6:00 AM PDT Wed, Sep 14, 2011 AnyBeat: Not a Facebook Replacement But an Online Global Public Square
AnyBeat also lets users post questions. When a user answers a question, AnyBeat associates the response with the user's profile. Power users monitor the site for bad behavior.
LAUNCHERS: Dmitry Shapiro, co-founder and CEO, was CTO of MySpace and founded Internet TV service Veoh; Jordan Fowler, Scott Rushforth, Andrew Arrow.
WHY: Dominant social networks don't make it easy way to find and interact with new people. Facebook explicitly prohibits people from meeting "strangers" and has become boring (for some people). Social networks today don't have much soul and don't require much engagement. Google proved the search market wasn't dead when everyone thought it was -- same could be true for social networking.
WHEN/WHERE: Sept. 13, 2011 (private beta), Los Angeles.
BACKSTORY: AnyBeat, formerly known as Altly, came out of Dmitry's frustration with...
7:20 PM PDT Tue, Sep 13, 2011 Watch out Kayak and Orbitz: Google Flights Wants to Replace You
Google launched Google Flights today, making it possible to search for airfares by price, destination and duration -- and book a trip on an airline's website. The launch comes five months after Google acquired the Cambridge, Mass.-based ITA Software, which specializes in flight data, for $700M.
Google Flights currently only offers round-trip economy-class tickets and says paid relationships do not influence flight selection and results.
"Airlines control how their flights are marketed, so...
3:27 PM PDT Tue, Sep 13, 2011 DIOTD: Apple Paying a Cash Dividend to Shareholders!? Here's a Better Plan for $70B
[ Tim Cook, after Macworld Expo 2009 keynote. Courtesy of Valery Marchive via creative commons license. ]
By Jason Calacanis
The award for “dumb idea of the day” goes to Morgan Stanley analyst Katy Huberty for lobbying Apple to pay a cash dividend to shareholders.
With over $70B in cash on hand, and massive profits piling up at a rate of around $6B a quarter, it makes sense that short-term greedy analysts would want a quick pay day.
However, there are three important things to keep in mind...
3:26 PM PDT Tue, Sep 13, 2011 LivingSocial Close to Selling out 50% Off Deal at Whole Foods
LivingSocial launched a 50% off deal at Whole Foods Markets today -- $10 for $20 in groceries -- the first time a national grocer has offered a daily deal with any company. Groupon did a deal with a New England supermarket chain in June and a grocery delivery service in April.
As of 3:30pm PT, nearly 960K Whole Foods deals had been purchased, meaning the cap of...
0:37 PM PDT Tue, Sep 13, 2011 Turntable.fm Launches iPhone App, Raises $7M and Opens Beta to Anyone in U.S.
[Turntable.fm for iPhone app login screen]
Turntable.fm released its long-awaited iPhone app today, announced a $7M round led by Union Square Ventures and opened the beta to anyone in the U.S.
"This has been our most requested feature and it's just the beginning for mobile," founder and CEO Billy Chasen writes about the app. "It's our first version and still in beta, so please let us know if you find issues (e-mail help [at] turntable.fm)."
Turntable.fm, which opened to the limited public in May 2011, lets people share music by DJing in themed rooms. The site has grown to 600K+ users.
In addition to USV, investors include...