middle man
'World's smallest' iPhone charger lets you plug straight into the wall
www.theverge.com
We're not sure how this slipped by us last week, but it looks like iPhone users have just been given a new way to charge their devices — and it's supposedly smaller than anything else on the market. Released earlier this month, the JuiceBuddy is a keychain-friendly polycarbonate charger...
Louis C.K. cuts out the middle man by directly selling tour tickets online
www.theverge.com
Louis C.K., stand-up comedian and creator of the series Louie, is adopting an unconventional business model for his upcoming tour — he'll be selling all the tickets online directly to fans, with no middle man. All tickets will sell for the actual face price of $45 without any taxes...
Skype's First Employee Raises $1.3 Million For TransferWise, A Startup That Moves Money Internationally Without Crazy Bank Fees
www.businessinsider.com
When Taveet Hinrikus moved from Estonia to London, he was still paid in kroons and had to transfer the money to his new bank account in the UK. The bank fees weren't pretty -- a 2% transaction fee was charged on top of a 3% bank commission fee. Hinrikus felt...
Skype's First Employee Raises $1.3 Million For TransferWise, A Startup That Moves Money Internationally Without Crazy Bank Fees
Angelina is a computer AI that builds games all by itself
www.theverge.com
We've seen games that can teach regular humans how to program their own video game titles, but why not avoid the middle man? That's the idea behind Angelina, an AI designed to intelligently build playable games without human intervention. Designed by Michael Cook, a PhD student at Imperial College...
Lenovo launches Mobile Access broadband service for ThinkPads
www.theverge.com
Owners of 3G-equipped Lenovo ThinkPad laptops will now be able to cut out the middle man and buy mobile internet access from the company itself. Lenovo Mobile Access is available from today, and allows you to buy access time in increments of 30 minutes (30MB, $1.95) and 1 day...
VHX Raises $1.25 Million From Lerer Ventures And Angels To Democratize Video Distribution Online
techcrunch.com
For years, independent video producers have waited for the time when it would finally make economic sense for them to cut out the middle man and distribute their content directly to their fans. Then a funny thing happened: Louis CK sold an hour-long comedy special online for just $5, DRM-free...
Game on: The Darkness II
www.guardian.co.uk
Yes, it's gruesome and violent. But it's also an emphatic riposte to those who say games can't tell storiesPart-Godfather and part-Exorcist, The Darkness II (PS3/Xbox 360/PC) feels, at times, as much a film as a game. In the title menus, each of the game's four difficulty levels is accompanied by...
Google launches self-serve ‘Consumer Surveys’ product for custom market research
thenextweb.com
Companies always say that they want to do is a survey with consumers. That’s both easier said than done as well as expensive. Google has launched a product today to become the “middle man” in the process, allowing companies to pay for survey results and publishers to get paid for...
SpotlessCity Just Brought The Dry Cleaning Industry Online
techcrunch.com
When you live in New York City, there are certain expectations of what you should be able to accomplish easily. You can get almost anything delivered straight to your doorstep, whether it be food, groceries, toiletries, or pot. But there’s one service that is still stuck in brick-and-mortar land, and...
Google Winding Down E-Book Reselling Program To Focus On Play
techcrunch.com
The American Booksellers Association sent a letter to its members today announcing that Google was putting an end to its reseller program, which allowed independent bookstores to operate an e-book storefront using Google as the wholesaler. The news was confirmed shortly afterwards by a post on the Inside Google Books...
SoundExchange Hits $1 Billion In Digital Royalties
www.fastcompany.com
We've come a long way since Napster. Today SoundExchange, the Washington D.C.-based non-profit that collects digital royalties from services like Pandora, is announcing that it just hit $1 billion in artist payments. The milestone is a sign of just how much (and how quickly) the music industry has evolved--from...
One million 3-D printing projects later, Shapeways grabs a new investment
venturebeat.com
After 3-D printing more than one million objects, Shapeways announced the close of a $6.2 million second round of funding, reports the New York Times. Keeping up with the growing interest in three-dimensional printing, the company helps you design and print nearly any object of your dreams. While 3-D printing has been...
7 Quick Tips That'll Save You Money On Your Smartphone Bill
www.businessinsider.com
Word broke this week that AT&T will allow customers to share data plans across multiple devices. Verizon also recently made it possible for customers to share their data plans. While the shared data plans are good for some people with multiple devices, everyone else still needs to make sure they're managing...
Koupon Media raises $4M for streamlined mobile coupons
venturebeat.com
Since nearly everyone has a smartphone these days, retailers have flocked to mobile coupon services to do away with hard-to-track paper coupons. Koupon Media just closed a $4 million round of funding to offer mobile coupons and analytics tracking. There have been several attempts to get mobile coupons to...
On Facebook, deleting an app doesn't delete your data from their system
arstechnica.com
Facebook announced some intended changes to its data use policy to "enhance transparency", according to a Friday post on its Facebook and Privacy page. The updates include better explanations, examples, and "tips" denoted in the text with a lightbulb, as well as some revelations about how third parties deal with...
PayPal As Moral Police? Forces E-Book Sellers To Remove Certain Erotica Content
techcrunch.com
Adult content has long been a big draw, and one of the most profitable, in the world of digital media, but a recent move by PayPal is a sign of how at one part of that business might be facing some problems up ahead. Smashwords, an e-book distributor that competes...
Google: We’re One Of The World’s Largest Hardware Makers
www.wired.com
Google CFO Patrick Pichette says that Google is one of the world's biggest comptuer makers. Photo: Flickr/Fortune Live Media Google is web company, and it rakes in most of its money from online ad sales, but it has another identity that few people understand: It’s also a massive hardware maker....
Louis C.K. sees ticket scalping drop over 96% by switching to selling tickets himself
thenextweb.com
Comedian Louis C.K. made the technology world turn his direction when he decided to sell his latest comedy special himself, digitally, and DRM free. It was a smashing success. The $5 download proved a fresh model for artists in the broadband age. Louis has again taken to task an entrenched...
The Echo Nest CEO On What Big Data Means To The Music Industry
techcrunch.com
The Echo Nest is possibly the hottest music data company around right now. They’ve signed deals with Nokia, EMI, Clear Channel, Spotify, and most recently, Vevo. So chances are if you enjoy music, The Echo Nest has something to do with what songs you’re recommended. Knowing this, I couldn’t...
Facebook's Mobile Push Aims To Cut Apple Out As Middle Man
www.readwriteweb.com
We've been piling loads of criticism on Facebook for not having a clearly articulated mobile strategy as it pushes towards its initial public offering. Today, the company took the first step towards allaying those fears. Bret Taylor, Facebook's chief technology officer, wowed the Mobile World Congress Tuesday, uneviling a series...
Little Independent: An online marketplace for brick and mortar stores
thenextweb.com
Little Independent is an interesting Chicago-based site where traditional shopping meets e-commerce. Rather than sell their items exclusively online, Little Independent gives small indie shops a place to showcase their products, encouraging customers to visit the stores themselves. Currently US-only, Little Independent has listings from 66 shops in 13 states,...
Twitter users can get their usernames on a NASCAR race car with this social media campaign
thenextweb.com
We’ve increasingly seen users get more creative with their Twitter marketing campaigns, and the latest is the Twitter NASCAR campaign launched by Brad Keselowski. Yahoo Sports spotted the campaign that started with a tweet: On feb.24th I’ll be running in the #Nascar truck race on speed for @CooperStandard @ReeseTowpower Where...
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