Chip Griffin: Pardon the Disruption

Making Life Better for Families

One of the startups at DEMOfall, Cozi, has hit upon an idea that I think is ripe for real attention by web entrepreneurs.  They're attempting to solve the problem of simplifying life for families using a web application.

Scheduling is a mammoth undertaking for anyone with kids as you try to coordinate calendars of working parents with the demands of the rich set of extracurricular activities that most kids seem to participate in today.  Being double or triple scheduled is no longer just a problem for major corporate executives.

And how about things like grocery lists?  How often do you forget to pick up something at the supermarket and have to make a special trip to the convenience store?  Or how about finding out when you reach for that jar of pickles in the fridge that it is a month past its expiration date? 

While I think Cozi has made a start at this, I'd love to see someone do more.  For instance, I'd love to see a grocery shopping solution that reminds you that you bought pickles 2 months ago and they probably need to be replaced.  And have a UPC scanner right near the trash can so as you throw a package away you just scan the bar code and it gets added to your list to be replaced.

When printing the list out, it would be great if it could be organized so that similar items are grouped together.  For instance, produce, deli, meat, and bread items could be grouped together to make it easier to do your shopping.  I know when I do a big grocery trip the list is always handwritten and organized by stream of consciousness from when it was made.  So I often have to circle back to get things I forgot.

Now doing something like this in a simple, effective, and affordable manner is no easy task.  And the trick is it has to be of minimal burden to the family -- the whole idea is to make things better remember?  I can see a day down the road where products are embedded uniformly with RFID technology which would make this much simpler, but I still have to believe there's a solution that could be arrived at today.

Hopefully, Cozi or someone else will hit this nail on the head.  I think there's quite a few folks who would use it.

Tags: family, Cozi, grocery shopping, groceries, kids, extracurricular

Will Flash Replace Old-Fashioned HTML Web Sites?

I got to thinking about this question after one of the journalists at DEMO remarked that Flash appears to be ever more viable as a powerful foundation for web applications. 

Today, AJAX applications are all the rage.  It's one of those buzzwords that every startup that wants to seem sexy makes sure they throw around.  Heck, a whole programming language and toolset has gained prominence based on it (Ruby on Rails). 

And certainly there's no doubt that AJAX makes web sites leaps and bounds more useful and easy to use.  But when you look at what a company like Wallop did with Flash ... that's simply not possible even with the most savvy AJAX coder at the keyboard.

I suspect a lot of folks don't find Flash all that sexy because it has been around so long (at least in web terms).  But it really does allow for much more powerful web apps to be created.  And I think in the right hands creates a much more appealing front end for the average user. 

For all that you can do with HTML, it really hasn't evolved as fast as the technology around it over the past 15 years.  One could argue that's because it is so simple and elegant it doesn't need to.  But I'm not so sure it isn't time to be giving serious thought to whether the future successful deployment of even more powerful web apps might not rely on Flash instead.

Tags: AJAX, Flash, DEMOfall, DEMO, HTML, web applications, web apps, Ruby on Rails

Reflections on DEMOfall 2006

This is likely my final post on DEMOfall.  (I know that's probably a relief after the 20 or so posts on the conference in the past few days.)

Paul Kedrosky comments that he found this DEMO rather light. I don't entirely disagree. Certainly there were no "Oh wow!" moments for me.  The closest was probably Moixa Energy with their USB rechargeable batteries.  But overall I thought there were more singles and doubles than homers. 

The one company that jumped out at me for its home run potential was Wallop.  Their flash-based competitor to MySpace seems to have real potential. 

And as one of the journalists pointed out in the wrap-up panel (I confess I forget which one), Wallop really shows the power of Flash applications generally.  More on that in another post.

So was it light?  Yes, I'd probably agree.  But I still find DEMO to be one of the few conferences worth checking out regularly. It's refreshingly light on pontification and sponsor pitches.  It packs a lot of learning into a small window of time.

Tags: DEMOfall, DEMO, Wallop, Moixa Energy, Paul Kedrosky

Best of DEMOfall 2006

The demos are done.  The DEMOgod awards have been presented (see below for the winners).  And the time has come for my picks for the companies that impressed me most (I guess sort of like my own personal DEMOgod awards, though keep in mind they are based on my own biases toward certain sectors and my lack of knowledge in others).

So, the companies that made the biggest impression on me over the past two days are:

Hardware

• Moixa Energy - USB rechargeable batteries
• uControl - control existing home alarm system in a browser
• Zing/Sirius Radio - WiFi satellite radio device
• Dash Navigation - in-car navigation system with traffic avoidance

Applications

• BuzzLogic - social media analysis tool
• Flurry - email for standard cell phones
• i-Lighter - annotate and collect web page snippets
• Wallop - Flash-based social networking app

And the Official DEMOgod awards were announced at dinner.  I agree with some and don't understand why others won, but hey everyone gets their own opinion.  In any event, these went to:

• Data Security Systems Solutions - private key security
• Eluma - community desktop application
• uControl - control existing home alarm system in a browser
• Mercora - streaming music on cell phones
• fonpods - dial in access to podcasts over phone lines
• RingCube - Mojopac portable desktop
• i-Lighter - annotate and collect web page snippets
• Moixa Energy - USB rechargeable batteries

