May 14, 2008
Live: Arrington Interviews Sarah Lacy About New Book
Mark Hendrickson
6 comments »
Mike’s going to be interviewing Sarah Lacy
about her new book “Once You’re Lucky, Twice You’re Good” starting around 5:30pm 5:50pm PT tonight.
Qik will broadcast the interview from Outcast’s SF headquarters and we’ll embed the stream below as soon as it starts.
Expect the discussion to focus on the rise of Web 2.0 in Silicon Valley, perhaps with anecdotes and other juicy tidbits from her book. While it may be too late to get a free signed copy from us, you can preorder it from Amazon or buy it once on sale tomorrow.
CrunchBoard This Week
Mark Hendrickson
Comments Off
Here are some of the jobs posted to CrunchBoard over the past week:
- Front End Developer
FOX News, New York NY - Online Media Manager
Random House, New York NY - Product Associate
CastTV, San Francisco CA - Senior Network Administrator
LeapFrogRx, Waltham MA - User Experience Manager/Producer
Cars.com, Chicago - Senior Flash Developer
MTV Networks, New York NY - Web Developer
Register.com, New York NY - .NET Web Developer
Urban Land Institute, Washington DC - Web/Software Developer
Flowgram, San Francisco CA - PHP Web Developer
Netconcepts, Madison WI
We here at TechCrunch are also looking for a Rails Developer, Summer Interns, and an Executive Assistant.
International readers can check out our British and French job boards as well.
Jaman Launches Free Streamed Movies In Browser
Mike Butcher
1 comment »
Jaman, the San Mateo-based P2P Web movie service, is about to announce that it will be streaming selected movies for free. The movies play immediately in the browser and are supported by pre/post-roll ads. (The usual download-to-rent option remains available). Jaman is launching streaming with 100 ad-supported titles from its collection of over 3000 independent and international films. While other sites like Netflix are offering more mainstream titles, Jaman focuses on indie film and especially on the international and Bollywood market, which has a massive global audience (although not everyone seems to be a fan). But then, it also has old titles - here’s Audrey Hepburn in Charade. Ad-supported films are likely to tap into previously underserved audiences in areas like Brazil, Russia, India and China - where pirated movies are more prevalent - assuming they can get the broadband in the first place. In January Jaman managed to get distribution for its catalogue of American independent film onto TiVo DVR. The privately owned firm was founded by CEO Gaurav Dhillon who previously co-founded Informatica which IPO’d in 1999. Jaman backers include the Hearst Corporation.
| Website: | www.jaman.com |
| Location: | San Mateo, California, United States |
Jaman is a service that allows users to discover, watch and share independent and world films online. Films can either be purchased or rented for 7 days and are viewable through the Jaman Player.
The service was founded by Gaurav Dhillon who… Learn More
Confirmed: Comcast Bought Plaxo, Deal Closed Today
Michael Arrington
26 comments »
The rumors were accurate: Comcast will announce their acquisition of social contact list Plaxo today. Financial terms are not being disclosed, but the purchase price is between $150 and $170 million. Plaxo, which was founded in 2002, has raised just under $30 million in venture capital.
Plaxo has been the subject of considerable acquisition rumors lately, with both Google and Facebook named as potential suitors.
Plaxo says they will remain an independent organization in Silicon Valley. It will report into Comcast Interactive Media, which is a division of Comcast that develops and operates Internet businesses focused on entertainment, information and communication.
More from Plaxo’s CEO Ben Golub:
Plaxo and Comcast have been working together for the past year on a number of initiatives. Plaxo is providing the universal address book for Comcast’s SmartZone communications center (slated to launch later this year), and we are also now hosting all of the address book accounts for Comcast webmail users. Our partnership has already more than doubled the reach of the Plaxo network, bringing the total number of accounts to nearly 50 million.
Together, we intend to deliver on a vision of making “social media” a natural part of the lives of regular people, not just early-adopters. For example, you should be able to securely post family photos online in Pulse, and have them viewable by any of your family members, whether they are online, at work, on their mobile device, or in their living room watching TV. And you should be able to discover new shows to watch, based on what your friends and coworkers have recommended.
