#techbology

At the January NY Tech Meetup there was a great line-up of innovative tech demos. Some were definitely more awesome than others, but you could tell that everyone demoing something was very passionate about their product.

Here's my thoughts on a few of the projects demo'd:

dump.fm "dump.fm is a exciting tool for the internet; allowing pictures to be used for realtime communication and collaboration. Users can send image URLs (which display instantly in the chat), upload locally from their hard drive or post pics right from their webcam. Every image gets stored in your DUMP.FM log, similarly, a log is kept of the entire collaboration."

Now, it might just be me, but I won’t ever use dump.fm. I hate the way the site looks and it’s not the kind of place I’d go for any type of fulfillment, knowledge, etc. While I get that not everything online needs to have some sort of purpose, dump.fm looks like a place that will get ugly and troll-y very fast. Like I said, it might just be me, don’t let that stop you from checking it out yourself.

JaaVuu "One event, one gallery. JaaVuu lets multiple people share photos from the same event in the same gallery."

The description is pretty straight forward. And the demo was really interesting. You can import Facebook albums, you can tag your Facebook friends in JaaVuu created albums and word has it that facial recognition is coming soon. Pretty cool stuff, definitely something to keep an eye on. I could see this being useful for big events (parties, weddings, etc.) where a lot of people are taking pictures.

Munchly "Skip the line with Munchly! Munchly allows you to order ahead from your mobile phone and avoid spending time waiting in line."

I'm SUPER excited about this application! Munchly lets you order concessions from stadiums, concert venues and move theaters directly from you phone. Once you order is ready, you can pick it up from the counter or it can be delivered to you seat. Of course, the venue will have to have a partnership with Munchly to coordinate and process orders, but this application has a lot of potential. I can't wait to see it in action.

Firefly "Firefly is a fun way to see where your friends are on Twitter. Find your friends in the real world, share your location and photos and even get notified when friends check-in nearby."

The explanation pretty much speaks for itself. The nice thing is that you can track your friends whereabouts and check-ins (if that is important to you), regardless of the platform they use to for check-ins.

Sitesimon "An online community that lets you share and discover what's important to you, in real-time."

Sitesimon is meant to make sharing what you discover on the web quick and easy, with just the click of a button via a browser add-on. You can also decide to have your browsing history shared automatically. The more you share and discover, the more points you get. If you’re the first to share something that goes “viral,” your influence score increases. As people continue to share their lives in real-time via the web, this is a trend that will likely catch on. There are obvious privacy concerns, mostly concerning what content you’re browsing. Meaning, if you’re a closet Justin Beiber fan and you’re using Sitesimon, get ready for Beiber browsing history to be broadcasted.

ADstruc "An auction and listing based marketplace for outdoor advertising"

 This just seems like a practical idea and I'm surprised that it's only coming into fruition now in 2011. With ADstruc, you can browse a database of OOH billboards, etc., upload your creative to see what it would look like in the particular spot, and bid on the location. It's very practical and makes so much sense.

VYou " VYou allows people to broadcast video structured as conversations, offering the most personal form of social interaction on the web. It works like this: you record video responses to messages entered by friends and fans. VYou organizes their messages and your videos into conversations, making the experience feel continuously live even though the content is stored."

Prior to NYTM, I had heard of VYou and seeing it demoed gave me all the more reason to get excited about VYou. There are a lot cool ways that everyday people, brands, celebrities, and public figures can implement VYou. Director Kevin Smith even approached VYou on his own and asked to be a part of the site. Obviously they jumped on the opportunity and he's one of the site's featured users. Pretty cool, I'm excited to keep my eye on VYou.

DOTGO "Using a markup language, DOTGO is the Internet for text messaging, rather than a third-party platform. We enable access to mobile content with a website name rather than an expensive, hard to remember short code. DOTGO allows for dynamic and interactive content from any publisher to any phone that uses text messaging."

This is especially useful to people with non smartphones or limited data plans. Click here for a simulation of how DOTGO works, or try it on your phone now.

Text "cnn" to the phone number DOTCOM (368266) to access cnn.com. Or text "wikipedia" to the phone number DOTORG (368674) to access wikipedia.org.