Wednesday, April 28, 2010

Y! Alert: TechCrunch

Yahoo! Alerts
My Alerts

The latest from TechCrunch

Did Microsoft Just Step In To Help HTC (And Google) Fight Apple? Sure Looks Like It. Top
Whoa. As you may have heard, Apple filed a massive lawsuit against phone-maker HTC nearly two months ago. Apple is alleging that HTC is infringing on over 20 of its iPhone patents . While HTC makes phones for a number of partners, it’s pretty clear that this is Apple  going after Google’s Android platform indirectly. And now Google may have just found an unlikely ally in this fight: Microsoft. Yes, the software giant, which makes the rival Windows Mobile (and soon Windows Phone 7) phone software has announced a deal with HTC that allows them to license their patented technology. On the face of it, this deal may make some sense since HTC also makes Windows Mobile phones. But the key to this is right there in Microsoft’s statement on the matter, “Microsoft Corp. and HTC Corp. have signed a patent agreement that provides broad coverage under Microsoft's patent portfolio for HTC's mobile phones running the Android mobile platform ” (Emphasis mine) So yes, this seems to be Microsoft lending its (undoubtedly massive) arsenal of patents to help HTC and Google combat Apple (though, naturally, the rationale behind the deal — and Apple — are never named). It’s hard to imagine what else this could possibly be about. It’s also hard to figure out why Microsoft sent this release out at 11:30 at night. While Microsoft undoubtedly gets some pleasure out of helping someone else fight its longtime rival, Apple, these days, the company seems much more at odds with Google. And yet, they’re helping them out here (yes, again, indirectly). Of course, this undoubtedly makes sense economically for Microsoft — they’ll receive royalties from HTC, presumably for each device sold. Yes, Android devices. The release also notes that the “ agreement expands HTC's long-standing business relationship with Microsoft. “ This past month, HTC was thought to be the leading candidate to buy Palm — if for no other reason than their mobile patents that may help in the Apple suit. But last week, HTC reportedly dropped its bid for Palm . Perhaps the negotiation of this deal made that much easier to do. CrunchBase Information Microsoft HTC Android Apple Information provided by CrunchBase
 
iPhone Leapfrogs BlackBerry As The #1 Handset For Opera Mini In The US Top
Opera just released its latest State of the Mobile Web report, in which it zooms in on the popularity of its iPhone application, which was approved for the App Store just a little over two weeks ago. We already knew a lot of people were seemingly eager to try out the alternative browser on the iPhone – the app saw 1 million dowloads on its first day in the store. But how is it holding up now? According to the just-released report, the iPhone has now become the third most popular handset for Opera Mini users worldwide. All the other top 20 devices are Nokia and Sony Ericsson handsets. Furthermore, the iPhone is currently the #1 device used by Opera Mini users in the United States, well ahead of BlackBerry, which previously occupied the top spot. Out of the top 10 countries according to Opera Mini usage, the United States and the United Kingdom are the two countries where the iPhone has become the #1 device used by Opera Mini users. According to preliminary numbers, Opera expects the US to soon have the fifth-most Opera Mini users, displacing Nigeria, South Africa and Ukraine on its ascent up the list. Since mid-April, the States jumped from #8 to #5 in the top 10 countries list. As for the actual state of the mobile web on a global level, according to Opera: In March 2010, Opera Mini had over 55.2 million users, a 9.3% increase from February 2010 . Combined, those users viewed more than 25.8 billion pages in March. Since March 2009, page views have increased 200%. CrunchBase Information Opera Software iPhone 3GS Information provided by CrunchBase
 
Dazzboard's Web-Based iTunes Alternative Now Works On Macs Top
When it comes to media management for your portable electronics, there’s the iTunes/iPod goliath, and then there’s everyone else. In the last six months or so we’ve seen the competition in the second category heat up quite a bit, with applications like doubleTwist and Songbird offering strong alternatives to Apple’s dominant media app. Dazzboard is another of these iTunes alternatives that’s taking a different approach: it’s entirely browser-based (though you need to install a small plugin). It’s been available for Windows since last summer, and today it’s launching for Mac. Dazzboard allows users to sync media and playlists to mass storage devices, like most non-Apple MP3 players and Android phones. Along with the standard music, photo, and video syncing you’d expect from an iTunes alternative, the application also lets you to sync content with web services including YouTube, Facebook and Flickr. You can also transfer files between multiple devices. To get it working on a Mac you’ll need to be running Safari and Snow Leopard 10.6.2 or newer. Unfortunately I had issues getting the application working properly (I keep getting errors about the backend server, which are probably related to the launch), but the functionality appears to be nearly identical to what’s available on the Windows version, which we’ve previously covered. Dazzboard is based in Finland and recently raised $1.5 million. CrunchBase Information dazzboard Information provided by CrunchBase
 
