Twitter's suggested user list: You don't have to be rich, just famous
Over the past few months there’s been a bit of a stink over Twitter’s “Suggested Users” list. That was probably to be expected because it’s helping people on that list gain massive amounts of followers, while everyone else has to gain them the old-fashioned way: Good old self-promotion.
But there were allegations people on the list were paying Twitter for the privilege — unfounded allegations that were pretty ridiculous. And more recently people started talking … Continue Reading
The tweet heard 'round the world: Obama's Twitter account comes alive!
It had been two months and six days since the last tweet from Barack Obama’s Twitter account. The world has changed a bit since then — most notably, Mr. Obama is now officially the President of the United States. That, of course, is the likely reason why he (or one of his staffers) was no longer tweeting. But now, he (or one of his staffers) is back.
A few hours ago, the account sent out … Continue Reading
Blogs are red, huge web sites are blue . . .
Do you ever notice how a lot of websites you visit frequently look the same? Well, it’s not just their layouts, it’s also their colors. The design site Antrepo4.com has created a list of the biggest blogs, design sites, game sites and overall sites organized by color.
The results show a clear overall trend: Blogs favor red (like VentureBeat), design sites favor gray, game sites favor green and the massive sites, like Google, Facebook and … Continue Reading
No more death-by-PowerPoint?
PowerPoint dominates the market for presentation tools, but Prezi, a Hungarian startup, is hoping to change that.
I can hardly count the number of times I’ve dozed off in front of a PowerPoint presentation. It’s pretty much an audience killer. So, it’s not surprising that attempts have been made to create fresher and less predictable presentation tools. Companies like Flypaper have created tools that incorporate interactivity and different media. And players like Slideshare are helping … Continue Reading
Twitter to offer Facebook Page-like features for companies (or what)?
Twitter is going to offer some sort of new, for-fee service to businesses later this year, company co-founder Biz Stone confirms to the Wall Street Journal today. He says that the company has hired a project manager to spearhead this effort — perhaps new business development leader Kevin Thau is involved?
But as others have noted, what could Twitter possibly charge for? Big companies like Dell are using Twitter to do things like tell twitterers … Continue Reading
italki launches marketplace for language tutors
Already an established social network for people learning different languages, Italki announced that it will branch out as a marketplace for users to find relevant teachers and tutors. The idea is to give every user the option to connect with a native speaker for extra help from anywhere in the world.
Because most of the instructors listed in this marketplace will be independent, they will each be able to determine their own fees. Students will … Continue Reading
Spark Capital unveils new seed program Start@Spark
Spark Capital, a venture firm focused on media, entertainment and technology investments, announced the kick off of its new seed-funding program, Start@Spark. The new initiative will give out funds in chunks of up to $250,000 to incubate early-stage companies in the New York and Boston areas before they seek formal rounds of capital.
The firm, based in Boston itself, asks that startups interested in the program sign up on their web site with preliminary information. … Continue Reading
OS X Snow Leopard about to don a fresh coat of "marble"?
Developer builds of Apple’s next operating system, OS X Snow Leopard, have been going around for months now. In going along with what Apple stated was a goal for the new OS, most of the changes from its current OS X Leopard (not to be confused with Snow Leopard) have been under the hood, to improve performance. But there’s long been speculation that a major change is coming to the OS’s user interface, and Apple … Continue Reading
Blockbuster wants to be on Apple products. Apple may have something to say about that.
I’ve already broken down why Blockbuster’s latest attempt to spread its content is a bit sad. It simply always seems to be one step behind in a fast evolving landscape. For example, it has said in the past that it wants to be on portable devices but wanted to use a system (kiosks) that would likely leave out the most popular portable media products by Apple. Well, now Blockbuster is changing its tune.
Blockbuster’s senior … Continue Reading
A label stops devouring one of its young: EMI licenses music to Project Playlist
Record labels are getting killed by falling compact disc sales while music startups are still figuring out new music business models — so what are labels to do? Sue the startups for as much money, equity, share of profit or other chunk of hide as they can. Which is what three out of the four major labels have been doing to streaming music startup Project Playlist since last year. Today, EMI has apparently found a … Continue Reading
How Nintendo succeeded in selling 50 million Wiis
Satoru Iwata, chief executive of Nintendo, said today that the Wii game console has now sold more than 50 million units, making it the fastest selling console in history. That puts it on track to surpass Sony’s PlayStation 2, which has sold more than 140 million units since 1994.
