Rally.org, the U.S.-based crowdfunding platform designed for socially-minded causes, is taking its mission to Europe. Today, the startup is opening an incubator in Berlin, its first outside of the U.S., and on a limited beta will start to process donations made on its proprietary payment platform in euros, with the intention of adding British pounds and other currencies in the very near future.

Rally.org — which, commendably, used its own platform to raise $7.9 million from the likes of Relay Ventures, Mike Maples of Floodgate Fund, Reid Hoffman of Greylock Partners, Kevin Rose of Google Ventures, Craig Shapiro of Collaborative Fund, Michael Birch of Bebo, Tim Ferriss and Eric Ries — recently passed 3 million people contributing to 23,000 campaigns on its platform, and the idea is to tap into more local social causes and fundraising activities in this part of the world to grow that base even more.

In an interview with TechCrunch, Rally.org co-founder and CEO Tom Serres says that the company chose Berlin for its incubator and head office partly because Rally.org had already opened a Rallypad co-working space of sorts in the city last year; and partly because it’s a very startup-friendly city economically (in other words, it doesn’t cost an arm and a leg to start a new company there). “We wanted a community, not just a product,” he said.

But the intention is to expand very soon to the UK, which Serres notes has the highest concentration in Europe of people who donate money to good causes. For Rally.org, a cause can be anything from a donation drive for a non-profit; to an environmental startup project aimed at improving, say, energy consumption; to someone looking to raise money for their education — not a small issue in Europe, where student fees are skyrocketing in many countries as states pull back spending in these recessionary times. (Rally takes a 5.75% commission on all final fundraises.)

While crowdfunding sites seem to be approaching a dime a dozen these days, Rally.org has a few points that distinguish it from the pack. Its emphasis on good causes is the obvious one. But the other may be the one that helps it grow: it has built its own payment platform — independent of PayPal, Amazon and the rest — that underpins the service, which is already capable of handling 17 different currencies, says Serres.

“My long term vision is to be the infrastructre of the next economy, the cause economy,” Serres told TechCrunch, describing a future where we make purchasing decisions based on making bigger statements and helping the world: think Tom’s Shoes and its idea of donating one pair to a needy child for each pair bought, expanded into all of your daily transactions. “The idea is: Everywhere I go I make a statement to the world.”

Serres points out every person who makes a contribution through Rally.org gets a virtual wallet, and the idea is to eventually make that wallet into something that consumers can use for more donations, as well as for purchases elsewhere.

For now, those posting campaigns on Rally.org will need to have German bank accounts to receive funds — although this will expand over time, Serres says. Companies based in the company’s Berlin incubator — Startup Weekend, music resource-sharing company Muzup, and social relocation community G1OBALS — will be the first Europeans to use the product. Another group is starting a campaign to preserve Berlin’s princesses garden, Prinzessinnengarten.

Web: http://techcrunch.com/2013/02/07/social-crowdfunding-platform-rally-org-expands-to-europe-with-new-berlin-incubator/

Luego de anunciar los cambios importantes a Flickr, el equipo de Yahoo tuvo tiempo para sentarse a contestar preguntas de la prensa. Una de las más importantes tiene que ver con el manejo del contenido para adultos en Tumblr.

Como ya sabemos, el porno es algo sumamente popular en esta red de social, tanto que algunos analistas han pensado que forma parte del éxito de Tumblr. La interrogante es saber cómo se planea manejar este contenido. ¿Se atreverá Yahoo a emitir alguna censura?

La respuesta de Marissa Mayer es tajante:

No, no lo haremos. Es la naturaleza del contenido generado por el usuario. Es muy importante contar con excelentes herramientas de la comunidad como el “NSFW” que Tumblr ya tiene implementado.

Respecto a los derechos de autor, Marissa comentó que tanto para Tumblr o Flickr, la gente está generando contenido en esas plataformas, por lo que sus derechos de autor tienen que ser respetados.

