
<?phpxml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<rss version="2.0" 
xmlns:content="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/"
xmlns:wfw="http://wellformedweb.org/CommentAPI/"
xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/"
>
<channel>
<title>Haaze.com / Kavita01 / Published News</title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com</link>
<description>Test Web 2.0 Content Management System</description>
<pubDate>Tue, 12 Apr 2011 07:10:08 +0000</pubDate>
<language>en</language>
<item>
<title><![CDATA[Postagram sends postcards from your iPhone]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=postagram-sends-postcards-from-your-iphone</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=postagram-sends-postcards-from-your-iphone</comments>
<pubDate>Tue, 12 Apr 2011 07:10:08 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Kavita01</dc:creator>
<category>Mobile &amp; Electronics</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=postagram-sends-postcards-from-your-iphone</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Postagram lets you send postcards from your iPhone.(Credit:Postagram)Xobni co-founder Matt Brezina is launching a fun and clever product today to letiPhone users send real, physical postcards directly from your iPhone (or from the Web). Postagram is the app. Sincerely is the new company he started to create it. Postagram uses the Instagram API. It requires that users have an Instagram login and the app installed on their phone. But from there, it looks like a quick procedure to select a photo from your Instagram library, put a message of up to 140 characters on it, address it (unfortunately the app can't access your phone's address book directly), and have it sent out as a postcard through the mail.The postcard itself has a clever twist: The Instagram-styled square photo can be popped out of the postcard that carries it. Unlike traditional postcards, the image doesn't take up the whole front surface. (The SMS-length message and the photo are on the front' I haven't seen one yet so I don't know what's on the back, aside from the address.)It costs 99 cents to send a Postagram, payable via credit card since Apple won't let companies sell physical goods through its App Store payment system. That's a completely reasonable fee for taking the cheapest of social gestures--sending a photo to someone electronically--and making it more real and valuable.  Brezina's business is based on the correct understanding that people will pay for physical souvenirs even when the memories they represent can be sent for free. It's hardly a new realization, but Postagram brings that important social capability to the large group of iPhone users who just never bother to print or send photos anymore.  Brezina's new company, Sincerely, will soon have other photo-delivery products, he told me. Also coming up: An Instagram-free way to send postcards from your phone. On launch day, April 12, new users can send one Postagram for free.The images can pop out of the postcard-sized carrier.(Credit:Postagram)<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
</item>

<item>
<title><![CDATA[Phishers use HTML attachments to evade browser blacklists]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=phishers-use-html-attachments-to-evade-browser-blacklists</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=phishers-use-html-attachments-to-evade-browser-blacklists</comments>
<pubDate>Wed, 16 Mar 2011 07:12:03 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Kavita01</dc:creator>
<category>Technology</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=phishers-use-html-attachments-to-evade-browser-blacklists</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Shown is an example of a phishing attack that encourages the recipient to download the HTML attachment and provide information. Note the poor grammar, &amp;34'required informations,&amp;34' which should be a red flag.(Credit:M86)To get around phishing blacklists in browsers, scammers are luring people by using HTML attachments instead of URLs, a security firm is warning. Chrome andFirefox are good at detecting phishing sites and warning Web surfers via a browser notice when they are about to visit a site that looks dangerous. So good, in fact, that scammers are resorting to a new tactic to lure victims into their traps via e-mails--attaching HTML files that are stored locally when they are opened, according to an M86 blog post yesterday.  After the user fills in a form with the information the scammers want to steal and clicks &quot;submit,&quot; the HTML form sends the data through a POST request to a PHP (Hypertext Preprocessor) script hosted on a legitimate Web server that has been compromised. (POST is used when a computer is sending data over the Internet to a Web server.) Because few PHP URLs are reported as abuse, this action does not trigger a warning from the browser, M86 said.  &quot;Months-old phishing campaigns remain undetected, so it seems this tactic is quite effective,&quot; the blog post says. &quot;Logically, however, the browser should be able to detect a URL when the browser sends the POST request.&quot; The phishing URLs alone without the HTML form are hard to verify because the PHP script runs in the server and no visible HTML is displayed after clicking the submit button, other than redirecting to a page belonging to the company the scammer was pretending to be, the post says. To protect against this, people should avoid opening HTML attachments if the e-mail seems suspicious and not provide any information in forms. Financial institutions do not send such attachments to customers.  While many people will click on a link in an e-mail that looks like it comes from their bank, fewer are likely to open the HTML attachment.  Mozilla representatives did not provide comment on the report today. Meanwhile, a Google spokesperson provided this comment: &quot;Google has a number of defenses against phishing sites to help protect our users. For example, Gmail checks HTML attachments for phishing sites and displays a warning to users when one is detected. We always encourage users to be cautious when handling unexpected attachments and when providing personal information requested by email.&quot;<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
</item>

