Elf Designs» Software

The Evolution of Voice Assistants

MJ — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 20:17:03 +0000

Siri for the iPhone 4S may be the primary reason why many are upgrading to the newest iPhone. If you don’t have the latest iPhone, don’t worry, as virtual assistants are not limited to the iPhone 4S. If you have another Smartphone, you may want to check out the following:

Vlingo (Android & iOs, free) can do numerous tasks, such as: sending texts and emails, voice dial, search the web, find local businesses, get directions, update Facebook and Twitter, check in to Foursquare, etc. An InCar edition is available for hands-free voice command while driving.
Iris (Android, Free, Beta) currently only responds to questions, whether fact-based (conversions, sports or history facts, etc) or personal (When asked if it wants chips, the reply is “No, chips make me fat”).
Speaktoit (Android, Free) can perform numerous actions, including, but not limited to: opening apps, updating Facebook and Twitter, getting directions and local weather, etc.
DragonGo! (iOs, Free) offers a huge range of voice-activated features, such as downloading apps, searching for books, locating local businesses and upcoming events, retrieving directions, sports scores and local weather. It is integrated with a number of websites, so you can command it to “Yahoo Sports for Kobe Bryant.”
VoiceActions ($4.99, iOs) can send text messages and emails, answer questions (both factual and conversational), request to play music by a certain artist, launch and search various browsers, get directions, set reminders, translate between English and French, as well as making calls.

The Evolution of Commerce Online

MJ — Wed, 21 Sep 2011 19:38:09 +0000

eBay announced that it’s new commerce platform called X.commerce, aka X.com, will aim at connecting a variety of online and offline services for merchants. This will range from and include: sales, payments, financial management tools, etc. This is the fourth addition to the company, which umbrellas eBay Marketplaces, PayPal, and GSI Commerce.
The technology, known as “X.fabric,” aims to be an open platform for all companies. X.commerce resembles an e-commerce operating system, like Windows or iOS – with eBay, PayPal, Magento and GSI
A company called Outright is assisting with the build. Currently, they already assist small businesses with online accounting management, in addition to aggregating data from merchants’ accounts on PayPal and eBay. Today, Outright is one of the top apps on the eBay Marketplace. With the new platform, customers will “be able to connect with PayPal, eBay and other applications, such as inventory management systems, with just one set of API’s.”
The biggest benefit will be to merchants, who will be able to integrate offline and online commerce efforts. What does this mean? For merchants wanting to launch a mobile app, for example, the platform would enable the merchant to plug the app into existing data such as store inventory, prices, special deals, etc.
Further details are suppose to be unveiled by eBay during October Innovate Developer Conference.

Sharing Presentations Online

MJ — Wed, 11 May 2011 20:44:44 +0000

When you send an important business contact an e-mail with a PowerPoint presentation attached, you might get a reply saying, “I couldn’t get the file to open on my computer.” The fact is many individuals don’t own PowerPoint. In scenarios such as these, your best option is to use an online service to convert your presentation into something anyone can see.

Here are some ways you can share your business presentations without PowerPoint:

SlideShare is the first service to popularize sharing slides online and allows you to publish your slides for anyone to see, comment on, and share themselves. Additionally, it allows you to embed your presentation in a webpage. One great thing about this service is that you don’t need an account to try it out. When SlideShare is done converting your slides, you’ll have a special web address just for this presentation. From there, visitors can flip through your slides in a scaled-down view. Or, they can switch to full screen mode and see it just as they would in PowerPoint.
Embed in Your Website. From your presentation’s page, you can grab the necessary code to embed your slides on your website. Look for the shaded box on the right side (contains some information about your slides). When clicked, the text box highlights the entire contents, which is the code you’ll need to copy then paste into your website.
Upload to Google. The Google Docs suite has a service to convert PowerPoint presentations to its own online format. One advantage to using the presentation service in Google Docs is that it also has an editor. You can make changes to the text or graphics using the controls above the slides or you can create entire new presentations from within the editor.

Stream Media to Every Device in Your Household

MJ — Thu, 17 Feb 2011 04:43:18 +0000

There is an increasing amount of companies developing software and services to make content sharing across devices easier for the average user. Here are a couple worth checking out:

TwonkyServer (Mac, Windows, Linux) allows you to send content from your PC to other connected devices in your home. You set up the software on your Mac, Windows, or Linux box and can then choose what media to stream to devices around your home. The cost is $19.95.

Playback (Mac OS X) is designed to help Mac user share media with a PS3, Xbox 360 and other UPnP device. It is compatible with iTunes, iPhoto, Aperture, and Adobe Lightroom. The cost is $15.

MediaRover (Mac and Windows) is an easy way to share iTunes libraries across a home network. Once installed on your computer, you tell MediaRover where you want it to store your music. Playlists and new song purchases are automatically transferred across computers. This service is free.

XBMC (Mac, Windows, Linux, Apple TV) is a great open source digital media center for your Mac, PC, or Linux machine. It will be supported on the Apple TV 2 and on jailbroken iPad and iPhone 4 devices. It had a customizable interface accessible from both a TV or a computer. This service is free.

PlayOn (Windows) runs on Windows and lets users see Internet content and stream media to the Wii, Xbox 360, PS3, Roku, Google TV, etc. It is $39.99 for the first year, $19.99/year thereafter OR a one-time payment of $79.99.

Roksbox for Roku (Mac, Windows, Linux, Roku) allows you to access content from your Mac, Windows, or Linux PC. You have the ability to browse folders and shares on your network for playback. The cost is $15.

Libox (Mac and Windows) is a social media manager that works on the Mac, PC, web and on iOS. You can access and stream content from other devices on your network or download files from other computers. This service is free.

