Category Archives: Mobile

DFJ Mercury, Draper Fisher Jurvetson, Macheen, Mobile, Venture Funding

Macheen Inc. Gets $10 Million for Connected Devices

Macheen Inc., a  service provider for connected devices, has closed an additional $10 million in financing to build on its leadership position as an enabler of flexible cloud-based connectivity solutions. Philippe Vallée, representing GemVentures, will join Macheen’s Board of Directors as the company continues its drive to deliver greater choice for end-users and new monetization opportunities for device manufacturers, value-added resellers, network operators, and content and cloud service providers.

Macheen’s existing investors also participated in this new financing. Existing investors include North Bridge Venture Capital, which led last year’s Series B financing; and DFJ Mercury (a partner in the DFJ Global Network of venture funds, with over $7 billion in capital under management), which led Macheen’s Series A financing in 2010. Also among Macheen’s investment group are prominent angels and industry figures Tom Meredith, Mike Maples Sr. and Yechiam Yemini.

Richard Schwartz, Macheen’s President and CEO, commented, “We are thrilled to welcome GemVentures as an investor and Philippe Vallée as a board member. Philippe’s vast knowledge, experience, and relationships will be invaluable to Macheen as we continue to expand our cloud-based connectivity services platform.”

Philippe Vallée added, “Macheen is exemplary of the kind of company in which GemVentures tends to invest: at the forefront of an exciting new opportunity, management with a track record of success, and early momentum that underscores and validates its approach. Richard and his team are building the future connectivity model for devices and we are happy to support innovation in the mobile industry.”


Accounting, Business Processes, FreshBooks, iOS, iPad, iPhone, Mobile

Freshbooks Takes SMB Accounting Mobile with new iPhone, iPad App

FreshBooks  today launched a new mobile accounting app designed to fit the lifestyle of today’s small businesses owners, giving them the freedom to run their business anytime, anywhere.

Following their recent re-positioning as cloud accounting, the free mobile app further demonstrates the FreshBooks commitment to being in the corner of service-based businesses. The mobile app strengthens existing features like expense management, P&L reporting and online payment integration to help make the lives of small business owners easier.

The new FreshBooks iPhone app works anywhere, whether you’re tracking time from the coffee shop, logging expenses from the airport lounge or sending an invoice right from the client’s office. Simple and intuitive, FreshBooks makes it easy to have an at-a-glance view of your business.

“The FreshBooks iPhone app was created so that small business owners could have even more flexibility with their FreshBooks account and access it from wherever their work takes them,” said Mike McDerment, FreshBooks co-founder and CEO. “We know that people go into business to pursue their passion and serve their customers, not to learn accounting. That’s the difference with FreshBooks cloud accounting: it’s simple, accessible everywhere, and saves small businesses time on their billing.”

The FreshBooks iOS app has all the key features of the web version of FreshBooks, including the streamlined ability to send professional-looking invoices, get paid online with Paypal and attach expenses directly to invoices. Invite staff or sub-contractors to projects to log hours as you work and generate invoices from timesheets to enjoy seamless collaboration. FreshBooks is designed to support businesses of all types: lawyers, marketing and IT professionals, plumbers, interior decorators, even an architect–anyone who creates value for their clients by applying their time and expertise.

Download the free iPhone app  to create a new free account.


Customer Relationship Management, Fonality, Fonality PBXtra, Mobile, Mobile device, Tools, Voice, Voice over Internet Protocol

Fonality Enhances Contact Center Features for HUD Mobile

Image representing Fonality as depicted in Cru...Fonality today announced a new release of the Fonality Heads Up Display (HUD) Mobile application delivering extensive contact center features among other enhancements. The application now offers users 100 percent management and visibility of individual queues over tablets and mobile smartphones. In addition, the solution can now be accessed by Fonality’s 200,000+ end-users across its entire cloud-based and hybrid-hosted product line including: Fonality Connect, Fonality PBXtra and Fonality trixboxPro.

HUD Mobile empowers the mobile workforce with cloud-based Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) communications and contact center capabilities in a single-view, secure, user-friendly interface via Apple or Android platforms. This announcement represents a first step in an ongoing “innovation series” of rollouts over the coming months to help growing businesses save time, communicate more efficiently and reduce costs.

