Xobni launches an enterprise version of its improved email inbox
Xobni, the company that improves Microsoft’s email application Outlook by showing you more data about your contacts, is aiming for bigger and bigger customers — it just announced an enterprise version, which includes new features like integration with Salesforce.com’s sales application and Microsoft’s SharePoint collaboration technology.
After spending almost a year in beta testing, Xobni launched its first non-test version in March of this year, followed by Xobni Plus, a version that users paid for, which… Continue Reading
The battle for your address book: Will souped up contact apps monetize the data explosion?
[Editor's Note: Below, MobileBeat advisory board member Jason Devitt explains why we should care about new innovative address books. Not only are they key to a much better user experience, but they may greatly impact the way we pay to use our phones. He also looks at how different parties, from carriers to mobile startups, are approaching new address book services from opposing angles.]
There’s a battle brewing for control of your mobile phone’s address book…. Continue Reading
Xobni brings Facebook streams into Outlook
More and more communication is moving to social networking services like Facebook, Twitter, and MySpace. The migration is so pronounced that Facebook Era author Clara Shih and many others argue these sites are becoming our new email inboxes. But startup Xobni has been trying to move things in the other direction by using social data to improve email, and now it’s taking a new step in that direction with the incorporation of Facebook “streams” (previously known… Continue Reading
12seconds crowd-sources commercials for a business model on top of Twitter
While Twitter itself may not have a final business model yet, the hot thing these days is for third-parties to use the service to create their own business models. Short-form video startup 12seconds is the latest to do this, rolling its users’ likelihood of tweeting their videos into some corporate sponsorships.
Specifically, 12seconds is launching a new type of product called “12omercials.” These are essentially regular 12seconds video posts focused on specific products or causes. The… 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 making related… Continue Reading
Xobni raises $7M to battle Outlook’s email overload
Xobni, a plug-in that tries to improve email organization in Microsoft Outlook, has raised $7 million in a second round of venture financing.
Xobni’s most prominent feature is an inbox sidebar that shows profiles of people you’re corresponding with. By making related content (phone numbers, past messages, files exchanged, and more) immediately accessible, Xobni helps you avoid fruitless or time-consuming searches through giant piles of email; Microsoft founder Bill Gates (somewhat hyperbolically) called it “the next… Continue Reading
Microsoft’s BizSpark initiative offers free servers and software to startups
Updated
With an initiative called BizSpark, software giant Microsoft is making a new pitch for startups to run their business on Microsoft’s tools.
It’s an enticing free upfront three-year package, bundling together software, support and promotion for no upfront cost — requiring merely a $100 payment when you leave the program. It’s an aggressive move by Microsoft to ensure that technology startups at least consider using Microsoft’s tools when they are putting together their initial infrastructure —… Continue Reading
How big an opportunity is the external memory?
Before the advent of the written word, the story goes, humans had to either store all their memories in their own heads, or by oral tradition passed down through designated members of their tribes. With trade came notation of facts and figures, and later alphabets, books and libraries. With them came the modern brain, which treats recorded knowledge as an extension of itself.
Throughout these developments, previous generations have grumbled that each new advance leaves us… Continue Reading
Roundup: Executives leave, hackers move in, robots invade
Microsoft’s Kevin Johnson moves to Juniper Networks — Microsoft’s lead on the failed Yahoo acquisition has called it quits, heading for the top post at software and device firm Juniper Networks. Johnson was the president of Platforms and Services, which meant he oversaw most of Microsoft’s web initiatives.
Xobni’s first employee heads to the Xobtuo — Gabor Cselle, a vice president and the first official employee at email startup Xobni, has resigned, stating that he wants to start… Continue Reading
Roundup: Facebook’s big profile changes, MySpace misses revenue targets, and more
Big Facebook profile changes are coming, sure to impact developers — Facebook has been experimenting with a ground-up redesign of its user interface for months, that it hopes will improve communication among users. Now, the company is providing Facebook application developers with more details on the changes — and how those changes are going to affect applications. The new home page will have a tabbed interface for news feed, personal info, photos, and something tentatively called… Continue Reading
Xobni launches email organizer for Outlook
updated
Xobni, the San Francisco company we raved about last year that offers a way to better organize your email from Outlook, is launching publicly with its test version.
