BonitaSoft, a French business process management (BPM) software company, has raised $13 million in a Series C round of funding led by FSN PME, a French government initiative. Prior backers Ventech, Auriga Partners and Serena Capital also participated in the round. The cash injection brings the total capital raised by BonitaSoft since its inception in June 2009 to $28 million. The company will use the money to bankroll its global expansion plans in the United States, Europe and Latin America. The proceeds will also be used to develop new BPM technologies that are more responsive and adaptable to the end user, and allow process applications to actively measure the benefits to the business. BonitaSoft currently serves more than 600 companies and governments worldwide, including Accenture, DirectTV and Michelin. The company says it also has 100 integration partners on five continents. Overall, its open-source business process management solution has seen more than 2 million downloads, from a community that exceeds 60,000 members. This year, BonitaSoft aims to add 60 new employees to its three offices in San Francisco (US), Paris and Grenoble (France). Image credit: Flickr / Seth Anderson
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Now, who’s hot, who not? Tell me who rock, who sell out in the stores? (RIP, Biggie) Soon, perhaps, MessageMe in the App Store or on Google Play – even though the app is utterly gratis. Wait, that makes no sense. Alright, down to business then: LittleInc Labs, the company behind the very young but already quite popular messaging app for iOS and Android smartphones, MessageMe, has secured $10 million in funding according to a regulatory filing. MessageMe made its public debut in March 2013, entering a market with a plethora of competitors inarguably late, but managed to clock 1 million downloads after a week anyway. The company behind the messaging app scored a seed funding round to the tune of $1.9 million around the same time, from big-name investors like Andreessen Horowitz, True Ventures, Google Ventures, SV Angel, First Round Capital, Social+Capital Partnership and Resolut.vc. Now, this filing suggests it’s adding another $10 million to its coffers. We’ve contacted the company for confirmation and to see which investors chipped in for this round. Even though there are a lot of free messaging apps out there, from WhatsApp to Kik, Viber, Line and Kakao Talk (not to mention iMessage, Google Hangouts, BBM and Skype), the game is far from over. With two financing rounds in quick succession, LittleInc Labs shows that it has big plans for MessageMe, and that it’s been able to back its ambition with the numbers and vision needed to convince investors to break out their wallets. It will be very interesting to see what happens next. Also read: Mobile messaging apps: The threat to Facebook and other social networks Social app monetization kicks in as App Store revenue jumps 87% year-over-year: Report 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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Everyone loves innovation. In the technology industry, perhaps more than anywhere else, people want to see new products, services and ideas being developed all the time. We live for progress. Copying, on the other hand, is frowned upon. If someone launches a mobile app that has a similar premise to an existing service, we shake our heads from side-to-side, call it a ‘clone’ and uninstall it from our smartphone or tablet in an instant. Mark Earls, a best-selling author and consultant on human behavior, talked at The Next Web Conference in Amsterdam about the “curse” of originality and how developers who look for uniqueness from the get-go are making life harder for themselves. “Copying turns out to be our number one learning strategy,” he said. “Through a range of experiments over the last three years, the British government’s behaviour insights team have learnt that what other people are doing is the most important influence on an individual’s behaviour – especially if you want to change it.” So what does that mean exactly? Well, new ideas emerge through the process of copying and understanding another person’s product or idea. “Copying is essential to the spread of anything,” Earls added. “If you have an idea, a business, a proposition or a piece of technology that you want to spread you need to get people to copy it.” He added: “But that’s not all. Because you might say ‘Okay, that’s fine but it will lead to everything being the same, won’t it?’ The really exciting truth about copying – and this has always been the way in our culture – is that copying creates new things.” Check out Earls’ keynote below to find out why copying might not be such a bad idea after all. Don’t miss the rest of our coverage from The Next Web Conference Europe 2013 Image Credit: Julia Deboer/Flickr
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Russian Internet search and services company Yandex is today announcing a new startup accelerator initiative dubbed the Tolstoy Summer Camp, named after the great novelist (coincidentally, Yandex’s Moscow offices are located on 16, Leo Tolstoy Street). Yandex is calling it a ‘summer studio’, but it’s really more of a boot camp for startups that essentially aims to support burgeoning talents – from developers to designers and project managers – with resources and knowledge in building a viable startup from scratch. Applicants can come from anywhere, but they do have to speak Russian. What will Yandex bring to the table? The company says it aims to guide budding entrepreneurs throughout the entire cycle of startup building, from idea through planning to attracting funding to launch. Of course, the latter will happen at a ‘Demo Day’ in September, which in this case will see early-stage investment firms such as SeedCamp, Runa Capital and GrowthUp vetting the finalists and decide on follow-on funding. Another investor that will be lining up to see if there’s an opportunity to invest is … Yandex. Indeed, the company will not take a stake in any of the businesses until it decides to invest under the usual terms. In a blog post, Yandex says: “There seems to be more venture capital than brilliant ideas on Russia’s internet market. At the same time, many of brilliant ideas in the heads of talented people are destined to perish without a chance either because talented people cannot meet each other or because they cannot deliver their ideas in a form approachable for investors. We have been experimenting with startups for a while and came to an understanding that currently the best format for a large internet company, such as Yandex, to interact with a bunch of passionate enthusiasts, such as startups, is a seed accelerator.” Program details After the application process and interviews with individual candidates in May and June, everyone accepted into the Tolstoy Summer Camp program will be invited to Yandex’s Moscow office. If that means the would-be entrepreneurs have to relocate to the city, Yandex says it will cover all his or her travel and accommodation expenses, in addition to a small monthly survival fee. Yandex aims to put together 40 to 50 people with international ambitions. Evidently, startups will be encouraged to work with Yandex technologies and APIs as much and wherever possible, and the company will also be scouting the candidates for potential hires down the line. The actual program kicks off on July 1st 2013, and will see candidates develop their ideas and build teams around them. After every one of the three stages, candidates can be asked to leave the Camp. The Russian Internet giant says it will tap some of its top execs to get involved in the program, and has also invited international experts like Esther Dyson, Alina Chumachenko (Game Insight) and Colette Ballou (Ballou PR) to share their knowledge and experiences on building startups. Also read: Russian ecommerce is reaching a tipping point. It’s time that Europe and the US took note What, no Justin Timberlake? There’s a movie about Yandex in the works Russia’s Yandex invests in Seedcamp to gain closer ties with European startups
