Category: Tech

A big hit at SXSW, GroupMe is definitely one of the front-runners in the crowded world of group messaging. Now, they’ve begun to show what they’re really made of with Featured Groups. The feature launched yesterday and will give brands an opportunity to easily engage with the focused community.

The obvious tendency for any group chat would be to create groups around specific topics. GroupMe recognized this behavior and even capitalized on it during the SXSW conference, offering up special information about events in Austin to those who created groups on the service. With Featured Groups, brands will be able to benefit from this natural behavior while offering users and official set of groups to choose from. 

There are five brands on board for the launch, including Oxygen’s Bad Girls Club, MTV’s America’s Best Dance Crew, Bon Jovi, and the Bonnaroo and Coachella music festivals. Joining these groups opens up the user to messages from the brand, which could include anything from news, marketing information, and exclusive content to contests, and reminders for show times.

This new feature does suggest that GroupMe has a business model and should make the service a bit stickier. Many new users of GroupMe now have a set of default groups to chose from and might actually stick around where previously they may have lost interest with no one to talk to. The success of Featured groups will hinge on how they are marketed by the brands involved and how those brands use their new mouthpiece. It only takes a few messages in a row to cross the line from informative to spammy.

While it remains to be seen whether Featured Groups will help GroupMe break from the pack, it is defnitely a smart move. I’m reminded of a young Foursquare, who forged partnerships with majoir brands to make a name for itself and to help potential users understand what the point was. This was even before Twitter had introduced promoted trends and tweets. It seems as though GroupMe may be on the right track.

via ReadWriteWeb

Web Suite Pro is a complete suite of software tools similar to the net cms for managing a small to medium business. From billing and invoicing to integrated email and project management, Web Suite Pro does it all. The cloud-based solution lets you run your business and access critical information on-the-go via the web or from your iPhone, Blackberry, Android, or tablet. The company is based in Edmonton, Alberta Canada and is a black owned, developed, and managed.

Being in business is awesome, but one of the most boring parts is also probably the most important: the paperwork. You can’t get paid if you don’t keep track of your billing and invoicing.  Unless you have paid someone like North Shore Advisory, Inc to do it for you, you definitely won’t get paid if you don’t keep your clients in the loop, track your time, and effectively manage your tasks and projects. The Web Suite Pro solution covers all your bases for you in one single tool.

Features:

• Billing, Invoicing, and Time Tracking – The Web Suite Pro paperless billing system takes the pain out of collecting revenue. All calculations are done for you and it can even integrate with your existing accounting system.
• Expense Tracking – Knowing what’s coming in is only half of the equation. Track expenses like mileage, employee payroll, taxes, and travel.
• Purchase Orders – Create professional work orders and increase productivity. Get your work order flow flowing.
• Contact Manager, Integrated Email, Shared Calendar, and Team Collaboration – pull in your email from multiple sources using the built-in email client. Easily keep your team on track and your clients in the loop from one interface.
• Project and Task Management – Integration of tasks and projects alongside your calendar and work orders is sure to boost productivity.

Web Suite Pro starts at $19.95/month for 1 Staff, 2GB of storage, 200 users, and unlimited invoices. The most popular plan will cost you $49.95/month for 10 staff and 500 users. You can try any plan free for 60 days, which should be just enough time to get you hooked. For those with a very small business who are in a freemium state of mind, you can get a free plan with 1 staff, 5 users, 200mb storage, and unlimited contacts and invoices. For all plans, “users” are able to login and collaborate on projects, check shipping, order products, upload files and dispute or pay invoices.

Start your Web Suite Pro test drive and tell us what you think.

WSJ reports that Google may be teaming up with MasterCard and Citigroup to set up a payment system based on Near-Field Communications. This would allow Android users with NFC-capable devices to make payments with a simply wave of their mobile device.

According to “those familiar with the matter,” Google wants to make mobile payments easier in order to get more ad revenue. They would be able to tie the mobile payment system with other data about users and provide a way for advertisers to better target ads and offers.

Part of the system would involve an Android app for Citigroup-issued debit and credit cards which would allow users to discover nearby deals, make payments, and manage their accounts.

Another key piece of the puzzle will come from VeriFone Systems Inc., who provides credit-card readers for cash registers. By rolling out more readers with contact-less/NFC support, it will be easier to build out the payment network. Customers who already have the technology built into their credit cards will benefit, as well as owners of new Android devices with NFC chips.

