It's been rumored, and now it's here: Google's implemented direct computer-to-phone calling from within its Gmail service. It's a small change, but it makes Google Voice more powerful, and challenges the existing phone industry.

Google just revealed the news on its official blog, with the disarming and charmingly low-key line "we thought 'wouldn't it be nice if you could call people directly on their phones?'," referring to the fact that while its existing Google Voice and Video chat service is very powerful, it requires both users to be at their PCs and connected to Gmail.

So, starting today "you can call any phone right from Gmail." Well, not any phone, as the service is only now rolling out in the U.S., but check out the video below to learn more:

 

Google notes it's "been testing this feature internally and have found it to be useful in a lot of situations, ranging from making a quick call to a restaurant, to placing a call when you’re in an area with bad reception." And its even giving you a little gift: For the rest of 2010, calls to the U.S. and Canada will be free. Calls overseas are also at a special "low" rate Google's been busy negotiating. It's pretty simple to use, with an obvious "call phones" icon inside Gmail--your Google Voice number is your caller ID, and you can also receive incoming calls to the number directly inside Gmail.

While it's still wrapped up in Google's bland and now very aged-looking UI, making it not as "user friendly" as other VoIP services like Granny's favorite Skype, it's another big slap to the existing landline phone industry.

To keep up with this news, follow me, Kit Eaton, on Twitter.

By SCOTT AUSTIN

Start-ups hungry for cash are often expected to pay a fee to pitch to angel investors. But some free services are cropping up to counter the so-called pay-to-pitch model.

Earlier this year, Internet entrepreneur and blogger Jason Calacanis started Open Angel Forum, which holds free pitch events in various cities where entrepreneurs selected from a pool of applicants can pitch to about 20 to 30 angel investors. At Open Angel's first event in Boulder, Co., in February, three of six companies found new investors.

 

Another free service, AngelList, started in February by angels Naval Ravikant and Babak Nivi, vets dozens of deals before highlighting the best ones in emails each week sent free to a group of 200 investors.

Messrs. Ravikant and Nivi—who also run Venture Hacks, a for-profit site that provides advice to start-ups—say they have received pitches from more than 1,000 start-ups, mostly consumer Internet companies. Of the 48 companies featured so far on AngelList, about half have received funding, they say.

Marco Zappacosta, founder of Thumbtack Inc., a site that lets people book services like tutors and dog walkers, won three commitments from angels after pitching his company in March at an Open Angel Forum event in San Francisco. He then turned to AngelList and received three more commitments to close a funding round at $1.2 million in June. The service, he says, "is good at getting worthy start-ups into the inbox of investors."

The free services come in the wake of recent criticism of the pay-to-pitch model, which some angel investors have argued is justified because they offer advice and should be paid for their time. Mr. Calacanis, an outspoken figure in the tech industry, last fall publicly admonished angel investment groups for charging bootstrapped entrepreneurs hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars to pitch to them.

More on Angels

• What's an Angel Investor?
• How to Win Angel Funding
• Tips for Finding Angel Investors

Last month, Chris Hurley shut down his Revolutionary Angels service that proposed to charge entrepreneurs $4,995 for advisory services and entry into a business-plan competition that would award $250,000 to the winner. After soliciting submissions in October, Revolutionary Angels received only 20 entries, far short of its goal of 60 participants.

In retrospect, "$5,000 is a lot of money for early-stage entrepreneurs," said Mr. Hurley.

But the new free services aren't entirely altruistic. Both AngelList and Open Angel give their founders inside access to companies in which they might be interested in investing, and Messrs. Ravikant and Nivi can use AngelList to indirectly market Venture Hacks' start-up guides.

"We're just trying to open up the way entrepreneurs and angels connect," said Mr. Ravikant, a serial entrepreneur who has founded companies such as Epinions Inc.

Not all entrepreneurs have won investments. Jen Lilienstein, one of six entrepreneurs selected to pitch last month at an Open Angel forum in Los Angeles, hasn't raised any cash for her start-up, Kidzmet.com, which helps parents enroll their kids in extracurricular activities.

