Wednesday, July 27, 2011

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BuddyTV Turns Your iPhone Into A Smarter Viewing Guide And Remote Top
A couple weeks ago, I went to a hotel suite in Manhattan to get a demo of BuddyTV’s new iPhone app , which hit the app store a few days ago. In the video above, CTO Bill Baxter takes me through the main features. He shows me on an iPad for easier viewing, but the app is for the iPhone and soon Android. It combines a viewing guide on your iPhone, with social features like chat and being able to broadcast what shows you are watching to Facebook and Twitter. But it also suggests shows for you to watch that are airing now, upcoming, trending, or on your favorites list. The app works with Google TVs , and eventually will be able to act as a remote with tablets and phones that sport an IR transmitter. (With Google TVs and Dish set-top boxes it will work over WiFi). The problem it is trying to solve, says founder Andy Liu is that “70% of the time people are watching sub-optimal content. People turn on TV and end up at Karate Kid 2 .” The BuddyTV mobile app tries to be smart about suggesting what shows to watch. It doesn’t care if the show is on your cable system, Netflix, DVR (if supported) or somewhere else. It lets you “heart” and rate shows and channels, and then it gives you recommendations base don what it thinks you want to watch. Perhaps the best little feature is teh ability to go through your program guide and heart just your favorite channels and then look at only those—a feature I begged Verizon TV honcho Eric Bruno to let me do on FIOS TV, or at least on the FIOS iPad app. The app also pulls in previews, recaps, and other TV trivia from the main BuddyTV site. And you can set reminders for shows you want to watch with notifications on your phone. (Because you need to be reminded to watch TV). Here’s a slicker promo video: Crunchbase BUDDYTV Company: BUDDYTV Website: http://buddytv.com BuddyTV is an online TV guide and discussion center. It provides original articles, news and interviews on a large range of TV content. In addition to content... Learn more
 
Blekko Gets An Infographic Top
Since I am our resident steward of infographics I figured I might as well highlight the creation of the very first Blekko infographic (below), brought to you by our friends over at Cognitive SEO . Related: Am I a huge dork because I can correctly complete this multiple choice “Identify The Blekko Founders!” quiz? Yes, yes I am. *Skulks off to cry* Crunchbase BLEKKO Company: BLEKKO Website: http://www.blekko.com Launch Date: 1/6/2007 Blekko is a search company founded by Rich Skrenta and his core team from previous company Topix and Netscape’s Open Directory. Blekko was founded halfway through 2007 and... Learn more
 
Amazon Has Opened 15 Fulfillment Centers In 2011, Will Build 'A Few More' By End Of The Year Top
It’s no secret that Amazon is ramping up fulfillment centers across the globe to meet with increasing demand. The e-commerce giant revealed in April that the company had built nine fulfillment centers in 2011 to meet growing demand in sales across the globe. And in May, Amazon opened two more in Arizons and Indiana. In today’s Q2 earnings call, Amazon’s CFO Thomas Szkutak revealed that the company has built 15 new fulfillment centers in 2011, already surpassing the 13 centers that were added this year. And the company plans to build ‘a few more’ by the end of this year. Amazon's fulfillment centers enables the company and third-party merchants to store inventory and fulfill orders. With the 15 added this year, Amazon has roughly 65 fulfillment centers across the globe. Obviously demand is coming both from Amazon’s retail business (sales reached nearly $10 billion this quarter), as well as its fulfillment business for third-party merchants. Crunchbase AMAZON Company: AMAZON Website: http://amazon.com/ Launch Date: 1994 Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN) is a leading global Internet company and one of the most trafficked Internet retail destinations worldwide. Amazon is one of the first companies to sell products deep... Learn more
 
