This week marked the 4th birthday of what has become a landmark event in Silicon Valley. Each SVNewTech allows several startups to demo their products in front of a crowd of their peers. After a brief demo, the floor opens up to questions. These exchanges spark discussions and provide valuable feedback.
The meet-up group, which started with just a handful of people, has turned into a network of over 4,000 entrepreneurs, investors, bloggers and tech enthusiasts. I got to sit down with SVNewTech Organizer Vincent Lauria and talk with him about the evolution of this event.
Three startups demoed their products at the event.
Apptizr works like a self-described Pandora for iPhone applications. It uses a semantic algorithm to provide personal recommendations for applications, combining explicit feedback and user behavior.
After only using apptizr for a few minutes, the value is apparent. This is a natural evolution from what the App store provides. With over 100,000 applications available, personalized recommendations are a necessity for iPhone owners.
Exzact is an iPhone application that easily creates custom, dynamic forms for mobile data collection. It is used by all kinds of companies and organizations (i.e. Comcast, Hershey) to collect data while one the go. Business Systems Analyst Steve Bromley had this to say about the app: “The Data Collection iPhone app aims to allow you to create, and answer, custom surveys on the iPhone, collecting information like geographic location, and responses in a variety of forms (1-10 ratings, drop down lists, yes/no responses, and comment boxes). They then offer real time analysis, so you can see the results as they come in, and claim to be massively scalable.”
Think Computer Company gave a preview of their next project, involving mobile payments. An iPhone application would allow users to make payments via a special bar code generated on the phone’s screen. Vendors that are registered with the program could then simply scan the bar code to accept a payment. Currently in pre-alpha, we will certainly follow their developments.
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