Tags: DEMOfall, DEMO, Moixa Energy, uControl, Zing, Sirius Radio, Dash Navigation, BuzzLogic, Flurry, i-Lighter, Wallop, Data Security Systems Solutions, Eluma, Mercora, fonpods, RingCube, Mojopac

DEMOfall: Today's Top 10 List

Just as I did yesterday, here is today's list of the 10 companies that drew my attention most (in no particular order):

• MyPW - hardware based password authentication
• PostPath - fully compatible Exchange server replacement
• HEADPLAY - wearable video goggles that mimic a 52" TV
• GrandCentral - one phone number, one voice mail box
• uControl - control existing home alarm system in a browser
• Wallop - Flash-based social networking app
• PhotoShow - turn photos into a TV show
• Cuts - edit copyrighted video
• i-Lighter - annotate and collect web page snippets
• HeyLetsGo - social event site

Later I'll come up with the handful of companies that made the biggest impression by whittling down the Top 10 list from each of the two days I've spent at DEMOfall this year.

Tags: DEMOFall, DEMO, MyPW, PostPath, HEADPLAY, Grand Central, uControll, Wallop, PhotoShow, Cuts, i-Lighter, HeyLetsGo

DEMOfall: The Connected Desktop

Eluma Desktop Community

Another social networking tool.  Clients private label the application.  Bookmarks, blogs, podcasts, and other content are pushed to users.  Community of users can comment, rate, etc.

Initial Reaction: Users have to run a separate app window for this.  Also, they pretty much have to choose only one provider that they want to use here (otherwise their desktop would look absurd).  So if the Red Sox provided one and TheStreet.com provided one, I'd either have a mess on my hands or would have to choose in an either/or scenario.  This also reminds me of apps from 10 years ago that seemed to fade away because they went outside the browser. 

Cozi

A tool for families.  Includes calendar, shopping list, message board, photo album.  Can get a shopping list or calendar items on your cell phone. 

Initial Reaction: I think there's room for a product like this, but I'm not convinced this is the answer today, though it may yet evolve.

Mercora

A last minute addition to the agenda.  Mobile smartphone music service.  Streams from their servers as Internet radio or from the user's own music library.  The demo had the music playing over an EVDO network.

Initial Reaction: The sound and clarity was impressive.  I've been playing a lot with music services this year (ironic since I'm not really a music junkie, but my tastes when I do listen are off-beat enough that Internet services really appeal to me) and with different devices (I now listen to music on my PC using MTV's Urge and Rhapsody, and have a Sonos system, an iPod Nano, an iPod Mini, a Clix, and a Gigabeat).  Even with all that, I don't yet know enough to offer a good opinion on this one and the demo since it was pulled together at the last minute didn't provide enough info to really assess it.

Tags: DEMOfall, DEMO, Eluma, Cozi, Mercora

DEMOfall: Solid State Networks

Solid State Distributed Delivery Network

High-performance content delivery using BitTorrent.  Incorporates slick looking reporting on downloads for content providers.  Content delivered as downloads and on a streaming basis.  Supports all media players and major browsers and Mac and Windows OS.

Initial Reaction: Completely outside my area of expertise.

Tags: DEMOfall, DEMO, Solid State Distributed Delivery Network

DEMOfall: Tag, You're It

LeapTag

Helps users discover web content by providing thumbs up/thumbs down feedback on suggested content.  Allows tagging to categorize interests.  And the now obligatory social sharing of tags.

Initial Reaction: I vote thumbs down. 

i-Lighter

Another web page annotation tool.  This one marries the concept of highlighters and post it notes.  The demo was a bit cranky and slow.  Saves web content based on what was highlighted. 

Initial Reaction: The balkiness of the demo makes me wonder if this is ready for primetime yet, but I've been looking for such a tool and haven't found one yet that really grabs me.  OnFolio has been the closest I've found so far, but still not perfect.

eSnips

Israeli company.  Brings together consumer generated content, file sharing, social networking, e-commerce, etc. into one app.

Initial Reaction: Feels like there's already too much going on in this space and I didn't see enough of a compelling reason why I'd use this over existing solutions.  I know they're pushing the notion of everything under one roof, and I'm supportive of that concept, but this doesn't feel like the right mix to me.

AddThis

A utility that simplifies sending data to various social bookmarking tools, subscribing to feeds, etc.  Tools for end users and site publishers.

Initial Reaction: Maybe I missed the point of the demo, but for end users it just seems to merge browser toolbar buttons into a browser pull down menu.  So I have to click and pull rather than just click.  Yes, it eliminates clutter, but I'm not sure how much easier that is.  Site publishers can also use it to have a single subscribe button to reduce clutter on blogs.  Overall this feels at most like a feature, not a business.

AdaptiveBlue

The Blueorganizer Firefox extension. 

Initial Reaction: Unfortunately, I was distracted by an IM session and missed too much of this presentation to make a fair assessment.  Will have to check them out independently.

Tags: DEMOfall, DEMO, AdaptiveBlue, BlueOrganizer, eSnips, AddMe, AddThis, i-Lighter, Yoriwa, LeapTag

DEMOfall: Social Content

HeyLetsGo

Social networking focused on events.  Tries to match users with events they might be interested in.

Initial Ranking: I have general concerns about the proliferation of social networking sites.  It seems these would be more effective if they were in a unified environment.  At the same time, they suggest their initial testing in Boston has generated a lot of interest, and even generated 5000 RSVP's for a single event in that town (with about 1000 people lined up outside a club at 6 pm).  If true, these numbers are impressive and suggest real possibilities here.