Vía: Conferencia de prensa Yahoo Flickr

Este artículo, fue publicado originalmente aquí: http://www.fayerwayer.com/2013/05/yahoo-confirma-que-no-censurara-contenido-para-adultos-en-tumblr/

Apple has released its 2013 Supplier Responsibility Progress Report, and it features a number of updates from last year, including Apple’s decision to join the Fair Labor Association (a notable first), and conduct audits of its suppliers in tandem with that outside watchdog organization. The results seem to be a tightening of Apple’s code of conduct for suppliers all around, in terms of monitoring, penalties and programs to improve conditions.

Apple conducted 72 percent more audits in 2012 than it did in 2011, for example, totaling 393 audits across facilities employing 1.5 million workers. All types of audits increased for the year, including firs-time, repeat, process safety assessments and specialized environmental audits, but the last one took the biggest jumps vs. previous years. In 2012, Apple conducted 55 focused environmental audits, which is a 293 percent increase over the number it ran in 2011. The Mac maker works with outside associations in this area, too, just as it does with the FLA regarding labor, including the Natural Defense Council, the EPA and the Institute of Public and Environmental Affairs.

The supplier audits also actually resulted in more severe punitive action than usual. Apple has faced criticism in the past for doling out corrective measures that seem rather toothless – most often putting suppliers “on probation,” meaning they’ll be watched more closely for future violations. But one supplier fell afoul of Apple’s measures to protect against underage labor, with 74 cases counted at a single facility. Apple terminated the relationship with that offending party entirely, proving that there are real consequences for companies that ignore its code of conduct and local labor laws.

Apple also came down harder on companies for compliance with working hour regulations, and changed its policies and practices in monitoring them to be more effective. In 2012, Apple started doing real-time work hour tracking on a weekly basis for over 1 million of the employees at its supplier companies, and publishing data on its progress every month. That led to a 92 percent compliance rate with its 60 hour maximum work week, as laid out in the Apple Supplier Code of Conduct, and Apple says overall work weeks averaged less than 50 hours.

Another area of improvement for Apple was in participation in its training and education programs. There were 1.32 million workers trained on local laws, worker rights, health and safety and Apple’s own Code of Conduct during 2012, a 97 percent increase over 2011′s 670,000. Apple also provided more free educational opportunities to workers than ever before, with 201,000 cumulative participants in those programs, up 235 percent from 60,000 in 2011.

Apple’s transparency definitely improved over the course of 2012 when it comes to its efforts around supplier responsibility and maintaining healthy and safe work environments, and that’s something Apple CEO Tim Cook clearly undertook as a conscious effort. That’s not to say that Apple didn’t have its fair share of labor issues during the year (issues around the demanding requirements for building the iPhone 5 come to mind), but especially in the way that Apple has allowed disinterested third parties to come in and aid with its monitoring efforts, 2012 was definitely the most significant year yet in terms of improvements made to its stance on supplier responsibility.

Learn more here: http://techcrunch.com/2013/01/25/apples-2013-supplier-responsibility-report-includes-72-bump-in-audits-for-2012-97-increase-in-training/

El reloj inteligente Pebble, que consiguió sus primeros recursos en Kickstarter, logró levantar USD$15 millones de inversión por parte de  Charles River Ventures. El dinero se usará para continuar el desarrollo del reloj, aumentando el equipo de ingeniería, e incrementando la producción para cumplir con la demanda de dispositivos.

Pebble todavía está luchando para entregar los 85.000 relojes comprados por gente de Kickstarter, de los cuales ya se han enviado 70.000. La compañía espera que se puedan poner a la venta en tiendas en los próximos cuatro a seis meses.

La empresa anunció además mejoras a su primer SDK o kit de desarrollo, que permite a aplicaciones de terceros enviar y recibir datos desde el reloj. Así, el Pebble podrá mostrar información del tiempo, resultados deportivos o incluso funcionar como un control remoto para el teléfono, por ejemplo. Hasta ahora las aplicaciones se habían limitado a desplegar funciones básicas, como jugar Snake o cambiar el estilo del reloj.

