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Tuesday, February 11, 2014
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OVR founders

Are you excited about the Oculus Rift virtual reality headset? Because a whole lot of folks are. So much so, in fact, that the tech community picked Oculus VR as the “Best Hardware Startup” of 2013 at the 7th Annual Crunchies Awards — and that’s without the team even having shipped their first consumer-ready product.


I grabbed two of Oculus VR’s four co-founders as they walked off stage for a quick post-win interview, and we talked about everything from the challenges ahead to pretending to be a chicken.



Co-Founders Brendan Iribe and Nate Mitchell were quite humble both on-and-off camera, repeatedly sharing how surprised they were to have won. Their surprise is perhaps understandable; this category was easily one of the most well-rounded and competitive of the evening, with each of their fellow nominees — Square, SmartThings, Sonos, and 3D Robotics — seeming just as likely to win as the next.


So what challenges lay ahead for Oculus? They’ve still got to finalize their retail hardware (having launched an early, rough version of the headset for developers/early adopters last year), and are working hard on making the (occasionally motion-sickness inducing) experience more comfortable for all — but they seem quite confident that they’ve got those bases covered. From here, they say, the biggest challenge is to keep the community rallied behind the device, building the virtual reality experiences that will really sell this thing in the end.





4:39 PM

Are you excited about the Oculus Rift virtual reality headset? Because a whole lot of folks are. So much so, in fact, that the tech communit...

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Screen Shot 2014-02-11 at 15.16.24

The proliferation of FlappyBird clones following the abrupt departure of the game from iTunes has reached an all time high. The Apple App Store and Google Play – even the Pebble Appstore – are now filled with clones of the game. Phones with the original game still installed are apparently being listed on eBay for $99,999.


There are now 81 Flappy cloner developers (hello, “Flappy Penguin”, “Ironpants”, “Clumsy Bird”, “Flappy Bee” etc ) out there, and the list is growing.


The success of the app appears to have sent Flappy Bird creator Dong Nguyen into a depression, and he now longs for his old “simple life”.


He pulled the simple but addictive game from the App Store and Google Play on Sunday.


However there is now a way to play the game without even having to download it to a phone.


Free Flappy Bird is playable straight from within a mobile browser or on a desktop. It’s appeared on a site listing other simple games.


Unlike many clones the game also looks exactly like the original, as per Nguyen’s twitter reply last week saying anyone could make an HTML version of his game, just before the Flappy craze exploded:


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No doubt other Web versions will follow but for now, the Flappy Bird craze is no-where near slowing down.





3:49 PM

The proliferation of FlappyBird clones following the abrupt departure of the game from iTunes has reached an all time high. The Apple App St...

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359-funny-cute-and-smart-puppy-programmer

We rarely do this but we want you to work for us. We’re looking for an SF-based Product Manager to help lead the site into the 22nd century using best-of-breed tools, HTML codes, and the magic of programming. And we need that person right now.


Here’s what’s up: The product leader of TechCrunch.com should have considerable experience with the key product and technology aspects of a media website, including publishing systems (preferably WordPress but not a requirement), video, advertising systems, audience development (SEO, usability, recirculation), and page performance. Growth and analytics are the key focus for the role, and candidates should have strong knowledge and experience in tracking digital media analytics as well as devising, executing and tracking growth strategies across the full spectrum of growth-oriented efforts, from recirculation, to SEO, to product refinements and syndication.


In addition, the successful candidate should have the experience to define and lead, and in some cases juggle, small as well as major projects, ranging from wholesale redesigns to performance improvements and bug database management. Project management experience is a must. The management requirements of the role are complex, and include managing the dev team and outside contractors, while working with stakeholders at TechCrunch, notably the editorial, events and advertising groups.


Strong candidates will have experience balancing their own expertise and experience with the inputs from all these groups, always keeping the best user experience, traffic growth and advertising requirements in mind. Stellar communication skills and a cool head are critical.


You can apply here on LinkedIn. Get cracking!





3:24 PM

We rarely do this but we want you to work for us. We’re looking for an SF-based Product Manager to help lead the site into the 22nd century ...

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bitcoin

After Bitcoin’s fine showing last night at the Crunchies, we took a moment to talk to Peter Vessenes, Chairman of the Bitcoin Foundation. Vessenes accepted the award and assured me multiple times that he was not, in fact, secretive BTC creator Satoshi Nakamoto in disguise.


My biggest question to him is when my mom would start using Bitcoin and why she would be interested.


