Tuesday, July 24, 2012

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The Future Of Shopping Looks Blurry: Microsoft And TheFind Launch Glimpse Catalogs HTML5 Shopping App Top
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Nothing says modern web tech technology like making print shopping catalogs available online - or at least that's what Microsoft and shopping search engine TheFind must have been thinking. The two companies unveiled a new project called Glimpse Catalogs today that makes extensive use of HTML5 and other modern web technologies to combine TheFind's Catalogue app for tablets and its Glimpse social shopping app for Facebook into one Pinterest-like site that lets you browse through all your favorite Brooks Brothers, Williams-Sonoma and Lands' End catalogs.

 
Financial Rewards Startup SaveUp Raises $5 Million To Gamify Your Finances Top
saveupFinancial rewards startup SaveUp launched a financial rewards program last year that essentially "gamifies" user savings and paying down debt. It provides a series of rewards as a carrot to get users on the right track with their finances, making the otherwise dull and sometimes scary work of tracking finances fun and interactivity. With that goal, the company is raising an additional $5 million, in a round of financing aimed that it hopes will help it change the way users interact with their finances. According to an SEC filing, SaveUp has closed on $4 million of the $5 million round. Existing investors Blue Run Ventures and True Ventures participated in the round, but CEO Priya Haji tells me the round also includes money from a couple of strategic investors, who aren't yet disclosed. They include a multinational bank, as well as a distribution company in the financial services industry. For that final $1 million, which Haji says should close soon, SaveUp is also seeking investment from some prominent angels.
 
August Capital Summer Party Final Round of Tickets Released Top
TechCrunch August Capital Party 2011We are releasing the final round of August Capital tickets today! We typically sell out of these tickets within an hour so go here now if you want one. We also have a limited number of tickets for the Facebook Ecosystem CrunchUp which will get you a fast track ticket to August Capital Summer Party if you miss the final wave of August Capital Summer Party tickets. Pandora is graciously providing us with music, Hugh MacLeod will have limited edition prints available for all you fan boys and a we'll have a fountain of cold, salty, fresh margaritas. Imagine the efficiency: networking, drinking, interior design refresh, and an amazing sun set - all in the warm summer air on the deck of August Capital.
 
Koding (Gradually) Opens Its Social, In-Browser Development Tools To Everyone Top
koding logoKoding, the startup that helps developers code and collaborate from their web browser, is leaving private beta today. The company isn't exactly throwing the doors open. It's more like ... nudging? The goal is to make the product available to everyone, but the company is opening gradually, with the hope of not overloading its servers. Specifically, it's giving members three invites each, and as each new member uses their invites, the userbase will grow. (The company is also allowing some TechCrunch readers to jump the line — keep reading to find out how.)
 
WhoSay Gets $12 Million Series C Led By Comcast Ventures For Its Celebrity-Centric Social Platform Top
Celebrities who use WhoSay, from WhoSay.comWhoSay, an online media management platform for celebrities and other "influencers," has raised $12 million in a new funding round led by Comcast Ventures. The raise, which counts as WhoSay's Series C, included participation from existing investors Greylock Partners, Amazon, and High Peaks Ventures; Chinese web giant Tencent also pitched in. This brings WhoSay's total venture capital investment to $19.3 million, a company rep tells me.
 
PadMapper's Not The Only One With Legal Heat From Craigslist: Here's Another Data Scraping C&D Letter Top
newcraigslistEarlier today, news broke that Craigslist has taken legal action against PadMapper and Craigslist API creator 3Taps -- after an ongoing disagreement over the scraping of Craigslist data to use in a third-party service (3Taps became PadMapper's partner for data acquisition after PadMapper got the initial C&D). We've also found out that at least one other developer has been getting cease & desist correspondence from the listings giant. The move shows that Craigslist is making a much stronger and wider effort to ensure that its data stays on its own site, and goes nowhere else. Jeff Kastner, a website developer based in Missouri, tells TechCrunch that Craigslist issued him a similar order to stop using its data. The order was not just for a Craigslist-based site he had developed (www.vending-machinez.info, which now goes to a holding page but had sold, you guessed it, vending machine products); but also for a post on his own blog, where he advertised the sale of a prepopulated Classifieds Website (which had nothing to do with Craigslist data). We have the letter from Craigslist embedded below.
 
