The Latest from TechCrunch |  |
- Collecta Offers A Real-Time View Into MySpace
- The World Spent $112 Billion On 205 Million TVs This Year: 69 Percent Were LCD TVs.
- Spreezio Serves Up Deals From Merchants Based On Where You Live
- The Apple Tablet: Will It Be Called iSlate, iGuide, Or Something Else?
- Interactive Trip Sharing Service EveryTrail Locates $1 Million In Funding
- Best Job Application Ever: “Twitter Genius”
- Android Finally Gets An Official Yammer App
- Google’s City Tours No Longer Require You To Walk On Water
- LinkedIn Polishes Its iPhone App Into A More Facebook-Like Gem
- Did Apple’s Lala Deal Leave A Lump Of Coal In Google’s Music Onebox Stocking?
- The App Store Holiday Effect In Action [Updated]
- Songbird Still Airborne, Takes On iTunes With Improved Device Syncing
- Digg Takes a Dip In Traffic, Half The Size Of Twitter
- TenYears: Single Most Innovative Product Of The Decade
- When Apple Fanboys Rap
- Second Release Of Crunchies Tickets Are Available Now.
- VeVite Taps Into Twitter For Event Invitations
- Jingle Networks Rings In The New Year With A $6.75 Million Funding To Go After Geo Ads
- Rumor: John Biggs Is Making The Apple Tablet In His Basement
- Holiday “Deals”: Best Buy Promotes Interscope CDs With “Free” TweetDeck App
| Collecta Offers A Real-Time View Into MySpace Posted: 29 Dec 2009 08:55 AM PST
The buzz around realtime search of social networks has mostly surrounded Twitter and Facebook. Collecta, OneRiot and the search giants, including Microsoft, Google and Yahoo all tap into Twitter (and Facebook too) to capture the realtime stream of content. But MySpace is also getting into the game, recently releasing a set of real-time APIs that both OneRiot and Google will be tapping into to provide content from the social network. Today, real-time search engine Collecta has launched a search platform that offers a real-time view into MySpace. Based on Collecta’s Site Search Platform and the MySpace real-time stream API, the search portal indexes the collection of public comments, photos, links, and videos that are shared throughout the social network. Both MySpace users and non-users can perform real-time searches on any topic, and the search engine pushes out content the moment it has been published and lets users filter their result streams based on content type (videos, photos, blog comments, articles, updates). Each result includes the poster’s ‘mood’, giving insight to the emotion of the content. While MySpace’s traffic no longer reaches the breadth of rival Facebook, the social network still offers a good amount of publicly-shared content about what’s happening on the web, especially surrounding music. In the future, MySpace public content will be incorporated into Collecta.com’s standalone search engine which aggregates content from Twitter, news sites, blogs and more and lets you share the content as well. Launched last June, Collecta has raised $1.85 million in funding from True Ventures and Campbell were the investors. The company was co-founded by Jack Moffitt, Brian Zisk, and Patrick Mahoney. Crunch Network: CrunchBoard because it’s time for you to find a new Job2.0
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| The World Spent $112 Billion On 205 Million TVs This Year: 69 Percent Were LCD TVs. Posted: 29 Dec 2009 08:22 AM PST
LCD TVs have taken over the world. Market research firm DisplaySearch estimates in a new report that of the 205 million total TVs shipped in 2009, 140.5 million, or 69 percent, were LCD TVs (the rest were plasma and CRTs). In 2010, that percentage is forecast to rise to 78 percent for LCD TVs, when total shipments will rise to 218 million. Total TV shipments have actually been on the decline since mid-2008 as demand for older CRT TVs plummeted. Only in the third quarter did the increase in shipments of LCD TVs make up for the decline in other kinds of TVs. For the year as a whole, DisplaySearch still expects a 1 percent decline in shipments in 2009, followed by a 6 percent increase in 2010. Worldwide TV revenues fell an estimated 10 percent to $101 billion, from $112 billion in 2008. But revenues are expected to rise in the first quarter of 2010 for the first time in six quarters. As LCD TVs take over, the extreme price erosion they go through puts a lot of downward pressure on the industry’s revenues. For instance, the average price of LCD TVs in 2009 is expected to see a 24 percent decline, which is counterbalanced by the increase in demand. But after all is said and done, LCD TV revenues are only expected to rise 1 percent in 2009. Total TV shipments in Q3'09 were up Y/Y on a unit basis for the first time in a year, and DisplaySearch now expects that global TV revenues will rise Y/Y in Q1'10—the first time in 6 quarters. As shown in the latest DisplaySearch Advanced Quarterly Global TV Shipment and Forecast Report, total TV shipments will rise from 205 million units in 2009 to 218 million units in 2010, a 6% increase following 2009's 1% shipment decline. As flat-panel TVs dip below $500, that triggers a whole new surge in demand both in the U.S. and abroad. Much of the growth in TV demand is actually coming from China. TVs have always been a tough business, and LCD TVs turn up the volume on the commodity aspects of the business. But there are always new advances around the corner such as LED and “3D” TVs which will keep prices up at the high end.
