Custom Shirts, GPS Dating and Hyperlocal News at the NY Tech Meetup

NYConvergence ORIGINAL

By Jim Flood

The NY Tech Meetup celebrated Rosh Hashanah last night the traditional way: hosting 800 people for a full course of startup demos. Thrown into the mix were a presentation by Google and an appeal from Democratic Congressional candidate Reshma Saujani (running in New York's 14th district) to get involved, specifically by voting or volunteering for her. She has emphasized technological innovation and tax breaks for investment in her campaign.

Just like last month, questions about revenue model were at first tolerated, then booed by a few audience members and nixed by organizer Nate Westheimer. If you're a tech entrepreneur, apparently your mirror is where you should practice talking about the financial viability of your ideas, instead of doing it in front of an audience that might include people who could give you helpful advice.

The presenters included:

Apture: Provides content providers with code that opens a separate window for searches on names or terms in an article, so readers stay on a page instead of leaving to search on Wikipedia or IMDB. They also offer a browser extension that achieves the same outcome.

NearSay: A hyperlocal news and information site launching in two weeks that draws content from major New York publications, but adds a personal editorial touch with a roster of local contributors and aggregators. Users will be able to filter news by neighborhood and/or topic. To start with, the site will cover neighborhoods in lower Manhattan.

MeetMoi: A mobile-based dating service that hooks people up based on proximity (within 1 mile, if you're in New York) and characteristics.

Google Goggles: A visual search engine built from 1 billion images. You can take a photo with your Android (an iPhone version is being developed), hit search, and ideally Goggles will tell you what it is you're looking at. They estimate a 1/3 accuracy rate at this point. Because of privacy concerns, faces are not included among the searchable universe, so don't be photographing semi-familiar character actors you see at the corner cafe, as you won't be able to ID them this way. 

JIBE: Uses Facebook and LinkedIn connections and information from those sites to help job seekers apply for openings and employers recruit candidates.

Grovo: Video tutorials on such topics as Twitter, Google Docs and Craigslist, that employers can have their employees take to bolster their Internet literacy.

Proper Cloth: Dress-shirt site that allows men to create custom designs and offers several ways to measure the fit.

Kodingen: free, open source collaboration platform for developers.

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The NY Tech Meetup is Not a Business Meetup

Optimum WiFi Expands Availability In Long Island

NYConvergence ORIGINAL

According to a press release received by NYConvergence, Optimum WiFi has continued to expand and is now offered at 'hundreds' of local businesses across Long Island. The Optimum WiFi network, a service of Long Island based cable carrier Cablevision, has now been available in Long Island for two years now and allows residents to get online in a multitude of locations. 

The network has more than doubled in size since its launch in 2008, expanding to include nearly 500 indoor retail locations. In order to commemorate two years of service, the company has compiled a list of the most useful places that the WiFi network is available. This list includes parks and waterfront areas in which Optimum Online customers can sign in using mobile devices and delivers download speeds of up to 3.0 Mbps.

The company also recently released an 'Automatic Sign In' feature which makes using the network even easier, as a user only needs to sign in once on each device. For a detailed map of where to find Optimum WiFi in Long Island, see the link below.

Optimum Online

Verizon Brings 3D to the NFL

NYConvergence ORIGINAL

Last night, NYConvergence went to the New Meadowlands Stadium in East Rutherford, NJ., perhaps the most high-tech stadium in the NFL. Though the Giants were playing the Patriots in an exhibition game, the reason we went was not to see how they looked on the field, but to see how they looked on a 3D television, as Verizon was celebrating its broadcast of the game, which is the first football game to broadcast in 3D. 

The event took place at the Verizon studio in the stadium, which itself is an open air exhibition of all things Verizon FiOS and Verizon Wireless that is accessible to football fans walking through the concourse, complete with a wall of television screens, a laptop computer bar and seating to watching a variety of 3D televisions.  At the studio, we caught up with John Bonomo, Director-Media Relations for Verizon, who told us that this broadcast (unlike the 3D Yankees game that FiOS aired earlier in the summer) was also being produced by Verizon and included a crew of 70 people to pull it off. Though he would not delve into the cost of the endeavor, he was optimistic about the future of 3D TV adoption by consumers, similar to how it once took time for people to buy HD TVs.  Moreover, last night's 3D broadcast was as Bonomo put it  "A chance for people to recognize Verizon's capabilities." 

