Jul 31

Garage

Posted in: ecommerce, instagram, iOS, iphoneapp

Instagram meets eBay in a social e-commerce app

Entering the US today, Garage is an iOS app aimed at people looking to unload their goods on the Internet marketplace. The remarkably simple interface lets vendors post photos of their stuff, add captions and choose shipping options in record time from the iPhone. For pricing, Garage gives the option to set dollar values or open the field to bidders. Users can also take full advantage of the social media game by tweeting and liking individual items or by following friends and vendors. Essentially, Garage is the most streamlined option around for selling your unwanted apparel, electronics, accessories, sprockets—whatever you like.

“The idea for Garage developed out of the simple fact that everyone has cupboards, rooms, even garages full of things they don’t want anymore and could sell to a new home,” explains founder Simon Beckerman in a press release. “I didn’t want to create a faceless marketplace used by strangers, but a system that is social and fun. Just as they do with Twitter or Instagram, Garage gives friends a real time way to follow one another and chat about what they have are selling and buying.”

The company was funded through H-Farm Ventures, an incubator backed in part by Diesel’s Renzo Rosso. Garage made its debut in the UK and Italy this spring and has already garnered a loyal following of media types in both countries, many of whom are currently looking to unload rare and limite-edition items. For this reason alone, it seems prudent to give the free app a try.

Garage is available for download from the iTunes App Store.


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Jul 19

Ptch

Posted in: content, iphoneapp, socialmedia

A social app mashes content into dynamic slideshows




A newcomer to the cutthroat world of social media backed by DreamWorks, Ptch sources content from popular services like Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr and Instagram, giving users the chance to remix media to their heart’s delight. The idea is to create “snackable media” by mashing up text, video, images and audio into 60-second slideshows or videos. The personalized one-offs can then be broadcast across channels, a full composition taking mere minutes to complete. Rather than limiting the sharing to the user’s own content, all media aggregated from social feeds are fair game for users to “ptch” to their friends.

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“We’re calling this living media,” explains Ptch CEO and DreamWorks veteran Ed Leonard. “The notion is that if you see something you like, you can very quickly express it and make it yours.” An interesting element of Ptch is that it occupies a interim between content creation and consumption. Since slideshows published by others are easily broken down into their original elements, all it take is a simple drag to add an image or video to your own pitch. This effect snowballs, making content created on Ptch “infinitely mashable,” says Leonard.

With the option to add text and background music, the program takes quality of content to the next level—essentially acting as an on-the-go movie suite. Preset styles—from “Classic” to “Vivid” and “Vintage”—determine the image filter, transitions and accompanying music. Social comments, title screens and captions are also displayed in a manner consistent with the chosen style. A small annoyance, choosing a style overrides previous music choices, although users can reselect music afterwards. There are currently eight styles, although the company plans to open source additional options.




With a few exceptions, Ptch pulls from any place where users share content on the web. As Leonard explains, “Ptch sits as a dashboard across all of your social media, so we’re not trying to compete or take the place of what you use today—we’re really trying to make that more powerful and more expressive.” After playing around with stills and video, we found that the mix of mediums adds a dynamic element that is unique to Ptch as a social tool.

Ptch is available free of charge from the iTunes app store.


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Jun 27

WTHR

Posted in: aesthetic, dieterrams, iphoneapp

Dieter Rams’ “10 Principles” forecast the weather in a new iPhone app

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Taking a cue from Dieter Rams’ legendary “10 Principles of Good Design“, Miami-based designer David Elgena recently created a beautifully simple weather app. The aptly titled WTHR iPhone app may not be the most innovative with its ultra simple interface, but it certainly looks to a few other principles—namely good design is aesthetic, useful, unobtrusive and understandable.

Using little more than simple line art icons, the app tells you the current weather and the upcoming five-day forecast. Frequent travelers will also find the Fahrenheit to Celsius toggle button advantageous, which was also modeled after the streamlined switches Rams used on his products for Braun, like the TP 1 radio.

WTHR is available for download from iTunes for $1.

via Cult of Mac


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