Steve Rubel somehow came across a new Digg-like Technorati product called “WTF,” which stands for “Where’s the Fire?” It was briefly live at technorati.com/wtf, but is no longer available. From the screen shots (see below, care of Rubel), it appears to have very similar features as Digg, where users can vote for stories they find interesting and force them higher in results. I’ve emailed Technorati for a comment but haven’t heard back yet. This may be a product that they did not intend be available for public scrutiny quite yet, and Rubel’s post may have resulted in them removing it. Technorati launched a TechMeme-like site called Technorati Explore in early 2006. I just checked it on a whim to see if it was still live – and it’s been removed as well. I can’t find any announcement of the product going dark, so it may have been any time in the last few months. → Read More
Hipster Double-Wide Winos Rejoice! Alcohol From Your Rice Cooker! Wake Up…WAAAKKKEEE UPPPP! Apple Poops Out Multicolored iPod Shuffles Clocky Is Now Shipping! → Read More
PriceProtectr is a neat new tool that helps you take advantage of guarantees by many online retailers to refund the difference on purchased items if the price drops in the 30 or 60 days following your purchase (example – Best Buy’s policy). Those guarantees are great, but few people go to the trouble of following up and checking on any price changes for items they’ve purchased. The company has put together a very simple website, even using a vowel dropping name and the generic web 2.0 logo generator that we’ve previously written about. To use it, you simply paste in the product URL from an ecommerce site (example) and your email address. The company will notify you if the price drops within the time period allowed by the retailer. As of today, the site claims to have found over $57,000 in savings, with few people aware of the service. This might be something someone just put up for fun, but it is a useful tool. Frankly, retailers should email you themselves if the price drops, and if a service like this gets popular enough, they may start doing that. Supported sites include Amazon.com, Amazon.ca, Amazon.co.uk, Backcountry.com, BestBuy.com, BestBuy.ca, Bike Nashbar, Circuit City, Cooking.com, Costco, Future Shop, Jenson USA, Office Max, Sears, 6th Avenue Electronics, Staples.com, Staples.ca, and Target. See Thrillist for their review as well. → Read More
For good or bad, venture funds are flowing like it’s 1999 all over again. Seattle-based Farecast , which predicts and guarantees airline prices, dipped its toes in the cash pool for its third round of financing, taking $12.1 million from Sutter Hill Ventures and others. Previous investors Greylock Partners, Madrona Venture Group, and WRF Capital also participated, as well as new investors PAR Capital Management, Pinnacle Ventures, and Farecast board member and former Expedia CEO, Erik Blachford. The company has now raised $20.6 million over three rounds. How are they doing? The model seems to be attractive to consumers. Farecast VP Marketing says in just the last few months since launch they’ve “dropped off $200 million in “potential” revenue to airline websites,” a fraction of which will have resulted in actual sales. → Read More
Vince wrote this morning that Apple had released an onslaught of colored 2G iPod Shuffles. Well we’ve got a bit more information for you. In addition to having a bunch of high-res pics of the new orange Shuffle, Apple Insider is reporting that the new Shuffle Colors include a pair of updated earbuds. They are the same buds that have been included with other iPod models for some time. There are no other changes to the Shuffle and it retains its $79 price point. High-quality images of Apple’s first orange iPod [Apple Insider] → Read More
<img src="http://tctechcrunch2011.files.wordpress.com/2007/01/or don't play on their TVs because using a keyboard and mouse on your couch is inconvenient at best. However, with Vista now able to natively handle an Xbox 360 controller it makes a bit more sense to have a Media Center that’s capable of handling graphics-intensive games. And that’s where the $4,595 OMS-GX300 Media Center from Okoro Media Systems comes in. → Read More
