TechAddress

HairFlix Evolves and Gets More Socially Involved

Sun, 05 Oct 2008 16:30:05 +0000

If your interest is fashion content and networking, you might visit mainstay websites like Glam or iVilllage. You might have also be tuned to video series like Model.Live, and play the role of designer on StyleShake.

But if your focus is more specific than the general fashion world, you might prefer a place where a particular niche gets addressed. Hair, for instance. In that case, a service like HairFlix will work to serve users media, networking options, blog publishing tools, and a shopping annex, all in an effort to magnify everything thread, lock, and curl. And because HairFlix recently underwent structural changes, more than two years after it first launched, we though we’d give it another go.

Some might think the aim of HairFlix is too strict. That fashion in general is something that encompasses a better percentage of potential users. Thus the success of Glam and iVillage. But having a unique and exclusive view of one element within a much broader market can be to a website’s benefit. (It behooves us to state for the record that HairFlix isn’t the only one to target the ecosystem home to salonist and solo moppists. A quick Web search will show places like RedHedd, HairyU, BlackHairPlace, and MohawksRock.)

Browsing the assets of the refreshed HairFlix, it’s evident how well designed the place now is. Whether you’re looking at what’s available in the online shop, seeking out salons, reading the site blog, consuming video, or networking with stylists, most everything is a visual treat.

Despite this, though, there are some fairly immediate negatives. How big those negatives are, you can decide for yourself. For one, it is a little peculiar that a user can visit the Shop and Society and have no clear way to jump back to the page main. Really, I scoured both places, and none made themselves evident. Weird. Mind you, those two divisions are precisely the sub-services that the folks at HairFlix made it a point to tell us were built using third-party platforms; HairFlix Shop employing Magento, and HairFlix Society based on NING. Still, the technical disconnect is a strange one. Suffice it to say that once you recognize this reality, it’s not much trouble. If you want to do a pro-con comparison, the utility of those spaces makes up for any outstanding downsides.

Users will also recognize that aspects of the Hairflix Society website don’t correlate with those at HairFlix.com. Their respective video offerings are where I immediately noticed this. Things you see on HairFlix TV are entirely separate from those featured within the Society. Is this good or bad? I for one see why this might be arranged like so. The content presented in each venue is of a different type. The TV angle is very promotional, while the social network’s focus is - and here I go out on a limb - more substantive. For what it’s worth, there is considerably more material to browse within the social network itself than the TV page. It’s not clear whether this will always be the case, but it bears mentioning.

I’ll stress again that HairFlix is, despite any interconnectivity troubles, something that provides a solid experience, and one that feels more engaging and featureful than anything of its kind. It’s not meant for everyone who has combed a scalp, of course, but for those who work in the field, or those who simply favor such work, it’s a revitalized collection of people, products, and places that makes for a worthwhile visit.

Yes, it’s still more or less in startup mode, even 26 odd months after having its name first floated on the Web. So you might wish to see more from its makers. But so far this second iteration is something that, looking back on the place from where it traveled, is an appreciable upgrade. Top to bottom, nearly all details are cared for. And I imagine plenty of people in search of this sort of destination will find it equally well done.

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Arrr! Here Be 10 Pirate Sites and Tools to Check Out, Matey!

Fri, 19 Sep 2008 20:32:42 +0000

Source:Mashable!

Company Name:

Unigo

20-word Description:

Unigo is a free online platform for college students to share their opinions, photos, videos and documents.

CEO’s Pitch:

Jordan Goldman, Unigo’s founder/CEO, is 26 years old. At 17, Goldman was featured in a New York Times article on the college admissions process. As a college freshman, Goldman aimed to improve the college search process by creating a series of accurate, honest and 100% student-written guidebooks. Goldman’s Students’ Guide to Colleges went on to be published by Penguin Books in 2005 and was featured in Forbes, US News and Time Magazine. In starting Unigo, Jordan took the idea of student-created content online, sharing it with the world, free of charge.

Mashable’s Take:

It wasn’t too long ago that I gave a college review site a critique of its own. Yollege was the name. It’s still around. It was also featured in this Startup Review series. Still, as is generally the case, there is always room for new options. Particularly good ones. Which Unigo happens to be.

