A Better Way to Find & Install Windows & Linux Apps

This post is made possible by Microsoft BizSpark as a new part of the Spark of Genius series that focuses on a new and innovative startup each day. Every Thursday, the program focuses on startups within the BizSpark program and what they’re doing to grow

In stark contrast to today’s heavily-financed mega-startups such as Facebook, Groupon or Color, consider the unassuming and newly profitable Ninite, maker of a bulk software installation tool for Windows and Linux.

Ninite co-founders Patrick Swieskowski and Sascha Kuzins, the startup’s only employees, run a lean operation out of a San Francisco-based office and have no interest in raising flashy amounts of venture capital. Instead, their focus is on being the easiest way for software geeks, regular folks, grandmas and even system administrators to get software.

“The most frequent feedback we get from users is, ‘I love you,’” says Swieskowski.


The primary reason for the user-love is that Ninite gives them the ability to install dozens of applications with just a few clicks — it strips out all the tedious navigation and unnecessary dialogs usually involved in the software installation process.

“This is way software downloads should be,” Swieskowski says.

Users seem to agree. One and half years post-release, Ninite’s site now sees 2 million pageviews each month.

Second Time’s the Charm

 

Ninite’s origins date back to early 2008, when Swieskowski and Kuzins launched BaseShield, a virtualization project for Windows that would run applications in secure containers.

The original idea and product had enough merit to graduate from Y Combinator and help the co-founders raise a small angel round. But the general public wasn’t responding with the same fervor. “It was hard to package that up and sell it to users,” Swieskowski explains.

After nearly two years of work on the original product, the co-founders switched to Ninite. The first iteration of the so-simple-it’s-stupid software installer was released at just the right time in October, 2009 — right before Microsoft released Windows 7.


“We saw a huge uptake from people. Within a week, we were getting posts on random technology blogs; within two weeks, we had 10,000 users in the beta.”

And for good reason. The installer automates installs offscreen, always grabs the latest available version of apps, picks the most appropriate version and language edition for the user’s PC, and auto-updates installed software upon re-run.

Accidental App Curators

As Ninite worked to simply the application installation process and give users a one-stop shop for picking and downloading great apps, its co-founders slowly became curators of the best Windows applications.

The Ninite site features dozens of hand-selected browsers, messaging, media-imaging and file-sharing applications, among other things; and Swieskowski and Kuzins go to great pains to ensure that there are no junk apps or scam installation add-ons.

The pair also solicit tips and requests from users, and Ninite has grown to become a powerful distribution mechanism for software titles.

Quiet Simplicity

“We believe in simplicity,” reads Ninite’s About page. The words epitomize both the product and its creators.

Simple has its perks. Ninite became profitable a few months ago, roughly one year after releasing a for-charge Pro product aimed at IT professionals and super users.

Now Swieskowski and Kuzins are looking to shed the perception that Ninite is merely something nice to use when setting up a machine and hope to turn the startup into a destination that users return to frequently for single-app downloads.

Image courtesy of iStockphoto, gbrundin

Series Supported by Microsoft BizSpark

The Spark of Genius Series highlights a unique feature of startups and is made possible by Microsoft BizSpark, a startup program that gives you three-year access to the latest Microsoft development tools, as well as connecting you to a nationwide network of investors and incubators. There are no upfront costs, so if your business is privately owned, less than three years old, and generates less than U.S.$1 million in annual revenue, you can sign up today.

continue reading…

Paypal Is About To Get A Bruising From Facebook And Square

Editor’s note: Guest author Ohad Samet is an expert in managing fraud and other risks in payments systems. He was previously a senior manager at PayPal and blogs at As Risky At It Gets.


2011 is going to be a big year for payments, with more startups and mature companies getting funded in the space than almost ever before. It’s important to make the distinction between the headline chasers, the slow moving giants struggling for a piece of the pie and the companies that have a chance at real disruption. For my money Facebook and Square are both very interesting companies to follow in this space.

In my last post on TechCrunch I discussed Google and Apple and their efforts around payments, and explained why I don’t yet think they are serious players for the whole payments pie. The post ended with some ideas around what serious contenders could look like, and who are other potential large companies that could step into user-to-user payments. I’d like to expand on that, looking at how the companies above might take advantage of chinks in Paypal’s armor (disclosure: my consulting company, Analyzd, has done a project with Square in the past).

