Minnov8

Showcasing Minnesota Technology Innovation

Thoughts from a Google event at the “Brain Exchange” in Minneapolis

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(Note: This post originally appeared yesterday on my personal blog, Graeme Thickins on Tech.™ I’ve added a couple of updates where noted.)

CoCo-TradingBoardGoogle and CoCo are cohosting a day-long event today on entrepreneurship and innovation at the former Grain Exchange in Minneapolis, including speakers, workshops, and panels — and I’m hanging out here right on through to the closing happy-hour reception. It’s just past lunchtime now, and I thought I’d punch out a post. The afternoon sessions will be split into two tracks: one for businesspeople, marketers, and creatives, and a second for developers and those interested in technology. (I’ll be sitting in on the former.)

“Google for Entrepreneurs” is the specific group CoCo partnered with for this event. But, as of today, we know this partnership is going well beyond just today’s activities. If you follow the Minnov8 site, where I also blog occasionally, you may have seen my story this morning: “CoCo Ties Up with Google.” Big news for our town.

To understand what the GFE program is all about, Mary Grove, who heads it up, explains on this YouTube video. Essentially, it includes Programs, Events (today’s not listed – haha, even Google can’t keep its own pages updated!), Resources — and you can guess that means tools and online resources like Apps, Adwords, G+ for Business, dev tools, Groups, free websites, consumer surveys, Google cloud platform, etc.

In this glowing Forbes article from September 2012, “Google Launches Global Entrepreneurs Initiative,” the writer notes what GFE CoCo-GFEpanel-closeisn’t: “Google Entrepreneurs is not an incubator, an accelerator or a venture fund. It’s merely a connection to all of these things.”  I was particularly interested today in finding out what any connection might be to Google Ventures, the company’s very own VC fund. (There is very little connection, it turns out, though they seem to fit under the same box on the org chart.)  By the way, you may think you know Google Ventures, but get this — it was recently ranked as the third most active VC firm in a study by CB Insights: “Google Grows Into a Venture Capital Power.”

An interesting initiative you can find on the Google Ventures site is called Startup Lab. Not sure how that fits on with the “Google For Entrepreneurs” initiative, if at all, but there sure seems to be some overlap the way it’s described. Note the web page says “we’re just getting started.”  Well, um, yes — but their last blog post was July 2012. Hmmm. But they do have a current schedule of events, including several this month, all saying “at Startup Lab,” which presumably means Mountain View (it doesn’t say).

But Google marketing initiatives aside (which is essentially what GFE is), I’m hungering for some insight into other, related and developing Google news,  How about you?  Like this:

• “To get products into more hands, Google will open its own stores by the end of the year” (9to5 Google)

• “Report: Google to open retail stores in major US cities by yearend” (HuffingtonPost)

Could the big GOOG be planning a store in Minneapolis? As in downtown? Inquiring bloggers want to know…

[Update: I later asked someone from the mayor’s office, but got no sign of any knowledge on his part about that. Another thing I asked: Any chance of Google Fiber in our town?  Again, no indication either way. But we can still hope, can’t we?]

CoCo-beautyshotI’d also like to ask Minneapolis mayor R.T. Rybak (who spoke at the kickoff of today’s event) what he thinks about Mayor Bloomberg’s announcement a couple days ago of a “We Are Made in NY” campaign to promote his city’s startups: “NY mayor launches bid to help tech startups.”  I’m betting R.T.’s city budget probably doesn’t allow for digital billboards and bus ads hyping our “Made in Minneapolis” ventures.  But then, we’re a little smaller than NYC… and Bloomberg throws millions around like chump change.

In Minnesota, we don’t do big, pushy campaigns about ourselves.  We just talk about such stuff over coffee and cookies.  Oh, and in blogs that no one in New York has probably ever seen or heard of.

WordPress Launches Classroom Sites

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wp-education

Educators have another option for classroom sites and blogs, “WordPress is an elegant solution for education professionals looking to create a website for their class, and today we’re excited to announce the launch of WordPress.com Classrooms. Whether you need a group blog for your high school history project, or to keep your 3rd grade students’ parents up to date about the next field trip, you’ll find the solution here at WordPress.com.”

