visual

Video: The Pulse Boys-to-Men Talk About Huge Growth of Visual News-Reading App

Kara Swisher in News on March 24, 2011 at 5:20 pm PT

Today, BoomTown braved the floods and skippered All Things Digital‘s S.S. Minnow through a Noah-like rainstorm in Silicon Valley to visit offices of Pulse. Less than a year ago, the nifty visual news-reading app was publicly praised by Apple’s Steve Jobs for innovativeness and slapped by the New York Times for misusing its RSS feed on the same day. Dramatic, for sure, but they have made nice with the Times since then and have also raised more than $1 million in funding and grown to three million users since then.

The Polyvore Team Talks About User-Generated Fashion Stylists and More!

Kara Swisher in News on July 30, 2010 at 7:07 am PT

Earlier this week, I headed down to Mountain View, Calif., to the downtown HQ of Polyvore–the unusually named start-up aimed at the inner stylist in everyone–to talk about the economics of fashion online. The odd name is a combination that roughly means the devouring of many or much–which at Polyvore translates into leopard prints, kitten heels or the rubber clothes of Lady Gaga. The registered site, with six million unique monthly visitors, allows users to “mix & match products from your favorite stores” into fashion “sets” on any topic, concept or–in BoomTown’s taste-challenged case–fleece and Pumas.

Here's Flipboard's Video, So You Can Understand What the Heck It Does

Kara Swisher in News on July 21, 2010 at 12:47 pm PT

It looks like this promotional video for Flipboard, the high-profile and very slick new iPad app launched yesterday, was shot in its Palo Alto, Calif., HQ. Because the service is a bit of a conceptual leap in digesting social networking, this video might help explain the excitement among tech bloggers and others about its debut.

Meet Flipboard: Mike McCue Talks About Stealth "Social Magazine" Start-Up That Just Nabbed $10.5 Million in Funding

Kara Swisher in News on July 20, 2010 at 8:56 pm PT

Say hello to an innovative new social magazine concept called Flipboard, which is attempting to make the social networking universe more accessible, consumable and, perhaps most importantly, visually arresting via a rich app on the Apple iPad. Co-founded by longtime Silicon Valley entrepreneur Mike McCue and former Apple iPhone engineer Evan Doll in January, Flipboard decloaked itself tonight, announcing both a $10.5 million funding from top Silicon Valley power players and also the acquisition of Ellerdale, a relevancy search engine for the real-time Web.

Will BermanBraun and Hachette Give MSN a New "Glo" With Launch of a Dramatically Different Women's Site?

Kara Swisher in News on April 6, 2010 at 12:50 am PT

It’s more than a little ironic that the new “Glo” Web site–a highly stylized women’s lifestyle destination MSN debuted just after midnight today in partnership with Hollywood’s BermanBraun and Hachette Filipacchi Media U.S.–will likely be one of the media sites that shine best on the new Apple iPad, though it was conceived before the iPad was even announced. Actually, Glo is more aimed at upending the notion of what makes a good women-focused Web site.

Microsoft's Bing Makes More UI Changes–And Checks In With Foursquare

Kara Swisher in News on March 25, 2010 at 5:45 am PT

Today, Microsoft’s search engine-that-could, Bing, will begin rolling out another significant upgrade to the user interface seen by consumers. Microsoft also announced it would integrate hot geolocation start-up Foursquare into its maps. Will the moves help Bing keep growing its share?

Meet Apple’s iPad: Starts at $500, Supported by AT&T

John Paczkowski in Mobile on January 27, 2010 at 11:25 am PT

At a 2007 all-hands meeting to discuss the iPhone, Apple CEO Steve Jobs remarked on the company’s product roadmap. The machines Apple will bring to market in the years ahead, he said, would be “off the charts.” This morning, Jobs made good on his word, unveiling a new multimedia tablet device called the iPad.

Exclusive: MSN Inks New Deal With Wonderwall Creator BermanBraun for Online Lifestyle Site

Kara Swisher in News on December 8, 2009 at 3:00 am PT

MSN will announce a new deal with BermanBraun–the Hollywood production company run by former Yahoo media chief and well-known television exec Lloyd Braun and his business partner Gail Berman–to create, design and run an online lifestyle site aimed at fashion, decor, relationships and beauty. The new site, which is still unnamed, will launch in the first half of next year. As part of the deal with the Microsoft portal, magazine giant Hachette Filipacchi Media U.S.–publisher of Elle, Woman’s Day and Elle Decor–will provide content and editorial expertise.

Cooliris Nabs $15.5 Million in Funding, as It Upgrades Its 3-D Wall

Kara Swisher in News on April 12, 2009 at 9:01 pm PT

Internet navigation browser plug-in maker Cooliris, which lets users “see” the Web in a more visual manner, has gotten $15.5 million in additional funding from its investors. The new round includes Kleiner Perkins, DAG Ventures, the Westly Group and T-Mobile’s T-Ventures, bringing its total funding to $18.5 million. The Palo Alto, Calif.-based start-up is also releasing out of beta the latest upgrade to its 3-D “Wall” software, which displays more online content and information from around the Web, including from social-networking services like Facebook, shopping sites and from a user’s own hard drive.