Cool Product of the Day

One issue that hiking enthusiasts face when they travel across the country to conquer many different hiking trails is that quite a few major trails lead to places where no cell phone signal exists.  No phone signal means the GPS function of many smartphones becomes useless.  Cool product Gaia GPS allows users to download GPS data for specific hiking trails so they can use the maps and data points even when they have no Internet connection out in the wilderness.  Gaia GPS is available on the web, on iPhone and on Android devices.  People can load the data for their particular hiking trail or trip on the app beforehand and then access the maps they need while hiking.  Any people who have trouble operating the app on their smartphones or tablets should get mobile IT support to help. Read more »

The greatest challenge for any musician that wants to make an impact on the music industry is getting a major label to notice them in the first place.  While the Internet has made it possible for some artists to make a living independent of major labels, global success and fame usually still require the backing of the larger industry.  With the sheer number of musicians working and trying to gain a following, it often seems like pure luck is the greatest factor in receiving attention from a major label.  Cool product Chartburst wants to use the web to change this system and let fans decide what artists get the chance to connect with major labels and earn a record deal.  Chartburst allows artists and bands to create profiles on their site and for fans to vote on the songs they release.  Chartburst then tallies all the positive votes for particular songs and artists and creates a chart listing the most popular musicians and songs.  Chartburst then sends the highest rated music on their charts directly to several major labels for evaluations.  Any musicians or listeners who have difficulty navigating or joining Chartburst should call a phone computer support service.  Read more »

Taking detailed notes in class during college is essential in attaining a good GPA.  However, truly excellent and well-written class notes have value that some students may not realize—monetary value.  Students miss classes due to personal problems or sickness very often and they need help to get the information they miss out on when they aren’t in class.  A student who takes excellent notes can be of great value to those students who miss classes for any reason.  Now, a cool product in technology called NoteWagon wants to help students cash in on the value of their hard work in class while also helping students who would benefit from access to good notes.  NoteWagon lets students upload their class notes and post them online.  Other students can then log on and purchase the right to download the notes for the classes that they have missed.  If NoteWagon users lose any notes that they have downloaded from other users, they should get help from a data recovery service. Read more »

Despite the rise of digital music and the continual shrinking of the physical media business in the music industry, there still remains a healthy section of the market that prefers vinyl records.  Companies continue to print vinyl records for collectors and disc jockeys despite the fact that the technology is half a century old.  Many enthusiasts still claim that vinyl records sound better and then seek out records rather than choosing to switch to digital music.  Regardless of whether those claims about sound quality are true, there is no denying the modern market for vinyl.  Cool product Vinylfy now wants to give record collectors a way to interact with each other and promote their collections via the Internet.  This cool product gives collectors an online space to show off their collection on a personalized profile.  Users can also maintain wishlists on the site to facilitate record swaps. Users who cannot create an account on the site may want to contact remote tech support to see if it’s an issue with their technology.  Read more »

Many companies launch business conferences in order to promote themselves, help establish their brand and provide networking opportunities for themselves and others.  However, many businesses that look into this option often have to scrap it or postpone it.  This reality is due to the high costs involved with hosting and running events.  Renting a conference location, making deals with local hotels, and hiring temporary staff to work an event all add up to serious costs that not every company can handle.  However, there is now a cool product that allows smaller companies to host virtual business conferences on the Internet.  HyperFair creates virtual conference spaces that professionals can log into in order to view live presentations and chat with other attendees for networking purposes.  Companies can promote networking by hosting events without having to spend money on renting and staffing a physical location.  Businesses that want to use HyperFair to put on virtual events will need a business IT support provider to help them put the appropriate systems in place.  Read more »

New websites evolve through many changes early on in their life cycles.  However, sometimes developers and designers make these changes based only off of gut feelings or from incomplete data.  Idea Informer is a cool product that wants to help website owners make purposeful changes every time they edit or change their sites.  This cool product accomplishes this by giving website visitors a direct line of communication to the owner on the site, allowing users to give specific feedback.  Through Idea Informer, website owners receive a constant flow of comments from users about their projects’ design and functionality.  Designers and developers can then consider the accumulated feedback when altering and updating the site.  Website owners definitely do not want users to have to call for computer support just to navigate their sites.  Idea Informer lets developers and designers find issues and fix them quickly so websites are as cleanly designed and easy to use as possible.  Read more »

Wikipedia is one of the one of the most used sites on the Internet.  A major part of how that reality came to be is how easy it is to keep information up to date on the site.  The “wiki” format of the website allows all users to edit and review information.  This fact means that people can constantly update and double-check all articles on the site.  While this format has proven to be incredibly useful for Wikipedia’s encyclopedic purposes, a cool product called BrainKeeper wants to apply it to another purpose.  BrainKeeper provides businesses with internal wiki sites where they can store all corporate information.  Employees can then edit the company’s internal wiki powered by BrainKeeper every time a policy change happens or anything of significant importance occurs.  Office tech support assistance will be necessary for any less technically inclined employees who have trouble updating information through BrainKeeper’s system. Read more »

People talk about the sweeping changes the Internet has made to global culture very often.  Most people cite the way the Internet has changed media sales, retail, and the consumption of news.  However, one less obvious, but very real, cultural shift that the Internet has contributed to is the growth of the DIY (“do-it-yourself”) movement in society.  The Internet’s ability to spread information virally has led to the creation of thousands of how-to videos, detailed blogs and tutorials about home improvement projects. The web has even seen the rise a subculture centered on “life hacks”, which are micro-sized DIY concepts people design to make life more convenient.  DiggersList is another cool product on the Internet that feeds into this growing cultural emphasis on DIY projects.  DiggersList is an online classifieds page for home improvement enthusiasts who would rather recycle and reuse old materials than buy expensive new pieces of furniture. Anyone can use the DiggersList site once he or she creates an account and those who have trouble making an account can seek online tech support assistance to determine the problem.   Read more »

Nearly everyone knows the experience of losing car keys, the television remote, cell phones or any number of important items used on a daily basis.  In some situations, people can easily locate what they’ve lost, such as when someone calls a smartphone to hear it ringing and go find it.  However, most of the time, people are left frustrated by their inability to find what they have misplaced.  Now, a cool product in technology aims to take away that frustration for good.  Linquet is a small tracking device that anyone can easily attach to any item he or she owns in order to locate it when it goes missing.  This small item tracker is easily linkable to anything a user wants, whether that be the car keys, a camera, or even a pet.  Users can set off an alarm using a special remote when they lose their Linquet connected item.  Anyone who has trouble getting a Linquet remote to work can always contact mobile computer repair for help with the issue. Read more »

Song royalties have become a more complicated issue in recent years due to the way technology has affected the music industry.  Online radio companies like Pandora and Slacker Radio service millions, and on-demand streaming services like Rhapsody and Spotify have gained a significant hold in the market. These realities mean there are suddenly far more virtual venues than ever before where musicians and songwriters should earn royalties for their work.  Technology has also changed the global market for music, as it’s far easier for songs to gain exposure on several continents now.  Before the Internet, only larger stars backed by major labels would see radio play internationally.  Now, a video uploaded to YouTube can go viral and an independent artist can have worldwide exposure.  Without knowing how to collect international royalties however, it’s much more difficult for those independent artists to receive pay for their work.  However, a cool product in technology called Songtrust is providing artists a platform on the web to help them collect the royalties they should be earning from every possible source. Read more »