News & Analysis
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RelayRides suspends New York service after cease and desist
New York State’s Department of Financial Services today ordered car-sharing company RelayRides to suspend service in New York state, issuing a cease and desist letter to the company, alleging “repeated false advertising and violation of insurance law” and “putting the public at risk.” The agency also issued a consumer alert, warning New Yorkers that the insurance that RelayRides offers is... -
The future of search: Answer, converse, anticipate
Answer. Converse. Anticipate. Those are the verbs that Google believes will lead to “the end of search as we know it.” Google doesn’t want search to be restricted to a sparse landing page and a specific query. It wants search to become something as ubiquitous as oxygen and as powerful as devices that previously existed only in science fiction.... -
US authorities launch their first attack on bitcoin
Yesterday the Department of Homeland Security served the Dwolla mobile payment service with a court order requiring it to immediately cease all account activities with the Mt. Gox bitcoin exchange. Today it appears that Mt. Gox, based in Japan, has been cut off from Internet. If you try to get to http://mtgox.com you get a “502 Bad Gateway”... -
Google is keeping iCloud’s promises
Apple was incredibly proud of iCloud when it was first announced. The service, which promises to keep users’ documents, photos, and other data in sync across devices, was described by Apple’s executives as “magical” more than once during its unveiling. Finally there was a synchronization service that would, according to Apple, “just work.” But that was 2011 and... -
For startups with university roots, an exit is priority number one
If you’re a startup worried about surviving the Series A crunch, my colleague Erin Griffith has said maybe you should bark up Yahoo’s tree. Tony Stanco, executive director of NCET2, also suggests exits for certain companies. But his rationale is a little different. I met Stanco at the National Venture Capital Association’s Venture Scape conference today. NCET2, or the National... -
Give me that old bitcoin religion
No one person is in control of bitcoin. No central banker, no governing or regulatory bodies, and there is no mechanism to suddenly manipulate money supply. That’s the point, of course. Satoshi Nakamoto, its pseudonymous creator whose image is represented in the artwork above, called it a peer-to-peer electronic cash system designed “to allow online payments to be sent... -
Chartbeat crosses the Chinese wall with ad sales tools, focusing on quality over clicks
In general, digital advertising focuses on the size of a media property’s audience, not the quality of engagement the site gets from that audience. Chartbeat, having sold engagement monitoring tools to publishers for four years now, is today bringing that engagement tracking to the ad sales side. “The idea is that editorial teams can move away from chasing... -
IPO candidate Plex Systems grabs Eloqua CMO Heidi Melin to grow its cloud ERP platform
It’s been an eventful last 12 months for cloud ERP (enterprise resource planning) company Plex Systems, with the company completing a private equity buyout, closing a $30 million growth stage venture round from Accel Partners (a PandoDaily investor), and the introduction of a new CEO – in that order. Each of the moves was highly strategic,... -
Vessel launches its “command center” to help mobile developers kill faulty software
Software breaks all the time. Applications are huge, sprawling lines of code that will almost definitely cause problems for users, whether that manifests as broken text, incessant error messages, or some arcane problem that defies explanation. Vessel, a Hattery-backed service launching in beta today at the Google I/O Developer Sandbox, intends to make it easier for... -
Ticketfly adds Fanbase customer analytics platform to help venue owners pack events
Ticketfly has built a reputation for itself as an ally to small- and medium-sized venue owners by offering technology tools that go well beyond ticket sales. The three-year-old startup leveraged the popularity of its social marketing and publishing tools to grow its client base by 128 percent in 2012 to 822 event promoters and venues, across 44 US states.... -
With Thirst’s Droplet, the vision for news on Google Glass becomes a little clearer
One of the big questions about Google Glass is how it will affect the way we consume information (if, that is, it gains popularity and acceptance in mainstream culture). In particular, many people are interested in how Glass will affect news consumption. We’ve already seen how the New York Times works on the new medium, and Mashable has just launched…
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What to watch as the bitcoin drama develops
We all knew this was coming. Bitcoin is disruptive in the most raw sense of the word. Not the “hey, it’s another photo sharing app!” form of disruptive, or even the libertarians wanting new ways to get from point a to point b without saying the word “taxi” kind of disruptive. The biggest bitcoin bulls say it has the potential... -
Study shows that Lumosity brain games can rehab your brain
Did you know that playing video games is not only good for you, but that they can make you a better person? No, this is not a plug for Steven Johnson’s 2005 book “Everything Bad is Good For You,” although if you haven’t read it, you should. There’s ample evidence showing that playing video games can improve your decision-making, vision, hand-eye... -
The best photos from last week’s PandoMonthly with Brian Lee
There are still tickets left to Thursday’s PandoMonthly event in New York with Andresseen Horowitz investor Chris Dixon, presented by Gravity! But unless you’ve been to one of our events before, you might be thinking: What’s so special about PandoMonthly? We’re glad you asked. You can start of course by browsing through our collection of
Dept. of Homeland Security freezes accounts between Dwolla and bitcoin exchange Mt. Gox
In the first governmental action against bitcoins, the Department of Homeland Security served the Dwolla mobile payment service with a court order requiring it to immediately cease all account activities with the Mt. Gox bitcoin exchange. Dwolla has complied with this order. The news was first reported by Betabeat citing an email that OkCupid co-founder Chris Coyne received from...
It always comes down to math
About a year ago, a 20-something rising star product guy at a hot startup turned to me and asked, “So are you a startup guy too?” As someone who has started several businesses but not in the Internet space, I answered, “I’m not really sure what that means to be a startup guy. I’ve been a brick and mortar entrepreneur...
