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<title>Haaze.com / Lumpkine / All</title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com</link>
<description>Test Web 2.0 Content Management System</description>
<pubDate>Mon, 28 Feb 2011 08:10:46 +0000</pubDate>
<language>en</language>
<item>
<title><![CDATA[At Demo, virtual dressing rooms promise big sales]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=at-demo-virtual-dressing-rooms-promise-big-sales</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=at-demo-virtual-dressing-rooms-promise-big-sales</comments>
<pubDate>Mon, 28 Feb 2011 08:10:46 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Lumpkine</dc:creator>
<category>Gaming</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=at-demo-virtual-dressing-rooms-promise-big-sales</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Swivel, from FaceCake Marketing Technologies, is one of two virtual dressing room products unveiled at Demo Spring 2011.(Credit:Daniel Terdiman/CNET)PALM DESERT, Calif.--It seems like a no-brainer, but why don't the thousands and thousands of online clothing retailers offer customers a way to stand in front of a Webcam and virtually try things onThat's a question a couple of companies that presented at the Demo Spring 2011 conference here today were trying to answer. Both Zugara and FaceCake Marketing Technologies showed the audience here forthcoming offerings that would integrate virtual dressing rooms into e-tailers' sites.Although Demo often showcases companies with related technologies, I don't recall a time in my many years of attending this show that two outfits have taken the stage with more or less the same product. But Zugara, with its Webcam Social Shopper, and FaceCake, with Swivel, both seem intent on building a business around the licensing of these Webcam-based augmented reality changing rooms to retailers.And while the two companies' approaches differ slightly, they were close enough to make one wonder how both can succeed.For Zugara, the key selling point of such a system is making it easy for consumers to use. That means Webcam Social Shopper requires no downloads, and essentially interacts directly with a user's PC- orMac-based Webcam. The customer would stand in front of the camera while on an e-tailer's shopping site and simply &quot;try on&quot; an outfit. The software figures out where the user's face is, and then superimposes a garment on his or her body. In the onstage demo here, the implementation of this was good, if not great. You could certainly see what, say, a dress looked like on a woman, but you could also see what she was wearing underneath it. That made it look a little sloppy. Still, you would have little trouble imagining whether the garment would look good or not, and in the end, that's the goal.FaceCake's Swivel is designed to be used either at home, or placed in brick-and-mortar retailers' dressing rooms. In the latter case, it's likely that Swivel would utilize Microsoft's Kinect motion-sensing camera to sense the customer's body. But if the buyer is at home, he or she can use a simple PC or Mac Webcam. Like Swivel, Webcam Social Shopper puts a customer virtually in the clothes they want to try on. Both offer sharing options for quick feedback.(Credit:Daniel Terdiman/CNET)For both, the value proposition seems to be the same: &quot;To make shopping more engaging,&quot; as Zugara vice president of product and marketing Jack Benoff put it. Or, as FaceCake's Tom Chamberlin put it, a user who goes into a dressing room is 70 percent more likely to buy something than one who doesn't. So why not help e-tailers take advantage of that math.With Swivel, users see their body on the screen and when they raise their hand in the air to automatically select a garment type--handbag, tops, dresses, glasses, pants, and so on--from the left side of the screen, the right side then displays a column of possible choices. They point at the exact item they want to try, and the software does the rest: the garment appears superimposed over their body.With Webcam Social Shopper, the interface is a bit simpler, but it works more or less the same. A user selects a garment, and it is automatically placed digitally over his or her body. The look and feel of the two offerings is different, but the end result is similar.Another facet that both companies see as essential is to make it easy for shoppers to share the image of what they look like in a garment with their friends. So both services offer a quick sharing option so that they can, with one-click, post an image of themselves &quot;wearing&quot; the dress or pants or other piece of clothing to Facebook or Twitter. The idea here is that with direct feedback from friends, a buyer would feel more comfortable pulling out their credit card.With both companies relying on a licensing model, it's clear that in order to make money, they'll have to sign up a critical mass of retailer customers. For now, the two are saying little about actual business, but it sounds like neither has worked out any particularly impressive deals. So it remains to be seen if these companies are going to be the ones to bring this technology to the masses.There are, of course, other competitors. Outfits like Holition, Metaio, Total Immersion, and others seem to be providing pieces of the puzzle, but both Zugara and FaceCake seem to feel they are the only ones with the whole thing. This is promising technology, but as shown here at Demo, it would seem that both Swivel and Webcam Social Shopper have a ways to go before this is a fully seamless, modern integration. Still, with e-tailers surely eager for ways to boost customer satisfaction and loyalty, it would appear likely that technology like this is going to find a customer base. Whether one of these companies will benefit from that remains to be seen.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[And the iPad 2 display rumor of the week is...]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=and-the-ipad-2-display-rumor-of-the-week-is---</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=and-the-ipad-2-display-rumor-of-the-week-is---</comments>
