The Latest from TechCrunch |  |
- Chomp Connect Lets iPhone Developers Integrate The App Recommendation Service
- Chrome For Mac Gets Extensions, New Beta
- RIM’s Twitter For BlackBerry App Is Average At Best
- The Only Chance For MySpace Is To Be Free Of News Corp.
- Fwix Launches API For Realtime Hyperlocal News
- Pixable Lets You Make Mosaics From Your Facebook Photos
- Break Media Buys Gaming Site FileFront
- It’s Not U, It’s Me: Survey Reports 50 Percent Use Texts To Break It Off
- iPhone 3.1.3 Firmware Unlock Coming Soon
- Ubroadcast Close To Acquiring Video CMS Company iVu Media
| Chomp Connect Lets iPhone Developers Integrate The App Recommendation Service Posted: 11 Feb 2010 09:00 AM PST
Chomp invites users to leave reviews about the apps they’re using, and also features a ‘follow’ system where you can keep tabs on what your friends or Internet celebrities like Kevin Rose, who is on the service, are recommending. There’s also a recommendation feature that suggests more apps based on what you’ve liked in the past, similar to the way Netflix handles recommendations. Until now users would leave their Chomp reviews in a standalone Chomp application (iTunes Link). WIth Chomp Connect, developers will be able to integrate Chomp’s review form into their apps with a few lines of code. You can see what one of these integrated forms look like in the shot above. CEO Ben Keighran says that this is appealing to developers because it allows them to prompt users to leave an app review while they’re actually using and hopefully enjoying an application — iTunes only prompts users to review an app when they’re uninstalling it, which probably isn’t the most opportune time from the developer’s perspective. The catch is that Chomp reviews don’t get syndicated to iTunes, so only other users on Chomp get to see them. That said, the more Chomp reviews an app gets, the more exposure it is given to other Chomp members. Aside from Chomp, there are many other services looking to improve on Apple’s iPhone app discovery process, including Appolicious, AppsFire, and Chorus.      
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| Chrome For Mac Gets Extensions, New Beta Posted: 11 Feb 2010 08:38 AM PST
Google released a new beta of its Chrome browser for Macs today. The two new main features are the addition of extensions, something that already came out on the dev channel for Mac last month, and on the Windows version in December. (Google releases new versions of Chrome across different channels, the beta channel available today is the most fully baked) There are 2,200 extensions now available for Chrome, including ones from Aviary, Brizzly, Google Voice, and there is even an unoffical TechCrunch extension. Extensions are like add-ons on FireFox, they extend the browser’s capabilities with new features. The new Mac beta also allows you to sync your bookmarks across different computers. Handy. You can download it here.      
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| RIM’s Twitter For BlackBerry App Is Average At Best Posted: 11 Feb 2010 08:24 AM PST
As one of the few BlackBerry users at TechCrunch, I’ve been insanely jealous of my colleagues as they test and use the plethora of nifty apps for iPhone and Android. So when RIM announced that it would be launching a native Twitter app for the mobile device, I was ecstatic. I was expecting Tweetie for the BlackBerry. This morning, I started testing out the beta version of the app, and here are my initial thoughts. Similar to Seesmic or UberTwitter’s BlackBerry apps, RIM’s app features a timeline of your Tweets, and separate streams for you @mentions, direct messages and trending topics. You can also see your user profile and search topics and people. You can see lists of your Tweets, followers, and those who are following you. And the app features integration bit.ly to shorten URLs. The interface is mediocre; but it’s tough to make anything as pretty as an iPhone or Android app on the BlackBerry. My biggest complaint is that the app is slow. Really slow. Slower than the Seesmic Blackberry app that I currently use to Tweet from my mobile device. The app is missing lists and geolocation, which RIM plans to add in the future. The next versions will also include profile editing and multi-account login. But I’m confused as to where all of these features will be placed within the app considering that the interface is fairly crowded at the moment. As I wrote above, these are my initial thoughts and I’ll continue to play around with the app to see if it has any additional compelling functionality. That being said, the app is still in beta, so hopefully RIM will fix some of the bugs and clean the design up a bit to make the app easier to user with the added features.      
