TechStars offers free cloud services via Microsoft's BizSpark Plus

January 30, 2012

Microsoft today unveiled its new BizSpark Plus program, designed to assist select accelerators and incubators, and TechStars announced the first benefit-related news to come out of it. TechStars will be offering each of its startups up to $60,000 of Windows Azure cloud computing and storage services at no cost.

The offer is for a 24-month period and is being extended to TechStars accelerators in Boston, New York, Seattle, Texas, and Boulder, Colorado. Other BizSpark Plus participants are expected to extend similar offers to the startups they’re working with.

“This is the first offer from our new BizSpark Plus program, and we look forward to supporting TechStars members across a number of markets and technology offerings,” said Dan’l Lewin, corporate vice president, Strategic and Emerging Business Development, Microsoft.

Nine additional BizSpark Plus members were named in today’s announcement: global accelerators Startup Weekend, SeedCamp, Founders Institute and Fumec; Springboard and TechCity in the U.K.; Eura Technologies and DojoBoost in France; and Cietec in Brazil. Microsoft said these were chosen based on their track record of attracting and nurturing world-class startups.

Founded in 2006, the TechStars community currently includes more than 300 mentors, more than 1,500 investors and over 120 alumni TechStars companies. It is funded by more than 50 venture capital firms and 25 angel investors.

TechStars also led the effort to form the Global Accelerator Network in 2010, a group of almost 40 independently owned and operated organizations from around the world that utilize a mentorship-based startup accelerator model. Its mission is to ensure that 5,000 successful and experienced entrepreneurs and investors will mentor and support 6,000 promising young entrepreneurs. The goal is to increase their success rate tenfold and create 25,000 new jobs by 2015 as well as a sustained engine for growing these figures over time.

David Cohen, founder and CEO of TechStars, said: “Our passion is helping startups succeed around the world by providing funding and mentorship from the best and brightest Internet entrepreneurs and investors on the planet. The enhanced relationship with Microsoft will allow us to provide our founders with even more valuable support and services. Access to technologies such as Windows Azure and other software and services from Microsoft through the BizSpark Plus program gives our companies a leg up in the all-encompassing race to scale and succeed.”

Lewin said: “TechStars is a great partner with a proven track record of attracting world-class startups. We are excited at the opportunity to work together to help startups when they need it most, with the products, resources and connections they need the most. Working with entrepreneurs on the forefront of the cloud revolution is especially rewarding. Windows Azure is a powerful, integrated platform, making it easy for startups to get their services up and running quickly with minimal overhead.”

Related links:

BizSpark blog post – http://tinyurl.com/89aanyf

Press release – http://tinyurl.com/7tr2ccj

http://www.microsoft.com/BizSpark/Plus

http://www.techstars.com

http://globalacceleratornetwork.com

Shazam for TV expands to new shows

digitalmediawi

January 30, 2012

Shazam for TV announced a new sponsorship through which it will make three NBCUniversal TV series Shazamable, beginning with a continuation of the platform’s relationship with Being Human on SyFy and adding E!’s The Soup and USA’s Psych.

Tagging – known as Shazaming to the free app’s aficionados – during Being Human reveals exclusive scenes from the next episode, a tracklist of the songs featured in that night’s episode, device wallpaper, and a sweepstakes to visit the show’s location of Boston.

The first two episodes of Psych, Feb. 29 and March 7, will be Shazam-enabled. Using the app will let fans watch bloopers, browse a photo gallery, download wallpaper, shop for merchandise featured on the show, and enter a sweepstakes to visit Santa Barbara, where the show is set.

The Soup, the comedic clips show hosted by Joel McHale, also will be enabled for Shazam on those same two days. Tagging it will give access to exclusive clips from the show and a sweepstakes to visit a taping of The Soup in Los Angeles.

All three Shazam integrations are sponsored by Lexus. As is typical with Shazam, these three program sponsorships also enable the user to share their activity over social networks.

