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How Bodega typifies Silicon Valley’s cultural ignorance
On Wednesday a story about two ex-Google employees receiving an obscene amount of money for a bad idea hit social media and was met with a level of outrage you could feel through the screen. If you're online in any way whatsoever, you likely know I'm talking about Bodega. The excellent article, Two Ex-Googlers Want To Make Bodegas And Mom-And-Pop Corner Stores Obsolete, hit several raw nerves with a wide range of people. This fury is so crystallized because "Bodega" -- an overfunded, probably doomed, glorified vending machine startup positioned as a bodega killer -- stands for everything Silicon Valley represents to us. Whereas in reality, the very concept of a bodega stands for the absolute opposite of Silicon Valley.
Jay Z launches a venture capital firm to back startups
Jay Z was rumored to be launching a venture capital firm, and it looks like the scuttlebutt was true. His company Roc Nation has formed Arrive, a VC "platform" that will help younger startups build their brands and businesses. Roc is betting that its experience in fostering artists and athletes will translate to the corporate world. Arrive doesn't have a fund of its own just yet, but one is in the works.
Lufia: The Legend Returns, Harvest Moon 2 to reach 3DS VC
E3 2014 wasn't just great for new games – Capcom showed Virtual Console users a little love with their upcoming release schedule, and now Natsume Inc. has done the same by announcing two new 3DS VC titles: Both Lufia: The Legend Returns and Harvest Moon 2 GBC are "coming soon" to the digital storefront. While Game Boy Color cartridges of either game are still reasonably priced, we're hoping this will lead to a debut of the SNES' pricier Lufia 2: Rise of the Sinistrals on the Wii U VC, which typically sells for $50 or higher. Hoping for the same scenario with Harvest Moon 64 might be futile, though – when a fan asked about the possibility of the N64's farm-and-relationship simulator arriving at a later date, the Natsume page responded: "Sadly, HM64 won't be appearing." [Image: Natsume]
AI algorithm takes seat on investment company's board
The coming robot apocalypse will need robot executives to rule over it, but it looks like they're going to have to start with more mundane business first. A Hong Kong venture capital firm has just "appointed" an artificial intelligence tool called VITAL to its board of directors to help find promising investments. It'll scan things like financing, IP and clinical trials from prospective companies, share that info with the board and even cast the sixth vote. So far, it's helped find two promising outfits already, though it hasn't voted yet. Still, the main goal is to "draw attention to it as an independent decision maker," according to the company. And draw publicity to itself, no doubt.
The foolhardy notion that Apple is "too rooted to hardware" and that hardware is "becoming a commodity."
Venture Capitalist Fred Wilson recently spoke at the TC Disrupt conference in NYC where the outspoken investor had some interesting things to say about Apple. Not one to mince words, Wilson boldly proclaimed that Apple by 2020 will no longer be one of the top three tech companies as measured by market cap. Instead, the top there spots will be occupied by Google, Facebook, and another company that we haven't yet heard of. TechCrunch recapped his line of reasoning as follows: Why? Apple, he believes, is "too rooted to hardware," with not enough tied into the cloud, and that will make it too much of a challenge for it to evolve going forward. "I think hardware is increasingly becoming a commodity," he said. "Their stuff in the cloud is largely not good. I don't think they think about data and the cloud." Twitter, meanwhile, he thinks will be "four, five, six, seven... but I'm not sure it will be number-two [or three]." Well, apparently the "Apple is trending downwards" meme is as alive as ever. Now to be sure, anticipating which companies might be market cap leaders six years into the future is a fool's errand. Nonetheless, the reasoning Wilson proffers is nothing more than the oft-cited drivel that folks who don't really grasp what Apple is all about like to bring up. The notion that Apple is "too rooted to hardware" isn't a new one. Still, it's perplexing why some folks continue to gloss over the fact that Apple's business model of developing both software and hardware is precisely the reason why the company has been so successful. Hardware is the reason why Apple has more money in the bank than a number of developed nations across the globe. As the famous Alan Kay quote reads, "People who are really serious about software should make their own hardware." As for the argument that "hardware is increasingly becoming a commodity", well, there's a big difference between hardware being prevalent and hardware being a commodity. A commoditized market is one where there is no discernible difference in quality across a class of goods. Wilson's statement, therefore, posits that the iPhone and the iPad are on such a course that they will soon be indistinguishable, in the eyes of consumers, from competing products. While this makes sense on a surface level, a deeper examination of the issue demonstrates that Apple works tirelessly