via Engadget RSS Feed http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/fCqw8hCVDo8/
Friday, 2 August 2013
Time Warner Cable drops CBS channels (again); CBS: 'first time' dropped from cable
via Engadget RSS Feed http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/ZlDz4YMazFY/
Apple Store Offers Free Downloads in Its iOS App
via Tech http://feeds.mashable.com/~r/mashable/tech/~3/mX7WJQlO9kc/
Kim Jong Un's Tablet Can Do One Thing Your iPad Can't
via Tech http://feeds.mashable.com/~r/mashable/tech/~3/Ak8CvXY0T3Q/
Engadget Podcast 354 - 08.02.13
via Engadget RSS Feed http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/tuC4pQ6hq68/
Editor's Letter: Made in the USA... sort of
via Engadget RSS Feed http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/jauK7UFZhUU/
This week on gdgt: the new Nexus 7, the Leap, and two-step authentication
via Engadget RSS Feed http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/p8Mk-g5TGoc/
Engadget + gdgt Live is hitting Seattle August 31st, get your tickets here!
via Engadget RSS Feed http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/Chvj8TJvz4c/
Google introduces the City Experts program to promote better local reviews
via Engadget RSS Feed http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/hgGfLQ9-cAo/
Aviary for iOS update adds Instagram and email sharing options, extra magic
via Engadget RSS Feed http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/s3XJixlSu_U/
ASUS' 31.5-inch PQ321 4K monitor gets reviewed: pricey, but luscious
via Engadget RSS Feed http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/8bi61Qk4hMk/
MashTalk: Will the Moto X Shake Up the Smartphone Industry?
via Tech http://feeds.mashable.com/~r/mashable/tech/~3/wbCYeMGREbs/
Bluehost, HostGator and HostMonster Go Down
via Tech http://feeds.mashable.com/~r/mashable/tech/~3/RBjquCFFZJM/
Marissa Mayer to Rebuild Yahoo Labs With 50 New PhD Hires
via Tech http://feeds.mashable.com/~r/mashable/tech/~3/SbWM_zW7YhA/
SocialSpace: la Agencia Espacial Europea y el Centro Aeroespacial Alemán se vuelven más sociales
Asistentes al primer Space Tweetup
60 afortunados tuiteros espaciotrastornados pudimos participar el 18 de septiembre de 2011 en el primer SpaceTweetup organizado por la ESA y el DLR en Colonia.
Durante un dÃa pudimos ver las tripas del telescopio aerotrasportado SOFIA, entrar en uno de los prototipos del A380, en el simulador de la Estación Espacial Internacional que usan los astronautas para entrenarse, y de hablar con tantos astronautas de la ESA y de la NASA que al final ya perdimos la cuenta.
Desde entonces se han celebrado otros ocho SpaceTweetups en distintos lugares de Europa organizados por la ESA, a menudo con la colaboración del DLR o del CNES francés; incluso los espaciotrastornados hemos organizado eventos por nuestra cuenta, como por ejemplo el primer SpaceUp en Europa.
Asà que siguiendo los pasos de la NASA, que en su momento hizo lo mismo, la ESA ha decidido ampliar estos eventos a usuarios de otras redes sociales, asà que ahora los SpaceTweetups cambian de nombre y pasan a denominarse SocialSpace, tal y como puede leerse en ESA & DLR get more social!
El primero tendrá lugar el próximo 22 de septiembre en Colonia, y aunque el programa aún no ha sido anunciado seguro que merece la pena, asà que si quieres participar, pide una plaza aquÃ.
Eso sÃ, como siempre en este tipo de eventos, los gastos de desplazamiento y alojamiento corren de parte de los asistentes.
- STS-135 NASATweetup: el lanzamiento del último transbordador espacial en primera fila, una experiencia inenarrable.