So, what about current Plaxo members? The services you know and enjoy from Plaxo will not only continue, but will continue to evolve and improve. In addition, both of our services benefit from “network effect,” which is to say that the more people who use them, the more useful they become.
On Monday I had an impromptu interview with Plaxo VP Marketing John McCrea and Chief Architect Joseph Smarr. They still had their poker faces on with regard to the acquisition:
This ends a long and sometimes troubled history for Plaxo, which was founded by Sean Parker, Minh Nguyen and two Stanford engineering students, Todd Masonis and Cameron Ring, in 2002. In 2006 the company finally abandoned it’s hated “viral” feature that tricked users into spamming their entire address book with Plaxo invitations.
More recently, however, Plaxo has been playing nice with the Internet. Last year they launched a popular service called Pulse, which pulls activity streams from other services into users’ Plaxo profiles. They were launch partners with Google Open Social, and announced support for DataPortability early this year. Even so, they still had the occasional misstep.
| Website: | plaxo.com |
| Location: | Mountain View, California, United States |
| Founded: | July 1, 2001 |
| Acquired: | May 14, 2008 by Comcast for $150M |
Plaxo helps keep people connected by solving the common and frustrating problem of out-of-date contact information. Users and their contacts store their information on Plaxo’s servers. When a user edits their own information, the changes appear in… Learn More
Mozilla CEO John Lilly Reveals More Details On Stealth Data Project
Michael Arrington
27 comments »
Mozilla CEO John Lilly revealed more details of their stealth Data project today, which we first reported here.
In a blog post, he says “data is one of the most important pieces to faciliate understanding (and innovation), and is also one of the most under-explored areas of the modern web.” He also says that Mozilla has two early projects that touch on the idea - Spectator and Test Pilot.
The Data idea is much broader, however. “There are worlds of information about how people use the web that are locked up and not currently shared,” he says. By simply adding optional tracking software to Firefox code, much of that data could be unleashed. Mozilla’s goals with the Data project include:
- Collects & shares data in a way that embodies the user control & privacy options which are at Mozilla’s core.
- Enables everyone — from individual researchers and entrepreneurs (both the social and capitalist types) to the largest organizations in the world — to take usage data, mix it up, mash it up, derive insight, and hopefully share some of that insight with others.
- Helps move the conversation around data collection and web usage forward, to help consumers make more informed decisions.
As we said before, the project is still very early, has no name and Mozilla hasn’t “staffed it very much.” But the potential is huge. Tell them in the comments below and on Lilly’s blog how much you want this to happen.
| Company: | Mozilla |
| Website: | www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/ |
| Launch Date: | November 9, 2004 |
In February 2008 Mozilla announced that they had reached 500 million downloads of Firefox, and 150 million active users. Learn More
| Website: | mozilla.com |
| Location: | Mountain View, California, United States |
| Founded: | February 1, 1998 |
| Funding: | $2.3M |
Born from Netscape’s 1998 open sourcing of the code base behind its Netscape Communicator internet suite, Mozilla Firefox currently holds approximately 14.85% of the world market for internet browsers as of October 2007. Version 1.0 was released on… Learn More
Stealth Search Engine Blekko Gets Money From Marc Andreessen, SoftTech
Michael Arrington
20 comments »
2008 is the year of the search engine startup. Hot on the heels of Powerset’s partial launch earlier this week, stealth search engine Blekko (no logo, no website, just this and, apparently, some technology) raised a second round of financing.
The company raised $3 million in equity at a $23 million post-money valuation. All previous investors participated, and new investors Marc Andreessen, SoftTech VC and Western Technology Investment also invested. They simultaneously closed a $1 million lease line with Western Technology Investment for server leases.
We don’t know much yet about Blekko, which was founded by former Topix founder/CEO Rich Skrenta. The company says they won’t be launching anything to the public until 2009. See our original post on Blekko for more background information.
See our coverage of Cuill as well, another hot stealth search startup we’re tracking.
| Website: | blekko.com |
| Location: | United States |
| Founded: | June 1, 2007 |
| Funding: | $6M |
Blekko is a search company founded by Rich Skrenta and his core team from previous company Topix and Netscape’s Open Directory. Blekko was founded halfway through 2007 and has already earned itself an angel… Learn More
| Birthplace: | Pittsburgh, PA |
| Companies: | Topix, Blekko |
Rich Skrenta is often recognized as the man behind the first large-scale self-spreading computer virus. In 1982, the high-schooler wrote the Elk Cloner virus that infected Apple II machines.
