What it does
Newcomer to the Twitter crowd WhoShouldIFollow is a suggestion engine for finding friends on Twitter. It acts much like that people you may know feature on Facebook. When you first sign on to Twitter you do get a pretty good glance at your fellow Twitter contacts; however, it’s not so easy to find more friends and expand your following list. That’s where WhoShouldIFollow comes in; you just enter in your Twitter name and Who will search through your friend list to find more connections to you which will be relayed back in a list of suggested friends. It’s that simple. No registration or sign up is required—you just need a Twitter account.
In their own words
“WhoShouldIFollow was designed to help find other interesting twitter users. It was built by Gary Elliott and Mike Champion.”
Why it might be a killer
WhoShouldIFollow helps Twitter newbies figure out how to find more Twitter Friends, making Twitter a lot more interesting. The set up is dead simple—just a couple of clicks of the mouse and you’ve got a list. It works pretty well too.
Some questions
The problem with this is that like the People You May Know Facebook feature, many of these people suggested probably are people you haven’t already added for a reason. The app should have some sort of random matching feature so that Twitter users can really expand their contact list.
Updates
read full story of "WhoShouldIFollow.com - Find New Twitter Friends"
What it does
There are t-shirt/mug printing sites and then there is Pikiware. At first glance it looks like your run of the mill design and sell a t-shirt site. However, Pikiware offers more than that. It gives anyone with a screen printer or garment printer to sell their products and their customers products online. It’s an online fulfillment house. This means you can set up your own network of stores which sees the orders sent back to you. Pikiware doesn’t require any hardware or software downloads. Nor does it require coding skills/design skills. It works via your browser, just sign up and you’re set to go. Pikiware provides the website complete with customization tools, product management features, and analytics. They even have legal docs too. Prices start as low as a trifling $30 and go up to $400.
In their own words
“Pikiware Is the premier online solution for printers that print on t-shirts, hoodies, mugs or whatever.
Pikiware delivers the complete solution for any digital printer wanting to get online, a customizable website with t-shirt designer, e-commerce, order management system, affiliate system and much, much more.”
Why it might be a killer
There are many t-shirt design sites, but none have yet done what Pikiware has. Basically, it’s created a garment printing network. Each shopkeeper comes up with their own design, while the printer takes care of fulfillment. It’s designed particularly well, with easy to set up storefronts and simple customization options. It’s well thought out, with varying accounts and prices levels.
Some questions
How do store owners insure that designs aren’t ripped off from someone else?
Updates
read full story of "Pikiware.com - The Fulfillment Solution"
What it does
RefreshPartners provides end-to-end marketing for social networks. They not only provide analytics and demographics, they also offer personalized campaign management and performance tracking. The company has recently launched Refresh Analytics, an analysis tool for Facebook application developers. The tool is designed to help developers understand their demographic audience, offering them information about how users interact with their applications. Refresh also tracks changes in user demographics including age, location, gender, number of friends and even political views. In fact it covers 13 demographic factors and 6 interest categories. Developers will get daily snapshots of about 1000 users. The app is 100% free for application developers.
In their own words
“Refresh Partners is boutique marketing agency focused on developing fresh online experiences using social media and innovative business models.
Founded in 2007 by two marketing and technology executives with over 25 years of combined experience, our expertise is in identifying essential success factors, business model strategy, executing and then analysing the results.
Using proven best-practices and only local talent, we ensure that your project or campaign is successful.”
Why it might be a killer
Facebook applications often are difficult to monetize. Refresh’s analytics tool provides an extremely useful source, especially as it’s free. Developers can use the stats to improve their advertising revenue, to make their app more appealing to users, and to better understand the dynamics of their app in relationship to Facebook.
Some questions
Will Refresh offer a more customizable analytics tool for developers? Is this to remain free?
Updates
read full story of "RefreshPartners.com - Free Analytics For Facebook Apps"
What it does
LocalSearch is a new local search engine designed to find businesses, restaurants, movies, etc in your area. Not only can you search for local businesses and venues, you can also search for persons, simply by typing in their name and address or city. You can also search within a specific neighborhood for restaurants, shows, etc. LocalSearch features links to the Yellow and White pages too. You’ll also find a search by category section in which services and businesses are classified by type, e.g. real estate or shopping. Results come with contact information, ratings, reviews, directions and maps. Information can be sent to your mobile as well.
