Tinder Plus Will Launch On Monday

Tinder Plus, the dating app’s first step into the wonderful world of freemium monetization, will launch on Monday for $9.99, according to sources familiar with the matter.

Tinder Plus includes at least one highly requested feature and a few others that are meant to add broader functionality to the service, which essentially boils down the usual online dating experience into a simple location-based ‘hot or not’. Tinder has since added features meant to boost engagement, such as Tinder Moments (photo messages sent to all a user’s matches), but this is the first time Tinder has asked its users to start paying for a product.

Tinder has been testing pricing on the app in a number of markets over the past few months, with prices ranging from $.99 all the way up to $19.99/month. Though sources say that pricing will vary from market to market, they also say that they expect the service to hit the U.S. market at a price under $10.

So what will a Tinder Plus subscription do to up your smartphone-based dating game?

The most attractive and highly requested feature on Tinder Plus is the Rewind function, which lets users go back on the very last person they swiped left on. Instead of losing them forever, you can pay a little extra to bring them back and get a second look.

Tinder Plus also includes a Passport feature, letting users search for matches anywhere in the world instead of being locked into their actual location.

1. 
   

   Photo Feb 28, 6 16 23 PM

   
   


2. 
   

   Photo Feb 28, 6 16 49 PM

   
   


3. 
   

   Screenshot 2015-02-28 18.18.40

   
   

But perhaps more interesting, from a business standpoint, is the fact that Tinder Plus will also remove ads from the network. That’s right. Get ready to see some good old fashioned native ads as you scope the virtual watering hole for suitors. Re/code reports that Tinder is already underway working on an ad product.

It will not be included with the initial launch of Tinder Plus, but will launch in March, sources say. Tinder has a unique opportunity to natively advertise at a potentially high conversion rate.

Take, Uber, for example. Uber has been talking to various dating apps with the hope to get a direct integration, and has already taken the step to hook up with Hinge as part of its API launch in August, 2014. Uber continues to have discussions with dating apps, including Tinder, about offering an actionable “next step” in the online romantic process.

But Uber is one of many services that could offer users’ real-life options other than “Wanna meet?”

Back in January, Tinder acquired an ephemeral messenger called Tappy for an undisclosed sum. Though Tappy’s product was very similar to Tinder Moments, Re/code reports that Tappy’s Brian Norgard is heading up Advertising at Tinder. This matches up with comments made by Sean Rad earlier this year:

We’re very good at connecting people, but there’s this ‘what happens after that?’ moment that we want to improve. We not only want to get better at the way we use criteria to connect people, but we want to broaden the reasons for connecting in the first place. The Tappy team will help us tackle both fronts, the pre-match experience of creating that first connection and the post-match experience of communicating with that person.

Tinder has the opportunity to serve local ads for bars, restaurants, coffee shops each time a user makes a match. Given the nature of Tinder itself — where the premise is to browse, then chat, then potentially meet — these ads may be more relevant and effectual than we’d expect, thanks to location and time and even intent based on the context.

But that’s just one type of new advertising Tinder could potentially introduce. The company also has the opportunity to serve up ads the same way they serve potential matches, asking users to swipe right or left to get better romantic matches or even unlock deals.

Of course, Tinder is still in the process of building out those relationships and we won’t know exactly what Tinder ads will look like until they arrive later in March.

from TechCrunch http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/03wKwvoqtDU/

via IFTTT

Beware The Pretty People

The tech industry used to be home to a disproportionate number of misfits and weirdos. Geeks. Nerds. People who needed to know how machines worked; needed to take them apart, make them better, and put them back together again. People who existed a little apart from society’s established hierarchy … and often saw that hierarchy as another machine to be deconstructed and improved.

That is no longer the case. Now that technology is the dominant cultural and economic force of our time, and startup execs have become rock stars, the establishment is flocking to the tech industry. Rap stars and movie stars want to be tech investors. “Tech firms and consultants both appeal to the growing number of students who want to gain the right experience to start their own business,” observes The Economist. “Elite Grads in Business Flock to Tech,” concurs the Wall Street Journal.

Tech is becoming the finishing school and springboard for the upper-middle-class, the way law and finance were a decade ago. Now that the tech industry is cool, the pretty people are taking over, flooding out of top-tier universities with MBAs and social graces and carefully coiffed hair, shouldering the misfits and weirdos out of the way. And often, paradoxically, despite their privileged backgrounds, they have much less appetite for risk.

Oh, many pay lip service to being weird and different. Our whole culture does these days —

— as long as you’re not dangerously weird; as long as you’re not a genuine rebel; as long as you don’t actually try to challenge anything important. The establishment scions pouring into tech take on the trappings of subversion, while remaining fundamentally conformist. Meanwhile, rampant success inevitably causes the former tech counterculture to morph into posturing “Prada revolutionaries,” as Klint Finley puts it.

There was a tech counterculture, and it mattered. The Internet didn’t have to be so free and open. Governments have been trying to impose their demands on it for many years. Consider the long-ago attempts to impose bizarre, unworkable standards such as X.400 instead of the simple email addresses we still use. Consider the crypto wars of the 1990s, the attempted crippling of SSL, and the prosecution of Phil Zimmermann. But the tech industry ignored, supplanted, and/or fought back — and won — against these attempts.

To be fair, it’s still doing that today. The post-Snowden growth in end-to-end encryption is heartening. Everyone fought hard for net neutrality, and won. But these aren’t examples of an underdog fighting back; these are examples of a new giant protecting its turf. Meanwhile, as Dan Gillmor says in Why I’m Saying Goodbye to Apple, Google and Microsoft, “We are losing control over the tools that once promised equal opportunity in speech and innovation—and this has to stop.”

It seems to me that as the establishment slowly infects and merges with the tech industry, and vice versa, the people who actually do think differently–“the misfits, the rebels, the troublemakers”–will be, and are being, pushed out. (In some cases simply priced out.) It’s all too easy to imagine the American tech industry in ten years as a new Wall Street, a giant machine built largely to siphon yet more power and privilege up to people who already have too much.

This is why I like Bitcoin: say what you like about it, such as that you want it to “die in a fire” because it’s a libertarian conspiracy, it is genuinely weird, disruptive, and potentially dangerous to the status quo. This is why I have a soft spot for Travis Kalanick: for all of Uber’s flaws, someone needed to tear down the walls of the established taxi cartels.

Technology is, indisputably, the premier force for change in the world today. Every startup is an engine of change, and a potentially enormously powerful one. But we still tend to measure their success wholly in terms of millions raised, billions in valuation, revenues, profits, and timeline to IPO. That’s not genuinely subversive. That’s not truly disruptive. That’s establishment talk.

“We live in capitalism. Its power seems inescapable. But then, so did the divine right of kings,” said the great Ursula Le Guin at the National Book Awards.

I believe capitalism is excellent … up to a point. (I don’t believe anyone who has travelled in the developing world as much as I have can reasonably think otherwise.) But is that inflection point at which capitalism offers diminishing returns still ahead of us, here in the rich world? Will we live in capitalism (as we know it) forever? It seems unlikely.

While we do, though, we need the weirdos, the rebels, the counterculture, to be gathering together and founding companies. Because while we live in capitalism, no art collective, no protest, will be as effective an engine of change as a successful startup.

What’s more, there has never been a better time to try to found a genuinely subversive company than right now. Consider Y Combinator’s new openness to not-for-profit startups. Consider the remarkable recipient list of Reddit Donate. It seems to me that there is a hunger for real change out there. A huge audience. You might even call it a market.

Capitalism won’t be violently overthrown. Nor should it be. Whatever system(s) may one day supplant it will instead grow quietly in the shadows of its tallest towers, and coexist for years. But in order for that to happen, I believe we need our true iconoclasts, dangerous freethinkers, and weird subversives to flock to the tech industry — rather than recoil from it in disgust, now that the pretty people have invaded.

from TechCrunch http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/glIX8iBYc5Q/

via IFTTT

Chamath Palihapitiya’s Social+Capital Raising $450M For New Fund, Filing Shows

Social+Capital Partnership, the investment firm founded by former Facebook executive Chamath Palihapitiya, is raising $450 million for its third fund, dubbed “Social Capital Partnership III, L.P.,” according to regulatory documents filed today.

The new fund represents a significant boost in size from Social+Capital’s second fund, which targeted a $325 million raise beginning in early 2013. Social+Capital’s first fund, which began raising in 2011, was $275 million in size.

It’s important to note that Social Capital Partnership III seems to be in the initial stages of fundraising: While the offering amount is pegged at $450 million, zero dollars worth of stock have been sold as of today, the filing states.

Historically, Social+Capital has targeted a range of investments, with an especially notable focus on companies in the healthcare, education, and financial tech spaces. Its portfolio includes Slack, Wealthfront, OneLogin, and Ringly, to name a few.

from TechCrunch http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/BTAxCQKPw9M/

via IFTTT

Vimeo for iOS can now stream to your Chromecast

Google’s Chromecast is useful, but only insofar as applications actually support it. Today Vimeo is finally adding itself to the Chromecast party, but its currently an iOS-only affair.