Tags: DEMOfall, DEMO, HeyLetsGo

DEMOfall: Express Yourself!

SiteKreator

Automated web site creation tool.  Targeted at small businesses.  Starts at $15 per month including hosting and support. 

Initial Reaction: Looks pretty slick.  Appears to create high quality sites with minimal fuss.

NanoLearning

Makes creating online curriculum very easy using a simple interface.  Flash-based games can be created easily. 

Initial Reaction: Looks easy to use and could have potential with larger organizations needing to distribute information and learning materials across a large workforce.  Interesting, but I'd need to hear more about the business model and how they see growth building.

Wallop

Founder is making his 4th DEMO appearance.  This company has gotten a lot of attention lately.  It is a company built around something originally done at Microsoft and subsequently spun out, with Microsoft retaining an equity stake.  A Flash application.  Reminiscent of MySpace but more as an application than as a web site.  Creates much more of a multimedia experience than MySpace.  Not advertising based.  Instead sells modifications to the system created by their developer community.  Developers keep 70% of revenue.

Initial Reaction: I don't know the youth market well, but this looks much flashier to me than MySpace, so it may well have appeal.

Scrapblog

Interactive scrapbook that builds on the notion of the paper-based scrapbook.  Scrapbooking is a major industry right now -- currently estimated at $3 billion annually.  Allows printing the scrapbooks into paper bound books or simply viewed online.  Can be integrated with blogs and incorporate multimedia content.

Initial Reaction: I'm skeptical that this takes advantage of the existing scrapbook craze.  It lacks the personal feel of handcrafted scrapbooks that I think is much of the appeal.  It also overlooks the social aspect of scrapbooking -- women frequently get together to work on their scrapbooks together.  I don't see a bunch of girlfriends getting together to use scrapblog over a bottle or two of wine.

Simple Star

PhotoShow is the product.  Wide availability through major retailers and consumer companies like HP, Walgreens, Ritz Camera, etc.  Allows creation of slide shows including music, captions, transitions, etc. Can put photo shows on MySpace, email them, burn them to DVD, and even broadcast them to TV channels.  The TV bit works by creating video on demand content available on select Time Warner cable systems.

Initial Reaction: They seem to have a lot of strategic partnerships in place that should give them some momentum.  One would have to imagine that there might be a video play here too beyond just slide shows.  Imagine YouTube available through video on demand on cable providers.  (If I recall correctly, some TV shows already regularly show YouTube content, but a VOD channel could show the "best of" based on popularity.)

iBloks

A system for users to create "multimedia entertainment experiences."  Sort of a cross between videos and powerpoints.

Initial Reaction: Seems like YouTube with a tool set.  I'm skeptical.

Cuts

Allows editing of copyrighted video.  Example they gave was the ability to strip out scary scenes in movies (like the mother fish being eaten by a shark in Finding Nemo).  Allows you to add commentary to movies as well as snipping out scenes.  Custom cuts are available for others to watch.

Initial Reaction: I don't recall whether it was Cuts that was in the story I read, but there was a recent story expressing the obvious copyright concerns of the original content producers. They say they address this by simple sharing the cuts (the edits).  Each individual has to have the original copyrighted content to go with it.  I'm not a lawyer, but I suspect they may technically be right.  But it could be a costly fight.

Tags: DEMOfall, DEMO, SiteKreator, NanoLearning, Wallop, Scrapblog, Simple Star, iBloks, Cuts

DEMOfall: Talk is Cheap ... And Easy

Grand Central

The elusive concept of a single phone number.  (I say elusive because I've seen solutions like this before and none have really knocked my socks off.  And given how many numbers I have now I'd use a workable solution.)  Lots of web-based customization options.  Single voice mail box.  Allows screening of voice mail as it is left.  When you answer a call it gives you a menu prompt and you press 1 to talk, 2 to ignore, 3 to screen voice mail, etc.  Can record calls at the push of a button. 

Initial Reaction: I'd like it better if it didn't have the menu option things, though it still has potential.  It sounds like it will never really work with caller id though, which can be a hassle with a cell phone we're I often want to know whether a call is important enough to step out of a meeting to take it. 

JAJAH

VoIP service for cell phones targeted at international callers.

Initial Reaction: Looks like a good solution for folks who make a lot of international calls. 

uControl

Alarm monitoring service provider.  Not dependant on phone line.  Uses broadband, cellular and landline to send alerts to monitoring station.  Allows control of the alarm system from any browser.  Full logging available on the browser.  Uses existing alarm system from any provider.

Initial Reaction: Seems a lot better than alarm monitoring solutions I've used in the past.  I really like this one if it works as well as they claim.

BeHere

A scary looking conference room phone.  Video and sound using VoIP transmission. Can share applications from the computer as part of the call.  50 patents claimed.  Just announced a marketing partnership with Avaya.

Initial Reaction: Could have some potential, especially for folks who do a lot of speaker phone calls. 

Tags: DEMOfall, DEMO, Grand Central, JAJAH, uControl, BeHere

DEMOfall: Headplay

These guys ended up demo'ing on their own at the end of the morning session.

