What's The Idea Of Company:
Take a high-margin product like cosmetics, and cut prices by at least half. Now add online accessibility with customization, community and values. Throw in a pinch of demystifying expert advice, and you've got e.l.f., short for "eyes, lips, face."
Launched by New York-based JA Cosmetics roughly three years ago, e.l.f. appears to be turning the cosmetics industry on its ear.
How It Works:
All cosmetics cost just USD 1, and customers can create personalized profiles that generate product recommendations and customized looks. A "beauty secrets" section is filled with tips and expert advice, and a blog section fosters community and discussion. The site also supports the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) and People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), promising not to use animal testing on any products or ingredients.
e.l.f. currently ships only to US and Canadian addresses, but versions of the site have recently launched for both the UK and Australia. The company's products are also available in US stores, including Target and a variety of drugstores and convenience chains.
It also makes you wonder when the rest of the industry will wake up and realize that their customers have entered the 21st century—this isn't your father's consumer base! Online community, customization, values and, most of all, the clearcut bargain pricing: everything for a dollar. Time to copy this recession-proof recipe to other countries? Which segment of products can you sell for a euro, 10 yuan or 2 reais, in a thoroughly modern way?
More at: www.eyeslipsface.com
Monday, October 15, 2007
Bizner an online bank for entrepreneurs ,just announced a new service BizBalance
What Company is About:
Bizner, which started in February as an online bank for entrepreneurs, just announced a new service. Bizner is the first bank in Europe to offer complete integration of banking and accounting, which it calls . The aim of this financial hybrid is to save customers the time and hassle of booking transactions twice.
How It Works:
Bizner developed BizBalance with Reeleezee, which creates of online accounting applications. By integrating Reeleezee's bookkeeping software with Bizner's online banking, entrepreneurs (or their accountants) no longer need to book outgoing invoices and incoming payments separately. Invoices are created in Reeleezee, and are automatically marked as paid as soon as money's in the bank. Same goes for incoming invoices and outgoing payments: users book an invoice to be paid, and a bank transfer is simultaneously set up and parked in a payment queue.
While various forms of integration between banks and accounting systems already exist, most either require significant IT investments or, on a smaller scale, involve manual importing and exporting of data. By offering a integrated, online solution, Bizner claims customers will have a far better real-time insight into their finances. To access BizBalance, entrepreneurs need to sign up with both Bizner and Reeleezee. Bizner charges modest banking fees, and Reeleezee has a monthly fee of EUR 24.95–49.90, depending on a customer's transaction volume.
Bizner is an independent unit of Dutch Rabobank Group. BizBalance isn't the fledgling bank's only innovation: it works without branch offices or account managers, and enables customers to do most of their banking business without human intervention. Opening new accounts, acquiring bank guarantees or taking out loans: entrepreneurs use Bizner's self-service approach to get what they need from their bank, whenever they need it. One to look into if you sell financial products to SMBs in other countries.
More at:
www.bizner.nl
Bizner, which started in February as an online bank for entrepreneurs, just announced a new service. Bizner is the first bank in Europe to offer complete integration of banking and accounting, which it calls . The aim of this financial hybrid is to save customers the time and hassle of booking transactions twice.
How It Works:
Bizner developed BizBalance with Reeleezee, which creates of online accounting applications. By integrating Reeleezee's bookkeeping software with Bizner's online banking, entrepreneurs (or their accountants) no longer need to book outgoing invoices and incoming payments separately. Invoices are created in Reeleezee, and are automatically marked as paid as soon as money's in the bank. Same goes for incoming invoices and outgoing payments: users book an invoice to be paid, and a bank transfer is simultaneously set up and parked in a payment queue.
While various forms of integration between banks and accounting systems already exist, most either require significant IT investments or, on a smaller scale, involve manual importing and exporting of data. By offering a integrated, online solution, Bizner claims customers will have a far better real-time insight into their finances. To access BizBalance, entrepreneurs need to sign up with both Bizner and Reeleezee. Bizner charges modest banking fees, and Reeleezee has a monthly fee of EUR 24.95–49.90, depending on a customer's transaction volume.
Bizner is an independent unit of Dutch Rabobank Group. BizBalance isn't the fledgling bank's only innovation: it works without branch offices or account managers, and enables customers to do most of their banking business without human intervention. Opening new accounts, acquiring bank guarantees or taking out loans: entrepreneurs use Bizner's self-service approach to get what they need from their bank, whenever they need it. One to look into if you sell financial products to SMBs in other countries.
More at:
www.bizner.nl
EasyProjects.net. offers you project management solutions that will allow you to finish and manage multiple projects at once
What Company is Offering:
Easy Projects .NET is a product developed by Logic Software, Inc. - Toronto-based custom software development company.
Logic Software, Inc. is one of the leading custom software development and software outsourcing companies in its field. Some of the world's most successful Independent Software Vendors (ISVs) have relied on our company to complete their projects on time and within a budget.
How It Works:
EasyProjects.net. offers you project management solutions that will allow you to finish and manage multiple projects at once. EasyProjects software is easy to use so you won’t waste your time trying to figure out how the software works. EasyProjects software can help you manage any type of project you need to work on. EasyProjects has many features that help you and your company, such as, message boards, issue and request tracking, statistics and reports, email notifications, and more. When your company uses EasyProjects, all team members will be able to communicate and review the project. Be more productive with EasyProjects software.
More at:http://www.easyprojects.net/
Easy Projects .NET is a product developed by Logic Software, Inc. - Toronto-based custom software development company.
Logic Software, Inc. is one of the leading custom software development and software outsourcing companies in its field. Some of the world's most successful Independent Software Vendors (ISVs) have relied on our company to complete their projects on time and within a budget.
How It Works:
EasyProjects.net. offers you project management solutions that will allow you to finish and manage multiple projects at once. EasyProjects software is easy to use so you won’t waste your time trying to figure out how the software works. EasyProjects software can help you manage any type of project you need to work on. EasyProjects has many features that help you and your company, such as, message boards, issue and request tracking, statistics and reports, email notifications, and more. When your company uses EasyProjects, all team members will be able to communicate and review the project. Be more productive with EasyProjects software.
More at:http://www.easyprojects.net/
Sunday, October 14, 2007
Become Rich Through Spoofing....................
If you've ever made or received a call using a calling card, you've probably noticed one of the side effects of these payment systems: instead of your number showing up on the recipient's Caller ID screen, a number owned by the card's issuer appears. Now a company called SpoofCard has decided to capitalize on this discrepancy by selling calling cards that are specifically designed to spoof Caller ID systems.
For about 17 cents a minute, SpoofCard lets you send any numeric string as your Caller ID code. The service goes even further, providing realtime voice-changing capabilities and call recording. Although SpoofCard's Privacy Policy specifies that the service shouldn't be used for illegal activities and that the company reserves the right to hand over your personal info if they're subpoenaed, we won't be surprised to see this shut down soon. In the meantime, here's your chance to really confuse those wiretappers.
More at:www.spoofcard.com
For about 17 cents a minute, SpoofCard lets you send any numeric string as your Caller ID code. The service goes even further, providing realtime voice-changing capabilities and call recording. Although SpoofCard's Privacy Policy specifies that the service shouldn't be used for illegal activities and that the company reserves the right to hand over your personal info if they're subpoenaed, we won't be surprised to see this shut down soon. In the meantime, here's your chance to really confuse those wiretappers.
More at:www.spoofcard.com
eSchedule.ca offers professional services, training services and customer services relating to schedule management
What Company Is Offering:
Achieving success in your eSchedule.ca deployment requires planning, implementation, and reinforcement. Our Training Services are designed to provide assistance at every turn as your company starts using our services. With both instructor-led and web-based self-service lessons, you can rest assured you'll have the training required to effectively use our eSchedule Employee Scheduling Solutions.
How It Works:
eSchedule.ca offers professional services, training services and customer services relating to schedule management. The professional services provided at eSchedule.ca can be customized to your specific company. There is a training service so that everyone that uses eSchedule.ca can get the most out of it, and if there are further questions you can ask go to customer services to help you. eSchedule.ca offers scheduling templates that will save you the time you spend on making schedules. eSchedule.ca offers vacation management, internal messaging for easy communication, and real time shift trading so you can trade shifts with other employees. You can get all of eSchedule’s solutions and services for only $99 per month. Don’t let scheduling take up all of your time go to eSchedule.ca to get easy solutions.
More at:http://www.eschedule.ca/
Achieving success in your eSchedule.ca deployment requires planning, implementation, and reinforcement. Our Training Services are designed to provide assistance at every turn as your company starts using our services. With both instructor-led and web-based self-service lessons, you can rest assured you'll have the training required to effectively use our eSchedule Employee Scheduling Solutions.
How It Works:
eSchedule.ca offers professional services, training services and customer services relating to schedule management. The professional services provided at eSchedule.ca can be customized to your specific company. There is a training service so that everyone that uses eSchedule.ca can get the most out of it, and if there are further questions you can ask go to customer services to help you. eSchedule.ca offers scheduling templates that will save you the time you spend on making schedules. eSchedule.ca offers vacation management, internal messaging for easy communication, and real time shift trading so you can trade shifts with other employees. You can get all of eSchedule’s solutions and services for only $99 per month. Don’t let scheduling take up all of your time go to eSchedule.ca to get easy solutions.
More at:http://www.eschedule.ca/
ki work for "global outsourcing market"
What Company is About:
ki work is the next generation trusted online marketplace and operational platform for clients and professionals of services in the global outsourcing market, powered by a network of accredited experts.
ki work enables specialised experts to derive substantial value from their working relationships by acting as trusted intermediaries between clients and professionals within their primary areas of expertise.
How It Works:
KiWork acts as the intermediary. Founder Members develop categories, for example software architects, which they manage and expand, earning revenue for second level outsourcing; each founder uses their expertise and networking skills to accredit experts in their category; each accredited expert can in turn accredit others. When person X needs a software architect they can turn to any one of these trusted professionals under the management of Founder A. X will have to pay a small fee to contact an expert, but the savings he will realize make it well worth his while. For each person hired, the Founder gets 15% of the search fees and a fee from their accredited experts. The expert gets more visibility and develops a solid reputation. So there you have it, everyone gets what they want in this flat world economy.
More at:http://www.ki-work.com/
ki work is the next generation trusted online marketplace and operational platform for clients and professionals of services in the global outsourcing market, powered by a network of accredited experts.
ki work enables specialised experts to derive substantial value from their working relationships by acting as trusted intermediaries between clients and professionals within their primary areas of expertise.
How It Works:
KiWork acts as the intermediary. Founder Members develop categories, for example software architects, which they manage and expand, earning revenue for second level outsourcing; each founder uses their expertise and networking skills to accredit experts in their category; each accredited expert can in turn accredit others. When person X needs a software architect they can turn to any one of these trusted professionals under the management of Founder A. X will have to pay a small fee to contact an expert, but the savings he will realize make it well worth his while. For each person hired, the Founder gets 15% of the search fees and a fee from their accredited experts. The expert gets more visibility and develops a solid reputation. So there you have it, everyone gets what they want in this flat world economy.
More at:http://www.ki-work.com/
ITKong Is source for finding IT developers, projects, jobs, events and software solutions
What Company says:
Your source for finding IT developers, projects, jobs, events and software solutions.
How It Works:
You can search for a job by location, salary, or key words. Go to the forum section to see what other ITKong users are talking about. You can browse around the site, take a look at the daily Kong articles, browse through freelancing post and job opportunities, but in order to get the most out of the site you need to register. Once you register and create a profile you can post events, respond to job posts and see user’s full profile. ITKong.com can be about more than just work, there is a social section where you can look for ITKong users that may have potential of being your next romantic interest. If you are looking for IT connections and opportunities ITKong.com may be the site for you.
More at:http://www.itkong.com/
Your source for finding IT developers, projects, jobs, events and software solutions.
How It Works:
You can search for a job by location, salary, or key words. Go to the forum section to see what other ITKong users are talking about. You can browse around the site, take a look at the daily Kong articles, browse through freelancing post and job opportunities, but in order to get the most out of the site you need to register. Once you register and create a profile you can post events, respond to job posts and see user’s full profile. ITKong.com can be about more than just work, there is a social section where you can look for ITKong users that may have potential of being your next romantic interest. If you are looking for IT connections and opportunities ITKong.com may be the site for you.
More at:http://www.itkong.com/
Graphwise.com is a search engine for all “table data” that is found on the Internet and then shows the data in graphic form
What Company Is About:
Graphwise.com is a search engine for all “table data” that is found on the Internet and then shows the data in graphic form. Searching is simple and provides a wide variety of results and options to help narrow the search. Once the ideal graph is found it appears with the original source URL and can be used in presentations and further research endeavors. The data available has no boundaries, meaning that is if the data is anywhere on the web, you can have access to it.
How It Works:
Every data table data found by the GraphWise web crawlers is broken down into its rows and columns. Then applicable bar, line, pie, area, map, and scatter graph thumbnails are automatically displayed next to the table data.
Click on a thumbnail plot in your search results to add it to the GraphWise workbench. As you search and find other data you can add those plots to the workbench with a simple click. GraphWise will automatically adjust the axis of the graph for different data types and, if needed, will add up to three axis representing different scales to help you better visualize your information.
Click the Zoom button under the workbench and you will be able to customize the graph. You can change the title, what data points and graph components to display, and you can add watermarks and change color themes. Your finished graphs can be emailed to a friend, downloaded for use in business presentations or homework, or embedded in your blog by using the provided permalink.
More at:http://www.graphwise.com/
Graphwise.com is a search engine for all “table data” that is found on the Internet and then shows the data in graphic form. Searching is simple and provides a wide variety of results and options to help narrow the search. Once the ideal graph is found it appears with the original source URL and can be used in presentations and further research endeavors. The data available has no boundaries, meaning that is if the data is anywhere on the web, you can have access to it.