There really isn’t any excuse anymore for districts, schools and classroom teachers to not embrace online publishing!

Though the WordPress offering looks like a solid initiative, not everyone is happy about the launch or think it’s worthy. James Farmer, the founder & CEO of Edublogs (1.6 million+ teacher/classroom blogs) wrote a pretty scathing post (Why WordPress.com for education (and portfolios, restaurants & musicians) is a big fat fail) about WordPress’ offering calling it, “…shallow, insincere, cynical, lacking in focus and flimsy” and that’s just for starters! It’s quite a rant and uncalled for in my opinion.

While I also view WordPress.com’s various vertical initiatives as middle-of-the-road and not feature rich, there’s something to be said for legitimizing various verticals: it makes the category more viable and investors sit up and take notice. Going after the education space is being driven by those who should know best about viable verticals for WordPress, Automattic (WordPress founder Matt Mullenweg’s company that manages the open source WordPress software, runs WordPress.com along with many other initiatives & technologies). That alone is good news in my book.

kidblog-logoThe other good news? Minnesota has a fabulous solution, accelerating nationwide, right here in our own backyard: Kidblog. The Kidblog team is quite passionate about their mission too, “Kidblog is built by teachers, for teachers, so students can get the most out of the writing process. Our mission is to empower teachers to embrace the benefits of the coming digital revolution in education. As students become creators – not just consumers – of information, we recognize the crucial role of teachers as discussion moderators and content curators in the classroom. With Kidblog, teachers monitor and control all activity within their classroom blogging community.”

Bottom line? Having WordPress.com enter the education is great news for schools and sharpens the competitive differentiators of Kidblog and Edublogs. If you’re in education, or know someone who is, give them a heads-up that this is available and that they have options with Kidblog and Edublogs too.

Launch a Start-up With U of MN Tech

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MNcup-logoThis just in from Minnesota Cup: Entrepreneurs and business executives are invited to a free entrepreneur event hosted by the University of Minnesota – Office for Technology Commercialization (OTC).  The purpose of this event is to educate local entrepreneurs on how to work with the OTC. The event will explain the process for technology licensing and how to build start-up companies based on University of Minnesota research.

Date: Tuesday, March 26, 2013 from 5:00-7:30 PM

Location: Maroon & Gold Room, McNamara Alumni Center (200 Oak Street S.E., Minneapolis, MN 55455)

Agenda:
5:00-5:15 pm – Registration and Networking
5:15-5:20 pm – Welcome and Opening Remarks
5:20-5:45 pm – How to work with the U of MN – OTC
5:45-6:30 pm – Panel Discussion

  • Moderator: Doug Johnson, Office for Technology Commercialization
  • John Bergstrom, Early Learning Labs
  • Ken Shain, SMART Signal Technologies
  • Bill Faulkner, Ascenix
  • Eric Madson, Embomedics

6:30-7:30 pm – Networking with Refreshments and Hors d’oeuvres

Register Here

CoCo Ties Up with Google

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CoCo-logoBig news today from our friends at CoCoMSP.  The very successful, high-profile coworking venue announced today it will partner with Google to “boost entrepreneurship in Minnesota.”  Specifically, CoCo has agreed to work with the “Google for Entrepreneurs” program to host a variety of events, conferences, and social mixers over the next two years at its Minneapolis location (the former Grain Exchange trading floor), all with a focus on technology and startups.

The news is breaking on the same day Google and CoCo are cohosting a day-long event on entrepreneurship and innovation in Minneapolis, including speakers, workshops, and a closing happy hour reception. (At 11:00 am, there’s even a Google+ Hangout on Air with Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak.)GoogForEntrepDay-Mpls

According to CoCo’s news announcement today, its ongoing two-year partnership will feature several types of events to be held at the CoCo Grain Exchange location:

  • Launch and pitch events, such as Startup Weekend Twin Cities
  • Affinity and user groups, including Google Developers Group Twin Cities, Android Users Group of Minnesota, and House of Genius
  • One-day and multi-day conferences
  • Social and networking events for startup founders and mentors, including a mentor event for Minneapolis’ STEP-UP program.
  • Classes and educational sessions, including online-only sessions that will be available to entrepreneurs across the state.

