Tuesday, April 26, 2011

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WITN: Can Tony Hsieh Deliver Happiness -And A Ready-Made Community – To Downtown Las Vegas? [TCTV] Top
After a brief hiatus, Why Is This News? is back! In this week’s episode, Paul checks in from his Las Vegas hotel room to discuss Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh’s plans to regenerate downtown Las Vegas by moving the company’s HQ into the former City Hall. In fact, there’s far more to Hsieh’s plan than that, as Paul explained over on the Huffington Post . In the video below, Paul waxes lyrical about Hsieh’s plans, while Sarah plays devil’s advocate, asking why Hsieh and Zappos will succeed where so many bigger companies – Google, Yahoo et al – have failed.
 
Cloud Girlfriend Launches As A Dating Site, NOT A Virtual Girlfriend Service Top
Cloud Girlfriend , service that created a lot of buzz by promising users that it could create the illusion of perfect girlfriend by setting up dummy profiles that would write on your Facebook wall and fool your friends into thinking you had a social life, has launched to the public today. However the site as is is not what it was originally conceived to be, unsurprisingly. Described by founder David Fuhriman as a combination of Match.com and Second Life, the new Cloud Girlfriends lets you flirt as a fantasy character setting up Chat Dates with others who also are role playing.  “We allow people to define their ideal self, find their perfect girlfriend or boyfriend and connect and interact as if that person existed. It can help in learning how to manage a real relationship, and they then take it into the real world, ” says Fuhriman. Fair enough. Fuhriman’s original idea of creating fake Facebook profiles would have rubbed many people the wrong way as personal Facebook accounts have to belong to an actual person according to the TOS. As it stands now the service uses Facebook Connect to verify the gender and language of its role players which Fuhriman thinks is a safety precaution. Fuhriman also thinks that people will eventually choose to interact as themselves with their Cloud Partners and eventually reveal themselves through their actual social profiles. Fuhriman plans on monetizing the site by selling virtual goods, users can send each other Cloud Flowers, Cloud Diamonds or go on a Cloud Vacation. While the idea is admittedly far-fetched, I’ve been on the site for five minutes and already have a date. Male TechCrunch readers interested in checking it out can use the code “techcrunch” up to the first 500. Women do not need a code. Unfair, I know. CrunchBase Information Cloud Girlfriend Information provided by CrunchBase
 
Google Survey: 39 Percent Of Smartphone Owners Use Their Devices In The Bathroom Top
Google recently commissioned a survey (in partnership with market research firm Ipsos OTX) to gain insight into the usage and behavior of U.S. consumers with regard to their smartphones. According to Google, the goal of the research was to understand how smartphones are used in consumer's daily lives and specifically how it has influenced how consumers search, shop and respond to mobile advertising. The study confirms what most of us already know. The report finds that in terms of general usage, 93% of smartphone users use their phones at home; 81% browse the Internet and 77% search on their phones, 72% of smartphone users use their phones while consuming other media. One-third of smartphone owners use their phones while watching TV. And 45% of smartphone consumers use their phones to help them to manage and plan activities, such as for dinner plans, travel arrangements and finances. Google says that 39% admit to having used their smarpthone while going to the bathroom and one in five users would give up their Cable TV in order to keep using their smartphones. Of course, search giant Google examined how smartphone users interact with search. Search is the number one website type visited among smartphone users (77%), and search is used to help consumers access a wide variety of information, including: News (57%), Dining (51%), Entertainment (49%) , Shopping (47%), Technology (32%), Travel (31%), Finance (26%) and Automotive (17%). Nine out of ten smartphone searchers have take action as a result of a mobile search, with over half leading to a purchase (53%). Search also influences other types of actions; for example, 24% have recommended a brand or product to others as result of a smartphone search. And 53% continue to research online by looking for more information on their computers. Local is, unsurprisingly, a huge component in activity on smartphones. For example, 95% of smartphone users have looked for local information. 61% call a business, 59% visit a business and 44% actually make a purchase. And users who are seeking local information are quick to take action—88% of local information seekers take action within a day. In terms of mobile commerce and purchases, it’s no secret that smartphones have become a shopping and purchasing tool. The survey reports that 79% of respondents use their smartphones to help with shopping and 70% use their smartphones while in a store. Of those who do user their smartphone for shopping purchases, 74% of smartphone shoppers wind up making a purchase. Smartphones are influencing purchases across all channels, with 76% purchasing in store, 59% purchasing online via a computer and 35% purchasing on their phones. Interestingly, 27% of smartphone purchases were made through a mobile website and 22% were made through apps. Smartphone shoppers spent a median of $300 on purchases made on their smartphones in the past year. Entertainment, electronics and apparel items lead as the most popular purchased items. Users actually pay attention to and engage with mobile advertising, the report finds. Google reports that 71% of users search on their smartphones because of an ad they saw, whether from traditional media, online ads or mobile ads and 82% of users notice mobile ads. And 42% of those who notice mobile ads click on the ad, 27% contact the business, 35% visit the website and 49% purchase. While this is only a survey, those finds are impressive. CrunchBase Information Google Information provided by CrunchBase
 