An Alternative to Google Analytics

MJ — Mon, 14 Feb 2011 21:26:34 +0000

Google Analytics is a widely used web analytics solution that gives you insights into your website traffic. It’s simple and easy to use, but the depth of the analysis can be lacking at times. There are other options available to you and one that gives you more detailed relevant information is called PulseFlow. According to their website, “PulseFlow is a User Behavior and Features Analytics service built for websites, web applications & mobile apps. PulseFlow measures what features your users use, when & how, and based on what options”. Right away PulseFlow seems to provide a more in depth report that doesn’t focus on page views but more so on the actions completed by users. Some of the main advantages of PulseFlow are: actionable insights, real-time analytics, users profiling, support, and overall integration.

The other main difference between the two is that Google Analytics is free, compared to PulseFlow which offers monthly memberships. If you are interested in learning more about your website traffic then check PulseFlow out, they currently are running a 15 day free trial.

Late Night Snack

MJ — Tue, 18 Jan 2011 18:37:25 +0000

One of the latest apps for the smartphone is going to ensure that fast food is only a few screen taps away. SeamlessWeb is a free app that is available for the iPhone or Android smartphone that claims to be “feeding over 1,000,000 members”. This app allows you to order delivery and takeout meals from thousands of top restaurants, using your current or favorite location. It will use your phone’s GPS to find nearby restaurants that are open and that can handle requests for takeout and delivery. It’ll let you know star ratings for the restaurants in your area, the minimum order amounts for delivery and approximate wait times for each restaurant. The app is capable of handling special requests as well as providing you with the option to order the same as your previous order. If you are worried about security, there should be no fear as this app allows you to save and use your credit card info securely.

The app is currently in 27 cities in the US and there are plans to expand in the future.

No More Waiting for a Table

MJ — Thu, 13 Jan 2011 04:53:31 +0000

Have you ever been on your way out for coffee or to a restaurant to eat and wondered how busy it’s going to be and if you were going to have to wait? There is a Portland based company called What Spot Now that is aimed at giving its user a glimpse at their favorite hotspot. With What Spot Now’s live views and realtime updates, consumers can check out what’s happening at their favorite restaurants, bars, cafés, and coffee shops before they go, and get access to exclusive promotions. What Spot Now is currently a mobile site and an iPhone app. This app can be used to check the webcam out to see how busy the establishment is or to redeem any of the discounts available that are generally time sensitive upon your arrival. There is a useful map on the mobile site that pinpoints any locations that are using the What Spot Now software.

Not only does the customer now benefit, but so does the business. The installation is easy, with a webcam that requires a power outlet as well as wifi. If your business is using any social media, then What Spot Now easily plugs in to enhance your Facebook page or website making your site more than just a static name, address, and phone number.

Latest Advertising Trend

MJ — Tue, 11 Jan 2011 18:27:50 +0000

By utilizing the latest smartphone technology, a new trend in advertising is able to interact with people providing them with even more information then a regular print ad would normally offer. You may have already noticed the code attached to print ads or billboards. It’s actually called QR code and it can be used to display text to the user, to add a vCard contact to the user’s device, to open a URI or to compose an email or text message.

Here is an example of how using a QR code helped a company run an extremely successful marketing campaign.

There has also been an influx of QR code used on business cards. This is an excellent way to instantly transfer vital contact information to others that have a smartphone.

I created a QR code for Elf Designs and you can try it out with your smartphone by scanning the code on the right. To try it out for free for yourself check out this site.

Weekly Clicks – Jan. 8

MJ — Sat, 08 Jan 2011 03:14:37 +0000

This week’s edition of Weekly Clicks has been put together with the upcoming year in mind. To start with there is a top 40 list from 2010, followed by strategies for Twitter, highlights of this year’s CES, latest edition of apps, and predictions for 2011.

Top 40 Apps from 2010

TechCrunch has put together a list of the Top 40 iPhone Apps from 2010. Scattered throughout the list are videos of the various apps in action. There are some excellent apps on this list, some of which I hadn’t previously heard of.

Brand Strategies on Twitter

Twitter is a powerful tool for business when used effectively. This article is written by Megan Berry, who a is marketing manager for Klout. It list 6 “winning” strategies for your brand to use.

The Best of CES 2011

The International CES is the world’s largest consumer technology tradeshow. It happens annually and always has the coolest gadgets and electronics to watch out for in the upcoming year. This is a report from the gadget website Gizmodo that features some of the best tablets, smart cameras, and mobile phones.

Big First Day

Apple recently launched an app store for the Mac computer. It is the same concept as the app store on the iPad/iPhone. On the first day of operation 1 million free and paid apps were purchased.

Ten Predictions for Small Business 2011

This is an interesting list of predictions for the upcoming year in regards to small business. There is a large focus on social media which is something that small businesses should really integrate into their daily operations. Read the list to see if any apply to your business.

Not Enough Time? Click Read Later

MJ — Wed, 05 Jan 2011 20:14:57 +0000

Have you ever been visiting a webpage that is taking too long to load, or you simply don’t have enough time to finish reading an interesting article? Instapaper is a simple tool that provides a solution for these issues. Instapaper allows you to easily save the article for later, when you do have time, so you don’t just forget about it. It’s an app created for the iPhone/iPad that has been receiving a lot of praise lately. It has been featured regularly in the New York Times and has won awards from MacWorld’s Editor’s Choice. With Instapaper, you can click on the “Read Later” button and the content will be instantly saved so that you can go back later and view it in it’s existing format or in plain text view when you are offline. This gives you the ability to read at your leisure so that you don’t miss any of the important information contained in the article.

As Instapaper is more widespread, it has become more integrated with other software and applications. This includes support for the Kindle, NetNewsWire, text bookmarklets in any web browser, as well as a long, growing list of iPhone/iPad applications.