The Latest from TechCrunch |  |
- TC50 Finalist SeatGeek Raises Series A Funding, Revamps Website
- Welcome To The HouseOfPalm, Home To Palm webOS Apps
- Yahoo BOSS To Survive Microsoft Deal In Some Form; Details Still Hazy
- Apple And Verizon: Are Two Star-Crossed Lovers Ready To Consummate?
- Watch CrunchGear live at ShowStoppers in Las Vegas
- Anxious Yahoo BOSS Developers To Speak With DOJ About Microsoft Deal
- CrunchBase Funding Digest: Wisair, Sunlight Photonics, Carbonite, Packlate.com
- Apple Seizes 16 Domain Names From A Guy In One Fell Swoop
- The Crunchies Is Sold Out. But You Can Still Get Into The After-Party
- With Nexus One And Quattro, The Knives Are Out Between Apple And Google
- Tonight On CrunchGear: Live At CES
- Facebook Just Got Its Own VitaminWater Flavor: “Connect”. Seriously.
- Nexus One Bursts Onto The Mobile Browsing Scene
- Netflix Stabs Us In The Heart So Hollywood Can Drink Our Blood
- Pixelpipe Rolls Out New Version Of Android App
- Boxee Beta Now Available To The Masses
- The Twitter Picture Sites Start Targeting Foursquare. First Up, TweetPhoto.
- Shopaholic: Cisco Kicks Off 2010 With Acquisition Of Network Security Startup Rohati
- Zyxio Announces Winners For “Be A Mind Blower” Contest
- Live From Palm’s CES 2010 Press Event
- The Other HP Slate Runs On Android
- CES 2010: Let The Show Floor Streaming Begin
- Last Chance to Attend the Crunchies Awards on Friday
| TC50 Finalist SeatGeek Raises Series A Funding, Revamps Website Posted: 08 Jan 2010 08:14 AM PST
The fledgling company, which bills itself as a ‘Farecast for sports and concert tickets’, had earlier raised $20k in seed financing from DreamIt Ventures, and has now secured in between $500k-$1 million more (no exact amount could be given due to some contingencies built into the financing). SeatGeek aims to predict pricing evolution of sports and event tickets sold on the secondary market, much like Farecast (now Bing Travel) forecasts the price of airline tickets. It attempts to do so using a bot that crawls hundreds of secondary market websites on a daily basis in combination with automated algorithms that take into account a very broad set of relevant factors, like for instance the predicted weather of a Saturday baseball game. This morning, SeatGeek launched a completely new version of its website, featuring interactive seating charts for ticket listings of some 5,000 events. These charts, built in partnership with SeatQuest, allow for ticket listings to be overlayed on the seating chart as dots, so that the user can see where they’d be sitting instantly. For sports events, SeatGeek goes beyond just indicating that with heat maps, coloring dots to represent how good a deal each ticket is based on its algorithms (example). In addition to the seating charts, the startup is launching an e-mail alert system that lets users sign up for notifications when SeatGeek’s forecast recommendation changes to a “Buy” and when tickets below a certain price become available. When SeatGeek launched at TC50, it boasted price forecasts for about 1,200 events, and thanks to an expansion into listings for the NFL, NBA and just about every major concert (NHL is up next), the startup now has forecasts for about 5,000 events. SeatGeek claims to have maintained a 82% forecast accuracy rate for all new events, which uses a database of historical ticket prices that has grown to over 11 million sales in the past few months. SeatGeek says the extra capital will primarily used for hiring – the team had already doubled in size since TechCrunch50, from four to eight. As mentioned above, the money comes from four NYC angel investors, namely Sunil Hirani (founder of Creditex, an online derivatives market that was acquired for $625M in 2008), Mark Wachen (founder of Optimost, an enterprise multivariate testing app acquired for $52M three years ago), Arie Abecassis (former President of MindFire) and Allen Levinson (former MD of Moody’s KMV).
