Image via CrunchBase

Brooklyn-based website Etsy is celebrating its seven-year anniversary next month. The website, according to BetaBeat has more than 875,000 virtual shops and new ones that appear every day. The company recently announced a $40 million round of funding, which totals outside investment at $90 million, and brings Etsy’s valuation to about $600 million.

There has been trouble with some of Etsy’s products, however, as the site grows, items and sellers are straying from the original DIY concept that inspired the site. BetaBeat reported that Etsy shoppers have been coming across factory made items. An example given is a blog called Regretsy, created by comedian April Winchell, that had its own category for items on Etsy that were “not remotely handmade.” This blog drew attention to the non-original products that are opposed Etsy’s core idea.

This shift has been deterring old, loyal Etsy customers and fans. Sewon Chung, a photographer from Bed-Stuy who chose to write a college paper about the crafty site, told BetaBeat that, “I realized it is a corporate entity and it’s run like any other company. It’s not just a bunch of creative girls hanging around. I definitely don’t go on Etsy as much anymore. We’re all waiting for the next big thing to come out.”

In April, Etsy designer Mariana Schechter was selected as one of Etsy’s “Featured Sellers.” Schechter sold planters made from reclaimed boats at her online shop Ecologica Malibu. However, Regretsy immediately called this creator out for her products. Schechter had been importing wood from a wholesaler and had listed her items on Overstock.com. Not only that, but she had a team of eight workers helping her assemble the products, which technically made Schecter’s sales a business. This sparked Protesty, a walkout among Etsy designers in the name of genuine handmade items.

The Dos and Don’ts of Etsy are listed on the site, and set forth a list of rules about selling items on the site. Resellers can actually be considered to be operating within the rules of the site, Matt Stinchcomb, Etsy’s VP of marketing and brand told BetaBeat. Sitchcomb and Etsy have responded to the outrage over handmade versus not handmade by asking sellers to be more transparent about their products and how they are made. The company also re surged its Marketplace Integrity, Trust and Safety team which scours the site for violators. Though, there are still issues with grey area on what counts as handmade.

BetaBeat

Image via CrunchBase

On Wednesday, Google put last year’s acquisition of NY-based Zagat ($125 million) to work by introducing  Zagat’s restaurant review content to its Google+ social network. According to Yahoo News, the feature is a search engine that takes on services like Yelp, as the Google+ page received a new tab labeled “Local” which allows users to search for businesses or services nearby. This service is meant to improve upon and replace “Google Places.”

Google’s Avni Shah told Yahoo that, “If you click on a restaurant, or a museum (or whatever), you’ll be taken to a local Google+ page that includes photos, Zagat scores and summaries, reviews from people you know, and other useful information like address and opening hours.”

Additionally, Zagat’s website announced that its previously paid subscriptions will now be offered for free, making the famed restaurant reviews available to everyone. Users will be able to access the Google Local services on their iOS devices with the Google Places app and the Google+ app, not Google maps, which is being replaced by Apple in June with its own map services.

Yahoo News

Logo of Groupon (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

This week Groupon acquired Breadcrumb, a NY-based point of sale startup that works with restaurants and hospitality companies. The amount of the deal was not released, but according to Reuters, Groupon’s VP of mobile, Mihir Shah, wrote that the company is excited to help “build affordable and intuitive products that make it easier for local merchants to manage their business.”

Breadcrumb runs its point of sale (POS) system with iOS apps, which keeps costs lower because businesses can forgo buying expensive cash register equipment, while also managing a customer’s order at a restaurant from start to finish. Reuters reported that Breadcrumb also offers a time clock, a scheduling program, and payroll tools all for managing employees, as well as using analytics to measure costs and customer information.

There has been speculation over exactly how Groupon will utilize Breadcrumb’s features, but the company has hinted that it will integrate its own deals into the system. However, Groupon’s new daily deals site has been testing mobile payment and may use Breadcrumb to heighten this service.

Reuters

NY Convergence

• Target new local customers by generating news on a network of local sites that include NearSay.com via The Marketplace, starting at $199.99 per month, with no annual contract.
• Get placement on the front page of Google, Google Places, and 20 different directories when a new customer is searching for businesses via Searchlight  at $149.99 per month.
• Develop loyal customers with automatic email newsletters, Facebook, Twitter and Goggle Plus publishing and automatic website updates via a combination of the Marketplace & Searchlight services at $349.99 per month.
• Social Media Management, starting at $500 per month.