<pubDate>Sun, 30 Jan 2011 08:10:05 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Lumpkine</dc:creator>
<category>Mobile &amp; Electronics</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=and-the-ipad-2-display-rumor-of-the-week-is---</guid>
<description><![CDATA[iPad 2 reports--er, rumors--are getting difficult to keep track of, but let's put this one in the no-high-resolution-display hopper. After repeating fairly well-established hearsay about a dual-core ARM Cortex-A9 processor (running at 1.2GHz), an analyst cited by Apple Insider says theiPad 2 will not have a high-resolution Retina display, corroborating an earlier CNET report. Reason Manufacturing yields aren't there yet. But &quot;anti-reflection&quot; is mentioned as a step-up in display quality. Another display consideration not mentioned is cost: adding a super-high-resolution display to the iPad 2 could drive up the cost significantly, pricing it out of the more cost-consciousAndroid tablet market. Don't dismay, though, the iPad 2 will focus on processing punch, keeping it competitive with Motorola's Xoom and RIM's BlackBerry PlayBook, among other upcoming designs packing high-performance silicon. And, like other tablets from top-tier suppliers, the iPad 2 will have a better graphics chip, too. And, again, repeating previous rumors, the next-gen iPad is slated to be slimmer, shaving off as much as 35 percent of the current iPad's chassis. The report also mentions 3G modes: The iPad 2 will add a CDMA model using a Qualcomm chip, and a separate GSM model will use a chip from Infineon (note that Intel is in the process of buying that company's wireless business). This contradicts some earlier reports of a dual-mode iPad 2 (andiPhone 5).  When is all of this going to happen 4.5 million to 5 million units will ship in the first quarter, with delivery late first quarter or early second quarter, the report says.  <br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Vudu HD streaming video lands on Boxee Box, Netflix coming soon]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=vudu-hd-streaming-video-lands-on-boxee-box-netflix-coming-soon</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=vudu-hd-streaming-video-lands-on-boxee-box-netflix-coming-soon</comments>
<pubDate>Mon, 30 Nov -001 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Lumpkine</dc:creator>
<category>Latest News</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=vudu-hd-streaming-video-lands-on-boxee-box-netflix-coming-soon</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Boxee Box owners (all two of you) rejoice! As promised, Boxee is bringing Vudua4a4s extensive library of streaming high-definition movies to its set-top box in an update today.Additionally, the company says Netflix support for the Boxee Box is still on track for the end of this month.Vudu  offers 1080p high-definition films with Dolby Digital Plus 5.1 surround  sound. Pricing starts at $2 for 2 nights of a standard definition film, while an HD version will cost a few bucks more. It has a library of over 4,400 HD films, so therea4a4s a good chance youa4a4ll be able to find a  recent title on Vudu that isna4a4t available on Netflixa4a4s streaming  service. New customers who sign up through the Boxee Box will receive a  $5.99 Vudu credit.As we reported in October, Vudua4a4s service is also available on the downloadable version of Boxeea4a4s software,  which you can deploy for free on any PC or Mac. Vudu is definitely  taking a cue from Netflix, as its service is popping up in many devices  &amp;8212' ita4a4s available on HDTVs from Samsung, Toshiba, LG and more, and it hit Sonya4a4s Playstation 3 in November.The  addition of new content providers like Vudu and Netflix will certainly  go a long way towards making the Boxee Box, which is manufactured by  D-Link, a more compelling product. The set-top box was finally released in November of last year for $199, even though Boxee first announced it in December of 2009. Hardware issues, including a switch from Nvidiaa4a4s Tegra chip to Intela4a4s Atom, likely led to the delayed release.By the time it was released, the Boxee Box faced competition from the new $99 Apple TV,  not to mention the increasingly popular Roku set-top boxes, which  retail between $60 and $100. And of course, there was Google TV, which  wasna4a4t a runaway success by any means but managed to steal some attention away from Boxee.The Boxee Box update also includes a slew of bug fixes, all of which you can find at the Boxee blog.Next Story: Android Trojan Soundminer can a4Aheara4 credit card numbers Previous Story: On the GreenBeat: BP says renewable energy growth to beat oil, more of California&amp;'s solar panels come from ChinaPrintEmailTwitterFacebookGoogle BuzzLinkedIn      DiggStumbleUponRedditDeliciousGoogleMore&amp;8230'          Tags: Boxee Box, HD, movies, rentals, streaming video, TVCompanies: Boxee, D Link, Netflix, Vudu          Tags: Boxee Box, HD, movies, rentals, streaming video, TVCompanies: Boxee, D Link, Netflix, VuduDevindra Hardawar is VentureBeat's lead mobile writer and East Coast correspondent. He studied philosophy at Amherst College, worked in IT support for several years, and has been writing about technology since 2004. He now lives in Brooklyn, New York. You can reach him at devindra@venturebeat.com (all story pitches should also be sent to tips@venturebeat.com), and on Twitter at @Devindra.VentureBeat has new weekly email newsletters.  Stay on top of the news, and don't miss a beat.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Groupon and Foursquare founders: we didn&'t sell out because we&'re not done]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=groupon-and-foursquare-founders-we-didnrsquot-sell-out-because-wersquore-not-done</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=groupon-and-foursquare-founders-we-didnrsquot-sell-out-because-wersquore-not-done</comments>