<item>
<title><![CDATA[LivingSocial: We're set to overtake Groupon (Q&A)]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=livingsocial-were-set-to-overtake-groupon-qa</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=livingsocial-were-set-to-overtake-groupon-qa</comments>
<pubDate>Fri, 28 Jan 2011 08:10:43 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Kavita01</dc:creator>
<category>Gaming</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=livingsocial-were-set-to-overtake-groupon-qa</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Last week, word of a great offer began to make its way around the Internet. I first heard about the offer--a $20 Amazon gift card for $10--on an e-mail list. Then I saw it on The Huffington Post. Then it started showing up on Twitter. Every few seconds, it seemed, someone new would tweet about it. It was all over Facebook, and people were blogging about it left and right.LivingSocial CEO Tim O'Shaughnessy(Credit:LivingSocial)If you're fairly new to the group offer space, you probably would have thought that this great deal was coming from Groupon, the superstar start-up that has blown up seemingly overnight and already has turned down a $5 billion to $6 billion acquisition offer from Google. But you'd have been wrong. This deal came from another player in the space, LivingSocial. Lest you wonder how such a company could sell an unlimited number of the gift cards, it was because last month, the Washington, D.C.-based start-up had sealed a $175 million investment from Amazon that gave it a $1 billion valuation, and this was clearly the first tangible public benefit of that transaction.LivingSocial says it could overtake Groupon in U.S. market share in the offer space this year, and whether or not that claim has any merit, this was probably the company's real public coming out party. Before the day was done, it had sold more than a million of the cards and made a real name for itself in the blogosphere and beyond. And more than a week later, its home page features a prominent banner directing people to a link where they can collect the Amazon card.But is the company that much different than Groupon, or any of the others that are now flooding this fledgling industry To find out about that and about how things really work in this fast-paced and explosive business, I invited CEO Tim O'Shaughnessy to sit down for a 45 Minutes on IM interview. Q: Thanks very much for joining me for 45 Minutes on IM. I appreciate it. Tim O'Shaughnessy: You're very welcomeTo begin with, tell me how the Amazon gift card offer happened.O'Shaughnessy: The Amazon gift card was really the first operational way that LivingSocial and Amazon worked together post Amazon's investment late last year. It really came together because we thought it was a unique value proposition that our existing users would love, new users would find interesting, and would be great brand building and retention for both LivingSocial and Amazon.Talk about how things have changed for LivingSocial since the offer. I have to assume that it was the biggest event in the company's history.O'Shaughnessy: It certainly was the biggest sales day ever. We think it might have actually been the largest single day sales of a product in the history of the Web. Maybe ever. And it's definitely been very impactful. In addition to the significant brand building, we've seen a very strong uptick in subsequent days' sales.Wow. The largest single sales day in the history of the Web. How do you measure that, and what makes you think that might be the caseO'Shaughnessy: I don't think anyone really keeps an official tally of that sort of thing, and it may not be. Although when our team put our heads together, we couldn't think of anything that had surpassed it--unless you count pre-orders prior to an item going on sale, a la theiPad. But that's not really in a day, per se.Can you give me an idea of the scope of the sales of the Amazon cardO'Shaughnessy: It ended up being around 1.2 million sold at $10 each. That's a total gift card value of around $24 million, and a total sales value of about $12 million.Nice.O'Shaughnessy: I agree.I'd still like to get a little more at the idea of how the Amazon offer impacted the company. For one, it would seem to me that it brought LivingSocial to the attention of a lot of people who hadn't heard of the company before. O'Shaughnessy: I think it absolutely brought us to new audiences that hadn't heard of us before. It was really tremendous exposure. The resulting impact was that I think people have realized we are on our way to really changing how people shop and behave. And also people are starting to realize how much market share we're really getting in this space in the U.S. To be able to pull off that large of a day really shows the power of the platform. And people take note. Hence our interview today.With Groupon in the same industry, how would you say LivingSocial specifically is changing the way people shop and behaveO'Shaughnessy: I think we're helping people buy from local merchants online, which they haven't traditionally done before, or where we actually operate events in conjunction with local merchants. Is that substantially different from what Groupon and others in the space are doing O'Shaughnessy: Some components are similar (we just tend to think we do them better--hence our very fast growing market share), and some are very different. For example, I don't know of anyone else out there that actually operates and produces their own events in conjunction with merchants.Why do you think it took so long for this market category to emerge, and why do you think it's growing so fastO'Shaughnessy: I think it's really a confluence of things. First, we reached a tipping point where user comfort with online purchasing reached truly critical mass' Second, social tools have allowed great deals or fun things to do to reach wide audiences faster' Third, previous methods of local advertising for merchants have decreased in effectiveness and audiences have gotten more and more diffused.It seems it took almost an aha moment, though, for this space to even get started. It's one of those, Oh, I should have thought of it years ago kinds of things. Would you agreeO'Shaughnessy: Well, I think the high-level concept has been around for years. The idea of aggregating people together for a discount isn't novel in and of itself. But all the things I mentioned have made it the right time to really take off.Looking at the competition, what was your reaction when you heard that Groupon had rejected Google's 10-figure offerO'Shaughnessy: They should have made it 11-figures.LOLO'Shaughnessy: It's a big space. It's obviously a lot of money to turn down, but local commerce is a big opportunity.Were you surprised that Groupon turned down the offerO'Shaughnessy: Well, one of my eyebrows raised, but definitely not both. Can you talk about how the offers are conceived Does LivingSocial work with retailers and marketers to come up with the specific ideas I'd love to know the process.O'Shaughnessy: We very much work with the retailers to come up with what will work best for their business. We have an entire team whose mission is to figure out what works best with the merchant. We also have worked with tens of thousands of merchants at this point, so we can really provide good guidance to the merchant on what will work best for them both financially and on the customer acquisition front.You provide one offer per day in each market. I have to assume there are many more than one available for you to choose from each day. So how does LivingSocial choose which ones to offerO'Shaughnessy: Variety, plus what we think customers want to buy, plus creativity and keeping things fresh.For retailers, how do you help them decide that an offer is going to be a net positive for themO'Shaughnessy: We first try and identify their goals (how many customers, particular nuances of their business they'd like to highlight) and then we help construct a package that we think will be creative and a great value for the consumer that fits within those constraints.What gets you excited about being in this businessO'Shaughnessy: The immediacy of it. The ability to make people happy every day. The types of products we get to deal with.What do you think are the biggest challenges you face as a business going forward, especially given that you're competing with an 800-pound gorilla like GrouponO'Shaughnessy: We're a pretty big gorilla ourselves. We've been taking U.S. market share pretty much every month for quite some time now and are on track to pass them in the U.S. in 2011. So we're operating very, very effectively.Note: Contacted about this, Groupon said it doesn't comment about its competition.O'Shaughnessy: So we tend to focus right now on continuing to innovate and figure out how to provide great things to do in their city at great value for our users and not really worry what others are doing.Tell me something about LivingSocial that will really surprise my readersO'Shaughnessy: We've added more than 6 million new members already this month.How much do you attribute that to the Amazon card offer, i.e., how many of those were before the Amazon offer O'Shaughnessy: The majority were before the Amazon offer. We've been accelerating on a variety of fronts over the last few months, although obviously, Amazon was a step change for us.We're out of time, which means one last question. It's my standard last question: I really like doing IM interviews for several reasons. One is that I get a perfect transcript, and also because IM allows my subjects to be a little more thoughtful and articulate than they might be on the phone or in person. But maybe most important, IM allows for multitasking. So...O'Shaughnessy: LOLWhat else were you doing during the interviewO'Shaughnessy: I was actually looking at the American Film Institute's greatest movie quotes list and wondering if I could have, as an answer to each of your questions, used one of the quotes. Very nice. Well, thanks so much for doing this. I appreciate it.O'Shaughnessy: You're very welcome. And &quot;Nobody puts baby in a corner.&quot; (Note: From &quot;Dirty Dancing&quot;.)<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
</item>

