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Monday, December 2, 2013
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Misfit Wearables, the Khosla and Founders Fund-backed startup that builds elegant activity tracking hardware, is patching up a weak spot with the launch of its new Android app today.


It was something that prospective customers balked at when the company launched back in the summer.


Misfit makes the Shine, a quarter-sized activity tracker that's popular among women and costs about $99.95. The team behind the product is an experienced one that built the first medical device that was approved for use with the iPhone - a glucose meter. Those relationships helped them secure key distribution partnerships with all Apple stores worldwide, Best Buy and some Target locations.


It has a paired app that syncs through Bluetooth with a cool animation, and pulls in all of your activity data in day-by-day graphs.


They're bringing the Android version to market today, at least a month earlier than they had promised. They had pledged to have a live Android version “early next year.” Early reviews show that it's crashing on some devices, though Misfit says it has fixes coming in the next version.


Earlier this week, they also released an update to the app that brings some social features - users can see when their friends are passing them in points and get regular alerts. Jawbone has a similar feature where you can compare yourself against friends.







9:23 AM

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BlackBerry got a lot of chaff from the press for issuing full-page print newspaper ads effectively reminding customers they're not dead, likely to counter rumors to the contrary in a lot of headlines and article feature art. Now, maverick interim CEO John Chen has issued another missive proclaiming BlackBerry's non-death, showing he clearly has nothing in common with his predecessor Thorsten Heins (who was in charge the first time they did this).


This letter is different in tone, however, as it aims at BlackBerry's enterprise customers and suggests that's where BlackBerry will focus the bulk of its efforts going forward. Chen opens by noting that there's no longer a “For Sale” sign on the company as a way of reassuring that it'll be around to back up whatever services enterprise customers might buy from it, then clarifies that they do mobile device management (MDM) for just about every type of mobile gadget out there, not just BlackBerries. It ends with a call to focus on security, followed by a sales pitch for BES10, its multiplatform MDM product that launched last June.


This letter is more information and “setting the record straight” than the previous full-page ad, and it's targeted instead of a general, clearly reactionary blast to negative press. Chen's open letter is more of a defense against the buzzard of other MDM providers, which are no doubt having a feeding frenzy trying to lure BlackBerry customers away from the incumbent to their own solutions given the perceived unstable ground upon which the Canadian telecom giant currently sits.


Sending a letter to remind people you exist isn't new to the BlackBerry playbook (this pun is and will remain too good forever), but at least this time Chen and co. clearly aren't trying to plug all the holes in the sinking ship. They'll shore up in the saucer and separate the stardrive, and maybe this time, that'll be enough to save the enterprise and her crew to fight another day.







9:09 AM

BlackBerry got a lot of chaff from the press for issuing full-page print newspaper ads effectively reminding customers they're not dead ...

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Yahoo has acquired SkyPhrase, a startup that builds natural language processing technology, the company revealed today in a blog post. SkyPhrase will join Yahoo's New York office, according to that company's site, and will work with Yahoo to help continue its goal of “making computers deeply understand people's natural language and intentions.”


Back in October, we covered SkyPhrase, and noted specifically that its NLP tech could be used to advance fantasy sports, which is of course an area where Yahoo excels and has a considerable investment already. The company has created an app that makes it easy for fantasy football players to search through stats and find only those relevant to making picks and monitoring their team, which would be very handy integrated directly into Yahoo's fantasy sports products.


Developing…







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Yahoo has acquired SkyPhrase, a startup that builds natural language processing technology, the company revealed today in a blog post . SkyP...

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The PlayStation 4 took home the record for sales of a launch console this weekend in the UK, topping 250,000 units sold in 48 hours, which tallies up to around $1.4 billion U.S. in sales, according to The Telegraph. That's far better than the PlayStation 3 managed back when it launched, and a good 100K units better than the 150,000 units reportedly sold by Microsoft during its Xbox One launch in the UK a week ago.


Neither Microsoft nor Sony are talking official numbers for the launches of their devices in the UK, despite crowing about million-plus device sales for their respective North American launches. Microsoft launched in more markets with its first release, however, as Matthew Panzarino points out, that included the UK in its pool.


It's hard to make a strong case for a dramatic lead by either console at this stage in the game, with imperfect information coming in, but the PS4 does seem to maintain a slightly lead based on what we know. The last time a game console sold anywhere near as many units on launch day was the PSP, which shipped 185,000 units back in 2005. The Nintendo Wii U isn't even in the running, which doesn't bode well for Nintendo's next decade.


