Tweetwall, a Twitter display provider for events (you know, for “tweet walls”), which has been used by customers including CNN, PayPal, Yahoo, Intel, eBay, Microsoft, the Obama campaign, Sprint, and more, is today launching a revamped version of its service. The updated version of Tweetwall has been rebuilt from the ground up, and is also accompanied by a new iPad application offering AirPlay support, designed for smaller venues.

If you’ve ever been to a conference or other event where a big-screen TV or monitor was filled with live tweets, then you may have come across Tweetwall’s technology, without realizing it. However, prior to today, the service has only been available to larger organizations who have historically paid thousands of dollars for customized versions of Tweetwall, built to their own needs.

Founder and CEO Joel Strellner says that his business was almost like “a consulting company,” and attracted customers who wanted their own particular designs and configurations, as well as access to the Twitter firehose (which Tweetwall has via Gnip), so tweets wouldn’t get missed if their event began trending on Twitter.

He and his team would meet with the customers beforehand to determine their needs, then create a version of Tweetwall built to their exact customizations. Though the service offers analytics on the backend, it didn’t offer full moderation – and that led to some incidents in years past, when people figured out you could hijack an event’s Twitter stream and post disruptive messages.

The new product changes that, now adding full moderation capabilities.

“Over the last two years, we started getting the vibe that the way we were doing this isn’t the way we should be doing this,” explains Strellner. “We should be making it more of a self-service option – something people can sign up for, create a Tweetwall right away, and go with it,” he says.

The company inched in that direction starting last year, when it changed the pricing model, lowering the rate to a flat $500 per event in order to attract more of the smaller events. But even that price point was too high, given the competitive landscape containing a number of free options.

Now the new self-serve version of Tweetwall is just $49 per day, and offers a rebuilt backend with full moderation capabilities and detailed analytics. During the setup process, customers can choose from one of four layouts, all of which are highly customizable. Tweets load in faster, include images, and overall, the service runs smoother than before. Instead of the Twitter firehose, self-serve customers have access to Twitter’s direct streaming API, which Strellner says should be more than enough for smaller events.

Tweetwall is still an HTML5 application, meant to run on a computer connected to a big-screen monitor or TV. However, the company has also introduced an iPad app version of the service that works with Apple’s Digital AV Adapter or AirPlay, to display tweets on a TV or through a projector.

The new service was soft-launched into beta just last week, with 15 customers testing it, and today has around 40 sign-ups in advance of a formal announcement.

Since its debut back in 2008, Tweetwall has served hundreds of enterprise-sized customers, some like CNN, which would use the service year after year, paying each time for new customizations. The Providence-based startup, which raised just $165,000 in the early days some through Betaspring, has been profitable for some time. It also operates Twitter analytics service Socialping, which has around 1,000 customers and is self-sustaining, though now a revamp for it is also planned.

Going forward, the self-serve version of Tweetwall, including the iPad app, will be offered alongside the full service offering for those clients who need the advanced customizations. More info is available here, or you can download Tweetwall for iPad here on iTunes.

Article courtesy of TechCrunch

Disrupt NY 2013′s Hackathon took place over roughly the last 24 hours, and now the teams are ready to present. Watch along as we live stream all 164 hacks built during the event, each of which gets just under a minute to demo their hacks onstage and convince the judges they’re worthy of the sponsor prizes. 164 is a lot of hacks for just under a day, and in fact it’s a record for any Disrupt Hackathon to date.

Judges for the event include FuturePerfect Ventures founding partner Jalak Jobanputra; Mahaya co-founder and CEO Tarikh Korula; Path101 co-founder and GroupMe investor Charlie O’Donnell; CEO and founder of The Muse Kathryn Minshew; bit.ly chief scientist Hilary Mason; and BoxGroup founder and managing partner David Tisch.

Prizes include offerings from all the Hackathon sponsors, including Appery.io, AT&T, CrunchBase, General Motors, Microsoft Bizspark, Microsoft Skydrive, NewAer, Pearson, Samsung, Twillio, Visa, Wrigley and Yammer.

Article courtesy of TechCrunch

Tickets for Apple’s annual Worldwide Developer’s Conference went on sale today at 10 AM Pacific, 1 PM Eastern, and as expected, sold out in record time, at just under 2 minutes. Tickets for the developer-focused event at San Francisco’s Moscone West, which features presentations and one-on-one time with Apple’s own in-house engineers, sold out in just two hours in 2012, in under 12 hours in 2011, and in eight days in 2010.

Apple’s tickets sold out 95 percent faster than Google’s tickets for its own annual I/O developer conference, which is taking place May 15 – 17 this year, and which took 49 minutes to sell out. I/O 2012 tickets sold out in just 30 minutes, however, as things took longer this time because of a general inability to complete the check-out process for a large percentage of users early on.

WWDC 2013 marks the first time Apple will be making conference video available during the conference itself, instead of after the event. That should alleviate some of the need of actually being there on the ground for registered Apple developers who want to take advantage of the sessions. This year also marks the first time Apple has provided advance notice regarding when tickets would go on sale, which almost definitely contributed to the faster-than usual sell-out this time around. Imagine a crop of millions of developers around the world hovering over their computers, waiting for the buying process to go live.

The quick sell-out is made more impressive by the fact that sales of the $1,599 tickets were limited to just one per person, and five per organization, tracked by individual Apple ID. During a previous keynote, former CEO Steve Jobs said that there were over 5,000 attendees at the show, which means that Apple potentially just made as much as $8 million in roughly 90 seconds in gross revenue from the event.

Apple’s developer economy is now a massive industry, having paid out $9 billion in total to developers, at a rate now of around $1 billion per quarter. Both iPhone and iPad audiences continue to grow, and Apple’s tablet especially showed tremendous progress during Apple’s most recent fiscal quarter. While Mac sales seem to be either flat or on the decline, the global growth of the iOS user pool more than makes up for that, and iOS as a platform is still the primary revenue driver when it comes to mobile apps and advertising. Combined, those factors mean interest in tickets for WWDC isn’t likely to flag anytime soon.

Article courtesy of TechCrunch

Google has finally made it official: Austin will be the second city, after Kansas City, for Google Fiber, its high-speed broadband Gigabit internet and TV service. The news, made at an announcement in Austin just now, comes after three years of campaigning by the city. The aim is for the first homes in Austin to be connected by mid-2014.

Austin’s Mayor Lee Leffingwell (pictured) made the announcement.

“There is one particular resource we need that we’ve heard loud and clear and can help make our city more innovative and make it stronger,” he said. He is, of course, referring to high-speed internet, and the fact that Austin is already a major hub for technology, music, and education.

The service, which will compete against existing broadband and pay-TV providers, will “turbo charge” our future, in the words of Laura Morrison, a councilperson also speaking at the event. It’s also noted in a blog post.

“We’re here because speed matters,” Milo Medin, VP of Google Fiber, said at the event today, pinpointing that it’s not often the matter of speed of the software and services that companies like Google develop, but infrastructure that is to blame when things are slow. “It’s the foundation for future innovation on the web.”

As Google did with residents of Kansas City, Austinites will have access to different tiers of service, including free internet-only Gigabit access, if they pay for installation.

Medin reiterated that Austin’s service will be rolled out in a similar fashion to Kansas City: residents in neighborhoods will sign up to request that Google build out in their neighborhoods; that will then be used to measure demand and decide which cities will be selected first to become “fiberhoods.” Google plans to link up schools, hospitals and other non-profit institutions free of charge as part of the process.

Austin’s campaign was a long and public one. “When we were originally choosing where to bring Fiber in 2010, Austin had one of the most enthusiastic responses,” Google notes on its Austin Fiber microsite, in answer to the question of why it chose Austin. It’s not clear whether Google gets any additional help by way of financing or anything else on the project, but it does note that it’s coming with support from all the top brass. “Austin city leaders have worked hard to make this possible, and we’re excited to be here.”

Stakeholders’ enthusiasm was really overflowing, judging by the number of leaks on the news over the last few days. First, there were reports from a local TV station about a Google event that would be held this week.

Then, Google gave the news a date with an event invite for 9am Austin time today sent out to locals.

Google then posted, and subsequently removed, a blog post (or marker for a blog post) that would be used to announce the news on its Fiber Blog.

Yesterday, yet another leak came and went, this time from the academic community that was getting involved.

In the meantime, while Google has remained mum on some of the investment specifics and longer term goals of this service, we are seeing more vocal observers estimating how much all this fiber business is going to cost the search giant.

A report published by analysts at the investment bank Bernstein yesterday noted that it would cost Google $11 billion if it decided to go for a medium-sized national rollout, covering 20 million people. That’s just for laying down infrastructure; the costs would go up by much more when marketing and then linking up homes and businesses to that network get factored in.

Although Bernstein raised the issue of whether this pricetag makes a national rollout unviable or at least less likely, it looks like Google’s efforts, such as these announced today in Austin, will be useful to the company regardless of what it decides to do elsewhere.

For starters, the evidence of public demand could serve to help push other service providers to build out high-speed services. It also helps Google collect lots of important data about how such networks are used and for what — crucial as the company continues to explore ways of expanding its existing routes to revenue growth.

Article courtesy of TechCrunch

As East Coast Editor of TechCrunch I don’t get much respect. “What’s out in New York?” they ask. “No start-ups, that’s for sure. Foursquare? Meh. It’s all bankers and boredom.”

I’ll tell you what’s out in New York and along the entire East Coast: some amazing entrepreneurs with some amazing ideas. That’s why I’d like to invite you all to TechCrunch Disrupt. Whether you sign up for the Hackathon, Hardware Alley (my own private nerd hardware-based science fair that I think you’re going to love) or come to all three days of talks, panels, and coolness, we want you there.

You can find out more at the Disrupt event page but the gist is this: the event runs from April 29th – May 1st. We’re running a pre-event 24-hour hackathon for folks who want to get one free ticket (more tickets will be released soon) but, as it stands, you still have the opportunity to pick up an early bird ticket before the price goes up April 11.

There are plenty of ways to get into the event and plenty of reasons to go. You will rub elbows with investors, VCs, and inventors. You’ll see some of luminaries of our industry. You’ll eat great food. You’ll get to talk start-ups in the cool capital of the world (sorry, Palo Alto).

I want you there. Get cracking. Who knows? Maybe next Disrupt we can see you on stage.

Our sponsors help make Disrupt happen. If you are interested in learning more about sponsorship opportunities, please contact our sponsorship team here sponsors@techcrunch.com.

Article courtesy of TechCrunch

Facebook this morning launched “Home,” a family of apps for devices running the Android operating system, at a flashy press event at its Menlo Park, California headquarters. While sentiment about the launch is still shaking out among gadget experts and other tech industry watchers, there has been a positive response from one key demographic: Public market investors.

Facebook’s stock rose steadily this morning as the Home launch event played out after starting at 10 a.m. Pacific Time (1 p.m. Eastern Time.) At the time that the official event and the following Q&A wrapped at 11:00 a.m., Facebook’s stock price was $27.04, a solid gain from the $26.57 stock price that it began the event with an hour before. Trading volume was also markedly up during the event, which was available online via live stream. And after the event closed, Facebook’s stock continued to climb — a half an hour later at 11:30 a.m. PT, the price was hovering steadily around $27.20, and at market close the price settled at $27.06, marking a 3.13 percent gain for the day.

Of course, monitoring the stock market is tough, as it is volatile by nature — especially as investors try to suss out what a big new product launch could mean. And Facebook’s stock still has a long way to go before it can be considered a stock market success — it’s still trading well below the $38 per share price of its initial public offering back in May 2012 and the opening price of $42.05 it had at its stock market debut.

But Home has had a significantly better reception than Facebook’s also much-hyped Graph Search launch back in January, when the company’s stock fell more than 3 percent. We’ve still got a week until Home actually is available to Android users, so the jury will be out on Home’s real success for a while, but as far as Wall Street is concerned this seems to be a good first impression.

Article courtesy of TechCrunch

As predicted, Facebook announced a way to turn your Android phone into one focused on people and not apps, as we’ve grown accustomed to on computers and mobile devices.

“We don’t want to build a phone or operating system that only some people could use.” Facebook CEO, Mark Zuckerberg said. He went on to say that he wants to do more than build something for 1-2% of the smartphone market, since the company has over a billion users. Facebook’s “Home” product isn’t a fork of Google’s Android operating system, it’s a new launcher that brings all of the things that are happening with your friends right now to the forefront of your mobile experience.

Since the home screen is the first thing you see when you wake up your phone, what we see first is “Coverfeed,” an experience that our own Josh Constine explained as a “Sixth Sense”:

Coverfeed is a huge part of this experience, bringing all of your friends updates to your device, right on the home screen.

“Typically all you see is a clock or a snippet of an email, What we aspire to do with Home is provide much more value than that.” Facebook pointed out.

Coverfeed is a visually rich newsfeed, on your home screen. The hope with Coverfeed is that you’ll start interacting with your friends quickly, rather than tapping around your apps, waiting for notifications to come up into your bar. You’ll be able to tap items that come up in Coverfeed to like them, so you’re not required to open the full Facebook app whatsoever.

The Home experience will be updated every month, with more features fixes than an operating system would.

Apps are important too, Zuckerberg says, so you can still add apps to your device. The launcher for other apps is just one swipe away from the home screen. When all was said and done at the event, Zuckerberg stated: “We think this is the best version of Facebook there is.”

Home will be available for Android phone users on April 12th, with tablet coming at a later date. The HTC first has been announced as the first devices with Facebook Home installed. To get it, you’ll have to have the latest version of Facebook and Messenger installed on your device, you’ll then get a welcome message that sends you to Google Play.

Since Home isn’t a new operating system and doesn’t require new hardware, there’s a good chance that the experience could be downloaded millions of times as soon as it’s available on April 12th. By going this route, Facebook has been able to focus on design and usability without having to deal with all of the hassles that manufacturers have to deal with on supporting different hardware types.

Follow our liveblog of the event here.

Article courtesy of TechCrunch

Facebook today announced a family of apps you can install called Facebook Home, featuring full screen photos, status updates, and notifications piped into your homescreen. It won’t require a forked Android operating system, as Facebook wants it to be available to a wide audience. “We want to bring the experience of having a home, of having everything you need right around you… to your phone.”

After Home launches on April 12th, if you have the most recent Facebook App and Messenger on your Android phone you’ll see a banner alert to download Home from the Google Play store. When you launch it the first time, you can decide to “try once”, or choose “always” to swap in Home for you homescreen from then on. Facebook will try to make Home available on tablets within a few months, and it’s supposed to be a great experience there. Every month, Facebook will release a Home update to add new features and make it accessible to new devices.

The Home home screen experience is focused on Cover Feed, which shows a constant feed of stories and photos you can just sit back and watch. Demo’d by Adam Mosseri, Director of Product,  Home also features a new notifications system that lets you scrub through multiple alerts at once.

Apps are important too, Zuckerberg says, so you can still add apps to your device. One swipe away from the home screen is the launcher for apps. Messaging is at the forefront. Phones are communication devices and we spend all day message, in today’s appcentric world, messaging is treated like another app. Switching between apps is annoying. We want to talk to people, not apps.

When a friend messages you, Home brings up the Facebook Chat Heads feature. It pops up a person’s face and you can tap on their face and bring up a conversation without losing any context of what you’re doing in the app behind. Chat Heads means you don’t have to decide whether to read a message or keep using your current app. It lets communication flow across the phone experience. It’s designed to let you tap in between multiple message threads.

“Today we’re going to finally talk about that Facebook Phone, More accurately, we’re gonna talk about how you can turn your phone into a Facebook Phone” Mark Zuckerberg said to start the event. After noting we spend more than 20% of our mobile time on social apps, Zuckerberg said “We asked ourselves — if we’re already spending this much time on our phones, how can we make it easier? What if they were designed around people first, and you could also just happen to interact with apps?”

Facebook has created the Facebook Home Program to allow a handset makers to optimize the Home experience. Partners include AT&T, Orange, Qualcomm, HTC, Samsung, Huawei, Sony, EE, ZTE, Lenovo, and Alcatel.

HTC and AT&T will release one of the first phones with Facebook Home on it. The handset is called the HTC First. The device’s operating system will be “optimized” to give users unique experiences like notifications for email and calendars on Facebook Home. It will run on an AT&T LTE connection. It will be available on April 12th for $99.99. You’ll be able to pre-order the HTC First starting today at http://www.att.com/facebookhome though that URL doesn’t work just yet.

Zuckerberg closed the event by discussing developing markets and Facebook’s international potential. “Only about a third of the world is on the Internet” but in five to ten years legions of feature phone users will be on smartphones. Zuckerberg left a cliffhanger, asking the crowd to think about what that will mean.

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Article courtesy of TechCrunch

Last year, Ning co-founder and former CEO Gina Bianchini decided to refocus her startup Mightybell on offering a sleek, design-focused collaborative online space for creative projects and groups. Today, the startup is taking its vision to the next level with the ability to schedule a time to meet.

Mightybell’s groups allow for a discussion-focused open space for users to share photos, videos, comments and more. Users in these spaces can post photos, write a note, chat with others via a chat functionality, comment, like an interaction and more. Users can also customize a particular collection and create a these around their space, which can be public or private.

As Bianchini explains, Mightybell found that the number one challenge to organizing a thriving group is finding a time to meet. Generally, the “time to meet” conversations end up on email, despite the fact that the actual sharing and discussion is taking place on Mightybell within a community.

The feature offers any group the ability to poll members to find a time to meet directly with their Mightybell space. To “Find a Time to Meet” in a Mightybell space, a person clicks to post and chooses to add an event. If the organizer doesn’t know what time and dates work for everyone, they just click “Get Started” under Find a Time to Meet. The event organizer can name the event and can also add a bit of color to entice people. The organizer can also add videos, files and photos to the event. The organizer can poll dates for which ones work best.

When a majority of members have shared their preferences, the event organizer can pick that time and finalize the event. The Mightybell space immediately lets everyone know when the meeting is.

Mightybell, which raised $3.6 million from Floodgate, Greylock and First Round Capital, also just announced that it is powering groups for Sheryl Sandberg’s LeanIn circles.

Article courtesy of TechCrunch

Are you ready for a Facebook Phone? Because it’s a-comin’. Zuck should take the stage at roughly 10 A.M Pacific this morning, where he’ll be showing off the company’s “new home on Android”. We’ll undoubtedly have all kinds of coverage for you throughout the day — but if you’re the kind who likes to camp out and watch an event themselves, you can catch the live video stream of the event above.

The live stream widget above should automatically begin to play the video as soon as the event begins.

In the mean time, check out some of our previous coverage below:

• Facebook To Reveal “Home On Android” Sources Say Is A Modified OS On HTC At 4/4 Event
• Facebook Phone Leak Points To Budget HTC Device, Homescreen App For All Androids
• Facebook’s Android Homescreen Could Expose Apple’s Inflexibility
• Why Facebook Home Is Potentially Brilliant

Article courtesy of TechCrunch