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April 06 2012
After A Bump From SXSW, Banjo Tries To Bolster Its Position As The All-In-One Location App
banjo-android
What's a SXSW bump worth? To Redwood City's Banjo, which pools location data on friends from all the major social networks, it was worth 100,000 downloads in four days. That brought the app to more than 900,000 users. Of those, a little more than a half-million users are active every month. That's not bad for an app that has grown pretty much organically since it came out nine months ago, and Banjo is showing an upward tick in users at least if you look at its footprint on Facebook. Social networking is a tougher category to acquire customers in at least compared to games, where developers usually have very cash rich businesses that can pay for marketing. On the back of that momentum, Banjo has an update out that makes the app even more of a central hub for all location sharing from other social networks like Twitter, Facebook, Foursquare and Instagram.
banjo-android
What's a SXSW bump worth? To Redwood City's Banjo, which pools location data on friends from all the major social networks, it was worth 100,000 downloads in four days. That brought the app to more than 900,000 users. Of those, a little more than a half-million users are active every month. That's not bad for an app that has grown pretty much organically since it came out nine months ago, and Banjo is showing an upward tick in users at least if you look at its footprint on Facebook. Social networking is a tougher category to acquire customers in at least compared to games, where developers usually have very cash rich businesses that can pay for marketing. On the back of that momentum, Banjo has an update out that makes the app even more of a central hub for all location sharing from other social networks like Twitter, Facebook, Foursquare and Instagram.
Too Drunk To Drive, But Still Wanna Get Your Car Home? There’s An App For That
Double Phone Image_400px
You know what I hate most about getting too drunk to drive home? The hangover. No, no, I'm kidding (well, sort of) - it's having to go retrieve my car from wherever I left it the next day. Sometimes, it's been towed. Other times, it's been broken into (true story). That's why I'm hopeful about the possibilities a new service called StearClear has in store. The startup, which is backed by $500,000 in founder-led and VC funding, has been up-and-running for just a month in parts of New Jersey. What StearClear offers, simply put, is a way to get you and your car home. Safely. Oh god, please let this work.
Double Phone Image_400px
You know what I hate most about getting too drunk to drive home? The hangover. No, no, I'm kidding (well, sort of) - it's having to go retrieve my car from wherever I left it the next day. Sometimes, it's been towed. Other times, it's been broken into (true story). That's why I'm hopeful about the possibilities a new service called StearClear has in store. The startup, which is backed by $500,000 in founder-led and VC funding, has been up-and-running for just a month in parts of New Jersey. What StearClear offers, simply put, is a way to get you and your car home. Safely. Oh god, please let this work.
Microsoft Still Fighting For Windows Phone Developer Love (And Buying It When Needed)
dev
Microsoft is pushing their Windows Phone platform like crazy these days -- it recently debuted in China, and the flagship Nokia Windows Phone is due to hit U.S. shelves soon with a huge marketing blitz in tow -- but the company still has a little app problem to deal with. More than a few developers don't see developing Windows Phone apps a priority, and the New York Times reported yesterday that Microsoft is doing what they have to in order to change those minds. Among other things on their list of tactics, Microsoft has offered to fund process of bringing big-name apps to Windows Phone "where it makes sense."
dev
Microsoft is pushing their Windows Phone platform like crazy these days -- it recently debuted in China, and the flagship Nokia Windows Phone is due to hit U.S. shelves soon with a huge marketing blitz in tow -- but the company still has a little app problem to deal with. More than a few developers don't see developing Windows Phone apps a priority, and the New York Times reported yesterday that Microsoft is doing what they have to in order to change those minds. Among other things on their list of tactics, Microsoft has offered to fund process of bringing big-name apps to Windows Phone "where it makes sense."
