Wednesday, August 29, 2012

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Another Sign Of A New iPhone? Apple Will Pay You To Recycle Your 4S Top
iphone 4s recycling from apple Apple is, as usual, remaining tight-lipped about whether it will be releasing any new devices this autumn -- and even if there will be an event scheduled for September 12, as many have been reporting. Meanwhile, here is a sign that the company could be preparing for a new phone launch: Apple is offering users an option to recycle their iPhone 4S devices for up to $345 back in the form of an Apple Gift Card. Apple is among a number of other companies that have already been offering 4S device rebates (here's a top 10 list from 9to5mac), with the highest offer being $500 on Amazon. The addition of the 4S to the list was pointed out earlier by TNW, although it's not clear whether the 4S models were added today or some time previously. Apple's store had been down for several hours earlier today and this could have been the reason why. We have contacted Apple to ask and will update as we learn more.
 
Tradeo Introduces New Follow-Feature To Socialise Its Forex Trading Platfom Top
Screen Shot 2012-08-29 at 09.58.47Back in March eToro, the investment network that uses real-time features to let users follow and trade based on other users' activities, raised another $15 million in funding taking its war chest to $33.9 million. The online investment network now claims to have more than 2 million users across 140 countries. The investment proved that so-called 'social trading' it a hot area right now. Taking the investment model and adding a Twitter/Klout-like features is proving a powerful combination, allowing investors to look to friends, acquaintances, and colleagues for trading advice. But the company has yet to properly launch in the US. That delay means there's opportunities for other startups to get in on the act. Tradeo, which already operates its Forex trading platform in the US, has now launched the new Twitter-like follow method of managing your contacts. You can now find interesting traders, follow them, and copy their trades.
 
One Year On, Photo App Startup EyeEm Reckons It Can Keep On Snapping Top
Florian MeissnerIt's been a year since upstart photo app EyeEm launched. A year in which Instagram rocketed in usage and was bought for a billion bucks by Facebook. A year in which other startups like Color, Lightbox and Picplz dropped from view, though it also has local Berlin competition in the form of Tadaa. So in that context, what's it like still plugging away at the photo app game? What can EyeEm still offer in the face of such competition that's so different? We caught up with co-founder EyeEm Florian Meissner at his Berlin base to pose a few questions. EyeEm says its key differentiator is the 'discovery element' of the platform. The problem is, plenty of others do this. PopSet, for instance, has appeared offering location based photo grouping for instance. Is 'discovery' enough of a feature to keep people interested and coming back? To be honest, no one else does it. The way we discover content through our friends is broken and we need to find novel ways to help people find things they will be interested in. We believe our discovery model is unique, both from a technical and a community perspective and our ambition has always been to be the first to perfectly organise and structure all photos taken with EyeEm (and eventually all photos from the social web) and leverage the data cube behind it to build the most personalised experience out there.
 
Looxcie's Lifecasting Mobile Apps Graduate From Beta With Nifty Facebook Integration In Tow Top
LooxcieLive_ImageRemember Looxcie? The folks behind those tiny, ear-mounted video cameras that first popped up a few years ago? The company has been keeping to itself these past few months, mostly because the team has been slaving away some new and updated apps that they're finally willing to talk about. The LooxcieLive mobile app has been around for a little while now — anyone willing to brave the beta could access it as far back as last November — but this new, non-beta version is (thankfully) leaps and bounds ahead of previous iterations. For one, it doesn't require people to shell out extra money for a miniature camera that hangs next to their face (though the app naturally plays nice with them), so users can broadcast the process of whipping up breakfast using the camera(s) mounted on their iOS or Android devices.
 
AppFog Acquires Nodester As Platform As A Service Market Shows Signs Of Consolidation Top
nodesterbw_transparentAppFog has acquired Nodester, the most recognized platform as a service (PaaS) for the fast growing Node.js community. The move is one of the first signs of consolidation and proof that multi-language platforms are increasingly becoming the standard for this emerging cloud market. AppFog, also a PaaS, is based out of Portland and considered one of the up-and-coming players in the PaaS space that has made its mark by offering developers the means to build and deploy apps without tbe burden of building their own infrastructure. AppFofg offers multi-language support for app developers.
 
