Streak has raised $1.9 million for its CRM service that uses a Google Chrome extension to share your email and track deals through your GMail inbox.

Investors include Battery Ventures, Chris Sacca of Lowercase Capital, Redpoint, Floodgate, Crunchfund, and a host of VC partners and angel investors such as David Tisch and Michael Birch, who founded Bebo. Streak will use the funding to expand its team and focus on building out its mobile efforts.

In addition to the funding, Streak is also unveiling an API to programmatically pull data from Streak for access in such apps as MailChimps and Wufoo. The Streak team sees a number of use cases, including creating and editing boxes (useful for setting up web forms that submit straight to Streak); creating and editing pipelines; setting up automated reminders; searching through Streak data and getting a newsfeed for updates to a customer’s boxes and pipelines.

Streak launched last March out of the winter Y Combinator class. Since then, Co-Founder Aleem Mawaani says the company has had 71% month-to-month growth. You need to take that kind of growth with a dose of reality, considering the company only launched seven months ago. But you can see its popularity in how it consolidates two different silos into one. You can manage one UI as opposed to Salesforce.com for managing leads and email for doing deals. Mawani said a friend who works for Uber told him that half the company uses the Streak service to manage marketing projects and rollouts.

The company targets small- and medium-sized businesses. It is free now. Premium services will come next spring.

Mawani said Gmail’s deep JavaScript and HTML complexity makes it difficult to build apps. But the platform itself has 450 million active users, making it a fertile place to build out services.

Streak sees a whole host of other use cases besides CRM – specifically, task management, bug tracking, deal flow and hiring.

Streak competes with Salesforce.com, Sugar CRM and a host of others. It aspires to build an ecosystem of apps and help others do the same on the Gmail platform. its competitors may be much bigger but few can say they know the massive Gmail community as well as Streak.

Article courtesy of TechCrunch

The original Samsung Note was huge — in both physical size and popularity. Samsung sold over 10 million units of the huge phone, or rather, if you prefer, mini tablet. The Note II is more of the same, really. It sports a much more capable mobile SoC, which should make the Jelly Bean Android build run as smooth as, well, butter. Strangely, the new model features a lower resolution screen than the original, but that likely won’t hurt sales.

In all, the new Note is like the old Note. Engadget likes what they see so far. That’s a good thing. It’s still a massive thing, likely too big for some users. But that’s fine with Samsung. The Note II shows Samsung’s swagger. It might not be the best selling phone in Samsung’s lineup, but it’s the most important.

Samsung is fresh off a huge court loss that could have sweeping effects. Early reports from phone resellers indicate that users are actually dumping their Samsung phones twice as often as normal. Gazelle.com, a site that buys old phones from owners, reports a 50% increase in Samsung smartphones buybacks over the past three days. That’s just nuts. But Samsung is plowing forward even though some devices could face a ban in the U.S.

The Galaxy Note II is the successor to the widely popular Galaxy Note. The original Note wasn’t the first 5-inch touchscreen phone, but it was the model to make it big. The 5-inch Dell Streak busted into the market in the summer of 2010 but failed to make much of an impact. The Streak shipped with outdated Android software and Dell failed to provide updates in a timely fashion. Plus, unlike the Note, the Streak wasn’t marketed to the general consumer; the Streak was intended for the business crowd.

Samsung announced the Galaxy Note one year ago at IFA 2011. The phone hit the European market in late October and went on to sell one million units prior to launching in the U.S. the following February. Samsung went big with the Note’s marketing and went as far as showcasing it at CES in a huge booth by having artists draw caricatures of show goers. It was a widely popular stunt, and the booth often had a massive line.

Samsung is likely to go even bigger with the Note II’s advertising. The original’s success shows that there is a big market for large screen phones. With the new iPhone using a larger screen, Samsung’s argument for huge screens could be made easier this time around. If nothing else, the Galaxy Note II is a fine halo device, designed to draw consumers’ attention to the Samsung brand — and to the Galaxy S III.

Consider the Chevy Corvette — it’s too expensive and not practical for every buyer, but it brings people into car showrooms and that’s the Note II’s job too. The Note II is physically huge. It’s not for everyone. But Samsung would argue that the Galaxy S III, the Note’s smaller and cheaper counterpart, is for everyone. Where the Note II is Samsung’s Corvette, the Galaxy S III is the Chevy Camaro, an everyday driver.

At $199 with carrier subsidies, the Galaxy S III is Samsung’s mainstay. The phone still features a large screen, but it’s rather small compared to the Note II. The GSIII lacks a stylus, tablet-ish flappy cover and, most important, the negative connotation that it’s too big.

Samsung clearly knows what it’s doing. It’s the largest phone manufacturer in the world and the Galaxy S III will rival the new iPhone in sales; the Note series will not. But it doesn’t have to in order to accomplish its mission. The Note II gives Samsung’s lineup a bit of variety while still keeping the manufacturing simply by using parts similar to that found in the Galaxy S III. This way Samsung can offer more models while keeping manufacturing costs down.