In order to start streaming, just open a video in fullscreen mode and tap on the Chromecast icon. Once you begin,, you can browse other content on the app while the video plays, should you want to add more content to your queue.

No word on Android support yet, but Vimeo says it’s working on bringing Chromecast streaming to additional devices in the future.

You can download the update from the iOS App Store today.

➤ Vimeo Blog via VentureBeat

from The Next Web http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheNextWeb/~3/e1haaNsARTs/

via IFTTT

Making Chips Beyond 14nm

One of the big things at this week's International Solid States Circuits Conference (ISSCC) was a discussion of how the industry will create processors at 10nm and below, and whether doing so will be cost effective.

Intel Senior Fellow Mark Bohr gave a highly covered talk on a panel where he reiterated Intel's belief that Moore's Law – the concept that chip density can double in each succeeding generation – is continuing. As Intel has said before, Bohr said he believes it can manufacture chips at 10nm and even 7nm using existing lithography tools, though it would certainly like to have extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography tools ready to go for 7nm.

His big point was that continuing scaling always has required new innovations in processes and design (such as the introduction of copper connections, strained silicon, high-K/metal gate, and FinFET technology), and that further innovation will be necessary to continue the scaling to 10 and 7nm and below. But he did not give any new details as to what changes to process, materials, or structures Intel will be using on the new nodes.

Contrary to some published reports, Bohr did not actually confirm that Intel will be shipping 10nm parts in 2016. (Given that Intel shipped its first 14nm chips at the end of 2014, shipping 10nm next year would match the typical two-year cadence of process nodes; when I asked Intel CEO Brian Krzanich whether the two-year cadence will continue, he said that Intel believed it could.) Intel's 14nm process ramped slower than expected, and while Bohr said its 10nm pilot line is showing a 50 percent improvement in throughput compared to where 14nm was at the same point in its progress, the company doesn't want to make a firm commitment.

Bohr was clear that he expected that not only will chip scaling continue, but that while the cost of making each wafer will continue to rise, increasing density of transistors will be enough so that Intel's manufacturing cost per transistor will continue to decline enough to make it worthwhile to continue scaling. He's said this before, but it contrasts with some other companies that have been more skeptical.

He pointed out that the history of chip design includes more and more integration, with modern System-on-Chip (SoC) designs now integrating things such as different levels of power, analog components, and high-voltage input-output systems. The future may lend itself to 2.5D chips (where separate dies are connected through an internal bus on the package) or even 3D chips (where through-silicon vias or TSVs connect multiple chip dies.) He said such systems will be good for system integration, but poor for low cost.

Bohr said 3D chips with TSVs don't really work for high-performance CPUs because you can't get sufficient TSV density or deal with the thermal issues, and that even on mobile SoCs, where it is technically more feasible, it hasn't really been used yet because it adds too much cost.

Other vendors had different perspectives, as you might expect.

Kinam Kim, president of Samsung Electronics pointed out that density – the number of transistors per chip area – has continued to increase.

But he also pointed out that we are approaching a theoretical limit at 1.5nm, and that with EUV combined with quadruple pattern printing, it is theoretically possible to get to 3.25nm. But he expected that to get there, the industry will need new tools, structures, and materials.

For instance, he suggested Samsung might move its logic production from FinFETs (which Intel started producing a few years ago, and Samsung just started shipping) to gate-all-around and Nanowire contacts around 7nm, followed by tunnel FETs. At that point, the company is considering new materials as well. He noted that DRAM and NAND technology already includes many new features, including 3D manufacturing.

While leading foundry TSMC didn't give a specific technology presentation, it too is working on new materials and structures as it readies development of its 16nm manufacturing this year, and future nodes to come.

I was particularly interested in a somewhat different view of where the industry was heading given by Sehat Sutardja, CEO of Marvell Technology Group.

He complained that the cost of creating a "mask" (the template for creating a chip) was more than doubling each generation, and that at current rates, it could get up to $10 million by 2018. As a result of these mask costs and R&D, he said, making an SoC on the current FinFET technology only makes sense if the total lifetime volume of the chip will be very large – 25 million units or more. Yet the market is so fragmented, it is hard for most companies to have a large enough volume.

Sutardja said that current mobile SoCs have "too much integration for our own good," noting how many of the features that are integrated into a mobile chip (such as the Southbridge for I/O connections, connectivity options for Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, and the modem) are still not integrated into desktop and laptop processors.

Instead, he proposed the industry move to what he called MoChi (for Modular Chip), which will involve a Lego-like concept of plugging together individual components into a "virtual SoC." This, he said, will allow a separation of compute and non-compute function, with the CPU and GPU functions produced on the most advanced nodes, and other functions at different, less expensive nodes. These components will be connected via an interconnect that will be an extension of the AXI bus. It's an interesting idea, particularly for the smaller vendors, though a lot of companies will probably need to get on board to make this a viable standard.

Getting to newer and better chips has never been easy, but it seems harder now than it has been, and certainly more expensive. The result could be fewer competitors and longer time between nodes, but it still appears that chip scaling will continue.

from PCMag.com Breaking News http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ziffdavis/pcmag/breakingnews/~3/Xl_isFCPIwI/0,2817,2477474,00.asp

via IFTTT

The FCC on Net Neutrality: Be Careful What You Wish For

Yesterday's decision by the FCC to regulate Internet providers as common carriers is being hailed as a victory by most of the groups supporting net neutrality, and as a loss by the cable and telecommunications companies that will now be regulated. But as much as I back the concept of net neutrality – the idea that Internet providers shouldn't discriminate among content providers – I worry that we really don't know where these changes will lead to, and that there are likely to be unintended consequences that we can't predict.

The actual ruling, which came on a 3-2 partisan vote, classifies the Internet providers as a telecommunications service under Title II of the Communications Act, as opposed to an information service. The FCC has promised to "forebear" many of the regulatory powers it would have under that act, but it hasn't yet published the final ruling, so many of the details remain unknown.

The ruling follows years of debate about net neutrality. The concept seems obvious to me – if I subscribe to an Internet provider, I want to be able to get to all of the Internet content equally, at the speed I'm paying for. And while I understand the reason why some providers like the concept of "paid prioritization" – where services like Netflix pay an Internet provider such as Comcast extra to make sure their content gets delivered quickly - I can see how if this practice becomes commonplace, the Internet sites that can't afford to pay for this would be relegated to the "slow lane." The arguments by smaller firms such as Etsy that this would hurt their businesses and prevent new ones from being started make a lot of sense to me.

The FCC has tried to address this before, going back to Comcast's attempt to slow down connections to peer-to-peer sites such as BitTorrent. In 2010, the FCC passed rules that required transparency, no blocking, and no "unreasonable discrimination" in providing access to web sites. Verizon led an appeal of that ruling, and last January, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals agreed that the FCC didn't have the authority to impose those rules on services it hadn't classified as telecommunications service.

While the Internet providers took that as a win, yesterday's ruling reclassifying them so they can be more tightly regulated was an unforeseen consequence. Indeed, for years, FCC members stated they didn't want to reclassify Internet providers, but it seems like the court ruling gave them little other choice. Of course, the Internet providers will appeal this ruling, as well, and likely work with their supporters in Congress to get the laws changed.

In the meantime, the advocates of net neutrality mostly seem overjoyed with the ruling. But I worry that they, too, should be wary of unintended consequences.

Most advocates of net neutrality, including me, would also favor very little regulation on the Internet. But the simple act of reclassification means that the FCC is asserting it has the power to regulate the Internet in all sorts of ways, even if it is promising to forebear new regulations regarding pricing, taxes, and fees. There's no guarantee that future commissions won't change their minds. And while the First Amendment generally provides protection for speech in this country, there are those who argue that providers should block sites that support terrorist groups or that provide pornography. Once the FCC has the right to regulate the Internet, it's hard to draw a firm line.

One reason that net neutrality is so important is because we have so few options in broadband providers. While there are a few places with fiber connections available through Google or phone companies, (and the FCC also seems to be pushing for municipal broadband), most of us have only one place to get a high-speed broadband connection: our local cable companies. And in most cases, it was regulation that established the local cable monopolies in the first place.

Another consequence of tighter U.S. regulation of the Internet is that it will make it harder for the government to argue against further Internet regulations in other countries. Having a global Internet where everyone can talk to everyone, with relatively few rules, has been a huge benefit. I'm worried we're moving slowly towards a more fragmented Internet, with each country or region having its own set of rules.

I would have preferred a middle ground here, with Congress and the administration agreeing to laws that would have enabled the FCC to enforce net neutrality rules without reclassifying Internet service. It seems that it would have been a good time to look at the overall Telecommunications Act, which hasn't been updated since 1996, before most of today's Internet sites even existed and long before we had fast wireless data. But partisans on both sides dug in their heels to the point that no legislation could move forward. This led directly to yesterday's ruling, with the prospect for more appeals and regulations that could change dramatically depending on who controls the FCC. To both sides I say: be careful what you wish for. You may get it, and find the consequences aren't what you expect.

