Matt Fellows | bostinnovation.com

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MIN12 – Recap

Thursday, March 11th, 2010

MIN 12 was back in Waltham with a new setup

Last night, Mass Innovation Nights was back at the Charles River Museum in Waltham and they made a few changes for the 12th installment of the monthly startup showcase. Presentations were moved to the ballroom which was a great improvement from the old presentation corner that brought out the worst in my claustrophobia. Demo tables were dispersed throughout the museum which was a bit fragmented but well worth the space created for the main presenters. As always we’ve got all you no-shows covered with a recap of main presentations and the demo tables. (more…)

Tags: MassInno
Posted in Events | Comments

HomeField: Where Coaches and Players Watch Film Online

Wednesday, March 10th, 2010

With HomeField, players no longer need to cram into ill-equipped screening rooms to watch game film

As web startups continue to reshape the way we live our lives, I’m always wondering what the next application is going to revolutionize. If you are or were ever an athlete in college or high school, then this one’s for you: Meet HomeField, the new web application that changes the way coaches, players, and fans access and interact with team sport video footage.

HomeField mixes YouTube-style video uploading with social networking features, resulting in an interactive platform where sports teams can watch game footage, tag specific parts of the game, and discuss the videos in a private forum.

It used to be that a musty locker room and a TV-DVD combo was the only way for coach to give you pointers on the last game, or to size up the competition for the game coming up. Reece Pacheco, HomeField’s CEO, played lacrosse at Brown and later for the Boston Cannons, so he knows all too well the inconvenience of having to pile the whole team into a room for film study (more…)

Tags: Boston Startups, Boston Technology, HomeField, New Technology
Posted in Company Profiles | Comments

MyHometownLink: Niche Craigslist with Clipart

Tuesday, March 9th, 2010

Care to take on Craigslist? These guys are...

I’ve always been fascinated with Craigslist as a website — mostly because it’s one of very few sites these days that is extremely popular while also being extremely ugly.

If, say, high school is any indicator, that’s typically not how it works. With virtually no aesthetic value, Craigslist gets by on raw practicality – lots of it.

How else could it drive over 10% of U.S. page views? Since its formation in the late 90s it has grown to provide a virtual bulletin board for the entire U.S. and much of the world. In the world of need-based online connections, it’s a God. So when I heard about another bulletin site called MyHometownLink.com that specifically serves Wellesley, Needham, and Weston, Mass., I had to wonder – why bother? (more…)

Posted in Company Profiles | Comments

Inside a Boston Startup Part 1: Why Fresh Ideas Yield Healthy Offices

Friday, March 5th, 2010

Get psyched about a job at a startup

In the three months since I started writing for BostInnovation I’ve gotten to study quite a few Boston Startups. I’ve interviewed startups, tweeted to and about startups, written about startups – I even infiltrated one as a marketing intern to learn more from the inside.

Ok, so I didn’t exactly infiltrate this startup for the purpose of reporting on it here on BostInnovation, but I do happen to lend creative services to a startup in Cambridge called OfficeDrop (Full disclosure: I started there a little while before we kicked off BostInnovation, back in the fall.) Since I’ve shared so many startup profiles, I thought I’d take this opportunity to give an inside scoop on what working for a startup in Boston has been like thus far.

OfficeDrop is a document scanning company that can both scan paper documents to text-searchable PDFs, and upload digital documents to an online document management portal. From there you can organize, download, share, and search documents by word – the user interface of the online component is kind of like an email server but for converted paper documents. Not only is it a cool startup idea, it’s also a fun job. Although OfficeDrop is still one of my first employers that doesn’t require physical labor, I think working for a startup is a solid spot and here’s why: (more…)

Posted in Company News, Company Profiles | Comments

Phoenix Best of Boston – Vote for the Best of Everything

Wednesday, March 3rd, 2010

The Boston Phoenix rating the best of everything Boston

The nominees are in, and now it’s time to vote for your favorite Boston… everything! Similar to Best of Boston but with more categories, the Boston Phoenix has opened voting for their annual Phoenix Best – Boston edition for 2010. The list includes everything from best dive bar to best comic-book store to best place to people watch – and there are a few sweet tech-related categories too. There are over 120 categories in total. Like I said, everything.

