Wine Tasting is more of a traditional pursuit, like minded people gathering together to taste fine wine. Twitter wine tasting has been tried before, a wine tasting party that gathered web notables in person to try wines tried the concept back in March. But until now no Twitter wine tasting event has focused on providing wine over a broad geographic region with a focus back on providing feedback via Twitter. Project Vino, an Australian wine site focused on community recommendations, tried the Twitter wine tasting model today. The site sent three bottles of Kirrihill (South Australia) wine to 12 prominent Australian Twitter users, with the only obligation being to tweet their thoughts to Twitter at the designated times. Project Vino CEO Hugo Sharp had this to say on the event: This event is one of the earliest instances of using Twitter to transfer an event as social and active as a wine tasting, into online realms. The end result? A resounding success. When you have a social drink which is best enjoyed sharing experiences with friends, it works perfectly with online communication tools. As one of the twelve sent the wine it was both a fun, and an informative experience. It helps that the Kirrihill Wine was good, but the networking and good word of mouth will make the 3 cartons an easy spend. Reviews can be found via @projectvino. An experiement that was suppose to last 45 minutes kicked on well and truly past the testing time, a positive sign that the wine was well received. Pics below are from a live stream of the event. → Read More
Super strong artificial silk almost here Rock Band members and Guitar Heroes: your social network has arrived in uRockHard Super Mario 64-Life 2 Unreasonable Stance: GTA IV isn’t violent enough The Orientation: Emulators → Read More
Pontiflex has received $2.5 million in Series A Funding in a round led by New Atlantic Ventures and Greenhill SAVP. The company is involved in online lead generation, facilitating interaction between advertisers and publishers. They bill themselves as “the industry’s only open and transparent lead generation marketplace”, and feature real time campaign optimization and speedy campaign generation. Pontiflex says it will use the capital to strengthen the company’s sales and marketing efforts to enhance their lead generation services. As part of the deal Scott Johnson, Managing Partner for New Atlantic Ventures, and Brian Hirsch, Greenhill SAVP’s managing director, will join the Pontiflex board. CrunchBase Information Pontiflex Information provided by CrunchBase → Read More
The DataPortability Workgroup founded in November 2007, is aiming to develop best practices towards letting users move, share, and control their identity, photos, videos and all other forms of personal data stored in social networks and other web services. The young organization now faces its second legal challenge to, of all things, its choice of logo. In February, Red Hat sent a cease and desist letter claiming trademark infringement over their Fedora logo. Instead of fighting Red Hat in court, DataPortability simply held a new logo competition and announced the winner last week. With that behind them, the group has been focused on drafting technical best practices guideline and getting community feedback. Today, though, the new logo has been challenged as well – this time by Vivendi Mobile Entertainment’s trademark agent, who claims to be “very surprised to notice your new logo for Dataportability which is very close and similar to their logo.” They add: The mere comparison of the two signs is self-explanatory and we are sure that you will understand that our clients could not leave you to use such a logo in relation to identical of at least similar services. Vivendi is using their mark in connection with a service called ZAOZA, a self-described “simple and fun architecture that permits the legal peer sharing of exclusive and quality content.” They are demanding that DataPortability immediately stop using the logo. Dataportability co-founder Chris Saad says they aren’t going to fight this challenge, either, because it’s too distracting to their core mission: We’re going to speak with our lawyers, tweak it slightly and move on. These C&D tactics are really disappointing and counterproductive… We’d really rather everyone focused on the Technical Best Practice Drafts we released last week. Once again, the lawyers get their way. Full letter is below. http://www.docstoc.com/docs/wrapper.ashx?doc_id=531052&swf_url=http%3A//content1.docstoc.com.s3.amazonaws.com/4074_001.pdf.swf&showrelated=0&showotherdocs=0&showstats=0&enableFullScreen=1Sample Trademark Logo Infingment Letter – Get more documents → Read More
