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PapayaMobile & Tapjoy Announce Partnership On New Social Marketplace For Mobile

Posted: 16 Nov 2011 05:00 AM PST

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Social gaming network PapayaMobile and the value exchange-based mobile ad network Tapjoy are today announcing a partnership that will combine the power of their two communities to help Android users better discover new mobile games. The jointly developed product will be called “Social Marketplace” and it will serve to recommend new games to mobile users based on their popularity among a user’s Papaya friends. In turn, developers will be able to better target consumers with more relevant ads, which means increased opportunity for engagement and monetization.

For background, Tapjoy rewards mobile users who install apps with virtual currency they can use within their favorite mobile games. The company’s Personal App Marketplace, which offers customized app recommendations based on user interests, came online earlier this month at www.tapjoy.com (that is, when accessed from a mobile browser).

The new Social Marketplace will be a dedicated product feature that’s visible within Tapjoy’s Marketplace. When Android users visit the Social Marketplace, they’ll be able to pick out the games being played by their Papaya friends and then download those apps so they can play, too.

This new feature isn’t live yet, but will arrive for developers by year-end, the companies say. It will be enabled only for those developers who integrate both the Papaya Social SDK and the Tapjoy SDK into their mobile applications. However, it should be noted that the Papaya Social SDK works to generate its recommendations based on anonymous user data in an effort to protect consumer privacy. In other words, it doesn’t necessarily show you who’s playing a given game, but it will show which games are currently “hot” on Papaya. (See this screenshot for a close-up example of how this will look).

Additional information and sign-up details will be made available on both companies’ websites: papayamobile.com and tapjoy.com.

Pulse Scores Key Spot On Kindle’s Home Shelf; Co-founder Says It May Pass 10M Users This Year

Posted: 16 Nov 2011 01:08 AM PST

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So the Kindle Fire shipped Monday, and the early reviews are out in full force. The reactions, as per usual, are varied. But, for what it’s worth, The Fire is already the best-selling item on Amazon, and many are now saying that the eCommerce giant could sell 5 million of its new devices by the end of the year. No, it’s not an iPad killer, but people are excited by the Kindle’s touch and Android-based evolution, and at $200 there’s no doubt Amazon is going to sell more than a few.

But what’s more interesting (at least to me) than the potential growth of Amazon’s market cap should the Kindle sell like hot cakes, or Apple looking over its shoulder, is how Kindle sales could be a huge victory for one of the little guys.

Pulse, as many are now familiar, is a suped up RSS-style newsfeed aggregator built for the tablet generation. Thanks to its touch-based interface (easy swiping/scrolling), clean design, and visual appeal, the app has gotten a lot of play on the iPad and on Honeycomb. The startup has also struck a number of strategic partnerships with big media outlets, like ESPN, and with deal sites like Groupon.

Now, Pulse’s prospects are even more bright, as the app has been chosen by Amazon as one of the few native, pre-installed apps to be featured on the Kindle Fire. When a Kindle user visits the device’s home shelf, there are four apps that appear to be native on the device: IMDB, Pulse, Facebook, and the Amazon Store. There are 15 more apps in the tab, ten of which are pre-installed and five of which are “suggested” apps, which users have to actively download. Most of the installed apps are things like Contacts, eMail, Audible, Gallery, Help, for example.

Considering Facebook’s Kindle app is actually just a web app that wasn’t even fully designed by Facebook (clicking on it just takes you to m.facebook.com), and Amazon owns IMDB, and, yes, the Amazon Store, that makes Pulse one of the few native apps on the Kindle Fire — and really the only non-Facebook/Amazon native app on the device.

In its blog post today, Pulse said that it is in fact “the only app to be pre-loaded on the device upon shipping”. Obviously, that’s not exactly true, and the post has since been amended to read “one of the only apps to be pre-loaded on the device upon shipping”, but the point remains.

It’s a somewhat surprising vote of confidence from Amazon, which has basically made Pulse the official news reader for its own device that is, by definition, a reader. Of course, the Kindle Fire has a whole lot of new functionality that takes it beyond the “reader” of old and into multimedia, but it’s still a Kindle.

More importantly, the device’s newsstand is front-and-center, but most of the content therein you’ll have to pay for to consume. This makes Pulse the de facto free option for news reading, and as long as the app’s user experience is strong enough to hold users’ attention, it’s going to get a lot of eyeballs.

