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Provided by: techcrunch.com1212012-05-18 00:25:31web and programming / techcrunch.com /: Pulse, the popular free mobile news reader for iPhone, iPad and Android, could soon get ads. Until now, Pulse, which launched its first app in May 2010, was ad free and the company focused more on user acquisition than monetizing its service. A new job posting on Pulse's site, however, clearly spells out the company's plans to start making money in the near future. The company is currently looking for its first sales executive and says that it is "building innovative and disruptive ways of empowering brands to share their content and tell their story in a way that’s natural and native to Pulse."

Provided by: techcrunch.com1222012-05-18 00:47:02web and programming / techcrunch.com /: This is the age of thinking thermostats and, not to be outdone by a well-known circular model, hardware startup Ecobee has released the Smart Si. It is a smart thermostat with small color screen and a web interface so temperature wonks can update their heating models on the fly. The Smart Si is not quite as sleek as the Nest but offers more accessible settings - think of this as the Linux to Nest's OS X. The web interface allows you to see your home's current status, set a vacation profile, and view reports on your system's performance including HVAC and heater usage.

Provided by: techcrunch.com1232012-05-18 00:10:24web and programming / techcrunch.com /: It's been about a month and a half since peer-to-peer bike rental service launched in San Francisco and New York. Since then, the New York-based startup has been busy trying to attract bike owners to list their bikes and improve its inventory, while also trying to improve the overall experience of using its site. Despite only being available in two cities and for six weeks, the startup has already attracted a fair amount of interest from listers and renters. It has an inventory of about 400 from bikes from individuals, and more than 2,000 from bike rental shops listed. And it's seen rental interest from all over the world, with renters from six of the seven continents. (Antarctica is the only holdout.)

Provided by: techcrunch.com1242012-05-18 00:25:31web and programming / techcrunch.com /: Pulse, the popular free mobile news reader for iPhone, iPad and Android, could soon get ads. Until now, Pulse, which launched its first app in May 2010, was ad free and the company focused more on user acquisition than monetizing its service. A new job posting on Pulse's site, however, clearly spells out the company's plans to start making money in the near future. The company is currently looking for its first sales executive and says that it is "building innovative and disruptive ways of empowering brands to share their content and tell their story in a way that’s natural and native to Pulse."

Provided by: techcrunch.com1252012-05-18 00:10:24web and programming / techcrunch.com /: It's been about a month and a half since peer-to-peer bike rental service launched in San Francisco and New York. Since then, the New York-based startup has been busy trying to attract bike owners to list their bikes and improve its inventory, while also trying to improve the overall experience of using its site. Despite only being available in two cities and for six weeks, the startup has already attracted a fair amount of interest from listers and renters. It has an inventory of about 400 from bikes from individuals, and more than 2,000 from bike rental shops listed. And it's seen rental interest from all over the world, with renters from six of the seven continents. (Antarctica is the only holdout.)

Provided by: techcrunch.com1262012-05-17 22:00:49web and programming / techcrunch.com /: "People are sick of shitty customer service," said FastCustomer co-founder, Stephanie Hay. And she and her team aim to do something about it. Their first product, for the iPhone, Android, and other platforms, allowed you to search for a customer service number - say Adam & Eve - and press a button. The program waits on hold for you and then calls you on your phone immediately upon connecting. The company saw 100,000 downloads and estimates that they saved people 1 million minutes of hold time. They've just launched a new telephone concierge service, 1855-DONT-HOLD (855-366-8465), that allows you to call in and perform the same operation. In short, this thing stays on hold for you. The whole process usually takes less than an hour.

Provided by: techcrunch.com1272012-05-17 23:03:12web and programming / techcrunch.com /: Although introduced in 2009, we’ve only seen glimpses of what Facebook Credits will become when it grows up, and Facebook is about to kick off the training wheels. So far, Facebook has done little to promote the virtual currency of Facebook Credits and it’s been used almost entirely in social gaming. But even with this limited exposure and promotion, Facebook Credits’ fees already represents $557 Million in revenue or 15 percent of Facebook’s entire 2011 revenue. Even more remarkable is that less than two percent of Facebook users bought virtual goods with Facebook Credits in 2011, yet it still represented 15 percent of Facebook’s revenue, primarily from just one vertical – social gaming. One vertical and two percent of members represented 15 percent of Facebook’s 2011 revenue!

Provided by: techcrunch.com1282012-05-17 22:00:49web and programming / techcrunch.com /: "People are sick of shitty customer service," said FastCustomer co-founder, Stephanie Hay. And she and her team aim to do something about it. Their first product, for the iPhone, Android, and other platforms, allowed you to search for a customer service number - say Adam & Eve - and press a button. The program waits on hold for you and then calls you on your phone immediately upon connecting. The company saw 100,000 downloads and estimates that they saved people 1 million minutes of hold time. They've just launched a new telephone concierge service, 1855-DONT-HOLD (855-366-8465), that allows you to call in and perform the same operation. In short, this thing stays on hold for you. The whole process usually takes less than an hour.