Headplay

Visual headset.  Googles that make it seem like you're watching a big screen TV (52 inch equivalent).  Weighs 5 oz.  Can also handle 3D content.  Connects to a wide variety of video sources: TV, iPod, USB, game machine, etc.

Initial Reaction: Seems pretty cool.

Tags: DEMOfall, DEMO, Headplay

DEMOfall: Building and Maintaining the Application Infrastructure

Trigence

Canadian company.  Encapsulates applications to make them platform independent.  A virtualization solution.

Initial Reaction:  I can't offer an intelligent opinion on this one.

NComputing

Takes a step back in time in some ways in order to share one computer among several people.  The idea is to drive the cost of computing down.  Currently at $70 per user.  Deployed in rural K-12 schools and developing countries.  A new take on the notion of the $100 laptop. 

Initial Reaction: I can see this working as long as performance is adequate.

PostPath

A Linux based email server compatible with Exchange.  The PostPath server looks and acts just like Exchange and claims to work with anything that works with Exchange.  They do it by mimicking Exchange protocols.  Contacts, address book, email, all work seamlessly. 

Initial Reaction:  This one seems pretty impressive. 

Teneros

Application Continuity Appliance is the product.  A hardware solution designed to ensure maximum uptime for Exchange server.  Plug and play appliance.  $45 million in funding.

Initial Reaction: Sounds like a good idea, but I'm not a hard core IT guy who understands what the alternatives are.

BriteSoft

BriteWorks is the product.  An application construction tool.

Initial Reaction: Looked really slick.  Hard to evaluate in a 5 minute demo given the scope of what it claims to do.

Widgetbox

Creates a marketplace for widgets.  Designed to encourage more widget development.  Makes it easier to add widgets to your own blog.  A lot of the presentation was spent talking about what widgets are, how they work, etc.  Not very much on the Widgetbox business.

Initial Reaction: I didn't see a business here.  This feels like something built by developers for developers without a viable plan to make money.

Tags: DEMOfall, DEMO, Trigence, NComputing, PostPath, Teneros, BriteSoft, BriteWorks, Widgetbox

DEMOfall: The Search Continues

Retrevo

They claim a more intelligent search engine for consumer electronics. Breaks down documents into categories.  Shows previews in a third pane on the screen.  Segregates product manuals, reviews, company info, etc.

Initial Reaction: It was hard to see the demo because of the amount of info on the screen.  Concept sounds interesting, but I need to get hands on to see if there's any there there.

Imaginestics

Niche search for parts at 3D-Seek.com.  You draw the part you're looking for and it searches supplier databases to find matching parts. 

Initial Reaction: I could see where something like this would be useful, just not sure how broad the market is for it.  Target market is clearly parts suppliers looking to make things easier for customers. 

Tags: DEMOfall, DEMO, Retervo, Imaginestics, 3D-Seek

DEMOfall: Making the Internet Safe for Humanity

How's that for a title for a group of presenters?  (DEMO selected it, not me.)  You'll quickly see that security isn't my area of expertise, but I want to touch on each company anyway.

Trend Micro

Public company.  Product is called BASE.  Lots of talk about botnets.  Have to admit I know bupkis about them, except that they're bad.

Initial Reaction:  No clue.

Data Security Systems Solutions

Private key solution.  Electronic signatures.  I did understand the phrase "Ka-boom" in the middle of the presentation, otherwise I was lost.

Initial Reaction: No idea.

MyPW

"Strong authentication made simple."  Same guys run SpamArrest.  Two factor authentication.  Typed password plus hardware token.  Key fob like device that has a 6 digit number.  Number changes every 30 seconds.  Not a new technology, but the trick MyPW offers is to reduce the cost and simplify the implementation for site owners. $1 per user per month cost.  No setup fees.

Initial Reaction:  Could have potential for some web sites.  Not sure how large the market is though.  If widely adopted, it could have value for financial sites, etc.

PrefPass

Helps users avoid filling out registration forms manually and increase privacy.  Sites with registration can partner with PrefPass to automatically transfer information.  The site you register with learns only generic information about you, nothing personally identifiable.

Initial Reaction:  Would require widespread adoption to become truly valuable.  Somewhat of a chicken and egg problem.  Doesn't help with sites that want/need personally identifiable info.

Tags: DEMOfall, DEMO, MyPW, PrefPass, Trend Micro BASE, Data Security Systems Solutions

DEMOfall: Top 10 Companies That Impressed Me Today

Here's my first stab at the demos that impressed me most today.  As I noted as I blogged each demo throughout today's session, there are some that still have questions (both on the list as well as ones that are omitted because the questions were too significant).

• W5 Networks - electronic shelf tags for retailers
• Zing/Sirius Radio - WiFi satellite radio device
• Lirix - ad-supported music download service
• Moixa Energy - USB rechargeable batteries
• Mvox Duo - Bluetooth commuicator
• Flurry - email for standard cell phones
• Genius.com - interactive online sales tool
• BuzzLogic - social media analysis tool
• Dash Navigation - in-car navigation system with traffic avoidance
• Pluggd - HearHere podcast searching

Tomorrow I'll narrow down my list to the handful of companies from both days that impressed me the most.  And remember that today's list is based almost entirely on the presentations as opposed to interaction at the company booth.

Marc Orchant over at ZDNet took his own stab at an early list.

UPDATE: Marshall Kirkpatrick at TechCrunch offers a rather comprehensive breakdown of his most interesting companies.