In their own words
“LocalSearch.com is a Web site that allows you to find information on people, places, things and events near your desired location. Use it to find a friend’s phone number or a local business that offers the product or service you need. LocalSearch.com goes beyond providing basic contact information. It also provides a wealth of detailed information on businesses, coupled with convenient maps and directions. It is the goal of LocalSearch.com Find It! to provide you with the most relevant results for your search. The more specific your search, the more relevant your results. For general searches, LocalSearch.com Find It! provides tools on the right margin so you can narrow down your choices to the listings that most closely fit your needs.”
Why it might be a killer
This is a very simple yet practical site. It contains detailed information about locations in your area. It’s pretty flexible and it’s easy to handle.
Some questions
Will LocalSearch add any user interactive features? How will it market itself? How accurate are results?
Updates
read full story of "LocalSearch.com - Find People, Places in Your Area"
What it does
There are tons of videos circulating around the internet; however a good deal of those videos aren’t reaching large chunks of the world’s population due to language barriers. Keskidi aims to change that. It works as a collaborative wiki in which users can come together and add and edit video subtitles. Here’s how it works: a user imports a video from a site like Youtube or DailyMotion and starts adding captions. This is where the wiki part kicks in. Other users will pitch in, translating the captions into their respective languages. There’s a timer tool for synchronization. Captioned videos can be embedded on blogs and other personal sites. Currently Keskidi operates with Flash video files, MOV and AVI.
In their own words
“Keskidi is a wiki service build to add and edit video subtitles in a collaborative manner. It was build to fit a gap, that there are plenty of videos on the Internet, plenty of good documentaries, shows, food recipes, high-level free courses, but many of them don’t benefit to the rest of the world because of language barriers.”
Why it might be a killer
Keskidi has a very cool concept. Using a wiki approach for adding subtitles to videos is quite ingenious and practical. The interface is very simple and elegant. Users will find no difficulties in adding captions—even the most technically clueless can use it.
Some questions
Will people actually take the time to caption and then translate videos? What sort of quality will be on offer? More importantly, how will this be marketed to attract more users, thus making it more of a functioning wiki?
Updates
read full story of "Keskidi.org - A Wiki for Subtitling Films"
What it does
StreetEasy, the New York based real estate listing service has now expanded down to Jersey. So far, Hudson Essex, Morris, Bergen and Passaic Counties are all covered. As the name suggests, StreetEasy has made the daunting task of finding an NY apartment a much friendlier, less frustrating ideal. It has taken the same approach with New Jersey. The site gives users highly customizable search system. Searches can be filtered by the standard neighborhood, price, number of bedrooms, and also by building, zoned school area, and new developments. The site also compiles extensive demographic and statistical information about particular regions and neighborhoods. Recent sales are listed with the selling price in plain view. You’ve also got featured listings and quick snapshots of average price per square foot. Users can save searches and sign up for updates as new information comes along. There are also discussion boards and RSS feeds.
In their own words
“You’ve been asking for it, and here it is. We finally brought all the great features of StreetEasy to North Jersey including advanced search, new developments and open houses. We’re currently in beta, and we’ll be improving over the next few weeks, so we’d appreciate any feedback you have!”
Why it might be a killer
Street Easy for New Jersey offers the same flexibility and resourcefulness as it with the NYC site. It really makes it much easier to find property the way that works best for you. Listings can be sorted and ordered however it makes sense for the user. The site also provides ample demographic information which can be quite important when considering a property.
Some questions
Will Street Easy offer videos of the properties? Will it expand beyond NYC and Jersey? Can owners add their own listings?
Updates
read full story of "StreetEasy.com/North_Jersey - SE Goes South to Jersey"
What it does
Slandr is a brand new Twitter app which seeks to make your on the go Twitter experience a lot smoother. Although somewhat inauspiciously titled (perhaps it has to do with its Dutch origins), the app does deliver all the perks of Twitter on your mobile and more. Features include replies, messaging user overview, search and geo. Users simply have to log in with their Twitter credentials. Besides that, Slandr also provides backchannel services which can be run on IM, Twitter, Jaiku and SMS. Backchannels allow users to discuss, rave and criticize digitally during any live event or conference. Simply contact the site admin/creator to get your own backchannel up and running.
In their own words
“Slandr delivers an enhanced mobile site for Twitter, with: replies, direct messaging, users overview, search and geo.
Slandr also makes custom backchannels for you and your conference. They are nice, live and can eat anything from IM, Twitter, Jaiku to plain old SMS”
Why it might be a killer
Slandr appears to be a simple, streamlined Twitter app for mobile usage. It’s got a bare, minimalistic interface which is very navigable. Also, the app offers backchannel services which is more than what you’d find on similar apps.
