Newer posts are loading.
You are at the newest post.
Click here to check if anything new just came in.
Click here to check if anything new just came in.
May 11 2012
A Dreamy Look At A Would-Be Nokia Lumia 850
lumia850brianmfbconcept
This Nokia Lumia 850 is not real. It's just a concept. But I would be proud to carry that phone in my pocket if it was real. The concept comes by way of The Nokia Blog, a fan site that found the concept made by Luxembourgish designer, BrianMFB. The 850, that once again is just a mockup, shows a slimmed down Lumia 800 that still regains a lot of the original character. The backside has tappered edges and flush mounted side buttons. The screen is a modest 3.8-inch as a 950 would likely have a larger screen.
lumia850brianmfbconcept
This Nokia Lumia 850 is not real. It's just a concept. But I would be proud to carry that phone in my pocket if it was real. The concept comes by way of The Nokia Blog, a fan site that found the concept made by Luxembourgish designer, BrianMFB. The 850, that once again is just a mockup, shows a slimmed down Lumia 800 that still regains a lot of the original character. The backside has tappered edges and flush mounted side buttons. The screen is a modest 3.8-inch as a 950 would likely have a larger screen.
Amazon To Launch Color Ebook Reader Later This Year, Says Report
color-kindle
A color Kindle might be on the way. Industry watchdog publication, Digitimes, says Amazon will launch one in the second half of this year. The report goes on to state that the new models will forgo the traditional infrared touchpanels used in the current model for multitouch capacitive panels. Digitimes expects Amazon to adapt E Ink's upcoming color EPD panels in their ereaders so don't expect LCD displays. This move, if true, would put the Kindle in a strange spot between a full-scale tablet and a tradition b/w ereader. Amazon has so far been very successful in marketing the Kindle's grayscale screen against full color tablets like the iPad. The Kindle Fire showed that there is a demand for color ereaders as well, though. A color eink display might be the start of a larger content push from Amazon.
color-kindle
A color Kindle might be on the way. Industry watchdog publication, Digitimes, says Amazon will launch one in the second half of this year. The report goes on to state that the new models will forgo the traditional infrared touchpanels used in the current model for multitouch capacitive panels. Digitimes expects Amazon to adapt E Ink's upcoming color EPD panels in their ereaders so don't expect LCD displays. This move, if true, would put the Kindle in a strange spot between a full-scale tablet and a tradition b/w ereader. Amazon has so far been very successful in marketing the Kindle's grayscale screen against full color tablets like the iPad. The Kindle Fire showed that there is a demand for color ereaders as well, though. A color eink display might be the start of a larger content push from Amazon.
No Tablet News Yet From Nokia, But It Is Launching Its e-Reader Reading App
blue-and-black-reading
There are still some big question marks over what Nokia plans to do in tablets -- a market where it is now possibly the only major smartphone maker yet to make a device -- but at least Nokia is moving ahead with the launch of tablet-friendly services. Today, it said it would begin the global roll-out of Nokia Reading, a Windows Phone app originally announced back in February for reading e-books on a Lumia device. The company says that initial countries that will get the app are France, Germany, Italy, Russia, Spain and the UK, with others following later this year. It is compatible with all four Lumia models: the 900, 800, 710 and 610.
blue-and-black-reading
There are still some big question marks over what Nokia plans to do in tablets -- a market where it is now possibly the only major smartphone maker yet to make a device -- but at least Nokia is moving ahead with the launch of tablet-friendly services. Today, it said it would begin the global roll-out of Nokia Reading, a Windows Phone app originally announced back in February for reading e-books on a Lumia device. The company says that initial countries that will get the app are France, Germany, Italy, Russia, Spain and the UK, with others following later this year. It is compatible with all four Lumia models: the 900, 800, 710 and 610.
