AppGratis, a profitable distributor of free apps, has raised $13.5 million from Iris Capital and Orange Publicis Fund. The company has more then seven million users and makes more than $1 million a month with paid distribution deals. [Source: All Things D]
US officials say energy companies are believed to have fallen victim to cyberattack assaults by Iran-backed hackers. The hackers were unsuccessful in manipulating oil and gas pipelines, which is what officials suspect they were attempting to do, but one former official told the Wall Street Journal that they got “far enough to worry people.” [Source: Wall Street Journal]
Technology Review reports on a new molecule-sorting material that could lower gas prices and reduce the need for cancer-linked additives. During the refining process, gasoline molecules are sorted by size to achieve certain octane levels. But this new hydrocarbon-sorting material would remove many steps from the process thus making gas less costly to produce. [Source: Technology Review]
According to a memo obtained by Fox News, the Department of Homeland Security warns 3D-printed guns may be “impossible” to stop: “Significant advances in three-dimensional (3D) printing capabilities, availability of free digital 3D printer files for firearms components, and difficulty regulating file sharing may present public safety risks from unqualified gun seekers who obtain or manufacture 3D printed guns.” The memo closes with, ” [Source: Fox News via Venture Beat]
3D printing. It’s not just for guns. In fact it’s hardly for guns at all. Will 3D printing save more lives than it ends? That’s not a stretch to say. The latest milestone comes out of the University of Michigan, where a team built a tracheal splint that allows a child with a collapsed windpipe to breath again. [Source: New England Journal of Medicine via Gizmodo]
Tim Parsey, Yahoo’s SVP of user experience design, will step down for reasons unclear, sources told AllThingsD. He has been a part of many of the company’s major redesigns, including the homepage, Flickr and email. [Source: AllThingsD]
The streaming music service reported total revenue of $125 million, with $16 cents a share. Analysts had predicted revenue of $123.9. Total mobile revenue grew 97 percent year over year. [Source: Pandora]
The media giant tapped Demand Media’s Joanne Bradford and former Los Angeles Times CEO Jeffrey Johnson to help the flailing San Francisco Chronicle. Johnson will be the newspaper’s publisher, while Bradford will be the president. [Source: AllThingsD]
The company announced today that users can surface personal photos from Google+ plus accounts just by searching through the main Google search homepage. A user has to be logged in for it to work, and they can search through friends’ photos too. [Source: Google]
“We certainly have taken quite a bit of criticism over the years. But it is worth noting that for the first several years, the funding from Tesla was entirely private. In fact, I provided most of that initial funding.”
— Tesla CEO Elon Musk, on the company's repayment of its US loan
Intel has a lot riding on the upcoming release of its new chip line. To add to the excitement, the company released some details about its power consumption, including that it draws 50% less power than the current Core processor line members on “active” workloads. [Source: The Wall Street Journal]
SimpleRelevance, a company that gathers customer data to send more personalized mass emails, has raised $1 million. Funding was led by Hyde Park Angels and Hyde Park Venture Partners. [Source: VentureBeat]
Yahoo appears to be tinkering with a new search results page. For some users, when logged in and using Firefox, they are directed to a new results page that looks markedly different than the old one. [Source: Search Engine Land]
iOS music app maker Smule reportedly made $12.6 million in revenue in 2012. It is also supposedly on track to make $20 million this year. [Source: GigaOm]
Facebook today highlighted its developer platform, in celebration of the six year anniversary of being open to independent developers. The company threw around some numbers about third-party apps, such as: more than 500 million users use third-party apps through Facebook as well as those users sharing 1 billion stories a day. [Source: CNET]
San Francisco-based startup Lambda Labs is going to release a facial recognition API for Google Glass apps. The API will be available within a week, according to the company. [Source: TechCrunch]
Despite the videogame industry struggling recently with declining sales, GameStop today raised its full-year earnings forecast. This is based on a potential boost from new gaming consoles like the XBox One. [Source: Reuters]
You are your data: The scary future of the quantified self movement
The new Flickr: Biggr, Spectaculr, Wherevr
Yahoo didn’t buy Tumblr. They bought Tumblr’s market position
Google closes Checkout, pushing thousands of merchants into Braintree’s arms
Pass the pipe: Gawker’s “Crackstarter” is skeezy but potentially significant
Sorry, NYC, Tumblr selling to Yahoo was not the “win” we needed
On the outskirts of the Maker Faire
Why Yahoo’s track record with acquisitions isn’t relevant to Tumblr
Writers should be paid
Don’t confuse Google’s ubiquity for openness
NextGuide Web launches. Can it possibly be a discovery powerhouse?
