Nokia said today it will outsource Symbian development to Accenture, transferring 3,000 workers in the process. It also announced its largest jobs cuts in history with plans to shed another 4,000 jobs by the end of 2012, mostly in the U.K., Denmark and Finland. Read more »
There’s a reason why search companies, advertisers and local merchants are so interested in smartphones. It’s because they’re turning out to be a powerful tools for people looking to search locally, act quickly and improve their shopping, according to a smartphone user study commissioned by Google. Read more »
Outfit7, the company behind the fast-selling Talking Friends apps, is looking to build what may be a next-generation Disney-like digital entertainment company. And with 100 million downloads in ten months, the company is on its way to achieving its goal. Read more »
Android has been outselling the iPhone recently but Apple’s iPhone was still the most desired smartphone. Not anymore. According to Nielsen, 31 percent of respondents in March said they want their next smartphone to be an Android device, while 30 percent said they wanted an iPhone. Read more »
Medialets, a New York mobile ad company, is looking to make rich media mobile ads much more easier for advertisers and publishers to use by launching a new dashboard and toolkit called Muse, which simplifies the creation, management and analytics of rich media campaigns. Read more »
Developer interest in Android appears to have cooled off due to concerns about fragmentation and the first wave of tablets using the operating system, according to a new developer survey from Appcelerator and IDC. But that doesn’t necessarily mean good news for the competition. Read more »
ChoozOn, a start-up co-founded by a trio of former Yahoo executives, is launching a social network built around shopping and personalized deals that works hard to bring brands and consumers together. It will face tough odds going up against Groupon, Facebook, Google and others. Read more »
Most start-ups are worried about winning business plan competitions. Shopify, an e-commerce platform, is getting good at hosting them. The compay is kicking off its second Build a Business competition, taking the contest international while upping the prize money and giveaways to half a million dollars. Read more »
Android is still trailing iOS’ larger ecosystem when you count the installed base of iPhones, iPads and iPod Touches. But the rise of cheap ebook readers turned tablets from could help Google close that gap by serving a role similar to the iPod Touch. Read more »
Amazon is giving Verizon Android customers $25 worth of app credits in its new app store. The deal signals how serious Amazon is taking its app store and how the company is filling out an ecosystem that could become the basis for a tablet platform. Read more »
Four months after Groupon turned down Google’s $6 billion buyout offer, the search giant appears to have built what it couldn’t buy. The company has begun rolling out Google Offers, a new discount offer service that seems to be created in the mold of Groupon. Read more »
With the world population booming and energy consumption growing, the challenge is on to counter the impacts with smart solutions, said Microsoft’s Rob Bernard. He said cloud-based software, creative uses of data and innovative interfaces will help create smart systems that can address the growing problems. Read more »
The future of the power grid is combining clean energy together with the intelligence of the smart grid. But kickstarting that convergence requires some serious salesmanship to convince consumers of the benefit, as NRG Energy’s David Crane and Silver Spring Networks said at Green:Net. Read more »
Visa has been working with the Gap on a campaign that provides discounts and promotions via text message when users make certain transactions on their Visa card. The program shows how mobile offers and discounts are incorporating more intelligence, which will be key for success. Read more »
Location-based app Loopt is looking beyond the check-in and trying to engage users by providing them information about what they should do they they arrive. Loopt is introducing Loopt Qs, a lightweight real-time question and answer feature that allows users to get answers to popular questions. Read more »
Foursquare has been grown to almost 10 million users by connecting them in the present tense to their location. But the company sees a much brighter future in focusing on the future movements of its users, said Dennis Crowley, who spoke at the Where 2.0 conference. Read more »
EBay is buying location-based service and ad network WHERE in a deal that gives it added ability to drive more local and offline commerce. The pick-up will add important talent and technology to eBay and PayPal as they look to become more locally relevant to users. Read more »
NFC can be used for a lot of things, now including unlocking levels in Angry Birds. Rovio is partnering with Nokia to offer a Symbian version of its popular title, called Angry Birds Magic, in which most of the levels will be unlocked through NFC. Read more »
Clearwire has resolved its wholesale agreement dispute with Sprint, signing a deal that calls for Sprint to pay Clearwire about $1 billion over the next two years. The deal removes some uncertainty for struggling Clearwire and helps forge a stronger bond with Sprint, its majority owner. Read more »
Apple isn’t just tweaking its App Store rankings to include more than download numbers and possibly lessen the impact of incentivized pay-per-install marketing campaigns. It’s actually banning apps that use pay-per-install, according to one of the leading providers, Tapjoy. Read more »