Qype, The Yelp Of Europe, Claims Top Dog Status With 860,000 Places Reviewed, Expands Daily Deals
qype logo
Just as we get news of some consolidation in the local content market in the UK, some news of expansion, too: Qype, the Yelp of Europe (and Yelp's closest competitor in the region), today announced that the number of places reviewed on its site has reached 860,000, with the number of monthly unique visitors now numbering 25 million. It claims that this makes it the biggest reviews site in the region, about five times bigger than its closest competitor, the U.S.-based Yelp. And while companies like Groupon are trying to move beyond the daily deal to become the platform for local commerce, Qype is doubling-down on the concept, expanding its own deals offerings with a free service to attract more local businesses to the concept.
qype logo
Just as we get news of some consolidation in the local content market in the UK, some news of expansion, too: Qype, the Yelp of Europe (and Yelp's closest competitor in the region), today announced that the number of places reviewed on its site has reached 860,000, with the number of monthly unique visitors now numbering 25 million. It claims that this makes it the biggest reviews site in the region, about five times bigger than its closest competitor, the U.S.-based Yelp. And while companies like Groupon are trying to move beyond the daily deal to become the platform for local commerce, Qype is doubling-down on the concept, expanding its own deals offerings with a free service to attract more local businesses to the concept.
Consolidation Hits UK Local Sites: Zoopla Buys UpMyStreet, Folds It Into Its Own Property Pages
zoopla home page
The UK housing market has been on shaky legs for a while now -- with tight lending conditions, unemployment and general consumer confidence all playing their part in slowing things down -- and that is having the inevitable knock-on to sites built up to serve that sector: today brings news that Zoopla, one of the UK's bigger property sites, is buying up a smaller competitor / data supplier, UpMyStreet, and folding the latter company's business into its own. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed, but it looks like the acquisition means curtains for the UpMyStreet brand, one of the oldest local-listings sites in the UK: if you visit that URL now you will see that the site now automatically redirects to Zoopla's pages, with no sign of UpMyStreet branding to be seen.
zoopla home page
The UK housing market has been on shaky legs for a while now -- with tight lending conditions, unemployment and general consumer confidence all playing their part in slowing things down -- and that is having the inevitable knock-on to sites built up to serve that sector: today brings news that Zoopla, one of the UK's bigger property sites, is buying up a smaller competitor / data supplier, UpMyStreet, and folding the latter company's business into its own. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed, but it looks like the acquisition means curtains for the UpMyStreet brand, one of the oldest local-listings sites in the UK: if you visit that URL now you will see that the site now automatically redirects to Zoopla's pages, with no sign of UpMyStreet branding to be seen.
Startups Court Dev Bootcamp’s Ruby Grads: 88% Have Offers At Average Of $79K
Screen shot 2012-05-10 at 9.19.40 PM
This year, Shereef Bishay came up with an ambitious engineering and educational challenge: Try to take 20 aspiring developers, at various levels of ability, teach them Ruby on Rails, and have them job-ready in 10 weeks. The result: Dev Bootcamp, a 10-week engineering gauntlet specifically that subjects those willing to some 400+ hours of intense technical training. The cost, with a $1K discount for signing up early, is $11,200, which can be paid in lump sum or in monthly payments over two years. While that may sound like a lot, compared to the cost of a 4-year education, it's minimal. Of course, it's all about the return on investment. And judging by the numbers Dev Bootcamp has shared, the future looks bright. Altogether, 88 percent of its students have received job offers, with the average salary being offered at $79,000. As to who's doing the courting? ThoughtWorks, Ooyala, DailyKos, Inigral, MochaLeaf, Zendesk, Milyoni, and GeneralThings, to name a few. Not bad for 10 weeks.
Screen shot 2012-05-10 at 9.19.40 PM
This year, Shereef Bishay came up with an ambitious engineering and educational challenge: Try to take 20 aspiring developers, at various levels of ability, teach them Ruby on Rails, and have them job-ready in 10 weeks. The result: Dev Bootcamp, a 10-week engineering gauntlet specifically that subjects those willing to some 400+ hours of intense technical training. The cost, with a $1K discount for signing up early, is $11,200, which can be paid in lump sum or in monthly payments over two years. While that may sound like a lot, compared to the cost of a 4-year education, it's minimal. Of course, it's all about the return on investment. And judging by the numbers Dev Bootcamp has shared, the future looks bright. Altogether, 88 percent of its students have received job offers, with the average salary being offered at $79,000. As to who's doing the courting? ThoughtWorks, Ooyala, DailyKos, Inigral, MochaLeaf, Zendesk, Milyoni, and GeneralThings, to name a few. Not bad for 10 weeks.