All events in the series will (of course) make use of Google technology, including Google+ Hangouts, so that entrepreneurs from throughout Minnesota can participate in events remotely.

The first event of the partnership will follow the all-day event today: the local Google Developer Group’s monthly meetup, which will be this evening at CoCo. The news release states “a full 2013 event schedule will be finalized and made public in the coming weeks.”

Today’s “Google for Entrepreneurs Day” is being kicked off by U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar and Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak and features talks and sessions led by visiting Google employees.

“This partnership with Google will allow us to continue to expand our mission of creating a robust community of individuals pursuing the work of their dreams,” said CoCo founding partner Kyle Coolbroth in a prepared statement.

Google describes its “Google for Entrepreneurs initiative” as actively supporting entrepreneurs in the U.S. and across the globe. “We believe entrepreneurship drives innovation, economic growth, and vibrant communities. We see that happening in Minnesota and particularly at CoCo,” said John Lyman, Entrepreneurship Manager at Google, in the release.  Google For Entrepreneurs says it empowers “the next generation of innovators to be successful.” (No word on you older entrepreneurs, haha.)

For those who haven’t yet been to CoCo, you should drop by and get a tour — it’s fantastic!  (Disclosure: I’m a member, so I’m very biased.)  CoCo describes itself as “a place where entrepreneurs, freelance professionals, small businesses, and corporate workgroups can gather to share ideas, team up on projects, and get work done.” For its members, CoCo is an alternative to working from home or meeting at the local coffee shop. CoCo also has a location in Lowertown St. Paul.

I’m looking forward to today’s event and hope to be doing several video interviews (especially of Google execs), as well as tweeting and more blogging during the day.

Mobile March 2013 Agenda Announced

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mobile-march-2013The final agenda for Mobile March 2013 has been released for the 4th annual conference. Keynoted by Bob Schukai, Global Head of Mobile Technology at Thomson Reuters, the event also features multiple tracks including Mobile Strategy, Mobile Business, Mobile Development and Mobile Gaming. Mr. Schukai’s keynote will highlight best practices for business model development, and creation & deployment of world-class user experiences.

The conference will take place at the Earle Brown Heritage Center in Brooklyn Park on March 21st.

“We’re honored to be offering insight from thought leaders that have successfully made those thoughts reality,” said Mobile March organizer Linda Cummings. “From business to development, the day will cover the full range of mobile capability for both the enterprise and the consumer.”

Registration for Mobile March is now open via the Mobile March website or directly through Eventbrite.

SOPHIA Partners With ‘New Classrooms’

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sophia-logoSOPHIA.org, the online education platform offering a unique Many Ways to Learn™ learning model with more than 28,000 free academic multimedia tutorials taught by a multitude of teachers, has partnered with New Classrooms – a nonprofit organization that gives students a targeted, individualized learning experience based on their unique learning needs – to provide a free resource for students focused on middle school math concepts.

As you are undoubtedly well aware, visibility of learning organizations disrupting education is growing rapidly. It is my belief that this increased awareness is only helping SOPHIA: Khan Academy is on everyone’s radar screen in K12 education (Bill Gates famously said Sal Khan is his favorite teacher); Lynda.com just raised $103M from Accel Partners; Coursera boasts 200 courses and 1.3M students; and the open courseware initiative is growing quickly in both participating colleges and universities along with the number of courses being offered.

This morning The Verge posted, “Forty public universities will offer free online courses with full credit starting this spring” and saying in part:

Forty public universities, including Arizona State, Cleveland State, and the University of Arkansas, are planning to offer free online courses that carry full credit in an effort to entice potential students to sign up for a full degree program. The new initiative, know as MOOC2Degree (MOOC stands for massive open online course), is being run in a partnership between the universities and Academic Partnerships, a commercial company that helps universities move their courses online. 

Again, this only validates SOPHIA’s approach since they already offer college credit through Capella University.

For more read the press release here.

Stratasys Goes Far Beyond With 3D Printed Clothing

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If you think that 3D printing is only for making prototypes, then you’re undoubtedly not seeing the exponential increase in its use. Sites like Mashable have this 3D printing category with lots of stories, MAKE magazine has their Ultimate 3D Printing Guide, and there are even videos about this printing revolution like this one from Christopher Barnatt, a futurist in the UK.