Some questions
How does Slandr compare with other mobile Twitter apps? How well does the app integrate with other mobile applications? What’s the business model?
Updates
read full story of "m.Slandr.net - Mobile Twittah with BackChannels"
What it does
Wigix which stands for Want It Got It eXchange, is prepared to be what eBay is not. It’s an online marketplace that does away with hidden fees. The setup is inspired by financial market price matching—buyers and sellers can list the prices they want to see, thus eliminating auction scams and giving sellers a competitive edge. The fees charged are as follows: items sold for $25 or below aren’t charged a cent, above that and up to $100 $1.50 is charged to both seller and buyer. For items above $100 there is an added 2% tacked on. Eventually the site will add a ticker showing recent transactions along with charts showing the movement of prices. Even if you don’t sell anything Wigix is giving away cash to so called homesteaders—those who help build the site’s catalog, earning 5% of the revenue. Users may also become category experts, keeping items in one’s category accurate, thus earning you 1% of that category’s revenue. Soon to come are persona storefronts. In the meantime, Wigix is homing to become the next eBay, in fact users can already import their eBay catalogues.
In their own words
“About Wigix, the Want It Got It eXchange.
Wigix.com brings a new, smarter way to buy and sell online.
Keeping Fees at Bay
There are no hidden fees for Wigix community members.
For items sold between $25 and $100, $1.50 is charged both to the buyer and to the seller. There is an additional 2% of the portion above $100 from the seller if the price goes over $100. There is an additional 1% of the portion above $1000 from the seller if the price goes over $1000.
For items below $25, there is no transaction fee.”
Why it might be a killer
Wigix is offering a remarkably extensive and viable alternative to eBay. The setup has been well thought out by those behind the marketplace. It’s more user friendly and transparent than its competitor. It’s a sound way of selling goods at a lower cost to the seller and at a better rate for the buyer.
Some questions
One problem with Wigix is eBay itself. eBay is a huge competitor with an entrenched user base. It’s got the infrastructure to deal with disputes, frauds, international sales, etc. Wigix is starting out and will have to build up its own reputation. Also Wigix doesn’t really give users enough information about a product besides the SKU.
Updates
What it does
Bay Area based Kaazing offers n enterprise real time web platform, allowing companies to build scalable web 2.0 technology for online gaming, sports, and news broadcasting. For users this would mean they wouldn’t have to download desktop solutions for getting real time information about stock prices, betting information, and news. Kaazing offers companies a solution that is on all the time-24/7. It provides them with a two way messaging, without the need for extensive software or mainframe terminals. Kaazing uses its virtual machine to turn Java into Ajax in real time. The company’s HTTP Multicast Router allows for communication to take place over a peer-to-peer network. Basically, Kaazing could change the way new applications deliver information.
In their own words
“Our mission is to be the leader in the new “real-time” Web infrastructure that is now changing the IT industry and the Internet. Our ambition is to provide superior quality, and the industry’s most productive environment for creating real-time Web applications that extend SOA’s event and message delivery to the browser.”
Why it might be a killer
Kaazing is enabling real time web communication in a whole new manner. It works in an efficient and novel manner that’s much more affordable and practical than any previous solutions. The Mulitcast Router doesn’t make any request from the client, instead it is automatically updated thus eliminating redundancy increasing scalability and optimizing over all performance.
Some questions
What companies are implementing this? Will it change the way internet applications work?
Updates
What it does
Disney World is everyone’s favorite theme park. And Twitter is the favorite update tool de jour. Combine the two and throw in Microsoft Virtual Earth and you get Twisney. As you can probably imagine, Twisney allows Disney World visitors to update their status and let everyone know just what they’re up. It actually works via text message, IM and email as well as Twitter. Users can attach photos with their updates which will be displayed on the appropriate place on the map. You’ll have to supply your location within the subject of your email. Twisney has a huge list of locations and their abbreviations so they’ll be able to figure out exactly where you are. Twitter users simply have to start each tweet with @twisney. The map updates in real time.
In their own words
“It’s simple. From Walt Disney World (WDW), visitors send status updates to Twisney.com for real-time mapping. Anyone can visit Twisney.com to watch the new status updates throughout the day or take a trip back in time to review historical reports.”
Why it might be a killer
Twisney brings Disney World updates into the modern world. Instead of sending postcards with Goofy and Minnie Mouse to your friends and relatives, you can send them real time updates. The site is simple to use and it’s also fun.
Some questions
Will people even care to use this? How many Disney World visitors will actually take the time to send updates? How will this be monetized?
Updates
read full story of "Twisney.com - Disney World Updates in Real Time"