Those who use the mobile web use it a lot. In urban centres it’s not uncommon to see dozens of people walking down the street peering into a smartphone screen.

Sometimes they are surfing the web or checking email, but oftentimes they are looking to do something — make a reservation at a restaurant, find a show or movie to go to, or make travel arrangements. But navigating the full web on a tiny screen can be cumbersome (especially when you’re walking or driving or on the train).

Siri, a startup that just launched its “virtual personal assistant” today, has identified this pain point and come up with an elegant solution. Continue reading "A virtual personal assistant for the mobile web"

In spite of all the excitement around the App Store “gold rush”, investors have been wary of backing companies on the basis of a single mobile application.

“Historically, VC investment into mobile apps has been a black hole,” one London venture capitalist told me earlier last year – great for small teams of developers but hardly the basis of a lasting company.

Which makes it all the more interesting that Amadeus Capital Partners and Eden Ventures have just put £1m ($1.6m) into Ambient Industries, maker of location-based iPhone app Flook. Continue reading "Finding app backers - just a Flook?"

Ustream, the internet live-video streaming service, has announced a $75m venture-capital roundled by Japan’s Softbank , primarily aimed at funding Asian expansion.

The Silicon Valley company said the second-round investment would help to fuel its growth in the US and Asia, specifically in Japan, China, Korea and India.

Giving individuals in China the ability to broadcast their thoughts live to the world sounds a risky business for any startup at present, but John Ham, chief executive, told me they would tread carefully. Continue reading "$75m funding flows to Ustream"

The 10-year return figures from Cambridge Associates are probably the best way to measure the performance of a long-term asset class like venture capital. As the profits from the dotcom bubble start to recede beyond that 10-year horizon (the Nasdaq peak was March 2000), the true picture of the industry’s performance starts to come into better focus.

The latest quarterly figures today (for the period up to 30 September 2009) revealed a slump in the 10-year return to 8.4 per cent, down from 40.2 per cent a year before when the full bubble effect was still in the numbers. Bad, certainly, but still respectable: the Nasdaq composite lost 2.5 per cent annually over the same period.

But the really bad news for the venture capitalists is still to come. Continue reading "Why long-term VC returns are about to crater"

As Stephen Colbert prepared to announce the nominees for Song of the Year at the Grammys on Sunday night, he reached into his pocket for the list.

“And the nominees are . . . I’m sorry where’s the list?” he said, looking offstage.

Then he turned to face the audience. “Oh I know,” he said. “It’s on my iPad.”

Colbert then unbuttoned his jacket and pulled out an Apple iPad. (Video after the jump.) Continue reading "Colbert shows off iPad at the Grammys"

We may have got our handson the new Apple iPad , but analysts have yet to break one open and see what’s inside.

However, guesses can already be made as to the winner and losers among component makers. Continue reading "Apple iPad - the hardware winners and losers"