Google Offers Keeps Groupon and LivingSocial on Their Toes, Launches Android Mobile App

Google is continuing to make a dent in the daily deals market with the launch of the Google Offers mobile app for Android, with an iOS app soon to come, in addition to launching its first national offer with REI.

The app lets you discover, buy and redeem deals from your mobile device. The app will also notify you about offers that match your interest. You can use the app to redeem the current offer with REI, which is to spend $15 for $25 to spend.
 
[ See screen shots after the jump. ]
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Google Tries to Keep Up with Apple, Chrome Beta Syncs Apps and Extensions Across Devices


The new Google Chrome beta simplifies your life by making sure your Chrome settings follow you wherever you go, no matter what device you're on.

With Apple's recent release of iCloud, which lets users access their documents and data anywhere they are, it is no surprise that Google is trying to make its products more sync-friendly.

"Signing in to Chrome enables sync and brings your Chrome bookmarks and other personalized settings (like extensions) to all of your computers," Google Software Engineer Miranda Callahan writes on the Google blog. "Anything you update on one device instantly updates everywhere else, and your stuff is safe in case a truck runs over your laptop."

For people who use a shared computer, the new beta lets users sign in to their own personalized Chrome. You can choose from a collection of 26 avatars to identify yourself as a faceless person, a soccer ball, cheeseburger and more. 

[ See screen shots after the jump. ]
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Waze: Great Traffic and Navigation App, But How Many Accidents Has It Caused?

[ A reporter for Channel 4 in the U.K. tests out Waze in Israel -- as a passenger. ]

We all know driving while doing anything can be distracting. Try driving while using Waze, an app that lets you see traffic reports from other Waze users, chart a route based on traffic and chat with drivers nearby. 

Founded in Israel in 2008, Waze has over 8M users in 45 countries (though it works best in places with high concentrations of active Wazers, as Robert Scoble recently noted). Last month the company raised $30M from Horizon Ventures Hong Kong and Kleiner Perkins.

Now, Waze doesn't want you to drive and report on traffic at the same time, as it emphasizes in its terms of use (more on those in a moment). When you open the app, it prompts you to confirm that a passenger in the car is using it. But someone is likely to report traffic -- and therefore use the app -- when
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Klout to Finally Let Users Add Topics to Profile, Average Score is 20


Who knows more about how influential you are than Klout? Well for starters, you, and probably your friends and co-workers. In Klout's November Twitter Tweet Chat, they announced that you will soon be able to add topics to your profile, but others will still need to vouch for your influence.

Currently, topics are generated based on the way users engage with your content. Klout also says they plan to focus more on privacy, which is probably why it is now much easier to delete your Klout account. Before, it could take up to a full day for Klout to...
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Zynga Jukebox Eases HTML5 Audio Woes, Launches on GitHub



Game developers most likely agree that incorporating audio into HTML5 games can be a pain, which is why Zynga created Jukebox.

Jukebox, which Paul Bakaus first announced today at the New Game HTML5 conference in San Francisco, is a sprite-based sound manager for the web. Sound sprites enable the game developer to work with single sounds and subsequently avoid performance and latency issues.

"Doing audio in HTML5 is crazy hard --  like, trying-to-lick-your-elbow hard," CTO at Zynga Germany Paul Bakaus writes on the Zynga engineering blog. "Not a single codec...
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Yelp Adds Saved-Search Function, New Search Filters -- But Only for App on Select T-Mobile Phones

As part of its deal with T-Mobile to have the Yelp app preloaded on select phones, Yelp has added the ability to save frequent searches and search with new filters like free wifi, price range and outdoor seating.

These features are not part of the Yelp iPhone app or other Android apps. The saved-search function is exclusive to T-Mobile "for now" Yelp Senior Director of Communications Stephanie Ichinose confirmed to LAUNCH (we take that to mean iPhone and other Android app users could be waiting awhile).

[ See screen shots after the jump. ]

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Evernote Peek Launches Virtual Covers for Both iPad Models


Evernote users with the original iPad are no longer out of the loop as of today, as Evernote Peek is now available for all iPads.

"Peek was inspired by the iPad 2 Smart Cover, but not everyone has a Smart Cover, nor an iPad 2," Evernote Director of Marketing Andrew Sinkov writes on the Evernote blog. "Knowing this led us to develop a swipeable Virtual Cover that maintains the dynamics of a Smart Cover, but could be used with any iPad."