Related links:

http:www.shazam.com

http://www.syfy.com/beinghuman

http://www.usanetwork.com/series/psych

http://www.thesouptv.com

Men check NFL scores from _where?_

digitalmediawi

January 30, 2012

In yet another achievement made possible by technology, 4 percent of men have checked the score of an NFL game while at a funeral. And 18 percent of them have looked that up while on a date, according to a survey released by Yahoo Sports – although it doesn’t say how many of those guys got a subsequent date with the same person.

Those are definitely not the only places others might find inappropriate where guys have peeked at football scores. Among among men 18 to 64, 25 percent admit to checking NFL scores while in the bathroom. Other locations men admitted to include: in class (22 percent); at a wedding (12 percent), at their child’s school event (12 percent); and during a church service (8 percent).

The study commissioned from Ipsos OTX MediaCT shared these and other NFL factoids, which found 82 percent of men and 65 percent of women have checked NFL scores from somewhere they maybe shouldn’t have.

Most fans (75 percent) of fans have a favorite player, although 13 percent of female and 5 percent of male fans have chosen that player based on looks rather than on his on-field performance (41 percent) or team he plays for (33 percent). The survey doesn’t draw any correlation with those numbers and the fact that 16 percent of fans know that Tom Brady’s eyes are blue.

Related links:

http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl

http://yhoo.it/zNkCFD

Whedon and ‘Avengers’ stars take to Twitter [with trailer]

digitalmediawi

January 30, 2012

Marvel Studios is sponsoring a live global Twitter chat session Tuesday featuring writer/director Joss Whedon and cast members Tom Hiddleston and Clark Gregg from the upcoming tentpole release Marvel’s The Avengers.

Fans from numerous countries will be able to ask questions and receive answers in their preferred language, using a real-time global translation tool provided by Ortsbo.com. The Twitter-fest will be moderated by Marvel’s taco-loving @Agent_M, known to the HR department as Ryan Penagos, executive editorial director, Marvel Digital Media Group & Marvel.com.

Even if their question doesn’t get a personal response, participating fans will get the opportunity to see a 10-second tease of the 30-second Super Bowl spot that will air during Super Bowl XLVI (on Feb. 5 on NBC) and to answer Avengers trivia for a chance to win prize packs relevant to the movie, which opens on May 4.

The Twitter session will run for 30 minutes on January 31 at 11 a.m. PST (7 p.m. GMT) using the @Avengers handle and the #Avengers hashtag.

Starring Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy Renner and Tom Hiddleston, with Stellan Skarsgård and Samuel L. Jackson, and written and directed by Joss Whedon, Marvel’s The Avengers is based on the ever-popular Marvel comic book series “The Avengers,” first published in 1963. It is presented by Marvel Studios in association with Paramount Pictures. The film is produced by Marvel Studios’ president Kevin Feige and executive produced by Alan Fine, Stan Lee, Jon Favreau, Louis D’Esposito, Patricia Whitcher, Victoria Alonso and Jeremy Latcham. The film is distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures.

Related links:

http://marvel.com/avengers_movie

http://agentmlovestacos.com

Virgin Gaming Hits Milestone for Cash Prize Competitors

digitalmediawi

January 27, 2012

Virgin Gaming, which hosts online competitive gaming with real cash prizes, announced today that it has surpassed a million registered users. The company also said it has disbursed over $7 million since its June 2010 launch.

Registration is free, and members can compete in a selection of head-to-head matches and tournaments without depositing any money. Participants must be at least 18 years old, however, and residents of 15 U.S. states are legally prohibited from participating in the cash games.

Virgin Gaming supports specific multiplayer PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 games, which enables the company’s platform to directly verify game statistics.

The current tournament is the Challenge Series, in which players worldwide are competing using a PlayStation 3 on EA Sports’ Madden NFL 12, NHL12 and FIFA 12 for a chance to win over $1 million in cash and prizes. The finals in the Challenge Series will be held in New York this April.

“We knew we were on to something and that our service had significant potential, we just didn’t realize it would take off as quickly as it did,” said Rob Segal, CEO of Virgin Gaming. “Our team continues to evolve the experience on a daily basis, and user feedback has been a key component in our upgrades. The responses have been resoundingly insightful and positive, so we’re very excited for our current direction and what the future holds, including the expansion of the biggest and best tournaments for mobile and social games.”

