Category: News
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Microsoft is desperately trying to steal users away from Android
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Facebook Does More to Coax Pages to Promote Posts
If you operate a Facebook Page, you may have noticed a couple of subtle changes Facebook has made to the look of the pages for admins. These changes are a clear attempt to coax page owners into promoting their content, or at least help remind them that it’s an option.
First up, you may have seen the new post analytics box at the top of your admin panel. It shows all of your promotable posts (links, photos, etc.), their total reach, and their paid reach. There’s also a button to quickly promote each individual post:
The other is simply a terminology shift. Instead of offering admins the ability to “promote” post, Facebook is now saying they can “boost” posts. I guess “boost” sounds better that “promote.” Clicking on “boost post” brings up the same Promoted Post menu that you’re used to.
Earlier this year, Facebook came under fire over their Promoted Posts feature. Some page owners accused Facebook of pulling the old “bait-and-switch” by burying pages’ content in order to force them to pay for promotion. Facebook vehemently denied this.
Back in December, Facebook announced that about 300,000 pages had paid to promote at least one post. Doing the math, that meant that just of 2% of local businesses pages had utilized the feature. Facebook also said that 2.5 million individual posts had been promoted, meaning that the average page owner who utilizes Promoted Posts promotes a little over 8 posts. These figures are now a few months old, but it gives us a little insight into how much attention page owners were giving the Promoted Post option about 7 months in. Now, we’re coming up on one year of Facebook opening up Promoted Posts to page owners.
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PetChatz – Minnesota-built webconferencing for pets
I love to hear about innovation online. I love when it comes out of Minnesota. Not being a pet owner, I think PetChatz is very funny – but again I love when innovation and economic development happen in Minnesota because of broadband. We should all be thinking of our next innovation!
Here’s a bit about PetChatz from the St Paul Pioneer Press…
Now a Minnesota company has come up with the ultimate petcam — one that dispenses treats and exudes soothing aromas while letting pets and their masters see and hear each other.
Called PetChatz, it can be controlled from afar using a phone app or desktop browser. With the tap of a touchscreen or a keyboard, the owner can release a treat from within the device for Fido to enjoy.
The product is not yet available, but maker Anser Innovation of Minneapolis is aiming to ramp up production soon with the goal of offering the petcam in Minnesota in the fall and around the country in early 2014.
Anser CEO Lisa Lavin calls the product “a greet-and-treat videophone.”
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Need a research assistant? Baxter the Robot is available
Remember Baxter the Robot? The $22,000 machine initially built for manufacturing applications can now be repurposed for research tasks, according to Rethink Robotics.
Baxter’s advantages lie in its ability to “learn” tasks from a person who walks it through a series of motions. The trainer need not be a computer programmer. And, because Baxter is sedentary — it doesn’t roll or walk around — there is no need for protective cages to separate it from human co-workers. For tasks that can be performed at a countertop or an assembly line, Baxter could be an ideal worker.
Rethink has said all along that Baxter will move on to other types of jobs, including, potentially, home healthcare. Last fall, Rethink CEO Rodney Brooks promised a Software Development Kit (SDK) that would enable Baxter to be refashioned for new jobs over time. “Our story is manufacturing, but there will be new software every two to three months with new capabilities,” Brooks, pictured above, told EMtech 2012 attendees in October. “Researchers will find places to use it that we wouldn’t have guessed.”
Here’s the scoop from Rethink’s web site:
“Baxter Research Robot is a $22,000 humanoid robot platform with two 7-axis arms, integrated cameras, sonar, torque sensors, and direct programming access via a standard ROS interface. It is entirely safe to operate around humans without safety cages, making it the perfect companion for late nights in the lab… with no extra pizza required.”
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Carnival Ship Evacuated After Explosion
A Carnival cruise ship had to be evacuated after two fuel barges in Mobile, Alabama exploded late Wednesday night.
Officials say three people were seriously injured in the blast and are in critical condition. Investigators are still trying to determine the cause of the fire, but say it’s likely that a cleaning crew caused a spark which ignited.