<item>
<title><![CDATA[3-in-1 iPad Connection Kit: SD, microSD, and USB]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=3-in-1-ipad-connection-kit-sd-microsd-and-usb</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=3-in-1-ipad-connection-kit-sd-microsd-and-usb</comments>
<pubDate>Tue, 14 Dec 2010 08:10:22 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Kavita01</dc:creator>
<category>Technology</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=3-in-1-ipad-connection-kit-sd-microsd-and-usb</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Why juggle two Apple dongles when the 3-in-1 iPad Camera Connection Kit provides three connectivity options in a single dongle(Credit:M.I.C Store)Viewing photos on youriPad is a beautiful thing. Getting photos onto your iPad: not so much.The traditional method requires copying snapshots from your camera to your PC, then from your PC to your iPad. That's one irksome extra step, and not exactly practical if you're traveling.Hence Apple's iPad Camera Connection Kit, which for $29 gives you two dongles: one for reading SD media, another for connecting your camera directly via USB.It's bad enough you have to pack a dongle at all, but two of them Bleh. That's why I'm jazzed about the 3-in-1 iPad Camera Connection Kit, which for $29 combines three connectivity options in one dongle: SD, microSD, and USB.Granted, not many cameras use microSD cards, but every Android phone does--so if you've ever wanted an easy way to copy photos from, say, your Droid to your iPad, here's your answer.The 3-in-1 kit comes in either black or white. It's available now for preorder from the M.I.C Store, with delivery expected &quot;after Christmas.&quot; (Sorry if you had this in mind as a stocking stuffer.) Shipping will run you $6.60.While this could be a killer accessory for current-gen iPad owners, I fully expect we'll see a USB connector built into the iPad 2--and maybe even a card reader as well. (It's just my hunch' I have no real-world data to back that up.)<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
</item>

<item>
<title><![CDATA[Audi's first hybrid leaked before LA show (video)]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=audis-first-hybrid-leaked-before-la-show-video</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=audis-first-hybrid-leaked-before-la-show-video</comments>
<pubDate>Thu, 11 Nov 2010 08:10:30 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Kavita01</dc:creator>
<category>Eco</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=audis-first-hybrid-leaked-before-la-show-video</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Rather than waiting until the 2010 Los Angeles Auto Show to reveal it's first production hybrid, Audi released near full specs and video clips of its soon-to-be released 2011 Q5 Hybrid Quattro SUV. The Q5 Hybrid Quattro promises the power of a V6 and the fuel consumption of a four-cylinder from its 2.0 TFSI engine and electric motor. Combined, the gasoline engine and electric motor deliver 245-horsepower yet achieve an estimated 33.6 mpg--around the same fuel economy as a Volkswagen Golf.It may be one of the last manufacturers to add a hybrid to its lineup, but Audi's showing showing some of the most advanced hybrid technology on the market. The Q5 Hybrid can operate in EV-only mode while driving up 62 mph--the highest electric-only top speed for a hybrid . The EV-only range is less impressive: on a full battery, the Q5 can travel only 1.86 miles at 37 mph, similar to existingcars such as the Ford Fusion Hybrid and the Toyota Prius. The 2011 Q5 Hybrid will be outfitted with Audi's latest telematics system using 3-dimensional Google Earth navigation and internet connectivity for other Google services, such as news and search. There's also hot spot connectivity for up to eight devices, so whatever the navigation can't deliver, youriPad can. The price for all this technology was one of the few details not revealed by the manufacturer.Audi's not the first manufacturer to drop the cloth early--Mitsubishi released images of its i-Miev. If you're unable to attend the official reveal of the 2011 Audi Q5 Hybrid Quattro, Audi released 11 minutes of video to the public, which isn't a bad second place to seeing the real thing: The following product is available: On Sale Now: $37,200.00   View the latest prices for 2009 Audi Q5         Liane Yvkoff     Full Profile E-mail Liane Yvkoff   E-mail Liane Yvkoff If you have a question or comment for Liane Yvkoff, you can submit it here. However, because our editors and writers receive hundreds of requests, we cannot tell you when you may receive a response.   Submit your question or comment here: 0 of 1500 characters       Liane Yvkoff is a freelance writer who blogs about cars for CNET Car Tech. She is a member of the CNET Blog Network and is not an employee of CNET. E-mail Liane.  <br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
</item>

