Mavizon Technologies, a mobile technologies startup dedicated to improving and simplifying the on-the-go experience, dominated at this year’s highly anticipated CEA i-Stage competition, taking home Overall Winner and Fan Favorite for its innovative flagship device, Mavia™.
Status & Location
In less than five minutes, this easy-to-install aftermarket automotive intelligence system offers drivers a smarter, user-friendly way to integrate their cars with their busy mobile lifestyles. With this one unit, consumers can find lost or stolen cars, detect automotive maintenance needs and get access to automatic emergency response with the ability to let friends/family know when accidents happen – all without monthly fees.
Social Media Integration
Plus, with the popularity of social media check-ins and online communication, this handy tool can be customized to use its GPS capabilities to offer drivers an automatic way to stay in touch with their friends.
Diagnostics and Automotive Maintenance Needs
Since it plugs conveniently into the on-board diagnostic port (OBD-II) of most cars (1996 and newer), Mavia™ knows when you need an oil change, tires rotated and more. It can remind you of scheduled maintenance and offer special Groupon-like discounts based on these specific automotive maintenance needs and your location.
Stay Connected All the Time
Once connected, drivers can easily create an account at the dedicated Mavia page through the Mavizon Technologies site. After a few simple questions about the car, the device automatically syncs to Mavizon’s cloud-based system to allow users to access all pertinent information via a free Smartphone app or through the company’s web site. This affordable aftermarket system operates on 3G – not Bluetooth or Wi-Fi – so it’s always on and never uses up valuable cell phone minutes.
“We know what consumers want, and what they don’t. That’s why we created the connected car made simple for everyone,” said Mavizon Technologies Partner, Madison Hamman. “Mavia™ provides a smarter, all-in-one solution to keep drivers safe, secure and socially connected on the road.”
Mavia™ will be available mid-2011 for less than $300 – no monthly fees. For more information, visit www.mavizontech.com.
Leading social shopping site LivingSocial today announced the acquisition of social adventure company Urban Escapes. LivingSocial will now be able to exclusively offer its 10 million subscribers-strong worldwide community a host of diverse, fun and unique adventures and experiences, produced by a team of on-the-ground experts.
“By working closely with merchants in all of our markets, LivingSocial has helped thousands of people across the country experience fun and exciting things to do in their neighborhood,” said Tim O’Shaughnessy, CEO and Co-Founder of LivingSocial. “With the acquisition of Urban Escapes, we will now have the ability to help curate some amazing experiences and adventures exclusively for our members.”
From “Zen Escape Yoga Hikes” to “Boulder and Brew Tours™,” Urban Escapes redefines social adventure, and its unique itineraries promote a fun and active lifestyle and a chance to escape the day-to-day rat race. Urban Escapes staff will work directly with LivingSocial representatives in five introductory markets designing and creating one-of-a-kind experiences and adventures for LivingSocial customers.
“People who use LivingSocial are already looking for fun, new things to do in the area they live or where they’re visiting,” said Maia Josebachvili, founder and president of Urban Escapes. “We’re passionate about organizing experiences you could never arrange on your own and this acquisition is the perfect opportunity for us to expand these completely unique, guided experiences around the globe.”
As the premiere local activity discovery engine, LivingSocial lets anyone find restaurants, shops, activities and services popular in their area at a savings of 50% to 70%. Handpicked adventures from Urban Escapes offer unique adventures and experiences at affordable prices to the LivingSocial community.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
“Wowd makes it easy to search for and find information that matters most to you in Facebook,” said Mark Drummond, CEO, Wowd Inc. who was Director of Mission Technology at NASA (JPL & Ames) working on mission technology for Mars surface operations before coming to Wowd. (Trust me, this guy is way smart having a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science from the University of Calgary, and a Ph.D. in Artificial Intelligence and Computer Science from the University of Edinburgh.) “The average Facebook user has about 130 friends and sees hundreds of status updates per day. Our new Social Discovery Client makes it easy for people to filter and find the best of what’s posted and shared within their Facebook social graph so they can get back to enjoying social interactions and not get distracted by unwanted noise.”
