App Creators, Simple Conference Calls & Friendly Dating: NY Tech Meetup Roundup

PSFK attended the latest NYTech Meetup last week. Below are some of the highlights from the event.

Bridg.me

Bridg.me guarantees conference calls will never be forgotten again because, rather than dialing in, the conference number calls the user. The online service plugs in with Google calendar, where the user, who has previously entered the date of the call, number and any pin details, will receive a call from the conference number at the scheduled time.

Uber

Uber is a smartphone application that connects users in real-time with registered drivers to become everyone’s private car service. Users simply selected their location on a map to view the available cars in their surrounding area and by pushing “i’m ready,” send the driver an alert, which must be responded to within 15 seconds.  Once accepted, the user can view a profile of the driver, along with an estimated time of arrival. The automated payment system stores credit card information on the app to make transactions seamless when a passenger arrives at their destination. Additionally, by inviting friends, customers will receive $10 off their next trip for every friend that joins. The application works on android, iPhone, and supports sms.

Clique

Clique is an online dating site that connects users with friends of friends. The service pulls information from friends’ social networks to filter out date prospects, which, unlike anonymous dating sites, ensures members only interact with people who are separated by at least 2 degrees. The ability to display information from numerous social networks such as facebook, twitter and foursquare, also creates more realistic and up-to-date profiles for each member. A unique feature is the role of the ‘WingMen’ and ‘WingWomen’, who are members that aren’t there to date, but rather to help facilitate matches between friends by making suggestions that notifies each party.

MatchBook

Much like taking a book of matches from a restaurant to remember the location, Matchbook is a mobile application that bookmarks places in the real world such as bars, restaurants, and shops. The app keeps track of all the places a user wishes to go to in the future, as opposed to most location apps that only focus on where someone is at the time. Benefits included the ability to group places in predetermined categories or create unique tags such as “second date” material. The application allows places found that are online, such as NY Mag, to be bookmarked as well.

ShoutEm

ShoutEm lets users create native iPhone applications right from their browser window.  This simple app creator allows people to turn their website into a full-featured mobile applications by syndicating all existing content and adding modules from a range of options such as such as places, news, and social networking. Although icon graphics are pre-defined, customization is made easy by adding background images and changing color schemes.  ShoutEm handles all the approval processes from the iPhone and Android platforms, while the biggest benefit is the ability to make updates in real-time without the need for further development or additional downloads. A user simply has to restart their application to receive instant updates. ShoutEm aims to do what WordPress did for the web, for mobile applications.

Shelby.TV

Shelby.TV leverages a user’s social networks so they can discover and watch the videos that their friends are watching. By signing in through a facebook or twitter account, the user creates a customized channel that only pulls in videos that are being shared by their friends. This service stems from the insight that most videos people watch are forwarded on by friends because social currency is what drives content consumption. To direct more traffic to the site, video links with shortened Shelby URL’s can be directly re-tweeted or shared elsewhere across the web.

Urtak

Urtak is an online tool that finds out how people think by getting them to ask and answer questions. This method of collecting opinions creates a more shared experience and quantified output, as opposed to a general comments section. By simply asking a few questions, users can create an Urtak, which can then be embeded on their own website. Once on a site, visitors can answer questions and/or add their own questions. This utility is an effective way to create, collect and organize opinions.

NYTech Meetup