Add It To The List: You Cannot Club Seals To Death On The iPhone Top
Look, I get the porn thing . Well, sort of . But now Apple has gone too far. iSealClub is the latest app to be rejected from the App Store. In it, you yes, club seals. I’m shocked — shocked! — that Apple would reject such an app. Developer Matthew Smyth writes: So I decided to develop a game based on the seal hunt (with a club). You play a seal hunter armed with a club against an unlimited number of seals. Tilting the device in the desired direction moves the club around the screen, and making a flicking motion causes the club to hit a seal or the ground. I tired to keep the game light hearted as possible with no blood, or clubbing baby seals. Well… you can try and club the baby seals, but you lose points and they just take off really fast. Smyth emailed Apple before ever writing the app to see if they would find it questionable, and they responded that they didn’t pre-approve apps. So Smyth built it. And yes, it was rejected on the grounds that it contains “ content or materials of any kind (text, graphics, images, photographs, sounds, etc.) that in Apple's reasonable judgement may be found objectionable .” Actually, I thought the whole thing was a joke when Smyth emailed it to us, but it turns out his app is actually based on something real: the  Canadian Seal Hunt . Yes, it’s real — and awful. But actually, Smyth has something of a point with the following: I looked at other apps in the app store which have been approved. Here are a few examples of games available on the app store: Turkey Hunt, iHunt, Deer Hunter 3D, iFishing, Ace Hunter, iHunt 3D, Big Buck Hunter, 3D Hunting, Trophy Hunt… All games about hunting animals for sport. Pocket God… Play God, torture and kill Pygmies iMob, iMobsters…. Create a mob, arm your mob, perform crimes for profit, etc. Various Assult rifle/gun apps.. shoot/build weapons to kill. Various War based games… Kill. Grand Theft Auto… Steal Cars, run people over, shoot and kill people (including cops) in cold blood… Watch them lie in their own pool of blood. The list goes on. He goes on: The Canadian Seal Hunt may be controversial, but it is in-fact sanctioned (unlike stealing cars and shooting cops) by the Canadian government.  People also make a living from the seal hunt (ie not a "sport" hunts).   The game itself rewards the player with seal based products (such as seal oil, or seal skin jackets), and not "trophies." Given the  "objectionableness" of the game's content compared to the above games, I can't help but think that Apple has taken a less then neutral position on the topic of the Seal Hunt.  If Apple is truly against the seal hunt, I respect that.  I wouldn't kill an animal (non-virtual of course) myself.   But… I don't respect Apple for restricting content based these views(when the other side is still socially acceptable).  I can understand not allowing games with the cold blooded murder of police officers….. oh wait…. They do..   never mind. A very interesting point. That said, I’d say there’s just about no way this app gets accepted, hypocrisy or not. So you’ll just have to make do with the video of it in action below. CrunchBase Information App Store iPhone Information provided by CrunchBase
 
Facebook And iPad FTW. Twitter, Blippy, Foursquare Not So Much [Video] Top
I sat down with August Capital partner David Hornik at the TechCrunch TV studio to talk about the tech issues of the week: The Age of Facebook , Our mutual love of the iPad , and a discussion of companies who’ve stumbled recently: Twitter, Blippy and Foursquare. We also explore Hornik’s strange obsession with Alice in Wonderland. If you’re pitching him for an investment, try bringing him a first edition . It’ll only set you back a few hundred thousand dollars.
 

CREATE MORE ALERTS:

Auctions - Find out when new auctions are posted

Horoscopes - Receive your daily horoscope

Music - Get the newest Album Releases, Playlists and more

News - Only the news you want, delivered!

Stocks - Stay connected to the market with price quotes and more

Weather - Get today's weather conditions




You received this email because you subscribed to Yahoo! Alerts. Use this link to unsubscribe from this alert. To change your communications preferences for other Yahoo! business lines, please visit your Marketing Preferences. To learn more about Yahoo!'s use of personal information, including the use of web beacons in HTML-based email, please read our Privacy Policy. Yahoo! is located at 701 First Avenue, Sunnyvale, CA 94089.
Posted by at

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)