The online question-and-answer market has had a lot of different iterations over the years, starting out first with sites focused on everyday, practical knowledge and trivia and later expanding — by way of sites like Quora and Branch — into longer discourses on bigger issues. Today, ChaCha, one of the earliest movers in Q&A, is announcing that it is raising another $14 million to continue… → Read More
LocalUncle is an iPhone app made by a Swiss startup that wants to apply the power of crowdsourced, location-specific information to crack real-time questions & answers. What is the Wi-Fi password at the local hotel? Where can I find cat food in Dresden? All that and more can come from the digital lips of your LocalUncle. → Read More
Over 80 percent of people seek health-related information online, on everything from insurance to help diagnosing aches and pains. As the world goes mobile, so too does health. Instead of using Google for your health queries or perusing WebMD, HealthTap launched last year to give people a way to connect with doctors in realtime via their mobile devices.
Today, the startup is announcing a… → Read More
Eight-year old JustAnswer.com, which bills itself as a Quora competitor (but looked decidedly less hip), is announcing a rebranding and a new infusion of capital today. The site is becoming Pearl.com, which offers a new front-end to its Q&A service which is now focused on connecting site visitors with vetted professionals. Users will be able to ask questions aimed directly at those who work… → Read More
Can a reasonably successful, U.S.-based mobile content brand find equal success for its English-language service in the UK? It’s a question that could have been asked on the Q&A service ChaCha, and unfortunately it looks like the company has figured out the answer the hard way.
ChaCha, which launched in the UK in September 2011, has now quietly shut down operations in the country after… → Read More
The drive for more information has long been fueling the growth of the Internet, but that rising tide is not automatically lifting all boats, as one company trying to ride the wave has seen.
Beepl, a Q&A startup co-founded last year and led by ex-TechCrunch writer Steve O’Hear, has now lost him as CEO over what TechCrunch understands to be a dispute around future strategy. O’Hear confirmed… → Read More
Following five months of work, location-based Q&A platform Localmind is launching its biggest release today since its original debut with the arrival of Localmind 2.0. The newly revamped platform represents a shift for the company, which, as you may remember, sits on top of Foursquare, allowing you to pose questions in real-time to those checked in at local venues.
Today, the company is… → Read More
Earlier this month, the Q&A-cum-social-networking service Formspring launched its first ever user Directory, with the intent on better highlighting the most popular users within a given category like “Music,” “Sports” or “Fashion.” Today, the company is expanding its focus on connecting users based on interests, and is rolling out an update that will allow users to click on any tag in their… → Read More
Mobile devices are shifting many individual computing behaviors, perhaps none more significant than how we search for and receive information. Right now, it’s moving at warp speed. In between the time I finish this draft and its posted, it’s entirely possible another company or service launches in this space. Every time we “swipe open” our mobile devices, we seek out dopamine hits from receiving… → Read More
Q&A platforms are in and popping up all over the place. Weblogs SL, by far the leading Spanish blog network, has rolled out its own Q&A system, Respuestas, along the lines of Mahalo or perhaps Quora. Weblogs SL was launched in 2004 by co-founders Julio Alonso and Antonio Ortiz, and today boasts 38 vertical blogs and 15 million unique users. → Read More
The search engine Ask is about to submit an iPhone app to Apple designed for asking questions on the go. About a year ago, Ask returned to its roots as a place to ask and answer questions. Roughly 35 to 40 percent of all search queries typed into Ask are in the form of a question, versus maybe 6 to 9 percent for other search engines, according to Ask president Doug Leeds. Ask’s main search page… → Read More
Today marks the start of the fourth annual Linux Foundation Collaboration Summit, which is “an exclusive, invitation-only summit gathering core kernel developers, distribution maintainers, ISVs, end users, system vendors and other community organizations for plenary sessions and workgroup meetings to meet face-to-face to tackle and solve the most pressing issues facing Linux today.” All the names… → Read More
A year ago, KillerStartups bought the killer domain name Startups.com for a few hundred thousand dollars. The company didn’t do anything with it other than redirect to the KillerStartups blog. Today, it realunched as a Q&A site for business questions.
Want to know “How to edit a business video before uploading it to YouTube”, “What is the typical annual income of a freelance webdesigner”… → Read More
The AP has a Q&A regarding VZW’s new open network, but they fail to mention who is answering the Qs. To be honest this Q&A doesn’t reveal anything. The new network will supposedly take up to 10 years to build. You can’t port any phones from other networks over. Current Verizon Wireless customers will have to wait on VZW to make a decision over whether or not they’re allowed to… → Read More
Travis Hudson, formerly of Gizmodo, is now in charge of new media relations for Samsung cellphones. Why? Because Samsung, and their PR company, MWW, saw a hole and the needed to fill it with someone who can probably program a Samsung phone in his sleep. Travis is a close friend and great writer and we got a chance to have an exclusive sit-down and talk about his new position and the way MWW and… → Read More
Pogue answers just about every question you could have about the iPhone. Do you care? Do you want to buy one? Feel like watching his cheesy video, again? Yeah, you do. Often-Asked iPhone Questions [New York Times] → Read More
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