Tuesday, January 17, 2012

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Aviary Launches Major Upgrade To SDK, Now Powering 10 Million Photo Edits Per Month Top
aviaryshotAviary, the company that makes it easy for mobile developers to integrate image editing into their apps, has a major launch today: they're introducing an overhauled version of their mobile SDK that's both more powerful and significantly better looking than the previous one, which launched in September. You may associate Aviary with the startup's advanced suite of web-based image editing apps, which is what it focused on for years. But last year it shifted toward this developer-facing mobile SDK, which allows third-party developers to quickly integrate photo editing, filters, virtual stickers, and other related features into their applications. It's essentially a drop-in photo editor, and given how popular image sharing apps like Instagram are these days, it's no surprise that plenty of mobile developers are baking it into their apps.
 
Bionic Panda Builds A Social Gaming Business On Android, Raises Funding From Top Investors Top
logoIf you're trying to build a mobile game for the hardcore crowd, you're going to want things like at least moderately elaborate graphics... you'll probably choose to build on iOS first. But if you're trying to build a casual-style game that anyone can play easily, that reaches as many people as possible, Android is looking better and better. That's at least the thesis behind Bionic Panda, the Android-focused gaming company from veteran entrepreneur Charles Hudson. The company is today announcing some growth numbers and a founding round -- in other words, its strategy seems to be working out so far.
 
HTC And Sprint Working On Software Updates That Remove Carrier IQ Top
carrierIQMost of the furor surrounding the Carrier IQ diagnostic software has wound down by now, but that doesn't mean that the companies involved have already forgotten. HTC has confirmed to The Verge that they were working with Sprint to push out maintenance updates that would remove the Carrier IQ software from affected devices.
 
Science Data Sharing Site figshare Relaunches, Adds Features Top
figshare logofigshare, originally launched in January 2011, is re-launching today with some new features. figshare aims to be a repository for scientific figures, raw datasets, videos and more. The retooled service offers AWS storage, version control, and unlimited public storage capacity. All uploaded data is made available with easy-to-use citation links (and a QR code) and is licensed under CreativeCommons terms to encourage re-use. In addition to faster uploads and an easier-to-navigate interface, figshare is also working on desktop clients. According to their FAQ, "We are a data sharing platform where you can add figures that might otherwise go unpublished – complete with the raw data tables." All data is organized by categorgy and tags and is readily searchable, making it easy for researchers to find the data they need. Visitors can comment on the works, too.
 
With Focus On International Expansion, Airbnb Comes To Android And Revamps Mobile Web Offerings Top
Screen Shot 2012-01-17 at 8.52.10 AMAfter about a year of being iPhone only, the Airbnb app comes to Android this morning alongside a complete revamp of the Airbnb mobile features. With over 500K downloads and 125k active users on iOS, and over 10% of its traffic coming through mobile, Airbnb mobile web genius Andrew Vilcsak tells me that the move to Android was inevitable, "The biggest complaint was that it wasn't on Android, which currently holds 48% of the entire world's market share."
 
comScore Publishes December 2011 U.S. Online Video Rankings; Facebook Slips Top
fbAudience measurement firm comScore has just released its U.S. online video rankings for December 2011. There are few surprises: Google's YouTube is still king of the hill, while VEVO remains firmly in second place with roughly a third of Google Sites' audience. In total, comScore says 182 million U.S. users watched online video content in December 2011 for an average of 23.2 hours per viewer. The total U.S. Internet audience viewed 43.5 billion videos. What caught my eye, however, was that Facebook dropped from third place in November 2011 to fifth place, trailing Yahoo and Viacom properties again, in a single month.
 
Cálmate: Put Down Your Smartphone To Feel Better Top
Screen Shot 2012-01-17 at 11.17.07 AMA study by the British Psychological Society found a link between stress levels and the number of times a person picks up their smartphone to check messages and mails. As an addict, I can completely agree with this finding. In short, the more you do it, the worse you feel. Oddly, the study found that less stress was induced when checking work e-mail rather than other online interactions. The group conducted a survey of 100 Britons in different lines of work.
 
Reuters Launches Web TV Channel, Bringing 10 New & Original Shows To YouTube Top
reuters-tvThe move to bring original programming to the web continues to heat up this week, with today's announcement of Reuters TV, a new YouTube channel featuring ten new commentary and analysis shows from the news and media division of Thomson Reuters. The new channel joins nearly 100 other media partners on YouTube who are delivering original content, including a few big names like eHow, Motor Trend, Pitchfork TV, TED, The Onion, WSJ, WWE and more.
 
LA-Based Incubator Amplify Debuts Five New Startups Top
amplify-laAmplify, a recently launched LA-based startup accelerator is announcing its first set of startups today. As we reported in December, the accelerator, which is being managed by Paul Bricault and Richard Wolpert, will be incubating and investing in companies at the intersection of technology and entertainment. Amplify will provide portfolio companies with four months of intense collaboration and mentorship with each startup receiving up to $50,000 in seed capital, office space, weekly mentor meetings with entrepreneurs and a 3-year hiatus on city taxes.
 