The states that prohibit gaming for cash prizes are Arizona, Arkansas, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Illinois, Iowa, Louisiana, Maryland, Montana, Nebraska, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee and Vermont.

Related link:

http://virgingaming.com

Michelle Obama, Instagram Fan [with video]

digitalmediawi

January 27, 2012

Among the 24 people invited to sit with First Lady Michelle Obama in her guest box during President Obama’s State of the Union address were Laurene Powell Jobs, widow of Apple’s Steve Jobs and founder of Emerson Collective, and Mike Krieger, co-founder of the photo-sharing application Instagram.

At the White House reception for her guests, the First Lady agreed to have an Instagram photo of herself with Krieger (shown).

In a decades-long White House tradition, the guests are chosen to represent a cross-section of “extraordinary Americans who exemplify the themes and ideals laid out in the State of the Union Address,” as described on the White House blog. On this occasion guests included teachers, small business owners, innovators, health care reform beneficiaries and people serving in the armed forces.

Krieger, a native of São Paulo, Brazil, is currently working under an H1-B visa and has applied for permanent residency to contine running the company he co-founded with Kevin Systrom in 2010. Instagram has $7.5 million in funding, 10 employees and 15 million users, even though the app is only available for devices that use Apple’s iOS.

Related links:

Michele Obama’s full guest list – http://tinyurl.com/6uszofr

White House blog post – http://tinyurl.com/7s63wlj

Mike Krieger’s post – http://instagr.am/p/kWt5w

Kabam Acquires Fearless and Its Ex-LucasArts Talents

digitalmediawi

January 27, 2012

Hardcore social game developer Kabam today announced it has acquired independent developers Fearless Studios. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Fearless was co-founded in 2010 by Haden Blackman and Cedrick Collomb, and their talent is a primary motivator for the acquisition. Blackman (pictured, at left) is credited as a writer, producer or director for seven Star Wars titles published by LucasArts, and has been recognized with a Writers Guild of America award for his work on the popular Star Wars: The Force Unleashed. He also is an acclaimed comic book writer, most recently on Darth Vader & The Lost Command for Dark Horse and Batwoman for DC Comics, in addition to authoring several books.

Collomb (pictured, at right) was director of engineering for LucasArts, having previously been a programmer with Electronic Arts, Sony Computer Entertainment and Sega. One of his most significant below-the-line achievements was to bring together the development pipeline for LucasArts with that of its parent company LucasFilm, resulting in production efficiencies and additional cross-platform capabilities.

Hardcore social games are those designed for players seeking the type of complex, immersive experience provided by massively multiplayer titles. Recent Kabam titles include The Godfather: Five Families, Dragons of Atlantis, Edgeworld and Kingdoms of Camelot.

“The Fearless Studios team brings a wealth of talent and experience in creating outstanding, highly successful AAA titles across a range of genres,” said Kevin Chou, CEO of Kabam. “Their skills in game design, emerging technologies and proficiency in making the transition from 2D to 3D on consoles mesh perfectly with Kabam’s strategy. We’ll significantly strengthen our industry leadership as the online gaming market transitions to higher fidelity, 3D gameplay with our acquisition of Fearless Studios.”

Related links:

http://www.kabam.com

http://www.fearlessstudios.com

Press release – http://fearlessstudios.com/?p=298

http://www.hadenblackman.com

http://www.emptyloop.com

First-ever U.S. CTO to Step Down

digitalmediawi

January 27, 2012

Washington, DC – President Obama confirmed on Friday that Aneesh Chopra, who since 2009 has served as the nation’s first federal CTO, will resign from the position soon.

Politico reported that Chopra’s last day will be Feb. 8.

Chopra, who previously served as Virginia’s Secretary of Technology, reportedly is mulling a possible career in politics.

“Aneesh found countless ways to engage the American people using technology, from electronic health records for veterans, to expanding access to broadband for rural communities, to modernizing government records,” said Obama in a statement. “His legacy of leadership and innovation will benefit Americans for years to come, and I thank him for his outstanding service.”

This article was also published in Potomac Tech Wire.