Además se lanzó la Pebble Sport API, que permite crear aplicaciones usando el GPS del reloj, como RunKeeper o Runtastic.

Link: Pebble nabs $15M in funding, outs PebbleKit SDK and Pebble sports API to spur smartwatch app development (TechCrunch)

Este artículo, fue publicado originalmente aquí: http://www.fayerwayer.com/2013/05/pebble-consigue-usd15-millones-en-financiamiento-y-espera-vender-el-reloj-en-tiendas/

You know those mobile devices that everyone keeps raving about? Turns out it’s a huge business. Shocker, I know. Strategy Analytics recently estimated that about 1.6 billion mobile phones shipped in 2012. What’s more, according to Canalys’ report today, the tablet market grew by 75 percent in the fourth quarter to 46.2 million units, with total shipments hitting 114.6 million in 2012.

With all these new devices hitting the market, people tend to overlook the fact that this creates an enormous amount of waste. ecoATM debuted in 2011 with a green solution: Give consumers an easy way to recycle their used electronics. The San Diego-based startup has been on a mission to become the Coinstar for used, mobile devices, offering consumers ATM-like kiosks that automate the buy-back of their has-been electronics and give them a cash reward for doing so.

With the tablet market growing like gangbusters, last week, the company expanded its support to include tablets, which means that its kiosks will now accept your iPads in addition to your cell phones, smartphones and MP3 players. Over the last year, the startup has gone from 50 kiosks to about 300 across 20 states, and this year, it hopes to add another 600 or 700 kiosks, bringing cash for clunky devices to a mall near you.

To support this growth, the 2012 Crunchies Winner announced today that it has secured $40 million in debt financing from Falcon Investment Advisors, which ecoATM CEO Tom Tullie says will help provide the fuel it needs to continue nationwide expansion.

“There’s still a large percentage of the country that doesn’t have access to a convenient recycling solution for their mobile phones and other personal portable electronic devices,” Tullie says of the new debt round. “We raised this money to help us deploy ecoATMs nationwide and help people recycle their old phones, tablets, or MP3 players, regardless of where they live.”

To date, ecoATM’s expansion plan has focused primarily on positioning its kiosks in shopping malls in large metropolitan areas — for good reason — “eventually, we’re going to run out of malls,” ecoATM marketing director Ryan Kuder told us recently. So, with its new capital, the startup wants to expand into smaller cities and other types of high-foot traffic areas, like supermarkets and smaller retail outlets.

And, according to Kuder, the expansion reflects a growing demand (and growing use of) its kiosks among consumers. Yes, people are actually using the machines. Kuder says that people used ecoATM to recycle “hundreds of thousands of phones” last year and has paid out “millions of dollars to hundreds of thousands of customers.”

By doing so, Tullie added, the company has been able to save landfills from “hundreds of thousands of potentially toxic devices,” as it has been able to “find a second life” for 60 percent of the devices it has collected, while recycling the rest.

The new debt round adds to the $17 million in funding it has raised to date from Claremont Creek Ventures, Coinstar, TAO Ventures, PI Holdings, Moore Venture Partners, AKS Capital and Koh Boon Hwee, to name a few. In 2012, the company was also awarded a Phase II grant from the National Science Foundation for up to $1 million. The new financing brings ecoATM’s total funding to just over $70 million.

For more, find the company at home here.

Learn more: http://techcrunch.com/2013/02/06/with-300-kiosks-in-20-states-device-recycler-ecoatm-secures-40m-in-debt-financing-to-go-nationwide/

Japanese startup Terra Motors officially debuted its electric tuk-tuk (a type of three-wheeled passenger vehicle common in Asia), a tricycle that costs just over $6,000 U.S. and gets 31 miles on a 2 hour charge. The electric vehicle stands at the opposite end of the spectrum from something like the Tesla Model S Roadster, and for good reason: it’s designed to be affordable for emerging markets in large quantities.

