Roundup: iPhone tethering works, AT&T prepping no-contract iPhones, IE8 arrives early and more
Here’s the latest action:
iPhone tethering and no commitment price — Just a day after Apple’s iPhone 3.0 software event, developers have found out that tethering is in fact an option in the new OS. They were able to get it working when connected over USB, according to MacRumors. This is great, but you will undoubtedly have to pay for it when AT&T and Apple officially turn it on.
A contract-free iPhone? — Speaking of AT&T, the company is… Continue Reading
Human-based search engine ChaCha seeks $30M, raises $11M
[Update: ChaCha has confirmed since I first posted that it has successfully raised the full $30 million. Thanks to Robin Wauters at TechCrunch.]
Human-powered search engine ChaCha just brought in $11 million of an expected $30 million third round of funding, according to peHUB. It’s assumed, based on the filing, that the round came from existing investors, potentially including private investor Morton Meyerson, Bezos Expeditions, Compaq Computer cofounder Rod Canion and Maven Ventures partner Jack Gill…. Continue Reading
ChaCha provides election research via text message
ChaCha, the mobile answer service backed by Jeff Bezos’ Bezos Expeditions, is working with youth voting initiative Rock the Vote to help people get election-related facts via text message.
The process is simple: Send a text message to RTVOTE (788683) and a ChaCha guide — a real, live person, in this case supposedly trained to give nonpartisan information about politics — will give you an answer. You can ask for practical information like how to register… Continue Reading
Human powered search engine, ChaCha, raises more cash
ChaCha, the search engine company that hires people to answer your questions in real-time as you search for things, said it has raised $10 million in private financing.
The controversial company hasn’t said much about traction. A spokeswoman said merely that traffic “doubled” last quarter, but that’s vague. She didn’t elaborate, but said she is checking with the company about what more she can say.
It’s an odd company, because people powered search is somewhat inefficient. ChaCha… Continue Reading
Google digest: 900 millionaires, “Tips” removed, China moves, and toolbar war,
Here’s the latest news on Google stuff:
Google’s 900 millionaires figure out what to do with their money — Recent estimates suggest more than 900 Googlers became millionaires at the initial public offering, and that 100 of the first 300 workers have quietly resigned. Meanwhile, early Google investor David Cheriton (he joined Ram Shriram, Bechtolsheim and others in the first $1 million angel round) turned his $200,000 into more than $1 billion, and yet is still too… Continue Reading
Chacha, the search engine offering live human help, raises $6M
VentureBeat reported earlier that ChaCha, the search engine offering human help to guide you in your search, had raised $6 from investors including Jeff Bezos of Amazon.com.
Other investors include Rod Canion, founding CEO of Compaq Computer, and Jack Gill, veteran Silicon Valley investor, founder of Vanguard Ventures and current partner at Maven Ventures, according to a follow-up story in VentureWire (sub required).
Roundup: All Hail Google, WiFi in cars, Wallop walloped, Ahnold’s funding
Round-up of the latest action in Silicon Valley:
It’s all about Google — Notable post by Rich Skrenta about how Google is becoming ever more important. Having become the “start page” for the Web, Google makes $90 to $120 for every thousand times its pages get viewed (or CPM), compared to a mere $4-5 for an average page view elsewhere, he calculates. We asked him for his assumptions, and it turns out he mixes a lot of… Continue Reading
Roundup: Slim Devices, ChaCha, Digg, eBay ibank of Web 2.0, more
SlimDevices to release latest Squeezebox — The come-out-of-nowhere Mountain View start-up sells a device that lets you play your music anywhere in the house, and hooks up with all kinds of services, from Pandora to Rhapsody. Its latest one will sell for $2,000 device; the NYT has the scoop. This scrappy company is run by 20-somthing Sean Adams, and to our knowledge he has made do with a mere $330,000 from angels (though he may have… Continue Reading