It’s done, ladies and gentlemen. As expected, Yahoo this morning announced its acquisition of blogging phenomenon Tumblr. The Internet giant has bought the six-year old New York company for “approximately $1.1 billion”, substantially all of which will be paid in cash. The news is in line with earlier reports from AllThingsD, which first broke the news of sale talks between both parties, as well as the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal. Amusingly, the press release says: “Per the agreement and our promise not to screw it up, Tumblr will be independently operated as a separate business.” Founder David Karp will remain at the helm as Tumblr’s CEO. He’ll also be worth a heck of a lot more. Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer even took to Tumblr to repeat the promise of ‘not screwing up’ the marriage. Time will tell; as for the deal, it is expected to close in the second half of this year. As for Karp’s blog post on the matter, you can find it here. Don’t read it if you’re uncomfortable with the F-word. That would be ‘fuck’ by the way. Meanwhile, Yahoo moved its corporate blog over to Tumblr. A great sign. :-) That’s the gist of the news, folks, although here are some interesting stats and figures from the press release while you make up your mind whether this is a brilliant or idiotic move, or somewhere in between. With more than 300 million monthly unique visitors and 120,000 signups every day, Tumblr is one of the fastest-growing media networks in the world. Tumblr sees 900 posts per second (!) and 24 billion minutes spent on site each month. On mobile, more than half of Tumblr’s users are using the mobile app and do an average of 7 sessions per day. Its tremendous popularity and engagement among creators, curators and audiences of all ages brings a significant new community of users to the Yahoo! network. The combination of Tumblr+Yahoo! is expected to grow Yahoo!’s audience by 50 percent to more than a billion monthly visitors, and to grow traffic by approximately 20 percent. The deal offers unique opportunities for both companies. Tumblr can deploy Yahoo!’s personalization technology and search infrastructure to help its users discover creators, bloggers, and content they’ll love. In turn, Tumblr brings 50 billion blog posts (and 75 million more arriving each day) to Yahoo!’s media network and search experiences. The two companies will also work together to create advertising opportunities that are seamless and enhance the user experience. Top Image Credit: Yahoo! Blog
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Almost five months after it launched in the United States, Sony announced today that its Sony Entertainment Network (SEN) online store will be available in Japan from May 29. The browser-based marketplace is somewhat similar to the Google Play store, enabling users to sign in with their existing SEN or PlayStation Network account and buy video games, television shows and films for any supported device that they own. The argument is that consumers are more likely to purchase digital content when they can access the relevant store from a smartphone, tablet or PC. As soon as the content is paid for, it’s automatically added to the “My Downloads” section of the PlayStation Store for either their PS3, PS Vita or PSP. It’s a sensible approach that caters to those who discover a new title while browsing the Web, or receive a recommendation from a friend on Twitter when they’re out of the house. The response to the service has been muted in the United States, but it does provide a crucial umbrella for Sony’s on-demand streaming services, Music Unlimited and Video Unlimited. Sony has always pitched both of these as a superior alternative to the likes of Rdio, Xbox Music and Spotify, as well as Netflix and Amazon Instant Video. Neither has really taken off, however, or become embedded in the public consciousness. Given the potential of both the PS3 and upcoming PS4 consoles to act as a set-top box and streaming media center, it’s important for Sony to win over new users as quickly as possible. The launch of the SEN online store in Japan has been long overdue and surprising given that it’s Sony’s home turf. The country is one of the company’s strongest markets, particularly for the PS3 and aging PSP handheld. The company’s focus on cross-play, whereby a video game can be purchased on the PS3 and then resumed using a free copy for the PS Vita (or vice versa) is perfectly suited to the SEN online store. Sony needs to explain to consumers that they’re now purchasing content for the entire Sony ecosystem, rather than one device, and this new store should help to embed that new approach. All eyes are on Microsoft ahead of its reveal for the next Xbox later this week. Sony has managed to position itself as the system for gamers, however, and gained some vital support over the ‘always-on’ debacle currently surrounding Microsoft. With E3 just round the corner, Sony needs to ensure that it has a digital distribution system that is effortless and intuitive to use. Rolling out the SEN online store in new markets – especially Japan – is only the first step to realizing this ambition.  Image Credit: EMMANUEL DUNAND/AFP/Getty Images
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Payvia, a mobile and online payments company that allows consumers to pay via their mobile phone through direct carrier billing, has acquired Mogreet, a company that specializes in mobile video, text and rich media messaging engagement solutions. Financial terms of the acquisition were not disclosed. Payvia argues that the purchase of Mogreet will allow it to create an end-to-end solution that marries mobile payments, user targeting and mobile marketing at scale, on a directly-connected carrier platform. Payvia will integrate Mogreet’s cloud-based video and rich messaging technology into its mobile payments platform. The company’s CEO, Darcy Wedd, said in a statement: “Our mobile payments offer resonates strongly with the market because it is built on our proprietary carrier connected technology that gives us a unique ability to understand consumer mobile usage. Our clients have told us they also need a simpler way to link targeted mobile transactions to their marketing campaigns. By integrating Mogreet’s solutions on our platform we answer that need.” Payvia says it operates engages with 120 million mobile users to process billions of mobile messages on an annual basis. The company also asserts that it has paid out more than $2 billion in global mobile commerce revenues to merchants and developers worldwide. Mogreet’s mobile marketing solutions are, in turn, said to be used by “thousands of marketers, retailers, small businesses and developers” including brands like Cox Media Group and Gamefly. The full Mogreet team will join payvia, with Mogreet founder and CEO James Citron serving as payvia’s CMO. Founded in 2006, Mogreet was backed by $14 million from DFJ Frontier, Ascend Venture Group, Black Diamond Ventures and Spyglass Ventures, among others. Payvia, meanwhile, is part of the m-Qube group of companies and has raised funding from investors such as Silver Lake Sumeru, Montgomery & Co, and Trinity Ventures. Image credit: Thinkstock
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There’s no shortage of warranty and serial number tracking apps, but new kid on the block Serial+ offers an easy-to-use alternative for those wishing to manage both their hardware warranties and software serial numbers from their iPhone. How it works Unlike something like xWarranty which lets you record serial and warranty information around all your physical purchases by very specific categories (e.g. ‘computer hardware’, ‘gadgets’ and so on), Serial+ divides your items into two broad categories – software and hardware. When you first launch the app, you’ll be asked to provide a PIN, which you’ll need to enter every time you open Serial+.     To start recording items, hit the ‘Plus’ symbol and you’ll be prompted to add either a piece of software of hardware. Within each category you have very specific description fields including name, serial numbers, warranty-length, purchase date/location and so on. You can even add photos to illustrate each product.     The idea here is that over time, whenever you buy a new piece of software, a new laptop or anything of value that you may need to record for future reference, you add to Serial+ so you don’t have to worry so much about losing receipts, or trawling through your inbox to find when your warranty is due to expire. Indeed, Serial+ may be particularly useful if you’re burgled or lose/break items, and you need to make an insurance claim which typically requires the full item history.     You can also back up your inventories directly to Dropbox, which is obviously a big win if your iPhone is one of the items that goes walkies. Oh, and you can also export items in plaintext and CSV direct to spreadsheet. Serial+ was developed by iOS and Mac app developers Enabled Apps, the same folk behind TripList which we covered last year. “We built Serial+ because we looked around our office and noticed that we have dozens of items with warranties,” explains Enabled Apps’ Ryan Hartman. “But we didn’t have a good way to keep track of which were still valid and which were expired.  It was at that point we decided to build our own app that would handle all of these details in a secure fashion.” Serial+ is available to download for $2.99 now. ➤ Serial+ | iOS Disclosure: This article contains an affiliate link. While we only ever write about products we think deserve to be on the pages of our site, The Next Web may earn a small commission if you click through and buy the product in question. For more information, please see our Terms of Service Feature Image Credit – Thinkstock
