Rebtel Brings International VOIP to Android phones
Rebtel, a VOIP mobile voice carrier based in Sweden, pioneered a simple concept when it started in2006. They the only VOIP in the mobile space let its users make international calls by dialing a local number, While the technology initially required that people change the way they made phone calls, Rebel has steadily grown. It now has 4 million users and is growing by 250,000 users a month. What Rebtel launched at Demo is the availability of its service for Android phones. On Android phones with the Rebtel app installed, users just turn the application on, select the international number they want to call and initiate the connection. Market researchers report the international calling market is worth more than $(US)1.6 trillion. Rebtel currently serves 50 countries.
EverLoop Launches branding and Social Media for Tweeners
There’s a big problem in Internet connected north American families who have children between the ages of 8 and 13 years old (demographically identified as “tweeners”). The problem such families face is that if their “tweeners” have a Facebook account, it’s illegal. EverLoop is a social networking platform for tweens and brand focused products for those markets. Nationwide, the size of the market is estimated to be about 28 million. At Demo 10 Spring, EverLoop launched its private label business, which allows all tween-facing branding companies. Its social networking site for tweens will go live in June. EverLoop overcomes the classic dichotomy of private branded social networking; closed loop environments. Tweeners are likely to outgrow interest in limited focus sites and will instinctively. EverLoop is a direct outgrowth of its CEO’s interest in tweener online safety and on-line branding. Currently Ever Loop is angel and self-funded. It recently signed a deal with MadScience, the largest kid’s science site.
Democrasoft’s Collaboraize Introduces Robust hosted Community App.
If there’s one type of application that really gets me excited; it’s hosted software that lets me create communities where every member has the opportunity to freely discuss, propose or test ideas. And Collaborize from Democrasoft which was launched companies at Demo 10 Spring had me thinking of its potential uses all the way home from Palm Desert. Collaborize redefines community discussion software. It’s not the first product in this category and my first reaction to it was: GrassRoots.com, (one of my favorite products and start-ups from my career at Demo wold have succeeded wildly if it had all gthe features of Collaborize and had not had a top-down orientation. What really sets Democrasoft Collaborize apart from other hosted apps in this space is the ease of which it can be used to create ad hoc, formal or other groups and features that let group members post and rate ideas or comments. My first reaction to this product is based on a view of working with community-based non-profits, where funds are always an issue. I can easily see where two pricing models could be offered: a discounted version usd by non-profits ( whixh would allow Democrasoft to write off the discount as a charitable contribution, while gaining both community support and brand familiarity; and it’s the posted four-tier commercial pricing model. As someone who’s involved in my local humane society, I’m use to dealing with volunteers, paid staff and board members, each of which has unique collaborative needs. The basic feature set of Collaborize facilitates multipath communication between people who are in different places at different times. This hosted application provides a rock solid solution to problems faced by many non-profits and commercial organization: facilitating communications between people who are infrequently in the same physical location. Another potential market for Collaborize is education, where it’s easy to envision teachers in Internet-connected class rooms using it to create and manage conversations.
Phone Halo, using Bluetooth to Secure, Protect and Locate Valuables.
I sometimes forget where I’ve put my mobile phone, or car keys and get flustered. The longer it takes me to sort through my clothes or the stuff on the top of my desk, the more frustrated I become. Phone Halo Protect, Bluetooth hardware and smart phone application is a solution to this problem. Up front, I have to note that there are already locater fobs that I can use to find my sometimes invisible car keys. Also, I’m not above calling my cell phone to use its ringer to locate that pesky device. But what I really like about Phone Halo is that it uses Bluetooth and has controls that let me control how far my treasured device and I can be separated before a preset alarms goes off. I liked Phone Halo’s application because it works with most bestselling smartphones and because it offers a number of innovative notification strategies. I particularly liked the technology’s ability to send GPS location of any device or person protected by Phone Halo. But most of all, I liked Halo Phone’s demonstration and the fact that this technology resulted from a college student’s senior project. Oh, the blue tooth transceiver used in Phone Halo Protect is innocuous enough to attach to your basic adolescent on trips to amusement parks and other venues. After seeing this product for the first time, I’m convinced we’ll see more of this company’s chief technology officer, Chris Herbert in the years to come. Watching this demonstratin I was immediately reminded of two successful past Demo alums, Palm’s Jeff Hawkins and Kerbango’s James Gabel.
MEDL Technologie—A fast Simple Way to add a Second Monitor to Your Portable
As the price of LED panels and portables computers has dropped, it’s become desirous and practical to attach multiple monitors to the ubiquitous portable computer. MEDL Technologies, 13-inch screen is an inexpensive way to attach a second monitor to a portable through a USB connection. I like the idea of more screen real estate on my notebook, since I often have a word processor and live data stream running simultaneously. The software supplied with MEDL Technologies’ LCD screen makes setting up and running a second screen on your notebook a simple task.
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