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Android and iOS accounted for 92.3 percent of all smartphones shipped during the first quarter of 2013, according to new figures published today by the International Data Corporation (IDC). The number of new smartphones delivered with Android jumped to 162.1 million in the first three months, up from 90.3 million during the same period last year. It means that Google’s mobile operating system had a 75 percent market share of all new smartphones being shipped around the world – up from 59.1 percent over Q1 2012. iOS held second place rather comfortably, rising ever so slightly from 35.1 million in the first quarter of 2012 to 37.4 million in 2013. It’s not all good news though; Apple’s market share of new smartphone shipments dropped from 23 percent to 17.3 percent, attributed almost entirely to the new gains made by Google. The battle for third place The battle for the so-called “third pillar” of smartphone adoption continues to rock to-and-fro between Windows Phone and BlackBerry OS. Despite launching both the high-end BlackBerry Z10 and mid-range Q10, BlackBerry failed to cling to the third spot in IDC’s figures. The research firm found that BlackBerry OS shipments had dropped to 6.3 million in the first quarter of 2013, down from 9.7 million the previous year. Given how pivotal the new BlackBerry 10 operating system is – the company worked on the touch-orientated platform for two years – these figures don’t bode well for future sales. Windows Phone, meanwhile, saw some significant gains. Shipments increased from 3 million in the first quarter of 2012 to 7 million over the last three months. It’s arguably a small rise, but one that brings its market share up to 3.2 percent for overall smartphone shipments for the period. The 0.3 percent lead over BlackBerry suggests that we’ll see the two platforms swap places throughout the year. Linux and Symbian, almost forgotten Rounding out the top six were Linux and Symbian, with a 1 percent and 0.6 percent marketshare respectively. It will be interesting to see how Mozilla’s new Firefox OS platform fares when it launches in emerging markets later this year, as well as the new Asha platform unveiled by Nokia last week. “Android and iOS accounted for more than the lion’s share of smartphones in the first quarter, but a closer examination of the other platforms reveals turnaround and demand for alternatives,” Ramon Llamas, research manager with IDC’s Mobile Phone team said. “Windows Phone has benefited from Nokia’s participation, and BlackBerry’s new BB10 devices have already hit a million units shipped in its first quarter of availability.” Google continues to put distance between Android and iOS due to its plethora of hardware partners. Unless Apple launches a rather special smartphone later this year, it’s difficult to see how that state of affairs can change. Image Credit: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
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Back in January, we brought you news on Pixoto, an online stock image library that’s striving to stand out from the slew of incumbents already operating in the crowded space. Finding the right stock snaps can be a tricky and time-consuming affair. To help users find the best imagery, however, Pixoto uses a proprietary community-based ranking system called ‘ImageDuel’ to hep surface the most relevant photos. As the name suggests, it’s essentially a Facemash-style system, whereby users select their favorite from two randomly-chosen photos, though admittedly it works best when there’s a lot of users contributing. When you first sign up (Twitter or Facebook is mandatory), you get 100 credits, 10 of which you ‘spend’ each time you upload an image from your computer, Facebook, Instagram or cloud-based service such as Flickr, Picasa or Dropbox. Now, to ensure uploaders also vote, they can only earn more credits by voting for other submissions. The result, in theory at least, is that the best images rise to the top of search results thanks to an active community. To date, more than one million photos have been ranked by Pixoto users, and the company is now announcing a new stock photo subscription service that lets members download high-res images starting from $0.33 each. The price of Pixoto The new three-tiered subscription offering will set you back $19/month for 5 downloads ($3.80 each); $49/month for 100 downloads ($0.49 each); or $99/month for 300 downloads ($0.33 each). “Over the past few months, our library of available images has grown four-fold, and we are getting more than 50,000 new stock images per week,” explains Jason B. Kiefer, Pixoto founder CEO. “With our new memberships and expanded image offerings we believe we can provide the vast majority of a small business’ image needs for $49 a month.” Pixoto also recently launched the Pixoto Art Shop for canvas prints based on other users’ images, or they can also order canvas prints of their own snaps at wholesale prices. Pixoto is an interesting concept for sure, though given it integrates with the likes of Instagram, there is a danger that some of the images you search for will be below par. Indeed, while the resolution for each photo is displayed on the site, there’s currently no filter to stipulate a minimum quality, which seems like a massive omission, especially given the target user-base won’t be looking for a smartphone screensaver. Kiefer, however, says that as things stand, around three-quarters of all the images on the site are more than 4 megapixels, and plans are in place to introduce the aforementioned filter shortly. ➤ Pixoto
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French video streaming giant Dailymotion today announced that it will collaborate with Joshfire, the app creation service, to bring video app-creation capabilities to Dailymotion users in based in the US. The Dailymotion website in the US will now feature a special Joshfire Factory dashboard. The dashboard contains simple, everyman-friendly tools that enable developers and ordinary fans alike to design mobile apps with streaming and social sharing functionality for Android, iOS, Connected TVs, or mobile browsers. By allowing content creators to easily make specialized, branded apps featuring their videos on the platform, Dailymotion and Joshfire can help artists and brands reach their fans at any given time and place. This would in theory be an additional incentive for brands to embrace to the platform and post content on it. Dailymotion and Joshfire first introduced this service to the European market in autumn of last year at TedxParis, but today marks the first day of its operations in North America. The video below, originally published upon its European launch, shows the service in action. Dailymotion & Joshfire by joshfire_factory The first American company to make use of the new functionality is Luaka Bop, a world music record label which used Dailymotion’s Joshfire dashboard to make an app featuring its full video library from Dailymotion, in addition to tour dates and social feeds. The move marks another initiative by Dailymotion to beef up its ecosystem as it competes with the beast that is YouTube. Last year saw a major revamp of its iOS app, and last February, the company announced a partnership with OpenVoD enabling the sale and purchase of content. Earlier this year, Dailymotion attracted attention in the tech community when it was reported that it was in talks with Yahoo over a potential acquisition by the latter. That deal might have led Dailymotion to grow in the US, however, it was struck down by the French government not long after its rumors surfaced. As of January 2013, Dailymotion attracts over 116 million unique monthly visitors and 2.5 million video views worldwide. While it continues to trail YouTube in popularity (which receives over 1 billion unique visitors each month), the site has made a concerted effort to present itself as a cleaner alternative to its competitor, which, for better or for worse, can feel quite chaotic.  Image Credit: ERIC PIERMONT/AFP/Getty Images
