In AT&T breakup, T-Mobile gets 3G roaming deal and wireless spectrum
The dust is settling from yesterday’s news that AT&T has given up its T-Mobile acquisition plans, and it turns out even a failed merger is quite expensive.
Because its proposed $39 billion merger fell through, AT&T now has to give up piles of cash and benefits to T-Mobile. AT&T will enter into a 7-year 3G roaming agreement that will boost T-Mobile coverage, and it has to give up a valuable package of AWS (Advanced Wireless … Continue Reading
Third-quarter digital game sales couldn’t offset big drop in retail video games
The total amount that consumers spent on games in the third quarter was $4.2 billion, down 11 percent from the same period a year ago, according to market research NPD Group.
That number includes the money spent by consumers on hardware, content, and accessories. Sales of console and PC games purchased at retail stores amounted to $1.3 billion. Other game-related income categories — including sales of used games, game rentals, online subscriptions, downloads of full … Continue Reading
LivingSocial will be bought, and other daily deals predictions for 2012
From delayed IPOs to buyouts and layoffs, 2011 proved to be a volatile year for daily deals companies. In the past 12 months, the industry was defined and legitimized, but had just as many mistakes as successes.
The biggest daily deal flaw in 2011 was that primary pioneers of the product created an unsustainably expensive infrastructure to deliver it. They tried to build new, enormous consumer brands just around deals; they spent too much on … Continue Reading
Venture capitalists focus on later stages, but Silicon Valley still rules
Venture capital funding hasn’t hit the peaks it saw in early 2000, but it’s still going strong — particularly in Silicon Valley and for software companies.
Our analysis of venture funding from a variety of data sources revealed some interesting facts about last quarter’s deal flow.
Last quarter, venture capital firms invested $6.95 billion into 876 deals, averaging $7.9 million per deal, with the vast majority of funding funneling out of Silicon Valley in the … Continue Reading
CrowdStar’s mobile game Social Girl snags a million downloads in a week
CrowdStar is turning out to be quite popular with the girls. The social gaming company proved that again this week with the launch of Social Girl, a new game for the iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad.
Since the game launched seven days ago, it has reached the No. 6 ranking for top-grossing apps in the App Store, moving ahead of Angry Birds. The game is part of a strategic expansion that Burlingame, Calif.-based CrowdStar calls … Continue Reading
Google decides to keep Firefox around for 3 more years
Mozilla has renewed an agreement that will keep Google as the default search engine on its Firefox web browser.
The agreement replaces a similar default search deal between the two companies, which ended in late November. As part of the new three-year deal, Google will pay open-source development organization Mozilla for its default search engine placement in Firefox. Mozilla plans to announce the renewal later today, according to All Things D.
The renewal is especially … Continue Reading
eRecyclingCorps receives $35M to reward you for recycling your old phones
eRecyclingCorps, a company that rewards customers for recycling cell phones and e-waste, announced Tuesday that it received $35 million from Kleiner Perkins’ Green Growth Fund. The round was led by Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers.
In order to keep as many cell phones out of landfills as it can, eRecyclingCorps not only makes recycling easy, it makes it worthwhile by offering rewards. The company has formed partnerships with Sprint and Verizon Wireless to create “incentivized … Continue Reading
Super Bowl will be live-streamed online and on phones for the first time
For the first time ever, NBC and the National Football League have agreed to live stream the Super Bowl online and on mobile phones in February, the two organizations announced today.
The Super Bowl is the most-watched television program around the world each year, and commanded 111 million viewers for the last game, so it’s a huge deal to see its distribution move from analog to digital. With many users choosing to “cut the cord” … Continue Reading
EA executive touts opening day for Star Wars: The Old Republic
Electronic Arts has officially launched Star Wars: The Old Republic, one of the most expensive online games ever made, in a bid to grab a share of the lucrative massively multiplayer online games market that is dominated by Blizzard Entertainment’s World of Warcraft.
Electronic Arts executive and BioWare c0-founder Ray Muzyka (pictured center), co-founder Greg Zeschuk (left) and EA executive Frank Gibeau (right) rang the opening bell on the Nasdaq Stock Market today. In an … Continue Reading
Kayak releases updated and unified iPad and iPhone app, takes on TripIt
Travel search site Kayak is releasing a new unified iPad and iPhone app today, replacing its standalone iPad app and adding a sleek itinerary-consolidation feature that seems poised to take on TripIt.
This is actually a major update that will turn Kayak‘s free iPhone app into a unified app optimized for all iOS devices, including the iPad, iPhone and iPod touch. The two-year-old standalone iPad app will be phased out, which means Kayak faces the … Continue Reading
Flash games are still generating strong traffic and revenue growth for developers
The Flash game market is thriving. Developers have sprouted up around the world. They’re creating mobile games based on their Flash web games, and they are making more money and getting stronger traffic, according to a survey of more than 1,000 Flash game developers by Mochi Media.