For more, check out 5 Things You Need to Know About the FCC's Net Neutrality Plan.

from PCMag.com Breaking News http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ziffdavis/pcmag/breakingnews/~3/i3Bx_3Q9Uk8/0,2817,2477476,00.asp

via IFTTT

Boostcase For iPhone 6 Review: Modular Power Helps Save Face

The iPhone 6 charging cases are arriving, and Boostcase has returned with its modular design, offering additional battery life when you want it, and a slim protective shell when you don’t. It’s a clever take on the usual static bulky mass, and it does what it promises to, extending your device’s battery life by a non-trivial amount for those times when you need your smartphone to outlast a normal day’s worth of use.

Basics

• Six color options


• Two-piece design


• 2700mAh battery more than doubles iPhone 6 life


• LED strip charge indicator


• Pass through charging via micro USB


• MSRP: $99.95


• Product info page

Pros

Cons

• LED charge indicator hard to translate

Design

Boostcase is a product focused on modularity, which means that it hews pretty close to the standard sizeable lump when it comes to its battery case design, but there’s a twist in that your iPhone can also slide out of said case wearing only a close-fitting shell, with a design on the back that features some cut-out holes to add some stylistic flair to its trademark locking system. The docking design serves both form and function, giving you a better looking option without a complicated and cumbersome case removal process for the backup battery itself.

1. 
   

   IMG_8360

   
   


2. 
   

   IMG_8361

   
   


3. 
   

   IMG_8359

   
   


4. 
   

   IMG_8357

   
   


5. 
   

   IMG_8355

   
   


6. 
   

   IMG_8362

   
   

The version I reviewed featured the matte black finish, which is a good standard look for people with more conservative tastes in accessories. The cutouts provide access to the camera, power and volume buttons and speakers/headphone/Lightning jack, and when you plug the slim case into the battery there are speaker redirect ports so that you don’t lose sound. When the cases are combined, the Boostcase feels very solid, as if it was one piece, but it also loses most of its design originality – at a glance, most would probably just assume you had a Mophie or something generic.

Still, the battery portion is mostly functional, so that’s not really a hit against it. The bottom of the device features a physical switch for turning the flow of power on and off, and there’s also an LED battery indicator to tell you how much charge is left. Unlike on competing devices, such as the Mophie series, this light is a continuous strip that actually wraps around the bottom edge of the device. While some may appreciate the unique design, I found myself missing the series of discrete LEDs used by others, since it provides a much easier way to accurately assess how much charge you have left in the tank at a glance.

Overall, though, the modularity of the Boostcase design makes up for the LED quibble, leaving this as one of the best options out there in terms of looks for those who don’t want to sacrifice fashion for the sake of power.

Performance

The Boostcase for iPhone 6 does indeed extend the life of your device considerably, and in my testing has more than doubled my usual usage time before requiring a charge. I’ve repeatedly managed to get more than two days of iPhone time without having to plug in, and I find that using it switched on even when the iPhone’s fully charged to continually provide a top-off adds maximizes your practical use time.

Boostcase’s modular snap-in design is sometimes a bit too good at keeping the iPhone 6 with the slim case in place – it requires a good bit of elbow grease to get it to slide out. This is mostly to the credit of the design, however, since it means there’s no wiggle at all between the two components, and no danger that the top portion will separate accidentally.

The iPhone 6 Plus’ best feature might be its extensive battery life, but with the Boostcase, you get very similar performance, with the accessory possibly helping the iPhone 6 edge out its larger sibling. I’m not a case fan in general, but in situations where extra power is needed, I appreciate having the option to pare down to something much sleeker in a pinch.

Bottom Line

The Boostcase for iPhone 6 is a smart take on the standard battery backup accessory design, with a unique feature that’s actually practical and well-executed. If you’re looking for spare juice, there are definitely cheaper options out there, including standalone external battery packs, but the Boostcase has MFI certification from Apple, and modularity that doesn’t altogether sacrifice the benefits of a slim iPhone design for spare power.

from TechCrunch http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/96YOFGOQdns/

via IFTTT

Swiss Watch Makers Announce An Activity Tracking System Designed To Hide Inside Fancy Watches

If you’ve been wondering how Switzerland was going to react to the coming of the Apple Watch, ponder no more: two smaller luxury watch companies, Alpina and Frederique Constant, have added electronic components to otherwise staid analog watches, essentially turning a fancy timepiece into a sort of mechanical Fitbit.

The platform, called Manufacture Modules Technologies or MMT, is embedded inside Swiss-made cases and powers the hour and minute hands as well as, in the current version, a subdial that tracks your activity. The crown on the side of the watch is actually a pusher and everything is set from your smartphone rather than by turning the crown. The internal battery lasts two years and syncs via Bluetooth. The modules are made by MotionX, a sensor company.

A separate app shows your health data as you saunter from meeting to meeting or nibble a madeleine.

The central face tells the accurate, quartz time while the subface can display various pieces of data. In its current incarnation the system is basically an activity tracker similar to the Withings Activité. The functionality has been simplified so that companies are able to hide the complexity behind a traditional dial, a feature that should please Luddite watch lovers.

But what about the rest of us? This solution is a far cry from the recharge-once-a-day smartphone expanders available for Android and iOS and the decision to avoid a on-wrist screen altogether is a bold one. As Ariel Adams at ABlogToWatch notes, “The question MMT is trying to answer is how the traditional watch industry will react to timepieces no longer being about only tradition, luxury, and style, but also (once again), functionality.” This attempts to meld style with function and I’m not quite sure it succeeds.

This will be a period of experimentation (and failure) for the Swiss watch industry. Alpina and Frederique-Constant are both owned by innovator Peter Stas and they are decidedly lower on the haute horology food chain than, say, a Patek Philippe or Rolex, allowing them a bit of room to try new things. However, these more expensive watches – expect them to cost in the $2,000 range or more – are a hard sell in the face of $200 activity wearables that the chic and traditional can hide under one French cuff while they burnish a mechanical watch with the other.

Furthermore, companies like Kairos and Montblanc are adding smart features to your band, allowing you to have your almond financier and eat it too.

This space is exploding and the fact that a traditionally mechanical watchmaker is embracing the equivalent of a microchip attached to a big battery is telling. While MMT is decidedly not for everyone, I wouldn’t discount interest just yet. There is still a subset of watch buyer out there that looks in disgust at the Apple Watch and is still wary of wearables. The overlap of that Venn diagram is still bracingly small but, to paraphrase P.T. Barnum, there’s a watch lover born every minute.

via ABlogToWatch

from TechCrunch http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/_hmsPN530Y8/

via IFTTT

A Chat With The Researcher Who Found Online Bystanders Won’t Stop Bullying

Kelly Dillon, a Doctoral Candidate at the Ohio State University School of Communication, found that people generally won’t act when the see someone bullied online. This news, while not surprising to anyone with a passing interest in technology, is worrying. In short, if you’re bullied online, don’t expect help.

I asked Dillon to clarify a few of her points including sample size and the generality of her research. More important, we talked a bit about how the study was conducted and what it really means to those of us who spend our time online.

---

TC: You studied a little over 200 students. What would happen if you increased the sample size?

Dillon: Scientifically, since I met the statistical threshold, we would expect the numbers to remain the same. I’m not certain of your comfort with statistical power, but these data would not have been published if I hadn’t collected enough data from enough participants. I actually have a second study I am currently writing up for publication, and the trends, results, and assumptions remain true with additional participants in a similar design. In short (without nerd speak), I would expect the results to be the same. These data are also on par with offline bystander intervention that have been replicated over and over again since the 1970s. Even television programs like What Would You Do? and Pranksters have replicated similar data in field experiments.

TC: What kind of bullying did you display?

Dillon: The attached manuscript (below) may describe the design a little better for you, but in order for it to be considered bullying (per experts) behaviors must be repetitive, intentional, and include a power imbalance. The bully was a research assistant who was supposed to help research participants. The victim was a research participant. This establishes the power imbalance. In real-life cyberbullying, this power imbalance is most likely social and the bullying can either establish this imbalance or perpetuate it. The cyberbully in my experiment was rude, impolite, and increasingly aggressive in their communication not once, but twice during the experiment (about 5min apart). This meets the intentional and repetitive thresholds. The research “participant” had a problem answering a question on a survey. The “bully” then got frustrated with the type of question, the participant’s lack of progress, called them “stupid” and questioned “how did you get into college.” Finally, the “bully” told them “I’m not trained to babysit subjects” and to figure it out themselves. It’s fairly mild as far as cyberbullying goes, which matches with the rates of intervention in offline studies (from the 70s, again). But, given it is online, we don’t have those non-verbal cues to help us understand how severe something is.

From the manuscript:

Each participant was lead to believe they would be piloting a new online support chat feature of the server used for online research surveys and studies. The purpose of this pilot was to test usability and whether undergraduate research participants would utilize such a support feature. A research assistant was available in the chat room for assistance with surveys while participants completed a series of personality assessments to test any interference with the chat application. All were told the research assistants (lead and chat monitor) involved in the experiment were receiving course credit for their work, and participant evaluations at the conclusion of the experiment would be sent direction the principal investigator as part of their grade.