At the moment, the site happens to be performing unusually slowly, so you’ll have to excuse the load times you’ll encounter. But if things are better by the time you read this, you’ll probably enjoy what Unigo offers. The reason being that both in design and in features, it proves itself able to deliver on things today’s Web users would find themselves interested in. Reviews are essential, after all. Networking is also nearly as important. And the ability to browse and share media in the form of photos, videos and documents brings it full-circle.

Granted, its youth is noticeable. Facebook, this is not. It will be long before it attains any great measure of fame. But the foundation is there to assist its users in making the most of such a service. It counts hundreds of colleges and universities to its database. It catalogues some reading material for anyone interested. And the components which add a social dimension to the website are, again, really very useful, especially given the chance to share content. If you’re a student, an alumnus, or prospective registrant, media can really make or break a startup of this sort. A run of the mill review site isn’t particularly appealing, and there are more trafficked places on the Web to serve such information. The community is where Unigo is able to excel. “Able,” of course, being the key word.

If you’re seeking a place that presents college material that looks to be as thorough in its coverage of institutions everywhere as it is in its attention to user-submitted visuals, Unigo is quite appealing. Be sure to let us know your experience with it. When all’s said and done, its members make it what it is.

Editor’s Note: This post is part of an ongoing series at Mashable - The Startup Review, Sponsored by Sun Microsystems Startup Essentials. If you would like to have your startup considered for inclusion, please see the details here.

Gift Girl Gets a Little Nip Tuck to Help You Find More Perfect Gifts

Tue, 16 Sep 2008 04:41:45 +0000

Source:Mashable!

If you have ever been stuck trying to find the perfect gift for someone you love, or worse, gotten “the look” after giving someone the absolute wrong gift, then Gift Girl might be a service you want to check out. Originally launched in 2007, Gift Girl site is re-launching today after getting a bit of a nip and tuck. Gone is the old user interface. Now we get a better layout that is more intuitive and has a few extra features as the icing on the cake.

If you haven’t used Gift Girl before, they way it works is a bit ingenious. You input a few details about the recipient of your gift, from relationship to basic taste profile information. Gift Girl then tosses out recommendations for you to choose from. I filled out a profile as if I were the recipient of a gift using the new interface, and it pegged me spot on - had you been shopping for me you would have seen gadgets and computer stuff galore, any (or all) of which would have gotten a smile from me.

New features of the revamped and refreshed Gift Girl include unlimited profiles for the man with a full Little Black Book of potential gift recipients, invitations for other gift purchasers to view profiles you create, gift lists and wish lists to share, and preset profiles for the lazy. I even tried one of the preset profiles that seemed closest to tomboy and gadget geek, and even the preset generic profile shot out a list of gifts that would have made me appreciate the thoughtfulness of the giver instead of experiencing quiet frustration about yet another bad gift.

From CEO Jean Vouté Pratt, “Anyone can go online and browse for cool or unique gift ideas, but who has the time to sort through thousands of retail websites? That’s where GiftGirl comes in. Just tell us about the girl and we’ll tell you what to get and where to get it.”

Indeed, for every significant other, daughter or son who has ever lamented the difficulty in picking a gift for their special someone, Gift Girl has attempts to have the answer. Gift Girl CEO Jean Vouté Pratt takes her company - and your happiness - seriously by hand selecting each item that pops up in your search. It’s sort of like having a personal shopper in your pocket keeping you out of trouble on birthdays, holidays and more. Who wouldn’t want a little help at a reasonable price for being a hero on their mum’s birthday with a gift that matches who she is better than a toaster oven?

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Bebo and Vogue.TV to Air New Fashion-Focused Web Series

Tue, 19 Aug 2008 22:30:29 +0000

Source:Mashable!

A new series called Model.Live is debuting this week on Bebo (see here). As you may have guessed, the show is about models. Produced by IMG Media and Vogue.TV, this made-for-Web series follows three female models, Austria Alcantara, Cato van Ee and Madeline Kragh along their journeys from their homes to the catwalk.

The show will premier on Vogue.TV tonight, and will be redistributed on Bebo, where each model will also have a profile for updating their blogs, video diaries, text messages, photos, schedules, and more. This format is rather typical of what we’ve seen for webisodes, especially those that are syndicated on networks like Bebo and MySpace, as they leverage the multi-faceted capabilities for sharing and spreading content throughout a community in hopes of engaging viewers on a higher and more integral level. It’s worked for the most part, carrying on the legacy of EQAL from LG15’s success on YouTube into the Bebo-specific KateModern series.

