Swipely now ready to broadcast everyone's purchases

Swipely, a site where users can share their purchases, is opening to the public today after spending about three months in an invitation-only preview. And it’s introducing some new features into the mix, by awarding badges for specific kinds of shopping behavior.

When Swipely began its preview in May, founder and chief executive Angus Davis (who previously cofounded TellMe, which was acquired by Microsoft) emphasized the site’s more private approach compared to Blippy — the … Continue Reading

Mashery gains momentum with location-based services customers

If you look at a bunch of cool location-based apps, you’re likely to find Mashery under the hood. Mashery has a software platform that companies (in this case, location-service companies) can use to market, distribute and keep track of their application programming interfaces (APIs), which allow third-party developers to build apps on their services.

APIs let developers combine location information with other data to create “mash-up” apps. The more apps a particular location service has … Continue Reading

Roundup: iPad browsing surges, Google TV faces hurdles, and more

Here’s the latest action:

iPad browsing traffic on the rise – In the last month, iPad browsing traffic has jumped to four times what it was in April, beating out Linux browsing.

Google TV a tough sell – Television networks seem hesitant to partner with Google’s new television service. The Wall Street Journal has the full story.

Yahoo Mail comes to iPad – Yahoo says it has restructured its email interface to better fit the … Continue Reading

SI-BONE raises $10.6M to minimize low back pain

SI-BONE, a company that diagnoses and treats lower back pain, has raised $10.6 million in equity funding. New investor Skyline Ventures led the round. Using its iFuse Implant System, the San Jose-based company fuses the sacroiliac joint (SI joint), a joint in the lower pelvis, through a minimally invasive procedure. The company estimates that 15-25% of all low back pain originates from the SI joint.

SI-BONE plans to use the latest funding to increase clinical … Continue Reading

Rounds debuts video chat for Facebook social gamers

Israeli startup Rounds is launching a video chat platform for Facebook that will target social gamers and other heavy social network users.

The idea is to let gamers and other social networking users to chat in real time while engaging in various fun social activities and games.

“We’re trying to bridge the offline and online worlds, through a fun, real-time, collaborative environment,” said co-founder and CEO Dany Fishel. “It’s not just about seeing the person … Continue Reading

Grooveshark free-music service pulled from Apple's App Store

Just 10 days after its release, the iPhone app of music-streaming service Grooveshark has been pulled from Apple’s App Store due to a complaint received from the British arm of Universal Music Group, the app’s maker said in a blog post Tuesday.

Grooveshark, whose website promises “free Internet radio stations,” could be seen as competing with Apple’s iTunes Music Store, which depends on the cooperation of major music label groups like Universal.

The app was … Continue Reading

Yahoo search to get powered by Microsoft Bing starting this week

Yahoo’s transition to using Microsoft’s Bing for powering its searches begins this week for users in the U.S. and Canada, the company announced in a blog post today.

Yahoo will start to replace its search back-end with Bing’s starting at the end of the week, at which point search results will show up with a “Powered by Bing” descriptor at the bottom (I’m already seeing this in my searches). But even though the results will … Continue Reading

Zynga launches its first international version of popular poker game

Zynga has the world’s largest online poker game, with more than 28 million users playing Zynga Poker monthly on Facebook. Today, the social game company hopes to make the game even bigger by doing its first international localizations of the game.

Now, under the name Zynga Texas Poker, the game will be available in Mandarin Chinese for Facebook players in Hong Kong and Taiwan. As with the English version, players can enter a casino lobby … Continue Reading

What do we know about Facebook's location service?

It has been clear for months now that Facebook on features that allow users to share their location with friends. All that discussion could come to a head tomorrow afternoon, when Facebook holds a press event at its Palo Alto headquarters where the company is expected to finally unveil its location service.

So what do we know so far about these upcoming features? Facebook isn’t hiding the fact that it’s working on them. Back in … Continue Reading

Shopkick launches iPhone app for shopping check-ins and deals

After building up quite a bit of buzz over the past few months, the Palo Alto, Calif. startup Shopkick — which can best be described as FourSquare meets shopping — officially launched its iPhone app today.

