App store GetJar bottles up $11 million from VCs

GetJar, a mobile app store that offers software for most major smartphones, said Thursday it has picked up $11 million in financing.

(Credit: GetJar)

GetJar said it will use the Series B funding generated by Accel Partners to continue to innovate its site and its services for customers and developers, including Pay-Per-Download, App Download Page, and App Catalogue Express.

GetJar is not nearly as well known as the Apple, Android, and BlackBerry mobile app stores. But according to GetJar, it has counted more than 1 billion downloads since its launch in 2005. GetJar describes itself as the world's second largest app store, behind Apple's App Store.

GetJar uses an open market approach, which means it offers apps for virtually all of the major smartphone, including those with Android, BlackBerry, Symbian, and Windows Mobile platforms. Though iPhone users can't get apps directly from GetJar due to Apple's closed platform, the site does display iPhone apps and redirects users to Apple's App Store to download them. GetJar said it currently offers around 65,000 apps to customers in more than 200 countries.

Headquartered in San Mateo, Calif., with offices in the U.K. and Lithuania, the company has been growing, especially over the past year during which it has tripled its staff, quadrupled the number of downloads per month, and signed deals with companies such as Sprint.

Consumers can access GetJar's main site through their PCs where they can enter the name of their device or phone number to see specific apps. They can also surf to GetJar's mobile site directly through their phones where GetJar automatically detects the device. From there, the site works like any other app store, offering descriptions, reviews, and download links for the various apps.

"It's hard to believe that six guys that set up the first beta testing community for mobile app developers would eventually transform into the world's 2nd largest app store with over 1 billion downloads to date," Ilja Laurs, founder and CEO of GetJar, said in a statement. "We look forward to our continued partnership with Accel Partners and this new funding will be instrumental in taking GetJar to the next level in our business strategy for aggressive global expansion and product development."

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Now Flash Comes in Google's Chrome browser

Google has fulfilled a promise to build Adobe Systems' Flash Player into Chrome, a move that helps keep the beleaguered plug-in relevant despite significant efforts to replace it.

Chrome 5.0.375.86, the stable version of Chrome released Thursday for Windows, Mac, and Linux, extends the plug-in to the mainstream version of Google's browser. Previously it was only in the developer and beta releases, and because of some hiccups it was disabled for a time there.

The new version also fixes five security bugs, including one involving a cross-site scripting vulnerability that had been fixed earlier but that recurred.

Flash has been a dominant component for building the richer aspects of the Web, notably games and streaming video, and programmers have relied on it to bridge compatibility and feature differences among browsers. But browser makers have long chafed at how Flash programs could crash the browser and confuse its user interface, and long-running work to reproduce many Flash abilities in Web standards is steadily maturing.

Google is among those pushing this work, which sometimes loosely is called HTML5 but which in fact also includes Cascading Style Sheets for formatting, and JavaScript for processing, and other elements of the Hypertext Markup Language for Web pages beyond the upcoming HTML5 version.

Apple has been most vocal about opposition to Flash, including a strongly worded letter from CEO Steve Jobs enumerating what he sees as Flash shortcomings and a ban that keeps Flash off iOS devices--the iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch.

Despite Flash's drawbacks and mixed reputation, though, it's unarguably widely used on the Web, and Adobe is working to keep it relevant, most recently through the Flash Player 10.1 release that works on mobile phones as well as computers. Here, Adobe and Google have a tight alliance: Android phones are the first to get Flash support, and Chrome now has it built in. That means among other things that it will automatically be updated through Chrome's behind-the-scenes upgrade technology.

To reduce Flash problems in Firefox, Mozilla just released Firefox 3.6.4 that walls off plug-ins into a separate area of computer memory where they can do less harm. The feature is enabled only on Windows and Linux so far but is under development for Mac OS X.

Update 6:32 a.m. PDT: Those who like Chrome but not Flash can type "about:plugins" into the Chrome address bar to see a list of plug-ins and a "disable" button to shut down what isn't wanted. In addition, in the "under the hood" section of the control panel, the "content settings" options lets people selectively block or enable various plug-ins for specific Web sites.

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Download Adobe Digital Editions Converter 2.7.1.253

Convert Adobe Digital Editions ebook to PDF file

Adobe Digital Editions Converter is a simple and easy to use application that allows you to quickly and easily convert ebooks to PDF file formats. User can view PDF ebook on other computer or device, user also can print Digital Edition ebook without limitation. it is 1-click converter and easy to use.

Our program has simple interface makes conversion into child's play. The opening screen allows users to select ebook view mode and then also select where the PDF file will be saved. From there users begin to convert. A series of screens lead you through the process, ensuring that everything is perfect. The program adjust to best ebook resolution automatically, this ensures perfect conversions into PDF.

Here are some key features of "Adobe Digital Editions Converter":

· One-click converter.
· Adjust ebook screen size automatically
· Perfect conversions into PDF
· Support ebook in PDF or EPUB format

Requirements:

· Adobe Digital Editions

Limitations:

· Watermark on output files

"The main window of Adobe Digital Editions Converter will require users to open their eBooks into Adobe Digital Editions"

"Users will be able to set their output file name and destination folder from the third step of the wizard"

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