Chip Griffin: Pardon the Disruption

First Takes on the Topix Course Correction

When I first reported on the changes taking place at Topix Sunday, I didn't grasp just how significant the changes would be.  Now that I've had a chance to actually explore the new web site and digest Rich Skrenta's explanation, I can see that this is really huge.

At first, I had thought they were changing their emphasis and some of the methodology.  But now I see that it is a radical overhaul.  When you first login to the new site, it looks entirely different.  It really has become a completely local site.  You can still get national news and such, but it is a lot harder to find those links than it was before.  Clearly, this is a full-blown effort at achieving localized communities for news.

No longer can it be said that Topix provides a Google News-esque offering.  For instance, there's no longer a news search option as far as I can tell, just the ability to look up pre-defined topics. 

I'm not sure I completely understand some of what they're doing, however.  For instance, they have forums that don't seem to be related to news or geography at all -- like the Bon Jovi forum.  So while Rich emphasizes geography in his post and the Topix home page now asks for a zip code above all else, they seem to be interested in creating community beyond geography.

The notion of creating localized communities certainly seems to have merit, but I imagine it will take time to prove this concept out.  It also seems to me that more beyond news is needed to create a truly sticky local community online.  Events, for instance, would seem to be to be a valuable pairing, just as it is with local newspapers. 

I'm sure Rich and the rest of the team at Topix has already thought this through, but if they were able to come up with a community portal that combined news, weather, events, entertainment, movie listings, TV listings, etc. based on zip code, it might be a really powerful place.  But starting with news probably makes the most sense because it is the least geographically organized to date and you need to have a unique selling proposition to build that initial community from which all other things may spring.

It also strikes me that the biggest challenge will be in creating that sense of community outside of technology centers.  So many of these online services are strong where early adopters and high-tech communities thrive, but find it difficult to penetrate grassroots America.  It seems to me that to be the powerful local ad engine that I think the newspapers envisioned it as when they invested in the company a few years ago, it will need to go beyond the high-tech hives.

Topix will definitely be a company to keep an eye on to see how this radical shift shakes out.

UPDATE: Rich comments that search still exists, it is just hard to find.  He also points to a heat map that seems to show pretty broad activity, not just in high-tech hotbeds.  I based my judgment based on "random" zip code lookups, but obviously the map has more credibility than my testing.

Technorati tags: Topix, community, Rich Skrenta

Best of Demo 07

Below are my picks for Best of Demo 07, for what it is worth.  These are my own personal judgments based on what I liked, what I thought had good business potential, or what just struck me as cool.  It will be interesting to see how much -- if any -- overlap there is with the official DemoGod Awards (past experience suggests it will be very different).

Best Peer to Peer Service: eJamming.com

Best Product Competing With the Big Boys: Digger.com

Best Information Intelligence Product: ZoomInfo PowerSearch

Best Video Product: Magnify.net

Best Security Product:  Alcatel-Lucent Mobile Endpoint Management System

Product I'm Most Likely to Use: Iwerx Sentinel

Product Most Likely to Change the Lives of Average Consumers: ZINK Digital Imaging

Coolest Demo: Total Immersion D'Fusion

Technorati tags: Demo07, Demo2007, Demo 2007, Demo 07

UPDATES:

Shel Israel, a veteran of Demo and similar conferences, offered up his list of DemoGods on his blog.

Official DemoGod awards went to Dart Devices, Boston Power, Total Immersion, Inelex, Pair Up, Blinkx, Panjea, eJamming, Qtech, and the Kauffman Foundation iBridge

Loose Ends from Demo 07

Several companies have provided me with additional information to clarify my confusion about their offerings, and I am including revised information below.  In addition, one company did their demo after a speaker on the afternoon of Day 1, but I didn't realize they were coming so they didn't make my wrap-up of that session.

eJamming.com

These folks were impressive in their day-end demo on Wednesday.  Allows bands to play together online so they don't have to be physically in the same place. Audio quality was excellent. Apparently they have some technology to sync everything despite the streaming. The demo we saw included one guy playing a guitar here and another guy singing and using a synthesizer in another city. Sounded like they were both right in front of me.

My Take: I'm not a musician but these guys look like winners.  A contender for my Best of Demo list.

Wyse N10

I was a bit befuddled by this one during the demo on stage, but Matt Alfano reached out after he read my original blog post and asked me to stop by their booth for more information.  Basically they are offering the technology for what I would call a "dumb terminal" but which today is more commonly called a "thin client" -- sounds better, I agree.  It certainly isn't dumb and it offers considerable advances over what's currently in the marketplace.  Using standard protocols -- the same ones in Windows Remote Desktop app -- it lets users take advantage of a virtual machine on a centralized server.  From the user's viewpoint, they have their own computer right on their screen as they always have, but from an IT standpoint, it is just a little tiny device that connects the monitor to a networked server.  This way, both parties are happy.  IT can manage a secure central environment without having to deal with hundreds or thousands of desktops.  And users get all the functionality they are used to. 

