All posts by Web 2.0 Innovations

Sesame Smart Lock Accommodates New Technology

Palo Alto, CA, April 21, 2015 — Sesame – the world’s first instant smart lock – is now one of the hottest projects on Kickstarter, which has raised more than one million dollars since launch. Currently, more than 6,000 supporters have backed the project.

Sesame allows users to lock and unlock their doors using the Sesame app on their smartphones. It is the only smart lock that syncs the movement of the lock with the phone, providing exact control of the angle to which the lock turns.

Jerming Gu, the inventor of Sesame, said he wanted to bring the joy of technology to regular people with affordable prices. Sesame is also designed to accommodate the fast changing nature of technology.

In deed, the consumer electronics technology changes year by year. Any users of consumer electronic products – whether it’s a lock or a phone – they will be forced to upgrade the hardware often.

Here are some examples:
1) iPhone 4 (Bluetooth 3.0) is not compatible with iPhone 4S (Bluetooth 4.0);
2) RFID (clipper bus card) is not compatible with NFC (Apple Pay/some credit card);
3) z-wave (most old digital locks) is not compatible with Zigbee (newer digital locks);

“You might want to have a new phone every year but you may not want to construct the door every year just for a newer digital lock,” said Gu.

That’s the problem Sesame is trying to solve.

Now Bluetooth 4.2 is coming, Gu just swapped to the new version 3 Bluetooth chip in mass production.

“Also, the long-distance wireless charging technology is about to hit the market, I feel everything is changing too fast,” said Gu.

With five-patented design, Sesame works with just about any deadbolt in the world. Users can install it in seconds, without replacing existing lock or removing anything. Current model is optimized for US/Canada/northern Europe Markets.

CANDY HOUSE also offers optional access point, which connects Sesame to the Internet when plugged into any nearby outlet. It lets users control Sesame wherever they are.

With Internet connection capability, users can allow guests in remotely. They can also control who has access and when. To ensure safety, the Sesame app also sends out a notification whenever the door opens or closes.

About CANDY HOUSE
Founded and developed by Stanford University students, CANDY HOUSE, Inc. is a candy store that sells dreams, putting the joy and surprise of innovative technology in the hands of consumers, just like candy. It is also a design house, developing and manufacturing products that inspire a minimal lifestyle. It launched its first product – Sesame, the world’s first instant smart lock – in February 2015. For more information about CANDY HOUSE, Inc., visit the site online or follow it on Facebook or Twitter.

Contact CANDY HOUSE
media@candyhouse.co
(650) 644-5681

Via EPR Network

Sesame – smart lock that changes the world

Palo Alto, CA, March 27, 2015 – Sesame, the world’s first instant smart lock, raised more than seven times of its funding goal on Kickstarter. Launched on Kickstarter on Feb. 25, 2015, Sesame has raised more than $760,000 from backers all over the world.

The smart lock, which allows users to control their door with a smartphone app, attracted thousands.

Connected to users’ phone via Bluetooth, Sesame allows users full control of the lock, even to the exact angle a lock turns. With the optional Wi-Fi Access Point that connects Sesame to the Internet, users don’t even have to be physically near Sesame. The remote control feature allows people to send access to their friends and keep track of whether the door’s locked wherever they are.

With five-patented design, Sesame works with just about any deadbolt in the world. Users can install it in seconds, without replacing existing lock or removing anything. Current model is optimized for US/Canada/Singapore/Norway/Sweden Markets.

With market of Internet of Things (IoT) expanding rapidly, backers are turning more and more attention to smart gadgets that make their life easier. Founded by two students from Stanford University, CANDY HOUSE Inc. designs and manufactures products that inspire a minimal yet joyful lifestyle.

“People will carry less and less things when leave the house, that’s the trend,” said Jerming Gu, founder of Candy House.

Wallet, keys, and cell phone. People used to bring three things when they leave home. Now walltet is gradually replaced by keys. The Starbucks app pays your green tea frappuccino, you Venmo money to a friend for getting late-night pizza, you hop on a Uber without worrying about cab fare or tip.

“With Sesame, the next thing to disappear are the keys,” said Gu.

Contact-Details: CANDY HOUSE Inc.
media@candyhouse.co

Via EPR Network

Fruitful Technologies Launches Free Mobile Cricket Game, Tappy Cricket

Melbourne, Australia and Hanoi, Vietnam, November 20, 2014 — /EPR WEB2INNOVATIONS NEWS/ — Fruitful Technologies, a mobile development firm has just announced the official launch of its first mobile game, Tappy Cricket.

Tappy Cricket is a fun take on the popular sport of Cricket and is aimed primarily at the casual gamer. Gameplay involves tapping on the screen to keep Tappy the ball away from obstacles in typical social cricket settings, including the alleyway, beach and backyard. Runs are scored as the player progresses through the world and statistics kept that mirror the more formal game of cricket.

Tappy Cricket features both single player and multiplayer modes. In single player mode, players vie for the highest number of runs in the game’s international leaderboard. In multiplayer mode, players can challenge family and friends to a variety of Cricket matches such as Twenty 20, One Day International and Test Matches.