Furthermore, when Pulse is juxtaposed with the other front-and-center apps (IMDB, Facebook) and the suggested apps to download (Pandora, Weather Channel, ESPN, to name a few) — one gets a further sense of why this is so huge for Pulse. IMDB rakes in 100 million unique visitors per month, Facebook has 800 million global users, Pandora has a market cap of over $2 billion, and ESPN is, well, ESPN.

Pulse, in comparison, was just debuting on the iPad in May of last year and has only raised about $10 million in outside funding. That’s on the higher side for a startup founded less than two years ago, but against the backdrop of the entire industry and Kindle’s home shelf heroes, that’s peanuts.

So, again, whether or not The Fire truly competes head-to-head with the iPad doesn’t really matter — even if the Kindle’s sales were to stop dead at 1 million, that’s still 1 million potential new Pulse users.

“We started the year with under 1 million users”, Pulse Co-founder Akshay Kothari told Bloomberg on Tuesday, “and we’ll probably end the year with over 10 million users”. In any other circumstances, that kind of statement would cause some serious eye-rolling or jaw dropping, but if the Kindle Fire takes off, that projection may even be modest. (Today, Pulse is at 7 million users.)

And put in perspective, Foursquare, which TechCrunch writes about seemingly every other day, just hit 10 million users in June (27 months after launch) and has raised over $70 million.

So, while the Kindle Fire stands to be a money-making machine for Amazon, it seems that for Pulse, it could be pure gold.

Geiger Fukushima: Radiation And Geiger Counter For The iPhone

Posted: 16 Nov 2011 01:00 AM PST

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Japan-based Sanwa has announced the so-called Geiger Fukushima [JP], a portable and light (70g) geiger counter that uses the iPhone to measure beta and gamma rays in your environment. Just connect the 14cm long probe to the iPhone, fire up an app that supports the device and view the handset’s display to track radiation readings.

There are many portable geiger counters out there, but the idea here is to make use of the iPhone’s capabilities to keep the price down: just the handset and the Geiger Fukushima are enough. The device can be ordered by people living outside Japan, too (it costs US$203 in the Japan Trend Shop).

Sanwa says the measuring range for the Geiger Fukushima stands at 0.04-20 microsieverts per hour and that one AAA battery lasts about 200 hours.

Daily Deal Aggregator Yipit Comes To iPhone

Posted: 15 Nov 2011 09:00 PM PST

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The daily deal aggregation service Yipit is launching its own iPhone application today, allowing users to track deals from over 800 sources, including Groupon, LivingSocial, Gilt City and others. In this new mobile format, the service becomes a lot more useful, and not just because it saves you the hassle of dealing what increasingly feels like deal spam email.

Beyond Yipit’s aggregation capabilities, the app’s standout feature is its ability to personalize offers. Never want to hear about mani-pedi’s or yoga classes ever again? Love to golf but hate bowling? Then you just might like this app.

The Yipit app offers a location-based deal map and list view in its “Near Me” section while the “My Deals” section features those deals you would be interested in buying. The app walks you through the personalization process upon first launch, letting you select your city (or cities) from a list, then letting you check or uncheck the deals categories you would like to see.

Optionally, Yipit can also alert you to new and trending deals via push notifications. It’s easy to turn this feature off and on via the toggle switch in the app’s settings. Although Yipit won’t bug you with the deal categories you opted out of, you can still browse all your area’s deals from the “All Deals” section, if you choose.

This relative newcomer to the deals space company raised $6 million in Series B funding this summer, and at the time it was only aggregating 335 deal sources. Now its up to over 800. Also, in less than two years, Yipit has aggregated over 1 million offers. The company says that 90.3% of deal shoppers will buy from deal sites this year, leading to a potential height of $80-100 million in purchases over the holidays. Now that Yipit’s on the iPhone, it’s definitely poised to get in on that action.

Urban Airship And 4tiitoo First Startups To Capitalize On Intel’s New $100M AppUp Fund

Posted: 15 Nov 2011 03:35 PM PST

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Well, it looks like Intel is really putting its money where its mouth is when it comes to mobile. Intel’s global investment and M&A branch, Intel Capital, today officially announced the creation of its new “AppUp” Fund — a $100 million fund that will be used to invest in startups and enterprises developing apps and software tools for mobile devices and PCs.