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Scanadu asks Indiegogo users to test its tricorder
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No, USV did not get a 5000% return on Tumblr
Earlier today, Crain’s cited a PrivCo report stating that Union Square Ventures got a 5000% return on its Tumblr investment. It also said that employees #31 through #178 received $371,000 apiece. But in a comment on a Hacker News post, Union Square Ventures’ Fred Wilson calls the numbers “total garbage.” [Source: Hacker News via ShortFormBlog]
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Nutella will not shut down fan's "Nutella Day"
Earlier today, there were reports that Ferrero, the makers of the delicious chocolate hazelnut spread Nutella, sent a cease-and-desist order to one of its biggest fans because she had the audacity to throw a World Nutella Day event. The company, realizing it’s usually not a good idea to sue your biggest fans, has now worked out an arrangement where World Nutella Day can exist without threat of litigation. [Source: Techdirt]
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Video proof Snapchat doesn't delete photos
A YouTube user named Nick Keck uploaded a video of himself locating supposedly “deleted” Snapchat photos sent to him. Did he need sophisticated software or hacking skills? Nope, just an app called iFile and a smartphone. [Source: Nick Keck via Motherboard]
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Times makes developer take down Snow Fall replica
Developer and Scrollkit founder Cody Brown created a “replica” of Snow Fall along with a video to show other news organizations how making something like it perhaps isn’t as difficult as it looks. The New York Times wasn’t pleased, sending a cease-and-desist letter followed by (and this is the ridiculous part) a second letter asking that Brown remove the following phrase from his website: “The NYT spent hundreads of hours hand-coding ‘Snow Fall.; We made a replica in an hour.” [Source: Cody Brown]
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PopExpert raises $2 million for its video teaching marketplace
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The race to a "smart" television is over. Xbox won
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March for Innovation: What you need to know
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Former Yahoo exec joins the Tribune company
Shashi Seth, a former top product executive at Yahoo, has joined the Tribune Company as president of digital ventures. He will be based in Silicon Valley and report to CEO Peter Liguori. [Source: AllThingsD]
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Airbnb host fined $2,400
New York City officials originally asked Nigel Warren to pay $7,000 for violating a law that makes it illegal for New York residents to rent out their properties for less than 29 days. A judge dismissed building and zoning code violations, and so lowered the fine to $2,400. [Source: CNET]
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WedPics raises $1.1 million
The Raleigh, North Carolina-based social network specializes in photo sharing for wedding pictures. Participants in the funding round include former Redhat CEO Bob Young and Reverbnation co-founder Jed Carlson. [Source: The Next Web]
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The importance of grit, rules, and discipline
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CharityBuzz auctions chance to pitch to your favorite VC
Weeks after a massively successful auction for a cup of coffee with Tim Cook, Charity Buzz is now aiming right at the heart of Silicon Valley. Up for auction is the chance for people to pitch their favorite VC, with a VC all-stars lineup including like Tim Draper. [Source: VentureBeat]
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Amprius has developed a battery that lasts 25% longer
Venture-backed Amprius revealed today that it has developed a battery for smartphones and tablets that can hold a charge for 25% longer than any other battery out there. The company will be providing the new batteries to unnamed smartphone and tablet OEMs. [Source: GigaOm]
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In Oklahoma’s time of crisis, Sparkrelief is working to unify relief efforts
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Internet Archive nabs $1M donation
The Internet Archive is working on a project to collect and index all broadcasts since the beginning of television. To help with this, the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation have donated $1 million. [Source: paidContent]
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XBox 360 games are not compatible with XBox One
Today marks the reveal of Microsoft’s latest gaming console, the XBox One. At the unveiling, Microsoft disclosed that due to a different chip architecture the One won’t have native compatibility with XBox 360 games. [Source: CNET]
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Jamba Juice and PayPal unroll “order ahead” feature
PayPal and Jamba Juice are expanding their partnership with a new mobile feature. Now customers can place orders on their phones and pay with PayPal ahead of pickup. [Source: AllThingsD]
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France Telecom to invest 30 and 50 million euros in Dailymotion
France Telecom has disclosed its plans to invest up to 50 million euros in its video-sharing website Dailymotion. While rumors of Yahoo buying a stake in the company persist, France Tel claims “the door is not closed.” [Source: Reuters]
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Best Buy reports another quarterly loss
Best Buy has reported its quarterly earnings, showing another revenue loss. Online sales, however, have improved. [Source: AllThingsD]
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It's damn hard to build an enterprise company
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Intel taps former Apple and Palm executive for new devices unit
After news that Intel is spearheading a new devices unit, word has come that the unit will be led by Mike Bell. Bell, who’s been working at Intel’s mobile chip business, has also worked at both Apple and Palm. [Source: AllThingsD]
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“The U.S. court system is currently structured in such a way that it’s currently difficult to get the protections a technology company needs, because the cycle is very long.”
— Apple CEO Tim Cook, on the United States' intellectual property protection environment
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Sprint raises its Clearwire bid
Sprint has raised its bid for Clearwire 14% at the very last minute, in the hopes of getting the shareholders’ approval. After news of the upped bid, Clearwater decided to postpone the stockholder meeting until May 30. [Source: GigaOm]
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Change.org raises $15M in additional funding
Online petitioning platform Change.org has scored $15 million in new funding. This latest round was led by Omidyar Network. [Source: VentureBeat]