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| The Only Chance For MySpace Is To Be Free Of News Corp. Posted: 11 Feb 2010 08:11 AM PST
Owen Van Natta, who was celebrated as the savior of MySpace when he was hired, was apparently fired over something as simple as trying to control his executive team. His Chief Product Officer Jason Hirschhorn has been telling friends for months that he’d soon be leaving MySpace. We wrote that he was on his way out last week. Hirschhorn’s comment the next day to us was “I was sleeping and just woke up to see [TechCrunch] unfortunately in the middle of someone’s game.” Apparently Hirschhorn was right. There was a game going on, and he won. Or at least he half won. He’s now co-president with Mike Jones, previously MySpace’s COO. And both of these guys report directly to News Corp. Digital Chief Jon Miller. But all that’s old news now. Today is a new day. Let’s take stock of the current MySpace situation (page view and unique visitor stats are Comscore worldwide), compared to nine months ago when all of the guys mentioned above started their jobs:
MySpace also failed to launch a single new product of note. Which was apparently Van Natta’s chief complaint about Hirschhorn, who was the Chief Product Officer before being promoted yesterday. MySpace now effectively has three CEOs – Hirschhorn, Jones and Miller. And none of them can likely get anything drastic done, even in the unlikely event that they were to agree on what that drastic thing is. A company that is hemorrhaging users this badly, and soon to lose their biggest source of revenue, can’t afford to have leadership by committee which is then subject to veto by the corporate parent. A further concern is the fact that MySpace can’t offer lucrative stock options to employees, since they are a subsidiary of a public company. The best engineers won’t go anywhere near MySpace. MySpace’s only hope, and I don’t think I’m exaggerating here, is to be spun off from News Corp. into an independent entity. They need an intelligent management structure (no co-presidents) filled with enthusiastic executives (who don’t trash the company in public) and they need a radical product plan. And they need to be private so they can give employees stock options. MySpace is just an afterthought for News Corp. An unwanted step child. MySpace, once the King of the Internet, deserves better. Below are some charts showing How MySpace has been crushed by Facebook during Van Natta’s reign across all metrics: visitors, pageviews, and time spent. Note that the charts below measure the U.S. only, as opposed to the worldwide numbers above, but the trends are the same:
After yesterday’s news, no one is giving MySpace the benefit of the doubt any more. Stick a fork in it, this turkey is done.      
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| Fwix Launches API For Realtime Hyperlocal News Posted: 11 Feb 2010 08:00 AM PST
Fwix, a startup that offers a stream of local news that's updated in real-time, is launching a new version of its API that is targeted towards hyper-local news. Last fall, the startup launched a 'Wire' API that allows third parties to integrate the company's stream of news updates into their sites and apps. Today, Fwix is expanding its API to include hyperlocal news. Fwix aggregates news articles and blog posts that are relevant to a certain region (the site now features support for over 80 cities in the United States and Canada). To do this, the Fwix team selects news sources and blogs that it thinks are related to each city, and also uses automated algorithms to determine when other content might also be relevant. Now, Fwix has tweaked its algorithm and offerings to include “nearby” local content features. So content on Fwix will display relationships between both topics and nearby location. For example, after reading a story about a robbery that took place in the Mission district of San Francisco, you’ll be able to find any other crime and or stories about the Mission neighborhood. Users can also build out lists of stories, as well as stories near to those other stories, and create real-time news maps. Fwix says that there are a variety of compelling uses for the hyper-local news API. One could be incorporating a feed of news in location-based social networks like Gowalla, around certain check-in locations. For example, if you check-in to a particular establishment, Fwix could show users a feed of news about or mentioning the restaurant or bar. The local news API has seen traction since its launch, being integrated on WeatherUnderground.com and UPI.com.      
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| Pixable Lets You Make Mosaics From Your Facebook Photos Posted: 11 Feb 2010 07:55 AM PST
I’m a big fan of photo mosaics, which are basically designs and artwork made from actual photos. But it is undoubtedly an arduous task to arrange your photos so that it simulates a given design. Pixable, a startup that allows you to photo books and calendars from your pictures on the web, is launching a nifty new feature today that allows you to make mosaics from your picture easily. And the bonus: you can print the mosaics for a steal. The first 50 TechCrunch readers to order a mosaic poster will receive a free print by entering the code “50TC.” On Pixable’s site, you can import your photos from Facebook, Flickr, Picasa and Photobucket into the mosaic creator. Via Facebook Connect, Pixable will pull in your photos spceifically from the social network. The image, photo or logo which is the template for the mosaic must be imported as a JPG files. So you can make a mocais from a logo, picture, landscape and more. You can share your photo books online and on Facebook. The actual photo mosaic prints are currently offered in 14" x 11" and 17" x 11" sizes, which are prices at $7.99 and $9.99, respectively. The poster is printed on acid free card stock and laminated with a UV coating. Founded by 3 MIT graduate students, Pixable’s service allows people to use of all their Facebook and image sharing site photo content like captions, tagging information, comments, and birthdays to make albums, slidehows, calendars and nor artwork. Pixable’s browser-based simplifies the creation of albums, making it easy to use for anyone. The startup has raised over $500,000 from angel investors and has an advisory of notable entrepreneurrs including Ofoto founder and xMarks CEO James Joaquin. Pixable is wise to leverage Facebook to showcase its technology, as Facebook is becoming the most popular site for doewnloading photos among consumers. As we learned recently, with 400 million users, Facebook is seeing 2.5 billion photos uploaded every month. With compelling features such as the mosaic tool, Pixable will continue to allow the social network’s users to do innovative things with it pictures. I guess it’s only a matter of time before Facebook begins to implement some of these technologies in-house.      
