VENTURE CAPITAL POST

Procrastinating travelers who find it difficult to plan trips in advance could find some spontaneity and even bargains with last-minute travel apps to book flights and hotel rooms. Whether it's finding a flight, or a same-day hotel room, apps are catering to consumers seeking more flexibility.

The mobile industry has long held that Samsung's broad range of mobile devices makes it nimble in changingmarkets, while Apple loses out by rigidly sticking to its high-end gadgets.

Apple has provided no concrete and immediate solutions to tackle the problem of adults and children racking up credit card bills by making "in-app" purchases on tablets and mobile phones, the European Commission said on Friday.

New York, US-based physical storage provider MakeSpace landed $8 million in funding from Upfront Ventures, OATV, Founders Fund, and other investors, to model its service after Uber and Dropbox and expand its workforce.

Los Gatos, US-based e-commerce startup Wanderful Media raised $14.5 million in its fourth funding round from different media companies to launch a mobile app called Find & Save that aggregates local sales deals.

Citymapper has raised USD10 million Series A funding round led by Balderton Capital and other investors including Index Ventures, Greylock Partners and Connect Ventures.

Mathematicians from the University of Michigan claims the iOS app Entrain that they have built can help travelers prevent jetlag by teaching them how to synchronize their body lock with new time zones.

Cupertino, US-based smartphone giant Apple launched its iPhone trade-in program in Germany to allow its customers to purchase a new iPhone at a discounted price when they trade in a qualifying old device.

BlackBerry Ltd said it would not renew a deal allowing T-Mobile US Inc to sell its products, a gamble by the smartphone maker as it struggles to stabilize its business under an aggressive new chief executive officer.

Berlin, Germany-based social reading app Readmill confirmed that San Francisco, US-based cloud storage giant Dropbox acqui-hired it for $8 million in combined stock and cash, with plans to shut it down later.

Redwood City, US-based video streaming service Qik will shut down on April 30 after its features have been integrated into Skype, which acquired it for $150 million three years ago.

Newport Beach, US-based micro investing app Acorns raised $5.5 million in a Series B funding round led by Jacobs Asset Management to let people invest in index funds using their spare change.

London, UK-based keyring smartphone charger Popcord surpassed its £20,000 goal on Kickstarter and went past the £33,000 mark with five days left for its crowdfunding campaign.

Cupertino, US-based tech giant Apple launched its new CarPlay feature for safer in-car iPhone use, which will be integrated first into Ferrari, Mercedes-Benz, and Volvo vehicles.

California, US-based electronics giant Apple is currently working on a software update that will improve the fingerprint recognition ability of its Touch ID system, based on a report by AppleInsider citing a source familiar with the situation.