The Wyse N10 offers a real breakthrough in that it allows multimedia -- including streaming video and VoIP -- to function smoothly, without the reduced quality and interruptions typical of normal remote desktop software.

My Revised Take: An impressive product that could well find a home in enterprise environments.  It's really a philosophical question for companies: to deploy powerful thin clients with centralized computing power or continue to give individuals their own desktop computers.  It's sort of a "back to the future" question but with many more possibilities than we saw 20 years ago in dumb terminals of that era.

ThePort Blerts

My review of this company was hampered by the fact that in their 6 minute demo they didn't have enough time to tell the full story.  I viewed the product they released yesterday, Blerts, as little more than a feature.  It turns out I was mostly right.  The company actually offers a full suite of social networking and web portal services to organizations.  Clients include sports fan sites and major daily newspapers.  They provide a hosted solution to give these web sites the social networking functions they are seeking.  Blerts will be part of that offering, although it is also available for download separately.  ThePort is positioning the software as a way to bring RSS to the masses.  Thanks to Jacqui Chew of the company for reaching out to me and giving me more information.

My Revised Take: As part of a broader offering and released to affinity groups with default feeds, Blerts could find some success.  I'm skeptical of it as a standalone offering, but I agree with the company reps I spoke with that it makes sense to make it available that way and see what the market says.  After all, the cost of putting it out there is pretty low, especially when there is already a revenue stream in mind for it from existing customers.

Serendipity Technologies WorkLight

Server based solution to enable employees to access data outside of their native applications.  Widget to display RSS feeds securely.  Also allows secure tagging through existing apps like Delicious.  Supports RSS, XML, SAP, SQL, and other apps.  Designed to help younger employees use the apps they have become comfortable with.  Can integrate the data into Google, NetVibes, Yahoo, etc. 

My Revised Take: As I have noted in other reviews, I am not an expert on very large enterprise solutions, so I don't have a lot of experience on which to base my judgment here.  I do think making data more accessible to employees is a good thing, as for the specific mechanics of this solution it is hard for me to say. 

Technorati tags: Demo07, Demo2007, Demo 2007, Demo 07

Demo 07 Day 2 Afternoon Session

This is it, folks.  The homestretch.  It becomes increasingly difficult for demonstrators as the afternoon goes on.  Attendees tend to start disappearing for their flights home.  And by the time you hit company 65 or 66, if you're still in your seat, you are likely feeling a bit numb.  But the companies are ready, I'm ready, so let's go!

Boorah

Launching initially doing local restaurant search in 3 markets.  Uses semantic analysis and natural language processing to develop star ratings from user reviews on blogs and other sites.  Slick AJAX interface. 

My Take: Has potential.  Obviously a lot of it comes down to how accurate the analysis is and how comprehensive the spidering may be.

PairUp

Aimed at helping business travelers set up serendipitous meetings.  It claims to securely compare travel itineraries to alert you when people you know will be in the same place at the same time.  Outlook contact data is uploaded to the web site.  It appears that it requires manual entry of trips, however.

My Take: This would have greater potential if calendar data could somehow sync up more cleanly.  Unfortunately, Outlook doesn't track location data uniformly, so this would be difficult.  Adoption is likely to be very slow if each itinerary must be entered manually.

Zoho Notebook

Free online collaboration tool.  Chris Shipley described it in her intro as a "next generation wiki."  In watching the demo, I think that's the best way to describe it, too.  It offers greater customization and more visual effects than the wiki solutions I have seen.  Enables integration of a wide array of content types, including spreadsheets, charts, graphics, drawings, diagrams, etc.  It also permits aggregation of feeds and collaborative editing.

My Take: Feels like a natural evolution in the wiki game.  The fact that they use terminology familiar to most people (notebook-centric) rather than scary terms like wiki and RSS shows that they get it and are interested in moving beyond the geek crowd.  This could make my Best of Demo list as one of the best and most practical offerings I have seen here this week.

Me.dium

Attempts to create connections among users based on what they are viewing online. Software is a browser sidebar.  Facilitates chatting between readers.  Suggests interesting content.

My Take: I see this as something that might appeal to the techie and blogger crowd, but I have a hard time seeing it gain mass appeal.

CircleUp

Another group communication solution, this one focused more on text communication.  Will tally results and allow members of a group to see each other's answers (if so permitted by the organizer).  Communication can be conducted by email or IM.

My Take: A bunch of companies seem interested in improving group communication.  Someone will need to gain traction in this space and become the leader of the pack.