At the Intel Capital Global Summit in Huntington Beach today, Intel also revealed that Urban Airship and 4tiitoo were the first two companies to receive investment from the AppUpp fund.

As we wrote last week, Urban Airship recently closed a $15.1 million series C round of financing, close on the heels of its acquisition of SimpleGeo, which was once referred to as the "Amazon Web Services" for location-based products. According to Urban Airship, Intel invested in the company’s Series C raise out of its new AppUp Fund; however, it seems that the investor wanted more, as Urban Airship today announced that it has entered into a business collaboration agreement with Intel Software and Services Group as well.

Essentially, this means that Intel’s software and services group will be licensing Urban Airship’s software to embed into Intel offerings, allowing developers to create smart, context-rich apps that take advantage of the startup’s core services, namely: Push notifications, in-app purchasing, subscriptions — and now, thanks to SimpleGeo — geo-location.

For Urban Airship, this is yet another interesting strategic move, as its collaboration with Intel will give it access to the Ultrabook, netbook, and tablet markets through enabling app developers to integrate their services.

Of course, not to be forgotten is the second recipient of Intel’s new mobile fund, 4tiitoo, a German OSV and tablet developer. 4tiitoo’s own “WeTab OS” is an operating system that is optimized for tablets and mobile devices and supports apps from multiple platforms and technologies, including Linux, Java, HTML5, Adobe AIR, Flash, and Android.

As one might guess, Intel said today that its new AppUp Fund is designed to advance innovation (read: mobile technologies) based on Intel architecture, specifically in digital media consumption, context-aware computing, and infrastructure apps. The end goal here is to ramp up development and build out the ecosystems surrounding Intel’s push into Ultrabooks and netbooks.

And to that point, the new AppUp Fund is a complement to Intel’s recently announced $300 million “Ultrabook Fund”, by which the company showed that it is making a big bet that Ultrabooks, the hybrid between laptops and tablets, will be the future of mobile computing.



Eventbrite Makes Android Debut With “Easy Entry” Event Check-In App

Posted: 15 Nov 2011 11:10 AM PST

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Online ticketing service Eventbrite has had a busy year, what with raising $50 million in Series E funding and a potential IPO on the horizon. Now the company is entering some unfamiliar territory: it used to be that only iDevice owners could wirelessly check guests into conferences or big parties, but EventBrite has levelled that playing field today with the release of their new Easy Entry Android app.

The Android version of the Easy Entry app will seem very familiar for anyone who has used the iOS version before, but here’s a recap for everyone fortunate enough to have never worked at a check-in desk. Once the event is created in EventBrite, staff can log into the corresponding account and see a full list of attendees.

Eventbrite accounts are fine with giving multiple users access at any given time, so event coordinators can feel free to throw more manpower at the situation as long as they have enough hardware to go around.

The app allows users to check guests in with just a few taps, and also provides a running tally of people in attendance versus the number of tickets sold or given away. Want to streamline the process even more? Forget about touching and screen at all and fire up the app’s QR code reader — if guests have a printed ticket, all it takes to check them in is a quick pass over the barcode.

According to an Eventbrite rep, the app is used to handle more than 30,000 check-ins a week. If the Android-toting event coordinator in your life could use a helping hand, why not direct them toward the Android Market where Easy Entry can be had for free.

#OccupySocialMedia: GO Launches A Mobile App For Anonymous Photo & Video Sharing

Posted: 15 Nov 2011 10:47 AM PST

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GO is new mobile application for the iPhone that allows users to broadcast and share photos, videos and commentary with others and post them to a live streaming portal. The app offers real-time access to geo-located, tagged media presented in both a stream and map view.  But does the world need another mobile/social/photo-sharing experience? Well, maybe it does.

You see, there’s something different about GO that separates it from the rest: it supports complete anonymity. To be clear, it doesn’t just offer the option to use some clever Web handle instead of an authenticated user account – it actually offers the option to post as “anonymous.” #OccupySocialMedia? Oh yes.

In terms of the app’s design, you’re either going to love it or hate it. The app is damn pretty, maybe even a little too pretty, with its overly stylized look-and-feel that can sometimes get in the way of what could be a simpler user experience. I happen to think GO looks hot, but you may think otherwise. To each their own.