DEMOfall: While We're on the Topic of Wireless

Violet

French company.  Wireless rabbit called Nabaztag.  No, that's not a typo.  The product is a freaky looking white blob with candle like things sticking out of its head.  Apparently it gets info from the Internet regularly about how to act and what to say.  They're releasing a new version that you can talk to and get a reaction.  Allegedly can smell too, though it flubbed when it was asked to smell a carrot and react.

Initial Reaction: Apparently a lot of people are buying this thing.  Count me out.  Though it was a good humor break.  And I wouldn't be surprised if it wins a DEMOgod award -- that's the sort of thing that often ends up on the list.

W5 Networks

Presentation started out by pointing out how hard it is to get people to switch from paper to electronic solutions.  A few good examples are Quicken (check register) and Palm (day-timer).  The W5 offering is designed to eliminate paper shelf labels.  LCD type display instead of typical shelf sticker.

Initial Reaction: Presumably this would help with much more targeted promotions by retailers and would also help stores comply with pricing accuracy laws, assuming the cash register and electronic shelf tags are integrated.  I like it.

ZING Systems/Sirius Radio

These two companies have partnered to offer the Stiletto 100.  A WiFi enabled portable satellite radio.

Initial Reaction: Looks like it has real potential. 

Tags: DEMOfall, DEMO, Nabaztag, Violet, W5 Networks, Zing, Sirius Radio

DEMOfall: Foundations of the Mobile Future

Tao Group

A ton of VC funding -- something in the neighborhood of $60 million if I do my math right.  A platform to enable games to be played on cell phones.  Cell phone OS independent.  A toolkit for developers to allow them to economically produce and deploy mobile games.

Initial Reaction: I don't know this market but the demo worked well.  Games can be a lucrative market and obviously a lot of big players are betting on these guys.

Cascada Mobile

First presenter to mention the DEMOgod Award (presented at the end of the conference to a handful of companies that most impressed -- well, someone). Deals with mobile content distribution.

Initial Reaction: Didn't grab me in the first bit of the presentation so my mind drifted.  Will have to learn more before I can opine.

Lirix

Free downloadable music monetized through audio ads interspersed with the songs.  Excited about the patent they have for "on device dynamic ads" or something like that.  Back end ad software allows for targeting by geography and demographic info.  Ads are interactive.  Targeting also permitted by keywords, themes, artists, tracks, etc.  Auction based pricing.  Pay per play for advertisers. 

Initial Reaction:  Intriguing concept that merges features of a subscription based music service with Google AdWords style advertising.  I like this one.

Moixa Energy

USB battery.  Designed to cut down on cables for portable devices.  UK company.  Recharges by connecting to a USB port.  Works like a normal battery.  Coming out with one for cell phones specifically.

Initial Reaction: If this thing really works and has a reasonable price point, it could be very big.

Mvox Duo

Presenter came out dressed in Star Trek garb.  An all in one communicator that acts as hands-free car kit, Bluetooth headset, speakerphone, VoIP headset, etc. Noise cancelling, etc.  Dual microphone helps with sound.  Can be worn as a speakerphone or worn over the ear as a standard wireless headset.  $199 and available by end of the year.

Initial Reaction: Neat gadget.  If it works, I'd buy one since I can't find any good Bluetooth headsets.

Tags: DEMOfall, DEMO, Tao Group, Cascada Mobile, Lirix, Moixa Energy, Mvox Duo

DEMOfall: Another Resource

Greg Narain over at SocialTwister is doing a nice job of profiling each DEMOfall presenter.  Worth checking out his posts.

Tags: DEMOfall, DEMO, Greg Narain, SocialTwister

DEMOfall: The Phone as Message Center

3Jam

Cell phone collaboration for friends.

Initial Reaction: The presentation just didn't grab me so I can't really assess it.

MobileSphere

Product called Joopz.  Group chat.  PC-SMS communications.  Scheduled SMS.  Their guy  emphasized the difficulty in using SMS, but says that being able to send messages from the Joopz web site addresses it. 

Initial Reaction: I know a lot of people do a lot of text messaging with their phones and likely would find some of these tools useful, but I use the feature only rarely and am not expert enough to fairly assess the prospects here.

Pinger

System to send voice messages from cell phone to cell phone. 

Initial Reaction:  Doesn't this already exist and isn't it called voice mail?

Flurry

Email on your cell phone for the masses.  The idea is that since most folks don't have Blackerries, Treos, etc., this tool enables people with standard cell phones to receive email.  Agnostic as to the user's phone. 

[Disclosure: The folks at Borealis Ventures are good friends and they have invested in Flurry.  However, I have no financial interest in the company nor do I have any inside information about the company.]

Initial Reaction:  I'll have to ask my wife to check it out on her phone.  She might actually like this one.  They appear to be still working on a business model, however.

Tags: DEMOfall, DEMO, Joopz, 3Jam, MobileSphere, Pinger, Flurry, Borealis Ventures

DEMOfall: The Phone as Entertainment Center

Eyespot

More of a video creation and editing play, it seems to me, rather than a phone one, although the hook to participate is that they are releasing a mobile sharing tool today.  Can subscribe to video feeds on the phone, search from the phone, etc. 