We had the chance to spend some quality time watching the FiOS 3D broadcast of the game and suffice to say, live action football works very well in 3D. What we found interesting was that it was not just the players who were in 3D, but anytime a score, graphic or stat popped up, they were in 3D as well. The only downside was that after 20 minutes of watching the game, we needed a break because of wearing the glasses, which come with any 3D set and are required for viewing.  Perhaps one day the Sonys of the world will figure out how to watch a 3D broadcast without them, but overall Verizon proved last night that it wants to be at the forefront of this new technology.

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> Verizon to Air First NFL Game in 3D

Verizon to Air First NFL Game in 3D

NYConvergence ORIGINAL

Following the first 3D television broadcast of a baseball game a couple of weeks ago on New York's Yes Network (it was the Yankees v. the Mariners), Verizon has announced that it will also broadcast the first NFL game in 3D in the beginning of September.  According to a press release received by NYConvergence, the game will be a preseason match up at New Meadowlands Stadium in East Rutherford, NJ, where the New York Giants will compete against the New England Patriots on September 2 at 7 p.m.  

The game will be available in 3D only to Verizon FiOS customers in the NYC area on channel 834. As with the Yankees game, local customers must have 3D TV sets, 3D glasses and a high-definition set-top box to view the broadcast.

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> Yankees Games to Air in 3D This Weekend

The NY Tech Meetup is Not a Business Meetup

NYConvergence ORIGINAL

By Jim Flood

During last night's monthly NY Tech Meetup at NYU's Skirball Center for the Performing Arts, one audience question really got under MC Nate Westheimer's skin. The founders of startup Philo, a social network/check-in app based around TV viewing, had just given their demo. Someone asked how they plan to make money, a question that had already been asked of other presenters and that is often on people's minds when they first hear of a business idea, whether it's tech-based or not.

Westheimer broke in and said he wanted to skip that question, moving on to another. Later he explained that he's tired of having presenters asked about their revenue models, and suggested that questions about money should again be banned from the event as they were in the past. Many in the audience applauded this sentiment, which Westheimer cemented by stating that the NY Tech meetup is about technology, not business. 

That said, it can be reasonably assumed that most of the following companies who presented their ideas hope to make money from them:

Eventros: An event-specific social networking app that allows people attending an event of any type to post profiles, comment and connect with each other while it's going on.

Market Publique: A shopping site for vintage clothing with an exclusivity clause: sellers are vetted to make sure their clothing is vintage enough and their photographs of merchandise are attractive enough.

Turnto: Forging ahead with the trend of people revealing every detail of their lives to each other online, this service allows you to voluntarily register your e-commerce purchases and recommend products to friends.

Indaba: The highlight of the well-received demo by this collaborative music-making and -selling site was the reveal of a patent-pending audio mixing platform that lets users work on tracks right in their browser.

Philo: This service allows TV lovers to check in while watching a show and comment on it with fellow fans (or haters), online or on their mobile device. 

Twilio: Lets businesses build communication-focused apps -- for teleconferencing or customer service, for example. Note to future NY Tech Meetup demo-ers based on this presentation: typing code on screen gets you lots of audience love.

Willow Garage's Texai: Robotics meets teleconferencing: the Texai allows a user to connect with a monitor on wheels across the country or the world. You can move around a room and interact with people in a remote location, instead of just appearing as a talking head on a wall or laptop. No ability to pick up objects or shake people's hands via robot arm, but you can move around a facility and see what's happening around corners. 

Also speaking last night was Drop.io founder Sam Lessin, who offered what was billed as a rebuttal of Clay Shirky's talk at last month's Meetup. If you weren't there to hear Shirky and have not read his book, Cognitive Surplus: Creativity and Generosity in a Connected Age, Lessin's motor-mouthed, two-seconds-per-slide presentation about intrinsic vs. extrinsic motivation and economic theory might not have made much sense to you. 

The evening's final presenter was a representative of Microsoft search engine -- or as they term it, "decision engine" -- Bing, who showed off some new functionality and Safari extensions. One feature, an ability to drill down on maps to the blueprint of a building, prompted a NY Tech Meetup member to post a comment on the group's website about "potentially disastrous security implications."

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> Clay Shirky Talks and Startups Demo at NY Tech Meetup

> Death of an iPad at the NY Tech Meetup

Digital DUMBO Job Fair Brings Out a Crowd

NYConvergence ORIGINAL

By Jim Flood

At last night's Digital DUMBO job fair, hundreds of attendees drank free beer and wine, networked and discussed job opportunities with potential employers.