The cruise ship is the very one which broke down in the Gulf of Mexico in February and had to be towed into Mobile; it has been docked there fore repairs since that time. No one aboard the ship was injured, but witnesses say the explosions were like nothing they’d ever seen before.
“It literally sounded like bombs going off around. The sky just lit up in orange and red,” said Alan Waugh, who lives across the river from where the barges went up in flames, “We could smell something in the air, we didn’t know if it was gas or smoke.”
As of right now, the fire is out, but officials say a full investigation will take place.
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Bing Rebrands Bing Business Portal As Bing Places For Business
Bing announced the launch of Bing Places For Business today. Essentially this is just a rebranding of Bing Business Portal at a new destination: bing.com/places.
Bing senior product manager Ginny Sandhu says, “We know time is in short supply when you are busy running your business. That’s why at Bing we are always looking for ways to simplify your experience of getting your business online and managing your business reputation on the web. The launch of Bing Places for business is the first of many steps in our effort to provide you with all the tools you need to easily and quickly find local customers online.”
“Also as part of our drive to simplify the experience we are retiring a few business promotion and management services that were being previously offered,” says Sandhu. “Starting today we will no longer provide the option of creating deals, coupons, QR codes and mobile sites as well as removing the ability to create and print collateral for your business.”
Speaking of deals, as Bing Deals no longer exists, Bing also announced the launch of Bing Offers (another deals aggregator).
For Bing Places For Business, users can continue to use the same login information they used for Bing Business Portal. Data will be migrated to the new experience over the next three or four days.
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Ontario Teachers Completes SeaCube Acquisition
Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan has completed its previously announced acquisition of SeaCube Container Leasing Ltd., a Park Ridge, New Jersey-based company that acquires, owns, manages and leases containers used in global containerized cargo trade. SeaCube shareholders received US$23.00 per share in cash, for a final total equity value of US$469.5 million and an enterprise value of US$1.8 billion.PRESS RELEASE:
Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan (Teachers’) today announced it has completed the acquisition of SeaCube Container Leasing Ltd. (SeaCube) following approval of the transaction by shareholders of SeaCube at a special general meeting held on April 23, 2013.
Shareholders will receive US$23.00 per share in cash, for a total equity value of US$469.5 million and an enterprise value (including assumed debt) of US$1.8 billion.
SeaCube is based in Park Ridge, New Jersey, and has seven offices worldwide. It acquires, owns, manages and leases containers that are essential intermodal equipment used in global containerized cargo trade. Equipment is primarily leased under long-term contracts to the world’s largest shipping lines.
This transaction was led by Teachers’ Long-Term Equities group, which focuses on direct investments with steady cash flow, growth potential over a long-term horizon and a low to moderate level of risk. Teachers’ plans to operate SeaCube as a standalone business operation with the current management team remaining in place.
About Teachers’
With $129.5 billion in net assets as of December 31, 2012, the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan is the largest single-profession pension plan in Canada. An independent organization, it invests the pension fund’s assets and administers the pensions of 303,000 active and retired teachers in Ontario. For more information, visit www.otpp.com. Follow us on Twitter: @OtppInfo
About SeaCube
SeaCube is one of the world’s largest container leasing companies based on total assets. The principal activities of SeaCube’s business include the acquisition, leasing, re-leasing and subsequent sale of refrigerated and dry containers and generator sets. SeaCube leases containers primarily under long-term contracts to a diverse group of the world’s leading shipping lines. For more information regarding SeaCube please visit www.seacubecontainers.com.
For more information:
Teachers’:
Deborah Allan
Director, Communications and Media Relations
Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan
+1 416-730-5347
[email protected]SeaCube:
David Doorley
Treasurer & Vice President of Investor Relations
SeaCube Container Leasing Ltd.
+1 201-391-0800
[email protected]Photo courtesy of Shutterstock.
The post Ontario Teachers Completes SeaCube Acquisition appeared first on peHUB.
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Washington Attorney General slams T-Mobile over deceptive ‘no-contract’ advertising
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Sorority Girl Email Author Resigns
Last week Gawker published an email from an executive board member of the Delta Gamma sorority at the University of Maryland. The ‘deranged sorority letter,’ as it became known, was meant to whip chapter members into shape when it came to hanging out with the Sigma Nu Fraternity members.