YouTube Partners With Fox In Movie Rental Expansion [Updated] Top
As yesterday’s reports of YouTube’s expanded Hollywood partnerships are still making waves, we’re hearing that Twentieth Century Fox has also signed a deal with YouTube to license its movies for YouTube Movies. Fox will be joining Sony Pictures Entertainment, Warner Brothers and Universal in the initiative, as well as independent studios Lionsgate and Kino Lorber. While there’s still no word on Paramount and Disney, the service now has enough critical mass to launch. Fox notably blocked Google TV back in November, so this deal would be a change of tune for the studio in its dealings with Google. Having as many major studios on board for this initiative is crucial, as it means the difference between having inventory that people want to watch and being stuck with  Ronald Reagan: An American Journey. Update: We’re hearing that the plan was to launch next week that but there was a clause in the deal that Google could not launch without Fox. According to one source, Google is sending out a release draft that has no studio names in it. But if the service is going to launch, that means Fox is on board so it is really a process of elimination. Update 2: According to another source familiar with the matter Fox has not yet signed a deal with YouTube. It’s possible that our original source was misinformed. CrunchBase Information YouTube Google Information provided by CrunchBase
 
Book Country Brings Writers Of A Feather Closer Together Top
It’s hard out there for a writer of genre fiction. You rarely get much respect in the “literary” circles and even though some of the greats – Jonathan Lethem , for example – started out writing what would be termed sci-fi and fantasy, we forget this as they bring out massive magna opera about Park Slope and love. Besides, vampire books are huge moneymakers right now and why not ride that train until it derails on a Transylvanian mountain pass? And so we have Book Country , a site run by Penguin that offers a free way for writers of genre fiction to talk about and share their work. The site is limited to romance, thrillers, fantasy, and sci-fi so this is not the spot to upload your Mythbusters slashfic. However, it is a fairly robust service that attempts to keep things fair for all involved. It’s all fairly simple: you create an account and you can, if you so wish, upload your work. To have it “read” or “critiqued” by others you must complete a series of steps including reading three other works by other writers. You can, obviously, game the system and just type in gibberish but that’s not very sporting. Once your book is up ( here is a bit of piffle I’m writing for my son ) and you complete your required reading, other users can read and comment on your writing. There are forums for discussing various genres and you can build a fan base. You can also follow writers and books as they change on the site. Interestingly, because this is a nominally Penguin product (it’s not run by Penguin officially, but is a spin-off), I think it will garner a bit of attention in the massively insular world of publishing and, barring that, it lets writers get out of the basement and in front of an audience. Writers are protected by anti-copy/paste measures although one can only assume this is a plagiarism lawsuit waiting to happen. It’s also a bit mercenary on Penguin’s part as it heads off the burgeoning self-publishing movement on the Kindle and Nook and ensures that they’ll get a first look at any massively popular authors who percolate up through the system. Like a farm team or a the drama group from Waiting For Guffman , you’re basically dealing with a bunch of people in clamoring out to be discovered. How many of them make it out is hard to say. Molly Barton, director of business development at Penguin “runs” the site but the real power is in the readers’ hands. It’s an interesting concept that should – one hopes – help the literary cream rise to the top and, if it doesn’t, give us a place to enjoy some fresh cyberpunk . Win-win, either way. Product Page CrunchBase Information Book Country Information provided by CrunchBase
 