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| Welcome To The HouseOfPalm, Home To Palm webOS Apps Posted: 08 Jan 2010 07:06 AM PST
As long as Google doesn’t improve the Android Market site (or release a proper desktop app à la iTunes), AndroLib is basically the best website to browse Android apps, period. Now the team that built AndroLib is attempting to do the same for the Palm webOS applications store, with a new site called HouseOfPalm. The design is similar to AndroLib, as is its goal: to provide a place where people can discover new apps for Palm webOS online, easily and rapidly. You can browse all apps by category or get notified about all new apps by RSS. HouseOfPalm also boasts ratings, details about the app (including version number, size, etc.), screenshots and more – far more than the official Palm webOS app store website has to offer. Unlike AndroLib, HouseOfPalm doesn’t boast any stats or charts (yet), but a quick glance reveals that there are about 50 pages with 20 applications, meaning the total catalog on HouseOfPalm boasts around 1,000 applications and games. For comparison, AndroLib pegs the number of Android apps at around 22,200 and Apple’s App Store has well over 100,000 applications to offer. If you’re carrying around a recent Palm device with webOS, be sure to bookmark this one. Update: Palm Pre community site PreCentral last week launched a webOS App Gallery destination. Crunch Network: CrunchBoard because it’s time for you to find a new Job2.0
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| Yahoo BOSS To Survive Microsoft Deal In Some Form; Details Still Hazy Posted: 07 Jan 2010 11:53 PM PST
Chhabra’s post was clearly prompted by the actions of some frustrated BOSS developers, who grew tired of being left in the dark and approached the Department of Justice to talk about how BOSS will be impacted by the Yahoo/Microsoft search deal. The DOJ heard their complaints, scheduling a conference call with them for next week. Chhabra’s post may help placate them for the time being. We’ve included his full post below:
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| Apple And Verizon: Are Two Star-Crossed Lovers Ready To Consummate? Posted: 07 Jan 2010 09:59 PM PST
A few years ago, when Apple originally set out with the idea of giving the iPhone to one carrier exclusively in the U.S., they first went to Verizon. But the network balked at some of Apple’s demands, which at the time of complete and utter carrier dominance in this country, must have seemed like a joke. So instead, Apple with with AT&T, and the rest is history. And while Apple is getting a very sweet deal from AT&T in the form of huge payments for each iPhone sold, which is pulling in billions of dollars in revenues each quarter for the company, the relationship is also the subject of much discontent. Obviously, plenty of users are fed up with AT&T complete and utter failure at times to provide a network that will support the iPhone. But word is that Apple has also not been a happy camper for some time now, as what many perceive to be greatest source of weakness for the iPhone, AT&T’s network, is something that is completely out of their control. The big question for 2010 is: Is Apple finally ready to do something about it? Obviously, Apple would never say anything against AT&T publicly, mostly because it’s just a bad negotiating tactic. And also because even when they move beyond exclusivity, AT&T will still undoubtedly be an iPhone carrier partner. But make no mistake, Apple is talking to other carriers in the U.S., and likely has been continuously since the iPhone’s initial launch. But the one that everyone dreams of, is the same one that first turned them down, Verizon. And that’s a point which probably hasn’t made negotiations very easy. But a few signs are starting to suggest that the planets may be aligning. Specifically, a report yesterday in TheStreet says that Apple has chosen Qualcomm to provide the chips that will power a new iPhone due this summer. Qualcomm is the key CDMA chipset manufacturer and this is important because the largest technical hold up in bringing the iPhone to Verizon is that up until now, all iPhones have been GSM-only. Verizon, meanwhile, is a CDMA network. The report notes that the partnership will in fact lead to a Verizon iPhone this coming summer. Of course, this report comes from an analyst, and regular readers may know my aversion to trusting anything they say — especially when it comes to Apple products. The fact of the matter is that too often they’re simply dead wrong. That said, there are other indicators that something is going on. For example, yesterday at CES, AT&T announced that it would be bringing webOS devices to its network for the first time. WebOS is of course the operating system Apple rival Palm developed for its “iPhone killer,” the Palm Pre. Perhaps even more notably, AT&T also announced that they would be launching five Android devices in the first half of 2010. Up until this point, AT&T was the only network that hadn’t announced Android device support.
It’s hard to imagine Apple being happy with either of those moves. And it’s hard to imagine AT&T doing anything to make Apple unhappy, unless they knew they were losing the iPhone. And soon. Of course, that’s just speculation, but TheStreet’s report states as a fact that Apple’s exclusive deal with AT&T expires in June. Others have said this in the past as well. But again, analysts. This point has long been the topic of much debate. I’ve asked both AT&T and Apple numerous times when the contract is actually up, and neither will say a thing. Given that Apple has a habit of unveiling new iPhones each June, it would seem somewhat logical that June is when new contracts begin and end, but others have suggested (and made a compelling case) that the actual contract may run through the end of 2010. Another recent report, again from an analyst, suggests that Apple and Verizon are closing in on a Verizon iPhone deal, but that there is a disagreement over pricing. And there is also talk that Apple may want to wait until Qualcomm makes a chip that is both CDMA and GSM compatible, which isn’t expected until the second half of 2010, making 2011 a more likely Verizon launch window. So there are still plenty of clouds in the sky blocking the view, but there seem to be more signs out there than ever before that the Verizon and Apple stars are aligning. And we get more clues in a few weeks when Apple is expected to unveil its new tablet device, which may or may not have some sort of carrier network and/or carrier-run WiFi agreement that comes with it. Let’s hope. [images: 20th Century Fox] Crunch Network: CrunchGear drool over the sexiest new gadgets and hardware.
