By Chris Scott Barr I have a cat, and like most other felines she loves laser pointers. I generally spend a little bit each day using it to drive her crazy. It really doesn’t take much effort, and it entertains me almost as much as it does her. However, if you don’t feel like putting all [...]
By Chris Scott Barr
I have a cat, and like most other felines she loves laser pointers. I generally spend a little bit each day using it to drive her crazy. It really doesn’t take much effort, and it entertains me almost as much as it does her. However, if you don’t feel like putting all of the effort into waving you wrist around, you can get a device to do it for you.
The Frolicat Bolt is a laser pointer that moves around on its own. You can set it on a table (or any other surface really) and have it move the laser in a random pattern for 15 minutes, after which time it will automatically turn off. You can also put it on manual mode and use it like an ordinary pointer. If you’re too busy to keep up with your cat, you can pick one of these up for just $20.
There has been no shortage of talk about the apparent demise of Userplane, the text, voice and video chat software provider that was acquired by AOL in August 2006 for around $40 million (the exact price was never disclosed). Venturebeat ran a story on the property last May, citing sources and Userplane clients as saying the service had been “neglected if not abandoned by AOL”. Yet this morning, I exchanged some e-mails with Darin Ohlandt, General Manager of Userplane, and he responded to the rumors saying they are definitely not shutting down and will continue to offer the existing chat and IM services to third-party sites. However, some writing on the wall suggests he may not be painting a complete picture of what is going on.
There has been no shortage of talk about the apparent demise of Userplane, the text, voice and video chat software provider that was acquired by AOL in August 2006 for around $40 million (the exact price was never disclosed).
Venturebeat ran a story on the property last May, citing sources and Userplane clients as saying the service had been “neglected if not abandoned by AOL”. Yet this morning, I exchanged some e-mails with Darin Ohlandt, General Manager of Userplane, and he responded to the rumors saying they are definitely not shutting down and will continue to offer the existing chat and IM services to third-party sites.
However, some writing on the wall suggests he may not be painting a complete picture of what is going on.
A recent thread on OnlinePersonalsWatch (which covers the online dating industry, where demand for Userplane and other similar services has always been high) suggested that the site would be deadpooled by its owner soon. A developer commented on the thread claiming he had tried to contact Userplane for weeks through e-mails, voice calls and social networks and received no response, and ultimately went to their offices only to find all doors were locked with no one in sight (Ohlandt suspects the latter may have had something to do with the move to a new office in Santa Monica). And in that very same thread, former senior developer at Userplane Nick Schneble touted his new startup TopicFox, an alternative to the service (although it seems to be offline now - the website now reads the service was discontinued over a conflict of interest with Userplane).
A month ago, Time Warner announced that its Board of Directors has authorized management to proceed with plans for the separation of AOL from the company. This would likely result in a massive restructuring of AOL, and could have a major impact on non-proven acquisitions made in the past. Other reasons why Userplane is on deadpool alert: AOL is placing much focus on lifestreaming and chat service SocialThing, which recently spread across 75 of its properties, and then of course there’s those other instant messaging services in their portfolio (AIM and ICQ).
There are more signs. When Ted Cahall was named new president of the product group at AOL back in January 2009, his memo - which we published in full here on TechCrunch - states that Userplane would be moved into the People Networks business unit under former Bebo President Joanna Shields. But at the end of last month, Shields resigned from her position as Executive VP for People Networks and to our knowledge has not been replaced to date.
It’s not surprising that many startups with competing solutions are taking advantage of the rumors about Userplane’s impending shut-down. Toksta is the most outspoken one, having set up a special page for Userplane clients who are looking to switch to an alternative provider. Other competitors in the field who are likely paying a lot of attention to what is going to happen to Userplane include Meebo with its Community IM product and ekkoTV.
To be continued, no doubt.
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Gaming keyboards have come a long way since the original G15. All the G-keys and the use of LCD to show player stats are ingenious additions that have become an indispensable tool for WoW fans, hardcore CoD4 players, and macro-happy gamers. Since then the market has definitely saturated. (Even MS has two [...]