Nexo

One of the more entertaining demos of the conference.  The theme was "Lindsay Lohan's Rehab Support Group."  In any event, this could be best described as the next generation of Yaho! Groups -- or put another way, what Yahoo! Groups ought to be.  Very simple and fairly flexible group site creation tool that enables group discussion and information sharing.  Polls, email contact, etc.

My Take: A winner and a candidate for my Best of Demo list.

Attendio

An "event-discovery service." Recommends events based on your profile and friends.  Can also take recommendations from "trusted" celebrity recommenders.  Integrates with existing calendar programs including Outlook and Google Calendar.  Microsoft featuring it as a option for the Windows Vista calendar.  Can get recommendations via SMS.

My Take: There are a number of startups in this space.  It's going to be a traction game to see who survives.  The Microsoft deal should help.

MyDesignIn

Collaborative space planning and design application.  Pulls data from manufacturers sites to help in the design effort.  Creates designs that look like typical blueprints on screen.  Can share the design with designer, contractor, etc.

My Take: Seemed like a pretty slick application and I can see where it would have real-world value. 

My-Currency.com

Reputation system that will focus first on the real estate market and then expand from there.  Purports to use "wisdom of the crowds" and "prediction markets" to assess real estate prices.  People predict home sales prices and their accuracy is tracked over time.  Aggregated data then seeks to advise home buyers and sellers on pricing.

My Take: The trick will be getting enough people to make predictions to make this valuable.

Nextumi Share2Me

Seeks to make content sharing easier.  Creates a browser button to enable sharing without having to detour to an email application.  Integrates with existing contact lists in email and IM.  Can send to people on multiple platforms simultaneously.  Supports text messaging as well.  Example showed sharing a photo with a group of people via all the different methods.

My Take: Looks pretty easy to use.  People who share a lot of content would likely benefit from this.

Aggregate Knowledge

Performs behavioral analysis in order to help retail and content sites suggest related products and content.  Examples shown are Overstock.com's "People who bought this also bought that" window and the Washington Post's related articles window that drives users to content not related by terms, but by behavior.

My Take: Automated behavioral analysis for content recommendation is a key component, in my mind, of the future of the Internet.  Based solely on their demo, these guys seem to get it and appear to be offering a useful product.

ZoomInfo

A semantic search engine that automatically creates company and individual profiles from web crawling.  Pulls a lot of data together in one place based on search alone.  Powerful tool for anyone seeking business intelligence for sales, marketing, bizdev, or related tasks.

My Take: Accuracy will be key here, but the examples shown were impressive.  Since I'm an information junky and this has always been an area of interest to me, these guys have an edge for a Best of Demo award when I compile that list after the show.

Trailfire

Using a browser plugin, users can annotate pages with "marks" and "trails" that others can follow.  Basically it seems to be the ability to annotate pages and mark contextual bookmarks.  Users rate existing trails to help the most useful ones bubble to the top.

My Take: Too geeky to achieve significant penetration.

Reveal

A "lightweight peer to peer app" that allows document sharing inside and outside of a company.  Allows searching and shared access for email, documents, and other data. Caches documents so files can be accessed even when the host computer is offline.  Tagging is supported.  Can specify who can access which documents. 

My Take: This will make management and IT skittish in many companies, I would think. Even with the ability to tailor who has access to which documents, decentralizing this would seem to open major security concerns, especially for public companies. 

Helium

Provides a competitive writing environment where individuals come to offer articles on various subjects.  Readers rate the content so that the best writers end up being rewarded financially.  Content can be straight up information or debates.  Pro/con arguments can take place to encourage high-level debate.  Aims to get rid of ad hominem and rhetoric-laden commentary -- or worse, juvenile putdowns -- that tend to permeate other debate oriented sites.  Claims their rating system is democratic and ungameable. 

My Take: It will be a challenge, but if it works it would be revolutionary.  It opens up the possibility of creating higher-quality content than what one can find on wikipedia for any controversial subject.

Digger.com

Attempts to discern context for search words to deliver more relevant results.  For instance, tries to understand when you type "Ford" whether you are seeking information on the car, the former President, or something else.  Claims to learn from your past behavior what you are likely to want in the future.  Example search was "hotel with a view of the Golden Gate bridge."  Processes related words, synonyms, and other data to improve results.

My Take: There is still a long way to go in improving search and these guys seem to be on to something.  It will be interesting to see how the results hold up on other searches. 

Iwerx Sentinel

Attempts to fight sploggers and others who would plagiarize web content.  A product aimed at bloggers.  You register your blog and it monitors for sites that seem to be stealing the content.  Tries to pierce sites that use synonyms or other methods to mask plagiarize.  Enables abuse complaints to be sent.  Has an API to provide a plagiarism blacklist.  It will be interesting to see if anyone tries to abuse the blacklist structure to flag blogs that they don't like rather than ones that are truly plagiarizing. 

