns to the first two Men in Black or MIB movies. The first film, released in 1997, quickly became a huge hit. Starring Will Smith, Tommy Lee Jones, Rip Torn, Vincent D'Onofrio...read more Read more...
The News is NowPublic.com - developing - recent stories, May 21, 3:11pm
Movie Review: First Position
Rating: NR (Not Rated) Length: 90 minutes Release Date: May 4, 2012 Directed by: Bess Kargman Genre: Documentary/Comedy/Drama Stars: 3 out of 5 The world of ballet is one that was steeped in secrecy for many years. Whispers were heard about how hard it was, but little was...read more Read more...
The News is NowPublic.com - developing - recent stories, May 21, 2:44pm
LMFAO Short Hair Photo: Sky Blu New Haircut at Billboard Awards
Sky Blu of LMFAO Cut His Hair Short. Here is a Sky Blu Short Hair Photo From the 2012 Billboard Music Awards You know LMFAO, those dudes with the crazy hair? Well, now LMFAO is just one dude with crazy hair and...read more Read more...
The News is NowPublic.com - developing - recent stories, May 21, 2:09pm
Imgur Partners With Brisk And “Scumbag Steve” For Meme-ified Ads
Imgur has built a massive audience for the sometimes amusing, sometimes adorable images and memes that it hosts. Now it faces another challenge: Making money.
With 2 billion monthly page views, advertising seems like an obvious business plan. The problem, says CEO Alan Schaaf, is that "the Imgur audience has always hated ads." So yes, the company runs a banner ad on each page, but the audience probably sees it as a necessary evil. They probably won't be happy with a second ad, Schaaf says, so a different approach was needed. Read more...
TechCrunch, May 21, 12:04pm
Fab.com Has 4.5M Members, CEO Wants To Work With Pinterest (But Doesn’t Actually Use It)
Fab.com CEO Jason Goldberg took the stage today at Disrupt, he laid out a grand vision for the site. He noted that it has been just under a year since the site launched, and it already has 4.5 million members.
"That's not an e-commerce site, that's a movement," he said. Read more...
TechCrunch, May 21, 11:18am
Venture Capitalist Michael Moritz Says He’s Stepping Back From Sequoia Because Of Illness
In very sad news, Mike Moritz, who has led top-tier venture firm Sequoia Capital through the very beginnings of the web until now, is stepping back because of an incurable disease. His firm has backed many of the home runs of the last two decades including Google, PayPal and Yahoo.
In a letter to limited partners this morning, he wrote, "We have always tried to be straightforward with you and, in that spirit, I need to share something. Unfortunately, I have been diagnosed with a rare medical condition which can be managed but is incurable." Read more...
TechCrunch, May 21, 11:14am
About.me Releases Public API, SDK At Disrupt, Now Integrates With Reputation, Smarterer, Forkly, Kred And Showyou
About.Me is set to get a bit more social. The AOL-owned property just released a public API and SDK into the wild in partnership with Reputation.com, Smarterer, Forkly, Kred and Showyou. While the online profile site already worked with most popular social platforms, today's announcement is huge for both about.me and their legions of users. Plus, for attendees of Disrupt NYC this week, the company is celebrating the news by having a professional photographer on hand to help create free killer profile pics.
Sometimes the simplest ideas are the best. About.me collects a user's various online identifies and puts them in a single (and beautiful) location. Think of it a splash page for your identity online. Instead... Read more...
TechCrunch, May 21, 11:00am
Google Missed The Boat On Buying Twitter. “Hasn’t Been Interested Since They Committed To Google+” -Fred Wilson
Google got the chance to buy Twitter, but the search giant passed, says Michael Arrington. "Google hasn’t been interested in buying Twitter since they committed themselves to Google+” says Fred Wilson, Union Square Ventures founder and former Twitter board member, in his fireside chat this morning with Arrington at the TechCrunch Disrupt New York conference. Now Google+ is widely seen as a ghost town, and not buying Twitter could be a mistake that haunts Mountain View for years to come.
Wilson has one of the most Read more...
TechCrunch, May 21, 10:45am
EU Gives Google A Last Chance To Avoid Antitrust Charges
In late 2010, the European Commission launched an investigation into allegations that Google was abusing its dominant position in the search engine market. Today, Joaquín Almunia, the vice president of the European Commission responsible for competition policy, sent a letter to Google chairman Eric Schmidt with an update about its finding. The Commission, writes Almunia, identified four specific concerns that Google needs to address quickly to avoid a lengthy (and potentially very costly) antitrust process. In the letter to Schmidt,... Read more...
