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News, insight and tips from the social web.
The Hoop blog covers the evolving digital landscape, social media, mobile communications, content marketing and also includes 5 top finds and Fish on Friday. Feel free to make comments.
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5 top finds #24 »
Movember but in HTML5, WWII tweeted in real time, the infographic to end all infographics, Apple doing (not) NFC in their own way and stop motion at its finest. It's 5 top finds...
1. HTM(ovember)5
We're always impressed when we see a good cause backed up with a bit of humour (and awesome technology is always a bonus). Mobelly, a campaign to support Movember with HTML5 Video, Canvas and JavaScript, has all three – in spades. Awesome stuff!
2. World beer – in an infographic
We love beer. We love infographics. Beer + infographics = massive win!
3. @RealTimeWWII
There are times when we're still amazed by the ingenuity of people on the web. This Twitter account is a perfect example of such a time. Real time tweets, starting in 1939 and set to cover the course of the Second World War. Well worth following.
4. Apple debuts their version of NFC (not really)
Sorry if that headline got you all excited. Apple haven't finally thrown their collective weight behind NFC – they've just updated their Apple Store app to allow consumers to scan the barcode of items instore and pay with EasyPay there and then with their iTunes account. TechCrunch and Engadget have the details.
5. A day in the life of stop motion
You can't beat a good bit of stop motion video. I Look & Move ticks all the right boxes for us – let us know if you like it too!
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Startups of the week #2 »
We introduced the concept last week, but for any of you who missed out, we're running a weekly round up of 5 of the best startups we come across every week. If you agree (or not) with our choices let us know!
1. Spool
One of the biggest frustrations we've found with the evolution of technology and the device landscape is the lack of integration between devices. The experience of consuming content varies across most of the devices we use day to day – but luckily help is at hand, courtesy of the team at Spool.
Spool allows you, via a browser plugin and a mobile (iOS and Android) app, to save web content to other devices. That may sound a bit dull, but when you realise Spool includes converting Flash to (mobile-friendly) HTML5 and saving offline content across all of your devices as part of their standard free package it starts to get more exciting.
Spool is currently in private beta but you can request an invite (that you'll get the same day) and be blown away by what their service offers. Amazing concept, execution and service – and an incredibly useful one!
2. Shortmail
We touched on Shortmail in last week's 5 top finds, but we thought it was more than worth a mention in this week's startup list. There are occasions when a tweet's 140 characters aren't enough, but an email is too much. Or when you have an email to write but you want to keep it succinct.
For those such times, there's Shortmail. Email, tied to your twitter username, that's limited to 500 characters. It's available on mobile, tablet and desktop, conversations can be published or kept private and are sorted via contact using Sparrow's awesome interface.
Shortmail's definitely solving a niche problem, but they're solving it extremely well. With the upcoming release of their API, things are only going to get more exciting!
3. Asana
Here at Hoop, we're always on the hunt for project management tools to make our lives easier. We recently started using Toggl in the office and have been impressed with how it's helped – and it looks like Asana will be getting a similar reception.
When we heard Facebook's third employee Dustin Moskovitz was finally launching his collaborative task list to the public we were more than delighted to give it a spin. First impressions definitely didn't disappoint; Asana is awesome. Look here if you don't believe us!
The site has a fairly good web app (although we were a little confused by there not being a mobile-optimised home page) and is free for teams of up to 30 people. We're still trialling it here in the office and seeing if it can help us do more and better. Worth checking out.
4. Hypothes.is
Wikipedia have tried it, Quora have tried it and now Hypothes.is is trying it.
Hypothes.is will be a distributed, open-source platform for the collaborative evaluation of information. It will enable sentence-level critique of written words combined with a sophisticated yet easy-to-use model of community peer-review. It will work as an overlay on top of any stable content, including news, blogs, scientific articles, books, terms of service, ballot initiatives, legislation and regulations, software code and more-without requiring participation of the underlying site.
Peer reviewing the web is no small task – which is probably why no one's managed to really nail it. Hypothes.is is the brainchild of Dan Whaley, the man who "invented the online travel industry", and is currently looking for public funding via a Kickstarter campaign. It's a noble quest but not one we can see an immediate future for...
5. Square/ iZettle
We covered personal/ business finance trackers in last week's startup list. This week, we're giving an honorable mention to two startups who are working on finance at the other end of the spectrum.
Jack Dorsey (of Twitter fame) launched mobile payment service Square way back in 2009, and are now processing around $2bn each year and even count Richard Branson as an investor (which could mean we could see Square in the UK next year)!