Arrington Gets His Hands On Microsoft TouchWall
Mark Hendrickson
17 comments »
Mike had a chance yesterday to try out the new Microsoft TouchWall, which debuts at the CEO Summit today (more video at that second link).
Watch the vid above to see how it responds to the touch of a new user. Not bad, I’d say, although it does get a bit jittery at times. It’s impressive that all of this is possible with just a few hundred dollars worth of off-the-shelf equipment (and some fancy software, of course).
See CrunchGear for more.
| Website: | www.microsoft.com |
| Location: | United States |
| IPO: | March 13, 1986 |
Best known for its Windows operating system, Microsoft is a veteran software company that has also ventured into hardware with consumer products such as the Zune and Xbox. Learn More
NY’s “Amazon Tax” Takes First Casualty: Overstock Affiliates
Jason Kincaid
33 comments »
Overstock.com has terminated its contracts with affiliates based in New York in response to the state’s recently enacted “Amazon Tax”. The drastic move is likely the first of many, as online retailers display their objection to the new law.
The backlash comes in response to New York’s misguided attempt to collect taxes from online shoppers. Up until now, online retailers have only had to collect sales tax in states in which they have a physical presence. This meant that Overstock, which only has a tax nexus in Utah, wouldn’t have to collect tax from customers in the rest of the country - it was left up to consumers to declare the goods as out-of-state purchases (which few people do).
New York has decided it wants its cut, and has enacted a law that treats affiliates of online stores as extensions of the store itself. Because Overstock has a number of affiliates in New York, it is considered (through some very creative logic) to be physically in the state too, which means that it has to collect taxes from all NY customers.
Rather than collect these taxes, Overstock has decided to cut New York affiliates entirely, removing their “physical presence” from the state. The move sends a message that will likely be echoed by other retailers: If you want to be an affiliate, move out of New York.
Overstock isn’t the first retailer to respond to the law - Amazon has filed suit against the state in an attempt to get it overturned.
You can read more details at Shawn Collins’ Affiliate Marketing Blog.
Touchwall: Microsoft’s Inexpensive Wall-Based Multi-Touch Interface
Michael Arrington
50 comments »
Bill Gates will demo a new multi-touch computer and interface today called TouchWall at the Microsoft CEO Summit in Redmond.
TouchWall refers to the touch screen hardware setup itself; the corresponding software to run TouchWall, which is built on a standard version of Vista, is called Plex.
TouchWall and Plex are superficially similar to Microsoft Surface, a multi-touch table computer that was introduced in 2007 and which recently became commercially available in select AT&T stores.
In a demo yesterday, though, Microsoft Office Labs GM Chris Pratley and Director of Envisioning Ian Sands said that the two products are completely different. Surface is a multi-touch and vision system that uses cameras to sense what is on the table, where it is and what it is doing. It can determine, for example, if a cell phone is on the table and then interact with the phone in a variety of ways, such as pulling photos off of it (see video here).
TouchWall is a fundamentally simpler mechanical system, and is also significantly cheaper to produce. While Surface retails at around $10,000, the hardware to “turn almost anything into a multi-touch interface” for TouchWall is just “hundreds of dollars” says Sands.
TouchWall consists of three infrared lasers that scan a surface. A camera notes when something breaks through the laser line and feeds that information back to the Plex software. Early prototypes, say Pratley and Sands, were made, simply, on a cardboard screen. A projector was used to show the Plex interface on the cardboard, and a the system worked fine (I’m trying to get Microsoft to release photos of the cardboard prototype, no luck so far).
The TouchWall system I was able to test yesterday consisted of a PC running Vista and Plex, a 4×6 foot plexiglass screen, a rear projector, a infrared camera and the three infrared lasers. As you can see in the video, it worked, and well:
Sands showed a number of activities in the video - scrolling though mixed media on a desktop with his hands, infinite zooming in and our, playing media, and even using a drawing tool to turn the entire screen into a whiteboard.
