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KICKSTARTER TOPS $1 BILLION IN PLEDGES: Kickstarter, the hugely popular crowdfunding website, has surpassed $1 billion in pledges since its launch less than four years ago, according to the company. Over $500 million was pledged in the last twelve months alone. 5.7 million users have pledged to Kickstarter projects, with 1.7 million donating to more than one project. These pledges have come from 224 countries and territories. The U.S. was the largest source of contributions, providing $663 million. (The Next Web, Kickstarter)
FACEBOOK TO DELIVER DRONE INTERNET: Facebook is apparently in talks to buy Titan Aerospace, the maker of solar-powered drones that can fly for up to five years without ever landing, for $60 million. According to the report from TechCrunch, the purposes of the drones would be to provide Internet service in underserved regions. Facebook is the primary backer of the Internet.org effort which is working on making the Internet more widely available. The drones would be used to facilitate that effort. Recently, we wrote a report looking at the future of the commercial drone market. While commercial drones face some extremely tough regulation hurdles, many more will soon take to the air. (TechCrunch)
ZYNGA’S MOBILE GAME PUSH: Zynga, a social gaming company, is set to release updates to three of its most popular games. The gaming company, which became famous on social networks like Facebook, has steadily shifted its focus to mobile. This latest push will mark the debut of FarmVille on mobile. FarmVille is one of the company’s most popular games. The other titles getting updates include Words With Friends and Zynga Poker. Zynga has recently fallen behind its competitors, such as King and Supercell, two companies that have climbed Apple and Google in the app store charts. (Re/code)
TWITTER CAN LOCATE HIV OUTBREAKS: Twitter can accurately locate HIV outbreaks, according to research by UCLA. Researchers analyzed 9,800 tweets with sexual- and drug-oriented content. When mapped, the locations of these tweets corresponded with known data on HIV-prevalence. “This study provides the first set of evidence for how real-time social media data might be used for extracting, detecting, and remote monitoring of health-related attitudes and behaviors,” said the research team. (TechCrunch, ScienceDirect)
SOCIAL PLATFORM TVSHOW TIME ADDS STREAMING: TVShow Time, a France-based social TV platform, will allow users to stream television shows directly from their TVShow Time account. The social TV service, which provides users with tools to track and share their TV viewing history, is adding the new feature by integrating with Put.io, a file storage service. TVShow Time also plans to add integration with Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon Instant. (TechCrunch)
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