TechCrunch, May 21, 10:30am
TechCrunch Disrupt NYC LIVE: Day One! #TCDisrupt
After months of prepping, countless run-throughs and all nighters, it's time to get this party started. Welcome to TechCrunch Disrupt New York City 2012. I have a feeling this is going to be the best one to date.
Follow the team's coverage here. If you're unable to attend don't worry, you can join the conversation on Twitter by following #TCDisrupt.
So here's how the day breaks down: Read more...
TechCrunch, May 21, 10:30am
StatCounter: Google Chrome Pushes Past Microsoft’s Internet Explorer (Again)
Well, it's official. Or at least it's official if you believe in StatCounter's data. Google's Chrome web browser has overtaken Microsoft's Internet Explorer. For real this time. Maybe. The stat-counting firm compiled data for the week of May 14th through May 20th, showing that Chrome had a market share of 32.76%, compared with IE's 31.94%. This isn't the first time that Chrome has gotten ahead, however. And the race itself is close - perhaps too close... Read more...
TechCrunch, May 21, 10:09am
Disruptive Retail Trend Continues As Urbanara Secures €3.5m From TA Venture
Lately we've seen the rise of e-commerce and online retailer stertups disrupting the relationship between distributors and the consumer. Etsy comes to mind of course. Meanwhile, Made.com in the UK is leading the charge, and lately Llustre (also UK) has hit on a model of re-connecting designers with consumers.
That trend continues today as Urbanara, an online retailer for "high quality home textiles and home wares" supplied direct from the people who make them, secures a significant funding round. TA Venture, together with a group of international investors, including... Read more...
TechCrunch, May 21, 10:03am
Motorola Mobility Says $12.5B Google Deal To Close Tuesday Or Wednesday. Layoffs Coming?
Google has reached the final regulatory hurdle to its $12.5 billion acquisition of Motorola Mobility, with China approving the transaction over the weekend, and today Motorola Mobility filed an 8-K form that notes that it will close in the next two business days.
So what happens next? A “listening tour,” a source tells us, with new management visiting the whole of the operation, “seeing what everyone does, then making decisions.” One decision that may be close at hand has to do with headcount: we have heard that there will be layoffs coming imminently. Read more...
TechCrunch, May 21, 9:59am
Comcast Is Finally Rolling Out The X1, Its Set-top Box In The Cloud
Comcast announced Monday that it will make its newest set-top box available in Boston over the coming weeks, with a rollout planned across the entire country later this year. It's also introducing a mobile app to control the set-top box from the iPhone or iPad.
The new set-top box comes after several years of development. Comcast has been working hard to develop a new set-top box that would take all of the smarts out of the box and put it in the network, essentially allowing the cable... Read more...
TechCrunch, May 21, 9:58am
With Its Hotspot Shield Hitting 60M Downloads, AnchorFree Lands A Whopping $52M From Goldman Sachs
This morning AnchorFree, the makers of the popular virtual private network Hotspot Shield, is announcing that it has raised $52 million in series C financing from Goldman Sachs. All in all, this brings the Mountain View-based startup to over $63 million, following the $11 million the company raised in series A and B rounds, dating back to 2006.
As part of its whopping series C round, Goldman is joined by existing investors former chairman and CEO of MCI Bert... Read more...
TechCrunch, May 21, 9:34am
Xfire Raises $3M To Expand Gamer Social Networking In Asia
Xfire, which offers social networking tools for gamers, just announced that it has raised $3 million in new funding.
The round was led by Singapore-based IDM Venture Capital. It's apparently targeted specifically at expanding Xfire's presence in Asia — the company recently announced that it's partnering with China Youth Goyor Technology company to bring its services into the Chinese market. Read more...
TechCrunch, May 21, 9:25am
“Hashtag App” Lets You Follow Twitter & Instagram Hashtags In One Interface
This is kind of handy - and just in time for TechCrunch Disrupt. The team at Lemon Labs just launched a new app called "Hashtag App," which lets you follow Twitter hashtags on your iPhone or iPad. But there are a bunch of apps for that, including Twitter itself, you say? Very true. That's why Hashtag App kicks things up a notch and supports Instagram hashtags as well. Fun! Read more...
TechCrunch, May 21, 9:22am
As The End Of Google Docs Draws Near, Google Asks Stragglers To Transition To Google Drive
Google always pitched Google Drive, which launched in April after a considerable period of hype, as a replacement for Google Docs. What many users didn't realize, it seems, is that Google will indeed completely replace Google Docs with Drive later this year. While Drive is still opt-in at this time, it looks like the forced transition is coming soon, as Google has started to alert users that their Google Docs account will soon be "upgraded to Google Drive." Read more...
TechCrunch, May 21, 9:20am