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<title>Haaze.com / katelybbek / Published News</title>
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<pubDate>Fri, 13 May 2011 07:10:02 +0000</pubDate>
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<title><![CDATA[Squirm-worthy Tinychat is Chatroulette plus]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=squirm-worthy-tinychat-is-chatroulette-plus</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=squirm-worthy-tinychat-is-chatroulette-plus</comments>
<pubDate>Fri, 13 May 2011 07:10:02 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>katelybbek</dc:creator>
<category>Mobile &amp; Electronics</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=squirm-worthy-tinychat-is-chatroulette-plus</guid>
<description><![CDATA[If Chatroulette made you squirm, then you'll definitely have trouble with Tinychat and its new location-sharing feature.Chatroulette, you'll recall, is the site that lets you randomly connect to Webcams around the world. There's always a chance you'll find an interesting person and engage in a fascinating conversation. But you're more likely to connect to someone showing off body parts that would normally be covered by clothing.Chatroulette focuses on one-to-one contact, but you can move on from one video chat to another by hitting &quot;next.&quot; The site rolled out with local features called Localroulette that snatched users' IP addresses, but the idea didn't take off--the Web page for the local service doesn't exist anymore.Now, for better or worse, Tinychat has revived the location-sharing idea (as an optional feature), and it goes a step farther than Chatroulette in another area as well. It displays several Webcam streams on a single page (&quot;Brady Bunch&quot; style), thus creating the equivalent of a chat room. If you think the prospect of even more exposed body parts--attached to people who know where you live--would appeal only to the very brave or the very bizarre, you might want to think again: Tinychat says it's growing at a rate of 50,000 new users every day and that there are about 30,000 active chat rooms (public and private) receiving a million visits a day. The company also boasts of having some celebrity backers, including Ashton Kutcher, Diddy, Madonna manager Guy Oseary, and Ron Burkle. The new location feature is optional and reveals only a 10-mile radius if you decide to share where you are. &quot;This is all about continuing to make the world a more connected place via the Web,&quot; Tinychat's co-founder Dan Blake said in a statement. &quot;Say, if there's a regular Tinychat room you use to discuss fishing, we think this feature will make it even easier for those users to meet 'IRL' [in real life] for an actual fishing trip.&quot; With some hesitation, I decided to give it a try. I felt like I was peeping into people's bedrooms from the discomfort of my office. For a while, it seemed innocent enough. Who doesn't love people-watching Then I plugged in my Webcam and chose to find cams near me from a Google Maps-like page in which little squares represent nearby chats. I entered a chat in which the rules were to respect the others in the room and leave the drama outside. But no drama = boring. One girl kept singing to herself. One guy answered his cell phone and started talking to his friend about boyfriend problems. Another girl just left her cam on as she took a nap at 4:35 pm. I entered another chat room and watched a guy with headphones on in his pj's. In the same room, I listened to a man tell his life story. Another gentleman seemed like he was playing 20 questions with the group. A girl was listening, putting lip gloss on as if no one could see her. I lurked, turned off my Webcam, and listened to the conversation. One man talked about how he cried during the &quot;Transformers&quot; movie and how he thinks G.I. Joe is a hero. Soon the movie talk turned into a strategy planning meeting for getting nude pictures from each other. This is what it felt like: being stuck on a train and forced to eavesdrop on terrible conversations. Just like with that loud talker on the train, I felt these people were too close to me--the end of the ride couldn't come quickly enough. And knowing these people lived within 10 miles of me made things worse--I might get stuck behind one of them in line at Whole Foods, while they went on about G.I Joe. San Francisco is a small town, after all.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Minus a partner, Accel puts energy in China cleantech]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=minus-a-partner-accel-puts-energy-in-china-cleantech</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=minus-a-partner-accel-puts-energy-in-china-cleantech</comments>