More than 60 percent of Flash game developers saw an increase in traffic and revenue in 2011 compared to 2010. The growth has been enabled by improved monetization … Continue Reading
First Round Capital rings in the holidays with “Friday” spoof
First Round Capital is famous in these parts for its irreverent, awkward and often hilarious holiday e-greetings.
This year, the team and its family of startups pitched in to create an elaborate send-up of Rebecca Black’s soulless mistake of a song, “Friday.”
In the vid, you’ll catch glimpses of some of our favorite folks, from TaskRabbit’s Leah Busque to Turntable.fm’s Billy Chasen to Mashery’s Oren Michels to GetSatisfaction’s Wendy Lea.
And of course, there are … Continue Reading
Samsung’s Galaxy S II lineup is getting Ice Cream Sandwich in early 2012
In just a few weeks, Samsung will start shipping Android 4.0, a.k.a. Ice Cream Sandwich over the air to Galaxy device owners.
“We know you have been waiting, and we’re thrilled today to announce that we’ll start serving Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich to Galaxy Note and Galaxy S II in the first quarter of 2012,” wrote a Samsung representative on the company’s mobile division Facebook page.
The rollout will start with the company’s Galaxy … Continue Reading
Nuance to acquire rival Vlingo to build a better Siri
Voice technology firm Nuance has agreed to buy its top rival Vlingo for an undisclosed sum, the companies announced this morning.
Nuance has been providing voice technology for years but has recently been getting a lot of attention for powering Siri, the well-advertised voice assistant on the iPhone 4S. Vlingo has been Nuance’s heated rival in the tech space, and interestingly enough, Nuance had sued Vlingo in court for patent infringement, while Vlingo bought its … Continue Reading
Netflix adds BBC Worldwide content for UK and Irish subscribers
Streaming video service Netflix has reached an agreement with BBC Worldwide to bring content to subscribers in Ireland and the UK, the company announced today.
In October, Netflix announced that it was launching its streaming video service to the UK and Ireland in early 2012. The BBC content deal is part of the company’s effort to compete with Amazon-owned competitor LoveFilm. The company also signed a multi-year licensing agreement with MGM Studios in November for … Continue Reading
How to keep the customers you already have
CRM, or customer relationship management, is at the top of everyone’s mind these days.
Just as important as attracting new business is developing and nurturing the relationships you already have. Doing so these days requires a sharp eye on the Internet (especially social channels) and equal parts patience and responsiveness.
Here are my top ten tips for keeping your customers satisfied, engaged and returning to do business with you again and again.
1. Let your … Continue Reading
The war of the smartphones: T-Mobile vs. the iPhone
This sponsored message is brought to you by T-Mobile.
Uber-awesome iPhone? Whatev. It seems like every six months there’s a new iPhone because Apple keeps “improving” the offerings and announcing their next baby. Time to step back from the hype and scratch below the surface of the smartphone war. There’s more out there than just the almighty fruit of the Apple tree.
T-Mobile’s fastest 4G Android-Powered smartphones do, in fact give the iPhone 4S a … Continue Reading
SweetLabs adds Kabam games to Pokki tool bar for app-like experience on desktops
SweetLabs is announcing today that Kabam’s social games will be available on its Pokki app platform, which delivers a one-click app experience to the desktop computer.
That means that Kabam games such as The Godfather: Five Families (pictured above) will show up on the Pokki icon bar, which integrates with the task bar at the bottom of the screen in Windows computers. So you’ll see an icon for the Kabam games and other apps that … Continue Reading
T-Mobile has “no Plan B” after AT&T deal falls apart
T-Mobile parent company Deutsche Telekom apparently put all of its eggs in AT&T’s basket. Now that AT&T’s $39 billion T-Mobile purchase has been squashed, thanks to pushback from the US government, DT is scrambling once again to find additional funds for its US carrier.
“There’s no Plan B,” T-Mobile spokesman Andreas Fuchs said, according to the New York Times. “We’re back at the starting point.”
Deutsche Telekom will receive $4 billion in spectrum and assets … Continue Reading
U.S. sees its heaviest online shopping week in history
The U.S. saw its heaviest week in online shopping ever, with consumers spending $6.3 billion in the week ended Dec. 18, up 14 percent from a year ago.
Market research firm comScore said that e-commerce spending to date for the first 48 days of the holiday season hit $32 billion, up 15 percent from the corresponding days last year. With two weeks to go, it’s already clear this will be the busiest holiday shopping season … Continue Reading