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Too caught up with the whirl of busy weekend duties to catch up on the tech news that broke over the weekend? We’ve done the job for you. Here’s a roundup of what you may have missed over the weekend, including stories from The Next Web and beyond. In the news Yahoo board approves $1.1B Tumblr salvation, but will the company accept? Youtube reveals users now upload more than 100 hours of video per minute, as the site turns eight Autodesk buys Tinkercad, saving the easy to use Web-based 3D modeling tool from closure Developer releases template code to allow almost anyone to create a Google Glass app Russia gets its first taste of mobile social banking, thanks to Instabank That buzzing sound: President Obama to address drone program in Thursday speech Lunch date with Twitter and Square founder Jack Dorsey raises $31,600 for educational charity BUILD Good reads Turnaround: Marissa Mayer’s first 300 days as Yahoo’s CEO Meet three startups that participated in Microsoft’s Azure-focused Israeli accelerator What the future looks like inside the lab that brought us Siri, the mouse and the Internet itself 5 things the UK’s Silicon Roundabout needs to do to take on Silicon Valley The Internet of Things: In action TNW Conference 2013: videos The Economist’s Data Editor: Big data may be too hyped, but here’s how it wil change the world Interesting stories from beyond The Next Web One issue holding up Apple iRadio: The economics of skipping songs  [CNET] The Evolution Of Hacker News [TechCrunch] Yahoo! And Tumblr: It’s About Display, Streams & Native At Scale [Battellemedia] Why Yahoo Doesn’t Think Tumblr Has a Porn Problem [AllThingsD] Image credit: Thinkstock
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Jolla, the Finnish-based company set to launch its new Sailfish mobile operating system later this year, has unveiled its first device ahead of a dedicated press event later today. The smartphone has a 4.5-inch “Estrade” display, as well as 16GB of internal storage and a microSD slot. There’s an unspecified dual-core processor to handle daily tasks and an 8-megapixel rear-facing camera. Jolla’s first handset is also 4G-enabled and has a replaceable battery, which will go down a treat with power users who often find themselves in the red at the end of the day. The spec sheet also mentions a new hardware feature called the “Other Half.” This refers to a customizable shell that clips onto the back of the device, thereby changing its primary color. The homepage of the Jolla website shows a red, teal and light green color variant, although more will likely be available before launch. Jolla says that the software will also change to match the color of the shell, such as the fonts, tones, profiles and wider functionality displayed on the device. The new smartphone will cost €399 (roughly $512 USD) and ship before the end of 2013, “subject to demand in your local market.” The Jolla website reads: “Sales will start in European countries with more countries to follow.” Anyone who pre-orders will also receive a voucher worth €100, which will be knocked off the price of the Jolla when it finally ships – as well as t-shirt and “priority pre-order status.” Jolla is set to hold an event in Helsinki today called Jolla LoveDay, which should provide a wealth of additional details about the device and its release date. Images of the device also point to a new, refreshed design for Sailfish OS. The homescreen now shows at least seven tiles, rather than the four displayed before, and four bright, revamped icons in the dock. The smartphone is also buttonless, which means that returning to the homescreen, searching for content and multitasking is all controlled via onscreen swipes and gestures. The Sailfish OS is based on Mer, an open source operating system for mobile phones, tablets, TVs and other connected devices. It was used as part of MeeGo, a mobile OS that was developed by Nokia and eventually abandoned by CEO Stephen Elop in order to double-down on the Windows Phone platform. Jolla debuted Sailfish OS in November last year, showing off a number of novel UI elements such as a ‘Pulley Menu’ for sharing with other social networks and a refreshed lockscreen. The company has since appointed a new CEO in Tomi Pienimäki, allowing Marc Dillon to take up a new role as Head of Software Development. Jolla has a lot to prove with the Sailfish OS. Android adoption continues to accelerate in emerging markets, where Jolla is most likely to find success, and there’s a growing number of niche mobile platforms looking to increase their market share. These include Windows Phone and Nokia’s own revamped Asha platform, as well as BlackBerry 10 and the upcoming Firefox OS and Tizen platforms. Jolla will need to prove that it has a unique proposition, but also one that is superior to anything else on the market. Support from app developers, as well as carriers and hardware manufacturers will be crucial throughout the next 12 months.
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Editor’s note: This article by Greg Anderson originally appeared on ArcticStartup, an independent tech blog that reports on digital startups and growth entrepreneurship from the Nordic and Baltic countries. Pan-European startup accelerator Startupbootcamp has announced that each participating team in their new Copenhagen MobilityXL program will be offered a loan of up to $1 million at the end of the program. As you probably guessed, MobilityXL will focus on mobile startups, and will be a 3-month program. Participating teams will still be given €15,000 for 8 percent equity at the beginning of the program, as in the past. “Several accelerators have added e.g. convertible bonds on top of the normal offering, but founders will still end up bleeding equity so we decided to introduce a much more founder friendly solution,” says Lars Buch, who runs the new Startupbootcamp MobilityXL program and was formerly Head of Smartphones Copenhagen at Nokia. One of Buch’s focuses with Startupbootcamp it to be sure they offer support to teams after the demo day finishes, by allowing teams to take advantage of office space, six months of additional mentoring, and now arranging this funding option. Their financial partner, Accelerace, will pay out the loan over two years, with an additional five years to return it. A million-dollar loan will give teams in the mobile space a lot to work with, so it will be interesting to see how teams take advantage of the funding. While VC funding isn’t the only measure of success, Startupbootcamp points out that 70-90 percent of their teams have received funding for the past couple of programs. Entrepreneurs will get a chance to meet Startupbootcamp in Helsinki, Oslo, and Stockholm as part of their Open Pitch – which is attached to the Term Sheet Battle events we’re helping throw. Tickets for entrepreneurs run €30, but it’s free to attend Open Pitch, which generally takes place before the Battles. Top image credit: Thinkstock
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Sony announced today that the Xperia Tablet Z, a flagship Android slate influenced by the smartphone that shares the same name, is launching today worldwide. The device is now available “across the globe” through Sony’s various retail and operators, as well as numerous online channels. The launch is timely because it follows I/O, the annual developer conference by Google. Many expected the company to unveil an updated version of its popular Nexus 7 tablet, but the omission of any hardware announcements – excluding the stock Android version of the Samsung Galaxy S4 smartphone – has created an interesting gap in the market for a new, premium Android slate. The Xperia Tablet Z, announced in January, boasts a 10.1-inch touchscreen at a resolution of 1200×1920, equal to 224 ppi pixel density. Multitouch can support up to 10 pressure points at any one time, and also takes advantage of the Sony Mobile BRAVIA Engine 2. Under the hood is a 1.5 GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon APQ8064 processor, along with 2GB of RAM and 16GB of internal storage. It runs Android version 4.1.2 (Jelly Bean), although an upgrade to version 4.2 is already in the pipeline. Along with a microSD slot, an 8.1-megapixel rear-facing camera – capable of shooting 1080p video at 30 frames per second, and a 2-megapixel HD front-facing snapper, it’s a pretty formidable device. It’s a looker too. At just 6.9mm thick and 495 grams in weight, it’s an awfully nice 10-inch tablet to hold in the hand. The trade-off is, inevitably, the firmware skin and plethora of apps that hardware manufacturers feel compelled to cram into Android devices. The Xperia Tablet Z is no exception, including “signature” Sony apps such as WALKMAN, Movies and Albums. There’s also access to the Music Unlimited and Video Unlimited, the two on-demand streaming services provided by Sony across most of its current hardware. The tablet is available right now as both an LTE and WiFi-only model, and pricing varies depending on the region. The US version of the Sony store, however, has the device listed for $499.99 as the 16GB base model and $599.99 for the 32GB variant.
