Author: Joseph Tartakoff

Two small—but noteworthy—acquisitions for Thing Labs, the company behind Facebook and Twitter web client Brizzly: Thing Labs has purchased Wikirank, a tool that let users visualize and compare the most popular topics on Wikipedia, and is also announcing the purchase of Twitter iPhone client Birdfeed.

Thing Labs has added some of its own features to Birdfeed—and is using it to launch a Brizzly app for the iPhone. Wikirank, meanwhile, will be integrated into Thing Labs’ Brizzly Guide, “a new site designed to help navigate what people are talking about on Twitter, Facebook, and other social spaces.” Hot topics—like ‘SXSW’—have their own pages, which feature an explanation of why they are popular, along with some relevant links.

Terms of the acquisitions were not released. Thing Labs was started by Jason Shellen, a former manager of new business development at Google (NSDQ: GOOG), and Chris Wetherell, who—while at Google—started Google Reader. The startup has raised funding from Mike Hirshland of Polaris Venture Partners, Jeff Clavier of SoftTech VC and Michael Jones.

Google (NSDQ: GOOG)—which has spent much of the last year talking about how it is making more money off of YouTube—is now beginning to monetize the mobile version of the video site. In a blog post, the company says banner ads—sold on a “full-day basis”—will soon appear on the home, search and browse pages of YouTube when the site is accessed via a mobile phone.

YouTube had started testing ads on the mobile site in August 2008 and YouTube’s Taylor Cascino says those tests showed “strong results related to click-throughs, user experience and brand awareness.”

YouTube says that traffic to its mobile site grew 160 percent over the last year—and says that bringing ads to the mobile site will “immediately provide one of the largest audiences for a mobile ad campaign anywhere on the web.”

As a reader points out, the other metric YouTube provides is less impressive; the company says “tens of millions of videos” are now being viewed on the mobile site each day. When YouTube started testing one-and-a-half years ago, it said users were watching “hundreds of millions” of YouTube videos each month on their phones. Not clear how different those two stats are.

As for the web version, Google said last summer that it was now getting “well over a billion views a day.” Analysts have said that growth—as well as monetization efforts, like the new mobile ads—could lead to YouTube boosting Google’s bottom line for the first time this year.

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• YouTube Starts Testing Out Mobile Ads
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• Analyst: YouTube To Help Google’s Bottom Line This Year

With services that make it easy for users to share their location—like FourSquare and Gowalla—gaining buzz and usage, Facebook is finally set to fire back with its own move into the hot location-aware space. The NYT reports that the social network will release a new feature in late April that will let users share their locations; the social network also plans to let outside developers build Facebook apps that incorporate that info.

As the paper points out, the move isn’t a surprise at all; Back in October, Facebook actually hinted that such a feature was on the way in an update to its privacy policy, which made mention of the possibility of a service that would include “location sharing.” And with social networks from Twitter to the new Google Buzz letting users tag their locations it only made sense that Facebook would follow suit, especially considering the promise of geotargeted ads.

Asked for comment, a Facebook spokeswoman says, “We are constantly experimenting with new ideas and products internally. We don’t have anything more to share at this time.”

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• Facebook Retools Privacy Policy For Targeted Ads; Users Have Seven Days To Comment

With its release date now set, Apple’s iPad made its TV advertising debut at the Oscars a few minutes ago. Here’s the clip (via Engadget and Alley Insider):

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• Apple’s iPad Hits The Streets Starting April 3; Still No Specifics For International Rollout

»  A survey shows that pre-release demand for the iPad is greater than it was for the iPhone. [AllThingsD]

»  Tiger Woods’ public apology led to record traffic for ESPN Mobile. [FierceMobile]

»  The market for “cloud-based mobile applications” will reach $9.5 billion in 2014, up from $400 million in 2009, according to Juniper Research. [ReadWriteWeb]

»  Advertisers on Slacker’s internet radio service will now be able to specifically target people who access the service via their mobile phones. [AdWeek]

»  An entrepreneur explains why he returned his Palm Pre Plus after owning it for just three weeks. [Silicon Alley Insider]

»  Some feature requests for the next generation of mobile phones. [Bits]

»  T-Mobile may enter the netbook market with the new Dell Mini 5. [TmoNews]

»  A break-down of the various mobile app stores by number of free apps, average price, growth, and number of games. [ReadWriteWeb]

EveryScape, which provides “eye-level” images of major towns and cities around the world, has raised $6 million in a third round of funding. The company charges local businesses in order to build 3D, photo-realistic panoramas of their physical locations which are then featured on EveryScape.com and can also be embedded on the businesses’ websites. EveryScape pitches the virtual tours as a more effective way for businesses to advertise themselves than traditional yellow pages.