Other special features include:

Basic Features
– Multiple game worlds with unique obstacles
– Customizable game profiles
– Achievements that can be shared online through social networks

Leaderboards
Tappy Cricket keeps track of each player’s game statistics throughout the course of their careers. Logged statistics include:

– Total Games
– Total Runs
– Average Score
– Highest Score
– Number of scores above 50
– Number of scores above 100

Multiplayer Mode
Tappy Cricket allows players to hold matches against family and friends. Game modes include:

– Single inning-games
– Twenty20 games (5 games, total score wins)
– One-Day International (10 games, total score wins)
– Test Match (20 games, total score wins)

Future Features
Tappy Cricket will soon be launching several key features including:

– A new Tournament mode to coincide with the 2015 Cricket World Cup
– The development of over 50 new worlds
– A new rewards program that will allow players to upgrade the ball and unlock new worlds
– Multilingual functionality to feature new language support

Allan Bennetto, Founder of Fruitful Technologies and Tappy Cricket said: “Cricket is the world’s second most popular sport behind football with an estimated 2.5 billion fans in the world. Many of these fans are located in Asia, where there is an perfect storm of cheap, powerful devices coinciding with new faster networks and data plans. And they love games.

With Tappy Cricket, we didn’t just want to create another simulation style game. We wanted to gamify the whole social cricket experience so the anyone could play regardless of age. We wanted the Grandparents to be challenging the Grandkids.

Se we ended up creating a game with a really simple games engine, but bolted on a sophisticated stats engine to record all player details, just like in professional cricket.

What you have now is a game that is really simple to play, but difficult to master. But like cricket, the longer you play, the better you get and the more 100s you score and the better your average is.”

Tran Cong Than, Chief Technical Architect of Fruitful Technologies said: “We’re thrilled to finally get Tappy Cricket out to the public. The game is the product of the many hours of hard-work from our development team here in Vietnam. Tappy Cricket may look simple to play, but a lot of work has gone into getting the stats engine right and syncing up scores from both iOS and Android so that players can seamlessly compete with each other. We’re just getting started too. We’ll be introducing new worlds and new game modes in the coming months. We hope the players enjoy the game as much as we did making it.”

Tappy Cricket is free to download and play. The game is available in the Apple App Store for iOS devices and Google Play for Android devices.

About Tappy Cricket
Tappy Cricket is a wacky and addictive take on the classic game of Cricket. Extremely easy to pick up and play, Tappy Cricket provides hours of fun for players of all genders and ages. Simply tap the screen and send Tappy the ball through various cricket worlds and obstacles and compare your runs, highest score and average against the best.

Tappy Cricket is available for free for iOS and Android devices.

For more information, visit www.tappycricket.com.

About Fruitful Technologies
Fruitful Technologies is a mobile application development company and a venture capital firm for start-ups wishing to enter into the competitive mobile arena. Fruitful Technologies takes pride with creating beautiful and immersive custom mobile applications for its clients based on their requirements.

Fruitful Technologies serves a worldwide audience and currently has offices in Melbourne, Sydney, Hong Kong, Hanoi, and Amsterdam.

For more information, visit www.fruitful.io.
Contact-Details: Allan Bennetto
howzat@tappycricket.com

Via EPR Network

NEW BOOK OUTLINE APP HELPS WRITERS PLAN, WRITE BOOKS ON MOBILE DEVICES

A new application now on the market will simplify the writing process for authors, helping them plan and compose their books on mobile devices.

WritePlan (http://www.writeplan.net) is a clean, zen app writers can use to plan and write their books on iPads.

Writers know that outlining and planning a book is key to successful completion of a masterpiece. The flexible, clean WritePlan app makes life easier for aspiring and published authors during the process of planning, outlining and writing a book. More than a simple word processing document, the app was designed with the complex, recursive writing process in mind, helping authors organize ideas, chapters and subchapters as they go. As ideas evolve and writers wish to rearrange chapters and subchapters, the app allows writers to easily click and drag section “cards” to reorder them as desired.

The biggest forces working against successful completion of a book are demotivation and distraction. The WritePlan app serves as a motivating force in a writer’s life, helping battle writer’s block and keeping the writer focused with word count challenges to encourage and motivate daily writing. The clean, simple interface offers writers a screen without distractions that often lure them away from creation.

WritePlan app includes a number of useful and cutting-edge features, including integration with iCloud and DropBox, printing through Air Printer, the ability to export a file to TXT, PDF and HTML, password protection, an integrated e-Book reader and more. The internationally-minded app supports writing in English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese and Spanish.

“Finally, writers have a way to organize, outline and plan their books using a clean interface,” said Eldes Saullo, Co-Founder of WritePlan. “It’s easy to write a chapter, drag and drop it over another one to swap them, allowing writers the flexibility they need during the creative process. We know writers are going to love using WritePlan.”

Learn more about the WritePlan app at www.writeplan.net. Download the app from the iTunes store at http://bit.ly/1l3smab.

Contact Details: Eldes Saullo
+55.11.4063.6475
esaullo@writeplan.net

Via EPR Network

Freya – The New Efficient App For Women Is On Kickstarter

The HedgeHog team is proud to present yet another app solution – a circular ovulation calendar that is both simple, efficient and aesthetic. Based on the popular calendar CircleTime, Freya tells you when is the best time to try to conceive or to use protection. It can also be used during pregnancy for counting the remaining time before the estimated due date.

The app, named after the Scandinavian goddess of love, sexuality, beauty and fertility – Freya offers a simple solution – without the countless irrelevant information you’ll never require. Freya’s mission is to be clear and effective.

