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15 tech IPOs from Asia to watch out for in 2014

Apr07
by on April 7, 2014 at 5:30 pm
Posted In: Analysis and Opinion, Around the Web, Asia, Insider, Roundups

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Box and Dropbox are among the startups creating interest in US tech IPOs right now, but there are plenty of companies from Asia bidding to join them and list publicly, both in and outside of the US. A number of top Asian companies are already listed in the US — including Baidu, Sina and Tencent — but last year was a relatively quiet period for public listings from Asia. It’s all likely to change this year, however, and 2014 is shaping up to see a number of major firms from the East go public. We’ve sifted through the field to…

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Disqus launches Sponsored Comments for brands to reach specific audiences

Apr07
by on April 7, 2014 at 5:00 pm
Posted In: Around the Web, Insider, Product Updates

Commenting platform Disqus has launched a new advertising product called Sponsored Comments, letting publishers and brands reach a targeted audience on sites surrounding specific topics — and in particular those who are engaged enough to scroll down to the comments section. The idea of Sponsored Comments stemmed from Featured Comments, which Disqus introduced a month ago. Sponsored Comments appear above the discussion thread so they won’t interrupt the conversation, and Disqus says that to protect user experience, it has a team ensuring the quality of these paid-for comments. Originally framed as a commenting service, Disqus has evolved to become a community supporting more…

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Twitter acquires Android lockscreen startup Cover, will keep app alive ‘for now’

Apr07
by on April 7, 2014 at 4:10 pm
Posted In: Apps, Around the Web, Mobile, Social Media

Twitter today announced it has acquired Android lockscreen app startup Cover. The app, which only launched as a beta in October, will remain on Google Play “for now.” Cover says there are no plans to kill the app as the team switches its focus to working at Twitter. That being said, the startup didn’t rule out “changes down the road” and said it would provide an update accordingly. “Twitter, like Cover, believes in the incredible potential of Android. They share our vision that smartphones can be a lot smarter — more useful and more contextual — and together we’re going…

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Bop.fm’s music-streaming aggregator now lets you import playlists and share with anyone

Apr07
by on April 7, 2014 at 3:33 pm
Posted In: Apps, Around the Web, Insider

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With the likes of Spotify, Rdio, Beats, Deezer, and many others locking horns, the online music-streaming realm is becoming increasingly competitive. But given that you and your friends may subscribe to different services, and the availability of these platforms varies from country-to-country, what we end up with is a fragmented listening experience that makes it difficult to share music with all your buddies. Want to share your Spotify playlist so your Rdio-tethered brethren can listen effortlessly? No cigar. This is where Bop.fm comes in to play. As we noted in our original coverage back in December, Bop.fm doesn’t actually host…

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YouTube for Xbox One now lets you upload your gameplay videos directly

Apr07
by on April 7, 2014 at 3:24 pm
Posted In: Apps, Around the Web, Insider

Good news gamers: Google has just announced that the YouTube app for Xbox One now lets you broadcast your gaming prowess to the world by uploading clips from your DVR directly to your YouTube channel. While it was already possible to share to YouTube using SkyDrive as an intermediary, it’s now gotten a whole lot easier. Additionally, with the latest update YouTube also now supports Xbox One’s Snap Mode, which basically lets you juggle multiple apps simultaneously. In this case, you could shift a YouTube video to one side, and move on to watch something else in the main area…

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