Microsoft is quick to say that they have no current plans to productize and sell TouchWall. But the potential of the system is obvious - Prately spoke animatedly about a future where the computing experience is less monitor/keyboard/mouse and more like an architect’s desk, with user input primarily directly on the screen and via voice commands, with keyboard/mouse type input used more for data entry or office type editing tasks.
TouchWall certainly isn’t the first multi-touch product we’ve seen (see iPhone). In addition to Surface, of course, there are a number of early prototypes emerging in this space. But what Microsoft has done with a few hundred dollars worth of readily available hardware is stunning.
It’s also clear that the only real limit on the screen size is the projector, meaning that entire walls can easily be turned into a multi touch user interface. Scrap those white boards in the office, and make every flat surface into a touch display instead. You might even save some money.
More pictures below:
115 CEOs Converge At Microsoft For CEO Summit
Michael Arrington
19 comments »
Microsoft’s annual CEO Summit kicks off officially today with an 8:30 am keynote by Bill Gates titled “The Next Wave of Business Productivity and the Challenge of Continual Innovation.”
115 CEOs will attend from 26 countries, says Microsoft. The combined annual revenue from these companies tops $3 trillion annually and they employ 10 million people worldwide. Attendees include Jack Welch, Warren Buffett and others. The event informally kicked off on Tuesday evening with Charlie Rose interview of Tom Friedman at the Fairmont Hotel in Seattle.
None of the summit content, other than Bill Gates’ keynote, will be available to anyone other than attendees. “We want attendees to feel comfortable to speak freely at the event,” said Kim Stocks, Microsoft’s Director of Corporate PR.
Some of the sessions:
- A panel discussion on “Decoding the Financial Markets” led by Maria Bartiromo
- A discussion between Jack Welch and Tom Brokaw “On Business”
- “The Next Next Internet - The Next Five Years Will Be Even More Disruptive” panel discussion led by Michael Kinsley
- “Investing In Earth 2.0″
The Bill Gates keynote looks to be the highlight, however. In addition to showcasing existing Microsoft software he will also demo a new prototype touch computing device called TouchWall and Plex, which envisions a new “Minority Report” type touch screen interface (see next post for more details on TouchWall and Plex). Gates will end with a discussion of ongoing challenges in innovation and Microsoft’s 600+ researchers looking at future technologies.
This is Microsoft’s twelfth CEO Summit.
Update: More TouchWall video here.
Console numbers released: Xbox 360 tops 10M US sales, 9.2M PS3s sold worldwide last year
[Via Joystiq]
Read - 360 sales
Read - PS3 sales
ASUS's Atom-based Eee 901 shows up in pictures
[Via jkkmobile]
Digital Canvas crams PC into LCD HDTV
Dash opens platform up for third-party developers
Raon Digital adds 32GB SSD option in Everun S32S Dic
[Via GizmoScene, thanks KC Kim]
Jawbone 2 in the wild!
by Paul Miller, posted May 14th 2008 at 5:02PM
Gallery: Jawbone 2 in the wild
Matrox delivers Dual-Link Extio F1240 remote graphics unit
[Via BIOS]
Samsung dreaming of YP-P3 with haptic support?
Not even a month after we asked you fine readers what you'd love to change about the YP-P2, in comes early word that a tweaked successor could be on the way. Granted, most everything here is lost in translation, but we're gathering that Samsung could be readying a touchscreen YP-P3 that would look awfully similar to the SCH-W420 mobile. Good thing, too, as that particular unit has haptic support (force feedback from touch panels, in a nutshell) already loaded in. So convenient, wouldn't you agree? Keep a loose eye out for this one to surface late this year.[Via PMPToday]
LG Display develops small elliptical and circular-shaped LCDs
Nury Tec's THP2 Training System makes the Wii Fit seem a bit childish
As the 3G iPhone draws near, what's your plan of attack?