Melbourne IT has acquired Versign’s Digital Brand Management Services (DBMS) division for $50 million. DBMS offers a portfolio of digital brand security services, including domain name management, global brand expansion services and digital brand monitoring solutions. Services include brand and fraud protection and “global digital brand expansion.” According to a release Verisign put out when the service launched in 2006, the service “benefits marketing executives by allowing the marketing team to holistically and globally manage the customers’ online experience with the firm’s brands.” Melbourne IT was originally part of Melbourne University and was Australia’s equivalent to Network Solutions, maintaining a monopoly on .com.au registrations until 2002. The company is best remembered locally as one of the boom/ bust stocks of the first dot-com bubble, reaching lofty heights after listing in 1999. Melbourne IT was one of the first companies globally to be granted access to .com sales, being one of five granted the rights to .com sales by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers as Network Solutions monopoly was slowly unwound in 1999. MelbourneIT built a global client base based on undercutting Network Solutions rates at the time by 10%. (via DomainTools) CrunchBase Information MelbourneIT Verisign Information provided by CrunchBase → Read More
You know that doohickey you’ve wanted to make for the last decade, but you’ve never had the right materials or equipment? The one that’s going to make you rich? Your time for glory has arrived. Ponoko, which launched at TechCrunch40, has introduced a revamped site that will bring e-commerce functionality to their marketplace, allowing users to buy, sell, and give away the designs they’ve created. The site allows designers to sell their products and have Ponoko ship them directly to customers, enabling them to create a virtual storefront with few (if any) upfront costs. Sellers need only pay a small fee to the site in addition to the cost of materials, without having to worry about establishing distribution channels or inventory. And buyers are guaranteed that products are unique – they can even buy and modify design files if they want to tweak something. Ponoko has also added a factory and moved its headquarters to San Francisco, explaining that over half of their U.S. visitors live in California. According to Ponoko, the move, combined with the direct designer-to-consumer retail model, will help reduce carbon emmisions. Ponoko’s desire to go green is given further credibility by the addition of Graham Hill, founder of TreeHugger, to their board. CrunchBase Information Ponoko Information provided by CrunchBase → Read More
The title of this post, a (mis)quote from computer scientist Alan Kay, is the last line in a job listing posted by Jeff Bezos in 1994 to the Usenet group mi.jobs. The title of the job listing was “Well-capitalized Seattle start-up seeks Unix developers.” Via HackerNews. → Read More
Silicon Valley-based startup Mint, which provides a service that lets users manage their checking, savings and credit card accounts online, will launch a new product on May 6 that lets users track virtually any type of investment account as well. Users will now be able to manage all of their financial assets on the Mint site. With this change, Mint says, 6,500 US financial institutions: 2,520 banks, 1,621 credit cards, and 2,381 investment accounts are supported. Brokerage, IRA, 401k and 529 assets can be managed. For now, only student loan accounts and mortgages are left off, although support for those types of accounts is coming soon. The site will show all your buys, sells, dividend distributions, etc. across multiple accounts. Dive into a single account or equity for its individual performance. Account performance v. the S&P and other indexes is graphed, and account charges are also shown. There are some things you still won’t be able to do with Mint, such as stock trades, bill payments and funds transfers. Mint CEO Aaron Patzer says those features will eventually be added, with a focus on bill payments first. Funds transfers and stock trades are a little stickier, though, and may eventually require state and/or federal regulation of the company. Investments will soft launch on May 6 for very active Mint users and roll out from there. Anyone who wants to be in the beta right at launch (whether they are a current Mint user or not) can sign up at mint.com/techcrunch and will be added on May 6. Other services, including Cake Financial (another TechCrunch40 startup) Vestopia, Covestor, and UpDown also offer investment tracking. We’ve been tracking Mint since their launch at TechCrunch40 last year. The 20-person company has now raised $17 million in venture capital and has 230,000 registered users (40% of which are active, Patzer says). 10,000 new users sign up each week (13,000 last week) CrunchBase Information Mint Information provided by CrunchBase → Read More
MySpace thought it was all over when it secured the MySpace.co.uk domain in February this year. A decision by Nominet’s dispute resolution service handed over the address, which previously had been owned by a small UK ISP since 1997, two years before MySpace.com launched. But an appeals panel has today handed the domain back to Total Web Solutions (TWS), a company in Stockport, near Manchester. The fact that Myspace.co.uk was originally used to offer email services and websites to subscribers meant TWS had insulated itself from an action for some time. But MySpace’s main argument to Nominet centred on the most recent use of the domain as a Pay Per Click website which sent MySpace.co.uk visitors to a parked page with advertisements for social networking websites including MySpace. MySpace Inc says