TechCrunch

What Does the Slow-Down Mean for Gadget Lovers?
John Biggs Mon, 06 Oct 2008 21:52:18 -0000
With news of doom and gloom coming at us from every side I would like to take a moment to look at the market as it stands and asses what a slow-down/recession will mean for us, the gadget obsessed. To recap, we are in this mess because of what amounts to a credit freeze. Companies that once could request "cash" to cover overnight expenses - we're talking millions and billions of dollars worth of cash - are now told they can only withdraw a significant percentage less than they were previously allowed to access. This, in turn, reduces capital expenditures and slows hiring - if you can't get a quick loan you can't cover a new factory or a make a bigger payroll. This, in turn, slows large purchases and raises unemployment which, in turn, makes us all freak out.
Apple Met Goal of 10 million iPhones Sold in 2008
John Biggs Mon, 06 Oct 2008 21:51:01 -0000
By using some fairly interesting IMEI collection, the folks at Mac Observer have found that Apple sold 10 million iPhones in 2008, reaching and potentially surpassing Steve's original stated goal. By looking at phones sold over the last few months, Mac Observer's "Apple Finance Board" found that the phone has gone through nine 1 million unit runs. Adding this to the known sales they found the total number was far above analyst expectations.
Meet Mark Zuckerberg In Munich, Tomorrow
Erick Schonfeld Mon, 06 Oct 2008 21:44:09 -0000
Attention all TechCrunch readers in Munich: here's your chance to meet Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg. (Hmm, I wonder if he'll be making some sort of announcement). He will be giving a speech at a closed, invite-only event on Tuesday evening, October 7 at Amiando headquarters. Amiando CEO Felix Haas is offering to give admission to one lucky TechCrunch reader. (That's right, only one). Explains Haas in an e-mail: Mark will give a speech to the selected guests about Facebook’s plans for Europe and Germany. After the speeches and an extensive Q&A session with Mark Zuckerberg there will be plenty of time to get-together with Mark at dinner & drink. I want to offer admission for one of your readers. All you have to do to apply is explain why you want to meet Zuckerberg in comments. The person with the best reason gets a ticket. (Put in your real e-mail address so Felix can contact you in case you win).
SimplyBox: Drag-And-Drop Clips Of The Web For Research, Sharing
Jason Kincaid Mon, 06 Oct 2008 21:25:48 -0000
Web bookmarks are badly in need of an overhaul. Sure, they're fine for jumping to the dozen or so sites you visit on a daily basis, but they quickly become unwieldy whenever they're used for research purposes. Folders of bookmarked job listings or apartment openings on Craigslists become practically useless as you frequently need to revisit them to remind yourself why you bookmarked them in the first place. Tonight sees the launch of SimplyBox, a San Francisco-based startup that allows users to clip portions of websites in a visual way, overcoming some of the shortcomings of traditional bookmarks. SimplyBox is currently available as plugins for Internet Explorer and Firefox, with a Safari version on the way. The site will go live at 6 PM PST tonight. To use SimplyBox, you hit the "Box and Save" button in the browser toolbar, which turns your mouse arrow into a targeting cursor and displays a series of "boxes" at the bottom of the screen. After highlighting the portion of the page you'd like to save for later, you drag it into the box you'd like to store it in. The whole process is very intuitive and only takes a few seconds.
GameFly Goes Mobile
Greg Kumparak Mon, 06 Oct 2008 21:14:59 -0000
GameFly, which is perhaps most easily explained as the NetFlix of the gaming world, today launched a new version of their site specifically optimized for mobile handsets. Through the magic of user agent detection, getting to the mobile site is a one step process: just type the standard GameFly.com address into the browser of any mobile handset. Once there, users can search through the GameFly library, order games, switch up their "GameQ" queue, read reviews, and manage their account.
Granting Credit On The Fly. Is Bill Me Later Part Of the Problem Or Part Of The Solution?
Erick Schonfeld Mon, 06 Oct 2008 20:56:58 -0000
On the same day the public markets are tanking because of the spreading credit crisis, we see one of the biggest M&A exits of the year with eBay acquiring Bill Me Later for $945 million ($820 million in cash, plus an extra $125 million in options). The only other tech exits of this size in 2008 were Sun buying MYSQL for $1 billion (which involved less cash and more options), AOL buying Bebo for $850 million. This is for a company that lets consumers defer payment when they buy things online. Remember, loose credit is part of the reason we are in the current economic mess. So is Bill Me Later part of the problem or part of the solution? I put that question to Michael Kwatinetz, the former Wall Street tech analyst who is now a partner at Azure Capital, the biggest shareholder in Bill Me Later. He explained to me how Bill Me Later works, and how it actually has more stringent credit controls than most credit cards: The problem is people who can’t afford to pay for things are financing things. If you have the proper controls, you don’t allow that to happen. We don’t grant credit limits. We grant credit on a transaction basis. If you are somebody who is not paying us, or running up your bills in other places, we don’t grant credit. Traditional credit cards, in contrast, let you run up your bill up to a pre-determined credit limit. With each transaction, BillMeLater check your credit score, credit outsanding, status with credit agencies, and a few other criteria. And it either approves your credit or it doesn't for each purchase in less than three seconds. Kwatinetz says that the company tightened its lending policies about a year ago, and claims that the nonpayment rate is "probably the lowest of anyone on the Web."

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