Socialize Makes Any App Social, Already Reaches 10M End Users
socialize-logo
Socialize, the new platform that allows mobile developers to instantly add social features to their apps, has come a long way since its November launch of its Social Action Bar. Apparently, developers are giving this one a shot...in droves. 5,500 developers have downloaded the mobile toolkit to date, with 562 apps in testing and 150 apps which have gone live with integrations. (Here are a few). The startup is also now reaching over 10 million end users, up from 3.7 million in November. And its user base is doubling monthly, the company says.
socialize-logo
Socialize, the new platform that allows mobile developers to instantly add social features to their apps, has come a long way since its November launch of its Social Action Bar. Apparently, developers are giving this one a shot...in droves. 5,500 developers have downloaded the mobile toolkit to date, with 562 apps in testing and 150 apps which have gone live with integrations. (Here are a few). The startup is also now reaching over 10 million end users, up from 3.7 million in November. And its user base is doubling monthly, the company says.
Flurry Revamps Its Free Mobile App Analytics With Custom Tracking, Alerts
flurry-logo
Even though San Francisco-based Flurry hardly makes any direct revenue from its mobile app analytics, the product has become so widely used that one out of every three iOS apps and one out of every four apps for Android downloaded from Google's Android app store includes it. That data powers all of those interesting reports the company publishes on iOS, Kindle, Android and Chinese app revenue or downloads. Now the company is overhauling its analytics product by adding custom dashboards, alerts and funnel analysis. In plain English, that makes it easier for companies to follow the metrics that matter most to them, whether that's user retention after three or seven days or the number of users who complete a transaction.
flurry-logo
Even though San Francisco-based Flurry hardly makes any direct revenue from its mobile app analytics, the product has become so widely used that one out of every three iOS apps and one out of every four apps for Android downloaded from Google's Android app store includes it. That data powers all of those interesting reports the company publishes on iOS, Kindle, Android and Chinese app revenue or downloads. Now the company is overhauling its analytics product by adding custom dashboards, alerts and funnel analysis. In plain English, that makes it easier for companies to follow the metrics that matter most to them, whether that's user retention after three or seven days or the number of users who complete a transaction.
Nextpeer Pledges To Make Any Mobile Game As Social As OMGPOP’s “Draw Something”
nextpeer
There were plenty of other Pictionary-like games in the iTunes app store before OMGPOP's Draw Something. But the secret ingredient behind Draw Something's runaway success was its very social, asynchronous gameplay. Most independent game designers don't necessarily have the extra manpower to build an engine that supports this. That's where an Israeli startup called Nextpeer comes in. It's kind of like the next generation of OpenFeint, a mobile-social gaming network that was acquired by Japanese gaming giant GREE for $104 million last year. Game designers can integrate Nextpeer's SDK to let their players compete against each other. Up until now, Nextpeer only supported synchronous gameplay, meaning that players had to be available at the same time. But now Nextpeer is offering an asynchronous mode, which means that players can finish a round whenever they have a spare moment. That's the secret sauce that has made games like Zynga's Words With Friends and then Draw Something insanely viral.
nextpeer
There were plenty of other Pictionary-like games in the iTunes app store before OMGPOP's Draw Something. But the secret ingredient behind Draw Something's runaway success was its very social, asynchronous gameplay. Most independent game designers don't necessarily have the extra manpower to build an engine that supports this. That's where an Israeli startup called Nextpeer comes in. It's kind of like the next generation of OpenFeint, a mobile-social gaming network that was acquired by Japanese gaming giant GREE for $104 million last year. Game designers can integrate Nextpeer's SDK to let their players compete against each other. Up until now, Nextpeer only supported synchronous gameplay, meaning that players had to be available at the same time. But now Nextpeer is offering an asynchronous mode, which means that players can finish a round whenever they have a spare moment. That's the secret sauce that has made games like Zynga's Words With Friends and then Draw Something insanely viral.