The colorful email caught fire on social media, spawning dramatic recitations of the letter. Perhaps the most famous of these readings is one done by Academy Award nominee Michael Shannon.
With the bad press that Delta Gamma sorority was getting, it was only a matter of time until the young woman responsible for the email was dealt with by the organisation. Now, the person responsible for the email has resigned from the sorority.
The Delta Gamma Facebook page this week posted a notice to its page, stating that the girl has resigned and that the email was not an “official” sorority correspondence. The chapter also emphasized that the tone and content of the email was “highly inappropriate” and “unacceptable.”
Delta Gamma has accepted the resignation of one of its members whose email relating to a social event has been widely distributed and publicized through social media and traditional media channels.The tone and content of the email was highly inappropriate and unacceptable by any standard.
No matter who released it to the public or how it reached such a mass audience, the email content should not reflect on any sorority woman in general or any fraternal organization at large.
This is a regrettable action by a college junior – a personal email that is now on view for a global audience. And as all reasonable people can agree, this is an email that should never have been sent by its author. Period.
This email should not be depicted in any way as standard or routine or tied to any official sorority voice. It is not an official voice or message and should not be construed as such.
For the young woman who wrote it, we can only express our regret and concerns for landing notoriety in this manner.
We now consider this matter closed. Powered by socialditto
1,000+ likes · 178 commentsThough Delta Gamma may consider the matter closed, the email is likely to make the sorority infamous for years to come.
Below is this author’s current favorite dramatic reading of the email. Former Attack of the Show correspondent Alison Haislip perfectly captures the venom in the email and emphasizes its rather creative language.
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Google welcomes Office to Chrome
Irony can strike in the strangest of places. Just this morning I was discussing Office with my colleague Joe Wilcox, who pointed out an article he had written back in 2010 titled “Microsoft Office is obsolete, or soon will be“. I argue the opposite, telling him that students and businesses are nowhere close to abandoning the Microsoft suite.
While I doubt Google is caving to my point of view, the company perhaps helps support it today. Jelte Liebrand, a Google Software Engineer, announces that “if you’re running Chrome Beta on Windows or Mac and install the Chrome Office Viewer (Beta) extension, you’ll be able to click a link to an Office file and open it directly in Chrome”.
In fact, in the continued battle between the two tech goliaths, Google used this minor concession as an opportunity to also take a shot at Microsoft and the proliferation of Office viruses that continuously float around the Internet.
“In addition to saving you time, the Chrome Office Viewer also protects you from malware delivered via Office files. Just like with web pages and PDFs, we’ve added a specialized sandbox to impede attackers who use compromised Office files to try to steal private information or monitor your activities”, Liebrand writes. Leave it to Google to dig at Microsoft while simultaneously supporting the software.
As previously stated, you will need the latest beta version of the web browser to use this feature. I reiterate my argument — Office is not going anywhere. Like Windows, it will be around for years to come.
Photo Credit: Thomas Christoph/Shutterstock
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CISPA Is Kind Of Dead, But Not Really
Last week, a cry rang out from privacy advocates everywhere as the House overwhelmingly passed CISPA. Those same advocates soon gathered up their forces for a fight in the Senate, but it looks like the Senate got to killing CISPA before they could.
US News reports that the Senate has decided not to take up CISPA. In short, CISPA is dead. The bill that would have given companies full legal immunity when sharing your personal information with the government will have its remains scattered on the winds of history yet again.
It seems that CISPA’s death can be largely attributed to two factors. For one, Sen. Jay Rockefeller, chairman of the Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, came out against CISPA saying it lacked privacy protections. Rockefeller holds considerable sway in the Senate, and his committee would have had a lot of say over CISPA. Secondly, President Obama’s veto threat most likely played a major role in the Senate’s rejection of CISPA.