Lytro Announces Support For Windows, Two Accessories And Free Shipping (This Week) Top
Screen Shot 2012-07-24 at 10.36.51 AMAfter launching earlier this year with Mac-only compatibility, Lytro has just announced that its desktop application now supports Windows. The company behind the miniature light field camera also rolled out two new accessories: a $20 USB wall charger and $20 tripod mount. They're also offering free shipping on all camera orders this week. Minimum specs for Windows PC owners are as follows:
 
Airbnb Acqui-Hires Brian Pokorny And The Batch/DailyBooth Team To Boost Mobile Adoption Top
airbnb-logoAirbnb has grown dramatically over the last year, announcing last month that it topped 10 million total nights booked, with more than 200,000 active properties listed on its site. But one area where it expects huge growth is on mobile, which is fast becoming a key focus for the company. About 20 percent of Airbnb's traffic comes from the iPhone, iPad, Android, and mobile web browsers, and it fully expects that traffic to skyrocket over the coming years, especially in international markets. Airbnb recently redesigned its website and iPhone app, but it also recognizes the need to continue improving the mobile experience and get on new platforms. With the talent wars heating up, many companies are finding that it's easier to acquire talent than to hire it, Airbnb among them. To that end, Airbnb has acquired DailyBooth, in what is essentially an acqui-hire of CEO Brian Pokorny and key design and engineering talent behind the company's DailyBooth and Batch apps.
 
Now Supporting 50 Interactive "Email Apps," PowerInbox Crosses 1 Million Views Top
PowerInbox-logoPowerInbox, the email platform company that makes messages interactive, has just crossed 1 million email views. The startup has expanded from its initial, limited set of third-party services supported (Facebook, Twitter, Groupon, etc.), and can now run over 50 "email apps" in your inbox. These apps allow for interactive content from sites and services that range from Spotify to Hulu to Pinterest, and even to those you might not expect, like The White House and MSNBC, for example.
 
IFTTT Adds Box And Plans New Channel Platform Intended To Connect Business Apps Top
iftttI am an unabashed fan of IFTTT. That's "If Then That" to the uninitiated. It provides ways to connect different services. For example, you can use IFTTT to simultaneously upload a photo to Facebook and then direct it to Dropbox for your own archival purposes. I use IFTTT to direct feeds to my SMS account and to Twitter.
 
Collections For Mac Wants To Be A Universal Finder For The Cloud, Starts With Google Drive & Instagram Top
collections_mac_logoAs much as storing content in the cloud often makes life easier, there is something to be said for native apps that bridge the gap between cloud and desktop. Collections, a new Mac app (OS X 10.7.x+), wants to build what is essentially a "universal Finder for the Mac." The goal of the service is to let you index all your data in the cloud, make it searchable and to provide you with access to a cached copy on your desktop, too. The team isn't quite there yet, though, but after launching its first public beta with support for Google Drive, the company today launched its second beta, which now also supports Instagram.
 
The AIDS Quilt, Digitized: Microsoft And The NAMES Project Team Up To Bring Remembrance Project Into The 21st Century Top
scaled.Pixel Sense full quiltIn 1987, six years after AIDS became an officially recognized disease, the heartbreak of the epidemic was made real in the form of a huge, 1,920 panel quilt created to commemorate the first victims of the disease. Each panel - about the size of a coffin - honored one of the fallen ones who, in the deeply dark years before prevention and effective treatment, risked a death sentence just for being who they were. Parts of that quilt is now being spread out on the National Mall in DC and the NAMES Project will display the entire quilt over the next 31 days. You don't have to hop on the Amtrak to see it, however, thanks to a few clever hacks by Microsoft Garage, an internal project group designed to encourage innovation.
 
BitTorrent Tests New Ad Model (And Revenue-Sharing With Artists) In Its DJ Shadow Bundle Top
bittorrent_djshadow6b copyFor many readers, the name BitTorrent may be synonymous with online piracy, but there's plenty of legal file-sharing too — and the company says that it's actually experimenting with new business models that allow artists to make money. Today, for example, it's launching a new bundle created in partnership with digital marketing company Fame House and its client DJ Shadow. The bundle is supposed to include exclusive content from and inspired by DJ Shadows' archival release Hidden Transmissions From The MPC Era (1992-1996), and yes, it will be available for free.
 
