Newsroom

System Update: Shades of adventure
Dec 13, 2011
Steven Spielberg’s “The Adventures of Tintin” debuts Dec. 21 and true fans might want to pick up a pair of Oakley’s limited-edition 3-D Gascan shades… (full article)

Zappos Founder Launches New Retail Rewards Site
Lauren Goode
Nov 16, 2011
The entrepreneur who created online shoe-seller Zappos.com wants to change online retail again – only this time, it’s not through discounts on shipping but by rewarding customers for what they already own.
RNKD, a new site from Zappos.com founder Nick Swinmurn, takes a twist on buying by prompting users to upload pictures of clothing and accessories they already own and tag the brands associated with the items. A beta version of the site launches today. An iPhone app is available as well, for uploading photos directly from a smartphone. (full article)

Kitchit Brings the Joy Back into Your Holiday Dinner Party
David Weir
Nov 15, 2011
“The concept behind Kitchit,” says CEO Brendan Marshall, “is based in the idea that when you think back, your happiest times are often those spent with friends and family around the dinner table, like at Thanksgiving or the holidays. We’re trying to make that effortless so you can take all the time you spent in the kitchen and spend it with your friends and family instead.” (full article)

Twitter Marketers Get an Event Planner; BumeBox Builds Social Network Parties for Businesses
Anthony Ha
Aug 19, 2011
There’s no shortage of companies claiming to help businesses navigate the world of social networking. But Jon Fahrner, CEO of a new startup called BumeBox, argued that what those businesses really need isn’t just another sharing widget—it’s a way to hold events and promotional parties on Twitter. (full article)

Late Night Deal Vendor HotelTonight Knows Where The Hipsters Roam
Christian Wolan
Aug 15, 2011
HotelTonight mined their data on the apps’ user base, which is predominantly young and male. They found that San Francisco was the top city for “hip” hotels, followed by New York, Las Vegas, and Chicago. (full article)

Lights, Camera, Hair: SendLove.to Launches People-Rating Platform
Regina Sinsky
Aug 9, 2011
SendLove focused on the drama of the divide between celebrities and “the rest of us.” It allows users to send a “love” or “not so much” to public figures (politicans, athletes, celebrities, business leaders, etc.) through rating buttons at the bottom of articles that mention them. (full article)

HotelTonight Launches on Android, Now in 18 Cities
Sarah Lacy
Jul 27, 2011
So far HotelTonight’s iPhone app has been downloaded 600,000 times. And today, Android users who travel a lot and hate to plan can enjoy the service too.(full article)

WePay Launches WePay Stores, Taking on PayPal
Tomio Geron
July 20, 2011
WePay is expanding from a group payment service, taking on others in the online payments space such as PayPal. The start-up is launching WePay Stores, a service for merchants to quickly set up online stores. For people who want to sell online they do not need a merchant account. (full article)

WePay Makes It Easy For “Casual Vendors” To Open Online Stores
E.B. Boyd
July 20, 2011
Flea market? Too time-intensive. EBay or Etsy? Too complicated. Craigslist? Too hit or miss. Thanks to online payments startup WePay, however, there’s a new solution for what we’ll call “casual vendors”–people who aren’t full-time merchants but who need simple store-like functionality so they can do the digital equivalent of setting up a lemonade stand or holding a bake sale. (full article)

Meet Proust, a social network that digs deeper
Colleen Taylor
July 19, 2011
Overall, I think Proust is a fantastic solution to a problem that many people don’t realize they have until it’s too late. (full article)