Vator.tv news stories and report

vator story - It's the Internet Defense League to the rescue!

Steven Loeb — Sun, 27 May 2012 17:31:11 -0700

The Avengers is setting all kinds of records at the box office and the story of a group of heavy hitters coming to together to save the world is one that now seems to be coming true. Only, this time, ... [Read more]

vator story - NBC to stream every event from 2012 London Olympics

Steven Loeb — Sun, 27 May 2012 17:31:00 -0700

The 2012 London Olympics starts on July 27, exactly two months from today. NBC is supplying the coverage for the summer games for the seventh consecutive time, but in the age of mobile apps and an increasingly unplugged world, things ... [Read more]

vator story - Ford's Focus Electric car includes MyTouch app and SYNC

Steven Loeb — Sat, 26 May 2012 14:57:00 -0700

Ford is debuting its own electric car, the Focus Electric, which will be available in the coming months, and will integrate smartphone technology, including a special app that will give user updates, alerts and help them plan trips. The 2012 ... [Read more]

vator story - Groupon rumored to be developing credit card reader

Steven Loeb — Sat, 26 May 2012 13:39:27 -0700

PayPal, Square and other companies that supply credit card readers are about to get some extra competition, if the rumors are true. Groupon is the latest company to develop its own credit card reader, which would be used by merchants, ... [Read more]

vator story - Dragon capsule makes history with space station landing

Krystal Peak — Fri, 25 May 2012 09:09:00 -0700

For those of you that thought the only dragons in the news were the Game of Thrones variety, this update is for you. SpaceX's Dragon capsule is now being touted as a success as it arrived into the International ... [Read more]

vator story - Report: HP's webOS team is about to shrink

Krystal Peak — Fri, 25 May 2012 07:30:53 -0700

The team that was build HP's webOS platform seems to be in high demand as reports continue to trickle in that the team leading the Enyo HTML 5 development project is headed over to team Google. HP's webOS platform ... [Read more]

vator story - Apple CEO to forgo $75M dividend

Krystal Peak — Fri, 25 May 2012 06:44:00 -0700

It appears that Apple CEO Tim Cook wants to make clear that Apple employees and long-term shareholders should be getting the gravy he, otherwise would have collected. In a regulatory filing Thursday, Cook stated that he would forgo around $75 ... [Read more]

vator story - Amazon expands grocery selection as "add-on" service

Krystal Peak — Fri, 25 May 2012 06:19:41 -0700

Amazon has beefed up its offerings to accommodate those looking for even more items than before. While Amazon had previously limited certain grocery, houseware and beauty items in the past to require bulk purchase rather than individual (like with cat ... [Read more]

vator story - Instagram ranks fastest growing website in April

Steven Loeb — Thu, 24 May 2012 23:52:00 -0700

Last month, Instagram launched its Android app, saw its user numbers jump by 10 million in 10 days, pushing it over the 40 million user mark and it was purchased by Facebook. It also saw its website crack the top 10 ... [Read more]

vator story - Facebook debuts an iOS camera app with filters

Krystal Peak — Thu, 24 May 2012 10:51:00 -0700

Facebook photo fiends will have to check out the new method to uploading pics to Facebook: the Facebook Camera app for iOS. This brand-spankingly-new iPhone app allows user to shoot, filter, and share single or sets of photos right from ... [Read more]

vator story - Huddle pulls in $24M for cloud collaboration

Krystal Peak — Thu, 24 May 2012 09:16:37 -0700

Cloud collaboration software service Huddle has announced a $24 million round of funding. This series C round, led by Jafco Ventures with participation from DAG Ventures and previous backers, brings Huddle's total equity funding to $40 million. Huddle’s last funding ... [Read more]

vator story - VEVO increased users by 142% with new platform

Krystal Peak — Thu, 24 May 2012 07:19:56 -0700

Its been more the two months since the online video service VEVO changed up its platform and now is reporting a 600% increase in published or watched videos compared to what it was seeing in February. Now I'd day that ... [Read more]

vator story - Q2 report: Apple still leads in phone ad impressions

Krystal Peak — Thu, 24 May 2012 06:59:00 -0700

Millennial Media, a mobile advertising company has found that Apple continues to remain the single-biggest brand, and most popular phone maker, used on the Millennial ad network. In its quarterly mobile use report, Millennial saw that Apple had a clear ... [Read more]

vator story - Facebook IPO devolves into epic mess

Steven Loeb — Wed, 23 May 2012 20:01:00 -0700

The Facebook IPO is becoming a giant mess, with lawsuits from investors and investigations by government agencies and both Houses of Congress. Everyone involved in the IPO, from Facebook, to its underwriters, to Nasdaq, is getting sued by somebody. So ... [Read more]

vator story - Shopkick enters 1,700+ Target stores for shopping kicks

Krystal Peak — Wed, 23 May 2012 12:41:43 -0700

Target has just become the largest retailer to offer shopkick check-ins and perks through the tech company's startup smartphone app. Starting today, Target guests across the country can use the app to check in during their shopping excursions and ... [Read more]