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| Watch CrunchGear live at ShowStoppers in Las Vegas Posted: 07 Jan 2010 08:44 PM PST
Watch live streaming video from crunchgear at livestream.com CrunchGear is live from ShowStoppers in Las Vegas and we’ll be interviewing folks from Plastic Logic, MadKatz, Iomega and more. We’ve got a nice table, some cool gadgetry, and lots of bandwidth so you can expect some quality stuff. We’ll be bringing folks up to our area for about five minutes each so take a gander and keep checking CrunchGear for more CES 2010 coverage. Crunch Network: CrunchGear drool over the sexiest new gadgets and hardware.
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| Anxious Yahoo BOSS Developers To Speak With DOJ About Microsoft Deal Posted: 07 Jan 2010 07:56 PM PST
Update:: A Yahoo team member has posted that BOSS will live on. It’s understandable why the developers are agitated. Google and Bing both offer APIs, but they limit monetization options, limit the ways developers can change the way their search results are presented, and have myriad other restrictions that BOSS doesn’t. All of which means that developers can’t easily port their applications over to one of the alternatives. A developer identifying himself as “Phil” on the BOSS Yahoo Group sent a letter to the DOJ outlining his concerns. The DOJ has apparently responded, saying that they will hold a conference call with any concerned developers (the group contains instructions for any BOSS developers who wish to join). We have a request in with the DOJ to verifiy that the call is scheduled, but it sounds legitimate. We’ve reprinted Phil’s letter to the DOJ, which outlines the developers’ concerns, below:
Crunch Network: CrunchBase the free database of technology companies, people, and investors
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| CrunchBase Funding Digest: Wisair, Sunlight Photonics, Carbonite, Packlate.com Posted: 07 Jan 2010 07:16 PM PST  Every day I troll SEC Form D Filings to discover new startups, fundings and investments. I put everything I find into CrunchBase. For everyone else I give you the daily digest, a quick hit of the latest and greatest SEC Form D filings in the TechCrunch sphere: Wisair - UWB and Wireless USB Products Sunlight Photonics - Solar Power Technologies Carbonite - Data Backup Provider packlate.com- Last-minute Vacation Rentals
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| Apple Seizes 16 Domain Names From A Guy In One Fell Swoop Posted: 07 Jan 2010 06:53 PM PST
Specifically, Daniel Bijan, a Los Angeles-based “mega producer, singer, and entrepreneur,” owned 16 domains that Apple wanted. Apple filed a complain to UDRP in November, and won the rights to all of them yesterday. The domains are all related to iPods, iPod accessories, iPhones, iPhone accessories, Macs, and MacBooks, with the crown jewel being macbookpro.com. According to the court document, Bijan didn’t even bother to submit a response to Apple’s complaint, so it was an easy call. But Apple was likely to get the names anyway since it owns the trademarks on iPod, iPhone, MacBook, and Mac. Apple argued that each of the domains was “confusingly similar” to Apple’s trademarks. Others, Apple claimed Bijan was using in “bad faith” as he was forwarding them to pages that featured products which compete with Apple’s own. Bijan had registered the names between 2006 and 2009 at various times. Beyond the macbookpro.com name, none seem particularly interesting. There are none, for example, that point to a new supposed Apple product, such as the “iSlate” names we dug into a few weeks ago. Here’s a full list of the domains Apple now owns with the win: blueipod.com
Crunch Network: CrunchBoard because it’s time for you to find a new Job2.0
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| The Crunchies Is Sold Out. But You Can Still Get Into The After-Party Posted: 07 Jan 2010 06:52 PM PST
The Crunchies award gala, tomorrow night in San Francisco, is sold out. But there are a limited number of slots still available for the after party, held at City Hall's Grand Rotunda immediately after the event (approximately 9 pm) until midnight. All attendees of the main event get into the after-party. If you can’t attend the event in person, please join us for the live stream, hosted by Ustream and filmed by Future-Works. Plymedia will provide live captioning of the ceremony. The simple fact is that the party holds about 100 more people than the Herbst Theater, where the main event is actually held. And since a lot of people would rather go to the party than not attend the event at all, we’re putting those 100 tickets on sale. You can get them here while they last. There’s lots of good stuff to enjoy at the