How It Works:
Every data table data found by the GraphWise web crawlers is broken down into its rows and columns. Then applicable bar, line, pie, area, map, and scatter graph thumbnails are automatically displayed next to the table data.
Click on a thumbnail plot in your search results to add it to the GraphWise workbench. As you search and find other data you can add those plots to the workbench with a simple click. GraphWise will automatically adjust the axis of the graph for different data types and, if needed, will add up to three axis representing different scales to help you better visualize your information.
Click the Zoom button under the workbench and you will be able to customize the graph. You can change the title, what data points and graph components to display, and you can add watermarks and change color themes. Your finished graphs can be emailed to a friend, downloaded for use in business presentations or homework, or embedded in your blog by using the provided permalink.
More at:http://www.graphwise.com/
Saturday, October 13, 2007
Click2Voice allows you to make free outbound long distance toll calls to almost any telephone number in the world
What Company Is Offering:
Click2Voice allows you to make free outbound long distance toll calls to almost any telephone number in the world.
How It Works:
Simply input your calling data, including country code and telephone number, and the country code and telephone number you wish to be connected to. Click2Voice will connect the calls using high-quality VoIP technology, using the telephone device you already have. Registered Click2Voice members have access to their call history, personal profile, and are able to make free 15 minute telephone calls. Click2Voice also allows users to remain anonymous, and unregistered users are able to make calls up to 10 minutes in duration.
More at:http://www.click2voice.com/
Click2Voice allows you to make free outbound long distance toll calls to almost any telephone number in the world.
How It Works:
Simply input your calling data, including country code and telephone number, and the country code and telephone number you wish to be connected to. Click2Voice will connect the calls using high-quality VoIP technology, using the telephone device you already have. Registered Click2Voice members have access to their call history, personal profile, and are able to make free 15 minute telephone calls. Click2Voice also allows users to remain anonymous, and unregistered users are able to make calls up to 10 minutes in duration.
More at:http://www.click2voice.com/
RankTracer is a subscription based service that allows users to track, graph, and monitor and analyze their products sales performance on Amazon
What Company Is Offering:
By creating an account at RankTracer.com, and purchasing a subscription, you will be able to track the sales information for any product sold on Amazon. Our user interface (or WorkStation) allows you to build a range of graphs to compare sales figures and trends for your products, and delivers sales estimates according to your specifications. We can also send you weekly or monthly reports which contain easy to read graphs and important sales rank trends and information. That's not all, there are a number of other features and facilities that we provide and we are continually adding to our service. We are more than happy to discuss your individual requirements if they are not met by our site as is.
How It Works:
RankTracer produces Sales Estimates based on the sales rank data collected. Already a world first in this regard, RankTracer combines this feature with a powerful analysis and graphing tool that allows users to make comparisons and draw meaningful conclusions from their product's sales rank information. Currently, obtaining accurate sales information from other companies can cost thousands of dollars, but at $2 per subscription per month, RankTracer provides good estimates at very affordable prices. Regular reports as well as a variety of stats and alerts make up the rest of a well rounded service.
More at:http://www.ranktracer.com/
By creating an account at RankTracer.com, and purchasing a subscription, you will be able to track the sales information for any product sold on Amazon. Our user interface (or WorkStation) allows you to build a range of graphs to compare sales figures and trends for your products, and delivers sales estimates according to your specifications. We can also send you weekly or monthly reports which contain easy to read graphs and important sales rank trends and information. That's not all, there are a number of other features and facilities that we provide and we are continually adding to our service. We are more than happy to discuss your individual requirements if they are not met by our site as is.
How It Works:
RankTracer produces Sales Estimates based on the sales rank data collected. Already a world first in this regard, RankTracer combines this feature with a powerful analysis and graphing tool that allows users to make comparisons and draw meaningful conclusions from their product's sales rank information. Currently, obtaining accurate sales information from other companies can cost thousands of dollars, but at $2 per subscription per month, RankTracer provides good estimates at very affordable prices. Regular reports as well as a variety of stats and alerts make up the rest of a well rounded service.
More at:http://www.ranktracer.com/
OneBuckWiki where you can buy pages at only one dollar for a Limited Time
What company is Offering:
Once you own a Page, you control the content of the Page and own it permanently for the "lifetime" of this site guaranteed for at least 15 years.
How It Works:
The One Buck Wiki is a community of entrepreneurs, web marketers, and normal people who want to promote their businesses online and benefit from the collective traffic that's generated by other page-owners and this site’s viral marketing. Join and benefit from being part of a community that works as a team to bring traffic and promotions. You can buy a page for only 1 dollar where you can promote your blog, e-store, or any other website. The page(s) you buy will solely have your content and no one else’s.
More at:http://onebuckwiki.com/
Once you own a Page, you control the content of the Page and own it permanently for the "lifetime" of this site guaranteed for at least 15 years.
How It Works:
The One Buck Wiki is a community of entrepreneurs, web marketers, and normal people who want to promote their businesses online and benefit from the collective traffic that's generated by other page-owners and this site’s viral marketing. Join and benefit from being part of a community that works as a team to bring traffic and promotions. You can buy a page for only 1 dollar where you can promote your blog, e-store, or any other website. The page(s) you buy will solely have your content and no one else’s.
More at:http://onebuckwiki.com/
The Spiders Webb is a new idea based web site whereby people pitch ideas, people vote on ideas, and people bid on ideas
What Company Is Offering:
The Spiders Webb is a new idea based web site whereby people pitch ideas, people vote on ideas, and people bid on ideas.
How It Works:
There are thousands of ideas people come up with that never get noticed, or that dont get funding. the Spiders Webb will give you an opportunity to display you ideas free of charge, form a communuity; whereby everybody can advise you on your idea - maybe to make it better or just helpful tips. With thousands of investors hitting the site, they will get an opportunity to see who out there has the next big ideas. Based on the highest votes the investors start bidding and batteling for the chunk of the pie.Members can vote, describe, comment, bid, and market all their brilliant ideas within Spider’s interface. SpidersWeb aims to be a perfect breeding ground for the growth and development of ideas; the community style nature of the site makes it ideal for sharing and encouraging idea makers, while also providing a primed audience for marketing and getting investors to take notice. The ultimate goal is of course to attract investors into a bidding war--once all the votes are tallied, the idea follows that venture capitalists and the like will be stepping over each other to get a piece of the action.
More at:http://www.thespiderswebb.com/
The Spiders Webb is a new idea based web site whereby people pitch ideas, people vote on ideas, and people bid on ideas.
How It Works:
There are thousands of ideas people come up with that never get noticed, or that dont get funding. the Spiders Webb will give you an opportunity to display you ideas free of charge, form a communuity; whereby everybody can advise you on your idea - maybe to make it better or just helpful tips. With thousands of investors hitting the site, they will get an opportunity to see who out there has the next big ideas. Based on the highest votes the investors start bidding and batteling for the chunk of the pie.Members can vote, describe, comment, bid, and market all their brilliant ideas within Spider’s interface. SpidersWeb aims to be a perfect breeding ground for the growth and development of ideas; the community style nature of the site makes it ideal for sharing and encouraging idea makers, while also providing a primed audience for marketing and getting investors to take notice. The ultimate goal is of course to attract investors into a bidding war--once all the votes are tallied, the idea follows that venture capitalists and the like will be stepping over each other to get a piece of the action.
More at:http://www.thespiderswebb.com/
Henary Copeland ,CEO Of BlogAds Says :To Make Money At Blogging,Rein In Comments
CEO and founder Henry Copeland stirred up the audience at Wednesday’s Networked Journalism Summit with two points about blogs and advertising. First, he told attendees of the conference, which was organized by CUNY’s Graduate School of Journalism, that only “dozens” of the 1,500 sites he works with can can sustain their sites solely with ad revenues. Then, he said that the only blogs that attract significant brand advertising are those that can keep the ads separate from comments, which tend to make marketers uneasy with their unpredictability. Many felt that by suppressing comments in order to garner ad revenue was antithetical to the foundation of blogging. After the session, Copeland discussed that, among other issues:
Making Blogs Safe For Ads: The appeal of blogs to marketers is their singular brand identity, making it possible to accurately target their ads. Copeland: “Advertisers say, ‘I know I can trust Blog X, but I also know that Blog X has 100,000 readers - and God knows what those 100,000 readers are going to say.’ It’s not me, it’s the advertisers who are saying this.” And so, BlogAds,which handles advertising for Perez Hilton, Cute Overload and DailyKos, offers to quarantine ads away from the comment pages. “If you look at Perez Hilton, there’s certain kinds of ads that can run on the front page where you can’t see comments. And then on pages where you can see comments, there are other kinds of ads. That is exactly what is occurring.” He praised Gawker publisher Nick Denton for maintaining a controlled environment around its sites’ various comment pages. For one thing, Gawker Media requires commenters to formally apply and those that break the rules can have their commenting privileges immediately revoked.
Still Better Than Before: As for being able to make a living by blogging, Copeland amended his earlier statement, saying that “less than 100” of the bloggers in his network can live off their blog’s ad revenue. “I think people expect too much… I’m disappointed by that number, on the one hand. But to have a whole lot of people making a living out of blogging - and they weren’t doing that five years ago - is a wonderful thing… and to a lot of people, an extra $200 a month makes a lot of difference.”
Via-Paidcontent
Making Blogs Safe For Ads: The appeal of blogs to marketers is their singular brand identity, making it possible to accurately target their ads. Copeland: “Advertisers say, ‘I know I can trust Blog X, but I also know that Blog X has 100,000 readers - and God knows what those 100,000 readers are going to say.’ It’s not me, it’s the advertisers who are saying this.” And so, BlogAds,which handles advertising for Perez Hilton, Cute Overload and DailyKos, offers to quarantine ads away from the comment pages. “If you look at Perez Hilton, there’s certain kinds of ads that can run on the front page where you can’t see comments. And then on pages where you can see comments, there are other kinds of ads. That is exactly what is occurring.” He praised Gawker publisher Nick Denton for maintaining a controlled environment around its sites’ various comment pages. For one thing, Gawker Media requires commenters to formally apply and those that break the rules can have their commenting privileges immediately revoked.
Still Better Than Before: As for being able to make a living by blogging, Copeland amended his earlier statement, saying that “less than 100” of the bloggers in his network can live off their blog’s ad revenue. “I think people expect too much… I’m disappointed by that number, on the one hand. But to have a whole lot of people making a living out of blogging - and they weren’t doing that five years ago - is a wonderful thing… and to a lot of people, an extra $200 a month makes a lot of difference.”
Via-Paidcontent
ByteSwap platform users can store and organize a myriad of information formats including web links, photos, contacts, any file format
What Company Is Offering:
Through the ByteSwap platform users can store and organize a myriad of information formats including web links, photos, contacts, any file format. Clusters of information can then be shared with other ByteSwap users.
What's new:
The most recent additions to the service include a “look later queue” for interesting but not imperative links; a list of routine sites available to the public; groups to locate information communities with similar interests; discussion forums; mini-blog; and also a profile section. The core elements of a social networking destination are evident through these add-ons to the primary functions of organization and storage. Visit the company’s blog for further updates.
How They Will Improve ?
If the mission of ByteSwap is to form a repository for information, Wikipedia and connected sites like Wikimedia are dedicated to chronicling large amounts of data in different formats. The wiki’s easily editable pages complete with hyperlinks, audio, video, etc are increasingly familiar as well. It will be interesting to see how ByteSwap carves a niche for themselves.
More at:http://www.byteswap.com/
Through the ByteSwap platform users can store and organize a myriad of information formats including web links, photos, contacts, any file format. Clusters of information can then be shared with other ByteSwap users.
What's new:
The most recent additions to the service include a “look later queue” for interesting but not imperative links; a list of routine sites available to the public; groups to locate information communities with similar interests; discussion forums; mini-blog; and also a profile section. The core elements of a social networking destination are evident through these add-ons to the primary functions of organization and storage. Visit the company’s blog for further updates.
How They Will Improve ?
If the mission of ByteSwap is to form a repository for information, Wikipedia and connected sites like Wikimedia are dedicated to chronicling large amounts of data in different formats. The wiki’s easily editable pages complete with hyperlinks, audio, video, etc are increasingly familiar as well. It will be interesting to see how ByteSwap carves a niche for themselves.
More at:http://www.byteswap.com/
Clipstar is a new community that’s set out to find the world’s undiscovered talent
What Company Is Offering:
Clipstar is a new community that’s set out to find the world’s undiscovered talent. There will be contests on Clipstar with a $10,000 cash prize given out every 3 months, with an opportunity to win $1 million for the yearly finals.
How It Works:
In order to help users gain traction with their profiles, there are several options for sharing content and saving it to your own favorites. Video clips can be embed on other sites, and you can also save clips to your own playlist. The sharing stops here, however. Playlists cannot be embed, which would be another good way to help users help themselves when it comes to spreading content across the web. Users get a blog and a calendar as well, which can be used to mark new content they’ve added to their profile.
Where They Could work More:
There aren’t many differentiating factors for clipstar to play up.
More Detail At:http://www.clipstar.com/
Clipstar is a new community that’s set out to find the world’s undiscovered talent. There will be contests on Clipstar with a $10,000 cash prize given out every 3 months, with an opportunity to win $1 million for the yearly finals.
How It Works:
In order to help users gain traction with their profiles, there are several options for sharing content and saving it to your own favorites. Video clips can be embed on other sites, and you can also save clips to your own playlist. The sharing stops here, however. Playlists cannot be embed, which would be another good way to help users help themselves when it comes to spreading content across the web. Users get a blog and a calendar as well, which can be used to mark new content they’ve added to their profile.