As for the functionality itself, it’s nothing earth-shattering: post, tag, share. However, when you tap the big pink sharing button, GO offers you the option to “snap” (post a photo), “shoot” (video) or “speak” (audio). It’s a trio of options for media input that your favorite take a picture/apply a filter photo-sharing app may not have.

What’s really interesting is GO’s anonymity option, though, which is a key part of the new mobile app’s experience. When the majority of today’s apps are bending over backwards to offer you sign-in options that let you speed up the authentication process via Facebook or Twitter, with GO, self-identification is an option, not a requirement. And while that may lead to users who are probably not “MarkZuckerberg” (yep, he joined), it doesn’t really matter. GO isn’t about boosting your ego via likes and shares, “connecting with friends,” or sharing pictures with your family – it’s about instant mobile broadcasting. It’s about documenting the world without having to disclose that you did so.

Despite it’s relatively soft launch (GO went live 11-11-11 without much fanfare), there are already some interesting videos surfacing from the OccupyWallSt movement for whom GO seems custom-built. Of course, GO isn’t the first tool to serve the needs of the this crowd. Apps like the Twitter-esque Vibe have also served the Occupy protesters well in the past. But Vibe is ugly and is mainly used for text. GO does more.

Despite its differentiating features, GO will still suffer from the same disadvantage that any newcomer to the photo/video-sharing space does at first: critical mass. However, assuming the need for tools to anonymously document the world don’t die with today’s OccupyWallSt shut-downs, there may be a future for GO yet.

GO is the first product from Hollr (not to be confused with Holler), which was founded by Michael Bachman and Justin Dionisio. The two were previously the directors at KURO, a boutique interactive agency based in Long Beach. Hollr has some seed stage investment from Imprint Venture Lab, but won’t disclose the amount.

Video: What Is 4G? Ex-TC’er Doug Aamoth Explains It Better Than Anyone Else Could

Posted: 15 Nov 2011 10:22 AM PST

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I get asked the same set of questions at least a couple of times each week: What is 4G, anyway? Does “4G” mean the same thing across all of the carriers?

I’ve been meaning to do a quick and humorous video explaining the whole mess, but just kept putting it off. I now realize why: unbeknownst to me, my brain was waiting for TechCrunch-alum Doug Aamoth to do it. The time has come, brain — the time… has… come.

For those who may be a bit too new around these parts to remember TechCrunch in the days of yore, Doug wrote for us at our (since absorbed) sister-site CrunchGear. He was called away to another site by the siren song of trivial stuff like money and health insurance shortly before the AOL mothership arrived and started offering those things to us. For more good times, check out Doug’s classic Penguin Soda Machine review here. Miss you, buddy.

The Acoustic Ruler iPhone App Is More Useful Than The Sonic Screwdriver

Posted: 15 Nov 2011 10:10 AM PST

iPhone hacks are pretty cool and this is one of the cooler of the cool ones. It’s an app that sends out an acoustic wave in order to measure the distance between two phones or between the phone and a microphone. While it’s not completely accurate, it’s still pretty fun.

To measure anything you need two iPhones or a wired mic. On one end, the iPhone or iPad emits a sound and on the other end there is a sensor to tell when the sound has been emitted. Presumably you could use your included headphones and I suspect a Bluetooth headset would inject some error, so you’re kind of constrained in terms of actual measurements.

It’s out now and it’s available now right here. You’re obviously not going to want to measure your fault-intolerant items with this system but it’s a cute trick and works in a pinch.

OnSwipe Competitor Pressly Launches, Aims For 1 Billion Flips Per Month

Posted: 15 Nov 2011 08:26 AM PST

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OnSwipe competitor and TechCrunch Disrupt finalist Pressly is launching today with its first major publisher, Canada’s largest newspaper The Toronto Star. Like OnSwipe or even iPad mag Flipboard, Pressly’s service is designed to give traditional Web content a makeover by making it more tablet-friendly. But in Pressly’s case, it’s not about re-packaging content as a native app – instead, it uses a combination of  HTML5 and customizable templates to allow publishers more control over the tablet browsing experience.