Atari takes on Wii Fit with floor mat-based Family Trainer game
[Via TG Daily]
Astak Mentor e-book reader comes in at under $200
[Via Crave]
3M mini-projectors set to land in / with Samsung phones later this year
[Via Unwired View]
ASUS P560 sports Windows Mobile 6.1, many acronyms
[Via Navigadget]
Twitter is Down; I Blame the Democrats
May 14, 2008 — 04:34 PM PDT — by Mark 'Rizzn' Hopkins — — 6 Comments
I guess we should just stop whining, since the service is up most of the time, even when it doesn’t seem like it. The fact remains is that Twitter, the service that has time and time again pledged that they’d be working on that scaling issue, is down again.
The outage has lasted at least an hour at this point, and has eerily coincided with the announcement from CNN and other major news outlets that John Edwards has pledged support for Barack Obama in the race for the Democratic nomination for president. While Twitter vassilates between weathering major political discussions and crashing during them, and since we can’t blame Ruby on Rails anymore, I think the Democrats make as good of a scapegoat as any.
I obviously kid, but at this point, there is not much one can do about everyone’s favorite time-sink when it goes offline (other than be productive). On top of that, it’s fairly rare when a rational explanation is provided by Twitter as to why the outages occur.
I propose we waste some time by coming up with scenarios that could lead to these Twitter outages. We’ve covered all the possible rational explanations in our past “Twitter is down” posts. What are some irrational ones (aside from the Democrats)?
Plaxo Confession: Acquired by Comcast
May 14, 2008 — 04:22 PM PDT — by Kristen Nicole — — Add a Comment
Finally, Plaxo has admitted to having been acquired, by none other than Comcast, for around the speculated $175 million, according to Reuters. After dodging rumors that eventually seemed unsubstantiated, the communications services company has in fact been the one to take on Plaxo.
Having an existing partnership with Comcast was surely a factor in the decision to take on Plaxo, as the partnership included alerts for customers, among other integrated options. And in acquiring Plaxo, thanks to its vertical expansion with Plaxo Pulse, Comcast is hoping for an opportunity to really insert its brand into social media across the web.
Plaxo is all about an open social web experience for individual users, and though this has caused a bit of controversy in the past few months, it’s a generally progressive company that is moving in the direction in which most web-based social networks will have to go.
There have been times when some of us here at Mashable had trouble thinking of an ideal acquisition situation for Plaxo, as it’s somewhat on the fringe of networking given its progressive moves and sometimes non-user friendly integration with existing tools like Outlook. Nevertheless, we’re all quite interested to see exactly how Comcast will be incorporating Plaxo into its own communications services.
According to Plaxo, the company will remain an independent operation, keeping on all 50 of its employees and working on growing its networked address book features, and Plaxo Pulse as well. So far, we do know that Plaxo will be integrating with some of Comcast’s online properties like Fancast and Fandango, as well as its own portal, so I imagine that the face of Plaxo and the application of its technology will be shifting a good amount over the next year.
Google Maps New API, in Flash!
May 14, 2008 — 03:58 PM PDT — by Kristen Nicole — — Add a Comment
Here’s the moment all you map mashup junkies have been waiting for: Google Maps for Flash is now available for development through its new API. What a maptastic week it’s been. Flash graphics can be used for each title layer, maker and information windows, meaning you can create more dynamic map mashups. Even throw in some animation and video.
For the user experience, however, the smoothness for things like zoom and drag functions are likely the most important new features to get excited about. For developers, it’s important to note that Google has split the interface and implementation, so you can build against the current version of the API, and future updates will be automatic. See here for more details, and see here for some Google Map mashups worthy of time-wasting.
The Microsoft-Yahoo Dream/Nightmare Lives On: Billionaire Icahn Makes a Move
May 14, 2008 — 02:30 PM PDT — by Adam Ostrow — — Add a Comment
Not so fast Jerry Yang; Yahoo may not be in the clear from Microsoft just yet. Reuters is reporting that billionaire investor Carl Icahn is set to nominate a “dissident slate” for the Yahoo Board of Directors. What this means in layman’s terms is that Yahoo shareholders may have an option to elect board members that would be more open to Microsoft than those that rejected the software company’s $33/share bid.
While Microsoft has withdrawn its offer, if Icahn’s board were able to get elected, it would pave the way for Microsoft to make a new offer, at just about any price that offered Icahn a premium on his shares in Yahoo. Hence, not only would Yahoo not get its rumored $37/share asking price, it might get less than the $33/share previously offered. Ouch.
