Napster founders work on location-based video chat
updated 05:35 pm EDT, Fri April 15, 2011
Napster co-creators work on live location tech
Napster's two core founders, Shawn Fanning and Sean Parker, were claimed on Friday to be working on a joint project. The service, given the placeholder name Supyo ("'sup yo"), would be a web video chat service to match up people with similar tastes. Location awareness would play a large role in what TechCrunch was told would happen, but it would also have smart algorithms to match people properly.
The service has been compared to Chatroulette but would fix its problems with harassment and the lack of connection to those viewers saw.
Parker, as a key partner in Founders Fund, was said to be raising $10 million in tandem with angel investors. TechCrunch founder Michael Arrington has also said he was involved. Hopes are high for the project since Fanning and especially Parker have been known since Napster for creating or supporting companies that enjoyed success, such as Fanning's Path, Rupture and Snowcap as well as Parker's work at Facebook.
The service would be confined to the web at first. No clues were given as to how soon it would roll out, though its nature suggests it might not be made public for some time.