to successfully differentiate its own products from the competition. Apple's hardware provides it a strategic advantage The most recent such example is Touch ID, a feature whose simplicity and efficacy no company has yet been able to mimic. Just look at a few Samsung Galaxy S5 reviews and read about how well their fingerprint authentication scheme works if you need further convincing. Here's a quick example from Engadget's review of Samsung's latest flagship device: Over the course of several days, I made dozens of attempts with each finger and it only recognized me on the first try about half the time -- and that's a generous estimate. More often than not, I had to swipe my finger two or three times before it let me in; typing in a PIN code would've been more efficient. Worse, there were other times when the scanner wouldn't recognize me at all, even as I adjusted my swipe speed, angle and finger pressure. And even when it works, there's a small delay after you swipe before the phone accepts your print. More broadly, its far easier to copy good software than it is to copy top of the line hardware design. To that end, Apple's allegiance to hardware is a strength, not a weakness. What's more, Apple isn't just about hardware. The company is similarly focused on creating unrivaled software. Indeed, off the shelf Macs have historically not been hardware behemoths, but they still sell remarkably well because people enjoy intuitive and thoughtful software. Of course, Apple's software is not without its faults, but by and large, Apple's fine tuned software coupled with its elegantly designed and powerful hardware is precisely why the company continues to make money hand over fist. Now Wilson is right in arguing that Apple's cloud-based initiatives leave a lot to be desired, but I think it's a bit premature to already be casting Apple's chances aside, especially given the company's astronomical cash hoard. Apple's stockpile of cash gives it a large margin for error. It can fund expensive R&D efforts and, even in a worst case scenario, can buy innovative technologies and companies to shore up any glaring holes and weaknesses in its product and services line. If anything, Apple is better positioned than most any other tech company to thrive in the years ahead. That said, it's quite bizarre, though not uncommon, for folks like Wilson to completely disregard Apple's track record for innovation and instead view competing tech companies through rose colored glasses. Lastly, and speaking of track records, it's worth noting that Fred Wilson is the same guy who famously dumped his shares of Apple back when the company was trading at $91, taking a loss in the process.
SOE's John Smedley blames Rhode Island government for 38 Studios closure
So who's at fault for the 38 Studios debacle? It's a question that's been thrown around a lot with no clear answers. But John Smedley of Sony Online Entertainment thinks that it's a pretty clear case of the state of Rhode Island getting involved in something it shouldn't have and then backing out at the worst possible time. He stated on Twitter that having seen the game himself, it had potential and it could have been something if it had actually made it to release. Smedley agrees with Governor Lincoln Chafee that the funding deal was a bad idea and should never have taken place, but once it had taken place, it was in the state's best interest to aid the studio rather than letting it fail. Chafee's comments and naysaying for the project doomed the chances of the game getting any additional funding, ultimately shuttering the studio altogether. Despite that, Smedley also notes that in the long run it was a bad idea that should never have taken place and that SOE was approached for funding on the game and declined, which he suggests should have been indication enough for Rhode Island not to make the deal. [We've updated the title to make utterly clear that of course we (and Smed) were talking about the government of Rhode Island, not some random people in Rhode Island, many of whom obviously did not vote for said government. After the break, we've also quoted the relevant tweets, among them the one in which Smed declares that but for Chafee's actions, we'd be playing the game right now.]
Oculus Rift gets $75 million in funding from Netscape founder's firm
Oculus VR received $75 million in funding from venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, led by Netscape founder Marc Andreessen. Oculus VR previously secured $16 million in its first round of funding in June. The company's Oculus Rift augmented reality hardware also earned $2.4 million on Kickstarter in September 2012 after reaching its $250,000 goal in 24 hours, which in itself was a testament to the appeal of the headset. "Over the past 16 months, we've grown from a start-up to a company whose virtual reality headset is poised to change the way we play, work and communicate," Oculus VR CEO Brendan Iribe said in a statement to VentureBeat. The company's growing support isn't just measured in dollars, as Iribe said the company sold over 40,000 Oculus Rift kits to developers that are working to create games and apps for the headset. Additionally, id Software Co-Founder John Carmack joined Oculus VR in August as the company's CTO before officially leaving the Doom developer in November.