Pay To “Highlight” Your Facebook Status Updates To More Friends – A Reckless New Ads Test
Highlight Featured Image
Only 12% of your friends see your average status update, but Facebook is testing an option called "Highlight" that lets you pay a few dollars to have one of your posts appear to more friends. Highlight lets users, not Pages or businesses, select an "important post" and "make sure friends see this", but not color it yellow as Stuff wrote when it first spotted the feature. A tiny percentage of the user base is now seeing tests of a paid version of Highlight, but there's also a free one designed to check if users are at all interested in the option. Highlight could show Facebook's willingness to try more aggressive ways of making money, which should delight potential investors. But Facebook is playing with fire here. The service has always been free for users, and a pay-for-popularity feature could be a huge turn off, especially to its younger and less financially equipped users who couldn't afford such narcissism.
Highlight Featured Image
Only 12% of your friends see your average status update, but Facebook is testing an option called "Highlight" that lets you pay a few dollars to have one of your posts appear to more friends. Highlight lets users, not Pages or businesses, select an "important post" and "make sure friends see this", but not color it yellow as Stuff wrote when it first spotted the feature. A tiny percentage of the user base is now seeing tests of a paid version of Highlight, but there's also a free one designed to check if users are at all interested in the option. Highlight could show Facebook's willingness to try more aggressive ways of making money, which should delight potential investors. But Facebook is playing with fire here. The service has always been free for users, and a pay-for-popularity feature could be a huge turn off, especially to its younger and less financially equipped users who couldn't afford such narcissism.
Here’s What The Facebook App Center Is Really About
Cat-Bone
The tectonic plates in the app world have been shifting quite a bit lately, in ways that will significantly impact developers and users. One major upcoming shift is coming from our friends in Redmond--Windows 8-- and yesterday, we witnessed another major shift as Facebook announced their new App Center. After sleeping on it and reading dozens of generic blog posts about the announcement, this is what I think the Facebook App Center REALLY means (complete with lame taglines for your entertainment):
Cat-Bone
The tectonic plates in the app world have been shifting quite a bit lately, in ways that will significantly impact developers and users. One major upcoming shift is coming from our friends in Redmond--Windows 8-- and yesterday, we witnessed another major shift as Facebook announced their new App Center. After sleeping on it and reading dozens of generic blog posts about the announcement, this is what I think the Facebook App Center REALLY means (complete with lame taglines for your entertainment):
May 10 2012
Meet The 10 Startups Who Just Got Their Wings At AngelPad’s Spring 2012 Demo Day
angelpad-logo
AngelPad, the startup accelerator program started two years ago by ex-Googler and tech investor Thomas Korte, held Demo Day for its Spring 2012 class in San Francisco this week. The event was a very buzzy one, with ten solid startups pitching to a standing-room-only room packed with investors.
angelpad-logo
AngelPad, the startup accelerator program started two years ago by ex-Googler and tech investor Thomas Korte, held Demo Day for its Spring 2012 class in San Francisco this week. The event was a very buzzy one, with ten solid startups pitching to a standing-room-only room packed with investors.
With 12M+ Downloads, Scan Launches Scan-to-gram, A New Way To Follow People On Instagram
Screen shot 2012-05-10 at 4.29.24 PM
Three guys from Provo, Utah set out on a mission to make QR codes, those boring pixellated, black-and-white squares come alive -- in other words, to extend their functionality by turning them into realworld "like," "follow," and "buy" buttons. And it's been working. In February, Scan closed a seed funding round from Shervin Pishevar, Google Ventures, CRV, Start Fund, Social + Capital, Ludlow Ventures, and more. The company moved their operations from Utah to San Francisco, and is currently sitting at just over 12 million downloads across iOS devices. As Scan is in the business of creating apps that extend the potential application of QR code tech, Scan is today leveraging the buzz around Instagram to let businesses, organizations, etc. build their Instagram user base via QR codes. The new app, appropriately called Scan-to-gram, which launches today, lets users scan QR codes and instantly follow a company and its employees. Notable Instagrammers to be part of its initial launch, including Warby Parker, Zooey Deschanel, Nike, Marc Jacobs, and, notably, the Instagram team itself.
