Tuesday, May 29, 2012

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iPhone App Downloads Dropped Again In April, As Apple's Bot Crackdown Continues Top
gtekna-botMobile app downloads continued to decline in April and the cost to acquire loyal users picked up, reports mobile marketing firm Fiksu in its latest report out today. This downward trend was expected, as no major events sparked app discovery during the month, explains Fiksu CEO Micah Adler. However, mobile app marketers were particularly aggressive in the social networking and games categories during April, both of which experienced volatility throughout the month. With the former (social networking), the reason had to do with the $1 billion acquisition of Instagram, which drew increased attention to the category. There were also a number of new game releases in April, which led to increased interest and competition among the developer community in that category, as well.
 
More FB IPO Fallout? Russia's Leading Social Network Vkontakte's IPO 'Postponed Indefinitely' Top
Image1 for post Facebook Investor Bets On Two Horses As Vkontakte.ru Plans To Go GlobalIn the aftermath-analysis about what exactly happened in the Facebook IPO, and what it might mean for the future, here's one side-effect to the east of Nasdaq: Vkontake, the top social network in Russia, which shares a shareholder with Facebook, Mail.ru, has decided to delay its own IPO. The news was confirmed by the company's CEO  Pavel Durov on Twitter. In Russian, he tweeted, in answer to a Russian journalist's question about the planned IPO date, "It's not planned. The IPO of Facebook has destroyed the faith of a lot of private investors in social networks and the IPO of VK has now been postponed indefinitely."
 
Bitly Launches New Bookmarking Features, Profiles, Search & iPhone App Top
bitly fishLink shortener Bitly today launched a major redesign and number of new features that all add up to what the company itself calls "a new bitly." Among these new features are 'bitmarks,' bitly's name for its new bookmarking features, the ability to search and find these bookmarks, a fast search functionality, as well as enhanced public profiles that give users more privacy control. Bitly is also rolling out new bookmarklets, a Chrome extension and its first iPhone app.
 
Think Of The Docks! Could The New iPhone Have A Micro USB Connector? Top
photo_2Now look: these are probably fake as all get-out, but bear with me. These handsomely watermarked photos are purported to represent a brand new iPhone design with a sort of two-tone brushed and chromed casing. Whether they are real or not (they're definitely going to get UBreakIFix plenty of SEO juice), there is still a bit more to this story than just some blurry-cam shots (and these nice shots on 9to5mac). The most important thing to note is the size of the dock connecter. That's right: it's a micro USB port (or, less likely, a Thunderbolt port).
 
Lockerz Acquires Fashion Community 'Chick Approved' Top
Screen Shot 2012-05-23 at 10.09.45 AMSocial commerce startup Lockerz just announced that it has acquired online fashion community Chick Approved. Lockerz allows its members to earn "PTZ" by sharing content and other activity on the site, which are then redeemed for discounts in the Lockerz store. Fashion, style, and beauty are the company's fastest growing categories, says founder and CEO Kathy Savitt, and she describes this acquisition as a way to "really double down" in that area.
 
Peer To Peer Lending Crosses $1 Billion In Loans Issued Top
moneyPeer to peer (p2p) lending was always an idea with great potential. It is a simple concept. Match people who want to borrow money with people who want to invest money. Cut the banks out of the equation and everybody wins. Of course, it hasn't been that simple. When the industry was just getting established the two leading players, Lending Club and Prosper, found themselves coming under the scrutiny of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). In 2008, while still in their infancy, both companies had to go through the expensive and time-consuming SEC registration process. Even though many people were writing the industry obituary at this point both Lending Club and Prosper survived. Today, both companies are thriving as the industry is gaining widespread support from borrowers and investors alike. With greater than 100% year over year growth p2p lending is one of the fastest growing investments. Industry volume is now over $50 million in new loans a month and over the Memorial Day long weekend total loan volume passed the $1 billion mark since the industry began back in 2006.
 
Face.com Is Definitely Being Acquired By Facebook Say Sources Top
Screen Shot 2012-05-29 at 15.55.24The purchase of Face.com by Facebook is happening and is a done deal, say multiple TechCrunch sources. Those familiar with the matter have confirmed the price will be $100m, as per the media speculation in the last few days. So far Face.com itself has declined to comment. CEO Gil Hirsch told us via email today "I have nothing to announce." However, among our sources, one told us "Yes, the wheels are in motion on the deal". We understand lawyers are huddling over the details of the deal right now but the acquisition is agreed.
 