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| Spreezio Serves Up Deals From Merchants Based On Where You Live Posted: 29 Dec 2009 08:05 AM PST
We recently wrote about the alpha launch of Spreezio, a platform that makes it easier for shoppers to make deals with local merchants. Today, the shopping engine has launched a new version of the site with a complete redesign and more intelligent technology. Here's how Spreezio works: you sign up as a shopper, and browse Spreezio's product database, which includes over 35 million items, to find what you're looking for, using the category icons or search bar. Once you've found a corresponding item, you can indicate how much you'd be willing to pay for it or what percentage of discount you'd expect in order to get you to go out and buy it from the merchants who can supply it. You then can send out your deal proposal to the local merchants (which Spreezio will locate on a map) and once they get back to you accepting or rejecting your proposal, you can decide if you want to make a short trip and purchase the item(s) either way. Consumers get a more intelligent engine to not only bargain with local merchants for their desired items, but also local merchants get qualified leads from the inquiries (without the added expense of sales and advertising). The new interface has been upgraded to return only the best accepted or counteroffered deals from local merchants, weeding out some of the less attractive or expensive deals. And to increase the value of their offer, local merchants are allowed to offer “freebies” like free gift wrapping, free delivery, and more in their responses to win customer business, so it is not just based on price. Of course, in order for the shopping engine to be appealing to consumers, it needs a large amount of retailers to sign up. In the past few months, Spreezio has accumulated a list of over 100 national, well-known retailers to accept or counter shoppers’ offers, including Macy’s, Nordstroms, Best Buy, Target, and Sears. Marketed as an antidote to the recession, the shopping engine could work if enough consumers and merchants engage with the site. The idea is sound but the startup’s biggest hurdle will be gaining a loyal following in an already crowded online shopping engine field. Crunch Network: CrunchGear drool over the sexiest new gadgets and hardware.
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| The Apple Tablet: Will It Be Called iSlate, iGuide, Or Something Else? Posted: 29 Dec 2009 04:54 AM PST
MacRumors bases its report on the filing for a US trademark for ‘IGUIDE’ by another Delaware-registered company called iGuide Media LLC, which can be linked to Cupertino by means of signatures on the documents coming from Apple’s Senior Trademark Specialist, Regina Porter. Let’s dig a little deeper, once again. Domain names There’s no indication that Apple owns any domain name that contains the term ‘iguide’. The identity if iguide.com is shielded from public WHOIS records, but not by Mark Monitor, the brand protection firm Apple usually works with. The domain name iguide.net belongs to a company called iGuide Media, a marketing and design firm started by Jon Warren back in 1997 and led by a Brian Noon from 2002 to 2006, when the company was sold. I checked a couple of other TLDs (.ca, .fr, and more) and found no indication that Apple owns any of those. Trademarks Two trademarks were filed for ‘IGUIDE’ by iGuide Media LLC (through a James Johnston) in the United States: a principal and a service mark, both on 18 December 2007. The description of goods and services given to iGuide Media is very similar to the one given to Slate Computing, the supposed shell company set up by Apple used to register the trademark for ‘ISLATE’, although it leans a bit more to a focus on software and services than hardware. On the exact same day, iGuide Media LLC filed for a trademark in Europe as well: search OHIM for ‘iguide’ and you find a trademark filing that has all the Apple marks on it: the legal representative is ‘EDWARDS ANGELL PALMER & DODGE UK LLP’ (the same as for ‘ISLATE’ and ‘MACBOOK’, among others), and the priority country is Trinidad & Tobago, the same as when Apple filed for the ‘iphone’ trademark in Europe. Noteworthy: the status history suggests that the community trademark application was registered (not filed) in February 2009, and that the full examination of the CTM application has been completed very recently, on the 18th of December 2009 to be exact. Final thoughts If I were betting man, I’d still be putting my money on the name iSlate for the tablet, Magic Slate for a possible peripheral, and iGuide for a service linked to the hardware device(s). Here’s why: - Apple doesn’t seem to own, directly nor indirectly, any ‘iguide’ domain names Or, of course, we’re all wrong, and none of these names will ever be actually used by Apple. I would deem that unlikely, but we can’t know for sure. Besides, has Apple announced that it’ll be selling a tablet computer yet? Crunch Network: CrunchGear drool over the sexiest new gadgets and hardware.
