Thursday, July 29, 2010

Y! Alert: TechCrunch

Yahoo! Blog Alert
Yahoo! Alerts
My Alerts

The latest from TechCrunch

Google Confirms: We're Not Currently Blocked In China Top
We’ve just received word from Google that they are not currently blocked in China and that a server issue was most likely the cause of their dashboard misread. From Google: Because of the way we measure accessibility in China, it’s possible that our machines could overestimate the level of blockage. That seems to be what happened last night when there was a relatively small blockage. It appears now that users in China are accessing our properties normally. Please also note that the dashboard is not a real time tool. Their email also confirms that there was a small amount of blockage last night, which responsible for the false alarm on the Google Mainland China report page.
 
Google Opens Places API With Initial Focus On Check-In Apps Top
At Google I/O in May, the search giant indicated that they were about to take their commitment to location to the next level. Sure, Latitude had been around for a while, but everyone knew that Google could do more in the space. The announcement of some new location APIs seemed to a big part of the solution. And now comes the fun part. Today on their Geo blog , Google is announcing that they’re beginning to open the Places API for business. The first developers getting access? Those working on check-in services. Here’s what Google has to say: We are going to focus initially on check-in applications. These are the applications that we feel the API currently caters to well, and we are excited to work with developers building these applications to understand their requirements, and ensure that we are offering them the best possible experience. So does this mean the end of Foursquare, Gowalla, Loopt, and all the rest? Well, no. All this means is that it should be a lot easier for startups to build the next versions of those services. Google is pointing those who wish to get access to this API to fill out this application form found here . Again, the focus at first will be on check-in apps, but promises to expand the API to other uses once they feel it is up to speed. Just prior to I/O, Latitude manager Steve Lee hinted that some sort of check-in functionality was likely in the future for the service. At I/O, the Latitude API made it possible for others to build such functionality. But this new Places API will allow for location services independent of Latitude.
 
Panasonic Buying Out Solar Tech and Rechargeable Battery Makers Top
Panasonic announced today that it will buy out two of its subsidiaries, Sanyo and Panasonic Electric Works, for $9.4 billion. Sanyo is the largest lithium-ion rechargeable battery producer and 11th-largest solar cell producer in the world with a quickly-growing solar panel manufacturing arm according to company statements. Panasonic Electric Works makes a wide range of electrical products including temperature, lighting and motion sensors and controls. Last year, Panasonic acquired a 50.27% stake in Sanyo for $4.4 billion. The pair of acquisitions should help the company best known for its Panasonic plasma TV, camera and other consumer electronics expand into energy technology. Panasonic aims to become the “No. 1 green innovation company in the electronics industry” by 2018. CrunchBase Information Panasonic Sanyo Information provided by CrunchBase
 
$41,000 For The Chevy Volt? Sounds Right To Me. Top
I honestly laid in bed last night thinking about the Chevy Volt’s $41k price tag. Seriously. When I got the press release shortly before it crossed the wire yesterday, the price seemed about right for a first-gen Voltec vehicle. The $350 lease program looked even better. I was already totally sold on the Volt after driving an early mule over a year ago and the price tag didn’t even bother me one bit. It’s not like I planned on buying one, but I could see where GM was coming from. Then my post went up at 12:00 pm yesterday and quickly filled with commentors railing against the $41,000 price tag. That was followed by nearly every national news program claiming the Volt’s price invokes a bit of sticker shock. I thought, “Did these people really think the Volt was going to be the same price as a Malibu?” Apparently. But then Rush Limbaugh opened-up on the Volt today and two things became clear. One, many people including Rush (and previously Letterman) do not fundamentally understand the Volt’s capabilities. I believe most consumers expected the Volt to be a mass-market vehicle and an instant hit in a sort of iPhone way. Yeah, that’s just not how the auto industry works.
 
Users Say Google Is Not Blocked In China, Google Says Otherwise Top
According to Google’s Mainland China service availability page it looks like Google Web Search, Google Images and Google News are down in China, again. In fact, if you parse the chart it looks like just about the only thing still up is Gmail. However reports on Twitter say otherwise, as many users claim that the service is working just fine. We also tested Google.com.cn on Webpulse and received a big thumbs up in terms of availability. Google search was similarly blocked in China last January, when the search giant pulled out of the country reportedly over its censorship policy . The service was reinstated earlier his month and it appeared that the relationship between the two behemoths had been mended. According to Reuters , a Google spokesperson had no information as to whether the Chinese government or a third party was responsible for the block, perhaps because there actually is isn’t one ? Chad Catacchio over at The Next Web writes that a server crash might actually responsible for the false alarm. Twitter user @nuibi backs up this theory. We have contacted Google for official comment and will keep you posted if we have updates. CrunchBase Information China-8 Information provided by CrunchBase
 
Google CEO Announces Zynga Partnership Top
When asked about Google’s partnership with Zynga, Mr. Schmidt said “we haven’t announced it” but “you can expect a partnership with Zynga” in the future. Google’s partnership with Zynga was reported earlier by the blog TechCrunch. That sure sounds like an announcement to me, buried 13 paragraphs deep in an article summarizing an interview with Google CEO Eric Schmidt with the Wall Street Journal. Or an announcement of an announcement. Or perhaps an announcement of an expectation of an announcement. We broke the news about Google’s investment in Zynga and negotiations around a Zynga partnership with a new Google Games property earlier this month. Neither company has confirmed the news before now. In fact, neither company will discuss it with us at all, even to not comment. The story was accurate, we’re sure of that . But this is the first official on the record confirmation from either company. Anyway, expect Google Games to be announced sometime this year. And Zynga will be one of the main game engines populating it. And eventually one of these companies will admit that Google invested in Zynga, too. CrunchBase Information Zynga Google Eric Schmidt Information provided by CrunchBase
 