Where They Could work More:
There aren’t many differentiating factors for clipstar to play up.
More Detail At:http://www.clipstar.com/
Friday, October 12, 2007
Electronic Arts Inc to acquire VG Holdings for $860 million
About VCs Deal:
Electronic Arts Inc. sealed a deal with private-equity firm Elevation Partners to buy a videogame-development company for $860 million, bolstering its pipeline of action, adventure and role-playing titles with 10 yet-to-be released games.
How The Deal Is?
Elevation Partners will sell its VG Holdings Corp., the parent company of game makers BioWare Corp. and Pandemic Studios, which has produced hit titles such as Destroy All Humans! The deal -- the largest in EA's history -- includes two new games generating buzz in the industry, Mass Effect and Mercenaries 2: World in Flames.
Six of the 10 games under development are fully owned by VG .
The deal is EA’s largest and will add six more video games to the 10 EA is currently developing. The acquisition, which follows last week’s acquisition of gaming apps provider Super Computer International, reflects EA’s strategy of maintaining the rights of the games it publishes, rather than sharing ownership with outside parties like film studios.
Under the terms of the deal, which was negotiated by Elevation Partners, EA will give VG’s stockholders up to $620 million in cash, with $155 million in equity to certain of its employees, based on performace.
More at:http://www.ea.com/
Via-WSJ
Electronic Arts Inc. sealed a deal with private-equity firm Elevation Partners to buy a videogame-development company for $860 million, bolstering its pipeline of action, adventure and role-playing titles with 10 yet-to-be released games.
How The Deal Is?
Elevation Partners will sell its VG Holdings Corp., the parent company of game makers BioWare Corp. and Pandemic Studios, which has produced hit titles such as Destroy All Humans! The deal -- the largest in EA's history -- includes two new games generating buzz in the industry, Mass Effect and Mercenaries 2: World in Flames.
Six of the 10 games under development are fully owned by VG .
The deal is EA’s largest and will add six more video games to the 10 EA is currently developing. The acquisition, which follows last week’s acquisition of gaming apps provider Super Computer International, reflects EA’s strategy of maintaining the rights of the games it publishes, rather than sharing ownership with outside parties like film studios.
Under the terms of the deal, which was negotiated by Elevation Partners, EA will give VG’s stockholders up to $620 million in cash, with $155 million in equity to certain of its employees, based on performace.
More at:http://www.ea.com/
Via-WSJ
Do people behave politely in virtual worlds than on blogs, forums and chat rooms on the Web?
Do people behave better in virtual worlds than on blogs, forums and chat rooms on the Web?
A group of virtual world advocates say "yes." They just can't prove it yet.
"Character rancor is much different on blogs, Twitter, (and so on)...It can get very petty," Jaron Lanier, scholar in residence at the Center for Entrepreneurship and Technology at the University of California, Berkeley, said here Wednesday at the AlwaysOn technology conference.
"In Second Life, it's almost more like theater," Lanier said. "I don't see people getting into petty interpersonal knots with each other. But this is anecdotal."
His theory is that people behave better in virtual worlds because they can be economically tied to their property, for example, and as he described it, they have "more to lose if they're creepy." Lanier's other theory is that seeing people, even in the form of an avatar, evokes empathy.
Lanier, a pioneer of virtual world technology who coined the term "virtual reality," acknowledges he's biased. In the 1980s, he founded VPL Research, the first company to sell virtual reality products; its patents were acquired by Sun Microsystems in 1999. His most recent venture, animation software company Eyematic Interfaces, was bought by Google. And he's an adviser to Linden Lab, creator of the popular virtual world Second Life.
Lanier played host to a panel at Stanford University that included Philip Rosedale, CEO of Linden Lab; Irving Wladawsky-Berger, vice president at IBM; and Chris Melissinos, chief gaming officer at Sun. To be sure, all of the panelists have a stake in seeing virtual worlds take off more widely with Internet users, corporations and advertisers, so that they can become viable economic engines. A major factor in that growth will be in showing the intangible benefits of virtual worlds, such as fostering human relationships that are more polite than say, anonymous posts in Internet forums, according to the panelists.
"We've studied this," Rosedale said. "We have forums and we watch them fight in forums and then see them be civil to each other in Second Life."
Wladawsky-Berger backed up this notion by saying that virtual worlds present information technology in a much more human way. "As a result, we'll be able to do a tremendous amount more. Enterprise resource planning will be reinvented for virtual worlds," he said, giving the example that hospitals could manage their operations in a virtual world in a way looks more like their hospital.
IBM has 5,000 employees in Second Life, and according to Wladawsky-Berger, "virtual worlds are a godsend for meetings." He said that IBM has a code of conduct for staff in Second Life that they need to "be nice" and dress their avatars "appropriately" in meetings. But when among friends in the virtual world, they can do whatever they like, he said.
"Training and meetings are the killer apps of virtual worlds. Don't underestimate any technologies that help us do those things in a more human way," Wladawsky-Berger said.
Lanier joked that IBM staff "can't help it that they compulsively go to meetings."
Share what you all think....
Via-ZDNetnews
A group of virtual world advocates say "yes." They just can't prove it yet.
"Character rancor is much different on blogs, Twitter, (and so on)...It can get very petty," Jaron Lanier, scholar in residence at the Center for Entrepreneurship and Technology at the University of California, Berkeley, said here Wednesday at the AlwaysOn technology conference.
"In Second Life, it's almost more like theater," Lanier said. "I don't see people getting into petty interpersonal knots with each other. But this is anecdotal."
His theory is that people behave better in virtual worlds because they can be economically tied to their property, for example, and as he described it, they have "more to lose if they're creepy." Lanier's other theory is that seeing people, even in the form of an avatar, evokes empathy.
Lanier, a pioneer of virtual world technology who coined the term "virtual reality," acknowledges he's biased. In the 1980s, he founded VPL Research, the first company to sell virtual reality products; its patents were acquired by Sun Microsystems in 1999. His most recent venture, animation software company Eyematic Interfaces, was bought by Google. And he's an adviser to Linden Lab, creator of the popular virtual world Second Life.
Lanier played host to a panel at Stanford University that included Philip Rosedale, CEO of Linden Lab; Irving Wladawsky-Berger, vice president at IBM; and Chris Melissinos, chief gaming officer at Sun. To be sure, all of the panelists have a stake in seeing virtual worlds take off more widely with Internet users, corporations and advertisers, so that they can become viable economic engines. A major factor in that growth will be in showing the intangible benefits of virtual worlds, such as fostering human relationships that are more polite than say, anonymous posts in Internet forums, according to the panelists.
"We've studied this," Rosedale said. "We have forums and we watch them fight in forums and then see them be civil to each other in Second Life."
Wladawsky-Berger backed up this notion by saying that virtual worlds present information technology in a much more human way. "As a result, we'll be able to do a tremendous amount more. Enterprise resource planning will be reinvented for virtual worlds," he said, giving the example that hospitals could manage their operations in a virtual world in a way looks more like their hospital.
IBM has 5,000 employees in Second Life, and according to Wladawsky-Berger, "virtual worlds are a godsend for meetings." He said that IBM has a code of conduct for staff in Second Life that they need to "be nice" and dress their avatars "appropriately" in meetings. But when among friends in the virtual world, they can do whatever they like, he said.
"Training and meetings are the killer apps of virtual worlds. Don't underestimate any technologies that help us do those things in a more human way," Wladawsky-Berger said.
Lanier joked that IBM staff "can't help it that they compulsively go to meetings."
Share what you all think....
Via-ZDNetnews
Does Size Matters?
As the world's top condom experts convene this week to update international standards, one American entrepreneur has a simple message: Size matters.
It's shaking up an industry that has generally taken a one-size-fits-all approach.
Frank Sadlo, founder of TheyFit, which makes what he claims are the world's first custom-fit condoms, is pushing for updated standards to allow greater variation in condom size.
It's not just about well-endowed men in cramped prophylactic quarters, Sadlo told a meeting Thursday of delegates from 21 countries under the Geneva-based International Organization for Standardization.
When given a choice, he said many men prefer condoms smaller than the standard minimum 6.3 inches long, with more than half ordering those less than 5.12 inches.
At the session in Seogwipo on South Korea's Jeju Island, more than 100 representatives — including leading manufacturers, government standards bodies and aid groups — pored over 42 pages of specifications and testing requirements for condoms.
Standards are especially crucial — failure could mean the spread of potentially deadly diseases or unwanted pregnancy.
"Our job is to do away with inferior condoms," said Eng Long Ong, meeting chairman and deputy head of the Malaysian Rubber Export Promotion Council, which estimates 13-14 billion condoms are made each year.
Getting quality condoms can be especially difficult in places like Africa, where they are a major part of AIDS prevention campaigns.
Ian Matondo, an adviser to the Malawi Health Ministry, said the issue of condoms breaking in Africa had nothing to do with the size of men's penises but was due to poor manufacturing.
The standard for testing condom strength is to fill it with air, a technique pioneered by the Swedes in the 1950s. Condoms of the standard length and width must hold at least 4.76 gallons of air — far more than it would ever be expected to contain under normal use.
Varying condom size would require standards and test equipment to change and is expected to require another a year for approval, Sadlo said.
The length issue is just one of many being debated at the five-day meeting, the 24th such session since 1975, where delegates were creating new standards for synthetic and female condoms.
Synthetic polyurethane condoms are an alternative for people allergic to rubber latex and can be thinner without losing strength. They also conduct heat better for "much more sensitivity with lovemaking," said Grant Burt, international division director for Japan's Sagami Rubber Industries Co.
Female condoms are seeing increasing use in Africa, where they are often distributed for free so women can take control of disease prevention, said Matondo.
Innovation for male condoms has focused on adding textures to enhance sexual pleasure, or offering different colors or lubricants. At the meeting, South Korean manufacturer Unidus displayed its "Long-Love" condom — featuring desensitizing cream inside to prevent premature ejaculation so men "make a lasting impression."
Widths vary but condom length is usually standard, as it believed latex can stretch to fit all men. The average adult penis is 5 to 6 inches long, experts said.
Sadlo said his inspiration for custom condoms arose from his days playing baseball at the University of Louisville in Kentucky, where locker room tales of exploits with the opposite sex often failed to include use of condoms due to complaints they did not fit.
A more comfortable condom contributes to men actually using them, said Michael Reece, director of the Center for Sexual Health Promotion at Indiana University.
"Typically, when a man complains about condom fit, we have assumed that he means that condoms are too small and we have often just ignored this complaint because we think that men are bragging about the size of their penis," Reece said via e-mail.
He said men also have problems with condoms being too large.
"It is time for those who establish condom manufacturing standards to consider whether an expanded range of condom sizes is necessary," Reece said.
Sadlo offers a "fit kit," a sheet of paper printed from a computer for sizing — and advising the user to watch out for paper cuts. The chart only runs from long to longer.
The product was offered from 2003-2006 in the United States before he withdrew it to upgrade from 55 to 95 sizes. Changing international standard would make it easier to widely offer the product, rather than seeking approval in each country.
Sadlo said it has been difficult to transform the condom industry.
"In order to bring about revolutionary change, you need to have the mind-set of a trailblazer, you need to keep focused on your vision," he said.
Via-USA Today
It's shaking up an industry that has generally taken a one-size-fits-all approach.
Frank Sadlo, founder of TheyFit, which makes what he claims are the world's first custom-fit condoms, is pushing for updated standards to allow greater variation in condom size.
It's not just about well-endowed men in cramped prophylactic quarters, Sadlo told a meeting Thursday of delegates from 21 countries under the Geneva-based International Organization for Standardization.
When given a choice, he said many men prefer condoms smaller than the standard minimum 6.3 inches long, with more than half ordering those less than 5.12 inches.
At the session in Seogwipo on South Korea's Jeju Island, more than 100 representatives — including leading manufacturers, government standards bodies and aid groups — pored over 42 pages of specifications and testing requirements for condoms.
Standards are especially crucial — failure could mean the spread of potentially deadly diseases or unwanted pregnancy.
"Our job is to do away with inferior condoms," said Eng Long Ong, meeting chairman and deputy head of the Malaysian Rubber Export Promotion Council, which estimates 13-14 billion condoms are made each year.
Getting quality condoms can be especially difficult in places like Africa, where they are a major part of AIDS prevention campaigns.
Ian Matondo, an adviser to the Malawi Health Ministry, said the issue of condoms breaking in Africa had nothing to do with the size of men's penises but was due to poor manufacturing.
The standard for testing condom strength is to fill it with air, a technique pioneered by the Swedes in the 1950s. Condoms of the standard length and width must hold at least 4.76 gallons of air — far more than it would ever be expected to contain under normal use.
Varying condom size would require standards and test equipment to change and is expected to require another a year for approval, Sadlo said.
The length issue is just one of many being debated at the five-day meeting, the 24th such session since 1975, where delegates were creating new standards for synthetic and female condoms.
Synthetic polyurethane condoms are an alternative for people allergic to rubber latex and can be thinner without losing strength. They also conduct heat better for "much more sensitivity with lovemaking," said Grant Burt, international division director for Japan's Sagami Rubber Industries Co.
Female condoms are seeing increasing use in Africa, where they are often distributed for free so women can take control of disease prevention, said Matondo.
Innovation for male condoms has focused on adding textures to enhance sexual pleasure, or offering different colors or lubricants. At the meeting, South Korean manufacturer Unidus displayed its "Long-Love" condom — featuring desensitizing cream inside to prevent premature ejaculation so men "make a lasting impression."
Widths vary but condom length is usually standard, as it believed latex can stretch to fit all men. The average adult penis is 5 to 6 inches long, experts said.
Sadlo said his inspiration for custom condoms arose from his days playing baseball at the University of Louisville in Kentucky, where locker room tales of exploits with the opposite sex often failed to include use of condoms due to complaints they did not fit.