the practice started in July 2005 when News Corp took it over, boosting its fame, but TWS claims it was “at least” before June 2005. Secondly, at issue was whether parking the .co.uk domain had become “abusive” when the PPC ads changed because MySpace.com became well known. In the case of MySpace.co.uk, the ads on the parked domain did change to “reflect the fame of MySpace.com”, admitted TWS, “but that had happened automatically as a result of the algorithms used by parking company Sedo.” In other words, TWS fingered the firm servicing the ads. While MySpace Inc. argued that TWS should have exercised control over the content of the adverts, TWS said this did not constitute a “change of use”. The three-person appeal panel said they were “reluctant to place any duty on a registrant, who has merely had the good fortune (or maybe ill fortune) to register a name in good faith…” so long as they don’t exploit the situation. There appears to be no more steps that MySpace can take within the Nominet DRS arbitration process to challenge TWS’s right to hold onto the name. So it’s the end of the line – unless there is further action MySpace can take through the civil courts. Total Web Solutions also claims that Nominet tried to “unfairly help” MySpace by at first denying the existence of emails sent between solicitors and MySpace which may have aided TWS’s case. The solicitor who represented Total Web Solution in the case, Jim Davies, is now standing for election to the Nominet board, as he believes it’s unwise to “operate the DRS (Domain → Read More
Panedia is a content creation and licensing company, specializing in high quality georeferenced photography using immersive panoramic technologies. Panedia offers three core services. Panedia panoramas offer 360 degree immersive images of “amazing places.” The service is completely web based, so users choose a location and can move around each position. Panedia’s Map service offers over 3500 panoramic tours cross referenced by Google Map. Panedia’s Wallpaper service is offered for $25/ year and provides (as the name suggests) panoramic wallpapers. All Panedia work is shot individually by company selected professional photographers, with content focused on providing superior quality over mass produced quantity. The Gold Coast, Australia based company currently only offers panoramic imagery from Australia and some parts of San Francisco, but will be expanding into Europe later this year, with the rest of North America to follow some time after that. The business model relies on licensing access to the content: all but the wallpapers are offered on the site for free, but the company is already in negotiations to license the content for use on third party sites, including tourism sites. Immersive panoramic imagery isn’t new, however Panedia’s emphasis on quality is evident on the site, and some of the imagery is amazing. We’ve got 100 free memberships (worth $25 each) to Panedia’s wallpaper service. Visit the Wallpaper signup page here, and enter the code TECHCRUNCH for a free membership. Update: free accounts are all used up. The company advises that it doesn’t retain personal details of those who were unsuccessful in getting a free account. CrunchBase Information Panedia Information provided by CrunchBase → Read More
How cool does this phone look? I love that it totally has a full antenna. Two would be even better. The P960 is the first slider with mobile TV in Europe, and it supports the Euro mobile TV standards DVB-CBMS and OMA-BCAST. Obviously there’s nothing on at the moment but color bars, but they look pretty good. I don’t think we’ll be getting this thing any time soon, since mobile TV in the USA is way behind Europe and Korea. Dang. → Read More
It appears Marvel is none to happy about us giving our readers in SF a crack at Iron Man before opening day since TC just received a C&D from Marvel. MA used to be a lawyer so hopefully he can get all of this sorted out. → Read More
BGR has word that T-Mobile will be letting loose their 3G network May 1. Yes, that’s this Thursday. It corroborates previous rumors by TMoNews that this would be happening soon. Maybe RIM should consider giving T-Mobile first dibs on that 3G BlackBerry AT&T doesn’t seem to want to release. Update: Looks like TmoNews has more evidence and it appears T-Mobile will be rolling out 3G service here in NYC on Thursday. Now I really need to get a hold of a 3G device for T-Mo. → Read More
Apple and AT&T will cut $200 off the price of the iPhone 3G when it arrives this summer. The phones should hit at $399 and $499 for 8 and 16-gigabyte versions and the subsidy should drop the price to as low as $199. Fortune has also pseudo-confirmed a GPS chip inside the new phone. Read more iPhone coverage here → Read More