Paypal’s Weaknesses

Paypal (eBay’s growth engine) is demonstrating strong growth and evidently still enjoys network effects—in many territories its service sells itself to small and medium merchants. Moreover, much like with banks and other financial services companies, people like to complain (about fees, user experience and customer service) but will not easily migrate to another company just by virtue of marginal improvements. But Paypal is far from untouchable; it has a few flaws that make room for some fierce competition. What are they?

First and foremost, Paypal’s service has matured over the last ten years. Product and policy decisions that made a lot of sense in the era of “The Paypal Wars” became structural issues, accompanied by limitations gathered in an attempt to improve profitability and revenue. Concepts such as a full redirection to Paypal’s website to make a payment which is still widely required in its most popular small merchant products and the limitations it places on businesses it deems risky (such as rolling reserves, 10-20% of your volume being held for up to 120 days) create whole segments that are underserved and can be tempted by a new service.

Second, the company is heavily reliant on the existing card association and banking infrastructure. Despite having acquired Bill Me Later (offering credit on the spot to approved buyers), its payment volume is still noticeably a mix of card and direct bank payments (here’s an old yet still relevant explanation). This creates a boundary both on the level of fraud and credit losses it can sustain and (more importantly) on its pricing. Paypal is left struggling with getting more people to pay with a bank account (and, given Bill Me Later, more and more using credit products) or it’s forced to skim a few basis points on top of card fees. This is one main reason why small merchants start with Paypal, but then graduate out of the system and move to a full merchant account where they can work directly with card products and other, lower fee payment options.

Third, Paypal is very much U.S.-centered in both infrastructure and process. It has definitely gone global, with good presence in Europe and Asia, but its hold of the market is much less obvious in these territories. Other countries have significantly different regulatory challenges and sometimes completely different payment processes and preferences (Germany is a good example); a few ongoing issues (most recently in India) have demonstrated that being based in the U.S. is not always an advantage. Becoming a truly international organization, with a distributed work force adapting or (in some cases) rebuilding the product creatively to match the local market is a daunting challenge for many companies.

Finally, with size comes the innovator’s dilemma which hinders Paypal’s ability to bet on small and evolving markets, resulting in the company being late to the game. We need to take this one with a grain of salt, though—Paypal is investing in user experience and technology, and through sheer size can reclaim market share even when it is a late entry. However, a wide consumer base is not as large an advantage as it once was when new consumer (web or mobile) products gain immense amounts of traction within weeks and months and other innovative consumer companies with a shorter history are eyeing the space.

And so, competition for Paypal’s lead position can come from two types of players: the first and obvious one is a consumer brand that has a trusted relationship with a massive user base; the second is a company rooted in an underserved segment of the market, preferably out of the U.S., and does not build on the usual card-and-bank infrastructure (or worse, on carrier billing or some other secondary derivative).

Facebook’s Social Advantage

Facebook is a good example of the first type of player. Why them and not Google or Apple, which I’ve discussed in my previous post? All three have a wide user base, have experience with some sort of payments, and are faced by the same challenges. Why is Facebook different? First, Facebook signaled it wants to play, at least to some extent, with its new Facebook payments subsidiary.

Second, of all the large companies it not only has the largest, most diverse and global user base, it also has a rather clear identity strategy that extends beyond their website and is based on real information. This is a critical element in payments today. The ability to control identity isn’t the be-all and end-all of payments (spam, abuse and fake accounts on Facebook prove that) but if enforced properly it will provide a good enough basis for seller and consumer risk management.

Third, while Google and Apple have built their ecosystems and added payments to them to facilitate the type of commerce they required, nothing is a more natural extension of social interaction than adding payments to the mix. Payments and commerce are by their very nature social transactions.  From the user perspective, Facebook moving into payments is an easy to comprehend progression, and the social graph can easily add relevant reputation to boost the feeling of trust.

Where is Facebook aiming to be and where can it fit? While currently it is clear that the company is aiming at social games—a high margin industry it understands and could use as a classroom to learn about payments—it can go way beyond that. As I noted above, Paypal has a merchant graduation issue that is clear from its fee structure; when you grow beyond a certain point, a merchant account is better than a Paypal account if only for the costs, even given the need to manage risk management yourself.

While Facebook may not be able to solve the cost problem that’s limiting Paypal, it can provide large merchants with a different incentive—a huge, diverse, captured audience—which translates into conversion heaven. With its growing experience in ad targeting and more users moving to Facebook messages, Facebook can create unique marketing opportunities for merchants that integrate Connect.  Payments are the next logical step—all through one simple integration. Getting those merchants on board and using Facebook Credits as a universal form of payment will drive enough users to attach cards and bank accounts to their Facebook account.  That could pose a huge threat to Paypal, and strongly limit its opportunity.