<item>
<title><![CDATA[Prankster broadcasts message to WSU students]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=prankster-broadcasts-message-to-wsu-students</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=prankster-broadcasts-message-to-wsu-students</comments>
<pubDate>Wed, 10 Nov 2010 08:10:37 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Kavita01</dc:creator>
<category>Technology</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=prankster-broadcasts-message-to-wsu-students</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Washington State University police are trying to find out who hijacked the school's computer system on Friday and broadcast on classroom video screens throughout the day a bizarre rant by someone wearing a &quot;V for Vendetta&quot; costume.  The hacker took over the large video screens in 34 classrooms in two buildings on the Pullman, Wash., campus, Tom Ambrosi, WSU chief information security officer, told CNET today. &quot;They played the video once an hour throughout the day,&quot; until campus employees managed to shut it off shortly before 5 p.m. PT.  &quot;I can't say how they got in,&quot; Ambrosi said, adding that his office turned over evidence to the campus police. &quot;We don't know who is responsible. We are investigating.&quot;  The video duplicates a scene in the movie &quot;V for Vendetta&quot; in which a masked vigilante broadcasts his antigovernment message on British television. The WSU incident took place on November 5, which was Guy Fawkes Night, named in honor of a conspirator in a plot to assassinate King James I and blow up the UK Houses of Parliament in 1605.  In the nearly-four-minute-long video, the masked person complains about a campus overrun by squirrels &quot;who enter without ambitions and with no outward enthusiasm for the fantastic academic culture that this University might otherwise have.&quot; He also chastises the school for lax information technology security practices.  A blog post on a Web site dedicated to the prank is a bit more lucid: &quot;University officials, it's time to clean up your act. Listen to your students once in a while. Some of them know what they're talking about. And students, stop being so apathetic. When you hear or see something that troubles you make your opinion known. Do something about it. Don't just sit around and play video games or check your Facebook status.&quot;  Ambrosi did not seem overly concerned. &quot;It was a disruption in those classrooms,&quot; he said. &quot;But we don't think there was anything beyond that.&quot; <br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
</item>

<item>
<title><![CDATA[Sprint adds AOL, UPS as Sprint ID partners]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=sprint-adds-aol-ups-as-sprint-id-partners</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=sprint-adds-aol-ups-as-sprint-id-partners</comments>
<pubDate>Thu, 28 Oct 2010 07:10:24 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Kavita01</dc:creator>
<category>Technology</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=sprint-adds-aol-ups-as-sprint-id-partners</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Sprint ID debuted on the Samsung Transform and two other Android phones.(Credit:Josh Miller/CNET)We're keeping our eyes on Sprint ID, which is why our ears pricked when we heard that Sprint CEO Dan Hesse announced more partners yesterday at a developer's conference in Santa Clara, Calif. They include AOL, UPS, Canvas, IHG, and BodyMedia, as well as Deluxe, a partner on the enterprise side.Sprint ID is a new and rather experimental feature that Hesse introduced before a crowd of journalists last month atCTIA. Sprint ID is a way for content partners like eBay and Disney to load customized, branded profiles onto an Android phone with just a click. Each Sprint ID Pack includes a bundle of apps, widgets, shortcuts, wallpapers, and so on, selected by the content partner.In addition to consumer brands, including start-ups, corporations, hospitals, and universities are encouraged to add their ID Packs to the Sprint ID gallery. The idea is that companies can create a profile of apps and Wi-Fi settings to be used by their mobile workforce.Although we understand Sprint's interest in forging partnerships and in differentiating its Android phones, we weren't particularly fans of Sprint ID's profiles, both in terms of the concept and the way it's been implemented so far on the three phones it shipped with--the Samsung Transform, the LG Optimus S, and the Sanyo Zio.However, Sprint has been actively courting developers at its conference, both in the keynote and in conference sessions, so we're sure to hear more about Sprint ID in the coming months.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
</item>

