Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Y! Alert: TechCrunch

Yahoo! Alerts
My Alerts

The latest from TechCrunch

Why the Kindle Is Losing Me Top
I really loved my Kindle when I first got it. I love writing books, and I’m for anything that helps people consume and purchase more of them– I don’t care if I make a fraction of the royalties off electronic sales. I was especially struck by how much I wished I’d had a Kindle in college. As a literature major I read about five books a week, not to mention all the textbook reading for other courses. There were so many great touches in the UI that elevated the experience from just putting a book on a screen. There’s the Kindle store and its friction-free, one-click purchases from anywhere, say, a cafe the night before the exam when you still haven’t bought the book. There’s the freedom from lugging around a heavy backpack of books. And there are so many features that are designed specifically for collegiate reading like the ability to easily highlight, annotate, store those annotations in a specific file, and be able to easily search around within the book and find certain quotes or passages. I thought, this isn’t a beautiful piece of hardware, but it is clearly designed by someone who knows high-volume readers. So how the hell is it possible that the Kindle doesn’t have a feature as obvious as page numbers? You know what happens when you don’t have page numbers? You can’t do a basic footnote for anything you’ve read. Yeah, that’s going to be a slight problem for the college market. I know what you are thinking. Sarah Lacy is an idiot, the Kindle has to have page numbers. The features of a book are pretty much words, a cover, table of contents, an index and page numbers– how could they just eliminate one of them? I’ve spent months looking for a way to figure out page numbers on The Kindle 2 and can’t find it, and no one I’ve asked seemed to have an answer for me either. And according to this the college edition doesn’t either. The Kindle does have “locations.” The logic seems to be that because the Kindle allows you to change the font size, you can’t have page numbers because there are a different number of words on your Kindle pages. I guess some brainiac didn’t think there’d be any reason to add a feature that correlates those “locations” to the actual page numbers. Newsflash Amazon: You can’t force the academic world to change pages to locations in footnotes and assignments. You want that market? You have to design for it. I discovered this the hard way trying to do footnotes for my upcoming book. As research, I read about thirty or so books on history, politics and economics of the emerging world, almost all purchased on Amazon and at first I was really gung-ho on reading them all on a Kindle. After all, I was traveling two weeks of every month, refused to check luggage, and the Kindle travels light. But I wound up reading most of them in hard copy because I got tired of relying on battery power to read, having to turn the book on and off when planes were taking off and landing, and worrying about someone swiping the Kindle in rougher areas of the world. (After all, a paperback you can just leave on a cafe table. If someone takes it, oh well, one less book I have to read.) Thank God I am such a dinosaur. Because footnotes from a Kindle edition have been a nightmare. I have had to either use Google books to find page numbers or, worse, repurchase them in hard cover just to do footnotes. I could have just camped out in a bookstore and jotted down page numbers, but most of these books were too obscure to be carried in an average Borders. This all sort of defeats the point of an ebook. Technology is about adding features and functionality to a thing that was limited before– not taking them away. The only way the Kindle survives in an iPad world is by appealing to hardcore readers and students. Amazon needs to fix this now.
 
Google Gearing Up For A Chrome Web Store Launch (For Real This Time) Top
Back in August, at a conference in Europe, Google showed a little preview of the Chrome Web Store and noted that a launch would probably take place in October . While there were some hints of it coming along in October (including some pricing details that were apparently turned on by accident), it never came. And since today is the last day of November, I think it’s safe to say it’s not coming this month either. But it now definitely appears that Google is ramping up for an early December launch of the store, perhaps alongside a Chrome 8 release or a Chrome 9 beta release. Earlier today, there was a flurry of activity in the Chromium Issues list. Specifically, there was a lot of activity surrounding the “ ReleaseBlock ” labeled items. And if you look them over, you’ll notice that most of these 16 issues are related to the Web Store or Chrome Apps in some way. Google appears to be tying up loose ends to get this product out the door as soon as possible. So what’s being worked on? Well, first of all, as you can see above, Google has created a new logo for the Web Store. This logo has already made it into the latest builds of Chromium, and should trickle in the dev channel of Chrome shortly. Further, a Chrome Apps promo to be shown in the browser is now just about complete — they’re just fixing some bugs with it. Meanwhile, Google is trying to finish updating the documents detailing what’s new with extensions . Extensions are going to be a part of the Web Store (alongside themes and apps), so the fact that they’re getting the documentation ready is another good sign that a launch is very close. Another pretty big feature being worked on is the ability to create desktop shortcuts for apps. You would be able to right click on an app in Chrome and create a desktop shortcut for it. The coding work on this appears to be done and it’s now being implemented. Google is also doing some last-minute work on some new API features for the Omnibox, including some sort of new Chrome Search extension . A bigger change that is only going to apparently be enabled behind a flag in Chrome 9 is the ability to create apps without using the crx format . This is now slated as a M10 feature. One problem with crx (which current Chrome extensions use) is that they’re limited to 10 MB in size. Given that these things are labeled as “M9″ blockers, it’s not clear if Google will launch the Chrome Web Store as a feature of Chrome 9 in beta, or Chrome 8 in stable release. Chrome 7 is currently the latest stable release of the browser, while Chrome 8 is in beta, and Chrome 9 is in the dev channel. Again, you can probably expect the company to shift those all up shortly. This may even happen as soon as early next week, which would be in line with what MediaMemo reported a month ago. The Chrome Web Store is also expected to be a key part of Chrome OS, so it makes sense that Google would want to get it out there first in Chrome, then roll out the first versions of Chrome OS, still slated to hit before the end of the year . CrunchBase Information Google Chrome Information provided by CrunchBase
 