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Singapore-based luxury goods online retailer Reebonz has just landed a S$50 million (US$40 million) round of investment led by MediaCorp, the largest media broadcaster in Singapore. The latest investment values Reebonz at over S$250 million (nearly US$200 million). The site, which offers high-end designer brands at discounted prices through flash-sale events, was founded by Samuel Lim, Daniel Lim and Benjamin Han in 2009. It has a current member base of 2 million, and has established a physical presence with boutiques in Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and Australia. “We see great alignment between what Reebonz does and what MediaCorp has – audiences, content targeted at the luxury market and our star power. We are confident that by collaborating closely with Reebonz, we’ll see even more breakthroughs from the retailer,” MediaCorp CEO Shaun Seow said in a statement released on Monday. The other investors participating in the round include Vertex Asia Investments, Granite Global Ventures, Intel Capital, and Matrix Partners China and Infocomm Investments, the venture arm of the Infocomm Development Authority, Singapore. This isn’t the first time Intel has invested in Reebonz. Last year, the computer giant’s global investment arm put a combined $17 million into two Internet companies in Southeast Asia, one of which was Reebonz. Reebonz’s total invested capital base now stands at S$100 million (US$79 million) after the latest investment round, the company confirmed. CEO Samuel Lim said he was “confident that the MediaCorp brand association will further solidify Reebonz’s position in the online luxury goods space and build a world class billion-dollar Internet commerce group out from Singapore.” Another Singaporean media conglomerate, Singapore Press Holdings, has also recently been making inroads into the local technology start-up scene. In March, it invested in restaurant booking site Chope, followed by a deal in April to buy SG Car Mart. Headline image via Thinkstock 
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Pinterest has announced an interesting piece of news that sees its popular social sharing site begin to categorize pins based on different types of content, while a share button for third-party mobile apps has also been launched. “From your feed, you can tell when a pin has more information by the icon that appears below the picture,” the company explains on its blog. Pinterest is starting out with three categories which will each get their own dedicated pins to help make it easier for users to identify the kind of content included. They will be used by an ten initial partners – including Etsy, Fotopedia and Snapguide — and the pins will also include further pertinent details for users, as follows: Product pins for things like clothes and furniture with pricing, availability, and where to buy (updated every day!) Recipe pins from your favorite bloggers and websites that include cook time, ingredients, and servings Movie pins with content ratings, cast members, and more As well as effecting new pins going forward, existing pins will also be categorized to make things more organized. The move is one that will be of particular interest to brands and companies that are looking to tap into the strong community of users that frequent the site. Companies that use the new pins are not being charged to do so, a Pinterest representative told GigaOm, but the move is being made to make links more “actionable”. That, essentially, is designed to increase engagement and traffic that brands see from the site, and its a crucial element for Pinterest as it continues to explore strategies to draw revenue from its estimated 48 million monthly users worldwide. Pinterest says that “this is just the beginning” of their efforts to make pins “more useful” and that we can expect to see more changes over the next few months. One of those additional changes is the introduction of ‘Pin it’ buttons for other companies’ mobile apps, to make sharing content to the site all the more seamless. For now, that’s limited the aforementioned ten partners, but other companies can get the ball rolling by visiting the dedicated developer site here. Pinterest users that want to enjoy the new categorized pins need to install the ‘Get it now’ button at the top of their home feed. What do you think of the new buttons – do they improve your user experience on Pinterest? Headline image via hydropeek / Flickr
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China’s Qihoo 360 reported an on-year decline in net profit for the first quarter of 2013, as the Internet company invests heavily in new technology to better its search business and mobile Internet services. Net profit stood at $5.6 million in the quarter ended March 31, 2013, compared with net profit of $14.1 million in the first quarter of 2012, the company said in an earnings statement released on Sunday. However, Qihoo posted a 58.6 percent increase in revenue for the first quarter, which stood at $109.9 million, compared with $69.3 million in the first quarter of 2012. The company has been spending as it strives to come up against Internet search rival Baidu. Qihoo started off with security software before branching out into operating a browser and just last summer, launching a search engine. Earlier this year, it stated its aim of achieving 20 percent market share in the Chinese search industry by the end of this year and 40 percent by 2015. The Chinese search war is headed toward being waged on the mobile front, as Baidu aggressively invests in its mobile search product and Qihoo isn’t about to let up on its efforts too. “During the first quarter, we invested in product development and technology innovation in order to deliver best-in-class user experience, and expanded our sales and marketing efforts to strengthen our brand in mobile Internet and support search monetization,” Hongyi Zhou, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Qihoo 360, said in the statement. Qihoo reported that monthly active users of its products, which include security software, games, a browser and a web portal, reached a record 457 million in March 2013, compared with 411 million in March 2012. Looking forward, Qihoo said it expects revenue of between $142 million and $144 million in the second quarter, which would be an on-year increase of 95 percent to 98 percent. Headline image via 401 (K) 2013 / Flickr
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ZTE, the Chinese firm that makes telecom equipment and mobile devices, is stepping up its presence in India after announcing that it will begin to sell its smartphones direct to consumers in the country for the first time. The company has inked a deal with Pune-based Calyx Telecommunications, which will distribute the ZTE devices and manage marketing and sales efforts across the country. ZTE itself will cover product and post-sales services. ZTE provides devices for a number of local budget players in India, but it will kick off direct sales of its own range, initially with five smartphones priced between Rs. 5,799 ($105) to Rs. 14,999 ($270). The smartphones will be available in major cities by October, and there are also plans to introduce tablet PCs. India is a huge country with plenty of distribution challenges for international firms; ZTE is initially focusing on 60 towns across five states: viz Maharashtra, Goa, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. The company says that sales in India — where it has some 1,500 staff — account for 10 percent of its global revenues. With this sales push, it is aiming to sell one million smartphones in the first year and claim third place in India’s fast-growing smartphone space. Figures from Cybermedia Research estimate that 15 million smartphones were shipped in India during 2012. While feature phones remain dominant — accounting for 206.4 million shipments in 2012 — smartphones shipments grew 75 percent year-on-year during the second half of last year, demonstrating a growing demand for more sophisticated devices. Cybermedia ranks Samsung (41 percent), Nokia (13 percent) and Sony (8 percent) as Indian’s top smartphone makers in 2012, and it will be interesting to see whether ZTE can make an impact on that list this year. Direct to consumer sales are common in India, and Samsung and BlackBerry have each boosted their consumer presence in the country during the past year. Even Apple, which does not have any of its own-brand retail stores in India, is increasing its efforts in India, with the firm reportedly aiming to triple the number of licensed reseller stores there to 200 by 2015. Headline image via AFP / Getty Images
