Virgin Mobile Revives $20 Broadband2Go Plan

Yeesh! It seems like Virgin Mobile changes up their Broadband2Go plans about as often as I change pants*.

First they launched a $40 Unlimited plan, and got rid of almost all of their lesser plans. Then they bailed on the $40 plan, and introduced a whacky 10-day-or-100 MB plan for $10 a pop. Then they introduced a new, unlimited-ish (speeds are throttled after 2.5 GB) plan for $50 a month.

The latest change, just coming in today: 20 bucks a month now gets you 500 MB. If that sounds like a deal to you, be sure to hop on it quick — for all we know, they’ll ditch this one in a month or two.

Google Confirms Android Security Glitch, Rolls Out Server-Side Patch

Many of you, I’m sure, weren’t too pleased to hear yesterday’s news that 99 percent of Android phones are susceptible to impersonation attacks. The bad news: Google has confirmed that the problem does exist. The good news: Google is also fixing the problem, starting today, and it shouldn’t require any action on your part.

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Sprint’s Network Is Back On Track After Last Night’s SMS, Voice Issues

Apparently, Sprint’s network was down for the count last night, as people from different regions of the country experienced difficulty sending MMS and SMS messages. Some even had trouble getting voice calls to go through. According to Sprint, the Washington, DC area also had a voice disruption last night, which was unrelated to the SMS issues.

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Apple Low-Balls 2011 Q2 iPhone 4 Shipment Volume

Last quarter, we collectively purchased 18.6 million iPhone 4s. As of right now, there are an estimated 1.5 million to 2 million iPhone 4s left out there, sitting on retailer and carrier shelves, waiting for a new owner like a puppy in a window. Maybe the rather hefty chunk of iPhone 4 inventory pushed Apple to lower its Q2 shipment volume from 20 million units to 17.5 to 18 million units, but I’m secretly hoping this figure has something to do with the launch of the next-gen iPhone, maybe as soon as September of this year if rumors prove true.

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The iPhone 4 Tops Handset Sales Ranking In Japan

The world’s most advanced mobile nation, Japan, sees more than 100 different cell phones each year. Market research firm Gfk Japan [JP] has analyzed which the best-selling models in the first quarter of this year were and recently published its findings in the form of a top 10 chart.


And according to Gfk, in terms of units sold, the iPhone 4 has been the most popular cell phone in Japan between January and March this year. Only 2 of the top 10 are feature phones (which is not really that surprising anymore), the rest are iPhones And Android handsets.

Here’s the full top 10 (feature phones in italic):

iPhone 4（16GB）

iPhone 4（32GB）

Samsung Galaxy S

Toshiba REGZA Phone T-01C

Sharp IS03

Sharp LYNX 3D SH-03C

Toshiba IS04

Panasonic P-07B

Sony Ericsson Xperia arc SO-01C

Kyocera Kantan Keitai K005

Via IT Media [JP]

Droid X2 Is Hitting VZW May 19th For $199

The Droid X2 launch saga is finally over. Verizon just made it known that the Droid X2, you know, the successor to the Droid X, will hit its online stores on May 19 for the $199 with a two-year blood oath; VZW stores will get it May 26th.

The device hits with same specs that previously leaked: 4.3-inch qHD screen, dual-core 1GHz, 8MP cam, HDMI-out, and Android 2.3. Interestingly enough, battery life wasn’t mentioned in the presser, which, as a Droid X owner, I’m very curious how the dual-core CPU will affect the life. My Droid X can make it through a solid day of use with a couple of bars to spare.

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PayPal Android App To Get Photo-Based Check Depositing Today

Back in October of last year, PayPal tucked a fancy new trick into their iPhone app: Photo-based Check Depositing (or, as they call it, “Mobile Check Capture”.) You know the idea: snap a picture of a check’s front and back, the money automagically appears in your account, and you’ve saved yourself a trip to the ATM (and, more importantly, avoided going out into that nasty, nasty sunlight.)


Since this feature was rolled out, we’re told they’ve been seeing right around a million bucks per month come in via this route — and yet, the iPhone app has thus far been the only version to get it.

That ends today, it seems. Later this morning, PayPal will be announcing and releasing a new version of their Android app, complete with Mobile Check Capture. Oh, and for all the folks out there who can just never seem to find enough on-device storage space: this latest build also supports “Move To SD Card”. Take that, having-to-go-outside!

Intel Promises x86-based Phones In 2012

During investment presentations, Intel CEO Paul Otellini admitted that the company’s old strategy for mobile needed a makeover, but was optimistic about their prospects come 2012.

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Samsung “Hawk” (Exhibit 4G) Landing In T-Mobile Territory June 8

June 8 is to T-Mobile as May 26 is to Verizon. Three Android phones, one carrier, all launching on the same day. What was once referred to as the Samsung Hawk, now the Samsung Exhibit 4G, is set to hit T-Mo shelves on June 8, along with the HTC Sensation 4G and the Samsung Gravity Touch 2.

