Deeper Dive on the $350 Sixth Sense
While browsing the newly redesigned Engadget, I caught a story about the MIT project “Sixth Sense” we talked about a bit on Tuesday. I’ve since done a little bit more digging on the project and extended an invitation to the members of the project to talk more about what they’re working on here at SiliconANGLE (though I’m sure they’re particularly busy right now with all the flood of attention they’re getting, hopefully they’ll be able to make some time for us).
So I read through the whitepaper that MIT published on the project, and was able to get a bit more detail on what was running this setup, and the hardware details that make it so cheap and compelling.
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Thu Nov 19, 2009 08:45 am
Meet the New Ask.com
We've known that Ask has been working on a new version of Ask.com for months, but now it's here. Ask is placing new emphasis on the Q&A side of search, and is injecting the Q&A experience directly into the main search experience, which is what SVP of Product Management Tony Gentile tells WebProNews, sets the new Ask apart from other Q&A sites.
He says they've taken a hybrid approach, utilizing existing partnerships and new technology that's been refined over the last six to nine months, to build a new social Q&A experience that's built directly into Ask's search capabilities. When Ask doesn't immediately give you an answer (or the right answer), you can simply ask "the community."
We asked Gentile to tell us a little about who this community is. Initially, he says, they are using their existing employee base across IAC companies in a private beta. These employees are encouraged to invite their own families and friends to participate. Some journalists have been invited as well. Eventually this will expand. He says they will also implement technologies like Facebook Connect, Twitter, LinkedIn, OAuth, etc. to get users to bring in people from their own networks.
Also as a result of the social media aspect, he says profiles can lend credibility to answers. For example, if you answer a question and your LinkedIn profile is attached to it, that can show your experience in a field related to a question you have answered.
This is where the new Ask.com comes in as a potentially useful tool for businesses. Businesses may want to answer questions about products, and even create relationships with potential customers. An interesting nugget Gentile shared is that in analyzing the questions Ask receives, the majority of them are either related to "how do I spend my time?" or "how do I spend my money?"
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Wed Jul 28, 2010 03:50 am
OneRiot Launches Real-Time Ads Based On Trending Topics
Real-time search engine OneRiot has launched RiotWise Trending Ad Units, which automatically refresh based on what's trending on the social web.
Previously, OneRiot's Trending Ads were available only via OneRiot's API, meaning developers had to create a customized user interface for their ads.
RiotWise Trending Ads link the latest published and relevant content from OneRiot's network of media partners. OneRiot says the real-time relevance of the ads lead to click through rates at four times industry norms.
"RiotWise Trending Ad Units serve fresh content that's relevant right now," said Tobias Peggs, GM, OneRiot.
"It's perfect for social networks, realtime meme trackers and other social sharing services where users are primarily in discovery mode and rabidly consume content related to trending topics. Now those sites have a smart way to monetize with an ad product that makes sense to their users."
Publishers can call the RiotWise Trending Ad Units the same way they would call standard ad units.
Since its launch last December, OneRiot's Trending Ads have seen exponential growth across Twitter apps, social messaging desktop apps and real-time search engines.
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Sun Mar 21, 2010 01:10 am
Needed- a Cloud Backplane
Because of my problems reported yesterday in when Google owns you, it dawns on me that there’s a great opportunity here. I need a cloud backplane. I’ll explain.
Okay, for everyone who commented “you should have a backup” or “you should use something else,” here’s what you missed: Google apps allow me to be computer-hardware-independent. I can work out of any browser and get the same experience. Further, Google has collaboration built in. I can have my assistant, my staff, and other key people interact with my data on my behalf. I can’t do that with most of the recommended replacement apps.
So, what *could* be useful?
A cloud backplane, something that obfuscates the bearer levels and the various authentication platforms, that allows me to use whatever front-end I want to move back and forth through it.
If that all sounded like gobble-di-gook, think of it this way: we used to have to use AIM for our AOL friends, MSN Messenger for our MSFT friends, etc,etc. I’m a Mac guy. I use Adium. It lets me communicate via IM with several different types of platforms.
Add collaboration into that, add something like OAUTH, and suddenly, I’m getting closer to having an ecosystem where I can use whatever front end, whatever set of tools, and wouldn’t have to be dependent on one particular ecosystem.
Anyhow, just thinking.
Photo credit Collin Allen