April 05 2012
Attention Melbourne: You May Now Begin Hunting For Virtual Eggs
egg
With all the talk about the potential of Google Glass, I thought it might be nice to drop back in on the current state of Augmented Reality — the kind where you still use a smartphone to view markers or images. In the spirit of Google’s “20-percent time”, Melbourne Australia based mobile app development company jTribe developed an Augmented Reality Easter egg hunt for their fair city this Easter. The company took one day a week (for the last 10 weeks or so) to work on their own project which launches today. The app, which is called EggRaider, has a radar-style viewer to show the general direction of virtual eggs the company has attached to landmarks all around Melbourne. Once you get close to an egg, you switch to Augmented Reality view (by tapping the camera button in the app) to see the egg and collect it. "Race against friends and family to collect the most" says jTribe. *Note that the virtual eggs are only available at Melbourne, Australia landmarks. There is a demo view though, so you can get the idea of how it works if you are so inclined.
egg
With all the talk about the potential of Google Glass, I thought it might be nice to drop back in on the current state of Augmented Reality — the kind where you still use a smartphone to view markers or images. In the spirit of Google’s “20-percent time”, Melbourne Australia based mobile app development company jTribe developed an Augmented Reality Easter egg hunt for their fair city this Easter. The company took one day a week (for the last 10 weeks or so) to work on their own project which launches today. The app, which is called EggRaider, has a radar-style viewer to show the general direction of virtual eggs the company has attached to landmarks all around Melbourne. Once you get close to an egg, you switch to Augmented Reality view (by tapping the camera button in the app) to see the egg and collect it. "Race against friends and family to collect the most" says jTribe. *Note that the virtual eggs are only available at Melbourne, Australia landmarks. There is a demo view though, so you can get the idea of how it works if you are so inclined.
Local Search App AroundMe Trumps Yelp’s Mobile Apps With 6M Monthly Users
aroundme_in-use
Wow, AroundMe has really been flying under the radar. The location-aware mobile search app is announcing today that it's now passed the 6 million mark for monthly unique visitors. To put that in perspective, Yelp's mobile apps see 5.7 million+ monthly uniques these days. Not bad, then, considering AroundMe has a single founder, a team of four, and no outside funding. The company is also now reporting having surpassed 1 million downloads per month, and has recently announced new partnerships with OpenTable, Booking.com for hotel reservations, and Telenav for web-based navigation.
aroundme_in-use
Wow, AroundMe has really been flying under the radar. The location-aware mobile search app is announcing today that it's now passed the 6 million mark for monthly unique visitors. To put that in perspective, Yelp's mobile apps see 5.7 million+ monthly uniques these days. Not bad, then, considering AroundMe has a single founder, a team of four, and no outside funding. The company is also now reporting having surpassed 1 million downloads per month, and has recently announced new partnerships with OpenTable, Booking.com for hotel reservations, and Telenav for web-based navigation.
Zimride Nabs LinkedIn Design Lead, Brings Its Ridesharing Service To Mobile
hero_iphone_large
There's a lot of exciting action in collaborative consumption, much of it being inspired by the early success of carsharing and ridesharing networks. After hitting 100 million miles served last year, Zimride is now one of the biggest online ridesharing companies in North America. Today, the startup is announcing the release of the mobile version of Zimride.com, a mobile-optimized version of its online service, which will, among other things, enable users to receive and send messages, view user profiles, search for, post, and book new rides. The mobile service's launch coincides with this year's Coachella Music Festival -- which takes place April 13 to 15 in Indio, California -- as the startup has been named Coachella's exclusive ridesharing partner. (It's also the exclusive ridesharing partner for the Bonnaroo music festival as well.)
hero_iphone_large
There's a lot of exciting action in collaborative consumption, much of it being inspired by the early success of carsharing and ridesharing networks. After hitting 100 million miles served last year, Zimride is now one of the biggest online ridesharing companies in North America. Today, the startup is announcing the release of the mobile version of Zimride.com, a mobile-optimized version of its online service, which will, among other things, enable users to receive and send messages, view user profiles, search for, post, and book new rides. The mobile service's launch coincides with this year's Coachella Music Festival -- which takes place April 13 to 15 in Indio, California -- as the startup has been named Coachella's exclusive ridesharing partner. (It's also the exclusive ridesharing partner for the Bonnaroo music festival as well.)
