Google almost launches own PC at Wal-Mart

 

 

Although Google hasn't developed its own PC, it has come very close via the new ultra low-cost PC from Everex.

The Everex “gPC” is a Linux-based PC being sold through Wal-Mart, with a price tag of just $200. It comes with easy access to Google applications like Gmail, Google Maps, and Google’s now complete online office suite – Google Docs.

The computer has a 1.5-gigahertz processor, 512 megabytes of memory, and 80GB hard drive.

This is a basic computer for families that will allow Google to introduce users to the internet and computing via the Google applications.

Watch out, Google will soon take over your home.

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5min.com raises $5 million

 

 

Israeli video startup 5Min, is believed to have raised $5 million in cash, from Spark Capital.

5min is a place to find short video solutions for everypractical question and is also a place for people who want to share their knowledge.  5min's vision is simple: any solution can be visually explained in 5 minutes.

 

 

An Israeli (print) magazine called Globes recently got their hands on the capitalization table of 5min and published the details. The angels ended up with nearly half the company for that $300k (see above).

 

We like 5min.com because the content is viral and they will be able to build traffic quickly, something they are well on their way to doing (see above).

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Semantic search site Hakia launches 'Meet Others' feature

 

 
Hakia, the semantic search engine has added a social feature called Meet Others. Meet Others "who asked the same query" is a new social networking service that connects people through their common search queries.

To use the feature you simply submit a query thhen follow the MEET OTHERS link to jump to a room of people who asked the same query.

If the room is empty, you can create this room and be the first to post a message. You can also go directly to meet.hakia.com and search for matching queries.

To view the rooms or to post messages, there is no registration required. The posting process requires email confirmation for authentication.

If you post a message and want to be contacted, the email contact is done over hakia's network using anonymous addresses (such as 2343t65@hakia.com).

Hakia is a very exciting project and this new feature is excellent. Keep an eye on Hakia they are slowly gaining traction.

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PayPerPost renames IZEA to organize bizarre mix of web properties

 

 

Social media marketing business PayPerPost has announced it is changing its corporate name to organize the multiple properties its has developed within the fast-changing world of social media.

In addition to PayPerPost.com, IZEA owns and operates Zookoda.com, BloggersChoiceAwards.com, RockStartup.com, RSSBrief.com, URLBrief.com and BlogInSpace.com, among others.

Looking at this list they have a poor selection of web properties operating some strange businesses such as BlogInSpace.com.

We feel they would be better off spending time working with bloggers to try and build trust, something they appear to have lost from the blogging community over the last few months.  PayPerPost still insists you need to operate archives to work with them, something that many big blogs no longer use.

Founded in June 2006, IZEA has somehow raised over $10 million in venture capital from venture firms including Draper Fisher Jurvetson, Village Ventures and Inflexion Partners.

The name change comes just days before the scheduled unveiling of IZEA's Argus project. 

Argus is likely to provide both bloggers and advertisers more visibility into social media and allow them to interact with each other and the public in more immediate, transparent and accountable ways. Access to the alpha version will be by invitation only through the end of 2007.

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ScratchBack launches cross between TextLinkAds and BlogAds

 

 

ScratchBack is a new online "tipping" system. It allows publishers, to accept tips and "give back" links or images in return. You name your price on your tips, and you earn money from every interaction through ScratchBack's automated system.

Setup by Jim Kukral, a long-time (since 1995) online marketing veteran, speaker, author, web entrepreneur and blogger ScratchBack was born out of years of his frustration as a blogger who was unable to find ways to make any decent direct money from his efforts.

Scratchback is a cross between textlinkads and blogads.

ScratchBack allows a publisher to accept tips and “give back” links or images in return. Each listing has a unique message; when a visitor mouseovers a listing, a custom message shows up in the form of a bubbletip.

Publishers name their price on tips, and earn money from every interaction through the ScratchBack system. The service is free to signup, and publishers get the code for a “TopSpot” widget in minutes. ScatchBack will be taking a small cut from each transaction, although the percentage hasn’t been finalized.

With the recent problems with Google penalising Text Links Ads, ScratchBack looks set to be a great way for blogs and publishers to earn revenue.

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THE FROSTFIRE BUZZ TEST

1. Is this a unique product? 8/10

2. Is this business/product difficult to replicate? 7/10

3. Is this something that can appeal to a large global audience? 7/10

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Google rolls out GMail 2.0

 

 

Google are starting to roll out their new and improved new look GMail 2.0 to a few selected users. you may be one of those selected users. To find out, login to GMail and look for a "new version" link at the top of the page.

 

So what does GMail 2.0 do that the old GMail didn't? Well the main differences are a completely re-written Javascript backend to make GMail faster, and a whole new contacts manager to help you find those special people when you need to find them most.

 

 

The other new feature that i am especially liking is the filter. The old "more actions" drop down box now contains a "filter messages like these" option which will open a filter options box.

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Facebook to launch ad network to rival Google Adwords

 

 

Mark Zuckerberg will be announcing the launch of Facebook’s new advertising system on November 6th. 

This news comes days after Facebook released an unannounced upgrade to their Flyers system, enabling users to view demographic data within the site. Interestingly, Facebook recently filed a trademark for “SocialAds” just last month.

It appears as though this is finally taking place next month. Facebook is also expected to launch an advanced analytics package and e-commerce features for the Facebook platform.

Imagine if Facebook, who now has access to over 50 million users’ personal information could target ads based on those profiles anywhere on the web. 

Facebook will be leveraging the cookies installed in users’ browsers after logging into Facebook in order to target them across the web. In the instance that the user doesn’t have one of the Facebook cookies installed, ads similar to those of what Google currently provides will be displayed.

This may well explain why Microsoft has invested $240 million in Facebook.  Thanks to their advertising partnership, Microsoft will now be able to provide targeted ads not only based on demographic data (location, age, gender, etc), but they will also know that the person visiting your site is interested in skiing and guitar.

All of this information will allow Facbook to make considerably more money that the standard Adwords.

Google may well have some serious competition.

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