The Next Web

Mosaic created from 1001 of those shiny 2.0 logos

Written on June 27, 2008 – 11:19 am
Ernst-Jan Pfauth, editor in chief

Yeah, you saw that right: I’m vain enough to hover over our logo. And no, I’m not gonna tell you how long I looked for it.

What you see above this text, is a smart marketing tool by two Dutch guys who want to be the next KillerStartUps.com. Sytse Sijbrandij and Jelle de Bruin have built AppAppeal, a review site for web apps. They’ve created 27 categories - from aggregator to word processing -, containing very short to-the-point reviews. Like this one, about Gmail. I’m not sure it will be useful for you, but AppAppeal can definitely help out people who want to start moving their digital office to the online world.

Anyway, to promote their new site, Sytse and Jelle have spent probably too much time on this world mosaic. The idea is pretty nice and I guess it’s on its way to the Digg frontpage. Yet the execution is somewhat pointless. It would have made more sense if they had placed the logos on the countries they were originally coming from. Then it would have a meaning. Now it’s just a bunch of logos on a pile, looking like the world. Or maybe I’m just a bit pissed of because The Next Web, THE (self-proclaimed) European tech blog is placed somewhere in the Pacific. You be the judge…

I hope you like that post!

The Next Web Blog covers start-up news from all over the world (not just the Valley), exciting new technologies and inspiring entrepreneurs. If you're new here, you may want to read our 'About' page and subscribe to our RSS feed.

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appappeal, mosaic, reviews, The Netherlands, web 2.0, world

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What’s in a name? Wauw! Wee more than just a weird Dutch expression

Written on April 8, 2008 – 1:55 pm
Ernst-Jan Pfauth, editor in chief

Every week we publish an interview with a start-up. We ask five questions, hoping the answers will give you inspiration and new views. Well, actually six questions, since we also ask the start-up to who he or she is passing the mic to.

This week we’re interviewing Marco Menato, CEO of Wauw! Wee. This start-up presented at The Next Web Conference , which got them a write-up on TechCrunch. One problem though: Wauw is a Dutch version of Wow and non-Dutch speakers don’t seem to get that. TechCrunch’s Erick Schonfeld called it Wuaw! consistently. Commenter Matt said what the guys from Wauw! Wee probably experienced: “Imagine the excitement over bieng in a TC post… then to see your brandName misspelled at every… single… instance…. ouch”.

Wauw! Wee makes it easy to upload pictures and text to your site and networks by using your mobile phone. Read here how they got the idea and how it went from there.

How did you come up with the idea of Wauw! Wee?

“24access Solutions had been in business for a few years when I arrived 6 months ago, and they had brought good product to market, including Mobile Media Center - a PC download that offered to shift several entertainment media from PC to mobile handset. When I was asked to take the role of CEO I was impressed by the technical know-how in the company but realized that the product was highly reliant for its success on mobile operators, their infrastructure and pricing policies. The idea for Wauw! Wee was really borne of observing several trends in PC/mobile convergence, appreciation of the company’s legacy know-how in mobile handsets, as well as pragmatically adapting to the networks’ current ability to support mobile streaming. (more…)

amsterdam, five questions for start-ups, holland, Start-ups, The Netherlands, Wauw

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Online gambling in Europe stays a touchy subject

Written on April 2, 2008 – 3:10 pm
Ernst-Jan Pfauth, editor in chief

Yesterday, the upper house of the Dutch parliament voted against an online gambling trial of the country’s gambling monopolist Holland Casino - which is state-owned. 37 of the 75 members voted against the bill of minister Ernst Hirsch Ballin. It was a close call, since 35 members agreed with the minister. Ballin wanted to give Holland Casino permission to offer online gambling for three years, to see how it would develop. The plan was to reassess the gambling activities every year.

Dutch gamblers now often go to illegal gambling sites to fulfill their gambling needs. The minister wanted to lure this group of approximatively 40,000 people away from the dark side of the web to a state-controlled site. Makes sense in my opinion. I think it’s quite remarkable that in a country that is famous for its progressive and liberal laws, online gambling still stays unregulated.

Holland is not alone in its online gambling fear. Countries like Germany, France and Greece also remain reluctant to allow any kind of online gambling initiative. Reuters reports that their main concerns are addiction and a decrease in income from state betting monopolies. The European Union isn’t really fond of this attitude since it prevents competition. Therefore, the EU recently gave the Netherlands and Greece a final warning before court action over restrictions in their gaming markets.

european union, holland, holland casino, online gambling, The Netherlands

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