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Inside the UberPITCH 'Cash Cab'
When Matt Oscamou headed out to Starbucks Wednesday afternoon, he had no clue he'd be leaving half an hour later in an Uber with a venture capitalist (VC) from Google Ventures. "My preparation window was not even seven minutes," says Oscamou. He was one of several startup founders to cruise around town with potential investors on Wednesday through an event called UberPITCH. The most "Silicon Valley" of promotions, six Google Ventures VCs got in the back of Uber SUVs and were on-demand for founders to request for mobile 15-minute meetings throughout the afternoon. It was a startup version of Cash Cab that made finding a potential investment as easy as requesting a taxi. Sort of.
The Daily Roundup for 04.25.2013
You might say the day is never really done in consumer technology news. Your workday, however, hopefully draws to a close at some point. This is the Daily Roundup on Engadget, a quick peek back at the top headlines for the past 24 hours -- all handpicked by the editors here at the site. Click on through the break, and enjoy.
OnStar seals partnership with RelayRides, makes renting out your car even easier (hands-on video)
Remember that partnership between OnStar and RelayRides we wrote about last March? Well it's finally coming to fruition today, with the peer-to-peer car sharing service launching support for remote door unlocking via OnStar's proprietary API. As a result, RelayRides members with OnStar-enabled vehicles no longer have to exchange keys in person if they so choose. Another benefit is that participants can list their automobile on RelayRides directly from their OnStar account -- renters then benefit from the added safety and security that comes with OnStar. We had the chance to test an early version of the functionality on a Chevy Volt at SXSW a few months ago and it worked pretty much as advertised. There was a bit of a delay between the time we sent the unlock command from RelayRides' website on the demo iPad and the moment the doors actually unlocked on the car, but we're told this has been significantly improved since our hands-on. Of course, RelayRides also supports remote unlocking via text message. Take a look at the galleries below then hit the break for our hands-on video, RelayRides' video and OnStar's PR.%Gallery-160469% %Gallery-160496%
Report: Kevin Rose moving within Mountain View, now a partner at Google Ventures
Have you been wondering what Digg co-founder, Kevin Rose, has been up to since joining the Mountain View team a couple months back? Well, AllThingsD is reporting that Mr. Rose has left his duties as senior product manager of Big G's social network in order to make a move to the company's investment firm, Google Ventures. According to the report, the switch has now been confirmed by an undisclosed Ventures spokesperson, although no further details were given at this time. The move itself isn't exactly a surprising one, given Rose's previous, and hefty history of venturing into startups within the industry. Feel free to chime in with your thoughts in the comments section below.
RelayRides hooks up with GM, opens P2P car sharing to OnStar subs
Usually when a stranger gets behind the wheel of your car, it's more a situation for the authorities than General Motors. But with the impending nationwide rollout of RelayRides' P2P car sharing program, owners of GM vehicles will soon be actively looking for complete strangers to take a spin at their wheels in exchange for cash. The startup, backed by venture capital from Google, launched its unique rental service two years ago in Boston and San Francisco and is now poised to expand that reach to about six million OnStar subs with an upcoming smartphone app. Admittedly, it's a bizarre, though potentially lucrative concept, as those who opt-in and open their driver-side doors to randoms could net anywhere from $250 to $1000 per month, while renters only have to cough up about $5 to $10 per hour. It's a tough sell when compared up to the more traditional, well-established likes of, say, ZipCar, but if you're keen on sniffing that previously-owned car smell, this should be right up your alley.
Transphorm promises brickless laptop chargers, power savings aplenty
Stop us if you've heard this one before. A mysterious startup company operates in secret for a number of years, raises millions in funding from some of the biggest players in the industry (in this case, Google and Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers), and announces a breakthrough technology that promises to change everything. In this case the startup is a company called Transphorm, and the breakthrough is a gallium nitride technology that promises to improve AC/DC transformers. While that might not sound like the most exciting thing in the world, the company's CEO says that it could not only drastically reduce the electricity wasted by electronics that currently rely on silicon components, but significantly reduce the size of the components as well. One prime example there is laptop charger bricks, which Transphorm says could be reduced or even completely eliminated by building the necessary components right into the laptop itself. The company also sees a huge opportunity with electric cars, and especially data centers, which is one of the first markets it will be targeting. Of course, complete details are still fairly light at the moment, but the company is promising to unveil its first products in just two weeks, and you can be sure we'll be watching.
RelayRides P2P car sharing service now available in the Bay Area
Got a car sittin' 'round, clutterin' up your driveway? Love the idea of handing over the keys to strangers? RelayRides, a recent beneficiary of some Google Ventures cash, has just brought its peer-to-peer car-sharing service to the San Francisco Bay Area. Already available in Boston, the service is sort of a "social bikes-meets-Zip Car." The idea is to let customers rent privately owned (and in some cases, leased) vehicles by the hour: owners receive sixty-five percent of the rental fee, and they're protected by a million dollar insurance policy (drivers have to pay a $500 deductible, which should be large enough to keep people on good behavior). RelayRides is unclear on the exact nature of the keyless entry system (which gets installed gratis when your whip enters the program), but we're guessing it's either RFID or NFC. It also contains a GPS, which is used to track the car's movements and mileage. Interested? Hit the source link to get started.