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| Interactive Trip Sharing Service EveryTrail Locates $1 Million In Funding Posted: 29 Dec 2009 03:06 AM PST
The startup is today also announcing the release of its latest iPhone application, EveryTrail 3 (iTunes link), which allows users to easily record and share their hiking, driving, skiing, motorcycling, running, skateboarding or other trips. EveryTrail enables people to keep track of their trips, by uploading GPS files or geo-tracking their trails, and allows to them to accompany those with stories and geo-tagged photos. The web service is quite feature rich already, but it’s the mobile apps that make EveryTrail unique and very fun to use. Available for iPhone, BlackBerry, Android and Windows Mobile, the apps allow people to geo-tag their trails and the pictures they take along the way instantly and automatically. The new iPhone app that’s being announced today makes the process super easy: all you need to do is let the device determine your location and hit the ’start’ button. The app will follow your path, and every photo you upload along the trail will automatically be geo-tagged and uploaded. That way, the EveryTrail community you see what you’ve been up to. You can also share your trips with others on Twitter and/or Facebook, with just one click. So far, over 200,000 trips have been shared by EveryTrail users (217,588 worldwide to be exact, according to the website at the time of this writing). Don’t have a GPS-enabled device or a file that you can upload? Heck, you can even draw your trips if you’re passionate enough. Here’s a demo of how the new iPhone app works:
Crunch Network: CrunchBase the free database of technology companies, people, and investors
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| Best Job Application Ever: “Twitter Genius” Posted: 29 Dec 2009 02:01 AM PST
This Craigslist job listing has some interesting rules, to say the least. While the eye-grabbing headline is asking for a “Twitter Genius” in Greenwich Village, the actual role is an “expert” social media marketer for some sort of e-commerce startup. “I need someone who tweets in their sleep and updates their fb status before calling their mom on Mother’s Day,” the description reads. And it gets better. Background, education, references? Nah, these people don’t care about that stuff. All that really matters for getting this job is to follow the six little rules perfectly. Those are:
So basically, if this application is more than 600 characters or so, you’re done. And you better be damn well ready to talk briefly about how you can best self-promote, or you’re done. Also, it’s probably better if you don’t want too much money. But don’t say why, keep it short. Think you can handle all that? Then you may have found your dream job with the easiest application ever.
[thanks Shmuel] [photo: flickr/uaybet] Crunch Network: CrunchBase the free database of technology companies, people, and investors
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| Android Finally Gets An Official Yammer App Posted: 28 Dec 2009 07:55 PM PST
The new application is actually derived from the codebase of Yowl, a third party app for Android that Yammer acquired a couple months ago. CEO David Sacks says that the application has been off the Market since the acquisition, primarily so that the team could fix a few issues. Now it’s good to go. While a mobile application isn’t totally essential to using Yammer (you can use SMS, and the web app works well enough from mobile browsers), they sure make life easier. The Android application can automatically notify you when you have new messages, and you can leave it running all day in the background (on the iPhone you have to set up Push notifications). We’ve relied heavily on Yammer since its launch at TechCrunch50 2008, and this will make things much easier for those of us who have made the jump from the iPhone (or something else) to Android. I’ve been playing with the app throughout the day and found it to work well overall, but it isn’t perfect yet. I found a bug or two (for instance, whenever I try to jump back in a message I’m writing to correct a typo, the whole message disappears). And there are some features that aren’t in the app yet, like the ability to granularly control which messages should issue an audio/vibrating alert. Sacks says the app will definitely be upgraded with more features in the future. Crunch Network: CrunchBase the free database of technology companies, people, and investors
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| Google’s City Tours No Longer Require You To Walk On Water Posted: 28 Dec 2009 05:12 PM PST
Today, Google is releasing an updated version of Travel Tours that takes advantage of the Walking Directions built into Google Maps, which means you’ll be able to rely on them even if you’re not capable of scaling a building in a single bound. You can see the difference in the images below. Google’s blog post on the release also notes that you can now import Google ‘My Maps’ into City Tours. My Maps, which launched back in 2007, allow you to manually tag your own points of interest on a Google Map. This means you’ll now be able to build out a map of all the landmarks you’d like to see on your trip, then import those into City Tours to get an optimized itinerary. The service remains in Google Labs. New Version Old Version
