Cool Product of the Day

There is a plethora of options for mobile users who want to use their smartphone as a GPS navigation system.  However, most of these navigation apps are essentially the same.  The only differences you are likely to find are in their user interfaces and perhaps the accuracy of their specific mapping systems.  iOnRoad is a cool product that breaks this trend of homogeneity.  Instead of merely relying on the old conventions of GPS navigation and mapping software, iOnRoad uses your smartphone’s camera to create an experience based on augmented reality instead.  Users mount iOnRoad so it can take video through their cars’ windshields.  The app then overlays its interface on top of the video while it navigates drivers to their destinations. Read more »

Anyone who wants to use licensed music for a project such as a website or video game knows how much it can cost and how much of a hassle it can be to implement.  Licensing music for commercial use is a costly process and can involve many legal headaches.  While many may want to utilize such music to make their project more engaging to users, they often forgo doing so due to the effort and cost involved.  Feed.fm is a cool product in technology that is looking to streamline the process of licensing music for commercial projects.  Businesses that want to use licensed music can avoid much of the hassle by using Feed.fm’s large database of licensed albums and songs for whatever project they desire.  Feed.fm is a service that handles all the legal issues surrounding licensed music for you and presents companies with an easier option to utilize music on their website or in their games. Read more »

One of the key aspects of marketing a book has always been holding book-signing events.  These events help to create hype a writer’s work and allow authors to connect directly with their biggest supporters, which increases the chances that those supporters will spread the word about their favorite author’s books.  Book signings have always been an effective way for authors to communicate and promote their books to their readership.  However, with eBooks on the rise over the last several years, traditional books are taking up the less of the market.  This introduces a serious problem for authors: how do you continue to promote your work through book signings when more and more content is digital in nature?  Cool product Autography provides a solution to this conundrum.  Autography has created a system for the digital signing of eBooks.  With new advances in technology, Autography allows authors to personalize eBooks for their readers and attach digital signatures and individualized messages so readers can receive personalized copies of books just as they would at a physical book signing.  Read more »

One of the most convenient and attractive benefits of staying at a quality hotel when you’re in a new city is having a knowledgeable and helpful concierge to give you advice on the different restaurants, bars, and attractions nearby.  The ability simply to ask for the best sushi restaurant in London or the most affordable steakhouse in Miami when you’re staying there and receive a reliable answer quickly can greatly improve your quality of life.  However, there are plenty of situations outside quality resorts and hotels where you may want access to a concierge for advice.  What about when you move to a new city where you don’t know anyone locally, or maybe you’re backpacking across Europe and saving money by staying hostels rather than hotels?  That’s where cool technology product Agolo can help you.  Agolo is a website that uses crowd-sourced info from Twitter to give you informed advice and recommendations about places to go and things to do wherever you are.  Agolo is trying to be people’s personal concierge no matter where they’re staying. Read more »

How far has identity authentication come?  From formerly high tech methods such as face unlock to retinal scanners in action-packed spy movies, technology is moving toward a system that requires “putting your heart into it.”  Imagine coming home and, without any action on your part, pulling into an unlocked garage, entering your unlocked home, and entering a room where your music of choice and even your room temperature of choice welcome you home.  Add having your favorite dinner on the table and the candles lit and you’d have the perfect picture! Read more »

Are you one of those people who is gets frustrated when you go out to a restaurant and watch people at the surrounding tables diligently bent over their smartphone, communicating with anybody and everybody except the people across the table from them?  Julie Uhrman had similar frustration with gamers huddled alone over a smartphone instead of sprawled out together in front of a large monitor screen.  Julie remembers the good ole days when she and her sister came together to play video games around a TV set. Read more »

“Going where no device has gone before,” according to Leap Motion’s website, “the Leap Motion controller is an amazing device for the things you do every day and for things you never thought you could do.”  Some of those things you never thought you could do might include soaring in toward a planet at the furthermost corner of the galaxy, drawing, painting, or sculpting a 3D creation, or yes, even playing a virtual musical instrument.  For the serious science student, dissecting a frog or taking apart a human skull has never been so within your virtual reach!

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Lost it again?  A new app for your phone will make it easier to find than ever before.  The Tile App, a product developed by Reveal Labs, is a thin device with a double-sided adhesive to stick to virtually any surface.  Place the tile on your laptop, wallet, keys, guitar, bike, or whatever else you have the tendency to misplace.  In fact, Reveal Labs states that the app can handle up to 10 tiles on one account. Great for the individual on the go who just can’t seem to keep their stuff all together! Read more »

It’s always the right time to throw a steak on the backyard grill.  An app from iDevices takes some of the pressure off the grill chef by monitoring your food via your Apple or Android device.  The app developed by iDevices may be the perfect solution for your next party or just right for the non-stop schedule you keep.  Read more »

Many people have experienced the phenomenon where you want to go back to a restaurant, hotel, or park, but you can’t quite remember the name of the place, making it impossible to look up online.  Matchbook is a cool product that makes sure this never happens to you again.  Through your smartphone’s GPS technology, Matchbook lets you tag the places you’ve been and the places you want to go.  With Matchbook, when you’re trying to remember where you went for Italian food that one night in January, all you have to do is whip out your smartphone and Matchbook will remind you.  You can tag locations with dates, time, and key words to look up later.  This could save many people frustrating nights of being unable to find the place they want to go because of unclear memories.  If you have trouble downloading Matchbook or getting your phone’s GPS to work properly, find smartphone tech support and get help. Read more »