At first glance, Pressly, the first real alternative to OnSwipe, looks a lot like its competition. Both services let publishers make their content more digestible for tablet reading. However, according to Pressly CTO Peter Kieltyka, the key difference between the two is what’s under the hood. “OnSwipe started as a way to optimize a WordPress blog,” he says. “But Pressly is more of an engine…it’s like Sencha for tablets.” What he means is that Pressly was built from the get-go to be a framework for building next-generation HTML5 websites, as opposed to a tool where you pump in an RSS feed and it spits out a tablet-optimized site. (Although that’s coming, too – Pressly is launching its own self-serve platform in Q1 2012 that will do exactly that.)

At launch, there are currently five templates available to get publishers started with Pressly, but really, anything goes. Publishers who want to maintain their brand can create their own templates, explains Kieltyka, “there’s no limitation over what you see on a page.” In other words, if you can imagine it, Pressly can help you build it. Meanwhile, OnSwipe sites tend to look a little more uniform. (Kieltyka says they look exactly the same. Ooh, burn – let the battles begin!) 

“It’s like the difference between a BlackBerry and an iPhone,” Kieltyka says. Yes, they’re both smartphones, they run apps, they let you browse the Web, etc. “But at the end of the day, it comes down to execution.”

Pressly is also now offering something else that makes it different from OnSwipe – a consumption model for monetization. Before, like OnSwipe, Pressly would take a cut of the ad revenue. Now, publishers have a choice between that and something like $1 per every 1,000 swipes. This figure is not yet in stone, it should be noted.

As for its launch on The Toronto Star, things are going fairly well. Since its debut at 6:30 PM EST last night, Pressly has seen 180,000 flips at an average of 22.6 flips per person. The company says its goal is to reach 1 billion flips per month over the next twelve months. It may get there, too, thanks to a couple of other publisher partners whose launches are just ahead: The Economist Media Group is debuting a Pressly-built site in a couple of weeks and soon after a news-focused NBC property will follow.

Tablet readers who want to see Pressly in action from their iPad or Android tablet can do so now by visiting read.thestar.com.

Surprise: HP Is Squeezing Every Possible Penny From The Canceled TouchPad

Posted: 15 Nov 2011 07:12 AM PST

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The $99 TouchPad fire sale was the best way to close the book on webOS and the TouchPad itself. It got the TouchPad into the hands of the fans. Only those that cared about the product lined up outside of Best Buy to grab one of the cheap notebooks. It’s also probably safe to say that most of these people do not have any interest in HP’s crapware notebooks. These people just wanted a solid tablet for a great price.

HP, you should have taken your win and walked home. But you didn’t. You’ve screwed up. Again.

The TouchPad’s story is a sad one. A product born out of Palm’s inspiring vision for the future of mobile and HP’s expertise at killing innovation. Despite featuring a solid operating system, the product landed with a thud and only webOS die-hards opted for the $499 TouchPad. HP announced just 7 weeks after it launched that it was killing all webOS hardware development and would clear out the remaining supply for just $99, which sold out nearly overnight.

The story all along was that another batch of TouchPads was coming. Retailers and even the HP website had sign-up pages to notify potential buyers of available TouchPads. But here we are, a couple months later, and the $99 TouchPad hasn’t resurfaced.

However, the TouchPad has randomly popped up at different retailers, but there is often a major caveat. Best Buy got a round of 32GB $150 TouchPads late last month but they were only available for purchase with an HP notebook. Then Tiger Direct (and sister site, Circuit City) started selling the TouchPads but only with an expensive accessory pack, bringing the price up to $279. Then, just today, Office Depot’s Black Friday ad leaked showing a TouchPad deal similar to that found at Best Buy; buy any HP PC and get a 32GB TouchPad for $150.

You just know somewhere deep in the corporate machine that is HP, an overpaid executive and his team of cronies thought up this scheme. “People want the TouchPad, right? Alright, then let’s make a quick buck off these people. If they want one, we’re going to force people to buy one of our cheap, adware-filled notebooks. Oh, and we’ll pull support for the TouchPad or, maybe, half-heartedly support it for the stragglers.”

This isn’t about capitalism or free trade. HP had a chance to make some friends and earn some good will. The TouchPad is clearly not worth anything to HP. The first fire sale demonstrated that. Now they’re using it as a bait, waving it in front of potential buyers, just hoping to trick someone into buying one of their crappy notebooks. HP has every right to make a buck but sometimes it’s worth foregoing a tiny bit of additional revenue to earn some respect. After years of self-destructive behavior, HP needs respect more than anything else.