“Mobility is without question a must-have to drive productivity especially for SMBs and we’ve already seen broad adoption of Fonality HUD Mobile,” said Fonality’s Chief Technology Officer Rick Bushell. “By enhancing contact center features and making the app available our entire solution base, all of our customers can work from anywhere, anytime. We are committed to delivering smart, simple and affordable business phone solutions to small businesses. HUD Mobile and the upcoming feature releases were designed to help our customers communicate more efficiently, giving them the competitive edge they need for growth.”

The exclusive Fonality HUD Mobile technology brings the entirety of the contact center environment on-the-go. All activities in the queue, including current and pending calls, can be accessed complemented by real-time performance metrics for quality control. Managers enjoy a 360-degree view of all communications, including color-coded agent status, call types and duration. In addition, they have the ability to record calls on-the-fly or join through barge, monitor or whisper modes. Agents can also log in and out of queues to maintain high levels of customer service.

“As a global wine distributor we are extremely busy and often work remotely,” said Justin Hammer, vice president of B-21. “Because our industry is so competitive, we have to be in touch with our global network of buyers to ensure that we have the most popular wines available as quickly as possible. Fonality HUD Mobile allows us to stay connected around the world so we can make quick purchasing decisions to add the latest wines to our catalog. This flexibility has improved our productivity and profitability, because we can stock wines faster. In fact, we recently secured a new wine, made it available online and sold out within a single day solely because of the efficiencies enabled by Fonality HUD Mobile. It is a real difference maker!”

Fonality HUD Mobile creates the same experience as its award-winning desktop counterpart. The mobile solution connects phones, desktops and critical business applications with access to presence and collaboration capabilities. “Find me/follow me” provides seamless connectivity between desktop and mobile devices, along with unified messaging and Microsoft Outlook integration. For improved productivity, other features include company directory, visual voicemail, virtual conference room access, as well as photo caller ID, ring-back and on-the-fly call recording. To control costs and preserve cell minutes, Wi-Fi connectivity can also be activated.


Android, iOS, Mobile, Natural Language Understanding, Nina, Nuance, Nuance Communications, Speech recognition, Tools, Voice

Nuance Introduces Nina, the Virtual Assistant for Mobile Customer Service Apps

Nuance Communications today introduced Nina, the virtual assistant for mobile customer service apps. With Nina, companies can add speech-based virtual assistant capabilities to their existing iOS and Android mobile apps, enhancing the self-service experience for their customers. Nina combines Nuance speech recognition, Text-to-Speech (TTS), voice biometrics, and Natural Language Understanding (NLU) technology hosted in the cloud to deliver an interactive user experience that not only understands what is said, but also can identify who is saying it.

Nuance also announced that USAA, a leading financial services provider that serves members of the U.S. military, veterans and their families, has adopted the virtual assistant for use within its popular mobile app. A pilot is planned for August and the functionality will launch to all USAA members early next year.

“USAA’s innovative solutions are designed to make life easier for our highly mobile military service members, and increasingly for all members who now expect to get things done when, where and how they want,” said Neff Hudson, assistant vice president of emerging channels for USAA. “We believe that the virtual assistant has tremendous potential to make it simpler, faster and more satisfying for our members to manage their financial affairs on their mobile devices.”

Nina is significant because it is the first virtual assistant for mobile customer service apps to incorporate both speech recognition and voice biometrics into a single integrated solution. Nina is also the first solution that provides an open software development kit (SDK) to support the rapid integration of virtual assistant capabilities into existing mobile applications. In addition, Nina is the first to allow organizations to brand their own virtual assistant persona, including the visual appearance and implementation of optional custom TTS voices.

“Nina is a watershed innovation for the automated customer service industry, not only because it brings the virtual assistant directly into an app, but because it raises the bar through its level of interactive dialog and language understanding,” said Robert Weideman, executive vice president and general manager of the Nuance Enterprise Division. “Nina provides our customers a major competitive differentiator by enabling more successful self-service through their mobile apps. We are especially pleased to further our partnership with USAA, a company known for its innovation and approach to delivering a premier mobile customer service experience to its members.”