Square: Going For The Mobile Wallet

Square comes to mind as a good example of the second type of player, however its case requires some explaining. Square seems to be a consumer-mobile-focused payment system for offline payments using cards, kind of a well-designed poor man’s POS (point of sale system). But look deeper: what I find super interesting is not the payments small sellers and retailers are receiving through credit cards. This is a necessary evil. What’s interesting to me is what these users then do with this money they have in Square’s system—currently deposited to their bank accounts, but which can potentially stay with Square and be used as a low cost funding source.

It’s a little farfetched, but Square may be onto a very creative way to tap into payrolls—effectively becoming the one real mobile wallet—by meeting the money spent by consumers at the point of sale and providing better ways to spend it directly from your Square account. The result will be an ecosystem which you enter with a credit card payment, but then never use that card again.

If everyone has a mobile phone with a Square app, wide payment acceptance is just one tap (or bump) away, and with fees more befitting cash than cards. This direction can also explain why removing the fixed portion from their card fees makes sense—a loss leader used to pump huge amounts of cash from small retailers into their Square balances. This is the power of going after payroll. From the financial perspective, if Square keeps its current fee structure, it remains competitive with merchant accounts for anything under $15-20 (see Feefighters’ handy calculator here) and with Paypal on even larger average transaction sizes (anything under $35, even for Paypal’s most competitive fees).

While Square needs to drive down costs further to become more interesting for the larger retailers, it’s definitely compelling for exactly the population that might then spend money directly from its Square balance and build its wide user base, namely the small retailers and occasional sellers. To those people, Square is also offering a quick way to accept credit payments that may not have been paid otherwise and a superior user experience, both strong drivers for adoption that can be more important than fees in the short term.

• Photo credit: Flickr/Aaron Nace

continue reading…

Foursquare Wants To Help Google Employees Get Massive Counteroffers, Too

Foursquare CEO Dennis Crowley says he wants to do his part in helping Google employees get their FUM Counteroffers from Google, too (that’s what we’re calling them now, FUM Counteroffers, you can figure it out). He writes:

>> “If you’re a Google employee and you aren’t out interviewing at Facebook, Twitter or Zynga you are a moron.”
what about foursquare, brother?!
we’re hiring faster than we can drop desks in here!
where’ the love?! :)
………………………..
Dennis Crowley
co-founder / ceo, foursquare

We’ll, there’s the love right there, Dennis. So if you’re a Googler and want tens of millions of dollars for doing nothing more than interviewing at a startup, add Foursquare to that list. And let us know if it works.


Dennis adds “we‘re hiring engineers by the boatload in both NYC and SF. i think our eng team in NY is one of the best engineering teams in the city. super smart people solving very hard problems.”

Foursquare jobs are here.

continue reading…

A Geeky Serial Killer Well-Versed In Police Techniques Is Terrorizing Long Island [Crime]

A serial killer already linked to the murders of four Long Island area Craigslist prostitutes is so intimately familiar with police investigation techniques that law enforcement officials are now openly speculating he may be one of their own. More »

continue reading…

Sprint radar imaging system peeps inside walls, floors to detect bombs, tell-tale hearts

Back in 2005, we reported on a little something called the Prism 200, which allowed its holder to essentially see what folks were doing on the other side of a wall. Since then, we've seen plenty of devices that boast the same claims, but it wasn't until recently that the makers of the Prism 200 created a device that can actually see inside those walls. Looking something akin to an old school punch clock, Cambridge Consultants' Sprint in-wall radar imaging system provides 3D renderings of items embedded in walls, floors, and even ceilings. Where as existing X-ray systems require access to both sides of a wall, Sprint's radar setup allows users to see what's going on inside without dual access. As you might imagine, Cambridge is pushing this thing as a security tool, allowing for detection of bombs, drugs, dead bodies -- you know, the usual bad guy stuff. Sprint is currently undergoing testing. Full PR after the break.
 Continue reading Sprint radar imaging system peeps inside walls, floors to detect bombs, tell-tale hearts

Sprint radar imaging system peeps inside walls, floors to detect bombs, tell-tale hearts originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 09 Apr 2011 13:17:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of

Permalink   |  SOURCE Cambridge Consultants  | Email this | Comments

feeds.

continue reading…

Swarm’s Bike Seat Clamps Hide Hidden, Refreshing Post-Ride Tool [Design]