But it wasn’t until this morning’s news feed that I first realized that 3D printing has gone far beyond typical object creation and now toward flexible, wearable, 3D printed clothes!

3D Printed Cape & Skirt

3D Printed Cape & Skirt

Stratasys is the world’s leading 3D printing technology company behind this new wearable 3D printed clothes proof-of-concept. They are right in our back yard here in Eden Prairie and they’re one company I’ve kept a close eye on for some time. (Note: check out this press release here on Minnov8 about Stratasys and dentistry).

Stratasys completed their merger in December of 2012 with Objet, Ltd., a company that provides, “…3D printing systems, resin consumables, and services worldwide. The company’s printers use its proprietary PolyJet inkjet-based technology, resin consumables, and integrated software to create 3D models directly from computer data, such as 3D CAD files.” Basically they had an industrial-strength, world-class capability to deliver 3D printing at scale.

3D Printed Dress

3D Printed Dress

Of course, the next phase of this 3D printing revolution is for designers and creatives to build products, prototype them on desktop 3D printers, and send the files to a service bureau…just like the “old days” of desktop publishing where files ended up at a printer who would print, bind and box publications by the thousands or millions. Same concept here: if Stratasys can turn their 3D printing process from design-to-prototype-to-manufacturing (with full service and support Objet offers) then they will “own” the process like Heidelberg did for hundreds of years with printing presses.

Wearable Stratasys and Materialise 3D Printed Pieces Hit Paris Fashion Week at Iris van Herpen Show

MINNEAPOLIS, REHOVOT, Israel and LEUVEN, Belgium, January 22, 2013 /PRNewswire/

Stratasys Ltd. (NASDAQ: SSYS), a leading manufacturer of 3D printers and production systems for prototyping and manufacturing and Materialise, a Belgian-based pioneer in Additive Manufacturing software and solutions, today announced the unveiling of 3D printing collaborations on the catwalks of Paris Fashion Week as part of Iris van Herpen’s Haute Couture show, ‘VOLTAGE’.

(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20130122/589134-a )
(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20130122/589134-b )
(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20130122/589134-c )
(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20130122/589134-d )

Dutch designer van Herpen’s eleven-piece collection featured two 3D printed ensembles, including an elaborate skirt and cape created in collaboration with artist, architect, designer and professor Neri Oxmanfrom MIT’s* Media Lab, and 3D printed by Stratasys. An intricate dress was also designed in collaboration with Austrian architect Julia Koerner, currently lecturer at UCLA Los Angeles, and 3D printed by Materialise, marking the second piece created together with Koerner and the ninth with Materialise.

The 3D printed skirt and cape were produced using Stratasys’ unique Objet Connex multi-material 3D printing technology, which allows a variety of material properties to be printed in a single build. This allowed both hard and soft materials to be incorporated within the design, crucial to the movement and texture of the piece. “The ability to vary softness and elasticity inspired us to design a “second skin” for the body acting as armor-in-motion; in this way we were able to design not only the garment’s form but also its motion,” explains Oxman. “The incredible possibilities afforded by these new technologies allowed us to reinterpret the tradition of couture as “tech-couture” where delicate hand-made embroidery and needlework is replaced by code.”

Van Herpen adds, “I feel it’s important that fashion can be about much more than consumerism, but also about new beginnings and self-expression, so my work very much comes from abstract ideas and using new techniques, not the re-invention of old ideas. I find the process of 3D printing fascinating because I believe it will only be a matter of time before we see the clothing we wear today produced with this technology, and it’s because it’s such a different way of manufacturing, adding layer-by-layer, it will be a great source of inspiration for new ideas.”

