Thursday, June 7, 2012

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MakieLab Banks $1.4m To 3D-Print Avatars Into Real, Upgradeable Collectables Top
makie11Want a toy designed to look like your online avatar? That's what's possible with "smart toys" company MakieLab which quietly launched recently with its 3D-printed dolls based on an avatar you create on the site. But this is not just kids stuff. MakieLab just closed a seed round investment of $1.4 million. The round was led by early-stage investors Lifeline Ventures and Sunstone Capital and is joined by Anime and gaming industry veterans Matthew Wiggins, Daniel James and Cedric Littardi of superangel-fund Ynnis Ventures.
 
Hey Bloomberg, HTC Is Not Being Shut Out By Microsoft Top
Apollo_001At what point did Bloomberg start writing ridiculously sensationalistic and misleading headlines? It apparently started last night with the following: HTC Said To Be Shut Out Of Next Version Of Windows. Last I checked, HTC is in the business of making smartphones, not tablets. The four previous tablets built by HTC were likely built to appease the carriers. Regardless of whether or not HTC is allowed to build devices for Windows 8 proper, that won't be true for Windows Phone 8. The writing's been on the wall. It's not rocket science.
 
LevelUp Grabs $12M From Highland, Google Ventures To Take Its Mobile Payment Solution National Top
Screen shot 2012-06-07 at 10.26.55 AMAt the beginning of the year, Square doubled its retail presence, landing in about 20K outlets nationwide. As Jack Dorsey's mobile payment system continues to find legs, all the major players have been rushing to bring their own solutions to market. Believing mobile payments are the future, Seth Priebatsch (of SCVNGR fame) and team launched LevelUP, a mobile payment and rewards network into beta in July 2011. Since then, the mobile payment network has been growing fast, as it now counts over 200K users and has partnered with more than 3K merchants in Boston, NYC, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Seattle, San Francisco, and more. Today, SCVNGR and LevelUp are adding more coin to their coffers to kick the payment network's expansion into high gear, announcing that they've collectively raised $12 million in funding. SCVNGR's existing investors, including Highland Capital, Google Ventures, Balderton Capital participated in the round, along with new investors Continental Advisors and Transmedia Capital.
 
Chrome For Metro Set To Arrive In Next Dev Channel Release Top
chromium_logoAs the release of Windows 8 draws closer, all of the major browser vendors are also preparing to launching their applications for the touch-centric Metro UI that will prominently feature in next version of Microsoft's flagship operating system. Today, Google announced that - assuming you are running the Release Preview of Windows 8 - you'll soon be able to test Chrome in Windows 8's Metro mode. Once the next version of Chrome arrives in the Dev channel, you will be able to take Chrome for Metro for a spin after setting it as your default browser.
 
Ireland's MTT Raises $5 Million Series A From DFJ Esprit Top
mobiletravel_190112Running out of Ireland, Mobile Travel Technologies has raised a $5 million Series A investment from DFJ Esprit's new third fund. In case you hadn't heard, MTT is a large mobile platform aimed at the travel industry which includes easyJet and Qantas Group's Jetstar amongst its customers. The financing will support MTT's expansion into new markets and strengthen the team at its headquarters in The Digital Hub in Dublin, at its offices in London and Manila, and as it enters new territories.
 
Twitter Hires Senior Google Ad Exec Richard Alfonsi; Long-Time Product Leader Elad Gil To Advisory Role Top
RichardAlfonsi405vertTwitter is still busy making changes to its senior management. Following up on product leader Satya Patel's departure earlier this week, we've learned of two other significant moves. The first supports the company's recent statements about its ad business growing faster than many observers had expected. Richard Alfonsi has been recruited from a senior sales position at Google to be Twitter's new vice president of global online sales. According to his LinkedIn bio, he was previously responsible for "driving global sales and business strategy across Google's full Display Ads product set including the Google Display Network, buy-side advertiser platforms, sell-side publisher platforms, and the DoubleClick Ad Exchange."
 
Samsung Joins The Linux Foundation Top
samsung-logoSamsung, the world's leading producer of mobile phones, on Tuesday became a Platinum member of the Linux Foundation. Just the seventh company to join at the Platinum level, Samsung will now have a seat on the Linux Foundation Board of Directors. Samsung has long been a participant with the global Linux community, and as the largest manufacturer of Android handsets they've been extremely successful at marketing Linux-powered devices to the masses. This announcement secures Samsung's commitment to Linux and Android. Almost all of the consumer electronic goods produced by Samsung can be powered by Linux, so it makes sense for them to join the Linux Foundation. They'll be in a position to steward embedded Linux development, contribute non-competitive advancements back to the global community, and enjoy the worldwide development efforts focused on Linux and Android.
 