The Talented Ms. Hornstein: How @Shirls Fooled The Valley Top
247901_737474188720_7940810_n (1)Silicon Valley is full of hustlers, and that's often a good thing. But there's a difference between hustling and flat-out lying, and when people deceive company after company, it's time to call them out. So: If you look up Shirley Hornstein online, you might get the idea that she's one of the most well-connected people in tech. Here she is at the THRIVEGulu party last month, where Silicon Valley types got a chance to meet Hollywood geek heroes Joss Whedon and Eliza Dushku. Here she is at the Crunchies. And here she is on a list of the top women in venture capital and angel investing (which was republished in Forbes).
 
Grim And Gritty Startup Reboot: NoSQL Company Citrusleaf Changes Name And Acquires AlchemyDB Top
aerospike-logoYesterday NoSQL company Citrusleaf announced an undisclosed new round of funding led by New Enterprise Associates. Apparently the someone thought "Citrusleaf" was too soft and friendly a name for today's more mature NoSQL audience, so the company also got a grimmer, grittier name: Aerospike. But it didn't stop there. The company needed even more new, so it today Aerospike announced its acquisition of the "NewSQL" database AlchemyDB.
 
Your Disrupt SF Startup Battlefield Final Judges: Marissa Mayer, Roelof Botha, Michael Arrington, Chris Dixon, David Lee And David Sacks Top
tc-disrupt-sfChoosing this year's Startup Battlefield winners is a tough job. We've had a record number of applications for our startup competition happening in two weeks at Disrupt SF, and the 30 companies we've picked out of the inbound are exceptionally strong. Thankfully, we have an experienced team of entrepreneurs and investors on board to help. Marissa Mayer has graciously agreed to continue her traditional role as a Disrupt finals judge, even though she's just taken over as CEO of Yahoo (and is about to have a child!). Two other long-time finals judges are also back.  Accomplished Sequoia Capital partner Roelof Botha will be offering his incisive wit and seasoned insights to the presenting entrepreneurs. And the man himself, TechCrunch founder Michael Arrington, will be on board dishing out startup advice in addition to conducting his iconic interviews.
 
RAWR: Samsung Canada Wins The Internet With This Custom Galaxy S III Top
rawr-9It all started with a simple Facebook message from a loyal Samsung fan to the company's Canadian Facebook page. "I was just wondering if I could get a free Galaxy S3?" asked Shane. And for good measure the Samsung fanboy included a picture of a dinosaur going rawr. It wasn't a very good drawing but it was cute. And cute counts. Shane himself, age 26, told TechCrunch today he is far from an artist. Artist or not, he's now the proud owner of a Samsung Galaxy S III with his artwork adorning the backside -- and he got the customized phone for free.
 
Stky Aims To Save You From Yourself With Sticky Note-Inspired To-Do List Top
photo (2)You know that long to-do list that you never get to? The emails that have been starred for months, but still haven't been replied to? Stky can help save you from your insurmountable to-do list. The app, built by CrunchFund EIR Dave Feldman, gives you a blank sticky note every morning, which you can fill from a "drawer" full of tasks and use to structure your day. The next morning, the sticky is wiped clean, and tasks that weren't marked complete go back in the drawer.
 
No More Project Octopus — A Corporate Dropbox Gets A Corporate Name Top
octopusLast year at VMworld, there was this news story from VMware that was so refreshing. It concerned a new effort called Project Octopus. It had all the markings of a modern service -- the kind so rare in enterprise circles. Even the name sounded cool. Today Project Octopus is now Horizon Data - a service that is being called a corporate Dropbox. And fittingly, it has a corporate name.
 
Chief Creative Officer Mike Verdu Leaves Zynga To Found New, Zynga-Backed Startup Top
41623_1489225494_4554_nZynga announced today that Chief Creative Officer Mike Verdu will leave the company after three years to lead his own startup. This might raise questions for some investors, as Verdu has been a driving force behind Zynga's success over the years. But, it's not a complete separation. Zynga will "be on the ground floor" and be an investor in Verdu's new startup. Verdu's new company has not yet been announced.
 
Facebook Brings Notifications, Album-Specific Uploads To Standalone Camera App Top
Camera 1.1Facebook updated its standalone camera app today, showing users notifications when someone comments, tags or likes a photo and allowing users to upload photos to specific albums. This is the latest in a series of mobile app releases for the social giant. Last week, it rolled out a new mobile app that is twice as fast and update its mobile messenger app, adding emoticons and showing when a friend was last active.
 