But over 120 categories? That’s a lot of decisions to make. In an attempt to prevent some headaches and minor brain aneurysms, we’ve whittled it down to Bostinno’s favorite categories – making the Bostinno readers’ best of the Phoenix Best!

Be sure to hit up tech-related categories like best nerd store, best blog, and best free Wi-Fi. (more…)

Tags: Blogs
Posted in Company News | Comments

Ditch Nike+ and Take RunKeeper for a Lap

Monday, March 1st, 2010

RunKeeper personified as CEO Jason Jacobs marathons in the iPhone suit

In my post about fitness technology a couple months ago, I cited Nike+ as one of the best high tech ways to get fit. Then I heard about RunKeeper. After surfing the website and talking with founder and CEO, Jason Jacobs, I’m seriously considering an amendment to the previous post – kicking Nike out and replacing it with the Boston-based iPhone app.

When you look at the features side-by-side, RunKeeper simply outruns Nike+. First of all, Nike’s system uses a pedometer, which means if only works if you’re running. RunKeeper harnesses the power of GPS, allowing users to track mileage whether they’re running, biking, hiking, kayaking – hot air ballooning — or what have you. And of course you can still have your favorite tracks pumping from you iPhone.

On top of that, you aren’t stuck using Nike shoes if they’re not your preferred footwear as a runner. Though I love Nike’s concept, I’m an Asics man myself, and RunKeeper doesn’t limit you to any brand or product. Yes, you need to have an iPhone for now, but Jacobs assured me that iPhone is just a jumping point; he plans to implement RunKeeper across many other platforms. (more…)

Tags: RunKeeper
Posted in Company News, Company Profiles, Interviews | Comments

Video: The Vending Machine of the Future

Saturday, February 27th, 2010

Every so often one finds a piece of technology so stunning that it invokes a sense of awe for the accomplishments of man. It seems to belong in a work of science fiction, and makes you feel worthy of living in the twenty-first century. This has been a rarity for me, but last week I stumbled upon such technology right here in Boston. I returned a few days later with Neo-Luddite Dave to grab a video of this space-aged Coke dispenser:

(more…)

Posted in Interviews | Comments

Print Gets An Afterlife With Technology Like Zmags

Wednesday, February 24th, 2010

The tactile joys of print media live on through digital magazines

It’s obvious that print is on the decline – falling short on cost effectiveness, reach, and overall practicality of digital media forms.

By utilizing Internet sources, readers can instantly and ubiquitously find all the content that would otherwise be stuck on the pages of some newsstand’s magazine rack. Reading is faster and easier online, but that doesn’t mean that people don’t like the experience of print materials. There is something satisfying about thumbing through the pages of a glossy magazine – an interaction which I believe to be the reason many printed publications are still hanging on.

There’s no doubt that print media will slowly be phased out by the accessibility and convenience of digital online media, even if people are reluctant to abandon the experience of bound pages. However, Zmags, headquartered in Boston, may have the technology for the experience of printed content to live on in the form of interactive digital magazines. (more…)

Tags: Zmags
Posted in Company Profiles | Comments

MIT Media Lab Inventing Your Favorite New Technology

Monday, February 22nd, 2010

Stackable cars is just one of the concepts bubbling in the MIT Media Lab

The MIT Media Lab is a beacon of modern technology and the source of countless technological advances in many different fields.

Fueled by over sixty sponsors (including many major corporations), the lab is populated by the best and the brightest of MIT faculty and graduate students as well as visiting minds from all over the country and abroad. I imagine it as the Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory of technology, with the exception of orange midgets.

Come to think of it, there are a lot of parallels between the two places. (more…)

Tags: MIT Media Lab
Posted in Interviews | Comments

Buying Online? SmartSymbols Does The Research For You

Friday, February 19th, 2010

Finally, all of your product research in one place

Any good online shopper knows that no purchase is warranted before tearing the Internet apart for user reviews, comments, tweets, and anything else that might give you a feel for what said product is actually packing.

I’m especially skeptical – to the point that I end up lost in a sea of Firefox tabs that yea or nay the new thing I’m trying to buy. Lucky for me, and all you other lemon-sniffing content hounds, I’ve got good news.

I had a chat with Co-founder of SmartSymbols, Stas Antons, and his startup has created a platform that takes heaps of product content, and conveniently aggregates it in one small user-friendly space. Now you can get all your research done without browser overload. (more…)