Can you set up a security web cam in 30 seconds? You can now. My last interview at this DEMOfall was one I vowed to do the moment I saw this company's pitch on stage. This was music to my ears. I love it when a startup takes on a previously complex, daunting technical task for consumers, and just makes it dead simple. Let me tell you about GoToCamera, from Pechora Technologies in Singapore. These guys homed in on one of those nasty problems, setting up a web cam, and developed what appears to be an elegant, low-cost solution that consumers (and businesses) will happily pay for. 
Surveys show people want the security of monitoring their homes, businesses, children, or their yards or vacation homes — but few can set it up themselves, or afford expensive security monitoring services. And get this: GoToCamera's basic service (one cam) is actually free! GoToCamera does't sell cams — it lets you use any you have lying around, in your existing computers or laptops, maybe old ones you aren't even using anymore. By running their software, that cam can start recording video as soon as it detects motion. Or, you use any of the newer, inexpensive USB cams on the market (Logitech or many others) for as little as $25, and you're in business. The secret, of course, is in the software. This is a startup that could hit a home run. Time will tell, but they have a ready market out there, a smart team, a well-designed solution, a great looking web site, and investors who have seed-funded them. Now, it's off to the races! I can't wait to sign up myself (they even have a special discount code: "DEMO2010"). In the photo: Varun Arora, left, CEO and cofounder, and Li Yi, CTO and cofounder.
Category: DEMOfall2010 (Page 1 of 2)
For all of you who, like me, cringe every time you have to look at Craig's List and think, geez, there has to be a better experience — well, listen up: there is. Fred Krueger (at right in the photo, with Joey Harward, cofounder) has been hard at work with his team in LA for some some time building Needly. It's a great-looking site for all your stuff — yes, selling it and acquiring more of it, which we all love to do — but more than that: keeping track of the whole shebang, too (think for insurance valuation purposes, which is a great side benefit). Needly makes it as easy to get all your stuff and needs online as it could possibly be. One key way they let you do that is with a very nicely designed iPhone app. You just shoot a picture, add a price and a quick description, click submit, and it's up on the Needly site in seconds. 
A key part of Needly's offering is an escrow payment service, which protects both buyer and seller. Fred is a three-time presenter at DEMO. He knows how to attract millions of people to sites — and how to raise money. I'm betting we hear a lot more about Needly, and I can't wait to get my hands on the iPhone app as soon as it's approved on iTunes.
Okay, all you virtual-worlds people: you won't be able to contain yourselves once you get a look at Sococo. But even those of you who aren't will be highly intrigued — especially if you work "virtually" and really feel disconnected with your dispersed work team. It lets all of you interact in a rich, virtualized environment as if you were face-to-face. I talked with David Van Wie, CEO and founder, about this always-on group communications service for distributed teams. 
It provides an intuitive, spatial layout, letting you see office interactions as they occur, and initiate ad-hoc meetings easily. It integrates IM and voice, and has a unique "Multi-Screenshare" technology.
DEMO always attracts a good number of non-U.S. based startups to announce on its stage, and this one traveled all the way from the UK to tell us about its tool for enabling retailers to sell their wares on mobile devices — first for the iPhone, with support for other platforms coming soon. The key word here is free, folks. Do you remember the days when creating a mobile app actually cost companies money? On stage, MobiCart touted its first customer, a regional airline in the UK called FlyBe.com, which essentially put its entire in-flight magazine on an app — meaning its advertisers, who used to just sell their products via the print pages of the airline's magazine, now have another way to take orders. 
The CEO and founder, Wladimir Baranoff-Rossine, tells us about it in this little two-part chat, including how the heck he might even make money with this venture.
(sorry for the abrupt cut-off…ran out of battery! click below for the rest)
• Download or listen to Part 2 of Graeme's interview with MobiCart… (MP3)"
Speaking of DEMOgod Award winners, this was another — though we didn't know that till an hour or so after I stopped to interview CEO and founder Walter Bachtiger. (That's him on the left, with Spencer Lord, Chief Voice Officer/CTO.) This was one of my favorite demos on stage earlier in the day, because I could see what a great productivity tool it would be for bloggers, writers, and researchers (just to name a few). I wanted to be sure to find out more, and see a more detailed demo up close. 
VoiceBase transcribes voice files (audio now, video coming soon) that you upload to their site. It then posts those transcripts to the site, and enables you to then search within those files for keywords you specify. It also let you share those files on social sites. I can't wait to use it myself — in fact, I'll start by uploading these DEMOfall audio interviews of mine!
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