“It’s a great way to buy stuff on the Internet,” said Vessenes, who went on to describe how he paid a Romanian VPN almost instantly using bitcoin.


Cryptocurrencies are big right now and multiple VCs at the Crunchies expected Bitcoin to be the next big thing. Whether or not Vessenes is really Satoshi is still in doubt, but we’re pretty sure the service is here to stay.






3:09 PM

After Bitcoin’s fine showing last night at the Crunchies , we took a moment to talk to Peter Vessenes, Chairman of the Bitcoin Foundation. ...

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Kaspersky Lab has released research findings on Careto, a malware toolkit that has hit more than 380 victims in 31 countries so far since 2007. "Careto" means "mask" in Spanish, Kaspersky notes. The word also could point to an ancient tradition incorporated into Portuguese and Brazilian Carnival festivals. The malware targets government institutions; embassies; the energy, oil and gas sectors; private companies; research institutions; private equity firms; and activists, Kaspersky's report states.


2:54 PM

Kaspersky Lab has released research findings on Careto, a malware toolkit that has hit more than 380 victims in 31 countries so far since ...

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Last week, we sat down with Thrive Capital founder Josh Kushner at Rock Health’s Digital Health CEO Summit in San Francisco, to talk about his venture into the healthcare industry through the launch of Oscar. Kushner co-founded Oscar to take on the world of health insurance, and to actually create a better, more modern, consumer-friendly health insurance company.


In the video above Kushner talks about how Oscar is changing the way consumers interact with the insurer through data mining, better customer service and more. The company, which only offers insurance plans in New York for now, has enrolled “thousands” of customers and has “tens of millions” of dollars in annualized revenue since its launch last year. Oscar also just raised $30 million in funding from Founders Fund, Khosla Ventures, General Catalyst Partners and others.


For background, Kushner founded Thrive in 2010 and since inception has raised $200 million. The firm’s investment include Instagram, Warby Parker, Codecademy, Spotify, Nasty Gal, Makerbot and ResearchGate.


Check out the video above for more!





2:54 PM

Last week, we sat down with Thrive Capital founder Josh Kushner at Rock Health’s Digital Health CEO Summit in San Francisco, to talk about ...

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threes1

Good things come in Threes, and it’s both maddening and enthralling. I’m talking about the new iOS mobile game from developer Sirvo, which combines Sudoku-like puzzle mechanics with Candy Crush-style matching for an experience that’s all too addictive.


How addictive? I opened it up to start my airplane ride to San Francisco from Toronto this week, fully intending to put it down after a few minutes and put on a movie. But I didn’t put it back down again until we had to turn off our devices to prepare for landing.


That’s a solid six hours of matching up multiples of threes to rack up higher-number tiles and higher scores. It’s not an experience I’ve had with many mobile-first games, which tend to be fine distractions, but lack the power to draw me in for extended gaming sessions in the way something like a Skyrim or a Final Fantasy can.


The mechanics alone aren’t enough to explain the draw of Threes; the mathematical matching is compelling, addictive and so simple as to be understood by all, yet also just sophisticated enough that it stands out from the typical matching games that depend solely on pairing up tokens. But the careful attention to design, animations, character creation, and sound all combines to make sure that each interaction is so satisfying you never want to leave the app.


THREES_trailer


If, like me, you have a tendency to fall into deep dark gaming keyholes when you find something you like, then you are probably familiar with the concept of a video game hangover: So-called because the physical effects resemble those that come after a night of heavy drinking, the video game hangover takes effect after an extended session without breaks, food or water. As I’ve aged, I’ve developed a lower tolerance for both kinds of hangovers, but with Threes I find myself happy to suffer through.


This isn’t the first time the developers behind Threes have captured my heart and mind – creators Greg Wohlwend and Asher Vollmer previously created Ridiculous Fishing, a longtime addiction with a unique art style and absurdly engaging premise, as well as Puzzlejuice and Hundreds. You don’t get much closer to finding a hit factory on mobile like this from an indie dev team. Threes is a hit among hits, however, because it has the potential to become the next Sudoku or crosswords, but with digital-first roots, which means it doesn’t have to sacrifice anything to adapt itself to our pocketable devices.


The game sits in the shadow of the late, dearly beloved Flappy Bird, with its infuriating difficulty level and derivative graphics and gameplay, but it’s the slow burn to the Bird’s short, bright flare and fizzle.





12:16 PM

Good things come in Threes , and it’s both maddening and enthralling. I’m talking about the new iOS mobile game from developer Sirvo, which ...

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