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Tuesday, February 18, 2014
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The HTC One was one of the best smartphones of 2013, according to just about anyone you could ask – the flagship Android device from the Taiwanese company bucked the trend of its major competitors using Google’s mobile OS by incorporating a sleek metal case into its device design. On March 25, we’ll see how HTC follows that act with its next flagship handset, according to new invites received by press (via Engadget).


The launch event will happen in New York and London, and it’s very likely that what we’ll see is the device that’s been making the rumor rounds with the codename “M8.” The M8 has enjoyed a large number of leaks so far, including an apparent photo that shows industrial design very much in keeping with the current look of the HTC One. That’s potentially a very good thing: The microperforated speaker grills and flat metal look of the HTC One are iconic, and insiders laud the ergonomics and quality of the device’s construction. However, other attempts to copy but modify that look (i.e. the HTC One Max phablet) have not been nearly as well received.


The M8 is said to stick pretty close to the original, however, and will hopefully avoid any cheapening effects. It’s going to be a little bit bigger with a ‘minimum’ 5-inch display, 1080p output, and a more powerful Snapdragon 800 processor than the one currently used. It’ll supposedly ship with Android KitKat 4.4 on board, and have a twin-sensor camera as its primary differentiating factor: Said camera would allow for refocusing of focal depth after a picture is taken, and improve other editing features including the deletion of certain objects form a photo entirely.


Originally, many thought we’d get a peek at the HTC One successor at MWC this month in Barcelona, but now it seems that won’t be the case. Still, not long to wait before we see what HTC has in store for its big bet for 2014.





6:09 AM

The HTC One was one of the best smartphones of 2013, according to just about anyone you could ask – the flagship Android device from the Tai...

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These days, many hotel interactions with their guests happen through third-party platforms: The Travelocities, Yelps, and Foursquares of the world get the feedback that hotels need and depend on, and this generally happens in a public forum. One-to-one interaction and the direct relationship between hotel and guest has fallen somewhat by the wayside in a web-based, connected world. Montreal-based GuestDriven wants to help put the guest relationship back in the hands of the hotel, and today announced a $3 million Series A to help its platform accomplish that.


GuestDriven offers hotels a platform that provides real-time guest interaction, allowing businesses to send them messages, tips, perks and rewards before, during and after their stay. The startup calls it a “Guest Relationship Management platform,” and it’s designed to provide hotels with the kind of actionable data they need to identify what’s working for their business, and what isn’t. It also helps hotels manage guest relationships down to the level of each individual, as well as identify key social influencers among their customers and reward them for broadcasting positive messages about their stay on social networks.


“Most reservations come in from third-party products, and those products don’t provide CRM data points for the hotels,” explained GuestDriven CEO and co-founder Anthony Zebrowski in an interview. “There’s a mass push on price that becomes the determining factor of where you’re booking. At the same time there are 12-14 different IT systems on the hotel side that lack any ability of talking to each other, so there’s no real CRM or contextualization.”


Already, GuestDriven is being used in around 115 hotels, but the company wants to expand in a big way and focus on the U.S. market, and that’s where this funding comes in. The round is led by PlazaCorp, Real Ventures and Structure Capital. Previous investors include strategic investors from the hospitality tech world including Joe Poulin from Luxury Retreats and Peter Kern, who sits on Expedia’s board of directors. With it, GuestDriven plans to expand its salesforce to drive its push, as well as hire additional engineers and other personnel.


A direct line of communication is a valuable tool for hotels looking to strengthen their relationship with guests and build return customers, but the data play is the bigger story here. Much of the modern travel industry is moving towards a model where access to customer data is held by third-party platform providers, but GuestDriven wants to put that info back in the hands of hoteliers themselves, which is a tempting carrot indeed in terms of what it offers for trend analysis and both short- and long-term strategic planning.





6:09 AM

These days, many hotel interactions with their guests happen through third-party platforms: The Travelocities, Yelps, and Foursquares of the...

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Over in the world of Enterprise, subjects such as security, compliance and governance remain dull but essential issues. In this arena SkyHigh Networks (backed by Sequoia and Greylock) and Netskope (backed by Lightspeed) are targeting the cloud application control market and doing a pretty good job of it. But now there is a new player on the block: namely FireLayers. This Israel/San Francisco-based startups today emerges from stealth mode to introduce a… you guessed it… policy-based security, compliance and IT governance platform for cloud applications. It’s also announced undisclosed funding from YL Ventures, though we understand it amounts to several million dollars.


Over in the world of Enterprise, dull but essential subjects such as security, compliance and governance remain issues. In this arena SkyHigh Networks and Netskope are targeting the cloud application control market and doing a pretty good job of it. BUt now there is a new player on the block: namely FireLayers. This Israel/San Francisco-based startups today emerges from stealth mode to introduce a… you guessed it… policy-based security, compliance and IT governance platform for cloud applications.


You see, the problem with cloud apps is that they have different kinds of risks and vulnerabilities compared to the enterprise apps of old. The startup claims that IT departments can “immediately deploy predefined and customizable rule-sets for popular applications” with this platform.


Other features include: pre-defined and customizable rule-sets for popular applications including

Salesforce, NetSuite, Workday, Office 365, Box.com, Yammer etc; a user-friendly policy manager to create cloud controls and rules for every application and every element; open API enabling integration with 3rd party add-ons including encryption; and no client software.


