Entries Tagged 'emerging companies' ↓

Last night I was reading Business 2.0 magazine, and there was an article about an upcoming search engine called ChaCha. The idea of the search engine is that you type in what you’re looking for, and a live guide will do the search for you in order to get the best results. They said that eventually they wanted to enable you to phone a voice-automated system in order to conduct your searches, and that this would essentially replace 411.

I think that this idea is absolutely terrible. It’s one of those things that you try once or twice, but eventually they lose their novelty. I remember trying a similar phone service located in Toronto called VoiceGenie. I ended up just being on the phone yelling into it for 20 minutes to get one stock quote.

“N…..T…..”
“NC… is that right?”
“NO! N….T….”
“I think you said NC … is that right?”

The technology is just not advanced enough right now to make this idea useful. With pretty much every cell phone offering internet service right on the phone, this has become a better alternative.

In the article, it was mentioned that “This was going to be the next Google”, or something to that extent. Once again, this is false. Google is successful because it provides a useful service and makes it extremely easy to use. If you compare the Google and Yahoo websites, Google is 100 times more simple and clean cut. That is the sort of website you want to see when you open up your web browser. Not Yahoo, and definitely not ChaCha.

Do you often get very tired during work? Don’t think you can make it through your day? Well, if you live in New York, MetroNaps is the answer. This service is available to allow people to have a 20 minute nap for $14. The rooms are dimly lit, and the sounds and smells are kept constant. They are trying to create the best environment to take a nap. You are even provided with very your own napping pod.

Once you have awoken from your nap, they provide a wake-up station where you can freshen up and get ready to return to your work day.

They are currently leasing the pods to workplaces and universities. However, this is very costly and can set you back about $7000 per pod. I wish WLU bought some of these. I could use a nap from time to time.

Researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Telecommunications, Heinrich-Hertz-Institut HHI, in Berlin have developed a technology to allow shoe shoppers to see how they look without trying them on. The customer stand front of a virtual mirror and the shoes are super-imposed on to their feet. This is currently available in Paris on the Avenue des Champs Elysées.

I think that this technology is a great idea, and they’ve definitely decided to test it in a great area, one of the most prominent shopping districts int he world. I think that they’ve achieved a great marketing mix, and have determined the best target market for this product. Yes, some may make the argument that they only try on shoes to see how they fit, but a lot of consumers as of late are only concerned with the appearance. This expecially pertains to shoppers on the Avenue des Champs Elysée.