YC-Funded Debteye Wants To Be Your (Much Cheaper) Credit Counselor Top
It’s hardly a fun topic to discuss, but it’s the harsh reality that a lot of people out there have significant outstanding debt — many of whom won’t be able to pay back what they owe on time. In fact, there are so many people out there dealing with these issues that it’s given rise to the multi-billion dollar debt consulting industry, which serves as an intermediary between the banks and their customers. Now a Y Combinator-funded startup called Debteye is setting out to make that industry largely irrelevant. A tough goal, to be sure, and one that will be difficult given how much trust Debteye will have to gain before people trust it as much as a professional debt consultant. But they’re going for it. Here’s how it works: first, the service prompts you to enter your bank login credentials, so that it can analyze your account information (it uses Yodlee, the same backend that powered Mint, to do this). Once it’s analyzed this data, Debteye begins to make recommendations based on your account balances, how much you owe, and what your monthly income looks like. Some of these suggestions are petty straightforward, with Debteye recommending how much you should be saving each month and which bills you should pay off first (in this case the site is a bit like Mint). One interesting note: not all of the suggestions are as obvious as you’d think. For example, cofounder John Sun says that while many people intuitively think they should pay off the balance with the highest interest rate first, studies have shown that it’s actually better to pay off your smaller debts first regardless of their interest rate (it gives people a better sense of accomplishment). But not everyone is in good enough financial shape to simply keep making regular payments at their current rates. In these cases, Debteye can help facilitate more involved measures. The first of these is bank debt settlement, where you negotiate with a bank in an attempt to lower how much you ultimately have to pay (this will hurt your credit). The second is debt management, where you restructure multiple outstanding debts so that you can pay less per month over a longer period of time (this leaves an annotation on your credit report, but doesn’t hurt your credit). Of course, Debteye can’t exactly renegotiate your debt through a bank’s API. Instead, it helps you fill out pre-generated forms(it’ll also fax them to the bank if you’d like). And it will give you a script to read from when you’re talking to a banker. This part made me skeptical (wouldn’t a professional debt consultant be better at negotiating good terms than your average layman?). But Sun says that large banks have actually established a set of terms that dictate what they’ll offer to customers (in other words, he says there isn’t much room for consultants to negotiate), which is why their standardized script should work. Debteye is currently free, and will eventually charge a monthly fee for its service. This isn’t an industry you see a lot of startups trying to disrupt, but the three Debteye cofounders know it well: they’re all certified credit counselors. That said, I suspect they have a long road ahead of them — debt management is serious business, and Debteye is going to have to work hard to win users’ trust and convince them that they’re as safe and knowledgeable as the professional firms. And the professional firms have a major stake in trying to keep that from happening. Also see ReadyForZero , a fellow YC-alum that’s looking to help you get out of debt by tracking your monthly payments and suggesting optimizations and deals you may be missing out on.
 
Amazon Beats The Street; Sales Up 51 Percent To $9.9B, Net Income Down 8 Percent Top
E-commerce giant Amazon just reported second quarter results, posting sales of $9.9 billion, an increase of 51 percent from the same quarter in 2010. Net income decreased 8% to $191 million in the second quarter, or $0.41 per diluted share, compared with net income of $207 million, or $0.45 per diluted share, in second quarter 2010. Analysts expected strong sales of $9.37 billion but earnings were expected to drop to $0.35 cents per share for net income. The Kindle 3G with advertising is now the company’s bestselling Kindle, says Amazon. Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos said in a statement: “Low prices, expanding selection, fast delivery and innovation are driving the fastest growth we've seen in over a decade…Kindle 3G with Special Offers has quickly become our bestselling Kindle at only $139. Customers love the convenience of a 3G reader — no hunting for or paying for Wi-Fi hotspots. Amazon picks up the tab for the 3G wireless, so you have no monthly payments or annual contracts." Amazon says that second quarter 2011 net income was actually positively impacted by an equity-method investment activity of $15 million, including a $49 million gain on the sale of an equity position that was offset by $34 million in losses from equity-method investments. Unsurprisingly, Amazon says that sales growth of Kindle devices accelerated in second quarter 2011 compared to first quarter 2011 but declined to give set numbers on how many Kindles were sold in the quarter. Operating income was $201 million in the second quarter, compared with $270 million in second quarter 2010. The favorable impact from year-over-year changes in foreign exchange rates throughout the quarter on operating income was $28 million. Specifically, North America segment sales were $5.41 billion, up 51% from second quarter 2010. International segment sales, representing the Company's U.K., German, Japanese, French, Chinese and Italian sites, were $4.51 billion, up 51% from second quarter 2010. Worldwide Electronics and Other General Merchandise sales grew 69% to $5.89 billion. In terms of third quarter guidance, sales are expected to be between $10.3 billion and $11.1 billion, or to grow between 36% and 47% compared with third quarter 2010. Operating income is expected to be between $20 million and $170 million, which is a 93% decline and 37% decline compared with third quarter 2010. We’ll listen to the earnings call and update you with any additional information. Crunchbase AMAZON Company: AMAZON Website: http://amazon.com/ Launch Date: 1994 Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN) is a leading global Internet company and one of the most trafficked Internet retail destinations worldwide. Amazon is one of the first companies to sell products deep... Learn more
 

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