Rocket Internet did it before with eBay and Groupon, and now it’s done it again – having founded a very similar service to Care.com, it has now sold that service to the the U.S.-based care-giving firm for equity. Read more »
A newly-launched startup called Foundd is taking the algorithmic approach, while its Berlin neighbour Tweek.tv is going for the social angle. But why has no winner emerged in this space already? Read more »
Digital music retailer 7digital is shaping up to be one of the main smartphone competitors to iTunes Store, as it announces another big manufacturer carriage deal. Read more at paidContent »
Roku’s web developers left some hints in the code of the company’s website that suggest an expansion to Germany and Spain. What does this mean for Netflix, which has traditionally been the most popular service on Roku, and closely tied to its previous international expansions? Read more »
The Kobo e-reader looks like becoming an e-books success in Japan following its acquisition by Pinterest investor Rakuten. Read more at paidContent »
Game-focused startup accelerator GameFounders has decided to knock back its deadline for applications by three days, in what the founders say is an attempt to accommodate a surge in submissions. Applicants will now have until Friday to apply for the Estonian-based program. Read more »
London’s Underground metro may have recently introduced Wi-Fi and extra 3G capacity in time for this month’s Olympic Games – but mobile payments remain some way down the track. Read more »
With $10 billion up for grabs, the EU is looking to stimulate both technological advancement and economic growth. Good news for European tech firms, for green technology companies — and for an embattled continent. Read more »
Kasabi, a platform that hosted and published linked data, is closing down after owners Talis Systems said the market was growing too slowly to be sustainable — saying that ‘it’s time to admit that Kasabi is not getting the traction we thought it would’ Read more »
A new startup is hoping to breathe new life into the MeeGo project let loose by Nokia — just one of a rising number of companies breaking out as the Finnish mobile giant stumbles. That’s what happens when you let 40,000 people go inside two years. Read more »
Like PayPal before it, Skype has become a breeding ground for a generation of investors and entrepreneurs in Europe – and elsewhere – who are now starting to exert their influence on the web. Read more »
A sudden realization hit me last week. Every seven days I’d been writing a quick guide to the most interesting startup, digital media and technology events around Europe — but I wasn’t giving people enough time to actually organize going to the events! So I’ve decided […] Read more »
The German couponing service KaufDa is the latest service from the region to set its sights on Brazil, following in the path of the Rocket Internet steamtrain Read more »
After a long gestation period, crowd investment platform Seedrs has finally opened its doors — allowing British startups to use its platform to pitch for early stage funding. And so far things appear to be going well. Read more »
Spanish mobile operator Telefónica might be the world’s sixth largest network — but it says that the future could be more about other services, with a strategy to expand its footprint in areas like cloud computing, operating systems and machine-to-machine networks. Read more »
With its pay-for on-demand TV player nearing release and its YouView era about to begin, UK commercial broadcast leader ITV is restructuring its online division, with a change in leadership and job likely losses. Read more at paidContent »
New mobile data service Samba has launched in the U.K. with a novel idea — agree to watch a few ads, and it will give you free data. But while the company hopes it’s on track for glory, the path it’s taking is littered with bodies. Read more »
It’s easy to embed a wide variety of music players on your website, but hard to get them singing from the same hymnsheet. Musicplayr’s trying to fix that with a newly-revamped player it calls ‘eye-candy for the ears’ Read more »
When is a book not a book? When it comes to European tax law. The continent is acting against two countries that reduced e-book tax to physical rates, in a sorry and technocratic action. Read more at paidContent »
French media is reporting that Microsoft’s Paris-based subsidiary is being investigated by the country’s tax authorities over its system for avoiding corporate taxes. It marks the latest low point for the business, which wrote down its $6.2bn purchase of aQuantive earlier this week. Read more »
Mobile apps may not be shipped on galleons or via airfreight, but they are definitely crossing oceans. According to data from VisionMobile’s recent developer survey, a big market around the import and export of apps has emerged globally. Read more »
