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Tethering the iPad
Credit 9to5mac.com
The iPad might soon be tethered.
It seems as if Steve Jobs has given in to competition, despite earlier denials. The new iOS 4.2 Beta in Europe already offers you the tethering option under the Cellular Data section.
So, what does this mean for you?
You can:
- Save on money by sharing your iPhone internet connection with your iPad
- Retouch photos, documents and assorted stuff using iPad
Tethering between the iPhone and iPad was earlier possible through Bluetooth. However, Apple disabled that option in June. The reason: what was the point of expensive 3G iPads if you could simply reuse your AT&T connection from the iPhone?
Of course, the tethering feature in Blackberry’s Playbook may have played a role in Apple’s volte face.
Disrupting TechCrunch: The winners!
So, the results of TechCrunch Disrupt are out.
The winners are Qwiki, Cloudflare, and Pinger. The results seem biased towards commercial applications aimed at lay users.
Doug Imbruce, founder, talks about Qwiki (Credit: TechCrunch)
Qwiki is a web and mobile application that calls itself “the future of information consumption.” It takes your search term, pulls information from multiple web sources and creates a multimedia presentation (or, “an immersive information experience,” according to one of the founders) complete with narration and voiceover.
The uses, according to some judges, are:
- Morning news and weather presentation
- Scheduling
- Teaching English
However, I did not find any mention of product revenue streams. Is the service free or will they go the Google way of charging for keywords?
On another personal note, my knee-jerk reaction, as an unemployed journalist, was to check if Qwiki affected my work.
Thankfully, not.
This is because Qwiki’s premise is based on searching existing content chunks to create multimedia experiences. Of course, content producers, such as myself, might have to re-educate themselves in multimedia to make our work relevant to its results. But, that’s hardly news. In fact, I think news organizations might just end up as one of its largest customers because it adds another layer to the news experience.
Cloudflare seems to the exception among the top three. It’s target audience is people who understand the technology of websites.
The idea won the 2009 Harvard Business Plan competition. The web-based service improves performance and security for websites by harnessing the power of multiple webmasters. The core version is free. The ‘Pro’ plan has added features like SSL or greater security, better page optimization, and object pre-fetching for speed. In addition, the plan also offers real-time lookup.
The value proposition seems great.
Customers will definitely sign up for the core free version. After all, who would not want a service that optimizes performance and security. And, the idea might just work if they are able to scale demand with resources.
Pinger is the latest iPod Touch application from a team that has already developed several top-ranked applications. It converts your iPod Touch into a phone using Textfree, an application the company launched last year. from the company. Textfree was a massively popular app with almost 8 million downloads last year.
Now, Pinger has integrated voice calls (using VOIP) into Textfree. The target customer base will simply have to download free apps from the Offers add-on to add free minutes. Each app will have a set number of minutes attached.
Free minutes in exchange for apps? Count me in.
A lot, of course, depends on the length and duration of advertising. Also, how will the apps work? Do I have to watch the full offer to get my free minutes?
Finally, all three winners are focused on different user experiences. This is vital for any new technology to succeed. It might be interesting to see user traction for the winners in the coming years. My bet would be on Cloudflare.
AOL acquires Techcrunch
Credit: Techcrunch
AOL has acquired Techcrunch. Although they announced the acquisition in the last hour, tech website Gigaom leaked news about the takeover last night. The story only hastened Mike Arrington and Tim Armstrong to the stage this afternoon at the Techcrunch Disrupt in San Francisco.
Little has been disclosed about the takeover. However, based on on official statements, it is certain that:
- Mike Arrington will stay on in the merged entity.
- Techcrunch will retain its editorial voice
Techcrunch’s price has not yet been disclosed though there are reports that it has been valued at between $25 million – $40 million.
AOL has been on a buying spree recently. It bought video syndication company 5min media for $65 million yesterday.
Looks like the company is intent on moving away from its service provider image and is betting big on content.
Welcome PlayBook!
So, as predicted earlier, BlackBerry’s new tablet – PlayBook - is here.
Playbook:
- Multitasks, thanks to 1 GB RAM and a dual-core 1 GHZ processor
- Has two cameras (in the front and back)
- Supports Flash and HTML 5
The iPad has 256 MB RAM (with an additional 32MB expendable storage). It has no cameras right now and supports only HTML 5. Samsung’s Galaxy has 512 MB RAM, has two cameras and supports Flash only.
The winner? PlayBook.
Of course, the all-important questions are:
- Does QNX, the tablet’s new OS, represent a significant improvement Blackberry’s clunky OS?
- What is the price for this tablet? My guess is that it will not be cheap. At least, not for the personal user. It might work to be a very cost-effective device for the enterprise user, though. (See below)
- When is it being released? RIM stated that the new tablet would be released in the second quarter of 2011 (this means sometime around January 2011) but has not disclosed a specific date.
