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Technology
Have You Considered Your Own Cybersecurity?
Jul 29th
Originally published as “Cyberattacks are Targeting Small Businesses, and Why This Matters”, on Technorati.com Over 10,000 cyberattacks happen every single day, targeting both big and small businesses. But small businesses are much more likely to fall victim to the attack, rather than stop it or prevent it. Hackers target small firms because they don’t have
The Rise of E-wallets and Mobile Payments
Jun 9th
Article first published as E-wallets and Mobile Payments: Are Small Businesses Ready? on Technorati. Mobile payments are becoming increasingly popular, as this technology enables people to access instant deals and have a more personal experience in the checkout line. This is something that small businesses may need to embrace in the next year or two.
Where will Small Businesses Spend their Money in 2011?
Jun 7th
Article first published as Small Business Spending on the Rise on Technorati. New research has shown that small businesses are expected to spend more money in 2011 than in 2010, particularly on IT, social media, and online advertising. According to the latest International Data Corporation forecast of small business technology news, the nearly 8
Become a DEMOgod today!
Apr 25th
Got a new product or product idea that just needs a little bit of publicity to get going? Well, there’s no better place to get that publicity that at DEMO Fall 2011, the “launchpad for emerging technology.” Many great companies have become DEMO alumni, and gone on to become incredibly successful enterprises. Companies such as TiVo, Symantec, Java, and Solvate, and many more have all gotten their start at DEMO.
College students and recent graduates can also take part with Alpha Pitch! Apply by August 1, and ten individuals will be chosen to pitch their products to the DEMO crowd and be awarded full scholarships to attend DEMO Fall 2011 and Spring 2012. Fall 2011 is located in Santa Clara, Calif. while the location for Spring 2012 has yet to be determined.
Specifically, a DEMOgod is a title given to those who give the best presentation at their showcases. Anywhere from five to ten DEMOgods are chosen at each event. Chosen for their style, passion, clarity, and sometimes for their sheer outlandishness, DEMOgods have a unique ability to deliver a great product and position it in the market, to show off it’s most compelling features, differentiate it from other products – and along the way entertain a tough and critical DEMO audience with a few good tricks. The only way to do all this is to practice, but there may not be much reason to practice unless you make the attempt to attend DEMO Fall 2011 today!
Hate apps for ad content? OnSwipe may be for you
Apr 15th
With tablets and touch devices like iPhones and Androids becoming increasingly ubiquitous in today’s society, publishers and companies have a few new hurdles in advertising to folks glued to their touchscreens. To overcome those hurdles, there’s OnSwipe, a platform that makes it easy for publishers of all sizes to make their content and advertising a beautiful experience on touch enabled devices via the browser.
The OnSwipe platform works on any device with a browser and allows content to be touch-optimized, so a tablet user viewing an ad can flip through the content and recommend it to their contacts. Ads and content can also fill the entire tablet or touchscreen, providing more room for brand messaging and creativity. The best part, OnSwipe is a publishing option that doesn’t include Apple, in case going through Apple isn’t something you are interested it?
Don’t believe that tablets become more than just the latest fad? Then check out OnSwipe’s infographic on how the tablets compare amongst each other. If you are a believer, then check out sign up for beta testing.
Angry Monkeys: Herding website bugs into one place
Mar 28th
“Originally designed for web developers, we’ve come across different ideas of how to implement BugHerd,” said co-founder Matt Milosavljevic. “Users need a way to log issues and to track issues sooner rather than later.”
BugHerd is a visual bug tracking tool from Angry Monkeys and operates within websites, keeping track of bugs in one place and eliminating the need to switch between programs. Users make note of each bug and can assign responsibility of the bug to a specific person. The services allows the entire team to communicate and manage bugs in a space everyone can understand: your own website. Technical and non-technical teams alike can share ideas and communicate more efficiently without resorting to emails and phone calls.
“There’s no limits on the program,” Milosavljevic said. “It’s all dependent on the project.”
Last time we spoke in January, Angry Monkeys said they had seven beta customers for BugHerd, and were working on a pricing model that would work for all of their customers. Their main goal is to grow the beta customer base in order to increase the amount of feedback they get on BugHerd.
“We’re focusing on getting a core set of features and on refining the product,” Milosavlejvic said. “And to see about investment opportunities.”
While Bugherd is building a bigger and better product, users have until May 30 to get Bugherd for free! Quickly assess the health of a project by seeing how many bugs have been logged, how many have been fixed and how many are still left to do. If still unsure about the whole thing, watch a video demo of the service!
Startup Talk: ebook lending picks up steam, ebookfling launched.
Mar 28th
We know how popular ebook readers have become off late, growing at a higher rate than ever. Sure there are tablets spoiling their niche party but ebook vendors have found their way around by introducing ebook stores on all mobile OS and PC platforms. The industry saw an eye popping $1b spent on ebooks by consumers in 2010 which will triple by 2015 according to a report by Forrester Research. Although the market is growing via first time users the industry had to find a way to make money out of ebooks already sold to consumers.