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LG Revolution May Join Verizon’s Xperia Play, Droid X2 in May 26 Launch

May 26 is shaping up to be a hectic day over at Verizon, as the carrier has seemingly planned a device-launch hat trick for a week from Thursday. The Sony Ericsson Xperia Play is already confirmed for a May 26 release, and current rumors suggest that the Motorola Droid X2 will hit shelves that day, too. Now, a leaked photo of Best Buy inventory information suggests that the retailer will receive its LG Revolution supply on May 25.

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Confirmed -Yahoo Buys Advertising Platform 5to1 For $28 Million

Yahoo has just announced that it will be acquiring advertising platform 5to1 for $28 million. We originally broke the news of the acquisition last week.

5to1 first launched at TechCrunch50 in September 2009, and raised around $13 million in various rounds of funding. The startup is an online advertising alliance consisting of major media publishers. Built on a proprietary publisher-controlled platform, 5to1 offers advertisers premium inventory at mass scale.

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LifeTouch W: NEC To Finally Ship Their Dual-Screen Android Tablet Next Month

The dual 7-inch screen Android tablet that NEC introduced during CES earlier this year is finally ready to ship (in Japan, at least). The company today announced [JP] that it’s now called LifeTouch W, and that it’s scheduled to hit stores over here sometime next month.

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“Super Hi-Vision”: Sharp Prototypes 85-Inch TV With Insane Resolution [Update: Video]

Can you imagine owning a TV with 16 times the resolution of HDTV (or, in other words, about the same resolution as IMAX)? That’s 7,680×4,320 pixels, and today Sharp (in cooperation with Japanese national TV broadcaster NHK) showed a 85-inch LCD TV boasting that spec, also known as Ultra HDTV or Super Hi-Vision.

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Plizy iPad App Could Be A Flipboard-meets-Pandora For Video

Plizy is an interesting new startup which wants to bring personalized video content to the iPad [iTunes link] the company has also announced a $1.2m angel funding round from undisclosed investors.

Plizy wants users to discover, share and watching online video based on your social graph, history, and interests. It sounds like a few other startups we could mention, and competitors might best be described as ShowYou or Pandora. In fact, there is an element here of “Flipboard meets Pandora” for video.

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Octopart, The Little Startup That Hung In There

Looking for a transistor or a relay? Or possibly an oscilloscope? More than likely you’ll end up at Octopart, a vintage Y Combinator startup that launched in 2007.

The company is a search engine for electronic parts, allowing users to navigate through a taxonomy of structured stuff, or just do a plain old parts name/number search. Once you find what you’re looking for, Octopart will show you a variety of distributors who sell the part and their prices, along with a link to go buy it. Here’s the most searched item on the site.

The company is small, but growing and profitable. While the company won’t disclose revenues, about $10 million a year in commerce flows through their site, they estimate (meaning end purchases at distributors via referrals from them). Octopart generates revenue from those referrals, and through display ads on their site.And it has a great story of how it got here.

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Flickr Designer Publicly Criticizes Flickr’s Design

The photo-sharing space continues to heat up, and continues to leave dominant player in the space Flickr in the dust innovation wise. If one thing’s becoming clear, it’s that it must be really painful to work at Yahoo and have any sort of passion for good product design.

The latest example of this comes from Flickr designer Timoni West, who has publicly criticized the service on her personal blog, in a post called “The Most Important Page On Flickr.” In the post Timoni links to the Flickr contacts page and breaks down what’s wrong with it, namely that on a micro-level that there is no chronological way to sort photos, the thumbnail size is too small and there’s no way to see all of a user’s recent photos without visiting their profile.

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Google And Amazon May Have Just Handed Apple The Keys To The Cloud Music Kingdom

With regard to their cloud music offering, it looks like Apple is now just about ready to rock and roll. It would seem that this is now coming together even faster than they anticipated. And that may be thanks to two unlikely sources: Google and Amazon.

CNet’s Greg Sandoval is reporting tonight that Apple has signed an agreement with music label EMI to offer its music through Apple’s upcoming new cloud music service. This means that Apple now has agreements in place with two of the four major labels (Warner signed last month). And Sandoval believes that deals with the remaining two, Sony and Universal, could be wrapped up as early as next week. Again, rock and roll.

With those deals in place, it means that Apple will be free to launch their cloud service anytime they please. And while we had heard the initial plan was to do so at their annual music event in the early fall, Apple could indeed move the launch up to WWDC in early June (just a few weeks from now). We haven’t heard anything definitive about this either way, but you can bet that Apple is thinking about it.

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Twitter Revokes Automatic 3rd Party DM Access, Gives Users More Details On App Permissions

Twitter has just announced that it will be drilling down on the third party app permissions, and will be taking away automatic OAuth access to Direct Messages for apps that need it. As of today Twitter clients that need access your direct messages will ask you for permission to access them. Apps that no longer need access will no longer have access.