Crunch Network: CrunchBase the free database of technology companies, people, and investors
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| LinkedIn Polishes Its iPhone App Into A More Facebook-Like Gem Posted: 28 Dec 2009 05:09 PM PST
As you can see, there is a new main screen that features 12 main buttons. Yes, this is just like the new Facebook app main screen that features big buttons. With LinkedIn’s you’ll get easy access to “All Updates,” “Status,” “Profiles,” “Discussions,” “Connections,” “Favorites,” “Inbox,” “Invitations,” “Recents,” “Reconnect,” “In Person,” and “Themes.” Of these, the Reconnect, In Person, and Themes areas are entirely new. Reconnect allows you to find people you likely know on LinkedIn with the click of a button. In Person lets you use the iPhone’s Bluetooth to easily swap contact information with any other LinkedIn iPhone use you happen to be nearby at a conference or event. And Themes allows you to change the color of the main screen icons — you can choose pink, orange, gold, and a bunch of other crazy colors to ugly-up your app to your heart’s content. Previously, the app featured a more standard bottom-bar iPhone navigation where you could switch between updates, your inbox, search, and other elements. This new layout gives you access to a lot more information quickly. The updates areas (All and Status) has also been been made more Facebook-like as each now features a user profile picture next to each update. You can also now comment on each of these updates right from within the app — again, yes, just like Facebook. It’s also now very easy to “star” any profile to mark it as a favorite, to give you easy access to it. Doing this also creates a filtering mechanism for the update streams. Find the 3.0 version of the LinkedIn app, available for free in the App Store here.
Crunch Network: CrunchBoard because it’s time for you to find a new Job2.0
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| Did Apple’s Lala Deal Leave A Lump Of Coal In Google’s Music Onebox Stocking? Posted: 28 Dec 2009 03:34 PM PST
Why? It’s hard to know for sure, but it seems pretty likely that Apple’s recent deal to purchase Lala is at play. At the very least, it would seem that behind-the-scenes politics are dictating the results now being shown. We noted at the time of the Apple/Lala deal that it could change the Onebox offering, and it looks like it has. Plenty of results that used to serve up a Lala play option now default to iLike, which itself is now a part of MySpace Music (as is imeem). In fact, doing a random sampling of 30 popular songs brought yielded 28 iLike Onebox results, and only 2 Lala results. The problem with this is that for the majority of iLike Onebox results, you can only listen to either 30 or 90 second clips, rather than the entire songs, like you could on Lala. That obviously makes Google Music Onebox music much less useful. A couple weeks ago, BusinessWeek got a comment from R.J. Pittman, Google’s director of product management, stating the Apple’s Lala deal would not alter the Google/Lala agreement. “We are agreeing to continue to leave the service as it is,” he said. (Apple declined to comment on the matter.) But this may simply mean that Lala will remain as one of the Onebox options, but has been taken out as the featured player for most musical content. “We have enjoyed a good relationship with Apple for many years, and that continues to be the case,” Pittman also told BusinessWeek. That’s true, but there has definitely been a growing divide between the two in recent months as their interests continue to overlap. This has become a big enough issue that Google CEO Eric Schmidt had to step down from Apple’s Board in August despite assurances that he had no plans to do so leading up to that. It’s not clear if it is Apple or Google that would have wanted Lala to be less prominently featured in Music Onebox, but it’s certainly possible that neither really liked the placement. After all, in pitching the idea to the record labels, Google likely played up the idea as an alternative to iTunes. The music labels have long sought a viable alternative to Apple’s musical powerhouse that could restore some leveraging power to them. Meanwhile, Apple will now have to foot the bill for Lala streaming — and that means paying the labels for every clip longer than 30-seconds, we hear. So they probably don’t want all those Lala clips being served up either. Regardless of the reason, Google Music Onebox is now a lot less useful, and that’s too bad. Update: As some people have noted in the comments, results on searches vary — but it’s important to make sure you’re logged out of your Google account and you clear you cookies. The reason is that Google keeps track of your preferences in a cookie.
