Crenk » technology

The Book of Jobs, So It Shall Be

Luis Sandoval — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 22:19:29 +0000

Forgive the biblical format of the title, but an announcement of biblical proportions has been unleashed upon the public. Steve Jobs is authorizing a personal biography. After years of reading unauthorized books, years of wondering, years of rumors and speculation, the “official” book has been given the Steve Jobs blessing.

Is this going to be the honest look into his life that we want? Probably not, the unauthorized books will probably hold more truth then anything blessed by him, but for now, it’s an interesting topic.

Personally, as much of a fan of Apple I am, I also can’t deny the presence that Steve Jobs holds. While the company is definitely innovative, I see Steve Jobs walking down a hallway to the sound of the “Imperial March” from Star Wars, with guards on either side. Rumors of new hires being warned not to say “Hi” to Mr. Jobs or else they’ll be fired seem extreme, but not out of the realm of possibility. Do we really need an authorized book? Sometimes the mystique is better than the reality, but according to Macrumors.com we’ll be getting a look into his life sooner than we thought.

Unauthorized books have made him so mad in the past that he’s removed that entire publishing company’s line off of their stores shelves. Should be interesting to see just what he’ll allow us to understand, and perhaps we’ll become sympathetic to his processes.

Captain Picard (Sir Patrick Stewart) on Why Twitter Isn’t For Him.

Steven Finch — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 16:57:39 +0000

Not Enough USB Ports? How About 80 More?

Luis Sandoval — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 17:53:01 +0000

Most of us remember that day where the USB ports on our computers just wasn’t enough. Some computer came with a couple, others with as many six, but we still ended up buying devices offering extra USB ports to connect all of our technology. There are a variety of USB Hubs out there, offering a bevy of port connections. But all of those selections are nothing thanks to the new USB device created by Thanko.

Imagine a board of 80 USB ports to connect your digital life. Let that sink in. That’s right 80 whole ports to connect cameras, mp3 players, mug warmers, fans, aromatics, printers, microphones, you name it. The board looks like an electrical grid and feels like you’d need a some sort of engineering certificate to work. It’s definitely not pushing for aesthetics but more for functionality.

Is this your ultimate fantasy or a nightmare of cord confusion?

But here’s the catch with the device. There is no data transfer, it only serves as a powering and charging station. So put those USB thumb drives away and don’t expect to get any data from here because charging is the only service this $165 device will do. Do you really have 80 items that need charging all at once? Maybe you do, but then the real question is why?

Sony Bravia is A Monolith of Beauty

Luis Sandoval — Sat, 30 Jan 2010 21:33:52 +0000

There are few things out there that are beautiful enough to just look at for hours. What if a TV was so beautiful whether it was on or off you could just stare at the amazing design? The Sony Bravia builds the aesthetic appeal to an all-time high with their new NX800 HDTV. A design that looks like something Apple would create, is sleek, monolithic, and clean. With the barrage of TV’s shown at CES earlier this month, this is one of those TV’s that is just jam packed with technology that any tech geek or otherwise will drool at what it has to offer.

Naturally the TV, being HD, offers up a full 1080p display. It comes in varying sizes ranging from 46-, 52-, or 60-inches with an LED backlit LCD screen. The two big ones for me is the integrated WIFI which opens up a lot of opportunities and the inclusion of an ambient light sensor is always nice for quick adjustments. The TV is also internet ready with its own set of proprietary widgets. I’d like to see these in action in the real world to see if it’s something people will actually use.

The Sony Bravia NX800 HDTV will retail at $2300 to $3500 so save your nickels and dimes and see if this TV is what you’re looking for in a full entertainment experience.

Sony Bravia offers full online and offline entertainment options.

Power Consumpton Gone Green

Luis Sandoval — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 03:56:10 +0000

The iGo Green Power Smart Tower can save up to 85% energy consumption.

Being “Green” is all the rage these days. I don’t know where this insurgence of care and concern for the environment sprung from, but it’s here in full force and all of sudden people are becoming aware of their carbon footprint on the planet. Don’t get me wrong, I do my part in many ways, but sometimes I think companies or people are expected to go to unrealistic levels just to be green.