Of course, there are a number of other companies—including Google—which are also going after local ad dollars by combining advertising with geography (EveryScape counters that unlike the StreetView feature on Google (NSDQ: GOOG) Maps it lets users actually go inside businesses).

With the new funding, EveryScape will have raised more than $13 million, most recently in a second round in March 2008. The latest cash comes from SK Telecom (NYSE: SKM), a big mobile firm in South Korea. EveryScape says the cash will boost its Asian market strategy and also propel its growth in the U.S.

More in the release.

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• Virtual Tours Provider EveryScape Gets $7 Million Fundinghttp://paidcontent.org/article/419-draft-virtual-tours-provider-everyscape-gets-7-million-funding/

»  With the release of Windows Phone 7 Series, Windows Mobile 6.5 is being renamed Windows Phone Classic. [MobileBeat]

»  Alaska Airlines and Horizon Air passengers will soon be able to check-in for their flights using their mobile phones. [Seattle Times]

»  Despite the introduction of free GPS navigation features on both Nokia and Google Android phones, TomTom CEO Harold Goddijn says the strategic value of his company’s product “is still as big as it was.” [Dow Jones]

»  A visual tour of ten mobile phones announced at Mobile World Congress. [ChannelWeb]

Google’s latest acquisition: reMail, a startup that sells an iPhone app that downloads users’ e-mail to their phones, so that they can search it quickly. In a blog post, reMail founder Gabor Cselle says that the reMail iPhone app is being discontinued, although he doesn’t say what Google (NSDQ: GOOG) intends to do with his company’s technology; Cselle is joining Google as a Gmail product manager. One obvious possibility is that Google would use reMail to speed up Gmail e-mail search on the iPhone.

Cselle had previously worked at Google as a software engineer and had also spent time as the VP of engineering at e-mail startup Xobni.

No word on how much Google is paying for the company. reMail was initially funded by YCombinator and also received an undisclosed amount of funding from FriendFeed co-founders (and Google veterans) Paul Buchheit and Sanjeev Singh.

Social music startup TuneWiki is getting even more backing, this time from DOCOMO Capital, the venture arm of Japanese mobile company NTT DOCOMO. TuneWiki, which said just a week ago that it had raised a second round of funding led by Motorola (NYSE: MOT), says that DOCOMO is making a “strategic investment in the company in a supplemental closing to its previously announced Series B financing.”

TuneWiki started out as a desktop app and site nearly two years ago—but has since also launched several mobile apps for Android, the iPhone, BlackBerry and Symbian, which let users share their music selections on Facebook and Twitter, get track lyrics, and see what other people near them are listening to. The company says it will use the new cash to “help continue to build new products and expand its current offerings for mobile platforms and the web.” Specifically,  it’s planning to launch a mobile game. More in the release.

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• Motorola, Others Invest In TuneWiki

Has Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT) upstaged Google (NSDQ: GOOG) at this year’s Mobile World Congress? Almost without exception, reviewers have praised Microsoft’s new Windows Phone 7 series—but on Tuesday Google got its own chance in the spotlight as CEO Eric Schmidt took the keynote stage. Schmidt’s speech was thinky; holding a piece of paper with his notes, he referred to the rise of cloud computing and faster connectivity speeds as driving mobile adoption. “A device that is not connected is not interesting, it is literally lonely. An application that does not leverage the cloud isn’t going to wow anybody,” he said. “It’s like magic. All of a sudden there are things you can do that we’ve never even (thought of) because of this convergence.”

The politeness lasted only so long. During the question and answer session following his remarks, one person asserted that Google wanted to turn the operators into “dumb data pipes.” The questioner went on: “You see the operator as the data supplier, you’re the one with the service.” Schmidt fired back, saying, “I disagree with your premise completely” and asking the man to explain himself. “I feel very strongly that we depend on the successful business of the operators,” Schmidt said. “We need advanced sophisticated networks.” Later on, yet another member of the audience asked Schmidt whether five years from now a mobile phone user would “feel like a Vodafone/T-Mobile customer or a Google customer.” Schmidt responded “both.’

As for news, the company announced that its search by voice feature would now be available in German; in addition, Google said that ‘Goggles’—its search by picture function—would soon be able to take translation into account (Take a picture of a menu in German with your phone and text shows up on the screen with the words in English). Schmidt also referred to the growth of the Android platform; “We’re now shipping more than 60,000 Android devices per day and that number has doubled over the last quarter,” Schmidt said.

Schmidt never referred to Microsoft and its big announcement. But when he referred to the rise of cloud computing he laid out a list of companies he said were leaders. Redmond was notably missing.

Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT) will have its moment in the mobile spotlight at the World Mobile Conference in Barcelona Monday—and details are leaking out about what it has in store: Microsoft will (as widely expected) unveil the newest version of its mobile operating system, Windows Mobile 7. The WSJ says that Windows Mobile 7 will come with a user interface similar to Microsoft’s sleek Zune HD music player; Bloomberg also says the new operating system “will be more integrated with the … Xbox game machine and Zune music player, so users can share music and videos among Microsoft devices.”

New branding may also be on the way. All About Microsoft‘s Mary-Jo Foley speculates that phones running the operating system will be called “Windows Phone 7;” previously Microsoft had been referring to all Windows Mobile phones as “Windows Phones.”

What’s not being announced: The long-rumored (and top-secret) project “Pink” smartphone that Microsoft has been working on. But the WSJ does say the device—which is aimed at teens—could come to market as soon as this spring. The phone is being built by Sharp and will be sold by Verizon.

We’ll be on the ground in Barcelona and will provide live coverage here.

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• A Handbag Of Microsoft Reports Point To A Mobile Refresh Coming Soon
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VeriFone, which makes point-of-sale equipment, like PIN pads, says it has invested $5 million in Chinese mobile payments firm Trunkbow, as part of the $22.5 million Trunkbow raised via a reverse merger. The investments puts a $65 million valuation on Trunkbow, according to a statement. Last year, Trunkbow partnered with a Chinese telecom carrier to roll out its mobile payments platform in one province and the company says it “plans similar deployments throughout multiple provinces with multiple telecom carriers.” VeriFone says the deal gives it “a seat at the table for cell phone payments in the world’s largest cell phone market.” More in the release.

Lots of strong words from RealNetworks (NSDQ: RNWK) interim CEO Bob Kimball during the company’s earnings call. Kimball unveiled a new strategy for RealNetworks which will revolve around two of the company’s businesses—RealPlayer and its software as a service business for carriers. Kimball says that both of those businesses have been responsible for the majority of the company’s profits and that RealNetworks’ current structure, which spans four units, involves “too many businesses” and “lacks synergy.” The new plan, he said, was the result of a strategic review of the company, which was conducted in part by the consulting firm McKinsey & Co.

Once the company completes the spinoff of Rhapsody this quarter, Kimball saysRealNetworks will next turn its attention to finally separating its gaming business; other RealNetworks products that are not profitable will be cut. “I have no intention of running this company in its usual basis,” he said. “We must do things differently and we will.” (An aside: One analyst joked during the question and answer session following Kimball’s opening remarks that he thought he had dialed in to the wrong call). Kimball says RealNetworks’ new mission is to “focus on how consumers enjoy their content; we don’t envision being in the business of creating content going forward.”

Kimball said that the company will move “very fast” with its restructuring. However, he warned that the changes RealNetworks is planning won’t have an effect during the first quarter. That, he said, explained the company’s dismal outlook for its first quarter results, which executives attributed in part to the continued loss of Rhapsody subscribers.

While RealNetworks is simplifying its structure, it will also invest in “profitable growth.” CFO Michael Eggers said that could involve both acquisitions and the introduction of new services related to the company’s new areas of focus. But, he said, RealNetworks’ plans for its nearly $400 million cash stockpile haven’t changed significantly, adding the company would only use “some” of that cash for these investment initiatives.

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RealNetworks (NSDQ: RNWK), which is in the midst of a torrent of structural and management changes, posted a five percent drop in revenue during the quarter. Revenue fell to $145.5 million, while the company posted a net loss of $13.3 million (11 cents per share), an improvement from the company’s loss of $240.5 million during the same period a year ago. RealNetworks’ poorest performance was in its music business, which posted a 14 percent drop in sales; subscribers to its Rhapsody music service dropped to 675,500 from 700,000 during the prior quarter. The company’s overall revenue figure was roughly in line with expectations, although analysts had been expecting a smaller loss of six cents per share.

In a statement, acting CEO Bob Kimball alluded to the many changes at the company saying, “We are aggressively moving to transform RealNetworks into a more simple and focused company that delivers value to its shareholders.” He called the company’s announcement this week that it will spin off Rhapsody as “a first step.”

Financially, however, the company isn’t expecting an improvement (at least right away); it says that revenue will drop 12 percent year-over-year during the first quarter and that all of its business units will post drops in sales.

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• RealNetworks’ Kimball: ‘We Must Do Things Differently And We Will’

Google (NSDQ: GOOG) is entering yet another business, saying it will build “ultra” high-speed broadband networks in locations across the United States. The plan is relatively small in scope: Google says it will offer service to between 50,000 and 500,000 people (By comparison, cable operators currently offer high speed service to about 52 million homes, according to MultiChannel). But Google says it will offer internet speeds of 1 gigabit per second—100 times faster than what it says most Americans are used to—and that could lead other providers to up their speeds too.