<item>
<title><![CDATA[Mohawk-wearing humanoid robot slays wasps]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=mohawk-wearing-humanoid-robot-slays-wasps</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=mohawk-wearing-humanoid-robot-slays-wasps</comments>
<pubDate>Mon, 25 Oct 2010 18:23:22 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Kavita01</dc:creator>
<category>Technology</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=mohawk-wearing-humanoid-robot-slays-wasps</guid>
<description><![CDATA[The wasp-killing robot known as Mohican can supposedly be controlled from a safe distance. (Credit:Plastic Pals)How awesome would it be to have Professor Hisashi Sekine as a friend Not only does he come up with solutions to pals' problems, he comes up with solutions involving mohawk-wearing humanoid robots. You can't beat that. In this case, the problem in need of fixing entailed insects, as Sekine's friend had the misfortune of having been stung some 90 times while spraying wasp nests as part of an extermination effort. So Sekine, an engineering professor at Teikyo University in Utsunomiya, Japan, created a remote-controlled robot that can climb ladders and spray wasp nests straight into oblivion. While wearing a mohawk (a 'do scientifically proven to scare of the bejeesus out of aggressive insects).  The bot, appropriately named Mohican, stands 5 feet, 6 inches tall, is constructed of lightweight metal and wood, sports motors in its joints, and works especially efficiently when listing to The Clash or Sex Pistols. It functions via voice commands such as &quot;climb the ladder,&quot; and &quot;OMG, duck, they're flying into your delicate circuitry,&quot; and could be slaying wasps as soon as next spring, Sekine says. (Via Plastic Pals)<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
</item>

<item>
<title><![CDATA[Little Bookrenter Is Narrowing The Gap With&nbsp'Chegg]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=little-bookrenter-is-narrowing-the-gap-withnbspchegg</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=little-bookrenter-is-narrowing-the-gap-withnbspchegg</comments>
<pubDate>Mon, 30 Nov -001 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Kavita01</dc:creator>
<category>Latest News</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=little-bookrenter-is-narrowing-the-gap-withnbspchegg</guid>
<description><![CDATA[When it comes to the quickly growing online textbook-rental market, Chegg is the young giant to beat.  But its smaller competitor, Bookrenter, is making some impressive gains.  If you look at traffic to each respective website, you can see spikes at the beginning of each semester (see chart above).  Last January, Bookrenter&amp;'s traffic was only 12.6 percent of Chegg&amp;'s, whereas by the August peak, it was 32.5 percent.  From peak to peak, Bookrenter&amp;'s traffic grew 167 percent to 446,000 unique monthly U.S. visitors, according to comScore.  Chegg&amp;'s August traffic, however, was about the same as during the January peak: 1.3 million.  The chart below, supplied by Bookrenter, shows how Bookrenter&amp;'s traffic has been growing as a percentage of Chegg&amp;'s.  In October it was 58 percent, but that number is not as meaningful as the percentage during the peak rental months earlier in the semester.We do know there is a direct correlation between traffic and sales, however, it is not clear from these numbers how many books on average each student rented.  Bookrenter CEO Mehdi Maghsoodnia says he shipped about 500,000 books in the Fall semester.  If you figure each book rents for an average of roughly $50, that means Bookrenter did $25 million in sales last semester.  That was the semester Bookrenter went into hypergrowth.  Add another 125,000 books shipped in the Spring semester, and it looks like Bookrenter will do a little more than $30 million in revenues this year based on my back-of-the-envelope math.  Chegg is expected to hit about $130 million in revenues this year. Bookrenter still has a long way to go to catch up, but it also didn&amp;'t raise over $200 million in venture capital, it only raised $20 million.Much of Bookrenter&amp;'s growth is being fueled by its partnerships with college book stores.  Since partnering with campus bookstores last March, Bookrenter is now the official book rental platform for 515 college bookstores in the U.S. serving 6 million students, or 31 percent of the college population.  There are between 6,000 and 7,000 college bookstores nationwide.  Oh, and Bookrenter is now invading Canada as well.CrunchBase InformationBookRenter.comCheggInformation provided by CrunchBase<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
</item>