For additional information, contact Ken Ampel at ken@nearsay.com

The current two dimensional HP logo used on corporate documents, letterheads, etc. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

An audit prepared by Comptroller John Liu reveals work performed by Hewlett-Packard Co. for NY’s 911 system resulted in cost overruns of $362 million. The project’s initial $1.3 billion cost is now projected to $2.3 billion and is seven years behind schedule. Liu called the California-based company a “questionable selection” and said HP overbilled the city by $163 million.

According to Bloomberg, Liu released the audit well ahead of  the June 30th deadline for the 2013 city budget. The mayor’s office and City Council are in the midst of their annual ‘budget dance,’ and negotiating cuts to city services including senior centers, after school programs and other social services.

“With devastating cuts on the table, taxpayers should be outraged at the fleecing that transpired under City Hall’s watch,” he said at a press conference yesterday. Liu is considered likely to run as a Democratic candidate for mayor in the next election.

HP denied the allegations. David Kelly, the company’s account executive for the project, told Bloomberg, “HP did not bill the city for anything outside the scope of the contract.”

The audit maintained that HP did not meet the city’s technical requirements and should not have been selected for the project. However, the city’s Department of Information Technology and Telecommunications accepted subcontractor bills that were significantly marked up, which resulted in overbilling. The audit says that HP billed up to $192 an hour for opening doors for visitors, removing trash from restrooms and eradicate bugs from a project site.

The comptroller said he would ask the Manhattan District Attorney’s office to review the contract for fraud.

Bloomberg

Crain’s reported that ifood.tv has about 4 million visitors per month, and that the new channels can be viewed on Web-connected television sets or through set-top devices. Some of the shows available include ifood.tv’s Simply Vegetarian, Italian Food, and Feast in the Middle East. Ifood.tv is also releasing mobile applications that allow users to view recipes from the channels, in hopes of making an easy-to-cook approach for phone users.

CEO Alok Ranjan told Crain’s that, “”We’ve tried to make things especially for foodies and serve different niches.” Advertisers for ifood.tv include big name brands like Kraft Foods and BMW.

Image via CrunchBase

News leaked late yesterday that enterprise cloud-computing company Salesforce.com will be acquiring Buddy Media, a five-year old NY-based company that assists brands in their Facebook presence. According to All Things D, sources have remarked that Buddy Media has been valued at $800 million, but the deal has not yet closed, as Buddy Media chose Salesforce.com’s bid over Google‘s.

Though Buddy Media is known for its branding work on Facebook, it has recently expanded to social platforms like Google+ and LinkedIn. The pitch that Buddy Media offered to interested parties included help with maintaining apps and ads on Facebook, and a promise to get content to customers on a variety of social networks.

All Things D reported that Salesforce will be using Buddy Media for extending its customer relationship management offering, and the assumption is that Buddy Media will help Salesforce’s clients reach their customers.  Last year Salesforce bought Radian6, another social media platform company, for $326 million.

Buddy had raised $90 million in funds and investors valued the company at $500 million at its funding round in August 2011.

All Things D

English: A sign that states "No Texting While Driving" in West University Place, Texas (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The State Superior Court in Morris County, New Jersey came to a judgement recently on a case involving a texting while driving accident. According to Digital Trends, the couple, David and Linda Kubert, was on their motorcycle when they were hit by Kyle Best who was texting his girlfriend while driving his truck. The Kuberts attempted to sue Best and his girlfriend, Shannon Colonna, for being ‘electronically present’ while driving. The judge in the case ruled that the girlfriend cannot be held accountable for being electronically present, however, Best was found guilty for texting while driving, and causing the accident.

According to Digital Trends, the concern for the case was that if Colonna was to be found guilty, it could have set a tricky precedent, saying that everyone who has sent a text could be held liable for the decisions made by the person on the other end receiving it.

Digital Trends

Image via CrunchBase

Greg Pass, Twitter’s former Chief Technology Officer and Cornell alum, sat down with Xconomy recently o discuss his view on the new CornellNYC tech campus and his new position as their founding entrepreneurial officer.

Pass remarked that the position was created to keep focus on the partnerships between academia and the tech industry for the campus. In the interview, he says, “I don’t know how you say no to an opportunity to build a new school from the ground up in New York while the city is surging in tech right now. It’s a unique opportunity for me to give back to my profession in a fundamental way.”