LAUNCH has been in contact with Evernote and will update this story when we get more information.

"Of course, Peek is still best experienced with...
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Frame to Turn Shopify's 15K+ Stores into Touch Experience on iPad

Frame Demo Video from nicolae@useframe.com on Vimeo.

WHAT: An HTML5 optimized layer on top of existing e-commerce websites, such as sites built on Shopify, that turns shopping into a touch experience on the iPad. Frame comes as a one-click install for e-commerce stores, and is ready in only a few minutes. 

In store, employees can use the device to help customers make purchases. Frame will eventually utilize NFC payments, let customers see availability of nearby products and research items for customers to try on in person. 

LAUNCHERS: Kareem Amin, Nav Patel and Nicolae Rusan. The three co-founders are former Microsoft engineers and program managers.

WHY: Shopping is an emotional experience, as is the iPad. A website that feels...

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Today's Funding: Appcelerator, Matchbin, Jivox, Seva Search and SecondMarket (Five Deals, $49.5M)



Appcelerator, makers of the mobile cloud development platform Titanium, raised $15M in Series C funding in a round led by Mayfield Fund, Translink Capital and Red Hat. The company has raised $31.5M to date.

Appcelerator
Website: http://www.appcelerator.com/

Jeff Haynie, CEO and co-founder
Twitter: @jhaynie
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/jhaynie

Nolan Wright, CTO and co-founder
Twitter: @nolan_wright

Mayfield Fund
Twitter: @mayfieldfund  
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/company/mayfield-fund
Website: www.mayfield.com/
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GitHub Enterprise Launches at 20x Rate of Competitor Bitbucket


UPDATE (11/2/2011): GitHub Enterprise is for companies to run behind their firewall, which is not possible with Bitbucket. BitBucket has no locally installable version.

GitHub just released Enterprise to provide companies with a secure, fast self-hosted system for software development and collaboration.

GitHub Enterprise features code browsing, pull requests, APIs, code review, issue tracking and wikis. Enterprise also supports LDAP and CAS so companies can use existing authentication systems and provides full system backups of all data.

While Enterprise costs $5K/year per 20 users, competitors like Bitbucket, and Fogbugz and Kiln, offer similar services, yet not locally installable versions, for much less -- even 20x less. Bitbucket, which just added Git support last month, costs $240/year for 20 developers.  

"There's a reason that more than a million developers use GitHub," GitHub's Zach Holman tells LAUNCH via email. "We think these reasons work in larger enterprise settings, too. They face...
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RIM Envisions Touchscreen PCs and Smart Tables (video)



Wouldn't it be amazing if you could tap your computer monitor like a tablet, or type directly onto a surface without the need for a keyboard? Well, in two videos most likely meant to be private, Research In Motion revealed what our future might look like.  
In the video above, employers use a touchscreen PC for managing job applicants and employees swipe their phones to get easy, secure access to buildings and get personal directions to their new seat at the office. Even more, the new hire deploys a virtual keyboard from her device to type directly onto her desk.

LAUNCH has contacted RIM and the user who uploaded the videos and will update this story if we receive a response.

In the second video, a homeowner controls his home security system from his mobile device, receives real-time power outage updates and uses a touchscreen computer to schedule an engineer. After the engineer leaves, he uses his...
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Watch Shark Tank Takeover on TWiST #202 Today Live at 1pm PT


Four startups -- Klassik Greekwear, Vibe.me, Flocasts and Inhabi -- will pitch to host Jason Calacanis on This Week in Startups today live at 1pm PT.

As part of the Shark Tank Takeover, representatives from the four companies will only have 60 seconds to sell Jason and co-host Tyler Crowley on their respective companies.

Klassik Greekwear, founded in 2006, manufactures clothing for Greek organizations to help members rep their letters. Vibe.me, which launched in public beta in June, is a social network for expression because...
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Get Ready for It: A New, Simpler Gmail

Gmail has completely redesigned Gmail, which goes in sync with its mission to have a unified look throughout all Google products.

In the next few days, you'll have the option to experience streamlined conversations. In every thread, it will be easier to identify contacts with added profile pictures. Also, while scrolling through emails, the navigation panel will remain in view.