I’ll spare you the history lesson, but Icahn has made a very profitable career out of using similar tactics at other companies, so this is a potentially serious development in the Microsoft-Yahoo saga. While such tactics may seem dirty, it’s par for the course with public companies, especially ones that turn down offers that seem pretty good to most shareholders.
17 Google Maps Mashups To Waste Away Your Day
May 14, 2008 — 01:35 PM PDT — by Sean P. Aune — — 7 Comments
Do you prefer your mashups useful or fun? If latter is the answer, we’ve got a treat for you: 17 quirky Google Maps mashups that probably won’t cure cancer or stop world hunger, but they’re definitely interesting, at least from the “someone did that?” point of view. You might want to hurry browsing through these, though; from our experience, Google Maps mashups tend to die out almost as fast as they appear.
Be sure to check our older list of must-see Google Maps mashups.
(more…)
CBS and EQAL: The New Face of Media?
May 14, 2008 — 01:30 PM PDT — by Kristen Nicole — — Add a Comment
CBS is delving deeper into web content with a new partnership with EQAL, the company behind lonelygirl15 and the now “retired” KateModern. This partnership will offer a multi-platform approach for the distribution of CBS and EQAL content across television, online and mobile devices.
The deal includes interaction between the two companies on the writing level, somewhat similar to MySpace’s approach with a growing number or web-production firms.
What I think are some key highlights:
This allows CBS to better integrate with online social networks, as EQAL has a good stronghold on integrated media solutions with sites like MySpace, Facebook and YouTube
As CBS has already partnered with other web TV companies like Joost, the need for an extended set of relationships gives CBS a wider channel for distribution
EQAL gets to go mainstream very quickly, in teaming up with CBS, following in the footsteps of shows like quarterlife, which was picked up by NBC
The competition amongst broadcasters is getting fierce when it comes to online distribution, especially as monetization of video is becoming a more standard option for distribution. Now CBS can better compete with the likes of NBC, which has begun to gain a dominant position for online broadcast television thanks to Hulu.
Find, Organize and Share Geo Data With Finder
May 14, 2008 — 12:58 PM PDT — by Stan Schroeder — — Add a Comment
I’ve written about FortiusOne’s GeoCommons application almost exactly one year ago. It was an advanced app that let you create advanced, custom maps using various geo datasets.
A year has passed, and GeoCommons is no longer available in its initial format. It has become a suite which will consist of three intertwined applications: Finder, Maker, and Atlas. I recon that the three applications put together will be a more powerful version of GeoCommons, however, only the first one, Finder, is available at the moment
It’s a search engine that lets you search for geo datasets or browse through categories or tags to find them. Once you’ve registered with the site - which is currently in invite-only beta - you can save datasets to your own profile and share them with others. Finally, if you want to contribute, you can upload your own geo datasets to Finder as well.
The datasets included in Finder’s database still seem to be sparse. For example, the “Technology” category will yield very few results. As far as the actual search goes, I’ve noticed that “OR” operator is turned on by default instead of “AND”, so expect some very wide results. For precise multi word queries, use quotation marks. Still, I can’t think of any other better or at least equally elegant way to find geo datasets on the net, so I’m sure there are a lot of people who will find Finder valuable.
When I wrote about GeoCommons I’ve noted that the application is not really aimed at the most casual users, but rather at professionals who are used to working with geo data. This also holds true of Finder; while it’s really simple to use, most users won’t have any idea what to do with the geo datasets - especially those in ESRI format, which is used only by professionals - except perhaps load them into Google Earth (.kmz is also supported) and look at them.
Once the two missing pieces of the GeoCommons suite - Maker, which enables you to “create, publish and share maps using both your own geodata and GeoCommons open data” and Atlas, which “enables you to collaborate around the creation and reading of maps by adding video and photos to tell stories” are launched, we’ll be able to say more about the entire concept and its intended audience. For now, though, if you’re a pro working with geodata or a developer in need of data for a mashup, Finder is definitely worth a look. Check out the video introduction to Finder here.
