The latest from TechCrunch
- The HP DreamScreen Not So Dreamy
- Paramount Proprietor Polemicizes Poorly On Piracy At Public Policy Presentation
- Foursquare Is Spending A Bit Of Its Money To Get Its Website Into The Game
- SGN Snags Former EA And LucasArts Exec To Join Gaming Company
- You Collaborate On Web Docs. Now Collaborate On Web Designs With Notable.
| The HP DreamScreen Not So Dreamy | Top |
| Last week I saw some coverage of this new HP device called the DreamScreen . And more than a couple of blogs were comparing it to the elusive Apple Tablet . Given my extreme interest in this space, I thought I should get this new DreamScreen in my hands as soon as possible and see if HP had indeed beaten Apple (and us) to the punch in delivering the first high quality tablet computing experience to consumers. The press: “Want a hint at how the much-anticipated Apple Tablet might be shaping up? Take a look at the HP DreamScreen,” said one of those blogs, adding “this certainly looks like what we're expecting from the Apple Tablet.” Another site: “Hewlett Packard has beaten Apple to the punch in coming up with a beautiful tablet-like computer.” Engadget called it “something special.” The reality: I can’t repeat here what I wrote on Twitter because of the sensitive nature of the TechCrunch audience, but I will say this. The HP DreamScreen is possibly the biggest piece of crap to ever grace my desk. Which is saying something. To be fair to HP, they didn’t really market it as much more than a glorified digital picture frame, the press just got out of hand. But even that’s too much. The device costs $250. It lacks a touchscreen. It lacks a browser. It lacks a battery. And it has the annoying habit of running a very loud demo video every few minutes – the only way to make it stop is to unplug it. Which is very effective, since it lacks a battery (not a good idea when you market yourself as a digital clock). And HP did nothing to stop rabid bloggers and journalists from heralding the device as some sort of Apple killer. I can’t help but wonder if any of these guys actually tried the device. Wifi setup took ten minutes. I never got Pandora to work. I refused to even try with Facebook, because my password is long and, as you’ll see if you watch to the very end of the video below, I just don’t have an entire afternoon free to type it in. It’s also much thicker than those sexy photos on the HP site make it look. Text input makes me think that HP was actually aiming for the Macbook Wheel as a comparison point . I want my money back. p.s. – I obviously have a huge conflict of interest here. So try it out yourself. But try it in a store where you don’t have to buy it, because you are going to be seriously unhappy with this device. Crunch Network : CrunchBoard because it’s time for you to find a new Job2.0 TechCrunch50 Conference 2009 : September 14-15, 2009, San Francisco | |
| Paramount Proprietor Polemicizes Poorly On Piracy At Public Policy Presentation | Top |
| In what was ostensibly a meeting of the majors last week to advise the FCC on broadband policy, the COO of Paramount was allowed to wax ignorant for 10 minutes on piracy and file-sharing technology. As a major content provider, they should certainly have some input, but this was sheer soap-boxery. Sure, peer to peer and torrent traffic (legal and otherwise) is going to be a major driver of broadband adoption and major consumer of the resource, but Paramount's contribution to the discussion didn't limit itself to germane observation and reasonable speculation. On the upside, we have a fabulous new quote on the level of Ted Stevens' "series of tubes" that demonstrates how utterly out of touch people like Paramount's COO are with actual Internet terminology and capabilities. Behold: "We are uploading it essentially to a 'cyber locker,' which is nothing more than electronic locker on the Internet." Mr. Huntsberry, we are in your debt for this immortal chestnut of cyber-wisdom. That's nothing more than electronic wisdom on the Internet, for those of you who don't know. TechCrunch50 Conference 2009 : September 14-15, 2009, San Francisco | |
| Foursquare Is Spending A Bit Of Its Money To Get Its Website Into The Game | Top |
| Earlier this month, the location-based social network Foursquare revealed that it had raised a $1.35 million seed round of funding. Almost immediately, they used the money to purchase an important domain for them: foursquare.com (previously, they were found at playfoursquare.com). Today, they revealed another project that the money is being used for: A redesign. A new homepage went live today with a significantly improved look and feel. While the graphics have been prettied up, the main new feature is a constantly moving river of updates from the service. This includes when users write tips for venues, unlock badges, and become the mayors of places. There are also prominent links to its iPhone and Android apps (along with the mobile web version for other phones), and a link for businesses to learn