What it does
Ever have to help your parents email an attachment? Does your grandmother complain about how confusing the internet is? Yes, old people sometimes just don’t get it. But that’s the reason for BigScreenLive. It’s been called the browser for old people. It offers an easy, intuitive browsing environment for older users who aren’t use to the net. At its core, it’s a downloadable app which makes everything—email, photo sharing, reading news, shopping and even playing games—easier. Content is displayed with clear, bold text in a readily understood format. Spam is automatically blocked. Families can set up multiple accounts. Extraneous and potentially confusing elements such as pop-ups, software update notices and download requests can be blocked. Email attachments can be instantly converted into text and graphics. BSL also runs right off a thumb drive which means seniors can take their easy browsing with them wherever they go. The service costs $9.95 a month but there is a free trial version available.
In their own words
“BigScreenLive makes computers and the Internet easy to use, instead of wasting time “figuring out how to make it work”. The intuitive specially designed software and your private BigScreenLive family network allows you to connect generations.”
Why it might be a killer
BigScreenLive isn’t overly patronizing. It has simple and clearly defined features which make the net super easy for older users. It blocks out the frenetic extra stuff that most old folks don’t want to deal with. However, BSL isn’t over reaching—it does allow direct web access with Firefox built in. Email can be configured to suite more experienced users tastes.
Some questions
Will BSL be able to traffic in enough buzz to attract older users? Is it too simplistic for families—will they bother with paying $9.95 a month especially as it’s pretty limited in what it can do?
Updates
read full story of "BigScreenLive.com - Internet For the Older Generation"
What it does
NetinaClick offers businesses and individuals a base for finding affordable and discounted internet services. Whether you’re looking for hosting, marketing or tools, you can find them all on NetinaClick. The site puts forward five categories for you to look through: marketing, hosting, webtools, web design and eprocessing (e.g. Paypal). Under each category you’ll find a thorough listing of services complete with links and descriptions. There are also discounted/special prices available. The homepage features the most popular and top ranked services. Using the site is free and it’s easy.
In their own words
“NetinaClick.com offers customers easy to find, discounted internet services including website hosting solutions, internet marketing services, website tools, internet business website design and internet payment processing solutions.”
Why it might be a killer
NetinaClick compiles net resources so that users can search through one site to find all the services they need. It provides complete information and links. Besides that, it saves users time as they don’t have to perform searches all over the web.
Some questions
How are services added? (There really aren’t enough services on the site to make it worth looking at, for the moment) Will the site implement a search bar? How often are new services added? Ratings or comments?
Updates
read full story of "NetInAClick.com - Your One Stop for Web Services"
What it does
iPhone users now have an exclusive site to share their iPhone photos. It’s called Natuba. Natuba, headed by Richard Yoo of Rackspace, focuses on mobile uploading (it actually works with any phone capable of email). Users add their snapshots to the site simply by sending them to a specific email address. Photos can be captioned and titled and all are displayed in the public stream. Photos may also be rated and commented on. The homepage displays most viewed and recently discussed pictures, you can also choose to view photos randomly using the Surprise Me button. The Activity section shows you what’s going on Natuba, i.e. new comments and new photos uploaded. There’s a Facebook app and Twitter integration too.
In their own words
“Natuba is the original iPhone photo sharing site.™
It’s the easiest way to put your iPhone photos on the web for your friends to see and discuss.™
After getting iPhones, we began taking photos on the go and soon realized we needed an easy way to share them with our friends. Although there were plenty of photo sharing sites on the web, none of these sites were designed specifically for iPhone users. So we created Natuba, a site for uploading, sharing and viewing photos from your iPhone.”
Why it might be a killer
Natuba is a quite complete photo sharing site. iPhone users will dig it, given its specific focus. It’s got a simple yet cool design and it’s filled with features. The interface is easy to navigate. The blog integration is also a nice touch.
Some questions
Natuba is hardly a first in the field, will it be able to attract a critical mass? Some of its features aren’t so apparent on first look, will they highlight them so as to draw in users?
Updates
read full story of "Natuba.com - Photo Sharing for the iPhone Crowd"
What it does
Recently launched FeedKiller allows users to merge RSS feeds. Essentially, this means that you can create one single feed from multiple feeds/sources which makes it easier for readers to find the information they want. Using it is quite simple. To get started, just enter the URL of the feeds you intend to merge into the appropriate box on the site (to add more feeds, click on the ‘Add another Feed’ button). Next specify the number of stories from each feed you want in your new, customized feed. Finally, don’t forget to name your new feed. That’s all there is to it. No registration is required, and it’s free.