FormMobi Aims To Be A Better ‘Mobile Clipboard’ With Easy Form Creation And Distribution
formmobi
I don't think anyone in history has ever thought of filling out forms as sexy, but it's a necessary evil for many a business or organization. Still, there’s plenty of room for improvement, and that’s where a la mode inc. comes into play — their FormMobi app aims to simplify the process of creating forms and getting them into the field where they're actually needed.
formmobi
I don't think anyone in history has ever thought of filling out forms as sexy, but it's a necessary evil for many a business or organization. Still, there’s plenty of room for improvement, and that’s where a la mode inc. comes into play — their FormMobi app aims to simplify the process of creating forms and getting them into the field where they're actually needed.
FLUD 2.0 Rolls Out To Android & Windows Phone, As Startup Readies Its Series A
FludAndroid_2
FLUD, the scrappy news reader backed by $1 million in seed funding, is today introducing FLUD 2.0 for Android and Windows Phone. FLUD 2.0, for those who don't recall, was the big redesign that turned FLUD from being just another news reader into a true social news experience. Although participating in a crowded space, where it goes up against better-known brands like Flipboard, Zite, and Pulse, FLUD founder Bobby Ghoshal believes his company has what it takes to stand out from the crowd. Not only is the startup building its own social network - as opposed to one built on top of Facebook or Twitter - it's now also doing so cross-platform.
FludAndroid_2
FLUD, the scrappy news reader backed by $1 million in seed funding, is today introducing FLUD 2.0 for Android and Windows Phone. FLUD 2.0, for those who don't recall, was the big redesign that turned FLUD from being just another news reader into a true social news experience. Although participating in a crowded space, where it goes up against better-known brands like Flipboard, Zite, and Pulse, FLUD founder Bobby Ghoshal believes his company has what it takes to stand out from the crowd. Not only is the startup building its own social network - as opposed to one built on top of Facebook or Twitter - it's now also doing so cross-platform.
New Project Aims To Add A Little High-Tech To Antiques Appraisal
london_dated_hallmarks
As the proud owner of a number of antiques including an original Game Boy and an unopened box of Circus Fun cereal, I'm well aware of the value of those things passed down to us from the ancients. However, when you're dealing with jewelry and other high-end baubles, the value depends quite a bit on hallmarks, mint marks, and quality notes. This project, called Info-Snap, aims to improve the process of assessing hallmarks in the wild, making anyone a junior antiques detective.
london_dated_hallmarks
As the proud owner of a number of antiques including an original Game Boy and an unopened box of Circus Fun cereal, I'm well aware of the value of those things passed down to us from the ancients. However, when you're dealing with jewelry and other high-end baubles, the value depends quite a bit on hallmarks, mint marks, and quality notes. This project, called Info-Snap, aims to improve the process of assessing hallmarks in the wild, making anyone a junior antiques detective.
April 04 2012
Friday: A Personal Assistant That Remembers What You’ve Done
friday-app
In the spirit of connecting your phone's activity to the cloud, a trend that has inspired one of this week's more interesting launches, Phonedeck, there now comes another application that wants to automatically track your activity in order to provide a history of your communications, additional analysis, and even a search engine for your own life. The app is called Friday, and it's now available in private beta (invites below) for Android users only.
friday-app
In the spirit of connecting your phone's activity to the cloud, a trend that has inspired one of this week's more interesting launches, Phonedeck, there now comes another application that wants to automatically track your activity in order to provide a history of your communications, additional analysis, and even a search engine for your own life. The app is called Friday, and it's now available in private beta (invites below) for Android users only.