PlayBook has WiFi functionality and can be tethered to a BlackBerry through HDMI ports. Clearly, the tablet is targeted at RIM’s substantial enterprise user base.
Thus, if you already own a Blackberry, you can tether it to your PlayBook and save yourself the cost of an additional data plan.
Application providers seem to be buying the hype.
You can find out more about PlayBook here.
Dotcom rewind
The Journal thinks that VCs are returning to dotcom valuations.
I thought it might be interesting to check out the top ten busts , as listed by CNet, for the last dotcom boom.
Online grocery store Webvan (see advert above) was listed as the top bust. The others are a mix of online communities and ecommerce transactions.
In fact, most websites listed are available in other forms today. For example, Kozmo.com has a contemporary counterpart in Grubhub. Similarly, Kibu.com was what we would now call a social network.
So, what has changed?
The internet has gained in user traction. Along with an increase in numbers, the medium has matured and attitudes to e-commerce have changed. Ebay and Craigslist showed the way. Google facilitated the change with its advertising-based model. And, Amazon showed that it was possible to profit from pure e-commerce.
Which makes me believe, perhaps, this time the dotcom companies are here to stay.
Like more of Facebook?
Facebook has launched an exclusive Browser.
The facebook Browser helps you navigate and Like the site’s popular pages. The new feature is context-specific: it shows Likes based on your country. In addition, it also displays a leaderboard comparing your Likes with that of your friends.
Think of it as a exclusive facebook search engine.
According to Insider Facebook: “As Pages gain more Likes and show their ability to drive clicks (read drives the pages up in Google rankings), more businesses will choose to start Pages, and some will pay Facebook to promote them. Users gain a richer experience and……Like more Pages, and Facebook strengthens their role as a portal.”
The value proposition to businesses is enticing: harness the power of facebook’s user base for your business.
Also, the use of the word “portal” is interesting.
Until now, facebook called itself a ”social network”; the site was a way for people to connect and share personal information with each other.
The Like button, introduced in April this year, has changed that. Of course, it is difficult to ignore commercial interests when you have a user base of 400 million and counting. As facebook users Like more web content, the site has repositioned itself as a personalized portal.
The introduction of a Browser is obviously aimed at expanding its user base and ecosystem.
Watch out, Yahoo!
Yesterday, once more?
The Wall Street Journal reports that valuations for web start-ups are soaring. Prominent gainers of this trend are Twitter, Foursquare, Blippy, and Quora as their valuations have multiplied in the last one year. While Twitter’s valuation increased to $1 billion from $95 million last year, Blippy and Quora are valued at $11 million and $87.5 million respectively.
Foursquare is the biggest gainer of this trend: its valuation has zoomed by almost 1500 percent to $95 million from $6 million less than a year ago.
Does increased valuations also signify increased VC activity? Apparently not.
I compared venture capital investments from the dotcom bubble era to recent investments.
VC firms inked close to 8,000 deals at the height of the dotcom bubble. Even after the bubble burst the following year, VC firms still managed to sign 4,543 deals (this number was down to 3,155 deals in 2003).
Compare those figures to the number of VC deals in the last three years. Last year was the worst with barely 2,900 deals. The biggest deal last year valued Chicago start-up Groupon at $1.35 billion. This first half of this year looks promising: there have already been 1,646 deals, so far.
The WSJ article states that “In an echo of the 1990s dot-com boom, some investors also are giving lofty valuations to Web firms that have no revenue and that barely have a product out.”
Strangely though, the story makes no mention of Foursquare’s efforts to engage with businesses or numbers relating to Groupon’s profits. Also, Twitter’s recent makeover might just be the fillip the company needs to start making money.
Maybe, the reporter needed to cut some slack. After all, wasn’t Google struggling to make money at the turn of this century?
RIM to unveil new Tablet
The tablet marketplace is hotting up. Toronto-based Research in Motion – makers of the popular Blackberry devices - are the latest entrants.
The Wall Street Journal reported today that RIM might unveil its new tablet – supposedly called BlackPad - as early as next week’s developer conference in San Francisco. According to WSJ, the tablet will have:
- a seven-inch touch screen
- one or two built-in cameras
- Bluetooth and broadband connections
- A new operating system built by QNX.
The most interesting part, however, is that the tablet might be sold independent of a cellular contract. This means that you will be able to buy the device at Best Buy or any other electronics store.
The iPad is sold with AT&T while Samsung has tied with four major carriers to market the Galaxy.
Of course, the all-important question of pricing remains.
As most tablets move to standard features such as video chats and bluetooth capability, user experience and price-point will distinguish and, in some cases, determine customers.
If the rumors are true, RIM’s strategy of not bundling its tablet with a cellular service might be a good one. It leaves the room open for flexible pricing. Also, it enables RIM to target consumers at different price-points. For example, if you already have a cellular service, you will be able to buy a standalone version of the Blackpad. Alternatively, you could opt for both - Blackpad and cellular service – based on the best deals that the cellular service provides.