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Last week I attended a demo day at Microsoft’s Mountain View campus. The event, the US finals, was part of the Imagine Cup series of events, a global competition that Microsoft hosts for students, allowing young teams to win money and receive mentorship for their companies. I was curious to see what the students had built. Having been to innumerable demo confabs in which adults have crashed on stage, how might students comport themselves under a spotlight and in front of a battery of judges? Quite well, it turned out. I can’t touch on every group that presented, but a few stood out that are worth noting. Naturally, the team from my university was my favorite, even if they didn’t win the day; they walked away with $5,000. To the highlights. Project Sam Project Sam, from the excellent University of Chicago has built an ingenious system for using SMS messages to help medical centers in Latin America stay stocked. It’s an issue that poor or lacking communication can leave locations that dispense often vital drugs simply out, as there is no clear conduit between themselves, and those that dispense the medicine  I can attest to this issue, having run into the problem when I lived in Mexico and needed a reliable source of tetracycline. The group won $5,000 at the event, but didn’t clinch the top prize that would have sent them to Russia. The following clip is required viewing: Team Gigaloth: Produce Wars Team Gigaloth is the company, and Produce Wars the game. This app won the games category, taking down $5,000, and won another $5,000 for having the best demo. It deserved both. Produce Wars is a game that, coming first for Xbox and Windows, is a betterment of Angry Birds. To be frank, the game looks like a damn load of fun. It takes the classic idea – made mainstream by Rovio – of shooting objects at targets, and adds a neat barrel function. But more than that, its creative structure breathes fresh life into a stale genre. I won’t speak any more. Enjoy: Pitch Pitch is a neat Windows 8 application that allows users to quickly throw together a virtual space for file sharing. Imagine a dozen people at a meeting, and they need to access the most recent draft, and a logo asset, from two different people in the room. An email chain? A new Dropbox folder? Pitch is simple: Create a room in second, and drop the file in. Everyone inside the room on their device will have instant access. Simple. It’s coming out soon. Frankly, it’s a neat tool. Help Me Help The winner of the day was Help Me Help. The company has a free mobile app that helps people in the case of an emergency, such as an earthquake. A central website receives the data, helping administrators track where issues are, and their real-time severity. In short, it puts reporting capabilities into the hand of every person, greatly increasing the amount of information that flows to those with the power to help. Here’s a shot of what it could look like in action, provided there was The Coming Quake in San Francisco: Let’s all hope that we are on vacation when that happens. The Help Me Help team is heading to the world finals of Imagine Cup in Russia. Good luck to them. Students built this stuff. The future looks bright. Top Image Credit: Joseph McKinley
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Yahoo has been plagued by leadership changes among its C-level positions for years. Many of its CEOs have been struggling to find ways to either cut down on cost or innovate on products, but none appear to have been able to turn the company’s performance and reputation around. The hiring of Marissa Mayer as its CEO has helped to change the company’s momentum, leading it towards a better position, at least where investors are concerned. 300 days ago Mayer and her company have certainly been in the news quite a bit over the past few months and if you look at the company’s quarterly earnings, there seems to be some sort of revival happening there. While the title of this post mentions “turnaround”, it by no means that Yahoo is in an era of prosperity. However, Mayer appears to have succeeded where her predecessors have failed. The former Google executive joined Yahoo just a little more than 300 days ago. She currently has the second-longest tenure as CEO following founder Jerry Yang’s departure from the role. If you look at the stock price of Yahoo, in just the first 300 days, Mayer’s leadership has helped the company right its finances, bringing it up to levels not seen in years. Below is a look at Yahoo’s stock activity from 2006 to May 17, 2013. In the post-Yang era, investors appeared to lack confidence in where Yahoo was headed and it greatly affected its stock. As we approach 2012, the number makes an upward direction to close at $26.52 as of last Friday. Through the rest of this post, we will explore the Yahoo’s current direction and the moves Mayer has made in the first 300 days. Yahoo’s Previous CEOs following Jerry Yang As mentioned earlier, Yahoo has been a revolving door for CEOs. In the past four years, only Carol Bartz has been CEO longer, for a total of 966 days.  To be fair, two subsequent leaders held the role on an interim basis, but it’s safe to say that the company has been in desperate need for someone to right the ship lest it continue to sink any further. Ross Levinsohn: May 13, 2012 – July 16, 2012 (64 days) Scott Thompson: January 4, 2012 – May 13, 2012 (130 days) Tim Morse: September 6, 2011 – January 4, 2012 (120 days) Carol Bartz: January 13, 2009 – September 6, 2011 (966 days) Formerly CEO of software design and service company Autodesk, Bartz announced to the world on January 13, 2009 saying that she came to Yahoo to “kick some butt”. However, her brash style (remember the “fuck off” incident with TechCrunch’s Michael Arrington?) and the impact her attempts to streamline things didn’t make her any friends. During her tenure, Yahoo cut 4 percent of its global workforce, or about 600 jobs, a move that was billed as being a “part of our ongoing strategy to best position Yahoo for revenue growth.” In a struggling company, its not surprising that CEOs would find different ways to address huge operating costs or continuing dismal financial performance, but during Bartz’s reign, the impact didn’t seem to be as positive as she expected. Investors seemed to have a mixed reaction to her leadership with the stock price jumping around rather erratically. What’s noteworthy is Bartz’s leadership is stained with poor quarterly earnings. One of the lowest stock price drops in the past five years since November 21, 2008, when Yahoo was trading at $9.39 a share also happened on her watch. Bartz was fired rather unceremoniously in September 2011 by Yahoo’s Chairman of the Board over the phone: To all, I am very sad to tell you that I’ve just been fired over the phone by Yahoo’s Chairman of the Board. It has been my pleasure to work with all of you and I wish you only the best going forward. Carol Sent from my iPad Tim Morse, Yahoo’s Chief Financial Officer, was tapped to replace Bartz at the helm on an interim basis, but any efforts he made had little effect. Granted, he was only CEO for a total of 120 calendar days. Eventually, Scott Thompson, former President of PayPal, was selected to be its new chief. Aside from that thing about his resume, Thompson was believed to be the leader Yahoo hoped would help it turn it around. However, instead of a 180-degree turn, Thompson hit the accelerator to continue aggressive ways to cut costs. In his 130 days as head Yahoo, he oversaw the termination of around 2,000 people, or 14 percent of the company’s workforce — more than Bartz did in her tenure, by 1,400 more jobs. For all his efforts, Thompson did little to improve Yahoo’s stock price as it remained constrained between $14 to $16 per share. Remember that resume issue we mentioned earlier? Yahoo fired Thompson because of that. Next up to bat was Fox Interactive President Ross Levinsohn who was the man responsible for purchasing MySpace for $500 million. But in an interim role, he was unable to do much, mostly because of shareholder in-fighting from Third Point founder Dan Loeb, who apparently grew impatient at the decay of his stock’s value and sought to shake up Yahoo’s management. Happy days are here again (or at least they’re getting better) Yahoo is starting to see some hope for itself with Mayer at the helm. It’s not where it wants to be, but it’s getting there. Case in point, if you look at the stock price since Mayer became CEO, the company has seen its share price rise to a high of $28, something not seen in years. Yahoo’s quarterly earnings shows some signs that things seem to be improving. In Mayer’s first quarterly earnings report, Yahoo reported revenues of $1.09 billion and an no-GAAP EPS of $0.35, beating Wall Street’s expectations. It followed it up with a successful Q4 2012 report of $1.22 billion in revenue. The starting quarter of fiscal year 2013 wasn’t that great, but it wasn’t bad either. To say the least, Yahoo still managed to post impressive numbers. Investors appeared happy with the company’s performance and it has definitely impacted how they view the stock price. In addition, no massive layoffs have occurred at the company over the past 11 months. In one of her first acts as CEO, Mayer sold Yahoo’s stake in Alibaba. It was believed that she would take the $7.6 billion in proceeds and invest it in potentially acquiring one of the large Internet properties like Foursquare. However, Mayer has been setting her sights on smaller companies, snatching up 22 entrepreneurs from companies like Stamped, OntheAir, Snip.it, Alike, Jybe, Summly, Astrid, GoPollGo, Milewise, and Loki Studios. We recently added 22 entrepreneurs to our growing mobile team. Welcome to Yahoo! @astrid @gopollgo @milewise @lokistudios! — Yahoo! Inc.