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 (SXSW Interactive ) SXSWi was the coming-out party for modern essentials like Twitter and Foursquare.
5 Most Promising Tech Startups at SXSWi
MARCH 13, 2013Seth Porges, Fox NewsWhen the Sonys and Samsungs of the world launch a new gadget, they go to CES. The startups? They head to SXSW Interactive. We look at the companies hoping to use this year's festival as a launching pad to Next Big Thing status—and let you know who seems the most likely to break through into your phone or bookmark tab.
Uber isn't exactly new. The app, which makes it easy to call a car service without fighting cab-hailing crowds, has already proved extraordinarily popular in cities such as San Francisco and New York. But SXSWi visitors to Austin who opened up their Uber app were met by a couple of buzz-worthy surprises.
First: The app brought up a feature for calling one of Austin's omnipresent pedicabs. And, second: There was a chance your pickup was performed by a Tesla electric car. The result is a fine display by Uber of the service's ability to deliver different forms of transportation and to adapt to the needs of different environments and cities.
GroupMe was one of the big success stories of a past SXSW, and now they're back for more. The group messaging app -- which lets users keep in touch with multiple friends at once -- timed a major update to this year's festival. New to the app: a "Gallery View" feature that displays photos shared among your friends in an easy-to-browse collage layout, and "Split," a new feature that makes it easy to divide the cost of purchases between friends (say: a check for a group dinner). Read more: Fox News
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