In their own words
“FeedKiller.com just launched. In short, we provide an RSS feed merging service. With our tool you can put a variety of content into your website or RSS Aggregator with a single RSS feed. The setup is extremely simple and it is completely free! No registration required!”
Why it might be a killer
This is an extremely uncomplicated tool for merging feeds. For those who haven’t got the tech know how to use other more complex services, this works quite well. It takes no time and your new feed will be up and ready for all to read within moments.
Some questions
How does this service compare to the competition? Will a conversion tool be added so that users can convert Atom and RSS?
Updates
read full story of "FeedKiller.com - Merge and Mix Your RSS Feeds"
What it does
Phun is a virtual 2D physics simulator developed by some Swedish students at Umea University. As the Youtube tutorial video shows, Phun looks more like a child’s video game than a physics lab, hence the name, I suppose. Freely available for download, Phun comes with a plentiful set of tools allowing users to draw shapes, run simulations, test object relations and have fun. You can start by creating polygons and adding movement whether it be by springs or wheels, etc. Then you can add other elements such as water or bricks. There are scenes available for users to get inspiration or to use as a learning tool. Phun works across all three of the major platforms—Windows, Linux and Mac. It’s available in several languages too.
In their own words
“Phun is meant to be a playground where people can be creative. It can also be used as an educational tool to learn about physics concepts such as restitution and friction.
Phun was coded in C++ using OpenGL, GLEW, SDL (for window management), SDL_image (for reading images) and boost, including boost_filesystem. Everything was coded by Emil Ernerfeldt, including the physics engine and user interface.”
Why it might be a killer
Physics isn’t a subject to be taken lightly. In fact many would rather just leave it to the experts. Phun however is a rather addictive sandbox for experimenting and making your own discoveries about the science. It works without any additional downloads and it’s been translated into several languages which makes it pretty universal.
Some questions
Does Phun explain the concepts which users are learning about? Are there tutorials within the simulation itself? Is it easy to understand?
Updates
read full story of "Phun.cs.umu.se - Fun Physics For Everyone"
What it does
SurChur—or searcher sans the new fangled web 2.0 spelling—is a meta search engine. It pulls up results from several different search engines, aggregating them into one space for you to read and compare. Using it is simple: enter your query, choose the category you want to search through—all, pages, news, pictures, videos or products and hit Surch. The Pages category features Digg, Delicious, and technorati. News is pulled from Yahoo, Google, and Newsvine. Pictures come from Flickr, and Photobucket while videos are selected from Youtube, Metacafe and Revvr. Finally, products are derived from eBay and Amazon. A tag cloud on the homepage displays the most popular searches.
In their own words
“The latest. The greatest.”
Why it might be a killer
The site has a catchy design. It’s simple and it’s easy to use. Searches are displayed in clear and concise manner. As with other metasearch engines, SurChur ultimately makes searching an easier less time consuming process. You can easily compare results to get to the stuff you can use.
Some questions
Can users suggest different sources to add? Will users be deterred by the lag in search time?
Updates
What it does
LocoIndex is a trilingual search index site. The premise is pretty simple, but practical. You’ve got a search bar and categories from which you can choose to search from. For example, there’s a category dedicated exclusively to videos. Type in your query in the search box and pick where you want to search—Youtube, iFilm, Google Video, Sapo, Blip.tv, WeShow, Megavideo etc. The results are displayed in the same screen. Other categories include news with sources such as CNN, NYT, and Newsvine, music (Last.fm, MTV, iJigg), knowledge (Wikipedia, About.com, Answers.com), utilities (SearchRSS, Guianet, Google), and social (Omgili, Ning, TechCrunch), among others. The site is available in Portuguese, English and Spanish.
In their own words
“IN LOCO INDEX is a simple way of indexing things across the internet. Hope you can find this usefull. You will find also some Portuguese local urls inside. You know, I´m Portuguese.”
Why it might be a killer
This is actually quite a useful site. It lets you search through a large selection of sources without having to leave the page. Basically, you’ll save time, and you’ll get better search results.
Some questions
It would be handy if search results could be compiled side by side for comparison. Also, can users suggest sites to add to each category?