after-party, co-hosted with Microsoft BizSpark and award benefactor Founders Fund. DJ Inertia (aka Ryan Jeffs) is flying in to spin music for us. Ryan is one of us, a tech engineer by trade. He leads a double life as an electronic music DJ with a new startup label Republik Records. He’s been featured in the playlists of artists like Paul Van Dyk, Paul Oakenfold, Pete Tong and countless others. Grey Goose Vodka has designed some custom celebratory cocktails for us to enjoy. Cannonball is hosting wine, and LewisPR is providing embargo-free beer. The North Light Court of City Hall will have casino games: thanks to Armor Games, Betfair, Kosmix, Outcast Communications, SecondMarket, SGN and Zong. Stop by the DailyBooth photowall. We’ll also have start-up demos for you to enjoy from SGN, Tap11 and select fbFund companies. Big thank you to Solana and the talented team at DesignAboutTown for making us look great. See everyone tomorrow! Crunch Network: CrunchBase the free database of technology companies, people, and investors
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| With Nexus One And Quattro, The Knives Are Out Between Apple And Google Posted: 07 Jan 2010 05:05 PM PST
Two days ago, the knives came out in full view between Apple and Google. On the same day that Google launched its latest Nexus One Android phone, Apple announced the $275 million acquisition of Quattro Wireless, a mobile advertising platform. It was as if Steve Jobs was sending Eric Schmidt a very public message: You mess with my business, and I’ll mess with yours. With the Nexus One, Google basically designed its own phone and is selling it directly to consumers through a new Google online phone store. It is getting into Apple’s territory: making devices and merchandising them. Likewise, by buying Quattro, Apple is moving into Google’s territory: namely, advertising. The Quattro deal was also a response to Google’s previously announced $750 million acquisition of mobile advertising network AdMob, which Apple also tried to buy. Apple and Google have been warily circling each other since last summer when Eric Schmidt left Apple’s board of directors because Google was becoming too much of a direct competitor. As I noted back then:
This week that conflict came to a head. Both companies are on uncertain ground. Google is not a device company any more than Apple is an advertising company. Of course, Apple doesn’t like the threat that Android represents. It’s Windows all over again: a single OS on many devices. But Apple is also afraid of Google’s blade coming dangerously close to its own heart. Many of the iPhone’s core apps are made by Google, such as Gmail, Maps, and YouTube. Apple cannot afford to cede more control of the iPhone over to Google. This is the reason why it blocked the Google Voice app from the iPhone, and it is the reason why it bought Quattro. To the extent that advertising is going to be a revenue stream for iPhone apps, Apple needs to have a play there. And that is what the Quattro deal is about—ads in apps, not on mobile Websites. If Apple hadn’t bought Quattro, it would just be handing over advertising dollars on the iPhone to Google and AdMob. Now watch as Apple tries to make Quattro the preferred advertising network for iPhone apps. Google is equally out of its element. I’s taking a huge risk by pushing its own Android phones at the expense of its partners like Motorola. That strategy could backfire if other mobile phone manufacturers decide Android is just not worth supporting. You know how most knife fights end. Both parties usually end up pretty bloody. Photo credit: Flickr/Daniel R. Blume. Crunch Network: MobileCrunch Mobile Gadgets and Applications, Delivered Daily.
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| Tonight On CrunchGear: Live At CES Posted: 07 Jan 2010 05:02 PM PST  You guys asked for more stream, and you have to admit you got it. We've been live almost without interruption since before 1:00, and we're only stopping to change batteries, get our poor camera guys off their feet, and get to our next location. We'll start the stream back up at 7 o' clock sharp to watch Doug take on all challengers in a PC-building race for charity. He's quite good at this sort of thing. Then we'll be walking around the corner to hit Showstoppers, another press event where we'll go hands-on with unreleased gadgets, new services, and delicious hors d'oeuvres. Now, if you haven't been watching, then don't worry: as soon as we shut down the stream to head over to the Wynn, you'll be able to peruse it at your leisure. We've seen 3D displays, earbud attachments, 360-degree camcorders, and about a hundred more devices and accessories. But we're live again in an hour, people. You don't want to miss this.
