StartUp Beat

eHow Featured in NY Times -  This week, the New York Times included a feature about the budding online "how to" industry that included eHow.com, a company featured on StartUp Beat.  It's an interesting business that sort of melds social networking with useful Internet search.  Users Demand Expertise at How-To Web Sites

Foreign Investment in China Tech Grows - Despite the economic slowdown, investors seem to still be bullish about Chinese technology companies.  From the Wall Street Journal: Tudou Raises $57 Million

Pluggd CEO to Speak at Digital Hollywood - Alex Castro, CEO of Pluggd, a StartUp Beat featured company, will be a part of the "Online Video": TV-Broadband Programming, Content & Advertising Innovation" panel at next week's Digital Hollywood conference.  Pluggd enables advanced online video search.

Posted by startupbeat at 07:19 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

College Tonight Signs Conrad - College Tonight, the college-focused social networking service that was this week's featured pitch, today announced that Lauren Conrad, star of MTV's The Hills, will be the company's national spokesperson.  Here's a link to the announcement: Lauren Conrad Partners with College Tonight, Inc.

How Bad Will it Get for Tech Startups? - It has been well established that we are in the midst of a worldwide economic downturn, and know one really knows its ultimate duration and severity.  Founders of tech startups naturally have nervous flashbacks to 2000, when the tech sector, especially the dot coms, experienced a steady decline that put many startups out of business.  BUt this is a completely different climate from 2000, and most tech startups are built on a much more solid footing than eight years ago.  Verne Kopytoff of the San Francisco Chronicle addresses the issue today, doing a good job of finding some balance and highlighting the differences among tech startups then and now: Economic deja vu hitting tech startups

Posted by startupbeat at 07:42 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Overlay.TV Featured in Wired – Overlay.TV, a StartUp Beat featured company, was recently featured in Wired’s Listening Post blog, where its advertising 3.0 technology is featured.  The post includes a demo using the Beastie Boys “Sabotage” music video:  Overlay.tv Adds Links and Easter Eggs to Music Videos

Miscellaneous…

Who doesn’t want to avoid traffic?  Bill Gates wants to help:  Microsoft introduces an enhanced tool for avoiding traffic jams

Speaking of MSFT... they’re involved in what may be the most interesting takeover battle of the decade.  TechCrunch’s take on the latest developments:  Yahoo Goes Scorched Earth

Posted by startupbeat at 09:23 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

After a brief hiatus, we're back and ready to bring you more pitches from some of the world's most innovative and interesting technology startups.  Tomorrow, we're featuring Pluggd, an online video startup from Seattle, Washington, that is bringing an unprecedented level of control over viewing to users.  

Remember, if you have or know of a startup you think should be featured on StartUp Beat, drop me a line -- editor@startupbeat.com
 
-Brian

Posted by startupbeat at 09:01 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)