Berlin – the most vibrant tech scene in Europe

Last week was “web week” in Berlin, a town close to our hearts, and Flattr was of course represented by the beautiful and talanted developers Per Thulin and Simon Gate.

Short story: we had a blast and the Berlin tech scene is by far the most vibrant and creative in Europe. I can not tell how many times we got asked when Flattr was going to move there, to which I could only answer that Malmö is awesome in it’s own way.

Even though my head is still spinning around from all the crazyness, I will try to recap what we did. In short we presented our API at the Berlin Tech Meetup, handed out t-shirts at the re:publica conference, hung out with our friends at Readmill and SoundCloud, attended a Ruby user group, hacked away at the 5apps hackaton and visited c-base (an alien excavation site/hacker night club).

Our API attracted a lot of interest and people now see Flattr as a platform on which they can build on. We also had an interview with Berlinow which is going to be interesting to read once it’s out.

Questions we got a lot:

Q: Can I integrate Flattr in my app/web site some way?
A: Yes! This is what our API is for.

Q: Does Apple allow Flattr inside iOS apps?
A: We have not had any discussions with Apple regarding this topic, but we advice that you are careful with how you present Flattr inside your app.

Q: When are you moving to Berlin?
A: We do not have any such plans at the moment, but you are welcome to drop by our office in Malmö for a cup of coffee!

Q: How is the situation at Flattr now with Peter Sunde facing a prison sentance?
A: It’s not affecting us much since Peter is not involved in our daily operations, but has more of a visionary role.

Q: How much money can I earn with Flattr?
A: Some people make their living from Flattr, and others just use us as a tipping jar. German podcaster Tim Pritlove revealed that he earns about €2500 each month from using Flattr.

2
Comments Permalink  // Comment RSS-feed  
Facebook Twitter Digg

Dailymotion opens up fan funding for film makers

The world’s 2nd largest video hosting site Dailymotion announced that it has integrated Flattr and is making fan support available for all participants of its MotionMakers program.

To say that we’re excited about the partnership is an understatement. With over 100 million unique visitors clocking up 1.5 billion video views every month, and 20,000+ new videos uploaded every day we couldn’t have hope for a better partner to introduce Flattr to the masses.

If you’re a film maker then all you need is a Dailymotion MotionMaker account and a Flattr account. Connecting the two will display Flattr buttons next to your videos and when people click the videos then they make a small micropayment that goes to you. For those not familiar how Flattr works we’ve made a short video that explains all.

There are already many successful video projects and film makers who’ve used Flattr as an additional revenue source to fund their next projects. The deal with Dailymotion makes it much easier. Eating our own dog food I created a short tutorial how to get going on Dailymotion platform.

If you’re a MotionMaker on Dailymotion then drop us your URL, we’re happy to promote you in our blog and other channels.

For everyone else: sign up with Flattr »

* Signing up is free – no set up or subscription fees
* PayPal and Moneybookers – this is how you add funds to your Flattr account to click the buttons and support film makers (and other authors online who are using Flattr buttons on their sites, blogs, podcasts etc)
* Works everywhere – Flattr started in Sweden but it works everywhere around the world.

Media coverage:

The Next Web: Social micro-payments startup Flattr strikes deal with online video giant Dailymotion
Financial Times: Flattr brings social micropayments to DailyMotion
Wired: Flattr Partners With Dailymotion for Video Crowd-Funding
GigaOM: DailyMotion teams up with Flattr for crowdfunded video
VentureBeat: Dailymotion adds Flattr’s crowdfunding button to original videos
Mashable: Crowd-Funding Video Platform Launches, But Would You Pay?
TechCrunch: Flattr Finally Lands Big Dailymotion Deal, But Its Business Model Still Sucks
Forbes: Dailymotion Deal Could Finally See Us ‘Tipping’ More Content On The Web

15
Comments Permalink  // Comment RSS-feed  
Facebook Twitter Digg

Filter out the good stuff – new follow feature

Following someone on Flattr to easily see the stuff they like has been one of the most requested features from our users. Now you can do just that. Instead of writing about the feature Pelle recorded a quick screencast (below).

Keep in mind it’s sort of beta feature, not entirely polished, missing a few features etc. We wanted to get it out there to start getting your feedback.

Highlights:

* Follow anyone to track what they flattr, who they follow (unless they keep their stuff private)

* Your Facebook and Twitter contacts are automatically followed – you must have connected with Facebook and Twitter before.

* Hide certain people, or hide only their follow actions, for example.

* Review the people you’re following – add and remove

* Quick overview of your Facebook/Twitter friends who have joined Flattr.

Note that unclaimed stuff does not show up in the Social feed yet. So if you’re flattring a lot of good tracks on Soundcloud (get our browser plugin for that) and their owners have not yet joined Flattr then that’s hidden just now. But it’s in near future todo list.

5
Comments Permalink  // Comment RSS-feed  
Facebook Twitter Digg

Instacast – the podcatcher that gives back

It takes an hour to listen to an average podcast show. It takes much more than that to prepare and research, record, edit and upload an episode. So it’s no wonder that people want to flattr the shows they enjoy.

Two months ago the team behind Instacast podcatcher (podcast browsing and listening app) integrated Flattr and voilà! the world was ever so slightly a better place. How come?