But Ms. Lilienstein says the event was helpful because angels stuck around for hours to proffer advice. Ms. Lilienstein says she is now in "a dating phase" with investors and continuing conversations.

Some pay-to-pitch services have changed their business models amid the criticism. In September, FundingUniverse LLC stopped charging a $125 fee for entrepreneurs to pitch at its events, attended by angels and loan providers like banks. The winners of its events receive a few thousand dollars in in-kind services, and sometimes, investments.

FundingUniverse does, however, sell products through its website, such as a $99 online "diagnostic tool" that analyzes a business's funding prospects. "We think the services we do charge for are perfectly acceptable," says Alexander Lawrence, a partner at the company.

Write to Scott Austin at scott.austin@dowjones.com

Beyond the Business Center

A new breed of high-tech hotels for road warriors.

By John Brandon |  May 1, 2010

 

Christopher Silas Neal

Tired of spotty Wi-Fi and outdated lobby workstations? These hotels are redefining business travel with high-tech amenities.

Aria Resort & Casino

Walk into your room at the Aria in Las Vegas, and the shades automatically rise as the lights brighten. Rooms feature bedside touchscreens for controlling the shades, lighting, temperature, TV, and an electronic do-not-disturb sign. Resortwide Wi-Fi access costs $15 a day.
COST: $149 a night and up

Aloft

Check-in is a breeze at this trendy chain, which has 40 hotels in Phoenix, Beijing, and 38 other cities worldwide. Guests receive a keycard in the mail before their trip and a text-message room assignment on arrival day. The keycard even unlocks the door remotely when you near your room. Wi-Fi is free hotelwide.
COST: $125 a night and up

Sheraton New York Hotel & Towers

Starting in June, guests at this Midtown Manhattan hotel can hold videoconferences in a Cisco TelePresence suite for $500 an hour. The revamped property also has a lounge with printers and Windows 7 computers. In-room Wi-Fi costs $14.95 a day; access is free in the lobby.
COST: $239 a night and up

Joie de Vivre Citizen Hotel

Rooms at the stately Citizen in downtown Sacramento have free high-speed broadband, a Mac Mini computer with a webcam and wireless mouse and keyboard, and an iPod docking station. Joie de Vivre plans to add high-tech touches to more of its 35 boutique California hotels this year.
COST: $149 a night and up

 

LA Scores Big Microsoft Con

By Tina Dupuy on May 10, 2010 09:39 AM

Oh how we love geeks and their geek money!

Hugo Martin writes:

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa is expected to announce Monday that the city will host Microsoft Corp.'s Worldwide Partner Conference 2011, a gathering of the company's staffers and business partners July 10 to 14 next year.

The conference is expected to bring about 15,000 attendees, who would spend an estimated $45 million, officials say. It would be one of the biggest gatherings at the Los Angeles Convention Center.

The article also speculates that LA is in the running for Comic Con. We say it's a red herring. Downtown San Diego was built on nerd sweat and they will do anything they can to keep their golden geeky goose. They will likely do far more to keep Comic Con in San Diego than LA or Vegas will do to move them.

What do you guys think? Discuss.

AT&T extends exclusivity with Apple, no Verizon iPhone until 2011?

by Kelly Hodgkins on May 6th, 2010 at 12:13pm
Filed under: AT&T, Apple, Rumors, Verizon 207 Comments

 

Take this one with the largest grain of salt that you can find…the latest rumor on the status of the Verizon Wireless iPhone suggests that the phone may not come to fruition until 2011. As we all know, AT&T is offering data plans for the iPad on a non-contract basis at the lowly price of $15 for 250MB of data and $30 for unlimited data. According to analyst Brian Marshall of BroadPoint AmTech, AT&T would not have agreed to such a drastic price reduction, and no-contract plans, without receiving something big from Apple in return. That “big something”, he hypothesizes, is an extension of the iPhone exclusivity agreement that AT&T currently has enjoyed with Apple in the U.S. Under this quid pro quo agreement, AT&T’s exclusivity would be extended until the end of 2010, effectively shuttering any plans to launch the iPhone on Big Red in 2010.