At the 1/3, 2/3, and end survey points, participants were presented on-screen within the survey to write as such in the chat- room. These check-ins ensured the chat window remained on the screen so participants would have at least peripheral opportunities to see the conversations. A small sample of participants piloted the study without these prompts to observe how users interacted with this chat room (n = 15). During the debriefing, participants were asked how they interacted with the chatroom, and 87% (n = 13) reported they minimized the chatroom because it was “distracting.” Therefore, the prompts were kept in the experimental design to ensure the chatroom was kept visible.

The cyberbullying of the ‘other participant’ began after 3 min. The confederate stated difficulty with a survey question, which elicited a response from the chat monitor (bully). The conversation continued with the chat monitor answering the confederate’s questions in an increasingly aggressive manner. The chat monitor concluded the conversation with an insulting remark and wrote, “figure it out yourself.” At no point in the experiment did the confederate victim address the rudeness. After an additional three minutes had passed, the ‘other participant’ had a different problem, and the harassment again. Throughout the experiment, the confederate posted benchmarks within 2 min of the participants’ benchmarks to continue the ruse that each ‘participant’ was completing the same questions. After all data were collected, all partic- ipants were thoroughly debriefed. All participants provided informed consent prior to participating. All procedures first approved by the Institutional Review Board per Human Subjects Guidelines.

TC: What does this study say about general Internet use?

Dillon: While this wasn’t a main concern or goal of the study at hand, as a researcher I can try to make some connections. These data tell me most people notice when things are turning negative, which is a good thing. We cannot help change an environment without noticing what is wrong in it (or if something needs changing). The majority of individuals did not act directly, but they acted behind the scenes. This tells me more people, nearly 7 out of 10 people, wanted to help someone they didn’t know when they were being harassed. Said otherwise, the normative response was “this isn’t okay,” which is great as an internet user myself. It also says, most individuals, when they see something, want to do something, and search for indirect ways to do that something. Internet applications, platforms, or administrators, then, need to help users find ways to indirectly intervene. Are report buttons noticeable? Do people feel blocking or reporting to admins work? Dislike or down-votes are considered indirect interventions. Making these available will help others see what types of behaviors aren’t okay, and maybe to avoid doing those things.

These data also tell us that cyberbystanders prefer to remain anonymous in their intervention (direct intervention was still anonymous in my experiments, but they were still identifiable in the chat room themselves). The same anonymity or deindividuation of the internet that protects cyberbullies, trolls, flamers, or harassers can be used to help cyberbystanders intervene. Direct intervention may be most effective, but it’s not likely, at least not according to my data. Helping users identify ways they can intervene while remaining socially safe will help more individuals do more.

from TechCrunch http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/3ZxoH956BRY/

via IFTTT

TalkTalk’s systems breached, subscribers’ info stolen and used in scams

UK-based phone, TV and broadband service provider TalkTalk confirmed today that its networks were breached last December. The company said that users’ personal data — including names, addresses, phone numbers and TalkTalk account numbers — was stolen.

A TalkTalk spokesperson said:

“At the end of last year, we saw an increase in malicious scammers preying on our customers. In a small number of cases, customers told us that the criminals were quoting their TalkTalk account number as well as their phone number.

As part of our ongoing approach to security we continually test our systems and processes and following further investigation into these reports, we have now become aware that some limited, non-sensitive information about some customers could have been illegally accessed in violation of our security procedures.

We are aware of a small, but nonetheless significant, number of customers who have been directly targeted by these criminals and we have been supporting them directly.

We want to reassure customers that no sensitive information like bank account details has been illegally accessed, and TalkTalk Business customers are not affected.”

The stolen information was used in several cases by scammers to secure additional customer details like bank account and credit card numbers, and to steal considerable sums of money as well, according to The Guardian.

The company is about three months late in admitting that it suffered a breach, doing so only after customers complained on its online forums about fraudulent calls from scammers claiming to represent TalkTalk.

The Guardian had reported a possible hack at one of TalkTalk’s Indian call centers last December. The company said it was investigating the issue and confirmed that customers were complaining about cases of fraud.

TalkTalk says it has “taken serious steps to remedy this and we are continuing to work with the ICO.”

➤ TalkTalk admits attackers stole customers’ personal details [Engadget]

Image credit: Shutterstock

from The Next Web http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheNextWeb/~3/Peh5iJhbI0I/

via IFTTT

LeadDesk , A SaaS Call Center Startup, Raises €5.5M In Series A Funding

LeadDesk, the Finland-based cloud call center software company, has announced its first funding led by Dawn Capital with participation from public fund, Finnish Industry Investment. This investment round is designed to drive LeadDesk’s growth in European markets with particular focus on UK/Ireland, Spain, and the Benelux region.

If you have not heard of them before it’s because it first appeared in 2010, and has become a main player in outbound call centers in Europe. It’s now expanding into cloud SaaS, operator services and integrated contacts data services.

LeadDesk is a cloud-based SaaS platform. It’s customers are internal and outsourced call centers, as well as buyers of call center services. It’s focused on the European outbound market, which has approximately one million contact center agents.

from TechCrunch http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/sdK0PKoIuck/

via IFTTT

Apple is being sued again by the same company that got half a billion dollars in its last lawsuit

Apple is being sued for the second time by Texas-based patent holder Smartflash LLC for infringing the same patents brought up in the last case. The difference this time around is that it involves the use of Smartflash’s technology in newer devices launched after the original case went to trial, reports Reuters.

The new complaint was filed on Wednesday in the same court in the city of Tyler, where Apple was ordered to pay nearly $533 million for infringing Smartflash’s patents. The company claims that the previous case did not cover Apple’s use of its technology in recent devices like the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus, as well as the iPad Air 2.

While its previous payout may seem like chump change for Apple — which is currently worth nearly $700 billion — the company believes that current laws allow patent holders to profit without having to build and ship products, and that it’s high time the patent system saw reform.

We’ve contacted Apple for comment on the latest case and will update this post when we hear back.

➤ Apple faces second suit from victorious patent firm [Reuters]

Image credit: Laineema

from The Next Web http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheNextWeb/~3/lIZfX1uLovY/

via IFTTT

Microsoft launches an Android tablet keyboard for Excel users

Microsoft Garage, the company’s project to surface tech experiments by its employees, has unveiled yet another Android app. This time around, it’s a keyboard optimized for use with Microsoft Excel on tablets.

The layout in Keyboard for Excel includes the 10-key numpad that is common on full-size keyboards and is essential for entering numerical data quickly. It also features a Tab button for navigating across columns, as well as prominent buttons with frequently used Excel operators.

The keyboard lacks a few features we now take for granted, such as auto-correction and gesture-based typing. Plus, it only works on tablets — and for some reason, the Nexus 7 isn’t supported.

This is the project’s fourth Android release. Microsoft Garage has previously released a couple of lock screen replacements for phones, as well as a Bing search app for Android Wear.

➤ Keyboard for Excel [Android]

from The Next Web http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheNextWeb/~3/ljlYBr01CLE/

via IFTTT

Facebook now allows custom gender options

Facebook now allows its users to enter any term they want to describe their gender, and also indicate how they’d like to be addressed.

The social network previously offered a list of gender identities to choose from, but now allows users to add their own preferred terms.

A statement from Facebook Diversity explains, “We recognize that some people face challenges sharing their true gender identity with others, and this setting gives people the ability to express themselves in an authentic way.”

The new option is available to everyone who uses Facebook in US English. To change it, visit your own page, click the Update Info button near bottom right of your cover photo and then click Contact and Basic Info and locate the Gender field.

➤ Facebook Diversity [via Mashable]

from The Next Web http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheNextWeb/~3/7dUgYQu7Yog/

via IFTTT

Grofers, An On-Demand Delivery Service For Indian Cities, Raises $10M From Sequoia And Tiger Global

Large marketplaces like Flipkart, Snapdeal, and Amazon are benefitting as India turns into one of the world’s fastest-growing e-commerce markets, but many brick-and-mortar stores are missing out on the boom. A startup called Grofers wants to help local shops by not only providing them with a mobile platform for their inventory, but also facilitating on-demand delivery within 90 minutes.

Grofers’ business strategy is ambitious, but the startup just got a vote of confidence in the form of a $10 million series A round led by Sequoia Capital (a returning investor) and Tiger Global. This brings its total raised so far to $10.5 million.

Co-founder Albinder Dhindsa tells TechCrunch that the capital will allow the service, which is currently available in Delhi and Mumbai, to expand into more cities, with Bangalore first on the list. Grofers will also improve its technology to make it easier for merchants to upload and manage their goods.

Dhindsa says Grofers takes the business model used by restaurant-delivery apps, a fast-growing and competitive sector in India, and applies it to other businesses. The company currently focuses on grocery stores, bakeries, and fresh produce, and plans to add other products, like electrical appliances, soon. While there are other online grocery stores, like BigBasket.com, Grofers’ main value proposition is its promise of on-demand deliveries, which are carried out by 200 staffers (the company will hire more people as it expands).