Earthbound this year on VC in NA and EU
Earthbound (also known as Mother 2) will be available on the Wii U Virtual Console by year's end in North America and Europe."We will announce the actual release date at a later time," said Nintnedo President Satoru Iwata during today's Nintendo Direct.
Richard Garriott's Portalarium secures $7 million funding for iOS social RPG
Richard "Lord British" Garriott is in the middle of a new gaming venture called Portalarium (it's working on a social game for Facebook and iOS called Ultimate Collection: Garage Sale), and he's just been able to convince a round of venture capitalists to support his projects, to the tune of roughly $7 million.The money will also be used to build a social RPG tentatively titled "New Britannia," which may have ties to the Ultima tradition, as well as new school features like asychronous gameplay and social profiles.Portalarium was announced to be one of the launch companies in Zynga's upcoming partner program, so Garriott and crew are definitely laying the foundations to launch some large and well-supported titles. Ultimate Collection is supposed to be available to play sometime later on this year.
Nintendo 'readying the system' to transfer WiiWare, VC and Wii saves to Wii U
During a developer roundtable discussion at E3 today, Nintendo said that it's currently working to figure out how Wii owners will be able to transfer their content to the Wii U. The fact that this is even a possibility is pretty amazing to us."We are readying the system, yes, to transfer saves and everything you've bought," designer Katsuya Eguchi. So it looks like the idea of transferring WiiWare, Virtual Console and save data content from the Wii to the Wii U is not the crazy pipe dream we once thought.[Note: Image taken from today's Nintendo liveblog.]
Selena Gomez talks tech with TUAW
Before 2011, you probably only knew who Selena Gomez was if you had teenagers or younger children. But this year the young woman who plays Alex on Disney's Emmy Award-winning Wizards of Waverly Place has made her way into the mainstream spotlight. In the last twelve months she's starred in her second feature film, been hounded endlessly by paparazzi because she's dating one of music's biggest stars, was active in her role as a UNICEF ambassador, released (with her band) her third studio album while touring around the globe with them, and hosted the EMAs. And almost as if she's trying to squeeze everything possible into this year, she'll be working until the stroke of midnight on December 31st in New York where she'll be performing at MTV's live New Year's Eve special. Disney has also announced that the series finale of Wizards of Waverly Place will air in early January. All that would be a lot for anyone, yet there's still one more thing that Selena has done this year. This past November the 19-year-old pop star from Texas also became a tech venture capitalist. Along with CrossCut Ventures and a group of ten other seasoned investors, she took part in a first round of funding for the iPhone and Android app Postcard on the Run. The app, which I reviewed a few days ago, lets users turn any digital image on their iPhone into a physical postcard that can be instantly sent to anyone in the world. I've recently been finishing up a book on the cult of celebrity in America (and for research, reading way more Daily Mail gossip than could possibly be considered healthy), so when I saw Selena Gomez's name pop up on one of my tech news feeds instead my celebrity news feeds, I was taken aback. The November announcement said that Selena had become an investor in an iPhone app. But for the life of me I couldn't figure out why a nineteen year old who has so much other stuff going for her right now felt the need to do something so -- well, compared to all she's done -- so relatively small; not to mention something most others in the tech industry don't do until their late 20s or early 30s. Don't get me wrong, Postcard on the Run is a very good app. It's actually one of my favorites. But that's all it is -- a single app. And if you're doing it for the money, why not invest in a bigger app, or a developer who has lots of apps? I mean, Ashton Kutcher I get. He's another celebrity who is also a prominent tech VC. But his strategy is fairly obvious. Lots of investments (not to mention endorsement deals with tech-friendly companies like Nikon). Big portfolio. Big profits. But a single app with a first time developer? And at 19? So I contacted Selena's representatives and she agreed to an interview with me early last week. What I found out was something all of us reading this are familiar with. It's why some of us are developers and all of us are users. You get into it because you love the product. Because you can't stop talking about it and you want to be part of it -- any way you can. That's exactly what happened to Selena. In September she was stuck on her tour bus between performances; she came across Postcard on the Run in the App Store and started sending postcards with it. "I have my iPhone with my all the time that's why I think Postcard on the Run is such a great concept. The one thing people have with them at all times is their phone and the app makes it so easy to send cards and keep in touch with people in a more personal way," she tells me. "I got excited about something and wanted to be a part of it." At first I think "what's wrong with email?" but then, perhaps channeling a bit of my mother, I do have to admit a physical note is more personal than an electronic one. I ask Selena if she thinks there's room for both traditional and electronic greetings in the future? Does one mean more to her than another? "I really think it can be a combination of both," she says. "There's something really nice and special about sending and receiving mail the old fashioned way. Who doesn't like getting things in the mail?" A Twitter fan base of 9 million. Check. 