TC50: Twitter-for-business startup Yammer wins TechCrunch50, I may eat my hat
When Yammer presented at TechCrunch50, I wasn’t so sure about it. The company offers a service that’s the business version of micro-messaging company Twitter. You leave short messages about what you’re doing, your co-workers do the same, and everyone can view what everyone else is… Continue Reading
iWidgets lets CBS make money within Fox’s MySpace — the tangle of alliances grows
updated
iWidgets, a San Francisco company that offers a way for publishers to distribute content to social networks, has signed a deal allowing CBS to offer its television programming on popular social networks.
It allows CBS’ audience to watch full episodes of television programming directly within native… Continue Reading
TC50: Writer-director Joss Whedon may have found Internet success, but will Hollywood follow?
The Hollywood studios don’t “get it” yet, writer-director Joss Whedon (pictured, left) declared today at the TechCrunch50 conference in San Francisco.
You’d think that Whedon, the lead writer of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, who more recently hit big with Internet TV show called Dr. Horrible’s Sing-A-Long… Continue Reading
TC50: Niche social networks thrive, for birdwatchers, fashion-conscious, dead people and more
It’s pretty obvious that social networking has entered a new era.
Few new social networking companies are trying to steal market share from Facebook, MySpace or the other big entrenched networks. Instead, they’re aiming at specific, lucrative niches.
Five such niche social networks presented a “vertical social… Continue Reading
TC50: Ashton Kutcher thinks online content and television are merging and Blah Girls is a part of that
Original video content online has a stigma attached to it. Although it is original, it’s generally thought to be a lower form of content than the stuff made in Hollywood. While that used to be because much of it was user generated or amateur content,… Continue Reading
GoodGuide helps you find healthy, sustainable, ethical products
GoodGuide has a simple goal — to become the one website you visit to understand whether a product is “good,” however you define good. That could mean safe for your kids, environmentally friendly or manufactured in an ethical way, whatever matters to you.
The company just… Continue Reading
Dean’s picks for the top ten companies of DEMOfall 08
I listened to all 72 presentations at the DEMOfall 08 conference in San Diego and I am bone weary from it. They were only six minutes each, but listening to every single one — though I’ll admit I didn’t pay as close attention to some… Continue Reading
TC50: The latest gaming companies — Grockit, Akoha, Amosphir and Playce
Here are the companies that presented at the games panel at the TechCrunch50 conference in San Francisco. My favorite company was Atmosphir.
Grockit — massively multiplayer online learning. Grockit is a multiplayer online environment where players can earn experience points by showing off their knowledge in… Continue Reading
TC50: Bojam introduces remote musical collaboration; and more rich media developments
Here’s a summary of the new “rich media” companies presenting at the TechCrunch50 conference here in San Francisco:
Bojam — providing a platform for remote musical collaboration around the world. Musicians across the world can seek out other musicians, learn the parts to a song, play… Continue Reading
TC50: VideoSurf debuts search engine for video
Video search engines fail most of the time because they rely upon people to tag keywords of things that appear in the video. But VideoSurf is unveiling today a better way to search through videos. It is launching a beta search engine at TechCrunch50 in… Continue Reading
DEMOfall 08: Invision TV wants to be your first Internet video guide
So far, we’ve relied on TV Guide — or TiVo — to know when and what television programs are scheduled on TV.
But we haven’t had anything of the sort for Internet video. Partly that’s because Internet video runs when want, not at a scheduled time:… Continue Reading
DEMOfall 08: SpinSpotter aims to clear up media bias
SpinSpotter is a new browser plug-in that hopes to arm online news junkies with the power of pointing out when the media has a dog in the fight.
It works like this: Users install the plug-in, which currently is only available to FireFox users, though an… Continue Reading
TC50: Get ready for a revolution in mobile phones – Swype turns a stylus into a keyboard
Usage of SMS and chat on mobile phones is growing by leaps and bounds, but there’s nothing quite as painful as trying to type out a long message on a keypad or touch interface. Swype is the one company I’ve seen that might be able… Continue Reading
TC50: Translate your blog, tackle your email and two other companies from the language and platform session
A few companies worth noting from the TechCrunch50 conference’s session on language and platform today:
Publishers should have every reason to try out Alfabetic, a translation service that sucks in English RSS feeds and converts them to other languages. Alfabetic plans to get around the mistranslation… Continue Reading
DEMOfall 08: Microstaq shows micro-machined chip that can cut air-conditioning costs
Air-conditioning seemed an unlikely topic at the DEMOfall 08 conference. But cutting the cost of air-conditioning is one of the applications of a new chip from Microstaq. Needless to say, it was cool.
The Austin, Texas-based company has designed a micro-machined chip that performs some of… Continue Reading
TC50: Health device company FitBit is a hit, and other startups from the mobility panel
FitBit — making America healthier
FitBit sells a wireless device that tracks your health-related activities, such as calories burned during exercise, sleep activity and calories taken in while eating (obviously, a lot of this involves some educated guesses). The data is then uploaded to a website,… Continue Reading
DEMOfall 08: BizEquity helps small businesses figure out their market values
Zillow is a great tool that lets a homeowner figure out the value of their house. But small business owners don’t have the similar service, making it hard to know how much to sell a business when the time comes. BizEquity offers a web site… Continue Reading
TC50: Tag real-world objects with Sekai Camera’s iPhone tool from the future
Tonchidot just revealed its Sekai Camera, a system for using online data to navigate the real-world, at the TechCrunch50 conference in San Francisco. I thought this was incredibly cool, and the audience agreed — it kept applauding and cheering throughout the presentation.
The idea is to… Continue Reading
DEMOfall 08: Paidinterviews takes a crack at online recruitment
Career-building and recruitment sites are all over the web. Paidinterviews believes that nobody has been able to do it just right in the age of Web 2.0.
The McLean, Va.,-based company has created an online recruiting site where companies pay a fee if they wind up… Continue Reading
TC50: Finance & Statistics session roundup
I’m keeping these short….
PERSONALRIA: Automated investment advice
The site provides information from professional registered investment advisors (RIAs) as well as retail investors to provide you with automated advice about your investments. You can also match up your investment picks to those of the RIAs.
Emerginvest: Helping you… Continue Reading