Google is not expected to make any revenue from the card transactions. While the NFC technology might appear less secure because it is transferring data over-the-air, it’s actually at least as secure as current credit card technology.

“Because it’s contact-less there’s a perception people can grab it from thin air, but it’s actually a more sophisticated technology than credit cards with a magnetic stripe, making it more difficult to steal a consumer’s payment information.” — Nick Holland, mobile-transactions analyst at Yankee Group

World mobile leaders have already backed NFC technology. RIM has also promised to use NFC in upcoming handsets. Being able to control a large mobile payment network is also a goal that Apple is said to be pursuing. The market for mobile payments is expected to reach $618 billion by 2016, according to a report by consulting firm Edgar, Dunn & Co. and sponsored by MasterCard. Google is definitely trying to strike while the iron is hot and expand their reach for connecting with advertisers and local retailers.

“A phone is a lot smarter than a card. It opens the door to a rich experience at the point of sale that retailers really covet.” — Doug Bergeron, VeriFone’s chief executive

via WSJ

Snoop Dogg has released his latest album, Doggumentary, on MySpace two days before it’s official release. Everything from Gang Bang Rookie feat. Pilot and Platinume feat. R. Kelly to Wet and My F**n House feat. Young Jezzy and E-40. While you can listen to all 21 tracks, only four are actually available for purchase/download:

• Gang Bang Rookie
• Platinum
• Boom
• Wet

The entire album isn’t actually available for purchase at this time either. The album is a mix of previously-released tracks and fresh new music. Doggumentary is a conceptual follow-up to Snoop Dogg’s 1993 debut, Doggystyle.

What’s interesting about this is mostly that Snoop chose MySpace for a pre-release. As we recently discussed, MySpace isn’t doing so well and one has to wonder if Snoop did this on his own or if it was a move in collaboration with MySpace.

The other interesting point here is that Snoop is well known for being social media and tech savvy. This seems a bit tame for a guy who blew up a tank on Ustream, built a buzz by being an early adopter of Instagr.am, and was featured in a video by Twitter describing how he uses the micro-blogging service.

Of course, with the official release two days away, there is no telling what Snoop Dogg has planned. Check out Doggumentary on Snoop’s MySpace page.

via Mashable

MySpace Failing Faster

It used to be the blinged out king of the Internet. Now, MySpace is failing faster and faster. According to Comscore, MySpace dropped by 14.4% from 73 million visitors to 63 million visitors between January and February of 2011. Parent company News Corp. is in the middle of a sale process and the accelerating decline in traffic translates into a huge loss in revenue. One person with knowledge of the discussions said “It’s like slowing down at the scene of an accident. Everyone wants to take a look at how bad things have become.”

It seems that partnering with Facebook, rebooting the site, and letting various celebrities take over the site were still not enough to attract any eyeballs to MySpace.

via TechCrunch

Apple Pulls “Gay Cure” App

An app from Christian group Exodus International aimed at “homosexual strugglers” has been removed from iTunes. 145,000 people signed an online petition demanding the app be removed, but it’s still not clear if the app was removed because of the petition or for some other reason. Apple has yet to release a formal statement on the matter. Until they do, the online petition is still being pushed at change.org.

Does that means Apple has pulled the app, like more than 140,000 customers have asked? It’s hard to tell; Apple hasn’t issued an official statement yet. Until they do, it’s important that we keep up the pressure, so that Apple hears loud and clear that “ex-gay” therapy deserve no place in the App Store.

via Cult Of Mac

Color Gets $41 Million Pre-Launch

Have you heard of the new “elastic” social networking app, Color? Most people haven’t yet, but they’ve already raised $41 million from Sequoia Capital, Bain Capital, and Silicon Valley Bank. As the Color team put it, “That’s more than they gave Google.” Why is so much money being dumped into this company? Many say it’s because of the technology.

Color dynamically creates your social network based on who is physically near you. The focus of the app is in sharing photos. This means that your social network won’t really consist of your actual friends unless those friends happen to be in the vicinity. The app uses all the features of your device to figure this out, including GPS, your camera, and your microphone. It’s actually kind of creepy.