A more comfortable condom contributes to men actually using them, said Michael Reece, director of the Center for Sexual Health Promotion at Indiana University.
"Typically, when a man complains about condom fit, we have assumed that he means that condoms are too small and we have often just ignored this complaint because we think that men are bragging about the size of their penis," Reece said via e-mail.
He said men also have problems with condoms being too large.
"It is time for those who establish condom manufacturing standards to consider whether an expanded range of condom sizes is necessary," Reece said.
Sadlo offers a "fit kit," a sheet of paper printed from a computer for sizing — and advising the user to watch out for paper cuts. The chart only runs from long to longer.
The product was offered from 2003-2006 in the United States before he withdrew it to upgrade from 55 to 95 sizes. Changing international standard would make it easier to widely offer the product, rather than seeking approval in each country.
Sadlo said it has been difficult to transform the condom industry.
"In order to bring about revolutionary change, you need to have the mind-set of a trailblazer, you need to keep focused on your vision," he said.
Via-USA Today
MyPRGenie is the leading press release distribution service for pdf, text, pictures and video releases
What Company Is Offering:
MyPRGenie is the leading press release distribution service for pdf, text, pictures and video releases. With the basic FREE MyPRGenie solution, you can go online to order a PR package that distributes your press release to up to 4,000 reporters and editors. For the premium MyPRGenie solution, you can substantially increase your exposure and distribute your news to up to 10,000 search engine and web directory submissions, maximize your search engine rankings and target key editors and reporters.
How It Works;
In general , PR firms were hired to write up releases and get the word out, at a significant cost. MyPRGenie is bound to change the way the system works. They’re making it easier, automating the process for a fraction of the traditional cost. More than that, MyPRGenie specifically targets the right people, reporters, publications, etc. to get maximum buzz. They offer a basic service which allows distribution to up to 20 sources for free. For about $100 they’ll get the word out to 120 different resources in one industry; to target the entire industry list you’ll need to shell out $199++ (up to $750). Each plan allows for posting on the site itself, images and multimedia attachments, RSS feeds, customization options, and targeted distribution. The service is targeted at small to medium sized businesses; current clients range from social networks to non-profits all over the world.
More at:http://www.myprgenie.com/
More at:
MyPRGenie is the leading press release distribution service for pdf, text, pictures and video releases. With the basic FREE MyPRGenie solution, you can go online to order a PR package that distributes your press release to up to 4,000 reporters and editors. For the premium MyPRGenie solution, you can substantially increase your exposure and distribute your news to up to 10,000 search engine and web directory submissions, maximize your search engine rankings and target key editors and reporters.
How It Works;
In general , PR firms were hired to write up releases and get the word out, at a significant cost. MyPRGenie is bound to change the way the system works. They’re making it easier, automating the process for a fraction of the traditional cost. More than that, MyPRGenie specifically targets the right people, reporters, publications, etc. to get maximum buzz. They offer a basic service which allows distribution to up to 20 sources for free. For about $100 they’ll get the word out to 120 different resources in one industry; to target the entire industry list you’ll need to shell out $199++ (up to $750). Each plan allows for posting on the site itself, images and multimedia attachments, RSS feeds, customization options, and targeted distribution. The service is targeted at small to medium sized businesses; current clients range from social networks to non-profits all over the world.
More at:http://www.myprgenie.com/
More at:
"Video Jobs Ads" are a great way of getting an inside look at companies
What Company Claims:
These video job ads are a great way of getting an inside look at companies; get a feel for what they're doing, what they're about and why you might want to work for them. Enjoy the videos, and tell us what you think.At StandOutJobs.com you can get a whole lot more information about companies and positions by seeing job opportunities that feature videos.
How It Works:
At StandOutJobs.com you have a list of current employment opportunities and along with the traditional descriptions of ; responsibilities, qualifications, and brief company bio’s you get a video that describes the position and company. This visual information gives you a better feel of the company because usually a company employee is giving the speech or tour. You can get an idea of the company environment and the type of people who work there by watching the video. Users can also post comments on the job opportunity voicing their opinion on the video or company in general. If you are a company hiring StandOutJobs.com gives you another way to get potential employees’ attention. Attract professionals by placing a video ad on StandOutJobs.com. Find interesting jobs by looking at interesting job ads at StandOutJobs.com.
More at:http://standoutjobs.com/
These video job ads are a great way of getting an inside look at companies; get a feel for what they're doing, what they're about and why you might want to work for them. Enjoy the videos, and tell us what you think.At StandOutJobs.com you can get a whole lot more information about companies and positions by seeing job opportunities that feature videos.
How It Works:
At StandOutJobs.com you have a list of current employment opportunities and along with the traditional descriptions of ; responsibilities, qualifications, and brief company bio’s you get a video that describes the position and company. This visual information gives you a better feel of the company because usually a company employee is giving the speech or tour. You can get an idea of the company environment and the type of people who work there by watching the video. Users can also post comments on the job opportunity voicing their opinion on the video or company in general. If you are a company hiring StandOutJobs.com gives you another way to get potential employees’ attention. Attract professionals by placing a video ad on StandOutJobs.com. Find interesting jobs by looking at interesting job ads at StandOutJobs.com.
More at:http://standoutjobs.com/
MyLifeBrand received $750,000 in seed money
What Company is About:
MyLifeBrand, the recently launched social network that offers a private label solution as well as several other tools for online community-building.
How It Works:
This particular social networking tool has cast a particularly large net, covering several bases and many aspects of online social networking. It’s got a profile aggregation tool, a group-formation tool, private label options and more. In this way, it looks to appeal to individuals that already have existing profiles on other networks, those that would like to create their own network, businesses that are looking to offer an online group for networking purposes, and businesses that would like to incorporate social networking modules into their existing website.
How Much The Got From VCs:
They received $750,000 in seed money from an undisclosed source.EVP Dan Scalisi discussed the funding in an interview with socalTech.com and said the company is also pursuing a new round for an unspecified amount.
From the web-based service to the software service, MyLifeBrand has started out this year with a very ambitious goal. Shortly after its launch late this summer, MyLifeBrand teamed up with the Utah Jazz to offer a branded social network for team fans.
More at:http://www.mylifebrand.com/
MyLifeBrand, the recently launched social network that offers a private label solution as well as several other tools for online community-building.
How It Works:
This particular social networking tool has cast a particularly large net, covering several bases and many aspects of online social networking. It’s got a profile aggregation tool, a group-formation tool, private label options and more. In this way, it looks to appeal to individuals that already have existing profiles on other networks, those that would like to create their own network, businesses that are looking to offer an online group for networking purposes, and businesses that would like to incorporate social networking modules into their existing website.
How Much The Got From VCs:
They received $750,000 in seed money from an undisclosed source.EVP Dan Scalisi discussed the funding in an interview with socalTech.com and said the company is also pursuing a new round for an unspecified amount.
From the web-based service to the software service, MyLifeBrand has started out this year with a very ambitious goal. Shortly after its launch late this summer, MyLifeBrand teamed up with the Utah Jazz to offer a branded social network for team fans.
More at:http://www.mylifebrand.com/
Commentt is a video widget that you can place on your blog or website in order to accept video and audio comments from other users.
What Company is Offering:
Let your place be more interactive! Our free widget lets visitors place their own audio and video messages on your site, blog or profile.In Other words:
Commentt is a video widget that you can place on your blog or website in order to accept video and audio comments from other users. This offers a comment thread that appears in the form of video clips that are submitted by site visitors. There’s an option for audio clips to be left as well.
How It Works:
As with most video widget commenting tools, you can only leave a comment if you’re equipped with a webcam or microphone–no uploading of files for commenting purposes. There’s also an option to email a comment. Each widget comes complete with a direct link and embed code for sharing options. This widget tool is very similar to blipback, and Your Truman Show is moving in this direction as well.
More at:http://commentt.com/index.html
Let your place be more interactive! Our free widget lets visitors place their own audio and video messages on your site, blog or profile.In Other words:
Commentt is a video widget that you can place on your blog or website in order to accept video and audio comments from other users. This offers a comment thread that appears in the form of video clips that are submitted by site visitors. There’s an option for audio clips to be left as well.
How It Works:
As with most video widget commenting tools, you can only leave a comment if you’re equipped with a webcam or microphone–no uploading of files for commenting purposes. There’s also an option to email a comment. Each widget comes complete with a direct link and embed code for sharing options. This widget tool is very similar to blipback, and Your Truman Show is moving in this direction as well.
More at:http://commentt.com/index.html
Gifts.com, the leading online provider of gift ideas, announced the purchase of GiveFun.com.
What Company is About:
Gifts.com, the leading online provider of gift ideas, announced the purchase of GiveFun.com. Adding the gift card functionality of GiveFun to the high level partnerships of Gifts.com is a sensible move for IAC, holding company for a variety of one-stop solution sites including Ask.com, Evite, RealEstate.com, and others.
How It Works:
Users of Gifts.com can now customize gift certificates for a variety of retailers including GAP, Brookstone, Macy’s KB Toys, etc without leaving the main site. This move solidifies Gifts.com as a primary player in online gifts and also injects another personalization tool to compliment existing services like “Personality Profiler” and “Wish List.”
GiveFun will continue to accept orders for the immediate future, but will gradually migrate all operations to a featured section on Gifts.com.
More at:http://www.gifts.com/
Gifts.com, the leading online provider of gift ideas, announced the purchase of GiveFun.com. Adding the gift card functionality of GiveFun to the high level partnerships of Gifts.com is a sensible move for IAC, holding company for a variety of one-stop solution sites including Ask.com, Evite, RealEstate.com, and others.
How It Works:
Users of Gifts.com can now customize gift certificates for a variety of retailers including GAP, Brookstone, Macy’s KB Toys, etc without leaving the main site. This move solidifies Gifts.com as a primary player in online gifts and also injects another personalization tool to compliment existing services like “Personality Profiler” and “Wish List.”
GiveFun will continue to accept orders for the immediate future, but will gradually migrate all operations to a featured section on Gifts.com.
More at:http://www.gifts.com/
IncBizNet For Creating An Online Social Network For CEO's Of Top 5000 Inc Companies
What They Are Offering:
Inc. Magazine is the latest in the printed media industry to create an online social network. This one is ultra niche, honing in on the CEOs of private companies that are on Inc.’s 5000 list, making them the cream of Inc.’s crop. The site, IncBizNet, is currently in private beta, and you can request for your company to be added to the network if it’s not already “on the list.”
How It Works:
So for the actual community features, you’ll get a profile for your company, a free press release option through IncBizNet’s wire feed, and a company blog. Discuss topics with other CEOs in facilitated boards or connect on an individual level. Share multimedia items as well, including documents, video and images.
So will CEOs find value in such an online network? This isn’t the type of tool that needs to look to other social networks for leveraging purposes, and could be seen as merely a file-sharing intranet for executives. Does Inc. plan to offer additional resources for these people that rarely have time for online networking?
More at:http://incbiznet.com/
Inc. Magazine is the latest in the printed media industry to create an online social network. This one is ultra niche, honing in on the CEOs of private companies that are on Inc.’s 5000 list, making them the cream of Inc.’s crop. The site, IncBizNet, is currently in private beta, and you can request for your company to be added to the network if it’s not already “on the list.”
How It Works:
So for the actual community features, you’ll get a profile for your company, a free press release option through IncBizNet’s wire feed, and a company blog. Discuss topics with other CEOs in facilitated boards or connect on an individual level. Share multimedia items as well, including documents, video and images.
So will CEOs find value in such an online network? This isn’t the type of tool that needs to look to other social networks for leveraging purposes, and could be seen as merely a file-sharing intranet for executives. Does Inc. plan to offer additional resources for these people that rarely have time for online networking?
More at:http://incbiznet.com/
Thursday, October 11, 2007
On Becoming Second Life Entrepreneur
In the simulated world of Second Life, in which 9.6 million "residents" or registered users create the world around them, standing out is paramount.
"I have 500 different skins," says Arikinui Adria, a virtual fashion designer who is referring to various looks that can be worn by her "avatar," a character that she and anyone who registers for Second Life can create. "Just like real people change their lipstick to match their outfits, I change my hair style, my hair color and my skins to match mine."
Armed with a graphic-design tool and image-editing software, Adria creates fashions for herself and for sale in her virtual store, Nuclear Boutique, from which she earns between $1,500 and $3,500 each month. Granted, the real life 39-year-old Cocoa, Fla., resident who asked that her real name not be used, says, "I'm not making the millions Ralph Lauren is making." But the fact that a population of avatars admires her design skills is rewarding, she says.
In Second Life, "you can do anything you want, create anything you want and be whoever you want to be," says Daniel Terdiman, author of "The Entrepreneur's Guide to Second Life," which is due out in November. Since the fantasy word's inception in 2003 people have gotten married, taken classes, thrown parties, watched movies, gone shopping, built homes — and now, they're testing their entrepreneurial mettle. What makes Second Life so unusual compared to many other interactive 3D games (such as those played on Microsoft's Xbox) is that the virtual society uses a currency and thus an economy has begun to take shape.
Second Life poses a big opportunity for entrepreneurs, says Terdiman. "It is a virtual world in which personal expression is important," he says. Since there is no limit to what people can create, he estimates that "several hundred thousand consumers" will likely want to spend money on the latest designs for anything from vehicles that fly to enhanced body parts.
Entering the "metaverse" — a term used to describe immersive 3D virtual spaces such as Second Life — may not make much business sense for every would-be digital entrepreneur as it takes the same amount of hard work and stamina as owning a real-world business. But for those with an eye for design and technological acumen to boot, taking a second look at virtual worlds might, in fact, be worth the effort.
