With the federal government pushing for better Do Not Track tools for online users, browser makers are stepping up with solutions aimed at helping users avoid behavioral targeting. But it’s more of a symbolic act at this point that won’t mean a huge change in privacy. Read more »
With 2011 shaping up to be the Year of the Tablet, securing the display components behind the looming army of tablets may be a key factor in determining success in this emerging competition as possible shortages loom for panel components. Read more »
Apple and Google both made moves at the top, raising questions about the future of both companies. The FCC signed off on Comcast’s bid for NBC. And the daily deals business heated up this week with LivingSocial flexing its muscles while Google launched a Groupon clone. Read more »
With technology stars like Facebook, Zynga and Twitter holding off on IPOs, it’s meant even more business for private stock markets like SecondMarket. The trading service said transactions in the fourth quarter hit $157.8 million, more the doubling the $75 million recorded from the third quarter. Read more »
The album may be long dead, but the idea of having a digital package filled with music, pictures, information and more from an artist may have some life. That’s the hope of 955 Dreams, which is looking to push a new musical media format for tablets. Read more »
Google announced that it is reorganizing its executive staff, making co-founder Larry Page CEO while current CEO Eric Schmidt will assume the role of Executive Chairman. Meanwhile, co-founder Sergey Brin will focus on strategic and new projects. Read more »
Google’s immediate strategic initiatives are all about mobile, according to CEO Eric Schmidt. Writing in Harvard Business Review, Schmidt said 2011 comes down to three priorities for Google: developing fast wireless networks, building up mobile payments and increasing the number of inexpensive smartphones around the world. Read more »
Google’s stance on prohibiting apps in Android Market from being mini-app stores led to the quick demise of Kongregate Arcade, a flash game portal app that got pulled yesterday. But it could also have an impact on Amazon’s plans for an Android app store. Read more »
Google Voice has been a great tool for people to manage their communications. But it did not allow porting of existing mobile numbers, which limited its adoption. Now, Google has quietly enabled number porting for Google Voice though it comes with some hurdles. Read more »
Flash gaming site Kongrate launched the free Kongregate Arcade app earlier today in Android Market, only to have it yanked after Google reportedly said it violated the Market’s non-compete rules in the terms of service. The rejection, if upheld, raises questions about Android’s celebrated openness. Read more »
Nuance is making a big play to be the main speech technology behind mobile apps. The company has launched the Nuance Mobile Developer Program that gives iOS and Android developers access to the Nuance Mobile SDK to integrate the Dragon Mobile speech platform into their apps. Read more »
Starbucks is taking mobile payments nationwide with the rollout of payments by smartphone at more than 7,500 locations. The payment system builds off a limited trial from last year and has the potential to push mobile payments into the mainstream for the first time. Read more »
While the iPhone has received a couple Microsoft apps like Bing and Windows Live Messenger, Microsoft Office programs have been no shows — until now. Microsoft announced today it is releasing an iPhone version of OneNote, it’s note-syncing app for the iPhone. Read more »
Independent, off-deck, app stores will become the major driver of mobile app downloads by 2015, eclipsing on-deck app store. That’s the word from a new report from research firm MarketsandMarkets, which forecast the growth of the mobile app market. Read more »
While competitors have introduced smaller and cheaper mobile data plans, Sprint is increasing the price of its data plans for smartphones by $10 a month, applying a “premium data” add-on charge to all smartphones, not just devices that run on Sprint’s 4G network. Read more »
Just three days after introducing a new feature that allows users to share their mobile phone number and address with applications and third-party websites, Facebook said late last night that it is suspending the change as it works to clarify the permission process. Read more »
Union Square Ventures is forming a new $165 million fund to help it participate in later rounds of funding for social media and network start-ups like portfolio companies Twitter, Foursquare and Tumbler as they grow beyond the early stages that the firm has traditionally focused on. Read more »
Wireless hotspot provider Boingo filed paperwork for an initial public offering today as it looks to capitalize on the growth of mobile devices. While the number of shares offered and the price range have not been determined, the company said it hopes to raise $75 million. Read more »
The mobile app ecosystem has been one of those amazing stories in the last couple years as millions of users have latched on to smartphone applications. But the rising competition in apps has me wondering how soon before we may see feature creep overtake mobile apps. Read more »
In one of the first indications about manufacturer satisfaction with the Windows Phone 7 launch, an LG executive said the big Microsoft roll-out was, “less than we expected.” But he said the platform still has a chance as an easy-to-use alternative to Android. Read more »