Jolt Online brings Playboy To Facebook – Don't Tell Your Girlfriend Top
Is there no escape from the Playboy franchise? Jolt Online , the Ireland-based social games publisher that was acquired by GameStop last December, has unveiled its latest Facebook game: Playboy Party. Described as featuring “pretty much all the things that you can imagine from a Facebook Playboy game” – I haven’t a clue what that means – the accompanying press release assures us that you’ll “find it entertaining”. "This is our Christmas present to the Internet", proudly boasts Dylan Collins, Chairman of Jolt Online Gaming. "We almost went blind developing this game but we think that Playboy Party will keep you entertained anywhere you can access your Facebook account". Ooh err.
 
Standing Cloud Raises $3 Million, Fends Off Font Snobs With New Logo Top
Back in July, I wrote about a nifty new startup called Standing Cloud that makes it easy to set up hosted installs of dozens of cloud-based applications — like WordPress, Drupal, or Trac — with a single click. Unfortunately, all our commenters seemed to care about was the company’s logo , which consisted of Papyrus font set against a plain white background. Now Standing Cloud is back with a new, much more attractive logo that should appease all you font critics, and it has some big news in tow: it just closed a $3 million Series B funding round led by Avalon Ventures, with participation from existing investor Foundry Group. This brings Standing Cloud’s total funding to $5 million since it was founded in 2009. Standing Cloud’s core offering lets you choose from over 60 applications to install, and it gives you the flexibility to decide which cloud hosting provider you want to use them on. Since we last covered them, there have been some tweaks to the business model: previously, Standing Cloud charged users $19.95 per month for access to as many applications as they wanted, but users had to manage and pay for their bandwidth and hosting costs in addition to that. CEO David Jilk says that some users found this confusing, so the company has adopted a different model: users will now pay $24.95 per month per application deployment, but bandwidth costs are included. Obviously this could make things pricier if you plan to deploy multiple apps, but Standing Cloud’s value proposition is all about keeping things simple, so it’s a change that makes sense. Another change is the addition of the Standing Cloud Application Network. Jilk says that many small and medium businesses who might be interested in Standing Cloud aren’t necessarily familiar with the various applications it offers, or which ones might be best for them. So the site is building out a directory of these applications with fleshed out descriptions. Each application listing will include references to recommended consulting firms that specialize in working with that app, in case a business needs something customized. However, Jilk says that this directory of applications (which will primarily be composed of open sourced apps for now) doesn’t represent a change in Standing Cloud’s strategy. Rather, it’s a compliment to it — if it becomes a great resource for learning about these applications, then it will inevitably drive more businesses to use Standing Cloud’s service. CrunchBase Information Standing Cloud Information provided by CrunchBase
 
Video Walkthrough Of Virgin's New Project iPad Magazine Top
Virgin’s somewhat highly-anticipated Project iPad magazine went live early this morning . Its focus is on “design, entertainment, technology, entrepreneurs” and its format is kin to other attempts at next-generation magazines, though I’d say this one is more successful. Of course, it requires an iPad with 4.2 to enjoy, and while five or six million of those have been sold, not everybody will get a chance to check this thing out. So I put together a little video walkthrough for you guys. Apologies for rambling. You can probably just turn the volume down and play some music, I don’t actually say anything substantial, except that it took forever to download and has a few kinks to work out. But I thought it would be useful to be able to see what this thing is without bothering with a huge download.
 
