Clovr media lucks into $8.3M for next-gen loyalty programs

Bain Capital Ventures has led an $8.3M investment round in Clovr Media, which has built the first platform that converts banner, text-link, video, or mobile ads into card linked offers.

The company, which aims to pioneer “Loyalty 2.0,” or the next generation of consumer loyalty programs, gives advertisers the ability to offer special discounts to consumers without requiring any payment up front or paper coupons from users. The company works with financial institutions to present... Continue Reading

Topsy raises another $15M for real-time search

Some of the excitement around real-time search seems to have died down recently — I’m no longer seeing hordes of startups embracing the term, and some of the most prominent companies that were active in the space have refocused. But investors still seem to be optimistic about San Francisco startup Topsy, which just announced that it has raised $15 million in a third round of funding.

Like other real-time search engines, Topsy allows users to... Continue Reading

The Go Game launches do-it-yourself iPhone scavenger hunts

The Go Game, creators of location-based scavenger hunts for companies, today announced the launch of a do-it-yourself iPhone application for creating and participating in local scavenger hunts, according to a company announcement.

The application, which is now available in the Apple App Store, is being released at South by SouthWest (SXSW) with basic functionality, including the ability to challenge other players and participate in local scavenger hunts around Austin, Texas, where the event is held.... Continue Reading

Forrester: iPad 2’s biggest challenger is an Amazon tablet

Market research firm Forrester isn’t putting too much stock in the hype surrounding upcoming Android 3.0 tablets. Instead, the company believes that Amazon is best suited to take on the iPad when it decides to enter the tablet arena.

What’s the problem with Android slates like Motorola’s recently released Xoom? Forrester considers them all too expensive, and they also can’t match the Apple Store’s retail experience. Forrester has found that consumers also find Apple’s products... Continue Reading

Skype founder, others catapult $42M to Angry Birds

Accel Partners and Atomico Ventures have co-led a $42 million investment round for Rovio, the creator of the Angry Birds Franchise.

The Angry Birds game is played by 40 million monthly active users and, with sales of over 2 million plush toys, has become one of the most recognized entertainment franchises. The game has had well over 75 million downloads.

Rovio plans to use the money to increase its reach internationally and to expand across... Continue Reading

Deals & More: BAM Labs gets $2.4M to monitor people while they snooze

Today’s funding announcements include products for monitoring health, communicating with friends and finding student loans:

BAM Labs brings in $2.4M to keep an eye on people as they sleep: The Los Gatos, Calif.-based company has raised equity and securities for its “24/7 digital health assistant,” according to a filing with the SEC. Founded in 2006, the company has developed a biometric sensor that can detect heart and breathing rates when placed under a mattress.... Continue Reading

Broadcastr’s iPhone app unleashes the potential of location-based storytelling

Now anyone can star in their own “This American Life”-esque story and share it with the world using just their iPhone: Broadcastr, a startup dedicated to tying personal audio stories to specific locations, launched its free iPhone app today.

The mobile app comes more than a week after New York City-based Broadcastr opened up to the public. It includes all of the key features of the Broadcastr site, including the ability to listen to stories... Continue Reading

WhitePages aims to clean up your address book with Hiya

Seattle company WhitePages has built up a massive database of contact information for people and businesses — it supposedly has more than 200 million listings. Now WhitePges wants to use its technology to clean up your address book with an iPhone and Web application called Hiya.

This is something that a lot of people struggle with, according to Harris Interactive survey commissioned by WhitePages. The survey found that 20 percent of adults in the United... Continue Reading

Sony shake-up puts more power in hands of PlayStation executive

Sony announced today that it combine its consumer businesses into a single entity headed by former PlayStation chief Kaz Hirai. The move may set up Hirai to succeed Howard Stringer as chief executive of the Japanese company.

Sony said in a statement that the change will empower “the next generation of Sony’s management. Stringer, who is 69, is expected to step down around 2013. The move is a recognition that video games are core to... Continue Reading

Zillow’s Rent Zestimates to provide rent prices for 90 million homes

Housing start-up Zillow just released a new product, Rent Zestimates, which will provide estimated rent prices for 90 million homes on both its website and all its mobile apps.