Gaming keyboards have come a long way since the original G15. All the G-keys and the use of LCD to show player stats are ingenious additions that have become an indispensable tool for WoW fans, hardcore CoD4 players, and macro-happy gamers. Since then the market has definitely saturated. (Even MS has two gaming keyboards.)
Despite the stiff competition, Logitech hasn’t lost its edge. The new G19 gaming keyboard is the first major upgrade since the G15 revision. Improvements to the Logitech’s flagship product include full color LCD (including YouTube and VLC compatibility); intuitive creation of powerful macros; support for six simultaneous keypresses; customizable key backlighting; and two self-powered USB 2.0 jacks. Impressive features demand high price and higher power requirement, which is why the G19 costs $200 and why the G19 is the first gaming keyboard that needs an AC adapter (warning: bulky). Everything USB’s reviewer is so impressed with the G19 that any hardcore gamers with $200 to spare should run out and get one. Those who don’t take fragging too seriously should really look elsewhere.
By Andrew Liszewski Since the dawn of time man has had to make the difficult and agonizing choice of playing with an RC car or an RC helicopter. And while many great minds from philosophers to engineers have racked their brains trying to find a resolution to this problem, it was a toy company that seems [...]
By Andrew Liszewski
Since the dawn of time man has had to make the difficult and agonizing choice of playing with an RC car or an RC helicopter. And while many great minds from philosophers to engineers have racked their brains trying to find a resolution to this problem, it was a toy company that seems to have come up with a happy medium allowing us to finally enjoy both at the same time.
The Silverlit Heli-Mission SWAT Truck is a fully functional RC car that includes sirens and flashing lights, but the real star of the show is the cargo bay which opens to reveal one of the company’s micro helicopters hidden inside. The launch platform even rises allowing the whirlybird to take off so you can continue your imaginary police pursuit from the air.
The Heli-Mission SWAT Truck should be available sometime in July for about $100, and I have to assume the included remote does double-duty for controlling both the helicopter and the truck.
By Chris Scott Barr You’ve probably heard me mention Google Voice once or twice, mostly because I love the service. Almost every phone call and text message I receive these days is to my Google Voice number. With a handy app for my iPhone, I even call out using it. Unfortunately the only downside to the [...]
By Chris Scott Barr
You’ve probably heard me mention Google Voice once or twice, mostly because I love the service. Almost every phone call and text message I receive these days is to my Google Voice number. With a handy app for my iPhone, I even call out using it. Unfortunately the only downside to the service is that it’s a rather exclusive club.
Earlier this week we reported that Google had purchased 1 million new numbers for the service. Well yesterday the precious invites that everyone has been waiting for went out. Some of them at least. I know a few people that signed up some time ago for an invite that didn’t receive an invite. Hopefully at some point they will allow current users to invite a few friends, similar to how the Gmail beta got going. One cool thing about the number picker is that you can actually type in words, letters or numbers that you want included in your Google Voice number. I wish they had that when I signed up.
By Shane McGlaun We talked earlier about pricing for Windows 7 now that its launch is getting closer. The OS will debut in October, which is only months away. Many are expecting great things out of Windows 7 and it better deliver where Vista failed. Microsoft says that anyone who buys a Vista equipped PC starting on [...]
By Shane McGlaun
We talked earlier about pricing for Windows 7 now that its launch is getting closer. The OS will debut in October, which is only months away. Many are expecting great things out of Windows 7 and it better deliver where Vista failed.
Microsoft says that anyone who buys a Vista equipped PC starting on June 26 will be eligible for an upgrade to Windows 7 for free. The catch is that only certain versions of Vista are eligible for upgrade. That means if you buy a cheap computer running Vista Basic, you get no upgrade.
Microsoft will be putting 50% of sales into the upgrade program coffers and expects to put in as much as $300 million. Upgradable versions of Vista include Home Premium, Business, and Ultimate. They will be upgraded to Windows 7 Home Premium, Windows 7 Pro, and Windows 7 Ultimate respectively.