Model.Live’s sponsor, Express, has found some sensible branding opportunities with this very targeted content, providing featured merchandise available for purchase on its retail website. It seems like a prime opportunity for the inclusion of interactive video ads such as those offered by Overlay.tv and others, especially as such Web-only series begin to provide improved traction for brand marketing, and potential content for mainstream media outlets.

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Prove You’re a True Fashionista at Sparkle*Shelf (The Startup Review)

Fri, 15 Aug 2008 18:30:50 +0000

Source:Mashable!

CaptainU, the online recruiting network dedicated to soccer players and athletes, is officially launching this week with a few notable new features, most of which provide more attention to end users as a way to further differentiate itself from other online recruiting tools like Takkle and BeRecruited.

For starters, a new piece of software from CaptainU provides online guidance to help players with a useful checklist/schedule for the recruiting process, with tips for things like finding the right school and getting a coach to see you play.

Another way CaptainU is hoping to make its players feel special is a new one-on-one counseling option, where users can have sessions with former NCAA coaches. As I learned from my initial review of CaptainU, NCAA standards are rather important to the site’s CEO Avi Stopper, who is also a former NCAA coach. The entire recruiting platform is NCAA-compliant, offering all users a standardized platform they can be comfortable using.

One feature that private beta users requested was a dynamic player profile option, which enables athletes to more easily link between their CaptainU profile and other sites, such as a team site, as well as to easily provide a useful “front page” to send to coaches, as an athlete can upload their image and video content to their CaptainU profile.

With an online platform for something as life-altering as recruiting, it’s necessary for CaptainU to find ways in which it can provide more individually-oriented features that will help each user feel more special while offering additional value towards the overall CaptainU experience. This will hopefully be scalable and valuable features that help CaptainU stand apart from the crowd, as CaptainU has also informed me of its plans to expand its recruiting platform beyond soccer to all sports.

I asked CaptainU how it plans to scale its counseling feature with the upcoming expansion. The site’s Director of Business Development Michael Farb said “the one-on-one counseling will scale because we already have a network of ex-NCAA coaches in place across all sports that are recruiting experts and are ready to set up time with athletes.” As CaptainU hopes to become more competitive with the other established online recruiting sites, such differentiating features are important.

Source:Mashable!

STARTUP DETAILS:

Company Name: Sparkle*Shelf

20 word description: Online community focused on beauty and fashion, featuring original editorial content and user generated product reviews, Q&A, photos and more.

CEO’s Pitch: I started Sparkle*Shelf in May 2008 to deliver honest opinions and information about beauty & fashion trends to fashionistas everywhere. We have a team of talented writers who round up the latest trends and buzz-worthy products on a daily basis. In addition, the site features user-generated reviews, questions and answers, and wish-lists, as well as social networking features such as profiles, friends and activity feeds. We also offer entertainment in the form of beauty related games, quizzes and polls. Our goal is to be the trusted destination for all things beauty and fashion in a fun, vibrant community.

Mashable’s Take: A trend in the online fashion industry is to have a network that enables experts to promote their knowledgeable opinions and become valued influencers within the community. A new network called Sparkle*Shelf is making this a direct incentive to fashionistas that are interested in the fashion and beauty space, with a new platform for receiving and contributing related content.

To start, Sparkle*Shelf has a team of writers that add content to the site, offering informative articles about various fashion and beauty trends. Anyone can sign up for a user account, but options are limited to begin. By participating in more site activities such as adding bookmarked items, reviewing products and commenting on others’ submissions, a user earns points to move up in rank. After earning 500 points, a user can add their own fashion and beauty polls to Sparkle*Shelf, which other users can take for fun. A full on Expert, who has earned 1000, gets to add content to one of the site’s featured blogs.

Incentive-based systems are often a good idea, especially when it comes to encouraging users to offer things like product reviews. Sparkle*Shelf’s particular application of its incentive-based system appears to be one that merely offers supplemental user content for its online publication, leaving the focus on the content created by its own editorial staff.