Screen shot 2012-05-10 at 4.29.24 PM
Three guys from Provo, Utah set out on a mission to make QR codes, those boring pixellated, black-and-white squares come alive -- in other words, to extend their functionality by turning them into realworld "like," "follow," and "buy" buttons. And it's been working. In February, Scan closed a seed funding round from Shervin Pishevar, Google Ventures, CRV, Start Fund, Social + Capital, Ludlow Ventures, and more. The company moved their operations from Utah to San Francisco, and is currently sitting at just over 12 million downloads across iOS devices. As Scan is in the business of creating apps that extend the potential application of QR code tech, Scan is today leveraging the buzz around Instagram to let businesses, organizations, etc. build their Instagram user base via QR codes. The new app, appropriately called Scan-to-gram, which launches today, lets users scan QR codes and instantly follow a company and its employees. Notable Instagrammers to be part of its initial launch, including Warby Parker, Zooey Deschanel, Nike, Marc Jacobs, and, notably, the Instagram team itself.
Saas For Cows! Farmeron Raises $1.4 Million *Seed* to Ease Farmer’s Lives
Cow_female_black_white
A lot of people in Silicon Valley are pretty obsessed with organic this and that. One or two startups have looked at the whole connecting-fams-with-consumers-directly model, even. So it's odd that it's taken a startup from little old Croatia to realise that it's the farmers themselves that could use a little help. And let's not be perochial about this. Farming is big business. The 'market' of medium and corporate-size farms around the world is worth a juicy $12 billion - but as of today it's often run on outmoded systems. Thus, Farmeron.com, a startup billing itself as one of the world’s first agricultural SaaS companies, plans to change all that. It's closed a $1.4 million seed (one time this word is highly appropriate) round co-led by Lee Hower of NextView Ventures and Jeff Clavier of SoftTech VC. Other prominent angels - Evan Nisselson of LDV Capital, Niko Hrdy, Taavet Hinrikus - also participated. The funds wil be used to hire key management team members and to staff sales and support teams both in US and Europe.
Cow_female_black_white
A lot of people in Silicon Valley are pretty obsessed with organic this and that. One or two startups have looked at the whole connecting-fams-with-consumers-directly model, even. So it's odd that it's taken a startup from little old Croatia to realise that it's the farmers themselves that could use a little help. And let's not be perochial about this. Farming is big business. The 'market' of medium and corporate-size farms around the world is worth a juicy $12 billion - but as of today it's often run on outmoded systems. Thus, Farmeron.com, a startup billing itself as one of the world’s first agricultural SaaS companies, plans to change all that. It's closed a $1.4 million seed (one time this word is highly appropriate) round co-led by Lee Hower of NextView Ventures and Jeff Clavier of SoftTech VC. Other prominent angels - Evan Nisselson of LDV Capital, Niko Hrdy, Taavet Hinrikus - also participated. The funds wil be used to hire key management team members and to staff sales and support teams both in US and Europe.
CapsulePen Is A Pen-Shaped Pill Case That May Resurrect The Pocket Protector
Screen shot 2012-05-10 at 6.51.29 PM
This is clever. A new Kickstarter project aims to disrupt the pill case market. True, it's not the sexiest industry in the world, but it's ripe for some disruption, since there just so happens to be a huge market for it and there's very little, if any, differentiation between current competitors. So what is it? Well, in a few words, it's a pill case that's shaped like a pen, fittingly named the CapsulePen.
Screen shot 2012-05-10 at 6.51.29 PM
This is clever. A new Kickstarter project aims to disrupt the pill case market. True, it's not the sexiest industry in the world, but it's ripe for some disruption, since there just so happens to be a huge market for it and there's very little, if any, differentiation between current competitors. So what is it? Well, in a few words, it's a pill case that's shaped like a pen, fittingly named the CapsulePen.
FTC: It’s Up To Facebook To Decide Whether An Instagram Investigation Will Impact The IPO
Facebook Buys Instagram For $1 Billion
Some slightly conflicting stories zipping across the ether today involving Facebook, its $1 billion acquisition of Instagram and a rumored Federal Trade Commission investigation into the deal: The FT is reporting that this could delay the acquisition. Betabeat is reporting that this could actually delay Facebook's IPO. Could it be both? Either? Neither? We reached out to the FTC to get some info straight from the horse's mouth.