Well the iGo Power Smart Tower is one of those instances where going green is made easy. It’s not unrealistic for tech users to have power strips filled with plugged in devices all running dangerously throughout the day. The iGo power strip is definitely innovation in it’s own right by monitoring our power consumption and also reducing consumption from devices not currently in use.

In some tests up to 85% of power is reduced simply because the strip is smart enough to identify which devices are not being used and which are. When you need to access your device, there is no lag, the iGo is quick to make sure power is there for when you need it.

Two of the plugs are stationary the rest are movable, rotating to fit all needs and sizes of plugs to ensure ease of use. Other features included with the iGo are an internal cable management system, two front mounted USB connectors, and a 6-ft power cable to ensure it can be place anywhere in a room and still reach a wall plug.

Dell Mini 5 Jumps into Tablet Race

Luis Sandoval — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 20:11:18 +0000

I believe when 2010 is over the market is going to be flooded with tablet options. I’m not sure this is necessarily a good thing for companies, but for consumers, the price war is sure to be in our favor. As all the tablet makers fight for our eyeballs on their devices, the deals are sure to make our pockets much happier, if not lighter. Nevertheless, the battle is sure to be a bloody one as tablets will get cut from production lines as consumers decide who will come out on top. With Apple just days away from making their announcement, which is rumored to be the announcement of the tablet, the market is alive with speculation.

The latest to enter the fray is the Dell Mini 5, which is planned for later this year and no pricing mentioned. The Dell Mini 5 looks to blur the lines between laptop and mobile phone with it’s 5 in. touch screen, 5 mega-pixel cam and equally impressive web cam, SIM slots, Wi-Fi enabled, and running the Android OS. This little device sounds like a pretty powerful addition to anyone’s arsenal, especially with the increasing popularity with Android.

Already custom colors are being planned on the initial release to appeal to the masses. The announcement at this year’s CES caused a stir so it will be interesting to see where Dell’s device falls in terms of consumer satisfaction.

Dell Mini 5 is the latest tablet to join this years most anticipated product.

Underdog, Palm, Showcases Innovation at CES

Luis Sandoval — Sun, 10 Jan 2010 19:26:10 +0000

Palm who?

That’s a question that’s been asked time and time again. For awhile many of us have been saying “this is the year that Palm will close down,” yet year after year, somehow, they stay afloat. Palm is not necessarily the first name you think of when you think if innovation. In the past they’ve been known to put out some quality products, and die hard fans are loyal to them without question, but competition in today’s world has drastically changed. No longer the leader in PDA’s and smartphones, Palm had to drastically change things up when their market share started to slip. They never quite made it back to the top of the mountain, and even their most recent big release, the Palm Pre has fallen into the shadows of obscurity. An iPhone killer it was not.

Nevertheless, Palm has once again appeared at CES and just when you thought they were done, they make announcements that truly raised this geek’s eyebrows. Their new phones, to be released on the Verizon network, will offer capabilities that currently no phone offers. Once again leading the charge in user interface and interactions with the technology, Palm has announced that both their Pre Plus and Pixi Plus will be WebOS-based handsets that will act as mobile hotspots. Essentially these phones using the Verizon network will act as mobile hotspots allowing connectivity of up to five devices. The concept is very similar to a Verizon product called the MiFi 2200, which offers the same functionality. The idea of using your phone to tether is not new, but the extent of which these two phones allows is.

A couple of other new features will be the ability to record and edit video straight on your phone, as well as upload to your favorite video sites to share with your network. New partnerships with game developers will put games like the Sims 3 and Need for Speed Underground on the systems adding to their library of apps. The incentives they also announced for developers for most downloaded and most sold apps, both free and pad, opens up the field for developers to create quality content for the platform.

Palm is definitely not going down without a fight. I look at Palm and I’m reminded of a similar scenario in the video game industry when Sega was on it’s last legs. The company didn’t go down without a fight, but ultimately the competition proved too great and the iconic company pulled from the hardware market and remained in the software development industry. Will something similar happen to Palm, is the software it creates good enough to endure when it has to pull away from the hardware market? Only time will tell.

