startups

Cheap bandwidth, hardware and programmers: Entrepreneurial crack?

By Theo Schlossnagle, CEO, OmniTI

In an era of cheap bandwidth, hardware, and programmers, executives have forgotten -- to their detriment -- how to prepare for the consequences of website failures.

Popular opinion holds that Web 2.0 is a surge of innovation heretofore unseen on the Internet.  Many, like Marc Andressen, argue that one of, if not the most, important contributors to this innovation is access to cheap bandwidth, programmers, hardware and MORE

Making Detroit high tech

A business incubator in Detroit wants to launch hundreds of tech companies.

Crammed into a small Detroit office filled with pipe fittings, hydraulic tubing, and a device that looks like a gas pump combined with a supercomputer, Dave Shaw sums up how his life has changed. Tipping back in a cheap office chair, the former auto executive points beneath the folding table that is his desk. "We had a ton of MORE

Techmate: Add art to almost anything

Tech Talk: Randy Komisar - Plan 'B' is new plan 'A'

The Netflix Playbook

Finally, a Powerpoint presentation worth reading

It isn't often that I get convinced to read through a slide deck 128 images long. But after the fourth startup CEO, in this case Jonathan Sposato, CEO of online photo-editing service Picnik brought it to my attention; I sat down to give "Reference Guide on our Freedom & Responsibility Culture" a gander.

The slide deck, which can be found here, contains the distilled thinking of MORE

Kosmix searches for a new way around Google

By Yi-Wyn Yen

These days, getting a large handout from venture capitalists is rare. It's even tougher when your startup needs a lot of cash to compete with Google.

Kosmix, however, has defied the odds. In late October, the plucky startup raised $20 million, led by Fortune's parent company Time Warner (TWX), by assuring investors that Google is not the only way to search on the Web. Kosmix says it takes a MORE

Startup aims to spot bias in the news

By Michal Lev-Ram

SAN DIEGO - A startup called SpinSpotter wants to bring more transparency to news reporting by distributing software that it claims will detect bias in online articles.

The Seattle-based company launched its spin-catching tool, called Spinoculars, at the DEMO startup conference in San Diego. To use the service, people will first need to download a piece of software from SpinSpotter's website. It's free but only works on Firefox MORE

New phone morphs into multiple devices

By Michal Lev-Ram

While most phonemakers are trying to cram more and more features into one must-have device, newcomer Modu is taking a different approach. The Israeli company is launching a tiny, lightweight cell phone (also called Modu, see left) which will fit inside multiple gadgets -- including GPS devices, cameras, and even digital picture frames.

Here's how it works: Modu, a domino-like GSM cell phone 7.8 millimeters thick, has MORE

A how-to-do it site for the YouTube crowd

By Josh Quittner 

Want to learn how to make your own sushi? Or how to make an origami bird? Or how to dance without embarrassing yourself? Starting today, Howcast, a New York City-based startup founded by three ex-Googlers, will show you.

The site aims to be a kind of Wikipedia of user-generated videos for people who want to learn how to do just about anything. "We'll show you how to chop MORE

The problem with video conferencing - and a $7,000 solution

By Michael V. Copeland

PALM DESERT, Calif. -- Video conferencing, along with 3D monitors and flying cars, is one of those things we've been promised for years, but have yet to get our mass-market hands on. At the high-end, Polycom (PLCM), Cisco (CSCO) and other specialty manufacturers offer dedicated video conferencing gear that looks great, but is monstrously expensive, often costing tens of thousands of dollars, if not hundreds of thousands, MORE