- Diez preguntas de tuiteros al astronauta de la Agencia Espacial Europea André Kuipers, acribillándolo a preguntas mientras estaba en la Estación Espacial Internacional.
via Microsiervos http://www.microsiervos.com/archivo/ciencia/socialspace-la-agencia-espacial-europea-y-centro-aeroespacial-aleman-se-vuelven-mas-sociales.html
Nokia intros Photo Transfer for Mac to back up shots from special image modes
via Engadget RSS Feed http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/TuzxELDuo38/
More than 40 percent of active Android devices now run Jelly Bean, Gingerbread stubbornly holds steady
via Engadget RSS Feed http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/5MzacnhJ7u4/
Twitter search upgraded with photo results, recent query suggestions
via Engadget RSS Feed http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/3EKiFQ_YS4U/
Google Drive for Windows gets desktop shortcuts for speedier editing
via Engadget RSS Feed http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/xgUT6tdq5rM/
Verizon Wireless lowers the bar with 500MB Share Everything plan
via Engadget RSS Feed http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/werROwuL8m0/
Engadget Mobile Podcast 185 - 08.01.13
via Engadget RSS Feed http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/219Y6cPoDHg/
Google Fiber's $10 Sports Plus pack gives NFL Redzone some company
via Engadget RSS Feed http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/olWVUwGPJUU/
A cheaper Moto X is coming for prepaid markets, according to Motorola's CEO
via Engadget RSS Feed http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/WjhJ0-7TMjE/
Microsoft deputizes gamers for Enforcement United beta, awards XP for policing trolls
via Engadget RSS Feed http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/0aS1SSG8e30/
OmniVision details 10.5-megapixel Clear Pixel sensor inside Moto X
via Engadget RSS Feed http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/tRRvuWuovo8/
Codementor Is An Open Marketplace That Provides Developers With One-On-One Programming Help
It’s a scenario all programmers are familiar with: you are coding alone, only to have something go awry and no one to ask for help. Codementor wants to prevent developers from going insane by providing an open marketplace where they can ask experts for one-on-one programming and design help. The site just launched in private beta and the first 100 TechCrunch readers to sign up through this link will receive a $10 credit.
Founder Weiting Liu says the goal of Codementor’s platform, which features code/screen sharing, video and text chat, is to replicate the reassuring feeling of having an experienced programmer beside you.
“We are working hard to bridge the gap between the experience of asking public questions on an Internet forum and having a real mentor sit right beside you,” says Liu. The site currently has 300 mentors based in the U.S., Europe and Asia. Liu says that urgent questions can be answered within two hours, while other queries will get a response within 24 hours. Codementor’s goal is to eventually have mentors available immediately for all types of requests.
Y Combinator alum Liu is a veteran founder of startups including stock investing community SocialPicks, which was acquired by Financial Content Services in 2009. He says Codementor is the tool he wished he had as an individual developer and business manager.
“Oftentimes, if developers are relatively inexperienced, they’d run into technical issues that none of us could solve,” says Liu. “As a business manager, you’re willing to pay thousands of dollars just to make those urgent show stoppers go away. If Codementor had existed before, we wouldn’t have had to pay thousands of dollars for certain issues.”
Codementor isn’t just meant for urgent issues. The platform also wants to help coders train with developers who are experts in certain programming languages, giving them in-depth mentoring and live help that’s missing from Web resources like Stack Overflow or Codecademy, and serving as a cheaper, more accessible alternative to offline developer bootcamps.
There are two ways to ask questions on Codementor. The first is to post your question directly on the site, which will match you with mentors. For example, if you need help with Ruby, Codementor will show you which Ruby experts are currently online. The second method, still in beta testing, will allow programmers to embed widgets on their blogs so followers can ask them questions directly from posts.
Developers are accepted into Codementor after a vetting process. The startup’s team looks at each potential mentor’s codebase on GitHub and also takes participation in Web communities such as Stack Overflow into consideration. Mentors set their own rates and are scored after each session by their mentees on a five-point system. Liu says Codementor, which offers a 100% satisfaction guarantee, will drop mentors with consistently low ratings in order to ensure quality.