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The day after Google previewed an all-new Google Maps for iOS and Android (as well as a desktop incarnation), Skobbler has finally brought its popular iOS GPS navigation app to Android. Founded in 2008, Berlin-based Skobbler produces a number of map-based products for iOS, Android, Nook and Kindle Fire. The startup taps OpenStreetMap – the user-generated, collaborative project that’s striving to produce editable maps of the world – for its location apps, which include ForeverMap 2 (cross-platform) and Navigation 2, which thus far has been iOS-only. The main difference between ForeverMap 2 and Navigation 2 is that the former doesn’t have turn-by-turn directions – it’s more about maps and points-of-interest. For true navigation, its eponymous iOS app was where Skobbler directed you. Now this is available for Android, we thought we’d see what it’s all about. Skobbler’s GPS Navigation & Maps for Android As with the iOS version, GPS Navigation & Maps for Android delivers global mapping offline functionality, including turn-by-turn navigation with voice-prompts. Costing $1 or your local currency equivalent, the app comes with one free offline country map to download. There is also a free trial version of the app which will give you access for 14 days. Also, existing users of ForeverMap 2 will receive a free upgrade to GPS Navigation & Maps. While Google Maps is pretty much indispensable where there’s a connection, it’s not so great sans Internet. Offline routing and turn-by-turn navigation is where Skobbler is coming from, and reckons it can “exploit the weaknesses” of established alternatives, which includes Google Maps and higher-priced GPS apps such as TomTom. Indeed, price aside, TomTom doesn’t offer a choice in terms of regions that can be used online and which offline.     Of course, with Skobbler, there is the obvious downside that you’re relying on user-generated maps which might not be quite as reliable. OpenStreetMap (OSM) is essentially a Wikipedia-inspired mapping system that taps users-generated GPS data, aerial photography and other sources, which is then made available under an Open Database License. Online, the app works exactly as you’d expect any navigation app to – you can search for points-of-interest, post-codes, addresses and everything in between. Turn your WiFi and 3G off, however, and the app uses GPS to give you a route and directions – the fact that it uses GPS means this is free. If truth be told, it didn’t always detect a GPS signal for me – but when it did, it seemed to work pretty well. This was in the UK, so I haven’t yet been able to test this out internationally.     You can peruse your installed maps, including countries and cities. A typical country will weigh-in at around 200Mb, give or take.     In US dollars, a city will cost $0.99, state $1.11, country $2.22, continent $4.44 or you can go for the whole world for a cool $7.77.     The app uses Skobbler’s proprietary NGx map engine, which it calls the “most powerful and versatile digital map engine in the world.” The potential for this app is significant – you have access to all maps while online, and access to downloaded maps, with navigation and routing, while offline. “Being the first and only company on the Android platform to offer full online and offline capability for both mapping and navigation, we hope both new users and our existing customers will be won over by the high performance and flexibility GPS Navigation & Maps offers,” says skobbler CTO Philipp Kandal. “We’re already working on future updates and have a few powerful additions lined up to improve the app’s functionality and flexibility even further in the coming months.” Given the price and offline capabilities, Skobbler’s latest Android launch is definitely worth your time (and money). But where there’s 3G, Google Maps is yet to be trumped by a long way. Both the full version and lite version are available to download from Google Play now. ➤ GPS Navigation & Maps | GPS Navigation & Maps [Lite] Feature Image Credit – Thinkstock
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Marqeta, a payments platform that rewards users with additional in-store credit for prepaying online, announced today that it has raised a $14 million Series B round of funding. Existing investors Greylock IL, an affiliate fund of Greylock Partners, and Granite Ventures led the round alongside new participant Commerce Ventures and a number of other unnamed angel and strategic investors. Marqeta runs the +M platform, which is essentially an online dashboard that combines all of the various loyalty and reward cards that people carry in their wallets. After setting up an account online, users upload their card details and then select the merchants that they use on a regular basis. Just like in a store, users can see all of the offers available and select only the ones that they’re interested in. A physical Marqeta card arrives in the mail – although there’s also an Android and iOS app – pre-loaded with all the offers that the user has taken out. Visit the store, hand over the card and walk away; the extra credit is then transferred to the Marqeta account. Marqeta is only available in the United States at the moment, although the company says it wants to use its latest funds to “aggressively expand its national footprint” and introduce new platform features. Developing the Facebook Card It already has a pretty formidable partnership to kickstart that renewed drive for both consumers and merchants; Facebook. The company also announced today that its +M payments platform is powering the Facebook Card unveiled back in January. Facebook launched a physical gift card scheme to boost its fledgling gifts service, which has waned in recent times. Interestingly, the card supported multiple account balances for different stores, which users could top-up or gift one another at any time. “Marqeta has worked hard to create and commercialize the first multi-account commerce and payments platform accessible via a single card,” Jason Gardner, CEO and Founder of Marqeta said. “We are very proud that Facebook has adopted our technology, and look forward to a lasting partnership with them.” The new system means that Facebook users can give their friends multiple gifts from different retailers on a single card. Once the transaction is completed, the friend is notified instantly and then receives the Facebook Card in the mail a few days later. Where Marqeta goes next The future success of the +M Platform relies on widespread support from retailers. Provided the company can encourage enough merchants to adopt the scheme, consumers should then follow, thereby increasing public awareness and the perceived value of the product. The company, headquartered in California, was founded in 2010 and raised a $5.57 million Series A funding round in June 2011. Marqeta only launched its branded prepaid loyalty program last year, however; it was trialed in San Francisco and “modeled after the successful Starbucks card program,” whereby users were given money to spend in store, rather than points and product rewards. Image Credit: ERNESTO BENAVIDES/AFP/Getty Images