The free app (available on the iTunes store) lets you check-in to participating retailers (as well as other stores) to earn rewards called “kickbucks.” Instead of actively checking in to a location a la FourSquare, users need only have … Continue Reading

HBO to make a Go of own streaming service without Netflix

Netflix has had a good string of content licensing deals recently for its streaming video service — first with Relativity Media and then with fledgling premium network Epix — but HBO’s co-president Eric Kessler says HBO is unlikely that the network would make a deal with Netflix, Bloomberg reports.

“There is value in exclusivity,” Kessler said in an interview with Bloomberg. He went on to say that consumers “are willing to pay a premium for … Continue Reading

Should you buy Google TV or wait for the new Apple TV to launch?

There’s little doubt that TV and the internet world will eventually merge, and Google and Apple are both making efforts in that direction. Devices based on Google TV are launching this fall, and Apple is expected to launch a new, stronger version of its Apple TV (now dubbed iTV) sometime next year.

It’s yet to be seen whether Google TV or iTV will succeed where others such as WebTV (now called MSN TV) have struggled, … Continue Reading

Startup Hipmunk builds innovative flight-search site

There’s no shortage of travel sites on the Web, but I find the experience of searching for flights is still pretty crummy. I have to hold lots of little details in my head as I sort through a bunch of flight listings that are often almost identical.

That’s where a new San Francisco startup called Hipmunk comes in. Cofounder Adam Goldstein says Hipmunk’s goal was to “rethink the interface from scratch,” and I’m quite impressed … Continue Reading

Medal of Honor game draws fire because you can play Taliban side in multiplayer

The heavily anticipated first person shooter from Electronic Arts, Medal of Honor, has drawn controversy as gamers will be allowed to play as the Taliban in multiplayer.

The option to play as the Taliban has drawn criticism from various news groups and specifically the mother of a soldier recently killed during the war. First lieutenant Ken Ballard was killed as the result of an accidental discharge of a mounted M240B from an M1 Abrams MBT. … Continue Reading

Sony offers new PlayStation 3 bundle as it readies Move launch

Sony is offering new models of the PlayStation 3 as it gets ready to launch its Move motion-sensing system on Sept. 19.

The Japanese company announced at the Gamescom conference in Cologne, Germany, that it will offer a larger 320-gigabyte hard disk drive in a PS 3 Sports Champions Move bundle and a 160-gigabyte hard disk in a core PS 3 model. That’s approximately 33 percent more storage capacity than current models.

The 160-gigabyte model … Continue Reading

Infinite Power banks $20M for thin-film batteries

Infinite Power Solutions, one of a small handful of companies working on advanced thin-film batteries for portable electronics, has brought in $20 million in a third round of venture funding. In doing so, it’s landed backing from former vice president Al Gore’s Generation Investment Management.

Based in Littleton, Colo., Infinite Power claims that its micro-energy cell (MEC) batteries — marketed under the THINERGY brand — are not only thinner and more flexible than other solid-state … Continue Reading

Electronic Arts supports Microsoft's Kinect in EA Sports Active 2 and Harry Potter games

Microsoft’s Kinect motion-sensing system is starting to get some interesting support from game publishers. Electronic Arts announced today at the Gamescom conference in Germany that it is adding support for Kinect in EA Sports Active 2 and Harry Potter and Deathly Hallows part 1.

EA also said that soccer superstar David Beckham will be the “brand ambassador” for EA Sports Active 2, which launches on Nov. 2. EA’s first EA Sports Active game sold millions … Continue Reading

Zynga acquires music social game maker Conduit Labs

Expanding its social gaming empire from coast to coast, Zynga has acquired music social game maker Conduit Labs for an undisclosed price.

Conduit Labs will become Zynga Boston and focus on social game development. Zynga now has studios in San Francisco, Austin, Baltimore, Bangalore, Beijing, Los Angeles, and Los Gatos (although, for some reason, they never mention the Los Gatos office).

Nabeel Hyatt, chief executive of Conduit Labs, will become head of the new Boston … Continue Reading

Apple roundup: China Unicom gets iPhone 4, latest on kickback case, patent on slide to unlock

Apple is making news around the globe. Today, rumors surfaced that China Unicom will get the iPhone 4 for launch in China early next month. An Apple manager accused of accepting kickbacks from suppliers in Asia in exchange for confidential Apple data pleaded not guilty to the charges yesterday. And closer to home, Apple has received a patent for the “slide to unlock” feature on the iPhone.

China Unicom

Caixin Media Group reported that China … Continue Reading