Pulse Adds 20 Titles From Popular Science Publisher Bonnier To Its Reading Stream, Its Biggest Launch Yet
Pulse Bonnier mag screenshot
In the landgrab among reading apps that aggregate content to make it more accessible on tablets and smartphones, one of the early movers, Pulse, is today announcing a deal with magazine publisher Bonnier that will give its offering a significant boost. Bonnier is adding 20 titles from its special-interest magazine portfolio to the Pulse reading stream, including titles like Field and Stream, Parenting, Saveur, Scuba Diving, Skiing and Sound + Vision. Pulse, which already had some 300 content partners on its platform, says the Bonnier deal is its biggest yet.
Pulse Bonnier mag screenshot
In the landgrab among reading apps that aggregate content to make it more accessible on tablets and smartphones, one of the early movers, Pulse, is today announcing a deal with magazine publisher Bonnier that will give its offering a significant boost. Bonnier is adding 20 titles from its special-interest magazine portfolio to the Pulse reading stream, including titles like Field and Stream, Parenting, Saveur, Scuba Diving, Skiing and Sound + Vision. Pulse, which already had some 300 content partners on its platform, says the Bonnier deal is its biggest yet.
Real Estate Search Company Trulia Brings Its Rentals App To iPhone
map_srp_popup
Real estate search company Trulia is adding to its mobile lineup today with the launch of Trulia Rentals for iPhone. The app joins its Android rentals-only counterpart, which launched back in September. Like the former, the new iPhone app will also offer a dedicated view of nearby rentals, including property details, photos, as well as other neighborhood rental info, including where restaurants, schools and other points of interest are located. In addition, the app will offer new property listings sent out via push notifications, the ability to save search, and a feature that connects you with a broker or landlord right from within the app.
map_srp_popup
Real estate search company Trulia is adding to its mobile lineup today with the launch of Trulia Rentals for iPhone. The app joins its Android rentals-only counterpart, which launched back in September. Like the former, the new iPhone app will also offer a dedicated view of nearby rentals, including property details, photos, as well as other neighborhood rental info, including where restaurants, schools and other points of interest are located. In addition, the app will offer new property listings sent out via push notifications, the ability to save search, and a feature that connects you with a broker or landlord right from within the app.
Eight Mobile Ad Companies Get Behind ODIN In A Quest To Replace The UDID
odin-logo
More than a half-dozen mobile ad companies are getting behind a working group called ODIN to find a new way of tracking and identifying iOS users that still respects their privacy. This is happening because Apple is pressuring developers to stop using an older method called UDIDs (or unique device ID numbers) faster than previously thought amid criticism that it compromises privacy. Velti, Jumptap, RadiumOne, Mdotm, StrikeAd, Smaato, Adfonic and SAY Media are hoping that by collaborating, they can influence the new standard that the rest of the mobile advertising industry will adopt. "We need to get everybody on the same page so that we have a uniform solution that ends up working for everyone," said Krishna Subramanian, who is Velti's chief marketing officer.
odin-logo
More than a half-dozen mobile ad companies are getting behind a working group called ODIN to find a new way of tracking and identifying iOS users that still respects their privacy. This is happening because Apple is pressuring developers to stop using an older method called UDIDs (or unique device ID numbers) faster than previously thought amid criticism that it compromises privacy. Velti, Jumptap, RadiumOne, Mdotm, StrikeAd, Smaato, Adfonic and SAY Media are hoping that by collaborating, they can influence the new standard that the rest of the mobile advertising industry will adopt. "We need to get everybody on the same page so that we have a uniform solution that ends up working for everyone," said Krishna Subramanian, who is Velti's chief marketing officer.
Mogreet Nabs $4.1M For An Easy Way To Share Rich Media To Any Mobile Device
Screen shot 2012-04-04 at 5.16.04 AM
Mogreet, a Los Angeles-based mobile video marketing startup, is today announcing that it has raised $4.1 million in strategic capital. The round was led by Black Diamond Ventures, with participation from existing investors, including DFJ Frontier, Ascend Ventures, Bryant Park Ventures, and Draper Associates. The new infusion of capital brings the startup's total funding to $14.1 million.