New Update Appears To Bring ISIS Mobile Payments Support To T-Mobile's Galaxy S II (Update) Top
isis-nfcIt appears that a brand new update for the T-Mobile Galaxy S II subtly includes an "ISIS/NFC update." If this update enables the ISIS service on the phone, it would make the Galaxy S II the first phone to utilize the Google-Wallet mobile payments competitor. ISIS, if you happen to have forgotten, (no one would blame you, it was announced all the way back in 2010) is an NFC-based mobile wallet system backed by AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon.
 
First, Fire Thyself Top
donald trumpEditor's note: Joe Kraus is a partner at Google Ventures, focusing on mobile, gaming, and local services. In 1993, he co-founded Excite.com, an early Internet search engine. He also co-founded JotSpot in 2004, a wiki company acquired by Google in 2006. Follow him on his blog, JoeKraus.com, and on Twitter: @jkraus. One of the hardest things for first-time Founder/CEOs to figure out is what role to play as the company starts to grow. All CEOs, founding or not, have a center of gravity. It can be sales, product, engineering, marketing, finance, etc. It's the place they feel most comfortable, most grounded. It's where they grew up in their career, or if they haven't had much of one, it's the place where they feel they have insight or instinct.
 
Yammer's David Sacks To Join Us At Disrupt SF Top
disrupt-sf12-eventOne of the most rational voices in the Valley, David Sacks has hit many of the commonly agreed upon entrepreneurial "milestones," and he's only 40. Sacks is part of a mafia (PayPal), he's had a pivot (MyGeni) and he's won a TechCrunch startup competition, back when it was TechCrunch 50. He's also successfully built an enterprise product with Yammer and then sold it to Microsoft for over a billion dollars. He's even dabbled in Hollywood. And now he's arguing that there's nothing left to do, debatably because he's done it all (Okay, so maybe he hasn't had an IPO, who's counting really?).
 
Ford's AppLink Is Now Available On 1M Vehicles, Will Host Developer Challenge At TC Disrupt Hackathon Top
FordFord today announced that its AppLink platform is now available in 1 million vehicles across the company's fleet. The AppLink API allows developers to link their mobile apps to Ford's SYNC platform and lets drivers manage the apps through voice controls and radio buttons on their steering wheels. The platform is still invite-only and some of the supported apps include Pandora, TuneIn, Slack Radio and NPR News. Just like last year, Ford will also once again sponsor an AppLink Developer Challenge at our own TC Disrupt San Francisco Hackathon next month.
 
Fribi Is A Social Marketplace To Give Away Or Swap Things You Don't Need Anymore Top
Screenshot 4Who doesn't like receiving free things from their friends? Fribi is an iPhone and Android app developed by a Norwegian startup to get rid of your unnecessary stuff that clutters your home. Conversely, you can browse the free stuff available in your area and arrange a meeting. Fribis can be restricted to people you know, which you can select from among your Facebook friends. Creating a listing is much less cumbersome than it would be on eBay or Craigslist. You just have to take a picture and name the object. Moreover, there is a rate system in order to dissuade you from giving away useless or broken stuff.
 
Winter Is Coming: The Great iPhone Cable Shortage Of 2012 Top
Winter Is ComingHow many iOS charger cables do you own? You know, the 30-pin connector that's been packaged alongside every iPod, iPhone and iPad for as long as I can remember. Personally, I own seven. Each of my friends and colleagues has (at the very least) more than one of these wires. Essentially, if you've owned an iThing for more than a few months, especially an iPhone, you probably own more than one cable, too. But the next-gen iPhone, and its 8-pin mini port, will change more than the iThing accessories industry. Sure, there are millions of docks, charging cases, etc. that will have trouble with this transition. But Apple will no doubt sell a connector for backwards compatibility, probably for around $30. But the real issue isn't the accessories ecosystem, it's the ubiquity of the current iCable model.
 
Social To-Do App Fetchnotes Adds 25 GB Of Free Storage From Box, Raises A Little Funding Top
fetchnotesFetchnotes, the Twitter-like lightweight note-taking app that lets you organize your to-do's with hashtags and collaborate with @ replies, is now offering users a 25 GB of free storage for backing up notes thanks to a new partnership with Box. You would really have to take a lot of notes to use all that storage - something that Box normally charges $10/month for - so it's a good promotion to encourage signups. The news comes at a time when the startup is also announcing a move Boston, in order to participate in the TechStars Boston Fall 2012 program. And they've also closed on a small round of funding from Start Garden LLC, Tim Howes (Rockmelt co-founder), Norm Rapino (Nextronext co-founder) and Wes Huffstutter, the Program Manager at the University of Michigan's Office of Tech Transfer.
 

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