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Google has established a brand new lab within NASA’s Ames Research Center to study how quantum computing might help solve some of the most challenging computer science problems and, ultimately, improve society (alongside Google products). In a blog post, scientist and Google’s Director of Engineering, Hartmut Neven, explains that the goal of the new lab – which is dubbed the ‘Quantum Artificial Intelligence Lab’ – is to study how quantum computing might advance machine learning in particular: Machine learning is all about building better models of the world to make more accurate predictions. If we want to cure diseases, we need better models of how they develop. If we want to create effective environmental policies, we need better models of what’s happening to our climate. And if we want to build a more useful search engine, we need to better understand spoken questions and what’s on the web so you get the best answer. And that of course is Google’s bread and butter, although the lab will serve a much broader purpose than simply looking for ways for the company to maintain or improve its bottom line. In fact, Google and the Universities Space Research Association (USRA ) will invite researchers from around the world to share time on a quantum computer from D-Wave Systems, which will be at the core of the new lab. According to the latter company, its 512-qubit quantum computer, the D-Wave Two, will be available to researchers during Q3 2013. Neven continues: We’ve already developed some quantum machine learning algorithms. One produces very compact, efficient recognizers — very useful when you’re short on power, as on a mobile device. Another can handle highly polluted training data, where a high percentage of the examples are mislabeled, as they often are in the real world. The lab, he adds, is meant to study whether some of the ideas Google or invited scientists have can move from theory to practice, and to come up with real solutions on quantum hardware: “We hope it helps researchers construct more efficient and more accurate models for everything from speech recognition, to web search, to protein folding. We actually think quantum machine learning may provide the most creative problem-solving process under the known laws of physics.” Related: Google CEO Larry Page speaks at I/O about competition and negativity in innovation Image credit: Danny Sullivan / Flickr
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It’s been a long time coming, but SEGA has finally released Sonic the Hedgehog on Android via the Google Play store. The original 2D platformer, which was released on the SEGA Genesis back in 1991, has been updated for Google’s mobile operating system with widescreen support and a smooth 60 fps frame rate. The original soundtrack has also been remastered this time around, and SEGA has been wise to include leaderboards and achievements in order to encourage competitive play. There’s also an all-new Time Attack mode, which should give veterans an added challenge when blitzing through the various brightly colored levels. The original Sonic the Hedgehog is widely regarded as a video game classic, and was released before SEGA injected the franchise with a plethora of woodland creatures. Fans will be pleased to hear that Tails and Knuckles have been added as playable characters, although you’ll need to unlock them first with Sonic. Sonic the Hedgehog is available on Android right now for $2.99 (USD)/£1.99/€2.69/$2.99 (AUD). The existing iOS app will also be updated in the near future to take advantage of the additional content. A fan of the blue blur? It’s time to take down Dr. Eggman (we still like to call him Dr. Robotnik) and collect those illustrious chaos emeralds one more time. (The app is yet to appear in the Google Play store, but we’ll update this article when it’s available.) Image Credit: Andrew Kelly/Getty Images
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A little over two weeks ago, word got out about Opera filing a rather nasty lawsuit against a former longtime employee and contractor, designer and musician Trond Werner Hansen. The Norwegian browser software company alleged that the man took certain trade secrets to rival Mozilla, and claimed a whopping 20 million Norwegian Krone (roughly $3.4 million) in damages. We’ve now learned that the lawsuit has been dropped and that the dispute between both parties has been settled. Both Hansen and Opera remain tight-lipped about the terms of the settlement, but it certainly seems everyone’s happy that there will no need for a court hearing this summer. “We’ve reached an agreement and both parties are satisfied with that”, said Nils Broström, VP of communications of Opera Software. Hansen, in turn, tells us: “This thing has been going on since late last summer, so I’m very happy I can now get back to looking forward”. Background Hansen worked with Opera from 1999 to 2006, and returned as a consultant from 2009 to 2010 at Opera’s request. He is credited as the driving force behind early browser innovations that first saw the light of day over at Opera Software, including tabbed browsing, speed dial, mouse gestures and integrated search. Opera initially sued Hansen for $3.4 million, alleging that he took some of their trade secrets to rival Mozilla, which develops the popular Firefox browser. As evidence, Opera pointed to a video that features Hansen speaking right after Firefox product design lead Alex Limi. In a blog post published two weeks ago, he wrote: “I strongly disagree with their position and I believe I have been wrongly accused, and that I can prove my case.” Well, that settles that, then. Our assumption is that Opera figured it wasn’t worth the bad PR and hassle of building a case against Hansen and dropped it without requiring their former employees to cough up any money, although both parties declined to comment on the specifics of the settlement agreement. Hansen was forced to return to Norway from the United States, where he was hoping to release and promote his first music album, and possibly open up an art gallery. Asked if he was returning stateside to pursue those plans now that all litigation against him has been dropped, he said: “Yeah, but not sure when yet … Summer is so beautiful here in Norway that it’s tempting to stay for a while :-)”
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Floorplanner, which offers an online 3D floor-planning platform to some 7 million users, has announced its acquisition of Mydeco3D (Mydeco). Mydeco offers a 3D room planner tool that adds depth to online property listings by enabling floorplans to be populated with virtual versions of real-world products and furnishings. Why does this matter? It’s because of what Floorplanner refers to as the “imagination gap”, or the inability for most people to visualize their furniture or belongings in a property for sale or rent, even after viewing pictures online or in person. Mydeco tries to bridge this gap for home buyers or potential renters, with software that shows the difference between how a property looks today and what it might look like after it has been purchased, furnished and decorated. Almost a million rooms are said to have been designed with Mydeco’s 3D tools to date. Jeroen Bekkers, founder and CEO Floorplanner, says: “A floorplan is a crucial component of any property listing. Our research shows over 50% of consumers spend more time viewing properties that have an interactive floorplan, making a sale or let much more likely. Floorplanner has always had a unique interactivity that helps people visualise properties more clearly. With the addition of Mydeco’s technology, we’ll be able to close the Imagination Gap of house-purchasers and home-makers by delivering room styling in an even more compelling way.” Financial terms of the acquisition were not disclosed. Image credit: Marcin Wichary / Flickr