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0112/72080.html

Statement by President Obama – http://tinyurl.com/7n6rls4

White House blog post – http://tinyurl.com/8yp63sd

Twitter to 'Reactively' Censor by Country

digitalmediawi

January 27, 2012

Twitter is dealing with a stumbling block to its international expansion by implementing the ability to censor content from users based on their country. It’s a dangerous balancing act but one the company obviously feels required to do.

The microblogging service said it has not used this capability yet, and assured users that it will never do so voluntarily. It also said that it will mark when content has been blocked, and it will attempt to let the user know about the redaction.

“As we continue to grow internationally, we will enter countries that have different ideas about the contours of freedom of expression,” Twitter said in a blog post. “Some differ so much from our ideas that we will not be able to exist there. Others are similar but, for historical or cultural reasons, restrict certain types of content, such as France or Germany, which ban pro-Nazi content.”

Twitter already shares information with ChillingEffects.org when it pulls a tweet following receipt of a cease and desist letter, which overwhelmingly allege copyright violations. Twitter has now worked with the organization to create its own dedicated page to document when and why it censors tweets.

http://chillingeffects.org/twitter

BBC News – Twitter to selectively ‘censor’ tweets by country

Reuters – Twitter to restrict user content in some countries

Associated Press – Twitter may censor tweets in individual countries

CNN – Twitter to delete posts if countries request it

Aljazeera – Twitter to enable country-specific censorship

RT Network – Freedom fears over Twitter’s by-country ‘censorship’

Image by Flickr user Rosaura Ochoa, used under Creative Commons license

Coca-Cola Hosting Second-Screen Polar Bowl Party [with videos]

digitalmediawi

January 27, 2012

Patriots and Giants will be joined by bears on Feb. 5, if viewers opt to watch of Super Bowl XLVI accompanied by the Coca-Cola Polar Bowl Party second screen experience and its integrated live stream.

These bears are a lot “cooler” than the ones that first in the company’s ads back in 1922. The guys now have a TV along with a computer, smart phone and a tablet they can use from the comfort of their “snowfa.” And they will be watching the game on a live digital stream along with anyone else who chooses to join in, including guests like an animated penguin and other bears. The two stars support opposing teams, so everyone will have someone to argue with on the screen’s social media stream.

The animated bears will react in real time to all of the plays, the halftime show and even the commercials, thanks to proprietary technology. Coca-Cola said this was a first for any live media event. They collaborated with both Animal Logic in Sydney, Australia and Framestore in New York and London to develop the animations and digital technology, and during the game the animators will be stationed in New York City, in a control room located at MLB Advanced Media, the digital, streaming and interactive business of Major League Baseball. Coca-Cola worked with Wieden + Kennedy in Portland, Ore., to create and produce the experience and corresponding TV spots.

They’ll also be tweeting about the game and exchanging tweets with consumers who use the hashtag #GameDayPolarBears. The company hinted that Twitter followers may see this post from the iconic bears: “If you tweet us photos of your own game day party we’ll feature them in our live stream. That is, if the penguin deems them worthy.”

Users need to RSVP beforehand on a special Facebook page, and for each person who does, Coca-Cola has promised to donate $1 to the World Wildlife Fund to help preserve polar bears and their natural environment.

The Coca-Cola Polar Bowl Party will carry advertisements, and in keeping with tradition the bears also will appear in two new ads during the broadcast of Super Bowl XLVI. After the game, fans can send friends a coupon for a Coke with different messaging depending on whether their team won or lost.

“Coca-Cola is part of the fun when friends and family gather to celebrate major events like the Super Bowl. This year, we’re offering fans even more ways to connect over a Coke and be entertained by our well-loved iconic polar bears,” said Katie Bayne, president and general manager of sparkling beverages, Coca-Cola North America. “Our bears will come to life on television, digital and mobile screens, as they invite people everywhere to join them watching the big game live from the Arctic.”

Related links:

http://www.CokePolarBowl.com

http://www.thecoca-colacompany.com

http://www.animallogic.com

http://www.framestore-cfc.com

http://www.wk.com

http://www.mlb.com/mlb/official_info