Facebook Buys Instagram For $1 Billion
Some slightly conflicting stories zipping across the ether today involving Facebook, its $1 billion acquisition of Instagram and a rumored Federal Trade Commission investigation into the deal: The FT is reporting that this could delay the acquisition. Betabeat is reporting that this could actually delay Facebook's IPO. Could it be both? Either? Neither? We reached out to the FTC to get some info straight from the horse's mouth.
KeKu Promises Cheap, High-Quality Calls To Any Phone Number Worldwide
KeKu-tagline-logo-high-rez
KeKu is a VoIP telephony startup that has quietly build a global platform during its beta phase. Now, the company is ready to come out of beta. At its core, KeKu is pretty similar to services like Rebtel and even Skype, as it focuses on letting you make cheap international phone calls and also offers free calls between its own users. KeKu, however, puts a stronger emphasis on what it likes to call "any-to-any" calling than most of its competitors. This means that you can use it to make calls from your landline, mobile phone or the company's free Android or iOS apps to call any phone number in the world (a BlackBerry app is also in the works).
KeKu-tagline-logo-high-rez
KeKu is a VoIP telephony startup that has quietly build a global platform during its beta phase. Now, the company is ready to come out of beta. At its core, KeKu is pretty similar to services like Rebtel and even Skype, as it focuses on letting you make cheap international phone calls and also offers free calls between its own users. KeKu, however, puts a stronger emphasis on what it likes to call "any-to-any" calling than most of its competitors. This means that you can use it to make calls from your landline, mobile phone or the company's free Android or iOS apps to call any phone number in the world (a BlackBerry app is also in the works).
Twitter Acquires Personalized Email Marketing Provider RestEngine
Restengine Acquired By Twitter
Twitter has just finalized a deal to acquire RestEngine, a developer of personalized email marketing services, which could help Twitter deliver email digests of tweets you've missed. The acquisition fits well with Twitter's recent talent acquisition of Summify, which creates these kinds of personal news digets. Three of four founders will be joining the flock, and the company's technology will come along with it. Co-founder Joe Waltman won't be coming along, as his entrepreneurial spirit is too strong and he'll be working on new projects after a vacation. Waltman tells RestEngine will shut down, and has already begun helping clients migrate to other providers.
Restengine Acquired By Twitter
Twitter has just finalized a deal to acquire RestEngine, a developer of personalized email marketing services, which could help Twitter deliver email digests of tweets you've missed. The acquisition fits well with Twitter's recent talent acquisition of Summify, which creates these kinds of personal news digets. Three of four founders will be joining the flock, and the company's technology will come along with it. Co-founder Joe Waltman won't be coming along, as his entrepreneurial spirit is too strong and he'll be working on new projects after a vacation. Waltman tells RestEngine will shut down, and has already begun helping clients migrate to other providers.
Disrupting Media: Where Do We Go Now That We’ve Won? With Henry Blodget, Jonah Peretti And Gabe Rivera
Screen Shot 2012-05-10 at 4.44.52 PM
In a world where Instagram is worth more than the New York Times, old media is no longer dying, it's dead. Instead, in its wake, we've got the Wild West: A chaotic morass of never-ending slideshows, puny Wordpress blogs breaking big time news (and selling for tens of millions) and the merger of lolcats and politics on a site which focuses just as much on content sharing as content. But though we all agree that new media is just media now, there are many perspectives battling it out for the future of the medium and whatever form it will take -- Aggregation vs. Original content, etc, etc and so on and so forth -- "The medium is the message" is at its most poignant in online meda.
Screen Shot 2012-05-10 at 4.44.52 PM
In a world where Instagram is worth more than the New York Times, old media is no longer dying, it's dead. Instead, in its wake, we've got the Wild West: A chaotic morass of never-ending slideshows, puny Wordpress blogs breaking big time news (and selling for tens of millions) and the merger of lolcats and politics on a site which focuses just as much on content sharing as content. But though we all agree that new media is just media now, there are many perspectives battling it out for the future of the medium and whatever form it will take -- Aggregation vs. Original content, etc, etc and so on and so forth -- "The medium is the message" is at its most poignant in online meda.
