Apple Maps is taken to task (yet again); Instagram has more users than Twitter.
It’s a hits business: Silicon Valley and Hollywood share more than Ashton Kutcher [VENTURE MINDED]
The evaluation of whether to invest in a startup and the decision of whether to greenlight a film are also startlingly similar. From a diligence perspective, financial projections are primarily reviewed for the purpose of a sanity test. Do the financial projections coincide with the likely business model of this startup? Do these numbers reflect the audience’s likely reception of this film and our level of marketing? And when it comes time to pull the trigger in both instances, the ultimate decision usually comes down to a gut instinct given the unpredictability and subjectivity of analysis in both industries.
A map app, as sleek as iPhone 5, is often off [THE NEW YORK TIMES]
And on, and on, and on. Entire lakes, train stations, bridges and tourist attractions have been moved, mislabeled or simply erased. Satellite photo views consist of stitched-together scenes from completely different seasons, weather conditions and even years. The point-of-interest data, in particular, seems to be incomplete or flaky, especially overseas (many snarky examples at theamazingios6maps.tumblr.com).
Schmidt raps Apple for patent trolling [THE KOREA TIMES]
“Literally patent wars prevent choice, prevent innovation and I think that is very bad. We are obviously working through that and trying to make sure we stay on the right side of these issues. So ultimately Google stands for innovation as opposed to patent wars,” Schmidt said in a launching event for the company’s Nexus 7 tablet at the Grand Intercontinental Seoul.
Instagram beats Twitter in daily mobile users for the first time [ALL THINGS D]
That data comes from comScore, via a new mobile measurement report: It says that throughout August, Instagram had an average of 7.3 million daily active users — or DAUs, in Facebook parlance. That tops of Twitter’s 6.868 million DAUs over the same period of time.
What’s more, the average Instagram user spent 257 minutes accessing the photo-sharing site via mobile device in August, the data claims, while the average Twitter user over the same period spent 169.9 minutes viewing.
Airbnb is raising a big third round, aiming for a valuation north of $2 billion [TECHCRUNCH]
We slipped this rumor into a panel discussion at Disrupt a couple weeks ago, actually, but we’ve been busy collecting more details. Here’s what we’ve got so far: the San Francisco company is raising around $100 million in a third round of funding at a valuation “north of a billion” between $2 billion and $3 billion. While many of its lengthy list of current investors are considering participating, we’re told, a new firm is coming in to lead the outside round.
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