What you need to know - Wednesday 12/29/10

Katie Gatto · December 29, 2010 · Short URL: https://vator.tv/n/1557

Wild Needle raised $3M; Yapta $3.5M; Ifbyphone $8M; Apple faces class-action lawsuit

Wild Needle, a social mobile gaming startup, raised $3 million in funding. The company is currently in "super sneaky stealth mode". 

Skype CIO, Lars Rabbe, has explained the recent, massive outage. Part of the problem was with Skype's Windows client (version 5.0.0152).

 

Yapta, an airline tickets and hotel rooms booking site, has raised almost $3.5 million. The company hopes to raise $6.4 million by the end of the round. 

 

Apple is facing a class-action lawsuit. Participants say the company was allowing apps and ad partners to identify specific users. This practice is a breach of Apple’s privacy policy.

Disney is using new technology to keep flow in the park. Other possible new items include wristbands with chips. The chips would transmit the visitor’s name, credit card number and favorite Disney characters.

EA is releasing several titles for Android-based phones. Popular games such as:  Monopoly, Bejeweled® 2, and the Game of Life, will be added an an unnamed date in the future. Titles already on the platform are also currently on sale.

4Chan, a message board group populated only by anonymous users, was taken down by a DDos attack. Cedit for the attack was claimed by a group called Anonymous

Groupon is looking to raise a new round of financing. Estimates say they hope to raise around $950 million.

The SEC is looking into private stock trading in startups. The investigation focuses on compliance with the  the 500-shareholder disclosure  threshold, and other financial reporting requirements.

Ifbyphone, a maker of Web-based services that interact with phone calls,  raised $8 million. This was the second round of funding. Apex Venture Partners, Origin Ventures and Spring Mill Ventures participated in the round.

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Next time you're on a flight enjoying your honey-roasted peanuts, ponder this: The average flight price fluctuates 400%. In other words, the guy next to you may have paid hundreds of dollars less for his ticket than you paid for yours. How can you avoid paying too much? Use Yapta.

Yapta was created to make it easy for you to find the best flight at the right price. We do this by helping you find flights based on your personal preferences, tracking prices on these trips, and alerting you when prices drop so that you can purchase tickets when they're most affordable.

Even after you purchase your ticket, Yapta continues to track its price. If the price drops below what you paid, and you're eligible for a refund or travel credit from the airline, Yapta can help you claim it.

Yapta was launched in May 2007 and has since helped its members save millions of dollars on airfare. Here are just a few of the people who have been integral to Yapta's success-and your savings:

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