[photo: flickr/duncan harris] Crunch Network: CrunchBoard because it’s time for you to find a new Job2.0
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| The App Store Holiday Effect In Action [Updated] Posted: 28 Dec 2009 02:52 PM PST We knew that the holidays were going to be super busy for iPhone developers — in a good way. Gaming community platform PlayHaven and mobile ad exchange Mobclix released data yesterday saying that iPhone game usage is likely to set record in the week between Christmas and New Year's Day, called a "Game Rush," with usage 28 times greater than the same weekly period last year. One developer, Oliver Cameron of Taptivate, the developer of Voices (an application that morphs your voice into different sounds like Darth Vader, Chipmunks, etc), sent me an email saying that sales have been through the roof for them, and their app is now in the 44th spot because of the “Game Rush” as they’re calling it. It’s one of those “it’s stupid but fun” kind of apps that usually move well when people are looking for quick apps to download. Cameron mentioned that sales were as high as 18,769 downloads of the $0.99 app on December 25th. So if you do the math, that’s $18,581.31 in sales, not including Apple’s 30% cut. If you included Apple’s cut, the app made $12,688 in one day. Those are some pretty crazy numbers, regardless. Check out a graph of Voice’s sales numbers below as well. The app in total has made a little more then $250,000 sales, which got me thinking: If this app is #44 on the App Store, imagine what the number one and two apps were doing (Skee-Ball and Live Cams). We also just spoke with Colin Smith, Vice President of Freeverse, which said that their application, Skee-Ball sold 47,926 units — which is about 10x what it did the previous Friday. Another one of their apps, Flick Fishing, sold 31,741 units on Christmas day. We’re also hearing that an app which has been one of the most popular since the launch of the App Store 18 months ago, saw its downloads on Christmas Day double its previous record for a single day. All of this could well point to the possibility that Apple itself set a record in the amount of iPhones and iPod Touches sold during the holiday season. Update: More numbers are coming in. Lima Sky’s Doodle Jump, which just hit the 1 million download mark about a week ago, managed to sell 80,000 units on Christmas day alone. Two days prior, they were pushing around 15,000 per day; two days later, they were hovering around 35,000. All in all, they sold 197,821 copies between 12/23 and 12/27 – at .99c a pop, we’re calculating that they took in just shy of $139,000 after Apple’s cut. Update: Even more numbers to report as Tapulous, developers of the popular Tap Tap Revenge series, check in with good news. They’ve pulled down over 2 million installs of Tap Tap Revenge 3 since going free last Wednesday, 700,000 of which came on Christmas day. Between Tap Tap Revenge 1/2/3 and the Metallica/Lady GaGa editions, Tapulous now has 5 applications in the Top 100 grossing apps. Update: SGN reports that last week, their best selling game F.A.S.T. hit the 1 million download mark and doubled its install rate since launching the free version, "The New War". It also got up to #22 App Rank only 5 days after launch. You can check out our coverage of F.A.S.T. here.
Crunch Network: MobileCrunch Mobile Gadgets and Applications, Delivered Daily.
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| Songbird Still Airborne, Takes On iTunes With Improved Device Syncing Posted: 28 Dec 2009 02:20 PM PST
To be clear, Songbird has actually offered some MSC support before now, but CEO Jerrell Jimerson says that oftentimes devices don’t work as well as they should using generic support. Songbird has been working with manufacturers to try to make the syncing process as seamless as possible. They’ve inked a deal with Nokia, and are also engaged in less formal partnerships with a number of other manufacturers. It’s been a rough year for Songbird. As we reported back in September, Songbird’s founding CEO Rob Lord left the company after burning through $8 million from Sequoia Capital and Atlas Ventures. The company brought on board Jimerson earlier this year to replace him, who managed to help raise a new round of funding (though it washed out prior investors and Sequoia didn’t participate). But there’s an opportunity for Songbird to serve as a music platform for Apple’s competitors, and it looks like that’s exactly what they’re doing.