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| Facebook Just Got Its Own VitaminWater Flavor: “Connect”. Seriously. Posted: 07 Jan 2010 03:40 PM PST
The new flavor and label were a result of a contest VitaminWater has been conducting on its Facebook page over the last few months that invited fans to design their own flavors (check out the video below featuring Steve Nash for an intro). Here’s the message VitaminWater used to announce the news on its Facebook page. You can blame them for the lack of capitalization:
One amusing thing worth pointing out: the bottle’s label prominently features a fingerprint on it, which isn’t really something you’d normally associate with sharing or a safe online environment. And it will look especially odd if Facebook’s privacy fiasco ever comes to a head. Crunch Network: CrunchBase the free database of technology companies, people, and investors
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| Nexus One Bursts Onto The Mobile Browsing Scene Posted: 07 Jan 2010 03:11 PM PST As we’re all well aware, the Nexus One is out there now. After Google officially unveiled it on Tuesday, the web analytics firm Clicky starting sniffing for it in its reports. And the (very) early results are impressive. Today is the first day Clicky has any data on the Nexus One and already it has a 0.61% browsing share of the 170,000+ websites that use Clicky Web Analytics. By comparison, the Droid, which has been out for two months now, has a 5.35% share. And all Android phones account for a 7.44% share. This one-day Nexus One stat is impressive considering that most people who have ordered the device don’t yet have it, and really it’s only people Google has given the phone to to test out (such as some of us bloggers). Also somewhat interesting is the movement of the Apple iPhone in this data. That is to say, downward movement. While it is just one day, the iPhone’s browsing share fell almost a full percentage as the Nexus One entered the fray. Certainly, it may just be that these early Nexus One testers are busy loading up every site they can on their phones. But make no mistake, with so many Android phones now out there, and even more coming, it’s going to be hard for Apple to maintain its huge share (around 45%) if it’s just one device on one carrier.
[thanks Sean] Crunch Network: CrunchGear drool over the sexiest new gadgets and hardware.
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| Netflix Stabs Us In The Heart So Hollywood Can Drink Our Blood Posted: 07 Jan 2010 02:25 PM PST
As you may have heard by now, Netflix reached an agreement with the movie studio Warner Brothers to hold off on the release of new Warner Brothers DVD and Blu-ray movies until after they’ve been on sale for 28 days. Similar agreements with other major studios are likely to follow. That means you can kiss new release rentals goodbye on Netflix. Simply put, this is bullshit. We’ve known that such a deal was potentially in the works for a couple of months now, but I still cannot believe Netflix went through with it. Well, let me restate that: I understand why they did it from a business perspective (more on that in a second), but I cannot believe they would do this to their customers. With almost every product, there’s a golden rule: You don’t take away features. But that’s exactly what Netflix is doing here. Why are they doing it? Well there are a few reasons. First and foremost, Hollywood has been pressuring DVD rental services to do this for some time. Why? Because their golden calf is bleeding: DVD sales. While most people look to box office results to see how well a film is doing, for many movies, since the advent of the DVD, Hollywood makes much more money off of DVD sales. But over the past couple of years, those sales have started to decline, quickly. In fact, 2009 marked the first time in seven years that box office receipts beat DVD sales (both due to falling DVD sales as well as increased movie ticket prices). Hollywood believes that cheap rental alternatives such as Netflix, and even moreso, Redbox (those $1 red kiosk rental stations you see in grocery stores all over), are to blame. So how do you stop that? Well, you cut off the supply chain to Redbox, and you threaten to do the same to Netflix unless they enter into a ridiculous agreement like this. But it’s not all Hollywood’s fault here. Rather than fight it, Netflix is willing to do this because they’re also getting a better deal from the studios for purchasing those movies after this 28-day window. More importantly, they’ll have more streaming rights for the content from these studios under this deal. This is the key. Netflix clearly believes that its streaming business will one day be its core. And they’re absolutely right. That said, we’re still at least a few years away from the demise of this DVD rental model (and they actually think its even farther off). But Netflix is willing to take the risk and pull the trigger on this now because some 70% of its rentals are catalog (older) releases. So they’re willing to alienate those other 30% to ensure they maintain a cordial relationship with Hollywood, and move towards their streaming future. Unfortunately for us, the consumers, we’re screwed short-term. Even if Warners and the other studios give Netflix some newer releases to stream after the 28-day window (currently, most Netflix streaming movies are older films), they’ll still be at least 4 weeks after their DVD release. And they undoubtedly still won’t give up all of their new releases to stream even after this window because of the antiquated deals they have in place with the cable TV stations to give them rights to run movies first. The whole thing is turning into a nightmare of rules and regulations. And you know what happens when bureaucracy makes things hard on the people? They rebel. Hollywood thinks that with this new 28-day window deal, the masses are going to rush out and buy DVDs in droves again. That may happen short-term, but long-term this is just about the dumbest thing they could have done. They might as well scream out “Please pirate our movies for the next four weeks, before you rent them cheaply and we make any kind of money.” The fundamental problem with DVD sales isn’t cheap rentals, it’s that the majority of movies aren’t worth owning. And to be honest, they never were. There are a handful of truly great films made every year that you want to watch over and over again. But most are crap, or at the very least, disposable. Hollywood has skated along for years selling these crap movies, but with the rise of mail, kiosk, and online rental systems, the truth has been revealed: No one wants to own these movies. Hollywood thinks it can put Humpty Dumpty back together again with this 28-day crap, but they can’t. And they’re going to learn that the hard way, apparently. When piracy starts to rise, they’ll undoubtedly blame everyone but themselves. Then when they can’t control it, they’ll turn to someone, just like the music industry did with iTunes, that helps them but takes away all their leverage. Maybe that will even be Netflix. Ted Sarandos, the chief content officer for Netflix, calls this deal a “win-win all around.” That’s not true. Here’s what it really is: Short-term, it’s a win for Hollywood and a lose for Netflix. Long-term, it’s a win for Netflix and a lose for Hollywood. But the real problem? For the consumers it’s an absolute lose-lose. And I would have thought Netflix would have been better than to give us that. Update: In a bit of perfect timing, a post entitled “Why Netflix’s Long-Term Focus in New Warner Bros. Deal is a Win for Everyone” has just hit Techmeme. I can respond to this very simply. Here’s their key argument:
The problem here is that the assumption is that Hollywood will be ready and willing to favorably deal with Netflix in the future for streaming. Mark my words, that will only happen if and when piracy becomes a problem. Do we really believe that Hollywood wants to give Netflix (or anyone else) movies to stream early rather than having people buy them first? No, it’s the exact same problem. It’s a problem of greed. VideoNuze is giving Hollywood way too much credit in believing they are doing this thinking towards the future. They are doing this thinking towards their wallets. [image: Warner Brothers - the irony is not lost on me] Crunch Network: CrunchBase the free database of technology companies, people, and investors
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| Pixelpipe Rolls Out New Version Of Android App Posted: 07 Jan 2010 02:20 PM PST
Pixelpipe, the service that lets you syndicate text, audio, video and image files to 120 different social networks, blogs and sites, has upgraded its Android app with one click publishing from the mobile devices’ camera and automatic publishing. The startup previously upgraded its app to work the the device’s video capture functionality to allow you upload video and audio directly from the device to over 45 social media destinations. The true virtue of Pixelpipe's service is the fact that it lets you publish all types of files to various social networks and sites from a centralized place. With the new app, Pixelpipe users would not have to use a 3rd party picture application for uploading after the point of capture. The user can shoot a picture with the phone’s built-in camera application, and Pixelpipe will pop open a box that will allow the user to add title, caption and tags and be able to upload in the background. Users can also select from a list of services, such as Picasa, Facebook or Twitter, at the same time. The latest version of the Android app also allows users to turn on the ability to automatically publish every photo in the background. While Pixelpipe says automatic publishing could be useful for users who are publishing a lifestream, I’m not convinced of how popular this feature will be; I’m assuming that most users will want to have the discretion to choose which photos they want to publish. Pixelpipe’s CEO Brett Butterfield says that the startup has native clients available for the iPhone, Android, Nokia Ovi, and Palm Pre but maintains that the Android app is the most popular app by far. Pixelpipe now has more new users per day coming from Android apps then any other platform, with a noticeable rise in downloads following the launch of Motorola’s Droid. Google’s shiny new Android-powered Nexus One should help boost downloads even further. Crunch Network: CrunchBoard because it’s time for you to find a new Job2.0
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| Boxee Beta Now Available To The Masses Posted: 07 Jan 2010 12:56 PM PST
The new version is really a complete overhaul of the app — it’s received a new, sexier UI that makes it easier to browse through the service’s content (and anything you might have saved locally too). Niceties include the ability to filter a show by season and episode and easier sharing using Boxee’s social features. There’s a lot that’s changed in the background too, including a switch from OpenGL to DirectX and support for hardware-accelerated video decoding for Windows users. Today’s launch also brings with it some new content partnerships, including TV.com, blip.tv, and IGN. Unfortunately, the Boxee/Hulu cat and mouse game continues. Boxee says that some Hulu content now works in the app, and they’re working to get the rest of it added. The Beta has been a long time coming — we first saw pictures of it back in June, when it had a planned September release date. It was finally unveiled in December, with a projected CES launch date (which they hit). Now the Boxee team says they want the 1.0 release to debut at next year’s CES. Boxee has been making a lots of waves at CES, primarily with its new Boxee Box — a hardware device built specically to let people stream content to their TVs using the service. The device will sell for under $200 and comes complete with a QWERTY remote. If you’d like to get a feel for Boxee, or are setting it up for the first time, check out this new guide that was put together by Howcast and Boxee.  Crunch Network: MobileCrunch Mobile Gadgets and Applications, Delivered Daily.