vator story - Amazon adds hundreds more movies to Prime streaming

Krystal Peak — Wed, 23 May 2012 10:32:00 -0700

With summer blockbusters around the corner, Amazon is filling out its Instant Video catalog with hundreds of new movies from Paramount Pictures. Amazon's new licensing agreement adds to the 3,000 titles it gained from the March deal with Discovery. ... [Read more]

vator story - The content that's working for YouTube's $100M bet

Bambi Francisco Roizen — Wed, 23 May 2012 08:49:00 -0700

Just this week, Google led a $35 million investment in Machinima, one of the more popular video producers on YouTube. Earlier this week, Hulu announced its original content summer lineup. Original programming by YouTube, Hulu, Amazon, Netflix is exploding. How ... [Read more]

vator story - Airtime lands Series B while in stealth mode

Krystal Peak — Wed, 23 May 2012 07:11:00 -0700

The highly-anticipated and very hush-hush project created by Sean Parker and Shawn Fanning looks like it will exit stealth mode in just eight days, according to the company blog. And with about a week of speculation left floating around the ... [Read more]

vator story - BodyMedia snaps up $12M for fitness trackers

Krystal Peak — Wed, 23 May 2012 06:47:00 -0700

Tech products in the field of health and wellness have greatly improved since all you could use to gauge your activity level was a treadmill tracker or a pedometer. One company focused on more accurately tracking the activities of everyday ... [Read more]

vator story - KPBC sued over sexual harassment and discrimination

Faith Merino — Tue, 22 May 2012 22:44:00 -0700

Famed Silicon Valley VC firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield and Byers is being sued by current partner Ellen Pao (pictured at left), who filed a complaint earlier this month alleging rampant sexual harassment and systematic gender discrimination. The allegations could have ... [Read more]

vator story - Facebook investor sues Nasdaq

Steven Loeb — Tue, 22 May 2012 21:32:55 -0700

The Facebook IPO story just keeps getting more and more complicated, and more fascinating, by the day. After Facebook’s less-than-overwhelming IPO last Friday, it came to light over the weekend that Nasdaq had experienced technical glitches before the stock went ... [Read more]

vator story - Tech companies make up seven of top 10 global brands

Steven Loeb — Tue, 22 May 2012 21:16:00 -0700

If there was any doubt about how valuable tech companies are becoming, all you need to do is look at Millward Brown’s annual BrandZ Top 100 Most Valuable Global Brands. Tech companies dominated the list this year in such a way ... [Read more]

vator story - Fundable offers crowdsourcing for tech ideas

Krystal Peak — Tue, 22 May 2012 14:35:00 -0700

There are a lot of million dollar ideas floating around in people’s heads, but the biggest challenge is to take those from concept to reality. And what usually is the damper on that transformation? Why, money, of course! But one ... [Read more]

vator story - Morgan Stanley could be to blame for Facebook fiasco

Krystal Peak — Tue, 22 May 2012 08:34:00 -0700

It appears that it took one day of trading before investors saw the underwriter's heavy sale of Facebook stock as a sign to abandon the newly minted IPO. A new report from Reuters suggests that the action of one the ... [Read more]

vator story - Vidyo lands partner Juniper Networks, pockets new funds

Krystal Peak — Tue, 22 May 2012 07:21:00 -0700

Hackensack, NJ’s Vidyo, a video conferencing and telepresence company, has just announced Juniper Networks joined its Series D round of funding. Vidyo enables video conferencing at 1080p HD quality and 60 frames per second, supporting up to 100 devicesin one ... [Read more]

vator story - FarmVille players get fruitful crop in AmEx partnership

Krystal Peak — Tue, 22 May 2012 06:54:00 -0700

Spending money in the real world could start benefitting your virtual farms now that Zynga and American Express are back together again. The new connection is a deal that gives prepaid card carriers ways to earn extra Farm Cash. American ... [Read more]

vator story - Nasdaq admits technical glitches pre-Facebook IPO

Steven Loeb — Mon, 21 May 2012 21:45:09 -0700

Facebook’s first day of trading did not go as well as the company hoped, but it seems that there might be more to the story than anyone originally thought. While Facebook’s stock did manage to rise over 12% to spike ... [Read more]

vator story - Google leads $35M round in Machinima

Steven Loeb — Mon, 21 May 2012 20:52:00 -0700

Google has been on a bit of a spending spree when it comes to original programming, as it committed to invest $100 million in 100 channels on YouTube. Now Google is making another investment, this time in one of the ... [Read more]

vator story - Goldman Sachs pours $52M in secure Web connections

Krystal Peak — Mon, 21 May 2012 13:04:15 -0700

This morning Goldman Sachs announced that it led a $52 million round of Series C funding in AnchorFree, the Mountain View, Calif. maker of Internet-surfing software. Goldman Sachs was the sole investor in this substantial round for the proxy ... [Read more]

vator story - Game of Thrones fans can soon play for the throne on FB

Krystal Peak — Mon, 21 May 2012 11:00:00 -0700

With just two episodes remaining for the fantasy runaway hit Game of Thrones, fans may be excited to hear that the George R.R. Martin world will also exist on Facebook -- in the form of a social media game. ... [Read more]