FUTURE SHOPPING BAZAR

Well this was inevitable I guess. mEgo has been booted out of the DEMO conference. The reason? They showed their stuff at TechCrunch40 last week. Our coverage of them is here.

That’s a bit rough on the company, since many of the presenting startups at DEMO are already launched and have tons of press out there about them. In this case, mEgo may have simply been the sacrificial lamb in DEMO’s desire to prove a point.

The worst part about the whole ordeal is that mEgo has been told they won’t get the $18,000 back that they paid to participate in DEMO. mEgo says that while DEMO has the right to kick them out of the conference, they don’t have the right to keep the $18k under the contract.

Frankly, this is probably good news for mEgo, who’ll now get far more attention than they would have if they had actually gotten on stage. But it’s also a warning to other startups: Don’t screw with DEMO - they hit back.

Just an aside - mEgo was one of my personal favorites at TechCrunch40. Make sure to check out the service.

Labels: $, Conference, Demo, Gets, Gmail, Google, Kicked, Of, Ouch…mEgo, Out

Nokia’s marketing department did some quick thinking yesterday. They’re targeting iPhone users who are angry about the fact that they paid $200 more for their phone than they would have if they waited.

They’ve taken out ads on Google that suggest users check out Nokia’s new Mosh mobile social network. The ads, which appear for searches on “iphone price drop,” say “Sorry, Early Adopters” and suggests they salvage their iPhone experience by checking out Mosh.

There isn’t much to suggest that any angry iPhone users will be turning to Nokia Mosh to ease their pain. But it is some good thinking by a Nokia marketer nonetheless.

Update: Steve Jobs has issued an open letter announcing Apple will be giving a $100 store credit to everyone who purchased an iPhone from Apple or AT&T and isn’t eligible for any other credits.

Labels: Angry, Gmail, Google, iPhone, london, Nokia Marketing, Out, Reaches, Team, To, Users

The new Yahoo Mail interface went into public beta in September 2006, although Yahoo was testing it long before that. Tonight Yahoo takes the “beta” label off of the product and makes it the default interface for all new Yahoo mail accounts.

Yahoo mail already has an integrated RSS reader and instant messaging. They also recently announced unlimited storage for all mail users.

They are also releasing a few new features.

Shortcuts: Mail now has a number of intelligent shortcuts. Things like addresses, places, dates, contact information, etc. are underlined with blue dots. Click on the link and see a mashup with maps (for addresses), travel guides (for places), calendar (for dates), etc. New services are being added regularly.

SMS/Text Messaging: Yahoo wants you to use their mail application whenever you contact your friends, however you contact them. In addition to emailing or instant messaging clients, you can now send them a text message from the mail interface. Their responses also come in directly to Yahoo Mail. It currently works for U.S., India, Philippines and Canadian mobile numbers.

Is Yahoo Mail a better webmail application than GMail? In our comparisons GMail always comes out on top, although the main reason is tagging of messages and the fact that GMail gives free forwarding and POP access to the account. Yahoo still charges $20/year for forwarding or POP access. For users who still like their desktop mail clients, POP access is an important feature. Yahoo says they are considering making it a free option, but they have a lot of paying mail customers. If they make too many features free, they jeopardize that revenue stream. Offering unlimited free storage really pushed the limits, so I don’t expect them to move more features from paid to free any time soon.

The new interface is the final realization of Yahoo’s 2004 acquisition of Ajax pioneer Oddpost. The new mail product is based largely on ideas first launched by Oddpost in 2002.

Startups aren’t just sitting around as the big guys upgrade their webmail apps, though. Our favorite product in this space is Orgoo, which launches this fall and lets users pull in mail and IM accounts from any number of providers. Foldera is another promising product in this space (I was previously on their board of directors, but I do not own any stock in the company).

Labels: Beta; New, CEO, Features, integrated handsfree speaker, jewelry, Mail, Of, Out, Yahoo

Google ignominiously shut down its video marketplace today via an email to us and everyone else who’s ever tried the service. The product, announced in January 2006 at CES by Larry Page, was an answer to iTunes’ sales of television shows. It was largely forgotten afterwards and if sales were occuring, we didn’t hear much about it.

The email to users, which is copied below, also lets them know that any videos they’ve purchased will no longer be viewable. Money spent on videos is not being refunded, either. Users get a sixty day credit on their Google Checkout account instead. That should spur sales of their new overflow storage product, at least. I just wish I could use it on ebay. heh

It’s a mistake not to fully refund every dollar in video purchases. Users are going to be hesitant to try out Google services in the future if they can’t believe that something they are buying is really theirs to keep.

Hello,

As a valued Google user, we’re contacting you with some important information about the videos you’ve purchased or rented from Google Video. In an effort to improve all Google services, we will no longer offer theability to buy or rent vi deos for download from Google Video, ending the DTO/DTR (download-to-own/rent) program. This change will be effective August 15, 2007.

To fully account for the video purchases you made before July 18, 2007, we are providing you with a Google Checkout bonus for $5.00. Your bonus expires in 60 days, and you can use it at the stores listed here: http://www.google.com/checkout/signupwelcome.html. The minimum purchase amount must be equal to or greater than your bonus amount, before shipping and tax.

After August 15, 2007, you will no longer be able to view your purchased or rented videos.

If you have further questions or requests, please do not hesitate to contact us. Thank you for your continued support.

Sincerely,

The Google Video Team

Labels: Closes, fashion, future, FutureBazarOnline.com, Google, GPRS, inbuilt Dictaphone, Luck, Marketplace; Users, Of, Out, pocket outlook, Video