Y Combinator Alum Flutter Raises $1.4 Million For Gesture Recognition Tech Top
Screen shot 2012-03-26 at 3.40.53 PMFlutter, the startup that launched this past spring out of Y Combinator's Winter 2012 class, has closed on $1.4 million in seed funding from Andreessen Horowitz, NEA, and Spring Ventures, along with Start Fund and a handful of individual angel investors. The cash will be put toward further scaling out Flutter's team and technology, which provides gesture detection and recognition from standard webcam devices.
 
Goodnight, Sweet $199 16GB BlackBerry PlayBook Top
Hands-On-With-New-BlackBerry-PlayBook-2.0-OS-e1326548182672The 16GB BlackBerry PlayBook is no more. A rumor began circulating this morning stating that the low-end model was getting the ax and it was apparently true. In a statement released to Engadget RIM confirms and explains that 32GB and 64GB models offer a better value. This means that going forward the least expensive path to the PlayBook is through the $249 32GB model with the 64GB model running $50 more. The PlayBook took too long to mature. In its current state, thanks to BlackBerry PlayBook OS 2.0, the PlayBook is a fine tablet complete with a very capable set of tools. But it took RIM too long to build the product to this state. Rather than launching the tablet with a core set of features, RIM outed the tablet and proceed to update the product over the following months. It wasn't until earlier this year, nearly 9 months after it launched, that the PlayBook finally became a viable product.
 
Last.fm Reveals That "Some" User Passwords Have Been Leaked Top
lastfmIt looks like LinkedIn isn't the only company dealing with password woes as of late. Just one day after it was reported that 6.5 million LinkedIn user passwords were dumped onto the web, London-based music recommendation network Last.fm has just recently announced on their website that they too are "investigating the leak of some Last.fm user passwords."
 
One Thousand Foxconn Workers Riot In Chengdu, China Plant Top
the-future-of-foxconn-the-birdsAccording to a brief in the Want China Times, workers in the Foxconn plant in Chengdu rioted in a male dormitory, throwing bottles, trash, and furniture after plant security came to the dormitory to investigate a thief.
 
The Only Logical Thing To Do With These Lenovo IdeaPad Ads Is Start A Caption Contest Top
horsesMarketing never ceases to crack me up. Sometimes that's a good thing, like when Samsung cracks a few fanboi jokes at Apple ahead of the Superbowl. It's funny, and it delivers their message in a compelling, entertaining way. But there are some marketing efforts that are unintentionally hilarious — like when Samsung partnered with hot new clothing line Rag & Bone in February and had models walk down the runway with giant-ass phones in their hand. Sure, humans hold their phones as they walk, so I guess product placement like this is somewhat true to life. But this isn't funny cause it's true; it's funny cause it's sad. People concerned with Rag & Bone don't give two shits about the Galaxy Note, and conversely, people who are extremely interested in the Galaxy Note probably aren't all that into Rag & Bone. I'm not trying to generalize; I just think that both brands are missing their mark. I mean, consider this: Anna Wintour, the goddess-diva-almighty-ruler of fashion, is using a flip phone and what appears to be a BlackBerry in every picture I can find of her. At the same time, look at our how our Hackathon hackers dress themselves. These worlds simply don't collide, which is why I find it so hilarious that Lenovo is promoting its new IdeaPad 310 and 410 ultrabooks with fancy-shmancy editorial fashion photo shoots.
 
Google Launches Trusted Stores Program, Offers $1,000 Lifetime Purchase Protection Top
google_trusted_logoGoogle today announced the official launch of its Trusted Stores Program. This program is meant to give online shoppers more assurances that participating online retailers are actually trustworthy. Online retailers who choose to participate in this program will be able to display report cards on their sites that rate the stores' overall service and the reliability of their shipping services. The badge, says Google, "is only awarded to online stores that deliver a great overall experience, so even if you haven't shopped with this merchant before, you can easily tell if they are trustworthy, ship quickly and reliably, and offer exceptional customer service."
 
