The Filter raises more money so it can recommend more content
The Filter is one of many companies that recommends media to users based on their personal tastes. While internet radio services like Pandora filter music, and community-review sites like Flixster help you find movies based on what your friends like, The Filter is trying to be more holistic. It asks you to tell it at least six musicians and movies that you like or don’t like, then uses that information to provide more general recommendations … Continue Reading
Twitter finally putting search front and center
From the day I signed up about two years ago, I’ve always seen the potential in Twitter. It’s a potential that the company almost let go to waste last year with its inability to stay up and work correctly. But it rebounded, and now it’s finally living up to its abilities. Yet during that time something else has become clear: There’s an offshoot of Twitter that arguably opens up more doors than Twitter itself: Twitter … Continue Reading
Forget the sports bar, let's head to the theater to watch the game in 3D
After successful screenings of both college football’s BCS Championship game and the NBA All-Star game, Cinedigm‘s CineLive 3-D HD technology looks ready to expand its reach. A partnership with Sony will do just that, as the two companies plan to roll out the product to up to 10,000 projectors in movie theaters around the country by 2012.
Cinelive technology allows viewers to see live, onscreen action in 3-D. While the first two events showcased sports, … Continue Reading
Android and iPhone are all over MWC (even if Google and Apple aren't), but where are the U.S. startups?
At last year’s Mobile World Congress I learned something: Given the amount of rumors leading up to the event, you usually don’t know what the conference is actually about until it’s over. That’s why I thought I’d share what I’m actually seeing at this year’s MWC, as the conference continues.
Here are my major takeaways:
Operators may be embracing Microsoft because they want to counter-balance Apple’s rise. I’m constantly overhearing conversations on the floor asking … Continue Reading
OVGuide beefs up video search and discovery portal with $5M
OVGuide, a comprehensive video search portal that draws results from sites including Fancast, Hulu, ESPN and Funny or Die, announced today that it raised $5 million in capital all from Baroda Ventures. Based in Beverly Hills, Calif., the company was founded in 2006 and says it attracts 150 million page views and 36 million searches per month.
OVGuide claims to deliver the most relevant search results of any video engine because it has a team … Continue Reading
Airband books $3M for its fixed-wireless network
Airband, the Dallas-based provider of a fixed-wireless network for businesses, announced that it brought in $3 million in sixth-round funding from undisclosed investors to continue building out its existing network.
The nine-year-old company gives its clients access to broadband wireless data, voice over IP service, and other network management services. Currently, 3,500 businesses use Airband across 14 US markets.
The company last raised capital in 2007 amounting to $12.5 million. It has raised $73 million … Continue Reading
VivoTech tacks on $8.6M for wireless credit-card transactions
VivoTech, provider of infrastructure for wireless credit-card transactions, just added $8.6 million to a now $40 million third round of funding open since 2007. Its technology lets people make payments via radio frequency enabled credit and debit cards and some mobile phones. The Santa Clara, Calif.-based company has already sold 470,000 of its payment terminals in 35 countries. It is also developing systems for use with taxi cabs, vending machines and ATMs.
Previously, VivoTech raised … Continue Reading
Soonr raises $3M to give mobile access to home computers
Soonr, maker of software that lets people access content on their home computers from their cell phones, just raised $3 million in third-round funding from Cisco Systems, Clearstone Venture Partners, Intel Capital and Sand Hill Capital, reports VentureWire. Last month, it announced the launch of an iPhone app that lets people open Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint files on their mobile devices. The Campbell, Calif. company accomplishes this by sending and retrieving information to and … Continue Reading
While people worry about Facebook photos, a million users let Google know exactly where they are
Why should location-based social networks be worried about Google? Because its new Latitude product was able to gain over a million users in just a week, Google’s vice president of engineering Vic Gundotra told an audience at the Mobile World Congress today.
Latitude is Google’s service that uses your location to place you on a Google Map. If you have friends who are also using the service, you can see how close they are to … Continue Reading
Pixazza nabs $3.1 to turn web images into e-commerce links
Pixazza, a company that lets web publishers turn their images into links where users can buy whatever is pictured, just brought in $3.1 million of an anticipated $5.22 million first round of funding from CMEA Ventures, August Capital and Foundation Capital, reports VentureWire. The Mountain View, Calif. company used to be called BeMuz.
