What you need to know - 01/26/11

iPhones and iPads get NFC; Demand Media and Nielsen IPOs; Google Voice gets number porting

Technology trends and news by Ronny Kerr
January 26, 2011 | Comments
Short URL: http://vator.tv/n/1651

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Apple is planning to integrate the next iPhone and iPad iterations with Near-Field Communication functionality, which will allow formobile payments directly from the device.

Social marketing company Crowd Factory raised a $6.5 million round of funding led by Storm Ventures.

Demand Media hits the New York Stock Exchange on Wednesday under the symbol DMD: the digital publishing company priced its stock at $17 a share—$1 more than what many estimates had placed it at.

Online investment network eToro closed a funding round of $8.3 million from Spark Capital, Social Leverage and existing investors.

 

Google Voice added number porting, letting users take full advantage of the application with their original mobile phone number.

Nielsen will also hit the New York Stock Exchange today under the symbol NLSN: it has priced its initial public offering of 71.4 million shares of its common stock at $23.00 per share.

VatorNews' Ronny Kerr chatted with ngmoco founder Neil Young, who will be presenting at Vator Splash February 3 in San Francisco.

Cloud gaming company Playcast Media Systems raised a $10 million in Series B financing from MK Capital and JVP, with participation from existing shareholders.

Cloud-based video monitoring platform Sensr.net secured $1.5 million in financing led by Spark Capital, with participation from Charles River Ventures and strategic angel investors.

Mobile advertising company Smaato closed a $7 million Series C round of institutional funding led by Singapore’s EDBI.

 

Solar installation chain Solar Universe closed a $7 million Series B round led by RockPort Capital Partners.

On the heels of a new funding round from top-tier investors, audio sharing site SoundCoud will be extending its operations from its Berlin, Germany headquarters to San Francisco, with several new hires slated for the city in the coming months.

 

 

Reminiscent of post-election Iran a year ago, demonstrations against government corruption in Egypt have triggered blocking of microblogging site Twitter, which was used to organize protest. Reports say Facebook has also been blocked.

Today's featured investor on VatorNews is Tim Chang of Norwest Venture Partners.

Yahoo is cutting 140 employees, amounting to a mere 1% of the company’s global employee base, and add to the 600 it cut last month.


Related companies, investors and entrepreneurs

76
Smaato Inc.
Startup/Business
Description: <!--StartFragment--> Smaato provides Ads for Apps – operating the leading mobile advertising optimization platform called SOMA...
Default
Crowd Factory
Startup/Business
Description: Crowd Factory helps brands drive customer acquisition and increase conversion rates by adding a quantifiable social boost to every digita...
Plogo_twitter-twitter_twitter
Twitter
Startup/Business
Description: What is Twitter? Twitter is an online information network that allows anyone with an account to post 140 character messages, called twee...
Thumb_4770_demandstudios
Demand Media
Startup/Business
Description: Demand Media is building a different type of new media company. With a proprietary media platform that powers the company's highly-traff...
6524
Tim Chang
Managing Director,
Mayfield Fund
Bio: Tim is a proven venture investor and experienced global executive. He was named on the 2011 Forbes Midas List of Top 100 Dealmakers, ...

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