My Take: Seems simple enough to use and free for bloggers to track one blog, so I imagine it will get some decent adoption. Will be interesting to see where the company goes in the future, since this doesn't feel to me like a business in its own right.

blinkx

These guys got stuck with the last slot of the conference, but they worked some humor into the presentation to keep people awake.  Today's announcement was that they are now offering a widget to enable bloggers and other site owners to integrate video search on their own sites to find related video.  A "Blinkx.it" logo appears at the end of blog posts and when clicked a little AJAX gizmo pops up with related video clips being shown.

My Take: Blinkx may be a good video search engine, but this feature announcement seemed underwhelming to me.

Technorati tags: Demo07, Demo2007, Demo 2007, Demo 07

Demo 07 Day 2 Morning Session

We've passed the halfway point of Demo 07.  Below are my real-time notes and initial impressions of the products and services revealed today.  This session is heavy on mobile devices and applications.

DART

Allows diverse devices to interoperate and communicate effectively with each other.  Showed a slide show application operating a mobile device that was simultaneously controlling the same slide show on 6 different devices that had the DART software but not the slideshow app installed.  At the end of the demo, they made pigs fly.  No, really, they did!

My Take: Looks pretty powerful, but this is outside my area of expertise. 

Devicescape

Simplifies connections to WiFi networks.  Tiny application (50k) that installs on many devices.  Register devices with their web site.  Tell it the right username and password for any hotspot accounts you may have.  Especially useful for WiFi phones, it seems.

My Take: This seems to me to be a bet on whether WiFi Hotspots are the wave of a future or merely a stop on the way to other wireless broadband solutions.

Whisher

Claims to aggregate all WiFi networks into one "free global wireless community."  Can use your wireless connection to allow nearby users to access selected files and engage in various social network activities.

My Take: Is it a localized social network tool or is it a WiFi access utility?  Seems like it is really more of the former, despite the way they initially frame themselves.  If you're interested in hyperlocal social networking, this could be worth another look.

Nuvoiz

Softphone application.  They touted the quality, but it seemed like there were some hiccups and echos.  I'm not sure if this had to do with the a/v dynamics in the room or the software itself, though it seemed like the software.  Connects to SIP phones.  They call it Skype for the enterprise.

My Take: They extend the capability of SIP phones, though I know in the case of my own provider for our office, we already have many of those through them.  Not sure I fully understand the value prop here.

Alcatel-Lucent Mobile Endpoint Management System

Project Evros is what they call it.  An enterprise solution that empowers IT departments to control their fleet of laptops everywhere.  Hardware solution that includes GPS, linux, battery, and more.  It is literally the key to the laptop (without it installed, the laptop won't run).  Designed to provide better security for laptops and to enable IT folks to take remote control of any laptop.  Works even if the laptop is off. Data on laptop is encrypted and encryption key is on the card.

My Take: This is an area that I have spent some time looking at and was once even in discussions about a startup in this arena (it never got off the ground).  This product is very impressive and given the concerns of many companies about their laptop fleets, I expect this has real potential.  Price point is the major question, but I suspect many companies would pay a good price for this.

Boston-Power SONATA

They sell it as a better battery.  Fast charge of 80% in 30 minutes.  Claims the battery lasts longer and doesn't experience fade as quickly as most batteries, which they say start to fade within 4-6 months (I agree with that based on my own anecdotal experience).  They say their battery will not fade during the 3 year lifespan of the typical laptop.

My Take: They are batteries so it is hard to judge without real world experience.  If their claims are accurate it could be useful. 

GETaBUZ.com

Allows voice mails to be sent to mobile phones.  The messages can be mixed with music.  Can do the same with your voice mail answering message.  Done on the web site and can record messages using a phone or microphone on the computer. 

My Take: Maybe I'm just not hip enough to get it, but seems to me music mixed with voice messages isn't that exciting.  It's a lot of work.  Why not just leave a message the normal way?  Heck, you can play music in the background if you want and get a similar effect.  I guess there's a little more value in creating an interesting answering message, but does that really make a business?

Seagate DAVE

DAVE = Digital Audio Video Experience.  A wireless mobile storage solution.  Can be accessed by a mobile phone or other devices.  Available this summer.  The demo had technical difficulties so they had to describe what it could do, but couldn't show it.  They handled the flop as well as could be expected, though.

My Take: Expanding the storage capability of mobile devices will be very powerful.  Presumably they will have the kinks worked out before they release it.