Android, Google, Google Chrome OS, Google Compute Engine, Google Drive, High Performance Computing, Internet Technology, Kansas City Missouri, Mobile, Motorola, Networking, Telecommunications Industry, Television, Video

Google Fiber Has Far-reaching Implications

Image representing Google as depicted in Crunc...

Reading this post on Google’s low-cost, super-fast fiber-to-the-home initiative (makes me sort of wish I lived in Kansas City) brought to mind all the other Google products and initiatives that might be empowered by it. Go read it, then come back here and consider:

Chrome OS: it takes a long time to make a new operating system and it looks trivial today, but with widely available gigabit internet at the household and small business level it begins to look like a realistic “the network is the computer” future.

Mobile OS: Google already has that covered with Android.

Add Google Drive: Ubiquitous very high speed connectivity at a low price makes Drive viable for more than backup, sharing and synch. Actually synch becomes easier if the only copy is on a server.

Add Google Compute Engine: A thin-client netbook running Chrome OS, or Android on tablets and handsets, become more appealing if you  can quickly access network-based computing resources for high-performance computing tasks like video transcoding.

Add Google Voice: consider all those hypothetical hotspots. Combine with Android and Voice. Can a Google competitor to cell phone providers be far behind, one that leverages the coming Google network? All it would take is a couple extra capabilities in the fiber/WiFi box that seems inevitable. And don’t forget they now own Motorola, a top-notch mobile phone company.

YouTube/Google TV: Already dipping its toe into original programming, and fast fiber means TV will change dramatically.

Living In the cloud would become a real option for everyday consumers. What about effects on professionals and small businesses?

And what about those other seemingly sci-fi projects, self driving cars and Glass? Hey, if the car drives itself my brain then has the bandwidth for augmented reality. How might they benefit from the ability to hop from fiber-connected WiFi hotspot to hotspot?

All this based on a good search engine algorithm, and then ads next to search results? Who’d a thunk it?


Alpha Exchange, Business Intelligence, Market data, Mobile, Partnerships, Xignite

Alpha Exchange Partners with Xignite to Deliver Canadian Securities Market Data

Image representing Xignite as depicted in Crun...

Xignite Inc. and Alpha Market Services Inc., the data distributor for Toronto Based Alpha Exchange, today announced their agreement to launch new services offering access to Alpha Exchange real-time and historical market data via the Internet. Alpha Exchange trades securities listed on the TSX, TSX Venture and Alpha Exchange listing markets. Alpha Exchange has roughly 20% of Canadian market share and will leverage Xignite’s leading financial market data cloud solutions to deliver data through easy to consume application programming interfaces (APIs). These services are ideally suited to fuel the next generation enterprise and mobile applications, increasing the Exchange’s global reach.

“Alpha Exchange prides itself in being a leader in innovation, an enabler of technological initiatives and a proponent of market data democratization,” stated Jos Schmitt, CEO of Alpha Exchange. “Putting in place a market data cloud solution with Xignite as well as being its first non-US exchange partner is a natural but also a very exciting step forward for the Exchange.”

The first phase, scheduled for the beginning of August, will include the addition of Alpha Exchange’s last sale data to the award winning Xignite Market Data Cloud platform available via Xignite.com. The data will include real-time last sale prices and minute-level tick bars for all securities trading on Alpha Exchange. For pricing and availability, call 1(650)655-3700 or email dataexperts@xignite.com.

“We are delighted that Alpha has recognized the Market Data Cloud’s potential to grow its global business,” stated Stephane Dubois, CEO and founder of Xignite Inc. “This relationship marks an important step in expanding access to global financial market data.”

The second phase includes the launch of the Alpha Data Cloud, a rich suite of cloud-based market data services powered by the XigniteOnDemand platform, and is slated for Q4 2012. The Alpha Data Cloud will provide easy and cost effective access to real-time data via Internet for customers around the world, and provide a one-stop shop for all Alpha Exchange historical and reference data. The service will allow customers to access the data via APIs, to download custom subsets of historical data, to subscribe to reoccurring data delivery or to replay a full day of trades and quotes.


