LicketyShip is a new service launching today (we spoke about it previously here) that allows you to shop online at a number of different local stores and to have products that you order delivered within 4 hours. It works by co-ordinating the online stores close to you with courier companies, allowing you to receive goods that you order very quickly. The service is currently in alpha though launching today in the San Francisco Bay Area and has plans to expand in other areas over time.

The service is easy to use, you search for a product by name and specify your zip code. The site will then query local stores and show you results of products that are available to order. When you place an order, it will fetch the item from the nearest store and then have it delivered to you. The ordering process is simple enough, and the only additional cost is a $19.99 fee for the delivery service. Search is currently restricted to electronic goods, but they also plan to expand on this as well.

I know that I often choose to go to a local store over ordering online because I can’t wait for a 2 or more day delivery time, so LicketyShip might make that easier for some. The question is if it is worth the fee, I can see a lot of businesses using this for office supplies and other goods, and possibly some consumers who are impatient. They can delivery up to 7pm on most nights (which I assume means you can order up till 3pm and have it delivered that day) while on Friday’s and Saturdays can deliver up till 8pm. I expect to see more improvements in the product search engine, as well as the range of retailers supported (they have an API) - I don’t think there is any doubt that the tight integration with courier companies and the value-add of same day delivery will be worth something to a lot of people.

Crunch Network: CrunchGear drool over the sexiest new gadgets and hardware.

Originally
from TechCrunch

by Nik Cubrilovic


reBlogged

on Sep 27, 2006, 4:45PM

Originally by Nik Cubrilovic from TechCrunch on September 27, 2006, 6:45pm

The Yahoo! family expanded again today with the acquisition of online video editing service Jumpcut. Here’s the Jumpcut post on the announcement and here’s the Yahoo! Search post. Based in San Francisco and launched just six months ago, Jumput specializes in letting users remix videos already online or edit their own video with its interface. Mike Arrington gave the company a good review when it launched, writing that it was even better than Motionbox - a service he called the best yet for sharing online video just days before Jumpcut launched.

Yahoo! Video already has one of the biggest video search indexes online and will be all the more compelling with the added ability to remix posted content and edit original video online.

The terms of the deal are not being disclosed, although our guess is that Yahoo paid nowhere near the $65 million in cash that Sony recently spent to acquire Grouper, a video sharing site with a P2P focus. Wether the Jumpcut acquisition was large or small - it’s very cool. It’s one more example of the growing importance of remix culture and online video.

Crunch Network: MobileCrunch Mobile Gadgets and Applications, Delivered Daily.

Tags: Techcrunch, Web2.0, video, editing, remixing, mashups

Originally
from TechCrunch

by Marshall Kirkpatrick


reBlogged

on Sep 27, 2006, 4:32PM

Originally by Marshall Kirkpatrick from TechCrunch on September 27, 2006, 6:32pm

oDesk is a Menlo Park-based company that offers a marketplace for contract talent, primarily in the programming services field. We first wrote about oDesk only a few weeks ago, and since then they have experienced strong growth with a rise in the number of projects and suppliers. Today oDesk have announced an $8 Million Series B investment lead by Benchmark Capital, the respectable Silicon Valley firm that has previously backed companies such as eBay, Handspring, RedHat and Juniper. All of oDesk’s previous investors have also taken part in this round, which will see Kevin Harvey of Benchmark join the oDesk board of directors.

At the recent Future of Web Apps conference in San Francisco, Michael Arrington (the editor of Techcrunch) listed oDesk amongst a group of companies that are ‘ones to watch’. We have watched oDesk grow strongly in a space that was previously heavily dominated by both eLance and Guru. oDesk offers a twist on the old model in a market that is desperate for high-quality development and other IT services. oDesk allows it’s customers to track every aspect of projects and jobs that they post to the marketplace, from sourcing the right talent through to managing your relationships with suppliers. It also have a different economic model as all work is charged on an hourly basis rather than a fixed project cost found on other sites.

We are bullish about oDesk’s prospects, not only because of the rising demand for good providers but also because of their approach to connecting and managing the relationship between providers and customers. As indicated in comments in our previous post, and in our own experience, oDesk seems to be loved by both the providers of services as well as it’s customers, and both parties seem to stick to using the service. With Benchmark now putting it’s chips down on oDesk, the service should power ahead even further and become a dominant player. oDesk have said that the funds raised from the Series B will be used to expand marketing activities and to spur growth, it seems that they have the platform right, it is working well for all participants and now it’s time to open the floodgates.

Crunch Network: CrunchGear drool over the sexiest new gadgets and hardware.

Originally
from TechCrunch

by Nik Cubrilovic


reBlogged

on Sep 27, 2006, 4:13PM

Originally by Nik Cubrilovic from TechCrunch on September 27, 2006, 6:13pm

While Marshall hits up DEMOFall, we’ve been treking around New York spotting the latest Nokia phones, the Sony Reader, and the latest in Internet tablets, the PepperPad 3.

Need more? How about hybrid Blu-Ray/HD-DVDs, a music mug, and some hot rock and roll.

Crunch Network: CrunchGear drool over the sexiest new gadgets and hardware.

Originally
from TechCrunch

by John Biggs


reBlogged

on Sep 27, 2006, 2:19PM

Originally by John Biggs from TechCrunch on September 27, 2006, 4:19pm

The rumor that PS3 games are going to cost $75 to $84 was pretty much inaccurate, and caused by a simple conversion from yen to dollars instead of any official price release. The official price in the US, as listed on Sony’s official Sony Style site is $59. Same as the Xbox 360.

Though, it’s a bit strange that Japan will be paying that much more than the US for PS3 games. Seeing as Europe’s Xbox 360 games are nearly $100 USD now, $74 to $85 would be a bargain for them. – Jason Chen

Sony Style [Sony - Thanks Weatherman!]

Originally
from Gizmodo

reBlogged

on Sep 26, 2006, 5:14PM

Originally from Gizmodo on September 26, 2006, 7:14pm

The smartphones get smaller and thinner, and Nokia rolled out its N75 clamshell WCDMA and GSM smartphone today that’s just 20.2mm thick. It has a 2-megapixel camera and a 2.4-inch 320×240 screen inside, and music keys on the outside. It includes Nokia’s Internet browser and e-mail, too, and lets you view e-mail attachments in Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and even the loathsome PDF format.

The company says the N75 can standby for 200 hours and will let you gab for 250 minutes before the battery runs out. Price and release date weren’t announced. – Charlie White

Press Release [Nokia]

Originally
from Gizmodo

reBlogged

on Sep 26, 2006, 5:21PM

Originally from Gizmodo on September 26, 2006, 7:21pm