In a first, but likely not last for Facebook, a retailer is setting up shop inside the popular social-networking site.
Flower and gift retailer 1-800-Flowers.com plans to announce Wednesday it has opened a retail store to let people shop for its products directly through Facebook.
The company was already a pioneer in using a 1-800 number as its name. The company went online in 1991 and three years later it became the first merchant on AOL.
Now that it gets the majority of its orders online, CEO and founder Jim McCann calls mobile applications and the Facebook store a natural step. The company launched an application for the BlackBerry last fall, and one for the iPhone followed shortly.
Of course, there are still hurdles. It’s hard to find the company’s fan page on Facebook, for example, unless you remember to include the hyphens and the “.com.” This is something 1-800-Flowers.com says it is aware of. But to fix it, Facebook would have to tweak its search capabilities.
BringIt: You can win or lose money
Although you can win or lose real money, BringIt.com is not considered online gambling, and it’s legal in 39 states.
The site, which lets players challenge other gamers for money, says it is different from online poker and other games of chance because video games are considered a game of skill.
BringIt is set to emerge from its “beta” test version in the next few days. It’s free to sign up, provided you are at least 18. The site makes money by taking a 10 percent cut from people’s wagers and a $4 fee from winners when they withdraw their loot.
Founder and CEO Woody Levin, 30, said most of the players on BringIt play for small amounts of money, $5 or $10. It’s not really for “hardcore, crazy gamers,” he said, but rather, people who “want to put their money where their mouth is, a little bit.”
To ensure that first-time players don’t go pawning engagement rings, BringIt limits players’ entry fees to $25 for the first 10 games they play. The limit increases in steps until it reaches $500.
AOL getting a new name … again
AOL will once again get a new name. The struggling Internet company, which changed its moniker from America Online Inc. to AOL LLC just three years ago, will become known as AOL Inc. before it begins trading as a public company — something expected near the end of the year when it is spun off from parent Time Warner Inc.
AOL must make the change from LLC to Inc. before it can be listed on a stock exchange, but it’s not yet clear if it will happen before or after it is spun off.
According to a recent regulatory filing, AOL plans to list its shares on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol “AOL.”
AOL has changed names several times thus far. The company started out in 1985 as Quantum Computer Services.
Associated Press
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