Android, appMobi, Free, iOS, Mobile, PhoneGap, Tools

storeView Offers Free Cross Platform App Store Analytics Service for HTML5, PhoneGap Developers

Image representing appMobi as depicted in Crun...

appMobi today announced storeView, a new, free, cloud-based reporting service for PhoneGap and hybrid HTML5 app developers that aggregates and displays detailed app analytics across all the most popular app stores in a single dashboard.“As game and app developers have begun to leverage HTML5’s ‘write once, deploy everywhere’ power, the issue of app store fragmentation has emerged as these apps have become successful across multiple stores and platforms”

With the explosion of new cross platform app development, developers are increasingly posting their apps to multiple app stores. Each of the app stores uses a different method to report sales and activity, creating massive fragmentation. This “App Store Fragmentation” issue prevents developers from understanding app performance and trends information that every developer needs to achieve maximum profitability. With the release of storeView, appMobi has stepped up to provide a completely free service that solves this issue for PhoneGap and HTML5 hybrid app developers.

“As game and app developers have begun to leverage HTML5’s ‘write once, deploy everywhere’ power, the issue of app store fragmentation has emerged as these apps have become successful across multiple stores and platforms,” said Sam Abadir, appMobi CTO. “We experienced this issue ourselves with Boom Town, the first massively cross platform HTML5 game, currently available in 7 different app stores. We also realized just how little information is provided by many of the app stores. For example, the only analytic provided by Apple’s App Store and Google Play is download count – that’s all they can tell you about your app! We created storeView for internal use and found it to be an invaluable tool. Now we’re giving it away for anyone who’s using HTML5 to create apps.”

storeView is a completely free cloud service. There will never be any charge for setting up an account, for adding apps to the system, nor for the number of users a particular app has. Adding storeView analytics to any HTML5-based app is extremely easy, with the addition of a single include file and just one line of JavaScript code. storeView provides deep, granular insight into the performance and activity of developers’ apps in each of today’s leading app stores, including Apple, Android (Google Play), Facebook, Amazon, Chrome, Mozilla and Barnes & Noble.

To view storeView analytics, developers simply log into their account and select from a variety of reports. The available reports include monthly uniques on all platforms, iOS starts by device, Android starts by device, app starts by platform, and 30 day uniques vs. app starts. Armed with this important data, developers can make informed decisions on allocating development and marketing resources, uncover unseen relationships between devices and platforms, and most importantly, optimize app store profits.

PhoneGap and HTML5 Developers can sign up for storeView free at http://www.appmobi.com/storeView.


AutoDesk, Autodesk SketchBook Pro, iOS, M&A Activity, Mobile, Pixlr, Socialcam, Video

Autodesk Buys Socialcam for Mobile Social Video

Image representing Autodesk as depicted in Cr...

Autodesk Inc., has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Socialcam for a purchase price of approximately $60 Million. Socialcam is a popular mobile social video capture, editing and sharing app and service that was launched in 2011. This transaction is expected to close in Autodesk’s third quarter of fiscal 2013 (which ends on October 31, 2012) and is subject to customary closing conditions.

“Mobile computing, the cloud and social media are improving and changing the way people design, engineer and create projects,” said Samir Hanna, vice president, Autodesk Consumer Group. “Video is an ideal medium for professionals and consumers alike to communicate and share their design ideas. We are excited to have Socialcam join our growing portfolio of applications, services and communities for digital art, personal design and fabrication, home design and entertainment.”

Socialcam is a smartphone application and web-based service that makes it easy to capture, edit and share videos. The Socialcam app has been one of the most popular mobile video apps in the iOS App Store and Android marketplace with over 16 million downloads since it was first launched in 2011. Autodesk will prioritize support for the existing Socialcam community, while investing in scaling the platform and developing a more comprehensive set of tools for Socialcam users. Autodesk also plans to use the Socialcam platform to help make its Academy Award-winning technology for professional film and video creators more accessible to a broader audience.

“Socialcam shares Autodesk’s mission of helping everybody imagine, design and create a better world,” said Michael Seibel, Founder and CEO, Socialcam. “Autodesk has a proven track record of acquiring and scaling fast-growing, early stage consumer businesses while staying true to their core audience and vision. With products like Pixlr, SketchBook and 123D, Autodesk is empowering creativity in millions around the world by making their award-winning technology accessible to everybody. We’re excited to join them and introduce this global community to simple video creation, editing and sharing.”