We can relax now that CISPA is dead, right? Unfortunately, the answer is a little unclear at this point. An unnamed representative on Rockefeller’s committee says that “issues and key provisions” of CISPA will be divvied up and made into separate bills. In other words, CISPA will be broken up into smaller, separate bills in the Senate. The problem with this approach is that some of the less vile, but still damaging, provisions of CISPA can make it through as they won’t be attached to the really bad stuff.
Of course, there’s always the possibility that the Senate will craft a handful of bills that narrowly target the areas not covered by President Obama’s cybersecurity executive order without sacrificing civil liberties. It would certainly be nice, but the Senate’s past attempts at writing cybersecurity legislation certainly don’t inspire confidence.
Either way, we won’t be seeing any cybersecurity legislation out of the Senate for a while. The unnamed representative says the Senate currently has its hands full with a number of other bills that take priority over cybersecurity, including the controversial Marketplace Fairness Act.
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Venture-Backed ViXS Prepares to Go Public
Toronto-based ViXS Systems Inc., a developer of high-performance semiconductors for media solutions, has entered into a going-public transaction whereby a subsidiary of ViXS will amalgamate with capital pool company W7 Acquisition Corp. Upon completion of the transaction, W7 shareholders will ultimately receive common shares of the publicly traded ViXS. ViXS was founded in 2001 with the backing of Celtic House Venture Partners. Other investors include Export Development Canada, New Enterprise Associates and Novacap.PRESS RELEASE
ViXs Systems Inc. announces proposed going public transaction
TORONTO, April 19, 2013 /CNW/ – ViXS Systems Inc. (“ViXS”) is pleased to announce that it has entered into a letter of intent with Windsor Capital Advisors and W7 Acquisition Corp. (“W7″ TSX Venture Exchange: WSV.P) to complete a going public transaction for ViXS (the “Proposed Transaction”). The Proposed Transaction will proceed by way of an amalgamation of W7 with a wholly-owned subsidiary of ViXS (“ViXS Subco”) under the Canada Business Corporations Act (the “Amalgamation”) and will constitute W7′s “Qualifying Transaction” under the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange.
In conjunction with, and prior to the closing of the Proposed Transaction, ViXS intends to complete a brokered private placement of subscription receipts of ViXS Subco (the “Private Placement”), to be co-led by GMP Securities L.P. and Stifel Nicolaus Canada Inc., together with a syndicate of agents including BMO Capital Markets, Cormark Securities Inc. and Byron Capital Markets Ltd. Purchasers of subscription receipts pursuant to the Private Placement will ultimately receive freely tradeable common shares of ViXS once the company becomes public.
Sally J. Daub, President and Chief Executive Officer of ViXS, said, “ViXS was founded in 2001 and since then it has matured into a leading semiconductor company with a comprehensive portfolio of products to meet the diverse needs of the global media industry. We are extremely excited about the Company’s prospects and believe the time has come to take ViXS public.”
It is anticipated that the board of directors of ViXS post-Amalgamation will consist of the five current directors of ViXS.
Completion of the Proposed Transaction is subject to a number of conditions including, but not limited to, completion of satisfactory due diligence, completion of the Private Placement, execution of a definitive agreement in respect of the Amalgamation, regulatory approvals, Exchange acceptance, receipt of approval for listing on the TSX, shareholders of W7 approving, among other things, the Proposed Transaction and approvals of shareholders of ViXS necessary to facilitate the Proposed Transaction.
About W7 Acquisition Corp.
W7 is a capital pool company governed by the policies of the Exchange. W7′s principal business is the identification and evaluation of assets or businesses with a view to completing a “Qualifying Transaction” under Policy 2.4 – Capital Pool Companies of the TSX Venture Exchange.
About ViXS Systems Inc.
ViXS is the semiconductor pioneer in designing and developing high-performance media solutions for the consumer electronics and video service provider industries. With over 390 patents issued and pending worldwide, ViXS has been recognized with a number of industry awards for innovation. ViXS is the world leader in transcoder deployments with over 40 million shipments to date, and still growing.