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Support for SMS was one of the notable omissions from Google Hangouts, the cross-platform messaging service that launched at the Google I/O event yesterday, but it appears the absence may only temporary according to details within the Google Play store. Included within the list of permissions for Hangouts for Android are requests to read and send text messages (as Google+ user Kenny Strawn noticed). That Google is already asking for permission to do these things is an indication that support may be coming, since the app doesn’t appear to use a device’s text messages at this point. Here are the key permissions listed under ‘YOUR MESSAGES’: READ YOUR TEXT MESSAGES (SMS OR MMS) Allows the app to read SMS messages stored on your device or SIM card. This allows the app to read all SMS messages, regardless of content or confidentiality. SEND SMS MESSAGES Allows the app to send SMS messages. This may result in unexpected charges. Malicious apps may cost you money by sending messages without your confirmation. This is an important point as it is unclear as to whether Google has decided against supporting SMS, it is unable to do so or the feature is still being developed. Support for SMS would put Hangouts on a par with Apple’s iMessage service. iMessage allows users to send free messages to other iMessage users but switches to SMS when the recipient is not an iMessage user (or is offline). Though iMessage is not cross-platform like Hangouts — which is available for iOS, Android and on the Web via the Chrome browser — the SMS-in and -out features allow users to stay connected with anyone on any phone, operating platform and location. While it isn’t clear how Hangouts could support SMS, or whether it might be limited to mobile only, the ability to contact non-users from inside the app would be an important one that could be key to making the service usable on a regular basis. There an alternative suggestion that the service uses SMS for other reasons. The app does use SMS to verify a user’s phone number, but that doesn’t appear to require these permissions since users manually enter a PIN code that is sent to their device via SMS. It could, of course, also be for other verification methods. Google decline to provide comment on its plans for SMS in Hangouts, or what the permissions specifically cover. We’ll leave you to consider the significance of that, but the fact that the company hasn’t dismissed this out of hand could be taken as a sign that the permissions may cover future developments. Hap tip @ow
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Just hours after Google revealed its new Hangouts messaging service, Microsoft-owned Skype — one of the services that Hangouts will rival — updated its Mac desktop client with a number of new features. The update — Skype 6.4 for Mac — includes new infinite scrolling for conversations, an improved system for searching within chats and redesigned file transfers that lets users reaccept files that are being sent to them. The service now also makes it easier for users to add new contacts sent to them by friends, and has support for Simplified Chinese. Changes to the Skype Mac app are made all the more interesting by the fact that Hangouts does not have a native Mac application, instead using Google’s Chrome browser . That may prove to be an issue for some. Though Skype hasn’t made a massive overhaul to the Mac client, this update keeps things ticking over and serves as a reminder of its commitment to a native app. Google isn’t the only one encroaching on Skype territory of late. Video calling specialist Viber announced its first ever desktop apps for Mac and Windows this month, as it passed 200 million users. Line, the Japanese service with 150 million registered users, is another mobile-only service to come to desktops, and it supports Mac OS X, Windows and Windows 8. Skype hasn’t released its user numbers for some time. According to its most recent public figures, shared in 2010, the service has more than 660 million registered users. Bear in mind that stat is three years and doesn’t account for its active user base. Headline image via Mario Tama / Getty Images
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Omaha, Nebraska. Though you’d be forgiven for not knowing that there was a hotbed of technology and entrepreneurship happening in America’s heartland, when a conference as important as Big Omaha hits its fifth year, you can rest assured that the world that considers Nebraska to be nothing more than a flyover state has started to pay attention. For me, it was my third consecutive year attending the conference, and my second year of getting to dig deep into what’s happening in the Silicon Prairie. Though it’s taken me a few days to process things, it’s now time to tell the story. Three years ago, I found Omaha and the Silicon Prairie region in general faced a number of problems. A large geographic area was likely the most difficult one to overcome, but a lack of Super-Angel and lower-level VC interest was also causing issues with some companies. Things were starting to look up, but there were still huge challenges to overcome. If I may be so bold, I’ll quote myself: “Omaha is a lot like my home city of Nashville. It’s strong, independent and stubborn in these factors. Yet both Omaha and Nashville need to understand that relationships are necessary, and more so than just relationships within the confines of city limits.” In the past few years, a couple of organizations have made some big changes in Omaha. Nebraska Angels is an important catalyst to these changes, focusing on keeping the funnel of money pointed at local businesses. Omaha’s Chamber of Commerce has continued its push toward offering benefits to entrepreneurs who open companies within the city. But perhaps more important than any of these factors is a simple building, and what’s happening inside of it. The Mastercraft was a furniture factory, located in the Northern area of downtown Omaha. After sitting abandoned and dilapidated for a number of years, the building was purchased by Robert Grinnell, who had the idea to turn it into an office, meeting and events space with a common central corridor that ran the length of the three blocks that the building occupies. A few months into the process, it is now a buzzing hub of startup activity in the city, and plans to expand its use continue to be put in motion on a daily basis. The Mastercraft is the missing link inside of Omaha. Akin to what Des Moines, Iowa has done with Startup City Des Moines, The Mastercraft serves as a centralized location for the entrepreneurial ventures within Omaha. As anyone on The Valley, Boulder or any other technology hub will no doubt tell you, putting a group of entrepreneurs into the same physical space is important for the growth of the culture. I was fortunate enough to have the chance to meet with a couple of companies while I was in the area, and you’ll hear more about both of them in the coming days. But what’s important to note is that they’re doing things that are far-reaching for Omaha, which traditionally finds its startup companies in financial services. While one of the companies, PaySAFE, is securing high-dollar transactions via escrow services on demand, another is providing a safe haven for kids and their grandparents to have online communication. Blogglebeans is a much more refined, ready-for-the-world product than you might think that you’ll find coming out of a small office in Omaha, Nebraska. Bootstrapped, of a sort, it was founded by Betsy Perez and Sara Hanlon to scratch their own itch when it came to the interactions of their children online. The two have secured a rather brilliant animator, and have designed a site that’s engaging, incredibly safe and readily monetized. But PaySAFE and Blogglebeans aren’t alone in their journey. I also had the chance to catch up with Megan Hunt, perhaps better known by her online moniker of Lasertron. She and her co-founder Sarah Lorsung Tvrdik are successfully reinventing the way that people buy clothes with their startup Hello Holiday. Hunt’s continued appreciation of her hometown gives a nod back to something that she’s been preaching for years — Omaha has given her every break that she needs in her career: Omaha’s startups are not without their challenges, but that’s true for any location. Though it’s safe to say that there are provisions being made in Nebraska that you’ll never see in The Valley or New York. The latest of these is a gigabit Internet connection that’s coming to the city via CenturyLink, a local Internet service provider.  