After helping improve maps in 183 countries and regions with Google Map Maker, Google is turning the power of crowd-sourced mapping on in the United States, a move that highlights the work Google is doing to own the local market. Read more »
Groupon is buying Pelago, maker of local discovery app Whrrl, signaling the end of the check-in service. But it could also mean a broader direction for Groupon as it looks to expand beyond daily deals to more localized and personalized discounts. Read more »
Dropbox, the cloud file-sharing and back-up tool, is on a tear with 25 million users using the system and 200 million files saved each day, according to new data from the company. Next up, it sees more integration with apps, services, TVs, cars and cameras. Read more »
Apple is apparently also tweaking its App Store rankings to factor in more than pure download numbers, a welcome sign if true. It could be an attempt to mimic what Google’s done with the Android Market, which now appears to take into account engagement data. Read more »
Game maker Valve kicked off a promotion today that allows fans to force the early release of Portal 2 if they buy a bundle of 13 independent games through its online store. It’s an innovative idea, though the execution makes the effort feel a little crass. Read more »
Google — already facing heat on accusations that it is exerting more control over its Android platform and stymieing competition in some cases — is dealing with new antitrust complaints from two Korean Internet companies that claim Google is blocking operators and manufacturers from pre-installing their search engines. Read more »
Despite the best efforts of Nintendo and Sony, mobile games are taking a bigger chunk out of the portable gaming market, with one in every three dollars of U.S. portable gaming revenue going to smartphone and tablet games, according to new analysis from Flurry. Read more »
TechStars, the pioneering start-up accelerator, just graduated its first New York class today, introducing a strong and polished class with a lot of promise. Here are some standouts from the class of 12, which introduced themselves at a demo day today. Read more »
The pieces are falling into place for near field communications to take off over the next few years, according to a new forecast from Juniper Research, which estimated 1 in 5 smartphones will support the wireless technology by 2014 with 300 million NFC-capable devices available. Read more »
AisleBuyer, a Boston start-up, is introducing a new photo card capture technology in the coming months that allows merchants and small businesses to process a payment just by taking a picture of the front of credit or debit card with a smartphone. Read more »
Life360, a family safety app, has been on a six-month tear, hitting 2 million families using the service. The growth highlights the work done to drive daily engagement, but more importantly, underscores the rise of smartphones and their increasing use as family utility tools. Read more »
Wiley Cerilli saw the growing plight of restauranteurs, who were inundated with marketing options created by social sites, mobile apps and group buying services. Instead of launching another start-up aimed at tapping local merchant marketing dollars, Cerilli is trying to be the solution to the madness. Read more »
Cisco is giving up on its barely two-year-old $590 million purchase of Pure Digital Technologies, announcing today that it is closing its Flip business unit and cutting 550 employees as part of a larger restructuring aimed at refocusing the company on its core networking business. Read more »
IPhone developers have a new tool to highlight their apps to a wider audience. Using a new product from Pieceable called Viewer, developers can publish their apps on the Web, allowing PC and Mac users to test out their apps without the need for an iPhone. Read more »
GoldRun, a New York start-up that allows brands to use augmented reality to create innovative marketing campaigns that end in real-world rewards, just raised $1.1 million in an angel round. The company is showing the promise of augmented reality and the power of tangible rewards. Read more »
For many merchants, the idea of NFC as a credit card replacement isn’t that much of an incentive, said Vivotech CEO Mike Mullagh. The real reason to get onboard with NFC is the promise of more one-to-one mobile marketing through NFC-enabled smartphones. Read more »
Kiip, a new start-up coming out of stealth mode this week, is looking to upend the mobile ad model by offering gamers tangible rewards, offers and discounts at the time they hit in-game milestones or tough achievements rather serving traditional mobile display ads. Read more »
PopCap’s recently announced indie studio 4th & Battery was aiming for edgy with its slate of games. It appears it might have been too edgy for Apple’s tastes. The label’s first game, Unpleasant Horse, has been sent packing by Apple because of mature content. Read more »
Amazon already offers display advertising opportunities on its own website. But the company may be preparing to be a much bigger force across the web as it looks to become a major player in the online display advertising market, according to an analyst. Read more »
Quixey, a new start-up backed by Eric Schmidt’s Innovation Endeavors, is looking to make the app discovery process easier by allowing users to say what they’re looking to do and then using that info to generate app recommendations for multiple platforms. Read more »