Kluster’s Community-Directed Knewsroom Goes Live
May 14, 2008 — 12:37 PM PDT — by Paul Glazowski — — 2 Comments
Knewsroom, a new service from Kluster that is described as “a community- directed news publication,” has brought its people-powered invention to launch. In mid April, Adam reported of Kluster’s plans for a Knewsroom debut, and now, the site has gone live.
The concept of Knewsroom is pretty simple. Mate the community-driven news promotion idea popularized by services like Digg, Newsvine, Reddit and so forth, and present daily results of top picks in the classic newspaper model, sans any tangible stuff to sort out. (And no child soldier screaming, “Extra, extra, read all about it.” Yeah, no, no one’s done that for a while….)
The reason for drawing basic parallels with Digg and Newsvine and others is that it is in fact a social effort to get a daily digital paper out to Web readers. Yet, as with Newsvine, it is also one that asks of contributors to provide either partially- or fully-original content. And the motive users may have to partake in the experiment? They get paid. Either by having a link submission (20% of all ad dollars is divvied to respective contributors) or fresh-crafted story published (standard $150 per piece).
As for how users get paid, Kluster previously announced a unique partnership with Mastercard, in which contributors to the Knewsroom receive a debit card to which any money earned is added to a card’s value.
Starting off, Knewsroom presents six sections to readers: politics, business, technology, design, sports, and entertainment. If contributions manage to rank among the top 5 stories and top 5 topics of each section, the money starts getting made. It’s all about reader interest at that point. From proposal to submission to popular decision to publication, Knewsroom essentially takes the hierarchy out of the editorial circle. It’s an exercise in supply and demand, if you will, with the user base running the ship. Which makes it quite an interesting thing to watch take shape, for sure.
Disclosure: Kluster is a past sponsor of Mashable events, and is a sponsor of MashBashNYC.
Imeem Adds OpenSocial to Media Platform
May 14, 2008 — 12:01 PM PDT — by Kristen Nicole — — 2 Comments
Imeem’s platform offerings just got bigger, with the addition of support for OpenSocial. This is part of Imeem’s recently launched Media Platform, which interestingly allows apps to be created using Imeem’s license for use of music from the major record labels.
Announced today at the OpenSocial Summit at Googleplex, Imeem is finally a full-fledged member of the OpenSocial camp. Though Imeem is widely known for its music-sharing capabilities, Imeem still encompasses a great deal of other media within its social network.
Developers hoping to tap into any segment of Imeem’s network can do so, quite easily if they already have an OpenSocial application. A few details about the OpenSocial support:
· Full support for the core OpenSocial JavaScript APIs, including access to people and relationships on imeem as well as access to data persistence APIs
· Added support for the OpenSocial gadget xml, making it easy for developers to specify their entire application in the OpenSocial gadget xml standard
· imeem-specific OpenSocial extensions, making it possible for developers to access imeem’s media metadata through the OpenSocial JavaScript APIs. This includes the ability to get back a specific user’s media, search for media in imeem’s vast media library, as well as get access to music, video, and photo content on imeem.
Budding Germany-Based Mobile Social Network Qeep Going Global
May 14, 2008 — 11:07 AM PDT — by Paul Glazowski — — 3 Comments
Qeep, a mobile social network launched by Blue Lion mobile GmbH, a Cologne, Germany-based company, is purportedly growing at a decent clip. Now claiming a daily figure for new registrations of some 1,500-2000 users and having so far surpassed a 100,000 member count, the service is focused on delivering its users a number of things in a single package, including: a chat platform based on a so-called “QMS” system, which offers significantly less expensive SMS-like communications all via the mobile Web, online gameplay, and a photoblogging option with an unlimited storage supply.
Founded by former executives of T-Mobile International and Nintendo, Blue Lion and its Qeep property have been created to cater exclusive to mobile users who are seeking a free, all-in-one alternative to services on the Web whose respective focuses are singular ideas, be it sharing photos, gaming, etc. As for its QMS chat network, Qeep claims to operate a data-compression system to offer users more latitude where mobile transfer rates are concerned.
The grand plan for Qeep? Blue Lion is mum about the details of its long-term intentions for the business. Basically, it looks to deliver a mixture of advertising and eventual premium subscription fees, the details of which it has not yet disclosed. One thing is absolutely certain. Qeep will need to heavily expand its membership if its to achieve the kind of global recognition it seeks. At the moment, the network will operate with support for English- and German-speaking users.
