Qihoo Launched A Kid Tracking Bracelet

Qihoo Launched A Kid Tracking Bracelet

By Tracey Xiang on October 29, 2013

Qihoo today released 360 Child Guard, a GPS tracking bracelet. Like most GPS trackers, 360 Child Guard locates where the one wearing it anytime and can display the course on the app in your phone for any given period of time. A special feature with it is you can call the gadget and listen to the sounds around it, telling whether your kid is in a safe environment. It also can record a 15-second clip after you send a command. 360 Child Guard claims it can, using machine learning, automatically tell whether a place is safe for your child and would alert you when he or she is near to an area the gadget judges as unsafe. It works with iOS or above, and Android 2.2 or above. The price isn’t disclosed yet. Qihoo has rolled out a pair of wireless routers. Some Chinese Internet companies don’t want to be left out by the appcessory trend. Baidu launched several pieces, too. Baidu also wants to sell its cloud platform to appcessory developers that recently set up a website featuring smart gadgets who are using it.

Merely 1% China Mobile Apps Reached Million Users in H1 2013: Report

Merely 1% China Mobile Apps Reached Million Users in H1 2013: Report

By Guest Editor on October 29, 2013 

According to iResearch, in the first half of 2013, China mobile app developers kept losing money and the percentage of net loss developers increased significantly. Besides, most app users’ number could not reach a million. The research showed that more than 60% mobile app developers suffered net loss in the first half of 2013. 35.6% developers even faced with severe net loss. In 2012, the percentage of severe loss was 9.1%. 16.8% developers had made profits, the percentage in 2012 was 22.3%. One reason for the decrease was that a lot of new developers entered the market in the beginning of 2013. The major business model of Chinese mobile app developers were paid download, free download with pre-installed ads, free download with value-added service. Most developers chose free download with pre-installed ads. In general, paid download and free download with pre-installed ads were not so optimistic, some paid app even offered free download such as Autonavi. In terms of the number of users, Chinese mobile app developers were facing severe challenges. 96% apps users were under 500,000, and about 0.6% apps had over 1 million users.

The Web Behind The Wall Explains China’s Complicated Startup Industry

The Web Behind The Wall Explains China’s Complicated Startup Industry

Posted 5 hours ago by Catherine Shu

“The Web Behind The Wall” is an e-book published by TechNode (our partner for next month’sTechCrunch Shanghai event) that wants to be “the #1 resource for foreign tech companies to understand China.” The book is a quick but highly informative read about China’s startup ecosystem, which has proven unpenetrable for tech giants like Google, Yahoo,Facebook and Amazon. Read more of this post

Is Thailand’s top e-bookstore Ookbee competing with its own partners?

Is Thailand’s top e-bookstore Ookbee competing with its own partners?

October 28, 2013

by Saiyai Sakawee

If you follow the Thai tech startup scene, there’s no way you’ve never heard of Ookbee, Thailand’s largest e-bookstore. It’s held up as one of the country’s pioneer startups. According to CEO Moo Natavudh, Ookbee’s market share in Thailand is over 90 percent now, and besides Thailand, the company also has presences in Vietnam and Malaysia. Founded in December 2010, Ookbee has long been a web-based online e-bookstore platform, up until recently. In fact, two weeks ago, Ookbee just launched its own iOS app, marking a big step for the startup. Previously it has worked with two major partners – B2S and AIS – to power their online bookstore apps in Thailand. In addition, later next month, Ookbee will be launching Ookbee Mee, which is an all-you-can-read online magazine subscription service. Think Netflix for magazines. It might extend to books later as well. Read more of this post

Why free operating systems will encourage you to actually spend more

Why free operating systems will encourage you to actually spend more

By Dominic Basulto, Updated: October 29 at 9:19 am

Lost in the hubbub of Apple’s unveiling of the new iPad Air last week was the company’s announcement that it would be giving away its new operating system, OS X Mavericks, for free. Apple thinks that by enabling you to upgrade your operating system for free, it will encourage you to upgrade to new laptops or desktops that take advantage of Mavericks’ latest functions. View it as a BOGO pricing strategy in reverse – you get one, you buy one. Read more of this post