<item>
<title><![CDATA[Andreessen Horowitz writes big check for Factuala4a4s data platform]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=andreessen-horowitz-writes-big-check-for-factualâÂ€Â™s-data-platform</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=andreessen-horowitz-writes-big-check-for-factualâÂ€Â™s-data-platform</comments>
<pubDate>Mon, 30 Nov -001 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Kavita01</dc:creator>
<category>Latest News</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=andreessen-horowitz-writes-big-check-for-factualâÂ€Â™s-data-platform</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Factual, a startup that claims to host hundreds of thousands of data sets, has raised $25 million in its first round of institutional funding.When I spoke to founder and chief executive Gil Elbaz more than a year ago, he had a big vision for the Los Angeles company &amp;8212' he wanted Factual to be the central repository for data on any subject you can think of. The company uses data mining tools to gather and structure public data from across the Web, and it also gets data from users and partners. (Developers get a discount on Factual&amp;'s data if they&amp;'re contributing data too.)Today, Elbaz still sounded ambitious, but he acknowledged that Factual still has progress to make. Specifically, the company recently started to promote its location data to developers of mobile and Web-based location apps. Factual has already signed deals with large partners like Facebook (for its Places service in the United Kingdom and Japan) and location app-maker Booyah.Factual raised the money from Andreessen Horowitz and Idealab, which already invested in the companya4a4s $2 million angel funding. Making these deals helped convince investors that there&amp;'s a big opportunity here, Elbaz said &amp;8212' leading to the $25 million round (which is large for a Web startupa4a4s first institutional round) and presumably to a large valuation as well.Moving forward, Elbaz said he still wants to a4Ago broada4 and tackle lots of different data areas. At the same time, Factual needs to compete with startups that focus on specific types of data &amp;8212' on the location front that includes Localeze and SimpleGeo &amp;8212' so in the short-term, Elbaz said, a4We&amp;'ll be picking off certain verticals where marketing dollars will prove effective.a4When I asked which areas he had in mind, he pointed to the Factual website, which highlights data in education, health, entertainment, and government.Next Story: Google working on search results without searching, or a4Acontextual discoverya4 Previous Story: Trademarkia helps you find social media impostorsPrintEmailTwitterFacebookGoogle BuzzLinkedIn      DiggStumbleUponRedditDeliciousGoogleMore&amp;8230'          Tags: data, Facebook Places, location based services, location dataCompanies: Andreessen Horowitz, Booyah, Facebook, Factual, IdealabPeople: Gil Elbaz          Tags: data, Facebook Places, location based services, location dataCompanies: Andreessen Horowitz, Booyah, Facebook, Factual, IdealabPeople: Gil ElbazAnthony is VentureBeat's assistant editor, as well as its reporter on media, advertising, and social networks. Before joining VentureBeat in 2008, Anthony worked at the Hollister Free Lance, where he won awards from the California Newspaper Publishers Association for breaking news coverage and writing. He attended Stanford University and now lives in San Francisco. Reach him at anthony@venturebeat.com. (All story pitches should also be sent to tips@venturebeat.com) You can also follow Anthony on Twitter.VentureBeat has new weekly email newsletters.  Stay on top of the news, and don't miss a beat.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
</item>

<item>
<title><![CDATA[Startup Sherpa: Serving Two Masters And Changing Consumer Behavior (Part&nbsp'II)]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=startup-sherpa-serving-two-masters-and-changing-consumer-behavior-partnbspii</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=startup-sherpa-serving-two-masters-and-changing-consumer-behavior-partnbspii</comments>
<pubDate>Mon, 30 Nov -001 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Kavita01</dc:creator>
<category>Latest News</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=startup-sherpa-serving-two-masters-and-changing-consumer-behavior-partnbspii</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Yesterday, we debuted Part I of Startup Sherpa, a new show with angel investor (Founder Collective) and Hunch founder Chris Dixon talking to Stickybits CEO Billy Chasen about when is the right time for a startup to pivot.Today, in Part II above, Dixon and Chasen discuss how startups can serve two different masters (in Stickybits&amp;' case, consumers and advertisers).  With consumer mobile apps there is always a tension between pleasing advertisers and driving away users.  It is a delicate balance.Stickybits is an iPhone app which encourages you to check into products by scanning their barcodes.  Originally, the idea behind Stickybits was broader and encouraged consumers to attach their own barcodes to objects and places, and use the app to upload photos, videos and messages which others can unlock by scanning the code.  The app still does that, but the company recently pivoted to focus more on existing product barcodes and get brands to drive adoption through incentives and rewards.Another challenge Stickybits faces is trying to get consumers to change their behavior. Scanning product barcodes is an unnatural act for most people, unless you are a grocery store cashier.  But trying to change consumer behavior is a common problem many startups face.  The key is to make it worth their while for consumers to do what your product asks of them, as Chasen and Dixon discuss in the video below.Startup Sherpa is more a conversation between founders that we get to listen in on than a typical interview conducted by a TechCrunch journalist.  Tell us who you would like to see Dixon talk to next in comments below.CrunchBase InformationChris DixonBilly ChasenStickybitsInformation provided by CrunchBase<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
</item>

<item>
<title><![CDATA[InfoHubble attracts seed funding to link geo-data to local search]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=infohubble-attracts-seed-funding-to-link-geo-data-to-local-search</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=infohubble-attracts-seed-funding-to-link-geo-data-to-local-search</comments>
<pubDate>Mon, 30 Nov -001 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Kavita01</dc:creator>
<category>Latest News</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=infohubble-attracts-seed-funding-to-link-geo-data-to-local-search</guid>
<description><![CDATA[We know that a lot of mobile search is increasingly driven by local search. According to research from Google and the Kelsey Group last year, as much as 35%. Heck, isn&amp;'t this the future we keep hearing about Delivering information about things around you, direct to your mobile phone However, good geographic data is not normally attached to mobile search. So real-time local data is going to be incredibly important going forward. Sunstone Capital has made something of a name for itself as an investor in geo-related startups with positions in trailblazers like Layar and Cloudmade, and today it is adding to that with a seed investment in InfoHubble (terms were undisclosed) alongside angel investor Tommy Ahlers. Ahlers is best known for exiting Zyb to Vodafone for a4s31.5m.InfoHubble provides rich real-time mapping of such things as Point of Interest (POI) details: company data (opening hours)' brand data (labels, products)' review data (user reviews)' inventory data (stock)' and all of it is geo-coded. Its data-sets are licensed to Yellow Page providers, online map services and local search engines.Based in Amsterdam, the startup will launch its first data-sets for the European and North American markets at the Kelsey ILM conference in Silicon Valley this week..InfoHubble founders Pieter Grasdijk (CEO) and Maarten Janssen (CTO) have form in geolocation. They sold ilocal to TomTom/TeleAtlas in 2009 after it became the destination of choice in the Netherlands for local search.&amp;''Without good geographic data, [mobile search] results arenAt relevant,a4 says Nikolaj Nyholm, Partner at Sunstone Capital, who believes InfoHubble has &amp;''more years of expertise with real-time local data than anyone else in the market.a4CrunchBase InformationInfoHubbleInformation provided by CrunchBaseCrunchBase InformationNikolaj NyholmInformation provided by CrunchBase<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
</item>

