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Tuesday, May 27, 2008, 11:00 am
Home automation, location-based iPhone apps chosen for funding
An application that will allow you to control your household appliances and another for finding out what's going on around your current location are the first two pieces of iPhone software to receive funding under the iFund.BusinessWeek reports that fund managers at Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers have received submissions from 1,700 startups hoping to vie for a slice of the $100 million iFund, announced this past March at Apple's iPhone Software Roadmap event.
The venture capital firm has thus far funded just two of those companies, made an offer to a third, and is presently considering funding for another ten.
Pelago, a developer of on-the-go lifestyle applications, was reportedly the first to see funding for an iPhone version of its Whrrl application. By leveraging the mapping capabilities of the iPhone and other smartphones, the software tries to make it easy to find information about places and businesses within close proximity to a user's current geographical location.
"Say you're lost in Las Vegas and need a restaurant recommendation. With iPhone in hand, you can scan the locations of nearby restaurants, just Italian restaurants, or just those recommended by foodie friends," BusinessWeek explains. "Or you could search for the highest-rated bars or kid-friendly activities recommended by friends from your social network."
Joining Pleago as the only other company to receive an iFund grant at this time is iControl, makers of home automation software that would give iPhone users remote control over air conditioners, lighting, window shades, and so forth.
iControl for iPhone should let you kill the lights from the dent in your couch.
Not all third-party developers authoring iPhone applications for distribution over Apple's upcoming App Store are necessarily in need of funding. The same report notes that Loopt, which offers software that lets mobile users see the proximity of their friends, will announce deals with more mobile providers at "an upcoming event."
BusinessWeek echos the popular notion that June 9th, the first day of Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference, will see the unveiling of the company's much anticipated 3G iPhone. It may also offer a preview of one or more of the aforementioned applications.
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Previous Comments View All
Neither of these apps seem to me to warrant money from the iFund. Google maps can already tell you where restaurants are (OK no user feedback, but still), and iControl seems to be for such a limited user base, and it's not really innovative.
Maybe I'm just being a Scrooge, but I wouldn't have either of these apps on my iPhone, even if they were free.
Quote:
Originally Posted by hdasmith 
Neither of these apps seem to me to warrant money from the iFund. Google maps can already tell you where restaurants are (OK no user feedback, but still), and iControl seems to be for such a limited user base, and it's not really innovative.
Maybe I'm just being a Scrooge, but I wouldn't have either of these apps on my iPhone, even if they were free.
Neither of these apps seem to me to warrant money from the iFund. Google maps can already tell you where restaurants are (OK no user feedback, but still), and iControl seems to be for such a limited user base, and it's not really innovative.
Maybe I'm just being a Scrooge, but I wouldn't have either of these apps on my iPhone, even if they were free.
Yeah, I have to agree. These seem like such pedestrian, uninspired choices. Esp. coming from a classic, savvy VC firm such as KPCB.
Quote:
Originally Posted by hdasmith
Neither of these apps seem to me to warrant money from the iFund. Google maps can already tell you where restaurants are (OK no user feedback, but still), and iControl seems to be for such a limited user base, and it's not really innovative.
Maybe I'm just being a Scrooge, but I wouldn't have either of these apps on my iPhone, even if they were free.
Neither of these apps seem to me to warrant money from the iFund. Google maps can already tell you where restaurants are (OK no user feedback, but still), and iControl seems to be for such a limited user base, and it's not really innovative.
Maybe I'm just being a Scrooge, but I wouldn't have either of these apps on my iPhone, even if they were free.
I agree with macFanDave. IControl is a natural progression of what we should be able to do with our electronics and appliances. But you are right, at this time the user base would be very small. We'll need to get some new standards in place to make it ubquitous. I think Bonjour networked devices would be a good start. It'll take a decade before we start to see any real change, but I think it's inevitable.