Initial Reaction:  I'm clearly not the target market for this product. The only video that grabs me on a cell phone is SlingBox mobile which isn't seen on any typical phone

Fonpods

Purely by coincidence, I had breakfast with CEO Ted Heick and his team this morning.  They seemed like sharp, creative folks.  The idea is that you dial in to a phone number to hear podcasts rather than downloading them to an MP3 player/iPod/etc.

Initial Reaction:  I'm fairly skeptical about the podcast market generally.  And honestly I have a hard time understanding why people would want to dial an 800 number to hear the podcast rather than having it on a typical player.  I agree that to make podcasts successful the process of subscribing and listening to them must be simplified, but I just don't see the dial-in solution as the one. 

PhotoCrank

Add captions and graphics to cell phone photos.  Uses text messaging. 

Initial Reaction:  Targeted at a younger audience who sends photos around for fun and would likely add funny/snarky/silly captions.

SportStat

Watch player specific clips on your cell phone. Product named USCORE. Targeted at high school level on up.  Does the school need to partner with the company for it to work?  What's pricing like?

Initial Reaction: Seems neat, but need to know more about how it works before I can offer any reasonable judgment. 

DEMOfall, DEMO, Eyespot, Fonpods, PhotoCrank, SportStat, USCORE

DEMOfall: The Phone as Information Gatherer

Realeyes3D

Product is named Qipit.  French company.  Presented at DEMOmobile 3 years ago.  Converts camera phone photos of documents, whiteboards, etc. into clean imaged documents.  Crops out extraneous information surrounding a document or whiteboard.  Adjusts contrast etc. to make clean images of the document.

Initial Reaction: Fairly impressive technology.  Not sure how they plan to make money ... licensing? subscription? And how much market demand is there for it?

PixSense

Automatically captures photos taken with a cell phone to a central server so that they don't reside on the phone and you don't have to regularly clean up your phone's storage.  Handles video as well.  Claim their secret sauce is compression scheme (all done on the handset).  Sells through carriers.

Initial Reaction:  These guys should pair up with Photobot to clean up photos on the fly.  Cell phone pics are notoriously poorly lit, etc. and Photobot could make them look better I imagine. 

scanR

Converts cell phone photo of a business card into digital version.  Requires no special software.  Works on typical camera phones already in market.  Simply take the photo and email it to the conversion address.  Results emailed back within a minute or so.

Initial Reaction:  Worth a look.  Not sure what the business model is though.

4INFO

Platform for distributing mobile content by SMS.  In under 2 minutes any RSS feed can be made available through the platform.  Allows alerts, selection of menu items, etc.

Initial Reaction:  Definitely lowers the barrier to entry for those interested in making information available via text messages.  Again no indication as to how they make money -- presumably they would charge the content provider?

Tags: DEMOfall, DEMO, Realeyes3d, Qipit, PixSense, Photobot, scanR, 4INFO

DEMOfall: Void's VaporStream

These guys were left to demo alone.  Chris Shipley introduced them as controversial (because they obliterate all records of electronic communications).  But my first reaction was during the intros when they introduced a CMO and a "chief brand officer."  Interesting for a startup to have 2 employees in that area.

The service appears to require using a web-based tool to send messages.  They focus on separating the header from the message.  It sounds like there would still be a record of a communication but not content saved.  (Which isn't necessarily better.  In some cases, having only a partial look at a communication can be problematic in an investigation since it guarantees the worst inference will be drawn.)

Initial Reaction: Not moved by this one.  I don't object to the concept.  But the implementation here underwhelmed me.

Tags: DEMOfall, DEMO, Void, VaporStream

DEMO Observations

Paul Kedrosky has some interesting observations, some more snarky than others.  I agree with most.  I especially like this one:

It's fine to have opinions, but keep them to yourself. On sitting down I immediately began ranting about Treo, operating systems, and wireless devices to a fellow from Sony sitting beside me who I asked to "Please kill my Treo". Three people in the row in front of me turned around: They were senior marketing sorts from Treo, and we had a short and somewhat strained conversation.

That's good advice.  I have stepped in it more than once myself at conferences like these by trashing some company or technology without fully understanding who everyone was around me.

DEMOfall: Enterprise Computing Gets WebDotOh-ed

System One

Austrian company. Enterprise collaboration and search.  Social software with semantic web component. 

Initial Reaction: Honestly, the demo lost me.  I hear lots of phrases that suggest this could be useful, but I don't think the demo helped me understand it.  Would have to check it out more to know what to think.

ThinkFree

AJAX SaaS office suite.  First showed the product at DEMO 2000 -- obviously way ahead of the curve there.  TJ Kang, CEO opened by saying Microsoft has listed ThinkFree as a competitive threat in its latest 10-k filing.  Fully compatible with Microsoft Office.  Loved it when he called Office a "legacy app" (ok, you have to be a geek to enjoy that terminology, but hey I am).

Initial Reaction: I'm still not wild about office suite tools in the SaaS model.  Maybe I just travel too much so I'm allergic to the concept of being required to have an internet connection to edit a simple document.  But it does seem to be an elegant product with real collaboration possibilities.

Genius.com

Genius Interactive is an "IT-free" chat used as a sales tool.  Robust tools for converting web visitors to prospects and eventually customers.  Looks like it is well suited to consultative or other more involved sales (as opposed to products suited to an impulse buy). Part of SalesGenius.  CEO David Thompson was a founder of WebEx. 