Pass also told Xconomy that his duties will focus on integrating the skills of CornellNYC Tech students with the growing tech community in NY. He hopes that CornellNYC Tech can set itself apart from other engineering programs by creating a program specific to entrepreneurship and tech innovation. Pass recalled his own experiences with preparing for the real-world, saying, “When I first became an entrepreneur, twenty or so years ago, I wasn’t aware of programs to help me along the way…In order to grow the size of the talent pool, additional resources like schools, community activities, and greater investment in incubators will really help increase the number of entrepreneurial engineers.”

Though Pass will be working full-time at the campus, he has made sure there will be time to stay connected with entrepreneurship outside of the school. He will also be on the board of advisors at Obvious, a new company created by Evan Williams, Biz Stone, and Jason Goldman.

Xconomy

iPhone users do not have great access to getting directions, and Android users are limited to Google Maps.  The $1.99 RidetheCity app, is the best offering for directions in the city.  It gives info on which routes are the most safe and which ones are the most direct, as well as locations of NY-based bike shops, but often crashes and does not shot the rider’s location.

Subway app HopStop gives biking directions, but lacks in detail, and a downloadable map can be pulled off of New York City Bike Map.

The New York Times

Duy Huynh

While promoting his site to manufacturers, Huynh noted that “you’re pitching to a different generation, we feel there is a lot of room for technology to improve the supply chain and production.”

MakeDirect is focused on delivering goods to shoppers looking for heavy discounts, and Huynh believes that the consumer-based market offers more immediate profit verses small retailers whom he originally targeted.  The 10-20 furniture items on the e-commerce site rotate every two weeks, but Huynh wants to change the offerings every week to create a larger mix.

Xconomy

Three different VHS-family video cassettes. From left to right, MII, VHS, and S-VHS. The S-VHS has an additional sense hole near the top left. The MII cassette also features an integrated write protect switch, which cannot be seen in this photo. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

For the older immigrant communities in NY, VHS tapes have not replaced DVDs. Store owners in Queens and Harlem hold on to these tapes in hopes of either selling the cassettes or renting them to those in the immigrant community still interested in this technology.

According to The New York Times, 30 percent of business at Hwang Jae Video in Queens comes from VHS rentals. Owner of the store, Young Woo Kim opened the store in 1989, and most of his customers for VHS tapes are interested in Korean television shows and films. In Harlem, a Senegalese-owned store has a collection of VHS tapes from the African film industry, and two more shops in Queens boast of a large supply of Bollywood films.

Orlando Tobón, a leader in the Colombian community in Jackson Heights, Queens, told the Times that, “The immigrant very much values what they did not have, and if it still works, they still use it.”

Other owners, such as Mamadou Sangotte, owner of Yett Ndyndory in Harlem, have a nostalgia for VHS tapes, and do not want to throw them out even if they may be taking up space in the store. Owner of Video Express in Astoria, Queens, Constantine Matsoukas told the Times, “The profit is practically nothing, but I will not throw them away. I will not do that.”

Overall, many of the people in immigrant communities are holding on to traditions and older technology, while some owners hope to keep rare videos from fading by keeping them in VHS form.

The New York Times

CornellNYC Tech claims a new approach to research center academics. The AP  reports that students will be developing software for the industries that are already at the center of strength in NY: medical tech, green energy systems, and digital media usage in a variety of sectors. Students will also be working with experts in the industries, giving them the ability to work directly with current projects.

Technion-Israel Institute won over a dozen of competing institutions for a partnership with Cornell because of its technological success in Haifa, Israel. The city hopes that the tech industry will benefit from this partnership. According to the AP, NY’s tech industry has had 500 new companies since 2007, making it second only to  Silicon Valley. The initiative also hopes to supply jobs for engineers, which are in high demand in the city.

DailyFinance

Janette Sadik-Khan, transportation commissioner, says to the Post, “our on-street parking regulations are now online, which makes it easy to know where and when to park.”

The map, which can be found on the Department of Transportation website through nyc.gov, lets users zoom in and out of areas to check for alternate-side parking, no-standing and school parking zone signs.

This map will help offset the city’s difficult-to-read, highly posted, illegible and contradictory signs which make drivers stop to read and analyze the situation.

New York Post

NY Convergence

• Twitter – @nyconvergence
• Free daily e-newsletter
• Free iOS App & Android  App
• Widget
• RSS feed
• Facebook
• Amazon Kindle
• Google Gadget
• Amazon Appstore

Imbruce said, “we went to Silicon Valley because they understood how big we wanted to get.  And we moved back [to NYC] to fulfill that promise.”

