TechCrunch

Somedays, it seems like Facebook Connect is slowly taking over the web. It’s becoming so ubiquitous that it’s more surprising now to find a site that doesn’t allow you to log-in with your Facebook credentials. Seeing this, Google has been taking steps to make its own similar pla...

MOG may well be hitting a sweet spot with its All Access service, but it's only available in the United States for now. Its most obvious competitor, MySpace Music, was too until a minute ago when the company made its official debut in the United Kingdom just over a year and two months after it wa...

We’ve been tracking the progress of Meebo’s Community IM bar for a long time now: it was announced back in July 2008, started rolling out in October 2008, and is now exposed to nearly 100 million people worldwide on dozens of partner sites. Clearly it’s making good progress,...

Today at their Bing Fall Release event, Microsoft showed off some nice updates to their search engine, including further information about how the much anticipated Twitter and Facebook data integration will work. But by far the most interesting thing they showed was the new beta version of Bing M...

As mobile platform makers grant more and more system functionality to their browsers, the once distinct lines between native applications and web applications are beginning to blur. Over the past few months, HTML5 and other advances in web technology have allowed developers on various smartphone ...

Back in October, we reported on a new design Google was testing out for its homepage. In short, the design takes Google’s minimalist approach to an extreme, removing everything from the homepage except for the Google logo, the search box, and the two buttons beneath it. Upon moving your m...

TechStars startup ReTel Technologies just raised $1 million in seed funding from SoftTech VC, Hyde Park Angels, FF Angel, Maples Investments, eonBusiness and Zelkova Ventures. The funds will be used for product development and to expand ReTel’s engineering and sales teams.ReTel’s flagshi...

We'll have a nice, old timey meet-up in Hong Kong this Friday, December 4 at 6pm at the California Bar 30 D'Aguilar Street Hong Kong. I've set up a Plancast event for us so watch that for any changes. If anything changes at the last minute, check my Twitter feed.

Earlier today, I got a look at Time Inc’s new digital magazine concept. While I was there I captured some of the demo on video. Actually, Sports Illustrated editor Terry McDonnell was kind enough to shoot the video above while I played with a prototype version of the tablet mag showing an...

Mobile communication startup Nimbuzz has just made the first native application for BlackBerry smartphones that allows for multi-network chat sessions available in Research In Motion’s App World store (get it here). The native functionality allows the free app to run in the background witho...

Earlier this morning Microsoft outlined some of the major new changes coming to Bing, including the introduction of the new Bing Maps (you can see our full coverage here). A few minutes ago, the Bing Maps Beta went live for everyone, bringing with it a number of innovative new features sure to k...

In August, we covered mobile ad network InMobi, which was been performing very well in the Asia and Africa and beginning to expand to Europe. My colleague Robin Wauters wrote that while InMobi was seeing success in some global markets, traction in Europe is key for the ad network to really take o...

There’s no question multi-touch enabled hardware is going to be invading many homes and offices in the years to come, and it’s exciting to see how some software makers are already building applications that take full advantage of the multi-touch experience, aided by support baked into...

We’re here at Microsoft’s San Francisco headquarters so they can show off what they’re calling the “Bing Fall Release.” Satya Nadella, Microsoft’s Senior Vice President of the Online Services Division is leading this presentation.Below find my live notes (parap...

Yahoo continues their strategic defeat from the front lines of innovation. Earlier today they announced that they’d be “deeply integrating” with Facebook Connect, allowing Yahoo users “to see your Facebook friends’ activities on Yahoo! and share Yahoo! content – ratings, ...

The magazine business is hurting just like all print publications. And even if their Websites are popular, they generate one tenth the ad revenue of the print side. Since last summer, Time Inc has been working on a “Manhattan Project” to create a digital magazine for the new breed o...

It’s fairly ironic to learn that there was still a lawsuit lingering over Time Warner’s merger with America Online from the beginning of this decade, given that AOL is in the process of spinning off and hitting the public markets as an independent entity before year’s end. Anywa...

MOG’s much anticipated All Access music service launches today for anyone to come and give it a try. I’ve been using the service for the last few weeks and, despite my initial skepticism over the fact that users must pay for the service, I’ve been impressed. MOG makes millions o...

Branders.com, an online-only promotional items store operator, raised another $5 million in venture funding, bringing the total invested in the company to a $46 million. Participating in this round were Menlo Ventures, DCM, Venture Strategy Partners and Altos Ventures, all of whom backed the comp...

Greetings from sunny Shenzhen, just north of Hong Kong. I've spent some time in Asia - at least the tech centers - and have never found a place like this. It's like Blade Runner meets 1990s Prague meets the end of the world. I'm here to report on what's going on here in terms of electronics and h...

Mobile application platform HipLogic has raised $7 million in Series B funding from Benchmark Capital, Stage 1 Ventures, Bay Partners, and Accrue Sports and Entertainment Ventures. HipLogic’s platform helps improve content discoverability and applications on both smartphone and non-smartpho...

Another day, another set of giveaways in honor of our Gift Guide. Today we have a Samson Go Mic - you know, for podcasting - and a pair of mittens with thumbs that pop off that the manufacturer is calling Mittenberrys but we're calling a cute idea.To enter, just pop over to the contest pages on o...

Financial information and analysis community Seeking Alpha announced that it has recently closed a Series B round of financing to the tune of $7 million, led by first-time investor DAG Ventures with participation from existing investors Benchmark Capital and Accel Partners.Seeking Alpha also inke...

Zoho is undoubtedly the lesser known name and an underdog in the productivity suite race with Google and Microsoft. But the startup has a compelling strategy: Zoho continuously launches integrations with its competitors and also iterates on it product to offer new and innovative products. Previou...

StockTwits, a social and microblogging service for stock investors, has pulled down another round of financing – $3 million in a Series B round led by Colorado-based Foundry Group. Foundry Group partner Seth Levine joined the company’s board of directors, and True Ventures, an investo...

Research conducted by London-based Global Web Index, a collaboration between online market research agency Lightspeed Research and Trendstream, suggests that streaming might in fact be the right antidote against content piracy. The findings are in line with other research and conclusions reached ...

Dana Hanna updates his Facebook at Twitter, at the altar. Without his bride Tracy knowing about it. I’m sure she was thrilled:I surprised not only my guests, but also Tracy by pulling out my phone and posting on Facebook and Twitter from the altar during out wedding. I had her phone ready i...

Chicago based Groupon, which was formerly known as ThePoint, has raised a hefty Series B financing – $30 million – from new investor Accel Partners and existing investor New Enterprise Associates. Accel’s Kevin Efrusy joins Groupon’s board of directors.The company is going...

Developers take note: if you’ve got a mashup built off of Craigslist’s data, don’t even think about showing it to anyone who works there. At least, that’s the lesson learned by developer Romy Maxwell, who says that Craigslist has blocked both his mashup and every single p...