We invite all who wish to see this app released as soon as possible, to assist the HedgeHog team with achieving their funding goal on the crowdfunding site Kickstarter. Participants have a unique opportunity to receive some genuine rewards made of natural and environmentally friendly materials. This is because sustainable development is one of the top priorities for the team and they wish to see all the natural beauty restored to the environment.

“The purpose of Freya is to provide a remarkable menstrual calendar for women which will be immensely appealing in both appearance as well as functionality”, said Sabina Durini, Freya designer and member of the HedgeHog team.

The fundraising campaign will last for 30 days and the app will initially be developed for Apple iOS devices.

Project page: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/hedgehog-si/freya-ovulation-calendar-simple-solution-for-every
Official website: http://www.newroundcalendar.com/freya.html

Contact Details: Daniel Nunic
App Developer
Email: daniel@hedgehog.si
Phone: +38640667308

MEDIA:

PHOTO:

JPEG

Via EPR Network

Zenytime Announces the World’s First Wireless Breath-Based Input Solution Dedicated to Gameful Self-Improvement at the Web Summit 2013

Zenytime is exhibiting as an Alpha start-up in Dublin, Ireland at the Web Summit 2013 on Thursday 31st at the booth 532. The conference topic, centered around technology, lends itself to the product which is described as “the world’s first wireless breath-based input solution dedicated to gameful self-improvement.” Due to its forward thinking innovation, Zenytime has been recognized by summit organizers as one of the most promising early stage startups out of over 5000 applicants from over 80 countries.

“It’s a real honor to be selected from thousands of startups across the world and be invited to showcase our innovation to leading thinkers and doers in technology” said Celine Vignal, Founder. “The event will allow us to meet our peer group and exchange ideas and concepts around the Internet of Things and its impact on our lives and wellbeing, and how we deal with stress and productivity.”

Set to hold the attention of the summit’s attendees, Zenytime is the first device that lets users improve their wellbeing by playing free mobile games with the exclusive use of their breath. Mixing self-improvement and gamification, Zenytime is to breathing what fitness trackers are to moving.

The Zenytime solution combines a Bluetooth accessory called “the Puck” and gameful apps designed as breathing coaches. The “Puck” features an exclusive patented sensor that tracks controlled breathing and translates it into game controls. Zenytime games for smartphones and tablets follow well-defined inhale and exhale sequences, scientifically proven to be beneficial breathing exercises. The Zenytime provides with stats, tips and rewards toward a better wellbeing.

Compatible with iOS and Android, Zenytime games are founded on optimal breathing patterns well-known for improving stress management, cardio health, sports and brain performance.

Zenytime is available at zenytime.com for pre-ordering at $79 including shipping and handling. Add-ons to be announced soon. Shipping will begin during Q1 2014.

For more information visit www.zenytime.com. To connect on Facebook and Twitter click on https://www.facebook.com/zenytime and https://twitter.com/zenytime respectively.

contact@zenytime.com

Via EPR Network

New iPad App Gets Children School-Ready

Parents are preparing to send their children off to school for the first time. An Australian Mother of two has developed a way to give children entering school in this technological age a head start by creating an educational iPad app.

Rebecca Monument said that she, like most parents were aware that basic literacy skills developed in the home long before a child starts school.

“I created the app because I wanted to give my children the best of every possible opportunity,” said Ms Monument. “I was worried as my kids weren’t learning the correct way to write the alphabet, that they would have to re-learn it when they started school.”

After the application was released in October this year Ms Monument approached a local teacher for feedback. Ms Tanya Burton from Whitehouse Primary School in Australia agrees that Writeforschool is a resourceful learning tool for young children, and that the app that will complement the introduction of iPads into the prep classrooms in 2013.

“The application combines many features that other similar writing applications fail to deliver, like a variety of accents and a choice of the writing fonts taught in Australian schools” Ms Burton notes. “The large number of fonts back up what is taught in the school curriculum; it not only includes letters and numbers but blends of letters.”

The idea came to Ms Monument and she began developing the iPad application Writeforschool after her children, aged five and six began taking great interest in playing the games on her iPad.

“I thought if I could make educational game for my children, they could begin to learn to write in the cursive they are taught at their school the correct way,” Ms Monument explained. “My children love the app and its exciting graphics that can be completely personalised.”

Ms Monument hopes that her application is able to help as many young children as possible get a head start for this school year.

Via EPR Network

New Online Social Network Offers Revolutionary WEshares(tm) to its Members

What do you get out of online social networks? Probably nothing more than just that: Online social networking. A multi-billion dollar corporation is allowing you to communicate with others while using all your information to make huge profits. Not only are you helping them make loads of money from advertising, but you are guaranteeing that a few people make a lot of money off your efforts.

ExpatOdyssey.com is a new online social network that goes against this business model. We also want to make a few bucks, but we want you to share in the success. We want to share something sustainable, unique, and revolutionary. ExpatOdyssey wants to give you more than a few pointless prizes or vouchers. Let us help you help yourself!

You’re probably wondering how this works because it sounds a little too good to be true. Simple. You become a member and use ExpatOdyssey to do what you usually do on online social networks. However, this is the point at which ExpatOdyssey.com is completely different. You are also an actual owner. The moment you sign up, you are awarded WEshares(tm). You are contributing to the website by being a member, so you deserve a reward. Every time you upload photographs, invite friends, create forums, or any one of the innumerable things you can do on ExpatOdyssey, you accumulate WEshares(tm). Like shares in a company, they represent what percentage of ExpatOdyssey.com you own.