Something that Sparkle*Shelf could benefit from is an easier way in which to add bookmarked items to the site, which could then be reviewed and commented upon. Right now, a user must visit the Sparkle*Shelf site and manually submit an item, inserting the link and uploading an image from their desktop. A more useful option would be a browser toolbar add-on that allows users to bookmark items as they surf the Web. I also wouldn’t mind seeing some import options for items users have already bookmarked on sites like Delicious or even another style site like StyleFeeder.

Shop Like Anna Gives Young Girls Safe Place to Network

Mon, 11 Aug 2008 00:30:06 +0000

Source:Mashable!

There’s a fairly new social network-shopping service-content palace for the tween set. Based in Chicago, Shop Like Anna (after the founder’s daughter) is built for girls aged 8-15 and promises a “safe and fashionable alternative” to other sites in the field.

Visually refined from the outset, Shop Like Anna seems to be place that many in its target audience will likely latch onto. That is if its initial promotional push proves effective, of course. It has all the makings of a niche venue that could carry and grow to a popular standing among competitors. The amount of material isn’t voluminous at present, mind you. It’s more kindling than flame, really. But if security-conscious Web users - parents and children alike - want for a site that enables a rich interactive experience through a variety of features, Shop Like Anna is one player that truly seems to manage an appreciably qualitative balance.

It should be made clear: Shop Like Anna operates on a strict model. Only those in the abovementioned age bracket are optioned memberships, and for verification, the email of a parent or guardian needs to be provided in order to complete registration. Naturally, there are ways to evade the requirements when working though this process, but on the whole, the extra measure will probably ensure that the network largely remains as it originally was intended. (The team behind Shop Like Anna is also said to be in a “working relationship with the FBI.”)

At first glance, I must say it’s not easy to determine what is the core strength of Shop Like Anna. It is collectively a space for young girls to communicate, blog, share photos, and generally do what the average social networking sites allow - plus shop, read feature stories, etc. But its multifunctional framework also makes Shop Like Anna an open field of sorts, which could work to its benefit. If one aspect falls into disuse, other components can thrive and the site can still present much of its repertoire as value-added. To start, the whole of SLA works makes an impressive entry in the market, for sure. And I think it’s safe to say it may soon carry substantial staying power. Not to mention solid growth, if luck strikes center.

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BeThree Provides Premium Content for the Mind, Body and Soul (The Startup Review)

Thu, 07 Aug 2008 22:37:26 +0000

Source:Mashable!

UStream, the free video streaming service, has added announced more social features very akin to the features YouTube and MySpace have available. Amongst the new features you’ll recognize, they’re adding bulletins, subscriptions, and followers (as well as a few management tools to go along with).

These additions make the social features somewhat more complete on the system. Before there was only the ability to subscribe to other producers and maintain your subscriptions, but with the addition the bulletins features (and the other management tasks relating to your followers), has the potential to really cement the developing community at the site with bi-directional communication.

As those of us who have decided to wade in hip-deep to Twitter and FriendFeed know, just as important as the tools to connect are the tools to block. Included in the update is just that functionality, which not only prevents you from seeing their updates but them from seeing yours as well.

Source:Mashable!

Once every four years athletes from around the world come together to compete in the summer Olympics. This year they have traveled to Beijing, China, and with the games about to begin, we’ve gathered 25 sites to help you experience them and learn more.

Discover the various sports and athletes, create activities for the kids, and maybe even feed those that come over to watch the festivities with you.

What sports will you be watching and who will you be rooting for? Leave your thoughts in the comment below and show support for the athletes of your home country, wherever that may be!

Informational

Beijing 2008 Summer Olympics - The official site of the host city for this summer’s games. Has schedules, information on the venues, weather reports and more.

China.org.cn - China’s official site has its own Olympic section that differs from the official games’ site. It has news from around China that impacts the games, simple words in Chinese you can learn that relate to the Olympics, weather reports and more.

International Association of Athletics Federations - The I.A.A.F. is, as the name implies, is the organization that oversees all of the various athletic federations.

International Olympic Committee - Home page of the governing body behind everything to do with the Olympics such as rules, city selections and so on.

London 2012 - London, England is the site of the next summer Olympics in 2012.

Olympic.cn - The official site of the Chinese Olympic Committee.

TeamUSA.org - The official site of the USA Olympic team for all of the various sports. They also feature blogs written by a number of the athletes.

Vancouver 2010 - The official site of the next winter Olympics in Vancouver Canada in the year 2010.

