A New York-based early-stage VC fund called Founder Collective is taking an unusual bet on a niche online market: Fine Art. According to TechCrunch, the company is investing a cool US$4-million in Paddle8 -- an online marketplace that aims to provide people “With new access points to premier artworks”. Founder Collective is reportedly no stranger to investing in niche tech markets, having previously put capital into luxury vehicle hire app Uber and open-source hardware outfit MakerBot. Paddle8 says it hopes ...

Facebook wants to use its Open Graph make it easier for people to build social games, particularly in the mobile space. The social network may, however, have to do a little more to convince developers disgruntled by the low conversion rate from free to paid users. At the Inside Social Apps 2012 conference in San Francisco director of product management at Facebook Carl Sjogreen spoke about the social network’s desire to make it easier for people to build cross-platform apps. “If ...

Indian ecommerce powerhouse Flipkart has bought out rival Lets Buy. That’s according to Indian tech site Medianama. The site reports that Flipkart could have paid anywhere between US$20-million and US$30-million for its rival. Medianama reports, however, that the terms of the deal are not yet known and that it had not been confirmed by Flipkart co-founder Binny Bansal. LetsBuy investors, meanwhile, were reluctant to comment on any possible buyout. Vin Network co-founder Manish Vij, for instance, simply said: “LetsBuy is ...

Google has released version 17 of its popular Chrome browser. Given its rapid release schedule and its various beta and developer channels, there are no major surprises in this release. The new features in this update, however, are well worth the update. Aside from the usual bug and security fixes, Chrome 17 introduces Google's download scanner to ensure the executable files you download aren't known malware or viruses. In addition, Google's browser now features smarter pre rendering when you are ...

You're the product! I hear this over and over on all of the geeky sites that I tend to frequent. It's a direct response to every article that comes out describing how yet another "free" online service is gathering every last shred of data on its users, in order to gain access to some of that precious advertising revenue. Now, Google is finally acknowledging that your data is worth a lot of money. In fact, it's willing to pay you ...

Apps are important. After all, they're everywhere: on our smartphones, tablets, PCs and even TVs. There’s a reason people talk so enthusiastically about the so-called "app economy". One initiative is looking to recognise that with a global completion. Apps4Africa claims to encourage “individuals to develop technological solutions to environmental challenges” The latest iteration of the competition offers people the chance to win US$15 000 if they can provide a winning technological solution to the problem of climate change. So prominent ...

There are a few things you need when it comes to organising a major music tour: the band, venues, equipment. If the tour is to be a success, however, you need a major across-the-line marketing campaign right? Chewing gum brand 5 Gum is looking to question that logic. The brand is organising a South African tour for up-and-coming UK band Two Door Cinema Club. Here’s the kicker though, 5 Gum is marketing the tour exclusively via social media and word ...

Yes it's going mad. It's all most of the internet is talking about it. Peter Parker's return to the big screen in the all new movie, The Amazing Spiderman. The last Spiderman franchise ended with more of fizzle than a bang, but this new "untold story" has all the geeks excited. Starring Andrew Garfield of The Social Network fame, the movie promises to be a 3D spectacular. With a YouTube count of more than 2-million views, this trailer is well ...

In one of only a handful of public interviews ever given by WhatsApp, co-founder Brian Acton talks exclusively to Memeburn about simplicity, speed and simplicity, and what it takes to make some cash. The fact that WhatsApp is so popular is no surprise, and yet to become the number one smartphone messaging app in a sea of same-same services is mysterious. Sure, people like to communicate, and will latch onto a service that lets them do it easily and cheaply. ...

You see it everywhere: “Follow us on Twitter!” For good reason, too. Businesses correctly recognise Twitter as a major marketing tool – a way to reach users who are increasingly active in social media. Companies and websites alike are constantly seeking new followers as a means to get out a specific message. However, the composition of your following, in many ways, is more important than the total number of followers you have. Below, read about some basic strategies used to ...