Susan Doherty, Chief Marketing Officer of Wowd, told me on a phone conference call last Friday that Wowd surveyed 1,000 Facebook users when putting the Social Discovery client together and the number one complaint from users was game spam. You know, Jim needs you to help get gems, or Tammy’s farm is dying, and Mark’s just slain someone as a Mafia thug for something that you really don’t care about. While Facebook allows you to quiet the spam, it only allows you to do so one by one of your friends and as new games enter the social network realm, you have to continue your diligence and silence the new noise. Wowd with one click takes care of all of it. One click! Actually, I take that back, no click. By default after install, game spam is blocked. Thank you, Wowd!
Another high score in the survey results was losing touch with infrequent posters in a sea of chatter happy friends. I have over 450 friends and I know it’s common for me not see someone post to the point that I wonder if they even dropped me as a friend. Wowd took care of that by adding an easy link that you can click to keep up with all those infrequent posters. In my early pre-release version Wowd furnished me, I was able to easily “catch-up” with all those that post once in a while easily and quickly. I had to chuckle when I saw on the right column five names under the title “Most Active”. I guess even infrequent posters can still out post others. 
Search is another frustrating topic with Facebook users. As it works, or really doesn’t work, Facebook search really doesn’t give much relevance in most users searches. Facebook is a social network and the power of that is the friends that build the network. With more and more looking to trusted source for advice, Google saw for the first time in – like ever – a drop in searches last month. People are tired of SEO-tainted search results. People know they can have confidence in advice from their friends and the ability to search Facebook easily for information as opposed to just having Friends and Pages results gives Wowd’s Social Discovery client a major plus over Facebook. You can effortlessly search for opinions on the latest movie, iPhone 4 advice, or even what’s good for dinner with Wowd’s Social Discovery Client for Facebook. Enter a search term and up comes all your friends that posted on their wall with that term, highlighted, along with even a tag cloud with related topics for further drill-down. Ya, I was Wowd when I saw how effective and straightforward it was to search within the browser interface.
But hold on, there’s more. You can create custom feeds such as “groups” of friends. If you’re like me, you probably have a batch of friends from high school, a collection from one job while another batch from that other job you took later. You can now put these people into “High School”, “Job 1″, and “Job 2″ custom feeds by name to see quickly see what the Class of 1989 did today. Um, that’s not my high school graduation year. Really. I’m not that old. Really. Custom feeds can also be created using keywords as well, much like search terms. In fact, when you perform a search you can save it as a custom feed to continue monitoring that topic. So nice, so easy.
Like the much ignored official Facebook app for the iPhone, you can also have a Favorite Friends section. These would be those that you want to be on the top of your radar. Hand select those that are closest, or maybe the farthest, in your life that you just have to know what’s going on with a quick click.
What else is there? Summaries. Here’s a place to see “What’s Happening Now”, much like a trending topic section. Active friends can be found here as well as a really cool graphical view of your wall that has a cork board background with push pins holding up quick wall posts, pictures, and other tid-bits. Visually, you take it in very quickly and very effectively.
In short, Wowd has put together a really exciting application that will definitely be my stop for my Facebook check-ins. Of course, without too much time even on it, I can see how valuable the free download is and I’m already itching for an iPhone version. Doherty assured me that it and Android app will be coming later. Phewf! My only disappointment is with the pop-up notifications that occur in the bottom right-hand of the screen. While nice, they are not clickable and thus offer little value other than to let you know something new has occurred.
Do realize one thing, reader, this is not a Facebook replacement as the application is far from being mature and is missing features that have become second nature to many users in using without even thinking about what they are doing. For example, clicking a friends name will not bring you to their page but rather to all of their posts. You can not dig deeper into their photos and other boxes here. You will still need to hop over to Facebooks page for full functionality.
The 25 MB package is free to install and Wowd will soon integrate text-based ads similar to Google Ads. Don’t worry, Doherty was pretty certain that image banner advertisement would not be dawning the orange-themed client and only relevant items would be displayed.
Visit Wowd for your download link now. I really think this will the be the new way to access Facebook, period. Oh, if you’re wondering how it compares to the Better Facebook plug-in for Firefox and Safari, remember what I said about the simply and static free lay out of Wowd? Ya, you won’t go wrong with the Social Discovery client. You will be Wowd.