A Primer on Second Life
In 2006, according to demographers from Linden Lab, the San Francisco-based creator of Second Life, more than $93 million worth of transactions took place in Second Life. Additionally, in the last 12 months 2,082 entrepreneurs selling anything from cars and fashion accessories to parcels of their own private island made $20,000 or more. And just last month, 1,615 resident-business owners earned $1,000 to $2,000 and another 1,058 earned between $2,000 and $5,000.
Getting a Second Life is free. However, a computer, Second Life software, and a high-speed Internet connection are generally necessary for optimal use. A premium membership in which users can buy land and receive a weekly stipend is also available for $9.95 a month. The currency, known as "Linden" dollars, may be purchased using a credit card and earned during the game. Lindens can then be converted into real dollars via online currency exchanges.
Virtual worlds including Second Life and "World of Warcraft," an online role-playing game, are receiving massive inflows of money. According to a recent report about technology trends in small businesses from Intuit, it's estimated that more than $200 million real-world dollars are funneled through virtual worlds each month.
And entrepreneurs like Elizabeth Foshion, are capitalizing on the trend. Four years ago, Foshion, or "Surreal Farber" as she's known in Second Life, and her business partner entered the virtual community as content creators. "We started making stuff for ourselves and people liked it," she says. From there, the two invested in their own island, which today might cost $1,675, plus a $295 monthly maintenance fee.
More at:http://secondlife.com/
Via-Uncommon Business Blog
"I have 500 different skins," says Arikinui Adria, a virtual fashion designer who is referring to various looks that can be worn by her "avatar," a character that she and anyone who registers for Second Life can create. "Just like real people change their lipstick to match their outfits, I change my hair style, my hair color and my skins to match mine."
Armed with a graphic-design tool and image-editing software, Adria creates fashions for herself and for sale in her virtual store, Nuclear Boutique, from which she earns between $1,500 and $3,500 each month. Granted, the real life 39-year-old Cocoa, Fla., resident who asked that her real name not be used, says, "I'm not making the millions Ralph Lauren is making." But the fact that a population of avatars admires her design skills is rewarding, she says.
In Second Life, "you can do anything you want, create anything you want and be whoever you want to be," says Daniel Terdiman, author of "The Entrepreneur's Guide to Second Life," which is due out in November. Since the fantasy word's inception in 2003 people have gotten married, taken classes, thrown parties, watched movies, gone shopping, built homes — and now, they're testing their entrepreneurial mettle. What makes Second Life so unusual compared to many other interactive 3D games (such as those played on Microsoft's Xbox) is that the virtual society uses a currency and thus an economy has begun to take shape.
Second Life poses a big opportunity for entrepreneurs, says Terdiman. "It is a virtual world in which personal expression is important," he says. Since there is no limit to what people can create, he estimates that "several hundred thousand consumers" will likely want to spend money on the latest designs for anything from vehicles that fly to enhanced body parts.
Entering the "metaverse" — a term used to describe immersive 3D virtual spaces such as Second Life — may not make much business sense for every would-be digital entrepreneur as it takes the same amount of hard work and stamina as owning a real-world business. But for those with an eye for design and technological acumen to boot, taking a second look at virtual worlds might, in fact, be worth the effort.
A Primer on Second Life
In 2006, according to demographers from Linden Lab, the San Francisco-based creator of Second Life, more than $93 million worth of transactions took place in Second Life. Additionally, in the last 12 months 2,082 entrepreneurs selling anything from cars and fashion accessories to parcels of their own private island made $20,000 or more. And just last month, 1,615 resident-business owners earned $1,000 to $2,000 and another 1,058 earned between $2,000 and $5,000.
Getting a Second Life is free. However, a computer, Second Life software, and a high-speed Internet connection are generally necessary for optimal use. A premium membership in which users can buy land and receive a weekly stipend is also available for $9.95 a month. The currency, known as "Linden" dollars, may be purchased using a credit card and earned during the game. Lindens can then be converted into real dollars via online currency exchanges.
Virtual worlds including Second Life and "World of Warcraft," an online role-playing game, are receiving massive inflows of money. According to a recent report about technology trends in small businesses from Intuit, it's estimated that more than $200 million real-world dollars are funneled through virtual worlds each month.
And entrepreneurs like Elizabeth Foshion, are capitalizing on the trend. Four years ago, Foshion, or "Surreal Farber" as she's known in Second Life, and her business partner entered the virtual community as content creators. "We started making stuff for ourselves and people liked it," she says. From there, the two invested in their own island, which today might cost $1,675, plus a $295 monthly maintenance fee.
More at:http://secondlife.com/
Via-Uncommon Business Blog
Yuwie.com Is First Site Which Pays You For Networking
What Company is Offering:
Yuwie.com is an online social networking service that allows members to set up personal profiles for the purpose of linking to friends and sharing information, videos, blogs, and pictures. Yuwie also pays members for based on the amount of activity they have, and based on the activity of their referrals. To enrich members' experience, we request and display some personal information to other members and visitors, which allows our users to identify each other and expand their network of friends. Yuwie members can change their profile information at any time and can control if and how other members and the service communicates with them, and views their information.
How It Works:
Every action a member takes, and the actions resulting there from are compensated. This means everything from updating your profile, posting a video, picture or a new blog post, and getting profile views earns members money. Yuwie decides on the 15th of every month how much it will dole out to its members. Total amount earned can be tracked in the ‘earnings’ section of each member’s profile. While users aren’t exactly hitting the mother-load, the very prospect of earning cash merely for networking has already attracted a fair number of users. Apart from the financial bit, Yuwie’s got a vivid member search method: you can actually search for users not only by the standard age, gender, and location routine, there’s also a specific search for body type (ranging from ‘a little fluffy,’ to ‘scales are my enemy’), and income, religion, smoker/drinker, and education. Capitalism and all its vices in a nutshell.
More at:http://www.yuwie.com/
Yuwie.com is an online social networking service that allows members to set up personal profiles for the purpose of linking to friends and sharing information, videos, blogs, and pictures. Yuwie also pays members for based on the amount of activity they have, and based on the activity of their referrals. To enrich members' experience, we request and display some personal information to other members and visitors, which allows our users to identify each other and expand their network of friends. Yuwie members can change their profile information at any time and can control if and how other members and the service communicates with them, and views their information.
How It Works:
Every action a member takes, and the actions resulting there from are compensated. This means everything from updating your profile, posting a video, picture or a new blog post, and getting profile views earns members money. Yuwie decides on the 15th of every month how much it will dole out to its members. Total amount earned can be tracked in the ‘earnings’ section of each member’s profile. While users aren’t exactly hitting the mother-load, the very prospect of earning cash merely for networking has already attracted a fair number of users. Apart from the financial bit, Yuwie’s got a vivid member search method: you can actually search for users not only by the standard age, gender, and location routine, there’s also a specific search for body type (ranging from ‘a little fluffy,’ to ‘scales are my enemy’), and income, religion, smoker/drinker, and education. Capitalism and all its vices in a nutshell.
More at:http://www.yuwie.com/
Freemindshare is a web service will make it possible for you to share your FreeMind map.
What Company is About:
Freemindshare is a web service will make it possible for you to share your FreeMind map. The service is presently in beta and can consequently meet a few functioning problems.
This service is supplied free of charge and without any obligation. Please note that your files will not be confidential, their access is not securised. However, no list available, and a unique and alphanumeric identifier is required in order to accede to a file. Good luck anybody wants to scan the whole list.
How It Works:
A mind map is a diagram that helps you organize and study a number of things, such as; concepts, thoughts, ideas, theories, business plans, comparisons, goals, and much more. Mind maps help you in decision making processes and problem solving, their form can change from sprawling from a center idea or left to right. Free Minds is a software application that helps you make mind maps. Free Minds is written in Java Script and it allows you to make mind maps. Now there is a service called FreeMindShare which is a place where you can upload your Free Mind map. If you want to share your Free Mind map with others this is a perfect site for you to visit. You simply go to Freemindshare.com and hit the “share” button you can upload your Free Mind map and share it with the world.
More at:http://freemindshare.com/
Freemindshare is a web service will make it possible for you to share your FreeMind map. The service is presently in beta and can consequently meet a few functioning problems.
This service is supplied free of charge and without any obligation. Please note that your files will not be confidential, their access is not securised. However, no list available, and a unique and alphanumeric identifier is required in order to accede to a file. Good luck anybody wants to scan the whole list.
How It Works:
A mind map is a diagram that helps you organize and study a number of things, such as; concepts, thoughts, ideas, theories, business plans, comparisons, goals, and much more. Mind maps help you in decision making processes and problem solving, their form can change from sprawling from a center idea or left to right. Free Minds is a software application that helps you make mind maps. Free Minds is written in Java Script and it allows you to make mind maps. Now there is a service called FreeMindShare which is a place where you can upload your Free Mind map. If you want to share your Free Mind map with others this is a perfect site for you to visit. You simply go to Freemindshare.com and hit the “share” button you can upload your Free Mind map and share it with the world.
More at:http://freemindshare.com/
TrafficWave.net develops and manages AutoResponder technology for small and medium sized businesses in over 60 different countries
What Company Is About:
TrafficWave.net LLC is a Limited Liability Company located in Spring, Texas. Founded in the year 2000 by Brian Rooney and Stephen Hambright, TrafficWave.net develops and manages AutoResponder technology for small and medium sized businesses in over 60 different countries. Clients access our web-based AutoResponder system 24/7 to manage and send newsletters, sales letters, special offers, and other important communication to their subscribers.
How It Works:
TrafficWave.net provides AutoResponder technologies.AutoResponders allow small and home based businesses to generate, manage, and profit from their own in-house lists. Using AutoResponders by TrafficWave.net, clients can get their message out quickly and cost-effectively. Clients can create sends messages in plain text or full html. AdTracking capabilities allow clients to track the responses to each individual letter, follow-up, announcement or article. In addition, Clients can use AdTracker to track virtually any online ad. You can sart with a 30 Day Free Trial.
More at:http://www.trafficwave.net/
OnToplist.com ranking: Visionwiz
TrafficWave.net LLC is a Limited Liability Company located in Spring, Texas. Founded in the year 2000 by Brian Rooney and Stephen Hambright, TrafficWave.net develops and manages AutoResponder technology for small and medium sized businesses in over 60 different countries. Clients access our web-based AutoResponder system 24/7 to manage and send newsletters, sales letters, special offers, and other important communication to their subscribers.
How It Works:
TrafficWave.net provides AutoResponder technologies.AutoResponders allow small and home based businesses to generate, manage, and profit from their own in-house lists. Using AutoResponders by TrafficWave.net, clients can get their message out quickly and cost-effectively. Clients can create sends messages in plain text or full html. AdTracking capabilities allow clients to track the responses to each individual letter, follow-up, announcement or article. In addition, Clients can use AdTracker to track virtually any online ad. You can sart with a 30 Day Free Trial.
More at:http://www.trafficwave.net/
OnToplist.com ranking: Visionwiz
Industry Printing is for delivering a professional product at a cost effect price
What Company is Offering;
Industry Printing is for delivering a professional product at a cost effect price. They offer a wide variety of products and services including 13oz, 15oz, mesh banners, posters, contour cut stickers, car magnetics, floor graphics, wall graphics, photo enlargements, art reproductions, window decals and more. All this you can do it in three very easy steps.We give 110% care and attention to every customer & job. We promise to make your experience with Industry Printing enjoyable and remember able. We take great pride in our work and treat our customers like family
How It works:
First of all you have to choose your product, then your options and finally upload your artwork. Prices are very accessible and the quality is very good, they print in a considerably high resolution.
More at:http://www.industryprinting.net/
Industry Printing is for delivering a professional product at a cost effect price. They offer a wide variety of products and services including 13oz, 15oz, mesh banners, posters, contour cut stickers, car magnetics, floor graphics, wall graphics, photo enlargements, art reproductions, window decals and more. All this you can do it in three very easy steps.We give 110% care and attention to every customer & job. We promise to make your experience with Industry Printing enjoyable and remember able. We take great pride in our work and treat our customers like family
How It works:
First of all you have to choose your product, then your options and finally upload your artwork. Prices are very accessible and the quality is very good, they print in a considerably high resolution.
More at:http://www.industryprinting.net/
AskPoodle is a new local search tool for the service you need, and businesses and vendors are then contacted on your behalf
What Company is About:
AskPoodle is a new local search tool that lets you submit a request for the service you need, and businesses and vendors are then contacted on your behalf. The business that responds to your query fastest will obviously be the one more likely to get you as a customer.
How It works:
This whole process, which looks eerily like FastCall411, is supposed to be a hands-off approach to finding local businesses. If you’re looking for immediate answers, however, there are often search results that AskPoodle can provide. These are rather limited and don’t offer much in the way of information other than an URL and the address. To this end, you may be better off going to Google.
Aside from these consumer requests on AskPoodle, there are also social postings that allow you to post a query on the message board, and see what other users can help you out with. This operates much like Yahoo Answers, and can be used for those questions that don’t require an immediate response. In all, the site is rather cumbersome to use, and may not provide much in the way of value unless businesses are alerted to its purpose and design, and also incentivized for their participation. In other local search news, Grayboxx has just launched in another 100 cities.
More at:http://www.askpoodle.com/
AskPoodle is a new local search tool that lets you submit a request for the service you need, and businesses and vendors are then contacted on your behalf. The business that responds to your query fastest will obviously be the one more likely to get you as a customer.
How It works:
This whole process, which looks eerily like FastCall411, is supposed to be a hands-off approach to finding local businesses. If you’re looking for immediate answers, however, there are often search results that AskPoodle can provide. These are rather limited and don’t offer much in the way of information other than an URL and the address. To this end, you may be better off going to Google.
