Nick Tippmann - 2/9 - Serious Startups

Yahoo Kills Livestand

Yahoo, a company with a brand new CEO, Ross Levinsohn, is shutting down it’s News stand that it started just months ago. In an application I nor many of you have ever heard about Livestand, was supposed to be Yahoos response to Flipboard which like many of Yahoo’s recent projects has failed. In an attempt to turn the company around Levinsohn is trying to streamline what the company does.

While we received great feedback on Livestand’s design and it earned a 4-star rating in the App Store, we committed ourselves to continuously measure and scrutinize what’s working and what isn’t. We have learned a lot from Livestand and are actively applying those insights toward the development of future products that are better aligned with Yahoo!’s holistic mobile strategy.

Regan Clark mentions on Yahoo’s Blog. While never making any inroads or showing any interest in Android, Yahoo is said to be wanting to push full steam ahead with Mobile, as seen with it’s recent launch of Axis.

Facebook To Buy Opera, To Gain More Of A Footprint In Mobile

In a move that makes as much sense as buying a company for $1 billion only to release an application just like it weeks later, rumor has it Facebook is looking to buy Opera. Facebook, which is now having to go before the SEC over how it handled its IPO is rumored to want to buy the Browser. Facebook which listed Mobile as a major interest in it’s IPO filing is quickly pushing full steam ahead to build it’s Mobile footprint. Which the acquisitions of Lightbox, Instagram and others Facebook looks to be pushing forward to the often rumored and mythical Facebook Phone.

With getting closer and closer to 1 billion users, having a browser will no doubt send shock waves in what is already a fierce battle between Google with Chrome and Microsoft with Internet Explorer. With the addition of a browser, rumored Application store, buying/built a Camera interface with Instagram and it’s own newly released iOS application, Lightbox for gallery. The only thing left for a full on blitz is an operating system. However after seeing what Amazon did with the Kindle, could a Forked Android version be what Facebook is soon to be looking at building or would buying RIM for it’s Blackberry OS finally push FB into building it’s own phone.

Source: Pocket-lint

Groupon To Go Head To Head Against Square On Mobile Transactions

Groupon the daily deals site is reportedly interested in entering the Mobile Commerce field to compete with the likes of Square and most recently PayPal. The company who is embroiled in controversy in almost anything it does, from how it reports it’s profits to how it stock raises, wants to handle your money.

Business Insider is reporting that it’ll charge 1.8% transaction fee and a $0.15 per transaction charge for payments that they process. Whereas Square charges 2.75% with no per transaction fee and PayPal Here charges 2.7%, also with no transaction fee. In a risky move, Groupon will provide not only the device that retailers can charge customers, but also an iPod Touch to take the payments with. Like Yahoo, which recently made waves by releasing a semi browser for the web, and an iOS application, Groupon which keeps failing and is being mishandled would rather throw as many things against a wall and see what sticks versus fixing what’s wrong and instead is trying to hide from this.

Source: Business Insider

Google+ Updates Its Android App To Mimic It’s Update To iOS

Google has finally updated their Android app to follow the model of the iOS version they released to make the mobile experience “more beautiful.” Many Android users were pretty jealous to see the beauty iOS users were beholding, and they now can finally have it themselves. With some glitches though, the tablet version is still a little lacking as seen below. Most of the update takes what was a bland boring application and just makes it pop with the photos and posts, as well as some other major updates that we’ve all been waiting for and hoping for.

Launching Tonight Yahoo’s Answer To Chrome, I Think

Yahoo, tonight is launching what they are calling a “Chrome Killer”. But there is a problem, as you can see right now you can download a plugin to use it on…guess what? Chrome.

I don’t get it either. As of now, when you go to axis.yahoo.com you are able to “Download it now”(Chrome Extension) view a video of it or see an ad for it. While having a new choice in browsers is nice, I’m still not sure why Yahoo will try something else it’ll fail at instead of fixing their problems they have now. Visually, it looks good until you realize how much quicker Chrome is to use, and return to using it.

Rogue Anonymous Member Takes Responsibility For Downing The Ship Of Pirate Bay

Two days ago we reported on how Pirate Bay, the leading site for illegal torrents was being attacked by DDoS attacks. However, at the time no one including Pirate Bay knew who the attack was coming from. Leading votes where from the MPAA, RIAA or a Government, after Anonymous claimed it wasn’t them. That’s when the thought came to me that It could be someone(team) that has defected from the collective and that’s what it turned out to be.

