Archive for category Reviews
FourSquare: Enormous Potential for Local-Marketing
Posted by Matt Brown in Insights, Reviews on January 24, 2010
In recent weeks, I’ve become fascinated with the location-based social network called Foursquare. While I’ve been using location-based apps on both my Blackberry and iPhone for a while (Google Maps is a good example), Foursquare is the first service that has made me stop and think about the potential of hyper-local marketing on mobile devices, not just down the line but right now.
Foursquare?
If you haven’t tried Foursquare yet (and most people haven’t), here’s the deal.
Foursquare describes itself as “50% friend-finder, 30% social cityguide, 20% nightlife game.” While in Beta, Foursquare was only available in a few cities, but in recent weeks has opened up for access in any city. Now, whenever you arrive at a new place you can “check in” to tell the service you’re there.
Each time you “check in” you earn points, which go towards a “leaderboard” of you and the people to whom you’ve chosen to connect. If you’ve visited a place more than anyone else in the last 60 days, you become the “mayor.” It’s largely meaningless, but cool to see people who regularly attend places (especially from a marketing potential perspective.) It can also link to your Twitter and Facebook feeds to broadcast to your friends where you are and the different badges you have obtained. Read the rest of this entry »
First Impressions: Apple Magic Mouse
Posted by Matt Brown in Reviews on October 29, 2009
I just returned from the Apple Store, where I picked up my brand new Apple Magic Mouse. I have only messed around with the mouse for about an hour, but I’m loving it. It does take some adjusting and getting used too because so thin and has a initially weird shape, but as soon as you dive into the features of the mouse, you’ll quickly learn to get used to it. I look into a few main points here.
The Magic Mouse As A Mouse
The Magic Mouse is very cool looking and allows you to use gestures on the top of the mouse, but how does it work as a mouse? After all, that is supposed to be its main function.
I’m happy to say that it is the most responsive wireless mouse I’ve ever used, bar none. I let the computer go to sleep completely and then touched the mouse to wake it up. Not only did the computer wake up right away, the mouse was immediately responding to my movements and clicks.
The were no herky-jerky jumps of the mouse onscreen and I didn’t have to wait for a few seconds before it responded to left- or right-clicks.
The mouse feels really good in your hand too. It’s very light to move around and feels quite natural to do the everyday tasks we have come to rely on a mouse for. Read the rest of this entry »
First Impressions: Tweetie 2 for iPhone
Posted by Matt Brown in Reviews, Technology on October 13, 2009
If you don’t already know, Tweetie is one of the most popular iPhoneTwitter clients out there today. It combines tons of powerful features with a killer user interface that you’d swear came from Apple. So when Loren Brichter, Tweetie’s creator, started work on the next version, he was competing with his original app. To do this, Brichter totally rewrote the app from scratch, leaving behind every bit of code from version one. Then he applied all of the experience he gained from the original and created an even more powerful, feature-packed version with the same level of simplicity that made Tweetie a success. The result is Tweetie 2.
The first thing you’ll notice about Tweetie is its clean, easy to understand user interface. Navigating through Tweetie works just like the Mail or iPod app; it’s all hierarchical, gradually taking you from general to specific. Buttons and interface elements look great, lists scroll with no delay, and the entire layout makes perfect sense. No feature is left out, yet not one bit is cluttered. It’s near perfect.
At the bottom of nearly every screen is the familiar iPhone tab bar which contains tabs for viewing the timeline, mentions and direct messages. Whenever new information comes in, a blue light appears below the corresponding tab.
On the UI front, there were only a couple items I would have changed. Mainly the section which shows a user’s profile image in the “single tweet” view isn’t great. I also feel like the user info view could use some slight refining. Users of the original Tweetie may be disappointed to find that there is no theme support, at least not yet. Otherwise, I love every inch of Tweetie 2’s UI.
When you open Tweetie for the first time, you’ll be prompted to enter your Twitter login info. The app optionally supports multiple accounts which can be added by tapping the plus button in the accounts view.
First Impressions: Springloops – Code Collaboration for Web Developers
Posted by Matt Brown in Freelancing, Reviews, Web Design on September 18, 2009
I’m no stranger to project management programs. I’ve been using Basecamp for about a year now, and really enjoy it. They are great for simple projects and setting to-do lists. But what if you have a highly-technical project, such as coding an entire website? Well today I was turned onto a new tool for managing development projects by my friend Mark (Blog | Twitter).