Aside from these consumer requests on AskPoodle, there are also social postings that allow you to post a query on the message board, and see what other users can help you out with. This operates much like Yahoo Answers, and can be used for those questions that don’t require an immediate response. In all, the site is rather cumbersome to use, and may not provide much in the way of value unless businesses are alerted to its purpose and design, and also incentivized for their participation. In other local search news, Grayboxx has just launched in another 100 cities.
More at:http://www.askpoodle.com/
iFoods.tv, the network for user-generated cooking shows
What Company is About:
iFoods.tv, the network for user-generated cooking shows, has officially launched today.
How it Works:
The site features shows from its own editors, as well as those submitted by users, which is a set up similar to VideoJug. Everything here focuses around cooking shows, so it is a rather niche website. With the official launch, iFoods also has a new feature for a monthly competition called Brownie Points. This is to encourage site activity, as active users get top prizes.
How It Could Be Improved:
The concept of iFoods is a good one, even though it’s not new. However, a few additions to its niche site would be helpful, such as transcripts for recipes, along with printing options for the transcripts as well. Incorporating better search and filtering options would be useful, and perhaps segmenting recipes by level of expertise will aid a user’s search and interest in the site. See here for more online food resources.
More at:http://ifoods.tv/site/
iFoods.tv, the network for user-generated cooking shows, has officially launched today.
How it Works:
The site features shows from its own editors, as well as those submitted by users, which is a set up similar to VideoJug. Everything here focuses around cooking shows, so it is a rather niche website. With the official launch, iFoods also has a new feature for a monthly competition called Brownie Points. This is to encourage site activity, as active users get top prizes.
How It Could Be Improved:
The concept of iFoods is a good one, even though it’s not new. However, a few additions to its niche site would be helpful, such as transcripts for recipes, along with printing options for the transcripts as well. Incorporating better search and filtering options would be useful, and perhaps segmenting recipes by level of expertise will aid a user’s search and interest in the site. See here for more online food resources.
More at:http://ifoods.tv/site/
"Bank of America Launched A Site" for small business owners to be part of the Small Business Online Community
Bank Of America :
Bank of America has launched a social network. Sort of. It’s a site for small business owners to be part of the Small Business Online Community, where they can share stories with each other, find experts in various topics, and network with each other.
How It Works:
This online community is set up somewhat like LinkedIn, where business info such as location, website, annual revenue and other information is shared on the profiles. The purpose of this site is to allow Bank of America be that singular resource for small businesses. You don’t need to be a Bank of America user in order to join the site, so what you’ll get once you log on to this community is a network of business people that are sharing their stories with each other, as well as access to articles from industry experts.
This format of “mentorship” is pretty straight forward, and those that provide the most amount of quality content will be promoted throughout the site. And guess what else will be promoted here? Bank of America products. This form of online networking has been used time and time again for drug companies looking to create hubs of potential and existing patients, do a little market research, and get new ways to push products to consumers. Coca Cola and Reebok have also launched social networks under a similar guise.
More at:http://smallbusinessonlinecommunity.bankofamerica.com/
Bank of America has launched a social network. Sort of. It’s a site for small business owners to be part of the Small Business Online Community, where they can share stories with each other, find experts in various topics, and network with each other.
How It Works:
This online community is set up somewhat like LinkedIn, where business info such as location, website, annual revenue and other information is shared on the profiles. The purpose of this site is to allow Bank of America be that singular resource for small businesses. You don’t need to be a Bank of America user in order to join the site, so what you’ll get once you log on to this community is a network of business people that are sharing their stories with each other, as well as access to articles from industry experts.
This format of “mentorship” is pretty straight forward, and those that provide the most amount of quality content will be promoted throughout the site. And guess what else will be promoted here? Bank of America products. This form of online networking has been used time and time again for drug companies looking to create hubs of potential and existing patients, do a little market research, and get new ways to push products to consumers. Coca Cola and Reebok have also launched social networks under a similar guise.
More at:http://smallbusinessonlinecommunity.bankofamerica.com/
eSureIT online backup service has raised $5 million in venture capital
What Company is about:
eSureIT online backup service Business Plans help insure that your critical information is secure and always available.
How It works:
After you sign up for an eSureIT online backup service account, you will download and install the data backup software onto your computer or your server. After installation of the eSureIT software, you will choose a unique encryption key for security that will be used to encrypt all of your files. You will then set up your backup sets, which are the list of files that you want to backup and the times that you want to do backups. Setting up backup sets is easy, and you have complete control over your backups.
Online data backups start automatically
From then on, as long as your computer is online and functioning, data backups will start automatically according to the schedule that you have set. While backups are typically scheduled during the night when there are few people using your computers, backups have little or no impact on your computer's performance and your ability to access the Internet. With eSureIT, you also have the option of manually starting an online data backup at any time.
How Much They Got from VCs:
They raised $5 million in venture capital. The funding comes from OpenView Venture Partners.
More at:http://www.intronis.com/
eSureIT online backup service Business Plans help insure that your critical information is secure and always available.
How It works:
After you sign up for an eSureIT online backup service account, you will download and install the data backup software onto your computer or your server. After installation of the eSureIT software, you will choose a unique encryption key for security that will be used to encrypt all of your files. You will then set up your backup sets, which are the list of files that you want to backup and the times that you want to do backups. Setting up backup sets is easy, and you have complete control over your backups.
Online data backups start automatically
From then on, as long as your computer is online and functioning, data backups will start automatically according to the schedule that you have set. While backups are typically scheduled during the night when there are few people using your computers, backups have little or no impact on your computer's performance and your ability to access the Internet. With eSureIT, you also have the option of manually starting an online data backup at any time.
How Much They Got from VCs:
They raised $5 million in venture capital. The funding comes from OpenView Venture Partners.
More at:http://www.intronis.com/
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
The UpDown is place where virtual portfolios can earn you real money
What Company is Offering:
The UpDown a destination for investors to collaborate and compete using virtual portfolios and real-life brokerage simulations, its members also have a chance to make real money derived from their on-site analyses.
By aggregating the trading activity of its members, we compile a community-based investment strategy, which is then used to manage a real-life fund. We believe that the organic competitive analysis is the ultimate hedge to investment risk. Instead of just one fund manager, we have an entire community.
The revenues from this fund are shared with the top members of The UpDown on a weekly and monthly basis. It all comes down to the individual investors - the more qualitative their insight, the higher the fund dividends, and the more money they'll earn.
How It Works:
Register at TheUpDown.com and create and maintain a stock portfolio. You have virtual money in your portfolio you can virtually trade, so no worries about blowing your salary you can trade away carefree and have a possibility to earn money from TheUpDown.com. There are three ways to earn money. You can earn money by beating the market, if your portfolio is better then the S&P 500 index you will get paid every month, by PayPal. You can also make money based on the history of your portfolio, if you have a good track record of beating the S&P 500 index you get money. You also get money from submitting good stock analyses. Your analyses are voted on by other users and who ever has the best stock analysis of the week gets money. The last way you can get money at TheUpDown.com is by referring a user who then gets money; you get 10% whenever your referral gets money. TheUpDown.com is a social network, so just like any social network you have a profile which shows your trading success among other stock related history. You can add friends and join or great groups. TheUpDown.com holds contests for users and at the moment there is a contest for university students so don’t miss out. Have fund trading stocks and learning at TheUpDown.com.
More at:http://www.theupdown.com/
The UpDown a destination for investors to collaborate and compete using virtual portfolios and real-life brokerage simulations, its members also have a chance to make real money derived from their on-site analyses.
By aggregating the trading activity of its members, we compile a community-based investment strategy, which is then used to manage a real-life fund. We believe that the organic competitive analysis is the ultimate hedge to investment risk. Instead of just one fund manager, we have an entire community.
The revenues from this fund are shared with the top members of The UpDown on a weekly and monthly basis. It all comes down to the individual investors - the more qualitative their insight, the higher the fund dividends, and the more money they'll earn.
How It Works:
Register at TheUpDown.com and create and maintain a stock portfolio. You have virtual money in your portfolio you can virtually trade, so no worries about blowing your salary you can trade away carefree and have a possibility to earn money from TheUpDown.com. There are three ways to earn money. You can earn money by beating the market, if your portfolio is better then the S&P 500 index you will get paid every month, by PayPal. You can also make money based on the history of your portfolio, if you have a good track record of beating the S&P 500 index you get money. You also get money from submitting good stock analyses. Your analyses are voted on by other users and who ever has the best stock analysis of the week gets money. The last way you can get money at TheUpDown.com is by referring a user who then gets money; you get 10% whenever your referral gets money. TheUpDown.com is a social network, so just like any social network you have a profile which shows your trading success among other stock related history. You can add friends and join or great groups. TheUpDown.com holds contests for users and at the moment there is a contest for university students so don’t miss out. Have fund trading stocks and learning at TheUpDown.com.
More at:http://www.theupdown.com/
GlobeFunder's Purpose is higher returns for lenders and lower costs for borrowers through the GlobeFunder online marketplace
What Company is About:
GlobeFunder uses proprietary technology and consumer finance industry best practices to offer loan funding to borrowers looking for lower interest rates. The goal is higher returns for lenders and lower costs for borrowers through the GlobeFunder online marketplace. GlobeFunder is committed to being the leader in providing alternative loan funding where it is needed most, at market-driven interest rates, with the highest levels of service and integrity.
How It works:
GlobeFunder provides a simple, scalable platform that will marry the best attributes of online borrowing with new profitable loan opportunities for lenders in a global loan marketplace,” says President and Co-Founder Benjamin Decio.
GlobeFunder has partnered with companies like Experian, CSC, and eDominate to screen borrowers, service loans and process repayments online. This cuts out consumer finance companies and banks, ultimately lowering borrowing costs to benefit consumers.
More at:http://www.globefunder.com/
GlobeFunder uses proprietary technology and consumer finance industry best practices to offer loan funding to borrowers looking for lower interest rates. The goal is higher returns for lenders and lower costs for borrowers through the GlobeFunder online marketplace. GlobeFunder is committed to being the leader in providing alternative loan funding where it is needed most, at market-driven interest rates, with the highest levels of service and integrity.
How It works:
GlobeFunder provides a simple, scalable platform that will marry the best attributes of online borrowing with new profitable loan opportunities for lenders in a global loan marketplace,” says President and Co-Founder Benjamin Decio.
GlobeFunder has partnered with companies like Experian, CSC, and eDominate to screen borrowers, service loans and process repayments online. This cuts out consumer finance companies and banks, ultimately lowering borrowing costs to benefit consumers.
More at:http://www.globefunder.com/
ToneMine is a ringtone mixer
What Company is about:
ToneMine is a ringtone mixer that’s just been launched by mobile retailer LetsTalk.com. The ringtone mixer is slightly more extensive than most services out there, with a little bit of social networking mixed in as well.
How It Works:
The mixing composer on the site lets you work from a basic music package, which covers the basic genres from hip hop to salsa, jazz and rock. From there, you can add in music and effects from ToneMine’s library, the shared community sounds, and your own library. What’s useful about this editor is that you can “Save As” meaning you can create a ringtone, save it, tweak it and save it again without needing to start from scratch.
You can enjoy a good amount of ToneMine without creating a profile, but once your profile is created all of your favorite ringtones will be displayed on your profile, but not the ones you’ve made for yourself. Check out the community ringtones to see what’s new and what’s popular. Save good ringtones to your Favorites and add tags. The sharing options for each ringtone, which unfortunately cannot be done from the profile but only from the community section, lets you send the ringtone to your mobile phone, send it to a friend, or save it on various bookmarking sites like Digg and del.icio.us. Other ringtone services include RingBlender and Razz.
More at:http://www.tonemine.com/
ToneMine is a ringtone mixer that’s just been launched by mobile retailer LetsTalk.com. The ringtone mixer is slightly more extensive than most services out there, with a little bit of social networking mixed in as well.
How It Works:
The mixing composer on the site lets you work from a basic music package, which covers the basic genres from hip hop to salsa, jazz and rock. From there, you can add in music and effects from ToneMine’s library, the shared community sounds, and your own library. What’s useful about this editor is that you can “Save As” meaning you can create a ringtone, save it, tweak it and save it again without needing to start from scratch.
You can enjoy a good amount of ToneMine without creating a profile, but once your profile is created all of your favorite ringtones will be displayed on your profile, but not the ones you’ve made for yourself. Check out the community ringtones to see what’s new and what’s popular. Save good ringtones to your Favorites and add tags. The sharing options for each ringtone, which unfortunately cannot be done from the profile but only from the community section, lets you send the ringtone to your mobile phone, send it to a friend, or save it on various bookmarking sites like Digg and del.icio.us. Other ringtone services include RingBlender and Razz.
More at:http://www.tonemine.com/
BitTorrent DNA - which will leverage the company’s peer-to-peer technology to try and attract business
What Company is about:
BitTorrent is set to release their first enterprise product – BitTorrent DNA - which will leverage the company’s peer-to-peer technology to try and attract business customers. The company’s first client is Brightcove, who provides video content to many large publishers including Reuters, National Geographic, and TMZ. The move puts the company up against some major competitors in the Content Delivery Network (CDN) arena, including Akamai and Internap.
How It will work:
BitTorrent described the new BitTorrent DNA product in a statement as "the ideal solution for publishers seeking ways to overcome the obstacles associated with centralized content delivery, such as slow downloads, choppy video streams, and inefficient use of network infrastructure." The inaugural client for the new content delivery network (CDN) is online video start-up Brightcove, which powers a number of large companies' broadband media operations.
BitTorrent DNA will be used to "accelerate" the delivery of the video hosted on Brightcove's platform.
With the rise of online video and large-scale media downloads, content delivery has become a crowded niche in the market.