Move Over Nike+, Enter Adidas miCoach

Luis Sandoval — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 08:00:47 +0000

Exercising and technology have merged and now tracking your fitness levels has never been easier. As we approach a new year, many of us are already planning those gym memberships and in awe over dreams of losing weight. There’s nothing wrong with that, but sometimes we need a motivator, something to encourage us. Nike+ was an excellent introduction and pairing itself with Apple forged a relationship between two of the most recognized brands in the world. Nike+ has cornered the market in min-tracking devices for your exercising habits, but perhaps their days have been numbered by a new Adidas product.

Adidas miCoach more advanced than Nike+?

Adidas has introduced their new miCoach ($70-$140) to an unsuspecting exercise crowd. The problem with Nike+ is that it was only functional with Apple products, and there are still many people who don’t like being tied down to proprietary hardware, so the miCoach definitely has a market to attract.

The miCoach offers “an audio feedback box, heart rate monitor, and stride sensor — or the MiCoach Zone — which pairs the heart rate sensor with a visual feedback wristband — to receive color-coded workout guidance that tells you when to speed up, slow down, hold steady, or end your workout,” according to the site. It also goes on to say that it’s a more advanced system then the Nike+. I’m not a miCoach owner, but I am a Nike+ owner and so far it’s has served it’s purpose for me, but I’m interested in seeing how the matching color-coded bracelet would change my workouts if I knew when to speed up my workouts and when to slow down.

TSA Enforces “No Electronics” Restrictions

Luis Sandoval — Sun, 27 Dec 2009 08:05:56 +0000

It’s been recently brought to the world’s attention that the TSA has once again decided to do something…anything…in order to ensure that all is right with the world. Now I’m not one to enter into a political discussion on rights and policies, as it is not the purpose of this article, but rather to focus on the decision as it relates to technology.

Due to an attempted attack on a flight stateside, electronic equipment is now banned from international flights. This has not been officially confirmed on the TSA website, but so far all signs are pointing to “YES.” All in all, the effect its going to have on travelers is mighty powerful. Already across the web, on sites like Digg, TechCrunch, and Mashable, articles are popping up to discuss the issue. Techmeme recently had an interesting article regarding outbound international flights bearing this restriction.

Recently this was posted on the TSA website:

“Passengers flying from international locations to U.S. destinations may notice additional security measures in place. These measures are designed to be unpredictable, so passengers should not expect to see the same thing everywhere.Due to the busy holiday travel season, both domestic and international travelers should allot extra time for check-in.”

In the best interest of protection for all, a part of me can understand this, but this type of move sets back advances in travel by leaps and bounds. Already flights are being fitted with wifi connectivity for the use of electronic equipment, so to what end does this restriction serve?

iTouch Acting as Gateway Drug to iPhone

Luis Sandoval — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 06:06:54 +0000

There’s no doubt that the skeptics who thought that Apple had no chance in theportable music player department hid when Apple’s iPod hit the market and took the mp3 music players by storm. Very few technological innovations make such an impact on our culture and yet Apple redefined what it is to listen, interact, and engage our music. Their style of minimalist design served them well with the generations of iPods to come down the line, but now times have changed.

The market for mp3 players has widened with lots of entrants, but few are capable of toppling the giant, so instead they offer an alternative to those not willing to give into Apple’s tight restriction to the Apple iTunes store. Nevertheless, iPods have had to redefine how they are interacted with and that’s when the iTouch came out. This unique tactile surface mp3 player gave users a unique experience that was unseen in the market for portable music players. Since then Apple has never looked back, and the iTouch has swelled in huge numbers.

From June to November alone, the market share grew 5%, which in Apple’s world is a huge market. Most of this is attributed to the apps that you can install on the mobile device and the bevy of games that Apple is turning to to keep users entertained and constantly in contact with their device.