Jimerson says that Songbird’s core functionality, which serves as a media player for both content saved locally to your computer and music that’s streamed from the web, remains fully intact. But the company is also looking to make the product more appealing to a broader userbase. And that includes forming more partnerships. We’ve previously heard that Songbird has a deal with Phillips to install the software in 5 million music players, which would be a big win for the company. Jimerson wouldn’t comment on that, but it seems like it would fit with Songbird’s new strategy. Songbird’s increasing support for media sync makes it a more direct competitor to DoubleTwist, another powerful iTunes alternative that supports many devices and that also has a brilliant marketing team. Crunch Network: MobileCrunch Mobile Gadgets and Applications, Delivered Daily.
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| Digg Takes a Dip In Traffic, Half The Size Of Twitter Posted: 28 Dec 2009 02:15 PM PST
For most of this year, Digg was on a roll, racking up more users, adding Facebook Connect, speeding up its site, launching new features like Digg Trends, and hiring key executives. But its latest growth spurt stopped in September, 2009 when it peaked at 32 million unique visitors worldwide, according to comScore. In November, its worldwide visitors were down 15 percent to 27 million, which is about half the number of people who visit Twitter.com. Digg was passed by Twitter back in March (see chart below). Two months of declines is not the end of the world. Even Twitter is seeing its growth flatten, and on an annual basis, Digg is still up 62 percent. Maybe once it launches Realtime Digg, which it’s been working on since at least six months, it will get back on that growth curve. It’s hard to compete with Facebook and Twitter, but adding more realtime elements could be just what Digg needs to stay in the race. If you were Kevin Rose, what would you do to try to catch up to Twitter again?
Crunch Network: MobileCrunch Mobile Gadgets and Applications, Delivered Daily.
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| TenYears: Single Most Innovative Product Of The Decade Posted: 28 Dec 2009 12:30 PM PST  It's almost January 1st, 2010 and we've been mulling over our favorites of 2009 — and the previous decade. Here we present the first installment of our "Of the Decade" lists. "Innovative" is nearly a bankrupt word in this business, but with a little perspective one might be able to tell which products were so. Here are our choices. Guess what's not on it?
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| Posted: 28 Dec 2009 12:13 PM PST
It’s pretty standard stuff: Love Macs, love iPods, love iPhones — hate PCs, hate Zunes, hate drivers and viruses, etc. Fairly well made, this isn’t nearly as bad as the Bing Jingle, but it’s still a little cringe-inducing. Sample line: “I’m pluggin girls, you at work pluggin in devices.” These guys clearly have an agenda as they run the site Switch to Mac — you can probably guess what that’s about. This video is technically the follow-up to their “Mac or PC” rap video. [thanks Banyan] Crunch Network: CrunchBoard because it’s time for you to find a new Job2.0
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| Second Release Of Crunchies Tickets Are Available Now. Posted: 28 Dec 2009 12:00 PM PST The second batch of 150 tickets to attend the Crunchies Awards are on sale now, courtesy of Eventbrite. Balcony seats are $45 (orchestra is sold out.) Remember that voting is open through midnight PST, Wednesday, January 6. Everyone is eligible and encouraged to vote daily for their favorite people, products and companies of the year.
The Crunchies Awards celebrate the best tech accomplishments of 2009 and will be held at the Herbst Theater in San Francisco on Friday, January 8, 2010 at 7:30 pm PST. Along with our co-hosts, GigaOm and VentureBeat, we will announce the winners from 18 different award categories live on stage.
Orchestra and balcony tickets include access to the after party hosted across the street in City Hall’s Grand Rotunda through midnight. There will be a sponsor-hosted bar, savory nibbles and desserts, music and a game room, featuring a mix of traditional and online games to play. Check out more party photos from 2008 and 2007.