The Gurgaon-based company, which was founded in December 2013, currently works with 250 vendors and has a total of 500,000 SKUs (or individual items) available for order. Grofers claims to process 30,000 deliveries a month, with a fifth of those orders placed through its mobile apps.

Since many of the small merchants Grofers works with have never sold online before, the company sends a team to take photos of products and upload them to its platform. The process takes about three or four days, depending on large the store is.

The biggest challenge facing the startup as it expands into new cities is the labor-intensive process of adding shops, but Dhindsa says Grofers’ future plans include improving its technology to make it easier for stores to manage orders, track inventory, and upload new products by themselves. After Bangalore, it hopes to expand into other major cities soon, including Hyderabad, Chennai, and Calcutta.

from TechCrunch http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/SuyWELhffgc/

via IFTTT

As Kleiner Trial Plays On, VC’s Upper Echelon Is Laid Bare To The Real World

The world of venture capital has generally long been cloaked in understated reticence and secrecy. That’s especially been true for the more traditional top tier Sand Hill Road firms, such as Kleiner Perkins Caulfield & Byers. After all, a big benefit of being in the private market is, well, the privacy. Deals can be done over handshakes. Salaries and bonuses can be confidential. Business strategies can be hashed out over drinks and dinners, and stay out of the spotlight forever. Off the record is the name of the game.

That is, unless you’re subpoenaed by a court. Then everything is out in the open. Your emails bashing coworkers and planning your all-male ski trips, your $500,000 salary as a junior employee.

And when viewed in the daylight, for the judgement of 12 men and women meant to represent a cross-section of society, the workings of elite VCs can seem to contrast especially starkly with the rest of the real world — and it’s anyone’s guess whose side the jury will ultimately take.

What’s old, what’s new

Much of what’s transpired at San Francisco’s Superior Court this week has been public since the first legal complaint was filed by Ellen Pao nearly three years ago. Pao’s detailed allegations of sexual harassment, gender discrimination, and professional retaliation are not new, nor are Kleiner’s counter assertions that Pao’s failure to advance at the firm were instead due to her alleged failure to measure up as a competent and cooperative employee.

But what is being revealed for the first time in court this week are a number of details around the events in question, from the legal teams’ opening arguments and the testimony of witnesses taking the stand. Some highlights of the rarefied world being shown here include:

• On Tuesday and Thursday, Pao’s lawyer Alan Exelrod detailed a conversation that occurred during a work trip about exploits at the Playboy mansion and the Victoria’s Secret fashion show, allegedly led by “boisterous” tech executive Dan Rosensweig along with Kleiner staffers. The conversation purportedly occurred over cocktails while aboard a private jet from New York City to San Francisco — which is, Exelrod said, a way Kleiner partners often travel.


• Also on Wednesday, former Kleiner partner Chi-Hua Chien’s testimony included details of an expense account-funded ski trip and a posh men-only dinner at the luxury San Francisco condo owned by Kleiner partner and former vice president Al Gore.


• On Tuesday, former Kleiner partner Trae Vassallo discussed her investment experience, which included having “thought leadership in connected devices.” The judge, Harold Kahn, interjected to ask her to explain what exactly both of those terms mean. (On Wednesday, a juror raised his hand and asked for further clarity on what it means to be a “thought leader,” as the term has come up repeatedly during the proceedings.)


• Pao herself made upwards of $500,000 per year in her role as a junior partner, it’s been revealed — significantly more than at least one of her peers at the firm, as testimony from one of her coworkers showed on Wednesday — and pulled in a starting salary of $600 per hour consulting for Reddit after she left her role at the firm.


• But six figures is just the beginning. Senior partners at Kleiner regularly earn salaries of four to five times more than junior partners, upwards of $2 million and beyond, Kleiner’s CFO Susan Biglieri testified on Thursday.


• Former Kleiner partner Ajit Nazre allegedly aggressively pursued both Pao and Vassallo romantically during his tenure at the firm, to the point of showing up at Vassallo’s hotel room on a work trip wearing only a bathrobe, according to her testimony. Rather than being shunned by the industry, Nazre was able to quietly leave Kleiner and secure another apparently enviable job in technology.

All of this is apparently part of a day’s work for those in the upper echelons of venture capital, if you take Kleiner to be a sample size.

A high end, high stakes world

It’s become clear throughout the testimony of the past few days that all of the people involved in the Pao vs. Kleiner case move in a high end, high stakes, and often eccentric world. The spoils are rich, but the competition is fierce and confusing. It’s a world with its own lingo and signals and status symbols, and it often takes years for anyone to become fluent enough to make it to the top.

That’s part of why it’s so shocking that this case has made it to public trial at all. The legal teams for both Pao and Kleiner are tasked with first familiarizing the jury with all the particulars of how tech VCs work, and then with trying to sway the jurors to be sympathetic with their respective arguments.

It’s a case that’s on track to take weeks, racking up huge legal bills and exposing many flaws for everyone involved. Indeed, as many have pointed out, it seems like it would have been in most everyone’s best interests to have settled privately long ago (except, perhaps, those of us in tech journalism. And even that is debatable.)

But for now, only one thing is certain: It’s impossible to predict which side the jury will take. Three days in, it really seems like it’s anyone’s game. A high stakes game, of course.

from TechCrunch http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/yIa-x_3T3Og/

via IFTTT

Citymaps Raises $6M As Its Mapping App Goes Global

Mapping startup Citymaps today announced a new $6 million funding round. The company’s app, which was previously available on iOS, also launched on Android, and it expanded its previously US-centric coverage to 80 million points of interest across the world.

So why would you need another mapping app? Co-founder and President Aaron Rudenstine came by the TechCrunch office to demo Citymaps for me, and it really does feel different from, say, Apple or Google Maps. The most obvious difference is a focus on points of interest — sure, the bigger mapping platforms include them too, but they’re front-and-center in Citymaps, with big logos representing the restaurants, bars, and stores on a given block.

Obviously, a map can’t always show you everything, but Rudenstine said Citymaps will focus on what’s popular and, over time, start emphasizing locations that seem to match your interests.

The other big selling point is the way Citymaps allow users to create their own collections, say of their favorite restaurants in a given neighborhood, either to share with friends or just for their own memory.

And yes, once you find a restaurant or bar or theater, Citymaps will also give you driving, walking, or mass transit directions.

Rudenstine argued that other local discovery tools, like Yelp, can’t be this “map-centric” because, well, they haven’t built their own maps. And even though Apple and Google seem to inching in this directiontoo, there are millions and millions of people who already rely on their existing mapping product: “For them to change their core interface and core experience to solve for something totally different, it would be very very hard for them to do that.”

The funding comes from Nokia Growth Partners, Coatue Management, Acadia Woods, and existing investors, with Nokia’s Paul Asel joining Citymaps’ board of directors. This brings the company’s total funding to $11 million.

from TechCrunch http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/Cg8bBqPe2cs/

via IFTTT

Source: Wearable Maker Fitbit Is In Talks To Buy Fitness App Startup FitStar

For the last several years, Fitbit has created hardware and software designed to help consumers keep track of their activity levels. But we’ve heard the wearable maker could soon acquire FitStar, a startup which makes apps that might help motivate Fitbit customers to actually be more active.

According to a source close to the matter, Fitbit is evaluating a purchase of FitStar for upwards of $25 to $40 million in a mix of cash and stock. A deal like this could always fall apart, of course, but if it goes through our source says the acquisition could close as early as next week.

Fitbit is one of the oldest and has some of the most popular activity trackers on the market. Founded in 2007, its devices accounted for approximately 50 percent of all wearable bands sold in 2013, according to one research report.

That said, the market has been flooded with a ton of new fitness tracking gadgets in the last year or two. Jawbone, Misfit, Mio, Basis, Garmin, and even Microsoft have released competing products. And that’s not even counting the upcoming Apple Watch, which the company reportedly expects to sell 5 million of during its initial run.

Fitbit’s hardware includes a variety of wristbands, clip-on activity trackers, and a connected scale. It also has mobile apps and an online dashboard through which customers can log their steps, weight, food intake, and other workout activities.

While Fitbit’s software provides an all-in-one platform for tracking all that data, it also recognizes not everyone will want to use its apps for all those functions. As a result, it’s partnered to share data with a number of third-party app makers, such as LoseIt!, MyFitnessPal, MapMyRun, Endomondo, and also FitStar.

Fitbit’s decision to pursue an acquisition of FitStar makes sense as the activity tracker market matures and more consumers are looking for practical applications that could help them get fit. That is, now that they have they data, what can they actually do with it?

FitStar makes a series of fitness and yoga apps that provide personalized workout programs for users. Those apps include high-quality video workouts led by celebrity fitness trainers to help motivate users to get in shape. Over time, its apps track the exercises users take part in and adapts to their strengths (and weaknesses).