Apple Now Censors Jailbreak From iTunes Store

Apple, taking a page out of Twitters arsenal and censoring things it doesn’t like has added another one. The word JailBreak will no longer be found in the iTunes store. For those that don’t know, Jailbreaking: iOS jailbreaking, or simply jailbreaking, is the process of removing the limitations imposed by Apple on devices running the iOS operating system through the use of custom kernels.

So with Apple, not liking the fact that people pay hundreds of dollars, or even body parts, to own not rent/barrow the device. They are trying to get rid of any and all evidence about such products. So besides Applications being disallowed for political reasons into the iTunes store, any mention of Jailbreaking will now be as well.

Source: Cult Of Mac

[Updated] Anonymous Denies Attack Yet Pirate Bay Still Downed By DDoS Attack

Down goes the ship. That’s what’s been happening over at Pirate Bay for the last couple of day. The popular torrent site has been plagued by non-stop DDoS attacks. Known to be one of the most prolific sites for illegal torrents(Simply, a torrent is data about a target file, though it contains no information about the content of the file. The only data that the torrent holds is information about the location of different pieces of the target file. Torrents work by dividing the target file into small information chunks, found on an unlimited number of different hosts. Through this method, torrents are able to download large files quickly) As well as legal torrents. However, in recent times the site has come under legal attack in Europe by forcing ISP’s to block access to the site.

In reaction to that, Anonymous has targeted multiple sites, including UK’s Virgin Media, which Pirate Bay actually condemned them for those actions. However, Anonymous has sent out multiple comments on different social sites claiming those attacks on Pirate Bay are not their doing.

How Zuckerberg Cut Eduardo Saverin Out Of Facebook

Business Insider is reporting to have the email in which Mark sent to his Lawyers to try and cut Eduardo Saverin out of Facebook. This move, which later cost Mark 4-5% of the company and will bank Saverin around $5 Billion once the company goes public this Friday. In a move in which Wall Street wants to paint Mark as someone who can’t run a major company will show just how ruthless he can be at times.

Revealed: Halo 4 Cover Art

Microsoft ahead of it’s release of Halo 4 due to be released in November, gave out hints as to he new cover art for it’s upcoming release. Due out 04 November, Microsoft laid out 32 puzzles as to hints to figure out what the cover would look like. As you can see, it’s possibly the most beautiful cover they’ve ever done to the Iconic franchise. Read More…

Rumors: 2012 15 Inch MacBook Pro Specs

9to5Mac is reporting both full specs, as well as mock ups of the new 2012 MacBook Pro. What you’ll quickly noticed from the picture above besides both a difference in size, but also the fact that no Optical Drive will be there. Taking que from the Air, and other Ultrabooks to cut down on size. For those that still need an Optical Drive, USB 3.0 port(s) will now come standard as both Apple and other companies are now starting to make them standard as the higher transfer speeds on average of 5 Gbps are being needed more and more.

Startup Quick Byte: twiDAQ

For todays Startup Quick Byte we take a look at twiDAQ a site that mixes both Wall Street and Twitter into one. Located in Bath, United Kingdom this company takes Twitter to another level that even has me interested. After having raiser $48,000 in funding so far, twiDAQ is using peoples love affair for Twitter and wanting to do more with it to a whole another level.

While some sites like Klout mask and try and hide how things are rated, twiDAQ holds no such qualms as they clearly post it on their site Here

There are two principal models for setting the share price; performance & demand. What we’re all seeing at this early stage in the market is the dominance of performance over demand which is allowing small stocks to rise in price.

Currently, only on the Web and iOS and free on both markets. So if you are into Twitter and just want more. Make sure to check it out. No words yet on an Android application yet.

Where to find:

Website

Twitter

Facebook

We Are At CityGrid Hackathon LA All Weekend Long

This weekend, we’ll be at the CityGrid Los Angeles Hackathon which brings together people of all different backgrounds, in a move to make local discovery better via both the Web as well as the Mobile space. From Friday the 27^th of April till Sunday the 29^th individuals who’ve never meet will take part in build products for the future.