(@YahooInc) May 10, 2013 All of these companies are aimed at bolstering Yahoo’s mobile efforts, which Mayer has said Yahoo has fallen behind on. The work looks to be paying off as last January, she said there were 200 million active mobile users. In April, the company had 300 million active mobile users — an increase of 100 million. In order to further capitalize on mobile usage, Yahoo is hoping that the enormous amount of content that the company produces can be transferred to smartphones and tablets in a user-friendly manner. Mobile-first is her game plan. The photo-sharing social network Flickr is another example of Yahoo’s turnaround. Long a stagnant property in the views of past company CEOs, it finally received some updates under Mayer’s reign. Photographers have been clamoring for a better photo service, with occasional chatter of people severing ties with Flickr and instead switching over to Google+, 500px, or other services that they saw as being more social and understanding of their needs. Under Mayer’s reign, Flickr released a redesign of its iOS app, which saw an increased usage of the app by 25 percent. People are beginning to take notice of the improvements, and not just users. Yahoo has been plagued by layoffs and numerous employees leaving the company for various reasons. Under Mayer’s leadership, they’re coming back. Last quarter, she said that Yahoo’s workplace standing and employee belief in the company had improved. Mayer says that there are more job applicants now (more than triple the number during the quarter) and 14 percent of its new hires are “boomerangs”, or former Yahoo’ers who have returned to the company. She has also enacted employee-focused initiatives designed to bolster morale and give employees an opportunity to test new products. However, while there might be reason to celebrate, Mayer cautions that any revitalization of the brand will happen in the long-term. She equates it to a “series of sprints” to help bring back the company’s success and has told investors she is seeing “continued stability” for Yahoo in the future. Not quite practically perfect in every way While Mayer has been making purchases of smaller companies and moving towards rapidly improving Yahoo’s mobile-first strategy, what about search? There hasn’t been any major news on how it will seek to rival Google or even Bing, although Yahoo did sign a deal for a twelve month search partnership with Microsoft. Last month, Yahoo also killed off a slew of services as a means to “sharpen its focus”. The company shut down several services, many people probably didn’t really know existed: Upcoming, Yahoo Deals, Yahoo SMS Alerts, Yahoo Kits, Yahoo Mail and Messenger feature phone apps, and older versions of Yahoo Mail. One of those products, Upcoming, made the news cycle when its founder Andy Baio penned a post calling for a way to archive it before Yahoo shut it down. What’s more, some of her acquisitions have not followed through. In March 2013, the Wall Street Journal reported that the company was in talks to acquire the majority share of the video social network Dailymotion for $300 million. The move would enable Yahoo to grow its video presence internationally while Dailymotion would establish a foothold in the United States. A month later, the French government put a stop to the purchase saying that that Dailymotion was too important for the country and wanted it to remain owned by a French company. There may also be some who feel that getting acquired by Yahoo is just a way to exit, and that the purchased company will ultimately be shuttered. If you look at many of the companies Mayer purchased during her tenure, most have quickly announced that it would be closing as the team joins Yahoo. And so while Mayer seeks to implement a startup attitude, those companies targeted by Yahoo could be weary of selling to Mayer because of potential neglect to the product they slaved away on for years. Mayer’s Instagram moment Today, Yahoo stands on the cusp of a potential achievement. Mayer and the company’s board agreed on a $1.1 billion price for microblogging platform Tumblr. Whether the company accepts the deal remains a mystery, although with Yahoo holding a press conference tomorrow, signs point to the deal happening. TNW’s Alex Wilhelm breaks the deal down like this: Tumblr is a very valuable property, given its reach, demographic, and momentum; however, as a financial entity, it’s a goat rodeo and a half. The company burned through $85 million in two years, and now has two options: raise a new round, or sell. The astonishing $1.1 billion offer would be akin to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s $1 billion offer to Instagram on the eve of the social networking company’s IPO. In this instance, Yahoo’s deal is reportedly for all cash, not a mixture of it and company stock. If the deal does go through, it will be a defining point in Mayer’s career and may help solidify her career as someone who successfully turned Yahoo around. However, before that happens, she needs to find a way to make sure these acquisitions and her decisions benefit the company and aren’t just talent-stealing deals. Investors and Yahoo appear to be happy with Mayer’s performance so far, and she has certainly taken some risks. Will these pay off big time? If they do, it will be have a huge impact on Mayer’s first at-bat as CEO and have a beneficial impact on a company many long-thought was dead. Top image credit: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images Photo credits: Carol Bartz via Justin Sullivan/Getty Images, Scott Thompson via Reuters, Yahoo building via Justin Sullivan/Getty Images, Yahoo/Tumblr via KAREN BLEIER/AFP/Getty Images All stock graphs via Google Finance
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TNW recently met with three companies from Microsoft’s Azure-focused accelerator in Israel in San Francisco. For an inside look at the program, we went there last year and took pictures. Innovation is not partial to Silicon Valley, and Israel is a rising star in the technology world. Before we get to the companies themselves, a few notes on the accelerator are in order. Started in 2012, a total of 100 companies applied for entrance; 11 were accepted. That class wrapped in September. For the second round, 300 companies applied; 13 were accepted. Microsoft stressed that one key factor that they use to admit firms is that their leadership be coachable; that they are open to hearing, and perhaps taking advice. From the first group of firms, 9 out of the 11 companies were funded, 5 before graduation, and four more within the first five following months. The average funding amount totaled $900,000. For the second round of companies, 10 of the 13 firms had picked up funding before graduation. For the second round, the average funding amount is lower, at $500,000. Taken together, Microsoft has moved 24 companies through its accelerator and launched 19 into the world with fresh funding. That’s a good track record. Now, to our three firms that jetted across the world to show off their work. Askem With the subtitle ‘question everything,’ it isn’t hard to ascertain what Askem is. Launching onto the iOS App Store in the past few weeks, the application is a service by which individuals can ask questions to their friends and online associates. However, Askem flips that standard offering by allowing users to segment their accrued responses by gender. Want to know if guys like your shirt, or girls your hat? Askem can help with that. The service also allows users to sort answers from people that they know personally, for a more intimate polling. The service is simple: Take a picture, annotate it with notes that are options, and then collect input, which consists of likes and comments. I asked if often the two sexes disagree, and somewhat humorously the answer was yes. However, according to the question, it does depend on the question. A question regarding a roller coaster ended with men saying that they would ride it, and a majority of women demurring the theoretical option. You can answer a question on Facebook itself, meaning that for Askem users to accept input, their inputers do not have to have the application. The firm claims its platform allows for a new level of relationship between celebrities and their fans; what sort of socks will Bieber wear? Weigh in, and help decide! Askem, in its view is more than polling, it is self-expression. Fresh out of closed beta, Askem has raised a total of $500,000 from angel investors. Traction is limited given its youth, but the company stated that early users logged an average of 1.8 sessions per day, spending around 3 minutes per visit to the application. The Askem question is simple: It’s a neat application, and one that is simple to use. However, will iOS users – and later, Windows Phone and Android – take to it? For now that is the half million dollar question. W.S.C. Sports Technologies Deriving more revenue from extant content is akin to making free money; you already have the goods, how can you extract more cash? W.S.C Sports Technology (WSC) intends to help sports content owners better drive revenue from their content, which is no small task, but an important effort given that networks and other parties pay huge sums to broadcast the various leagues; they have a large deficit to recoup, and as the world slowly leaves television, new incomes are key. WSC operates a video database that allows for games to be broken down, time stamped and cut up; every touchdown, every block, every sack, can be quickly cataloged across a large number of games. You can, using its technology, create a video of every sack a quarter back you hate received in the past season. WSC is essentially an internal YouTube for licensed content. In practice, given a short time hands-on with the