The Guardian’s latest attempt to become a serious player in the American market is gearing up, with the launch of a new homepage for US readers. But after many failed attempts, can it ever succeed – or could its American dream turn into a nightmare? Read more »
As music services Mog and Rdio take up defensive positions by launching new free-to-listen services, it may look like streaming is the future. But retailers like eMusic are fighting back by arguing that purchasing songs remains as relevant as ever. Read more »
After years of development, mountains of cash and a false start or two, Plastic Logic says its first e-reader is ready for the market. But even if you want one, your chances are slim: It’s only going to be sold to Russian schoolchildren. Read more »
Lots of companies have tried to soften up their image by adopting a friendly tone of voice, but social media has cranked the volume up. But when even banks and faceless corporations are adopting this facile approach, is it time hypercasual was killed off? Read more »
Simon Willison is the ultimate nerd: He’s the face behind several important pieces of web technology and a developer who’s worked for some of the biggest names in the business. Now he and his wife are finding more success with events website Lanyrd. Read more »
London-based Seedcamp is already a significant force in early stage investment: but now it’s come out all guns blazing with a series of partnerships across Europe and America that it hopes can secure its reputation as one of the world’s leading incubators. Read more »
Russia’s biggest online commerce company, Ozon, is about to get bigger thanks to a huge injection of cash and ambitious plans to take its business to the next level. But is it biting off more than it can chew? Read more »
Henry Lane Fox, the chief executive of The Browser, doesn’t like the term “curation.” But he’s staking his reputation on precisely that, by building a high-end, human-powered engine for linking to the best and most intelligent writing online. Read more »
Design guru Don Norman is the godfather of design in the technology industry, a veteran who has been around the block with companies like Apple and HP. Now he thinks that it’s time we started being more skeptical of Google’s ambitions — or risk losing something important. Read more »
While the U.S. mobile operators are starting to compete over 4G speeds, Europe’s transition to next generation networks has barely begun. It’s a situation that turns the stereotype on its head — and highlights mistakes made 10 years ago by operators in Germany, France and the UK. Read more »
After building up millions of users in the last eight years, DIY travel website Couchsurfing has stepped it up by going for-profit and taking venture funding. But some aggrieved users feel that they’ve become pawns in a game… and they aren’t happy. Read more »
After being forced to radically change its business after the financial crisis, European mobile ad startup Blyk has spent the last two years rebuilding from the ground up. Now it has a new chief executive as it attempts to make good. Read more »
Google chairman Eric Schmidt says that Britain’s schools should focus on teaching kids not to use programs, but to build them — an allegation that increasingly faces Western education. So how do we get better computer teaching? And what happens if we don’t? Read more »
Proposals to give police the power to shut down social networks in Britain — proposed as a dramatic reaction to the riots that spread across the country this month — appear to have been dumped by the government. A victory for sensible people everywhere, or a warning sign? Read more »
As the world prepares to commemorate a decade since the attacks of September 11, 2001, hit New York and Washington, the Internet Archive has released a fascinating — and horrifying — library of footage showing how news channels around the world covered the events. Read more »
Index Ventures partner Saul Klein is a champion of Europe’s tech scene, from London to Ljublana. Now he’s in to bat for Israel — a country he says is ready to set aside its history of security, pornography and gambling to become the next great innovation hub. Read more »
Former Nokia executive Ari Jaaski has opened up to a Finnish newspaper about the frustrations that led him to quit last year — but since he jumped ship for greener pastures at Palm, he simply seems to have traded the frying pan for the fire. Read more »
German startup Gigalocal has good backers and a name that seems inspired. But can its focus on a local market be enough to help open up a gap in the increasingly busy — but still relatively unproven — field of service marketplaces? Read more »
Hot European finance startup Wonga may not be to everybody’s tastes, but it’s doing strong business — and reports suggest it is already testing the waters for its next step, just six months after raising a monster round of $116 million to expand its loan operations. Read more »
When Britain’s teenagers aren’t rioting, they’re spending their time ogling each other on a hot website that’s just scored significant investment from a Canadian web mogul. But can Snog.com turn itself into something useful — or will it fade into obscurity? Read more »