Rebtel is hoping a new update to its BlackBerry app will help it make up some ground on VoIP leader Skype. The app now allows Rebtel BlackBerry users to make free international phone calls to other Rebtel users on BlackBerry and Android apps. Read more »
Android has finally surged past iOS in ad impressions on Millennial’s ad network for the first time, breaking a two-month tie. The numbers reflect the obvious growth of the Android platform and solidifies the idea that Android has become the top platform for mobile advertising. Read more »
2010 ended with a bang for start-up funding with deals and dollars hitting an eight-quarter high in the fourth quarter of 2010. Buoyed by a raft of Internet deals, fourth quarter VC funding hit $6.5 billion spread out over 735 deals. Read more »
Despite the words of Dan Mead, CEO of Verizon Wireless, there’s bound to be some concerns about Verizon handling the added traffic from iPhone users. One nice way to dispel that could have been if Verizon pushed to have FaceTime run on its 3G network. Read more »
Google announced today that it is releasing an alpha version of its Google Translate conversations mode, a promising technology that allows two people to speak in different languages into a phone and have their words translated in near real time. Read more »
Accel Partners, the firm backing Facebook and Groupon, announced has opened an office in New York, giving the city’s growing tech scene another profile-raising boost. It’s further recognition that New York has grown in importance and could signal more eastward migration from Valley VC firms. Read more »
Bullpen Capital thinks there’s a lot of need and opportunity investing in what Union Square Ventures Managing Partner Fred Wilson called, “the mess.” The new fund is looking to give start-ups the additional support they need as they move from seed round to more traditional funding. Read more »
With Demand Media currently planning a high-profile IPO and content farm material spreading out across the web, you’d think companies would be moving in the same direction. But OrganizedWisdom has found it’s better and more profitable to organize free content rather than pay for low-wage material. Read more »
Verizon and Apple today released the iPhone on Verizon’s 3G network. It will start selling on Feb. 10 for $199.99 for a 16 GB version and $299.99 for a 32 GB unit at Apple and Verizon stores. This could rock the smartphone market in the U.S. Read more »
Bump Technologies has grown from a novel way to share contacts into a full fledged content sharing network that is moving beyond its bump mechanic. Now the company has raised $16 milllion to further pursue its vision of transforming the way people interact through their phones. Read more »
The news that Tapjoy, formerly Offerpal, raised $21 million in funding last week shows there is a big opportunity to be had by helping the freemium model expand on mobile. It’s a lesson that W3i, a desktop application marketing company, is looking to exploit. Read more »
Square, the mobile payment start-up co-built by Twitter founder Jack Dorsey, has taken on $27.5 million in new funding to help it compete in the increasingly competitive mobile payments market. The latest funding comes from Sequoia Capital, giving the start-up a reported valuation of $240 million Read more »
With nearly 100 new or updated tablets shown last week at CES, the show was unofficially nicknamed Tabletpalooza. But how to keep track of all those gadgets and which ones really matter? Don’t even try. Here are 10 that stand out from the crowd. Read more »
Intuit is positioning its GoPayment mobile service to compete with Square and others by offering a free version of the service for a limited time. The move may only be temporary, but it underscores the growing attention to mobile payments from companies across the mobile ecosystem. Read more »
App analytics firm Distimo reported that 49 percent of the revenue on iPhone apps came from in-app purchases in both free and paid apps. The news underscores the importance of in-app payments and the emergence of the freemium model as a revenue driver for app makers. Read more »
New data from JiWire suggests that the shift Steve Jobs predicted about consumers migrating their computing workload away from truck-like computers to nimble tablets is underway. The Wi-Fi provider reported new connections to its network from Macs and PCs were down while new iPad users jumped. Read more »
Two new data points from eBay and Scanbuy about the growth of mobile shopping suggest where things are ultimately headed: Deal-hungry users are increasingly going to put pressure on retailers, both online and offline, to change prices in real time to satisfy these more savvy buyers. Read more »
With 4G now a battle cry taken up by all the major U.S. wireless carriers, it’s not surprising that consumers are generally aware of the term. But according to a Nielsen Company survey, consumers are not quite clear on what this 4G talk is all about. Read more »
AT&T laid out plans today for an accelerated race to LTE while bulking up its existing network to handle 4G speeds. The No. 2 wireless carrier said it will begin deploying LTE by mid-year and plans on having the network “largely complete” by 2013. Read more »
Don’t expect the ad revenue in mobile games to be the major driver of revenue. While ad revenue in mobile games is expected to rise from $87 million in 2010 to $894 million in 2015, it will still be dwarfed by download and in-app purchase revenues. Read more »