service, it’s vaguely magical. You can add voice overs, and music to the clips. Naturally, you can share video content that you create; so once you put together an amazing highlight reel for the Colts you can share it with your friends. This drives eyeballs and thus dollars to the content owner with little input required on their end. A test of the service with a league led to a doubling of video views. The average time on site per user is north of 10 minutes. Networks have ad relationships in place, they merely want more places to sell them. WSC’s goal is to help those groups better use their content, in a legal fashion, boosting engagement and incomes. The first test for the firm, having built their product, is locking down a relationship with a major sporting series. They are speaking to one in the United States. Others, I am sure, will follow. To be frank, their technology is compelling, and their value proposition real. It’s now a question of execution. The company has raised $1 million. Kitchenbug Getting married and having kids is terrible for your diet, according to the Kitchenbug team. Claiming a past youth of slimness and strength, the team of founder-friends found themselves slipping later in life. A simply massive number of people in the developed world are overweight, and a troubling minority are technically obese; we’re killing ourselves with food. We’re not helpless as a species however, as we want to be better, which is something at least. Recipe searches – healthier an option than takeout, I can vouch – are the second largest search category, account for around 1 to 2 percent of all searches, according to Kitchenbug. The company wants to help you lose that paunch that has slowly been growing about your midsection, and do it in a hopefully tasty manner. Its service analyzes online recipes, quickly breaking down their component nutrient ingredients and the like. It’s like having a back-of-the-can food label for every online dish, only more exacting and specific. Kitchenbug will tell you if a dish is a good source of protein, or, in the future, if it is vegan. If you care about what you eat, the service is neat way to eat better, and know more. While its core product is useful, the neatest part of Kitchenbug is that it allows you to scale a recipe up or down, depending on how many people you are serving; live alone and don’t want to make enough for a party of six? Kitchenbug has you covered. You can store a list of your favorite recipes inside the service. You cannot, however, yet input your own recipes and have them scored. That is likely coming however. Starting as a WordPress plugin for bloggers, the firm racked up 40 million views of its product in 100 days. Its web service for all is just a few days old, so traction remains nascent, likely. Kitchenbug is a neat tool that I intend on using. We could all eat better. The firm has raised $650,000 from Israeli angels. Top Image Credit: zeevveez
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It’s a pity that ‘drone’ isn’t ‘Dorne,’ but I digress. This Thursday the President of the United States will address the nation on its current drone program that targets enemies abroad for what are called ‘targeted’ killings. Naturally, however, when you are firing explosive-laden rockets, things tend to explode. Drones are a popular current tool of modern warfare as they put no usage-side lives at risk; the US doesn’t lose a soldier if a drone is shot down, just a good deal of money. According to the Associated Press, the Obama administration will address other topics in the address including “counterterrorism practices.” Why might TNW be bringing you dronish war news that feels like it has a political bent? It’s simple really, drone tech isn’t just an abroad affair; it’s coming home, and in some instances already has. Drones as a tool for surveillance are not merely a potentiality for the homeland; the technology is attractive enough that it will find cachet in your neighborhood. This is now a regulatory question, not one that directly pertains to technology. However, where tech policy and tech hardware meet, TNW is there. Here’s the rubbish nub: Drones are currently shrouded in defensive obscurity; the administration has been infamously tight when it comes to drone legality details. To their credit, it’s a senscial position; the less they say, the less those on the other end of Hellfire missiles know. But as drones come home, we need to know. We must know. The legally daunting situations are already stacking. So, this Thursday, tune in. It’s not often that the government drives technology forward, after all. Top Image Credit: Don McCullough
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Today it became known, via the Wall Street Journal, that the Yahoo board has approved the $1.1 billion offer for Tumblr, a microblogging service and social destination. It’s a good thing, too, as Tumblr is poor, and revenue-low. It’s even better for the firm as it cashes out all of its investors as a positive ROI, something that isn’t always the case with aqusitions. Frankly, the company wanted more. We all know that. But so long as the deal was all-cash, Yahoo’s hands were tied. Tumblr’s most recent round valued the firm at roughly $800 million, in 2011. Given the $1.1 billion price, its most recent investors will see a return of 37% for the period. They wanted more. Tumblr employees wanted more. Tubmlr management, I’m sure, want more. However: “An acquisition by some tech giant is likely in the cards for Tumblr, though, as sources say the company only has a few months of cash runway left.” They spent all the money. It’s gone. And: “Tumblr pulled in $13 million in 2012, but has accelerated its advertising offering in hopes of hitting $100 million in revenue this year. The money’s not coming in fast enough to support its expenses though.” In short: Tumblr is a very valuable property, given its reach, demographic, and momentum; however, as a financial entity, it’s a goat rodeo and a half. The company burned through $85 million in two years, and now has two options: raise a new round, or sell. Why not raise a few hundred million, you might ask. Well, as Foursquare recently learned, if your revenue ramp is all but flat, late into your life, after you have achieved the ‘scale’ you long chased in the youth of your company, valuing your enterprise is difficult; if growth doesn’t lead to revenue, is it worth a damn? Tumblr doesn’t have much top line, and it has a bucket of red ink below it. Yahoo is, now approved, willing to make everyone’s investment more than whole. It’s a gift. The kicker: why all cash. Yahoo’s short term investments and cash accounts tot to just over $3 billion. That isn’t much for a modern technology company, and it isn’t much if you are buying firms for north of $1 billion; if the deal had been a mix of stock and cash, it would have been a higher total figure. The Instagram deal appears to loom; after Facebook offered it $1 billion, the value of the stock component of the deal fell, leading to a final effective price of $715 million. Cash holds what stock might lose. Expect to see Tumblr join Yahoo tomorrow, unless hubris clouds its eyes. Update: Howard Lindzon has interesting commentary on the all-cash aspect of the deal: “$yhoo offered cash because cash is actually cheaper than stock today. She could now go raise $2 billion at 2 percent. Simple market math.” This is very interesting, provided that Yahoo is more willing to take on debt than potentially dilute its shareholders. Top Image Credit: Luz Bratcher
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These days there are few things bigger than Facebook on the Internet, but Google-owned YouTube is one of them, and today the world’s top online video service marked its eight year anniversary by revealing that it is now seeing more than 100 hours of video uploaded every minute. That’s right, every minute. That’s quite astonishing, and it totals more than 144 billion minutes of uploads every day. YouTube, like Facebook, is used by more than 1 billion people per month, and it has gone from strength to strength in recent times. Back in 2011, YouTube users were adding 48 hours of video per minute, while that figure jumped to 72 hours per week last year. YouTube paid tribute to its users and incredible milestones in a blog post that includes the following comment: Over the years, you’ve continued to surprise and delight us. And the past year was no exception. Who would have guessed that a tux-rocking K-pop star would shatter records left and right or that Sesame Street would go global with 1 billion views? That’s one of our favorite things about our global audience: you’re as unpredictable as you are creative and irreverent. This year, Google is taking the service into new territory with the recent launch of paid-for channels that are aimed at rivalling streaming services like Hulu and Netflix. This isn’t YouTube’s first foray into original content. It kicked off its Channels program in 2011, which provides selected content partners with an undisclosed sum of funding to create content for YouTube channels. The money is an up-front payment of future advertising earnings, but it encourages them to invest in equipment and talent to produce compelling shows — that’s the aim, at least. Channels began in the US, but has since been expanded to a range of new markets, including, the UK, France, Germany and Japan, with more expansions planned.