Initial Reaction: Sharp looks web-based sales tool.  Too many features to fully understand in the DEMO format, but definitely worth a deeper look.  Some of my portfolio companies could potentially use this.

Koral

Enterprise document management/collaboration tool.  Free for basic use.  AJAX dashboard.  Allows subscriptions to documents to allow you to know when a file changes.  Notification by RSS or email.  Relevancy and popularity screens for searches.  Can also subscribe to certain authors.  Koral is designed to begin to learn user preferences (mostly by user input as opposed to watching user actions, it seems).  Feedback system to help authors understand which docs are most helpful to the team.

Initial Reaction:  I haven't spent enough time with really large organizations that would be the target for a product such as this.  A small company wouldn't seem to get that much value out of this that I can see. Would need lots of documents, authors, and readers to truly shine.  Certainly seems neat and clean and slick and all that, but I just don't know enough to offer a serious opinion.

MindTouch

A hardware play -- a "Wiki Smart Appliance."  SaaS on your own network with high security.  Automatic off-site backups.  Self-manages.  Software is used on wiki.com.  High-energy presentation.

Initial Reaction: Could have promise.  Hardware plays are generally harder for me to judge.

Serebrum

Axon is the product.  Document collaboration, content management, and wikis all rolled into one.  Federal government funding.  SBIR/NSF/DoD. 

Initial Reaction: This demo just didn't grab me.  Will check out their booth or their web site to make an assessment.

BuzzLogic

Analyzes social media (blogs/wikis/forums). Shows who the most influential bloggers are on a given topic.  Maps blog conversations.  Tracks outreach to bloggers as well.  Pledging to be disruptive on pricing.

[Disclosure: I'm an investor in NetVocates, a company that does human analysis of blogs.] 

Initial Reaction: Looks like a powerful set of tools.  Obviously I think this is a good market to be in.  This seems like a good tool for agencies

Tags: DEMOfall, DEMO, System One, ThinkFree, SalesGenius, Genius.com, Koral, MindTouch, Serebrum, Axon, BuzzLogic.

DEMOfall: Life Just Got Simpler

The first group of demonstrators today is the "Life Just Got Simpler" series.  Below are the companies and my initial reactions:

Dash Navigation

In-car navigation system with a traffic avoidance component.  Big name VC funding. Someone can send an address to the device through a web form.  They tout it as a way for friends to send addresses.  Presumably you could also send your destination address before leaving in order to avoid having to clumsily type in an address as you do with most nav systems.  Dash proposes alternate routes and allows you to select the one you want to use. Integrates Yahoo local data.  "Competitively priced" is how cost is described and monthly subscription cost is pegged as similar to satellite radio.  Product to be available in California in January 2007 and nationwide next summer. 

Initial Reaction: Certainly seems to be the next gen of in car navigation, but why won't Garmin, TomTom, et al just do the same thing and win because they already have market share?  Need to learn more to see the business prospects.

PhotoBot

Automatic photo correction.  Red eye, contrast, brightness, etc.  Auto uploads backup copies to facility in Switzerland (one used by Swiss Banks).  Fully automated.  Private and self-funded (less than $1 million).

Initial Reaction: Certainly seems simple and photo correction I think holds a lot of promise as more folks use digital photography.  I've been using an Adobe product for this, but it isn't nearly as automated. 

Pluggd

HearHere podcast search technology that zeroes in on specific portions of a podcast related so a user-specified topic.  Not strictly keyword search, system also looks for related words.  Speech recognition software along with patent-pending topic technology.  Player shows color coded progress bar to reveal where topics are covered in the podcast.

Initial Reaction: Podcast search is certainly an emerging area that is ripe for innovation.  Need to learn more about scalability -- demo covered searching within a known podcast versus searching a wide universe of them.

Presto

Service for to allow unconnected (i.e. those not using the Internet) to receive email and photos on a printer without any user intervention.  Grandparent or whomever can subscribe to the service and family and friends can send content to a specific email address.  Device uses a regular phone line to periodically poll the service and prints out whatever new content has arrived.  Service monitors health of the printer and will even automatically send printer cartridges when necessary.  Whitelist to ensure spam doesn't get through.

Initial Reaction: Certainly looks easy to use and could appeal to less tech-savvy consumers.  As I've pointed out previously on this blog, there are a lot of folks who are still not online.  But I do wonder if this isn't one of those odd services that will actually have a declining market right from the get-go.  Chris Shipley addressed this by suggesting even connected folks might find a use for this by automatically printing daily newsletters etc. for those (like me) who prefer to read longer pieces on paper).

RingCube

Mojopac is the product.  Another USB portable desktop.  Humorous presentation playing off of a "dropped" laptop followed by booting the portable desktop on a foreign language laptop.  Switching between USB environment and the laptop environment is possible.  Each is fully isolated from the other however.  Desktop apps are said to run full speed off the device, including intensive games.  Available on their website today.

Initial Reaction: Seems more fully featured than previous incarnations I've seen from other companies.  I'd like to learn a little more about this one.

Tags: DEMOfall, DEMO, Chris Shipley, Dash Navigation, Pluggd, Tribeca Labs, Photobot, Presto, RingCube, Mojopac

Dynamics of Information

Brad Feld has a thoughtful post about what he calls the "dynamics of information."  Essentially, it is the notion of dealing with information overload:

It’s not just an issue of tuning the sources, or the filters, or what you pay attention to. Rather – it’s something much larger that takes into account the intersection of many of the technological themes - such as social networks, feeds, attention, user-generated content, identity, relevance, and a few other things tossed in for good measure.  And - because of our friend Mr. Broadband – it now includes audio and video in addition to text.