ViXS has a comprehensive portfolio of products to meet the diverse needs of the global media industry. Portfolio highlights include the most advanced dense transcoder available for cloud-based solutions, as well as SoC’s for home devices capable of doing the most simultaneous number of HD streams in the industry. Moreover, ViXS is the only company to have integrated transcoding and Multimedia over Coax Alliance (MoCA) technologies to create the lowest-cost media gateway capable of delivering premium content to consumer IP devices, such as the iPad, inside and outside of the home.
ViXS has three primary product lines: XCode, XCodePro and XConnex. The XCode family of media processors range from stand-alone transcoding chips to full SoC solutions, each capable of handling from one to four simultaneous HD-to-HD transcodes. XCodePro products address the professional enterprise market and are being deployed today for cloud-based media streaming services. The XConnex product line is for communications devices, including MoCA 1.1 and 2.0 solutions. Additionally, ViXS customers are provided with a robust software development kit known as Xtensiv.
ViXS is headquartered in Toronto, Canada with global operations and offices in Europe, Asia and North America. For more information on ViXS, visit our website: www.vixs.com.
VIXS™, the ViXS® logo, XCode®, XCodePro™, XConnex™ and Xtensiv™ are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of ViXS. Other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
SOURCE: ViXS Systems Inc.
For further information:
Donna Wong, Tel: (416) 646-2000, E-mail: [email protected]Photo courtesy of Shutterstock.
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Twitter for Mac Finally Gets an Update (Seriously!)
If you thought Twitter had forgotten about the ol’ Twitter for Mac app, think again! Sure, it hadn’t had an update for over a year – but that’s all in the past. Today, Twitter launches a significant update to the app and it’s likely just the beginning.
First off, Twitter for Mac now has Retina display support.
“Now Twitter is even more vibrant and detailed on the highest resolution Mac notebooks. With this update, Tweets will be clearer and sharper, creating a more vivid experience,” says Twitter.
There’s also a new share photo button in the compose box of tweets. Plus, Twitter for Mac is now available in 14 new languages: Dutch, French, German, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Malay, Portuguese, Russian, Simplified Chinese, Spanish, Traditional Chinese, Turkish.
Twitter for Mac Tech Lead Ben Sandofsky wrote today’s Twitter blog post on the update, and in it he says that we should “keep an eye out for more improvements to come.” Apparently, he’s serious about devoting more time to Twitter for Mac:
P.S. I’m taking a break from iOS to work on Twitter for Mac full time.
— Ben Sandofsky (@sandofsky) April 25, 2013
You can grab the update in the Mac App Store today.
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Edward Norton Fight With Pap Could Go To Court
Edward Norton should know that the first rule of Fight Club is, you don’t smack a photographer. They don’t like that.
The 43-year old actor reportedly smacked the hand of a paparazzi on Tuesday as the man was trying to catch Norton on video via cell phone, and now the photog is complaining that Norton hurt him.
“He went to the hospital claiming hand pain…It was classified as harassment,” said a police spokesperson.
There were no witnesses to the incident and the matter has been referred to civil court, but it’s not yet known whether the man will file suit against the actor. Of course, this falls under the category of “exactly what is acceptable for paparazzi to do in order to get a shot of a celebrity?”, but since Norton was out in a public place at the time it may be hard to argue that the photographer was in the wrong.
Kate Middleton and Prince William saw two people involved in their topless-sunbathing scandal charged today after facing similar issues with photographers; the couple have been on a crusade of sorts to spotlight the intrusiveness of the paparazzi, as Middleton was snapped at a private residence while on vacation.
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Pushing for better tablet apps, Google adds new developer optimization tool
For the second time in two weeks, Google is showing increasingly serious commitment to Android tablet applications. Last week, the company announced support for tablet app screenshots in the Google Play store. On Thursday, Google introduced a new tablet optimization tips tool in its developer dashboard.
The new tool allows developers to see how their app “is doing against basic guidelines for tablet app distribution and quality.” That means upon uploading a new or updated version of an Android app, developers will get instant feedback on how well their software is optimized for Android tablets.
If a developer didn’t target the right screen sizes or Android version for tablets, for example, they’ll get a reminder to do so. After addressing the un-optimized app components, devs can then upload a version better suited for larger-screen Android devices.