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| The Twitter Picture Sites Start Targeting Foursquare. First Up, TweetPhoto. Posted: 07 Jan 2010 12:51 PM PST
Whereas Photocheck.in is a stand-alone service that allows you to check-in via picture, this new TweetPhoto API is aiming for developers who create apps that use both Twitter and Foursquare. Because Foursquare does not allow for pictures to be placed on its site or in its check-in stream, the idea here is to leverage Twitter (which Photocheck.in can also do) to send these pictures out after their location information is filtered through a Foursquare check-in. The advantage to this is that developers will be able to query photos by Foursquare venue name. As you might imagine, this might be a cool little feature in a third-party location app. Naturally, for this all to work, you have to send your pictures via a GPS-enabled phone (such as the iPhone or an Android device). And developers who integrate this API will also have access to TweetPhoto’s other tools such as picture commenting, voting, and adding favorites. “We are doing what TwitPic did for Twitter for FourSquare while also continuing to take market share away from TwitPic and yFrog,” TweetPhoto Sean Callahan tells us. A quick scan of Compete shows that TweetPhoto is in fact experiencing some impressive growth compared to its rivals. Eventually, the plan is to allow users to log-in to TweetPhoto using their Foursquare credentials, but for now this remains only an API method. If you’re a developer who is interested in learning more, read up on this documentation. You can also see a test tweet using this API here, as well as the TweetPhoto page for the picture.’ Crunch Network: CrunchBoard because it’s time for you to find a new Job2.0
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| Shopaholic: Cisco Kicks Off 2010 With Acquisition Of Network Security Startup Rohati Posted: 07 Jan 2010 12:00 PM PST
Does Cisco have a shopping addiction? The tech giant has acquired a handful of technology companies in only a matter of a few months! This week, Cisco quietly opened up its purse strings once again to acquire data center security startup Rohati Systems for an undisclosed amount. Cisco recently acquired the set-top box business of one of China’s largest cable companies, DVN, for $44.5 million. This deal was peanuts compared to Cisco’s other 2009 acquisitions including the acquisition of ScanSafe for $183 million. And last fall, Cisco announced a $2.9 billion acquisition of mobile networking infrastructure provider Starent Networks, which followed the $3 billion acquisition of video video-conferencing company Tandberg in late September. The Sunnyvale, Calif.-based Rohati Systems was founded by five former Cisco engineers to provide data center and cloud security. Its Transaction Networking Systems (TNS) helps enable secure collaboration and policies for controlling access to data center and cloud resources without touching applications, servers, or operating systems. Rohati has made a big push recently towards security in the cloud, so perhaps Cisco will be using the startup’s technology to offer clients increased cloud-based security options. Cisco’s security offerings also got a boost from the company’s acquisition of ScanSafe late last year. Crunch Network: CrunchGear drool over the sexiest new gadgets and hardware.
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| Zyxio Announces Winners For “Be A Mind Blower” Contest Posted: 07 Jan 2010 11:55 AM PST
We recently wrote about Zyxio, a startup that has developed a proprietary technology called SensaWaft that lets people control computers via air flow. Basically Zyxio’s technology enables anyone to control a mechanical device, or a mouse pointer on a screen, or whatever, by blowing. How hard you blow, as well as minute differences in direction, are converted to commands. The variety of products that could use the technology are endless. With that in mind, the startup launched a contest, BeAMindBlower, to crowdsource new product ideas and will fund development of the most innovative product ideas that are submitted. Today, Zyxio is announcing the winners of the contest after narrowing down the top 25 ideas in December. The winners are Chris Raynes, for his idea to dramatically enhance game immersion for first person shooter video games; Paul Jones, for applying the SensaWaft technology to e-books, allowing users to flip and zoom pages touch-free; MengSheng Chen, for giving musicians and singers control over sounds and other effects hands-free while performing live; Anthony Balzano, for using SensaWaft to better monitor meditation techniques with biofeedback; and Mike Murtha, for developing new digital brushes using SensaWaft to allow artists to express themselves differently. The five winners will sit on the company's "Mind Blowing Advisory Board" for a six month period to assist with the development of new products. They will also receive $6,000 and an all-expense paid three-day trip to Las Vegas. Crunch Network: CrunchBase the free database of technology companies, people, and investors
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| Live From Palm’s CES 2010 Press Event Posted: 07 Jan 2010 10:52 AM PST  We're live from Palm's CES 2010 Press Event, where they're expected to announce ... something. Will they tell us which two phones AT&T will be carrying? Will they finally confirm that they've got handsets heading to Verizon? We'll keep the live blog goin' as long as the mighty mobile broadband overlords allow - follow along after the jump.
