Mobile Social Startup CrowdOptic Raises Another $500K, Plans Consumer Launch

CrowdOptic, a startup trying to create a new way for people to interact via line-of-sight “clusters”, has raised another $500,000 in debt financing.
CEO Jon Fisher says this brings the company’s total funding to $2.5 million (including $500,000 that Fisher himself invested in January), and that the round serves as a bridge to CrowdOptic’s profitability, which he plans to reach next quarter. Fisher isn’t disclosing the source of the new funding.
CrowdOptic creates clusters of people based on what you’re looking at through your smartphone camera. If multiple people are looking at the same thing, CrowdOptic will send a notification asking if they want to create a discussion group, where they can share photos and comments. Imagine, for example, if you were outside the Academy Awards and pointing your camera at Angelina Jolie — CrowdOptic could create a discussion group on-the-fly with everyone else looking at her, where you could all comment on her dress.
Unlike most mobile social services, CrowdOptic hasn’t been marketing this as a consumer app, but rather partnering with event organizers. Fisher says the company has signed up nine major event businesses, bringing CrowdOptic to tens of thousands of events. However, CrowdOptic is actually planning to launch a consumer smartphone app of its own at this summer’s London Olympics.


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Google Play Store tosses third party Reddit app for sexual content

Google Play Store has removed the app Reddit is fun for having explicit sexual content. The app brings the user stories from the Reddit web site where users post stories for others to respond to. The language is uncensored with plenty of four letter words flying around. That is why app creator Andrew Shu was surprised about Google's action. "I’m not sure how to go about appealing this," said the developer. "After all it’s true that Reddit content includes NSFW (not safe for work) content. Not sure exactly why my app was singled out and the other reddit apps weren’t, though." Both the free and paid app were given the boot by Google. You would think that since the content did not come from the app developer, Shu would have received a pass from Google especially since other third party Reddit apps remain in good standing on the Google Play Store. Has Google changed more than just the name of the Android Market? After all, it has been Apple in the past who has removed apps that seemed a little too risque.

The latest word on the whole affair is that Reto Meier from the Android Developer Relations team has contacted Shu and will guide him through the appeal process. This will probably not be the last word on this matter.

source: VentureBeat via SlashGear

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Check out the re-designed UI on these Nokia Windows Phone models

What have we here? Why it's a few pictures of a Nokia Windows Phone model with a re-designed UI. Gone are the Live Tiles, replaced with a scattering of photos, clocks and what can only be described as whimsical imagery. One of Nokia's Senior Graphic Designers is responsible for the work and he has already been shipped to Accenture to work on things for Symbian.

According to the deal it has with Microsoft, the Finnish based manufacturer has the right to change the UI, but Nokia's CTO says that the company will not change it because it doesn't want to make things difficult for those switching from another device to a Windows Phone flavored Nokia model. Another reason why you won;t see this special UI on a released unit is that they were designed by the designer on his own and not as a part of any official Nokia project.

What do you think about any of the re-designed UI shown in the pictures? Would you prefer to see any of these on your Nokia Lumia home screen or do you favor the Live Tiles? Let us know what you think by dropping a comment in the box below.

source: PocketNow

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