Cool Tech of the Week 5/6/2016

Cool Products

Privacy.com- Get a unique credit card number for every transaction and have it auto-populate in your check-out. Cool solution for digital privacy when using your credit/debit cards.

Reserve.com- The online reservation startup has acquired payment provider Dash. It is a neat example of vertical integration. Reserve intends to take reservations, enable splitting payments and (with Dash), get better customer data, manage the payment and create easier expense reporting. Interesting idea to emulate for east African mobile money apps to minimize the pain of merchant payments!

BYJU’s- Supplimental learning app in India raises $75M from Sequoia India and Sofina. The software, designed for grades 6–12 “focuses on visual learning with diagrams and engaging videos that put facts into context so kids see how they are relevant to their lives.”

Open Data Inception: Data lovers get out the drool buckets. This startup guides you via map to over 2,500 open data portals throughout the world.

WindRush: This data visualization and storytelling platform looks like a neat addition to a growing market. check out some of their examples on the site.

Unfiltered.News- As a traveler and a news junkie, I love the visualizations on this site. Totally worth spending some down-time poking through this one.

Wonder Keyboard- Pick your persona to sound smart. Current personas include Aristocrat, All-American, Texan, and Valley Girl…well, mostly sound smart.

Algo- I don’t really understand this, but I like it. Build videos on demand using API’s and data sources.

To Round: For those of us who are A)visually oriented and B)inundated with stuff to do, this little tool is a cool visual task manager.

Blooming.io- 8 week mindfulness program for your team, from your phone.

FoodProtectors: This kickstarter gadget uses “inexpensive microencapsulated essential oil, such as clove, spearmint, thyme, and more” to protect food from spoilage.

Scotts: Scotts is creating a connected yard for the millennial gardener…maybe a concept that can be used in developing country ag communities?

Smartapp: Cool little app to track data usage on an android device (and iPhone).

RightSpeed: Reading alot? train your brain to listen to audiobooks at hyperspeed.

GoHero- an app + team of travel experts delivers full service travel agent service in India. I will use this!

LifePack: Awesome travel bag that locks, charges, amplifies (with bluetooth speakers) and keeps you organized on the trip to the field.

Insttranslate.com: Instantly translate words, sentences, voice in 90 languages including Hindi, Urdu, and Swahili. Available on Android and Iphone

http://insttranslate.com/android

Uber for…

Moving - Lugg.com: Very cool on-demand supply chain solution for city dwellers who need to move big stuff. Snap a pic, send location, and they will come and haul it for you.

Banking - Sofi.com- The $3B privately funded online lender for student loans, mortgages and personal loans continues to grow. But regulation is knocking at their door.

India: Uber competitor Ola has acquired mobile payment startup Qarth to extend it’s payment capabilities and bank integrations. Another good example of making it easy for users to pay?

Uber: Uber releases family settings so you no longer need to share your password with your kids.

News and Opinion

Google: Like their counterparts in developing countries, Google is dropping the debit card and focusing on a phone-only solution.

Machine Learning: good article on practical uses of machine learning. Note that Google has put an AI expert in charge of search.

API business models: “If you’re going to open up an API for developers, ask what’s in it for them.”

Yikes! ~10% of Android phones are encrypted vs 95% of iPhones. Encrypt yours now! Here’s how! …let me know how it goes.

IBM: Watson’s sister Lucy is tackling big Issues on the African continent.

Kisan: Y-Combinator is progressing into the developing world by backing Kisan, a smart-phone driven network designed to optimize agriculture pricing for the Indian farmers.