25 million "Likes" on Facebook. Check. Likes to wait for something in the mail? Uh, check. Who knew? After deciding she wanted to get involved it was time to contact the app's creator, Josh Brooks. I ask her if Josh thought someone was playing a prank on him at first. I mean, if I got an email from "Selena Gomez" saying she wanted to help any way she could on my next book project, I wouldn't take it too seriously. She laughs at my question, but shrugs off the suggestion. "I actually talked to my stepdad about it and he and I reached out to Josh directly," she says. "But yeah, Josh was pretty excited." For his part, Josh tells me that he didn't disbelieve the email, but he did admit to using Google for what it does best. "And so I checked it out and everything made sense. It was way interesting and we had a couple more emails and then hopped on the phone." When asked how long it took from that first email to the time she officially came on board Selena says, "Not very long at all. I guess it took three or four weeks." But the timing turned out to be serendipitous. Before Selena contacted Josh, he already had a number of angel investors committed along with CrossCut Ventures, and they were looking to finish up the financing so he could take the app further. Though Selena nor Josh are releasing individual investment numbers, the closing round that Selena invested in was $750,000. I asked Selena why so many celebrities seem to be getting into tech investing. From an app developer's standpoint, it's good press. But besides financial incentive, is there any other reason for the celebrity to do it? "I can't speak for others but for me, having grown up in the 'digital age' it feels like a natural," she says. "I'm always on the go, and the one thing always with me is my phone and I'm excited about being part of a technology that helps people stay in touch in a real way. Postcard on the Run's technology has the added benefit of working in conjunction with projects or initiatives I'm working on directly." As she tells me about the features of the app, you can tell her love for Postcard on the Run is clear. "I genuinely like [POTR's] approach to the online/offline space. It's super simple -- that's key." Like anyone else, I understand liking a product and wanting to get involved, but I ask Selena what an actress and singer could bring to an iPhone app? Especially one that had it's territory invaded by Apple and its Cards app. I mean, she's already conquered television, movies, and music. Did she really feel like she needed another challenge? But this is where she gets back to that something no one can argue with: "I don't think it's as much about taking on Cupertino, but creating a product that people will use, love and share." In other words, worry about the product, not the competition. As for what she can contribute, Selena doesn't pretend to be a Silicon Valley wiz or tech titan. She openly admits that -- at least in the app world -- she's still a fresh face. "This world is somewhat new to me, but Josh and I have a really comfortable relationship. We're constantly in touch regarding everything from product updates to looking at new ways to incorporate Postcard on the Run into other projects and campaigns. More than anything, at least for now, our main goal is build the profile of the company." And with star power like Selena's, building the profile of the company shouldn't be much of a problem. I ask her how her name recognition has affected download numbers, to which she modestly replies, "There's been a jump." When I asked others who know Selena what she is really like I got answers of "great person," "super sweet," "family oriented," and "She's one of the most warm individuals at her level that I've ever met." Add "humble" to that list too. So I ask Josh how much Selena's involvement has helped. "Selena's strength is not only her ability to reach a younger audience, but it's also to speak to just a different culture that is so digitally friendly. I almost look at her as an ambassador to Postcard on the Run as she can help carry our voice to a different audience," he tells me. "When she makes an announcement about Postcard on the Run you see [download] spikes that are ridiculous. It's out of control. It's tens of thousands of downloads as a result of her supporting or pushing out something cool that's happening with Postcard on the Run. People really want to engage with her and she has fun doing it." There's the boastfulness I was looking for. But Josh, who has a deep history in the talent and music industry, is also earnest in his reply about Selena's role as a creative advisor as well. "If you're between the ages of 16 and 22 your skill sets are just different than ours. She personifies this really interesting, multi-thread of a talent like no other. She's extremely real and genuine about how she sees this stuff working." For now, Selena is happy working to help make Postcard on the Run a success and told me she has no other plans for any other app investments at the moment. She'll be busy performing and promoting well into 2012. However, if you're hoping to get her attention with your app she did tell me she generally likes word games and photo apps. Just make sure those apps are built out of a passion and not solely for profits. Note: Love Selena? Love postcards? Check back the Tuesday after Christmas for a sweet promotion and giveaway from Selena, Postcard on the Run, and TUAW!