Initially slated to service 48,000 residents, CenturyLink will research the viability of the product before rolling it out en masse. Omaha and the Silicon Prairie area wouldn’t be where it is today, however, if it weren’t for the efforts of many. Somewhat at the heart of this is the Silicon Prairie News team, the creators of the Big Omaha, Big Kansas City and Thinc Iowa conferences, as well as the Silicon Prairie News website. Spearheaded by local entrepreneurs Jeff Slobotski and Dusty Davidson, SPN has been determined to bring attention to the trials and successes of entrepreneurs in the fly-over states of Nebraska, Kansas and Iowa. I asked a question last year of filmmaker Sally Nelson Barrett last year — How do you make lightning strike four times? But the SPN crew has managed to do just that, and now the fifth year has somehow overshadowed every one before it. Sally’s work with Malone & Co. has documented the success of Big Omaha since the first speaker took the stage in 2009, and somehow the conference only seems to get better with age. The speakers this year were a bit older (and wiser?) than what we saw in 2012. Marc Ecko returned, after first speaking in 2012. Graphicly’s Micah Baldwin was there as well. Crowd favorite Ben Milne of Dwolla gave a frank discussion on life and 500 Startups’ Dave McClure…well…let’s just say that Dave probably learned more from Big Omaha than anyone else this year. In all, the lineup was dynamic, inspirational and most importantly, incredibly real. There is a pulse that beats in the Silicon Prairie, and those who come to Big Omaha (or any of the other SPN conferences) seem to leave forever changed. I say this without any bit of hyperbole — Big Omaha is a life-altering experience. Watching the faces of my friends who attended for the first time this year, it was made evident once again that there’s something incredibly special about what happens during these few days in Nebraska. You see, Big Omaha isn’t the conference that you attend when you want to start a company. Big Omaha is the conference that you attend when you want to get better at life. It’s stubborn. It’s driven. It’s inspiring and it’s challenging. Five years in, it’s still the most important conference you’ve never been to, and I hope for your sake that you’ll change that fact in 2014. Image credit: The Mastercraft — Silicon Prairie News
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Just when you thought Google couldn’t possibly have any more news to announce after its I/O keynote, the company has yet another update to share: Google Play Books has received a redesign on both iOS and Android, and now allows you to upload your own PDF or EPUB files for reading. With this update, the app features a new Read Now section, which offers quick access to “books you’ve recently purchased, uploaded or read, giving you access to what you want to read most.” In addition, the library, table of contents and recommendation pages have been refreshed. The ability to upload your own files brings Google Play Books in line with its iOS counterpart, iBooks — Apple’s app has long let users view PDFs inside its reading app. Finally, aside from the usual stability and performance fixes, Google has added a simple confirmation dialog which will help users avoid “accidentally un-downloading a book.” Check out the updated app via the link below! ➤ Google Play Books: iOS | Android 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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Google on Wednesday announced the addition of a new Gmail feature called quick actions. These new buttons will be rolling out “over the next few weeks,” so don’t fret if you don’t see them yet. So, what exactly do quick action buttons let you do? Say you receive an email and all you want to do is RSVP to it. You don’t even want to open it; you just want to let the sender know if you’re going or not, without reading the email and without typing anything. Quick action buttons let you do just that: Another example Google offers is flight confirmation emails. When you open a flight confirmation email in Gmail, all the important information about your flight will be displayed right at the top. You can quickly see whether your flight is on time, when your connection is, and so on (sans scrolling). Also notice the check-in button; that’s the quick action in this case: As you can see, these buttons appear next to messages in your inbox and let you take action on an email without ever having to read it. Yet this is just the end result, how does one actually send such an email? Developers can add actions to emails, details for which are available at developers.google.com/gmail/schemas. Essentially, there are currently two types of actions: In-App Actions: These are handled inside Gmail, without sending the user to any other website. Currently these include one-click, reviews, and RSVP. Go-To: These are for more complex interactions, when you need to provide a direct link to the page where the action can be performed. They are rendered in an email as a button in the subject line that redirects the user to the page specified in the action definition. Google says it plans to add even more useful actions moving forward. We’ll keep you posted as we learn more. Top Image Credit: AFP/Getty Images
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Apple on Wednesday passed the 50 billion App Store download mark, according to the countdown marker on its site. As per tradition, the company is celebrating the milestone with multiple prizes, including a $10,000 gift card awarded to the customer who downloaded the 50 billionth and 50 more $500 gift cards to the next few individuals. Apple last reported that it had hit 40 billion downloads in January of this year. That means the company saw some 10 billion downloads in just over four months, or about 78.1 million per day. At that rate, it will see 70 billion app downloads before the end of 2013, meaning it will have added 30 billion this year alone. Given that the number of downloads is accelerating, however, we wouldn’t be surprised if Apple held a second countdown, for the 75 billion mark, in time for the holiday season this year. Apple held a similar countdown in March 2012, when it hit 25 billion downloads. It’s fair to say that in 2014, Apple will be celebrating a 12-digit figure. Yet Apple may not be the first to get there. Google also today shared its own figures for Google Play app downloads, and the company is gaining on Apple’s App Store: 48 billion downloaded so far, at a rate of 2.5 billion app installs per month. Given that Google Play showed up on the scene long after the App Store, and assuming it is still growing faster than its main competitor, number one and number two will soon swap spots. In fact, it’s likely this will happen before 2014, and may even occur before the fall’s iPhone update. Top Image Credit: Phil Aaronson / Flickr
