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Thursday May 15, 2008

Semantic Travel Search Engine UpTake Launches

Semantic travel search engine UpTake has launched in beta test form and hopes to make the process of sifting through the massive amounts of travel information available on Web easier. UpTake works by collecting and organizing reviews and information from its database of hotels and attractions from over 1,000 different travel Web sites. UpTake is strictly about aggregation of reviews and semantic analysis, does not do any actual booking, but provides links to Web sites where booking can be done. UpTake works by applying its specially created travel ontology, which contains concepts, relationships between those concepts, and rules about how they fit together, to the 20 million reviews in its database.

http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/semantic_travel_search_uptake.php
http://www.uptake.com/documents/press/051408-beta.pdf (.PDF file)

Comcast To Acquire Plaxo

Cable operator Comcast plans to acquire social networking company Plaxo, putting an end to rumors that Google and Facebook had plans to acquire the company. Plaxo offers technology that helps users more easily share contact information and media such as photos or personal Web-site information with special software that automatically updates everyone on a users contact list whenever a change is made. Plaxo will power soon to be released community features on Comcast’s TV, broadband data, and eventually on wireless devices. More specifically, Comcast and Plaxo have been working together in developing SmartZone Communication Center, due out later this year.

http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/05/14/its-complaxtic-comcast-buys-plaxo-to-boost-video-sharing/index.html
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121080433953993119.html
http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/05/14/confirmed-comcast-bought-plaxo-deal-closed-today/
http://www.reuters.com/article/internetNews/idUSN1452220120080515
http://mashable.com/2008/05/14/plaxo-comcas/
http://www.infoworld.com/article/08/05/15/Comcast-to-buy-Plaxo-for-social-networking_1.html
http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/05/14/gillmor-gang-digests-comcastplaxo-deal/
http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/comcast_plus_plaxo_is_not_a_pretty_picture.php
http://www.webmasterworld.com/foo/3650703.htm

[edited by: Vanessa_Zamora at 9:55 pm (utc) on May 15, 2008]