Amazon and B&N did what was natural to physical books – allow users to rent books from friends (only). This limited scope of book sharing has spurred the emergence of new startups in the book lending space like Lendle, Booklending and Ebookfling that are aiming to transform an already evolving industry. Lendle and Booklending allows lending and borrowing ebooks on the Kindle platform (on any mobile OS or PC) while Ebookfling allows you to rent and borrow ebooks on both the Kindle and Nook platforms. But how does Ebookfling stand out from the rest? Well, they let you borrow and lend books using what they call a credit system within the Ebookfling ecosystem where you get 1 credit point for every book you lend which can be used to borrow another ebook through the system.
First time user? No problem – you can purchase credits at $1.99 a credit point. So how does it change the ebook ecosystem? This model potentially limits the amount of money flowing into the Amazon and B&N’s coffers by cutting off a substantial number of first time ebook buyers. For example, if Ebookfling has 1000 books available for renting and the system takes off, no new ebook adopter has a reason to purchase books directly from Amazon of B&N. Instead of spending an average of $10 per book, a lent book only costs 20% of the price although it stays with you only for 14 days before it goes back to the original user. Plus the used ebook is always in mint condition no matter how many people you lend it to.
So will it permanently damage the revenue source for Amazon and B&N? That aspect is yet to be explored. The recent API block episode where Amazon blocked its lending API to Lendle should serve as a notice to future entrepreneurs treading this path. Although Amazon reinstated the API’s access to Lendle, it was not before heavy media exposure to the issue. just like Apple’s App store policies frustrated developers (even today it does!) the ebook lending policies will require a lot of fine tuning and tweaking before it becomes a sustainable, profitable model and eventually create an ecosystem like the Apple App store. Ebookfling CEO George Burke notes that “the initial reaction may be a negative. Publishers and authors will claim the lending feature is being abused and causing cannibalization of sales. Authors are already bending over backwards by giving away many of their backlist (older) books free in the Kindle never needing to purchase.”
From an analyst’s perspective the market is ripe for more than 5 lending services to co-exist and be profitable in the long term. Let’s just hope Amazon and B&N do the right things over the next year.
Startup Talk: Happy Grasshopper wants to convert everyone you meet into a referral
Mar 24th
We have written about Publishedin and about how the referral landscape is changing. Today, we have another submission from a rather interesting startup that wants to make sure everyone you meet, not just email becomes a referral source. The startup – Happy Grasshopper is again changing the way you keep your contacts productive.
Happy Grasshopper is a referral marketing service that helps you turn anyone you meet into a referral source. All that you have to do is upload the email addresses of past clients and people you have just met. Happy Grasshopper’s writers will draft and send a friendly, relationship building message for you about every 3 weeks. Unlike traditional e-newsletters, the messages sent by Happy Grasshopper are designed as conversation starters and help you build relationships. You simply edit and/or approve the messages before they are sent. They are delivered from your email address and all replies go directly into your inbox.
This is an interesting model since it brings a personal touch to email marketing. This could be a game changer since email marketing has more or less been tagged as “spam” for the most part. After all. who does not want to maintain relationships in the world of global business that compels you to keep the conversation going.
Changing the world one app at a time
Mar 23rd
Little Green Software is an app developer based in Durham, North Carolina that services every step of the app development process. Able to consult and to create apps for platforms like the iPhone, Android, tablets, and the web, Little Green Software doesn’t just build mobile applications, the company can help you build the mobile application you need.
Besides mobile applications, Little Green Software also specializes in game industry consulting and multi-platform industry applications. The startup has previous experience building apps for industries such as travel, construction, education, marketing, medical and the fine arts. One of the more successful apps Little Green Software created is a web-based game called Energy Balance. The game is part of Michelle Obama’s “Let’s Move” initiative, as the game encourages players to associate foods with different activities. When players consumer a food, they are to choose the best activity to burn those calories, teaching folks to balance their eating habits with their daily activities.
This startup is one of 11 participating in the Bull City Startup Stampede in April and May. The 60-day event will provide these 11 Durham-based startups with the resources necessary to become successful business, including free office space, mentorship from other successful startups, and the chance to grow and to network right in downtown Durham. Ideabing will be featuring the tech-related startups over the coming week.
Startup Talk: Apptank wants to be the Elance of mobile app development
Mar 23rd
Everyone wants an app these days, no matter how silly it is. The Fart app for example or even the “are you a moron?” test app. Don’t fall for the bad press but the app trend is upward thanks to 6 major app platforms including iOS, Andorid and Windows Phone. Companies now want a presence in app stores at any cost given the rate of media consumption these devices have sparked. But there is one problem – the companies have ideas but not enough developers to convert them into useful apps. There have been solutions to such developer problems – why not head to developer exchanges such as Elance? The problem is the clutter. Developers tend to be jack of all trades on Elance and hence the focus on app quality may suffer. There is one solution now – Apptank, an Oklahoma based start up has created a one of its kind developer exchange for mobile apps only.
So what’s so special? How about $100,000 in app submissions a week? Yup, the ecosystem is so hot right now that Apptank sees absolutely no slowing down in app submissions in the near term. The focus on mobile apps and a developer qualification program makes Apptank one of those niche providers who add immense value to your app development process. Apptank also makes it possible for companies to spend less time on developing and more on marketing their app. Some success stories have also been to spend a portion of their development budget on marketing thanks to a competitive bidding process that seeks to minimize development costs.