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Today following its yearly I/O developer keynote, Google has announced that Google TV is moving to Android Jelly Bean (version 4.2.2) and the latest version of Chrome (26). Google says existing Google TVs will “start to receive updates in the coming months.” For manufacturers, Google says it is “refactoring” it’s update cycle so “partners can update to future versions of Android in a matter of weeks rather than months.” This will clearly make the platform more attractive to developers — it needs all the help it can get. The same goes for Chrome, which will now be updated every six weeks on Google TV, just like it is on other platforms. Google TV has gone through a slow, curious evolution since launching in 2010 Google was quick to point out that developers will now be able to “build TV experiences using the latest Android APIs, including the NDK.” Additionally, Chrome for Google TV is receiving “support for hardware-based content protection, enabling developers to provide premium TV content in HD within their web apps. ” As for upcoming hardware, Google remained rather vague, and simply said “we expect to see new [Google TV] devices launched later this year.” Google TV has gone through a curious evolution since launching back in October 2010, but throughout this time, the general mission of bringing Web-based entertainment (like Netflix, YouTube) and Google search technology to your television has remained unchanged. Logitech’s Revue was the first Google TV device announced, but the launch ended up being a complete and utter flop. In fact, Logitech even went as far as admitting that the Revue ”was a big mistake.” Nevertheless, new iterations of Google TV have since been released, the latest being the Asus Qube and Netgear’s NeoTV Prime — both announced earlier this year. Google arrived early to the connected TV game, along with companies like Boxee and Roku, but the space is now more competitive than ever: the Apple TV continues to sell extremely well, Microsoft’s next Xbox is said to offer more general entertainment features, Amazon is reportedly planing to release a set-top box for video streaming, and then there’s the Samsung Smart TV and the Smart TV Alliance, which includes LG, Toshiba and Panasonic. Right now, Google is surely hoping its third generation of devices fares better than its first, but this space is clearly only getting more crowded. What’s worse is that Google appears to be moving Google TV to hobby status, which won’t be very encouraging for curious developers or consumers. Image credit: Adam Berry/Stringer/Getty Images
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Google has completed its mammoth 3-hour I/O 2013 keynote, and many announcements were made. We’ve compiled a handy list so you can catch up and make sure you haven’t missed anything. Google announces 900 million Android activations, 48 billion apps downloaded there have been more than 900 million Android activations in total 48 billion apps have been downloaded on Android 2.5 billion apps are installed every month Google’s new App Translation service lets developers get pro localization services right in Console developers will now be able to request their apps to be translated directly in the Developer Console, making the process easier and faster Google announces beta testing and staged rollouts to help app developers pilot new features a new feature for developers will facilitate alpha testing within apps the feature allows developers to pick a percentage of users that will get an update, in order to alpha test it, before sending it out to the rest of the users Google announces Android Studio: An IDE built just for Android developers an integrated developer environment, set to replace Eclipse, has been announced. It will be called Android Studio. Google also announced cloud messaging will be integrated into the platform the aim behind Studio is to help developers be faster and more productive Cross-platform Google Play games services unveiled with cloud saving, achievements and multiplayer a new set of APIs have been released, targeted at game developers specifically the games platform will allow users to save their progress on the cloud, meaning they can leave and pick up from different devices leaderboards will be created, linked with users’ Google+ accounts and permitting friends to connect in particular circles Google Cloud Messaging now supports persistent connections, upstream messaging, and notification sync Google Play services will now have Cloud Messaging (GCM) integration persistent connections, upstream messaging and notification synchronisation are all additions that will be brought to the service Google revealed it is sending 200,000 push messages every second, or 17 billion messages a day Google reveals unlocked Samsung Galaxy S4 running stock Android, coming to Google Play for $649 on June 26 a version of the Samsung Galaxy S4 running the Nexus OS has been revealed the phone will be sold via Google Play from June 26 at $649 a piece New Google Play Music All Access subscription service at $9.99/mo with 30 day trial available in US today Google is launching a new music streaming service the service will cost you $9.99 per month, or $7.99 if you take a subscription by June 30. There is also a free 30-day trial period songs will be updated according to user tastes and preferences, and songs can be removed from playlists with a simple swipe motion Google Play for Education: Google goes after Apple’s K-12 stranglehold with cheap apps, tablets Google has announced a store aimed at, and curated for, young children the Google Play for Education will have apps sorted by age and genre Administrators of accounts will be able to push out apps to multiple devices in one go Google is giving a free Chromebook Pixel to all I/O attendees all attendees of this morning’s keynote were told they would be receiving a free Chromebook Pixel Google announces 41 new Google+ features including Pinterest-like card-based Stream Google+ is getting 41 new features affecting the Stream, Hangouts and Photos sections Stream is getting a new, multi-column design, which will be going live today, though if you do not like the new layout you will be able to go back to single-column view one of the new features will let you click on pictures to flip them over and reveal related pictures under the same hashtag. Users will be able to opt their pictures out of the feature Google+ Photos gets automatic photo combiner and Gif maker Auto Awesome Auto Awesome is a new feature that automatically combines pictures together in order to create new ones it will be able to create gifs by linking multiple images with each other it will also have an automatic panorama option, creating panoramic photos from pictures taken side by side Google launches Hangouts, a new unified, cross-platform messaging service for iOS, Android and Chrome Hangouts is a new messaging service that replaces the current multiple services Google offers it has launched today and is available as an app for iOS, Android and Chrome in Hangouts you can start one-on-one or group conversations. Google’s new Google+ photo features: 15GB full-size storage, Auto Highlight, Auto Enhance and more new features were announced for photos on Google+, notably that you will now get 15GB free storage for full-size pictures, as well as unlimited space for standard resolution images an Auto Highlight feature will automatically decide which of your pictures are the best and put them at the forefront Auto Enhance will automatically make your pictures the best they can be with some