Iwata, who delivered the keynote speech at the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco this morning, said the reason is that “software sells hardware.” Nintendo has … Continue Reading
Audience dials up $15M to suppress noise on cell phones
Audience, maker of mobile chips that can dampen background noise when people speak on their cell phones, just brought in $15 million in a fourth round of funding. This brings the Mountain View, Calif. company’s total capital to $60 million since its inception in 2004.
Audience claims that it modeled its product on the normal functioning of the human ear — allowing it to block out some sounds while focusing others. This allows users to … Continue Reading
Neovista sees $18M to treat eye disorders
Neovista, a Fremont, Calif.-based biotech company specializing in eye diseases, says it raised $18 million in a fourth round of funding to commercialize its new device. The money came from Accuitive Medical Ventures, Carlyle Group, Essex Woodlands Health Ventures, MPM Capital, SV Life Sciences and Versant Ventures.
The company says the money should be enough to see the device through to approval by the Food and Drug Administration in 2010. The product has already been … Continue Reading
China syndrome: iPhone closing in on the mainland?
The iPhone has been in China for some time now. That is, if you count Hong Kong and Macau, or unlocked iPhones. But most people realize that a key for Apple is to gain penetration in the mainland Chinese market with the help of a major carrier. And it may be very close to such a deal, if pictures put up by carrier China Unicom are any indication.
It’s hard to know exactly what the … Continue Reading
OnLive video-games-on-demand service shakes loose a competitor
OnLive‘s announcement of a ground-breaking video-on-demand service has become the buzz of the game industry this week at GamesBeat 09 and the Game Developers Conference (GDC) in San Francisco. But it has also shaken loose a competitor.
David Perry, chief creative officer at Acclaim and an active game entrepreneur, said he has a new company dubbed Gaikai that’s trying to do the same thing as OnLive but without some of its drawbacks.
“I was going … Continue Reading
Roundup: Google tweaks search, silly Apple lawsuits, Twitter title tweak and more
Here’s the latest action:
Google tweaks search result layouts — The search giant says it’s deploying a new technology that can understand associations and related concepts. So, for example, if you search for “time travel,” now you might get related terms like “Donnie Darko”. The other change is that search results now have longer snippets, so you can more easily tell what a page contains without having to click on it to find out. Basically, … Continue Reading
World Golf Tour scores deal with the USGA for virtual golf tour
World Golf Tour is announcing today it has struck a deal with the United States Golf Association to host the first Virtual U.S. Open Championship on the golf association’s web site.
The virtual golf tournament will take advantage of World Golf Tour’s realistic simulation technology and let players hit the Black Course at Bethpage in Farmingdale, N.Y., home of the real tournament. With the simulation, golf fans can feel like they’re playing at a championship … Continue Reading
Razer CEO on the future of game user interfaces
Game hardware maker Razer has been around for more than a decade but has built a big gaming peripherals business in the past four years. Yet the Carlsbad, Calif. company wants to be much more than a high-end gaming mouse company. It wants to make everything associated with the gamer’s lifestyle. I caught up today with Min-Liang Tan, the company’s chief executive, today at our GamesBeat 09 conference, where he spoke on the gaming hardware … Continue Reading
After its own set-top box bombs, Blockbuster partners with TiVo
I feel like I keep writing the same sentence over and over again: Blockbuster has a new plan to reinvigorate its business. Sadly, I feel like I’m going to keep writing that sentence until Blockbuster goes under.
Unfortunately, what the company has been trying is not working when it comes to transitioning into the digital distribution age of movies. So now it’s on to plan H, or perhaps plan I — who can keep track … Continue Reading
Email startup Xobni leaves beta, raises $3.2M
Updated
Xobni is finally launching the “official” version of its plug-in that improves organization in Microsoft’s email program Outlook — in other words, it’s finally taking off the beta testing label it’s used for the past 10 months. It’s also announcing a $3.2 million addition to its second round of funding from the BlackBerry Partners Fund.
The San Francisco company adds an inbox sidebar to Outlook that shows profiles of people you’re corresponding with. By … Continue Reading
