Thursday, January 5, 2012

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SV Angel, Founder Collective And Others Put $850K In Customer Retention SaaS Custora Top
custora Y Combinator-backed Custora, which offers a SaaS that tells online retailers and web apps which of their customers are most valuable and suggests actions to keep them; has raised $850,000 in funding from SV Angel, Founder Collective, Highline Venture Partners, Paul Buchheict, Sam Altman, Valhalla Partners, the Start Fund, and other angel investors. Custora, which launched in February, helps retailers keep customers and tailor actions based on individual-level insights. the software can analyze order logs and distinguish between customers that simply haven't ordered anything for a while, and customers who have left the site. The application also manages and optimizes email campaigns to keep customers engaged.
 
Review: Nokia's Low End Hail-Mary Pass, The Lumia 710 Top
scaledwm-4918Windows Phones, like Android phones, are hard to review. The operating system is obviously the same across the board and so the real question is "How does the hardware stand up to competitors?" The most important thing to consider here then is whether this phone stands a chance against similarly-priced Android feature phones and whether or not Nokia's big gamble on WinPho has paid off? I'm leaning towards "Yes."
 
DailyWorth Grabs $2 Million To Bring Quality Financial Advice To Women — Via The Inbox Top
Screen shot 2012-01-04 at 10.49.24 PMIn March of last year, DailyWorth, the personal finance daily email and community for women, raised an $850K seed round led by Robin Hood Ventures, with investors like Eric Schmidt's TomorrowVentures, Social Leverage, 500 Startups, Venture51, Investors' Circle, Joanne Wilson, David Cohen, Scott Becker, Peter Shankman, and Carol Chow getting in on the action. Now, it seems that some of these investors want to more than double down on DailyWorth, as the startup announced that it has closed a $2 million series A round led by Joanne Wilson and StockTwits Co-founder and CEO Howard Lindzon's Social Leverage, along with contributions from former investors as well. The new round of funding brings DailyWorth's total to just over $3 million.
 
Aisle50 Lands $2.6M To Save You 50% On Organic Batter Blaster (And Other Fine Foods) Top
aisle50Don't get too excited — the Organic Batter Blaster shown above, on sale for a mere $2.49, has already sold out. But fear not: more grocery-centric deals are on the way. Today Y Combinator alum Aisle50, which is best described as a sort of 'Groupon for groceries', is announcing that it's closed a $2.6 million funding round. The round was led by August Capital, with participation from Ron Conway, Yuri Milner (both of whom are upping their investment on top of the funding they contributed as part of StartFund), and Chicago-based New World Ventures. August Capital's David Hornick will be joining the company's board.
 
New Details Emerge For White Epic 4G Touch, White Galaxy Nexus Top
white-phonezLong-time readers may know that I'm a sucker for white phones, so today is something like Christmas Part Two for me. New details have surfaced about two new pearlescent phones: the white Epic 4G Touch and the white Galaxy Nexus. Sprint's (unfortunately named) Galaxy S II Epic Touch variant is the more imminent release, as the white model will be hitting all of the company's sales channels on January 8 with a $199 price tag.
 
Contactually Launches Lightweight CRM Tool That Works Right In Your Inbox Top
contactually-logoContactually, a 500 Startups-backed company, is today launching its lightweight CRM solution for email users. At present, the service works with any IMAP-connected account, including Gmail, Google Apps, Yahoo, AOL and others, but it will support both POP3 and Microsoft Exchange in the near future. The company also just closed an angel round totaling $165,000, which is in addition to the $50K it had in seed funding.
 
Could 'Spider-Worm' Silk Be The Next Supermaterial? Top
Spiderweb-1Spiderman might soon lose his dominance in harnessing spider silk superpowers. Scientists from the University of Wyoming, the University of Notre Dame and Zhejiang University in China have genetically modified silkworms to spin stronger silk using spider genes.The new material could be used for everything from bulletproof vests to replacing tough plastics.
 
Overview: Japan's Video Game Market In 2011 (Sales, Hardware, Software) Top
nintendo-misty-pink-3ds-pressJapan's video game industry is the world's second biggest (after the US), but it's on a downward streak for the fifth consecutive year. Based on sales, the country's video game industry has contracted by as much as 8% year-on-year, Japan's biggest gaming magazine Famitsu is reporting [JP]. Between December 27, 2010 and December 25, 2011, Japanese game companies generated US$5.9 billion in sales. The Famitsu says that sales from hardware makers actually went up 2.4% (thanks to the launch of the 3DS and PlayStation Vita) to reach US$2.3 billion. Software revenues in Japan dropped 13.7% to US$3.6 billion last year.
 
Synchronoss Buys Mobile Social Network Maker Miyowa For Up To $59M In Cash Top
miyowa-rich-mobile-messaging-logoSynchronoss, a provider of automation software, mobility management and cloud technology solutions, has acquired mobile social networking company Miyowa for $45.5 million in cash. In addition, Synchronoss may pay earn-outs of up to an additional $13.5 million in cash based on Miyowa achieving certain performance targets. Synchronoss, which is listed on NASDAQ, says it will leverage Miyowa's social networking and mobile messaging technology to boost its existing mobility platform for connected devices (dubbed ConvergenceNow Plus+).
 
Zynga Debuts Newest Word Puzzle And Social iOS Game, Scramble With Friends Top
Scramble2Zynga is starting off 2012 with a bang. After launching its newest Facebook title Hidden Chronicles yesterday, the social gaming giant is debuting its latest mobile game, 'Scramble With Friends,' which is an iOS game that combines word scramble and formation with the social features of the 'With Friends' gaming suite. As you may know, via the Newtoy acquisition in 2010, Zynga has helped develop a suite of 'With Friends' mobile titles including the popular Scrabble-like game 'Words With Friends' and the recently launched mobile take on Hangman, 'Hanging With Friends.'
 