News & Video

ABC - The Australian Broadcasting Company is covering the games for the land down under. Has profiles of Australian Olympic legends, a smog watch for the city of Beijing, and current athlete profiles.

BBC - The BBC website has in-depth interviews with athletes, interactive maps of the venues, offers versions of the site that are keyed towards an international viewer or can be switched over to the UK-centric version.

CBC - Canadian Broadcasting Company coverage of the 2008 summer Olympics.

ESPN - It’s only natural that the biggest sports network in the United States would have coverage. Besides the day-to-day coverage, they also have histories, athlete profiles, fan guides and more.

Fox Sports - Easy medal tracker for each country at the top of the page along with lengthy analysis on the chances of the USA in many of the sports.

NBC Olympics - The official network for the games in the United States, NBC’s site has detailed information on each of the different sports and the athletes that will be participating in each, along with too many features to properly list.

NBC Olympics On The Go - A service for Windows Vista users with Media Center. Download the program, subscribe to your favorite events, and have them delivered directly to your computer so you can even watch them offline.

Sports Illustrated - Besides all of the usual trappings of a medal tracker, photos and the such, they also have reports on stars to watch out for in each sport and how they do this time around.

Yahoo Sports - Offers mobile updates as well as medal counts, detailed analysis and several more features.

Olympics For Kids

Dodger’s Olympic Lodge - The Canadian Broadcasting Company site for kids where there mascots Dodger and Phil will be covering the games in a kid friendly manner.

FactMonster.com - Has information on the latest Olympics as well as the results for the past few years with complete medal counts and break downs by sport.

FreeKidsCrafts.com - Has Olympic themed crafts for kids to do such as making beaded versions of the Olympic flag, medals you can print out, a paper torch like the one used for these games and more.

Kaboose.com - Features printable crafts, coloring pages with a sports theme, and interviews with Olympians who also happen to be mothers, to see how they juggle everything.

MakingFriends.com - Instructions for making flag pins, Olympic paper dolls, puppets and much more.

Recipes & Entertaining

AllRecipes.com - Has a few Olympic-themed recipes such as Olympic Ring Pizza that will add some flare to your party.

Epicurious.com - Over 300 recipes for those of you wishing to throw Olympic themed parties or gatherings.

Homecooking.about.com - Five recipes that are based in classic Greek cooking to help you get the feel of the original games.

Source:Mashable!

STARTUP DETAILS:

Company Name: BeThree

20 word description: BeThree is a highly targeted content platform delivering action-oriented tips on health and wellness via email (and all 2.0 info channels women use like RSS, mobile, etc) to the highly influential Gen X/Y demographic. Topics include nutrition, fitness, healthy lifestyles, travel, and life coaching.

CEO’s Pitch: BeThree is bringing wellness information down a generation by offering content in a conversational voice young women trust. We feature rare, bold and distinctively edgy daily articles written by a team of 25 professional writers on everything from what’s really in that Red Bull (it’s gross), to why text messaging is good for your relationship, to what its really like to do a cleanse for the first time.

We also feature healthy recipes from a certified nutritionist turned professional chef, fitness tips from industry pros, and life-coaching tips helping these women move forward with confidence, savvy, and awareness for a great life. Why are we doing this? The $500b Wellness Industry is primarily targeting those 45+ and is missing this massive group of influencers (Gen X/Y women) experiencing significant health and life changes.

Mashable’s Take: BeThree is a new women’s oriented site that delivers editorial content across a number of categories like nutrition and recipes, lifestyle and trends, travel, and fitness and beauty. From the content perspective, BeThree isn’t interactive in the sense where you’ll find user-generated content and have the ability to add your own items to be delivered through its content network to its larger user base. But you can interact with them on an individual level, bookmarking them across various social media sites, or adding them to your personal favorites within the BeThree network.

There’s also the ability to leave comments on each article and a unique option to leave a private comment that’s shared between only yourself and the article author. This is something quite fitting for such a network and is a privacy feature that many readers will appreciate. Your favorites and your private comments can be accessed through your account dashboard.

What could improve BeThree’s content delivery system, as it’s targeted towards tech savvy users that take advantage of RSS and mobile delivery options, would be deeper interaction with remotely delivered content as well. For instance, if a user receives their BeThree articles on their mobile phones, having an option to add this item directly to their Favorites from their mobile would be an added benefit and time saver for end users.