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Editor’s note: Robert Scoble, Startup Liaison Officer at Rackspace, is working on a book with Shel Israel about the how sensors, wearable computers, and other technologies will change our future, titled “Age of Context.” That got them invited to visit SRI International, Silicon Valley’s most important lab. This is where tons of companies and technologies have been born, from Siri to Nuance to the Internet itself. What is the future going to look like? One way is to get a tour of the best research lab in the world. Out of these buildings have come the Internet (it was one of the first two nodes on the Internet), the Mouse, Nuance, HDTV, and Apple’s Siri. In other words, what they are working on here for mostly military or large companies will affect our future as they commercialize the technology developed here. The work at SRI isn’t about just technology, either, they have extensive research going on in life sciences and in one of the videos of this tour you see a new cancer detection system. Anyway, let’s dive into the videos and see what we can learn: This team found a way to identify cancer cells in a drop of blood. Could this technique have saved Steve Jobs’ life? It’s very possible. Hear more about this new discovery in the video, or visit the website to learn more about what SRI is doing. How good can something like Google Glass become? Here is part of our tour of SRI, the famous Silicon Valley research lab that brought us the Internet, mouse, Nuance, HDTV, Siri, robotic surgeries, and much more. In this video you’ll see binoculars that can tag, track, buildings and people as well as play war games where we see virtual people on the ground, along with vehicles. Really amazing. Read more about it on the SRI website. Here you see SRI is inventing a new way to work, called “Bright.” It watches you at every step of the way. Helps you work by watching how you work. Learn more on the work being done at SRI. Here we see the latest in face detection and what it might be used for (better speaker training, for instance). Here you see how CubeSat’s, or low-cost satellites, which are small and can fit into ballast spaces on rockets, are changing the types of science that can be done from space.
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By 2015, six billion objects in the world will be connected to the internet. While it may seem tricky to grasp as a concept, the internet of things is nothing simpler, and more stunning, than objects being connected to the internet. At its most mind-blowing, these objects are learning and adapting to the behaviour of the user. The internet has well and truly left the computer and is running amok in ‘things’, showing us how previously inanimate, everyday objects can be bought to life through being connected . The internet of things was first coined as a term in 1999 and it is now well and truly established ; no longer a vision of a future concept but an accessible reality. If you own a Nike fuelband, then you’re already enjoying the internet of things. The potential for the internet of things to challenge our concepts of what objects can do for us and how they can function in a connected network has been turned on its head. We’ve seen prerequisite technology such as RFID tags, once used for fairly mundane tasks as tracking stock in a warehouse, be employed to enable the internet of things, and new technology emerge such as Arduino that takes this to the next level. But rather than just being a catchall term, how does the internet of things really operate? Communicate with objects The internet of things relies on information travelling from one point to another, and it’s easiest to see the potential for this when you consider the impact of information flowing from YOU to an object. Nest  is a great example of this. A thermostat that you can actually communicate with, saving money and energy on heating in the home. Instead of just setting your thermostat at the start of winter and probably never touching it again, now you can text your thermostat with Nest, for example telling it if you’re going to be out for the evening unexpectedly, so there’s no need to turn the heating on. By being connected, Nest learns from you and gives you a better product experience : http://www.youtube.com/embed/Haq4oP3B4rE Objects are also being developed that will respond to automated actions, so they can learn all the time without you actually having to do anything. Twitter recently developed a ‘tweet controlled’ alarm clock that responded to tweets to animate wooden characters. Meet Flock: http://www.youtube.com/embed/Haq4oP3B4rE Now while this is clearly a bit of fun from Twitter, the use-cases here are wide reaching. It’s not too much of a stretch to imagine a similar object that responds to tweets, to dispense medication, for example being controlled by someone via private message to remind an elderly relative when it’s time to take their tablet. Objects communicating with each other What we’re starting to see emerge is that instead of one object connected to an owner, or a single trigger, objects are connecting with each other to allow a new type of communication. An innovative product on the market in this area is the Good Night Lamp. A network of objects consists of a ‘master’ lamp connected to mini lamps, so that when the master lamp turned on, all or some of the other lamps light up. For a hard-working parent who often misses bedtime, being able to say goodnight by turning off your kids’ bedside lamp is a pretty heartwarming concept: In the Cloud Where once you would need to have a physical connection to many objects to interact with them, the internet of things ‘in the cloud’ has changed all that. And traditional manufacturers are adapting to this fast. Bosch has developed an IP-enabled security camera for use by business and in the home, that will allow you to connect with your security system when you’re not there. When the system is installed, it’s as simple as accessing the Bosch iPhone app to access a real-time view wherever you are : Bosch isn’t the only manufacturer innovating in the internet of things here. Belkin recently released Echo Water and Echo Electricity: Echo water can be installed by anyone and is a simple device you attach underneath the kitchen sink. The device will then measure vibrations to analyse every water source in your home (think shower, toilet etc.) to let you know how efficient you’re being with your water consumption. It does this through the cloud, using algorithms to measure the data collected and transmit messages back to you, to notify you of your water efficiency. Echo Electricity does a similar thing by tracking voltage through pipes. Internet of Things in the body As well as seeing advances in the internet of things around us, we’re seeing connected objects move onto us and even into us. Nike is one of the most high-profile brands experimenting with the internet of things, seen first with their launch of the Fuelband, which tracks you as you go without you having to do anything. Simply slip it on your wrist and access a whole load of information based on your movements. And now they’re about to launch Fuelband 2, which will integrate Bluetooth 4.0. This will enable the Fuelband to improve their API, to allow apps and games to access data and use accordingly. It will also feature a heart rate monitor, because why not?? This is where the internet of things perhaps gets its most exciting. Your body is now an API and you can gather and transmit data that can be used for fun in the form of exercise, but also to help improve our health. The internet of things in the body enables data to be transmitted to other services. And with any development in wearable technology we need to look beyond the immediate, basic use – i.e. a bracelet that tells you how many steps you took that day, and into what we can do with that data that’s being gathered. So why not have a heart monitor that could automatically put a call through to emergency services if your heart rate reaches critical levels. And if you’re just getting used to the internet of things on the body, then get ready for the next phase : the internet of things in the body. Freescale Semiconductor has just released the world’s smallest ARM chip, measuring 1.9x2mm. Freescale claim it’s small enough to feature in swallowable computers. Welcome to the future of the internet. Inside you.