But is there a deeper agenda then just the one present? Mac Rumors suggests that Apple is quietly turning the iTouch into the gateway device for future iPhone users. Similar to the concept of a gateway drug, it’s opening doors and increasing familiarity that users will appreciate and then look for something more substantial. That’s where the iPhone comes into play.

It’s not surprising that this agenda may or may not have been planned because in the grand scheme of things it’s almost a natural progression. Users may still be carrying around two devices, interacting with their iTouch much more, but in time, the iTouch user will want to carry only one device but still have the access to the vast library of apps they are familiar with on the iTouch. The iPhone then comes into play, so I’m not quite sure if this was the intended plan or just luck that it’s working out that way, but in either case it’s a moot issue. Apple is still taking this concept all the way to the bank.

LG Expo, Mobile Phone that Projects

Luis Sandoval — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 06:42:13 +0000

Mobile phones are hot devices that are increasingly becoming the standard bywhich businesses are succeeding or failing. Companies not accessible via mobile devices are losing ground, while the device itself is starting to replace laptops and desktops for reading, searching, and geo-locating on the go.

Recently the LG Expo ($200) was announced and this mobile phone offers an interesting addition to the mobile lineup. Imagine carrying a smarphone with a small DLP Pico Projector attached to it, allowing you to display video with clarity and precision unheard of in a device so tiny and versatile. That’s what just happened, so stop imagining and see the reality.

The projector is optional, but the smartphone is no slouch either. This powerful mobile comes with a 1GHz processor, a 3.2-inch touchscreen, a 5 megapixel camera with flash, a slide-out keyboard, 7.2 Mbps HSPA wireless, microSD storage, and Windows Mobile 6.5. Not enough? Then go buy the projector because that’s about as good as it gets for a device in functionality.

The technological wonder comes with another release first as well, the distinct honor of being the first 1Ghz phone in the U.S. The phone will work on the AT&T network and be ready for purchase on December 7th.

Still not good enough for you? Then maybe you didn’t read the post. For the rest of us, it’s going to be interesting to see if the projector piggybacking on mobile device concept takes off.

A Video Projector in Your Pocket

Luis Sandoval — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 07:23:02 +0000

Mobile media is huge. But you knew that. But what if there was a way to take the tiny screen of your mobile device, and display it up to 60 inches of viewing pleasure? Perhaps you’re checking into a hotel and still don’t like the 32 inch screen they’ve given you. Perhaps what you need is a portable pocket projector.

The Cinemin Swivel Portable Projector created by WowWee has gotten extremely high reviews on many other sites. This pocket projector ($300) utilizes DLP projection technology to give the user that 60 inch experience. The internal battery is rechargeable for up to 2 hours of use, and overs a 90-degree swivel design allowing the user to choose how they wish to see their display.

This little pocket wonder is great for presentations on the go, watching videos at home, in your office, hotel, or anywhere that has a flat surface and you’ve got time to watch something. Now because the internal battery is only 2 hours, perhaps leaving it plugged into the wall for longer use is wise for movies, but otherwise, this little dynamo seems pretty sweet.

The Cinemin can connect to the iPod, iPhone, Flip Video, PSP, digital cameras, portable DVD players, netbooks, and smartphones with video-out functionality. To make this purchase even more attractive, the purchase includes a variety of international plug adapters to ensure that you are always able to access your media.

Packing Suitcases and Space Age Technology Merge

Luis Sandoval — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 06:12:20 +0000

Crenk loves to find innovative and creative ways to make the mundane more interesting. We cover web apps, mobile apps, products, technology, and more, and in all that we love to share what is happening out there.

Well here’s a mundane task that does not get any more boring, packing a suitcase. Travelers around the world do this on a daily if not weekly basis, and as such it’s nice to see an update to this old process.

Infusing space age technology into packing suitcases may just be what this task needs, and it’s been done for all of us to enjoy. Enter, Spacepak.

This innovative system of bags ($30-$98) allows you to divide your belongings into specific piles: underwear, t-shirts, shoes, camera, socks, etc. Each of these bags are then undergoes double compression to maximize the space inside your suitcase. This can virtually double the space inside that luggage allowing you to take that extra pair of shoes or outfit you didn’t know you needed.