In fact, according to the Times, some West Coast companies are moving east to capitalize on the new trend of creating consumer products and apps as opposed to the framework of computing.  These tech businesses are attracted to the media, fashion and advertising industries NY has to offer, and some of the previous disadvantages of opening up shop in the city are falling by the wayside.  One such perceived pitfall is the lack of venture funding, but that number has been growing rapidly since 2007.

Fully capitalizing on NY’s media industry, and as a result of Qwiki’s move to NY, ABC and the startup announced a partnership last week.  TutorSpree, another company that moved east, found it difficult to find home-grown engineers, so, founder Aaron Harris located them elsewhere and convinced them to move.

The New York Times

Though the process may sound a little invasive- using databases to track social media content across various platforms (Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, etc.) and dropping cookies to identify users when they log in, and then post ad content relevant to user’s information- the company only uses publicly available content. This helps LocalResponse avoid privacy issues.

LocalResponse CEO Nihal Mehta said to Adweek that LocalResponse can track up to $100 million users per month through partnerships with database companies and online publishers.The technology also uses natural language processing, which can track a person’s location and intent based off of something like a tweet.

Mehta also told Adweek that, “This is revolutionary because literally we’ve done tons of research in the space, and we don’t think there’s anybody else doing this.”

Adweek

Image via CrunchBase

Call to all software developers – The ChallengePost and NYC Media Lab is running a new challenge, Media Mash 2012, for anyone who can “create a mashup that uses at least one of the supporting media and tech company’s APIs, feeds, or data sets,” as the finished app can run on the web, desktop computers, tablets, and mobile phones. The goal of the contest is to connect the media and developer communities. Entries will be judged by a panel of leaders in media and technology.

The deadline for the challenge has been extended to June 20, and winners have the opportunity to win up to $5,000 in cash prizes.  More details can be found at the link below.

ChallengePost Blog

According to Crain’s New York Business, charitable apps are popping up all over NY. One example is CharityBuzz, started by Coppy Holzman. The site auctions tickets to celebrity events to help nonprofits. As of now, it has raised over $60 million dollars for causes such as Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS and the Donald J. Trump Foundation. The app for CharityBuzz was launched in 2010.

Holzman told Crain’s, “People who would have made six-figure salaries coming out of business school are now going into charity work because they get fulfillment that way. They are coming up with unique and clever ways to use tech and get fulfillment through social good.”

Another app, Appetition, was created by a Baruch student Jamie Sampson. The app gives people the ability to create location-based petition for issues in their community, such as a pothole in the street. Environmental efforts have also had help from apps. Project Noah was created by a student at NYU. The app was launched in 2010, and allows people to snap photos of animals and submit them to a group of people that identify the species.

It may be up to apps like these to define the future of giving back.

Crain’s New York Business

English: Logo of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. Category:Goldman Sachs (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Recently Goldman Sachs announced its official arrival to Twitter, as one tweet alone won the company 7,000 followers, and some mixed responses. Wall Street & Technology reported that one Occupy Wall Street protestor greeted Goldman with this simple tweet: “Welcome to Twitter.”

The start of Goldman on Twitter follows an ongoing battle of Wall Street to fight a bad image. Former Goldman employee Greg Smith  stirred up controversy and judgment of the company’s culture in March with his New York Times opinion piece. The parodied Twitter of Goldman, @GSElevator, conveys an image of snobbery and greed, which does not help their image either.

This shift in communications strategy is being led by new head of communications, Jake Siewert. Though it’s obvious that Goldman Sachs is making an effort to step into the social media realm, it may still be a rough start for them. Their second tweet displayed a “self-congratulatory” feel, according to Wall Street & Technology. It read, “Annual meeting is a wrap. Prelim votes show all directors elected with overwhelming support. Shareholders support GS on all proposals.” In response to this, @CNBC tweeted: “ALERT: All Goldman Sachs directors elected, all shareholder proposals fail – source.”

The question being asked now is if Goldman Sachs can make an impact in social media by using it correctly.

Wall Street & Technology

The Major League Baseball logo. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Bob Bowman, president and CEO of Major League Baseball’s Advanced Media (BAM), generates around $620 million dollars a year in revenue. The company is one of the most powerful tech startups that NYy has ever produced, as Fast Company reported that in 2010, BAM was asked to partner with Apple for the iPad launch to introduce a newest mobile MLB interface that let users watch live video of major league games, while viewing game stats at the same time.