The purchase has a number of benefits for each company. Beyond the obvious cross-pollination between Fitbit and FitStar user bases — i.e. Fitbit pushing its users to join FitStar and vice versa — an acquisition would give Fitbit an entree into the growing online fitness instruction market, while providing more resources for FitStar to continue producing instructional videos.

All of that is important as Fitbit pursues an IPO, which is reportedly planned for later this year. It would also make Fitbit’s platform a bit more defensible against “dumb trackers” that only provide analytics without actually helping users to get off the couch.

A small side benefit to this is an incremental revenue stream that would come from FitStar’s premium subscription user base and sales of individual workout programs on its apps.

Finally, the acquisition could be an integral part of Fitbit’s defense against the Apple Watch — a device which any number of fitness startups will soon begin making workout apps for. Fitbit is one of the few wearable manufacturers not to integrate with Apple’s HealthKit, due to competitive concerns around the release of the Apple Watch. We’ve heard that’s one reason why Fitbit devices were pulled from the Apple store late last year.

Representatives from Fitbit and FitStar did not respond to our request for comment.

from TechCrunch http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/tHR9r8s7zQM/

via IFTTT

Study: Most People Won’t Stop Online Bullies

In 1964 a woman named Kitty Genovese was stabbed and left for dead in Kew Gardens, Queens. She screamed for help over a half hour while bystanders and apartment-dwellers above apparently ignored her pleas. Her assailant had time to disguise himself during the attack. She died of her injuries, and experts at the time called the failure of bystanders to act “Genovese Syndrome.”

While the online world isn’t nearly as dire as Genovese’s tragedy, its clear from a recent OSU study that bystander syndrome that bears her name is still alive and well. The study watched 221 students as they interacted in a chat room. A bully would appear and berate other members of the group. According to the study, “only 10 percent of the students who noticed the abuse directly intervened, either by confronting the bully online or helping the victim.”

The bully and the victim were obviously part of the study and their goal was to get a reaction from the other people in the chat room.

“The results didn’t surprise me,” said Kelly Dillon, lead author of the study and a doctoral student at Ohio State. “Many other studies have shown bystanders are reluctant to get involved when they see bullying. The results disappointed me, as a human, but they didn’t surprise me as a scientist.”

According to the release, the bullying began three minutes into an online survey.

“We had the chat monitor say things like ‘How did you get into college if you can’t even take a survey?'” Dillon said. “Finally, after getting increasingly aggressive, the chat monitor tells the victim, ‘Figure it out yourself.'”

After three minutes had passed, the victim asked another question and the scripted abuse began again. In the script, the victim did not respond to the rudeness at all.

About 68 percent of participants said later that they noticed the cyberbullying in the chat window. Of the one in 10 who noticed the abuse and responded directly, more than half (58 percent) reprimanded the bully. One response, for example, was “How are you being helpful at all right now?” A quarter of those who responded insulted the bully, saying things like “I can smell the odor of loser from you.”

Was there an upside? Yes. After the study concluded, 70% of the participants reported or rated the bully in an anonymous review opportunity. This means that while participants didn’t stand up to the bully, they did try to prevent them from bullying again.

While this is cold comfort for the victims of online bullying, it’s clear that the medium does allow for some hope. Online bullying will become more and more common and it has real and often tragic effects. After the study, Dillon asked the participants what they thought.

“Many said they wanted to respond to the bullying, but weren’t sure what they should do,” she said. “We all do that occasionally. We’re all bystanders at some point.”

from TechCrunch http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/Uzd-mDter_I/

via IFTTT

Pebble Launches A Preview SDK With Color Support For The New Pebble Time

The Pebble Time is still going strong on Kickstarter, but Pebble is already thinking about the device’s launch in May, and is accordingly making tools available early to help both existing and new developers target the platform. A new developer preview of the Pebble SDK 3.0 is now available, and it includes a software emulator that shows you how your apps will look on the Pebble Time’s new full color e-paper display.

Apps built with the new software will work on both previous Pebbles and the new Pebble Time, and the company says that only minor changes are required in order to help devs add color to their existing applications. Resolution for the apps doesn’t change, but developers can now code in up to 64 colors, and there’s a new animation framework, plus support for both static and animated PNG.

1. 
   

   block-world

   
   


2. 
   

   isotime

   
   


3. 
   

   test7

   
   


4. 
   

   fill-up

   
   

It’s just a start, but it’s a signal that the startup is moving full steam ahead with its launch plans. The Kickstarter portion of this project isn’t your typical crowdfunding campaign – after selling Pebble successfully for over a year with more than 1 million devices shipped, Pebble should know exactly what it takes to deliver this product on time, and early access to dev tools is definitely part of that.

One thing that might be a challenge: Getting developers to focus on building Pebble apps when the Apple Watch launch is right around the corner.

from TechCrunch http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/CDIoJzlPhkE/

via IFTTT

3D Robotics Taps Qualcomm For $50m Series C And Mobile Tech

The race to build the best drone is on and 3D Robotics is today announcing its latest round of financing that it hopes will enable the company to keep its commanding position in the marketplace. As part of the funding, the drone upstart also found a new partner in Qualcomm. You know, the company that builds the chips and bits inside cell phones, because as CEO and co-founder Chris Anderson explained, the company’s drones are directly modeled after cell phones.

Qualcomm Ventures lead the $50 million Series C and also roped 3D Robotics into participating in the firm’s robotics initiative. The cash will be used to ramp up production of the firm’s upcoming consumer drone along with increasing development of its commercial products in light of the FAA’s recent ruling.

Anderson stated working with Qualcomm was a natural fit for 3D Robotics. The company designed its drones much like an Android cell phone. There are different so-called stacks to the hardware. Some of these stacks, like on Android, can be modified by the owner while others are locked. Since Qualcomm chips run most Android smartphones, the company’s chips fit well into 3D Robotics’ design scheme.

Plus the two companies are practically neighbors.

3D Robotics is based in Berkeley, California, but operate engineering facilities in San Diego, Qualcomm’s hometown. The drone maker’s manufacturing facility is just five minutes away across the boarder in Tijuana, Mexico. Company employees even has special boarder passes so they don’t have to stop at Customs.

3D Robotics plans to implement Qualcomm technologies in upcoming drones including the chip maker’s popular Snapdragon SoC. 3D Robotic’s consumer drone will use Qualcomm chips; none of the company’s current products use Qualcomm parts, though.

Along with Qualcomm Ventures, Foundry Group, True Ventures, OATV, Mayfield, Shea Ventures and additional investors also participated. This latest round is the largest single funding round of any U.S-based drone manufacturer to date, bringing 3D Robotics’ total amount raised to $85 million from three rounds and eight investors.

“True Ventures was the first investor in 3D Robotics when the company launched in 2012,” Jon Callaghan, founder of True Ventures, said to TechCrunch. “We shared Chris Anderson’s vision for the future of robotics and autonomous vehicles. 3DR is leading this next wave of the manufacturing revolution, using software, open source and networks to empower the hardware of tomorrow. We are thrilled to be a part of the 3DR team.”

Anderson laughed when I pointed out that the form 3D Robotics filed with the SEC showed the company set out to raise $40 million but ended up with $50 million. “This is just the first close,” he said, noting that the round was very oversubscribed and that more cash is on the way. It seems 3D Robotics is just getting started.

1. 
   

   3D Robotics IRIS+ Propeller CU

   
   


2. 
   

   3D Robotics IRIS+ GoPro CU

   
   


3. 
   

   3D Robotics IRIS+ 03

   
   


4. 
   

   3D Robotics IRIS+ 02

   
   


5. 
   

   3D Robotics IRIS+ 01

   
   

from TechCrunch http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/ofmjtGLShe4/

via IFTTT

YC-Backed Booktrope Rethinks Book Publishing

If you’re a writer, you’ve probably heard horror stories about the publishing industry — books that are rejected by publisher after publisher, books that sit in submission piles for years, books that are published but basically disappear without publisher support.

At the same time, self-publishing has its risks for authors, too. You could end up paying a lot of your own money to an editor and/or a designer, and if you don’t, you could end up with a poorly edited book and a lame cover that looks, well, self-published.

So Booktrope, part of the current class of startups at Y Combinator, is taking a different approach — on one level, Booktrope is a publisher itself, but one that allows authors to go around the gatekeepers of traditional publishing while still working with a professional team.

Chief Marketing Officer Katherine Sears said that she and her co-founders don’t come from the publishing world, which she argued is a good thing: “We’re coming at this from an unbiased and fresh perspective, but all of us have a passion and a love for books.”

Now, as someone who’s published a book with a small press, and who’s met a number of smart publishing pros, that statement isn’t entirely reassuring — are these people who don’t understand the industry they’re trying to fix? But talking to Sears, CEO Ken Shear (father of TwitchTV co-founder Emmett Shear), and CTO Andy Roberts convinced me they may not come from the publishing industry, but they’re plenty knowledgeable about it — and they’ve also thought through the details of their model.

So if you’re a writer who wants to publish a book, you go on Booktrope and provide information about yourself and your work. Sears said Booktrope doesn’t accept every author, with a selection process mixing automation and human judgment.

