ViVOtech, an end-to-end provider of near field communication hardware and software, has raised $24 million in a Series C round of funding. The funding highlights the growing momentum behind NFC, which is finally coming together as a rising mobile payment and communications platform. Read more »
While iOS game developer Pocket Gems faces increasing competition from Facebook developers Zynga and Crowdstar, the company, with two titles in the top five grossing apps list, believes it can hold its own by being a purely mobile-focused player with an eye quality and user retention. Read more »
Go Daddy, the largest domain registrar and a web hosting provider, is reportedly close to being sold to a group of private equity firms including KKR and Silver Lake Partners. The purchase price is about $2-2.5 billion, according to several news outlets. Read more »
PayPal’s mobile payments business is now expected to do $3 billion in volume this year, double what the company predicted last fall. But the bigger challenge and opportunity awaits in mobile payments for offline goods, something PayPal is gearing up for. Read more »
GetJar has beat out budding rival Amazon in snagging the Android exclusive on Cut the Rope, a previous iOS game with Angry Birds–like appeal. The game illustrates the growing competition between the 2 third-party Android app stores as they compete for developers and consumers. Read more »
The move to the cloud requires a lot of discussion on the boundaries and expectations for data privacy in a cloud environment. The government’s approach to data privacy, in particular, is of great concern, from the legislation it enacts to the way law enforcement uses it. Read more »
Cloud databases present their own challenges but opportunities abound for companies pushing the edge. That’s the word from a collection of cloud database executives who shared their views at the GigaOM Structure conference on the future of cloud databases. Read more »
Card.io is announcing the launch of a private beta program for mobile developers who want to integrate its visual swipe technology into their apps, allowing people to enter in their credit card information by just taking a picture of their card. Read more »
Foursquare is going national with a partnership with American Express that will enable its members to redeem location-based deals by swiping their credit card. But the company faces challenges in proving that it can compete in the local commerce space. Read more »
AT&T isn’t going after Amazon or Microsoft with its cloud computing offerings. But the company does see a natural intersection between the cloud and its business of infrastructure and managed service and mobility, said John Stankey, AT&T’s president and CEO of business solutions. Read more »
Michael Chertoff, the former head of the Department of Homeland Security, said that with the explosion of open data flowing from the Internet and social networks, the key to improved security is to capture that information and analyze it for signals that yield important insights. Read more »
Mobile developers should consider turning their attention to Asia, which is booming with mobile app downloads, according to a new report from app analytics firm Distimo. The region now boasts the second-largest app market — in China — and has a fast riser in South Korea. Read more »
Shopkick, a location-based deals and reward shopping app, is going local, offering merchants free hardware that integrates with its loyalty service. In a deal with Shopkick investor Citi, the company is offering free installation of Shopkick signal boxes at 1,000 stores owned by local merchants. Read more »
Mobile devices, led by the iPad and Android phones and tablets, have overtaken computers on Wi-Fi networks, according to a new report. It’s another sign that when it comes to getting connected, people are leaving the laptop closed and reaching for their pockets. Read more »
The Android smartphone onslaught may have hit its peak, at least in the U.S., according to an analyst who thinks that the expanded rollout of the iPhone to other carriers will check the rise of Google’s OS. Cheaper iPhones will also help eat into Android’s lead. Read more »
Research In Motion, already struggling to keep up with nimble competitors, signaled that its attempts to catch up are falling behind. The company reported first quarter fiscal 2012 earnings, coming in below expectations for handsets sold and revenue with lowered guidance for the year. Read more »
Vivek Kundra, the U.S.’ first Chief Information Officer, is stepping down later this summer to take a fellowship position at Harvard University. Kundra has worked to transition the federal government to the cloud while strengthening cybersecurity and promoting more transparency and openness. Read more »
TechStars’ Boston class came of age today at their demo day capping off a frenzied three-month program that has produced a strong, business-focused class that was especially memorable for its health component. Here’s a look at a handful of the startups that caught my eye. Read more »
Mobile discovery service Shazam has made its first acquisition, buying up music search engine Tunezee, whose technology will drive a new feature called Shazam LyricPlay that will allow users to view lyrics synced in real-time with the music they are listening to. Read more »