A new study from Google and the UK copyright collection society PRS for Music finds that live TV is the fastest-growing segment of copyright infringement — and a large presence on social networking sites. Read more at paidContent »
Reports that Eric Schmidt has offered to settle an antitrust investigation by the European Commission are everywhere. But the reality is that the details of Google’s proposals — and the regulator’s response — remain shrouded in mystery. Read more »
Another international legal snag for Apple: Italy is moving to add additional fines and even force the company to temporarily shut down its operations in the country until it complies with local laws that require two years of free warranty coverage. Apple has ignored previous warnings. Read more »
Anyfi has developed a tunneling technology that allows ordinary access points and residential gateways to spawn virtual Wi-Fi networks anyone can log into. The Swedish startup is betting this is the answer operators are looking for to build huge ubiquitous Wi-Fi offload networks. Read more »
The British government is considering once again whether to apply mandatory filters to block all adult content on the internet. But what’s the point of campaigning for a technological solution when the technology itself doesn’t work properly? Read more »
Productivity startup 6Wunderkinder made a big noise on the Berlin scene when it launched, but it’s been quiet for a few months. Now CEO Christian Reber explains why other German startups should follow suit and focus on their product — and why he’s worried about Windows 8. Read more »
Swedish startup 13th Lab has just raised $700,000 from Nordic investors Creandum to help build its augmented reality browser and developer tools for iOS. But forget about tacky versions of AR: this team is trying to build a real interface between the digital and the physical. Read more »
London currency exchange startup Transferwise has teamed up with a neighbor, The Currency Cloud, to let people transfer money between a range of European currencies. But is the next stop for the disruptive finance company going to be the US dollar? Read more »
RollUp, the niche publishing platform started by former DoubleClick, Brightcove and Demand Media executives, has signed a deal with US wellness network Everyday Health to take over the launch of new sites in Britain and Australia. Read more at paidContent »
One day after Philipp Humm’s surprise resignation from T-Mobile, Vodafone announced he has joined its ranks. Humm won’t just be supervising one of Vodafone’s numerous European subsidiaries – he will take charge of eight carriers in Northern and Central Europe. Read more »
Since taking the job heading up the UK government’s project to champion East London as a global technology hub, Eric van der Kleij has taken plenty of brickbats. Now he’s stepping down, who will be there to take on the challenge? Read more »
After Nokia axed development of its semi-secret Meltemi operating system, hundreds of workers in Ulm, Germany, found themselves jobless. Now they’ve set up a ‘talent and job offer’ campaign to hawk around their services. Read more »
Eight-figure VC investments don’t show up every day, but website tools firm Jimdo turned it down on principle – even though it knew the decision would make it harder to get to number one. Read more »
Microsoft’s lost its attempt to get an €899m European antitrust fine overturned — an apparent victory for local regulators. But the reality is that while this fine might be vast by European standards, it’s barely a scratch on the surface for Redmond. Read more »
Paris is following London by starting to provide free wireless access to subway travelers, thanks to a new initiative from WiFi service company GOWEX. With similar moves in New York as well, is this boost in transport connectivity a trend? Read more »
Private car hire service Uber is preparing to hit the British capital just in time for the Olympics, and the reality is that London, with its iconic black cab service, has the potential to make — or break — Silicon Valley’s latest transportation darling. Read more »
With the online B2B payments market worth a whopping $250bn or so, Traxpay and its backers are hoping their real-time, back-office-friendly platform will give them a significant slice of the pie Read more »
Under new proposals from the British media regulator Ofcom, internet providers will start sending warning letters to those accused of illegal filesharing in 18 months — and will be forced to handed people’s data over to copyright holders after three successive hits. Read more »
Want to watch all the action from Wimbledon, without calling in sick for two weeks? No worries, tennis fans can watch much of the action online, thanks to multiple live streams. Apps for Android and iOS even make the prestigious tournament available on the go. Read more »