Pandora Competitor Senzari Raises $1 Million From 500 Startups & Other Angels
SENZARI-2012
Miami-based streaming music startup Senzari, which aims to take on Pandora by targeting the markets Pandora misses (i.e., the rest of the world), has just closed an additional round of funding totaling $1 million. The round includes investors in both Miami and Silicon Valley, including, notably Dave McClure's 500 Startups. The company had previously raised $2 million from undisclosed angels in Silicon Valley and Boston (mainly friends and family) and a private equity group in Southern California.
SENZARI-2012
Miami-based streaming music startup Senzari, which aims to take on Pandora by targeting the markets Pandora misses (i.e., the rest of the world), has just closed an additional round of funding totaling $1 million. The round includes investors in both Miami and Silicon Valley, including, notably Dave McClure's 500 Startups. The company had previously raised $2 million from undisclosed angels in Silicon Valley and Boston (mainly friends and family) and a private equity group in Southern California.
Shavenu Delivers Razor Blades to Your Doorstep Every Month
SHAVE_logo_sq
European newcomer Shavenu is now offering shaving blade subscriptions to scruffy Brits, Canadians, and Deutschlanders using the DollarShaveClub.com model that set the shaving world alight last month.
SHAVE_logo_sq
European newcomer Shavenu is now offering shaving blade subscriptions to scruffy Brits, Canadians, and Deutschlanders using the DollarShaveClub.com model that set the shaving world alight last month.
For £1 per month, a pack of 5 two-blade cartridges is sent to your home every month with a handle in the first package. Unfortunately, this competitive price does not include shipping cost. If you have higher standards, cartridges with three and five blades are available as well for £5 and £8 per month respectively. For these models, shipping is included.
Shavenu’s founder Marc Uthay hated to wait in line at the supermarket in order to buy new Gillette cartridges he lacked at home. He faced the dilemma of losing some precious time or keeping his stubble for the day — something he would have liked to avoid. Then he came up with the idea of Shavenu.
Facebook Adds “Good Enough” File Sharing To All Groups. Dropbox Should Worry About Growth
Facebook File Sharing
Today Facebook begins rolling out file sharing to all Groups, and while it's got many restrictions, it could be good enough to limit the long-term growth potential of cloud storage / file sharing services like Dropbox, iCloud, and Google Drive. Music and any copyright files aren't allowed and file size is capped at 25mb, as Mashable first reported. But this is just the first version, and you can be sure Facebook will keep hacking away at it. Last month, the social network started letting users share files within Groups for Schools, but now we confirmed with Facebook that within a few days all Facebook users should have the option to upload and share files from the Groups post composer.
Facebook File Sharing
Today Facebook begins rolling out file sharing to all Groups, and while it's got many restrictions, it could be good enough to limit the long-term growth potential of cloud storage / file sharing services like Dropbox, iCloud, and Google Drive. Music and any copyright files aren't allowed and file size is capped at 25mb, as Mashable first reported. But this is just the first version, and you can be sure Facebook will keep hacking away at it. Last month, the social network started letting users share files within Groups for Schools, but now we confirmed with Facebook that within a few days all Facebook users should have the option to upload and share files from the Groups post composer.
Uber Is Testing In San Diego, Gives A Lift To Tony Hawk
uber tony hawk
Uber, the mobile car service that's becoming indispensable (I think I spend more money on Uber than on food), is continuing its geographic expansion by entering "super secret stealth test mode" in San Diego. "Super secret" means something different for Uber than it does for most people — apparently it involves posting about it on the company blog and then emailing tech press for coverage, similar to its "secret" test in Philadelphia. Oh, and it's talking about its first San Diego passenger, pro skateboarder Tony Hawk (apictured above).
uber tony hawk
Uber, the mobile car service that's becoming indispensable (I think I spend more money on Uber than on food), is continuing its geographic expansion by entering "super secret stealth test mode" in San Diego. "Super secret" means something different for Uber than it does for most people — apparently it involves posting about it on the company blog and then emailing tech press for coverage, similar to its "secret" test in Philadelphia. Oh, and it's talking about its first San Diego passenger, pro skateboarder Tony Hawk (apictured above).
Older posts are this way
If this message doesn't go away, click anywhere on the page to continue loading posts.
Could not load more posts
Maybe Soup is currently being updated? I'll try again automatically in a few seconds...
Maybe Soup is currently being updated? I'll try again automatically in a few seconds...
Just a second, loading more posts...
You've reached the end.