Codementor currently monetizes by taking about 15% to 20% of each session’s overall fee. It has received initial funding from TMI and will be a member of TechStars Seattle‘s next class.
via TechCrunch » Startups http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/techcrunch/startups/~3/bhWgxWRf22A/
Andreessen-Backed Tutor Matching Service Is Working With Colleges To Upend The Tutoring Industry, Starting With Cost
Of the many ways that technology is disrupting education, one area that’s changing a lot, is rife with potential, but doesn’t get as much play as it should is tutoring. Mostly, this involves the attempt to make high-quality, local tutors accessible to a wider range of students online, without having to turn to traditional channels, like Craigslist or those pesky, expensive SAT-focused private networks.
There are a million marketplaces for tutors, and many startups that have joined in the struggle to make connecting with quality tutors possible, from Tutorspree, IAC’s Tutor.com and the increasing number of services like StudyBlue to WyzAnt and Chegg. But a new startup is launching out of beta today with backing from Andreessen Horowitz and others that wants to help push the space forward by creating a tutoring marketplace that is not only affordable for students but is a sort of official “Tutor List” for universities.
What does that mean?
In other words, Blake Miller and Ethan Friedman founded Tutor Matching Service to both increase student access to quality tutors and one-on-one education, which, unsurprisingly, is something schools are increasingly turning to as they look to increase graduation rates and learning outcomes. Both schools and teachers have begun to realize that they are going to be judged more on how students perform (and hopefully, how they perform on more nuanced assessments that prove mastery and not just the ability to take a standardized test).
Schools want to improve student graduation and success rates, and one-on-one tutoring is a great (and effective) way to do that, however, at most colleges and universities, there are few tutoring options for upper level chemistry, physics, math, languages and so on. College learning centers are asked for help in this regard by parents and students all the time, so Tutor Matching Service began by piloting (and sponsorships) from the career centers, learning centers and student governments of schools like CalTech, Purdue, NYU Poly and Kent State University.
The startup is attempting to establish a real tutoring marketplace, through which tutors can connect to students who need help in each subject, whether they want to volunteer or offer paid services. The founders initially started with a proof-of-concept Facebook app, but at launch, Tutor Matching Service is a web app that no longer requires you to use Facebook to log in.
The startup is now working with over 30 schools to offer tutoring services both online and on campus — and that’s what founder Blake Miller says is their real differentiator. The company has thus far grown organically by word of mouth, but is now on a mission to begin spreading the word. To incentivize schools, the service offers the ability to tap into data collection and analysis tools to map student progress and learning paths, giving those types of tools away for free.
So that means the service, when all is said and done, is a free service for schools, including that data on what students are booking, searching for, paying for and so on. To survive themselves, the company will withhold 10 percent of the fees that students pay to tutors — if a tutor charges $10/hour, the startup will take $1 and the tutor receives $9. For those who volunteer, no fee is applied.
Cost-wise, this could be comparable to digital solutions, or not, it really depends, since Tutor Matching Service is going to let tutors set the going rate of their services. But the company is putting emphasis on being truly affordable — not just another company that says it’ll be affordable and three months later is right up there with everyone else.
Today, having spread to 30 schools, the average price is $12/hour. Compared to “brick-and-mortar” tutoring services, that puts Tutor Matching Service in the “extremely affordable” category. At Tutorpedia, to name one, the price per hour is $105/hour (while tutors make $20-$40/hr), Stutors, a tutoring company in downtown Palo Alto is $96/hour. Their overhead requires them to take a huge cut and the stigma around tutoring — in other words, the fact that everyone and their mother expects tutoring to be expensive and a pain in the ass.
The other keys to Tutor Matching Service, which it hopes will make it appealing to high school and college students, if not differentiate it from others in its camp starts with offering both in-person and online tutoring. The other is that most tutoring companies which take the Kayak or lead-gen approach are really referral sites, potentially getting paid to send customers to particular companies.