Sweden's iZettle is the European version of Square and it looks more than a little nifty. Having launched in June, the user testimonials suggest it may be as extremely useful as it looks. We can't wait to try it!
What gets your vote?
If you agree with our startup selection, let us know which is your favourite of the 5 below. Alternatively, you can shout at us for getting it wrong in the comments and on Twitter or via email. Look out for our vote at the end of the week.
Categories: Startups of the week
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5 top finds #23 »
An eye-watering statistic, some interesting research involving a botnet, tweets that are longer than 140 characters, the future of Apple's personal assistant Siri and a call to action we thoroughly approve. It's 5 top finds...
1. We all knew it was popular, but this popular?!
We're all huge fans of Angry Birds here at Hoop – you'd be hard pushed finding someone with a smartphone who isn't. And it seems that 500 million other people agree with us. Rovio, the company behind Angry Birds, announced this week that the app had been downloaded by half a billion people. A truly astounding feat!
2. Going fishing (on Facebook, with a botnet)
Facebook are well known for having an odd view on their users' privacy. Google's results for the query 'Facebook Privacy' make for some interesting reading.
But when we read that researchers from a Canadian university used a botnet to steal 250GB worth of Facebook users' data, it looked like the boot was on the other foot. Facebook's security and privacy teams have some explaining to do! TechCrunch has the details.
3. Telling tales with Twitter
There's something wonderfully succinct about a tweet; it's amazing what you can get into 140 characters. But sometimes, the character limit means a tweet just isn't enough. For those occasions, you could use Shortmail, standard email or simply pick up the phone.
But when a tweet is enough, it's pretty awesome what a message on Twitter can achieve. Which is where Twitter Stories comes in. Well worth a look – another example of the power (for good) of social media.
4. Bob
It wouldn't be a true 5 top finds if we don't include at least one video. Lovely hamster Bob and his global travels gets this week's honour, just don't forget to watch the end credits. Watch Bob on Vimeo.
5. #gomobile
As it says on the site, "mobile isn't going to be a medium. It's going to be the medium". Good to see Google trying to get everyone up to speed on what is set to be (one hugely important aspect of) the future of the internet. Go mobile!
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Startups of the week #1 »
We come across a lot of interesting and innovative technology startups on our weekly travels across the web; so we thought we'd start a startup review and share 5 of the best with you.
It's been said that the technology space is failing to innovate – Facebook's first investor and Paypal founder Peter Thiel even wrote an entire manifesto [PDF] on the subject!
The late 90s' had Napster (which revolutionised the music industry) and Google (making the web more searchable/ relevant to its users) and the early 2000s' had the social networks like Myspace and Facebook (which reinvented how we interact online). So we vaguely agree that we've not seen anything truly life changing in the past five or so years.
But, that's not to say there isn't innovation occurring nearly every day.
Given the amount of truly awesome work going on in the startup space these days, we've cherry picked 5 of the best.
1. Codeademy
After publicly launching in August of this year and having 750,000 people try out their offering, Codecademy are a startup to be reckoned with.
They teach even the complete novice how to code; for free. We've been playing around with what's available and have been pretty impressed! Codecademy also recently secured funding from a selection of big investers including Mike Arrington's Crunchfund, so we're pretty sure they're destined for big things.
Follow their goings on on the Codecademy blog, have a go at their tutorials and let us know what you think?
2. Nest Labs
Thermostartup of the week! (sorry couldn't resist) Thermostats aren't the most exciting things on the planet. But when the man who was behind 18 of Apple's iPods and the first three iPhones designs one that learns your routines, regulates temperature based around them and can be controlled remotely via wifi, thermostats start becoming a bit more interesting.
Nest Labs' new 'Nest Learning Thermostat' does just that. We've yet to see if the pricey $249 thermostat really takes off – but the logic (and the people) behind it has guaranteed to get people interested.
With the funding currently being pumped into Nest, we're pretty sure we'll be hearing more from Tony Fadell and the rest of the lab. We can't wait!
3. Sonar
Location-based services like Foursquare were hailed as the "next big thing" at 2009's South by Southwest festival in Austin, Texas. Whilst telling the world you're at your local pub or going to bed for the night might tickle your fancy, it's not the most useful social tool we've ever come across.
Enter Sonar, a new company aiming to provide another layer of usefulness onto your location-based social network of choice. Sonar's mobile application connects to your Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn accounts as well as location-based services like Foursquare (they are planning on introducing other location-based networks) and provides an electronic introduction to shared contacts at any given location.
