venturebeat — The CEO of Path, a startup focused on sharing your life with just close contacts, has apologized after a hacker showed that Path’s iOS app uploaded extremely personal data to its servers without permission. The purpose of uploading that data was to be better connected with your friends and family in...
econsultancy — The press release announcing Four Season’s new site states that it was "thoughtfully designed...to deliver an immersive and effortless experience tailored to every user". But shouldn't that include disabled users? The Four Seasons site review focusing on web usability highlighted some important shortcomings in terms of the booking process and other areas, and briefly mentioned...
entrepreneur — Despite studies showing that meetings are a colossal waste of time, they remain common. Here's how to collaborate while cutting back on meetings.
venturebeat — Lance Tokuda was looking for an old high school friend, but instead he found his second big social networking startup. The co-founder of RockYou happened to find an old acquaintance from high school on Classmates.com, which has more than 60 million users. But when he was going to email her,...
venturebeat — A provision of the Cable Television Protection and Competition Act that requires cable companies to provide unencrypted basic tier cable could soon become obsolete, putting the life of young set-top box maker Boxee in jeopardy. A rule change, supported by the cable companies, is currently being considered by the Federal...
venturebeat — Nearly every company has a social presence these days, but personal recommendations are often a more powerful way to boost sales. If you’ve never heard about a company before, but your friend has, you’ll likely trust her opinion over that of a complete stranger. But keeping track of how much...
entrepreneur — Sure, it's a thrill to get in on the ground floor of a hot new concept. But it's risky to invest in an unproven business model. Here are questions to ask.
xconomy — Bruce V. Bigelow OncoSec Medical CEO Punit Dhillon tells me the startup he helped establish in San Diego last March is beginning mid-stage safety and efficacy trials of its proprietary technology for enhancing drug delivery in treatments of several types of skin cancer. The technology, which OncoSec acquired from Blue Bell, PA-based...
venturebeat — Rumors are circulating that enterprise-focused social network Yammer is raising a new mega funding round of over $50 million, which would push the startup’s valuation near $1 billion. Yammer provides companies with their own social network that allows employees to quickly communicate and update their activity throughout the day. A company’s...
entrepreneur — Macon Phillips, the White House's director of New Media, describes how the administration is using social media in unique ways -- and how your business can too.
37signals — Mister Default Here he is: our default profile picture. You may know him as “Generic Avatar”. He’s the picture you get when you create a new account and profile on Basecamp, Highrise, Backpack, and Campfire. Mr. Default is a standard guy. He’s found everywhere on the web (in variations): message boards,...
venturebeat — Those considering an Amazon Prime subscription might be better persuaded with Amazon announcing a deal today with Viacom to bring 2,000 new titles to the service, including popular shows from MTV and Comedy Central. Amazon Prime runs $79 a year and gives customers free two-day shipping on most products and access...
37signals — “If a customer asked you why, how would you answer?” This is a question I’ve been asking a lot lately. Why could be “why does it work this way?” or “why can’t I do that?” or some variation on that theme. I think your answer to those questions is a great...
venturebeat — When Fab.com won a Crunchie for best shopping app, no one was more surprised than the startup’s CEO, Jason Goldberg (pictured). “To be honest, I didn’t think we were going to win, mostly because Fab isn’t very much integrated into the whole tech scene… We’re definitely mainstream.” Being mainstream can be both...
37signals — It goes without saying that we use Rails a lot here at 37signals. Often times, when we look at a problem, we turn to Rails or something similar, because when you have a high-performance precision screwdriver, everything starts to look like a finely engineered screw. Sometimes, what you really need...
venturebeat — VoIP startup Vonage has launched new applications for iOS and Android phones that feature free app-to-app calling and international calling rates that run 30 percent less than rival Skype, the company announced today. Vonage has made itself known as the company you subscribe to for cheap unlimited calling for your home...
continuations — One of the great sacred cows of the movie business has been the theatrical release window. First a movie is only in theatrical release. Then there may be a period where it is only on DVD. And finally it may be everywhere including various online options. Over the years the...
venturebeat — To what extent has Electronic Arts’ Star Wars: The Old Republic (SWTOR) been keeping users away from Activision Blizzard’s cash cow World of Warcraft (WoW)? Surprisingly little, according to traffic reports from leading independent community websites for both online games. The high-risk, high-reward market of subscription-based massively multiplayer online role-playing games...
venturebeat — Rumor has it that this Chicago sculpture is filled with VC cash You don’t have to live in Palo Alto to become a software billionaire, though it can help. For decades, people with ideas, programming talent, and the ambition to make their fortune as entrepreneurs have been moving to Silicon Valley, just...
venturebeat — It seems Facebook has rolled out its new lightbox photo viewer to more people today, and some are saying it’s a ripoff of Google+. The new feature is similar to the theater view in that it takes the user into a pop-up carousel of photos. Facebook has now, however, moved the...
venturebeat — Adobe Creative Cloud, a forthcoming service that will let you license Adobe’s highly sought-after Creative Suite and give you a plethora of cloud-based extras, now has a price tag: $50 per month with a required one-year contract. Creative Cloud was introduced at the annual Adobe Max conference this past October with...
venturebeat — Is surprise-hit Pinterest covertly capitalizing on the product-sharing behaviors of its burgeoning user base? Evidence amassed by savvy observers suggests as much. Pinterest is the invite-only digital pin-board site where people, mostly arts and crafts enthusiasts between the ages of 25 and 44, “pin” products, recipes, and photos to themed boards....
venturebeat — Business social-media giant LinkedIn is acquiring Rapportive, a Gmail add-on that enhances contact information. Sources close to the negotiation disclosed the news and said that LinkedIn is paying over $10 million to buy the company, All Things D reported. The final purchase price is undisclosed, no deal has been finalized, and both companies...
venturebeat — Image from Flickr user Ian Lamont Apps are everywhere these days, with founders from Instagram and Shazam starring in Super Bowl commercials. According to a new study from the non-partisan group TechNet, apps have created 466,000 American jobs since they arrived with the modern day smartphone in 2007. Dig into the...
venturebeat — Nokia may have some hot new smartphone models coming this year, but it’s financial turmoil isn’t over. The Finnish phone giant said Wedneday morning that it plans to cut around 4,000 jobs. The company is reducing production at plants in Hungary, Mexico and Salo, Finland. The three plants mke smartphones now...