Payvment CEO Christian Taylor Leaves To Restartup 4 Years After Founding Facebook's Top Ecommerce Platform Top
Payvment CEO175,000 merchants rely on Payvment to power their Facebook Page ecommerce stores, but now the startup's founder and CEO Christian Taylor is leaving, telling me "I'm ready to work on my next big startup! (after a short nap)". Taylor will remain on Payvment's board of directors, but shop owners will have to rely on COO Jim Stoneham who is moving into the chief position. Taylor explains to me the move was "planned and self-made", while Stoneham says "Christian and I have scaled the team and business over the last 16 months I've been here, and he feels comfortable that he can move on to new adventures while I continue to run the business. We've got some great things coming. Will be reaching out next week."
 
As Facebook Political Campaigning Heats Up, NGP VAN Launches New Social Organizing Tool Top
SocialOrg - LoginDemocrat-oriented software developer NGP VAN (Voter Activation Network) is launching an updated tool today for the US 2012 election season, that uses Facebook to help stir up voter participation. Called Social Organizing, it lives on a campaign's website, has users sign in using Facebook Connect, then filters a user's friends on Facebook to match with their voter registration file. Users may also search the app specifically for people Social Organizing does not immediately locate.
 
Canadian Angel Boris Wertz Raises $15 Million To Launch Micro-VC Fund Version One Ventures Top
boris-wertzAfter years of investing his own money, Canadian angel Boris Wertz has raised $15 million and created a new fund that will enable him to make even larger investments in early-stage startups. The fund, which will be focused on consumer Internet, software-as-a-service, e-commerce, and mobile companies. Wertz was the Chief Operating Officer of AbeBooks.com, which was acquired by Amazon.com back in 2008. He had been cofounder of German company JustBooks, which was later acquired by AbeBooks in 2002. Over the past several years, he's been making investments in early-stage companies with his own money, and is also behind the GrowLab startup accelerator in Vancouver, British Columbia.
 
Publishers, We Need To Talk: Text From Dog Gets A Book Deal Top
new_back2Look guys and gals in publishing, sit down. You can bring in your Coco Water. Totally. Yeah. We have some gluten-free sandwiches coming in and I promise this won't affect summer hours. You can still not come in on Friday. Yeah, you can take off your loafers. Whatever. Ok. I know you're confused and hurting. Revenues are falling and ebooks are killing your old surefire model of shipping books in big boxes to big stores where they were remaindered and sent back for pulping. We had some good times. Remember all that money you made on cookbooks? Before the Epicurious app? Good times. That shit paid for your house on the Vineyard.
 
Active Endpoints Releases New Wizard For Making Mobile Apps That Respond To Voice and Touch Top
cloudextendThe next generation of application development is starting to emerge. Frameworks act as a catalyst for building applications. Platform as a Service (PaaS) is helping accelerate application development as it abstracts the stack that  a developer usually has to build themselves to push out apps. With integrated systems, the idea of application assembly is emerging with solutions such as IBM's PureApplication System. Active Endpoints symbolizes this trend with Cloud Extend Mobile, a platform with a wizard like "mind map" framework that is used to build and deploy mobile apps that respond to voice and touch.
 
Redbox And Verizon Announce Their Netflix Competitor, But Leave Out Details About Pricing, Content Top
verizon redboxRedbox and Verizon are getting a little bit closer to finally rolling out their streaming Netflix competitor, as the companies formally announced the new service and provided a few more details about the execs who will be running it. But the alpha launch of Redbox Instant by Verizon, as it's being called, leaves out several important details -- like for instance, how much it will cost and what content will be available through the service. Verizon and Redbox first announced the joint venture in February, saying that they would combine forces to provide a streaming service. But other than that, few details have been announced.
 
The $99 Vizio Co-Star Google TV Box Is Now Available To Pre-Order Top
vizio-co-starVizio pulled off a sort of coup with the Co-Star. This $99 Google TV box packs more features than Sony's latest model and is half the price. Plus, I think the novel UI looks better than the standard Google TV interface. The box, which was announced last month, is now available for pre-order. It costs $99 and will ship August 14th.
 

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