According to van Herpen, motivation to collaborate with Oxman came after seeing her ‘Imaginary Beings : Mythologies of the Not Yet‘ collection – 3D printed by Stratasys’ matchless  Objet Connex multi-material 3D printing technology – that featured in the Multiversités Créatives exhibition at the Centre Pompidou,Paris, last spring. Oxman explains that the joint venture is very much an extension of the series:

“This project has taken ‘Imaginary Beings’ to ‘Wearable Beings’, myths that one can wear. The original collection includes 18 Stratasys 3D printed prototypes for the human body inspired by Jorge Luis Borges’Book of Imaginary Beings. They are human augmentations inspired by nature; but not all wearable. For Iris’ collection at Paris Fashion Week it was important to take the series to the next level, thinking not only about form and materials, but also about movement and wearability. This was a new challenge for me and for my colleagues – Prof. W. Craig Carter (Department of Materials Science & Engineering) andKeren Oxman. It inspired us to design algorithms that could map physical movement and material behaviour to geometrical form and morphological variation in a seamless and continuous wearable surface.”

Van Herpen, Koerner and Materialise have continued testing the limits of 3D printing with this 3D printed dress, proving once again that normal rules don’t apply when fashion and high technology combine. In last season’s ‘Hybrid Holism‘ collection, they first introduced the use of Materialise’s Mammoth Stereolithography machines for a stunning semi-transparent dress that one spectator compared to liquid honey. For this latest collection, ready for an even greater challenge, an experimental new material was put to use in the creation of a flexible, soft dress of stunning complexity. The piece’s intricate lace-like texture was created with precision by lasers (in a process known as Laser Sintering) and would have been impossible to realise any other way.

Julia Koerner explains, “My collaboration with Materialise for the 3D printed dress for Iris van Herpen’sHaute Couture Show ‘Voltage’ 2013 reveals a highly complex, parametrically generated, geometrical structure. The architectural structure aims to superimpose multiple layers of thin woven lines which animate the body in an organic way. Exploiting computational boundaries in combination with emergent technology selective laser sintering, of a new flexible material, lead to enticing and enigmatic effects within fashion design. New possibilities arise such as eliminating seams and cuts where they are usually placed in couture.”

Following the Paris Fashion Show, the skirt and cape will be exhibited at MIT’s Media Lab.

*MIT = Massachusetts Institute of Technology

About Stratasys Ltd.
Stratasys Ltd. (Nasdaq: SSYS) is the corporate entity formed in 2012 by the merger of 3D printing companies Stratasys Inc. and Objet Ltd., based in Minneapolis, Minn. and Rehovot, Israel. The company manufactures 3D printers and materials for prototyping and production. Prior to merging, the two companies’ revenues totaled $277 million for 2011. Its patented FDM® and Inkjet-based processes produce prototypes or manufactured goods directly from 3D CAD files or other 3D content. Systems include affordable desktop 3D printers for idea development, a range of systems for prototyping, and large production systems for direct digital manufacturing. Since June 2012, the company’s range of over 130 3D printing materials is the widest in the industry and includes in excess of 120 proprietary inkjet-based photopolymer materials and 10 proprietary FDM-based thermoplastic materials. Stratasys also manufactures Solidscape 3D Printers and operates the RedEye On Demand digital-manufacturing service. The company has over 1100 employees, holds over 500 granted or pending additive manufacturing patents globally, and has received more than 20 awards for its technology and leadership. Online at: http://www.stratasys.com or http://blog.stratasys.com / http://www.objet.com orhttp://blog.objet.com .

Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
Statements regarding Stratasys’ beliefs, intentions and expectations, including statements regarding the management of Stratasys, Inc. and Objet Ltd. as a combined company, the benefits of the combination of the companies, and the future financial performance of the combined company after their merger, are forward-looking statements. The statements involve risks and uncertainties, both known and unknown, that may cause actual results to differ materially from those projected. Actual results may differ materially due to a number of factors, including the risk and uncertainty that the businesses of the two companies may not be integrated successfully; the risk that the merger may involve unexpected costs or unexpected liabilities; the risk that synergies from the merger may not be fully realized or may take longer to realize than expected; the risk that management’s focus on and disruptions arising from the merger make it more difficult to maintain relationships with customers, employees, or suppliers. Stratasys’ ability to achieve the results presented in any forward-looking statement will depend on numerous factors, including its ability to penetrate the 3D printing market; its ability to achieve the growth rates experienced in preceding quarters; its ability to introduce, produce and market both existing and new consumable materials, and the market acceptance of these materials; the impact of competitive products and pricing; its timely development of new products and materials and market acceptance of those products and materials; the success of Stratasys’ recent R&D initiative to expand the DDM capabilities of its core FDM technology; and the success of Stratasys’ RedEye On Demand™ and other paid parts services. These and other applicable factors are discussed in this presentation and in Stratasys’ filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. These filings include the definitive proxy statement/prospectus filed with the SEC on August 8, 2012, as well as the filings that Stratasys, Inc. has made with the SEC and that Stratasys Ltd. has made and will make with the SEC in the future, including its report on Form 20-F to be filed for the year ended 12/31/2012. Any forward-looking statements included in this presentation are as of the date they are given, and Stratasys does not intend to update them if its views later change, except as may be required by law. These forward-looking statements should not be relied upon as representing Stratasys’ views as of any date subsequent to the date they are given.

