Tuesday, July 24, 2012

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Despite Slower-Than-Expected Subscriber Growth, Netflix Pushes Forward With International Plans Top
NetflixBuilding4Netflix announced that it returned to profitability in the second quarter, after a slight dip into the red during the prior three-month period. But despite slower-than-expected subscriber growth, the company said it is committed to pushing forward into a new market in the fourth quarter. Netflix added almost 600,000 international streaming customers in the second quarter, ending with 3.6 million outside the U.S. But that's lower than its forecast from the first quarter. Nevertheless, Netflix remains committed to adding an additional market by year-end, which is expected to push it into the red again.
 
Apple To Release Mountain Lion On July 25 Top
mount-lion2According to Apple's Q3 filing, OS X Mountain Lion will be released to the public tomorrow, July 25. The OS improves on the current version, Lion, by adding iOS-like notifications as well as improvements like Game Center and tweaks to the Mail app. Apple CEO Tim Cook wrote: "We're thrilled with record sales of 17 million iPads in the June quarter. We've also just updated the entire MacBook line, will release Mountain Lion tomorrow and will be launching iOS 6 this Fall. We are also really looking forward to the amazing new products we've got in the pipeline."
 
Netflix Leadership Open To Working With HBO GO, Unthreatened By Verizon Redbox Top
netflix_4c_white_logoBuried a few pages into the Netflix earnings report was an open door to a very interesting possibility: Netflix and HBO GO collaboration. "As for HBO, they continue to do great work with HBO GO, which is now available to most US households that subscribe to the premium service," the report read. "While we compete for content and viewing time with HBO, it is also possible we will find opportunities to work together – just as we do with other networks." Now, this is a far cry from announcing a partnership, but it would be a game-changing collaboration if it happened.
 
Apple Reports Disappointing Mac Sales Despite Retina MacBook Release: 4 Million Units Sold In Q3 2012 Top
retinambpAnalysts have been sharply divided in providing estimates for Apple's third quarter earnings report. And it would appear that this time, predictions of a mild third quarter were correct. Apple saw a bit of a plateau in Mac sales, with 4 million Macs, 26 million iPhones, and 17 million iPads sold in Q3 2012. That's compared to last quarter's sales of 4 million Macs, 35.1 million iPhones, and 11.8 million iPads. The main question was whether or not Apple's MacBook Pro Retina would pick up declining Mac sales. As you can see from the numbers, it appears that 5.1 million pixels does not a spike in sales make, as this represents only a 2 percent increase in sales over the year-ago quarter. At the same time, the Retina MBP was only available for a short portion of the quarter being reported, so it's possible we'll see a spike in Q4.
 
Apple Q3 2012: 26M iPhones, 17M iPads, 4M Macs, and 6.8M iPods Top
iphone-4Apple managed to move a lot of iDevices over the last three months. The company just reported its third quarter financials and detailed iPhone, iPod, and iPad unit sales. The iPad saw a killer quarter with sales up from 11.8M units in Q2 to 17M in Q3. That said, the iPhone didn't fare as well. The company shipped 26M down from 35.1M last quarter but up 28% from last year's third quarter.
 
Apple's Q3 2012: $35B In Revenue, Net Profit Of $8.8B, Earnings Of $9.32 Per Share Top
Apple_first_logoApple has just released its fiscal Q3 2012 earnings, and the Cupertino-based company reported revenues of $35 billion (compared to $28.6 billion in the year-ago quarter and $39.2 billion in Q2 2012) and quarterly net profit of $8.8 billion (compared to $7.3 billion in the year-ago quarter and $11.6B in Q2 2012). All that breaks down to earnings of $9.32 per diluted share. During the days leading up to the disappointing release, analysts expected to see Apple rake in revenues of about $37.4 billion, with earnings of roughly $10.38 per share. Apple also reported gross margins of 42.8% (compared to the impressive 47.4% figure the company revealed last quarter) and noted that a full 62% of the quarter's revenues were thanks to international sales. Apple also announced that the company would be issuing a cash dividend of $2.65 per share of common stock.
 
Netflix "Returns To Profitability," Reports Gain Of $0.11 Per Share On $889M In Revenue Top
Netflix_4C_White_LogoNetflix has just released its second quarter 2012 earnings report, in which the video rental veteran outpaced estimates, improving on last quarter and beating expectations. Revenue increased to $889 million compared to the same period for 2011. Earnings per share came in at $0.11 per share. In the weeks leading up to the release, analysts had been projected Netflix to remain steady, reporting a profit of $0.04 per share on sales of $889 million. That works out to a $6 million gain for the quarter, and brass are happy with the outcome over the quarter. According to their release, CEO Reed Hastings and CFO David Wells said that Netflix returned to global profitability this quarter, and are gearing up for more of the same in Q3.
 
Could Romney Really Ban Porn? Top
womanRepublican Presidential front-runner, Mitt Romney, may hold the most unpopular stance in American history: he wants to ban as much porn as he can. A 2007 video (below) of Romney promising to place porn filters on every new computer have resurfaced after his legal adviser "assured" President Reagan's anti-porn legal crusader that Romney sticks by his pledge to curtail porn and resumes prosecution under latent federal obscenity laws.
 
Jessica Alba And Brian Lee Are Coming To SF Disrupt! Top
disrupt-sf12-eventWe are incredibly excited to announce two more amazing speakers who will be joining us onstage at this year's Disrupt SF -- The Honest Company co-founders Jessica Alba and Brian Lee! Alba and Lee will be joining our already impressive list of formidable Disrupt speakers, which so far includes: TechCrunch founder Michael Arrington, Marc Benioff, super angel Ron Conway, Ben Horowitz, Vinod Khosla, Joel Klein, Yahoo's new CEO Marissa Mayer and San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee. We can't wait and neither should you, so get your tickets here.
 
The Future Of Shopping Looks Blurry: Microsoft And TheFind Launch Glimpse Catalogs HTML5 Shopping App Top
thefind-logo

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 interactive. With that goal, the company is raising an additional $5 million, in a round of financing 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 2011Hey, guys, looking for something to do on August 3rd? Well, you're in luck ... We 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, artist Hugh MacLeod will have limited edition prints available for all you fan boys and a we'll have a fountain of cold, salty, margaritas to imbibe.
 
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.
 

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