Peixe Urbano Founder: "Perhaps Groupon Thought It Was Fine to Arrive in Brazil With Fake Deals" [Video] Top
Peixe Urbano means, in Portuguese, “Urban Fish”. That’s a fun fact. Here are a few more: Peixe Urbano is a Rio-based Groupon clone that’s doing very nicely indeed by tailoring its service precisely to a Brazilian audience. The site offers 30 deals a week, across multiple cities. According to the company’s own numbers, they’re averaging a little over 1000 purchases per deal: 30,000 sales a week. Peixe Urbano takes 50% commission on every sale. The site’s popularity is growing fast amongst traders too: 300 companies a day apply to have their deals sold through Peixe Urbano. Brazil is one of the more interesting emerging markets: the number of venture capital firms there is growing , as is the number of interesting tech startups emerging. It was for those reasons (and more) that Sarah chose to visit the country as part of the research for her forthcoming book on entrepreneurship in emerging markets. And it was for those reasons that we were keen to invite Peixe Urbano founder Julio Vasconcellos to be this week’s guest on Too Long; Didn’t Watch . We asked Julio about the startup climate in Brazil and demanded that he respond to those who say the country is little more than an incubator for scammers and copycats.Video below. CrunchBase Information Peixe Urbano Information provided by CrunchBase
 
Jeff Bezos Discusses The Future Of The Kindle With Charlie Rose (Videos) Top
Last night, Amazon unveiled the latest edition of the Kindle, which sports a better screen, slimmer profile, and — most important — a relatively affordable $139 pricetag for a Wifi only version (the 3G version still goes for $189). To mark the occasion, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos made an appearance on the Charlie Rose show, where he discussed the future of the E-book, and why there’s plenty of room for the Kindle in a world where tablet PCs like the iPad are on the rise. You can watch the full episode right here , and the show has graciously provided us with the clips and transcripts below. The overarching theme of the conversation is that Bezos wants the Kindle to remain a device that’s dedicated to reading, especially long-form reading. Bezos explains that with the Kindle, Amazon isn’t looking to “create an experience” —  they want the author to create the experience. This, he believes, makes the Kindle a differentiated device from the iPad and slew of tablets that will be hitting the market by the end of the year. Because unlike other devices, he says, the Kindle’s lack of glare and other design choices help it disappear from the reader’s mind as they get wrapped up in a new book: “I would say something though like we're trying to get out of the way.  We're not trying to create an experience.  We want the author to create the experience.  You know, if you're going to read Nabokov or Hemmingway or we want us creating the experience for.  That's not our job.  Our job is to provide the convenience.  That you can get books in 60 seconds, that you can carry your whole library with you so that you don't get hand strain, so the device doesn't get hot in your hands, so that it doesn't cause eye strain, so that the battery life lasts a month, so you never get battery anxiety.. … Now people say why don't you add a touch screen?  Well, the reason we don't want a touch screen is if we're going down that decision path, we say, okay, a touch screen and the current technology for touch screens — it's called capacitive touch — it's a layer that goes on top of that display.
 It adds glare.  The first thing that you do when you add a touch display is that you add a little extra layer of glass or plastic and a little bit of glare.  So it's very easy from an engineering point of view to add a touch screen but it's not the right thing if you're making no compromises and that's our point of view on this.  We want a device that's for uncompromised reading and guess what?  Our approach is working.” Bezos claims that Amazon is excited about the iPad and other tablet computers, because they have robust web browsers and lead people to shop on Amazon.com more (Google’s Eric Schmidt has given similar responses when asked about Apple’s products).  Bezos also gives some insight as to why Amazon is so secretive about how many Kindle devices it’s sold, explaining that it would help competitors: I'll tell you why we are.  We are secretive about the number because we think it's competitively useful.  There are other people who, if they're going to start planning their manufacturing lines and their supply chains, it's a helpful data point for them to know how many of these we're selling.  When we just say millions, that's not a good data point for them. At one point in the interview, shown in the clip below, Rose asks Bezos to describe his reaction to the iPhone 4′s so-called Antennagate. Bezos initially attempts to swerve around the question, but Rose finally gets him to admit that he “found it a little surprising…. I think it could have been found in testing.” Bezos goes on to say that he doesn’t  believe it will harm Apple in the long term. So is Bezos just spouting spin, or is the Kindle really going to be able to hold its own against the iPad and other tablets?  My hunch — and I know this will rub some technophiles the wrong way — is that Bezos is spot on. In my experience, reading on the Kindle beats the iPad hands down. This isn’t to say that reading on the iPad is unenjoyable (I do it on the bus all the time) but I find it harder to really get lost in a book for a few hours at a time when I’m using my iPad. I’ve previously written about the new types of interactive, hybrid media the iPad and its ilk are poised to deliver.  But there’s still plenty of room for good, old-fashioned novels, which the Kindle excels at (though I still prefer the real thing). CrunchBase Information Jeff Bezos Charlie Rose Information provided by CrunchBase
 
Google's Latest Search Story Makes Having A Baby Seem Really Depressing Top
Launched during this year’s Super Bowl with its inaugural “Parisian Love,” Google’s Search Stories campaign is meticulously engineered to be relatable and tug at your heartstrings. Their latest offering, “New Baby,” portrays the joys and costs of parenting a little too well, heavy on the latter. So you’re clueless, your wife is pregnant and crazy and you have to sell your precious vinyl collection to be able to afford twins, which are an “expensive proposition”? And on top of it all you have to buy a minivan (and sell the Porsche presumably)! If I was that dad I’d be searching for “how to get a vasectomy” instead of “how soon can we try again?” CrunchBase Information Google Information provided by CrunchBase
 

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)