However, the company is less focused on assessing literary quality and more on making sure an author will be a good fit for the Booktrope platform. After all, there are plenty of poorly written, badly reviewed books that still sell incredibly well and find a devoted audience.

“I really feel like literary snobbery is not what the public needs,” Sears added.

To be clear, she’s not saying that every title will be a huge success, but Booktrope’s approach is all about letting readers, rather than editors, provide that filter.

Anyway, if you’re accepted into the system, you then post your completed manuscript on Booktrope and try to attract a team of editors, designers, and marketers, who can then collaborate through Booktrope’s online tools. Authors aren’t paying other team members directly, but offering them a share of the royalties. That means the author doesn’t have to pay out of their own pocket for these services, and the team members will have an incentive for the book to do well.

Booktrope distributes both digital and print-on-demand copies of the books through a number of the standard channels, including Amazon, brick-and-mortar bookstores, and subscription e-book services like Scribd. Many of those books come from authors who’ve tried self-publishing but weren’t happy with the results, Sears said, while most of the other team members come from the freelance side of the publishing world.

The company takes 30 percent of profits while the team gets the remaining 70 percent, split in whatever proportions they’ve negotiated. (Shear also emphasized that when the company calculates profit and royalties for each title, it’s not including general company overhead, just production costs for a specific book.)

Sears and Shear said they’ve been working on Booktrope for the past three years, but they argued their real launch came later, after Roberts joined and built out the technology. Since then, they’ve published nearly 400 titles and distributed 2.5 million copies of those books.

Featured Image: Brenda Clarke/Flickr UNDER A CC BY 2.0 LICENSE



from TechCrunch http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/DiBbTO5gq44/

via IFTTT

Hiring SaaS Platform Workable Raises Another $5M

Workable has secured $5m of additional funding from its existing investors including Greylock Israel (which has since become 83North) and Greece-based seed investors Openfund. Workable enables smaller companies to post to multiple jobs boards, review candidates and schedule interviews.

Originally from Greece but now based in Boston, Workable claims to be attracting 300 new companies every month. Customers include other startups such as Conversocial, TransferWise and Vend. CEO Nikos Moraitakis says gives smaller firms the chance to compete for talent against larger ones.

We last covered them in 2014 when they took on $1.5 million in funding.

from TechCrunch http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/XhoO9bpuwEw/

via IFTTT

TNW Deals’ Smart Home Roundup

Experience the future of comfortable living today, with TNW Deals’ range of smart products for the home. Enjoy unparalleled convenience, novel new functionality — and great prices on everything!

$10 Off – ilumi LED Smartbulb

Control your indoor lighting like never before, to suit every mood and occasion! The ilumi LED Smartbulb can light up your rooms in just about any color you can think of, pulse to the beat of music at your party and even wake you up with a soft glow whenever you need it to.

As if that wasn’t enough, the ilumi Smartbulb is 5x more efficient than regular bulbs, lasts up to 20 years, and fits in standard bulb sockets.

Light up your life for only $79, with free shipping in the US.

➤ Get this deal

$10 Off – Large ilumi LED Smartbulb

The ilumi LED Smartbulb’s big brother is perfect for complementing overhead lighting. It brings all the features of the original, with more power and a wider spread.

Get yours now for just $89 apiece, shipped free across the US.

➤ Get this deal

30% off Revogi Smart Color Bluetooth LED Bulb

Control your home lighting like never before! Set Revogi’s smart LED bulbs to any of 16 million colors, adjust their brightness, and set timers — all from your smartphone. Plus, enjoy savings of up to 90 percent on your electricity bills!

Only $34.99 each when you order from TNW Deals, with free US shipping.

➤ Get this deal

35% Off – Blumoo Bluetooth Universal Remote

This clever gizmo lets you use your smartphone to control your TV and home theater equipment, with powerful features to customize your entertainment experience like never before — and you’ll never have to hunt for your remote control again.

The Blumoo Bluetooth Universal Remote lets you create one-touch actions for all your favorite activities, such as watching movies or catching up with world news. It also lets you stream music to your speakers from 150 feet away. Plus, it supports multiple mobile devices so your entire family can get in on the action. Streamline your home entertainment system with for just $84.99, with free shipping across the US.

➤ Get this deal

46% Off – Foscam Wireless Security Camera

This versatile Wi-Fi enabled camera is perfect for securing your home or keeping a watchful eye on your infant, pet or elderly family members. It pans 300 degrees and tilts over 120 degrees to offer a wide field of view, offers two-way audio and even works in the dark up to eight meters away. Plus, you can access its high-resolution 720p video stream on your desktop or mobile device wherever you are.

Protect your home and your family with the Foscam Wireless Security Camera for only $86.99 from TNW Deals, with free shipping in the US.

➤ Get this deal

33% Off – Prep Pad Smart Food Scale & Nutrition Tracker

Weigh your ingredients perfectly every time, and understand their nutritional value with the Prep Pad! This smart food scale helps you monitor quantity, calories, carbs, fat, vitamins and more when you’re whipping up a storm in the kitchen.

Get yours from TNW Deals for just $99 (33% off), with free US shipping!

➤ Get this deal

from The Next Web http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheNextWeb/~3/LDxEuWxxr8s/

via IFTTT

PR Analytics Startup TrendKite Raises Another $5M

Erik Huddleston joined PR analytics startup TrendKite as its new CEO back in the middle of 2014, and he told me the company’s been growing quickly since then — there’s been triple digit revenue growth “not just quarter-over-quarter, but almost month-over-month,” and headcount has gone from six employees to 35.

Now Hudddleston plans to speed things up even more with an additional $5 million of funding. That’s on top of the $3.2 million Series A that the company raised last year, and it comes from the same investors, Silverton Partners and Mercury Fund. Huddleston said he’d planned to pitch other investors, but Silverton and Mercury “preempted me” and offered to put up the additional money themselves with the terms that Huddleston was looking for.

TrendKite aims to help brands and agencies measure the effectiveness of their PR efforts. Huddleston said that before joining the company he’d “underestimated the hunger for PR ROI.” (Competitors trying to address that hunger include AirPR, which recently sold off its PR marketplace to focus on its analytics product.)

“PR has always been the red-headed stepchild of the sales and marketing budget,” he added. “It’s so freaking difficult to figure out what you’re actually getting for that spend. … The brands just go crazy for [the data], and for the PR agencies, all of a sudden that’s a killer way of justifying their retainers to the client.”

Not that every PR agency does a great job. Huddleston acknowledged that this can lead to some “awkward conversations,” but he said there are other agencies that actually promote TrendKite to their clients, because it gives them “a single version of the truth” when assessing how well the agency is doing.

Huddleston said the product has become “even sexier” (hey, he said it, not me) since he joined, with the team creating “an ontological representation of the PR universe.”

“By building that sort of ontological representation, we know the semantics of what it means to be Target,” he said. “We know that the articles about retail or fashion are more likely to be relevant to Target than those about, I don’t know, Skeet shooting.”

TrendKite works with more than 100 brands, including Campbell’s Soup, Pinterest, and the Centers for Disease Control. Huddleston plans to invest the additional funding in further product development and doubling or tripling the company’s headcount by the end of the year.

I should also note that, obviously, TrendKite will be running a report on the impact of this story. So, y’know, try to make me look good here, guys.

from TechCrunch http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/H5utXj2KkTo/

via IFTTT

Boston Meetup. Tonight. Be There.

Dear Boston,

TechCrunch has arrived. And even through all the snow, I can honestly say that you folks are looking wicked smaht this year.

The Meetup + Pitch-off is going down tonight at Estate at 6pm, and we literally can not wait to see you.

Ten wonderfully brilliant startups will be taking the stage tonight to tell you about their products in sixty seconds or less, with a panel of judges weighing and measuring each to decide who deserves a trip to TechCrunch Disrupt in May.

After the pitch-off, we’ll all get together and have a few beers and chat about what we’re working on.

It’s always fun, and I expect tonight to be better than all previous years combined. But you are a big part of that. You have to show up, with a smile on your face, and your Twitter feed tuned to #TCMeetup.

Sound good?

If you haven’t already done so, you can get tickets here.

Oh, and before I forget… TechCrunch Disrupt NY is going down in May and applications are open for the Disrupt Battlefield, so don’t tarry! Apply now!

from TechCrunch http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/CuXbWQzDuzs/

via IFTTT

Jawbone Blames Manufacturing Woes For UP3 Delay

Jawbone announced the third generation of its fitness tracker last November but it has yet to ship. Appropriately called the UP3, the device builds upon its two predecessors, adding heart rate monitoring to the mix. The tracker was already delayed once. Now Jawbone tells me that it is having trouble manufacturing the device.

According to a Jawbone spokesperson, the company is having issues maintaining quality when scaling the manufacturing up to the levels it needs to bring the device to market. The UP3 devices built during small test runs work, according to this person.

Predictable, the spokesperson professed that quality is of the utmost importance to Jawbone and the company wants to get the product right. The company hopes to announce a ship date soon.