[ See screen shots after the jump. ]
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Take That, Google: Interactive Google+ Stream Visualizer Launching as Chrome Extension


[ Visualizations of five hours of posts, comments and likes on Google+ condensed into four minutes. ]

It's official. There is a more visually engaging version of Google+'s Ripple on the web, in LAUNCH's opinion. Former Google intern Justin Ormont recently introduced us to the G+ StreamVisualizer, which he created before the launch of the Ripple, and plans to release it as a Chrome extension next week.

While Google+ Ripples lets you see activity as it unfolds, The StreamVisualizer, shows both what happens in real-time -- the branches shake whenever someone adds a comment to a post, as they exert a force on the branch -- as well as what...
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The Verge DJs Upcoming Launch on Turntable.fm



Up-and-coming technology lifestyle site The Verge and its fans have been hanging out in a special Turntable.fm room today in anticipation for its launch tomorrow.

The Verge, which is the latest venture by former Engadget editor Joshua Topolsky, will launch in partnership with SB Nation, an online network of 300+ blogs that are mostly sports. In preparation for the launch, The Verge contributors published tech editorials and podcasts on Thisismynext.com but will soon become...
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Humble Bundle Launches Voxatron, No Bundle This Time



The pay-what-you-want gaming company Humble Bundle just launched Voxatron, which is the first game the company is selling brand new and not part of a bundle. 

"Voxatron is actually launching on our site, which is very rare," Humble Bundle co-founder Jeffrey Rosen tells LAUNCH via email. " Typically the games we feature in Humble Bundle are very well-known titles such as World of Goo or Braid." 

Typically, Humble Bundle sells games in packs of five that are available only for two weeks. With Voxatron, Humble Bundle is testing to see how effective the single-game model is. 

"What happens when we take a brand new game and feature that instead?" Jeffrey says. "Do gamers prefer the classics, or a brand new debut?  That is the question this Humble Voxatron Debut hopes to answer."

[ See screen shots after the jump. ]

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Chill to Host Boy Band's Video Release Today at 4pm PT



Hundreds of teeny-boppers are storming into a special Chill room to watch American boy band Mindless Behavior's premiere of their newest music video in real-time with other fans.
 
"They're choosing to do so because the Chill platform is the cutting edge of immersive social experiences around content," Chill Director of Product and Growth Andrew Skotzko tells LAUNCH via email. " [It is] a great example of how collaborative & realtime technology is turning solo viewing experiences into connective social events around content."

Chill recently partnered with Lady Gaga's management company, Atom Factory, to create...
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Google Quietly Tests New Navigation Bar, Ditches Black Bar


For all of you Googlers who love the black navigation bar, you might have to kiss it goodbye. Google is testing a new navigation bar that omits the black bar, lists Google services in a drop-down menu, and features notifications and the sharing options next to the search box [ h/t GuAo.hk ].   

In August at UX Week 2011, Google Lead Designer for Search Jon Wiley showed screenshots of the new unified interface, and noted that Google is in the midst of its largest redesign ever.
 
LAUNCH has contacted Google and will update this story if we receive a response.

[ See screen shots after the jump. ]
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Costume Mash Is Hot or Not for Halloween Costumes


How is it possible no one made a hot-or-not site just for Halloween costumes until now? Sign into Costume Mash with Facebook and either upload your own costume photo or start voting on which of two Halloween costume photos you like better. The percentage of votes your choice received is in the top-right corner. The leaderboard is not finished yet (and we imagine it won't be done before the holiday is over).

If you only want to rate the ladies' outfits, be aware that you'll see some cleavage, not quite NSFW but close.

The site is a "Halloweekend Hack" from
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Google Search Now Indexes Facebook Comments, Good for SEO

Typically when users leave comments through third-party engines like Disqus, Facebook or Intense Debate, the website won't receive any SEO boosts. But now that Google has started indexing Facebook comments using Googlebots --  the spiders that crawl web pages -- the text left in those comment boxes will now be visible in Google search [h/t Digital Inspiration ].
 
That means that when you leave a comment on a website through Facebook, anyone can easily search for your comments via Google. Other commenting engines written in JavaScript include Disqus and Intense Debate.

"What you're seeing is a result of Google increasingly being able to crawl JavaScript and AJAX content," a Google spokesperson tells LAUNCH via email. "We have steadily been increasing our ability to...
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