New Technology News

Thursday, December 19, 2013

Loop, a startup that makes it easy and quick for retailers to collect feedback from customers, has released version 2.0 of its iOS app. The most important change probably isn’t a product feature, but the fact that Loop is ready to start charging.

With Loop (which I tried out in May), it’s easy for business to put together a survey with a few questions, and then to display that survey on an iPad that they hand to the customer while they’re still in the store. As a result, co-founder and CEO Rajit Marwah said consumers are much more likely to respond than they would to, say, an email survey (though businesses also get a survey link that they can share via email, Facebook, Twitter, or anywhere else). The mobile app also allows businesses to see real-time results.

Marwah said that since launch, Loop has been used by more than 10,000 businesses to collect more than 500,000 responses. During that time, he has also been testing pricing in “11 currencies” and settled on a price of $99 a year for Loop’s pro product. He argued that’s a “disruptive” price compared to someone like SurveyMonkey, which charges between $204 and $780 annually for its paid plans.

Like SurveyMonkey, Loop is using a freemium model — there’s a free version, but businesses have to pay to use more devices, to collect more responses, and to receive customer support. During the tests, Marwah said he found that Loop had three times the conversion rate of “typical” freemium products, and that the low price was “more than offset” by the fact that more people are buying.

The company says other new features in the app include a redesign for iOS 7, the ability to conduct surveys from an iPhone, and the ability to include a page highlighting the business before starting the survey, and easier survey creation. Interested businesses can download the app here.

Loop received seed funding from Archimedes Labs, an incubator whose chief product officer Keith Teare also co-founded TechCrunch.

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Loop Upgrades Its Mobile Survey App, Adds A Pro Account For $99 A Year

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Loop , a startup that makes it easy and quick for retailers to collect feedback from customers, has released version 2.0 of its iOS app. The...

A task force set up by President Obama to review the National Security Agency's surveillance activities has suggested a list of what it calls "significant" reforms, including restrictions on spying. Among the recommendations: changes in surveillance of both U.S. and non-U.S. citizens to protect their privacy; changes to metadata storage practices; issuance of National Security Letters used by the FBI to compel access to private records; promotion of transparency and accountability; and an overhaul of the NSA and the secretive FISA Court.

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Surveillance Report Blasts NSA, Recommends Overhaul

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A task force set up by President Obama to review the National Security Agency's surveillance activities has suggested a list of what i...

Apple has issued a new developer preview of OS X version 10.9.2, and it introduces some interesting new features according to 9to5Mac. The most interesting is probably FaceTime Audio, however. Apple introduced VoIP calling (no video required) to FaceTime in iOS 7 on mobile devices, but this marks its first appearance on the desktop.

9to5Mac reports that the new audio calling feature is “integrated deeply” into both the Messages and the FaceTime OS X apps, which presumably means that you can initiate and possibly receive voice calls from each. This is a major development because it essentially completes the picture on Apple providing a full set of over-the-top text, voice and video communication tools across both its computing platforms, bypassing typical network and even device type limitations entirely.

Already since upgrading to iOS 7, and having most of my friends and family do the same, I’ve noticed a lot of inbound calls coming through via FaceTime Audio, and my outbound ones have mostly been the same. Having the option to use it on the Mac means I’ll now be able to field those calls at the desk, seamlessly, if I happen to be there, instead of having to fumble for the phone.

I’d call this a considerable threat to Skype, if Skype didn’t already work on an even greater range of devices. And the crowd that uses Skype isn’t necessarily the same group that would be using FaceTime Audio – ordinary users who’ve never set up a Skype account could easily call friends using FaceTime instead of their carrier’s voice service, given how deeply embedded it is into iOS in general. In that sense, FaceTime Audio could cut off some of Skype’s growth potential, as iOS and Mac users at least who live mostly within the ecosystem won’t be bothered to look around for alternatives.

As with any beta release, 10.9.2 is subject to change before its eventual launch, so don’t count on this absolutely, 100 percent definitely coming through in the final release. Still, it’s a logical move, and one that I’m personally hoping makes the cut.

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Apple Adds FaceTime Audio To OS X 10.9.2 Beta, Bringing Native Mac-To-iOS Voice Calls Closer

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Apple has issued a new developer preview of OS X version 10.9.2, and it introduces some interesting new features according to 9to5Mac . The ...

Nextdoor, the fast-growing startup that has been compared to a Facebook for your neighborhood, has revealed some new numbers today in a TCTV interview with co-founder and CEO Nirav Tolia and Greylock partner and Nextdoor investor Josh Elman. As Tolia tells us, Nextdoor just launched its 25,000th neighborhood (up from 22,500 neighborhoods in October, and 6,000 neighborhoods a year ago. He also said that the network is now being used in 1-in-6 neighborhoods.

In the video above, Tolia and Elman talked about how they have worked together on growth ‘hacks’ for the network. Prior to Greylock, Elman helped Twitter grow its active user base by nearly 10x, led the launch of Facebook Connect, led product management for Zazzle, and was also part of the early team at LinkedIn focused on growth and jobs. As Tolia tells us in the video above, Elman’s insight and experience in growing a network has been instrumental in the startup’s continued engagement from users.