Cablevision is now offering its cable customers cable modem speeds over its Optimum Wi-Fi network of hotspots, hitting 15 megabits per second down and 4 megabits per second on the uplink. The upgrade is a vast improvement over the previous speeds, which hit 3 mbps down and 1.5 mbps up. Read more »
Rovio wants to take Angry Birds local by enhancing game play for users when they visit real-world locations. The feature builds off an NFC feature for certain Nokia phones, and unlocks new levels when users tap their phones together or tap in at a location. Read more »
Verizon Wireless is tapping Payfone, an emerging mobile payment platform, to offer its customers a way to pay for online items via their cell phone bill. The deal illustrates the kind of scale Payfone is putting together with its new payment service. Read more »
Though smartphone users compare the relative cost of their apps by their price, the better measure now that data caps are looming may be the cost of ownership which factors in data usage, argues the maker of a news aggregation app. Read more »
Research firm IDC reiterated that it expects Windows Phone 7 to soar to number two by 2015 with 20 percent of the market, trailing only Android. But with the market moving so fast and competition so fierce, predictions like this seem premature. Read more »
Though they’re still emerging, location-based services are expected to bring in $10 billion in revenue from consumers and advertisers by 2016, according to research firm Strategy Analytics. The biggest chunk, just over 50 percent, will come from location-based search advertising. Read more »
Appsfire and others have helped tackle the issue of app discovery by bringing new social and sharing tools to bear on the task. Now, Zwapp, a new start-up is trying to go one step further by building essentially a social network around app discovery. Read more »
Manilla, a new free online bill management service incubated by media giant Hearst, is now available to the public. It offers to manage and store your bills and lets users set custom alerts to remind them to pay. Read more »
Former AOL CEO Steve Case and former Time Warner CEO Jerry Levin are reuniting to help spur on innovation in health and wellness. Levin, with the help of Case’s Startup America Partnership, is launching a new strategic initiative called StartUp Health designed to help health entrepreneurs. Read more »
While Android Market is growing fast, it has an attrition rate that is twice as high as Apple’s App Store. That explains why, contrary to previous reports, Android Market is not on pace to overtake Apple’s App Store in overall apps. Read more »
Strong demand for U.S. display advertising, especially video and banner ads, is helping pump up projections for the overall online advertising market, which is now set to grow by 20 percent this year to $31.3 billion, according to revised estimates from eMarketer. Read more »
Gaming service WildTangent is opening a rental service later this year that will allow Android users to rent games and apply their fees toward purchases. It could be another tool for developers to unlock dollars from games on the Android platform. Read more »
RunKeeper is now poised to become a full-fledged fitness network with the release of a Health Graph API, which opens up the RunKeeper experience enabling a host of apps and devices to publish to RunKeeper’s FitnessFeed and contribute to its Health Graph. Read more »
Amazon’s success with its Kindle business is hitting an inflection point as it nears 10 percent of the company’s revenues, according to an analyst report. The success of the Kindle business is at a point where it can affect the overall growth the company. Read more »
Developers building atop platforms like iOS and Twitter should plan for the day when platform owners work against their interests, said Union Square Ventures partner Fred Wilson, who reminded entrepreneurs about the dangers of relying on someone else’s APIs. Read more »
Apple’s release of iOS 5 and iCloud include a number of features that touch on existing third-party services from cloud storage and note-taking apps to reading programs, camera apps and group messaging services. Discover what top developers from Instagram, Boxcar and tap tap tap think. Read more »
After taking 992 days to get to 5 million members, Evernote said today it has now hit 10 million members a mere 208 days later. It’s also eclipsed 400,000 premium members, putting the company well on its way toward its goal of 1 million paid users. Read more »
EBay said it’s buying up the rest of e-commerce platform Magento in a bid to build a broader commerce operating system that spans online, mobile, social and local. EBay is looking to be the go-to resource for online and offline retailers, helping connect them to consumers. Read more »
With the FTC’s crackdown on privacy extending to mobile, the shifting climate is opening up opportunities for start-ups like PlaceIQ and BlueCava that enable advertisers to target mobile users without personally identifying them. Read more »
Android handset makers HTC and Motorola are extending their user interface skins in new directions that are meant to help differentiate their hardware. But in some cases, the extensions could exacerbate Android’s fragmentation problem. The moves show how competitive it is for Android hardware makers. Read more »
Just months after raising $950 million, Groupon has filed for an IPO as it looks to stay ahead of a gaggle of competitors in the daily deal market. The company faces challenges in its high user acquisition cost and expansion into local and mobile. Read more »