Keepsy Taps Instagram For Fast, Easy, Awesome Photo Books Top
People love photo albums, but they hate making them. That’s what Blake Williams has come to realize in the months following Keepsy’s launch. You may recall back in December of last year, the startup launched as a way to create tangible photo albums with all of your friends using Facebook. It’s a good idea. But again, there’s a barrier to entry. So now Keepsy has a new product to alleviate that problem. “Instant Albums” hooks into your Instagram pictures via their API and in seconds build you a complete photo album. Once you give them your Instagram credentials, Keepsy pulls in what it considers to be your 35 (or so) best pictures and organizes them for you into this book. Boom. Done. Even untouched, the end result is pretty great. How do they determine your best Instagram photos? It’s a relatively simple algorithm that combines the use of popular photo filters with the number of likes each picture received. Time-stamps are then used to place similar pictures close to one another so that page clusters make sense. Of course, you can alter your books to add more photos, take some away, tweak/add the captions (Keepsy will auto pull-in your Instagram picture captions), rotate others, add in different backgrounds, etc. This is all done via a web-based editor that’s simple to use. It’s all just dragging and dropping. Once you have the album you like, you can share it digitally on Facebook, Twitter, etc. Or you can order a hard cover physical book starting at $29.99 for 30 pages. Williams notes that this is 10 more pages than Apple gives you for that price point for photo books made through iPhoto. (Each page is an extra $0.99.) Once created, books should take anywhere from 5 to 10 days to get to the person you’re sending them to via FedEx. Unfortunately, the service is going to be U.S.-only for the time being. But Williams hopes to expand quickly. I’m looking at one of the books right now that Williams threw together for me to show me what they look like. It’s great. It’s a perfect keepsake and/or gift for a variety of occasions. And again, the key: simple to make. So why focus on Instagram for this new product? Because the photo sharing app is the hottest among the new trend of photo services that are all about quick captures taken on the fly. Williams wanted to make a photo book service that reflected that ease. “The process of creating an album on conventional sites is cumbersome, slow and usually pretty canned. You may end up with a decent looking album, but you dread the hours of input it takes to create one,” Williams notes. And the space is still a $1 billion market that’s growing. Others, like the recently launch Postagram , are clearly seeing the opportunity  to turn these quick mobile pictures into tangible goods as well. Williams notes that this Instant Album roll out is just the first of many that will hit in the coming weeks all aimed at making photo album creation simple, fast, and fun. As someone who has spent hours making a photo album online before, I very much welcome this change of pace.
 
BrightScope Wants To Help You Find A Qualified Financial Advisor Top
San Diego based BrightScope , which launched to help people navigate their 401k retirement plans and maximize benefits, wants to help consumers find the best financial advisor and planner. The startup is launching Advisor Pages, a way for people to discover, research, and select the most appropriate and qualified financial advisor. BrightScope has aggregated hard-to-discover but publicly available information on advisors, creating a database of over 450,000 financial advisors around the U.S. BrightScope will allow consumers to search for financial advisors by location, qualifications, amount and types of assets under management, area of specialty, legal disputes, formal complaints and more. BrightScope obtains its data directly from publicly available sources, including required regulatory filings from the Securities Exchange Commission. Financial advisors can also add to these primary sources by claiming their BrightScope Advisor Page. Find the right financial advisor can actually be a challenging and overwhelming process. Some advisors require a minimum amount to be managed, and consumers may want to find an advisor that is based within their region or city with the right amount of experience. BrightScope’s database makes it relatively easy to find the financial advisor that is right for your needs or specifications. CrunchBase Information BrightScope Information provided by CrunchBase
 
Evolv Raises $15.8 Million For Talent Matching And Intelligence Software Top
Evolv On-Demand , a startup that develops science-based, on-demand talent matching and intelligence software, has raised $15.75 million in Series C funding, led by GGV Capital with Khosla Ventures and Lightspeed Venture Partners participating in the round. This investment brings the total capital raised by the company to $27.5 million . Evolv’s Talent Matching and Talent Intelligence software is used by recruiters and employers to match the best job applicants to various job types based upon factors such as behaviors, skills, motivation and workstyle. Evolv claims that its SaaS platform reduces employee attrition by 20-30%, improves hourly employee productivity metrics by 5-10%, and helps improve annual operating margins by over 20%. Evolv says the new capital will be used to accelerate the company's expansion into new global markets, develop new products and for sales and marketing efforts. CrunchBase Information Evolv On-Demand Information provided by CrunchBase
 

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