More DEMO coverage
A very impromptu DEMO 2007 dinner conversation with myself and Charles Beeler from El Dorado brought to you by PodTech.net.
Stealth-mode Seattle startup hiring
I'm working with a new local portfolio company called Hypertext Solutions. The company is building the first Internet application to tap the potential of "intelligent" data on the Web. Hypertext is actively looking for a range of engineering talent in the areas of advanced data modeling, machine/artificial intelligence, large-scale systems management, data mining/filtering, and Javascript wizardry. If this sounds up your alley, please drop them a line at jobs@hypertextsolutions.net.
Semantic Web investments
One of our primary investment themes over the last couple of years has been around the semantic Web and "Data Intelligence". I haven't blogged too much about this (or about much at all for that matter!) as most of my thoughts in this space involve portfolio company product development and strategy. But it is worth mentioning that I see 2007 as the year where interesting applications around "smart data" start to emerge.
I have frequently mentioned Zoominfo as a portfolio company driving substantial innovation in this space. Zoominfo can understand unstructured text to compile aggregate summaries of related information occurring across the Web. By understanding that certain words on a page mean a "person" or a "business" (i.e., smart data), Zoominfo can impose structure around this information, enabling search and information discovery in ways that far transcend the capabilities for plain keyword-based search (such as Google, for example). Click here for their recent DEMO presentation so see some of this innovation in action.
Another portfolio company pioneering innovation around semantic Web technologies is Radar Networks (note that my use of a lower case "semantic" is deliberate). Radar remains in stealth mode, but expects to launch an ambitious and exciting consumer Web service during 2007 that will change the way we think about interacting with and managing information.
And as long as I am hyping portfolio companies, I should mention that we have two other undisclosed investments in this arena that we expect to make some waves during 2007. Stay tuned...
DEMO 2007 observations
I attended the DEMO 2007
conference last week. As usual, a LOT of start-ups launching or
announcing new product offerings. No particular company stood out as a
game-changer, but many examples of trends and product directions that will
influence opportunities in the next couple of years. The only big
standouts in my mind were Adobe's Apollo platform for desktop Web
applications/services and "Zink" - inkless printing. I
list a few other companies worth noting below with a brief
description.
Boston Power.
Proprietary lithium-ion technology platform. Longer-life battery - 50% faster
recharge time and lasts same timeline as average notebook (3 yrs) without
degradation/fade.
DARTDevices.
Interoperability across multiple devices. Dart application enables a
series of devices to function as a single "virtual machine" to sync
and propagate apps and data across multiple O/S’s, devices, etc. DART
devices auto configure, network, update data and applications, etc.
Devicescape.
Small client side software on mobile device or VoIP WiFi that enables auto
WiFi connection (no configuration) on any network.
Seagate
Technology. Introduced "Wireless storage" - to be
available this summer. 10Gb-20Gb wireless storage device (WiFi and Bluetooth),
very small, interfaces with a phone or other device. Data on the wireless
drive can be viewed via the phone, etc.
Jyngle.
Broadcast voice based group messaging over SMS.
GoWare/Domo.
Mobile device portal platform enabler. Web-based interface to custom
create portal page of personal content, feeds, news, content categories,
etc. Designates type of device/phone to customize experience for specific
handset.
Vringo, Inc. Video
ringtones - video clip plays on both sender and recipient phone when a call is
made. Nice Web-based user interface for setup. Could be a nice
mobile app but presently requires smart phone and only supported on handful of
devices.
TeleFlip, Inc. Provides
email functionality to any mobile phone using SMS for transport. Easy
setup, elegant solution, seems useful.
Boorah.
Natural language search / aggregation of restaurant reviews. Like an
automated, more intelligent Citysearch. It is like the inverse
of Yelp! Very interesting.
Zoho. Zoho
is the most sophisticated Web-based competitor to Microsoft
Office. They launched a collaboration site that uses the
metaphor of a spiral notebook to organize content. They called it the
“next generation wiki.” Separate “pages” for different types of content,
video, audio, spreadsheets, text, etc., all of which can be accessed and edited
by a group. Pretty impressive.
Me.dium. Reveals
online “presence” for collaborative web surfing and discovery.
Synchronous browsing. Browser plug-in. See in real-time what sites
your friends are surfing, or see web habits of other on the Web with similar
interests.
Nexo Systems. "Groups
2.0." Great demo very well integrated product design.
Attendio.
Event discovery service - subscription for your calendar. Integrates
with Windows calendar, Google Calendar, Outlook.
Recommends public events (concerts, etc.) based upon your
preferences. DesignIn.
Social network and online project management for home remodeling. Nice
interactive home design/remodel creation tool. Zoominfo. Demonstrated
new Power Search offering - positioning as “Semantic Search
engine.” I'm biased, but I thought this was one of the best
demos, lots of buzz. Jaman. Internet access to long-tail
world and independent cinema. H264, very nice quality. Sidebar
access to live discussion, supplemental commentary, etc. 1,000 films
under contract, 200 films currently live. $1.99 to rent, $4.99 to
buy. Not limited to DVD pricing, etc. "Social
Cinema." Total Immersion.
"Augmented reality." Imposing 3D onto real environments, cool
demo. Not sure about the applications.
Zink Imaging. Printing without
actual ink. Special Zink paper embeds color-dye crystals that when heated
form color/ink equivalent to enable printing in a pocket-size wireless device
for any cameraphone and digital-camera user. Will enable simple mobile
printing. Another product coming out this year is a 7 MP camera with a
Zink printer built-in. This was pretty amazing. Adobe's "Apollo." This
is a big deal. Cross-operating system runtime that allows developers to
use Web technologies (HTML, JavaScript, Flash, etc.) to build and deploy "Web" applications on the desktop. The demo showed setting up an auction on eBay (using a desktop runtime version of
the eBay Web service). Also enables "offline" Web uses -
synchronizes data back to the Web once back online. If
you about MSFT Outlook's lightweight, less functional OWA Web
interface (when not on Exchange server), Apollo is enabling the reverse -
every Web app can potentially have a full desktop interactive environment when
on your PC.
Radar in the news....
John Markoff @ NY Times writes an impressive intro piece on some of the exciting things happening around the "Intelligent Web"...Nova Spivack and Radar get some nice mentions.
New additions at Radar Networks
While still in stealth mode, some more news today coming out of our portfolio company, Radar Networks. My colleague, Peter Rip, says it best as he discusses our excitement around the Company's new CTO, Lew Tucker, and board member, Mike Clary. Radar has continued to stand out as a leading innovator toward building a smarter, more intelligent Web. We're fortunate to have industry heavyweights such as Lew and Mike on board to help drive Radar's long-term technical and product roadmap.
Under the "radar"....
Peter Rip writes an interesting recent post about our joint portfolio company, Radar Networks, providing a small glimpse into some of the exciting work the Radar team has been up to. As Peter mentions, Radar is looking for strong Bay Area developers with Java expertise. If this description sounds like a good fit, I encourage you to get in touch with the company....
Outstanding Data Visualization
Thanks to Fred's tip, I too have enjoyed watching the TED conference podcasts over the past couple of weeks. Today I watched an extremely engaging talk by Swedish public health expert, Hans Rosling.
I have long believed there to be a huge gap between the enormous amount of publicly available data (stats, trends, etc.) and the related tools available for information workers to present, interpret and communicate the data in meaningful ways.
The visual animation and presentation of data used by Dr. Rosling to review historical world health trends is the most impressive I have ever witnessed and is an outstanding example of the types of opportunities and applications around data normalization and presentation that exist.
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