Better Late Than Never: Wine.com Gets A Mobile Website

Posted: 15 Nov 2011 07:03 AM PST

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Today, the online retailer for wine enthusiasts (with the killer domain name) Wine.com is finally launching a mobile site at m.wine.com. Like its desktop-sized counterpart, the new site allows customers full access to Wine.com’s inventory of wine, gifts and accessories, site search with filtering, product details, account management, and of course, the ability to make purchases from your mobile device.

The mobile site is also able to identify your location automatically so it knows which wines are available for shipping to your region. And after you’ve placed an order, you can track your packages via the new site, too.

Alongside the launch, the retailer also announced several milestones, including the fact that it now has over 1 million registered users. Wine.com says it ships over 2 million bottles of win per year, representing 35% growth over last year.  As for the size of its inventory, there are over 13,000 different bottles which can be shipped to 90% of the U.S. population, despite the complicated laws around shipping alcohol.

The need to go mobile was pressing, as Wine.com reported that over 7% of its unique traffic came from iPhones alone (out of 8% smartphone traffic). And this is despite the fact that Wine.com has both iPhone and iPad apps available in iTunes. That’s something other online retailers should take note of: apps are not enough. If your customers are used to visiting your website on the Web, many continue to do so, even if your cool iOS app offers added functionality (as Wine.com’s does, what with the geo wineries feature and wine cave, etc.).

Also interesting: 6% of Wine.com’s overall traffic came from the iPad, but 8% of its revenue came from the iPad. That means either iPad owners buy more wine or the iPad experience is just really great and conductive to shopping. Meanwhile, only 1% of the revenue came from the iPhone, and the iPad average order value is 50% higher than on the website. The company says that should change now that there’s a new mobile website. One would hope.

It’s somewhat remarkable to see major retailers that have built mobile applications in advance of a functional mobile website, as Wine.com has. Look, I love a good app as much as the next guy, but really, the app everyone uses the most is still the browser. Thank goodness Wine.com finally figured that out.

Sony Ericsson Clarifies Xperia Ice Cream Sandwich Plans

Posted: 15 Nov 2011 06:32 AM PST

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In addition to outlining its plans in Dutch on Facebook, Sony Ericsson has clarified its stance on bringing Ice Cream Sandwich to the Xperia-toting masses on its blog today. As if you haven’t been obsessively reading up on the update already, I’ll go ahead and mention a few new features including flexible widgets, Roboto font, the ability to take screen shots, revamped notifications and facial unlock. Luckily, if your phone came out in 2011 and it has “Xperia” in the name, Ice Cream Sandwich is headed your way.

Here’s the official statement:

There have been a few questions here on the blog and in our support forums regarding our upgrade plans beyond Gingerbread. We can today confirm that we plan to upgrade the entire 2011 Xperia portfolio* to the next version of Android known as Android 4.0 or Ice Cream Sandwich. We are working on merging our current Xperia™ experience with the new features in Android 4.0. More detailed information regarding this upgrade, timing and global availability will be communicated in due course here on the blog.

* "2011 Xperia™ Portfolio" refers to the following products: Xperia arc and arc S, Xperia PLAY, Xperia neo and neo V, Xperia mini and mini pro, Xperia pro, Xperia active, Xperia ray as well as Sony Ericsson Live with Walkman.

SE had originally posted vague upgrade plans through its Dutch Facebook page, but failed to clarify what it meant by “2011 Xperia portfolio” like it did this time. Unfortunately, the phone maker offered no timeline for update availability. As soon as we know, so will you.



Bag Week 2011: The First Giveaway

Posted: 15 Nov 2011 06:29 AM PST

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First, if you find the concept of Bag Week appalling (looking at you, achshar), read no further. We want no truck with you. Second, here’s a free bag.

eBags is offering a free Mother Lode TLS Weekender Convertible backpack to one lucky reader. We haven’t had a hands on with this model, so we expect a full report from you once it arrives. However, that said, it looks pretty fancy and comes in multiple colors.

