October 2011
46 posts
7 tags
Like Enron, Groupon Is Firing The Worst 10 Percent...
Reuters:
Daily deals site Groupon is replacing the worst 10 percent of its sales staff as it pushes to win stronger deals from merchants and ensure it can keep growing, the company’s chief executive told potential IPO investors on Wednesday.
Andrew Mason is fostering a culture of corruption at Groupon. The pressure is on. The bottom 10 percent of employees will be fired. This is as...
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Netflix Q3FY11 Earnings: 800,000 Subscribers Lost...
Netflix ($NFLX) has plunged from a high of $295 on July 12th down to its most recent low of $118. The company’s stock price has been on a downward spiral ever since Reed Hastings announced that Netflix would be splitting its DVD business from its streaming video business.
Less than a month later, on October 10th, Netflix reversed course and announced that Qwikster was headed for the...
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Before He Died, Steve Jobs Predicted That Obama...
Bizarre news emerging from Steve Jobs’ not yet released biography. Steve Jobs allegedly told President Obama, “You’re headed for a one-term presidency.” Yikes!
The encounter took place at the Westin Airport Hotel right here in San Francisco. Yep, they met at an airport hotel. This angered Jobs, who was expecting a personal invitation to the White House.
Eventually...
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“I will spend my last dying breath if I need to, and I will spend every penny of...”
– Steve Jobs, from his new biography.
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Google Reader Gets A Redesign, Dumps Social...
Today Google is announcing a new design for Google Reader. As part of the redesign, Google is axing all of Reader’s social features. No more friending, no more following and no more sharing.
Google is telling users to transition over to Google+ if they want to continue using social features as part of their daily news consumption. This is inline with the general direction of where RSS is...
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Google Partners with Samsung for Ice Cream...
Today Google unveiled Ice Cream Sandwich, the latest version of the Android OS. Google partnered with Samsung for the launch. The Samsung Galaxy Nexus will serve as the official launch phone for Ice Cream Sandwich.
Ice Cream Sandwich introduces a few new features to the Android OS, including one called Face Unlock. Face Unlock uses the phone’s front-facing camera to identify who is...
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Andreessen-Horowitz Invests In The Start Fund,...
Andreessen-Horowitz has announced that it will invest in the Start Fund. The Start Fund offers $150 thousand to all Y Combinator graduates. Out of the $150 thousand offered, $50 thousand will now come from Andreessen-Horowitz.
Andreessen-Horowitz does not have the resources to surface over a hundred seed stage companies per year, but Paul Graham does. Y Combinator alumni are a proven bunch....
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Vinod Khosla Raises $1.05 Billion for New Fund
Vinod Khosla has closed a new $1.05 billion fund for Khosla Ventures. Khosla plans on using the money to invest in mobile and clean tech.
It is a tough time to be raising money, but Vinod Khosla has had no such trouble. Khosla is an experienced veteran. He founded Sun Microsystems and was a partner at Kleiner Perkins before going off to fund his own VC shop, Khosla Ventures.
This is Khosla...
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Google Blows Past Analysts' Expectations, Revenue...
Google reported just shy of $10 billion in revenue accrued last quarter, blowing past analysts’ expectations. The 13 year old company’s revenue is up 33 percent year-over-year.
Larry Page has brought a newfound focus to Google. In the last quarter alone, Google deadpooled over 20 products. This allowed Google to focus more heavily on its long-term strategy — to build a...
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Union Square Ventures Invests In Duck Duck Go's...
Duck Duck Go has been competing with Google on search for the last four years. Up until now, the startup had been completely bootstrapped. But now Duck Duck Go is tweaking its business model. Founder Gabriel Weinberg has decided to raise money from Union Square Ventures. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Weinberg recently hired Duck Duck Go’s first employee. The decision to grow the...
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iPhone 4S: Apple, Verizon, AT&T and Sprint Are All...
Earlier this week it was reported that preorders for the iPhone 4S had sold out on Apple’s website. Today we are hearing that Verizon, Sprint and AT&T have also sold out. This happened sometime late Thursday night, the day before the device lands in stores.
So far demand for the device has outpaced demand for the iPhone 4. All signs point to the iPhone 4S being a huge hit. Apple is...
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Foursquare Doubles-Down On Location Discovery,...
Today Foursquare released a major update to its popular iPhone app. The big new feature is called Radar. Radar pings you each time you near a possible check-in location.
Radar uses the iPhone’s location services to create virtual geofences around your check-in locations. Foursquare will not only remind you to check-in, but also notify you if friends are nearby. Another cool feature is its...
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Apple Releases An App To Simplify Wireless...
Apple has released a free app called AirPort Utility. It is a simple app, which is why it is so great. Apple wants to simplify wireless networking moving into the post-pc era. Airport Utility does just that.
Setting up a wireless network can be a huge pain in the arse. Granted, it is a lot easier on a Mac than on a PC, but it is still impossible to do without access to a proper desktop...