TechCrunch Classics Top
TechCrunch has published thousands of blog posts over its nearly 5 and a half years. Many are good one-day stories, some we’d like to forget, but others are gems. These classics are just as interesting today as when they were first written. Why Michael is a pirate . The age of process journalism . The best ways you can get blogged . Our first AOL official meeting . Plus, some of the major news we broke . But try discovering them. It’s nearly impossible. That’s one of the downsides of a reverse chronology blog. There is a solution. Presenting TechCrunch Classics. A page that will keep an updated list of memorable and favorite posts. The page will live at: techcrunch.com/classics . Our new corporate overlords (er, AOL) are starting to bring us first-time TechCrunch readers. This should be a good introduction for our newbies. It should be a good resource for our long-time readers as well. Below is a copy of the current page. TechCrunch Classics Are You A Pirate The Morality and Effectiveness of Process Journalism Are We Kingmakers or Prognosticators Why Doesn’t Facebook Look Like This? Ok You Luddites, Time To Chill Out On Facebook Over Privacy Top Ten Things You Can Do To Get Blogged Don’t Buy The HTC EVO, It Is A Seriously Flawed Device Yep, Apple Killed The CD Today Silicon Valley's Dark Secret: It's All About Age My God, Scoble, Did You Think We Wouldn’t See These? Too Few Women In Tech? Stop Blaming The Men An iPhone Lover’s Take On The iPhone 4 So A Blogger Walks Into A Bar… Why We Sold TechCrunch To AOL, And Where We Go From Here I Can't Work Under These Conditions :-) Carol Bartz To Michael Arrington: “F*ck Off!” Some of the Stories We’ve Broken Google buys YouTube (1st with the parties and price) Yahoo's Offer To Buy Facebook Google/Yahoo Search Deal Kindle 2 and Kindle 3 Bebo Getting Acquired Cisco Buys Flip Scamville: The Social Gaming Ecosystem Of Hell Apple Is Growing Rotten To The Core: Official Google Voice App Blocked From App Store Google Buys Slide for $182 Million, Getting More Serious about Social Games Has Playfish exited to EA for $250m? The VC chatter says yes. Disney About To Acquire Playdom The Google Set-Top Box (Think Android For TV) Large Form iPod Touch To Launch in Fall ’09 We Know How Many Kindles Amazon Has Sold: 240,000 Michael Arrington’s Favorites The Age Of Facebook Death To The Embargo Silicon Valley Could Use A Downturn Right About Now Guest Post: Working With Michael Arrington On A Personal Project Erick Schonfeld’s Favorites Jump Into The Stream It's Time For An Open Database Of Places Andreessen's Advice To Old Media: "Burn The Boats" Is Steve Jobs Ignoring History, Or Trying To Rewrite It? Who Is The Openest Of Them All? We All Live In Public Now. Get Used To It. Zuckerberg: "We Are Building A Web Where The Default Is Social" Six Months In, And 600 Posts Later . . . The Worlds Of Blogging and Journalism Collide (In My Brain) MG Siegler’s Favorites You Will Be Using FriendFeed In The Future — But It May Be Called Facebook (MG’s first TC post) You're Damn Right I'm A Fanboy. It's As If Apple Has Hired Don Draper The Mouse Is Dead. I Just Killed It. Now Can We Move On? I Think Facebook Just Seized Control Of The Internet Keep It Simple, Stupid Jason Kincaid’s Favorites The Tablet Could Spur A Media Revolution, But It Will Be Out Of Apple’s Hands An Android User's Take On Yesterday's iPhone News Watch Out Foursquare, Facebook is Poised To Dominate Geo Alexia Tsotsis’s Favorites Confirmed: HOPA Dry Erase Girl Is A Hoax, Identity Revealed With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility: A Facebook Bill Of Rights The Phone Call Is Dead Paul Carr’s Favorite posts by Sarah Lacy SMSONE: Micro-Local News From India To Make Silicon Valley Jealous How to Profit off the Poor… and Keep Your Soul Village of the Dam Memo to Aaron Sorkin: You Invented this Angry Nerd Misogyny Too Sarah Lacy’s Favorite posts by Paul Carr NSFW: Yep, Montblanc Killed my MacBook Pro Today NSFW: Bye-Bye Seymour – Like Any Sensible Narcissist, I'm Locking My Twitter Account NSFW: Generation Whine – Why I'm Relieved not to be a Millennial Leena Rao’s Favorites GrandCentral To (Finally) Launch As Google Voice. It’s Very, Very Good. What Games, Places, Music And News Could Mean For Google Checkout As Mobile Advertising Heats Up, Millennial Media Prepares For An IPO In 2011 Mike Butcher’s Favorites Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Europa Bebo – The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle? Or AOL's screw-up? #AngelGate in Europe? We should be so lucky Robin Wauters’s Favorites The Death Of “Web 2.0″ Google Flags Whole Internet As Malware Why The Co-Developer Of The World Wide Web Isn't On Facebook (Video) Photo credit: Flickr/ David Masters CrunchBase Information TechCrunch Information provided by CrunchBase
 

CREATE MORE ALERTS:

Auctions - Find out when new auctions are posted

Horoscopes - Receive your daily horoscope

Music - Get the newest Album Releases, Playlists and more

News - Only the news you want, delivered!

Stocks - Stay connected to the market with price quotes and more

Weather - Get today's weather conditions




You received this email because you subscribed to Yahoo! Alerts. Use this link to unsubscribe from this alert. To change your communications preferences for other Yahoo! business lines, please visit your Marketing Preferences. To learn more about Yahoo!'s use of personal information, including the use of web beacons in HTML-based email, please read our Privacy Policy. Yahoo! is located at 701 First Avenue, Sunnyvale, CA 94089.
Posted by at

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)