By Chris Scott Barr I’m heading out to see the new Transformers movie tonight with some friends, and I’ll be sporting my classic Autobots shirt. However, had I known about this little gem, I’d have purchased one in time for the opening. Get it? Robots in disguise. Classic! $15 bucks and it’s yours. [ SLAPt ] VIA [...]
By Chris Scott Barr
I’m heading out to see the new Transformers movie tonight with some friends, and I’ll be sporting my classic Autobots shirt. However, had I known about this little gem, I’d have purchased one in time for the opening. Get it? Robots in disguise. Classic! $15 bucks and it’s yours.
Flickr, Yahoo’s photo property, is one of the largest picture sharing services in the world. However, if you were to ask a group of random people how you spell its domain, a high percentage would likely tell you F-L-I-C-K-E-R. That’s not surprising, but it’s undoubtedly longstanding a headache for Yahoo. And now the people who own Flicker.com are looking to capitalize on it. If you visit the site, you’ll see that it now exposes its traffic stats in the lower right-hand corner. It’s a blatant attempt to make money, at the very least from advertisers willing to throw links on the page. Or presumably to get someone to buy the domain.
Flickr, Yahoo’s photo property, is one of the largest picture sharing services in the world. However, if you were to ask a group of random people how you spell its domain, a high percentage would likely tell you F-L-I-C-K-E-R. That’s not surprising, but it’s undoubtedly longstanding a headache for Yahoo. And now the people who own Flicker.com are looking to capitalize on it.
If you visit the site, you’ll see that it now exposes its traffic stats in the lower right-hand corner. It’s a blatant attempt to make money, at the very least from advertisers willing to throw links on the page. Or presumably to get someone to buy the domain.
(Data is approximate, tracking by Google Analytics)
Below that is a link to contact them.
You’ll notice that over 95% of the traffic comes from direct navigation. That’s because if you Google “Flicker,” you’ll find flickr.com first, and flicker.com nowhere to be found on the first page of results. And that means that millions of people each year are typing in “flicker.com” likely expecting flickr.com. Certainly, that’s worth something, and Flicker knows it.
And so the site is resorting to rather shady tactics. While its main page claims that it’s down for maintenance, there’s a Twitter button right next to that to tweet out that it’s down for maintenance. You might think that most sites wouldn’t want people to know that they’re site is down, but not Flicker. That’s because they clearly want people to advertise on their new “down” website.
And it’s working, look at how many people are actually tweeting this garbage out. You can be sure that a lot of them think Yahoo’s Flickr is down, and they’re just trying to let others know. Flicker has its own Twitter account that highlights all these tweets.
On the site below its maintenance message, you’ll find a bunch of links to camera equipment (the same group Flicker directly appeals to with its ‘CPC Keyword Value’ stats). And just to keep things even more shady, all of these links are bit.ly shortened links.
Update: As commenter Noah points out, some of those Bit.ly links aren’t exactly bathing in traffic. This one has only 500 clicks in the past two weeks.
Okay, the situation surrounding the App Store and its approval process continues to get weirder and weirder. As you may have heard, an application featuring nudity first appeared in the App Store yesterday. Today, that app was removed, which everyone presumed was a move by Apple. But the developers said that the removal was its own doing because its servers were getting slammed with picture requests. Then more applications claiming to have nude photos started appearing. And now Apple is apparently saying none of these apps will be allowed in the App Store. But that seems to contradict its own rating system that now clearly allows for nudity. This makes no sense. To the point where I’m not sure there is anyone actually in charge of all of this for Apple. Instead, I’m starting to think this whole system is run by a group of people, all with different thoughts on the approach Apple should take with apps. And none of whom seem to communicate with each other very well.
Okay, the situation surrounding the App Store and its approval process continues to get weirder and weirder.
As you may have heard, an application featuring nudity first appeared in the App Store yesterday. Today, that app was removed, which everyone presumed was a move by Apple. But the developers said that the removal was its own doing because its servers were getting slammed with picture requests. Then more applications claiming to have nude photos started appearing. And now Apple is apparently saying none of these apps will be allowed in the App Store. But that seems to contradict its own rating system that now clearly allows for nudity.