So why the big push? I can think of two reasons: one that’s been around for a while and one that’s fairly recent.
Android tablets essentially began life as super-sized smartphones, meaning apps weren’t optimally sized for bigger screens. This was a valid early criticism of Android tablets that I witnessed firsthand in 2010 when I bought a 7-inch Galaxy Tab. I often found very large buttons in apps or text that didn’t fit properly in a section of an app.
Unlike Apple’s approach — which offers apps specific both phones and tablets (save for the universal apps) — Google doesn’t support have tablet-specific apps. Instead, the company created guidelines and coding tools for apps to work properly on both phones and tablets with a single .apk installation file. But developers have to take advantage of these and properly code for different screen sizes. Not all of them do; in fact, I’d say a fair amount actually don’t. Hence, Google is trying to subtly nudge developers to do so with the new optimization tips tool.
Another reason came about just this week: According to one analyst report, Android tablet sales may be finally starting to catch up with iPad sales. Strategy Analytics shared its data on Thursday and it shows that Android tablet market share around the world is 43.1 percent, compared to the iPad at 48.2 percent. Note that the Android figures are for shipments, so that figure is surely inflated due to Android tablet inventory sitting on shelves or in warehouses.With a rise of shipments, even, Android developers should be considering the mobile app experience on tablets and Google is all too willing to help in that department. It has been trying to do so for the better part of two years — Android 3.0 added many tablet optimized features — but every little bit moving forward helps.
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New Yorkers can now get cellular signals in 30 more subway stations
Back in 2011, Transit Wireless and New York City’s Metropolitan Authority announced an ambitious plan to blanket the Big Apple’s 277 underground subway stations with mobile voice and data coverage. After launching in six stations in Chelsea, nothing much else happened, but on Thursday Transit and MTA finally announced the next phase of their project.
It’s only 30 stations so the project is still well short of its goal, but AT&T and T-Mobile customers should start noticing their phones maintaining their connections as they descend into the depths of Midtown Manhattan. In addition, Boingo is also using the system to expand its hotspot networks underground. Transit said the stations are located in Times Square, Rockefeller Center, Lincoln Center and Columbus Circle. (You can see a list of the specific stops here.)
Transit has installed a distributed antenna system, or DAS, which is neutral-hosted cellular technology. That means that, unlike with traditional tower radio infrastructure, multiple carriers can use the same equipment to reach their customers. They just install base station gear in a hidey-hole somewhere in the MTA’s underground maze, and Transit’s antennas spread their signals to nearby stations.
T-Mobile and AT&T are the anchor tenants of the project, but Verizon Wireless and Sprint said they are negotiating agreements with Transit and the MTA to use the network as well. Transit is targeting 2016 to complete its DAS installation throughout NYC.
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Bing Takes Another Swing At The Deals Space
Bing announced Bing Offers today. This is a searchable collection of local deals on the web, aggregated from a “broad” set of partners.
Sound familiar? That’s probably because they launched Bing Deals two years ago, another deals aggregator. Apparently that didn’t work because these days that just redirects to Bing.
So now Bing is at it again with Bing Offers.
“Bing Offers brings together popular deals from across the web in one convenient place, creating a simple way for people to discover and take advantage of great local deals,” a Bing spokesperson tells WebProNews. “Whether looking for a new restaurant to try or a much needed spa treatment, consumers can use Bing Offers to search and filter one of the largest collections of local deals from leading providers. Additionally, Bing Offers is optimized for tablets, mobile and PCs, so people can find great deals no matter what device they use.”
The features as described by Bing:
- All your favorite deals in one place: You no longer need to browse through different websites, manage multiple sign-ups or sift-through your inbox. Bing Offers aggregates popular deals across the US to help you discover great deals at the right time and place.
- Quickly find the deals you are looking for:Search for your favorite deals by using any business name, category or keyword. Not looking for a specific deal? Then filter out irrelevant offers by location or category including: food, activities, health & fitness, beauty, travel, retail & services.