<item>
<title><![CDATA[No Twitter IPO this year, says co-founder Biz Stone]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=no-twitter-ipo-this-year-says-co-founder-biz-stone</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=no-twitter-ipo-this-year-says-co-founder-biz-stone</comments>
<pubDate>Mon, 30 Nov -001 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Kavita01</dc:creator>
<category>Latest News</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=no-twitter-ipo-this-year-says-co-founder-biz-stone</guid>
<description><![CDATA[White-hot microblogging startup Twitter has no plans to take the company public anytime soon and is not looking for outside funding right now, co-founder Biz Stone reportedly told Reuters at a business forum in Seoul today.&amp;''We have so many other things before we even think about that,&amp;'' said Stone (pictured). &amp;''We are not even discussing it internally. It&amp;'s too far off.&amp;''Stone also put the kibosh on a story in the Financial Times earlier this week that the company is in talks with banking behemoth JPMorgan Chase &amp;amp' Co. to sell 10 percent of Twitter for an estimated $450 million.Stone said the story was &amp;''made up&amp;'' and that the company is currently making money and won&amp;'t be shopping around for supplemental funds for at least a year.&amp;''We make money. We earn money from a suite of products &amp;8230' We have promoted tweets &amp;8230' promoted accounts, all of which are in our advertising mechanism,&amp;'' said Stone.&amp;''We are just really getting started. We have some internal forecasts [for advertising revenue for 2011], but nothing is really shared right now. We don&amp;'t need to set the world record or anything like that.&amp;''Investors looking to get a piece of Twitter&amp;'s international buzz pre-IPO have been pouring money into the startup for the past year.Last month, Netscape co-founder Marc Andreessen&amp;'s venture capital firm invested $80 million in Twitter via the secondary markets, while in December Twitternabbed $200 million in a deal that valued the company at $3.7 billion.The money at stake is significant.Industry tracker eMarketer said in January that Twitter likely generated an estimated $45 million from advertising in 2010 and could generate about $150 million this year. The startup does not disclose its financial information.The possibility of getting in early on a company that will possibly be one of the most anticipated IPOs ever has had plenty of investors looking to snap up shares of the Twitter on the secondary markets, where early investors and employees can sell off their stock in companies.That trend has continued across the industry, as the darlings of Silicon Valley like gaming company Zynga and social network Facebook have watched investors grab chunks of their companies before going public.The practice had become so prevalent that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission said in December it was &amp;''investigating&amp;'' how groups of investors were buying stock via the secondary markets &amp;8212' especially for tech firms.San Francisco-based Twitter was created in 2006 and currently employs about 350 people.Next Story: How popular are you online PeekScores knows Previous Story: Put that holding elevator music on hold with FastcustomerPrintEmailTwitterFacebookGoogle BuzzLinkedIn      DiggStumbleUponRedditDeliciousGoogleMore&amp;8230'          Companies: Emarketer, Facebook, Financial Times, jpmorgan chase and co., netscape, Twitter, u.s. securities and exchange commission, ZyngaPeople: Biz Stone, mark andreesen          Companies: Emarketer, Facebook, Financial Times, jpmorgan chase and co., netscape, Twitter, u.s. securities and exchange commission, ZyngaPeople: Biz Stone, mark andreesenRiley McDermid is a contributing reporter to VentureBeat. She was previously the online editor at institutional investing and trading forum Markets Media, which she joined in 2008 from Dow Jones/MarketWatch in New York. Her work has appeared in the The New York Times, the Associated Press, Portfolio Magazine, The Wall Street Journal, and Barrona4a4s. She has won awards from the American Society of Business Publishers and Editors, the Magazine Association of the Southeast, the Mississippi Press Association and the Atlanta Press Club, and was a finalist for the Pacemaker Prize for excellence in news reporting. 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>
</item>