EA-Land, the service previously known as The Sims Online will shut August 1, despite a much hyped revamp announced late February. The Sims Online was generally regarded to be a failure for EA, with the company unable to turn the success of The Sims franchise into an online hit. The service wasn’t helped by a complete lack of customizable features (outside of the usual Sims customization tools) and EA charged for access. The new (but now never to be launched) EA-Land was to be EA’s second shot of success, and promised Second Life style customization and land ownership, with a free client and free to use service. EA didn’t provide a full explanation for the shutdown, only saying that “The lifetime of the game has drawn to an end, and now we will be focusing on new ideas and other innovative concepts in the games arena.” Paying users of the Sims Online are being offered a $15 gift voucher and three months premium access to Pogo. The Sims Online/ EA-Land joins the TechCrunch Deadpool. → Read More
Weplug is a new social networking site out of France that aims to combine the best parts of Twitter, Facebook, and geo-location. The site has just entered public beta, and is available on the iPhone at the same URL. Weplug has a clean interface and full featured (if somewhat generic) social networking functionality. Users can add their current status and location to a “lifestream” (basically a list of recent activity), which is syndicated to others through “friendstreams”. It’s all pretty familiar stuff for anyone that’s used Facebook for any length of time, but there are a few key differences. For one, Weplug promises to release an API that will make its micro-blogging platform accessible to outside programs and devices (think Twitter). Weplug also plans to include auto-location features on its iPhone version of the site. Auto-location doesn’t work yet, but Weplug’s developers intend to use the iPhone’s triangulation feature (and eventually GPS, when it becomes available). The site is still very much a work in progress. The basic social networking functionality works well enough, but the promised autolocation feature and Twitter-esque API are still a ways off. It’s hard to gauge how well Weplug will do abroad, but to stand a chance stateside its going to need to implement these features soon. As it stands now, Weplug is a nice looking site that few people have a reason to use. Weplug sprawls a number of well-established spaces. Their competition includes Loopt in the social GPS market, Twitter in micro-blogging, and a plethora of social networking sites. CrunchBase Information Weplug Information provided by CrunchBase → Read More
Insoshi wants to be WordPress for social networks, except built on top of Ruby on Rails instead of PHP. We covered them in March when they presented at the Spring Y Combinator demo day. Now they’ve officially released their software for public download so anyone can install it on-premise to run their own social networks. Insoshi is not the first company to release its social networking code. Broadband Mechanics has always emphasized the openness of its PeopleAggregator platform, and even Ning, the most publicized DIY social networking company, will give you the underlying code if you request it. It’s not even the first Ruby on Rails project to go open source. Lovd By Less appears to have claimed this honor, although Insoshi founder Michael Hartl insists that the code he released under an MIT License in July 2007 should be considered the first RoR social networking open source code. Quibbles about who was first aside, Insoshi certainly has the advantage of having in Hartl a very prominent founder: he wrote RailsSpace, which is considered the book for writing social networks in RoR. I look forward to seeing whether Insoshi is really able to build the type of developer community that’s associated with names like Mozilla and MySQL. If it manages to pull it off, it will become a very attractive option for organizations that want to run social networks independently. Check out a test social network built on Insoshi here. CrunchBase Information Insoshi Broadband Mechanics Ning Information provided by CrunchBase → Read More
This is bad for the RIAA, but good for file sharers. Yet another judge today disagreed with the RIAA’s assertion that making copyrighted works available — say, on a P2P network like BitTorrent — is not copyright infringement. This marks the second time the law has sided against the RIAA on this exact same issue. The judgment basically says, “leaving something out for someone to steal does not make them an accessory to theft,” and we agree. Will this stop the RIAA from continuing with its ridiculous lawsuits? No way. Other than counting all of its money that never goes to artists, it has nothing better to do. → Read More
Social shopping site Wishpot has taken $1 million Series A in a round led by Monster Venture Partner that included H-Farm and Adrian Hanauer. Wishpot is a social shopping service that lets you collect and and share information about items you find online and in stores. By creating a common space in which users can browse, recommend products, get advice, and find new items they’re interested in, Wishpot seeks to simplify shopping. The company said it would use the funding to further enhance its vertical offerings, improve the Wishpot platform, increase business development activities and introduce business analytics for enterprise customers. Wishpot competes in the same space as Kaboodle, Stylehive, Yahoo Shoposphere, Zlio and MyPickList. CrunchBase Information Wishpot Zlio Kaboodle Information provided by CrunchBase → Read More
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