Sonar's introduction video is well worth a watch to fully understand their product offering; but we've been trialling it at a few of the recent events we've been to. Safe to say it's pretty awesome!
4. Pressly
We're focused on meeting the future of the web as we see it; mobile. We've recently launched our first public 'Mobile First' site (for PepsiCo's student careers initiative) which was built, using responsive technology, to be optimised on any device.
We discovered Toronto's Pressly a few weeks back and were blown away by their approach to publishing on the web. They provide a free (revenue's made from in-publication advertising) HTML5-based tablet-optimised publishing solution – which you can demo (if you're on a tablet). Very, very cool!
5. inDinero
It seems personal and business finance is an area pretty ripe for innovation these days. There are two American finance tracker startups of note that we've discovered; Mint (which isn't yet available outside of the 'States and Canada) and inDinero.
inDinero is available in the UK (but is currently a little clunky; as you have to upload .CSV files of your financial data for the service to work) and can be used as a finance tracker for businesses or personal use.
We can't wait for inDinero to properly launch here in the UK (we're told it'll happen eventually), but until then we recommend you watch the introduction video and try the service out (if you can face the hassle). Extremely useful finance tool!
What gets your vote?
If you agree with our startup selection, let us know which is your favourite of the 5 below. Alternatively, you can shout at us for getting it wrong in the comments and on Twitter or via email. Look out for our vote at the end of the week.
Categories: Startups of the week
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It all adds up to mobile first »
Here's some big numbers: Google estimate that mobile advertisers spent $1bn this year, a figure set to significantly increase to $4.4bn by 2015.
Businesses that ignore the growth in the numbers of mobile using customers are in danger of being ignored.
If you've been following the Hoop blog over the past few months, you'll have seen how important we think mobile devices are. Smartphones and tablet devices are changing the way businesses market their content, advertise to consumers and are leading to a more user-centered approach to digital strategy. That is, one that recognises the change in human behaviour and doesn't fight against it.
But if you still need convincing that you should be thinking mobile first, we've compiled a selection of awesome infographics that might just bring you round. Simply click the links to view the full infographic.
The size of the mobile market should not be underestimated (via iStrategy)...
Mobile devices are changing the way we buy things (courtesy of Microsoft Tag)...
They're changing the way we interact with each other on social networks (thanks Flowtown)...
And (American) small businesses are relying on mobile devices and connectivity to survive (via Intuit for Mashable)...
The markets are increasingly embracing mobile technology. And if Econsultancy's recent Quarterly Digital Intelligence Briefing is anything to go by, businesses are starting to realise that if they don't start thinking mobile first they'll be left behind.
We recently applied this 'Mobile First' methodology to a new client website with a design that is responsive to the end-users' device. Feedback so far has been fantastic. If your business needs help developing a digital strategy that puts mobile first, why not get in touch?
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5 top finds #22 »
This week's 5 top finds sees Google update their mobile advertising, Steve Jobs narrating an Apple advert, a Dropbox profile in Forbes, farting fish and a nice animated video about bikes.
1. Mobile search advertising gets a facelift
Mobile is the future. We weren't surprised when we heard that mobile advertisers will have spent over $1bn by the end of this year, a trait that's set to rise to $4.4bn by 2015. Google rolled out their latest range of mobile search adverts this week – head over to the Google blog to find out more.
2. "Here's to the crazy ones..."
With news that Steve Jobs may have designed the iPhone 5 "from concept to final design", we might not have seen his final contribution to society through technology. Which is a nice thought.
Until we do see the launch of the latest iteration of the world's most popular smartphone, here's the only Apple advert he ever narrated – which was never broadcast. You can watch it on YouTube.
3. Dropbox and Forbes
The two founders of Dropbox, one of the most useful tools we use here at Hoop, were recently interviewed for a fantastic piece in Forbes magazine. You can read the article in its entirety on the Forbes website.
4. Flatulent fish
A truly bizarre headline – but a true one according to the National Geographic. Well worth a read, even if for the odd factor!
5. Serenity
We're big fans of bicycles here at Hoop – as their frequent inclusion on the Hoop blog may suggest. We also love a nice bit of animation, so we thought this lovely Belleville Rendezvous-esque advert for Hutchinson's new tyre (although we're not sure the 'Serenity' will protect you from charging antelopes), courtesy of French creatives Fortiche, was a perfect combination. You can watch the 'Serenity' video on Vimeo here.
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