That’s likely what Google wants since in its announcement it says that while “network providers are making real progress to expand and improve high-speed internet access … there’s still more to be done.” So, Google says it will test new ways to build fiber networks—and share what it learns. Faster internet connections, of course, ultimately mean more people will use the company’s products.

Google (NSDQ: GOOG) is trying once again to make a social play with the introduction of a new service that makes it easy for users of its products to post and share updates online. A new tab in Gmail, called ‘Buzz,’ which will roll out over the next several days, lets users share status messages, videos, photos and links. The updates can be shared across the web (they appear on a user’s Google Profile page and are indexed by Google) or just with select contacts. A mobile version of Buzz lets users tag their locations when they post—and quickly see Buzzes sent from locations near to them.

Buzz is a direct assault on Facebook and Twitter, which have grown rapidly by making it easy for people to share information about themselves with contacts—and it’s clearly inspired by both of those services (Just two obvious examples: To send a ‘Buzz’ directly to a friend’s Gmail inbox, you use the ‘@’ function, and there’s also a list of recommended users to “follow”—both features that Twitter has pushed). And, indeed, during a question and answer period following the launch this morning, Google executives were repeatedly asked about Buzz’s similarities to those services. In response, Buzz product manager Todd Jackson said Google tries “not to pay too much attention to competitors.”

Google’s past social initiatives, including its Orkut social networking service, have had limited success (although co-founder Sergey Brin dismissed that assertion during the announcement)—but Google should obviously benefit from Buzz’s ties to Gmail, which has more than 100 million unique users worldwide. Remains to be seen, however, if people who are already so used to sharing updates on Facebook and Twitter will also want to do so on yet another service.

Related

• Following Rivals, Gmail Will Add Status Updates

To add to the hall of fame of Facebook growth stats: Facebook has added 45 million mobile users in the last six months alone; the company just announced it now has 100 million people using the social network on their cell phones, up from the 65 million it reported in September and the 20 million it had in January. That exceeds the overall growth of the social network, which now claims 400 million monthly users, up from 150 million a year ago.

In a blog post, Facebook’s Chamath Palihapitiya recaps some of the recent moves Facebook has made on the mobile front, including introducing a redesigned mobile home page, app updates, and a URL shortener designed to make it easier for Facebook users to share updates via text message.

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• Facebook’s New Privacy Controls To Go Into Effect
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Google (NSDQ: GOOG), which shook up the e-mail industry when it integrated chat with e-mail, is now trying to catch up to its rivals by letting Gmail users share status updates. The WSJ reports that Google will soon add a “new module that will allow Gmail users to view a stream of status updates from people they choose to connect with.” If it catches on, that could potentially add a new force to the Twitter-dominated microblogging world, considering that Gmail had 132 million unique users worldwide as of last March (the last figures I could quickly get my hands on).

Unlike with chat, however, Google is actually following its two biggest e-mail rivals—Windows Live Hotmail and Yahoo (NSDQ: YHOO)—in letting users share and track status updates. (Big caveat here: We don’t actually know all of what the feature involves or what it will look like; we’ve asked and will update if we hear back).

But Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT) added social networking-like features—which let users share activities around the web, along with status updates, called ‘notes’—to Windows Live way back in November 2008. And Yahoo announced in August that users of Yahoo Mail would be able to share status updates.

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If only the rest of Electronic Arts’ businesses could be doing so well … During the company’s earnings call Monday, executives said that the company’s digital business was “growing very rapidly and (is) profitable” (Executives had said during a call last quarter that digital was in fact now the most profitable part of EA’s business).

The digital business is now expected to reach at least $750 million in sales next year, up from about $575 million this year. By contrast, executives said that they are not counting on much—if any—growth in the company’s traditional “packaged goods” business, which should account for about $3 billion in sales.

But executives dismissed suggestions that the growth of online and mobile gaming was cutting into sales of traditional video games, saying that there was no data that indicated that gamers were spending less time with their consoles. Some other highlights:

—Digital bragging rights: Executives said that EA—which is the top mobile games publisher worldwide—was now responsible for seven of the top 11 games on the iPhone. Via the company’s acquisition this fall of social gaming company Playfish, EA also had two of the top 10 games on Facebook.

—New digital titles: EA will release a “major” massively multiplayer online game next year. As part of that effort, the company says it will incur “significant development costs.” Executives also pledged that every release the company puts out this year will have an online component of some sort.

—Madden NFL coming to Facebook? EA Sports President Peter Moore said earlier today that the company was planning on bringing its blockbuster Madden NFL to Facebook. During the call, executives wouldn’t be specific about that, with CFO Eric Brown saying, “we don’t have specific titles to call out here.” But he acknowledged that a goal of buying Playfish was to “over time” launch EA titles on other platforms.

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• EA Will Bring Madden NFL To Facebook
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