Interactive agency Huge and new media marketing agency Carrot Creative had tables set up with literature and representatives fielding questions, while other recruiting companies took a more casual approach. Huge is starting a mobile app division, and their website shows dozens of open positions. 

The evening's sponsor, Pontiflex, has benefited from the growing trend of advertisers buying user data rather than just anonymous impressions. They are looking to fill several openings, notably in sales and development.

The JAR Group, another DUMBO-based interactive agency, needs to hire an account director, a digital strategist and an office manager, among other positions.

Charlotte Kim, the founder of nascent enterprise Coveted List, said she needs an experienced lead tech to help get her business off the ground.

While dealnews was listed as a participant, no one from the company seemed to be in attendance.

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> Digital DUMBO Networking Event Takes Place Tonight

> Outside.In, Carrot Creative Host Digital DUMBO Drinks

Nymag.com Partners with Foursquare for NYC Tips

NYConvergence ORIGINAL

According to a press release NYConvergence received from New York Media, the publisher of New York magazine, its website Nymag.com is partnering with Foursquare to offer users tips from its editors about local food, fashion and nightlife. Users who follow the magazine on Foursquare will see these tips when they check-in at spots around the city, linking to listings on nymag.com’s database (5,000 restaurants, 1,600 bars, 5,500 stores, 1,200 salons and spas) for more info.

According to New York Media, listings traffic makes up 10% of nymag.com’s 60 million monthly page views.

Nymag.com (Foursquare site)

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> NYmag.com Launches Android App for Best Read Blogs

Yankees Games to Air in 3D This Weekend

NYConvergence ORIGINAL

A couple of months ago NYConvergence reported on how Verizon FiOS would be airing in July,  for the first time, two New York Yankees games in 3D.  Thanks to a gentle reminder from the company (press release), we remembered that this is the weekend  when those game are taking place. 

NY area customers, who want to watch the Yankees play against the Seattle Mariners three dimensionally, can find the games tonight at 10 p.m. ET and tomorrow at 4 p.m. ET on the Yes Network on channel 575.  

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> Verizon To Carry 3D Yankees Games

BuyWithMe Raises $16 million in Series B Funding

NYConvergence ORIGINAL

According to a press release received by NYConvergence,  NYC based startup BuyWithMe has completed a Series B round of funding for $16 million, led by VC firm Bain Capital Ventures. An existing VC firm, Matrix Partners, also participated, bringing the company's total funding up to $21.5 million  The site is a community shopping destination that publishes limited time, local daily deals for products and services to its members and lets them use Twitter, Facebook and email to share them.

Currently publishing deals in New York, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Boston and San Diego, the site hopes to expand to 20 markets by the end of the year.

BuyWithMe

Clay Shirky Talks and Startups Demo at NY Tech Meetup

NYConvergence ORIGINAL

Last night at NYU's Skirball Center For The Performing Arts, it became clear that the NY Tech Meetup had settled in nicely to its new home when guest MC Dina Kaplan, co-founder of Blip.tv, announced a capacity crowd of 850 people in attendance.  The packed house witnessed several announcements and presentations, including a brief one from Clay Shirky, the NYU interactive telecommunications professor, author and Web pundit.  His presentation focused on some of the core concepts of his most recent book Cognitive Surplus: Creativity and Generosity in a Connected Age, namely about how the Internet is allowing people to express their social generosity by contributing to the connected world.

The rest of the night was packed with nine demos/presentations from the following NYC tech startups, including:

Betterfly:  This is a self improvement site that presents a database of "betterists": who are available for a variety of services.  Users can either search the site to hire these experts for services (i.e. singing lessons from an accomplished singer) or can sign themselves up as experts.  Founder Joshua Schwadron stressed that there are no companies listed on site as betterists, just people. 

Hot Potato:  Returning for a second time to the stage since their demo at the Tech Meetup late last year, the company, which specializes in mobile check-in services that lets users tell people what they are doing,  gave a presentation of its new version 2.0 of the platform.

LearnVest: This site was almost reminiscent of a mint.com for women, as it is a hub/community for  women who want to not only learn more about personal finance, but how to better manage their finances. The site offers e-newsletters, a three week personal finance boot camp and an online financial planner that can help women customize and determine their financial action plans.