Warily, Schools Watch Students on the Internet

October 28, 2013

Warily, Schools Watch Students on the Internet

By SOMINI SENGUPTA

SAN FRANCISCO — For years, a school principal’s job was to make sure students were not creating a ruckus in the hallways or smoking in the bathroom. Vigilance ended at the schoolhouse gates. Now, as students complain, taunt and sometimes cry out for help on social media, educators have more opportunities to monitor students around the clock. And some schools are turning to technology to help them. Several companies offer services to filter and glean what students do on school networks; a few now offer automated tools to comb through off-campus postings for signs of danger. For school officials, this raises new questions about whether they should — or legally can — discipline children for their online outbursts. Read more of this post

The Wide Open Era in 3-D Printing

OCTOBER 29, 2013, 8:31 AM

The Wide Open Era in 3-D Printing

By QUENTIN HARDY

SINGAPORE — For a 15-person start-up in 3-D printing — a nascent industry at best — Pirate3D has the hallmarks of a much bigger tech company. These include big funding, large expectations, unforeseen price increases, expanded distribution and serious trash talking. Pirate3D gained a lot of notice in June when it raised a lot of money on Kickstarter. The company is making an inexpensive 3-D printer for the consumer market; early models will probably ship in December, executives say. Read more of this post

The iPad is going to suffer the same fate the Mac suffered a generation ago?

The iPad is going to suffer the same fate the Mac suffered a generation ago

By Timothy B. Lee, Updated: October 29 at 9:27 am

Apple’s latest financial results came out on Monday, and as usual the Cupertino firm made an astonishing amount of money: $7.5 billion. Yet this quarter’s results contained at least one disappointing sign for Apple’s fans and shareholders. Apple sold 14.1 million iPads in its fiscal fourth quarter, which runs from July to September. It’s the first time Apple has ever had iPad sales fall for three quarters in a row. Even more ominous for Apple, this quarter’s sales are only slightly higher than the 14 million iPads Apple sold during the corresponding quarter last year. Read more of this post

SoundCloud Now Reaches 250 Million Visitors In Its Quest To Become The Audio Platform Of The Web

SoundCloud Now Reaches 250 Million Visitors In Its Quest To Become The Audio Platform Of The Web

Posted 6 hours ago by Romain Dillet

Today at Disrupt Europe,SoundCloud co-founder and CEO Alexander Ljung took the stage to share two new updates and share his thoughts on the music industry, music startups and more. Back in July, SoundCloud announced that it has reached 200 million active listeners (monthly active users). But since then, the startup has grown substantially as it now reports 250 million listeners. In addition to that, SoundCloud now integrates with Instagram to allow you to your photos as album art. More on that here. Read more of this post

Nielsen to Begin Counting Mobile Viewing Audiences in TV Ratings

Nielsen to Begin Counting Mobile Viewing Audiences in TV Ratings

By Andy Fixmer – Oct 28, 2013

Nielsen, the provider of television ratings used to calculate payments by advertisers, will begin counting some mobile viewing of shows as broadcast and cable networks make more programs available online. TV shows that are viewed through some digital formats and within certain time frames will be counted starting in the TV season that begins in September 2014, the company, part of Nielsen Holdings NV (NLSN), said today in a blog post. Read more of this post

Nextdoor, a social network for neighbors, raises $60 million

OCTOBER 29, 2013, 9:01 AM

Nextdoor, a Start-Up, Raises $60 Million

By DAVID GELLES 

Nextdoor, a social network for neighbors, is moving into elite territory. The San Francisco start-up announced a $60 million investment on Tuesday, led by Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and Tiger Global Management, two prominent venture capital firms. Comcast Ventures, Benchmark, Greylock Partners and Shasta Ventures also participated in the fund-raising round. With the investment, Nextdoor has raised more than $100 million in the last 18 months, and that is bound to set off questions about whether venture capitalists are inflating another technology bubble by throwing money at unprofitable start-ups. Read more of this post