Screen shot 2012-04-04 at 5.16.04 AM
Mogreet, a Los Angeles-based mobile video marketing startup, is today announcing that it has raised $4.1 million in strategic capital. The round was led by Black Diamond Ventures, with participation from existing investors, including DFJ Frontier, Ascend Ventures, Bryant Park Ventures, and Draper Associates. The new infusion of capital brings the startup's total funding to $14.1 million.
The Interesting Part About Amazon’s In-App Payments Beta Is That Developers Have Pricing Control
images-screenshots-captures-amazon-appstore-logo-21032011_00B4000000001978
The most interesting part of Amazon's move to provide an in-app payments flow is that they're ceding pricing control to mobile developers. Amazon has been testing a new in-app payments system with several top-tier mobile developers for several months. It's a big deal because there has been a huge shift over the last 18 months toward giving away apps for free instead of selling them for a dollar or more. This move would bring Amazon's Android appstore closer to parity with Google and Apple's stores for developers. But the part worth noting isn't that Amazon will offer an in-app purchases flow. It's obvious that they would do that, given their experience in online payments and commerce and need to compete with Google's app store. The part worth pointing out is that Amazon is letting developers set their own prices for virtual currency and digital content. That's a departure from the strategy the e-commerce giant tried to pursue last year with mobile developers.
images-screenshots-captures-amazon-appstore-logo-21032011_00B4000000001978
The most interesting part of Amazon's move to provide an in-app payments flow is that they're ceding pricing control to mobile developers. Amazon has been testing a new in-app payments system with several top-tier mobile developers for several months. It's a big deal because there has been a huge shift over the last 18 months toward giving away apps for free instead of selling them for a dollar or more. This move would bring Amazon's Android appstore closer to parity with Google and Apple's stores for developers. But the part worth noting isn't that Amazon will offer an in-app purchases flow. It's obvious that they would do that, given their experience in online payments and commerce and need to compete with Google's app store. The part worth pointing out is that Amazon is letting developers set their own prices for virtual currency and digital content. That's a departure from the strategy the e-commerce giant tried to pursue last year with mobile developers.
April 03 2012
Opera Software Launches Yet Another UDID Alternative For Anonymous Mobile Ad-Tracking
UDID-e1292882803383
Just when iOS developers had thought they had heard of every UDID replacement mechanism out there, Opera Software had to go and launch its own, too. Today, the company, best known as the maker of the Opera web browser, is introducing something it's calling "App-Tribute" - and yes, it's yet another system providing an alternative to the now deprecated UDID.
UDID-e1292882803383
Just when iOS developers had thought they had heard of every UDID replacement mechanism out there, Opera Software had to go and launch its own, too. Today, the company, best known as the maker of the Opera web browser, is introducing something it's calling "App-Tribute" - and yes, it's yet another system providing an alternative to the now deprecated UDID.
RR Donnelly Invests $2.5M In CoffeeTable To Bring Retail Catalogs Into The Tablet Age
Screen shot 2012-04-03 at 4.27.26 AM
RR Donnelly isn't a name you see very often in TechCrunch, but companies don't survive for nearly 150 years without having one eye trained on the future. With 2011 revenues at an estimated $10.6 billion, the company is one of the world's largest commercial printers. The printing giant has been stepping up its digital investments of late, and today announced that it has invested $2.5 million in Real Value Corporation, the makers of iPad shopping app, CoffeeTable.
Screen shot 2012-04-03 at 4.27.26 AM
RR Donnelly isn't a name you see very often in TechCrunch, but companies don't survive for nearly 150 years without having one eye trained on the future. With 2011 revenues at an estimated $10.6 billion, the company is one of the world's largest commercial printers. The printing giant has been stepping up its digital investments of late, and today announced that it has invested $2.5 million in Real Value Corporation, the makers of iPad shopping app, CoffeeTable.
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