Frontal:  Likely the geekiest presentation of the night, Frontal is a free, open source markup and scripting language that is built on Flash and makes it easier for Web programmers to add rich media to websites.

Foodspotting: A last minute addition to the night's agenda, this presentation was given by Soraya Darabi, who was in the news yesterday when she announced that she was leaving drop.io to become a co-founder of Foodspotting.  The site is a mobile app that not only lets people check-in to restaurants like Foursquare, but lets people make and post recommendations on specific food dishes and items to order and buy.  As of January 2010, the site has over 10,000 recommended "spots."

How About We: Recently featured in a large trend piece in The New York Times, this dating site received an overwhelmingly positive response from the audience after it demoed how it works, which is by letting singles propose where they would like to go/do on a first date, rather than send messages and personal essays. 

StuffBuff: This e-commerce site features real-time auction bidding platform, which allow users to promote their live auction items through social media means, but also lets them post their auctions on blogs and almost any website.  Described as decentralized e-commerce, founder Michael Langer proclaimed that this type of Web auctioning will be the "future of e-commerce."

Jetsetter:  Born from the creators of Kayak and Gilt Groupe, this invitation only site offers travel ideas/tips and limited time deals for hotels/vacations for travelers who are seeking more refined and exotic travel experiences.  The photo heavy site deploys its own staff to review locations around the world before said suggestions are made to community members of the site. 

comiXology: Like Hot Potato, this company also returned to stage after demoing late last year at the Tech Meetup. Since then, the site, which brings comics books to the Web and a variety of Web enabled mobile devices, built the DC comics app for the iPhone/iPad and also launched its "guided view" option, which was demoed.  This option keeps the entire page of a comic book intact and lets users personalize how they want to read the book.

Videos from last night's event can be found here.

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> Internet Week NY: Death of an iPad at the NY Tech Meetup

> The NY Tech Meetup Says Goodbye to FIT

Anacotel Buys Long Island Data and Recovery Center

NYConvergence ORIGINAL

In a press release received by NY Convergence, Long Island Data and Recovery Center, an LI-based co-location and interconnection facility in Westbury, announced it had been acquired by Frankfurt, Germany's ancotel GmbH, a company that operates the largest data hub in Europe.

The Long Island site is important to anacotel because Long Island serves as a key landing point for submarine cables that connect North America to Europe.  Ancotel said the acquisition will create jobs and attract an array of industries, such as health care, financial, media and content providers, to Nassau County.

Long Island Data and Recovery Center

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> Nassau County, NY Has Fastest Broadband

Foodie Deal Site InBundles Launches in NYC

NYConvergence ORIGINAL

By: Esther Surden

Former Food Network producer Danny Lyu launched last week his restaurant deal website aimed at foodies, called InBundles, and already has emailed his followers great deals for places like The Orchard restaurant, the Italian-inspired eatery by chef-owner John Lafemina.

The New York-based Lyu told NYConvergence that New York is the only place he is launching the site right now, since he is trying to give a boost to the New York restaurant economy, although he plans to launch in other cities after the site achieves some traction here. He says that the NY restaurant scene has been hit hard by the economy and he wanted to do something to bring multiple customers to great eateries. His company, which has five employees, including him, has been working on the development of this idea “since the economy tanked,” he said.

Unlike other discount sites that offer deals on restaurants as well as salon services or car services, InBundles is sticking to restaurants, a business Lyu knows well, and where he has multiple contacts from his days producing shows for the Food Network,  he said.  Initially, the site offers a single deal every few days, which is emailed, along with a review of the restaurant, to registered users. If enough people demonstrate interest in the offer, they get to buy the gift certificate. Monday, for example, 15 people had to buy the gift certificates, called "Bundles," for the “deal to be on.”

If 15 people didn’t take advantage of the offer, the credit cards for the ones who did are never charged, but they don’t get the gift certificate either. This is an incentive for people to tell their foodie friends about the site.  When the deal is over, users will find out if they've received the discount and will get a link to a certificate, good for a limited amount of time, to print out and use at the partnering restaurant. The company monetizes the site by taking a portion of the sales revenue off the top of the cost of the certificate.

Lyu used his own money to begin InBundles, plus some funds from private unnamed investors. He praised the start-up atmosphere in NYC, saying that it is very supportive, unlike some of the more competitive industries here. "People are excited and the energy is high," he said. "It's refreshing."