Ello Does Social Media Without the Ads
Ello! That’s the name of an ad-free social media service that’s in invite-only beta. It’s getting a TON of attention from media and users! So much so that estimates are saying they’re getting 31,000 new users every HOUR. If you don’t know someone with invites, you can sign up on the homepage to get in the queue.
It’s similar to Twitter in that you can follow other users and make them “friends”. You’ll see full posts from them. Or you can follow someone but make them “noise” instead, and it’ll show you a condensed version of their posts so it’s not taking up your entire screen. Ello is very much a work in progress. It’s super basic. There are a lot of bugs, and many features that are “on the list” but not live yet.
So WHY is it so popular exactly? There’s no advertising. In fact, they’ve come right out and suggested Facebook isn’t the right model for a social network and THEY want to do things differently. They have Venture Capital money, so they’ll need to make money at some point. And we expect that’ll be through the “freemium” business model: Once all their basic features are working, paid add-ons like a mobile app and other features should follow. If you’re not an early adopter, you probably want to wait a while as they get things working properly. If you like seeing things on the ground floor, go ahead and get in. Who knows if it’ll go anywhere, though. Let me know what you think about the service! And… if they… one day… chose to make you pay for a social media platform that didn’t have ads… would you do it?
If you want to find out more, be sure to follow Geek Beat writer Gord McLeod who’s been using and abusing the service since launch.
Changing Clothes in Public with The Undress
There’s a Kickstarter project that’s actually pretty ingenious. I’m surprised by the amount they’ve already raised. They’ve doubled their goal already with a month left in the campaign.
It’s called Undress and it’s a simple concept. Change your clothes on the go… in public… without any worries of being indecent. It’s a floor length dress with a cleverly designed drawstring top and well thought out holes for reaching in and maneuvering. It’ll retail for $75, but you can save $5 through pre-order. They expect to ship in January. And you can thank David Foster for finding this one.
I just wish they had this when I was modeling. I got really good at changing clothes privately in the middle of South Beach in Miami. But this would have been soooo much easier! So I totally dig the idea. I’m just not sure… how many people actually have the need in regular daily life. Do you workout… go for a run… then want to change and go shopping immediately? Let me know. I’m very curious now!
Pick Up Your Groceries at the Airport Before Heading Home!
Speaking of being on the go, I am very jealous of you Europeans!! Jani Turunen sent this one my way. A Finnish grocery store chain called HOK-Elanto teamed up with Digital Foodie to create a new kind of grocery store. Made up of lockers! Okay… so this is perfectly targeted at travelers. When you go away for a week, most people clear out their fridge of anything that can spoil. The problem is when you get home, you’re probably hungry. But you’re tired. And the last thing you want to do is go shopping.
So… the new service lets you order groceries online, and when your flight arrives, you go to the refrigerated lockers IN THE ARRIVALS terminal, pick up your order and go home. Easy breezy!
Right now, it’s available in Helsinki and London Gatwick will be coming soon. There’s an extra fee for this service, of course, but at Gatwick airport grocery pick-up will only set you back 5 Euro. When does it come to DFW?
Calibowl Keeps Soup from Spilling
Once you have your groceries home, you can pour your tomato basil soup into a no-spill “Cali-Bowl” (Thanks for naming that after me, guys)! It’s got a curved-in lip to prevent stuff from sloshing out of the bowl. They come in all sizes (from a small dip-size two dollar bowl with a lid) to full-sized mixing bowls (there’s even a pet dish to keep Fido from sloshing water all over the floor). You can find Calibowls on Amazon.
A Quadcopter You Wear on Your Wrist
Finally, for the ultimate in selfies comes Nixie. It’s a wearable quad-copter.
Yep. I just used that phrase. A Wearable. Quadcopter.
It wraps around your wrist like a watch and unfolds on command to follow you around! There’s not a ton of information on specs yet because it’s a finalist in Intel’s “Make it Wearable” competition. They’ve gotten $50,000 along with tech support from Intel in order to perfect their prototype. The “winner” of the “Make it Wearable” competition will be announced on November third. This would be so cool if the video quality is any good!
Ok, so it’s time for me to fly out of here –but before I do, we got the Geek Beat fitness t-shirt up on our Shop at geekbeat.tv/shop if you want one! And if you’re in Dallas, be sure to keep an eye out on the Geek Beat social media accounts. Moritz Tolxdorff from Google is coming to town and will be hanging out. We’ll do a meetup while he’s here and will announce the details soon!
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