Tuesday, September 27, 2011

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The Future Of Books: A Dystopian Timeline Top
shutterstock_67288222With the launch of the Kindle Fire tomorrow, I thought it would be fun to write a little bit sci-fi and imagine what the publishing market will look like in the next ten or so years. I'm a strong proponent of the ebook and, as I've said again and again, I love books but they're not going to make it past this decade, at least in most of the developed world. As we well know, ebook sales are now outpacing hardback sales and publishers are now crowing ebook numbers alongside their traditional in-store sales numbers. Soon those in-store sales numbers will dwindle and disappear simply because there will be no stores - heavy readers, the folks who buy genre fiction by the basket-full will be happy to head over to Nooks and Kindles, especially when they drop below $99 (as they will this year).
 
WooThemes Launches WooCommerce To Turn WordPress Sites Into Online Shops Top
woocommerce-logoWordPress theme provider WooThemes is launching a new service today called WooCommerce, which lets users install a plugin on their WordPress site in order to turn that site into a professional e-commerce storefront. The system includes a plugin and the company's theme library, while also offering multiple payment gateway options, settings for configuring shipping rates, coupon support, email templates, a reports panel to track sales and performance and more.
 
1000memories Expands Beyond Digital Memorials, Becomes A Facebook For The Past Top
shoebox-27d4a3a370b38408375bc84c046e50d1We first wrote about a service called 1000memories back in July 2010. The site was setting out to address a topic that people don't like to talk about, but is universal all the same: when people pass away, their friends and family members like to remember them and celebrate their memories. That can be difficult though — these people are often separated by great distances, and it's hard to share antique photos with a lot of people. So 1000memories created a service for digital memorials, where all of these friends and family members can upload their photos and share their favorite memories in a single place. Now, over a year later, 1000memories is changing things up a bit. Don't worry, those digital memorials are still a core feature of the site, and all of the memorials that have been created aren't going anywhere. But the service is adjusting to better cater to the way its users are actually using it. In short, they're making it a place to share all kinds of digital memories, not just those that concern the recent passing of a loved one.
 
Distimo's Latest Report Reveals Mobile App Localization Trends Top
DistimoCorporate300pxThe latest report from mobile analytics firm Distimo examines in detail the trends surrounding the localization of mobile applications. That is, which app stores tend to have a higher or lower number of apps that are published in just one country alone. According to its findings, globally, 27% of the most popular applications are popular exclusively in one country in Apple's App Store for iPhone. Meanwhile, Nokia's Ovi Store has the highest proportion of apps published in just one country (29.4%) while the App Store for iPad has the lowest (3.4%).
 
Xobni Rebrands Its Product Smartr, Launches Contact Manager For Android And Gmail Top
smartr-androidXobni always was a clever name (it's Inbox backwards), but perhaps it was too clever. Today, the startup that tries to make your email smarter is rebranding its newer products Smartr and launching them out of private beta for Android and Gmail. These products have been in private beta for several months. The Android app takes over your address book on your phone. It ranks contacts by importance and how often you communicate with them instead of alphabetically. Since it is all managed in the cloud, it can handle thousands of contacts. Different tabs show you contact details, that contact's recent social feeds, your relationship history, and other contacts you share in common.
 
Sprint's 4G LTE Network To Go Live Early Next Year? Top
sprintlteSprint is clearly in a tough spot. It's been a step behind in getting the iPhone which should be remedied soon, but the yellow carrier is also facing a mega-merger between AT&T and T-Mobile that would drop it way below the competition. The good news, however, is that it looks like Sprint has a plan, a piece of which involves the deployment of its 4G LTE network in early 2012.
 
Apple Officially Announces iPhone Event: October 4 Top
Screen Shot 2011-09-27 at 1.18.49 PMIt's finally confirmed: Apple's next event will be held on October 4. And they're not even being coy about the topic — the invite says, "Let's talk iPhone". In typical Apple fashion the invite is cleverly presented: The date is indicated as part of the iOS calendar app, the time by the clock, and the location (it's being held at Apple's campus) by the Maps icon. Rumors have been swirling about the launch date of the next iPhone, with plenty of speculation that it might be released in September, or maybe announced in September and then released in October, or perhaps that it would be an all-October deal (never before have I seen such earnest debate over calendar dates). The October 4 date was first reported by AllThingsD last week.
 
Disney's Appmates Turn The iPad Into An Interactive Playmat Top
appmateI wasn't much for playing with toy cars as a kid -- you'd have found me parked in front of a Sega Genesis, if anything -- but I suspect Disney Mobile's new line of Appmate iPad peripherals would have been just the thing to change my mind.
 
Google Ventures, Foundry Group Put $1M In Yesware, Email Tracking And Productivity Platform For Salespeople Top
Yesware-1Yesware, a startup that helps track email and improve productivity for salespeople, has raised $1 million in funding from Google Ventures, Foundry Group and other investors. Yesware is a suite of productivity services that work where salespeople do – in their email and on their phones. The application is available for Gmail and smartphones and provides email analytics, customizable templates and CRM integration to help salespeople close more deals faster. Yesware works in conjunction with a number of popular CRM platforms including Salesforce.com, Microsoft Dynamics, Oracle CRM, Highrise and others.
 