Making Robots More Like Us

October 28, 2013

Making Robots More Like Us

By JOHN MARKOFF

On a recent morning Natanel Dukan walked into the Paris offices of the French robot maker Aldebaran and noticed one of the company’s humanoid NAO robots sitting on a chair. Mr. Dukan, an electrical engineer, could not resist. Bending over, he kissed the robot on the cheek. In response the NAO tilted its head, touched his cheek and let out an audible smack. It is certainly a very French application for a robot, but the intimate gesture by the $16,000, two-foot robot, now being used in academic research labs and robotic soccer leagues, also reflects a significant shift. Read more of this post

Is the Russian-Vietnamese search engine CocCoc really beating Google in Vietnam?

Is the Russian-Vietnamese search engine CocCoc really beating Google in Vietnam?

October 28, 2013

by Anh-Minh Do

In a recent report from the Voice Of Russia, the Russian-backed Vietnamese search engine CocCoc is apparently getting more than one million searches per day. That’s a significant step over what Victor Lavrenko, CEO at CocCoc, told me in June at the Tech In Asia Meetup. At that time, CocCoc had just about 300,000 monthly users (meaning very few daily searches). Read more of this post

“You Can Beat Global American Companies,” Says VKontakte Founder Pavel Durov

“You Can Beat Global American Companies,” Says VKontakte Founder Pavel Durov

Posted yesterday by Josh Constine, Kim-Mai Cutler

International startups shouldn’t call it quits just because a big American competitor tries to muscle into their homeland, said Pavel Durov on stage at TechCrunch Disrupt Berlin. His company, VKontakte, is the top social networking destination in Russia — even bigger than Facebook there. He believes by focusing on “speed, ease of use, and functionality,” you can defeat bloated apps that don’t understand how to localize well. Read more of this post

Learn from South Korea: its $9.16 billion gaming market is just $600M less than China’s and double Japan’s

Learn from South Korea: its gaming market is just $600M less than China’s and double Japan’s

October 29, 2013

by Anh-Minh Do

The total size of the worldwide gaming market is $78 billion. Only 18 percent of that is from the USA, where it totaled at $14.8 billion. As we reported yesterday, South Korea’s gaming market is worth $9.16 billion. That’s just $600 million short of China, which comes in at $9.7 billion for 2012. It is perhaps important to note that many Chinese play PC games at cybercafes, where revenue could be tricky to track. So there is a possibility that the research figure of China’s gaming revenue may not reflect the true figures. Japan, on the other hand, falls at a measly $4.6 billion. Read more of this post

Samsung Electronics showcased its new software which ensures seamlessly connectivity among smart devices including TV, smartphone, tablet, PC, home electronic appliances and camera

Samsung unveils new SDKs at Samsung Developers Conference

Sohn Jae-kwon

2013.10.29 17:59:10

Samsung Electronics showcased its new software which ensures seamlessly connectivity among smart devices including TV, smartphone, tablet, PC, home electronic appliances and camera. The goal is to go head-to-head against Apple and Google with its service platform accommodating about 300 million units of Samsung smart devices. Samsung Electronics unveiled Software development kits (SDKs) for developers at the Samsung Developers Conference (SDC) in San Francisco Monday (local time), which are designed to be worked into any app on multiple devices. Lee Jong-seok, head of Samsung Telecommunications America (STA) noted, “Samsung is the best smartphone maker in the Asia-Pacific region, Europe and the Americas, and the world’s leading smart television manufacturer. Our border range of product, contents and service will enable consumers to enjoy fully-integrated experiences.” Samsung also unveiled ‘Group Play’ which allows users to enjoy music, games and share data at short distances. The new SDKs also include ‘Samsung Connectivity’ which connects network of Samsung devices at different locations, enabling easier access to contents regardless of time and space. At the STA, ‘Samsung Multiscreen SDK,’ designed to develop apps that can run on both smart TV and mobile device was also displayed.