- Available on any device: The Bing Offers experience works seamlessly across tablets, mobile devices, and PCs, so you can use access great deals regardless of where you are.
Bing Offers is US-only at this point.
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Radiohead’s ‘Karma Police’ Like You’ve Never Heard It Before
YouTube is peppered with covers of the classic Radiohead song “Karma Police” off their masterpiece album OK Computer. And it should be – it’s an incredible song. But I guarantee you’ve never heard that song like this before.
The amazing cover comes from Tel-Aviv-based Rotem Shefy (vocals) and Leat Sabbah (cello). They first recorded the song last year, and then launched a Kickstarter project, which is why you see the nicely produced video below.
For a minute there, I lost myself.
[ShefitaANDSabbaba via UPROXX]
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Assured Labor Raises $5.5M From Capital Indigo, Great Oaks, Nexus, Others
Assured Labor said it raised $5.5 million in a round led by Capital Indigo and joined by existing investors Great Oaks Venture Capital, Nexus Venture Partners, Kima Ventures, Enzyme Venture Capital, Fabrice Grinda and Jose Marin. The mobile recruitment company said the money will allow it to expand engineering and sales staff to handle emerging markets demand.
PRESS RELEASE
ASSURED LABOR CLOSES $5.5 MILLION FUNDING ROUND LED BY CAPITAL INDIGO
World leader in mobile recruitment poised to accelerate growth in emerging markets
NEW YORK – April 25, 2013 – Assured Labor (www.assuredlabor.com), the world leader in mobile recruitment, announced today that the company has closed a $5.5 million funding round led by Capital Indigo. Capital Indigo joins existing investors including, Great Oaks Venture Capital, Nexus Venture Partners, Kima Ventures, Enzyme Venture Capital, Fabrice Grinda and Jose Marin.
“Our digital recruitment platform is taking off in Mexico and Brazil and we couldn’t be happier to add such an accomplished partner,” said David Reich, Founder and CEO of Assured Labor. “With over 1,000 employers joining Assured Labor each month, this investment will enable us to meet that demand by growing our engineering and sales teams while solidifying our market leadership position in the mid-to-low wage segment.”
“The recruitment market in Latin America is ripe for disruption and nothing comes close to Assured Labor’s offering for recruiting lower wage job seekers. We look forward to supporting the company’s growth in Latin America and beyond,” said Bernardo Paashe, Managing Partner, Capital Indigo, who will be joining Assured Labor’s Board of Directors along with Everardo Camacho, Managing Partner, Capital Indigo.
Assured Labor’s brands in Mexico (www.EmpleoListo.com.mx) and Brazil (www.TrabalhoJa.com.br) have grown to become Latin America’s premier services for recruiting mid-to-low wage full-time employees. By leveraging the Internet, SMS, Voice User Interface and Social Media, Assured Labor enables companies to rapidly identify and reach the best job seekers in their area. With 500,000 registered job seekers and 16,000 employers, Assured Labor has become the region’s top destination for mid-to-low wage digital recruitment.
About Assured Labor
Assured Labor revolutionizes hiring in emerging markets. The service leverages the power of mobile phones and the Internet to rapidly connect employers with the best mid-to-low wage candidates in their area. Founded at MIT, Assured Labor’s disruptive platform is optimized for the realities of the emerging markets where three of four Internet users access the Web sporadically and nearly everyone has a cell phone. The company’s Latin American brands, EmpleoListo & TrabalhoJá, are currently operating in Mexico and Brazil. For more information please visit www.AssuredLabor.com,www.EmpleoListo.com.mx and www.TrabalhoJa.com.br.
About Capital Indigo
Capital Indigo is a Private Equity firm based in Mexico City that is focused on mid-market private equity and mezzanine debt investments in Latin America. As an early-mover in the region’s Private Equity markets, Capital Indigo’s “Fund Indigo 1” invests in high-growth mid-sized enterprises. The fund’s managers share over 30 years of operational, investment and startup experience in Latin America and the United States and play an active role in each of their investments. More information is available at: www.capitalindigo.com.
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Next-gen Xbox will reportedly run on ‘core’ Windows 8, start at $299