The first fleet is already on order for the Philippines (via CNET), as part of a plan to replace 100,000 gas-powered tuk-tuks in that country by 2016, with more efficient, cost-effective electric vehicles. They’ll be offered to passenger transport drivers across the country on a lease-to-own basis, and should save those drives up to $5 per day in fuel costs, as well as cut down on air pollution on the ground in some very densely populated urban areas.

The Terra Motors electric trike isn’t exactly cheap at $6,300 (gas-powered models can be had for between $1,000 to around $1,500 depending on seating capacity and amenities), but it’s fundamentally opposite from something like a Tesla, which actually just axed its cheapest entry-level model citing poor demand. Terra Motors Director of Business Development Tetsuya Ohashi said in an email that the goal is to start expanding its business to the broader Asian market as quickly as possible, and hitting the right price point is a key ingredient in that strategy.

The Terra Motors tuk-tuk is also quite the looker, with a space-age design and ample interior seating, so it’s got that going for it over its gas-powered brethren, too. 31 miles isn’t terrific in terms of range, but these are designed as in-city transport for short trips. Still, having to bog down for two hours every time you hit that limit also isn’t going to be ideal, but the money saved in gas expenses could make up for the down time, especially if planned properly.

Terra has impressive investors, including former top execs from Apple Japan, Google Japan, Sony and Compaq. Chinese companies already market electric tuk-tuks, but none are quite as ambitious as this new prototype from Terra, and while a Dutch company called The Tuk Tuk Factory launched an EV a couple of years ago called the e-Tuk, it’s aimed primarily at the European market, so Terra has a chance to make a big splash depending on its reception.

Site: http://techcrunch.com/2013/04/02/tokyos-terra-motors-wants-to-help-electric-vehicle-transport-go-green-from-the-ground-up/

A sólo horas de comenzar el evento Google I/O 2013, llega un rumor recién salido del horno acerca de una de las novedades que la compañía presentará en su conferencia más importante del año: un servicio de suscripción para escuchar música en línea.

Muy al estilo de lo que hace Spotify o lo que quiere hacer Apple en el futuro, fuentes al interior de la industria aseguran que Google ya firmó contrato con las dos casas disqueras más grandes de Estados Unidos; Universal Music Group y Sony Music Entertainment, tras lo cual tienen luz verde para lanzar tan pronto como mañana mismo una plataforma que permita a los usuarios pagar un monto fijo de dinero mensual y acceder así a una transmisión o streaming de su música favorita, si es que los artistas buscados están en el catálogo de las disqueras antes mencionadas.

Según el contrato, Google tiene las licencias para mostrar contenidos tanto en Google Play como en YouTube, especulándose que la primera plataforma será sólo de audio y la segunda incluirá tanto transmisiones sólo de audio como videos. Esto se resolverá durante las próximas horas cuando comience Google I/O 2013, evento que en FayerWayer estaremos cubriendo con un enviado especial y atención durante todo el día por parte de nuestros colaboradores.

Link: Exclusive: Google readies its Spotify competitor with Universal and Sony now on board (The Verge)

Este artículo, fue publicado originalmente aquí: http://www.fayerwayer.com/2013/05/google-estrenara-servicio-de-musica-con-suscripcion-en-io-2013/

Facebook didn’t realize just how important widgets, docks, and app folders were to Android users, and that leaving them out of Home was a huge mistake. That’s because some of the Facebookers who built and tested Home normally carry iPhones, I’ve confirmed. Lack of “droidfooding” has left Facebook scrambling to add these features, whose absence have led Home to just 1 million downloads since launching a month ago.