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| Break Media Buys Gaming Site FileFront Posted: 11 Feb 2010 07:54 AM PST
Break Media dipped its toes into gaming last month when it released its first social game, MMA FightPicker. But today it is diving in headfirst with the acquisition of game download site FileFront. The all-cash transaction was a couple million dollars with some more possible earnout payments in the future if the business hits certain milestones. “We are continuing to grow the gaming editorial and gaming parts of the business,” says Break CEO Keith Richman. FileFront has been around since 2001, and has built up a loyal following of 9 million visitors a month worldwide (internal numbers, comScore estimates 6 million), and 50 million pageviews. “I don't think we could get have gotten there ourselves,” says Richman of his buy-versus-build decision. “This is a vertical where community really matters. It is very difficult to buy 50 million page impressions a month.” FileFront offers game downloads, patches, videos and some reviews. Richman wants to pump up the editorial portion (reviews and videos) and cross-promote it on Break.com and his other sites geared towards young men. He is keeping the existing editorial staff of ten. FileFront has passed hands before. It was bought by IDG in 2005, but languished in the shadow of IDG’s bigger gaming site OneUp. When IDG sold OneUp to Hearst, FileFront almost shut down before the founders bought it back and kept it going on their own. Now they’ve found a home at Break, which wants to re-invigorate the site.      
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| It’s Not U, It’s Me: Survey Reports 50 Percent Use Texts To Break It Off Posted: 11 Feb 2010 06:55 AM PST
This Valentine’s Day, make sure your loved one isn’t texting another love interest while you are out on a date. Mobile social network MocoSpace has released a study today revealing that one out of three MocoSpace users admitted they have flirted with someone else using their phone while on a date. MocoSpace surveyed close to 20,000 of their 10.3 million members for the report. When asked if they had ever used their mobile phone to break up with someone, 57% said yes, with 48% of those using a text message to end the relationship. 90 percent of users said their "About Me" information is most important after pictures in making the decision to take the first step toward connecting with someone on MocoSpace. 79 percent said the recession had had no effect on their dating habits. And 60 percent did not have a date yet for Valentine's Day, with 80 of those respondents do not consider it a priority to find one. Many of these number seem to border on the ridiculous, but MocoSpace claims that most of its users are under 30, so perhaps these stats are plausible. MocoSpace claims to generate 3 billion page views per month, with most of the views coming its site via mobile phones, of course. The startup’s network targets users who have non-smartphones, that have simpler interfaces.      
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| iPhone 3.1.3 Firmware Unlock Coming Soon Posted: 11 Feb 2010 05:31 AM PST  Been waiting to upgrade your iPhone? Can't because it's unlocked? Well, wait no longer. Sherif Hashim, an iPhone hacker, has discovered an exploit that seems to unlock the latest baseband. Not a lot of other information other than now the exploit is in the Dev Team's hands and they will, like some creaky Soviet politburo, release the unlock to the masses.
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| Ubroadcast Close To Acquiring Video CMS Company iVu Media Posted: 11 Feb 2010 05:30 AM PST
Ubroadcast expects a definitive acquisition agreement to be signed ’shortly’, and estimates that it will take less than 10 days to close after the deal is inked. At this point, ubroadcast isn’t disclosing all relevant details of the agreement, but the company did say that the compensation terms of the acquisition are expected to be completed entirely with restricted stock and zero debt. Alexandria, Virginia-based iVu Media develops a Video Content Management (VCM) system that supports HD Playback technology and includes specialized DRM software. The company’s platform is capable of streaming HD quality video to end users’ desktops and mobile phones with no player to download or install, and allows clients to better monetize video content. iVu Media is headquarted in the United States, but also boasts offices in the UK and the Middle East. Founded in the fourth quarter of 2008, the company reported revenues of less than $500,000 in 2009, with clients like Sony, Ford and Honda on its reference list. Blending user-generated content and original programming, ubroadcast powers high-quality Internet-based live and on-demand television and radio.      
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