New York-based Codecademy, which offers online programming courses, said it is expanding to support server-side languages, starting with Python, which was the language most requested by users of the platform. To date, Codecademy had focused on in-browser languages like JavaScript and HTML. Read more »
Despite ongoing debate about the effects of online learning, a report from the Pew Internet and American Life Project and Elon University shows that a majority of technology stakeholders expect it to transform higher education by 2020. Read more »
Facebook’s second quarter earnings report – its first since going public in May – just matched Wall Street analysts’ expectations. The company also said it had 955 million monthly active users as of the end of June. Read more »
Starting Thursday, San Francisco-based GoodEggs is piloting the launch of its online marketplace that lets farmers, ranchers, bakers and other foodmakers sell produce, meat, baked goods and other locally-sourced food products directly to people in their communities. Read more »
Subscription fashion and style brand JustFab on Thursday announced that it had raised $76 million to accelerate international expansion, with a focus on Western Europe. In May, the company launched in Germany and said it plans to move into the UK in September. Read more »
New York-based SecondMarket Thursday announced that the company was adding former U.S. Congressman Scott Murphy to its board of directors. Murphy, an entrepreneur, was previously managing director at Advantage Capital, a venture capital and small business financing firm. Read more »
Design shopping site Fab on Thursday released an updated version of its mobile app, which enhances social sharing, and it added Facebook connect to allow members to sign in with their Facebook credentials. The company said social and mobile are driving a lot of traffic. Read more »
Enterprise-focused social marketing startup Unified Wednesday released an updated version of its social operating platform that layers on a Yammer-like user experience to the workflow specific to a brand or agency executing multiple social media campaigns. Read more »
Launched Wednesday, Tip or Skip is a mobile shopping game designed to help users find new products and share recommendations, while earning points that identify them as a top tastemaker. The game is available for the iPhone and on the Web. Read more »
A study from the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania found that voters are not fans of political advertising tactics that use personal information to tailor online messages. Read more »
Three weeks after raising $27.5 million in new funds, mobile ad network Jumptap, which has said it could go public within a year, has added a chief operating officer and a new board member. Read more »
As investments in health tech and consumer interest in health-tracking devices and apps continue to rise, Wired magazine said it is partnering with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to host its first conference on digital health and the future of healthcare. Read more at paidContent »
Building on the acquisition of Brooklyn-based digital education company Wired Generation, News Corp today unveiled its education technology business Amplified. Read more »
Earlier this week, online ed startup Coursera said it added a dozen new universities and raised an additional $6 million. A contract between the company and a university partner, obtained by the Chronicle of Higher Education, reveals hints about how it plans to profit. Read more »
Blueprint Health, a startup accelerator and co-working space based in New York, is announcing Thursday its ten picks for the accelerator’s latest class of startups. Read more »
New York-based 33Across, an ad tech startup that uses vast amounts of social data to target audiences, has raised an additional $13.1 million from Pelion Ventures, Flybridge Capital, Greycroft Partners, First Round Capital and others. Read more »
Edmodo, a social networking platform for education, Thursday announced that it had raised $25 million in Series C financing from new funder New Enterprise Associates, as well as current investors, including Greylock Partners, Benchmark Capital, Union Square Ventures and Learn Capital. Read more »
With the goal of becoming nothing less than the world’s next big design brand, commerce site Fab Wednesday announced that it had raised $105 million. Read more »
Through a new partnership between LocalResponse and ShopLocal, shoppers could have digital circulars delivered to their mobile phones when they indicate on Foursquare, Twitter or other social platforms that they are in a given store or in the market for a certain item. Read more »
The use of “clickers,” which let students respond to professors during class, is gaining adoption in college classrooms nationwide. But Top Hat Monocle, which Wednesday announced $8 million in new funds, aims to replace those devices with software that runs on any student device. Read more »
New York startup Percolate, which helps brands sort and curate content to share on Facebook, Twitter and other social channels, has released its newest version. Read more »
LittleBits, a New York-based startup that developed a system of electronic modules that snap together to make simple electronics projects, announced Wednesday that it has raised $3.65 million in new funding and forged a critical partnership with supply chain management company PCH International. Read more »
Healthy Dose of Imagination, a microsite launched Tuesday by the values-based venture fund Collaborative Fund, gives a lighter spin to the wonky world of healthcare with whimsical infographics visualizing innovations in health. Read more »
In some circles, the phrase “gamification” may have gone out of fashion but, with help from Bunchball, Course Hero is intent on showing that it can still pack a punch in education and released some data to illustrate its point. Read more »
In addition to announcing $6 million in new funding, online education startup Coursera Tuesday announced that was adding a dozen new university partners, including three international partners. Read more »
In an effort to further cast itself as a consumer-facing social network for education – and unseat incumbent Blackboard – Lore rolled out a new version of its platform Monday that makes it more streamlined, design-centric and functional. Read more »
Amid debates over Do Not Track and increased activity in ad tech, a report released Monday from privacy management firm TRUSTe signals that consumers are increasingly taking actions to protect their online privacy. Read more »
According to a Pew Internet & American Life report released Thursday, caregivers are more likely than other Internet users to look for health information online and take advantage of social tools related to health. Read more »
Blekko, the human-curated search engine, on Thursday unveiled a new content curation site, ROCKzi, which lets people consume and socialize around the news they care about in a PInterest-like environment. Read more »
Chances are, you’ve had an experience like this: you check out a product on a retailer’s site and then an ad for it follows you around the Web. Get ready to see more retargeted ads for gaming, sporting events and movies. Read more »
Women looking for health information online have a growing number of options, but ChickRx wants to give them a community platform that engages women in their own voice. Read more »
Innovation and investment in mobile health apps continue to grow but health tech experts say the vast majority of mobile apps fail to engage consumers and the category as a whole has yet to win over doctors. Read more »
As if we needed more evidence that brick and mortar stores are at a crossroads, a study out Tuesday from Paris-based consulting firm CapGemini found that more than half of shoppers globally said they think more physical stores will become merely showrooms by 2020. Read more »
Between its CEO search and patent war with Facebook, the past few months have been especially rocky for long-beleaguered Yahoo. But, on schedule, the company today announced that it is rolling out its big data ad tool Genome. Read more »
New York-based social commerce site Fancy said Monday that it will roll out a program to compensate users for their curation and sharing. Each time a friend buys a product shared by a user, the user will get 2 percent of the transaction value. Read more »
As you’ve likely seen by the many blazing headlines, thousands of people may lose access to the Internet on July 9, in what some are calling an “Internet doomsday.” But it’s not the first time a single day has held apocalyptic fascination for the Web. Read more »
Consuming goods is about as American as apple pie, so it’s no wonder that homes across the country seem to be overrun with clutter. A recent study from the UCLA Center on Everyday Lives of Families explores just how enmeshed we are with our things. Read more »
We’ve spilled a lot of virtual ink recently on the peer-to-peer marketplaces that want to update the “Craigslist for Facebook” era. But a crop of new exchange-oriented startups are reviving something else too: bartering. Read more »
Under the gun to show that it can make big money in mobile, Facebook is reportedly planning to unveil a new product that will target ads based on the apps a consumer has on his phone. Read more »
As online classes proliferate, LearningJar, which launched in public beta this week, offers a platform to help people figure out the skills and courses to focus on, track their progress and prove their competence. Read more »
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