more about how they can utilize the service . Foursquare used some of its funding to hire the design firm Hard Candy Shell to create this new homepage, Foursquare co-founder Dennis Crowley confirmed to us (the two companies actually share office space in New York City). But this is just the beginning of Foursquare’s redesign plans. Currently, there is no way for users to really interact with the service through its website. You can see things like venues and user profiles, but there is no way to check-in a place, the main function of the site. That should soon change. When I asked Crowley if this new design was part of a larger effort to turn foursquare.com into a usable web app, he replied that “it’s all in the works.” Of course, the mobile apps will continue to be the focus (aside from the iPhone and Android apps, versions for Blackberry and Windows Mobile should be out soon), but Foursquare users will undoubtedly welcome news of a usable website. Previously, if you wanted to do something as simple as accept friends, it would require a full page reload, which was annoying. Now, features like this have been AJAXified, like a proper web app. Currently, you’ll only see this new Foursquare homepage when you are logged out of the site. CrunchBase Information Foursquare Information provided by CrunchBase Crunch Network : CrunchBoard because it’s time for you to find a new Job2.0 TechCrunch50 Conference 2009 : September 14-15, 2009, San Francisco | |
| SGN Snags Former EA And LucasArts Exec To Join Gaming Company | Top |
| Social Gaming Network (SGN), the startup that creates popular games for iPhones and social platforms like Facebook, has been seeing significant growth, with SGN’s games now on one out of every three iPhone and iPod Touch devices. To compliment this growth, SGN is adding several seasoned gaming execs to its employee roster. SGN, which is led by CEO and founder Shervin Pishevar, has named gaming industry veteran Randy Breen as the company’s new COO, whee he will be managing game production, business development and finance. Formerly, Breen was Executive Producer and Creative Director at Electronic Arts, Vice President Of Product Development at Lucas Arts Entertainment, and Chief Product Officer at Emotiv Systems Eric Huynh will become SGN’s new chief technology officer. Huynh was previously a founder and CTO of gaming company Ubisoft, founder and CTO of mobile gaming company Gameloft, and was an exec at Vivendi Games. SGN’s chief creative officer, Eric Lindstrom also joins the company from Vivendi Games. Randy Angle, an experienced gaming developer, is joining SGN as director of game design where he will spearhead the development and engineering for SGN's games. Margaret Foley-Mauvais will be serving as art director for SGN and Dan Brazelton has joined company as executive producer. Girls In Tech founder Adriana Gascoigne will join SGN as director of global communications after serving as director of marketing for social network hi5 and VP of digital marketing at Ogilvy, a worldwide creative agency. SGN also recently made waves last week at TechCrunch50 with the launch of its spinoff ToyBots, which revealed its "Kindle of toys" or an "iPhone inside of a toy" technology. The technology, which has massive potential, will be licensed to toy manufacturers that will make those toys Internet connected and controllable. Crunch Network : CrunchGear drool over the sexiest new gadgets and hardware. TechCrunch50 Conference 2009 : September 14-15, 2009, San Francisco | |
| You Collaborate On Web Docs. Now Collaborate On Web Designs With Notable. | Top |
| When companies have employees based in different locations, collaboration can often be difficult. At TechCrunch, we use Yammer to communicate. But what if you want a team to collaborate and provide feedback on the development of content and features on websites and web platforms? That’s where Notable comes in. Notable, which is a product of design agency ZURB, lets you quickly and easily give feedback on design, content, and code on any page of a website or application without leaving your browser. Notable is essentially a page capture utility with an annotation feature that lets you highlight copy, design elements and even code that needs to be tweaked. To get started, you either install the Notable Firefox plugin, or download the Notable iPhone application from the App Store [ iTunes link ]. From there, you capture the design via a Firefox tool button, upload a JPG image or design mock-up from your desktop, or type in a URL. You can invite people into your “workspace” where they can leave comments in dialog boxes that can be dragged around the page and provide feedback on the design and code. Notable is giving away a free iPod Touch to anyone who has the most views on a public post through September 30. Crunch Network : MobileCrunch Mobile Gadgets and Applications, Delivered Daily. TechCrunch50 Conference 2009 : September 14-15, 2009, San Francisco | |
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