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<title>Haaze.com / Clonejaic / Published News</title>
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<pubDate>Mon, 14 Feb 2011 08:10:11 +0000</pubDate>
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<title><![CDATA[For better service, automate the waiters]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=for-better-service-automate-the-waiters</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=for-better-service-automate-the-waiters</comments>
<pubDate>Mon, 14 Feb 2011 08:10:11 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Clonejaic</dc:creator>
<category>Mobile &amp; Electronics</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=for-better-service-automate-the-waiters</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ It seems like everyone wants a piece of the restaurant industry. I don't know why. It's a brutal business with low margins, high employee turnover, no way to reach all your customers at once, and generally stressed-out business owners. At least existing inefficiencies make for creative solutions and some good start-up ideas. OpenTable proved that you can improve the simple act of booking a table. Grubhub is trying to bring the same concept to deliveries and takeout. And now Storific is trying to streamline the function of the waiter.Storific turns youriPhone (other platforms in development) into an order-taking waitbot. You step into your restaurant and as you're seated you get a code for your table. You put that into the app, and then you can see the establishment's menu on your phone, pick things you want, and have those orders delivered to the kitchen. You can also ping the system to send over water, a salt shaker, and so on. It may appear that this business is about making things better for diners, by making it easier to send orders in. It may also look like it's good for waiters since it makes them more efficient (they can come by to chat up customers and don't have to come back to take an order unless the diner wants that) and thus could improve their tips. But the real benefit of this app is bottom-line financial. It brings impulse buying to restaurant dining. Want another order of fries Press the button. A second mousse, rapidement Click. Storific saves you from having to actually talk to a waiter.(Credit:Storific) Storific Founder Michael Cohen tells me that, &quot;Curious customers order more. There's nothing to stop them.&quot; Since the service launched, he and his customers have learned that keeping the menu always accessible to the customer (on their smartphones) and making it easy to order, simply increases the size of the check.  Storific could also help a restaurant reduce its payroll, which is bad news for waiters. It's a bit early in the product's life for this impact to be seen, but it is a remote possibility if the app gets major adoption. (It's more likely that only a small fraction of any restaurant's customers would use the app.) And while Cohen built the app for stores and restaurants, it's now looking like other food service venues, such as hotel conference facilities, casinos, and sporting arenas (see also: Fango), are more keen to adopt it. The app doesn't handle payments yet. Integrating with venues' register systems is a deeper challenge, apparently, than simply putting the Web-connected order-delivery terminal in the kitchen, a la Grubhub.  Storific's big challenge, though, is the same as it is for any food-service business: sales. Food service is largely a fragmented business (Olive Gardens and Hiltons notwithstanding), in which a strong local footprint has a reinforcing effect. OpenTable succeeded, in part, by coherently tackling local markets one after the other, not by hoping for universal uptake across the globe. Storific doesn't yet seem to have local discipline. Indeed, the company is based in Paris and has a few interested customers around the world. Cohen told me he's very eager to meet Silicon Valley investors and partners (Foursquare Groupon Taxi Magic), but even in today's frothy funding environment, being based in France can be a block.  Here's a prediction: At some point, somebody's going to roll up these dining apps, and likely make a little money doing so. For ordinary people, it's too much to use Yelp to find a restaurant, Open Table to book it, Taxi Magic to get there, Foursquare or Facebook to tell your friends where you are, and then Storific to order food. Some of these apps are already linked (Yelp with OpenTable), but there's more room here for integration. Siri, which Apple acquired, is the beginning of this, but there's more opportunity here, for a start-up, or for one of the giant data aggregators like Google. <br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Kit lets you cook like a scientist]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=kit-lets-you-cook-like-a-scientist</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=kit-lets-you-cook-like-a-scientist</comments>