Carlo Jacobs, Founder of ExpatOdyssey.com comments: “When the Occupy Wall Street movement began, my wife and I decided that the time was finally right for a venture that included and benefitted everyone, the 99% who have been left behind. We decided not to accept venture capitalists to create ExpatOdyssey.com or any large investors and struggled along with some meagre savings. A few friends heard about our novel idea and invested some money so that ExpatOdyssey.com could be shared with everyone out there. From that point onwards, we knew that our decision for all members to have the opportunity to get or earn Free WEshares(tm), or invest, was the right one.”

In fact, ExpatOdyssey.com has made investment so accessible to everyone that if they want, members can invest from as little as $5 with WEshares currently priced at only 0.1cents per WEshare. We are all passionate about changing the current status quo, or at least doing our part to make a significant difference and giving everyone the chance to own a piece of the future. Businesses usually offer shares when the price is already unattainable. Instead ExpatOdyssey.com is giving everyone the chance to get a piece of the pie at the beginning when it matters most! What’s more is that because our members are owners, we listen to our members’ suggestions, what they want and need and as a result, over time, ExpatOdyssey.com will end up being the world’s best online social network.

Via EPR Network

iPhone-iPad App Brings Mobile Technology To Construction Industry

If you have ever been involved in a construction project, chances are that you have celebrated the day that you can walk through and create a punch list of items that await final completion. Construction Punch Lists mobile application by Moore Quality Apps now allows anyone to create and e-mail a professional punch list directly from the job site.

 

“For years the construction industry has used pen and paper to create punch lists and the process may take several days before it’s distributed. From home building to commercial construction, mobile technology now allows the process to be easier and faster” said Josh Moore, owner of Moore Quality Apps. “I recently used the Construction Punch Lists app on a large office project and realized that this dream had become a reality.”

Construction Punch Lists by Moore Quality Apps is now available worldwide on iTunes. Features include multiple project lists, integrating pictures and contacts directly from the device, and sorting items before sending. The application can be used on an iPhone or iPad and can be purchased in English and Español. For more information, visit www.constructionpunchlists.com.

Via EPR Network

Youzzers: the anti-Facebook?

Steven Hori, a Swiss Internet and network specialist, is launching Youzzers, the first social network which is 100% secure and totally protects its members’ personal data. Thus when an account is deleted, the totality of all personal data is deleted. Youzzers is also available on iPhone, Androïd and notebooks.

A network that provides a large range of features and services.

Youzzers is both a professional social network and an interactive one. It provides a wide range of features and services. All of these are regrouped on a single platform and are managed at will by the user. It offers a higher level of confidentiality in comparison to other competitors. Ergonomic, simplified and secure, Youzzers does not require any particular skills to be used.

E-learning
Youzzers offers a network to schools and universities which allows them to make their courses available online. The network users can take these courses starting from the modest sum of 1 to 2 €.

Safety Box
Directly incorporated into Youzzers, this function offers the storage of personal data which is protected by a security encryption ranging from 128 to 256 bits so that it is only accessible to the user himself.

Mailboxes
Youzzers allows one to create an e-mail address my-email@youzzers.com to send/receive e-mails to/from members and non-members. It allows a POP connection on additional mailboxes, the sending/receiving of mail by SMTP, all of which is protected by antispam and anti-virus.

Personal multimedia albums
Youzzers accepts all formats (Photos, Audio, Video, Documents) on a simplified interface for better management of albums. They can be configured to be visible or secured and are available on mobile phones and notebooks.

Live meeting (audio/video)
Youzzers also includes an instant messaging service with incorporated whiteboard. This system allows “multiusers” to work together with bridges to MSN, AIM, Yahoo, ICQ, software.

Presently, Youzzers is available in French, English, German, Italian, Portuguese and Spanish. Turkish, Dutch and Arabic will be available by May 15th along with other features.

Youzzers also provides news, e-commerce, creation and consultation of ads, forums and surveys.

The site is open: www.youzzers.com.

Via EPR Network

iWonder Pro – enterprise level surveillance and control software for iPhone, iPad and iPod

Schools and businesses that issue iPad, iPhone or other iOS devices to their students or staff now have a way to control where those devices can go on the internet, monitor where they have been, and lock them down to only appropriate sites.

Life Record Technologies, creators of the consumer based iWonder Pro application to control and monitor children on iPhone, iPad and iPod touch devices, releases the first enterprise level surveillance and control software for schools, hospitals and businesses.

“With the release of iBooks 2 featuring text book support by Apple Inc. its inevitable that schools will now start issuing iPads to students and staff as regularly as they issue text books today.”, says Michael Pike, Chief Software Architect of Life Record Technologies. “We’ve also noticed a lot of healthcare facilities deploying iPads to their staff, and our software allows all of the devices to be managed, observed and secured with ease.”

iWonder Pro Enterprise allows schools and businesses with as little as one iOS device, with up to 10,000 devices to manage them all in one place, including profiles to let certain types of users go to certain types of sites while restricting the others while using any Wifi or cellular network. iWonder Pro Enterprise is the first and only enterprise level surveillance system designed specifically for iOS.

iWonder Pro Enterprise is available now in the Apple App Store starting at $99.99.

