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Amazon Japan has free on-call wine advisors
In some cities, Amazon will deliver you alcohol, including wine, within an hour. But which one to choose? Japanese enthusiasts will now get help thanks to the new Sommelier service. Between noon and 5 p.m. ET, you can leave your number and one of the site's professional wine advisors will call back to let you know if a Chinon has good body and vanilla overtones, or whatever. You can also tell the sommelier what you're serving, and they'll recommend a wine based on your budget. In one example, they suggest a Beau Rivage Blanc French Bordeaux or a KWV Classic Collection Pinotage from South Africa for yakitori skewers.
Car-service app Uber heads for NYC market
Uber is a service that connects an iOS app to a car booking network, so essentially you can use your iPhone to signal that you need a car, and then one shows up, complete with a driver ready to take you to your destination. We've seen taxis do this with Taxi Magic, but Uber is designed to not only set up people who need transportation with their own drivers, but also car services with new customers. Now Uber is headed for an even bigger test in New York, after launching in the San Francisco market. The New York Times says the company is set to take on the Big Apple, where taxis and public transportation options usually hold sway. It'll be interesting to see how this all works. I expect more of these kinds of services to hook into smartphones in this way. Of course, using a car service will always be more expensive. But for those few times in urban areas where you need a car fast, what better way than a geo-aware smartphone to set up the connection?