As I wrote in November, Facebook has been desperately trying to get more employees “droidfooding” — carrying and testing Android devices. You can see the posters encouraging employees to pick up a droid below. The issue was that Facebook handed out iPhones to employees for years. Facebookers could request an Android handset, but otherwise would basically get an Apple phone by default. That wasn’t as dangerous years ago when the iPhone still had more marketshare and Facebook users, but since then Android has rocketed into the lead. If Facebook wants to reach the largest audience, it needs employees living and breathing Google’s mobile operating system.

The lack of droidfooders didn’t have serious consequences until Home, Facebook’s new “apperating system”. It replaces the lock screen, homescreen, and app launcher of compatible Android phones with a Facebook-centric experience. It offers Cover Feed, a big, beautiful way to browser the news feed the second you bring your phone out of sleep. It’s missing the ability to build real-time information widgets, put your most used apps in a persistently visible dock, or organize your collection of apps into folders.

When I first tried out Home, I admit I was wooed by Cover Feed and Chat Heads, while those absent Android personalizations didn’t phase me. Why? Because I’m an iPhone user.

First off, the iPhone doesn’t offer widgets at all, so I didn’t really know what I was missing. Second, I was running Home on a brand new loaner “Facebook Phone”, the HTC First. I didn’t expect to be able to port my iOS dock and folders to Android. I accepted that my experience would be somewhat unpersonalized. I was naive.

The real problem? Facebook’s developers were just as naive. Employees I’ve talked to admit that iPhone users testing Home made Facebook fail to see how wrong it was to overwrite people’s widgets, docks, and folders. Unlike working on some standard app, sticking a new Android device in an employee’s hand to test Home wasn’t sufficient. It needed long-time, diehard Android users — something Facebook doesn’t have as many of internally as it would like.

On Thursday at Facebook headquarters, VP of Engineering Cory Ondrejka and Director of Product Adam Mosseri admitted this is a critical flaw in Home — one that’s dissuading people from downloading or actively using Home, and that’s inspiring the 1- and 2-star reviews dragging down Home’s rating the Google Play store. Those reviews, and people’s unwillingness to trade their personalized Android launcher for Home has caused Facebook’s apperating system to slip far down the charts. It’s dropped out of the top 100 apps according to several analytics providers, as Sarah Perez detailed yesterday.

“There a lot of feedback that not having a Dock on Home is an issue” said Ondrejka. So instead of spending its first few monthly updates enriching Home with a better status composer or starting to monetize it with ads, Facebook’s team is backtracking. Instead of pitching Home as something that  ”replaces the lock screen and home screen”, Facebook is shaving it down into a thinner layer on top of your existing phone.

To do that, first Facebook will offer a more in-depth new user onboarding experience that illustrates exactly how to access your other apps. Next, it will introduce “Dock”, pictured on the right. It’s a way for users to import their old navigation bar of their four most frequently used apps. Mosseri tells me Facebook doesn’t want users to have to sacrifice the work they did customizing their Android in order to use Home. Eventually, expect Facebook to add an app foldering system or folder importer to Home, as well as a way to display widgets.

“We wanted to ease the transition from your old launcher to your new launcher,” said Moserri of the planned changes. Facebook would have known to make that s priority before Home launched, but its iPhone culture meant there was no one to cry foul. Team members didn’t have old launchers to transition from.

Home has big potential. People who do get by its shortcomings and settle into Home see a 25% increase in the time they spend on Facebook. But it’s stuck at under 1 million downloads and likely many fewer active users because its overly aggressive invasion of Android scares people away.

Never has it been more apparent. If Facebook can’t get Androids in more pockets at 1 Hacker Way, it will continue to misstep in mobile.

More: http://techcrunch.com/2013/05/12/droidfooding-home/

If existing dating websites aren’t working for you (or you’re too busy to try them out), you can get help from paid matchmakers and dating coaches on the just-launched service Wednesday Night.