<item>
<title><![CDATA[SunPower beats 3Q earnings expectations, rides global solar wave]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=sunpower-beats-3q-earnings-expectations-rides-global-solar-wave</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=sunpower-beats-3q-earnings-expectations-rides-global-solar-wave</comments>
<pubDate>Mon, 30 Nov -001 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Kavita01</dc:creator>
<category>Latest News</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=sunpower-beats-3q-earnings-expectations-rides-global-solar-wave</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Solar stalwart SunPower announced its third-quarter earnings today, which by all accounts appear to have beaten market expectations.The company, which manufactures and installs solar systems, reported revenues of $551 million, up 18 percent from the $465 million in revenue reported in the third quarter of last year. Overall, the company&amp;'s profits are up. SunPower reported a net income of $20.1 million this quarter, compared to $19.5 million for same time last year, an overall increase in profits of 3.1 percent.But its operating expenses have doubled since last year, growing from $54 million to $104 million. The company reportedGAAP gross margin was 20.4 percent, down from 21.5 percent last year.SunPower also lowered its fourth-quarter earnings target to $0.95 &amp;8211' $1.15 per share. According to Dow Jones newswires, the company is also under criticism for missing the boat in the second quarter, when critics say it should have capitalized on a burst in demand for solar.The company earned 21 cents per share in profit this quarter, compared to a loss of seven cents per share the previous quarter and roughly on par with the 20 cents per share it earned in the same quarter last year. (The company&amp;'s non-GAAP earnings amounted to 26 cents per share).A key metric analysts were looking for was13 cents per share, according to Reuters,which SunPower easily beat. The company derives the majority of its revenue from residential and commercial markets, but it looks like the difference between the company&amp;'s residential and utility sales is narrowing &amp;8212' 53 percent of revenue came from residential/commercial this quarter, compared to 58 percent in the third quarter of last year. Also good news on that front &amp;8212' demand is outpacing supply in both cases, SunPower CEO Tom Werner said in a company statement.The company also highlighted a few benchmarks. It was selected for the biggest rooftop solar installation in the U.S., a 3.5-megawatt project atop a Macy&amp;'s in Arizona, sold 28 megawatts in Italian power plants, and ramped up its dealer presence in the U.S., France and Italy. It also installed a new quarterly record of 70 megawatts. The company also repaid $143 million in convertible debentures.SunPower expects to reach its cost goal of $1.08 per watt by the fourth quarter of 2011 &amp;8212' which will inch it ever-closer to the much-vaunted, much-discussed industry holy grail of manufacturing efficiency of $1 per watt.&amp;''Our third-quarter results reflect the continued success of our vertically integrated model and position us well to meet our 2010 financial goals,&amp;'' said CEO Werner in a statement.Overall, the outlook for solar in 2010 is good, and it appears SunPower is riding that wave. Research firm iSuppli recently increased its forecast for the year, saying worldwide installations for 2010 willreach 15.8 gigawatts, more than double the 7.2 gigawatts installed last year. For 2011, installations will hit 19.3 gigawatts. The growth is largely driven by strength in the European market, particularly Germany, which grants generous subsidies for solar projects.Next Story: Event startup Punchbowl acquires rival Socializr Previous Story: Nvidia expects strong sales of its mobile chips heading into the holiday seasonPrintEmailTwitterFacebookGoogle BuzzLinkedIn      DiggStumbleUponRedditDeliciousGoogleMore&amp;8230'          Tags: Solar, solar energyCompanies: Isuppli, SunPowerPeople: Tom Werner          Tags: Solar, solar energyCompanies: Isuppli, SunPowerPeople: Tom WernerIris Kuo is the VentureBeat's lead GreenBeat writer. She has reported for The Wall Street Journal in Hong Kong, Houston Chronicle, the McClatchy Washington Bureau and Dallas public radio. Iris attended the University of Texas at Dallas and lives in Houston. Follow Iris on Twitter @thestatuskuo (and yes, that's how you  pronounce her last name).VentureBeat has new weekly email newsletters.  Stay on top of the news, and don't miss a beat.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
</item>

<item>
<title><![CDATA[WearTheShift Hopes To Create Custom, Algorithmically-Sized&nbsp'Dresses]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=weartheshift-hopes-to-create-custom-algorithmically-sizednbspdresses</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=weartheshift-hopes-to-create-custom-algorithmically-sizednbspdresses</comments>
<pubDate>Mon, 30 Nov -001 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Kavita01</dc:creator>
<category>Latest News</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=weartheshift-hopes-to-create-custom-algorithmically-sizednbspdresses</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Two women in Pittsburgh, PA have gotten together to offer custom dresses for all the ladies of the world. The project, called WearTheShift, allows you to select the style, size, and color of your shift dress and have it hand-made by artisans in the good old US of A. The service currently has a Kickstarter page and they are offering half-off beta dresses for those who are interested.This idea is obviously not new as it&amp;'s been tried with shirts, chocolate, and kicks. However, this is the first I&amp;'ve seen that specifically targets women and their need for shapely, flirty shift dresses. Obviously if you&amp;'re a guy and are into this, it could be a good way to get a dress made for your frame.Best of all, they&amp;'re looking for beta testers:Join us at the $80 reward level and you will become a Beta Tester, which means1) You tell us your measurements and pick a fabric2) We send you a custom-made dress3) You wear it and tell us what you think. (How&amp;'s the length What do you think of the pockets Do you like the zipper placement How much would you be willing to pay for such a dress What would make it better Etc. We have a questionnaire.)We&amp;'ve got a good process going already, and we know you will love your Beta Dress. We just need your help to make the details sing. Our dresses are going to cost at least $160 when we launch in the spring, so you get a big discount in exchange for your feedback.The pair, Megan Deitz (full disclosure: I was in Creative Writing classes with her in college) and Kelly Metzler, developed an algorithm for sizing dresses based on various measurements that creates flattering wearables without an in-person fitting. Their project will get funded if folks pledge up to $5,000 on Kickstarter, so if you need a nice little plaid number for your yearly neighborhood rugby tournament, this may be a great place to start. I, for one, would totally wear one if it&amp;'s as flattering as they say because lord knows my current sartorial standards could use a boost.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
</item>

</channel>
</rss>