<pubDate>Mon, 30 Nov -001 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>katelybbek</dc:creator>
<category>Latest News</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=minus-a-partner-accel-puts-energy-in-china-cleantech</guid>
<description><![CDATA[UpdatedAccel Partners is planning to raise $2 billion in new funds and invest more broadly into energy opportunities in China, VentureBeat has learned, even as Peter Wagner, the man who led its cleantech efforts, is leaving the company.The venture capital firm behind investments like Facebook and Groupon is looking to raise $1 billion for two China funds, one for early-stage investments, the other for later-stage opportunities. With those funds, Accel is eying opportunities in light-emitting diodes, the smart grid, clean transmission and solar photovoltaic materials in China. It is also looking to raise another $1 billion in two funds for the U.S., one for early-stage investments, one growth-oriented.This makes the timing of Wagner&amp;'s exit strange. Wagner (pictured above), a partner at the firm, was behind Accel&amp;'s investment in star energy efficiency company Opower, and isleaving for undisclosed reasons. But just last month, he spoke to Venture Capital Journal about how he will lead the firm&amp;'s new efforts to ramp up investment in cleantech. Wagner&amp;'s assistant told us he is traveling. We&amp;'ve reached out to him via email and will update if we hear back.[Update: Wagner emailed us back, saying he was proud of his 15-year career at Accel and looks forward to continuing to work with the companyand its investors and entrepreneurs. He declined to go into detail about his future plans, but said this: &quot;As you know, Accel will be raising significant new capital this year.  The timing of my move is a function of the natural discussions about team lineup and long-term commitments that arise when a venture firm is preparing to raise new funds.&quot; Wagner is now listed under under the company's &quot;venture development team&quot; section]An Accel spokesperson wished Wagner well and gave us this statement:a4AWe continue to invest in cleantech, albeit with a high bar and focus on companies in B2C [business-to-consumer] and software. Companies such as SunRun and Opower &amp;8230' are great examples of this.a4Accel&amp;'s interest in China says a great deal about where investors see the next big cleantech opportunities. With its booming population and economic heft, China is shaping up to be a major player in the global cleantech scene, fueled in part by billions in government support for the smart grid, electric cars and solar companies. In fact, Chinese subsidies for solar makers there have forced Silicon Valley&amp;'s solar startups to scramble to compete with lowered prices.Last year, VantagePoint opened a $100 million fund just for energy related investments in China. Today, private equity firm Silver Lake said it would partner with George Soros&amp;'s fund for energy and resource-related investments &amp;8212' and they&amp;'ll operate out of Silicon Valley and China.Accel is best known for its high-profile tech investments in companies like Facebook, Groupon, Diapers.com and Etsy. But the company has backed successful cleantech startups SunRun, a solar financing company, and Opower, which specializes in energy efficiency and energy management software-as-a-service. It also has invested in Fusion-io, a solid state storage company reportedly going for a $100 million public offering.Accel already has investments in China, and some along the energy and cleantech sector. For example, it has invested in Chinese thin-film solar maker GS-Solar and LED chipmaker Wu Han HC SemiTek Co.Venture capital fundraising overall is at a new low since 2003, but Accel appears to be doing well thanks to its trackrecord on the aforementioned investments. It has also been expanding lately, with a new East Coast office and the hiring of six new investment professionals, one of whom is the former chief executive of eHarmony, the online dating site.[Top image via PhotoEverywhere]Next Story: Skyrim gameplay trailer proves Bethesda&amp;'s still got the epic touch (video) Previous Story: 140Fire brings interactive ads to live videoPrintEmailTwitterFacebookGoogle BuzzLinkedIn      DiggStumbleUponRedditDeliciousGoogleMore&amp;8230'          Tags: China, cleantech investing, energy efficiency, LEDs, Smart Grid, Solar, Venture CapitalCompanies: Accel Partners, Facebook, Groupon, OPOWER, SunrunPeople: Peter Wagner          Tags: China, cleantech investing, energy efficiency, LEDs, Smart Grid, Solar, Venture CapitalCompanies: Accel Partners, Facebook, Groupon, OPOWER, SunrunPeople: Peter WagnerIris 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). 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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