The Pirate Bay Closing Their Torrent Tracker for Good

Steven Finch — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 10:08:53 +0000

The big news this morning is that the Pirate Bay is closing down their torrent tracker for good. After launching the torrent tracker back in 2003 it quickly became one of the worlds largest Bittorrent trackers on the Internet, with some 25 million peers using the service. The Pirate Bay was launched by a few friends in Sweden and was never supposed to turn into a business, and never really did (probably the ultimate open source project).

Despite this success, The Pirate Bay operators today decided to pull the plug and close down the tracker permanently. The evolution of the BitTorrent protocol has made trackers redundant they say, as BitTorrent downloads work well with trackerless solutions such as DHT and PEX.

“Now that the decentralized system for finding peers is so well developed, TPB has decided that there is no need to run a tracker anymore, so it will remain down! It’s the end of an era, but the era is no longer up2date. We have put a server in a museum already, and now the tracking can be put there as well,” the Pirate Bay crew write on their blog.

Additionally, Torrentfreak has learned that The Pirate Bay operators are talking to other Bittorrent site ownwers to encourage them to follow suit and completely ditch torrents in the future. BitTorrent has reached a point where trackers and torrents are no longer needed to download files successfully. Supported by all of the major BitTorrent clients, DHT and PEX can handle the transfers and Magnet links can easily replace traditional torrent files.

There are still other services for users who dont want to go trackerless just yet, which include OpenBitTorrent and PublicBitTorrent.

Its really sad to see the end of this famous tracker, however times change and technology moves on, and all credit to The Pirate Bay team for trying to push the move even quicker.

Crenk Twitter Lists: Crenk Team, Top Technology News Sources, Tech Talk and Bittorrent News

Steven Finch — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 09:58:35 +0000

Well all know about the new lists feature that Twitter has released. Here at Crenk we thought we would add a few Twitter lists of our own and categories them so everyone can keep up to date with what is happening in the following areas:

Crenk Team – http://twitter.com/crenk/team

Top Technology News Sources – http://twitter.com/crenk/toptechnews

Tech Talk (Top Analysis from Leading Minds in Technology) – http://twitter.com/crenk/techtalk

Bittorrent News – http://twitter.com/crenk/bittorrent

Ever Wondered Who The Best Looking Girls In Tech Are? Well Manolith Is Here To Tell You!

Steven Finch — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 20:56:22 +0000

I know how at all those technology conferences it seems as though it is just a sausage fest. Well Manolith have put together a list of the hottest girls in tech. Now I just wish they went to the same technology conferences as me!

Orange Makes Multimedia on Your Mobile More Accessible With the Launch of New Store

Steven Finch — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 19:52:07 +0000

Orange have launched a new store in Milton Keynes, UK.

The first Orange UK Multimedia Store opens today in thecentre:mk, Milton Keynes
The world’s first Motorola DEXT™ with MOTOBLUR™* will be exclusively on sale at the new Milton Keynes store on opening day, before anywhere else in the world**
It is also the first Orange store to feature a giant 70-inch cinema style screen and seating area, bringing multimedia to life

Adphilia: Site Representation Firm Launching New Sponsorship Based Platform Very Soon

Steven Finch — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 10:27:40 +0000

Previously here on Crenk we have discussed the Top CPM advertising networks, but in the current economic climate we have seen a lot of changes of late. I wanted to introduce our sister site called Adphilia. Adphilia is a site representation firm that is focused on providing premium CPM based advertising. At the moment there are also a lot of changes at Adphilia, we are always looking for Technology and Gaming related sites to add to our network, but we are also about to launch an entirely new platform which we hope will help many sites automate the buying and selling process.

The new Adphilia platform that is scheduled to launch in the next few weeks will be focused around fixed placements with the following features:

Publishers will be able to choose their own ad sizes and prices and dates they would like to run campaigns
Advertisers will have access to over 100 million people per month
The entire process will be automated and publishers can withdraw their earnings in the same way a bank works
The process is completely transparent so Advertisers can see their stats and ROIs, while Publishers can see and control all ads on their site
Also launching a VIP program which will be focused around CPM based advertising

Look for the new platform to be launch on the 1st of October.