On one project Elman and Tolia worked alongside the company’s designers and engineers to make the Nextdoor member experience in a neighborhood of 10 members be different than in a neighborhood of 1,000 members. They’ve also worked through methodologies and frameworks around how to adapt a product once it starts to reach scale.

Check out the video above for more on Tolia’s ‘growth hacks,’ Elman’s advice for thinking about growth and more.

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Nextdoor Talks Growth, Now Being Used In One In Six Neighborhoods In The US

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Nextdoor , the fast-growing startup that has been compared to a Facebook for your neighborhood, has revealed some new numbers today in a TCT...

AOL is finalizing negotiations to sell off Winamp and Shoutcast in a deal that would allow both products to live on, according to a source with knowledge of the discussions.

The company (which owns TechCrunch) announced last month that as of December 20, Winamp web services would shut down and that the desktop version of the video and music player would no longer be available for download.

Shortly afterward, TechCrunch’s Ingrid Lunden reported that Microsoft was in talks to buy both Winamp and Shoutcast, another media streaming service that AOL owns through its acquisition of Nullsoft way back in 1999.

My source did not identify the potential buyer, but they said the deal was close enough that they’re “confident” that an agreement will be reached. Also, they said they don’t believe the previously announced shutdown would happen on Dec. 20 — while these negotiations are progressing, I’m guessing it’s in the interest of both parties to keep the services up and running.

An AOL spokesperson declined to comment for this story.

As we noted in our previous coverage, the products haven’t entirely languished under AOL — for example, Winamp Sync for Mac launched two years ago — but it hasn’t exactly seemed like a big priority. Nonetheless, Winamp in particular has a certain nostalgic appeal for people of the right age (i.e., me) and someone (Microsoft?) thinks there’s still some value here.

[image via Wikipedia]

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AOL Finalizing Talks To Sell Winamp And Shoutcast, No Shutdown Expected On Dec. 20

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AOL is finalizing negotiations to sell off Winamp and Shoutcast in a deal that would allow both products to live on, according to a source w...

This is Quin. She’s a fully posable (and Barbie-compatible) doll that can be made on a 3D printer and snapped together. Her creators, the folks at 3DKitBash built her to prove that you can build usable, playable toys on a 3D printer. They also built her because she looks amazing.

The 3D files will cost $55 once the project funds in January and you can order her pre-printed in ABS plastic for $245. You can also order clothes and other perks from their Kickstarter page.

The pair who created Quin are Natalie Mathis and Quincy Robinson. Mathis is the Director of Institutional Advancement at a fine art museum in Cincinnati, Ohio and Robinson is a toy inventor and sculptor. He’s worked for Mattell and Hasbro and writes “If you’ve been in a toy isle at a Target or Wal-Mart, chances are, you’ve seen my work.”

“I’ve also been known to rehabilitate orphaned possums,” he said.

The team is based in Cincinatti, Ohio where they’ve seen a renaissance of sorts in the 3D-printing community. Robinson said that “there is not a 3D Printing device that you’re not a couple of handshakes away from within this modestly sized, yet very capable, city.” The city itself is using the resources of General Electric and Procter & Gamble to expand engineering education and making in this burgeoning town.

“We’re all about trying to test the boundaries of what can be achieved with desktop 3D Printing, and a doll (in my mind) is a pretty big test for good or bad,” said Robinson. “You can’t do a half-ass job and it be considered good. And if it’s not good, it’s ugly. Sculpting or printing-wise. Quin is the result of us trying to prove ourselves and present something to the current (and future) community that demonstrates where we are, and what we can expect. We as a community have the ability to create and offer easy-to-print, modular models, with lots of character, and offer lots of customization potential.”

Robinson and Mathis see Quin as more than just a toy. They expect other 3D printing enthusiasts to remix and modify her for their needs and doll fans can mod her to work with their collectable accessories.

“I really see Quin as being more of an inventing/customization platform. She can perform like a traditional fashion doll, but I hope her ability to be so many things will appeal to the creative tech savvy builders out there that need a no-mess platform to demo their thoughts on,” said Robinson.

Will Quin survive the ravages of a three-year-old in a bad mood? The team thinks she can.

“If you told me three months ago that I’d have a 3D Doll that would be as reliable as a standard Barbie and be able to stand on her own; I would have scoffed… But it’s true! A well printed Quin has the structural soundness of a Barbie with acutely sized tabs to lock legs together and snug joints to aide in poses,” said Robinson. “She’s sturdy.”

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The World’s First Home-Printable Fashion Doll, Quin, Looks Pretty Spacey

2:08 PM

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This is Quin. She’s a fully posable (and Barbie-compatible) doll that can be made on a 3D printer and snapped together. Her creators, the fo...

Simple.TV is making good on its promise to ship its next-generation streaming DVR to users who pre-ordered the product, telling them they would receive the devices by the end of the year. The company is also releasing new versions of its iOS and Android mobile and tablet apps to make it easier for users to find content that they want to stream and record. The release comes ahead of Simple.TV’s plan to unveil a cloud-based DVR storage offering, as well as support on OUYA game consoles.