More information can be obtained from the iWonder Pro Enterprise website at http://www.iwonderpro.com.

Via EPR Network

Revel Systems was officially announced as the winner of the Business iPad App of the Year Award

On January 31, 2012 Revel Systems was officially announced as the winner of the Business iPad App of the Year Award. This weekend at Macworld | iWorld, it was clear early on that the Best Business iPad App awards came down to two remarkable companies: Square, led by Jack Dorsey, and Revel Systems, led by female entrepreneur Lisa Falzone. Both of the nominees were a hit with the crowd, and both were in the payment industry, which is the fastest-moving market for iPad apps. Even though voters were presented with an impressive field of nominees, the battle was clearly dominated by these two competitors.

While competition was fierce between Square and Revel, here’s a breakdown of the vote: First of all, users chose Revel Systems as the most useful business iPad app. Revel was also found to help with a wider array of business functions, with seven to Square’s four. Square was found to have over 100,000 users, while Revel Systems has fewer than 100,000. As far as which offers the simplest user interface, both companies were tied. Finally, users chose Revel Systems as the company with the best customer support.

In the end, Macworld users declared Revel Systems iPad POS the winner. Lisa Falzone, CEO and co-founder of Revel Systems, told iPad Biz Apps today that “Revel is honored to have won such an award, and thanks all of the voters at Macworld | iWorld for voting for them.” A wide range of powerful apps were represented, but Revel’s sophisticated level of functionality and wide range of applications led to its selection as the best iPad business app.

Even though Square has been nominated for a Crunchies award, and has over 100,000 customers, users found that it only supplies a payment app. On the other hand, Revel Systems offers a fully functional Point of Sale system to manage every task that store owners encounter on a daily basis. This can explain why Revel has landed deals with many heavy-hitters like Popeye’s Chicken in Georgia (popeyes.com), Illy Coffee in San Francisco (illy.com), U-sushi in San Francisco (u-sushi.com), Camille’s Sidewalk Café in Oklahoma (www.camillescafe.com), and other big franchises. On the other hand, Square’s clientele is largely restricted to businesses that only require a few simple operations, including farmers’ markets, taxi cabs, and street vendors.

Now that the competition is over, Ms. Falzone is back to leading Revel Systems to the top of the Point of Sale marketplace. She has raised $3.7 million in her “A” round of funding last year and is gearing up for her “B” round. The recent victory of Revel Systems has cemented Ms. Falzone’s place among today’s top women entrepreneurs, and she looks forward to the future of what Revel Systems will accomplish. Moving forward, the company hopes to facilitate growth through its open API, which allows all companies to integrate into Revel—creating new opportunities for local commerce to thrive into the future.

Via EPR Network

Business iPad App Of The Year Award

Business iPad Apps are in high demand fueling the future of American businesses. Now BiziPadapps.com has brought you a contest to see which Business iPad apps are the best for 2011. Vote today for your chance to be the winner for Business iPad App of the Year Award. Voting stops Jan 15th 2011. Winner will be announced Jan 31st 2012.

Much like the crunchies award but we are focused on just businesses that are leading the way into the future using the Apple iPad apps which can help businesses excel into the future. Apple iPad Apps like Drop Box, Docusign, Square and others are among the few that were nominated.

List of iPad Business Apps of the year Nominees that made it to the TOP TEN BUSINESS APPS OF THE YEAR:

In alpha order:

DocuSign
Drop Box
GoCal for Google Calendar
Highrise HQ
iTookOff Paid Leave Tracker
Revel Systems iPad POS
Mint for iPad
Instapaper
SpeakEasy Voice Recorder
Square Payment

With over 500,000 thousand votes so far find out who the winners are for this years contest of Business iPad App of the Year Award. Criteria for this year: which iPad app contributes to businesses and helps them excel.

Via EPR Network


Effekt-Etage To launch BMW Individual iPad App

Seemingly real paint samples that react to movements of the iPad, leather that you can actually touch as well as see, and individualised image content in many app areas. A new benchmark for innovation, interactivity and customer communication.

BMW Individual, the most exclusive way to drive a BMW, is now available as an interactive experience on the iPad. Thanks to an innovative user interface, this unprecedented virtual product catalogue enables a breathtaking experience of BMW Individual, the BMW premium range.

The app commissioned by BMW M GmbH and developed by Effekt-Etage had a simple aim: to fully exploit the interactive potential offered by the iPad medium in an innovative way, thus creating a new benchmark. The app developed by Effekt-Etage is set to establish a new trend in the category of interactive product magazines.

Its various chapters relate interesting facts about the BMW Individual philosophy, paint finishes, fine leather upholstery and other equipment options. In addition, users can create a virtual vehicle according to their preferences and view the finished result in a Visualiser.

The app is the first to achieve a near-realistic representation of paint finish samples in a virtual environment. In part this is due to Effekt-Etage’s high-quality 3D renderings, which perfectly communicate the BMW Individual paint finishes’ special appeal. In addition, the virtual paint finishes react to movements of the iPad, so the user has the actual impression of moving a real-life paint sample in relation to a light source. This virtual reality effect has also been implemented for the leather samples, allowing the user to leaf through them and touch them.

The interactive capability of this app means that almost every product image can be interacted with, creating a virtual environment that allows users to experience the look and feel of the various equipment details for themselves.

