Opening in July 2008 with only 500 apps, the Apple App store announces its 50th billionth download today by giving out a $10,000 App Store Gift Card. When it first launched, the Apple App Store only had 500 apps. Since then, it has completely transformed how people use their mobile devices and created a thriving app Read the full article…

W-Locate, which provides indoor and outdoor geolocation through GPS and SIM cards, has secured pre-series A funding from TNF Ventures. Location-based services are popular not only in the consumer market, but also in enterprise. With the rise of GPS- and WiFi-based location services popularized among retail and restaurant businesses, another solution is on the rise: Read the full article…

In the latest and sixth accelerator batch of 500 Startups, two out of 28 companies chosen were Japanese startups, App Socially and Whill. After quitting his job as a university professor, Yusuke Takahashi decided to move over to San Francisco for two months to seek validation for his idea. According to a BBC article, Yusuke read Read the full article…

At 20 years of age, Sahil Lavingia has managed to raise US$7 million of funding for his company, Gumroad. When talking about building products, Sahil Lavingia is definitely someone in the know. Prior to founding his current startup Gumroad, Sahil was the founding designer for Pinterest. Sahil was part of the early team that helped Read the full article…

Here are the top 10 pitching startups at Echelon 2013, chosen from more than 100 finalists around the region. Over the last few weeks, the e27 team has been travelling around the region on the hunt for the best Asia startups. We have travelled to 9 countries and connected with various local communities around the Read the full article…

Nanyang Polytechnic, a tertiary institution in Singapore, sees two teams topping Microsoft’s Imagine Cup 2013 at the local arena. In 2003, Imagine Cup started with just 2,000 students from 25 countries. Held by Microsoft, this is the 11th year of the world’s student technology competition, which allows these young minds of different backgrounds to come Read the full article…

There is an abundance of fashion retailers in the e-commerce scene. Here are some words of advice on what to do and what to avoid. Whether you are a typical Andrea Sachs in The Devil Wears Prada or the biggest fan of Vogue magazine, there is no way going around this: fashion is money. In Read the full article…

In an interesting twist, BlackBerry has announced plans to release its BlackBerry Messaging service on Android and iOS. Plus: a new Q5 entry-level device. BlackBerry has been known for its exclusivity, particularly with BlackBerry Messenger, which is perhaps the messaging service that has inspired the presence-indicator and read-receipt features now common among instant messaging services. Read the full article…

Gary Wang, founder and former CEO of China’s largest online video site, Tudou, shares two important stories in his startup life. Dressed in a hoodie, Tudou founder Gary Wang gave his opening keynote at InnovFest 2013 today. Currently working on his new venture, Light Chaser Animation Studios, which aims to be the what Wall Street Read the full article…

The National University of Singapore’s Kent Ridge campus is now a test-bed environment for new interactive digital media or info-commmunication solutions. NUS Enterprise and the NUS Interactive and Digital Media Institute (IDMI) announced today at InnovFest 2013 the launch of the NUS Living Lab. The joint initiative will see the National University of Singapore’s Kent Read the full article…