Provided by: techcrunch.com1292012-05-17 22:00:49web and programming / techcrunch.com /: The Halo 4 Limited Edition puts you in the boots of a Spartan-IV aboard the UNSC Infinity TechCrunch is a group-edited blog that profiles the companies, products and events defining and transforming the new web. "People are sick of shitty customer service," said FastCustomer co-founder, Stephanie Hay. And she and her team aim to do something about it. Their first product, for the iPhone, Android, and other platforms, allowed you to search for a customer service number - say Adam & Eve - and press a button. The program waits on hold for you and then calls you on your phone immediately upon connecting. The company saw 100,000 downloads and estimates that they saved people 1 million minutes of hold time. They've just launched a new telephone concierge service, 1855-DONT-HOLD (855-366-8465), that allows you to call in and perform the same operation. In short, this thing stays on hold for you. The whole process usually takes less than an hour.

Provided by: techcrunch.com1302012-05-17 21:48:33web and programming / techcrunch.com /: Angel investor and all-around web magnate Chris Sacca wrote a quick tweet early yesterday about how it'd be cool if there was a website where people could predict where Facebook's stock will end up at the end of its first day as a publicly traded company. Well, ask and ye shall receive. A programmer named James Proud answered the call, hacking together FacebookIPODayClosingPrice.com, a fun little website that keeps a running tally of people's bets on where Facebook's stock will close on IPO day.

Provided by: techcrunch.com1312012-05-17 21:19:43web and programming / techcrunch.com /: Twitter does a lot of things right, but it still hasn't solved the problem of turning its noise into signal. After joining Twitter, it can take a lot of following and unfollowing scores of accounts before you've curated a stream that makes sense for you. With its platform growing fast, Twitter is looking to make the onboarding process a little easier (and more personalized) for new users, which is why it announced today via its blog that it will begin serving users tailored suggestions of who they should follow.

Provided by: techcrunch.com1322012-05-17 20:55:11web and programming / techcrunch.com /: Verizon CFO Fran Shammo ruffled a few feathers yesterday when he mentioned at an investor conference that every one of their customers would be on one of the carrier's new data share plans. In an effort to clarify his meaning, Verizon sent a statement to a handful of news outlets today that shines a bit more light on how they plan to make this situation work.

Provided by: techcrunch.com1332012-05-17 20:43:31web and programming / techcrunch.com /: Love'em or hate'em, despite the best efforts of Bump and others, traditional business cards aren't going away anytime soon. At least, though, some companies are trying to bridge the gap between paper cards and efforts like Bump. New York-based Vizibility first announced its NFC-enabled businesses cards during SXSW earlier this year. Now, the online identity management platform for professionals, is ready to take this project out of beta and is making it widely available as a standard feature for its paying subscribers or for a one-time fee of $15 for users with free accounts.

Provided by: techcrunch.com1342012-05-17 20:43:45web and programming / techcrunch.com /: The ongoing interest and use of cloud-based services has brought a generally good set of results to one of the leaders in the enterprise software-as-a-service business. Salesforce.com released Q1 earnings just now and in a quarter that is traditionally slower for the company, it swung to a net loss of $19.5 million, compared to a net profit of $530 million a year ago. Nevertheless, total revenues for the quarter were $695 million and earnings per share of $0.37 -- beating estimates from analysts as polled by First Call, who expected adjusted EPS of $0.34 and $678.21 million for revenue. The figures were also better than Saleforce's own guidance of $0.33-$0.34 for the EPS and revenue of $673 million - $678 million. The sales were an increase of 38 percent on revenues for the same period a year ago, and Marc Benioff, chairman and CEO, salesforce.com, says that the company is on track for its first $3 billion year; last year the company broke new ground with $2 billion in sales.

Provided by: techcrunch.com1351970-01-01 00:00:00web and programming / techcrunch.com /: Stealth Media Group announced today that Nicolas Cage and Mickey Rourke are in talks to star in director Ryuhei Kitamura's Marble City . The announcement was made by Jason Piette, Managing Director of Stealth Media Group LA office. Polaris Pictures' Producer Jeremy Wall will co-finance the film along with Premiere Pictures. Mike Nilon, Nicolas CageTechCrunch is a group-edited blog that profiles the companies, products and events defining and transforming the new web. Verizon CFO Fran Shammo ruffled a few feathers yesterday when he mentioned at an investor conference that their every one of their customers would be on one of the carrier's new data share plans. In an effort to clarify his meaning, Verizon sent a statement to a handful of news outlets today that shines a bit more light on how they plan to make this situation work.

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