Plenty of web entrepreneurs share the same dream: build a great company and then cash in by selling it to Google, Facebook or another technology giant. But being successful is complicated affair, according to those who have seen those deals from the inside. Read more »
The decision by British Telecom to buy internet telephony service Ribbit for $105m in 2008 drew out plenty of questions. Three years later the criticisms have come full circle, with news that the most visible part of the business is being shut down. Read more »
Meet Demet Mutlu, the 30-year-old founder and CEO of Turkey’s top fashion site, Trendyol. She’s used to breaking boundaries at home, but her latest achievement could be among the most important — confirmation that the site is Kleiner Perkins’ first investment in Turkey. Read more »
In our fourth and final installment of the GigaOM Euro 20, we bring you the Wild Cards. Five companies that don’t fit the mold — some are surprising, some are risky, and some are largely unknown. Read more »
After a weekend of riots in London, reports are spreading suggesting that mobs are using BlackBerry Messenger to organize themselves. That news may come as a surprise, but it’s really just evidence of how popular the brand is in the inner city. Read more »
In the third part of GigaOM’s Euro 20 roundup, we’ll look at five of the startups we’ve dubbed Almost Famous. They’ve weathered the storm, come out the other side, and have solid products to offer. Read more »
The market for photography apps and photo sharing services is crowded beyond belief, ranging from trendy startups like Instagram to heavily-funded monsters such as Color. So why does Berlin-based EyeEm think it can make an impact? And can it succeed? Read more »
Britain’s copyright laws have always been byzantine, but the digital age has put them under more pressure than ever. Now the news that the government plans a major makeover has sent rights holders into a spiral, but could be great news for startups. Read more »
There are hundreds of promising European startups that lie just below the surface of success waiting to break out. For our second installment of GigaOM’s Euro 20, we chose five of these. Here are the ones to watch. Read more »
A report examining the success rate of European venture capital compared to the U.S. sparked heated discussion. But some argue that even the best statistics ignore the real problems that face entrepreneurs and investors — no matter which side of the Atlantic they are on. Read more »
The average European startup might struggle to get the same attention as the latest hot prospect outta Silicon Valley, but some of Europe’s biggest names are famous across the globe. In our first installment of GigaOM’s Euro 20, we chose these five startups as Super Stars. Read more »
For years, Europe’s startup community has been painted as the undernourished younger cousin of Silicon Valley. In reality, Europe’s web scene is now thriving. and we’ve compiled a list featuring some of the best and brightest European web startups — what we’re dubbing the GigaOM Euro 20. Read more »
A judge in London has ruled that the country’s largest internet provide should block access to Newzbin, a filesharing service which Hollywood has been trying to shut down for years. Could the decision encourage other ISPs to institute filters against unauthorized downloading? Read more »
After endless development and lobbying from fans around the world, the BBC has finally opened up an international version of the iPlayer — its smash hit video-on-demand service — for European subscribers. But will it make the grade as other video subscription services expand? Read more »
European startups have a long history of trying to break the American market — a move that works for some but not all. Now the CEO of print-on-demand website Photobox says that Europe’s entrepreneurs should learn from history if they want to build strong companies. Read more »
Europe’s venture-backed startup industry is generally seen as smaller and less successful than its American equivalent. But new data collected by one group of German investors suggest that, pound for pound, Europe’s VCs might turn out to be a much better bet. Read more »
Two months after it launched, British book crowdfunding website Unbound has only managed to push one project to the finishing line. So what’s wrong? Is donation-based publishing a dead end, or did the service misunderstand the reasons behind Kickstarter’s success? Read more »
After years of effort and a long courtship, Photobox and Moonpig — two of Britain’s most venerable startups that print photos, books and greetings cards — are joining forces, with an acquisition that will create what they claim is the world’s leading personalized printing service. Read more »
Walking the smartphone tightrope was always going to be tough for Nokia, stuck between its struggling Symbian platform and upcoming Windows Phone models. But after warnings about its performance, the company has now revealed its numbers for the last three months — and they don’t look good. Read more »
Russian social network VKontakte has built a billion dollar business by cloning almost every aspect of Facebook for the local market. It seems a little rich, then, that founder Pavel Durov says his long-term ambition is to prove that Russian products can be global leaders. Read more »