Another outstanding feature is the way the app combines the product information and vehicle configuration processes.

The conventional approach involves the user finding information about products and features such as paint finishes, equipment etc. in a physical catalogue, or on the web. They then begin a separate step of vehicle configuration in a Configurator, beginning with a default vehicle. The BMW Individual app goes one step further by combining these previously separate steps. While reading the various chapters, users are already able to bookmark paintwork finishes, leather colours or other features they like. They can effectively configure their vehicle while gathering information, performing both activities within a single process. As a result, the vehicle initially shown in the Configurator already reflects the user’s individual preferences.

Users can of course save “their” dream car, share it with friends and acquaintances on Facebook, file it in their personal photo album, or send it off in an e-mail.

The BMW Individual iPad app comes in English and German, is optimised for the iPad and iPad2, and is available free of charge in the App Store.

Via EPR Network

MusiCHI Suite – an innovative app to manage your music files

MusiCHI Suite is the first integrated computer software application to manage your music files, completely dedicated to classical, jazz or other more demanding genre of music. It is the only digital music suite where the user can actually play and organize his music in an intelligent way, allowing him to change the order and number of columns on the screen and find his tracks in the most flexible manner. MusiCHI Suite includes 4 applications (Player, Ripper, Tagger, Library Manager), each optimized for their task, where newly introduced fields, such as Instruments, Composition, Period, Performers, Style, relevant to music classification can be utilized. Unlike other programs, in theMusiCHI Suite any field, any data, you see on screen is written inside the audio files , therefore, reducing the importance of the library, which becomes just the temporarily catalog of the files’ metadata, used only for fast and flexible searches. Bringing back the focus to the music files themselves and freeing you from any proprietary software library database.

Furthermore, we use a database engine that allows virtually unlimited size of libraries. MusiCHI Suite is a multi - library system , allowing for one more level of grouping, for example Classical, Jazz, World Music, etc. According to the library, the user interface, audio tracks data and tagging pick lists can change, since different styles of music have different logic and personalities: with classical music Composer/Composition is more valuable information than Artist/Album, for example.

The Suite is equipped with a complete reference database (MusiCHI Clean ©®) for classical music, where more than 5000 entries (composers, performers, orchestras, etc.) have been properly corrected and normalized with full respect of their local spelling (umlaut, accents etc.), i.e. the program is fully Unicode compliant. Furthermore, it has a composition engine search covering for the moment the integrated music collection of Bach, Beethoven, Mozart and Vivaldi. The composition engine search will soon be completed with the compositions of other famous composers.

MusiCHI Suite Version 2.1 comes with step by step tutorials and help files leading the user to learn the program and its powerful features quickly and easily. In Version 2.1, new capabilities have been added such as the possibility to play music files without them being part of a music library, the possibility to see the album/compositions covers in a graphical carousel view, the possibility to change the fonts sizes so that the user can play with the software remotely from his couch, the possibility to extract the content of the music library for printing via a spreadsheet. Furthermore, the player can read directly the CD booklet (in pdf format) with a single click, can browse any relevant internet pages linked to a track (Wikipedia etc.), potentially transforming the application to be a front-end to a music knowledge based system. Via the Windows clipboard, the Ripper can use, for its metadata, pretty much any source coming from the WEB or other documents. The playlists are now compatible with the m3u and m3u8 formats. In order to explore the numerous capabilities of the software, you can download from http://www.musichi.eu/index.php/en/downloaddemo, the free trial version (the full featured program with a limited activation time). We have also, included a demo librarywith prepared musical clips (courtesy of Hyperion Records), that can show how classical music can be tagged, “the MusiCHI way”. With these files you can experiment with the other tools of the Suite, especially our tag editor that is considered undoubtedly one of the best (if not the best) of its kind.

MusiCHI Suite Version 2.1 can play FLAC files up to 24 bits/ 385.2 KHZ, and offers additional support for MP3, MP4, APE, WMA and M4A. As we do not offer volume adjustment within the player, we do not add any digital distortion. MusiCHI Suite is ASIO Drivers compatible, including ASIO4ALL, allowing to by-pass the video sound mixer of Windows and achieving bit perfect digital output (we have passed bit transparency tests with a Weiss DAC202). MusiCHI Suite is designed to run on Microsoft Windows (XP, Vista or 7).

MusiCHI Suite is available in 3 versions: MusiCHI Studio (launching price 39 euros, approx. 54 US$) which includes the 4 applications (Player, Ripper, Tagger, Library Manager), MusiCHI Portable (launching price 19 euros, approx. 26 US$) a unique application that allows the user to transport and play all his digital music libra on any other PC without any further configuration than plug a USB drive and MusiCHI Ultimo(launching price 49 euros, approx. 68 US$) which apart from the 4 applications, includes also the Portable Edition.

MusiCHI Suite is available through the website address: www.musichi.eu.

Via EPR Network

Enhance Your Cooking Experience with Cooktorial iPhone Application

WEBST Consulting S.A., a mobile application developer, proudly announces the launch of its new project, «Cooktorial», available for iPhone and iPod Touch. Cooktorial is a recipes application, mainly addressed to the novice cook, although it can be of value to the more skilled cook as well, given that its main idea is to suggest what can be cooked based solely on the ingredients already available at home.