The iPhone has a few Wikipedia applications available for information hunting people on the go. Most like Wikipanion, my self included, while others like Wikiamo. Now there’s a new kid in town and he’s free with some added features. Oh ya, he also runs on Android based systems such as T-Mobile’s G1.
WikiTap brings you both Wikipedia and Wikionary right to your hand. While the formatting isn’t anything to woo most users, what one will find on the bottom row in Wikipedia results may at least raise some eye brows. With a connection to its WikiTap community adding video to WikiTap as well as links to YouTube, you’ll be able to dive in deeper in topic right there in your handset. You don’t have to upload anything to participate either. You can do the TiVo and thumb-up or down video to help better refine what shows up in the video row.
For those needing to know how to pronounce a word, look it up in Wikionary and tap the speaker and out comes the way to say it. Speaking of spelling, WikiTap will also auto-corrrects misspelt words in the look up window for you. For example, if you type “shwazzenegg”, you’ll get Arnold Schwarzenegger. Enter “sycholog” and out comes “psychology”. Great for people like me that weren’t taught phonics in school. (What was I taught anyway? Such a blur.)
Veveo hopes to add travel and music to the list of features in the future. Get WikiTap from the AppStore or App Market for free today.
I’ve downloaded and signed up for the service and am going to give it a try. How knows, I may find a new killer beer and a nice restaurant in which to drink it at. In fact, it may be your review that guides to these jewels!
Verizon Wireless, the nation’s leading wireless service provider, and Loopt® announced today that Verizon Wireless customers can now access Loopt’s interoperable location-based service.
Loopt allows friends who opt in to be located by other friends to show where the friends are located and what they are doing via detailed, interactive maps on their mobile phones. Loopt helps friends connect on the go and navigate their social lives by orienting them to people, places and events. Users can also choose to permit sharing of location updates, geo-tagged photos and comments with friends in their mobile address book or on online social networks, communities and blogs.
“Loopt helps Verizon Wireless customers stay connected to friends and share their location in a fun and interactive way,” said Ryan Hughes, vice president of digital media programming for Verizon. “Loopt enhances our customers’ real world experiences by helping friends stay informed of their friends’ lives.”
“We are on a mission to deliver Loopt to consumers everywhere, and by offering our service to Verizon Wireless customers, we’re significantly closer to achieving that goal,” said Sam Altman, chief executive officer and co-founder of Loopt. “With Loopt, Verizon Wireless customers now have a powerful tool to navigate their mobile lifestyles and easily connect with people and places around them.”
Loopt, the social mapping industry leader, offers the most intuitive and effective privacy controls and security features for end users. Loopt is 100 percent permission-based and users share location information only with their known friends via private networks. In addition, Loopt users can easily turn location-sharing on or off at any time on a friend-by-friend basis or for all friends at once. Loopt regularly works with organizations such as the Family Online Safety Institute, ConnectSafely.org, the Center for Democracy & Technology, Progress & Freedom Foundation’s Center for Digital Media Freedom, and the Internet Safety Task Force.
Loopt is available today on select Verizon Wireless phones for $3.99 monthly access in the Tools on the Go, Featured Applications and Community shopping aisles in the Get It Now® virtual store. Customers need a Get It Now-enabled handset and Verizon Wireless digital service to access the Get It Now virtual store.
If you are ever wondering what this tech-gadget loving guy may be doing through the day, then check out my Twitter account. I’ll be using the site to also post some sites of interest and it will be a great place for you to get some “behind the scenes” stuff I may not get onto SvenOnTech. There are a lot of sites I go to in research for posts here but due to the time it takes to actually type the stuff out, a lot gets lost to the ether so to speak.
Beyond that, you’ll also get some of my witty commentary on just life. I promise, I’ll try to abstain from the gross, though I am a guy so sometimes I may stumble. So please accept my pre-emtive apology.