Expect to hear a lot about the Note II in the coming months. It’s scheduled to hit Europe in October, with a wider release to follow shortly.

Click to view slideshow.

Article courtesy of TechCrunch

If last week’s showdown between the Droid 4, Droid 3, and iPhone 4S didn’t get your blood pumping, prepare yourself for the heavyweight round. We’ve got the hotly anticipated Samsung Galaxy Note going up against the Dell Streak and the beastly Galaxy Nexus.

Obviously the Streak is a somewhat older device, but it’s very similar in size to the Note which should give former Streak owners a good idea of what to expect out of the Note. Meanwhile, the GalNex is yet another huge screen that Note enthusiasts are probably considering, as well.

Onward!

The Streak is just a hair thicker than the Note, at 10mm compared to the Note’s 9.7mm waist line, and sports a smaller 5-inch screen. The Streak can also be used with a capacitive stylus, though it really can’t compete with the pressure-sensitive Wacom-style S Pen. And to be quite honest, the Streak can’t compare with the Note in terms of performance either.

That’s not to say the Streak is a bad phone, but it’s simply too outdated to show any real competition in the spec department. For example, the 5-inch Streak display only has a resolution of 480

The Amazon Kindle Fire isn’t the only low-cost tablet option in town. Sure, it might be the hot new kid, but there are a multitude of tablets that can be had for $300 or less. Some are cheap and clearly only for enthusiasts. Other tabs are legitimate deals that offer Honeycomb on modern CPUs. Best of all – and Amazon knows this – all of them can run the Kindle app, instantly turning them into Kindle Fire competitors.

Asus Transformer

The Asus Transformer was in high demand caused by a limited supply. Asus underestimated the demand and under-manufactured the tablet. The story goes that Asus ramped up production, but it was too late. The tablet’s 15 minutes of fame had passed and now the tablet can be had for $300 – or slightly more if you want a reputable retailer.

The Transformer is quite a bargain. It’s arguably one of the top Android 3.x tablets and has a slender frame, stunning IPS screen, and tons of ports. There’s a vibrant developer community and a few first- and third-party accessories. The Transformer is a safe, low-cost bet to taste-test Honeycomb. And, like the rest on this list, can run all of Amazon’s Android apps including the Kindle reader.

BlackBerry Playbook

It’s hard to love the Playbook, but if you’re a diehard BlackBerry addict and you like a tablet with a smooth OS and great screen, this may be the one for you. Despite Playbook’s sad storyline – released too soon, email and calendaring apps that didn’t work right, a wonky syncing system – it’s a solid device for BlackBerry users.

Major retailers are currently cutting the PlayBook’s price ahead of a likely official price cut. Staples and Office Depot both currently offer the tablet at $399 with $100 gift cards while Best Buy is selling it for $299 out the door.

The PlayBook ships with the Kobo reading app installed, but the Kindle Cloud Reader allows for Kindle reading experience through just the PlayBook’s (or any device’s) web browser.

Dell Streak 7

The Dell Streak 7 is the oldest tablet of the bunch but it still has some legs. The Android 2.2 tablet is a great small-ish tablet for the Android fanboy. It’s compact, highly customizable, works with a massive number of Android apps – including the Kindle app – and can readily be had for less than $250. Rumor has it that the Streak 7 will even get an official Honeycomb update in the near future – or you could just install it yourself.

Archos 80 G9

Archos has been at the tablet game nearly longer than any other company. Their latest is concocted from their traditional recipe that involves slightly ahead-of-the-curve hardware with aggressive pricing. The slender $299 Archos 80 G9 packs a dual-core 1GHz ARM Cortex CPU, 8-inch screen, and 8GB storage.

However, buyer beware. While the 80 G9 looks great on paper, our early experience with the tablet hasn’t been pleasant. Look for a full review in the coming days but the tablet’s built quality is a bit rough.

Nook Color

There isn’t a better cheap tablet than the Nook Color. Modders have hacked nearly every version of Android onto the ereader (with mixed results) or you could just use the stock OS that already features apps, email, and a fully functional web browser. The stock operating system is capable enough to satisfy most but if not there’s a nearly endless supply of Nook Color mods, hacks and general tomfoolery available. You can even install a Kindle app on the B&N reader. Blasphemy? Sure, but it’s also turns the little reader into the ultimate ereading machine.

Barnes & Noble thought outside the traditional ereader bounds with the Nook Color. Rather than producing just another ereader, they released a trifling, but totally hackable, tablet for half the price of the iPad. It was a hit. That’s what Amazon hopes to do with the Fire and successive tablets.