<pubDate>Mon, 30 Nov -001 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Lumpkine</dc:creator>
<category>Latest News</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=groupon-and-foursquare-founders-we-didnrsquot-sell-out-because-wersquore-not-done</guid>
<description><![CDATA[The founders of Groupon and Foursquare took the stage at the Digital Life Design conference in Munich today and said they didn&amp;'t sell their companies when they had a chance to do so because they aren&amp;'t finished with what they want to do.If you&amp;'re a founder of a hot Silicon Valley company these days, not selling out is becoming a much more popular idea than going public or selling to the highest bidder.Location-based check-in platform Foursquare walked away from an opportunity to sell itself to Yahoo for $100 million or more, based on published reports. And group-sales firm Groupon turned down a $6 billion offer from Google. In doing so, both chief executives followed in the footsteps of Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook&amp;'s founder, who also turned down big offers when others were urging him to sell. All of them are turning into founder-CEOs who share a vision that goes beyond selling a company in order to get rich quick.Zuckerberg turned down a $1 billion offer from Yahoo early on, and based on Facebook&amp;'s growth, that decision has paid off in spades.In a funny session moderated by Kara Swisher of AllThingsD, Groupon&amp;'s chief executive Andrew Mason was particularly squirmy when put under the spotlight. He said he always thought that people who couldn&amp;'t answer questions about merger talks were &amp;''corporate douchebags&amp;'' and now he has to avoid answers himself. Swisher proceeded to call Mason a corporate douchebag when he said he couldn&amp;'t talk about how the negotiations with Google went. Mason did acknowledge his company has hired investment bankers to explore its options, including going public.a4AI cana4a4t comment on the speculation on any on that stuff, but I can say that local e-commerce is an exciting space, Mason said. &amp;''And we feel wea4a4re onto something, and wea4a4re excited to be building something in this space.a4 As for not talking about it, despite hectoring by Swisher, Mason said, &amp;''The first time wea4a4ve ever acquired a company&amp;8211' ita4a4s very personal. Everybody wants you to do this out in the open, and wea4a4re only figuring things out. Ita4a4s not respectful to the other people involved to talk about it.a4Dennis Crowley, chief executive of Foursquare, said he turned down Yahoo&amp;'s acquisition offer because he felt he was only about 20 percent done with growing Foursquare&amp;'s business and that he was making a bet there was a lot more value to be created in the future.Mason said, &amp;''2011 is the year that we become more of a technology company instead of just sales and marketing mixed with innovation.&amp;'' By going it alone, Mason said, he knows the company has to continually &amp;''disrupt ourselves&amp;'' before others do so.Likewise, Crowley said he felt his company had become &amp;''huge&amp;'' at 50 employees and that it has to be humble in order to keep on the growth path.Crowley said that there are big misconceptions about Foursquare as a check-in service for hipsters in New York and San Francisco who are just using the app to check in at bars. He said more than 40 percent of the company&amp;'s users are overseas. Crowley said the company has hired a lot of people who are passionate about local culture and have a track record in social startups.Both Crowley and Mason said they opened offices in Silicon Valley to hire engineers, but were comfortable finding talent in their own headquarters regions. (Groupon is in Chicago' Foursquare is in New York).Mason said he wants Groupon to become the Amazon of local. He views the company not as a discounting service, but as a local e-commerce company. Groupon has helped local merchants bring lots of new customers through the door through special offers.a4AI dona4a4t think we fully realized how vital something like this could be to small businesses in the city,a4 Mason said.Mason said the company is only two years old, but it took its time before expanding. After opening its first market in Chicago in 2008, the company tweaked its operations and didn&amp;'t launch its second market until five months later. Now Groupon is moving fast and is aware there are tons of Groupon clones out there.Disclosure: The Digital Life Design conference paid for my Munich  trip to moderate a panel. VentureBeat&amp;'s conference coverage is objective  and independent.Previous Story: Nvidia&amp;'s Tegra 3 is a quad-core powerhouse for smartphones and tabletsPrintEmailTwitterFacebookGoogle BuzzLinkedIn      DiggStumbleUponRedditDeliciousGoogleMore&amp;8230'          Tags: advertising, check-in, local e-commerceCompanies: Foursquare, GrouponPeople: Andrew Mason, Dennis Crowley, Kara Swisher          Tags: advertising, check-in, local e-commerceCompanies: Foursquare, GrouponPeople: Andrew Mason, Dennis Crowley, Kara SwisherDean is lead writer for GamesBeat at VentureBeat. He covers video games, security, chips and a variety of other subjects. Dean previously worked at the San Jose Mercury News, the Wall Street Journal, the Red Herring, the Los Angeles Times, the Orange County Register and the Dallas Times Herald. He is the author of two books, Opening the Xbox and the Xbox 360 Uncloaked. Follow him on Twitter at @deantak, and follow VentureBeat on Twitter at @venturebeat. Have news to share Launching a startup Email: tips@venturebeat.comVentureBeat has new weekly email newsletters.  Stay on top of the news, and don't miss a beat.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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