Oh, try to figure out what my account name, 7mary4, is about, too. I’d love to see if you can figure that out. (It’s not that hard to figure out with Google, folks. )
See you on Twitter…
GyPSii, the world’s leading geo-location and social networking service provider for mobile phones and Internet devices, is now available on the iPhone – Apple’s market-leading high-end mobile device. The iPhone has shipped more than five million units worldwide since its launch in 2007.
The new web-based GyPSii iPhone application integrates its multiple services into a single interface, making it easy for users to enjoy a wide range of new and exciting location-based features and services, along with social networking – all using the fluid, intuitive touch-screen user interface of the iPhone.
GyPSii also confirmed that it would produce a “native” version of its application using Apple’s Software Developer Kit (SDK) which is scheduled to be launched later this week, providing seamless access for all Apple users, from the desktop, to the iPhone.
GyPSii CEO, Dan Harple, said he didn’t want iPhone users who were keen social networkers to have to wait any longer for the only social networking platform specifically designed for location-enabled mobile phones to be available for their handset.
“We’ll work with the SDK as soon as it becomes available,” he said, “and then we will be uniquely offering both web and native versions of our application for iPhone users.”
GyPSii is taking advantage of its extensible product architecture enabling use of technologies (like Apple’s Safari) to make its advanced, geo-location features possible on the iPhone. In supporting these advances in web technology, GyPSii delivers an optimal location-based experience on a mobile device, or on a desktop computer, or even via a set-top box.
Some of the new GyPSii for iPhone features enabled include: Read the rest of this entry »
Remember how many new bands you found out about when Napster first torched the backbone of the Internet in the late 90s before Lars got to it? Ya, finding really cool bands that rocked and lived what they said, unlike Metallica. For the most part, those days are gone though you can venture on the ledge of legality with P2P software that have taken over the Napster file sharing duties of the last millennium if your luck runs high in Vegas. But for most, relying on radio, features like iTunes suggestion, and friends is about the only way to find a new flavor for your ice cream cone. Not anymore.
iLike is a social network that aims to bring back the discovery of the original Napster. With its iTunes plugin, you’ll be able to see what others are listening to and what your common likes are. Like the P2P networks, the more people online at the same time, the more diverse music can be found and the knowledge shared among you all. You’ll be able to connect to others music libraries, see related music based on your tastes, and even download free (and legal) music from new artists. All with a click of a mouse button.
If you like what you hear, check out iLike and create your free account and then install the iTunes plugin. Share in the freedom, once again.
isporty.com (formerly in award-winning beta format at tiredandtested.com) launches the UK’s premier social sport site for grassroots players. The site aims to become the ultimate sporting clubhouse online, where millions of grassroots sports men and women can network for everything local, national and international around the sports they play and the clubs they support.
isporty is free to sign up to and enables grassroots players to live a pro lifestyle – whatever sport they play and whatever level they play at. isporty offers its members a unique combination of its own interactive content, the very latest news, videos, photos and podcasts for every sport (365 on the site) and a full set of social networking features tailored for sport players.
isporty’s unique combination
isporty.com interactive content Includes the first online TV sports channel for grassroots sports. The channel will show user-generated content at its glorious best or slapstick worst, presented by the legendary sports terrestrial presenter Gary Newbon, Rebecca Lowe (BBC Match Of The Day) and Jo Ankier (the UK’s top 3000m steeplechase athlete). Led by Tim Southwell (former founder of Loaded and Golf Punk magazines), him and his team of 40 journalists will be blogging on the best of the British sporting media on a daily basis.
isporty’s 365 sports Through mash-ups with YouTube, flickr, Google, iTunes Music Store and Yahoo as well as feeds from the BBC and other specialist sources, isporty offers its members the very latest sports news, videos, photos and podcasts from every sport they play, all in one place.
Members also benefit from the bespoke Google co-op search that searches vertically over 3,500 authoritative sports sites – providing the best UK sports search offering online.
isporty’s social networking features Members get their own local sporting playground (thanks to a mash-up with Google Maps and the isporty database) and their personalised sporting history (a Lifeslide based on their date of birth), Members get to create and customise their profile; create sites for the teams they play for and those they support; upload and share videos, photos, blogs; participate in 100s of sport or team specific forums; meet and chat with other members based on the sport they play, the team they support, where they live or simply their avatar!