Velocity Micro Cruz T408

The Cruz T408 runs Android 2.3 on a 4:3 8-inch screen. There’s a 1GHz Cortex A8 CPU, 512 MB of RAM, a front facing camera, and it has an MSRP of only $239.99.

This tablet is inexpensive and feels cheap. I have a review sample sitting on my desk. It’s not an iPad-killer, but could sway some potential Nook Color or Kindle buyers. It’s slightly larger than the Nook Color and the form and fit isn’t as nice. However, the T408 comes with Gingerbread preinstalled, along with a bunch of apps including Angry Birds, Kindle, and Amazon’s Appstore. If you’re buying the Nook Color just to run Android, why not get a larger screen?

Amazon’s grand entrance into the tablet arena will likely steal some of these tablets’ glory. The Kindle and Amazon brands are trusted names, which is exactly what most low-cost tablets lack. The Fire is just a low-cost tablet concealed by fresh UI layer. This strategy is great for most consumers but some buyers, like me, want a little more fun out of our non-iPad tabs. However, here’s hoping that the successes of the Fire and iPad do not influence future tablet innovation and leave us in a world of dumbed-down, mass-market mobile operating systems.

Article courtesy of TechCrunch

The Dell Streak 10, whose cousins we reviewed here and here, is a 10-inch Honeycomb tablet that Dell is releasing in China this week. However, the interesting thing about this image is that the Dell Streak 10 and the Dell Streak 7 are both running Honeycomb, a welcome relief for those saddled with the Streak’s outdated OS.

These tablets are odd in that Dell is making and selling them in Asia with a secondary interesting the rest of the world. Perhaps they have more market traction in China or perhaps folks just love them some Streaks over there, but regardless we can expect to see the 10 arrive here in the next few months.

Nothing new under the hood, however: 1280×800 pixel resolution, WiFi, 5-megapixel rear-facing camera and 2-megapixel front facing. It also has an NVIDIA Tegra 2 processor. No pricing yet but keep your eyes peeled.

Article courtesy of TechCrunch

The Dell Streak is clever device, but with its 5-inch screen, a touch on the large size for a phone and a touch on the small size for tablet. Still, a good amount swear by it saying it’s the best of both — like this commercial. It cleverly shows all the usefulness that comes with the larger screen like games, navigation, Facebook, video capture — really everything — but in true marketing fashion, does so without showing the downside transporting the large device.

Not that you can blame them, though. It’s the job of marketing to point out all the pros while minimizing the cons. Still, a 5-inch slate might seem like a great product until you try to put it in your pant’s pocket. Or in the cup holder of your car. Or in a shirt pocket. Or on your hip in a holster. Yeah, the Streak is a clever device, but it’s also a big device. Your call whether it’s a pro or a con. The commercial after the break will try to sway you to the former though.

Article courtesy of TechCrunch

I wouldn’t even say they announced it. Apparently Michael Dell just casually mentioned it at Oracle-related conference. Of course, we already knew there would be larger versions of the streak. What I don’t understand is why they released the tiny version first, and not a larger version with wider appeal?

Continue reading this article…

Article courtesy of TechCrunch

Someone at Dell deserves a raise. Actually, a bunch of people probably deserve a

The Dell Streak, the 5-inch tablet that won the hearts of the technorati last month, is coming to the US and we had a chance to play with it over the past few days. The Android-powered tablet is no iPad but a worthy entrant in the tablet olympics.

The device has a 5-megapixel camera, touchscreen, and built-in GPS. You can use it to watch movies and listen to music and it has a fully-featured webkit browser running on a 1GHz Snapdragon processor, making it quite speedy. The device features a built-in GSM modem so you can connect to 3G networks and make calls, making the Streak look like a comically big EVO 4G, except without the 4G.

READ MORE…

Article courtesy of TechCrunch

In a move that suggests a tad of insecurity on Apple’s behalf, the iPad maker is apparently buying Google AdWords ads targeting potential buyers of the Dell Streak, the Android-powered micro-tablet or netpad or whatever it is people cooler than me call the device.

The screenshot above was taken after I did a search for ‘Dell Streak’ on Google.co.uk (thanks for the tip, Tom from Rudefox). As you can see, Cupertino is trying to capture the attention of Dell Streak searchers by buying text ads on Google, in an attempt to get them to click through to the iPad product page instead of moving on with said search.

Update: same deal for ‘HP Slate’

We can debate the quality of the text ad copy that’s supposed to lure people away – “A revolutionary Multi-Touch device with nearly 200,000 apps.” – as it, for reasons unknown, lacks the bulletproof marketing term ‘magical’.

But, rather, let’s debate whether companies buying ads against keywords that contain the names of their competitors or their products is an effective, elegant and/or ethical means of promoting one’s wares on the Web.

I’ll kick things off: I think it makes perfect sense, although Apple is about the last company I’d expect to see revert to these tactics.

Your take?

Article courtesy of TechCrunch