Introducing Springloops
Springloops was designed to allow developers to work together on a programming project by providing an interface displaying real-time changes. With so many web designers working remotely, it’s important for developers to have a central workspace to collaborate on a project. I often work with graphic designers or developers all over the country and can see a real use for this tool. Read the rest of this entry »
First Impressions: Outright
Posted by Matt Brown in Freelancing, Reviews on September 14, 2009
Last week I wrote about my review of my new invoicing system, Freshbooks. As a follow up to this review, I tried out a service that integrates directly with Freshbooks – Outright.
Outright is a simple, online bookkeeping service. Key in on the term “simple.” I’ve never seen an easier financial tool for a business owner. That’s not me gushing over this product, but stating the obvious. If you have a bookkeeper now, this tool lets you see daily progress instead of waiting for that in-person meeting at the end of every month or quarter. Read the rest of this entry »
First Impressions: Freshbooks
Posted by Matt Brown in Freelancing, Reviews on September 8, 2009
Recently I started evaluating the tools I use in my freelancing business. I was looking around at tools I could use to help streamline processes. I already used 37Signals products for project management and client relations management, but I needed something that could invoice clients, send more professional proposals, and keep track of them all. I’ve heard a lot of buzz about FreshBooks, so I decided to give it a try and see what all the hype was about.
I had previously been using Quickbooks 2009 for Mac to handle all of my accounting needs. Quickbooks is a great Small Business Accounting program, but it is not customizable at all. It’s a decent All-In-One program, but it wasn’t developed for a freelancer’s accounting/financial tracking style, so I decided to move on to Freshbooks.
I read a post a while back about the 10 Bad Habits of Designers over at The Outlaw Design Blog. One of the habits that they discussed in this post was not paying for premium services that weren’t worth the cost. I have found some alternatives to Freshbooks that are free, such as LessAccounting, BlinkSale, SimplyInvoices etc. It’s great that these apps are free, but none of them work as well as Freshbooks. They are all lacking serious features and cant even come close to comparing with Freshbooks. Read the rest of this entry »
First Impressions: WP Fancyzoom Plugin
Posted by Matt Brown in Reviews on July 29, 2009
If I post an image into a page or a post, and I want a reader to see a larger version of that image, I sure don’t want them to have to leave the page to see that image. FancyZoom is a simple way to add the FancyZoom image overlay script to your blog or website. In short, FancyZoom is a nice, modern way of making popup images without forcing people to leave the page. FancyZoom is super fast, and will usually pleasantly surprise the reader (cause it makes it look like you have your act together). Read the rest of this entry »
Review: BillShrink’s New Gas Price Finder
Posted by Matt Brown in Reviews on May 4, 2009
One of the more interesting tools available to those who wish to save money is BillShrink. Many people are already familiar with BillShrink’s ability to help you compare credit cards and cell phone providers and plans.
Gas prices have, for the short-term, edged back from the point where people aren’t complaining about them 24/7, but even so, you’d have to be Bill Gates not to want to save as much as possible on each fill-up. There are no shortage of Web sites that offer to find you cheap gas, and even iPhone apps aplenty, like Gas Buddy and Cheap Gas. Read the rest of this entry »
Quub: A New Startup is Reinventing the Status Update
Posted by Matt Brown in Reviews on April 28, 2009
Everywhere one looks today, we are seeing more and more services that allow you to “update your status.” Well, now there is one more to add to the List – Quub.
Quub, which launched in public beta today, is a web-based, desktop (coming soon), and mobile (currently just Android and BlackBerry) solution for those of us who’d rather have a simpler way to update our status across our favorite networks. Read the rest of this entry »
Backblaze Publicly Launches Online Backup Service for Macs
Posted by Matt Brown in Reviews, Technology on April 14, 2009
There is finally a good cloud-backup service for Mac users. It is called Backblaze, and after extensive beta testing, and a few much-requested modifications, the company has now finally opened the service to everyone. If you’ve been thinking about using online backups, or if you’ve tried another service and been disappointed, Backblaze may well be worth a look. Read the rest of this entry »
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