About Materialise
With its headquarters in Leuven, Belgium, and branches worldwide, Materialise has been playing an active role in the field of Additive Manufacturing (AM) since 1990. In addition to having the largest capacity of AM equipment in Europe, Materialise also enjoys a stellar reputation as a provider of innovative software solutions. They have used their experience and expertise to create a better and healthier world through their involvement in AM for industrial and medical applications, and by providing bio-medical and clinical solutions such as medical image processing and surgical simulations. Materialise has developed unique solutions that make a world of difference for its many customers with their prototyping, production, and medical needs. These customers range from large companies in the automotive, consumer electronics, and consumables sectors; to famous hospitals, research institutes, and clinicians; to individual consumers interested in bringing their own unique creations to life through i.materialise or who want to purchase a celebrated .MGX design. Discover more at:http://www.materialise.com/

Stratasys Media Contacts:

USA 
Todd Graff
Conover Tuttle Pace
Tel. +1-617-412-4000
Email. tgraff@ctpboston.com

Europe 
Claire Russell-Jones
UK Bespoke
Tel. +44-1737-215200
E-mail. stratasys@bespoke.co.uk

Stratasys
Arita Mattsoff / Joe Hiemenz
Stratasys
Tel. +972-(0)74-745-4000 (IL)
Tel. +1-952-906-2726 (US)
Email. arita@stratasys.com
Email. Joe.Hiemenz@stratasys.com

Korea
Jihyun Lee
The Hoffman Agency Korea
Tel. +82-10-3408-1609
Email. jhlee@hoffman.com

Japan 
Objet Japan
Aya Yoshizawa
Tel. +81-90-6473-1812
Email. Aya.yoshizawa@stratasys.com

Asia Pacific 
Objet AP Ltd
Vicki Kei
Tel. +852-3844-8813
Email. Vicki.kei@stratasys.com

Brazil 
Tatiana Fonseca
307 Nova Cidade, Sao Paulo
Tel. +55-11-3846-9981
Email. tatiana@gadcom.com.br

Mexico 
Patricia Tawil
IDESA
Tel. +52-55-5253-9670
Email. ptawil@idesap.com

South Africa 
Alison McDonald
PR Connections
Tel. +27-(0)11-468-1192
Email. alison@pr.co.za

Materialise Media Contact
Vanessa Palsenbarg
Corporate Communications Specialist, Materialise
Phone: +32-16-39-66-37
Fax: +32-16-39-66-00
Email: Vanessa.Palsenbarg@materialise.be
Twitter: @belgiancanuck or @MaterialiseNV

SpiceApps’ Browsertap

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spice-apps-logoThe hallmark of successful entrepreneurs is seeing a need and filling it. The other behavior of those entrepreneurs is, if something isn’t working or gaining enough traction in the marketplace, than go ahead and try another approach or maybe even build a completely different offering. SpiceApps founders, Craig Condon and Tim Erickson (see our 2009 article on them here) have seen a new need and have just opened the door to an alpha of a new offering I’m pretty excited about called BrowserTap.