As for mobile compatibility, Qeep is said to operate on all phones that support Java. Simply visit ‘http://wap.qeep.net’ from your mobile phone, or visit the service’s home page to sign up.
Announcing US Summer Tour 2008 - Save the Date & Call for Sponsors
May 14, 2008 — 10:47 AM PDT — by Adam Hirsch — — 9 Comments
We’re excited to announce Mashable’s US Summer Tour 2008! This will be Mashable’s first official tour covering more than 7 cities in less than a month. Each event will have approximately 500 to 900 attendees, and will include networking, formal introductions to the sponsors, “Drink Tickets”, music, light appetizers, Pete Cashmore, and more. The events will be ticketed, and information about how to register will be released over the next few weeks.
There are numerous sponsorship opportunities available, including:
* Individual city sponsorships
* Schwag giveaways
* Raffle prizes
* Media partnerships
For more info please contact: Brett and Adam at events [at] mashable |dot| com
Save the dates and stay tuned to Mashable for updates on sponsors, ticket releases and surprises:
When: July 12th, Saturday, 7:00 - 10:00 PM
Where: Showbox SoDo, 1700 1st Avenue South, Seattle, WA 98134
What else?:DJ El Toro, Light Appetizers, Drink Tickets and more…
When: July 15th, Tuesday, 7:00 - 10:00 PM
Where: Mighty SF, 119 Utah Street, San Francisco, CA 94103
What else?: Drinks Tickets, Light Appetizers and a few surprises!
When: July 18th, Friday, 7:00 - 10:00 PM (Night after Twiistup4)
Where: Rubicon Project HQ : Courtyard, 1925 S. Bundy Drive, Los Angeles, CA 90025
What Else?: See the office from ‘24′, catering by Party Charlie, Open Bar, Celebrity Sightings and more!
Hosting Sponsor:
‘The Rubicon Project is an advertising technology company currently focused on ad network optimization. Websites looking to make more money while doing less work should visit‘
Thanks to Rubicon Project for hosting and thanks to Party Charlie for the catering help!
When: July 30th, Wednesday, 7:00 - 10:00 PM
Where: Buffalo Billiards 201 6th Street, Austin, TX 78701
What Else?: Drink Tickets, “Bar Food”, Billiards/RockBand/Wii/ShuffleBoard and more…
Media Partner:
“Austin Tech Happy Hour has become the premier networking event for Austin technology professionals to share ideas, insights, and knowledge in a casual and fun environment.”
When: August 2nd, Saturday, 7:00 - 10:00 PM
Where: Opium Garden 136 Collins Ave, Miami Beach, FL 33139
What Else?: Party at the hottest night club in Miami, drink tickets, appetizers, models and the beach!
When: August 5th, Tuesday, 7:00 - 10:00 PM
Where: The Roxy 279 Tremont Street, Boston, MA 02116
What Else?: Drinks Tickets, Light Appetizers and a few surprises!
When: August 7th, Thursday, 7:00 - 10:00 PM
Where: Touch 240 West 52nd Street, New York, NY 10019
What Else?: Big surprises for the big finale!
Tour Sponsor*
The Sun(TM) Startup Essentials program is designed to help startup businesses off the ground by providing access to industry-leading systems at deep discounts, free world-class software and web-based training, discounts on partner hosting services, and more.
*There are Tour Sponsorships available, Individual City Sponsorships Available and there are other opportunities including Schwag Giveaways, Raffle Prizes and other partnership offers. Media partners welcome… For more info please contact: Brett and Adam at events [at] mashable |dot| com
Touring Video Partner:
Launched in February 2006, Stickam emerged as the first and largest Web site dedicated to live interactive video streaming. Stickam’s cutting edge technology delivers millions of streams each day, reaching over two million registered users. They are continuing on the path of social interactive TV by adding features that nurture its growing community and tech-savvy broadcasters. Whether you are famous for 15 or 150,000, Stickam.com is where you will find your friends and fans. See and be seen at Stickam.com, The Live Community.