Apptopia's New Marketplace Will Help Broker Sales Of Mobile Apps Top
Apptopia LogoRemember the news from earlier this week about a mobile app developer who turned to eBay to unload his underperforming iOS app? (Update: the app is now up to $15,100+!) Well, there will soon be an alternative to eBay auctions for other developers looking to do the same.  A new marketplace called Apptopia will launch in February, allowing developers to sell their mobile apps, source code and all.
 
Marvell's ARM-Based Chipset Tapped For New Google TV Units Top
marvelltvEveryone has already seen what the Google TV 2.0 update looks like, but Google and their hardware partners have been pretty tight-lipped about what kind of hardware will eventually run the show. Well, that ends today -- chipset vendor Marvell has just announced that their new their ARM-based Foresight platform will be providing the power for this year's new crop of Google TV devices.
 
Striiv Fitness Gadget Puts Personalized Challenges On The Menu Top
StriivWith the New Year already underway, I'm sure many of you are working hard to lose the holiday weight or are otherwise engaged in some hard-core New Years Resolution-style dieting. It's that time of year, which is likely why Striiv is making a push to add new features. Many of you may remember Striiv from our earlier coverage, in which we decided that the little pocket-sized pedometer is "fun, cute, and entertaining." That's because it basically turns your everyday work-out routine into a game. Along with tracking all of your various stats (steps taken, stairs climbed, etc.), it also lets you "donate" steps to certain charity organizations. There's also a game called Myland, in which you can buy and plant trees in various territories from the gold you collected from walking.
 
Maxymiser Raises $12 M For Its Website Testing & Optimization Solution Top
maxymiser-logoMaxymiser, a company that helps improve website effectiveness through the use of A/B and multivariate testing, personalization and optimizations, has raised $12 million from new investors Investor Growth Capital alongside investment from its Series A investors, Pentech Ventures. The funding will be used to help Maxymiser expand its business, with a special emphasis on North American R&D.
 
iMessage Bug Traps Android Converters' Personal Conversations… But There's A Fix! Top
photoiMessage is awesome, right? Since iOS 5 came out I've been telling all my friends and family (who, ironically, aren't what you'd call tech savvy) to update and start sending messages for free. It's super fast, I tell them, and your messages will be blue! Thrilling, to say the least. There's just one problem: If you switch to an Android device from an iPhone (with iMessage activated), anyone who's previously been sending you iMessages will no longer be able to send you texts. This is because there is apparently a bug with the iMessage system that doesn't deactivate iMessage, even after you've switched your phone number to another device.
 
Mindspeed Buys 'Small Cells' Maker Picochip For Up To $76.8 Million Top
picoMindspeed Technologies, a provider of semiconductor solutions for network infrastructure applications, this morning announced that it has acquired UK-based Picochip, a supplier of integrated system-on-chip (SoC) solutions for small cell base stations. Mindspeed is paying $51.8 million for Picochip, a mix of cash and stock, and up to $25 million in earn-out payments in the first calendar quarter of 2013.
 
Barnes & Noble Mulls Splitting Nook Business And Selling "Dead Tree" Publishing Company Top
scaledwm-img_40191Two bits of news crossed the wire this morning, neither of them good for traditional publishing. First, Barnes&Noble has reportedly put their publishing arm, Sterling Publishing, up for sale, a company it bought in 2009 for $115 million. Sterling produces puzzle, game, and crafts books for kids and adults. Not as big a deal as it sounds, but it still points to a reduced interest in paper-based sudoku. Second, B&N is mulling the spin-off of the Nook business, a move that will shelter the burgeoning epub business and, more important, pull it out of the listing ship that is B&N proper. The company reported a loss of $6.6 million this quarter, down about half from last year, but the Nook business has thus far been quite lucrative, leading the company to "pursue strategic exploratory work to separate the NOOK business."
 
Gartner Lowers 2012 IT Spending Forecast To 3.7 Percent Growth Top
LaptopWorldwide IT spending growth is expected to grow 3.7 percent in 2012, a slowdown from the 6.9 percent growth in 2011, according to a new forecast from Gartner. The research firm lowered its 2012 forecast from its previous estimate of 4.6 percent due to global economic woes and theThailand floods which  hit the hard disc drive industry. The good news is that global IT spending is still enormous—an estimated 3.8 trillion dollars worldwide.
 
Lithium Raises $53.4M Fourth Round To Push For Lead In Social Brand Software Top
Screen Shot 2012-01-04 at 10.30.03 PMBig consumer brands generate all sorts of consumer interest and expertise, but they've generally struggled to capitalize on these relationships to improve themselves. Lithium has been building itself into a market leader at solving this problem over the last ten years, offering white-label community sites and related products that allow brands to let users share ideas with each other -- and tell the brands what they're doing well, or not. The company is now doubling down on its business, raising a $53.4 million fourth round of funding on top of the $39 million that it has previously brought in.
 
Facebook Turns Your Timeline Into Moo Business Cards, First 200,000 Are Free Top
Screen Shot 2012-01-05 at 11.54.27In a move which is likely to catapult UK startup Moo onto a new international stage, the company has become the only one to deeply integrate its 'social business cards' with the Facebook platform today. Taking pictures from users' Facebook Timeline information and photography, users will now be able to create 50 personalised business cards for £10/$15. But in a promotion from today Moo is giving away cards to the first 200,000 users, equivalent to 10 million cards.
 

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