Pixazza is added to websites as a few lines of Javascript. Other members of the Pixazza community then manually add the links … Continue Reading
Bizanga closes $8M to block spam, email viruses
Bizanga, maker of an email management platform that defends against spam and virsuses, just raised $8 million in first-round funding led by Credit Agricole Private Equity, a French firm, and including seed backer Galileo Partners. The San Mateo, Calif. company says it will use the investment to grow its sales operations in Asia and continue development of new products.
In addition to blocking out system attacks, Bizanga’s software can also be used to establish parental … Continue Reading
Outbrain launches Sponsored But Good advertising
News recommendation startup Outbrain just announced its plans to make money through a targeted advertising program called Sponsored But Good.
VentureBeat readers should be familiar with the Outbrain widget, since it appears below each of our posts with recommendations of other stories you might like. Serving up sponsored recommendations seems like an obvious next step, and there’s a lot to like about the details I’ve seen. For one thing, the sponsored links don’t actually go … Continue Reading
Public biotech firms Cadence, Affymax draw $128M from bargain-hunting VCs
Much has been written about how the IPO market froze out biotech companies in 2008, but it looks like times are also tough for those who went public before the economy soured. Cadence Pharmaceuticals has seen a dip in stock price from $9 to $7.53 and drug-maker Affymax has dropped from $25 to $14.12 a share since their IPOs in 2006. But VCs hunting for bargains just agreed to infuse the two companies with $86.6 … Continue Reading
Nintendo DSi arrives on April 5
In what is sure to be a nice shot in the arm for the portable game industry, Nintendo announced today that its handheld DSi game player will hit shelves in the U.S. on April 5.
The DSi is an upgraded handheld with two cameras and is the third major version of the DS, which has sold more than 90 million units since its launch in 2004. It will sell for $169.99 in blue and black … Continue Reading
Roundup: New Android G2 makes an appearance, layoffs hit 300,000, Apple sales slowing
Here’s the latest action:
HTC’s G2 Android phone – Sites like Gizmodo are giving the new Android phone the thumbs up based on working demos available at the Mobile World Congress.
Hacking Caller ID – A service dubbed TrapCall from TelTech Systems of New Jersey lets people figure out who is calling them, even if that caller is trying to stay anonymous by using Caller ID. Now what will obscene pranksters do to hide?
Lots … Continue Reading
Worio adds tag-based discovery to Google
One of the latest attempts to break into the search market is Worio, a Vancouver, B.C. startup that uses tagging to augment results from Google and other big engines. The company went into beta last July, and today is announcing that it has indexed 100 million pages.
New search companies usually fall in one of two categories. First are blockbuster attempts to “beat” Google with a better technology. The last of these to try its … Continue Reading
Latest Lord of the Rings game doesn't quite measure up
I’ve just finished playing the single-player campaign of Lord of the Rings: Conquest, developed by the Pandemic Studios division of Electronic Arts. And I think the game highlights a tough question for game developers: How do you make a game challenging enough for veteran players without frustrating them?
Lord of the Rings: Conquest is based on a license from the Saul Zaentz Co., which has the game rights to J.R.R. Tolkien’s fantasy book series (my … Continue Reading
Two game firms merge to form Blade Games
Vyk Games and Digini are announcing today they are merging to form Blade Games, VentureBeat has learned.
Seattle-based Digini makes game development tools for everyone from a teenager in a bedroom to a large game studio. Shanghai-based Vyk Games does outsourcing work for other game publishers and developers. (It handles the animated drudge work, such as making orcs in a Lord of the Rings game). The combined company, Blade Games, based in Bellevue, Wash., will … Continue Reading
Facebook reverts to old terms of service, working on new version that "everybody can understand"
Well, that was pretty fast. Facebook has reverted to its prior terms of service — due to a backlash from some users, media outlets and privacy groups — while it works out a new version. Facebook had introduced a number of changes on Feb. 4 that company founder Mark Zuckerberg describes today as “overly formal and protective.” One issue with that version was wording that said Facebook owns your personal data indefinitely, even if you … Continue Reading
Obama's pick for antitrust chief linked Google to antitrust last year
Antitrust. It’s a word that every large company fears. Standard Oil, AT&T and Microsoft have all become associated with it in American history, and now the company that has become synonymous with the web, Google, has to be careful not to be added to that group.
While there have been whispers for some time of Google holding a monopoly over web search and web advertising, the issue came to the forefront last year when Google … Continue Reading