How do you win? Comment below excoriating us for running Bag Week and how horrible it makes you feel. Tell us what terrible people we are and extra points will be given for ad hominem attacks. Examples could include “I hate my current bag and find bag reviews useful, but John Biggs is an eggsucking dog” or “TechCrunch is really going downhill with all this talk of bags. I use the bag I got at Office Depot four years ago and, although it has caused a hernia and lumbar problems, I intend to use it until it falls apart. I don’t need to learn new information about bags! A pox on you and yours!”

I’ll pick a winner tomorrow at noon. Look for more great BW giveaways to come.

Enjoy Music While You Read: Rdio To Come Pre-Loaded On Kobo Vox eReader

Posted: 15 Nov 2011 06:25 AM PST

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Kobo has partnered with social music discovery and streaming service Rdio to let users of its just-released Android-powered Vox eReader access more than 12 million tracks while they’re reading.

Kobo, which was just acquired by Rakuten for $315 million in cash, says it boasts over five million users worldwide.

Rdio is currently available in the US, Canada, and Brazil.

In the United States, the Kobo Vox eReader is available in Fry’s stores, and available online from U.S. retailers including Best Buy, Fry’s and Kobo.com for $199.99.



Amazon Brings Comparison Shopping App Price Check To Android Phones

Posted: 15 Nov 2011 06:20 AM PST

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During last year’s holiday shopping season, Amazon released Price Check for the iPhone, a comparison shopping app which allows users can scan the barcode of a product, take a picture of an item or say the product's name to access product listings on Amazon.com's marketplace. Today, the e-commerce giant is launching the app on Android phones.

Shoppers use the Price Check app to scan a barcode, snap a picture, or say or type a product name to see prices from Amazon.com’s marketplace and its 2 million online merchants. One exclusive feature to the Android app is the ability to scan in either portrait or landscape mode. The app will display prices sorted from lowest to highest and will also show if the item is available for free shipping.

Users can read product reviews, add the item to a wishlist, share the item and decide whether the Amazon offering is a better deal than the store offering. Shoppers can then purchase the item with 1-Click shopping. Amazon says Price Check includes prices on ‘millions of products’, from books to HDTVs to blenders to baby strollers.

Amazon says that so far this year, shoppers with iPhones choose Price Check's barcode scanner to check prices more than any other search method available with the Price Check app and use Price Check ‘millions of times’, most frequently on weekends.

The app is similar to eBay’s RedLaser scanning app, which includes similar functionality and the ability to buy items directly from eBay. Amazon also recently released Flow, which uses augmented reality to help users explore and discover tens of millions of products in a real world setting, including books, DVDs, packaged electronics and toys.

RIM Unveils The BlackBerry Bold 9790 And Curve 9380

Posted: 15 Nov 2011 05:52 AM PST

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We may have gotten a glimpse at what RIM has planned for the future, but for now RIM devotees will have to make do with a new pair of current-gen BlackBerrys. The new Bold 9790 and the Curve 9380 both run RIM’s BlackBerry 7 OS, but that’s about where the similarities stop.

As the model number suggests, the 9790 is an extension of RIM’s pint-sized 9700 series. The Bold 9790 sticks with the tried-and-true BlackBerry design, albeit with some revamped buttons that caused a bit of a stir when they were first spotted. Unlike the other BB7-powered Bold, the 9790 sports a smaller 2.44-inch 360×480 display, a 1GHz processor, and 8GB of internal storage.

Meanwhile, the Curve 9380 takes its cues from the other touchscreen BlackBerrys of late, but it’s a hair shorter and wider than it’s other all-touchscreen brother, the Torch 9850. The 9380 keeps the same 360×480 resolution as seen in the new Bold, and stretches those pixels over a larger 3.2-inch display. RIM is keeping mum on the new Curve’s specs, but considering the Curve series’s budget-friendly pedigree, I wouldn’t expect much of a barnburner.

Speaking of the Curve, something about it has been irking me since I first saw it, and I think I’ve just figured out what it is. Save for the optical trackpad, the 9380 looks almost exactly like the original BlackBerry Storm. Even the screen sizes are similar, with the Storm beating out the Curve by .05 inches. It’s an interesting development, considering how awful the Storm was, but in fairness its design was probably the least offensive thing about it.

RIM has yet to reveal specifics like pricing and availability, but here’s hoping these BlackBerrys get pushed out the door soon. I have a feeling RIM will need all the extra time they can get to polish up their new OS and the hardware that will go with it.