smart editing Google previews next version of Google Maps for iOS and Android, including an iPad app coming this summer over 1 million sites use Google Maps a new version of the app, to run on the iPad, was teased the new version will incorporate a new suggestion engine to help you find relevant places nearby it will also have life traffic incident reporting and re-routing features Google unveils new Google Maps for desktop with unified imagery, new interface, live 3D and more the desktop version of Google Maps is getting a new version, that includes an improved interface, imagery and services unification, and more a personalised experience this new version of maps will be tailored to individual users, using the same data Google Now employs images from Google Earth, Street View and special projects will all be available from one place WebGL is used to augment the new views and produce a more interactive and detailed imagery Google CEO Larry Page speaks at I/O about competition and negativity in innovation CEO Larry Page shared some personal stories up on stage, as well as his views on the importance of technology he also went on about the products are being created at Google, and the drawbacks of negativity
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Google on Wednesday announced it is expanding its live streaming service to more YouTube channels. If your channel has more than 1,000 subscribers, you can apply for the feature now. To check if you’re eligible, head to your Account Features page. If you see an “Enable” button, you can click it to sign up for YouTube Live. Google says those who do so will be able to live stream whatever they want to the world directly from their channel “in the following weeks.” Once you get it, here’s what YouTube Live lets you do: Real-time transcoding in the cloud, so you only need to send YouTube your highest quality stream. The site makes it instantly available in all resolutions and device formats. Show multiple camera angles, add closed captions, plus insert ads and slates. Viewers can watch the live stream from any device, get the best quality constantly adjusting to their Internet connection, and can skip back and forth in the live stream. Naturally, you can also track statistics for your viewers: Previously, YouTube Live was only available to a small number of individuals and YouTube partners whom Google deemed worthy to test it out. Now that the video site is opening the feature up to more users, its ability (and stability) will be truly be put to the test. Many see live streaming as the next step in the video consumption world. On-demand content is not going anywhere (and streamed videos will be recorded for later viewing) but it’s simply not as exciting as watching content as it happens live. The world’s biggest video platform is getting in on the game, letting users both announce live streams in advance as well as push live video feeds to the world on a whim. In the months to come, YouTube will change, and it won’t quite be the same ever again. See also – New features hit YouTube Live, with real-time analytics & free Wirecast software and Google gives US Congress members ‘enhanced features’ on YouTube, including the ability to live stream video Top Image Credit: Eric Piermont/Getty Images
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Today two interesting, if not defining financial milestones were achieved by technology giants Google and Apple. Apple fell under the $400 billion dollar mark in normal trading hours, and Google passed the $300 billion notch [Data: Google Finance]. The two shifts over big-number-moments comes during the day in which Google held its I/O event keynote, that covered a great many of its product categories. The markets sent Google up, and Apple down. Other market cohorts such as Microsoft had moderate days, with that firm rising 0.8% in normal trading. Apple, once by far the most valuable technology company, has fallen sharply from former highs. Its 52 week high is $705. The stock current trades at $424. That decline came over the course of the last nine months. Though the two firm’s valuations are narrowing, that doesn’t meant that Google’s earnings are set to overtake Apple’s. Apple trades at a valuation that is roughly a third higher of Google’s, and its PE ratio is just 37% as large. So, for every dollar of profit, Google is valued more richly; this indicates that the market expects Google to grow more quickly. After a record string of quarters that became year’s, Apple’s revenue for the most recent quarter declined on a year-over-year basis. The slowing growth of the firm has knocked nine-figures off of its valuation. Google had a good day today, not just in the market, but also at its own developer conference. Applause was strong throughout, and the demonstrated tech was impressive.
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Streaming live on The Next Web, greeNEWit founder Jason Jannati will answer questions from readers at 3 p.m. ET (12 p.m. PT) Thursday, May 16th. As part of the Young Entrepreneur Council’s #StartupLab initiative, a virtual mentorship program, Jason will appear live via video chat broadcast on this site. Jason Jannati is a devoted brand strategist and leader in energy efficiency. As a founding member of the Howard County Business Council, he plays a key role in fostering the development of important relationships within the energy efficiency industry. As co-founder and chief communication officer of greeNEWit, Jannati is responsible for defining the high-level strategic direction of marketing and affiliate partner initiatives. He has helped greeNEWit reach revenue goals by communicating concept-to-reality ideas that bring brand awareness and sales to new heights. Recognized as the 2012 Maryland Green Entrepreneur of the Year, Jannati is devoted to developing social programs that have an environmental focus. Some of his endeavors include co-creating the first solar powered music festival in 2008 and co-starting the OUR Schools Program and Agents of Change division within greeNEWit. #StartupLab is a free virtual mentorship program created by The Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC), an invite-only organization comprised of hundreds of America’s most successful young entrepreneurs. #StartupLab takes YEC’s mission to help more people start successful businesses to the next level by offering millions of entrepreneurs direct access to YEC members through interactive video chats, email lessons and a library of how-to articles, videos and eBooks. Whether you’re just starting up, a current business owner, or you run an organization that supports entrepreneurs, sign up for #StartupLab today for real-world advice from some of the coolest entrepreneurs on the planet. Check The Next Web tomorrow afternoon at 3 p.m. ET (12 p.m. PT), when Jason will answer questions from the audience live via video chat. Photo courtesy of Jason Jannati.
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At its I/O 2013 conference, Google announced two important features regarding Google Wallet. The first is integration with Gmail so you can pay by sending an email. The second is the launch of the Google Wallet Instant Buy Android API, which lets developers integrate payment features into apps for selling physical goods and services. The former means you can now quickly send money to whoever you want directly from Gmail. Recipients don’t need to have a Gmail address: any email will do. Google lets you send money for free as long as your bank account is linked to Google Wallet or using your Google Wallet Balance. There are “low fees,” however if you are sending money using your linked credit or debit card. Here’s how it works: More to follow.
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