Co-founder Yair Grindlinger told us: “SkyHigh Networks and Netskope are targeting the same market (cloud application control), and dealing with similar challenges, but they do so differently than we do. We believe that the emphasis needs to be on proactive security and compliance controls – they’re focus on reports and give “black box security”, almost one size fits all. Organizations are not looking for more reports, nor can they relay on “black box” security. They want a strategic policy based platform that will allow them to reclaim and expand their IT governance over cloud applications to obtain the necessary security and compliance levels.”


FireLayers is fully funded by San Francisco-headquartered venture capital firm YL Ventures, which invests in cyber security, cloud computing, big data and Software- as-a-Service businesses.





6:09 AM

Over in the world of Enterprise, subjects such as security, compliance and governance remain dull but essential issues. In this arena SkyHig...

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TicTail, a DIY ecommerce platform out of Sweden, has today raised $8 million in Series A funding led by Thrive Capital.


The company, which is a lot like Etsy in its mission to make online storefronts easily accessible and creatable by DIYers, will use the money to open up an NYC office.


TicTail has also reached the significant milestone of 100,000 stores on the platform. In 2012, TicTail only had around 5,000 stores, and in late Summer of 2013, that number had grown to 23,000 stores. So obviously, this winter has seen huge growth for the platform.


TicTail focuses on a different demographic than other competitors, aiming for DIYers and entrepreneurs who don’t speak internet at all. The idea is to eliminate every barrier to entry, even cost, which is why TicTail operates on a freemium model.


“The differentiating factor is the ease of use – not only to just set up the store, but to carry people through the difficult tasks that come next,” said CEO and cofounder Carl Waldekranz. “Unlike our biggest competitors Tictail is not a tool, it’s a community.”


Users can sign up and start a storefront in no time, and they look through third-party developer add-ons to buy, increasing the functionality and look of their store. TicTail takes a 30 percent commission on these add-on sales.


With the latest round of funding, the company will be expanding into the states operationally (as mentioned) as well as delivering better discovery on the platform.





5:12 AM

TicTail , a DIY ecommerce platform out of Sweden, has today raised $8 million in Series A funding led by Thrive Capital. The company, which ...

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This is the best of times and the worst of times for privacy and civil liberties. Almost every day, new revelations about the U.S. National Security Agency's surveillance activities make headlines. Meanwhile, some U.S. intelligence chiefs have called for the execution of whistleblower Edward Snowden and have painted journalists who run stories based on his material as his accomplices. The Obama administration has announced some changes to the way the NSA collects telephone metadata, but it is allowing the agency to continue collecting it.


5:12 AM

This is the best of times and the worst of times for privacy and civil liberties. Almost every day, new revelations about the U.S. Nationa...

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Socialbakers, a social media analytics company founded in 2009 and headquartered in Prague, is announcing that it has raised $26 million in Series C funding.


The round was led by Index Ventures, with participation from previous investor Earlybird Venture Capital. Socialbakers has now raised a total of $34 million.


In the past year, the company says it tripled revenue, launched its ad analytics platform, added more than 1,000 customers, and hired its first CMO. Socialbakers currently has a team of 300 people, which it plans to grow to 400 in the coming year.


“Socialbakers is positioned to move from leading the social analytics category, to defining the next generation of insight-driven social marketing applications,” said Index partner Jan Hammer in the funding release.





4:56 AM

Socialbakers , a social media analytics company founded in 2009 and headquartered in Prague, is announcing that it has raised $26 million in...

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JohnPleasants

SparkLabs Global announced today that John Pleasants, the former co-president of Disney Interactive and former COO of Electronic Arts, has joined the fund as an advisor. SparkLabs Global, which focuses on seed-stage startups around the world, also disclosed new investments of $250,000 each in Good.co and Zanbato.


Pleasants joined Disney Interactive after it acquired Playdom Inc., the online gaming company he founded, in July 2010 for $563 million. During his three years at Disney Interactive, Pleasants oversaw the launch of Disney Infinity.


In a statement, Pleasants said: “I’m excited to be part of SparkLabs Global because the depth of their experiences and global reach. The timing for such a seed-stage fund is ideal because of how rapidly innovation and great companies are being founded throughout the world, and many are looking for help to cross the Pacific and Atlantic which this team excels at.”


Based in San Francisco, Good.co is a career site that wants to help put the “human” back in human resources. The startup has raised $1.45 million from Norwest, Sparklabs Global, and other venture capital firms. Good.co users fill out a variety of surveys to help determine what their working style is, and whether or not they are a good fit with specific companies or managers.


The site’s goal is to enable job seekers find positions they will flourish at, which in turn helps employers save the hassle and expense of hiring people who end up leaving or getting fired within a few months. Good.co fits into the same niche as startups like 15five and Culture Amp, in that they all seek to increase employee retention rates boosting workplace morale.


Zanbato is a platform that helps institutional investors find opportunities in alternative asset classes. The company’s founders include Joe Lonsdale, the co-founder of Palantir Technologies, Nico Sand, Dan Settel, and Kevin Leung.





4:40 AM

SparkLabs Global announced today that John Pleasants, the former co-president of Disney Interactive and former COO of Electronic Arts , has...

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