Posts Tagged ‘MobileBeat’
ISBX raises $750K to give cross-platform mobile apps a fighting chance
Smartphones and their add-on apps are increasingly catching the eyes of angels and other venture-capital investors as the war between product offerings heats up, Arthur Iinuma, COO at cross-platform mobile developer , told VentureBeat Monday.
Iinuma said the nine-month-old Los Angeles-based smartphone-focused development shop has seen revenues grow an average of 25 percent every month since its founding. On the strength of those numbers, ISBX announced Monday that it had raised $750,000 in funding from , Taiwan-based angel investors.
At a time when many app developers focus first on the iPhone, then Google’s Android operating system, and leave other mobile platforms as an afterthought, ISBX builds mobile apps for brands and businesses across all mobile platforms including iPhone, BlackBerry, Android, Windows Phone 7, and Symbian. Customers include Warner Bros., Sony Pictures, Glam Media, and the Ultimate Fighting Championship.
This sort of seed money sown in smartphone-related startups is only the beginning of a rush of venture capital into the sector, predicted Iinuma (pictured here).
“This is most certainly the tip of the iceberg, since the mobile universe is one of potentially significant scalability, but is still in the early stages of innovation,” said Iinuma. “Growth in VC activity in this sector will, no doubt, spur a wave of innovation, but more importantly, signal the VCs’ acknowledgement that mobile application technology needs to be given serious consideration in today’s fast-paced world of mobile phones. Our market research consistently informs us of the potential for significant expansion of the mobile app universe, with enterprise poised as the next growth segment.”
Iinuma added that institutional interest in mobile application technology is something that is not unique to the States, with some of the largest user bases coming from a diverse group of smartphone platforms in Asia and Europe.
“There there are savvy investment groups based in those regions that are not going to let Sand Hill take all the winnings for themselves,” said Iinuma, referring to northern California’s cluster of venture-capital firms near Stanford University.
Getting content noticed is a challenge for everyone making apps. Join us at DiscoveryBeat 2010 and hear secrets from top industry executives about how to break through and profit in the new cross-platform app ecosystem. From metrics to monetization, we’ll take an in depth look at the best discovery strategies and why they’re working. The conference takes place on October 18 at the Mission Bay Conference Center in San Francisco. Sponsors can contact us at sponsors@venturebeat.com. To buy tickets, .
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T-Mobile’s new myTouch may be its best Android phone yet
It’s looking to be a good Android phone season for T-Mobile subscribers. The carrier announced today a powerful new Android phone that will succeed the myTouch 3G — simply called the T-Mobile myTouch.
The phone is the second upgrade this month to an existing T-Mobile Android handset. The carrier is gearing up to offer — the successor to — in the next few days. The myTouch and G2 will accompany the Samsung Vibrant, part of Samsung’s, and the upcoming , to make up T-Mobile’s high-end Android selection for the next few months.
Hardware-wise, the new myTouch is a drool-worthy device. It sports a 1-gigahertz processor (the G2 only has an 800Mhz CPU), 3.8″ display, 5-megapixel camera, and a front-facing camera for video conferencing. While its screen is slightly smaller than the Vibrant’s 4-inch display, the addition of a front-facing camera is a worthy compromise. The G2 will be shipping with Android 2.2 (which goes by the codename “Froyo”), an 8-gigabyte microSD memory card, and it will be available in white, black, red, and plum.
Like the G2, the myTouch will support T-Mobile’s HSPA+ network, which the carrier claims will offer 4G speeds. Technically, HSPA is just a faster 3G technology — AT&T is currently working to deploy HSPA before it rolls out its 4G LTE network. HSPA will effectively double download speeds to around 7Mbps, which is far from what many would consider “4G.” (Though if we’re getting picky, even current LTE technology isn’t quite 4G — although it does offer better speeds than HSPA.)
T-Mobile says the myTouch will be available “in time for the holidays.” While the carrier still doesn’t have as big an Android selection as Verizon, the myTouch will certainly make up for the lack of variety with speed and its video-conferencing capabilities.