I'm a little confused by this other app. Maybe it does offer some things that Google doesn't. I guess I'll have to see it first. I wonder if this is an indiavation that the 3G iPhone won't have true GPS.
Quote:
Originally Posted by hdasmith
Neither of these apps seem to me to warrant money from the iFund. Google maps can already tell you where restaurants are (OK no user feedback, but still), and iControl seems to be for such a limited user base, and it's not really innovative.
Maybe I'm just being a Scrooge, but I wouldn't have either of these apps on my iPhone, even if they were free.
Neither of these apps seem to me to warrant money from the iFund. Google maps can already tell you where restaurants are (OK no user feedback, but still), and iControl seems to be for such a limited user base, and it's not really innovative.
Maybe I'm just being a Scrooge, but I wouldn't have either of these apps on my iPhone, even if they were free.
If the iFund has any intelligent people, for their first round picks they should just fund existing companies with actual users (what a concept) who only lack the funding to take their product to the next level. After an initial round of guaranteed success, they could take greater risks on unproven companies and concepts.
Quote:
Originally Posted by SpamSandwich
If the iFund has any intelligent people, for their first round picks they should just fund existing companies with actual users (what a concept) who only lack the funding to take their product to the next level. After an initial round of guaranteed success, they could take greater risks on unproven companies and concepts.
If the iFund has any intelligent people, for their first round picks they should just fund existing companies with actual users (what a concept) who only lack the funding to take their product to the next level. After an initial round of guaranteed success, they could take greater risks on unproven companies and concepts.
I thought the idea of the iFund is to help small developers get their software on the iPhone and to encourage new ideas not existing ones!
Quote:
Originally Posted by NasserAE
I thought the idea of the iFund is to help small developers get their software on the iPhone and to encourage new ideas not existing ones!
I thought the idea of the iFund is to help small developers get their software on the iPhone and to encourage new ideas not existing ones!
Clearly they are not pursuing that goal very aggressively and since they are not, they should at least boldly support some existing apps.
Quote:
Originally Posted by SpamSandwich
Clearly they are not pursuing that goal very aggressively and since they are not, they should at least boldly support some existing apps.
Clearly they are not pursuing that goal very aggressively and since they are not, they should at least boldly support some existing apps.
I wonder how closely they are working with Apple. Perhaps Apple doesn't want them to fund apps and services that in anyway compete with Apple's current and future products and services. Man, I hope that isn't the case.
Well... I'm going to beat them by including something they won't have - a neural-net-like system that predicts - and learns - just which people, places, things and events you will find most interesting at a particular time.
People get more or less interesting from moment to moment. Are they in a place you find interesting right now? Are they with people you find interesting? Then they themselves are currently more interesting than usual. Maybe you should give them a call, or text them - get in on it! Is a place full of interesting people? Is it having an interesting event? Then it is more interesting than usual. Maybe you should go on over. Where is the most interesting place in the world right now? I'm on a trip - what will the most interesting places be in Seattle next Tuesday?
Funding? Didn't get any. Heck, Apple hasn't even let me into the full iPhone developer plan yet. And it's annoying, developing a location-based app without being able to load it on frackin' phone! But I'm not going anywhere.
YHIHF.
Quote:
Originally Posted by solipsism
I wonder how closely they are working with Apple. Perhaps Apple doesn't want them to fund apps and services that in anyway compete with Apple's current and future products and services. Man, I hope that isn't the case.
I wonder how closely they are working with Apple. Perhaps Apple doesn't want them to fund apps and services that in anyway compete with Apple's current and future products and services. Man, I hope that isn't the case.
Same here... but it looks like Apple is not a part of this fund, only tangentially through Al Gore's involvement.
http://www.kpcb.com/team/index.php?all
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That iControl is exactly the next thing Apple can expand in! How it is done, what devices can be monitored and controlled, and the adoption by third-party manufacturers (to implement a consistent Mac-like interface) will all be determining factors in its ultimate success.