Inilex ViM

If your car is stolen and it has this installed, it will page your cell phone and you can track online where the car is and how fast it is going.  It also can track teen drivers to see where they are and what they are doing.  It can also be used to control various car functions, including heating, cooling, locks, etc.  Being used by car dealers and fleet managers.  Claims average consumers can install within 20 minutes.

My Take: Pretty impressive if it works as billed.  Sort of a next generation of the well-known Lojack device but that also adds value when your car isn't being stolen.

Jyngle

Free voice and text messaging.  Targeted at groups like college students, sports teams, and volunteer organizations that need "real-time solution interaction."  Can also be used by businesses to update customers who opt-in.  For instance, frequent patrons of a particular bar could receive messages about spur of the moment specials being offered that evening.

My Take: I can see the value in communicating with groups in real-time.  This app seems simple enough, but I can't speak to how it compares to the competition.  This is a potentially crowded space to be in and it may be tough to break out.

GoWare DoMo

Allows users to create a customized mobile portal for their individual cell phones.  Can integrate whatever feeds or other data the user wants.  Look can be customized for the individual cell phone's capabilities.  They are apparently beginning to partner with companies to create these portals so users don't have to do it themselves.

My Take: The partnering route will be critical as I just don't see that many users going through the effort to create customized cell phone portals.  I think the vast majority are likely to work with whatever their provider gives them.  Are there enough power users and partners to sustain this sort of company?

iqzone

Classified advertising via mobile phone.  Users can take photos, type in descriptions, and upload the classified ad. 

My Take: OK, they make it easier to create the ad, but what about the audience to buy the items?  Newspapers work because people read them.  eBay works because people visit the web site.  How will iqzone build an audience for their ads?

Mobio

Partners can create applications that combine data from multiple content sources.  Examples shown included booking a restaurant reservation through OpenTable and finding after-dinner entertainment through another service.  It also showed a simple way to access flight information.

My Take: The apps shown looked considerably easier than using a mobile browser to access the same features and sites.  It would seem success would depend on partner adoption and promotion.

Vringo

A video ringtone sharing community.  Permits video ringtones to be selected by the caller, not the recipient like traditional ringtones.  Users can take their own clips to create Vringos.

My Take: Seems to have potential.  Assuming that groups of friends are all required to have the application to see the Vringos, however, it will be heavily dependent on group adoption dynamics -- or adoption my major carriers directly.

Teleflip TeleMail

They report that only 10 million of the 230 million mobile phones in the US have email functionality.  This service allows you to access email on other phones.  They claim to be 100% carrier and handset agnostic.  Uses SMS to transmit info.  Can customize which messages get passed along to your cell phone and when.

My Take: Has potential.  The examples were all short messages, however, and I would want to see what happens when a longer email is received since SMS doesn't handle long text well.

Technorati tags: Demo07, Demo2007, Demo 07, Demo 2007

Demo 07 Day 1 Afternoon Session

Below is the rundown of what I saw this afternoon.  Note that I arrived a few minutes late and missed the SupportSoft demo then missed VUVOX because of a pressing business issue I had to address.

Triumfant

Software designed to help diagnose computer problems.  Focused on the enterprise rather than end users.  Simple interface for finding and fixing problems.  Replaces missing software files without backups or reboots.  It won't replace that memo you inadvertently deleted so it isn't a replacement for backups, but it does fix many problems users can create by installing bad software or inadvertently deleting or changing system files or settings.

My Take: Looks very easy to use and potentially useful for enterprises.  I'm not an IT software expert, so I can't really speak to the marketplace in which it competes, but the demo impressed.

SOASTA

Automated web testing.  No scripts or fancy development needed to test your web services or applications.  Starts at $250.  Unfortunately, these folks killed their demo's effectiveness by reading from a script. 

My Take: They completely put me to sleep through a rapid-fire monotone recitation from notecards.  The concept has promise, but I'll have to learn more about it in a different venue.

Integrien Alive

An IT monitoring solution that finds slowdowns and outages in key applications and identifies the cause.  Attempts to detect problems before they occur using "predictive alerts" by monitoring normal and abnormal behavior and learning over time early warning signs. 

My Take: If it really can do what it claims, it has a lot of value for enterprises.  Again, I am not an IT infrastructure expert, so I can't speak to competition in the marketplace.

SailPoint ComplianceIQ

Helps with Sarbanes-Oxley compliance by assessing risk based on user access privileges.  The presenters represent, and I understand from my sources as well, that this sort of thing is a huge problem for public companies who must now better identify such risks. 

My Take: Anything related to SarbOx compliance remains hot.  As for how useful the specific application is, I can't really say since I have no experience with it.  But it does look pretty slick.