 

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Zynga Continues Shopping Spree; Buys Social Game Studio DNA Games

Zynga is continuing its shopping spree today with the acquisition of social game developer DNA Games, marking its 14th acquisition in the past 12 months. It’s important to note that this is an actual acquisition of both the talent and company, as opposed to the recent ‘acq-hires’ Zynga has been making in the past few months. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
DNA Games was founded in 2009 by a trio of former execs from SEM firm Bazaar Advertising (including Jon Lee and Shaun Haase), which was acquired by AzoogleAds in 2007. Since 2009, the gaming startup has developed a number of hit social games on Facebook, including Casino City, Slot City and Bar World.

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TurningArt Raises $750K To Be The Netflix For Artwork

TurningArt, a startup that aims bring a Netflix-like model to the art world, has secured $750,000 in seed funding led by NextView Ventures with participation from Niraj Shah, Steve Conine, Thomas Lehrman, and Will Herman.

Launched in August 2010, TurningArt allows customers to rotate prints of contemporary artists in their home or office for as little as $9.99 per month. Similar to the way you pick movies on your Netflix account, customers can build a queue of artwork they’d like ‘rent’, and TurningArt will then ship that artwork at their preferred frequency.

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Cognitive Match Secures $6 Million For Ad Targeting Technology

Cognitive Match has raised $6 million from new investor Antrak Capital and previous backer Dawn Capital. The round brings total funding raised by the company to over $10 million.

The funding announcement coincides with recent moves for Cognitive Match CEO Alex Kelleher and the company’s SVP of Global Sales, Mike Harris, who both relocated from London to New York.

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Producteev Launches Google Tasks Sync And Outlook Plugin To Take Your Inbox To Zero

ou may be tired of hearing about task managers, but Producteev is a task management service worth writing home about. Few people enjoy using complicated product, task or CRM managers, so Producteev has built a solution with a user-friendly interface that is channel agnostic, and even adds a bit of gaming mechanics. Producteev is a workable alternative to solutions like Basecamp, though the space will surely be keeping a close eye on Dustin Moskovitz’s Asana.

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Why Isn’t Google Chrome A Part Of Android?

Over the past couple of years covering Google, there’s one seemingly simple question that comes up again and again, that Google just can’t seem to answer. Why isn’t Chrome a part of Android?

Read the wrong way, that could seem like a deep question. But it almost never means “why isn’t Chrome OS simply merged with Android?” or the like. Most of the time, it’s simply a question wondering why Google’s very popular web browser is not a part of their very popular mobile operating system? After all, that OS has a browser (the aptly-named “Browser”), but it’s not Chrome. Why not?

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Paul Graham To Hold Y Combinator “Office Hours” At TechCrunch Disrupt. Apply Now!

One of many things that make Y Combinator special: They hold regular “office hours” with startups where entrepreneurs can get advice on any topic, from business strategy to design issues.

What we talk about at office hours also depends on the startup and where we are in the cycle. Usually we talk about whatever is the most urgent question right now. Sometimes, especially early on, the most urgent question is to figure out what the most urgent question should be. That’s less trivial than it sounds; we spend a lot of time telling founders what not to worry about.

(About 10% of the time we talk not about immediate problems but about the big vision for the company. You don’t have to be bound by this, but it’s good to have one. Some startups arrive with a big vision already, but most don’t. It’s a useful exercise to spend some time thinking about what the path would be from what a startup is doing now to a giant company, even if that’s not the current goal of the founders. Helping founders come up with these big visions is one of our strengths, because we’ve explored so much of the space of startup ideas that we know what’s over each hill.)

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Book A Cruise On Your Phone: Viator Wants To Be Your Realtime Travel Booking Solution

When you plan a vacation, you likely have a destination in mind. Location plays a considerable role in our travel plans, but really what makes or breaks a good vacation is what you do when you get there. Your trip to Hawaii last summer was enjoyable simply because you were in Hawaii and not at the office, but really what you remember is the scuba diving — and backpacking through volcanoes. These “travel activities” are essential to every travel experience and, perhaps unsurprisingly, have become a sizable business.

According to PhoCusWright report “When They Get There (and Why They Go)”, the U.S. travel activities market totalled $27 billion in 2009. Not only that, but more than $7 billion in activities were booked online in 2009, and the study predicts that, by 2012, the percentage of activities that will be arranged online will double.

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Almost Half Of All Online Orders Now Include Free Shipping

Online retail spending reached $38 billion this quarter, up 12 percent from a $33.8 billion a year ago according to Comscore — Due to an increase in the number of buyers (7%), transactions per buy (9%) and tempered by a decline in spending per transaction (4%).

According to a ComScore report released today, nearly half of those orders included free shipping, at 47% versus 53% for Q’1 ’11, 49% versus 51% in Q’4 10 (the holiday season) and 41% versus 59% in Q3 ’10.

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