Minbox: The way file-sharing should work
Former MySpace and NASA security exec raises $700k, launches Prevoty to defend websites against malicious user code
Yahoo buys Tumblr and Mayer “promises not to screw it up” like past deals
Forget armchair activism, new app Buycott helps people shop with a conscience
PopExpert raises $2 million for its video teaching marketplace
The race to a “smart” television is over. Xbox won
In biggest pan-industry push since SOPA, tech leaders get set for March for Innovation
The importance of grit, rules, and discipline
In Oklahoma’s time of crisis, Sparkrelief is working to unify relief efforts
Memo to this year’s YC class: It’s damn hard to build an enterprise company
What are the effects of RelayRides’ New York cease and desist?
Finally, a Lumia-like device unbound by Windows Phone
How a Valley veteran found happiness and opportunity building tech in Mexico
Yes, the Valley can be vacuous – but it’s more complicated than the New Yorker would have us believe
The case against Shinichi Mochizuki as bitcoin’s “dance away genius”
Swipely raises another $12m from tiny Rhode Island
Is influencer marketing over? Here’s another pivot, this time from Wahooly
ServiceMax’s SaaS platform could make training technicians and replacing software a thing of the past
Reid Hoffman and Joi Ito’s H2 comes out of stealth
Forty more tickets on sale for our John Doerr PandoMonthly! (And a new venue…)
Too small to fail: The partnership-driven nature of fintech startups
Jaron Lanier: Information doesn’t want to be free, and ads are screwed
Data, heart, virality, and leadership: Five tips for today’s entrepreneurial journey
YouTube network Fullscreen adds NBCUniversal and HBO veteran Tim Mohn as new SVP of Engineering
Totsy burns through $34 million, lays off its 83 employees, selling assets
Why people are ignoring Windows 8′s new interface and using the “traditional” desktop instead
Eat Club hits the road to feed hungry office workers
A new iOS game looks to kickstart neuroscience education
Bill Gross’ UberMedia launches UberAds, using social and location data to better target on mobile
Skyhigh Networks raises $20M to control unauthorized cloud programs used in the enterprise
“If you’re building specifically for mobile, you’re in the past”
Scanadu asks Indiegogo users to test its “tricorder,” but don’t call it a pre-order
John Doerr still sees a future in cleantech
John Doerr: Microsoft is “not going away”
HP versus the headwinds, part 17
Silicon Beach: The Selena Gomez of SoCal’s tech industry
Watch out USA, Canada’s coming: A Google Hangout on immigration reform
Skillz rides skill-based real money gaming to pass 1M downloads in its first two weeks
The bible belt’s “porn problem”: Religious cities watch as much porn as non-religious cities
Pixel Press turns your child-like doodles into videogames
Fandium raises $1.25 million for sports app that blends storytelling with betting
Has content discovery reached its logical end?
YC alum’s new service Loom aims to be photo management for the mobile world
Appboy expands to help Android developers avoid heartbreak
Zippy Picovico attempts to take on Animoto from the mountains of Nepal
JustFab acquires The Fab Shoes in search of European domination, approaches $250M revenue rate
Rallyverse, a platform that helps brands spread authentic content, releases API
Original “growth hacker” Sean Ellis’ Qualaroo hacks the marketing conversion funnel
Nextdoor: “We stopped everything we were doing and trained every engineer on mobile”
