Track News & React
Here's all the news and commentary about DEMO alumni companies and emerging technology trends written by DEMO writers and analysts. Please comment on stories of interest to you.
GlamMedia hires a Google finance manager
By Mary A. C. Fallon07/24/2008

Vertical content network GlamMedia, Inc., (DEMOfall 05 and DEMOfall 07) has hired Michael Adair, former head of sales finance for Google North America, as vice president of corporate development and finance. He will be responsible for strategic investments and finances. Adair's team managed Google's purchase of dMarc, YouTube, and DoubleClick during his four-year tenure. Read more
VMware's new CEO says he knows Microsoft and can defeat it
By IDG News Service07/23/2008
VMware's new CEO and president, Paul Maritz, took aim at his chief rival -- Microsoft -- and told financial analysts Tuesday that he knows how to beat that company, and that includes giving products away.
"The key when it comes to Microsoft is to neither rest on your laurels, nor get mesmerized," Maritz said. Read more
LeapFrog counting on Tag to jumpstart retail and school sales
By Mary A. C. Fallon07/23/2008

When Mike Lorion pitches LeapFrog Enterprises' new Tag reading stylus (DEMO 08) during a U.S. Education Department reading conference Monday, teachers won't have to figure out how to squeeze it into their young students' limited computing time. The handheld technology reads aloud words and images by detecting invisible coordinates on popular storybook pages, and could fit into the reading-dominated curriculum taught in 800,000 U.S. pre-kindergarten to third grade classrooms.
The federal No Child Left Behind law made preparing young students for standardized testing a national mandate. This focus might help turn the Tag™ Reading System into the rock star product LeapFrog Enterprises needs to bounce out of a four-year financial hole. While the precise infrared camera in Tag's tip and the optical dots it reads has technology pundits buzzing, veteran computer salesperson Lorion is sure "data correlation will sell it." Read more
Flypaper announces Pro version and enterprise plans
By Mary A. C. Fallon07/22/2008
Flypaper Studio, Inc. (DEMO 08) today introduces a subscription version of its interactive presentation application aimed at helping sales people and others produce Adobe Flash-based "stories" that track how viewers respond so creators can make changes if attention wanes, or contact a viewer if she indicates interest. Flypaper Pro cost $195 a year, and until Aug. Read more
Twine’s Nova Spivack and VentureBeat’s Matt Marshall to Moderate Two Special Roundtables
By DEMO Conference Team07/22/2008
A few weeks back we told you about an interesting debate being planned for DEMOfall 08 between the Dynamic Duo of All Things Digital Walt Mossberg and Kara Swisher. Now, we are pleased to announce two high powered roundtables being developed for the show. Read more
Delver offers alpha social search product
By Mary A. C. Fallon07/21/2008
Personalized search engine Delver (DEMO 08) released a public alpha version of its product and a partner program that lets social network Web sites white label Delver as their search engine. So far, no partnerships have been announced. Launched with the product name, Semingo, the product has been renamed Delver. Delver indexes the social networks like MySpace and Facebook, blogs, and social applications such as Flickr and YouTube, cross-connects the data with your social graph, and delivers search results that are relevant specifically to you. Read more
Mainstream consumers shifting to mobile Web
By Sam Diaz07/17/2008

A few weeks ago, I casually mentioned during dinner that I was considering buying an iPhone. Immediately, my 12-year-old daughter jumped up and called dibs on the Blackberry I have now. You see, mine isn't the stodgy Blackberry that CEOs once carried to check email. It's one of the newer Pearl models, a sleek, silver device filled with applications that can satisfy every teen's demands - from email, text and IM to music, games, and streaming video. Oh, and you can talk, too - you know, like with your voice. Read more
GlamMedia launches German vertical ad/content network
By Mary A. C. Fallon07/17/2008
During Berlin Fashion Week, GlamMedia, Inc. (DEMOfall 05 and DEMOfall 07) and Burda Cross Media today launched a vertical content network targeting women in Germany - jump starting the business by GlamMedia acquiring the key assets and technology of digital marketer Codex Media of Munich and hiring its Read more