In Limbo

6:00 PM -- Need confusion? On the go? Try Limbo!

From The Philter PR file, a new game that's sweeping the nation. Read this press release and try to figure out what this company does for a living:

Introducing Limbo 41414: a Company With a Refreshing New Twist on Mobile Entertainment

SAN MATEO, Calif., March 21 /PRNewswire/ -- Limbo 41414 (www.41414.com) today unveiled its beta site -- the Limbo Auction. A Limbo auction is a fun hybrid of a game, an auction, and a sweepstakes, which is primarily being played using text messaging from cell phones. The intriguing difference with a Limbo Auction is that the winner is the person making the lowest bid that no other player makes, not the highest bid. Limbo has run over 55 auctions since launch in December 2005 including auctioning items like a 42" Plasma HDTV worth over $3,000 which was won for a bid of only $3.25. No winning bid has ever exceeded $14.46...

Limbo 41414 has already seen widespread consumer uptake and excitement for the Limbo auction, with tens of thousands of members and some entertaining feedback from winners:

• "I literally point, talk smack to my phone, and start high fivin' my cubicle mates. Ridiculous, I know. But...fun as hell to do." -- Dave "Qualitee" C from San Diego won $800 diamond earrings for his $1.45 bid.
• "Cool cool cool! I just added unlimited texting to my phone plan." -- James Hepworth, from Utah, won a DVD player with his bid of $5.82.
• "This is really exciting, the last time I won anything was in the 6th grade and it didn't come close to a 42" Plasma." -- Matthew Chavis, from San Diego won a 42" Plasma TV with his $8.85 bid.
• "Are you serious?! I get a video iPod for a whole whoppin' $4.30?!?" -- Toly Luzanov from Chicopee, MA won a Video iPod with his $4.30 bid.

How low will YOU go?

Limbo Inc. was founded late in 2005 and reunites the founding team of Enpocket: Rob Lawson, Jonathon Linner and Juho-Pekka Virolainen. The Limbo auction is a unique service, and Limbo has a range of patent applications on file to defend its IP. Limbo 41414 has received initial funding from two leading venture capital firms, Azure Capital Partners, and Draper Fisher Jurvetson.

Take flea market haggling, add mobility, high-five your cubicle mates, and you've got yourself a business model. Good times.

— Phil "Qualitee" Harvey, Chicopee Games Editor, Light Reading