Behold, Facebook's New App Center Leaks Into iOS Top
photo (3)Facebook is planning to launch a new mobile App Center in the coming days -- possibly at an app-themed press event that the company is holding this evening in San Francisco. In the meantime, we've just received a slew of screenshots from an iPhone-using reader who appears to be seeing it live already. Update: Facebook says "Since we announced the App Center to developers last month, we've been testing it with a small percentage of users. We have no further details to announce at this time." Well, here's what the new App Center looks like:
 
Time For An African Valley? — Sub-Saharan Accelerators Start To Emerge Top
47662721NEPADMAP_400The news that i/o Ventures had launched the Savannah Fund in Africa is clearly welcome news for an emerging continent. It's $10m fund size will be a shot in the arm for the eco-system there. But I was surprised to see that it was being described in some quarters as the "first ever" Sub-Saharan African incubator and accelerator. Because it patently is not. "I think MEST would actually be the first model in this space," said African tech watcher Ben White of vc4africa.biz when I asked him about this. MEST has a fund size of $20m, although it's invested via a non-profit. So to start getting into this, it may be that we are well over-due for a run-down of accelerators in Africa. Here's what we've found so far.
 
Acquire, Be Acquired, Or IPO: $15M From FTV Lets Social Marketer Shoutlet Choose Its Destiny Top
Shoutlet FTV CapitalShoutlet had several companies trying to buy it, and 15 venture capital firms trying to fund it. But it took a $15 million Series C from FTV Capital because they offered it a premium valuation, the freedom to buy startups, and the sure-footing to scale towards an IPO or be acquired. CEO Jason Weaver tells me FTV gave Shoutlet the option to take extra money for acquisitions, and has limited partners like Bank Of America who could underwrite a potential IPO. It'll need the firepower if it's going to compete with recently acquired rivals Buddy Media ($689M) and Vitrue ($300M). Shoutlet will use the cash to expand its products, and hire business and sales staff. It's also considering buying a Facebook Ads API company the way Buddy Media bought Brighter Option, and I see XA.net and GraphEffect as likely targets. Social's here to stay, so when brands realize they need help, Shoutlet will be ready to make their voices heard.
 
NetShelter Hires A Raft Of Senior VPs To Help Build Its InPowered Ad Platform Top
inPowered_billboardTech-focused blog network NetShelter is announcing four new executive hires today, part of what co-founder and CEO Peyman Nilforoush says is a larger company shift to focus on its InPowered Platform. NetShelter first announced InPowered back in December, saying the platform was conceived with advertisers like Samsung. The basic idea is that expert opinion has a much bigger impact than brand advertising, so brands should create ads that highlight positive editorial content — and that's what InPowered enables. Then in May, Netshelter announced the beta of InPowered Sponsored Stories, which allows advertisers to promote these articles underneath a blog post as recommended related reading.
 
Survey Says: Online Video Is Catching Up To TV In Ad Effectiveness Top
yellow_old_tvEvery year online video ad startup BrightRoll does a survey of advertisers to see how they're approaching online video and what their budget plans are for the coming 12 months. And every year, respondents tend to get a little more into the whole online video thing. This year, respondents continue to be bullish on online video, in part because they're starting to believe that it can be just as effective as TV. A majority of advertisers surveyed -- 64 percent -- said they believe that online video advertising is equally or more effective than the ads that show up on TV. BrightRoll posits that could be due to a number of factors, one of which is that 70 percent of Internet users watch video online, meaning that there's no longer a question of scale when it comes to buying online.
 
Whither The Console: Is This The Sunset Of The Dedicated Game Machine? Top
shutterstock_89980225After sitting through three major press events at E3 this year and wandering the hall, I began seeing comments regarding the viability of consoles in a constantly-changing tech landscape. First there were the memes that essentially suggested that this year's E3 was a gift to PC gaming and then John Carmack, the granddaddy of FPSes, (and bear in mind Carmack is working on a virtual reality helmet so he may not be quite grounded in absolute reality) said:
"Console gaming might morph. You can certainly see cloud gaming being built into every display device and traditional consoles could become more like the audiophile niche of people who want the extreme experience there."
 
Stealthy Startup Gumhouse Raises $6M+ For A "Social Stream Video Shopping Network" Top
gumhouse-logoA somewhat stealthy new startup called Gumhouse just raised over $6 million according to this SEC filing, and there are some big names attached to the project, it seems. According to the Gumhouse.com website, the service is described as a "social stream video shopping network," which uses Facebook to personalize your shopping experience. After a little digging, it appears the service has already soft launched. Listed as "Directors" on the filing are LegalZoom, ShoeDazzle, and The Honest Company co-founder Brian Lee and former Photobucket Biz Dev VP and Color co-founder Peter Pham, who's also at Science, the Betworks-like technology studio/incubator based in L.A. Meanwhile, "Executive Officers" include Tom Dare, former VP of Business Intelligence at MySpace and Mike Jones, both also of Science, and RxVantage co-founder Greg Gilman. Polaris Ventures General Partner, Jason Trevisan, is listed as a director, too.
 

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