Its key feature is a sidebar in your inbox that shows you profiles of the people you’re corresponding with. It makes information easily accessible, such as their phone numbers, past correspondence and files you’ve exchanged with them. We mentioned last week its work to join Microsoft and Yahoo’s… Continue Reading
Email service Xobni to bring Yahoo and Microsoft together at last
Xobni, the email service whose fans include Bill Gates, is getting ready to expand beyond its current Microsoft Outlook-only product. That’s a smart and obvious move, and the startup’s new service is particularly juicy for Internet rumormongers –Xobni plans to add compatibility with Yahoo Mail, including features that let you use Yahoo Mail and Outlook together, according to TechCrunch.
This news fits in nicely with a couple of acquisition stories that have been floating around. First,… Continue Reading
Roundup: Six Apart launches ad network, Microsoft acquires Xobni…maybe and more
Here’s the latest action:
Six Apart evolves into an ad network — The blogging company behind MovableType, TypePad and Vox is offering a new advertising program which will give publishers more control over ads and revenue from their sites. The company claims its ad network will be better than the many others out there (with more popping up everyday) because it has the best experience with advertisements specific to blogs. The company also launched Six Apart Services… Continue Reading
Roundup: Amazon S3, VentureBeat go down, Montalvo’s mobile chip and more
1. Amazon S3, VentureBeat go down
2. Montalvo Systems vs. Intel, with chip for handheld devices
3. Fox Interactive to introduce “music Hulu for MySpace”
4. Yahoo’s board moving against Yang
5. Google searchers are wealthier, buy more online
6. Xobni hires Jeff Bonforte away from Yahoo, to be its new CEO
7. Stormfisher raises $350 million for biofuel project
8. Cable veteran Philip Balboni moving to online news site
9. Nielsen buys Audience Analytics
10. Air commuter conference coming up this spring
11. Report:… Continue Reading
Roundup: Floating data centers, Xobni, Jaffe, Lanzone, Revver & more
Here’s the latest action:
1. Data centers floating in the SF Bay?
2. CEO of search engine Ask goes to Redpoint
3. Xobni’s Outlook plugin enhanced
4. Microsoft dealmaker Bruce Jaffe to join startup life
5. Yahoo’s browser-based player now public
6. Readburner lets you see what’s shared on Google Reader
7. Nextreme keeps chips cool
8. Planting hairy plants may help prevent global warming?
9. Intel to launch WiMax PC card by June
10. LiveUniverse buying video sharing site Revver?
11. Terry Semel restarting investment… Continue Reading
Four startups ready to change the face of email
In ten years, an internet eternity, web-based email has only made token improvements, moving from Hotmail to Gmail. Meanwhile, instant messaging and social networks have rapidly developed.
Four new startups, all of which came out of secrecy this year, point toward a bright new future for email. These oddly-named saviors — Fuser, Orgoo, Xobni and Xoopit — have a simple goal. They want to centralize communication, and they want to give it structure and meaning.
Power users… Continue Reading
Email company Xobni launches, may steal Techcrunch prize
(Update: CEO Matt Brezina tell us the response has been so strong that he’s closing open access and will make it invite-only this evening.)
Xobni Insight, a new email service that sits on top of your Outlook, launches today at Techcrunch40.
It’s extremely useful and we’ll make a bet now it will win the show here, after the two-day competition between 40 companies finishes (we’ve yet to see half the companies, but it blows away the competition… Continue Reading
Roundup: Singularity hype, Xobni, Rapleaf selling your data, Vudu, Seedcamp and more
Here’s the latest action:
Singularity Institute, the quirky group that thinks machines will take over – Peter Thiel, the former CEO of PayPal, and leader of the Founders Fund, graces the pages of the Mercury News and the SF Chron today with his views about how machines are likely to be directing human affairs sometime in the future, possibly within 30 years. The Merc asks why he’s a lead backer of the institute. Thiel responds: Science… Continue Reading
Xobni launches “email me instead” on Facebook
Xobni, a company working in stealth mode with the intriguing claim “we are going to increase your email happiness factor by 98%,” may have done so for Facebook users.
“Email me instead” allows you to send Facebook messages directly to people’s inboxes, saving the extra step of having to go into Facebook in order to read them.
The company has more here.
Xobni (”inbox” spelled backwards) provides data on things like how much time you spend on email,… Continue Reading
Xobni raises $4.26M to let you improve your email habits
Xobni, a San Francisco company that seeks to improve your productivity in email usage, has raised $4.26 million in a first round of funding from Khosla Ventures, according to PE Wire, citing regulatory filings.
Xobni is yet to launch. Its name is “inbox” spelled backwards, referring to the company’s mission of letting users take control of their inbox — it provides data on things like how much time spend on email, how long it takes for… Continue Reading