Online video site Viki has made a big business out of aggregating content from around the world, covering 150+ languages in all, and making it accessible to all by crowdsourcing translations from its community of users. Now that pool of viewers is set to get a little deeper with a new distribution deal with Renren, Continue reading →

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Sun Valley and self-driving cars aside, the story of the day today is that social news site Digg has sold its remaining assets for $500K to the NYC-based tech firm Betaworks. While that number is indeed in the ballpark, we’re hearing from multiple sources that the total price of the Digg acquisition was around $16 Continue reading →

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Google Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt offered some new insight into Google’s self-driving car program today at his annual press talk at Allen and Co.’s Sun Valley conference. Schmidt revealed that Google had talked to “all” of the auto-manufacturers globally about the cars, which he called “not yet ready for productization” facing challenges including getting individual Continue reading →

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As promised, we have released another batch of August Capital Summer Party tickets. Tickets sell out quickly and if your buyer bot is too slow to snag passes for you and 400 of your closest friends, you can always purchase a ticket to the Facebook EcoSystem CrunchUp here which includes a ticket to the Facebook Ecosystem Conference and Continue reading →

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Updated Electronic signature platform DocuSign has raised $47.5 million in Series D funding. The round was first revealed in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, and the company just sent me a few details. DocuSign has also confirmed that Mary Meeker, the Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers partner (and former Morgan Stanley analyst) Continue reading →

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The future of customer service is less about the people than it is the sound of a person or the virtual image of an individual. Humans are just so inefficient. But they can be improved, too, through interfaces that provide them more automated capabilities. Salefsorce.com is on the edge of this trend. It continues to acquire companies Continue reading →

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We’re hearing that mobile ad network InMobi has acquired MMTG Labs, a San Francisco startup that operates AppBistro, an application marketplace for Facebook pages, and AppGalleries, which is a white-label app store platform that is in use by the likes of Brit Media. The financial terms of the deal aren’t being disclosed, but we’re told Continue reading →

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Shareaholic, the Cambridge, Massachusetts-based startup that makes browser extensions and other tools to facilitate the sharing and discovery of web content, tells TechCrunch that it has raised $3 million in Series A funding. The round was led by Kepha Partners, and included participation from existing backers General Catalyst Partners, NextView Ventures, 500 Startups and other Continue reading →

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Betaworks, the company behind bit.ly, news.me, Chartbeat and a number of other successful products, has acquired the social news site Digg.com for an undisclosed amount. Betaworks’ founder John Borthwick will become the new CEO of Digg. The site’s current CEO Matt Williams will join Andreessen Horowitz as Entrepreneur in Residence after the Betaworks transition is Continue reading →

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This week, New York-based The Fancy, a Pinterest-like site with a focus on not just browsing, but buying from its collection of inspirational imagery, began encouraging users to share its content on social networks in exchange for cash rewards. But paid promotion via social sharing was only one part of the company’s larger plan. Today, Continue reading →

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This wasn’t exactly a secret anymore, but Microsoft just officially unveiled its Bing Fund, a new angel fund and incubator program sponsored by Bing and “backed by the experience, expertise, and resources of Microsoft.” The idea here, says Microsoft, is to “partner with like-minded entrepreneurs—great talent that is innovating online to solve big problems and Continue reading →

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Nielsen released another of their periodic looks at the U.S. smartphone market today, and aside from the revelation that two-thirds of U.S. phone purchasers went for smartphones in Q2 2012, the results are as you’d expect. Android still leads the pack in terms of pure penetration — as of this past June, it accounts for Continue reading →

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The next time you try to follow an alcohol company or other brand with age-restricted products who has opted in to Twitter’s new “Age Screening” system, you’ll be required to submit your age, and won’t be allowed to follow if you’re too young. Nothing will change about who you already follow, but you’ll be sent a Continue reading →

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Facebook released a new “Weddings and Celebrations” feature that will display special events, starting with engagements and weddings, along with friends’ birthdays on the social network. The feature, which begins rolling out today, is automated based off the changing of a relationship status to “engaged” or “married.” Appearing above birthdays on the homepage, users can Continue reading →

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Dyle Mobile TV – remember this? That’s the consumer-facing brand for a new mobile TV service from Mobile Content Venture (MCV), a group of broadcasters that includes FOX, NBC, ION Television, Bahakel, Univision, Telemundo, and Pearl LLC (Pearl is: Belo Corp., Cox Media Group, E.W. Scripps Co., Gannett Broadcasting, Hearst Television Inc., Media General Inc., Meredith Corp., Post-Newsweek Stations Continue reading →

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