Colingo Makes Learning English Personal
Several startups have sprung up with a mission to take on language learning programs like Rosetta Stone and take advantage of the remaining needs in the language learning market. Similar to a few such startups, Colingo is taking a web-first approach. It uses in-browser video chat to bring language learners together with native speakers to help them learn through conversation and immersion. However, while some startups and services focus on breadth and offer support for multiple languages, Colingo stands out from the pack by focusing on English-language proficiency and learning. Its developers want to create a live, global and digital English school, starting with the launch of its teacher-led, group video chat classes, personalized skill training and private tutoring. Read more »
The ability to speak voice commands to operate mobile devices and apps has transformed how people interact with their phones and is a useful way to get things done. Now, a company called Saygent is launching mSay, a mobile feedback solution that developers can insert into any app to collect feedback from users. For businesses, getting valuable and timely feedback from customers can be a difficult challenge, one that mobile technology offers a way to make much easier and more attractive to consumers. If a retailer can get faster feedback on what is and is not working, they can respond faster so they can prevent bigger problems by reacting quickly. Surveys have their uses, but studies show that the number of people who use them, even with incentive to do so, is incredibly low. mSay asks one question, letting its technology figure out what is important to a customer while giving merchants a way to solicit almost instant voice feedback. 
Consumers are engaging retailers on social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter in constantly growing numbers. Whether by liking a deal, tweeting the link to a product, or even participating in an online contest, shoppers are mentioning and interacting with these e-commerce sites on a daily basis. The problem with traditional online loyalty programs is that they focus on rewarding users for only their purchases. Simply gaining more exposure drives business, and the challenge for retailers is not only how to track online mentions, but also how to meaningfully reward consumers for these mentions. Enter an app called 500Friends, which offers a platform called Loyalty Plus that allows retailers to reward their customers for social actions. There are companies that help you reward customers for what they buy and manage your fan page, but little rewarding customer for loyalty beyond that. It is also necessary now to fit social into the overall picture, and it is these aspects combined that 500Friends addresses. 
Despite the prominence of social media in almost every aspect of our lives, it can still be difficult to find and plan fun activities with friends sometimes. Fortunately, there is Sosh, an app that helps you find local events and activities based on your location, occasion, interests, and friends. The app’s developers refer to it as “a personal concierge for your social life,” while some have called it “the Uber of restaurant dining.” Essentially, it is a recommendations app helps you find the best stuff to do in your city. 
For those in a professional field offering a very specific service on an individual basis, customer referrals are a key to growing business. Keebitz is a service that uses the latest technology to help dentists manage their referrals and generate extra income for both its clients and users. It utilizes a simple, user-friendly system that rewards patients with electronic gift cards when they refer their dentist. It helps dentists get more patients by rewarding them for every successful referral they make, profiting both the dentist and his or her patient. While certainly not a unique concept in and of itself, Keebitz is one of the few that has applied it to the field of dentistry. It is set apart in certain ways from similar services, though, in several ways. 
Developments in technology lead to better, more user-friendly apps and websites that work more quickly and efficiently, but the entire process that leads to the improvement of those available to us begins with the ability to build them better. Framer is a product for app and site developers that lets them invent, design and experiment with interaction with better results than ever before. It utilizes Framer.js, a more effective prototyping framework that is easier for those who are not experts to operate, using a simpler and cleaner way to write JavaScript. 
A main intent behind developing technology has always been to make things faster and easier, and voice recognition is a great step forward in doing just that. Dragon is a product from Nuance, a leading provider of cutting-edge voice and gesture recognition technology, applying voice recognition to aid in many different functions. It gives you quick access to everything you want on the mobile web, and its revolutionary software not only hears but understands what you want more accurately and swiftly than previous versions of the technology. Consumers can download it to a variety of devices including phones, tablets and televisions. Dragon serves four functions in particular: speech-to-text, email, online search, and app access. 
Often when you want to book a block of hotel rooms, the current experience can be difficult. Unlike buying a single room, which you can use an online service to do, you must call hotels directly, usually multiple times. During these calls someone may forget certain details, particularly since there is more to keep track of and there is a lot of negotiating involved. Simply put, it can be a frustrating experience overall. Fortunately, now there is Jetaport, an app designed to help people with these associated pains. It allows consumers to book hotel blocks in a much simpler way, without having to make all those difficult phone calls. Whether for a wedding, family reunion, corporate retreat, or a vacation with a group of friends, Jetaport simplifies the process for booking hotel blocks, ultimately solving one of the primary complications for consumers. 
For those who are looking for the best places to unwind in an unfamiliar place, hit can sometimes be difficult to find the right spots. Sites such as Yelp, Foursquare and OpenTable are useful to a point, but have limitations such as subjective content or a lack of contributors for a particular venue. Happinin is a new app offering users glimpses of bars, clubs and restaurants before they leave their home. It is an online platform where you can easily find the neighborhood you are in, figure out bars, nightclubs and lounges that are more to your personal taste, and have a transparent view to see if you want to be a part of it. 
Internet business is not just for big retailers or even limited to small companies, and many sites have been allowing people to sell and buy items as personal business ventures for years. Sites like Etsy and Fab even allow people to sell their own handcrafted items, and this is where BRIKA fits in. It combines the elements of personal craftsmanship and good design that are unique to each of those sites and others like it to help its vendors reach a larger, more discerning audience. What BRIKA does is provide the background for artisan goods. Like Etsy, it sources its wares from handicrafts makers and independent creators, but it emphasizes the story so that you know who made what you buy and why they want to do so in the first place. You know where the materials came from and how someone made them, meaning you connect more personally to the goods you purchase and their creators.