This makes no sense. To the point where I’m not sure there is anyone actually in charge of all of this for Apple. Instead, I’m starting to think this whole system is run by a group of people, all with different thoughts on the approach Apple should take with apps. And none of whom seem to communicate with each other very well.
Apple will not distribute applications that contain inappropriate content, such as pornography. The developer of this application added inappropriate content directly from their server after the application had been approved and distributed, and after the developer had subsequently been asked to remove some offensive content. This was a direct violation of the terms of the iPhone Developer Program. The application is no longer available on the App Store.
But the app was clearly labeled on its App Store page with a 17+ rating that said the app contained “Frequent/Intense Sexual Content or Nudity.” Those are not the developer’s words, those are Apple’s words.
And a few developers have now told me that there is an area in the app submission process to designate if your app contains nudity — hence the need for a 17+ nudity label, which again, Apple offers.
So why pull this app? The reasoning seems to be that the developer wasn’t honest upfront that the app would contain nudity. But then why would it have the nudity warning attached to it? Is it possible that Apple approved some of the nudity but then the developer was trying to push something like hardcore pornography into the app? Maybe, but I haven’t heard any reports of that — just that it featured pictures of topless women. And from its statement, it would seem that Apple doesn’t want any nudity, period.
And if that’s true then why are there other apps out there claiming to also have nude photographs in them, that are getting approved as well? Some are even touting it in the title of their apps. Yet Apple isn’t rejecting them.
So, either we have a situation where for some reason Apple has app warning labels that it never intends to use, and has app screeners that are once again doing a sloppy job watching submissions. Or, there are no clear-cut rules for what should be allowed when it comes to this in the App Store.
I’m definitely thinking it’s the latter, given what we’re seeing.
It’d be one thing if Apple didn’t have a rating that accounts for sexual content, but it does. So clearly it expects some apps to have “”Frequent/Intense Sexual Content or Nudity” in the store. But according to its statement, it won’t allow for them.
And further, Apple allows for plenty of movies that contain all kinds of nudity to be in iTunes. You can even now download those directly to your iPhone. Why are those okay, but apps of that nature are not? I’m repeating myself, but it makes no sense.
The App Store approval process has basicallybeen a joke for much of the past year. I was hopeful it would get better now that parental controls are a part of the iPhone 3.0 software. Apparently, I was wrong — it looks like it’s getting worse.
We’ve reached out to Apple for further clarification on this. I’ll update if we hear back.
By Shane McGlaun HTC makes some of the most desirable smartphones on the market. In fact, it was the company that made the first Android-powered smartphone to hit the U.S. market — the T-mobile G1. HTC had an event this week where it introduced its Hero smartphone and now it has unveiled another phone bound for [...]
By Shane McGlaun
HTC makes some of the most desirable smartphones on the market. In fact, it was the company that made the first Android-powered smartphone to hit the U.S. market — the T-mobile G1. HTC had an event this week where it introduced its Hero smartphone and now it has unveiled another phone bound for the States.
Verizon Wireless will be getting the HTC Ozone smartphone. The easy to use smartphone has a bargain price of $49.99 after a $70 mail-in rebate and new contract. Features of the phone include a QWERTY keyboard and multiple connectivity options.
The device will work on the Verizon 3G network and offers Wi-Fi connectivity as well. Ozone supports VZ Navigator, Visual Voice Mail, Email, and IM. Power for the Ozone comes from a 1500 mAh battery. The Ozone can be ordered online starting on June 29 and will be in stores on July 13.
There has been no shortage of talk about the apparent demise of 
There has been no shortage of talk about the apparent demise of 
Flickr
Flickr
Okay, the situation surrounding the App Store and its approval process continues to get weirder and weirder. As you may have heard, an application 
Okay, the situation surrounding the App Store and its approval process continues to get weirder and weirder.
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