Getting content noticed is a challenge for everyone making apps. Join us at DiscoveryBeat 2010 and hear secrets from top industry executives about how to break through and profit in the new cross-platform app ecosystem. From metrics to monetization, we’ll take an in depth look at the best discovery strategies and why they’re working. The conference takes place on October 18th at the Mission Bay Conference Center in San Francisco. Sponsors can contact us at sponsors@venturebeat.com. To buy tickets, .
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ClairMail raises $13.8M for more mobile banking options
, which sells mobile tools for banking alerts and transactions, announced today that it has .
ClairMail offers a suite of mobile applications to help consumers stay aware of their account status with each bank. The platform provides a mobile application, text messaging alerts, and the like to update users on new activity regarding their bank accounts. ClairMail also offers mobile payment options and ways for credit card companies to deliver alerts to their customers.
The most recent fundraising round was led by Investor Growth Capital. Existing investors JAFCO Partners, Norwest Venture Partners and Outlook Ventures also participated in the round. The funding is pegged to help improve its mobile infrastructure and for research and development.
Interest in mobile banking has grown lately with each major bank providing its own mobile banking applications. Some financial institutions, like USAA, also offer ways for banking customers to deposit checks simply by taking a picture of the check with an iPhone. Data from comScore indicates that in April, which is a 70 percent increase from a year ago. About 41 percent of smartphone users , according to data from comScore.
So far, eight of the top 12 financial institutions in the United States have jumped on board with the mobile banking platform, the company said in a press release. ClairMail has some high-profile banking names like BB&T and Bank of the West as top-tier customers, as well as more than 45 other financial institutions with a reach of 161 million users. ClairMail saw 300 percent growth in its revenue year-over-year in its second quarter of 2010, the company said in a press release.
The San Rafael, Calif.-based company was founded in 2004 and currently has 125 employees. ClairMail declined to disclose its total funding to date.
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LG’s “iPad killer” Optimus tablet delayed for Android 3.0
Don’t make promises you can’t keep. South Korean electronics giant LG when it said its Android-based Optimus tablet “will be better than the iPad.” Now it appears that we won’t be seeing that tablet anytime soon, .
LG has apparently dropped (codenamed “Froyo”) — a decision which will likely delay its release from late this year to early 2011.
“We plan to introduce a tablet that runs on the most reliable Android version … We are in talks with Google to decide on the most suitable version for our tablet and that is not Froyo 2.2,” an LG official said.
The news comes just a few days after details of hit the Web. Motorola is looking to use Android 3.0 (codenamed “Gingerbread”, due for release later this year) in its tablet, and it’s aiming for an early 2011 release. LG will most likely wait for Android 3.0 as well — an update which is rumored to be more stable and better suited to tablets than current Android versions.
LG’s tablet may also be delayed so that the manufacturer can focus on its iPhone-rivaling Optimus smartphones, according to . The official also says that LG’s tablet hardware is ready to go — it’s the software that’s holding the company back. The tablet will probably be shown off at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas next January, he said.
The longer LG waits to get into the tablet game, the less likely it will be able to offer something that’s truly “better than the iPad.” Apple will most likely show off its second-generation iPad early next year, and it will probably include many of the hardware upgrades — like a camera for video conferencing — that LG is looking to include in its device.
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Oops! Verizon refunding $90M to customers for data charges
Verizon Wireless announced yesterday that it’s refunding $90 million to around 15 million customers who were mistakenly charged for data access on their phones over the past few years.
The majority of affected customers will see credits in the $2 to $6 range on their next bill. Former customers who have moved on to another carrier will receive checks.
The charges stemmed from customers who mistakenly accessed data sessions on their phones, even though they didn’t have data plans. As Verizon explains: “These customers would normally have been billed at the standard rate of $1.99 per megabyte for any data they chose to access from their phones. The majority of the data sessions involved minor data exchanges caused by software built into their phones; others involved accessing the Web, which should not have incurred charges. We have addressed these issues to avoid unintended data charges in the future.”
Many, including , complained about Verizon’s practice of charging small fees to access data services — particularly because it seemed like its phones were designed to encourage launching data apps by mistake.
