BlueStacks brings Android apps to Windows, raises cash from ex-Microsofties

bluestacks

Have you ever wanted to take your favorite Android games, news or travel apps to your Windows PC? A new service from BlueStacks, which announced $7.6 million in financing today from Ignition Partners and others, makes that idea a reality. The company says that it “plays Cupid” between Android apps and Windows, allowing users to… Read More…

Buster Benson sells popular iPhone app, focuses efforts on new social game

locavore

Seattle developer Buster Benson has sold Locavore — a popular mobile application that assists people in their quest to find fresh local foods and nearby farmers’ markets   —  to Local Dirt as part of a cash and equity deal. A former Amazon.com developer, Benson tells GeekWire that he sold the app (one of the… Read More…

Amazon.com and T-Mobile want your dusty old gadgets

Ah, memories.

Suddenly that old phone gathering dust in your drawer is in high demand. Amazon.com today expanded its existing trade-in program to include consumer electronics — offering gift cards to people who send in consumer electronics including tablets, cell phones, MP3 players, cameras, GPS devices, and other items. The company previously limited trade-ins to DVDs, video games… Read More…

Zaarly looks to take on Craigslist, with help from LeVar Burton and Ashton Kutcher

Kutcher (Wikipedia photo)

Need a plumber, a DJ or a chainsaw carving of a bear? Welcome to Zaarly. Born at Startup Weekend in L.A., Zaarly today is launching what it dubs a “location-based, real-time commerce platform.” Essentially, it is an online marketplace for goods and services, kind of like Craigslist or eBay. The service will initially be available… Read More…

Ericsson taking over management of Clearwire network, 700 employees making shift

clearmodem

Big move by Clearwire this morning, announcing that Ericsson will take over day-to-day management of the Kirkland company’s wireless 4G broadband network. Seven hundred Clearwire employees will transfer to Ericsson by mid-year as part of the seven-year deal with the Stockholm-based telecom services company — continuing Clearwire’s headcount reduction. It’s the latest step in a longstanding… Read More…

Video: Mobile startup lets you listen to Twitter

ihear1

Google News rolled out some new features last week, allowing mobile phone users to find relevant news tied to nearby locations. A Seattle startup by the name of iHear Network is taking that concept one step further, transforming text-based Tweets into an audio news stream of sorts. “It is basically like a location-based chat service,”… Read More…

Q&A: Starbucks mobile exec on Android, mobile ordering

K.C. MacLaren

At some point in the future, you may be able to order that Mocha Coconut Frappucinno from your mobile phone. Mobile ordering is just one of the areas where Starbucks is spending some time experimenting, listening to customers and trying to deliver the right solutions. K.C. MacLaren, director of mobile and emerging platforms at Starbucks,… Read More…

Are iPads mobile devices? A few experts weigh in

ipad1

Are iPads and other tablet computers mobile devices? That was one of the lively discussions today at the MobileNorthwest conference in Seattle. Starbucks director of mobile K.C. MacLaren got things rolling in a morning keynote when he said that tablets are not considered mobile devices in his mind given their large form factor. MacLaren’s remarks led to… Read More…

Billing Revolution rings up $6.6 million, powers mobile payments for Zynga and others

billingrevolution

The mobile phone is turning into a mobile purchasing device. And Billing Revolution wants to help lead that charge. The Seattle mobile payments startup has landed $6.6 million in financing from DCM, SK Telecom and angel investors, money that CFO Alan Dishlip said will be used to “accelerate the pace” of the product roll out. “People… Read More…

Attention mobile devs: Hack the World’s Fair this Saturday

next50

The organizers of “The Next Fifty,” a series of events that will mark the anniversary of the Seattle World’s Fair next year, are teaming up with other groups on Saturday for a hack day – inviting web and mobile developers to create prototype apps and games associated with Seattle Center, with the possibility that their… Read More…