In fact, the main attribute setting Cooktorial apart from the rest of the cooking applications available on App Store is that, using Cooktorial, one can browse recipes which can be cooked using ingredients they already have, instead of finding a recipe which will, almost certainly, require a visit to the super-market. Cooktorial implements an easy-to-use interface, a database of over 1.000 recipes, images and thorough description of each recipe, as well as providing the user with the option of filtering the results by preparation time, cuisine type and difficulty level.

Furthermore, with a single tap the user can generate a list with the most commonly found ingredients, which can be easily edited and will be automatically stored for future use.

Last but not least, using Cooktorial does not require an internet connection, allowing thus the user to browse recipes without the use of a 3G or a Wi-Fi network. Cooktorial is a Free application available on Apple’s App Store. Users may enhance it by purchasing any of the two available In Apps, allowing them to perform unlimited number of searches within the app and to remove the Ads.

Via EPR Network

The iTunes Word Game Hit Wordle is Now Available to Android devices

GeniusWave announces Wordle for Android. The word play anagram game, is now available in over 10 Android App Stores Worldwide. The highly popular iTunes app brings the exciting and fast pace game that you can play solo or with a team, in three or thirty minutes to Android devices. The new version also enhances the 3500 puzzles and built in dictionary, making it even easier to pickup, play and learn. A great family game for both kids and adults, this anagram game comes with different levels and is quick to learn and play. Kids and adults alike build vocabulary, improve spelling and have some competitive fun along the way. Watch out, the challenge can be so addictive. Simply combine six letters on a shelf to make as many words as a player can build in three minutes.

“With the growth in popular of Android devices, we have had a lot of requests to bring the popular app to Android,” says Greg Dierickse, Founder and CMO at GeniusWave. Greg also adds, “We love the early reaction from our Android users, especially ones where Moms and kids have commented that is a much better use of time, than playing games where you destroy zombies, bunnies or birds. “Not only did we bring it Android we want to put the app in multiple stores, including stores worldwide. A worldwide availability also helps kids and adults learning English as a second language have access to a fun way to improve their vocabulary”, says Erwin Chiong, Founder and CTO at GeniusWave.

The key features of the game that users have fallen in love with:

Building a vocabulary is fun:

• Play 3500 puzzles and tens of thousands of words to help you build your vocabulary

• View definitions of words you are not familiar with

• Play for 3 minutes, 30 minutes or whenever a player has a spare moment. Games are saved automatically upon exiting or receiving a call

Instant family game or high score competition:

• Team up and play a fast round where ever players are: in the car, at a restaurant, or waiting in line

• Compete against online high scores, or share scores with Facebook friends

• Mix it up – play games that exercises the brain, not just destroying things. Wordplay gives a mental workout, builds vocabulary and helps achieve learning goals. Kids can work on spelling lists or those learning English as a second language, can enhnce their studies.

A mobile challenge:

• Built for mobile wordplay, players can easily play on the go, uses 3 or 30 minutes

• For people who like Sudoko, Soltaire, or Scabble, you’ll love how easy it is to squeeze a game in

• Don’t leave home without it, “I’m addicted, there’s nothing quite like the speed and excitement of a good, frenetic round of Wordle. I don’t leave my house without it” Heather R, Danville, CA.

Via EPR Network

Dexetra already has 5 Apps on iOS, 8 on Android, 3 on BlackBerry and 2 Apps on the Windows Phone7 marketplace

Dexetra, a burgeoning new application developer focusing on mobile software solutions, has announced the end to a very special and successful first year on April 1, 2011. The company founded on the principle of creating products that adds value to its users’ life, has gone a long way in accomplishing the targets it had set for itself. Dexetra already has 5 Apps on iOS, 8 on Android, 3 on BlackBerry and 2 Apps on the Windows Phone7 marketplace.

“As with any new age company, we also do believe that the value being offered to the end users should be the highest priority. Unless the motive is to help people enhance their life experience, success would, inevitably, be an elusive virtue” says Narayan Babu, CEO & CTO, Dexetra.

The company has industry giants to thank for; Google & Microsoft through the Biz spark Initiative. It was the Google Developer Challenge that made a group of techies to come together and form a team to come up path breaking and revolutionary product to lay claim to the honors. It was not long before the young entrepreneurs knew what was going to be the “Winner” Product: Friday. The goal was to help users remember their lives forever. “We thought since your smartphone would be the gadget that spends most the time with you, why not tap into it, to mine information. The App would log the info with minimal manual efforts. And later, here comes the best part, the user could ask questions in English and ‘Friday’ would give them accurate results. Another way to look at it? ‘Google search of your life’. A way to honor our motivators” Quotes Mr.Babu. It was not long before the founders were convinced that the Friday needed more attention and subsequently Dexetra was incorporated.

On this very special day, Dexetra has come up with its own way to show its gratitude towards the SmartPhone users. Dexetra is offering all its Paid Apps on iPhone and BlackBerry for Free. The price for the Android Apps would be set at the lowest permissible limit for an Android App.

iOS Apps:

SpeedSense :

http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/speedsense/id410507294?mt=8

 

TryCube 2:

http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/trycube-2-0/id395890524?mt=8&

 

SecureKeys:

http://itunes.apple.com/app/securekeys/id400653039?mt=8

 

Android:

SpeedSense Pro:

http://market.android.com/details?id=com.dex.speedsensepro

SecureKeys:

http://market.android.com/details?id=com.dex.util.securekeys&feature=search_result

 

SmokeSense: Smokers’ Ticker:

http://market.android.com/details?id=com.dex.smokeapp&feature=search_result

 

BlackBerry:

SecureKeys:

https://appworld.blackberry.com/webstore/content/17964?lang=

 

SpeedSense:

https://appworld.blackberry.com/webstore/content/14833

 

SpeedSense Plus:

http://appworld.blackberry.com/webstore/content/18963?lang=en

In addition to this, Dexetra is also launching its latest offering for Android (Mobillionaire). Mobillionaire is multiplayer strategy game. The company would be introducing this to the iOS in the near future. The company hopes the support would continue to grow even further and would be a motivating factor for Dexetra come up with more innovative products.