Panjea.TV

Allows users to create their own online TV channel.  They equate it to creating mix tapes for friends.  They had a glitch, but passed it off with a passable joke and moved on.  The Panjea player took a while to come up, possibly due to network bandwidth issues, but then it came up.  Simple interface to combine a series of video clips into a "channel."

My Take: I could see where this would have appeal among the MySpace crowd.  As I have written on this blog frequently in the past, I do question to what extend people want to watch a large volume of streaming video online.  Short clips a la YouTube make perfect sense to me, but movies and "channels" like Panjea's offering are harder to grasp.  Of course, they are targeting pop culture brands, and this may yet work since those brands are willing to try these sorts of things to target youth.

Clip Syndicate

Apparently a spinoff of Critical Mention, a TV monitoring service, Clip Syndicate seeks to license video clips for display on blogs and other content-oriented sites.  Just as AP, Reuters, Creators, and others offer written content to web sites, these guys want to do the same for video.  They claim deals with most major broadcast networks, as well as others in order to stock the network with content.  Site editors can easily create channels of clips and even reorder them.  Smart channels will allow content to automatically update on the content publishers web site.

My Take: This has some real promise.  Sean Morgan, the company's CEO, is a hard-charging guy who made his case forcefully on stage and I trust he will do so with potential partners as well.

Magnify.net

Starts out with a very high-energy pitch.  Used audience to get input to move the demo forward -- a great tactic to prove the system really works and isn't just capable of the canned keystrokes that the company has pre-planned.  Allows aggregation of user generated video.  It searches major providers like YouTube and Yahoo.  Presents aggregated search results on the site of your choosing.  Partners with weather.com to allow users to present weather videos.  Visitors can vote on results for different criteria to help tailor future result sets for themselves and others.

My Take: Not precisely the same as Panjea, but I think these guys hit the mark a little better.  Looks pretty easy to use and I could see it catching on with bloggers and other content sites.

Yodio

"Destination site" for audio casts.  Allows people to contribute audio content directly to the site.  Photos can be added as well. Aims to collect and aggregate audio content.  Permits tagging.  Content can be emailed.  Groups can be created.  Positioning themselves pretty much as a Flick for audio. 

My Take: Flickr for audio?  Maybe. 

ThePort Network Blerts

Manages "priority" RSS feeds.  Allows visual alerts when new posts come in.  Customizable graphics can be associated with each feed.  Billed as a cross between personal feed aggregation and social networking.  Presentation was heavy on buzzwords and light on details.

My Take: They say they don't compete directly with the likes of Newsgator, but I just don't see it.  Feels like they have some ideas for features for the existing players in this space, but I don't see them making it on their own without more innovation or some creative partnering. 

LiveSquare.com Streaming Media Defender

Aims to prevent piracy.  A lot of talk at the beginning about the problem of piracy.  Kept wondering when the demo would begin ... OK, we're now over 1/3 of the way through their time and still no demo ... a lot of emphasis on how quickly they update the product (less than 1 minute to auto update) ... still no demo ... doesn't add much overhead -- just 80 bytes and blah, blah, blah less overhead ... OK, I know I'm getting snarky, but really, we still haven't seen a demo ... ah, now we're seeing it.  Hmmm.  The demo consisted of showing a video for 10 seconds, unchecking a box and seeing that it shut off the feed, and then a quick look at some sort of logging screen.  Then a spin into VoIP.

My Take: I'm left speechless here.  Clearly a candidate for the "Worst of Demo 07" -- at least as far as the demo itself goes.  Can't offer any real opinion on the product or the company based on what was seen on stage.

ink2

Print on demand service.  Example was a greeting card that was designed and addressed online.  Will be mailed within 24 hours.  Presumably there are other products that can be created as well.

My Take: Has potential, not sure how much.

SplashCast

Channels, channels everywhere! That's sort of how it feels this afternoon, but here we go... Allows embedded channel content on any web page that includes video and other media (photos, text, etc.).  Handles a variety of formats transparently.  Allows channel sharing across sites.  Simple channel creation.  Openfor 36 hours and they claim 1000 channels created so far.

My Take: It will be interesting to see how all of these channel creation services fare.  At first blush, I still prefer Magnify.net (see above). 

SharedBook

They call it an "on-demand reverse publishing system."  Example given was the ability to print comments produced for obituary guest books on Legacy.com.  Seems like a simple process to set up and receive a printed book with the user generated content provided.  This was a custom integration, but they now offer API's to permit any site to interact with the service.

My Take:  It will be interesting to see growth here since it requires semi-custom integration through API's rather than a way to easily integrate content either through cut and paste or better yet through RSS/XML/etc.

OurStory

Feels like an ongoing, "living" version of a baby book.  Follows timeline of someone's life and permits text, photos, and multimedia to be inserted.  Content can be printed in book form.  Others can access online.  Alerts can be set to receive email updates when a timeline is updated.  Can also be used to do timelines for groups of people instead of individuals.

