Thirst, an iPad app that attempts to take data from a user’s Twitter stream and distill it in a more helpful, interesting presentation, won first place in GigaOM’s Launchpad conference Thursday. inTooch, the app that allows users to exchange contact information, won the people’s choice award.
Nine companies took the stage at GigaOM’s Mobilize conference in San Francisco, competing for the winning title in Launchpad, which judges companies for innovation in mobile technology.
The judges were Rob Coneybeer, managing director of Shasta Ventures, Vab Goel, general partner at Norwest Venture Partners, and Tim Lee, partner at Sequoia Capital.
We live-blogged the presentations, and this was how the action unfolded.
Dashlane
Dashlane encrypts personal data to allow users to easily sign in, log in, and access information across the mobile web without inputting lots of information on mobile phones. Users can check out and pay with a credit card or quickly get into their accounts, all from a company that emphasizes its security and reliability through encryption.
The company explained that they think typing on mobile keyboards is a serious pain, and “life in the Dashlane” can solve this constant irritation that prevents consumers from making spur-of-the-moment purchases.
“I think you’re in a very interesting neighborhood,” Lee told them.
Judge’s score: 22/30
Infinite Canvas
Users interested in making presentations that follow a non-linear path, such as comics, graphic novels, creative portfolios, magazines, photo journals, or brochures, will enjoy Infinite Canvas, which gives users flexibility in how they design their products. The company uses the iPad to display information and engage users, with in-app purchases available for users.
“We need something different, so you have it,” Goel said of the company’s goal to move users away from PowerPoint.
Score: 19/30
InTooch
InTooch allows you to connect with people you’ve just met, choosing to share either business or personal information with brand-new contacts. The app doesn’t require both users to have the app, unlike Bump, a main competitor. (The company spokesman directly referenced Bump in his pitch, saying, “Who wants to hit someone with a phone?”)
The judges acknowledged that contact information exchange is a problem, but weren’t positive that InTooch has the perfect solution yet.
Score: 15/30
myERP
myERP is an “intelligent business assistant,” or the equivalent of Siri that can be used with the company’s cloud-based suite of business software. Using the voice recognition software users can search for information, launch apps or documents, or perform tasks. The application runs on a freemium model, and recently raised a $ 2 million Series A round.
Score: 19/30
OneTok
OneTok provides developers with an SaaS platform to add natural-language-based voice controls to mobile apps, bringing an important functionality as Siri popularizes voice recognition technology. CEO Ben Lilienthal said the company can enable apps for voice “in an afternoon,” when it used to take developers much longer to do so.
“Once consumers get to the app with their voice, they can interact with it in a natural, intuitive way,” he said.
Lilienthal also noted that the company is announcing a partnership with Appcelerator, which helps developers work on mobile apps.
Score: 24/30
Phroni
Users tired of copying and pasting words from a small mobile screen into the Safari search window will welcome Phroni, which allows them to scan text, select words of interest, and then search for information on those words via search platforms like Google, Wikipedia, or Twitter. The company also has desktop browser plugins.
Coneybeer, who gave the app a 4/10, noted that apps like Phroni are really more like features that should be integrated into a phone’s operating system, rather than provide an entirely different experience for developers and users.
Score: 22/30
Restlet
Restlet is a web API framework, and the company is launching APISpark at Mobilize, the company announced in a post on its blog. APISpark will allow customers to create and manage APIs from the company’s service on a browser.
“I think something like this is pretty attractive in the future,” Goel said, noting that developer interest in creating and managing APIs is remarkably strong.
Score: 21/30
Snappli
With mobile users increasingly doing more and more activity on their phones and eating up data plans, Snappli provides users with ways to cut down on mobile data consumption. The app can improve speed of opening apps, cut down on roaming charges, and provide stats on data usage so people can cut down on certain apps that are strong data-eaters.
“Carriers are going to need a solution like this,” Lee said, noting that the pricing models for carriers aren’t sustainable with the amount of data consumers are taking in on their phones.
Score: 26/30
Thirst
Users following too many people on Twitter could find the amount of information overwhelming, and Thirst aims to break down the critical info in a Twitter stream and provide an interface of the most critical updates and interesting data. Imagine the company as Zite for Twitter.
However, companies that are trying to take Tweets and display them on a different platform could struggle under Twitter’s new restrictions and guidelines, which are discouraging this kind of effort.
Score: 26/30
