The latest from TechCrunch
- Tremor Media Shakes Another $40 Million Out Of The VC Money Tree
- Did Microsoft Just Step In To Help HTC Fight Apple? Or Are They After Android Too?
- Add It To The List: You Cannot Club Seals To Death On The iPhone
| Tremor Media Shakes Another $40 Million Out Of The VC Money Tree | Top |
| Tremor Media is already the largest online video ad network in the U.S., and the company says it’s been profitable since 2009. Now the company just closed a large $40 million series D financing to accelerate its product R&D particularly its ad management system, and expand into “other media channels” (TV perhaps?). The round was led by the Draper Fisher Jurvetson Growth Fund, with some money coming from DFJ proper and Triangle Peak Partners. Previous investors also put in more money, including Canaan Partners, Meritech Capital Partners and SAP Ventures. This round doubles the total capital Tremor has raised since launch to almost $80 million. According to comScore, Tremor’s video ad network reaches a potential audience of 81.7 million people in the U.S., putting it ahead of YuMe, Advertising.com, BBE, and Break Media. Online video advertising is the fastest growing portion of online advertising, and Tremor needs to cement its position among the top video ad networks. That $40 million will certainly come in handy as it attempts to do that. It also could be a war chest for smaller acquisitions. CrunchBase Information Tremor Media Information provided by CrunchBase | |
| Did Microsoft Just Step In To Help HTC Fight Apple? Or Are They After Android Too? | 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. [Update below with a new interesting twist.] 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 [ more below ]. 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. Update : And this just got much more complicated. Microsoft is now apparently claiming that Android is infringing on its patents, CNET reports . So this deal may have more to do with HTC covering itself if Microsoft decides to go after Google. But it’s hard to know for sure at this point. As Ina Fried reports: Microsoft has taken the position, according to those close to the company, that Android infringes on the company’s patented technology and that the infringement applies broadly in areas ranging from the user interface to the underlying operating system. So Microsoft, with this deal, may be both threatening and inadvertently helping Google (if their patents help HTC against the Apple suit). Very interesting, to say the least. CrunchBase Information Microsoft HTC Android Apple 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 | |
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