New iOS 6 Maps App Reportedly Caught On Film Ahead Of WWDC Top
Apple-Maps-iOS-Six-4Rumblings of a new, Google-free iOS Maps app have been winging their way around the web for a few weeks now, and just in time to whet our appetites before WWDC, an early version of the revamped app has apparently been caught on film. The folks at BGR managed to score a handful of (extremely blurry) photos depicting the new in-house Maps application that Apple will reportedly unveil alongside iOS 6 next month.
 
Dell Finally Does An All-In-One PC Right (By Cloning The iMac) Top
xpsone27Dell has sold various all-in-one computers for years. These systems were mostly insipid, humdrum computers not fit for anything other than being a family's portal to Facebook. Even with touchscreens, Dell's all-in-one systems failed to be serious contenders in the space. Enter the XPS One 27. Announced today and detailed by Engadget, this all-in-one-system is clone of the iMac. Even the 2560 x 1440 screen resolution is the same. To Dell's credit, the XPS One 27 ships with Intel's latest generation of processors while the Apple iMac is still stuck with the older chips -- something Apple will no doubt address in the next revision. But it's hard to ignore the similarities. Hell, even the computer's support tower has a large hole for cable management a la iMac.
 
Thrillist's JackThreads Hits 2 Million Members, Plans To Move Beyond Flash Sales Top
JackthreadsJackThreads, the members-only shopping club bought by men's lifestyle brand Thrillist two years ago, just hit a major milestone this morning: 2 million members. At the time of the original acquisition, JackThreads was really small, says Thrillist co-founder and CEO Ben Lerer. It only had around 100,000-150,000 members in total. But it soon grew. JackThreads hit the 1 million member mark in July 2011, and since then, the average number of orders placed per month has more than doubled, average daily sales have more than doubled, unique site visitors per month grew 143%, and mobile visits grew 163%. The company hosts flash sales with top apparel brands, but is now starting to try new things. It recently launched its own private label line collection called Goodale, which Lerer says led to the best-selling sale the site has ever hosted. It's also planning to expand beyond flash sales, and will soon allow members to search the site's inventory for specific items.
 
Inventory Management Startup Stitch Labs Now Offers Shipping Through ShipStation Top
stitch labsFounded on the premise of making it easier for independent creators to interact with their customers, Stitch Labs launched to offer a cloud-based solution for small businesses that wish to manage CRM, product orders, and inventory management. Now it's taking that a step further by helping SMBs complete the full cycle of sales transactions through an integration with Austin-based startup ShipStation to handle shipping and order fulfillment for customers. Through its partnership with ShipStation, Stitch Labs will help SMBs close the loop with customers, taking them all the way through shipping and order fulfillment. While Stitch handles all the inventory management for its customers, ShipStation will ensure that products get to SMBs' end-customers.
 
Kicksend Releases An Android App For Sharing All Your Photos, Videos, and More Top
kicksend-large-blueLast December, file-sharing startup Kicksend went mobile, with an iPhone app designed to enable easy sharing of photos and videos that are captured from your mobile device. Now, six months later, the startup is taking that same functionality and making it available to Android users as well. Kicksend, which was incubated as part of the Y Combinator Summer 2011 class, aims to make file-sharing easy, with a way to share and access photos, videos, and other large files across multiple platforms. The startup has a web application at kicksend.com that lets users connect to all their files online. It also has access through a desktop app for Mac users, and an app for iPhone users as well. And now it'll be available on Android as well.
 
Plum Perfect Uses A Picture Of Your Face For Makeup, Clothes Recommendations Top
Screen shot 2012-05-29 at 10.52.28 AMListen up, ladies! (And upwardly fashionable gents!) A new service has hit the web that you've likely been waiting for for a long time. Gone are the days of trotting over to a store sales associate and getting help with matching makeup or clothing colors. Now all it takes is a trip to Plum Perfect and a camera to get your style on. Here's how it works:
 
BabyPing Is A Wireless Baby Monitor You Control With Your iPhone Top
Screen Shot 2012-05-29 at 10.04.32 AMIf you've been in the baby monitor racket as long as I have, you've seen it all: the good, the bad, and the unusable. Well here's a monitor that just might win my heart. It's called the BabyPing (there's an N in there) and it allows you to view your child's every squiggle and giggle on your iPhone or iPad. The app and monitor costs about $230 and is currently available in Europe only, although it's expected to hit our shores shortly.
 