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| The Other HP Slate Runs On Android Posted: 07 Jan 2010 10:25 AM PST
Last night, during his keynote address at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer showed off a prototype for a new HP Slate computer running on Windows 7. It was supposed to be an Apple-stealing moment and it was Microsoft’s moment, which is probably why Hewlett-Packard has not yet publicly mentioned that it is working on another tablet/slate computer that is running on Android. You know, Google’s mobile operating system. HP did announce an Android-powered netbook yesterday, but that has a keyboard. A source who has seen a prototype of HP’s Android Slate says it looks just like the Windows-powered one Ballmer held last night (see image below), maybe a little smaller. “It is almost identical in every respect to the one he showed off except for the OS,” says my source. And that, my friends, could be all the difference in the world. Already, developers have created more than 10,000 apps for Android mobile phones, and the launch of the Nexus One will keep pushing the OS into more and more hands. These apps might have to be modified for a tablet, but it shouldn’t be too much of a stretch. Already, a number of Android tablets are on the way from Archos, Dell, and Notion Ink. It looks like you can add HP to that list. The bigger question that all of these Android tablets raise is what about Chrome OS? Maybe these are just stop-gaps until the Chrome Netbooks and Tablets are ready for the market. What would you rather buy, an HP Slate that runs on Windows 7 or one that runs on Android? (The video below is a sneak peek at the Windows HP Slate, which is where the image above is taken from):
Crunch Network: CrunchBase the free database of technology companies, people, and investors
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| CES 2010: Let The Show Floor Streaming Begin Posted: 07 Jan 2010 10:20 AM PST  The show floor is open, and we're going live. First thing up is an announcement (upcoming) by someone named Lady Gaga, something about becoming some sort of bigwig at Polaroid. I know! What will she do next? I'm thinking Ponzi scheme. So we're streaming that live right now, and then we're live from the show floor for the rest of the day. Also: if you missed last night's Digital Experience broadcast, check it out here. We saw a ton of products that were just announced yesterday or are yet to be announced, including a really cool new podcasting service, some extremely small and capable HD camcorders, and a pair of DLP pico projectors. We're working hard at digging up the hidden gems of CES or, at the very least, keeping the stream fresh, so tune in.
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| Last Chance to Attend the Crunchies Awards on Friday Posted: 07 Jan 2010 10:15 AM PST
The last 100 seats to attend Friday’s Crunchies Awards are on sale now. Act fast! Reminder, the Crunchies Awards start at 7:30 pm Friday night at the historic Herbst Theater in San Francisco (seating opens at 6:45, and we encourage you to arrive early.) Along with our co-hosts, GigaOm and VentureBeat, we’ll announce the winners to our 18 award categories from over 125 finalists. Voting concluded at midnight last night. The Crunchies Awards celebrate the best technology achievements of 2009. The Richter Scales will make a repeat performance. Scott Meltzer and Katrine Spang-Hanssen from Comedy Industries will help us laugh about 2009. Other special guest appearances too, they’re a surprise. Once these sell out, we’ll also release 100 tickets to attend just the after party. We’ve been getting non-stop requests to find a way to open up more tickets, so this will bring us to full-out party capacity. There’s lots of good stuff to enjoy at the after-party, co-hosted with Microsoft BizSpark and award benefactor Founders Fund. DJ Inertia (aka Ryan Jeffs) is flying in to spin music for us. Ryan is one of us, a tech engineer by trade. He leads a double life as an electronic music DJ with a new startup label Republik Records. He’s been featured in the playlists of artists like Paul Van Dyk, Paul Oakenfold, Pete Tong and countless others. Grey Goose Vodka has designed some custom celebratory cocktails for us to enjoy. Cannonball is hosting wine, and LewisPR is providing embargo-free beer. The North Light Court of City Hall will have casino games: thanks to Armor Games, Betfair, Kosmix, Outcast Communications, SecondMarket, SGN and Zong. Stop by the DailyBooth photowall. We’ll also have start-up demos for you to enjoy from SGN, Tap11 and select fbFund companies. Big thank you to Solana and the talented team at DesignAboutTown for making us look great. We hope to see you there. If you can’t attend the event in person, please join us for the live stream, hosted by Ustream and filmed by Future-Works. Plymedia will provide live captioning of the ceremony. Crunch Network: MobileCrunch Mobile Gadgets and Applications, Delivered Daily.
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