According to the startup, users connect their Facebook accounts and are then given three recommendations. (You can see a mock-up of a recommendation email below.) If they’re interested in dating one of them, they then pay $50 and are set up with a date on Wednesday night at 8 p.m. (or occasionally Thursday). They’re also connected with a dating coach who can provide advice via email or text.

The website comes from the team of Jared Tame and Teng Siong Ong who are already working on two other dating services — Flock and CupidWithFriends. (They sold their previous startup, Y Combiantor-backed GraffitiGEO, to Loopt.) When Tame emailed me to tell me about Wednesday Night, I asked why the pair decided to launch yet another dating site, and he said:

Wednesday Night is something that really excites us and it appeals to a lot of people we’ve spoken to who are too busy for online dating. Women want to be matchmakers and give guys advice on how to talk to girls, dress, behave, etc; many guys need help and don’t want to do all the back-and-forth messaging and setting up a profile.

Tame’s response touches on one of the issues facing any dating website — managing the balance between guys and girls. That seems like a particular danger given Wednesday Night’s concept, which might attract a lot of socially awkward guys but not as many women. The Wednesday Night website tries to address this, arguing that the service isn’t just for men: “We understand the pain exists for women on dating sites where they’re approached by lots of guys and receive too many messages.” Tame added that matchmakers can also look for dates outside the Wednesday Night network, and if they agree, they automatically become part of the database.

Still, I’m guessing that it will be mostly guys who are actually paying for the service. Does that create a weird dynamic? Well, I’d argue that most dating sites have a slightly skewed dating dynamic, and Tame argued that by paying for the drinks upfront, you avoid “awkward ‘who pays’ or ‘let’s wait while I close my tab’ situations.” (Of course, part of the fee is also going towards Wednesday Night and its matchmakers/coaches.)

As for why the dates take place on Wednesday and Thursday night, Tame said it means they won’t compete with weekend plans. Plus, if it’s a good date you can schedule a follow-up for the weekend, and if it isn’t, the mid-week timing means there’s an easy excuse to end the date fairly quickly.

I also asked whether this is really a scalable tech business, and Tame replied that Wednesday Night has built software that “helps matchmakers quickly profile a user based on their Facebook account, schedule dates, as well as search for potential matches.” He also said that there’s a dashboard that helps matchmakers track their performance — the ones that get more positive reviews get paid a higher commission.

If you’re interested in trying out the site, TechCrunch readers can get a $10 credit by signing up here.

Web: http://techcrunch.com/2013/05/13/wednesday-night-dating/

Un estudio realizado por un profesor en la Universidad de South Brittany en Francia revela que los hombres que sostienen una guitarra resultan más atractivos. Según el estudio, se le pidió a un hombre de 20 años bastante atractivo que le pidiera a 300 mujeres su número telefónico.

A 100 de esas mujeres este chico se les presentó con un estuche de guitarra en mano, para las siguientes 100 se presentó con una bolsa para el gimnasio y para las últimas 100, se presentó con las manos vacías. Al final 54 de las 300 mujeres le dieron el tan anhelado número.

31 de las 54 mujeres que dieron su número de teléfono pertenecían al grupo “con estuche de guitarra en mano”, 14 ofrecieron su número cuando no llevaba nada en las manos y finalmente las 9 restantes se lo dieron cuando llevaba la bolsa del gimnasio en las manos.

El estudio sugiere que la atracción por los instrumentos musicales es real por sobre los atributos intelectuales o físicos.

Lamentablemente esto no aplica para los instrumentos de Guitar Hero o Rockband, por lo que les sugiero, compren un instrumento musical y si en verdad quieren seducir a una chica, aprender a tocar ese instrumento y llévenle una serenata a la mujer de sus sueños.

Link: Apparently This Matters: Holding a guitar makes you sexy (CNN)

Este artículo, fue publicado originalmente aquí: http://www.fayerwayer.com/2013/05/estudio-afirma-que-sostener-un-instrumento-musical-en-tus-manos-te-hace-mas-atractivo/