There are plenty of ways to sponsor and support the after-party energy. Contact Jeanne Logozzo or Heather Harde if you'd like to sponsor: card-game tables, demo tables, photo booths or walls, drinks or food, giveaways and prizes and the like. We have creative packages available in all shapes and sizes. Room for award benefactors and entertainment sponsors for the ceremony too. Hope to see you there. FINALISTS: If you haven’t already, please contact us asap so we can get you set up with your two complimentary passes to attend. UPDATE: The second set of tickets has sold out. We will release a third and final batch on Wedneday, December 30 at 12 pm pst. Please check back then. Crunch Network: CrunchBase the free database of technology companies, people, and investors
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| VeVite Taps Into Twitter For Event Invitations Posted: 28 Dec 2009 11:30 AM PST
There are a plethora of online invitation sites that let invitees and event organize utilize both Facebook and Twitter to publicize events to their social graphs. Cocodot, Pingg and others will pull in Tweets about an event by hashtag and also allow invitees to Tweet about the party from its platform. VeVite has a different twist on social event invitations by providing a deeper integration with Twitter. Invites are sent via Direct Message, with a link back to the event on VeVite to RSVP. Once you login via your Twitter credentials, you can RSVP, and your comments on the page are automatically shared on Twitter as well. A host can only invite 250 people every 24 hours because of a Twitter DM restriction. But if the event is “open” then anyone can RSVP without getting a DM. VeVite’s UI is pretty barebones and doesn’t offer any bells and whistles with its service that might make it more appealing. The startup’s founder Sam Bensalem says that the VeVite plans to add Facebook and Gmail integration in the coming weeks. VeVite will also include payments integration, so host can charge for events similar to Eventbrite. But Bensalem says that the platform will be catered more towards casual meetups and events. Competitors include TwtVite and TwitMesh. Crunch Network: CrunchBoard because it’s time for you to find a new Job2.0
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| Jingle Networks Rings In The New Year With A $6.75 Million Funding To Go After Geo Ads Posted: 28 Dec 2009 10:54 AM PST
What’s not to like about free directory assistance? Investors are pouring yet another $6.75 million into Jingle Networks, the company behind 1-800-FREE-411. The funding round was disclosed today in an SEC filing, and it brings the total amount raised by the company to almost $90 million. The investors in this round were not disclosed in the filing, but previous investors include First Round Capital, Goldman Sachs, Hearst, and Liberty Associated Partners. Jingle runs voice ads before giving out directory assistance numbers, and competes with GOOG-411. Last year, before the U.S. financial meltdown, it was looking to IPO, launched a broader voice ad network, and even hit profitability on a per-call basis. The IPO talk stopped as soon as the advertising recession hit, and you’ve got to wonder how that voice ad network is doing now, and whether it is still profitable per call. I’d be surprised. If they were profitable, why would they have to raise $6.7 million now, on top of the $7.5 million they raised just last February. Maybe this one will get the company back over the hump and ready for an exit. Update: CEO Scott Kliger responds, saying that the company’s main service is still profitable, and that this round will be used to expand its mobile ad network, Jingle Connect. He writes:
Did we mention that there is a Geo Land Rush going on? Crunch Network: MobileCrunch Mobile Gadgets and Applications, Delivered Daily.
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| Rumor: John Biggs Is Making The Apple Tablet In His Basement Posted: 28 Dec 2009 10:24 AM PST  Hot news, everyone. I just received word from a reliable source deep within the confines of a Chinese brothel, that that our own John Biggs is making a 9.789-inch Apple Tablet in his basement. Now, you wouldn't know that this random house in a quiet Brooklyn neighborhood is actually the home of a Apple design genius, but that's what our source says, so it must be true. And all those random reports about Innolux and Cheng Uei Precision producing the Apple slate are just unfounded Internet rumors and should be ignored as such. What's behind the jump here is the truth.
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| Holiday “Deals”: Best Buy Promotes Interscope CDs With “Free” TweetDeck App Posted: 28 Dec 2009 09:35 AM PST
Best Buy is offering a deal for consumers to get a free TweetDeck app with the purchase of a CD under Interscope Records, which includes artists such as 50 Cent, Flyleaf, Weezer, OneRepublic, Black Eyed Peas, Timbaland and others. With the purchase of one of the CDs, which range from $10.99 to $13.99, the buyer will receive an Interscope branded TweetDeck application that is pre-loaded to connect them to the social media content of the 16 various artists. Best Buy is promoting this as a “Special Offer.” You get a “free Tweetdeck app when you order a CD.” The irony of the deal is that it’s not really a deal. You can download the regular TweetDeck app for free, both as a desktop application or as an iPhone app, and then create a list for the 16 artists to follow. I created a Twitter list of an assortment of the artists whose CDs are being peddled within five minutes. While more manual labor may be needed to add the MySpace and Facebook accounts for these artists (TweetDeck supports both social networks within its apps), the deal almost seems like a hoax. Except it’s just bad marketing. It’s generally not a good idea to make a big deal about giving away something for free that is free to begin with. To be fair, TweetDeck allows many brands to create their own customized versions of the desktop app. For instance, we offer a TechCrunch-branded TweetDeck app here. It’s really free (no CD purchase required). But then again, we’re not famous rock stars. Crunch Network: CrunchGear drool over the sexiest new gadgets and hardware.
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