leweb

Evernote tries converting personal users to business subscribers

PARIS -- In an attempt to bridge from individual users to corporate accounts, Evernote has launched version of its cloud-based document repository for business customers.

Evernote Business costs $10 per employee per month, CEO Phil Libin said at the LeWeb show here. It combines features of Evernote's premium personal accounts with central services business customers might need, such as the ability to share documents with all employees.

Evernote lets people store and edit documents with a wide range of media types -- audio, Web pages, photos, and of course text -- and synchronize it with the cloud, personal computers, … Read more

Facebook hopes new Messenger app will outpace SMS

PARIS -- Facebook revamped its Facebook Messenger service today in an attempt to get people to dump mobile-phone text messaging in favor of something more sophisticated.

Facebook Messenger today is essentially an instant-messaging network, complete with separate apps to use the service. But with the new incarnation, people need only a phone number, and no Facebook account, said Peter Deng, Facebook's director of communications product management, at the LeWeb show here.

The service is available initially in South Africa, India, Australia, Argentina, and Venezuela, he said, and in India's case in partnership with a carrier. Many young people … Read more

Cut the Rope creators' next game: Pudding Monsters

PARIS -- The developers of the tremendously successful game Cut the Rope announced a new game today called Pudding Monsters.

In the game, the player must stick together wobbly single-eyed blobs of pudding into larger puddings, said Chief Executive Misha Lyalin. "They want to find the evil, bad man who steals their friends," plucking puddings out of the refrigerator as he walks by, he said.

He didn't announce a launch date for the game or even show how it works. But he promised that it will be slicker than Cut the Rope.

"Pudding Monsters is more … Read more

SmartThings raises $3 million to Net-enable your house

PARIS -- SmartThings, a startup that wants to bring remote control to everything from lights to liquor cabinets via the Internet, announced it's raised $3 million in first-round funding.

At the LeWeb conference here, SmartThings founder and Chief Technology Officer Jeff Hagins said investors included First Round Capital, which led the round, along with SVangel, Lerer Ventures, A-Grade Investments, CrunchFund, Start Fund, Max Levchin, David Tisch, and LeWeb founder Loic Le Meur. The company already raised pledges of $1.2 million through its Kickstarter project.

"The entire world is becoming programmable," Hagins said, and consequently, events in … Read more

SoundCloud brings discovery, social savvy to audio-sharing site

PARIS -- SoundCloud, a site for sharing songs and audio clips online, launched a redesign that lets people discover new audio, spotlights what's going on with an "activity" stream, and links users' activity with social networks.

The new SoundCloud version has been in closed testing but now is available for all users, said company founder and Chief Executive Alexander Ljung in a speech here at the LeWeb conference.

A new discovery section will help people find new material, he said. It's one reason users of the new site are 30 percent more active on the site … Read more