ZTE Plans Huge Smartphone Push Into China, U.S. Top
zte-logo-001We often forget about ZTE here in the states since the company does most of its operations outside of our home turf. Still, we shouldn't forget that the company ranks fourth in the world in terms of handset makers, largely due to its focus on budget handsets. The first half of last year brought about a loss of three percentage points in terms of profit, and ZTE is now ready to come back guns blazing. And where else is better to stage an attack than in two of the most mobile hungry countries on the planet: China and the United States.
 
BMW DesignworksUSA, Thermaltake Team Up For The Level 10 M Mouse Top
level 10 m mouseThe Level 10 brand is back with the M Mouse. BMW Designworks and Thermaltake joined forces again for another unconventional PC peripheral. The two teamed up previously for the spectacular (and expensive) Level 10 case. Hopefully the Level 10 M Mouse will be a bit more accessible. Not everyone can afford a $800 case.
 
InMobi: Smartphone Ad Impressions Up 488% In 2011, Tablets Up 771% Top
Image (1) apple_ipad_2.jpg for post 218900Independent mobile ad network InMobi has released its Mobile Market 2011 Review report today, finding significant growth in mobile advertising over the past year, with global smartphone impressions up by 488%. The company also saw 251% growth in mobile impressions on its network, which includes tablet devices and smartphones combined. Tablet impressions alone grew by an incredible 771% year-over-year, up to 1.2 billion. And the market is growing still, led by, of course, Apple's iPad.
 
Location, Location, Location: MIT Builds A Bracelet That Controls The Office Thermostat Top
tech-wristbandThe WristQue may look like one of those cloth bracelets worn by old soul Sophomores who spent a semester in Prague and came back with dredlocks and an absinthe fetish, but it's not. It's actually a personal climate control system. Let me explain. The bracelet identifies you to the building and allows it to follow you from room to room. Is the meeting room too cold? Press a button and it starts to warm up. It will also prepare rooms for your arrival, reading your patterns of movement over time. If it sounds creepy, it is.
 
CliqSearch Releases New Social Search App In Beta, Raises $840,000 Top
cliqIs there room for another social search site? A group of Philadelphia-based angel investors seems to think there is, and have collectively injected $840,000 into CliqSearch, a new Web application that lets users discover local businesses based on recommendations and review from friends and 'friends of friends'.
 
RIM To Release 7-Inch And 10-Inch PlayBooks This Year? Top
Screen shot 2012-01-17 at 9.05.57 AMAt the beginning of 2011, RIM was doing fine. The company still started the year with a relatively high market share in the smartphone arena, even though Android and iOS were growing rapidly. Then the PlayBook struck. I say it like that because the original PlayBook will be remembered as a calamity to the company, a horrible mistake. It was a rushed premium product missing all of RIM's specialty, high-end services. What did they expect? But it's a new year, with new opportunities for the company to redeem itself (possibly the final opportunities), which is likely why we're hearing rumors of two new PlayBooks this year.
 
Bessemer Leads $21M Round In Cloud-Based Email Delivery And Management Service SendGrid Top
sendSendGrid, an email delivery and management service, has raised $21 million in Series B funding led by Bessemer Venture Partners. Existing investors Foundry Group, Highway 12 Ventures, SoftTechVC, 500 Startups and Bullet Time Ventures also participated in the round. This brings the company's total funding to $26 million. SendGrid, which was incubated in TechStars and has raised $5 million in funding, offers businesses a way to manage transactional emails (emails generated by web applications). SendGrid's cloud-based SMTP platform provides a secure and scalable infrastructure that solves core transactional email deliverability issues, allowing companies to outsource these challenges and remain organized.
 
Rockers One Like Son Record Full Album Using Only iPhones Top
IMG_3046In August, I remember seeing YouTube links for the band One Like Son, who recorded an entire song using only their iPhones and a few iPhone peripherals (in addition to their instruments and drum programs). Today, I received a press release indicating that the band have finished recording an entire 10 song album using the same setup. Intrigued, I contacted Stephen Poff, the mastermind behind the record, to get a few more details about the impetus and methods behind the project.
 
The Sony MicroVault Mach Flash Drives Uses USB 3.0 For SuperSpeed Transfers Top
sony-microvault-machSometimes you just need a file transferred onto a flash drive quickly. Enter The Sony MicroVault Mach. These boys are fast. Some would say SuperSpeed fast.
 
Kno Adds New Features To Smart Textbooks In Attempt To Head Off Apple Top
kno_web_logo_512Kno might be in a world of hurt come Thursday. That's the day Apple is said to commence its assault on the textbook industry. Even if it's mostly hype, any current textbook alternative companies (like Kno) should be on notice. Apple is gunning for their market. This puts Kno in a precarious position, having been a scrappy start-up that once based its future on a massive, dual-screen digital textbook. Now, several years later, the company is focused on building a digital textbook ecosystem for the iPad and web. Kno just unveiled several new features lauded by the company as "major advances in smart textbook technology" which is a fancy way to describe flashcards and a smart goal page.
 
AllTrails Partners With National Geographic, Launches Redesigned, Co-branded Website Top
alltrails-logoAllTrails, the AngelPad and 500 Startups-backed company working to build the most comprehensive database of hiking, biking and camping trails around the world, is announcing a major partnership today with National Geographic. As a part of the deal, the AllTrails website is relaunching this morning with a brand-new redesign built from the ground up, and is co-branded with National Geographic's logo.
 

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