My take on the whole thing is that Color won’t be all that interesting to most users (you cannot even use the app if you don’t have GPS activated or are alone), but the technology in play here will allow ridiculous amounts of data to be collected from those that do use the app. At this point, Color has had a lukewarm reception, but is evolving fast. Get it for Android or iOS at color.com.

via TechCrunch

As part of a unique relationship between Nintendo and the National Art Education Association (NAEA), art teachers in elementary, middle and high school classrooms have been provided with hand-held Nintendo DSi XL™ systems and copies of Art Academy™, a software title that offers interactive art tutorials for budding artists of any background or skill level. This partnership will give students a fresh, fun way to study drawing and painting techniques.

“The abundance of visual images being displayed through technology is transforming the ways art education in schools can be presented to students,” said Deborah B. Reeve, EdD, NAEA Executive Director. “In today’s schools, an emphasis is still placed on rational and analytic subjects like math and science. Art class is one of the few places where kids can exercise their creativity and develop flexible forms of thinking to build additional skills for their future. We are thrilled that the incorporation of Nintendo’s Art Academy into the classroom provides students with another creative outlet that supports teaching and learning in art, and the students agree.”

Art Academy was created exclusively for the Nintendo DS family of systems. It lets students use their stylus as a paint brush or pencil and offers lessons on color, shading, perspective, and more. There is also a Free Paint mode that gives students the opportunity to practice what they’ve learned and let their imaginations run free.

A recent study conducted by Wakefield Research for Nintendo found that 60 percent of surveyed parents agreed that there is not enough focus on art activities in their children’s schools. Art Academy provides a portable solution that can fill that niche.

Find out more about Art Academy at http://artacademy.nintendo.com. Learn more about the National Art Education Association at http://www.arteducators.org.

via Business Wire

AisleFinder started simply enough. A young techie, Curtiss Pope, working at a local grocery store found that people were always asking where stuff was. He wondered why the stores didn’t just give customers an aisle-by-aisle snapshot of the store layout and location of all items they wanted. Years later, this same young techie finds himself in similar situation: unable to find what he’s looking for in the grocery store. As he and his wife wandered aimlessly around the store trying to find ingredients for a new recipe for a dinner party, the feeling of déjà vu must have been strong.

That flashback pushed Curtiss to action and he immediately thought of the name, secured the domain, and started working on a prototype. He hit a brick wall with retailers, though. They hated the idea, because a solution that made it easier to find things in the stores meant people would waste less time and spend less money. Yes, folks, the retailers would love for you to get lost and spend money you didn’t plan to.

Shocked, but not completely discouraged, Curtiss got back on the grind 3 months later. With new mindset and attitude, he decided to take his idea all the way. He retooled AisleFinder, making it simpler and simpler to use for the user. He also kept the retailers updated on what he was doing. They still kept saying “No,” but a quote from the book Rework kept him motivated: “Ask for forgiveness rather than permission.”

Instead of waiting on the big retailers to figure things out, Curtiss and his team pushed ahead to create the best product they could. They made cooperation agreements with smaller stores, getting permission to gather data from store managers and staff at specific locations. As they gained traction, those same big retailers started to take notice.

Now, Aislefinder is in stores all over the world and was chosen as a Microsoft BizSpark Startup of the Day. A great example of a company that didn’t take “No” for an answer and executed their vision. As Curtiss puts it, “Overall we truly believe that we are providing the future of Grocery shopping. Period.”

A new iPhone app from XXL does much more than bring the magazine to your iPhone. For hip-hop heads out there, the free app is a must for keeping up with news, music, information. This app takes it to the next level, though. Instead of just bringing you the news, a feature called Ready or Not could help you make the news.

The XXL app packs a News Reader with 24/7 coverage of interviews, blogs, and more. Tweets Is Watching, so the app makes sure you catch all the Twitter updates from your favorite rappers. The Good Life brings you the “kicks, fashion and lifestyle” that drive hip-hop culture. Trivia lets you test your hip-hop might against the XXL experts.

Taking things into the next dimension, Where They At allows you to track down your peeps via GPS, whether they’re at an industry function or kicking it on the block. Ready Or Not is where things get interesting:

A freestyle function, which allows you to record a freestyle and send it directly to XXLMag.com for placement and viewer rating. Your 30-second long freestyle will get posted on the XXLMag.com site for the public to listen to and review.

The release of the app coincides with XXL‘s 2011 Freshman Class, a feature of the magazine that identifies the up-and-comers of the year. This year features Yelawolf, Mac Miller, Cyhi The Prynce, Kendrick Lamar, Diggy Simmons, Lil Twist, Lil B, Fred the Godson, Meek Mill, Big Krit and YG.

