Online video is hot. So the media vehicle run by News Corp’s former COO is now investing in Base 79, a company that populates online video channels and apps for content owners. Read more at paidContent »
The two thermostat systems won’t be clashing head-on anytime soon, as Nest only works in North America and Tado in Europe. But the newer system, from Germany, also offers an interestingly different approach to smart energy control. Read more »
The company has been fined almost a million euros for selling paid warranties to Italian customers who should have had free coverage. Apple seemed to get away with ignoring the law for a while, even as Italy got more aggressive in its enforcement. Read more »
The new Android flagship took minutes to sell out in the UK and Germany, but the Google Play Store makes it look as though it never even went on sale. The company needs to work on its retail mechanisms. Read more »
iPhones with 5- and 8-megapixel cameras are turning a lot of people into better and more prolific photographers. The Swedish company behind Foap, which lets anyone sell iPhone pictures through their app, has changed its quality standards and is offering a better incentive for users. Read more »
Technology business is chock-a-block with a lot of conferences. Some are new, some are old, but only very few are must attend events. Le Web, an annual technology fest in Paris is one of those don’t miss it events. This year they are talking about Internet-of-things. Read more »
Google tells angry MPs that it doesn’t pay more UK tax because it doesn’t do any innovation in the country. Maybe someone should tell that to Google’s 350 London engineers, who it has previously credited with helping develop AdSense. Read more »
London has relied heavily on the financial sector over the last few decades, but that industry’s importance is waning. An influential think tank says it’s tech startups that will need to pick up the slack. Read more »
Jobs in traditional industries have been streaming away from Europe for years — and startups now offer the best chance of future employment. But the situation still needs improvement, says the man in charge of Northern Europe’s most high profile accelerator. Read more »
The explosive growth of crowdfunding projects is turning lots of assumptions about business and creativity upside down. But nowhere is that change more apparent than in Germany, where Indiegogo founder Danae Ringelmann says the huge popularity of crowdfunding is even challenging the country’s conception of itself. Read more »
TV and tech folk nowadays talk the same language. But, as London’s eastern Tech City neighborhood gains attention, envious western broadcasters fight back with their own newly-named space. Read more at paidContent »
Russian TV broadcasters are beginning to cooperate to ensure one site can become the go-to video portal. But Videomore doesn’t yet have 100 percent partner coverage. Read more at paidContent »
Online earnings are falling despite booming audiences at leading UK news publisher Trinity Mirror, caught in a confluence of circumstances that prompt the big question — does content pay? Read more at paidContent »
No, it doesn’t seem plausible, but the Citrix-owned collaboration company Podio says 10 percent of its users access it from Ubuntu. That’s one reason the platform now offers Ubuntu One integration. Read more »
Virgin Media is the latest TV platform operator to launch on-the-go viewing and in-home remote controlling in a combined iPhone and iPad app. It’s a welcome and belated addition, but some features still depend on ye olde wires. Read more at paidContent »
German publisher Axel Springer is buying heavily in to European classified sites to court digital and international growth. Snapping up Belgian property service Immoweb, it says the move will make up for a weakening print ad sector. Read more at paidContent »
The Spanish telecoms giant has made its big infrastructure-as-a-service play with Instant Servers, which it claims will beat entrenched rivals through better reliability and scalability. Read more »
The fund, backed by Microsoft and Nokia, invests in products rather than startups. Early takeup is promising, with Vision+ putting money into three new top-level domains and a fistful of games. Read more »
The EU already allows 2G spectrum to be reused for 3G and 4G services, but now member states will also have to allow 3G spectrum to be ‘refarmed’ in the same way. The effects will take years to manifest themselves, though. Read more »
SpringboardIoT, a new accelerator program focused on startups working on hardware and the Internet of Things, has launched in the UK. The scheme’s founder joins forces with an experienced insider to explain why it’s a necessary and useful development. Read more »
Indie travel publisher TRVL didn’t like the software it had to use to make its free, iPad-only magazine – so it built its own. Now TRVL is giving away PRSS, hoping to kickstart other would-be moguls, and make a buck of its own. Read more at paidContent »
ARM, Neul and CSR have joined hands with Cable & Wireless Worldwide to push adoption of the Weightless wireless standard. Meanwhile, ARM and Neul are also backing an internet-of-things accelerator program, with the help of Unilever and Raspberry Pi. Read more »
Central Europe’s Piano Media has tried to build nationwide shared “paywalls” for dozens of news sites. Now it is acquiring a technology startup to offer news meters that can’t be defeated by deleting cookies. Read more at paidContent »
The startup, which has just announced seed funding from some impressive backers, combines photos with short sound clips to create a fresh take on the ‘how to’ video. It feels like a mechanism with many uses. Read more »
What happens in Belgium doesn’t necessarily stay in Belgium. Now Google News is facing a Brazilian boycott and France is threatening to copy a German-style tax on excerpting its newspapers. What’s an aggregator to do? Read more at paidContent »
With Square still out of the picture, Europe is becoming a battleground for its clones. And, fresh from an American Express cash boost, Sweden’s iZettle is taking on Germany’s Payleven on its own turf. Read more »
After the child sex scandal that hit Habbo Hotel earlier this year, owner Sulake hopes to turn it into a platform on which other developers can launch their own games. As part of that shift, up to 60 jobs are set to be cut. Read more »
UK commercial broadcaster ITV has long funded its free shows with advertising. Three years after declaring its intention to charge online, it is now finally publicly testing a paid VOD service. Read more at paidContent »
From the death spiral of ad downturn, digital audience migration and a thousand cuts, one man emerges to try some long-expected consolidation in the local news market. But can the proposed Local World company get going? Read more at paidContent »
Scandinavian newspaper publisher Schibsted is keeping up its efforts to diversify and attract user payments by investing in a regional ebook service. Read more at paidContent »
It’s one thing to try crowdsourced legislation in relatively small, cohesive societies such as those in Finland and Iceland, but a whole different ballgame when you try it on a population of half a billion people. Read more »
Magazine publisher Burda wants to take complete ownership of LinkedIn rival Xing, while rival Axel Springer is selling a games site to focus on its growing online content and classifieds business. Read more at paidContent »
In Russia’s fast-growing internet scene, Mail.ru is successfully marshalling its diverse arsenal of social network and game services to attract paying users, while its social advertising prospects turn down. Read more at paidContent »
Most mobile wallets are about replacing bank cards, or tickets and coupons. A new mobile wallet from Giesecke & Devrient aims to replace not only these, but also ID cards, building and vehicle keys, and public transport tickets. Read more »
Amazon’s global content strategy is becoming a step broader and more integrated through greater distribution for its Kindle range and inclusion of its video service Lovefilm on UK devices. Read more at paidContent »
Call it a minor pivot. The Berlin- and L.A.-based IMDb rival Moviepilot has decided that the real money lies in turning its masses of user data into cross-platform marketing campaigns for the likes of Universal and Disney. Read more »
Going digital-only may not suit all publishers yet, but some organisations for which paper publishing has been a means to an end are now increasingly going digital. Latest is a title on which homeless people depend for an income. Read more at paidContent »
The exclusive provider of ad services to a host of Italian online publishers is taking on money to fund development of new ad formats. Read more at paidContent »
In the online local listings and reviews segment, US big boy Yelp is giving a five-star review to Hamburg-based peer Qype – and buying it to expand the breadth of its business overseas. Read more at paidContent »
One of the many digital content services going global is music video outfit Vevo. Certain new countries mean a mobile-first approach – but that puts services at the mercy of a mobile ad ecosystem they say is still playing catch-up to desktop. Read more at paidContent »