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Autodesk is doubling down on easy-to-use 3D design software after it announced the acquisition of Tinkercad for an undisclosed sum. The deal secures the long-term future of the Web-based 3D modeling tool less than one month after its founders announced plans to close it. Tinkercad’s tag line is ‘mind to design in minutes’  and the browser-based 3D modeling removes technical barriers to allow anyone — designers and non-designers alike — to create prototype designs or professional-looking renders. The software takes a focus on helping to create ‘fun and meaningful’ things using 3D printers — which, of course, are a hotly talked about topic today. Autodesk says it will add the service to its existing 123D family of apps and services which, like Tinkercad, are designed to remove hurdles that put non-techies off of using CAD software. It will also integrate elements of the Tinkercard technology across its 123D range, to help simply the services for users. Last month, Tinkercad Founder and CEO Kai Backman revealed that the two-year-old service would close in a phased initiative culminating in a June 31 2013 switch off. The decision was made in order to focus engineering resources on Airstone, the company’s new interactive simulation product. Now, the Autodesk deal, which is expected to close in 30 days, will keep the service open to its many users — which include corporates, academic — and end the freeze on the creation of new accounts. That’s an outcome that delights Backman: We are excited to have reached an agreement with Autodesk that will provide a solid home and bright future for Tinkercad. We found in Autodesk a shared vision for empowering students, makers and designers with accessible and easy to use software, and with their global reach and expertise in democratizing design, we’re confident in their ability to introduce Tinkercad to new audiences around the world. Autodesk VP of consumer products Samir Hanna also emphasized the synergy between the company and its incoming acquisition: Tinkercad is a natural extension of the Autodesk 123D family as well as our other apps and services for consumers, as it is already used alongside Autodesk products. We look forward to welcoming the Tinkercad community to Autodesk and to continuing their mission of accessible 3D design for all. Tinkercad raised $1 million in seed funding in November 2011. Headline image via Thinkstock
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Google has started to ramp up the selection of apps available for Google Glass after official apps for Facebook, Twitter, CNN, Elle, Evernote and Tumblr were released at Google I/O on Friday, but now there’s an easy way for almost anyone to create a dedicated Glass app. New York-based developer Chris Maddern, who runs Applaunch and works for video startup Animoto, has released an open-source code that is effectively a template to create basic apps for any Web-based service, and with minimal fuss. In fact, Maddern says 15 minutes is all that it takes. The code uses the Mirror API and is available from GitHub (here). It requires merely a few database tweaks — each of which Maddern spells out in the description — before an app that connects a Web service and Glass is born. From there, those with a spirit for adventure (and coding experience, of course) can add new features and advance the app as they see fit. Importantly, all apps created will run Google’s Glassware system. That gives them full access to and interaction with Glass, unlike some other hacker creations, such as this cool app which takes photos using winks, which can only be deployed as APKs. There will be more and Maddern tells TNW that, with version 1.0 now out, he is working on adding “more complex features”, which will include replying to and updating items, as well as including timelines. Beyond that, he is aiming to make things even easier for code-averse folk. He has plans for a Web app that lets users create and edit Glass apps “without ever writing a line of code or seeing a Heroku terminal”. The Glass development community is small (but dedicated) since just 2,000 devices have been sold at this pre-consumer launch point. Maddern is jumping in early, hoping that his efforts will allow people and companies to “kickstart” their focus on the spec-tacular new hardware from Google. Google ran a number of ‘Glass Foundry’ developer events which have helped get a number of apps out into the world already, while others have sprouted from enthusiasts. We may not all be in a position to be full-time Glassholes right now, but the barriers  to creating apps are dropping to allow more people and businesses to bring content to the platform. Many will likely wait for Glass to go mainstream before devoting resources, but this code is an interesting and easy way to experiment early on. The code is fresh out thus there are no apps built from it yet. But those seeking an example can check out this unofficial Facebook app that Maddern developed while working on the code last week. ➤ Google Glass Mirror Ruby Sinatra Scaffold on Github Related: Google’s Glass fireside chat: Ugly prototypes, privacy and its potential to go mainstream Headline image via Justin Sullivan/Staff
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How much would you pay for lunch with Jack Dorsey, one of the most successful tech entrepreneurs in recent history? One anonymous person is forking out $31,600 for a date with the Twitter and Square founder, after scooping a charity auction. It ended on Friday after 24 bids. The money will go to benefit the BUILD organization, a group that helps foster education in the entrepreneur space for low-income students. Ten days ago, BUILD began the auction with its culmination taking place prior to the group’s annual Gala in San Francisco. Dorsey has been a supporter of BUILD for the past several years, hosting mentoring sessions with students, auctioning off Square internships at its event, and helping to bring in $60,000 for the cause. Dorsey says that “BUILD represents one of the best ways to tackle educational challenges — through entrepreneurship and pride in ownership. BUILD’s method gives kids the toolkits they need to build the futures they want — and it is inspiring to see what they create.” The winning bidder is only identified by eBay as o**d, although looking at the individual’s bidding history, they placed five bids in the auction. According to a BUILD spokesperson, the bidder is a venture capitalist from Belgium, but not much else was revealed. They now have a unique opportunity for them and seven of their friends to have lunch with Dorsey. Additionally, at the annual BUILD Gala on Friday night, another anonymous bidder placed a $40,000 bid to have lunch with Dorsey — in total, for two auctions, the serial entrepreneur has helped raise more than $70,000 for BUILD. That amount helped play a big part in the charity’s record $1.4 million that it brought in from that single event. All proceeds of the auction are going to benefit those students who have a desire to become an entrepreneur, but need additional support. The group believes that student ideas in action will help drive students to success not only in school, but in their later years. It’s a four-year high school program helping students in four schools in the US: Redwood City and Oakland in California, Washington, DC, and Boston, Massachusetts. The conclusion of Dorsey’s auction follows another high-profile charity one. Earlier this week, a winning bid of $610,000 was made to have coffee with Apple CEO Tim Cook. In this case, the money given will go towards funding the RFK Center for Justice and Human Rights. There were 86 bids in that auction. Photo credit: Brian Harkin/Getty Images
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Editor’s note: This article originally appeared on East-West Digital News, a leading English-language resource on Russian digital industries and related venture activity. Russian iPhone users can now experiment with social banking – an entirely new concept in the country – thanks to an app launched last month by Instabank, a Moscow-based startup. The iPhone app allows clients to transfer money to Facebook friends who also use Instabank, get notifications of new account activity, and add geotags and photos to their transactions. At present Instabank is limiting the number of new users through an invitation-based system. Yet the company has to date received far more invitation requests than expected, marketing and communications manager Yelisey Zakharov told East-West Digital News. “We are already working on issuing bank cards for the first users and expanding the functionality,” he said. There is still a long way to go on the Instabank roadmap. The list of features to implement includes virtual credit/debit cards, individual Instagram-based card design, a personal home banking system and more. Zakharov also emphasized that the still-to-be-introduced function of transferring money to Facebook friends who are not using Instabank is the startup’s know-how and a potential killer feature. Mobile first Before creating Instabank, the co-founders — Dmitry Feofanov, Roman Potemkin and Valentin Kravtsov — had been involved in mobile software development for several major banks, including Home Credit, Unicredit, and Tinkoff. The idea of creating Instabank came as a result of frustration with what they saw as the sluggishness of large financial organizations. “At a certain point the founders realized that over the past few years the whole world had changed,” said Zakharov. “It became obvious to them that behind the nice mobile applications then in use there still stood huge, clumsy banks – a situation not in line with the current evolution of society.” Zakharov reckons that a “bank in a mobile phone will revolutionize the banking sector the same as Instagram has revolutionized the photography world.” Yet the team does not stray too far from conventional banking institutions. While Instabank offers users a slick mobile banking interface and customer support, the actual bank infrastructure is provided by a partner, Russian bank VPB. Another partner of Instabank is Masterbank, from whose ATMs the social banking service’s users can withdraw funds without charge. In October 2012 Instabank received $4 million in funding from Life.SREDA. Established last year with an initial capital of $10 million, this venture fund is part of the Russian financial group Life, which comprises eight sizable Russian banks. An untapped market Even though several similar projects have been launched over the past few years, including Simple and GoBank in the US and Fidor Bank in Germany, mobile and social banking is new in Russia. Rocketbank, a Russian startup that intended to disrupt the banking field, was announced in June of last year but is still working on an invite-only basis. Instabank presents its focus on mobile and social functions, relating in particular to Facebook, Instagram and Foursquare, as a distinct advantage in Russia’s social banking market – which, according to Zakharov, is “very ample and almost untapped.” Another source agreed. “Nowadays smartphones are becoming one of the most important channels for financial services and the main interface for social networks. Sooner or later these two segments had to be combined, and it is very promising,” noted Viktor Dostov of the Russian Electronic Money Association in an exchange with EWDN. “On the other hand, customers tend to be very conservative when it comes to bank services; this is why such projects, in my opinion, should be considered marketing instruments rather than core bank services.” Although Instabank’s Russian service is not fully launched yet, the startup already envisions expansion to the US. Among other plans are apps for Android and Windows Phone, though focus will be kept on iOS in the short term, Zakharov said. Image credit: Thinkstock
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Is there too much hype around ‘big data’? Kenneth Cukier thinks so, and yet he remains passionate about what we can achieve with it. Cukier is the Data Editor at The Economist and co-author of the book Big Data: A Revolution That Will Transform How We Live, Work, and Think. At The Next Web Conference Europe 2013, he gave a keynote talk detailing just how much impact ever-growing big data sets will have on the world. Grab a coffee, sit back and watch… Catch up with all our coverage of The Next Web Conference 2013. Disclosure: This article contains an affiliate link. While we only ever write about products we think deserve to be on the pages of our site, The Next Web may earn a small commission if you click through and buy the product in question. For more information, please see our Terms of Service.
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