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Apple Helps You Find Your Friends
Apple released a new app today called Find My Friends. Find My Friends is a location-based app that helps you find your friends on a map. It uses the iPhone’s location services to pinpoint your exact location. Find My Friends then broadcasts that location to your friends and family.
You get to choose who can see your exact location. Friends can be added for limited periods of time, like...
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No More Free iPhone Replacements, Apple Ditches...
Apple is known for its customer service. I cannot tell you how many times I have walked into an Apple Store with a broken gadget only to walk out a few minutes later with a free replacement. No questions asked. To call Apple’s Genius Bar awesome is an understatement. But today that all changes.
Apple is putting an end to the Genius Bar’s unofficial replacement policy. In other words, no...
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Retailers YOU Trust Are Unknowingly Divulging Your...
Some of the most popular websites on the Internet are unknowingly handing over their users’s email addresses to malicious marketers. At least, that is what an independent study put out by Stanford University claims. Some websites that are guilty: Bleacher Report, Home Depot and Photobucket.
Third party web tracking on these sites is not anonymous — your email address is being openly...
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Topsy Brings Its Popular Social Search Algorithm...
Topsy is known for being the best third-party search client for Twitter. Well now everyone’s favorite Twitter search engine is bringing its popular crawl algorithm to Google+.
As Google+’s popularity grows, we can expect to see more third party extensions spring up. In particular, Topsy’s announcement is great because it services a void in the market. Face it, Google+’s search...
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Twitter Will Now Mask All URLs With 't.co' Wrapper
Twitter is now masking all urls passed through the service with the t.co wrapper. Before today, Twitter had been wrapping urls longer than 20 characters. Now they are masking all urls, regardless of length, in both tweets and direct messages alike.
Twitter wants to learn more about its users. To do that, it needs to be able to track what users are sharing. Today Twitter publicly stated that...
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SOLD OUT! Apple Sells 1,000,000 iPhone 4S...
Apple sold one million iPhone 4S preorders in 24 hours. Preorders have officially sold out. New orders placed on Apple’s website will ship within 1-2 weeks.
Last summer Apple sold 600,000 iPhone 4 preorders. One million is a sizable increase, roughly 167 percent better. This is yet another sign that the new iPhone will sell well. As Dan Frommer noted last week, “If you’re...
Netflix Sends Qwikster To The Deadpool
Qwikster is headed for the deadpool. Netflix first announced the DVD-by-mail service back on September 18th. Qwikster was supposed to facilitate Netflix’s transition towards streaming video, however, its launch caused nothing short of an uproar amongst existing users.
Netflix cites customer complaints as its main reason for reverting. Netflix’s streaming service lacks the quantity...
Apple's iPhone Pricing Scheme Gets Explained →
Asymco:
The iPhone portfolio is now larger than ever.
It reminds me of the iPod which, at one time was sold at every $50 increment point from $50 to $500. The logic behind this pattern is that “there is now an iPhone for every budget”. Of course, as with any purchase decision, each of these price points has trade-offs.
Apple analyst Horace Dediu put up a blog post this morning detailing the...
How Apple Will Make Money Off The Cards App
Apple recently revealed a new iOS app called Cards. Cards left a sour taste in many people’s mouthes. Why would Apple invest in a business model centered around greeting cards?
“You make it. We send it.” — Apple
Apple hopes that the Cards app will make it easy for the everyday consumer to produce personalized digital greeting cards. Apple will print and ship a...
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Pinterest Raises $27 Million from...
Kara Swisher is reporting that Pinterest has raised $27 million from Andreeseen-Horowitz at a $200 million valuation. The startup had previously raised $10 million from Bessemer Ventures at a $40 million dollar valuation.
Pinterest is still in limited beta. The website’s main feature is its virtual pinboard. Users can aggregate items on their own pinboards or they can subscribe to the...
Related? - Nuance Forms A Partnership With Apple,...
Nuance has acquired Swype for $102.5 Million. Swype owns a patent called ‘swipe to type’ - Swype! This technology is a major improvement over tapping, which is how the iPhone keyboard works.
Swype is one of the most popular Android downloads, but it is not available for iOS devices. Apple does not allow app developers the sort of access privileges that are needed to make the Swype...
Google Postpones Android Ice Cream Sandwich Launch
Samsung and Google were going to stand on stage next week to debut the new Nexus Prime Android phone. Google was also going to launch the next version of Android, which they are calling Ice Cream Sandwich. But Steve Jobs’ unexpected death has changed everything.
Out of respect for Steve Jobs’ family, Google and Samsung have decided to postpone the event. The rescheduled event will...
Palantir Raises $70 Million At A $2.5 Billion...
Palantir Technologies is a company you rarely hear about. Palantir was founded in 2004 to provide real-time data analysis to the public and financial sectors. Apparently, business is going well. Palantir Technologies just closed its Series F funding - $70 million at a $2.5 billion valuation.
To date, Palantir has raised about $200 million. Notable investors include Peter Thiel and Founders...
Rdio Plays Hardball, Announces Ad-Free Music...