Continue reading

4
Comments Permalink  // Comment RSS-feed  
Facebook Twitter Digg

DreamHack – Recap

DreamHack was amazing! The event was well organized, the player lineup was fantastic, and of course we were proud to be part of organizing the Fan Award.

The Fan Award went to Marcus “ThorZaIN” Eklöf who clearly was the crowd favorite. He also won the entire competition in a tough final against Polt from South Korea. I had seen ThorZaIN play before but this time he really blew my mind with how good he was. This guy will get far, and it’s so cool that he’s Swedish as well!

Most flattrs went to Swedish players which may indicate that we have trouble reaching out to e.g. South Korea where most top players come from. Maybe we should translate Flattr into Korean? In fact, I just added it to Crowdin. Help us translate to Korean here!

All in all we had a blast and the DreamHack guys are so fun to work with. We’re already discussing of doing this for further events, so please tell us in the comments if you think this a good idea or if you have any suggestions for how we could improve the concept.

Me and others at the office also have backgrounds within eSports and, as many tech companies out there, are playing and watching a lot of StarCraft. So we are super excited to continue working more with StarCraft casters, interviewers, barcraft organizers and map makers, moving eSport forward!

2
Comments Permalink  // Comment RSS-feed  
Facebook Twitter Digg

Flattr for esports – level up!

Wouldn’t it be amazing if Husky, Day9 and all the other star players got rid of the annoying ads one their pages and had Flattr instead?

Flattr, the one-click social microdonation system, will for the first time in the world be used to enable fans to support eSports stars competing in the DreamHack Eizo Open in Stockholm this weekend. Some of the world’s best StarCraft II players will go head to head while millions watch around the world.

Together with DreamHack we’ve made it possible to flattr all the players (and casters) at the Eizo Open. But we want it to go further than just this one event. I believe that Flattr can shake up eSports world just as it did with the podcasting scene. Tag along!

Continue reading

5
Comments Permalink  // Comment RSS-feed  
Facebook Twitter Digg

Fans decide the fate of €3000… with their flattrs

This weekend 2300 fans of StarCraft attending DreamHack EIZO Open in Stockholm will decide the fate of €1000 fan award and another €2000 with flattr clicks voting for their favorite player.

Photo: Denis Dervisevic

Factsheet of the DreamHack Stockholm event:

Tournament: StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty
Venue: Ericsson Globe Annexet
Date: 21-22 April
Opens: 10.00 CET, 21st of April
Ends: 24.00 CET, 22st of April
EsportBar: Oh yes
After-Party: You bet!
No. of seats: 2,300

Continue reading

3
Comments Permalink  // Comment RSS-feed  
Facebook Twitter Digg

You told us: Which mobile apps need Flattr integration

3 days ago we revealed in our Twitter stream (you should follow us!) that 10% of all flattr.com website visits are made from mobile devices and asked for your recommendations which mobile apps desperately need Flattr integration. Here’s what you told us.

Which mobile apps need Flattr integration?

Storified by Flattr.com · Sun, Apr 08 2012 06:11:08

10% of our website visits come from mobile devices. What mobile apps should Flattr definitely work with? Most successful so far – @InstacastFlattr.com
@Flattr @ReadItLaterKasper Villum Jensen
@Flattr How about @doggcatcher on Android?Sebastian Jackel
@Flattr @Instapaper would be great. What a great app, what a great service.Jan
@Flattr What about #Reeder ? That app definitely should integrate Flattr!Martin Fischer
@Flattr Reeder! Also Zite, Flipboard, XenimLukas Zeller
@Flattr Instapaper and Tweetbot :)Uwe Schwarz
@Flattr Tweetbot, iCab, downcastGörge Albrecht
@Flattr What about @tweetbot ?Christian

I’ll reach out to the makers of all those apps, let’s see if we can convince them to join the good cause. Thanks for all the feedback and if you have any further recommendations then comments box below is waiting for those.

4
Comments Permalink  // Comment RSS-feed  
Facebook Twitter Digg

Project Gutenberg taps into crowdfunding

Pop quiz – when was the world’s oldest digital library, Project Gutenberg, launched? I bet very few of you know that it was already back in 1971* when a gentleman called Michael S. Hart digitized the United States Declaration of Independence which became the very first e-text of Project Gutenberg.

Just a number of weeks ago they joined Flattr and have already almost 60 supporters. The project is a verified charity so 100% of your flattrs and donations go to them.

Continue reading

2
Comments Permalink  // Comment RSS-feed  
Facebook Twitter Digg

Fund your account with smarter shopping via Socialvest

Making money by shopping is the equivalent to alchemy’s turn-lead-into-gold quest but our new partner Socialvest makes it reality. Shop in one of the hundreds of online stores, earn back anything from 1-50% on all of your purchases and use it to flattr your favorite causes.

We believe that everyone wants to make a difference, but the time, money and know how aren’t always there. That’s why we’ve built a system that allows you to give back through something you already do everyday: shop.

Getting set up is simple:

* Use our special 1-click signup link to connect your accounts
* Install Socialvest browser plugin
* Shop at any of the partner stores

Continue reading

12
Comments Permalink  // Comment RSS-feed  
Facebook Twitter Digg