Seattle-based Zillow provides online real-estate price estimates and acts as a marketplace for renters, buyers and sellers.

According to the 2009 American Housing Survey from the U.S. Census, 70 percent of people who move each year are renters, making Zillow’s foray into the rental market a... Continue Reading

AOL expected to lay off 400 to 500 people on Thursday

AOL is expected to lay off 400 to 500 people in the U.S. starting tomorrow, according to a report citing unnamed sources in AllThingsD.

The New York-based internet giant is expected to eliminate jobs in targeted areas of the company. Chief executive Tim Armstrong (pictured right, with Arianna Huffington of the Huffingtong Post) signaled that the layoffs were coming last week. The moves reflect AOL’s big push to make more money and redefine itself in... Continue Reading

BiteHunter launches a search engine for dining deals

Lots of restaurants offer deals and discounts online — now a New York startup called BiteHunter wants to bring those deals into one place.

The site has been live for months now, but co-founder and chief executive Gil Harel said the company has been fine-tuning the features and is now moving the site into “beta test” mode. As with many other online products, the beta version is already pretty usable. BiteHunter is also announcing a... Continue Reading

Will $4-a-gallon gas ignite an electric-vehicle frenzy?

As gas prices rise, electric cars look better and better. But any chances manufacturers had the last time gas hit $4 a gallon were extinguished thanks to the 2008 recession, which made electric vehicles’ high upfront costs unpalatable.

Now it looks like they’ll have a second chance to capitalize on high gas prices as prices have once again risen to the occasion.

The price for crude oil futures has crossed the $100 mark — hitting... Continue Reading

Palestinians get their first technology venture fund

In a first for an important region of the Middle East, the Middle East Venture Capital Fund announced today it has raised $28.7 million to invest in Palestinian technology companies.

The fund will be based in Ramallah and it has money from a bunch of international companies, foundations, and other investors. Those include Cisco, Google, the Soros Economic Development Fund, Skoll Foundation, Jean and Steve Case, and the European investment bank.

There is no question... Continue Reading

Microsoft sells 10M Kinects, wins Guinness Record in the process

Microsoft’s Kinect motion control system for the Xbox 360 has surpassed 10 million units sold, with more than 10 million Kinect standalone games sold as well, the company announced today.

The system is also now a Guinness World Record holder: The Kinect is the “Fastest-Selling Consumer Electronics Device” because it managed to sell 8 million units in its first 60 days available — from its launch on November 3, 2010, to January 3, 2011. That... Continue Reading

Solar startup Alta Devices raises $72M — no, we still don’t know what they do

Stealthy solar startup Alta Devices has raised a whopping $72 million from one of the longest list of high-profile investors you might ever see, which includes the likes of Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and New Enterprise Associates.

But despite the massive funding round, very little is actually known about what Alta Devices is working on. The company is supposedly working on developing highly efficient photovoltaic cells that capture light and convert it to electricity... Continue Reading

StumbleUpon raises $17M as traffic climbs

StumbleUpon, the popular social service for discovering content, has raised $17 million in a new round of funding.

This is the company’s second try at the startup game, having been acquired by eBay for $75 million in 2007, then spinning out again in 2009 because content recommendations and e-commerce aren’t exactly a natural fit.

StumbleUpon’s main service is a browser toolbar that lets users “stumble” onto new content based on their previous likes and dislikes... Continue Reading

ShopWithYourFriends brings you real-time, social shopping

Group buying may be all the rage via companies like Groupon but ShopWithYourFriends, which launches today, adds a new twist to social shopping by enabling group shopping sessions online.

The Dutch startup uses co-browsing technology to share the screen between multiple shoppers who can put together different pieces and discuss their choices. The idea is to simulate online the real-world experience of a group of women shopping together.

The consumer web site offers items from... Continue Reading