In the meantime we are always looking for technology and gaming based sites interested in premium CPM advertising. Just leave a comment or drop us an email for more information.

Ebay All the Way for Students

Dean Sherwin — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 12:29:43 +0000

So school and college are starting back soon. Just a few short weeks, in fact. That means thousands, no millions, of young people will be met by costs that would normally have been put on daddy’s credit card. What makes this year worse is that there are few part time jobs around that would have normally paid for the laptops, textbooks, stationary and gadgets that are to be found in the typical student’s backpack. The situation is especially bad in Europe where students and those leaving school have led protests – even violent ones such as those in France and Ireland.

This is good news for Ebay, Amazon and the likes.

The sale of low-end student laptops online is rising. Why pay 600 big ones in store for the latest machine when you could have last year’s model that will satisfy all your needs for a quarter of the price? After all, when at college a decent word processer and internet access is all you need.

Other items which are making big sales in the ‘back to school rush’ are backpacks, art supplies, cameras, suitcases and technical equipment specific to certain courses such as design and engineering.

Here I stand tapping out this article on my phone beside Trinity College in Dublin as I’m away from my desk this week. Students walk by me with iPhones and Macbooks preparing their dorms for their third or fourth year in college. For this year’s freshmen it’s going to be Ebay all the way – in the opinion of this Crenk reporter at least.

Wakoopa: The New Software Social Network

matt — Mon, 25 May 2009 11:15:35 +0000

Wakoopa is a social network that helps people discover the best software, games and web apps on the market. Developed by a team in Holland, Wakoopa could just be the next best tool you play with.

Do you want to know what apps you use on and off the web, and just how much you use them? Do you want to find new stuff that is useful for the tasks you undertake everyday? Do you want to be introduced to people into the same tools and products as you? Wakoopa can do all of this.

First, all you need to do is sign up and download their tracker program. Now usually I’d run a mile at this, but I couldn’t resist after having had a look at the tools on offer.

Like any data collation software, it takes a few days to get the best results, so it’s worth leaving the program running for a few days and then revisiting your profile and start looking at the graphs…

On your dashboard, you find out the top ten tools you use, how much you use them and what you use them for.

What’s really interesting though, is the ‘recommended’ section, which suggests other tools or services to try based on your overall usage. I was recommended to try Evernote, a service I’ve heard of but not investigated – this is something that appeals to me as it “is a software application that allows users to capture information of various types, including text notes, mobile phone snapshots, printed and handwritten text”. I’ll have to give it a go.

I like the interface, it’s intuitive and not too busy. Each piece of information available is put into a particular type of category and this helps to keep data overload to a minimum. There are also several widgets available, and they even work with the basic Wordpress.com blogs, as you’ll see to the side.

This is a great service and something that I would definitely recommend to try if you are fanatical about trying and finding out about new software on the web. You can follow the latest Wakoopa developments on their blog.

Blah Girls: Why Isnt Ashton Kutcher Pushing It on Twitter?

Steven Finch — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 22:00:03 +0000

Over the last few days there has been a lot of talk and discussion surrounding Ashton Kutcher and CNN. First he manages to get almost as many followers on Twitter as CNN (almost 900K). Then he challenges CNN to a race to get to 1 million followers first. If he wins, he’ll “”ding dong ditch” Ted Turner’s house.

This made me think a bit about Ashton and his original tech startup the Blah Girls. Blah Girls launched with a lot of press and publicity (mainly due to Techcrunch and Michael Arrington), but now it seems to be a very basic gossip blog with a cartoon attached.

Blah Girls produce a weekly vidoe who is pretty much a catoon spoof. The videos are very well develop and quite cool. However, these videos and Blah Girls in general doesnt seem to be getting much traction at all. The Blah Girls Youtube channel has over 3,500 subscribers but each video seems to be lucky to get more than 1000 plays. Plus for some reason YouTube has given Blah Girls a partner page, but they dont seem to meet the requirements of being a YouTube partner (apart from the fact that Ashton is quite well known).