Tamron unveils 18-200mm E-mount lens, ups your NEX glass selections
With a whopping total of eight official lens choices (and two wide angle converters), saying that Sony's NEX cameras could use a few more options in the decent glass category would be putting it lightly. Thankfully, Tamron today announced its latest zoom lens, the BO11 18-200MM F/3.5-6.3 DI III VC, which is made specifically for E-mount shooters. The BO11 weighs in at just over a pound and features a built-in stepping autofocus motor, along with Tamron's moving coil-equipped Vibration Compensation technology -- a must given that Sony's NEX shooters rely on their lenses for image stabilization. While there's no mention of price, the lens will be shipping to dealers starting December 15th and you'll have your choice of either black or silver. Of course, we'd be remiss not to point out the option of lens mount adapters, but if you're set on dedicated solutions you'll the full press release just past the break. Update: Tamron has announced pricing at $739.
Dreams, teams and the Color app
The latest app making a big buzz seems to be one simply called Color. Why the hoopla about what is, at best, a location-based photo sharing app? Because they raised a whopping US$41 million dollars in funding before even launching. Before you say "bubble 2.0," let's take a look at what Color does. Although I have to wonder how much of that went to procuring the URL www.color.com -- and if this really is the peak of the new bubble. [Update: According to Gizmodo they paid $350,000 for the domain. Thanks, commenters!] Color, as an app, is nicely designed. When you first start it up you'll be asked to give your name. I entered Victor, but it seems you can enter anything here, and you might want to consider your Twitter handle. I have no idea how Color will handle duplicate names. Will I become Victor1138 when I encounter another Victor? We shall see. Naturally, you'll have to agree to use your location, and (if you wish) push notifications. I found both dialogs came up at the same time, which was annoying. Then you take a picture of yourself, and it is appropriately tagged with a location (invisible to you), which creates a new group. Upon taking the required picture of myself, the app crashed and did not save my name. The concept appears to be that if you and your buddies are all taking pictures at the same event, those will all be grouped together in the app, automagically, and you'll get to see one big album. Just like a photo party! That's basically it for the app. Pictures are grouped by location, within 150 feet of each other. There's even a cute warning on the app description page: DON'T USE COLOR ALONE! Once you take your first pic, you are encouraged to go out into the world and take pictures with friends who are using the app at the same location. The app is free, so try it yourself and see if it is your cup of tea. But is this worth $41 million dollars in funding?
Report: Game companies raise record $1.05B in 2010, up 58 percent
VentureBeat estimates game funding by venture capital broke $1.05 billion this year, a 58 percent increase from last. It's also a significant growth from the previously recorded high of $936.8 million in 2008. The video game industry – which is now spread across boxed, digitally distributed, mobile and social (i.e. Facebook) products – has obviously given VC firms plenty of places to gamble, er, strategically invest millions of dollars. Big winners this year (at least, those that revealed investments) were Zynga (Farmville) with $150 million from SoftBank (with, possibly, significantly more from Google). Also, ZeniMax Media (Fallout, Elder Scrolls, id Software), also received $150 million. There were also major investments in Gazillion, OnLive and Playdom. Head on over to VentureBeat to see the millions of dollars going to game companies you'll likely never hear of... ever.
