Top stories

Journalists Cover Microsoft, Using Macs

It’s not an easy time for Microsoft — with Steve Ballmer having to field questions about being “buffoons” and an “evil empire”  at the shareholder’s meeting (.doc) — so when they get together “the world’s most influential technology pundits and online writers” (nb: we weren’t invited) for Mobius to discuss super-secret mobile tech you’d think [...]

Guide To Black Friday Apple Bargains: Cheap MacBooks, iPods and Accessories Galore

Here’s a guide for finding the best bargains on Apple-related gear during the infamous Black Friday sales on November 27. We’ve compiled a comprehensive list of gear from leaked photos of sales flyers and descriptions of sales.
The bargains include a 2.26 GHz MacBook + $150 gift card at Best Buy for $999.99 ; a 32GB [...]

Review: Voices Is Today’s Best Thing Ever, Grab It Now While It’s Cheap

New on the App Store is Voices from the clever folk at Tap Tap Tap. You can guess what it does.

Open it up, pick a silly voice. Helium is pretty silly. A microphone appears and the app even clears your throat for you (try it, you’ll see what I mean). Now speak your brains, and [...]

Review: Sony Walkman S540 Series Video MP3 Player

Press releases, you will hardly be surprised to hear, are rarely very interesting. But one arrived in my inbox a couple of weeks ago that made me double-take.
“Sony’s S Series Walkman,” it chattered, “is a serious challenger to the iPod Nano.” Gosh, really? Perhaps the Cult had better have a look at one, then, despite [...]

iPhone Car Pooling App

In about 10 days, Mapflow will launch a free iPhone app called Avego for car pooling. (The home page says they’re waiting for Apple Push capability).

The nice thing: though the Avego app exploits smartphone capabilities, you don’t have to have an iPhone to hitch a ride.

Here’s how it works, according to the website:

Avego drivers have dashboard-mounted, GPS-enabled iPhones running the Avego app. The driver selects destination from past route history, then empty seats are offered to potential riders. When a potential rider on the route wants a ride at a certain time, the best Avego car is selected and that driver is offered the pickup. If the driver accepts, then voice directions guide the driver to a safe place to pull over and take on riders. When the driver pulls over, a picture of the rider appears on the iPhone, so the driver can authenticate the rider. The driver drives to the destination. On the iPhone, the driver rates the rider experience from 1 to 5. In the cloud, Avego splits the costs of the shared ride in a fair and automated way.

Riders:

Mary, a commuter, gets ready for work. She has a common cell phone. At 7:30AM she texts a coded request for an immediate ride to work. Mary also has an Avego web interface where all her routes are visible, with the associated texting code. The Avego server texts back within a few seconds that a ride is available at 7:35AM at Mary’s closest Avego stop, a two-minute walk away. The text includes vehicle make, model and license plate. Mary walks out the door to the stop. A picture of the driver arrives on Mary’s handset for her to authenticate the driver. The driver pulls up with an Avego decal on the car. Once in the car, Mary texts Avego that the ride has commenced. The driver drives to the destination. Mary and the driver get out. Mary rates the driver experience from 1 to 5 via text message. In the account cloud, Avego splits the costs of the shared ride.

In a perfect world, there would be enough users that a 7:30 AM request gets you to the office in time.

Via Trendhunter

About the author

nicole_martinelli

Nicole Martinelli was born in San Francisco and has lived in Milan and Florence, Italy. Cultish tendencies and love for DIY increased while living on the Old Continent, where tech came late and cost more in Big Mac index terms. She's written for Wired.com, The New York Times and Newsweek, and since 1999 on her site, Zoomata. If you're so inclined, friend her on Facebook or connect on Linked in.

Email the author | Read more posts by Nicole Martinelli.

Buy Inside Steve's Brain Buy from Amazon.com Buy from Barnes & Noble