Junar Nabs $1.2M To Help Small Government, Business Unlock Big Data Top
Junar-logo1-300x169Last month, San Francisco unveiled a new cloud-based open data site as part of its move to adopt cloud services and, in turn, to encourage open government, transparency and accountability by improving access to data and information. San Francisco is hardly alone -- both public and private sectors in the U.S. and around the world are pulling back the curtain on their data. Of course, opening the doors is one thing, but unlocking and making sense of that data? Not quite as easy. That's why Santiago and Palo Alto-based Junar has developed a platform that allows businesses, governments, and NGOs not only to unleash their data in order to drive collaboration and enhance transparency, but to remove the headache of having to develop their own proprietary software. And to fuel its initiative, the startup announced today that it has raised $1.2 million in seed funding from Aurus, Austral Capital, and a host of national and Latin American angel investors.
 
Mobile Ads: Hipcricket Owner Augme Buys 5 Patents, 25 Pending Patents For Its Mobile VoIP Strategy Top
28380_augmelogo More developments in the world of mobile patents, and mobile advertising, as it happens: mobile marketing company Augme Technologies has purchased five patents covering mobile VoIP and other technologies, and a further 25 related patent applications, which it says it will use to spearhead its move into new services -- and the legal defense of existing ones. The move comes as mobile VoIP services continue to grow in prominence thanks to companies like Skype, Twilio and the profusion of smartphone apps that offer internet-based calling services. Separately, Augme is currently in the middle of a patent lawsuit against Millennial Media. Augme is buying the IP from content distribution company Geos Communications, with the financial terms of the deal undisclosed. The acquisition brings Augme's IP portfolio up to 14 issued patents and more than 60 pending patents in the U.S. and internationally.
 
Crowdsourced Flight Finder FlightFox Grabs $800K In Angel Funding, Joins YC's Latest Batch Top
FF-logo-lrg-darkAustralian travel search FlightFox has a new take on how to surface the best airline deals, and now it has a round of angel funding and entry into top startup incubator Y Combinator, to go along with it. The company has just closed an $800,000 round of funding from YC, 500 Startups, Kevin Laws (board member at AngelList), Matt Dickinson (early investor in Ark), Mick Liubinskas (from Pollenizer), and others. As for what makes FlightFox unique? Instead of developing algorithms to return a list of flights to choose from, the company taps into the power of crowdsourcing instead.
 
Trivia Party, The Draw Something Of Little Known Facts, Hits 10,000 Questions Answered Top
Screen shot 2012-05-29 at 10.08.31 AMWe first met the folks from Lamp Lighter at an NYC office hours session, and just as we expected, their iPad app Trivia Party is doing swimmingly in the App Store. After a week of availability, the app has already made its way into the Top 100 zone within the trivia category, and tallied more than 10,000 questions answered.
 
1M Students Strong, Echo360 Secures $31M From Steve Case, Ted Leonsis To Flip Higher Ed Top
Screen shot 2012-05-28 at 10.22.37 PMToday, four-year-old Echo360 already has 1 million students using its blended learning solutions in over 6,000 classrooms and 500 institutions, owns 54 percent of its market, and is seeing annual revenue of $15 million. However, all told, Echo360 is only currently serving about 10 percent of the colleges and universities in the U.S., and, on top of that, its leadership sees big opportunities abroad. Now, thanks to a big investment from some familiar names, Echo360 is looking to step on the accelerator. The investment comes from the $450 million Revolution Growth fund, founded by Steve Case, Ted Leonsis, and Donn Davis -- all well-known entrepreneurs and executives in their own right and each a veteran of Aol leadership. (Case being a co-founder.) The fund, which typically makes $25 to $50 million investments in companies that it can help take "from niche to mass and scale to capitalize on huge market opportunities," (i.e. disrupt big industries) sank $25 million into Vienna-based online auction company, FedBid, in January.
 
What's In A Name? Nintendo Seems To Be Sticking With Calling Its Next-Gen System Wii U Top
Nintendo-Wii-U-Name-ChangeNintendo unveiled the tablet-centric Wii U at last year's E3. At the time the company was clear that it was a working name. A report earlier this year stated that Nintendo was exploring other options. E3 kicks off next week and it seems increasingly likely that Nintendo is sticking with the unusual moniker. First off, Nintendo just launched a Wii U Facebook campaign complete with an intro video with Reggie Fils-Aime welcoming guests to the Wii U page. Second, and perhaps more importantly, the Wii U logo is now on Nintendo's press site.
 

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