Mobile, Mobile application development, NeoLoad, Neotys, Partnerships, Performance testing, Tools, Wipro

Neotys Partners with Wipro for Performance Testing Solutions for Web, Mobile Applications

Neotys today announced that Wipro Technologies, the Global Information Technology, Consulting and Outsourcing business of Wipro Limited, has chosen NeoLoad, a leading load and performance testing solution for web and mobile applications, to upgrade its performance testing suite to increase test productivity and enhance the value proposition for end customers.

As part of this alliance, Wipro will provide testing solutions for customers who need load and performance testing solutions for Web and mobile applications, using NeoLoad. Wipro will use NeoLoad to realistically simulate user activity and analyze server behavior. The solution allows Wipro consultants to test more quickly, efficiently and frequently, enabling customers to safely deploy Internet, intranet or mobile applications on whatever architecture they use. NeoLoad supports Flex, Silverlight, GWT, Ajax Push, HTML5 etc. Wipro will also use NeoLoad across the major application types including ERP and CRM from the major providers. NeoLoad supports Oracle, SAP and Microsoft among others.

“We’ve had outstanding results from the Neotys partnership already,” said Arun Kumar Singh, VP Testing Services Business, Wipro. “Using NeoLoad we were able to reduce the testing time required for many applications by 30%. We expect NeoLoad to substantially increase our productivity and the value we provide to our customers.”

“As one of the world’s leading IT majors, Wipro provides a comprehensive solution for customers looking to implement and test web and mobile applications either within their company firewalls or in the cloud,” said Laurent Gaudy, VP Partners & Alliances, Neotys. “This partnership is strategic to Neotys and we look forward to the expanded presence that Wipro will provide to us.”

“Developing partnerships is a key step in market maturity as it broadens a vendor’s ability to address a wider market,” said Thomas Murphy, research director with Gartner. “As applications become more complex, an increasing number of users rely on a mixture of internal and outsourced resources to achieve cost effective results, making it imperative to form strategic relationships.”

Wipro Technologies is the largest offshore independent testing services provider with innovative solutions and differentiated offerings that reduce cycle times and provide quality assurance for software across industry verticals and domains and has 13+ years of experience in independent Testing Services. The Testing Services Business is a service line in Wipro with testing capabilities across verticals and domains.


App Store, Citrix, iPad, Mobile, ShareFile, Storage

Citrix Enhances ShareFile Cloud Data Sharing for iPad

Image representing iPad as depicted in CrunchBase

Citrix today released major updates to its ShareFile app for iPad, designed to provide a collaborative work experience on the go. Today’s advancements enhance the company’s popular file sharing service with new IT control capabilities to ensure the security of company data when accessed from a mobile device and productivity features for users. ShareFile for iPad is available immediately for download from the App Store.

“The needs of our customers are at the forefront of every design choice that we make,” said Jesse Lipson, VP and GM, Data Sharing, Citrix. “Our customers – from small businesses to Fortune 500 companies – live mobile workstyles and expect it to be easy to store and share their files and content from anywhere. ShareFile for iPad provides a powerful user experience while meeting IT’s mandate for security.”

What Is New

  • Intelligent device security policies: New “poison pill” option
    enables IT to set data expiration policies, plus multiple preferences
    settings allow IT to decide whether files can be opened in third-party
    applications or saved offline.
  • Enterprise Active Directory integration: ShareFile for iPad
    connects to Active Directory and SAML enterprise identities for a more
    seamless and secure user experience.
  • Improved auditing and reporting: Enhanced capabilities help IT
    to track and log user activity.
  • Offline access: Advanced options allow users to save files
    locally for offline access and editing.
  • Quickoffice integration: Integration with Quickoffice enables
    users to edit Microsoft Office documents and save them back to
    ShareFile.
  • Easy access to multiple accounts: Redesigned interface makes it
    simple to view multiple ShareFile accounts and folders, providing
    users with easy access to all of their data.