I was flipping through the Feb. issue of Wired earlier and I came across the Glassic Soho trailer. Now it’s no secret that I’m from the South. That said, I’ve set foot in my fair share of trailers—hell I know more than a few people who live in them. But this model, created by architect and furniture designer Christopher Deam and manufactured by Breckenridge, is something different. Sure it’s still a trailer, but it’s designed with aesthetics and efficiency in mind. It comes in three models: one bedroom with kitchen, studio and two bedroom with no kitchen. Priced at about $59,000 for a fully furnished unit, this could become affordable, yet still pleasing, housing for people who aren’t rolling in dough. One Trailer, Hold the Trash [Wired] → Read More
In all likelihood, when you first came across Clocky, it was still just a project from the mind of MIT student Guari Nanda. Now Clocky has grown into a full-fledged product and I totally want one! It works just like a normal alarm clock except that if you hit that snooze button, Clocky is going to roll away from you so that you’re forced to wake up and find it. You can snag one now for a inexpensive $50 and according to Clocky’s site, more flavors and designs are on the way. Official Site [via MAKE] → Read More
Believe it or not, Hot Jugz is not the name of a porn star from 1983. It’s a personal outdoor shower. It’s comprised of a two-gallon container that can keep your hot water warm and has a shower wand for helping dirty people get clean. It requires no power and can go for sixteen minutes with just a few pumps on the container. There’s a bunch of different models available and you can even get one made with your own personal logo on the device. Anyone who goes camping, to the beach, or landfills will surely benefit from Hot Jugz and its incredibly sexual name. They retail for $49.99 and up and they’re called Hot Jugz. Hot Jugz: A portable shower [Popgadget] → Read More
They’ve done it again! Our peeps over at Boy Genius Report got their paws on on a spankin’ new Verizon MAXX Ve from Motorola. Equipped with an auto-focusing 2MP camera and MP3 playback, the MAXX looked like a promising phone until I scrolled down and saw this… → Read More
Seems as though LG’s new SV260 Premium Folder flip phone has some very enticing features only a business person would love. Its Motiquette (Mobile Etiquette) option for example switches to text-only communication for when you’re in those oh-so-very important meetings. The Voice Secretary provides nagging reminders of your next appointment. There’s a TTS (Text to Speech) feature for those of you too busy to read your TXT messages. And it even has an MP3 player, 1.3-megapixel camera, an E-dictionary that helps you pronounce things so you don’t sound stupid (well, more stupid anyway), subway maps and for the hard of seeing a magnification function to enlarge text. Nag Nag Nag [Mobile Korea TV] → Read More
http://www.dovetail.tv/player.swf?contentId=1606&server=www.dovetail.tv&thumbnailPath=Zen%20Media%20Group%2Fguitar-hero%2Ejpg Meet Scott Ian. You either remember him from the band Anthrax like I do, or you’ve at least seen him doing bits on VH1. Either way, he’s a guitarist and a good one to boot, but when Scotty goes to play an Anthrax song in Guitar Hero 2, things fall apart quickly. It goes to show that you may be able to shred in reality, but the world of video game music-making is a completely different story. Scott Ian is no Guitar Hero [Dovetail via Phillyist] → Read More
http://video.google.com/googleplayer.swf?docId=-6338486291606550545&hl=en I’m a little late to the pleasures of Skype-ing, but Belkin was kind enough to loan CrunchGear one of its Wi-Fi phones to use with the service. Setup was easy, just connect to a network (it tells you if there’s an open one to connect to or you can type in an SSID and password for a secured one) and then punch in your Skype account info and you’re done. It loads up your contacts and that’s that. It’s so very nice when things just work right out of the box, and this phone does. We’ll have a full review soon, but for now, here’s some video. Belkin Wi-Fi Phone For Skype → Read More
As if you weren’t sick to your stomach with all the Vista hoopla going around today. Here’s a quick vid running you through the Apple TV interface. Woohoo…I think. Apple TV [TechEBlog] → Read More