More and more we are seeing the music industry reach out to unknown artists via the web. ThisIs50.com recently leveraged Ning’s Soundcloud integration to give artists a chance to be feature on the site. SignMeTo is a social network created by Roadrunner Records that helps bands get signed by the label.

The real question is, now that the gate keepers are gone, do artists really need to get signed to succeed? Even if the answer is “no,” apps and other services like this will at least get an unknown artist some exposure. What do you think? Grab the free app from Apple’s App Store and show us what you got.

via Mashable

In less than 24 hours, Black Founders officially launches, starting with a cocktail mixer in San Francisco from 6-10 pm on 3/24. If you recall, Black Founders will serve to mentor, unite, and promote black entrepreneurs and startups. The launch party in SF will be followed by events in Oakland, and Palo Alto.

Black Founders connects black entrepreneurs and technology startup professionals in Silicon Valley and around the world. Our mission is to empower entrepreneurs and provide founders with access to advice, mentorship, and funding.

The mixer is just a start. Black Founders plans to extend beyond cocktail mixers to provide more value to the community. RSVP at MeetUp and look out for @AisleFinder, who will be a special guest (check out the AisleFinder interview with Robert Scoble).

It was only a few days ago that Microsoft boasted about IE9 being downloaded 2.35 million times in the first 24hrs it became available. Definitely a number to be proud of, especially given the love-hate relationship many have with Internet Explorer. The new release brought many updates that put it on par with Chrome and Firefox.

Fast forward a few days and we have Firefox 4 releasing its own update. Just as IE9 has taken itself to a whole different level, Firefox has done the same with changes under the hood, feature additions, and a simpler layout. Within 24hrs, Firefox 4 doubled IE9′s download count, coming in at 4.7 million downloads. Now, they’re at over 6 million according to their current stats.

One of the most interesting pieces of this whole browser battle is that Chrome instigated the whole thing. Google’s goal in creating it was to push the boundaries of the web and they have clearly succeeded. Not only have IE9 and Firefox 4 adopted minimalistic interfaces on the surface, but they have taken great pains to tweak things under the hood and to support the latest web standards.

As for Chrome, they don’t plan to just sit back and relax. While Firefox and IE gain ground, Chrome continues to forge ahead. Chrome 11 beta brings a new logo, GPU-accelerated 3D CSS, and a voice input feature that many Android users will find familiar. Doesn’t seem to matter anymore which browser you choose. A focus on speed and compatibility across the board is a definite win for users.

So, which browser have you chosen?

via CNET News, TechCrunch

An iPhone app created by two Seattle entrepreneurs, Joe Wallin and Bill Carleton, tests your knowledge of startup investing. It’s called Angel Trivia Daily and poses such burning questions as:

• Who famously blogged, “Angel List is like Dangerous Sex with Super Models for Virgin Nerds?”
• When should you consider filing a Section 83(b) election?
• If your pre-money is $3M, and you raise $1M, what is your post-money?

The app challenges you with daily multiple choice questions covering “topics and terminology from the arcane to the commonly misunderstood to the lawyer-geeky.” Definitely a good look if you’re in the startup game and need to make sure your knowledge of investment terms and concepts is on point. It also includes questions that test your knowledge of who the players are in the startup and investment space.

This should definitely help keep your head in the game as an entrepreneur. Get Apple Trivia Daily from the Apple App Store for 99 cents.

via TechCrunch

Firefox 4 is not set to be officially released until later today, but has been available for download from the Mozilla releases FTP server since last night. As we previously reported, Firefox 4 has been tweaked to look a lot like Chrome. It features hardware acceleration and the JaegerMonkey JavaScript engine along with extra goodies like tab organization with Panorama and App Tabs.

Mozilla has asked Download Squad to mention that “this might not turn out to be the actual final build. It’s still going through QA right now, and something might come up.” No big deal if you want to jump the gun, though. Your browser will update to the latest version if any changes are made for the final release. You won’t get the full Firefox 4 experience until the final release, which will probably include a “pretty first-run splash screen” and other goodies.

If you’re a mobile browser kind of person, Firefox 4 Release Candidate is available for Android and Maemo. This release brings faster scrolling, better responsiveness with Firefox Sync, and overall improved user experience. This release includes features like Firefox Sync, Awesome Screen, tabbed browsing, and Firefox Add-ons to your mobile device. See the list of supported devices and download from the Android Market or on your Maemo device.