Kleiner Perkins iFund doubles to $200m, investing in iPad apps from Shazam, ngmoco and more
Apple said it expects the iPad to be a "second gold rush" of app development as consumers rush to add content to their new devices, and it looks like Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers agrees: the venture capital firm just announced that it's expanding the iFund to $200 million to invest in iPad app development. If you'll recall, the iFund was originally announced alongside the iPhone OS 2.0 SDK, and provided $100 million in total investments to 14 iPhone app developers like Shazam, ngmoco, and Shopkick -- companies responsible for 18 apps that have hit the App Store Top 10. Keep in mind that this money was promised before the iPhone App Store was even launched -- so given how that bet paid off, it's not surprising that KPCB's decided to double down on the iPad, which looks like it'll have even higher app prices. Along with the announcement, some iFund devs announced the following iPad apps: Pinger: Doodle Buddy and Starsmash Booyah: MyTown, a popular location-based game Shazam: Shazam, optimized for the new screen size, ngmoco: Flick Fishing, a new MMO called CastleCraft, Charadium (described as "massively multiplayer Pictionary"), God Finger, We Rule, WarpGate, and one more we missed -- anyone catch it? GOGII: TextPlus Nothing too surprising here, but it looks like the heavy hitters are going to be on the iPad bandwagon from day one -- and pushing hard for this thing to be a success.
Nintendoware Weekly: Sparkle Snapshots, Fighting Street, Carnival King & more
Nintendo actually released a respectable number of downloadable games this week: 8 games across Virtual Console, WiiWare and DSiWare. You may have even heard of some of them! As far as we can tell, the highlights of the week are a DSiWare photo decoration app and the embarrassing parent of the Street Fighter series. Hit the post break and find out if any of the many offerings are what you were looking to drain your Nintendo Points on.
GDC09: Virtual Console Arcade launches with 4 games, available now
Iwata has announced yet another platform expansion for Wii's Virtual Console. Virtual Console Arcade will offer classic -- meaning old -- arcade titles not available on other systems. Four launch games are available for download right now (directly to an SD card, if you prefer -- haven't you heard?), with two additional titles possibly available later day. Here's the starting lineup: Gaplus (Namco Bandai): 600 Wii Points -- available now Mappy (Namco Bandai): 500 Wii Points -- available now The Tower Of Druaga (Namco Bandai): 500 Wii Points -- available now Starforce (Tecmo): 500 Wii Points -- available now Space Harrier (Sega) -- coming soon Solvalou (Namco Bandai) -- coming soon
Wii Warm Up: VC 2008
There's been a lot of Virtual Console releases this year (been keeping up?), and we were wondering which were among your favorites? We've received Secret of Mana, Super Mario RPG, and River City Ransom, to name a few. So, which sit at the top of your list for this year? Sure, we were hoping we'd have another to consider, but let's not dwell on that.
SuperGrafx game queued up for release on Japanese Wii Virtual Console
Retro game lovers, don't ever say Nintendo isn't looking out for you. Only months after hearing that the Wii's Virtual Console would be getting Sega Master System and Commodore 64 games, in flies word that at least one heralded SuperGrafx title is on its way, too. Granted, the Ghouls 'n Ghosts (or Daimakaimura, as it were) port is only slated for release in Japan at the moment, but we're keeping our increasingly less limber fingers crossed that it'll head to other parts of the world in short order. There's also no telling if any other titles from the console's library will be headed to the Wii, but given that we could count 'em all on two hands, we'd say chances are decently high.[Via Joystiq, image courtesy of ClassicGaming]
Castlevania III rated by Aussie OFLC
The Australian OFLC ratings board has given Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse a G rating, which means the title should be on its way to a Virtual Console near you relatively soonish. The circle will finally be complete, as Castlevania, Castlevania II: Simon's Quest, and Super Castlevania IV from the SNES era, are already on the download service.So, those old enough to remember, who was your favorite playable character in the game: Trevor, Sypha Belnades, Grant DaNasty or Alucard?[Via Wii Fanboy, GoNintendo] Gallery: Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse
