TechCrunch TV recently made the trek to Las Vegas, where we had the chance to check out the burgeoning startup community that’s taking shape there thanks in large part to a $350 million initiative called the “Downtown Project.”

When many people think of Vegas, they think of the casino- and tourist-filled area known as the Strip. But the Downtown Project, which is headed up by Zappos CEO Tony Hseih, is focused on bringing new life to what’s also known as “old Vegas,” an urban area that’s rich with history (it used to be the playground for the likes of the Rat Pack) but is now ripe for revitalization.

The startup scene that’s growing in Downtown Vegas is the kind of thing that’s best understood by seeing it, so we took a walk through the area with Zach Ware, who is one of the most prominent characters in the core group of people working around the clock to make the Downtown Project happen. Ware’s without a doubt one of the most well-versed on the whole situation, so it was a pleasure for him to take us through the streets of old Vegas and talk about how the area has changed recently and the vision for its future.

And since Ware is also one of the co-founders of Work In Progress, a project that’s bringing a host of new coworking spaces to the Downtown Vegas area, we ended our stroll at one of those construction sites. You can see all of that in the video embedded above.

Be sure to check back in for more TCTV coverage from Vegas (we shot a lot of things!) Already posted is our Cribs tour of the Vegas-based robotics startup Romotive — check that out right here.

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Considering the sheer volume of leaks and information floating around right now, it’s becoming more and more clear that the so-called LG Nexus 4 is the real deal. In case you didn’t already have enough to ponder though, the folks behind the infamous @evleaks Twitter account have gotten their hands on yet another photo of the unreleased device and a few new particulars about its size and weight.

But first, the photo. In fairness, it’s far from the best Nexus 4 image I’ve seen out there — that distinction goes to the rather artsy photoset shot (see below) by TechOnliner.ru — but it matches up nicely with earlier leaks. Speaking of matching up, the device’s purported spec sheet (quad-core 1.5GHz APQ8064 chipset, 8-megapixel rear camera, 2GB of RAM, and a 4.7-inch display running at 1280

Angry Birds-maker Rovio and CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research, are to collaborate on developing “fun learning experiences” aimed at getting kids engaged with science. The collaboration is part of a new initiative by Rovio to use the power of the Angry Birds brand as a learning aid. The Finnish company has kicked off a learning programme — under a new brand, called Angry Birds Playground (not to be confused with Angry Birds activity parks) – for 3 to 8-year-olds based on the Finnish National Curriculum for kindergarten.

Rovio told TechCrunch the collaboration will involve co-producing learning support materials with CERN — including, initially, books and a board game. More products will be added later, the company said. We’ve also reached out to CERN to ask for more details and will update with any response.

“Modern physics has been around for 100 years, but it’s still a mystery to many people. Working together with Rovio, we can teach kids quantum physics by making it fun and easy to understand,” said CERN’s Head of Education, Rolf Landua, speaking at the Frankfurt Book Fair where the Rovio launch took place.

“It’s a great fit for both sides, combining physics and Angry Birds in a fun way. Rovio has a great platform, with a broad reach and highly engaged fans, which makes this collaboration very promising. With Rovio and Angry Birds Playground, we get a great channel to communicate what CERN does,” he added.

“With Playground products, kids can have fun and learn more about physics than they would’ve in the ‘old-fashioned’ style of learning,” added Peter Vesterbacka, Rovio Mighty Eagle and CMO, in a statement.

Rovio’s Angry Birds-fuelled merchandising empire includes plans for a non-educational line of Angry Birds kids’ books, in collaboration with Egmont Publishing, and — most recently — its first book app – along with t-shirts, plush toys, theme parks and more.

Article courtesy of TechCrunch

The battle for gender equality is played out on many levels, from the workplace to the playground — and, as it turns out, the world of TV viewing: a new study out from Nielsen indicates that when it comes to TV, women watch significantly more than men, but it’s also finding that the rise of connected (seventh-generation) gaming consoles like the Xbox is changing that.

Nielsen’s research indicates that although women spend almost 40 minutes more than men every day watching straight television — 4 hours, 11 minutes for women; 3 hours 34 minutes for men — men are actually spending more than twice as much time as women using gaming consoles — specifically 48 minutes compared to 22 minutes each day. Add that usage to TV time, and the gap between how much men and women actually spend in front of the screen narrows — although women are still ahead of men in TV screen time, by a space of 11 minutes.

Nielsen doesn’t break out what it is that men and women consume via the consoles — it can be anything from playing games to watching on-demand or catch-up TV services, or surfing the web.

But it does present an interesting challenge both for the advertising industry, and those working in any content service that appears (or wants to appear) on TV: if you want to use that screen to target men as much as women — then you have to think about services that work through those consoles as well as regular TV ads.

It’s not clear that we’ve seen that many solutions created so far that let advertisers (or content companies) continuously bridge content coming from basic TV services and content coming via consoles. Rather, it seems that more of the focus now is about how best to bridge services between mobile and TV screens: a dual-screen service debuted earlier this week from Brightcove, which lets users shift and command content from an iPad or iPhone to an HDTV hooked up with Apple TV, is one example of how that is taking shape.

Article courtesy of TechCrunch

I’ve been watching Watchitoo for several years now, and to be honest, I never really got it. A few years ago, the startup launched with some pretty slick consumer-facing technology for group video chats, during which users could share files and video clips, play casual games with one another, and other fun stuff. It was all browser based, and unlike other video chat platforms, didn’t require any special or plugins to work.

At some point over the last few years, it pivoted from a platform targeted at teens for chatting one another into a “video conferencing and online collaboration tool,” which seems like a better target market for actually making money. Using a lot of the same capabilities that were available in the previous product — video conferencing, chat and messaging, file and screen sharing, etc. — and applied those features to business use cases. In addition to the usual collaboration tools, Watchitoo also pitched its platform as a way to do Webinars, live events, and go after the online education market, which are all fair applications of the technology.

Now Watchitoo is rolling out an all new product, which is aimed at improving communication and collaboration in the small and medium-sized businesses. Called Watchitoo Playground, it’s being pitched as a low-cost, high-quality alternative to other video conferencing and collaboration tools. The product lets up to 25 participants video chat online,* with document, screen, and link-sharing built in. Like its other products, there’s no plugin required, it all works in-browser, etc.

Playground will be available in a free version, which pretty much anyone can use. But Watchitoo is also pitching a more fully featured version with an extremely low cost subscription model, for just $3.80 per user per month.** Businesses can sign up on their own through the Playground website (at www.plground.com), but most revenues from the product are likely to come through Watchitoo partners. Yup, that’s right, Watchitoo is making Playground available through ISPs and other resellers — and since the startup is getting paid per by a third party and not by the actual customer, Watchitoo could make money whether or not SMBs actually use it.***

When this was first pitched to me, it was suggested as an alternative to Google Hangouts, which was probably not the best idea, because I mean, who uses Google Hangouts? More importantly, who uses Google Hangouts as a collaboration tool? That’s not to say better tools aren’t needed, just… I’m not sure that SMBs are ready for them. Then again, maybe for less than four bucks they will be.

==
* …because what a joy it must be to have 25 people all talking over one another in video chat.
** What a weird price, right?
*** Which is really not a bad business to be in.

Article courtesy of TechCrunch

“I don’t think this is such a good idea. I think that 13′s and above are having a hard enough time around some of the pressures of Facebook,” argues, MIT Psychologist, Sherry Turkle, and author of Alone Together. Facebook is reportedly mulling a decision to permit children under 13-years-old to join. Mark Zuckerberg, himself, has broached the subject, “my philosophy is that for education you need to start at a really, really young age.”

Yet, Turkle argues, in her research, the “agonizing” burden of a permanent, public reputation is too overwhelming for a young mind. Additionally, “Kids 13, 11, 10, they need to be on the playground,” she says, “Facebook takes time away from being face-to-face.”

Despite the current ban, 38% of 9 to 12-year-olds have managed to sneak on to the social network [PDF] (around 68% with the consent of their parents). When we asked Turkle if it’s better to allow everyone to join and then monitor their activity, Turkle slammed Facebook for not doing enough to prevent pre-teen sign-ups. “Facebook has a position of kind of benign tolerance,” she argues. And, even if parents were encouraged to monitor their children, she says, “I’ve done the fieldwork, parents really aren’t supervising that.”

What do you think? Should pre-teens be allowed on Facebook? Why or why not?

Article courtesy of TechCrunch