As a cyclist and a drinker of fine craft beers I can't see much fault with these bottle-opening bike seat clamps. If they make it out of Kickstarter and you procure one, please enjoy responsibly. More »

continue reading…

uSolo FX Media player review

This is a picture of a digital media player. It doesn't look quite like an iPod, though, does it? No hint of Zune here either, we don't think. In fact, it looks a lot like a CDJ unit, and that's for a reason: it acts just like a physical media-loving digital disc jockey's unit, but without the 5-inch slot at the front. Instead, it's got USB and SD ports up top. If you're a DJ, you might be familiar with the rest: navigate your folders to find a song, cue it up with the jog wheel, and mix it up. DJ Tech, which started operations in the US just last year, has the uSolo FX as its flagship unit -- does it compare to its competition from giants like Pioneer and Numark? Read on to find out!

• You Can See Gallery: DJ Tech uSolo FX Media Player
• Continue reading uSolo FX Media player review .   

uSolo FX Media player review originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 09 Apr 2011 12:12:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. 

  Permalink   |  SOURCE DJ Tech uSolo FX  | Email this | Comments

continue reading…

Delkin Elite 633 claims to be the fastest SDHC card with 80MBps write speeds

We can't say we're pleased that camera makers still haven't called an armistice in their megapixel war, but a race for the speediest memory card is one battle we can get behind. Delkin says its 32GB Elite 633 SDHC is the fastest in the world, with 80MBps and 95MBps write and read speeds, respectively, handily trumping Sony's new Memory Sticks that so recently impressed us. This card's ideal for people who shoot gobs of 1080p video, 3D movies, and high-resolution shots coupled with RAW files, but with a price of $440, it's only worth it for pros. And debutants.

Delkin Elite 633 claims to be the fastest SDHC card with 80MBps write speeds originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 09 Apr 2011 07:03:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  SOURCE  Delkin  | Email this | Comments

continue reading…

World Bank report finds selling virtual goods in games more profitable than ‘real’ economy

A report commissioned by the World Bank's infoDev unit has cast fresh light on one of the more fascinating aspects of our brave new interconnected world: the virtual economy. The "third-party gaming services industry" -- where wealthy but impatient players have someone else grind away at online games for them in exchange for monetary reward -- is one of the focal points of the study, chiefly owing to it having generated revenues in the region of $3 billion in 2009 and now serving as the primary source of income for an estimated 100,000 young folks, primarily in countries like China and Vietnam. What's encouraging about these findings is that most of the revenue from such transactions ends up in the country where the virtual value is produced, which contrasts starkly with some of the more traditional international markets, such as that for coffee beans, where the study estimates only $5.5 billion of the $70 billion annual market value ever makes it back to the producing country. The research also takes an intriguing look at the emerging phenomenon of microwork, which consists of having unskilled workers doing the web's version of menial work -- checking images, transcribing bits of text, bumping up Facebook Likes (naughty!), etc. -- and could also lead to more employment opportunities for people in poorer nations. To get better acquainted with the details, check the links below or click past the break.

Continue reading World Bank report finds selling virtual goods in games more profitable than 'real' economy

World Bank report finds selling virtual goods in games more profitable than 'real' economy originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 09 Apr 2011 04:38:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink VIA BBC  |  SOURCE infoDev (PDF), Virtual Economy Research Network  | Email this | Comments

continue reading…

Google preps Android for its corporate interview, adds new encryption and security measures

With over 300,000 devices activated per day, Android's clearly firing on all cylinders from a consumer standpoint, but much like the famed Cheez-It wheel, some would argue that the OS isn't quite mature enough for unabashed enterprise use. Being a corporation itself, El Goog's obviously been toiling around the clock to change that, and it's taking three major strides today. An updated version of its Google Apps Device Policy enables employees to secure a lost or stolen Android 2.2+ device by locating it on a map, ringing the device, and resetting the device PIN or password remotely via the new My Devices website. Furthermore, Apps admins now have an option in the control panel to "Encrypt Data on Device," which will now include requiring encrypted storage on Android 3.0 tablets. Finally, Google Apps Lookup is acting as a type of internal blackbook, allowing users to easily sift through colleagues and contact them through one form or another. So... hired?

Google preps Android for its corporate interview, adds new encryption and security measures originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 09 Apr 2011 02:54:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink via  The Inquirer, Google Apps (1), (2)  |  SOURCE Official Google Enterprise Blog  | Email this | Comments 

continue reading…