Updates
read full story of "LocoIndex.com - The All in One Search Page"
What it does
GameForCharity takes casual gaming to new levels. You’ve already got charitable golf tournaments, marathons, and races, well, now there’s charitable online gaming. GameforCharity allows organizations to set up online game tournaments meant to raise awareness as well as funds. Users can sign up for tournaments and win prizes, once they’ve made a donation. Charities can also solicit donations from businesses and corporate sponsors. The platform, created by Rezilio expands the potential for fund raising. Set up, for one, is easy as Rezilio provides the tools needed. Also, unlike telethons or walkathons, online games can be played whenever, wherever. Current games available include Carnival Shooter, Lightning Bugs, Sudoku, and Solitaire among others.
In their own words
“Game for Charity (G4C) is driving innovation by helping nonprofit organizations leverage the internet for raising funds. Our patent-pending solution allows organizations to create, manage and launch online game events to drive donor acquisition, revenue generation and message awareness. Our solution takes advantage of the convergence of two rapidly growing markets: 1) online charitable giving, and 2) online casual games.”
Why it might be a killer
GamesForCharity allows organizations to leverage the continuity and expanse of the web for charitable purposes. Charities will be better able to acquire corporate sponsorship as corporations can get better coverage online. Also, the app saves time and costs drastically.
Some questions
The interface needs work. How will people find out about this? There really doesn’t seem to be much promotion surrounding the games. Will they add more competitive games?
Updates
read full story of "Rezilio.com/GameforCharity - Playing For Charity"
What it does
Amazee is a goal oriented site which combines aspects of gaming, collaboration, gtd and project management. It aims to make the process of completing your goals a much more interactive and innovative experience. Its feature list is extensive, leveraging the power of social media to help users get more done. Features include profiles, teams, project wikis, to-do lists, publishing tools and even the chance to get corporate sponsorship. Within each project there are three levels of participation: editor, administrator and member. Members are the default position. Editors can edit the project news or magazine section which features descriptions and feeds about current projects. Public projects are free, however communication tools are limited. Premium memberships, which are yet to come, will provide additional privacy and messaging options.
In their own words
“Have you ever had a goal which required the attention and engagement of more people than just yourself? Then you are on the right platform. Amazee is a free platform that allows you to state your goals and gives you the tools to connect with like-minded people to run and promote projects. Whatever your goal is, publicize and pursue it on Amazee!
Think about your life’s goals the small and the big ones. They are an expression of your personality and they indicate to the world where you are heading for. Show them. Achieve them.”
Why it might be a killer
Amazee has quite an impressive list of features. Its innovative combination of gaming-style collaboration and project management is enticing. The interface, moreover is low-key and minimalistic—you won’t get deterred from getting the things done.
Some questions
Much of the content on Amazee is listed in German. The design leaves something to be wanted—it’s far too plain and uninspired. The navigational elements are somewhat clunky and stale. It appears that Amazee has overshot its mark.
Updates
read full story of "Amazee.com - Promises to Help You Fulfill Your Goals"
What it does
Radian6 monitors the web. It’s a company which aims its all seeing eye around the sphere of social media in order to aid advertisers and brand flame keepers to find out what the buzz, if any, is all about surrounding their company. In order to do this, they’ve parsed through social media coming up with a simple and succinct definition, which they use in turn to focus their efforts. Social media, according to them is disruptive, decentralized, open, transparent, and sprawling; however it is measurable. The tools they offer to measure the effect of social media on a brand include an easy to set up monitoring and analysis dashboard which works around the clock. There are widgets for quick access to information. Data can be exported in a variety of formats. It’s quite comprehensive, being designed by PR experts for PR experts.
In their own words
“Millions of blog posts. Viral videos. Reviews in forums. Sharing of photos. Status updates via microblogging. All conversations, all happening online right now and affecting brands, reputations, sales, you name it.
It is disruptive. It is distributed. It is in the hands of users and communities. And if you are a PR or advertising professional it’s your responsibility to manage it. But how?”
Why it might be a killer
Radian6 has a coolly engaging set of tools. Their approach takes fully into account the world of PR and brand management, offering professionals in that sector a well designed and easily managed dashboard for monitoring and analysis. Their real time monitoring tools are perfect for keeping track of product launches, live events and breaking news, among other things. It’s pretty powerful stuff, overall.
Some questions
How digestible is the relayed information? Is it set up to be easy to read and follow? How precise is the information?
Updates
read full story of "Radian6.com - State of the Art Media Monitoring"