Rexly Takes Its Social Music App To The iPhone Top
RexlyWhen social music startup Rexly launched at Disrupt NYC last May, we called it the social music discovery app that Ping should have been. It shows you what your friends are listening to on iTunes, but filters the stream in an attempt to surface the best stuff. Up until now, you had to log into Rexly's site to experience it. But today it is releasing its iPhone app, Music With Friends, which takes over your iPod player and incorporates all sorts of social features. As you listen to the songs and playlists on your iPhone, Rexly scrobbles them and they show up in a feed that your friends can see. Similarly, you can see a feed of all the songs your friends are listening to who use Rexly, or the most popular songs overall. But instead of just spitting out an unfiltered stream of the ost recent songs in your feed (although you can see that too), the default filter is Rexly's "magic" stream. It shows you songs from friends or other people you are following you've designated as super trustworthy in regards to their musical taste.
 
With A Foothold In Emerging Markets, Peak Games Climbs Up The Rankings; Raises $11.5 Million Top
70737_logo_redblack_1000Peak Games, a social gaming company that designs titles that target emerging markets in Turkey, the Middle East, North Africa, and South America, is making some significant announcements today, including acquisitions, partnerships, funding, and snapshot of the company's continuing growth. For starters, the company announced today that it has closed an $11.5 million series B round of funding, led by existing European venture investors Earlybird Venture Capital and Hummingbird Ventures. This latest infusion of capital brings the startup's total investment to $19 million. According to the Peak Games team, the round will be used to continue expanding into emerging markets, to complete game studio acquisitions, and ramp up hiring and user acquisition.
 
Professional Content Sharing Platform SlideShare Goes Mobile With New HTML5 Site Top
Upload & Share PPandora, LinkedIn, Box.net and many others are moving to HTML5 to give users a cross-platform, rich media experience. The latest to participate in this tend is SlideShare, a sharing platform for business documents, videos and presentations. SlideShare lets anyone share presentations and video and also serves as a social discovery platform for users to find relevant content and connect with other members who share similar interests. The company also has a huge enterprise following, and companies like IBM and others use the platform to curate content from all of their employees and partners on a branded page.
 
Leading Mobile Device Makers Pledge Support For Carrier-Led NFC Venture Isis Top
isis_logoIsis, the carrier-led joint venture between AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon, is today announcing support for its mobile wallet system from the majority of leading device makers, including HTC, LG, Motorola, RIM, Samsung and Sony Ericsson, as well as from NFC hardware provider Device Fidelity. All of the handset makers are now committed to introducing handsets that will include Isis' NFC and related technology standards.
 
Tykoon Raises $1.4M To Help Parents Teach Kids Fiscal Responsibility Top
tykoonTykoon, a sites that helps families engage children in becoming fiscally responsible, has raised $1.35 million in funding from Doug Lebda, RRE Ventures, Rick Thompson, Chamath Palihapitiya, David Bach, and G.Kennedy Thompson. Tykoon (currently in private beta) is a new social, personalized financial services platform for families where kids can earn, save, give and spend real money. With Tykoon, parents can implement money management via chores, jobs, allowance, spending and giving. Kids can earn money through jobs, chores, and gifts, save based on goals, spend in a kid safe environment powered by Amazon.com and give to charities via the platform.
 
Huawei Taps Discovery Channel To Build Discovery Expedition Rugged Handset Top
huaweidiscoveryHuawei has a history of partnering up with brands to build highly targeted phones, a good example being the Red Bull-branded RBM HD rugged phone (otherwise known as the Impulse for AT&T). This time, the company is taking the less caffeine-fueled route, opting for some added credibility with its next rugged handset: the Huawei-Discovery Expedition phone.
 
Microsoft Files More Patents For Dual-Screen Swiss Army Knife Slider Phone Top
msftpatents1I could swear that I've had a dream about this before, or at least written about it*, but it looks like Microsoft beat me to the patent office. On September 22, Microsoft filed the "Mobile Communication Device Having Multiple, Interchangeable Second Devices" patent, which basically describes a slider-style phone that has replacement components to swap in for the slider keyboard.
 
Formspring Adds Photo Support To Its Q&A Service Top
formspring-logoToday, Formspring is adding support for photos to its Q&A service in an update the company is touting as the biggest in the nearly two years since its launch. With the addition, Formspring users will be able to post a photo both when asking a question or when providing a response.
 
Windows Phone Marketplace Is Now Available In A Browser Near You Top
mktplaceAll the way back in May, Microsoft revealed that they were hard at work developing a web version of the Windows Phone marketplace. Now that the new Mango update is nearly upon us, Microsoft has officially flipped the switch on their web marketplace for markets across the world.
 
Former Facebook VP Chamath Palihapitiya Leads $17M Round In Enterprise Social Networking Platform Yammer Top
yammerYammer, an enterprise social network and communications platform, has raised $17 million in new funding led by The Social+Capital Partnership, a new fund established by former Facebook Vice President Chamath Palihapitiya. Previous investors Charles River Ventures, Emergence Capital and U.S. Venture Partners also participated in the round. Palihapitiya will have an observer's seat on Yammer's board of directors. This brings Yammer's total financing to $57 million. For background, Yammer launched as the "Twitter for businesses" at TechCrunch 50 in 2008. But over the past year, the startup has expanded to become a more comprehensive platform for social networking within the enterprise.
 
"Toilettenpapier Drucker" Is What You Think It Is Top
toiletpaper_printerIf you told me two-and-a-half decades ago that this tow-headed youngster from Columbus, Ohio who spent his evenings looking up at the stars, engrossed in endless wonder at the boundless horizon of the invisible universe, would one day be able to print on toilet paper in his lifetime, he would have spit at you and then kicked your dog. He was a pretty crappy kid. But it has happened: we can now use off-the-shelf components to print on toilet paper. This is the end of history.
 

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