One of THE most challenging aspects of creating websites or web applications is being completely confident that a design (or some functionality) doesn’t break or not display correctly within various browsers. Though there are many methods to perform aspects of this sort of testing — having multiple operating systems/browsers running; using some ‘snapshot’ service like Browsershots — actually testing the entire website or web application in real-time is hard, resource-consuming and many developers often skip full testing since it’s such a pain.

spice-foundersReesponsive design is another aspect of website/web app creation that is throwing a bit of a monkey wrench in to having sites work cross-browser and across mobile devices. Ensuring that sites setup as responsive for mobile have technologies or design that breaks in computer browsers is critical and challenging. It is also tempting to toss in many of the new and latest features (e.g., HTML5, WebRTC or even CSS3) to a website design or application, but many past browsers either don’t support some of the features or don’t quite yet (and just look at all the browsers!). Understanding browser limitations and CSS mistakes you may have made, especially if you are focused on a target audience you’re fairly certain has a mix of old and modern browsers, is a few clicks away with a cloud offering like BrowserTap.

THAT is why I was so pumped to get an alpha-invite to BrowserTap and they layout their value proposition in three sentences:

“Forget VMs, screenshot services, or dedicated testing computers. BrowserTap works by broadcasting a live RTMP stream of a browser window on a cloud server. Your keyboard and mouse commands are relayed to the server, live, allowing you to test web layouts in realtime.“

Take a peek at this brief video as it will give you a quick overview of their value proposition and how BrowserTap works:

The SpiceApps guys don’t yet have a pricing model in place for BrowserTap (it’s too early anyway) but I’m sure once they get an idea on load, server and bandwidth costs during this alpha phase they’ll likely put a model in place before launch. Since I know all too well how this new software-as-a-service for testing browsers will save us time, money, aggravation and potential client disappointment (one of my businesses, Innov8Press, delivers sites ) you can bet I’ll use it.

Want to try out BrowserTap for yourself? Go here to sign up for the alpha and if there is still room you might get lucky and snag an invite.

8thBridge 2nd Annual Social Commerce Study

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8thBridge, the smart social commerce startup in Minneapolis, has just released their second annual Social Commerce IQ study and it’s a free download.

There are several revelations in the study, none the least of which is about Pinterest and the report conclusions surprised me. Several retailers, marketers and clients I know have been thinking for some time that Pinterest is the be-all, end-all of driving social commerce. Turns out the study discovered, “…a major shift in social commerce strategy that is perhaps best exemplified by increasing interest in Pinterest, which has been adopted among 78 percent of IR 500 companies in less than a year but has not generated a corresponding rise in traffic or sales conversion.”

8th Bridge Social Commerce IQ Study Highlights (click for larger view)

8th Bridge Social Commerce IQ Study Highlights (click for larger view)

The other revelation for me, some of which has been reinforced from time I’ve invested with Internet Retailer itself, are how many companies there are out there that most of us have never heard of and are actually selling a lot online. More importantly these are the ones that are learning what it takes to succeed with social commerce and not waiting around until everything is crystal clear in order to do so (since by then it’s too late!). Take a look at these “Top 10 Retail Brands”. How many have you shopped at? Is your brand waiting around to have others figure out social commerce?

The top 10 retail brands by Social Commerce IQ:

1. Fab.com
2. Deb Shops
3. Coastal Contacts
4. ModCloth
5. PetFlow.com		 6. ShoeDazzle
7. JackThreads.com
8. CafePress
9. Birtchbox
10. Totsy

The other interesting aspect were the consumer findings in the report. Some of these didn’t enlighten me — such as that 70% of people would rather get a trusted recommendation from a friend than from some brand — but what did was that 56% of people don’t share things on social networks to get something in return. So how do you motivate sharing?

Consumer findings from the report include:

  • 70 percent of respondents would rather hear about a new product from a Facebook friend, than from a brand.
  • 57% have asked their friends on Facebook for advice before purchasing a product
  • 31% say they don’t share products on social networks, while 63% say they share on Facebook, 25% on Twitter, and 22% on Pinterest
  • 64% said that more Facebook “likes” on a product do not increase the likelihood that they will buy that product
  • 44% say they are most likely to discover new products on Facebook compared to 21% on Pinterest and 13% on Twitter, but 37% don’t pay attention to posts about products
  • 56% do not share things on social networks to get rewards.