Another interesting stat to coincide with these record console numbers: Steam has just announced that it passed a 7 million simultaneous user login milestone, meaning that many people were using its games platform all at once. That's an incredible number given the usual pace of console sales, let alone active players, so Valve and its Steambox/SteamOS plans are still the key player to watch in this race as far as I'm concerned.







6:38 AM

The PlayStation 4 took home the record for sales of a launch console this weekend in the UK, topping 250,000 units sold in 48 hours, which t...

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Y Combinator alum Strikingly launched earlier this year with the mission of enabling people to build Web sites in just a few minutes. With the launch of its new one-click site builder, the startup has now reduced that time to seconds.


The one-click site builder, which Strikingly bills as “the world's fastest Web site builder,” automatically fills in a mobile-optimized site with information from your Facebook account, including your profile picture, work experience, hometown, current city and contact information. You then have the option of customizing your site with new content, photos or additional slides.


Strikingly's goal is to appeal to customers who want the legitimacy of their own site but have little or no coding and design experience. The startup competes with other site building and hosting services like Wix, Weebly and Squarespace, which also advertise their ease-of-use.


The one-click builder stands out from competing products because it is a site builder that is comfortable to use even on a smartphone (an important selling point for regions such as Southeast Asia, one of Strikingly's target markets and a place where many people access the Internet solely through their mobile devices). One of the ideas behind the product is that once customers enjoy the satisfaction of completing a site in seconds, they will be motivated to move onto Strikingly's other services when they want to create something more elaborate.

Strikingly One-Click 2

“What [Strikingly] has done so far is bring the time spent on site building down to minutes, but even that is still too high a barrier of entry for regular users who have only a couple minutes in which to learn how to use a product and then put something up,” says Chen.


Chen says Strikingly wants to make building a Web site even easier than filling out a social media profile. The one-click builder is “not the end of our simplifying process, but a very important step,” he adds. The startup's users have included Walter Tsui, a blind man who used his iPad and Strikingly's templates to create a site with information about his professional experience and volunteer work with an advocacy organization.


The one-click builder is aimed at individuals and very small businesses. In addition to other site-building platforms, Strikingly's one-click builder also competes for those customers with products like Facebook Pages, LinkedIn profiles and About.me, all easy ways for a person or business to establish a Web presence.


Chen says Strikingly's advantage over social media is that a Web site helps establish credibility.


“Anyone can set up a social media account, but if you have a domain name associated with a Web site that is beautifully designed, you immediately have a statement of legitimacy,” says Chen. “People see your site on your resume, look it up and can see that you spent some time building up a personal brand and storyline.”


Strikingly's one-click builder seek to differentiate from About.me by giving users more control over how content is presented on their sites. About.me sites, which have one page with a background image and links to social media profiles, function like online business cards. Strikingly wants to take a more flexible and creative approach, says Chen. For example, the one-click slide builder automatically includes a slide titled “what I believe in” which users can fill in with a quote.


“People want to tell a story about themselves,” says Chen. “Instead of saying ‘hey, check out my Facebook,' our Web sites say ‘let me walk you through my philosophy.'”







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Y Combinator alum Strikingly launched earlier this year with the mission of enabling people to build Web sites in just a few minutes. With ...

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It's never been easier to make your home work for you. In the past, installing home automation devices was a laborious and obnoxious task, reserved for only the most committed geeks. But now home automation items can be wrapped and given as gifts. Best yet, these products are fully functional on their own, not requiring the installation of a central hub like in the past.


Nest Learning Thermostat


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The Learning Thermostat is a staple of a modern smart home. It's beautiful, easy to install, and works well. At $249, it's likely more expensive than four standard thermostats, but the home owner should see lower energy bills thanks to the built-in sensors that monitor the home, automatically adjusting the temperature when it senses no one is around.


The Learning Thermostat can also be fully controlled from a smartphone or the web. Want to make sure the home is toasty warm when you arrive? Load the Android or iOS and pump up the heat a few minutes before you get home.


Nest Protect


nest


Nest didn't just reinvent the thermostat. The company recently revealed its take on the smoke detector as part of the company's quest to transform the home. The Protect is a smoke and carbon monoxide detector that connects with a smartphone, notifying home owners of potential problems like low battery level as well as when their house is on fire. Plus, if you happen to burn the bacon, you can simply wave your hands at the Protect to silence the alarm. It's $129 and available in white and black.


