Thursday, March 31, 2011

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GeeknRolla – Gowalla To Hire UK Team, Deudil Wins Startup Competition Top
This year’s European startup conference GeeknRolla has become a platform for news, as startups launched and speakers broke news direct from the stage. Deudil , the business reputation startup, secured first prize in the startup competition, and an on-the-day announcement from DFJ Esprit that it would award the winner a £50,000 no strings investment in the form of a convertible note. This would convert into its next funding round at the price of the next round. That kind of announcement is more common in Silicon Valley, so to have the deal announced literally within a couple of hours of Deudil’s pitch on stage was real news for a European event. Let’s hope we see more of that kind of fast action in the rest of the year. They also won a crack at a year’s worth of Windows Azure hosting, £5,000 in free legal advice form Orrick and free premium job advertisements for a year on CoderStack (normally £120 per ad per month). Not bad a bad result for a 3 minute pitch.
 
Google Joins NFC Forum To Advance Near Field Communication Technology Top
Google is one of 32 companies to recently join the NFC Forum , a non-profit industry association that has been advancing the use of Near Field Communication (NFC) technology since its founding in 2004. Google is joining the organization as a Principal member, while CSR and Intel have also raised their membership status to that level (they were formerly Associate Members). The full NFC Forum member list is available here . To explain what it means to be a Principal member of the NFC Forum, allow me to quote straight from the press release : Principal membership is the second-highest level of membership in the NFC Forum, with each Principal member entitled to appoint a voting representative to each of the Technical, Marketing, and Compliance Committees and Working Groups . Principal members may designate individuals to run for positions leading Committees or Working Groups, and they may propose initiatives and contribute to the development of Forum deliverables. As Principal members, organizations may also participate in the NFC Forum testing and certification program using their own in-house test labs. As Near Field Communications World points out , that last part is crucial because it allows principal members to effectively use their own in-house facilities to conduct NFC Forum certification testing rather than having to send devices out to third-party testing facilities. NFC, a standards-based connectivity technology, enables people to make transactions, exchange digital content and connect electronic devices with a simple touch. NFC is said to be compatible with hundreds of millions of contactless cards and readers already deployed worldwide. The Wall Street Journal earlier this week reported that Google has teamed up with MasterCard and Citigroup to embed NFC technology in Android handsets, thus enabling consumers to easily make payments with their smartphones. Retailers could use the data gathered by using NFC as one’s electronic wallet in order to send better targeted ads to users and even offer discounts to nearby mobile users. Google is already supporting NFC chips in Android phones such as the Nexus S and is expected to roll out tests of wave-and-pay systems at stores in New York City and San Francisco in partnership with VeriFone Systems and ViVOtech. Google tellingly also killed support for QR codes in its Places product some time last week. Other companies that have recently joined the NFC Forum as Associate members include Daimler, Hitachi and Kovio. The NFC Forum’s Sponsor members, which hold seats on the board of directors, include companies like Microsoft, MasterCard, NEC, Nokia, NTT DOCOMO, Visa, Samsung and Sony. For your further reading pleasure: So Why Should You Care About NFC? (CrunchGear) The Ever-Elusive Mobile Wallet: Why NFC Chips Are Overhyped And Will Underdeliver Apple Aims To Take NFC Mainstream; Perhaps The Greatest Trick They've Ever Pulled? With The NFC Wave About To Hit Shore, RFinity Raises Money To Make It Fast, Secure CrunchBase Information Google Information provided by CrunchBase
 
Exclusive: IAC Hatches Hatch, A Technology Sandbox To Incubate Mobile Startups Top
IAC has made a business out of developing or acquiring mobile applications based on its popular properties. In fact, IAC’s mobile apps, which include apps for Match.com, CityGrid, UrbanSpoon, and Dictionary.com, have seen over 40 million downloads as of end of the year 2010. Today, we’ve learned exclusively that IAC is furthering its mobile strategy by launching Hatch Labs, a technology sandbox devoted to incubating mobile startups and innovations. Hatch Labs is the brainchild of Dinesh Moorjani , who was formerly the SVP of IAC Mobile. At IAC, Moorjani started the mobile group in 2007 and helped lead all product strategy for mobile. During his time, Moorjani helped doubled mobile revenue annually for IAC. He tells us that for the past five years IAC has been acquiring mobile technologies and apps, but this can be an expensive endeavor. Moorjani and the company wanted to help incubate more innovation within IAC, particularly in the mobile sector and thus Hatch Labs was born. The incubator, which is located in IAC’s New York office, is financially a joint venture between Xtreme Labs and IAC (financial terms have not been disclosed). Hatch Labs is bringing in talent to prototype and develop new applications, tools and platforms that tackle emerging problems in mobility. Moorjani, who serves as CEO of Hatch Labs, manages multiple teams of handpicked engineers and entrepreneurs, who work on developing mobile applications. Moorjani says that three ideas/products are being incubated a any given time, and expects five businesses to be spawned from Hatch by the end of 2011. The most promising ventures, which will ranged from consumer facing to B2B apps, will seek additional capital from IAC and outside investors, to further grow the businesses, and could even be fully acquired by IAC. In terms of equity and initial seed funding, Moorjani declined to give us specifics but says it is competitive and similar to the equity arrangements with other startup incubators, such as TechStars and Y Combinator. Of course, recruiting talent is key to the success of Hatch Labs and its businesses and Moorjani is using equity incentives to attract talent that not only has experience in the mobile industry, but also has developed and sold busineeses previously. For example, Hatch’s first general manager to run one of its initial businesses is BumpTop co-founder, Nina Sodhi. BumpTop was acquired by Google last year. Details on Hatch’s first product Blu Trumpet, which is expected to launch in Q2 this year, are limited but Moorjani says that it is a monetization and distribution platform in mobile, that aims to help publishers make money off apps and provides a distribution portal for advertisers. Another business being developed within Hatch involves group texting, but Moorjani declined to reveal any further details. Housing an incubator within a large company has its advantages and drawbacks. First, the incubator will need to be free of any corporate regulations, mentalities and rules for innovations to flow freely. While this sounds simple, it can be tough. Of course, IAC has tons of cash to put into these ideas, which is an added bonus. It should be interesting to see the quality of products that hatch from Hatch Labs.
 