It looks like BitTorrent is following a similar path to Skype, whose founders first created the Kazaa p2p file sharing platform and then used similar technology to enable VoIP. BitTorrent has also created a legal digital download store that utilizes their technology, so the company is clearly starting to ramp up their commercial ambitions. Late last year, the company raised $20 million in venture capital to try and turn their massive user base (150 million downloads) into a profitable business.
More at:http://www.bittorrent.com/
BitTorrent is set to release their first enterprise product – BitTorrent DNA - which will leverage the company’s peer-to-peer technology to try and attract business customers. The company’s first client is Brightcove, who provides video content to many large publishers including Reuters, National Geographic, and TMZ. The move puts the company up against some major competitors in the Content Delivery Network (CDN) arena, including Akamai and Internap.
How It will work:
BitTorrent described the new BitTorrent DNA product in a statement as "the ideal solution for publishers seeking ways to overcome the obstacles associated with centralized content delivery, such as slow downloads, choppy video streams, and inefficient use of network infrastructure." The inaugural client for the new content delivery network (CDN) is online video start-up Brightcove, which powers a number of large companies' broadband media operations.
BitTorrent DNA will be used to "accelerate" the delivery of the video hosted on Brightcove's platform.
With the rise of online video and large-scale media downloads, content delivery has become a crowded niche in the market.
It looks like BitTorrent is following a similar path to Skype, whose founders first created the Kazaa p2p file sharing platform and then used similar technology to enable VoIP. BitTorrent has also created a legal digital download store that utilizes their technology, so the company is clearly starting to ramp up their commercial ambitions. Late last year, the company raised $20 million in venture capital to try and turn their massive user base (150 million downloads) into a profitable business.
More at:http://www.bittorrent.com/
Yoink’d is a new media search and viewing tool
What Company is About:
Yoink’d is a new media search and viewing tool that gives you a lot of functionality in a tiny package. There are a few things you can do with Yoink’d. You can use it as a media player, use it to find new videos on your own or through the Yoink’d community, and you can share it with the world using the Yoink’d widget.
How It Works:
Go to the Yonk’d homepage and you’ll see the mediabox player, front and center. Play around with it if you’d like, and create an account if you’d like to fully interact with it and save your changes. You can perform a web search for video directly from the mediabox, view them, and choose which clips you’d like to add to your playlist. Create a new playlist or use one of the defaults that Yonk’d has provided for you. You can also see what you’re Yoink’d friends are up to and grab their lists as well.
This mediabox can act as a stand alone player, so you can have it on and active as you surf the net. There are no downloads required, which is good if you use community computers, or just don’t feel the need to add another desktop application. Clips and playlists can be embed from the player, as it provides the embed code for mini players to be placed on your website or social networking profile. That means that if you’re doing a blog post and don’t feel like trecking to YouTube in order to find that video of OK Go on the treadmills, you can do a search with your Yoink’d mediabox player and get the embed code from there. This works for individual videos as well as entire playlists.
More at:http://www.yoinkd.com/
Yoink’d is a new media search and viewing tool that gives you a lot of functionality in a tiny package. There are a few things you can do with Yoink’d. You can use it as a media player, use it to find new videos on your own or through the Yoink’d community, and you can share it with the world using the Yoink’d widget.
How It Works:
Go to the Yonk’d homepage and you’ll see the mediabox player, front and center. Play around with it if you’d like, and create an account if you’d like to fully interact with it and save your changes. You can perform a web search for video directly from the mediabox, view them, and choose which clips you’d like to add to your playlist. Create a new playlist or use one of the defaults that Yonk’d has provided for you. You can also see what you’re Yoink’d friends are up to and grab their lists as well.
This mediabox can act as a stand alone player, so you can have it on and active as you surf the net. There are no downloads required, which is good if you use community computers, or just don’t feel the need to add another desktop application. Clips and playlists can be embed from the player, as it provides the embed code for mini players to be placed on your website or social networking profile. That means that if you’re doing a blog post and don’t feel like trecking to YouTube in order to find that video of OK Go on the treadmills, you can do a search with your Yoink’d mediabox player and get the embed code from there. This works for individual videos as well as entire playlists.
More at:http://www.yoinkd.com/
Companies using Voodoovox will be able to directly reach their consumers in a precise and timely manner
What Company is Is Offering:
Telephony will be free, and VoodooVox’s In-Call Media™ will make it happen. VoodooVox’s patent-pending In-Call Media™ process involves the targeted insertion of ad-supported audio content directly into the call stream of any type of phone traffic, providing new revenue sources for the call “publisher,” and additional features and services for the caller.
How It Works:
Their In-Call network, they claim, will be the next ‘breakthrough advertising channel’. Companies using Voodoovox will be able to directly reach their consumers in a precise and timely manner. So what exactly is their innovative and pioneering proposition? Audio ads. For example, Voodoovox can insert audio spots directly into a company’s callstream; instead of hearing vapid hold music and cyclic apologetic messages, callers will hear targeted, engaging ads. They’ve got three main products: RadioVoodoo, myVox for social networking, and On-hold network their inspired solution for ameliorating the on-hold situation.
More at:http://www.voodoovox.com/
Telephony will be free, and VoodooVox’s In-Call Media™ will make it happen. VoodooVox’s patent-pending In-Call Media™ process involves the targeted insertion of ad-supported audio content directly into the call stream of any type of phone traffic, providing new revenue sources for the call “publisher,” and additional features and services for the caller.
How It Works:
Their In-Call network, they claim, will be the next ‘breakthrough advertising channel’. Companies using Voodoovox will be able to directly reach their consumers in a precise and timely manner. So what exactly is their innovative and pioneering proposition? Audio ads. For example, Voodoovox can insert audio spots directly into a company’s callstream; instead of hearing vapid hold music and cyclic apologetic messages, callers will hear targeted, engaging ads. They’ve got three main products: RadioVoodoo, myVox for social networking, and On-hold network their inspired solution for ameliorating the on-hold situation.
More at:http://www.voodoovox.com/
"ServiceSeeking" mediates the selling and buying of any type of service
What Company Is About:
ServiceSeeking is an online service market based in Australia. The site mediates the selling and buying of any type of service whether it be contractual construction work or one time projects.
How It Works:
Finding the right professionals, contractors or freelancers to do your work can be exhausting, particularly if you’re not sure what you are really asking for or how much to pay. Welcome Service Seeking, the online market where people bid to do your work. You describe what you need and service providers bid for the job in an open market!
Then, you compare all the bids and choose the best value provider based on their bid price and their Service Score (our feedback system). You can communicate with a provider during the project via our private messaging facility and pay for the work securely whenever you like.
More at:http://www.serviceseeking.com.au/
ServiceSeeking is an online service market based in Australia. The site mediates the selling and buying of any type of service whether it be contractual construction work or one time projects.
How It Works:
Finding the right professionals, contractors or freelancers to do your work can be exhausting, particularly if you’re not sure what you are really asking for or how much to pay. Welcome Service Seeking, the online market where people bid to do your work. You describe what you need and service providers bid for the job in an open market!
Then, you compare all the bids and choose the best value provider based on their bid price and their Service Score (our feedback system). You can communicate with a provider during the project via our private messaging facility and pay for the work securely whenever you like.
More at:http://www.serviceseeking.com.au/
Freenormous shows the best free offers
What Company Is About:
Freenormous shows the best free offers, free samples, contests and freebies from around the web. Submit free offers for the community to review and promote to the main page based on votes. When a user submits a new offer, the article is placed in the "upcoming" area until it gains sufficient votes to be promoted to the main page.
How It Works:
Once you go to the homepage you have a list of the recently posted free offers. There are contests, free shoe give aways, free popcorn and shampoo samples, basically anything you can imagine. Click on the free product of your choosing and you will see what user posted it and when, the url of the site that is offering the free sample, comments, related links, and who voted. You can decide to discuss the free sample, or send it to a friend or if it is a fake offer you can bury it. You can search for free sample by category or tag or use the search engine. You must register to submit a free offer or sample. You can take a look at the top users and see their karma, which is a score that is created by how active and useful they are on the site. Take a look at Freenormous.com and see what cool free stuff you can find.
More at:http://www.freenormous.com/
Freenormous shows the best free offers, free samples, contests and freebies from around the web. Submit free offers for the community to review and promote to the main page based on votes. When a user submits a new offer, the article is placed in the "upcoming" area until it gains sufficient votes to be promoted to the main page.
How It Works:
Once you go to the homepage you have a list of the recently posted free offers. There are contests, free shoe give aways, free popcorn and shampoo samples, basically anything you can imagine. Click on the free product of your choosing and you will see what user posted it and when, the url of the site that is offering the free sample, comments, related links, and who voted. You can decide to discuss the free sample, or send it to a friend or if it is a fake offer you can bury it. You can search for free sample by category or tag or use the search engine. You must register to submit a free offer or sample. You can take a look at the top users and see their karma, which is a score that is created by how active and useful they are on the site. Take a look at Freenormous.com and see what cool free stuff you can find.
More at:http://www.freenormous.com/
Tuesday, October 9, 2007
SupportSpace is a new technical support service for individual users and small businesses that need online support
What Company Is About:
SupportSpace is a new technical support service for individual users and small businesses that need online support with a centralized platform, connecting them to a live technician. The service is not yet live, but will be available towards the middle of this week.
How It Works:
The SupportSpace tech team consists of independent tech experts that are all specialized in various areas like PCs, peripherals, networking, security, and more. As a user, you can select which area of expertise you need, and also choose experts based on availablility, pricing, specialty and user ratings/reviews. While all the experts are certified by SupportSpace, it’s clear that this is a marketplace for technicians that will be vying for your attention and competing with each other, to some degree. From the looks of it, you’ll be able to connect with technicians via phone and chat, and work from remote access for technicians to repair your computer.
There’s also a partner program for technology vendors and retailers that would like to offer users with their tech-support alternatives.
More at:http://www.supportspace.com/
SupportSpace is a new technical support service for individual users and small businesses that need online support with a centralized platform, connecting them to a live technician. The service is not yet live, but will be available towards the middle of this week.
How It Works:
The SupportSpace tech team consists of independent tech experts that are all specialized in various areas like PCs, peripherals, networking, security, and more. As a user, you can select which area of expertise you need, and also choose experts based on availablility, pricing, specialty and user ratings/reviews. While all the experts are certified by SupportSpace, it’s clear that this is a marketplace for technicians that will be vying for your attention and competing with each other, to some degree. From the looks of it, you’ll be able to connect with technicians via phone and chat, and work from remote access for technicians to repair your computer.
There’s also a partner program for technology vendors and retailers that would like to offer users with their tech-support alternatives.
More at:http://www.supportspace.com/
Chinese social networking site Wangyou Media (www.wangyou.com) has raised a US$6.12 Series B round of funding
Chinese social networking site Wangyou Media (www.wangyou.com) has raised a US$6.12 Series B round of funding, reports ChinaVenture.com.cn. Previous Wangyou investor Charles River Ventures participated in the round, as well as new investors Transcosmos Investments & Business Development, ADS Global Partners (Tokyo) and Oxsino Venture Ltd, said the report. Charles River Ventures invested in Wangyou in March 2006.
More at:www.wangyou.com
More at:www.wangyou.com
Is Wal-Mart Era Ending?
The ever-expanding chain of drab big-box stores emerged from its dusty down-home beginnings in Arkansas in the 1970s, teaching Americans to demand ever-lower prices and instructing companies to shave their margins to the bone.
But today, the Journal reports, Wal-Mart's influence is slipping as the Internet and smaller, hipper rivals take ever bigger bites out of its market share.
A big part of the giant retailer's problem, as the Journal sees it, is that it has become politically incorrect -- paying rock-bottom wages and offering its workers the slimmest of benefits while offering down-market products at prices that no longer seem very attractive.
As in every market sector, the Internet has played a major role in eroding Wal-Mart's dominance. Consumers can now find a wider selection of products at competitive prices online, and they can do so without driving miles out of their way and fighting the crowds and check-out lines at Wal-Mart.
Customer service
The lack of satisfactory customer service is the theme that runs through most complaints filed with ConsumerAffairs.Com by Wal-Mart customers.
When Amber of Lewisburg, Ky., and her husband went to Wal-Mart to buy a futon for their daughter, they found the item they wanted, marked at $99.96 but the box was so heavy they could hardly lift it.
"When we asked one of the store employees for assitance in lifting the extremely heavy box, we were greeted with blank faces," she said. "I was told to go to the lay-a-way deptartment and ask someone there."
It took 45 minutes for someone to help them move the box to the check-out counter, but then: "We got it to the counter and (SURPRISE) the item was priced incorrectly. The actual price was $199.96! When I complained, the cashier became very aggravated and said she wasn't going to sell me the futon for $99.96 just because I told her that was the price!"
"I even went back to the housewares dept., got the tag, and brought it back to her. Her response was 'Sorry, I don't price things. I have to charge you what it rings up as,'" Amber complained.
Amber, who said she is a long-time Wal-Mart customer, saw the incident as typical of the change in Wal-Mart's "customer first" policy.
"If I remember correctly, Wal-Mart used to have a rule where if a customer was charged more than $3.00 than the marked price of an item, they got the item for the lower price. Apparently, Wal-Mart tends to forget their own policies and only enforces the ones which make them money!" she said.
Forgetting its roots?
While Wal-Mart's attempts to penetrate urban areas have had medicore results, many of its traditional customers say it has also forgotten its roots. The company's plan to eliminate layaway purchases is often cited as an example.
"I am throughly disgusted at their lack of care and concern for the people that made them rich. It is the ultimate betrayal!" said LaDonna of Garland, Texas.
"Wal-Mart is a terrible place, and I spend thousands -- like about 8 of them -- a year there, but no longer! All of my Christmas will be done online this year!" she vowed.