My Take: I'd love to see this rolled up with a genealogy web site to have an end-to-end family history solution.  Done right, I think this would meet a real demand and feed off of the existing desire to build family tree information.  But even on its own it has some promise.  Even 5 years post 9/11, there still seems to be a much greater interest among a lot of folks to be better connected to friends and family.

Mixpo

They don't use the word channel, but seems very similar to the other offerings that permit personal channel creation.  Pick content.  Embed it on the blog or web site of your choosing. Etc.  Final words were that they have a "distribution deal" with Microsoft.  No idea what that means, but obviously it could be significant depending on what it really is.

My Take: Luck of the draw put these guys on the stage after too many channel presentations and it has all become a blur to me now.  These guys did do a better job of describing practical and business applications for the service, so they do get points for that.

Preclick IPM Instant Photo Messenger

Just like it sounds -- sharing photos via IM.  Billed as an alternative to email.  Automatically resizes photos to reduce file size.  Easy to add captions, reorder images, etc.  Preclick already partners with Walmart, Cosco, and others to offer photo services.  It appears to be a proprietary IM app, but either I missed it or they weren't entirely clear about that.

My Take: Existing partnerships will likely give this service some initial juice and probably could sustain it on its own. 

Bling Player

Claim to be the first AJAX client for mobile applications.  Joined on stage by the creative director of BarryBonds.com (apparently there's at least one company that isn't running away from Bonds despite his -- how do I put this tactfully? -- questionable public image).  Demo made it look very simple.

My Take: Mobile application development isn't my expertise, so I'm not sure I have a lot to offer on this one.

Technorati tags: Demo07, Demo2007

Demo 07 Day 1 Morning Session

DEMO 07 kicked off today with a series of interesting of product presentations.  A complete rundown of the morning session appears below in the form of my real-time notes as the demos were presented, along with my initial impression.

Kauffman iBridge Network

A non-profit project of the Kauffman Foundation that promotes entrepreneurship, this site aims to provide a way to find innovations available for licensing from universities.  Allows searching and browsing by tags.  Information touted as being clear, concise, and understandable for non-PhD's.  Intellectual property is directly downloadable.  How does the data get there?  Direct links have been created with existing systems, but they are also working with universities to rewrite descriptions to be more accessible to lay people.

My Take: This one really depends on how good the data is.  It will take more time to figure out how it stacks up today and obviously it will be important to see how well-received it is by universities so that they remain interested in populating it in an understandable fashion.

ZINK Digital Imaging

ZINK ("Zero Ink") enables pictures to be printed without any ink.  Built-in rechargeable battery in a handheld portable printer.  Specialized paper is what permits the technology to work.  Dye crystals in the paper are activated by the printer.  Photos come out completely dry and "ready to enjoy."  Heavily focused on mobile printing.  One of the early products will be a digital camera/printer in one device -- sort of a Polaroid instant camera for the 21st century.  From a distance, the quality appears to be pretty good.  Obviously, we'll need to have a close-up look at it to see how quality stands up.  In addition, price points will be interesting.

My Take: Really cool with solid business prospects.  This is an early favorite for my Best of Demo list.

Shipwire.com

Provides warehousing, fulfillment, and shipping services for small businesses.  Accounts start at $30 per month.  Paypal compatible.  Provides better logistics for small retailers.  Also provides global reach.

My Take: May have potential.  Retail shipping logistics are far from an area of expertise for me.

QTech reQall

Speed dial a number on your cell phone and leave a message for yourself to remind you about something.  System emails you to remind you that you have a message.  Use voice prompts to attach meta data to the messages like due dates.  Will also transcribe your messages and email them to you.

My Take: Sounds like a marketing wrapper on a voice mail service, with a few added bells and whistles.

6th Sense Analytics

A software as a service offering that seeks to help to manage software development projects.  Integrates with leading development tools like Visual Studio, emacs, etc.  Logs use of various tools by developers.  Shows which files were accessed when and what was done with them.  Can view by developer or aggregate by team.  Pitched as a way to make sure that developers are aligned with business objectives.  Claims to offer insight into whether IM/email helps or hurts. 

My Take: A very big brotherish application that I imagine managers would love and developers would loathe.  Could prove useful in many environments if it is as easy to use as it appears, and developers might actually find it helpful to them over the long term (spoken like a manager, not a developer, I know).

Eyejot

Video messaging service.  Works in any browser with no client software to install.  Uses RSS feeds to expand distribution options beyond emailing the video clip.  Integrates with iTunes and social networks like MySpace through use of a widget.  Compatible with mobile devices like Blackberry or Treo in an attempt to break into the business space.  Uses Adobe Flash.

