buddy

Buddy Media, a New York-based company that operates a number of social-media developer platform applications including Pirates vs. Ninjas, Zombies vs. Werewolves, Pub Darts, and a Sudoku game, announced Tuesday that it has raised $6.5 million in Series B funding in a round led by Softbank Capital.

A number of big-name investors like Ron Conway, Greycroft Partners, and the European Founders Fund (which has reportedly put cash behind Facebook) also contributed to the round along with 14 of the company's Series A investors.

Buddy Media uses a loyalty program called AceBucks across all its gaming applications, in which … Read more

At CTIA 2008 in Las Vegas, I took a look at LiveContacts BuddyFinder, Web app that launches on April 15.

To clear a little confusion, BuddyFinder and LiveContacts are two sort-of related names for the app, which is itself the free branch of the better-known FindWhere, a Dutch company with a much more useful, robust service--tracking people down (kids, an elderly parent, a wayward spouse) through their devices. FindWhere includes lost phone recovery, emergency alerts, and notification services if the device goes outside your specified bounds.

Of course, the free BuddyFinder doesn't do all that. Instead, it installs an … Read more

Matt Mullenweg, creator of blogging platform WordPress, said in a blog post on Tuesday that "the future is social."

With that, he announced that WordPress parent company Automattic has hired designer and developer Andy Peatling, who has created a WordPress-based social network called BuddyPress.

BuddyPress, meanwhile, has become part of Automattic's arsenal. The project's home page has been replaced with an Automattic logo and the teaser "BuddyPress will transform a vanilla installation of WordPress MU into a social-network platform."

Mullenweg was a featured speaker at last week's Future of Web Apps conference in … Read more

It should have been obvious that the "Nabaztag" was having some emotional problems when it turned to graffiti, let alone self-defacement. The Wi-Fi rabbit had apparently grown quickly from its innocent beginnings into precocious adolescence, perhaps accelerated by instant fame.

Yet it's not too late to set it straight: All it needs is some positive companionship to avoid following Britney to UCLA Med Center. And that's where "i-Buddy" comes in.

It would seem to be a perfect match for the troubled bunny, recognizing specific acquaintances when they sign onto MSN Messenger and then reacting to certain emoticons … Read more

Polaroid digital photoframe makes them weirdly desirable http://www.shinyshiny.tv/2008/02/polaroid_digita.html

Barf no more with ReliefBand http://www.popgadget.net/2008/02/barf_no_more_wi.php

Stink-free compost right in the kitchen http://crave.cnet.com/8301-1_105-9881204-1.html

USB Wireless Finger Mouse http://www.popgadget.net/2008/02/usb_wireless_fi.php

Tuck Your Cell Phone into The Tare Panda Holder at Night http://chipchick.com/2008/02/ tuck_your_cell_phone_into_the_tare_panda_holder_at_night.html http://www.dreamkitty.com/Merchant2/ merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=T-MK41901&Category_Code=NEW

SweetPea3 MP3 player for kids http://www.popgadget.net/2008/02/sweetpea3_mp3_p.php… Read more

Citing ever-shadowy "sources," PaidContent reported Sunday that oft-maligned cable giant Comcast is in the process of acquiring television fandom site BuddyTV.com. No financial details were specified.

PaidContent blogger Joseph Weisenthal speculates that BuddyTV will be integrated in one way or another into Comcast's still-in-beta Fancast site, a Web video and community hub that it launched in August. Comcast, whose Comcast Interactive Media division has been attempting to craft an extensive Web 2.0-savvy social media strategy, also purchased movie ticket site Fandango in April.

BuddyTV representatives allegedly denied the allegation initially and then clammed up; we'… Read more

How can you resist a beer cooler with an integrated speaker system for under $50? Admit it, it's impossible. We put the Burton Lil' Buddy speaker cooler through rigorous beer testing--overclocking it well past its rated capacity of 12-beers to an outstanding 16 (12 cans, 4 bottles). Want to see what your new best friend looks like up-close? Take a look at our Lil' Buddy slideshow.

It's good to see that the Japanese haven't forgotten about cultural entertainment in their apparent quest for a human-free society. At least their robots haven't, anyway.

The recently unveiled "Motoman" was initially assigned to such mundane tasks as sorting mail, for example, but it's already showing that it's got rhythm too. Four of them, to be exact--two twin-armed models and two welding versions.

The robots displayed their prowess on the taiko drums at the Kokura Gion Daiko Festival, an event that Pink Tentacle says is almost 400 years old and is known for … Read more

eBuddy is a strange mix of a typical Web company. While the lowercase "e" in front of the name might suggest it's a survivor of the early 1990s dot-com boom, it actually started out in 2003 and resides not in the Silicon Valley, but Amsterdam. It's also one of the few companies I've seen that has put almost its entire press kit on Flickr. eBuddy specializes in Web-based IM, which might sound familiar if you've ever used Meebo or the Web version of your favorite chat client. eBuddy works with three of the major … Read more