Hit the wall
Wal-Mart's supercenter recipe no longer produces the growth it needs to sustain itself and its attempts to attract and retain more affluent consumers have fallen flat, Love Goel, chairman of a private equityu firm that invests in retail businesses, told the Journal.
"They have hit the wall," Goel said.
Via-Consumeraffairs
But today, the Journal reports, Wal-Mart's influence is slipping as the Internet and smaller, hipper rivals take ever bigger bites out of its market share.
A big part of the giant retailer's problem, as the Journal sees it, is that it has become politically incorrect -- paying rock-bottom wages and offering its workers the slimmest of benefits while offering down-market products at prices that no longer seem very attractive.
As in every market sector, the Internet has played a major role in eroding Wal-Mart's dominance. Consumers can now find a wider selection of products at competitive prices online, and they can do so without driving miles out of their way and fighting the crowds and check-out lines at Wal-Mart.
Customer service
The lack of satisfactory customer service is the theme that runs through most complaints filed with ConsumerAffairs.Com by Wal-Mart customers.
When Amber of Lewisburg, Ky., and her husband went to Wal-Mart to buy a futon for their daughter, they found the item they wanted, marked at $99.96 but the box was so heavy they could hardly lift it.
"When we asked one of the store employees for assitance in lifting the extremely heavy box, we were greeted with blank faces," she said. "I was told to go to the lay-a-way deptartment and ask someone there."
It took 45 minutes for someone to help them move the box to the check-out counter, but then: "We got it to the counter and (SURPRISE) the item was priced incorrectly. The actual price was $199.96! When I complained, the cashier became very aggravated and said she wasn't going to sell me the futon for $99.96 just because I told her that was the price!"
"I even went back to the housewares dept., got the tag, and brought it back to her. Her response was 'Sorry, I don't price things. I have to charge you what it rings up as,'" Amber complained.
Amber, who said she is a long-time Wal-Mart customer, saw the incident as typical of the change in Wal-Mart's "customer first" policy.
"If I remember correctly, Wal-Mart used to have a rule where if a customer was charged more than $3.00 than the marked price of an item, they got the item for the lower price. Apparently, Wal-Mart tends to forget their own policies and only enforces the ones which make them money!" she said.
Forgetting its roots?
While Wal-Mart's attempts to penetrate urban areas have had medicore results, many of its traditional customers say it has also forgotten its roots. The company's plan to eliminate layaway purchases is often cited as an example.
"I am throughly disgusted at their lack of care and concern for the people that made them rich. It is the ultimate betrayal!" said LaDonna of Garland, Texas.
"Wal-Mart is a terrible place, and I spend thousands -- like about 8 of them -- a year there, but no longer! All of my Christmas will be done online this year!" she vowed.
Hit the wall
Wal-Mart's supercenter recipe no longer produces the growth it needs to sustain itself and its attempts to attract and retain more affluent consumers have fallen flat, Love Goel, chairman of a private equityu firm that invests in retail businesses, told the Journal.
"They have hit the wall," Goel said.
Via-Consumeraffairs
Google SMS Now In India For Local Information On Your Mobile
Mobile users in the country can now easily get local information on their handsets as leading search engine Google introduced a service on 9 October to facilitate access to such content.
The new offering Google SMS, has been launched in beta version across four cities Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore and Hyderabad. Google has tied-up with five operators Reliance, Bharti Airtel, BSNL, BPL and Aircel for offering the service, Google India head of products Vinay Goel said.
The local information would include movie timings, restaurants, local hospitals and taxi services among others. The subscribers do not need an internet-enabled phone for accessing the service.
The users would be charged between 80 paise and Rs3 per SMS depending on the operator, he said, declining to give details of the revenue sharing arrangement between Google and telecom companies. “We are betting big on the huge mobile subscriber base in India. After receiving the feedback from the four cities, we will launch the service across the country,” Goel said.
Google SMS is already present in other countries but India is the first Asian country where the service has been launched. “We are expecting a good response for this service,” he added but declined to tell how many users is the Google expecting from this service.
Via-PTI
The new offering Google SMS, has been launched in beta version across four cities Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore and Hyderabad. Google has tied-up with five operators Reliance, Bharti Airtel, BSNL, BPL and Aircel for offering the service, Google India head of products Vinay Goel said.
The local information would include movie timings, restaurants, local hospitals and taxi services among others. The subscribers do not need an internet-enabled phone for accessing the service.
The users would be charged between 80 paise and Rs3 per SMS depending on the operator, he said, declining to give details of the revenue sharing arrangement between Google and telecom companies. “We are betting big on the huge mobile subscriber base in India. After receiving the feedback from the four cities, we will launch the service across the country,” Goel said.
Google SMS is already present in other countries but India is the first Asian country where the service has been launched. “We are expecting a good response for this service,” he added but declined to tell how many users is the Google expecting from this service.
Via-PTI
MillionBlogs.org is a brand new concept that allows users to create their own fully functional website based on the word/phrase purchased
What Company is About:
MillionBlogs.org is a brand new concept that allows users to create their own fully functional website based on the word/phrase purchased. It is an experiment aiming to become one of the biggest informational platforms on the Internet. The experiment is running on WordPress which is the best and the most popular publishing platform offering a friendly, easy to use solution for your website, weblog, blog or whatever you want to call it. Every website (blog) is dedicated to a unique word or phrase. The content on each blog is managed by the blog’s owner. Owners use their blog, to generate traffic, revenue and also to provide useful informations for the end users. As an owner you are allowed to sell advertising on your website and also to resell your blog for profit.
How It Works:
You can choose any available word or any combination of words providing that your phrase is not meaningless and does not include any irrelevant, offensive and pornographic content. Once you applied for a word we will review your aplication and will set up your own blog usually within 24 hours. If your aplication has been declined we will refund your aplication fees. Your url will look like MillionBlogs.org/example or MillionBlogs.org/your_website if you choose more than one word.
More at:http://www.millionblogs.org/
Via-Killerstartups
MillionBlogs.org is a brand new concept that allows users to create their own fully functional website based on the word/phrase purchased. It is an experiment aiming to become one of the biggest informational platforms on the Internet. The experiment is running on WordPress which is the best and the most popular publishing platform offering a friendly, easy to use solution for your website, weblog, blog or whatever you want to call it. Every website (blog) is dedicated to a unique word or phrase. The content on each blog is managed by the blog’s owner. Owners use their blog, to generate traffic, revenue and also to provide useful informations for the end users. As an owner you are allowed to sell advertising on your website and also to resell your blog for profit.
How It Works:
You can choose any available word or any combination of words providing that your phrase is not meaningless and does not include any irrelevant, offensive and pornographic content. Once you applied for a word we will review your aplication and will set up your own blog usually within 24 hours. If your aplication has been declined we will refund your aplication fees. Your url will look like MillionBlogs.org/example or MillionBlogs.org/your_website if you choose more than one word.
More at:http://www.millionblogs.org/
Via-Killerstartups
Text Link Center For "If you are interested in profiting from your website"
What Company is About:
Text Link Center is completely free, you'll receive twice the number of links and reap the benefits of exponentially greater traffic. If you are interested in profiting from your website, there is no better text link system on Earth.
How It Works:
By copying the paid link detection algorithm of Google and the other search engines, you can now input any URL and they will display the paid links on that page. There is great debate as to whether the search engines can actually detect a paid link...well, no longer. They prove that it can be done with their tool. Other sites either give away the URL, point hundreds or even thousands of detectable links at a site immediately, or have one or more factors in place that flag their links immediately.
More at:http://www.textlinkcenter.com/
Text Link Center is completely free, you'll receive twice the number of links and reap the benefits of exponentially greater traffic. If you are interested in profiting from your website, there is no better text link system on Earth.
How It Works:
By copying the paid link detection algorithm of Google and the other search engines, you can now input any URL and they will display the paid links on that page. There is great debate as to whether the search engines can actually detect a paid link...well, no longer. They prove that it can be done with their tool. Other sites either give away the URL, point hundreds or even thousands of detectable links at a site immediately, or have one or more factors in place that flag their links immediately.
More at:http://www.textlinkcenter.com/
MyBuys builds deep behavioral profiles on each and every consumer
What Company Is About:
MyBuys builds deep behavioral profiles on each and every consumer. These profiles allow MyBuys to deliver the highest converting recommendations - resulting in revenues 300% greater per interaction than traditional approaches.
By reaching consumers on a retailer’s web site, through email, and in RSS feeds, clients realize more repeat visits, increased conversion rates and larger order sizes.
MyBuys delivers these benefits with no upfront costs and a pay for performance model!
How Much They Got From VCs:
MyBuys has raised $10 million in Series B funding. The company provides software to ecommerce stores that allows them to serve up ads and products based on your behavior – for example, tracking what you search for and showing related items during a future visit. The funding comes from Palomar Ventures and Lightspeed Venture Partners.
Behavioral advertising is becoming another hot area in the online marketing space, with Tacoda recently selling to AOL for an estimated $200-300 million.
More at:http://www.mybuys.com/
MyBuys builds deep behavioral profiles on each and every consumer. These profiles allow MyBuys to deliver the highest converting recommendations - resulting in revenues 300% greater per interaction than traditional approaches.
By reaching consumers on a retailer’s web site, through email, and in RSS feeds, clients realize more repeat visits, increased conversion rates and larger order sizes.
MyBuys delivers these benefits with no upfront costs and a pay for performance model!
How Much They Got From VCs:
MyBuys has raised $10 million in Series B funding. The company provides software to ecommerce stores that allows them to serve up ads and products based on your behavior – for example, tracking what you search for and showing related items during a future visit. The funding comes from Palomar Ventures and Lightspeed Venture Partners.
Behavioral advertising is becoming another hot area in the online marketing space, with Tacoda recently selling to AOL for an estimated $200-300 million.
More at:http://www.mybuys.com/
"Fashion Mash" where you can upload photos of items in your closet, and mix and match objects to create outfits online
What Company is About:
Fashion Mash is a new social network for fashion folks, where you can upload photos of items in your closet, and mix and match objects to create outfits online. When you first sign up for the site, you can choose to import your own Meez avatar, create a new one, or choose a default avatar. From there, you can begin to upload your items.
How It Works:
The image editor lets you trace items by color or manually, which can be rather time consuming. The trace-by-color option doesn’t seem to work very well. Once you have a few items in your closet, you can begin to create your outfits. Each outfit gets its own profile, as do individual items. Others can leave comments for these outfits and items, and add their own tags. The embed code is provided for each outfit as well.
While you can’t add friends, you can subscribe to users. You’ll see what items they have, and be able to use their items for the creation of your own outfits. This is achieved by filters on the editor, which lets you access all the items of your subscribed users, and favorite items. The limited way in which items can be shared for this network makes it a bit more difficult to track items.
Adding a Q&A section and better search tools could help bring in more functionality and offer more purpose to the site’s social components. Similar networks include OurThreads, GirlSense and StyleMob.
More at:http://fashionmash.com/
Via-Mash
Fashion Mash is a new social network for fashion folks, where you can upload photos of items in your closet, and mix and match objects to create outfits online. When you first sign up for the site, you can choose to import your own Meez avatar, create a new one, or choose a default avatar. From there, you can begin to upload your items.
How It Works:
The image editor lets you trace items by color or manually, which can be rather time consuming. The trace-by-color option doesn’t seem to work very well. Once you have a few items in your closet, you can begin to create your outfits. Each outfit gets its own profile, as do individual items. Others can leave comments for these outfits and items, and add their own tags. The embed code is provided for each outfit as well.
While you can’t add friends, you can subscribe to users. You’ll see what items they have, and be able to use their items for the creation of your own outfits. This is achieved by filters on the editor, which lets you access all the items of your subscribed users, and favorite items. The limited way in which items can be shared for this network makes it a bit more difficult to track items.
Adding a Q&A section and better search tools could help bring in more functionality and offer more purpose to the site’s social components. Similar networks include OurThreads, GirlSense and StyleMob.
More at:http://fashionmash.com/
Via-Mash
ReachLocal, a company that provides online advertising services for small businesses
What Company is About:
ReachLocal, a company that provides online advertising services for small businesses.
How Much They Got From VCs:
They just gotten a massive $55.2 million in a round of funding. The round was led by Rho Ventures, with Galleon Crossover Fund also participating, and VantagePoint Venture Partners as return investors. This recent round of funding comes after the $12.7 million the local ad company has raised since its inception in 2004. This gives ReachLocal an estimated valuation at $305 million, which is $55 million more than its previous valuation.
According to LocalOnliner, this comes on top of the $12.7 million it has raised since its founding in 2004. The new funds give ReachLocal an estimated valuation of $305 million, at a pre-money valuation of $250 million, the post says, though we haven’t been able to confirm that. It sells for sites such as Yahoo (NSDQ: YHOO), Google (NSDQ: GOOG), MSN, AOL (NYSE: TWX) and Superpages.com.
More at:http://www.reachlocal.com/register/login.php
ReachLocal, a company that provides online advertising services for small businesses.
How Much They Got From VCs:
They just gotten a massive $55.2 million in a round of funding. The round was led by Rho Ventures, with Galleon Crossover Fund also participating, and VantagePoint Venture Partners as return investors. This recent round of funding comes after the $12.7 million the local ad company has raised since its inception in 2004. This gives ReachLocal an estimated valuation at $305 million, which is $55 million more than its previous valuation.
According to LocalOnliner, this comes on top of the $12.7 million it has raised since its founding in 2004. The new funds give ReachLocal an estimated valuation of $305 million, at a pre-money valuation of $250 million, the post says, though we haven’t been able to confirm that. It sells for sites such as Yahoo (NSDQ: YHOO), Google (NSDQ: GOOG), MSN, AOL (NYSE: TWX) and Superpages.com.
More at:http://www.reachlocal.com/register/login.php
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