My Take: Does seem simple to use.  Could prove popular with bloggers and teens.  More skeptical about business environment adoption.

Honeypitch

Seeks to automate proposal generation.  Creates a password protected web-based document that can be negotiated online between vendor and prospect.  Allows multimedia or other docs to be embedded.  Breaks the information out by category. 

My Take: Could work for interactions between two high-tech organizations.  Probably ahead of its time for most sectors, however.

Wyse N10

Most folks think of me as a tech geek, but this one flew right over my head with lots of jargon about silicon, thin clients, virtualized pc's, hardware and software encoding and decoding, etc. 

Adobe Apollo

Permits rich Internet applications can be used on- or offline.  Supports HTML, JavaScript, AJAX, Flash, and Flex.  The demo focused on an eBay application currently in development.  Demonstrated the ability to work offline by pulling out the network cable and continuing to build an auction for eBay. 

My Take: This appears to have real potential for apps that could benefit from being available on- or offline.  Feels a bit like a more accessible alternative to Java apps. Another one likely to make my Best of Demo list. 

Mission Research SalesWorks

Desktop sales/CRM app with online features.  Framed as a cross between Salesforce.com and ACT!  Demo focused heavily on list management, mail merge, etc.   Looks simple and easy to use.   

My Take: This feels like a crowded space and it may be difficult for this product to break out.  They need to do a better job of communicating their unique value proposition and driving that point home.

Ceelox Scram

Steganography: encrypting messages in photographs.  That's what Ceelox is all about.  You email someone a picture and some message or data is included in the photo that can later be decrypted by the recipient.  Examples touted include bank statements, medical records, or advertising offers/games.  Using the Scram service, you create the image online and then email it using Outlook or any other email client.  Recipient saves and opens the attachment.  Also works with IM.  Images can also be posted online publicly. 

My Take: They tout it as being great for advertisers, though I suspect it may also appear to a less savory element.  The question is which becomes more prevalent?

Serendipity Technologies WorkLight

Widget to display RSS feeds securely.  Also allows secure tagging through existing apps like Delicious. 

My Take: I didn't get enough out of this demo to truly assess it.

Symantec Identity Initiative

Norton Identity Client integrates with the browser to learn about web sites and online sellers.  Also has tools to protect identity during online transactions.  Integrates with existing identity solutions like Yahoo and OpenID.  Flags sites as those who use their email lists for spam.

My Take: This is obviously a major player and no doubt will sell a lot of this product.  Online security is a huge concern among consumers, but at some point the pendulum may swing so far that there are too many tools to protect yourself online.  Even the major vendors have so many products that it is often hard to figure out what to use if you are a typical consumer. 

Jaman

Offers independent films online in "better than DVD" quality.  Seeking to monetize the long tail of film.  Augments the movies themselves with community tools.  Appears that you have to watch on your PC only and that is a streaming only offering.  Permits in movie commentary and discussion.  $1.99 to rent and $4.99 to buy. 

My Take: An innovative idea, but this will certainly test Chris Anderson's Long Tail argument.  The question is how much cumulative audience is there for these types of films?  And will folks who are into cinema enough to enjoy independent films want to watch on their computers rather than their TV's?

Total Immersion D'Fusion

Real-time integration of of 3D graphics into live video.  The demo started slow as they weren't able to get the right video up on the projector, but once the show producers sorted that one out, lots of cool stuff could be seen.  Video games are apparently a key target for this one.

My Take: Definitely cool stuff.  These guys will probably win a DemoGod award tomorrow night from Chris Shipley, and will also be likely to make my own Best of Demo list.

Technorati tags: Demo07

Demo 2007

I am writing this on a plane headed to Demo 2007, being held in California this year.  For those of you interested in the latest offerings from cutting edge companies, stay tuned to this space in coming days for the same sort of coverage that I have offered in the past.  I'll try to make sure I share a good sense of what I'm seeing and what I find especially interesting.

I find Demo to be the most valuable conference I attend.  Over the past few years it is really the only conference that consistently finds a home on my schedule, and I have attended both the fall and winter editions.  Unlike so many other conferences, Demo does not submit attendees to a long list of tedious panels and speakers.  (Though they usually do have one or two of these, and I must confess that I have found them to be almost uniformly disappointing -- with the exception of the panel at the closing dinner which can be quite entertaining since you have a roster of tech journalists chatting after many have consumed some decent wine.)

I usually leave these conferences energized and full of ideas to bring home to the team at CustomScoop and with better insight about potential future investments for the angel group I lead.  And, of course, it helps me figure out which services and gadgets I just won't be able to live without.

Technorati tags: Demo, Demo2007, conferences

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: 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: 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: 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

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.