Rdio has announced an ad-free streaming experience for non-paying users. The system will work on a quota and is limited to the desktop. Free streaming is not offered on mobile devices.
I have always liked Rdio more than Spotify and MOG. But Rdio’s sucky pricing scheme has kept me from using the service. Unlike Spotify and MOG, Rdio did not offer any sort of free streaming. Non-paying...
Microsoft Brings Streaming Video To Xbox 360
Microsoft finally got around to launching a streaming video service for the Xbox 360. It had long been Microsoft’s goal to transform the gaming device into an entertainment hub. And today the company took its first step towards realizing that goal. Streaming video is coming to the Xbox this holday season.
Xbox 360 owners in the US will be able to stream video from services like Comcast...
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Wikipedia Pulls Italian Site in Protest of...
Silvio Berlusconi recently introduced a new privacy law into Italy’s Parliament. The law gives websites just 48 hours to comply with take-down notices is no way to appeal these take-down requests. Websites, such as Wikipedia, must immediately comply or risk facing a fine of up to €12,000 ($15,850 USD).
Wikipedia has pulled the Italian version of its website in protest of the proposed...
Dogfight! Marc Benioff vs. Larry Ellison at Oracle...
I rarely report on enterprise software. It is usually boring news that no one wants to read. Yet this year’s Oracle OpenWorld event, which was held earlier today in San Francisco, was anything but boring.
Larry Ellison, Oracle’s founder and CEO, had asked Marc Benioff, Salesforce’s founder and CEO, to give a keynote presentation at his Oracle OpenWorld. But at the last minute...
“More than 90% of Americans still don’t own an iPhone. Heck, two-thirds of...”
– Dan Frommer on Apple’s choice of using the iPhone 4 body for the new iPhone 4S.
Some Thoughts on the iPhone 4S Camera
The new iPhone will sport an 8 megapixel camera, which is 60 percent more pixels than the iPhone 4. It is capable of recording video in full 1080p. Imagine that.
Social media has redefined the way consumers view photography. There are over 250 million photos shared on Facebook each day. I am not sure how many photos are shared on Twitter, but I imagine that number is about to skyrocket. iOS...
“Arrington method = be agressive, wash your linen in public, go for full...”
– Fred Destin, partner at Atlas Venture.
Adobe Has Acquired TypeKit, Terms Were Not...
Adobe has acquired TypeKit. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Adobe plans on incorporating TypeKit’s framework into their larger creative cloud offering.
TypeKit is quite popular amongst web developers. HTML only supports a few native fonts. TypeKit expands HTML’s standard font selection to include hundreds of different type foundries. Many web designers already rely on...
“Enough with burying the lede: yes, I’m becoming a VC. I couldn’t be happier to...”
– MG Siegler — a/k/a parislemon — on becoming a general partner at CrunchFund.
(Source: parislemon.com)
Growl Lands In The Mac App Store With A $1.99...
Are App Store apps more valuable than their web counterparts? Growl seems to think so. The popular notification app launched in the Mac App Store today at a new price. What was once a free app now costs $1.99 to download.
A new app means new features. A cool new feature that Growl introduced is the history menu. Clicking on the history menu will bring up a list of your past notifications....
With Investor Excitement At All-Time Low,...
Six months ago Groupon received a $6 billion buyout offer from Google. The hot Chicago startup passed on that offer, electing to IPO instead. At its peak, investor excitement pinned Groupon’s valuation at $25 billion. But since then Groupon has fallen off a cliff. Bloomberg released a report earlier today pinning the company’s valuation at a mere $3 -5 billion dollars.
Groupon has...
Google Launches "Trusted Stores"
Google just launched a new feature called “Trusted Stores.” Google hopes that the program will provide safety and security to consumers as they spend money online.
Google will insure all purchases at pre-approved “Trusted Stores” for up to $1,000. Expert Googler Danny Sullivan notes, “The consumer protection aspect is very much like a credit card extending the...
Attention Amazon Shoppers, the Kindle Fire is Now...
A report released last week claims that Amazon is losing money on each Kindle Fire sold. IHS iSuppli estimates that the device costs Amazon $209.63 to build. The Kindle Fire retails for $199.99. Best case scenario, Amazon negotiated extraordinary deals with its suppliers and is making a few dollars on each device sold.
The Kindle Fire does not have high gross margins. Amazon is not interested...
AT&T Begins Throttling Top 5% of Wireless Data...
In July, AT&T Wireless announced that on October 1st it would start throttling the top 5% of its data users. Yesterday was October 1st. AT&T’s unlimited data plan is no longer unlimited.
Instead of throttling, I’d like to see AT&T build a better infrastructure that is capable of supporting more traffic. If you are going to sell an unlimited data plan, then you better be...
The Facebook Mafia: Spotify Wins, iTunes Loses
It’s official: iTunes Ping is dead.
It does not matter how much cash Apple has in the bank. No amount of money can buy what Facebook just gave Spotify. Facebook has forced social disruption on the music industry. And they did not choose to do it with iTunes.
Music brings people together. It is only natural that a music platform be centered around music recommendations from friends. In...
