Cheree Heppe here: The below snippet notes apps and services that the columnist did not have space to review, but is requesting consumers for feedback re trials. I think he can be contacted at po...@nytimes.com
Pogue's Posts - The Latest in Technology From David Pogue June 28, 2012, 3:55 PM A Few Good Ideas for Products SnapDot FDDP The Times’s technology columnist, David Pogue, keeps you on top of the industry in his free, weekly e-mail newsletter. Sign up | See Sample A pitch is a news item, new product announcement or something else a corporate public relations person hopes to see covered in the media. Like all columnists, I get bombarded by them every week. Lots of these pitches, I throw out. A few, I write about. But there’s also a huge gray mass in the middle: pitches in the category you might call, “My Readers Might Like to Know About This, but I Don’t Have Time to Try It Out Right Now.” So what happens? I file those pitches into a folder until I get around to ordering and testing those products — which, often, is never. I’ll admit it: That system doesn’t really serve anybody. So today, I’m trying something different. When I get a pitch for a product or service that I think you might benefit from worth knowing about, I’ll invite the company to submit a 300-character version of the pitch. Let me be clear: These aren’t reviews. I haven’t tried these things out. I’m certainly not endorsing or recommending any of them. In fact, for all I know, some of them might be total dogs. But at the same time, just deleting them doesn’t seem like the best solution, either. The products I include on this list will be ones that it seems the world should know about. They’re good ideas. This experiment has been enlightening in that one lesson has already made itself plain: P.R. people could learn a whole lot from this exercise. Over and over again, I’ll get a pitch that says something like, “This best-of-breed mobile app brings the best of the social graph to the Gen Y ethos. Scalable and actionable, presents a new paradigm for integrated networks”… and then goes on to insert a phony, 100 percent redundant quote by the C.E.O. But when I ask a P.R. person to boil down a pitch to 300 characters, it often turns out that they’re actually pitching something cool: “This new app shows you, on your phone’s screen, everything you need to know about a potential romantic partner: Time since last breakup, hygiene standards, emotional stability score and more.” Several of this week’s pitches fell into that category: impenetrable, wordy, vague and filled with buzzwords — until they were forcibly compressed to 300 characters. Then, suddenly, they were clear and effective. (In at least two cases this week, you couldn’t even tell what the product was until it was distilled that way.) So here it is: One week’s worth of interesting-looking hardware, software, apps and services. May the P.R. people learn just as much from it as you do. SnapDot . This app converts any photo into “stipple art” — a drawing made entirely of dots. Load an iPhone photo, adjust the number of dots, brightness and contrast and apply a creative smart mask to showcase the dots that matter to you. $2. Android coming. ZAGGprivacy . A protective film that prevents nearby neighbors in a plane, train or conference room from seeing what’s on your iPhone’s screen. $25. Next Stories . A bookmarklet for news junkies. With one click, dozens of related articles from similar sites pop up over the article you’re currently reading, in a well-arranged, Pinterest-like layout. No registration or setup needed. FilmFunds app . Aim your smartphone’s camera at a movie trailer, poster, billboard or DVD cover — snap a photo, instantly get information about that film and buy tickets. Free for iPhone/Android. Extra Innings’ Mobile Instructor . This app lets you record and upload sports videos of young athletes, then provide your own commentary using a white-board technique to improve their technique. Or submit recorded videos for professional analysis from Extra Innings. $5 for iPhone. Linksys EA4500 Router . With Linksys’s new flagship router ($170), free companion apps let you play, beam, share photos, music and videos on your phone, tablet, PC, Mac or TV, or check to see how long your children were online while you were out to dinner. A Complete Genome in Time . How large is the human genome in days? In a collaboration between scientists, bioinformaticists and artists, Yonder Biology has conceived a 365-day online exhibition, in which the vastness of human nucleotides are transformed into an everyday measurement. Starts today. Handybook . When you need a professional cleaner or handyman, go to this site, enter your ZIP code and select your preferred time and date; 36 seconds later, Handybook confirms availability and lets you complete the booking. Frequency . A free video discovery app for iPad that turns your Facebook and Twitter into a streaming video show. Its channel guide features the top 1,000 video channels across the Web, including blogs like HuffPo and TechCrunch, networks like ESPN and HBO, and tons of indie news and viral video. Free. TripList Packing & To-Do . Create a trip, add items, then check them off as you pack. Includes template system for recurring trips, and multiple users to create a packing list for everyone in the family. For iPhone ($2) and iPad ($3). Airport Life . Layover at JFK? Find a cup of Joe, PDQ. Get alerts of flight changes or gate switches. Talk in real time to travelers in the same airport. Even helps you find your car. Available for iPhone; coming soon to a Droid near you. And there you have it. In the comments, let me know if you think this kind of update is valuable, or how it could be improved. And if there’s anything on this list you think demands a full review, let me know that, too. June 25, 2012, 10:21 AM -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "MacVisionaries" group. To post to this group, send email to macvisionaries@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to macvisionaries+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/macvisionaries?hl=en.