Via EPR Network

Muozi.com – Africa’s Hottest Social Networking Site Is Seen As The Second Coming Of Facebook!

African and Global web users have already spoken: social networking site fanatics find Muozi as the most convenient and user-friendly site and the toughest competitor of Facebook in Africa.

www.Muozi.com is a social networking site that allows people from different parts of Africa to connect with their family, friends, as well as old lost friends anytime and anywhere at their own convenience. This social networking site is a true hit among grownups and teenagers.

The target audiences of this newly launched site are not only the Africans but the global web users as well.Owner and Founder, Patrick Ndukwe a Master’s degree holder in Information System and a graduate of BA in Philosophy and BA in Economics once said in an interview, “I am positive that Africans has to have a social network engine that will do to Africans the same thing that Facebook, MySpace and others like it are doing to the developed world. Muozi.com was born out of the need to equalize the techno-gap; the need to give Africa what other developed world has.” “Muozi has about 15 partners with all having degrees in Law, Marketing, journalism, film & Video, Music and PR.

These partners are both here in the US and in Africa. Muozi have music artist and film producers on board as partners.”, Ndukwe told the interviewer.Ndukwe also specified how Muozi has partnered with some Universities in Africa and have a lot of professors on board as partners. “We, at Muozi take pride in what we are hoping to achieve, which is creating a bridge to Africa from developed world; we will take the best of what is in the develop world and bring it to Africans as relates to Social Networking and technology in general.”

Muozi users are also permitted to add or incorporate a “Documents tab” for every group if they want. Users are authorized to upload and display documents in group.

Furthermore, all users are also allowed to download documents, print, share, rate documents, add tags, categorize and leave a comment without a glitch. Other than that, the group designers or creators are free to set or place a document uploading option or document viewing permissions for different respective groups.

“Muozi is just starting; we intend to equalize the cost of calling Africa or calls from Africa as close to FREE as it can be in the near future”, Ndukwe expressed with great excitement.

Muozi also offers flash video chat, instant messaging service, and more! There are also separate tabs or sections for blogging, classified ads, forums, games, as well as videos. Users can share anything with their families and friends wherever they are.

Furthermore, in an interview conducted by the research team of Muozi.com, Nuji a new Muozi user said, “I am very impressed with the layout and the features offered by this social networking site, it is far better compared to other social networks that I came across with. I am personally recommending this site to my fellow social networking fanatics. Keep up the good work Muozi!”It’s undeniable that Muozi is truly the new face of social networking in Africa. This site allows people to create free account and log in to the website using their existing account on facebook, twitter, google and other selected social networking sites. These are the primary reasons why Mouzi is considered as the toughest competitor of Facebook today. Muozi is a private company connecting Africans to the world at large.

Via EPR Network

Intelligent Intranet Software Supplier and an On-Line Mind Mapping Software Provider Announce a Strategic Technology Partnership

Interact, a leading supplier in intelligent intranet software and MindMeister, providers of on-line mind mapping software, are pleased to announce a strategic technology partnership. The agreement allows the two companies to combine their industry leading software solutions.

MindMeister is the market leading and multiple award-winning web-based collaboration solution that uses proven mind mapping concepts to facilitate multi-user planning, brainstorming, and project management sessions all from within a standard web browser.

Interact Intranet is an easy to use, collaborative turnkey solution trusted by over 250,000 users. It is an intelligent intranet solution that learns as people use it, adapts and automatically connects relevant information to people. Powerful enterprise networking tools actively promote internal communication, collaboration, idea sharing and cross-organisation participation. It is modular in its architecture allowing organisations to add the components, resources, and services that are required as the business evolves and grows.

As a result of the new integration, Interact Intranet users will be able to access the MindMeister mind maps via the intranet to brainstorm or plan new projects. They will be able to simultaneously work with colleagues on the same map and see changes as they happen within the intuitive and familiar intranet interface.

Commenting on the partnership Scott Hitchins, Global Partner Manager at Interact said: “At Interact we are continually looking to establish new strategic alliances to build-upon and reinforce our intranet platform and we are very excited about the partnership with MindMeister.”

“We constantly seek to innovate and develop Interact Intranet to add value for our users. Creativity and collaboration are the basis of every successful business and the MindMeister mind mapping and visual thinking application is a natural extension to our existing collaborative capabilities. Like Interact Intranet, MindMeister has an intuitive user interface so the integration offers the best solution for functionality and ease of use.”

Interact Intranet is an ideal platform for forming strategic relationships. With over 250,000 users worldwide and an ever-expanding list of high-profile customers, opportunities are consistently being produced to cross-promote new solutions for the end-user via the Interact Intranet Partner Program.

Via EPR Network