Searching For Something New And Different? Here Are Products To Watch

Transcript

ARUN RATH, HOST:

Thanks again for listening. Once again, this is ALL THINGS CONSIDERED from NPR West. I'm Arun Rath. It's time now for The New And The Next.

Carlos Watson is the cofounder of the online magazine Ozy. Each week he joins us to talk about what's new and what's next. Welcome back, Carlos.

CARLOS WATSON: Arun, always good to be with you.

RATH: So first up, we have the story of a man with a pretty incredible dream. He wants to take Google down.

WATSON: Tomer Kagan is unafraid of calling himself a Google killer. He argues that these days, there are lots of apps and, in fact, what people really need to search is not just websites, but apps, and that you can't do that with Google or any of the other search engines.

Through his company, Quixey, the idea is that you can search within an app to figure out if that restaurant app has a table available or what time it's available, and that you don't have to do extra clicking in order to get to that information.

RATH: Now other people have wanted to unseat Google before. A little company called Microsoft has been giving it a shot. But it sounds like this is a different concept, though.

WATSON: Correct. And what's interesting is that their technology - they originally thought - was something they were just going to license to other search engines - so someone like ask.com. But increasingly, these guys are throwing elbows and starting to talk in boastful ways. And again, the big idea is that now that people downloaded, last year, 60 billion apps, what you really need is the ability to reach inside those apps, get all that kind of good information and get it simply and clearly. And that's what Quixey believes it can do.

RATH: So maybe before too long, we'll all be saying let's Quixey it.

WATSON: Hey, you know, it worked out for Google and Coca-Cola. Both of those have become clear statements of something larger.

RATH: Next up, we have a story about something that's been gaining some popularity online. Would you introduce us to Black & Sexy TV?

WATSON: So Arun, this is the moment where I have finally gone from someone who's kind of snacked on web video to someone who will now begin to look for video series on the web. And this new show "That Guy" that's in it's second season featuring two guys, one woman - and they are - what's the right way to put this? - unguarded.

RATH: Yeah. Let's hear a clip. This is the two guys, and one is encouraging his friend who's going through a rough breakup.

(SOUNDBITE OF SHOW, "THAT GUY")

UNIDENTIFIED MAN #1: I can't leave you out here. I would be a horrible friend to you if I left you alone, man. Get up, man.

UNIDENTIFIED MAN #2: Man, I've already been out, man.

UNIDENTIFIED MAN #1: Out where?

UNIDENTIFIED MAN #2: Today is Thursday, and I'm chilling, bro.

UNIDENTIFIED MAN #1: Today is Saturday.

UNIDENTIFIED MAN #2: Today is not Saturday 'cause if today was Saturday, then that means I would have worked on Friday.

UNIDENTIFIED MAN #1: Exactly.

UNIDENTIFIED MAN #2: And I did not work on Friday, so that means...

UNIDENTIFIED MAN #1: Exactly. So you're fired.

RATH: And you can get a sense from the sound, it's got a very kind of verite feel to it, but - even "The Office." It's like hand-held cameras. You could almost have a sense that you're actually just watching something real.

WATSON: It is raw. It's funny. They've got parenting drama. They've got friendship drama. And it's a little bit like - for those who tuned into "Sex And The City" early on or - I don't know if you remember the first time you watched "Chappelle's Show" back in the day. And it just seemed like who in the world let this on? But it is really, really good, very funny.

RATH: You watch these, and they feel so raw and real and fresh. Another one of their shows called "The Couple" is being developed by HBO. Should I be right to be a little bit worried about HBO taking this over and maybe we lose some of what makes it so special?

WATSON: You know, I say that's actually to HBO's credit. They've gotten back on it in terms of trying to be aggressive and creative whether it's "True Detective," which you and I both enjoyed or whether it's the new "Vice" TV show.

And so I love that for a group like the folks behind Black & Sexy, they are now able to make a business out of their hard work. There are seven series - not one, not two, but they've produced seven series effectively for free. And so now they're finally getting a little bit of a pay day.

RATH: Nice. Well, we'll be watching them some more. Carlos Watson is the cofounder of the online magazine Ozy. You can explore all the stories we talked about at npr.org/newandnext. Carlos, thanks again.

WATSON: Arun, good to be with you. See you soon. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.