Trista Bridges
Microsoft Surface now available in stores in France
Microsoft Surface, which appears to be off to a mixed and ambiguous start on the other side of the Atlantic, just launched in France, right in time for the holidays. As with other markets, Microsoft has opted for a slow roll-out, choosing only to sell the Surface in a few major chains/distributors initially before expanding […]
PPR invests €10 million in Samwer brothers fashion clones
The Samwer brothers, founders of Rocket Internet and jokingly referred to as the ‘clone kings’, might just end up having the last laugh given the impressive fundraising news they’ve been announcing recently. First came the news that they raised $26 million for one of their SE Asian startups Lazada (considered their ‘Amazon clone’), then they […]
Orange and SFR both facing hefty anti-competition fines
Another day, another drama in France’s chaotic mobile market. France’s Authorité de la Concurrence (roughly translated, ‘Competivity Authority’) has announced that SFR and Orange have been found guilty of anti-competitive practices during the period of 2005 – 2008. As a result, the Authority ordered Orange and SFR to pay €117.5 million and €65.7 million respectively. […]
The Fancy spreading its wings in France
One of the hottest curation startups at the moment is New York-based The Fancy, a site that seeks, via a visually and technologically elegant platform, to entice people to share and, ideally, purchase actual or similar items to what they ‘fancy’. Although the sharing of beautiful ‘things’ is an integral part of the Fancy experience, […]
Increased Smartphone Adoption in France fueled by Free Mobile
According to the annual French digital economy barometer conducted by the Unversity of Paris-Dauphine and Médiamétrie, France’s digital economy, continues to demonstrate impressive growth. However, there are definitely a few areas of opportunity, and some watch-outs that need to be address. Here are a 3 key takeaways: The smartphone boom is evidence that competition can […]
TakeOff Conference brings Developers to Lille, January 17 & 18 2013
Lille’s going to be the place to be on January 17-18th. Tech center / incubator EuraTechnologies and Promotion of Future Digital Technologies Association (founded by entrepreneurs Benjamin Tierny, Robin Komiwes, and Florian Le Goff) have teamed up to create the first TakeOff Conference. The conference, which will be in English, offers passionate developers and designers the […]
Twitter VP Katie Stanton says France is the next big focus
Le Web’s first day was jammed packed with loads of interesting, high profile speakers. As mentioned earlier, in this version, France seemed to get more focus than in previous years, challenging the conventional wisdom that Le Web is a conference made in France, but in no way really about France. This time around, various French […]
Gameloft rising fast amongst top 10 iOS publishers
Gameloft, one of France’s most famous games industry success stories, has established itself as a force to be reckoned with in mobile gaming. According to App Annie’s October index, Gameloft jumped 8 places to #4 in the ranking of top app publishers by free download on iOS and is holding steady at #4 amongst game publishers […]
Game Connection Europe – still the "games industry meeting place"
We spent a good part of last week attending Game Connection Europe 2012, which took place on the 28th – 30th at Paris’ Porte de Versailles. This year’s installement saw the launch of several great new elements including, new content via a games marketing track, more workshops, and awards for the industry’s best games […]
Good social customer service – the next big challenge
Yesterday we attended The Social Customer 2012 here in Paris, a bilingual bootcamp/conference about social customer service hosted by leading social media services firm and blog, Our Social Times. Although smaller in size, The Social Customer punched well above its weight with prominent, engaging speakers such as customer service guru Frank Eliason, as well as useful, […]