According to a Pogue reader who worked for Verizon, the company was well aware of the issue, but allowed it to continue. “The phone is designed in such a way that you can almost never avoid getting $1.99 charge on the bill. Every month, the 87 million customers will accidentally hit that key a few times a month!” he wrote. “That’s over $300 million per month in data revenue off a simple mistake! Our marketing, billing, and technical departments are all aware of this. But they have failed to do anything about it—and why? Because if you get 87 million customers to pay $1.99, why stop this revenue?”
Verizon at last seems to have grown a conscience — or maybe it realized that with its great Android superphone success, which demand heftier data plans, it no longer needs to nickel and dime its customers.
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Microsoft’s Ballmer evangelizes Windows Phone 7 launch, set for Oct. 11
chief executive Steve Ballmer said that the company’s Oct. 11 launch of its Windows Phone 7 operating system for cell phones will show that it finally has a compelling story in mobile phones.
In an interview with the , Ballmer confirmed the launch date and said that Microsoft and its partners plan to launch a bunch of handsets with Microsoft’s software that will be a direct challenge to Apple’s iPhone and Google’s Android operating system.
of Microsoft patents in Motorola’s Android phones.
Ballmer admitted that Microsoft “missed a cycle” with execution problems in research and development.
“In the time frame since the last significant release, certainly the industry has moved, the technology has moved, the hardware has moved,” he said. “We said, we’ve got to move forward, not shoot for yesterday. We’ve got to shoot ahead in a way that’s delightful to users [and] accessible to developers and prioritize everything else we do around those elements.”
Ballmer wouldn’t say if Microsoft considered selling its own phone using Windows Phone 7 software. It did so with the Kin, which was developed by the Danger company that Microsoft acquired. But Ballmer would only say that his company was now working with HTC, Samsung, LG and others.
While Google is giving away its Android software, Ballmer noted that companies have to license patents — from Microsoft — that allows them to use Android freely, so there is some cost to Android. Microsoft, meanwhile, will charge license fees for Windows Phone 7 directly.
Ballmer said he remains confident that market share can still change quickly based on the introduction of new phones in the market. He said that Microsoft’s software puts hubs front and center in the phones. These hubs display what is most important to people, whether it’s contacts or personal messages.
Predictably, Ballmer said that Windows phones wouldn’t threaten Windows computers, as people are likely to have devices in their lives with small, medium and large-size screens.
Getting content noticed is a challenge for everyone making apps. Join us at DiscoveryBeat 2010 and hear secrets from top industry executives about how to break through and profit in the new cross-platform app ecosystem. From metrics to monetization, we’ll take an in depth look at the best discovery strategies and why they’re working. The conference takes place on October 18th at the Mission Bay Conference Center in San Francisco. Sponsors can contact us at sponsors@venturebeat.com. To buy tickets, .
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Week in review: Digg founder admits mistakes
Here’s our roundup of the week’s tech business news. First, the most popular stories VentureBeat published in the last seven days:
— Digg, the pioneering social-news site that lets users vote on top headlines, began to lose momentum during the recession because it pulled engineers from designing new features to improving revenue, founder Kevin Rose said Wednesday.
— Apple tipped its hand on future iPad designs by filing for patents in China.
— Digg is trying to work its way out of the traffic hole it created with its botched redesign attempt. This week it announced the return of several popular features from its previous version.
— Marissa Mayer, Google’s vice president of search and user experience, talked about how she sees Facebook and about whether or not it’s a competitor.
— Research in Motion founder and co-CEO Mike Lazaridis hit the stage at RIM’s BlackBerry Developers Conference in San Francisco on Monday, where he unveiled the company’s long-awaited tablet — the BlackBerry Playbook.
And here are five more posts we think are important, thought-provoking, or fun:
— Jajah, the internet phone company that was snapped up by Spanish telecom giant Telefonica for $207 million, is declaring war on calling cards.
— Vinod Khosla, dynamic founder of Khosla Ventures, said, “You can reduce more carbon by painting your roof white than you can by buying a Prius.”
— How can you tell when a CEO is lying? It turns out that it’s slightly more complicated than monitoring the movement of their lips.
— AOL chief executive Tim Armstrong announced that he has acquired popular tech blog TechCrunch.
— For Google CEO Eric Schmidt, the next step in technology is the same that it has always been — augmenting humanity to handle information that a human brain couldn’t otherwise keep up with, and just make things work.
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