Brand findings from the report include:

  • Facebook Upstream Traffic: 2.46%
  • Pinterest Upstream Traffic: 0.13% (Low)
  • Twitter Upstream Traffic: 0.06% (Distant 3rd)
  • 35% of companies researched had apps on Facebook that were not functioning and/or were out of date.
  • 51% of companies have incorporated the Pin It button

See the full press release right here on Minnov8 or go to the 8thBridge site here to download the report.

Registration Now Open for Mobile March 2013

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The date for Mobile March, the annual Twin Cities mobile conference has been set for March 21st, 2013 at the Earle Brown Heritage Center in Brooklyn Park. Now in its 4th year, the conference features multiple tracks with sessions on mobile app development, mobile advertising, strategic planning, mobile education, marketing, design, user experience and, new this year, mobile game development.

The conference organizers have also announced Bob Schukai, Global Head of Mobile Technology at Thomson Reuters, will keynote the event. Other speakers will be announced closer to the conference after an open call for speakers closes.

No question mobile is “the tail wagging the internet dog” as more and more of us get connected. But don’t believe us, take a peek at Mary Meeker’s latest internet trends report entitled, “2012 Internet Trends Year-End Update.” In it she reveals her latest update showing the explosion in mobile device use around the world and how it is shifting and disrupting more of what we learn, how we communicate, shop and buy. Whether you make money with mobile or just use it to stay connected, we invite you to join us for Mobile March.

Tickets can be purchased at the Mobile March website or Eventbrite. The cost of registration prior to January 15th is $85. Full PR follows.

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: December 11, 2012

4th Annual Mobile March Set For March 21, 2013

The Twin Cities’ premier mobile event to present multiple tracks including business, development and gaming.

Minneapolis, MN – The Organizers of Mobile March have announced the date for the 4th annual conference. The date for the Twin Cities’ premier mobile event is set for March 21st, 2013 at the Earle Brown Heritage Center in the Minneapolis suburb of Brooklyn Park. Long known for presenting top level speakers and seminars at a fraction of the cost of most events of its kind, Mobile March 2013 will include tracks of learning that address development, mobile advertising and strategic planning as well as mobile education, marketing, design, user experience, and more. New this year is a track dedicate to mobile game development and the use of gaming in mobile business.

Organizers have also announced that Bob Schukai, Global Head of Mobile Technology at Thomson Reuters, will keynote the event. Schukai is responsible for overseeing the development and execution of the mobile growth strategy globally for Thomson Reuters and is a noted speaker on the topic of mobile technology. The keynote address will anchor an agenda that will draw heavily from an open call for presenter submissions underway http://mobilemarchtc.com/be-a-speaker/.

Mobile March’s Justin Grammens commented, “Our goal continues to be to bring people from all aspects of mobile together. Those with a technical focus like developers as well as business leaders including CEO’s, marketers, and more can benefit. This year’s addition of a gaming track opens the door even wider.” Grammens continued, “There is much to be learned by different constituencies sharing their knowledge with each other.”

Registration is now open for Mobile March, Thursday March 21st, 2013 at the Earle Brown Heritage Center via the Mobile March website at www.mobilemarchtc.com or directly through Eventbrite. The cost of registration prior to January 15th is just $85.

Speakers interested in presenting may make submission at http://mobilemarchtc.com/be-a-speaker/. Topics on Mobile Business, Business Strategy and Marketing, Mobile Development, Hardware Expertise, and Quality Assurance, Gaming and Game Development, as well as Design including UI, UX, Responsive and Native will be considered.

About Mobile March

Founded in 2010, Mobile March is an event dedicated to exploring the latest in mobile technology and trends. According to founders Justin Grammens, Phil Wilson and Linda Cummings, the name Mobile March not only denotes the month in which it takes place, it also emphasizes the ongoing advancement and growth of mobile technology and the related lifestyle.

By offering content that appeals to mobile developers, business people, and users we hope to facilitate a greater understanding between the constituencies that make mobile happen. Whether you make money with mobile or just use it to stay connected, we invite you to join us for Mobile March.

Event sponsors include: Code 42 Software, Livefront, Fusion Room and Verizon

CONTACT: Phil Wilson
612-743-7860
phil@mobilemarchtc.com