Jawbone opened pre-orders for the UP3 when the device was announced last November. The company is still taking preorders today even though the UP3 product page states the device will not ship for 10-11 weeks. Pre-orders are fully refundable, though, and Jawbone offered those who preordered the device early a $40 credit or an Up Move for their trouble.

This delay comes as Jawbone’s biggest competitors are managing to ship their devices on time. Fitbit just released three new fitness trackers and Garmin is steadily rolling out new wearables as well. Walk into a Best Buy and there is an aisle full of different fitness trackers and smart watches.

If Jawbone holds true to the UP3’s 10-11 week ship time, that puts its release window a month after the Apple Watch’s expected launch of April. Good luck with that.

Jawbone declined to comment on a report that Google is interested in a strategic investment in the company.

from TechCrunch http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/FRAxtLn5IN8/

via IFTTT

Join Us For Hardware Alley In New York, Won’t You?

We want to see you in New York for Disrupt NY 2015, our annual celebration of all things startup. It’s a great time. You get to meet great funders and VCs and I’d love to meet you. Hardware is my favorite thing in the world and you’re some of my favorite people.

Disrupt runs from May 4 to May 6 and will be held at the Manhattan Center in New York City. It’s an amazing event and you can check it out here.

What is Hardware Alley? It’s a celebration of hardware startups (and other cool gear makers) that features everything from robotic drones to 3D printers. We try to bring in an eclectic mix of amazing exhibitors and I think you’ll agree that our previous Alleys have been roaring successes.

We’d like you to register as a Hardware Alley exhibitor. You’ll get to exhibit on the last day of Disrupt SF, May 6, to show off your goods and get access to some of the most interesting people (and most interesting VCs) in the world.

All you need to demo is a laptop. TechCrunch provides you with: 30″ round cocktail table, linens, table-top sign, inclusion in program agenda and website, exhibitor WiFi, and press list.

You can reserve your spot by purchasing a Hardware Alley Exhibitor Package here.

If you are Kickstarting your project now or bootstrapping, please contact me at john@techcrunch.com with the subject line “HARDWARE ALLEY.” I will do my best to accommodate you. I only have a limited number of discounted spots so hurry!

from TechCrunch http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/_cmQ5e7soq8/

via IFTTT

SolarCity Creates $750M Fund For Residential Solar With $300M From Google

SolarCity, the solar power startup whose chairman is the seemingly ever-present Elon Musk, has announced a new $750 million fund created to help fund residential solar projects, including defraying the upfront costs of solar panel installation at homes in 14 different states across the U.S. and in D.C. The new fund includes a contribution of $300 million, or just under half the total value, from Google, which marks its largest clean energy investment to date, and helps make this the biggest fund of its kind in existence.

Typically, installation costs associated with making an individual household able to harvest and use its own solar power are very high, meaning they take many years to recoup for the homeowners funding the installations. That means there’s a high barrier preventing many from taking advantage, especially if homeowners think they might have cause to move before they make their money back on the initial build.

The new $750 million fund is designed to help “thousands” of homeowners defray those setup costs, covering the cost of installation, solar panels, and equipment. In exchange, homeowners pay SolarCity for the energy produced by their panels, or a monthly rent fee for the panels in a lease situation, similar to the arrangement they’d have with a typical utility company, but with cleaner energy, and, in most cases, lower costs, too.

This is the second time Google and SolarCity have teamed up in this way; back in 2011, Google committed $280 million to a similar fund with the aim of getting thousands of homeowners on board with solar power. Clearly that had satisfactory results, since the search giant is going back for more.

from TechCrunch http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/pDyvZa7hyeo/

via IFTTT

Wattpad Offers A Dedicated Sexy Stories App To Ride The ’50 Shades’ Wave

If you like your erotica like you like your restaurant recommendations, i.e., crowdsourced and free, then Wattpad has an app for you: It’s called After Dark, and it’s a free app that curates content from Wattpad’s social network for readers and writers that specifically offer titillation and romance. After Dark’s stories are divided by category to help fans find the stories best suited to their tastes, and the app carries a 17+ rating in the App Store, so you know it’s going to be good.

After Dark was actually a side project created in the experimental Wattpad Labs portion of the company where staff are encouraged to pick at projects not included in the general thrust of day-to-day business. It was a project born of the company’s Hack Friday, which is a monthly internal hackathon, and built over just two short weeks before being launched quietly earlier this month. It has racked up over 8,000 downloads, and Wattpad says it’s benefitting from a spike in interest in this kind of fiction following the release of 50 Shades of Grey in theaters.

1. 
   

   AfterDark_PR_07

   
   


2. 
   

   AfterDark_PR_06

   
   


3. 
   

   AfterDark_PR_04

   
   


4. 
   

   AfterDark_PR_05

   
   


5. 
   

   AfterDark_PR_03

   
   

In fact, romance is one of Wattpad’s most popular genres, with over 23 million titles fitting that general description uploaded to the writing sharing network. Overall, Wattpad now claims 40 million active monthly users, with 100 million uploads total and 24 hours worth of new reading material posted every day across all categories.

Wattpad is still questing for a really solid funding model despite its considerable engagement and continued growth, but it’s ability to tap into the desires of its users seems to be one area where it has things well figured out.

from TechCrunch http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/zTDlbpR8cW0/

via IFTTT

Are You Ready For The Barcelona Meetup?

We’re less than a week away from the Pitch-Off in Barcelona and we’re excited to see you. If you’ve purchased tickets already, good for you. They are a rare commodity. If you haven’t then you’re kind of out of luck because the event is sold out. Special dispensations may be made if you contact us but I doubt we can help.

If you didn’t make pitch-off the cut, do not fear: just find us at the event and tell us a little about your startup. We’re happy to take cards and follow up.

Here are the contestants for the pitch off. They will have two minutes to pitch and four minutes of questions from TC Editors and a local judge. The winner will get a table at TC Disrupt Startup Alley in New York and the runner-up will get two tickets to the event. The contestants are:

Fueloyal

Kompyte

Avegant

Swytch

rendeevoo

Hirestack

EveryLayer

FACEmeeting

canguroencasa.com

Note: the event is sold out. We’re expecting an amazing turn out. I hope you bought your tickets early.

Date: Tuesday March 3, 2015

Time: 19:00 – 22:00. Pitch-off at 20:00.

Details: With open bar and tapas/snacks between 19:30 until 21:30 CET (last round).

Location: Ailaic, Passatge Utset 14, we will team up with the Dutch Mobile Networking Event that is the host.

Cost: €5.50

BUY TICKETS HERE

Thanks to the kind folks at DutchMobileNetworking this year’s Barcelona Meetup And Pitch-Off will be amazing. It’s great to have such a responsive and understanding partner. That said, they are handling all the sponsorship and still need your help. Please email myself at john@techcrunch.com or Caroline at caroline at dutchmobilenetworking.com.

Gold Sponsor



Vserv is a leading mobile marketing platform that delivers smart data led results to marketers, app developers, telcos and data partners. Powered by its award winning market first technologies, the company drives engaging mobile experiences for the emerging billion mobile internet users. Founded in 2010; Vserv has 500 million+ unique user profiles and a global footprint with offices across USA, UK, South Africa, India, Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines & Vietnam.

Drinks Sponsor



ExoClick is a self-funded start-up launched in 2006 by CEO Benjamin Fonzé which he now runs with his brother Adrien (COO). Based in Barcelona, Spain, ExoClick is an innovative global ad network serving 125+ billion geo-targeted ads a month to web and mobile advertiser/publisher platforms via its proprietary software. The company is currently ranked as the 5th largest ad network in the world by W3Techs and is the only Spanish company to be ranked three times in the Deloitte Fast 500. ExoClick is also positioned at number 11 in the Top 20 Best Workplaces in Spain in the category of companies with between 20-49 employees (PYMES).

Backed by Andreessen-Horowitz, Samsung, Intel and others, BlueStacks is the leader in Mobile Marketing Automation. Started in 2011 and based in Silicon Valley, the company has offices in London, Tokyo and Beijing. BlueStacks’ App Player software enables any mobile app or game to run on PC. Pre-loaded on Lenovo and Asus computers, App Player recently crossed 85 million downloads worldwide.

Estrella Damm

Dutch Mobile Networking Event & Place

On Monday 2nd of March the networking event accommodates 300 Dutch-speaking visitors from the telecom industry that have access through a controlled guest list. The majority of the DMNE visitors are C-level decision makers in the procurement of telecom services, software and hardware. Besides the traditional successful networking event (Monday 2nd of March) DMNE offers visitors a place where they can retreat during event days. It is also possible to organise your own event here in consultation with the organisation. Registered visitors can also attend round table discussions and presentations from this location. Content (like trend updates) from the Mobile World Congress can be followed through the channels of mediapartners Executive-People and Dutch IT-Channel through news feeds, interviews and video updates.

Would you like to sponsor our event? Please contact Caroline at caroline[at] dutchmobilenetworking.com. She has helped organize the entire event so far and is handling the food, drink, and jazz (!!). We look forward to seeing you!

from TechCrunch http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/VWSB2HCYM28/

via IFTTT