Tutor Matching Service wants to be a marketplace, allowing people to contact tutors before booking, view mutual friends on Facebook and the network, and other features like this that can help add some transparency to the process. Lastly, for the campuses it’s working with, the startup is becoming an official “Tutor List,” that is to say the schools put links on their school websites, have flyer on campus, sending them traffic direct and acting as their advertising and marketing funnels, if you will.
Oh, that and the fact that it offers a 100 percent guarantee on the quality of its tutors, and more than 100 of its tutors are certified by their universities (which includes faculty recommendations, training and taking courses at the school).
There’s a long way left to go before Tutor Matching Service becomes the official tutoring network for higher ed in the U.S., but it’s certainly moving in that direction. There’s tons of competition and plenty of private tutoring companies will be up in arms if/when they begin infringing on their territory. But, really, it’s the Uber model at work, as local tutors can join the service, get certified and begin building reputation scores and seeing more students (and revenue) as a result. That could be hard to resist.
via TechCrunch » Startups http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/techcrunch/startups/~3/SxINw_0lGac/
Wall Street Darling LinkedIn Beats Estimates Again, Revenue Booms 59% To $363M, Now At 238M Members
LinkedIn continues to be on of the few companies that can do no wrong on Wall Street, continuing to beat estimates and display growth curves that consistently move up and to the right. Amazon would perhaps be one of the few other exceptions, as Jeff Bezos’ short-term-loss-for-long-term-gain continues to confound the status quo.
The professional network announced its second quarter earnings results on Thursday, and it was another good one, as the company grew to 238 million members and saw revenue increase to 59 percent to $363.7 million from $228.2 million in Q2 2012. Meanwhile, net income also jumped to $3.7 million from $2.8 million in Q2 last year, while non-GAAP net income was $44.5 million, compared to $18.1 million in 2012.
“Accelerated member growth and strong engagement drove record operating and financial results in the second quarter,” LinkedIn CEO Jeff Weiner said in today’s statement. “We are continuing to invest in driving scale across the LinkedIn platform in order to fully realize our long-term potential.”
To build that scale and to follow through with its ongoing plans to build out the go-to professional content network, LinkedIn’s investments have included those like the $90 million acquisition of Pulse and startups like Maybe to dig deeper into mobile.
LinkedIn’s adjusted EBITDA for the second quarter was $88.6 million (24 percent of revenue) compared to $50.4 million for Q2 2012, and GAAP diluted EPS for the second quarter was $0.03, while non-GAAP diluted EPS for Q2 was $0.38.
Meanwhile, as most of LinkedIn’s class of tech IPOs continue to struggle (namely Zynga and Groupon), the company has put together a string of victories. While some questioned its ability to diversify its revenue streams, Linked has been seeing continuing growth in each of its three revenue buckets. This quarter, as per usual, talent solutions took the cake, representing the biggest slice of LinkedIn’s business, as revenue from its talent solutions products hit $205.1 million, up 69 percent compared to Q2 2012.
Talent solutions’ share of revenue grew slightly to 56 percent of total revenue, up from 53 percent last year. Marketing solutions, on the other hand, came in at $85.6 million, an increase of 36 percent when compared to last year and premium subscriptions hit $73 million, representing an increase of 68 percent over Q2 2012, and 20 percent of total revenue.
Other highlights from the quarter included the addition of some big names to its growing “Influencer Program” or roster of Super Awesome Motivational Bloggers, as I like to call them, including Bill Gates, Senator Elizabeth Warren, Jamie Dimon, the Burberry CEO, Japan’s Prime Minister. These new influencers helped LinkedIn “more than double” its homepage traffic over the last year.
The company also “revamped its mobile phone experience” with new iOS and Android apps, saying in its report that “mobile activity has increased, with mobile homepage engagement rising over 40%, and increasing levels of social actions, article views, and mobile profile edits when compared to the past version.”
The company also released a new version of its flagship Recruiter platform for Talent Solutions customers and also launched CheckIn, which “enables student members to engage with recruiters at on-campus hiring events.”
via TechCrunch » Startups http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/techcrunch/startups/~3/i6yt61uIN1M/
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)