The app was a hit and also presented successful paid-content model, a rarity nowadays. The app profited greatly from from the 2.2 million people that bought the BAM iPhone and iPad apps last year alone. BAM is also  an integral part of the MLB, and is responsible for over half of ticket inventory.

Bud Selig, MLB baseball commissioner, told Fast Company that BAM is, “Not only one of the great stories in American sports business in the past 12 years, but one of the great stories in American business.”

The technology behind the app itself is complicated, as a TV camera captures a play during a game, this feed is relayed to the TV production truck outside the stadium. This information is then transmitted to the data center in NY. From this station, employees make sure audio and video are aligned, while computers process the stats for the play and of the game itself. All of this is then packaged and encoded, ready just in time for streaming onto the app. This process adds up to over 5 million data files a day. Fast Company reported that BAM licenses its online content and real-time data to ESPN and other companies, and competes seriously with other sports media.

Bowman is given a large chunk of credit for the success of BAM. With a combination of work ethic and a love for baseball, he has helped BAM reach a $77 million investment by MLB’s 30 team owners, according to Fast Company. He has made his business model one of adaptation, and being ready to tackle the fast changing environment of new media.

BAM has also introduced a new Xbox app that allows fans to watch any game from the last two years right on their home TV. There has also been an initiative to increase MLB sales by offering digital tickets to customers, and hope to have this system set up by Opening Day.

Fast Company

According to Forbes, Gust launched in 2005 and charges group heads $1,000 per year for central control. The online software gives investors access to startup funding applications, which the investors then rate. The investors can also track the progress and investments of the entrepreneurial ventures. Gust has generated over $1 million a year in revenue since its start.

Rose has tried and failed many times, having lunched over 80 startups with few winners. However, this has not slowed him down. Rose sits on the board of multiple startups and tech groups and is the chair of the New York Angels, a group of investors that have given more than 45 million to various companies since 2004.

Rose told Forbes, ““We’re the only game in town with this kind of size and scale. But it’s a far cry from the millions that we want.”

This newest venture of Rose has big potential. Forbes reports that Gust already has 41,000 accredited investors and 180,000 entrepreneurs. Though this did not happen overnight. Forbes noted that it took seven years of no profits before Rose allowed entrepreneurs to join. It is estimated that Gust will break even within 18 months after it provides premium features for an extra cost.

Forbes

Alex Bolen, chief executive officer of Oscar de la Renta told The New York Times, “Selling five of those baseball tees is not going to change our lives, but I have got to say, I was surprised.” Bolen also told the times that the company wants to demonstrate that they can take risks by putting expensive items online. Fancy is now selling more than $10,000 of merchandise a day, as reported by The Times. However, the advanced selling of Oscar de la Renta’s shirt was the first time the site offered an exclusive order on the day of a show.

Designers hope this click response may help determine demand for specific items.

The New York Times

English: Ballet. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

While there is no category for arts or culture in Apple’s App Store, several NY-based apps quench a need for followers of their favorite performers and cultural events to have easier access to information on upcoming events.

Recently the American Ballet Theatre launched its iOS app and according to The Wall Street Journal, its loyal audience of the can see the entire season’s casting on the app complete with head shots and bios.

As for the music scene, the NY Jazz app gives jazz fans a tool to scan shows, artists and venues.  While engaged with the app, users will find links to the musicians’ website.  Competitor NYC Jazz shows a map of 30 clubs, and creator B.J. Jansen hopes that musicians will contribute to the app map.  He said to the Journal that, “I’ve been trying to cultivate the relationships with the clubs. But it’s a new idea.  Anyone who has a show in New York City can post their own stuff.”

The Museum of Modern Art also has a general app containing a floor plan and glossary of the space.

The Wall Street Journal

Punchdrunk logo (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

“Sleep No More,” an interactive theater experience comes as a result of collaboration between MIT Media Lab and Punchdrunk British Theater Company. The play, according to The New York Times, allows attendees an individually-unique experience through corridors of a Chelsea, NY warehouse. Though “Sleep No More” is still in its early phases of development, this week some individuals had the opportunity to participate in a test run.

The production requires that all who attend wear special masks, which use sensor technology to activate digital enhancements along the way. The Times reported that the goal of Punchdrunk’s individual play experience was to, “Deliver something like a living video game. But for now, this emerging art form is still in its rudimentary, Atari 2600 phase.”