<pubDate>Wed, 26 Jan 2011 08:10:54 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Clonejaic</dc:creator>
<category>Technology</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=kit-lets-you-cook-like-a-scientist</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Mmm, science.(Credit:ThinkGeek)Molecular gastronomy: Saying it just rolls off the tongue. As it should--a process that turns solid food into little &quot;caviar&quot; spheres should roll off the tongue when you say it. However, as much as molecular gastronomists like to turn their food into squishy balls of goo, they also happen to like gel and foam equally as much. But where and how does one learn how to do all this spherification, gelification, and emulsificationThinkGeek's Molecular Cuisine Starter Kit offers a way for cook/scientists of all skill levels a chance to play with their food. The kit arrives with preportioned sachets of thickeners, emulsifiers, and binders along with the associated tools necessary for food transformation. That would include things like pipettes, silicone tubing, a syringe, and, of course, measuring spoons. As for the magic ingredients themselves: that would be agar-agar, calcium lactate, sodium alginate, soy lecithin, and xanthan gum.Texture, being a huge part of the eating experience, plays a major role in how food is perceived. With each chemical portioned out into 10 sachets of 20 grams each, there are plenty of experiments in taste and texture waiting to happen. Oh, and there's no worry about going blindly into the brave new world where playing with food and chemicals together at the same time is the goal' an instructional DVD complete with 50 demonstrations is included.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Dig it! Grateful Dead game truckin' toward release]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=dig-it-grateful-dead-game-truckin-toward-release</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=dig-it-grateful-dead-game-truckin-toward-release</comments>
<pubDate>Wed, 26 Jan 2011 08:10:50 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Clonejaic</dc:creator>
<category>Technology</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=dig-it-grateful-dead-game-truckin-toward-release</guid>
<description><![CDATA[(Credit:Curious Sense)Bust out the tie-dye and patchouli oil, buds. A Grateful Dead game is on the way.  Asheville, N.C., casual-game developer Curious Sense is designing and developing the social game with Grateful Dead Productions and Rhino Entertainment, the Warner Music Group subsidiary that's managed the iconic band's intellectual property since 2006.  The title will be geared for online and mobile play and should be out in August for an as-yet unnamed price model (don't even think of bootlegging it, man). &quot;We've found a great partner in Curious Sense. They are lifelong Dead Heads who have some brilliant plans to take our fans on a very cool journey,&quot; David Lemieux, legacy manager for the Grateful Dead, said in a statement. &quot;We can't wait for everyone to check out the fun new toys we are building.&quot; The developer hasn't detailed gameplay yet (Adam Blumenthal of Curious Sense tells CNET the company's waiting until the game's closer to completion to spill more info). It will say, however, that the title will immerse players in a Grateful Dead universe of music and visuals such as album cover art and band members' likenesses, and worlds will include spots from Dead lore like San Francisco and Giza, Egypt.  &quot;At every turn whimsy, surprises, pranks, and miracles may be presented,&quot; the developer says on its site, not mentioning whether any of those miracles will be psychedelic in nature.  Of course, Internetizens already have lots of ideas for what sort of adventures they'd like to see in the game. A writer for the Los Angeles Times, for example, suggests challenges including &quot;Discover Who's Selling Bunk LSD,&quot; &quot;Save the Keyboardist From an Untimely Fate,&quot; &quot;Predict the Set List,&quot; and &quot;Pick the Best Version of 'Dark Star.'&quot;  And a commenter to Rolling Stone proposes &quot;Get Phil a liver!&quot; and &quot;Help Bobby escape those disco years.&quot; If those references mean nothing to you, don't fear trouble ahead. The developer says it's aiming the game at hard-core fans and and Dead innocents alike, and it's soliciting feedback from both groups via surveys on its site. Furthering the community spirit of the endeavor, it's even asking people to upload their Grateful Dead art and photos for possible incorporation into the game. So go dig through that old VW minibus and send in some memories. In a photo thought to be taken in the '70s, Bill Kreutzmann bangs the drums while fellow Grateful Dead band members look on. (Credit:Wikimedia Commons)<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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