Philips Hue


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Think of the Philips Hue as a smart light bulb. The LED light can change to a huge number of colors all controlled by a central bridge connected to a smartphone app. Wake up to warm lighting. Go to bed to deep auburn. Recreate a stale library with bright white. It's all possible with the Hue. Plus, a bunch of 3rd party applications are available, transforming the simple light bulb into a pretty interesting gift.


The best way to get into the Hue light is to purchase a four-pack of the bulbs. Available for $199, the Starter Pack, includes everything a person needs to take full advantage of the lighting system.


Belkin WeMo


WeMo


The Belkin WeMo are Internet-connected outlets. Turn on a baby monitor. Control a coffee machine. Click on a space heater. The Belkin WeMo outlets controlled by smartphone apps make all of this possible.


There are several different options available. Starting at $49.99 the Belkin line includes motion detecting outlets, light switches and even one model that includes energy monitoring, allowing the home owner to track the outlet's energy consumption from afar.


Revolv


revolv-home-automation-hub-xl


Meet Revolv, a novel way to wrangle all of these stand-alone home automation products. Give this to the person that already has the aforementioned products and is stuck controlling their home through a bevy of smartphone apps.


The Revolv allows for smart macros. Click one button to drop the temperature on a Nest, change the lighting on a Hue, turn on a Sonos system, and lock the doors through a Lockitron. Click another button to turn everything off. It's $299 and the ultimate gift for the person that already has everything.


Sonos Play:1


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The Sonos Play:1 is the latest addition to the Sonos family. At $199, and relatively small, it's the baby of the group. But the small size is deceiving. We found in our testing that it still packs a big sound and in traditional Sonos fashion, makes playing music a trivial affair.


Give the Play:1 to a Sonos newcomer or to a person who already has a Sonos system. Both will love it and will instantly find a place to work it into their home. With the $199 Play:1, Sonos now has options at nearly every price point.


Wren


V5AP-2


The V5 is a gorgeous $399 speaker from Wren Sound Systems. It sounds great, and looks even better. Bluetooth and AirPlay options are available. When sat on a shelf or tabletop, the speaker harkens to a time when speakers were subtle, designed to fit within a home rather than stand out like a sci-fi movie prop.







6:23 AM

It's never been easier to make your home work for you. In the past, installing home automation devices was a laborious and obnoxious tas...

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With Thanksgiving behind us and Christmas looming on the horizon, Samsung apparently thought it fitting to drop a few pre-holiday gifts in our lap. A number of rumors have been swirling this morning regarding Samsung's giant Galaxy Note phone line, including upgraded cameras and perhaps a lite version of the phone.


So what's to expect for the phablet?


Well, to start, it appears that Samsung may be working on a lower-end “lite” model of the Galaxy Note. Unwired View is calling it the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 Lite, and it will reportedly be unveiled at MWC next year.


According to SamMobile, the Note 3 Lite (model number SM-N7505) showed up in shipping manifests over the weekend for testing. The variants included a 5.49 and 5.7-inch display of an LCD persuasion, opposed to the more expensive Super AMOLED displays.


The idea here is that the Galaxy Note 3 Lite will be a lower-cost alternative to consumers interested in switching over to Samsung's flagship lines but not for more than $300.


Meanwhile, other rumors have surfaced claiming that the next Galaxy Note (presumably the Galaxy Note 4) will come with a 20-megapixel camera sensor.


We're seeing a clear battle in the camera department, with Nokia's 41-megapixel PureView cameras and even Sony popping a 20-megapixel sensor on the Xperia Z1. However, megapixels is just a number, which Apple has proven with the iPhone 5s at 8 megapixels.


According to ET News, Samsung has developed the 20-megapixel sensor for release in the second half of 2014. It seems that the Galaxy S5 will come to market a bit early to sport the new 20-megapixel sensor, but the Galaxy Note 4 should be right on time.


As far as confirmed news goes, Samsung today announced new colors for the Galaxy Note 3, including Rose Gold White, Rose Gold Black, and Merlot Red.







6:08 AM

With Thanksgiving behind us and Christmas looming on the horizon, Samsung apparently thought it fitting to drop a few pre-holiday gifts in o...

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