Back to the site itself it seem that is had an initial push at launch but then has been slowly growing at the same pace as a normal gossip blog. The site has a great design, but there seems to be a huge gap of white space between the video section and where the actual blog starts. Ashton I really think you need to take a look at the design and try to piece it all together a bit better. Additionally, Ashton why arent you twittering about Blah Girls on your Twitter stream? Im sure 1m followers will really help you in pushing your site to the next level faster, plus you have a benefit that no other gossip blog has, your already bloody famous!

Jango Launches Music Vertical Advertising Network

Steven Finch — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 13:42:10 +0000

US music site Jango announced the launch of Jango Music Network (JMN), dubbing it as the world’s largest and most targeted cost-effective ad network for the music vertical.

The current JMN inventory of music sites reach a collective total of 30 million unique monthly visitors in the US alone. JMN also features a unique methodology that maps brand preference to musical taste and uses it to help advertisers target audiences that will be particularly receptive to their brand.

NewsGator Launches AdBurner. Ad Optimisation Tool for Premium Publishers

Steven Finch — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 10:18:16 +0000

NewsGator has announced today that they have launched a new product called AdBurner. AdBurner is a program that provides a turnkey advertising based solution for premium publishers, which helps them to optimise ad revenues around key web 2.0 technologies with no incremental effort.

AdBurner is aimed at optimizing the CPM for, and process of, inserting and managing advertising into NewsGator’s publisher products suite, including services as diverse as widgets, related content, and iPhone applications. The initiative is built around best of breed advertising partners Technorati, Admeld, Gigya, Medialets, and Tremor Media.

This is a very interesting moving from NewsGator and Im very keen to test the product for them. Currently, the new product doesnt seem available via their website, so would be great to hear from the NewsGator team.

Peer39: The Semantic Advertising Solution

Steven Finch — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 09:47:36 +0000

Peer39 is a natural language processing and machine learning, Peer39’s patented algorithms understand page meaning and sentiment, and deliver the most relevant and effective brand safe display and text advertising. Headquartered in New York City, Peer39 maintains a research and development center in Israel.

Teaming with the founders of the market-leading contextual and behavioral targeting technologies, Peer39 aims to create the next generation online advertising and content monetization platform. The company was founded in early 2006 by engineers, scientists, and entrepreneurs from leading internet companies and academic research centers. The company has raised $12 million in two rounds of financing led by top-tier investors including Canaan Partners and JPMorgan, Dawntreader Ventures, and leading industry insiders.

When looking at the progress of Peer39 it seems to be very mixed. According to Compete they have a growing website with a huge amount of traffic, but according to Alexa it is the complete opposite. Peer39 sounds like a very interesting concept and I’m looking forward to actually testing them out and letting everyone know my results.

TechCrunch Hits 1 Million Milestone

Luis Sandoval — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 15:56:17 +0000

TechCrunch is a self proclaimed “obsessive” site for everything technology, especially start-ups. Michael Arrington, co-founder of TechCrunch, has a well established career in doing what he loves best and, in my opinion, being damn good at it. But don’t take my word for, they have just recently hit a huge milestone for any site, over 1 million subscribers follow them via RSS Feeds. In less than 39 months they have achieved this goal and by the looks of it, will continue this trend.

Arrington reports that like any other site, their numbers fluctuate. Weekends are slow, but mid-week is their best time period. Still, even with the fluctuations, fans stay for the news and are even offered various ways to stay in touch with what is happening in the world of technology; Twitter, RSS Feed, FriendFeed, are just as few examples of how TechCrunch stays in touch with their readers.

Recentlly TechCrunch held their TechCrunch50 event which has been covered on Crenk here and here. Because of Arrington’s love for start-ups, he offers some of the best in the world a stage for them to highlight their products, network with VC’s and other interested high profile people, and in turn gives a little back with the success he’s achieved.

I highly recommend businesses to take a look at TechCrunch because as investors, you could be a part of the next big thing in the tech world!