Social Media Monitoring Company Visible Technologies Lands $6 Million Top
A mere day after Salesforce announced that it was acquiring social media monitoring company Radian6 for $326 million in cash and stock , rival Visible Technologies this morning announced that it has secured an extra $6 million in financing. The round was led by the company’s previous backers, which include Investor Growth Capital, Centurion Holdings, Ignition Partners, In-Q-Tel and WPP. Visible Technologies has raised a total of $45 million in funding to date. Visible Technologies aims to provide its clients with a 360-degree view of social media chatter, and helps companies turn this data into actionable marketing and business strategies. Visible Technologies CEO Kelly Pennock yesterday penned a blog post on Salesforce’s purchase of Radian6, positing that it shows social media monitoring is going mainstream and that the acquisition – for a ‘great premium’ – validates the space. CrunchBase Information Visible Technologies Information provided by CrunchBase
 
myYearbook Bets Big On Android With Acquisitions Of Five Apps, FlockEngine Top
Social networking company myYearbook this morning announced it has acquired five new Android apps to support its mobile strategy and grow its team. In addition, the company acquired FlockEngine, which powers multiplayer games on Android phones. The acquisitions include Toss It, Tic Tac Toe (both of which are among the top 30 most downloaded free Android games), Minesweeper, SpringDroid, and Line of 4. As a result of the acquisitions, Chris Hager of Austria-based FlockEngine and James O'Brien of UK-based SpringDroid join myYearbook. myYearbook made the moves to advance its mobile social network, which is focused on meeting new people. The company’s mobile applications, which it says are downloaded more than 25,000 times per day, are monetized through advertising and its proprietary virtual currency. The acquisitions expand on the company's launch earlier this year of a Web-based gaming platform pairing live video chat with synchronous games and follow in the footsteps of significant additions to its mobile ad sales team and development team. CrunchBase Information myYearbook Information provided by CrunchBase
 
Facebook Games Developer MegaZebra Closes 'Multi-Million' Euro Funding Round Top
Exclusive - Munich, Germany-based social games developer and publisher MegaZebra has secured 'multiple millions of euros' in its latest round of financing led by Doughty Hanson Technology Ventures . Previous backer Kizoo Technology Ventures also participated, alongside private investor Markus Stolz . Founded in 2008 and originally supporting a variety of social networks, MegaZebra in the course of last year shifted its focus squarely on developing and publishing games for the Facebook platform only.
 
Skype Challenger Releases Viber 2.0: Free Text Messages And More Top
Exclusive - Viber Media , the Israeli startup behind the Viber service, which lets iPhone users make free calls to each other , has released version 2.0 of its app in the App Store. The company’s still gearing up for the launch of their Android application , but in the meantime the update to the iPhone app brings a couple of goodies, in particular the ability to text message other Viber users free of charge. Sure, there isn’t exactly a shortage of free messaging apps for the iPhone these days, but it’s always nice to have a free app that supports both voice calls and text messages. Viber 2.0 comes with a new tab dedicated to ‘Messages’, where users can see all of their messages and from which they can send new ones to their contacts. Viber sends push notifications to users when they receive a text, so it’s potentially a replacement for SMS. In addition, the ‘Contacts’ interface has been redesigned to let users filter their contacts and easily see which ones are already on on Viber, or just their favorites if they prefer. Viber’s calling mechanism has also been improved. When users place a call, the app will first enter a ‘Calling’ state. Once the other party’s Viber app has been contacted and it begins ringing, Viber will enter a ‘Ringing’ state, letting the user know that there’s a connection. Viber has already been downloaded by over 10 million users to date. CrunchBase Information Viber Media Information provided by CrunchBase
 
Twitter's Interactive 'Web Intents' Turn Your Site Into A Lightweight Twitter Client Top
@twitter Twitter Arg, broken link in previous Tweet. Here it is in full to see the conversation on this satire: http://t.co/3CJ2Fsz March 29, 2011 11:38 am via web Reply Retweet Favorite Twitter has just released Web Intents, a pretty snazzy API tool that allows site publishers to provide users with the functionality of Twitter follows, retweets, replies and favorites without forcing them to leave their own sites. Those interested can invoke an Intent by embedding a line of Javascript and HTML, without having build an OAuth app in order to attach these functions. From the Twitter Developer blog : “Today we're releasing a simple new addition to the API called Web Intents that makes it possible to make Tweets that you display on the web interactive. Web Intents provide popup optimized flows for all the ways you interact with Tweets and users on Twitter: Tweet, Reply, Retweet, Favorite, and Follow. The new tool makes it possible for users to interact with Twitter content in the context of your site, without leaving the page or having to authorize a new app just for the interaction. Web intents are mobile friendly and easy to implement.” Much to my great joy, Web Intents will also play nice with WordPress’ Blackbird Pie, as all tweets embedded with Blackbird Pie will retroactively embue all tweets with the functionality. (Try it out with the tweets above). You can test out all the different functions of the Web Intents below: Reply Retweet Favorite Follow @rsarver Ryan Sarver @ alexia you couldn't have found a better tweet to showcase in the article? :) http://t.co/MKdlrFb about 15 hours ago via Twitter for Mac Reply Retweet Favorite CrunchBase Information Twitter Information provided by CrunchBase
 

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