Twitter has made it clear it plans to crack down on third-party services by tightening the rules on use of the network, but this desire for control — and the drive to monetize its user base — could ruin what made Twitter special to begin with. Read more »
After an extensive interview with the founder and President of Energy Cache, Aaron Fyke, we bring you the details of how the gravel and ski lift technology works, how the company came into being, where it’s headed and how Bill Gates and Bill Gross became involved. Read more »
Who’s the startup behind Bill Gates’ recent description of a company he’s involved with that’s making energy storage out of “gravel on ski lifts?” Michael Kanellos guesses it’s Energy Cache, which is developing a solar-powered pump for delivering materials to the top of mountains. Read more »
In an interview with GigaOM, UberMedia CEO Bill Gross — who is launching his new content-based social network, Chime.in, today — says existing social networks like Facebook and Google+ suffer from a signal-to-noise problem and a monetization problem, and that Chime was designed to help with both. Read more »
Entrepreneur Bill Gross is launching a content-focused social network called Chime.in that will compete with Twitter, Facebook and Google+, as well as link-sharing sites like Digg. He says there is a need for a better way of filtering content, but the odds are stacked against him. Read more »
Infinia, a solar startup which is using Stirling engines to produce solar power, is looking to raise $25 million in funding, and has closed $6 million of that round according to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Read more »
Twitter is rumored to be acquiring TweetDeck, and one of the big questions is whether it will keep the app alive or not. But if it does decide to kill it, the company could do further damage to the already tense relationship it has with developers. Read more »
UberMedia is said to be working on developing a social network that would compete with Twitter. But while the company is arguably the most well-funded of all those who have tried, and there would be benefits to having multiple players, the odds are stacked against it. Read more »
As Twitter turns five, the service continues to struggle with some mid-life problems, including a growing tension with both its user and developer communities. For lessons in how not to handle that kind of thing, all Twitter has to do is look at Digg. Read more »
The heat and rays of the sun aren’t just being harnessed for electricity. An early stage startup called Thermata, backed by Bill Gross’ Idealab, is looking to build a business around solar-powered boilers that produce steam for industrial processes. Read more »
As UberMedia founder and CEO Bill Gross waited for service to be restored to his company’s Twitter clients, after they were abruptly shut down by Twitter on Friday, he talked to GigaOM about his plans, Twitter’s antagonism and the risks of working on someone else’s platform. Read more »
Twitter says that it shut down UberMedia’s apps due to trademark infringement and breaches of its terms of service. But there is much more to this than just a squabble over usage, and Twitter’s heavy-handed behavior is drawing some fire even from the company’s ardent supporters. Read more »
UberMedia, founded by Silicon Valley legend Bill Gross, has gotten funding from some prominent venture capital firms and has been buying up Twitter clients. It’s not clear what the company’s strategy is, but one thing seems obvious: it is on a collision course with Twitter. Read more »