Brad's excited because he thinks there's a wave of innovation coming in this area. I agree.  I know it is an area that I have concentrated on a lot and have been giving much thought to in recent months.  It's also something that Robert Scoble, Om Malik, and Mike Arrington discussed on the TalkCrunch podcast over the weekend.

Brad has written about a startup called Lijit that deals with this very issue. And recently Monitor110 has gotten some positive press (and I'm very interested in watching this one because I have long believed that there is a serious play to be had in analyzing new media for Wall Street).

Tags: information overload, brad feld, lijit, monitor110, talkcrunch

Google Chaos

Fortune has an interesting article about the chaos at Google (which they hope is organized).  The fact of the matter, though, is that Google has really only had one serious success (search ads) and seems to be wandering in the wilderness a bit right now hoping to stumble upon their Next Big Thing.

If you look at the company today, it doesn't even appear that they're seriously continuing to innovate in the search arena for which they are well known.  Instead, they have a plethora of beta products and as is pointed out in the article (and is something Larry Page recognizes), they do a poor job of letting the public know what they are seriously working on versus which have been released just as an experiment.

Now, these aren't survival concerns for the company. They churn out cash right now as if it grows on trees.  But to be successful in the future, I believe they need to be a bit more organized about their growth and be sure that they are continuing to innovate in their core area of success.  To that end, I think one of the perhaps overlooked advances they are working on is the AdWords style advertising model being created for local radio across the country.  I think that holds great promise, though it will be interesting to see how they establish proper content controls (radio ads appear on a regulated medium as opposed to web ads which still enjoy a largely regulation-free environment).

Certainly something interesting to watch.

Tags: Google, Larry Page, AdWords, AdSense, radio ads, Fortune, chaos

DEMOfall Next Week

I'll be at DEMOfall next week in San Diego.  Drop me a note if you're going to be there and want to get together.

Slingbox Has Competition

Looks like my beloved Slingbox has some competition from one of the big boys.  Sony has announced a LocationFree TV product that will do most of the the Slingbox does and more.  I am especially intrigued by the ability to stream video wirelessly to other TVs in the same home.  That's something I would find very useful.  Will have to check this product out when it becomes available later this fall.

Are You Dining Next to a Thief Tonight?

It's a bit off-topic for this blog, but I suspect many readers will be entertained by New York Times restaurant critic Frank Bruni's blog post today about what diners steal as they eat.  I was especially amused by the tale of a woman who repeatedly attempted to walk away with a $300 silver serving dish shaped like a miniature stove at David Burke and Donatella.

Understanding Multimedia Adoption Trends

In keeping with my recent series of posts about trends in the current Internet space and the need for entrepreneurs and investors to better understand the world outside the tech bubble, I thought it might be helpful to examine multimedia technology adoption and penetration trends.

I compiled the chart below from data available on the US Census Bureau's web site. 

I see several interesting things in this chart.  First, it demonstrates that cable TV adoption  seems to be leveling off at around 70 percent.  In fact, over the past 15 years, there has only been about a 10 point increase in the total percentage of households with cable.

This is interesting for several reasons, not the least of which is the fact that it suggests to me that this may well be the point at which broadband could begin to level off.  There are similarities between the two technologies in that they are infrastructure-oriented and would seemingly appeal to a similar set of consumers.  Now, wireless broadband could help to overcome some of the current constraints on cable TV penetration and permit more rural consumers to access broadband Internet services, but I think this remains an open question.

It is also interesting to note that VCR adoption took off much faster and has achieved much greater ubiquity than cable TV.  Part of this is likely the lack of availability of cable services in some areas, as well as the fact that it represents a monthly cost to the consumer whereas a VCR is (at least in its purest form) a one-time expenditure.

But one should not overlook the fact that in 1984, about the same percentage of households had VCRs and personal computers (10.7 and 8.2 percent respectively).  But where VCR adoption took off, PC adoption has grown at a much slower pace.  Obviously it is a more complicated and expensive technology, but the trend is nevertheless worth considering.

The latest numbers also suggest that most folks who have a computer also have Internet access.  But only about a third of computer owners have broadband today.  While that number will certainly grow and numerous studies have estimates as to how quickly it will do so, this is an important cautionary note to startups focused on broadband-intensive applications.  The fact of the matter is that a significant number of consumers still have slower Internet access at home and they must not be overlooked in a mass-market applicaiton.  But to all of the entrepeneurs and developers and designers out there: when was the last time you used dial-up access? (Apologies to VC Matt Rightmire of Borealis Ventures whom I interviewed recently and discovered he has no broadband at his home.) We all must work to put ourselves better in the shoes of consumers to be certain we're delivering the best products possible.

Obviously, those who focus more on B-to-B solutions are likely to have fewer issues with dial-up access by customers, but consumer-oriented businesses cannot overlook these stark statistics.

None of this is meant to put a damper on the spirit of web-based entrepreneurs.  That is, of course, the very space I live and breathe every day.  But examining the reality of existing trends will help all of us to build stronger companies based on a better understanding of the broader marketplace.