In a battle for relevance in the mobile payments space, mobile to mobile payment service Obopay has acquired social payment service Billmonk. Neither are disclosing the size of the acquisition, which is undoubtedly a tiny and probably stock for stock deal. The integration of the two services will first let users settle the debts they tracked on Billmonk instantly over Obopay’s mobile payment platform and eventually by email. You can see Obopay’s release here and Billmonk’s here. Founders Gaurav Oberoi and Chuck Groom will be moving to Obopay’s new Seattle office to focus on solving the “social accounting problem”. This is a crowded space with a single, hugely dominate player, PayPal Mobile. See TextPayMe and KushCash as well. → Read More
Only 24-hours remain! We’ve crossed the 100 favoriters mark on Technorati and there is still plenty of time to participate. To enter, all you have to do is head over to Technorati, log in or create an account (make a fake one for all we care), favorite us and take a screenshot. Send the screenshot to contest at crunchgear dotter com with the subject line “YOU’RE MY FAVE” and enter to win a drawing for a Samsung T629 from T-Mobile. Everybody thank Samsung and T-Mo for hooking us up with the device to giveaway to you. → Read More
slightly embarrassing turn on the Daily Show, Bill and Steve finally pushed Windows Vista out onto the world. As I write these words her majesty, the Vista, is installing herself on my PC, grinding away at my RAID like a champ. → Read More
As a person who is admittedly more than a little clumsy, I’ve always been intrigued by these rugged notebooks. I’ve tripped over the power cord of my Powerbook, sending it sailing across the room more times than I can count (the thing is dented to hell now). It performs noticeably less than adequate now as a result. Twinhead Corporation is releasing two notebooks that could resolve this disaster in the future. The D13Ry and D14RY feature magnesium-alloy cases that are 20 times stronger than ABS plastic. They also feature an anti-shock mountain design that protects the LCD and hard drive from damage and data loss during falls. Its spill-resistant design insulates the keyboard, touchpad and adjacent buttons from spills leaking into its sensitive underbelly. Additionally, double protection smart battery circuitry prevents damage caused by current or voltage surges and overheating, while Twinhead’s Smart Battery Calibration helps fight the loss of battery capacity after repeated charge-discharge cycles. And these systems can perform. Each of the systems feature an Intel Core 2 Duo processor, WiFi and are Vista ready. The D13RY is a mobile multimedia center with a 13.3-inch WXGA display 1.3-megapixel webcam and four 1-watt speakers. While the D14Ry features a non-flare 14.1-inch display. The D14RY is available now and the D13RY will be “available soon.” More information can be found at Twinhead. → Read More
My Currency is launching another take on the wisdom of the crowds, this time aimed at the real estate market. Unlike Zillow, My Currency derives its housing valuations from the marketplace of user opinions by having them assess properties as over or undervalued along with the strength of their conviction. For instance, if I feel a house in San Francisco for 11 million dollars is overpriced, I vote for what lower price I think is right as well as how strongly I feel that on a 1-10 scale. The conviction of my choice and the accuracy of my past votes play into how much I can affect the valuation and price trend of the home. Home listings are a bit sparse at the moment, and rely on self listing. The hope is that experts and real estate agents will be drawn to the site and its users as a lead generation tool. Quality lead generation has been a problem for online realtors. Founder Karim Tahawi says that 2 out of 3 internet leads produce no sale. The site will allow realtors to make one on one contact to buyers by answering direct questions or attracting clients with their reputations. Experts will establish themselves by their voting records and distinguish themselves as the best at valuing different cities or neighborhoods. Why be honest in your valuation? My Currency answers this through a reputation score that consists of your past performance valuing homes, contributions to the site, and popularity of your additions. These all play a part in the formula that weights your vote on a property. Contributions are measured on the volume of contributions to the supporting blog, wiki, and Q&A pages. Users that produce more frequently viewed content or selected answers, will have higher popularity scores. My Currency is San Francisco based and currently angel financed. → Read More