The special mask worn throughout the play gives individuals the ability to interact with the rooms and actors that they meet during the production. The state-of-the art gadgets use Bluetooth and RFID technology to create features such as vibrations, light movements, and self-operating mechanics to heighten the user’s experience. During “Sleep No More,” a secondary partner working from a remote computer playing a text-based game interacts with the person living through the play.This second player, so to speak, uses a webcam and can type messages to the person they are watching.

Tod Machover, M.I.T. professor and director of the media lab’s Opera of the Future group, told the Times about future for “Sleep No More” that, “This was our week of ironing. It would be amazing now to have a week, once it’s ironed, to work out how to fold it so it’s the right shape.”

The New York Times

Cover of A Visit from the Goon Squad

Last week The New Yorker launched its first segment of author Jennifer Egan‘s sequel to her Pulitzer-prize winning book, A Visit from the Goon Squad. The only difference is, the sequel launched on twitter in 140-character installments.

According to Mashable, the idea to tweet the sequel was actually Egan’s, who saw the potential in sensationalism on Twitter. Though, the combination of literature and technology is not foreign to Egan-the eleventh chapter in her book is written in PowerPoint slides. The oddity is that Egan does not use these technologies herself.

For the sequel, Egan decided to take one of her characters from the novel and place her in 2030. The character keeps a mental log of events.

Egan said in an interview with The New Yorker, “I was interested in telling a story in the form of a list…I began to have a sense of a woman’s voice speaking in these short dispatches about her spying experience. As soon as I began hearing that voice, it was clear that this would be the piece that would be, in some way, disseminated over Twitter.”

Mashable

Macy's logo (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

At a shareholders meeting in NY, Terry J. Lundgren, president, chairman and CEO of Macy’s Inc., said that the company would be investing in more technologies aimed at “melding our stores, the Internet and mobile devices so we can surround our customers at every turn.”

Among the most intriguing of the tech announcements, according to WWD, was the addition of handheld devices for women’s shoe associates to help identify stock, retrieve merchandise and complete a sale all in the presence of the customer.

With several projects slated in the coming months, Lundgren hopes to see which tech works best for several Macy’s programs including My Macy’s, Magic Selling and Millennials.

ZeeReport

Image via CrunchBase

What do a physicist, a high school student, a U.S. Army captain stationed in Afghanistan, and New York Times reporter Nicholas Kristof have in common?

They interviewed Susan Rice, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, in a Google+ Hangout.

The Times is experimenting with the 11-month old platform, inviting readers to participate in online video interviews. Five people were selected from the hundreds of readers. Kristof moderated the conversation, which also included a grad student and a lawyer.

Other news organizations are finding uses for Google+ Hangouts, too. Al Jazeera’s show, The Stream, also lets viewers ask questions during live interviews.

Journalism.co.uk

The app, which debuted at the paidContent 2012 conference in NY earlier this week focuses more on the consumer-based audience.  With more than 50 channels to choose from, including the AP, Reuters, Bloomberg, etc., Newslook applies metadata and places the selected videos into multiple searchable taxonomies.  In addition to adding more than 150 new videos daily, a search and tabs function will help the user find trending topics and featured video clips.

Fred Silverman, Newslook founder and former CBS producer, said to GigaOm, “there’s a lot of content out there, we sift through the crap so you don’t have to.”  He hopes to have 200 video sources by year’s end.

In the end, Newslook “looks” to funnel only professional sourced content into their platform and avoid the user-created videos.  The company also plans to offer a share feature to link to viewers’ Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest accounts.

GigaOm

English: Dubmood live at Blipfestival 2008 in New York (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Blip Festival, a NY music festival centered around retro video games, is taking place this weekend at Gramercy Theatre. The sets feature 8-bit stage projections and an array of unique sounds.

According to The Village Voice, “Chiptune” is the style to emulate. This geeky niche of electronic music genre uses instruments built from old audio chips from Nintendo, Sega, and Atari equipment. Though the bits and pieces may be dated, the technology that is being used to create the sounds is not. The musicians at the festival create custom cartridges for the audio signal from these game consoles—not an easy undertaking.

MakerBot Industries, a Brooklyn-based tech company, was at last year’s festival manning a table. The Village Voice reported that Connecticut group Burnkit2600 will be heading a workshop this weekend on building and programming square wave synthesizers. Marshall Lefferts from Burnkit2600 told the Voice, “All of it is futuristic. It’s about using tools to build something anew, and that’s always the future—creativity.”

The Village Voice