HomeMint: A New Home Decor Monthly Subscription

As if there were enough monthly subscription services, the Mint company came out with HomeMint just recently.

What is HomeMint? HomeMint was created by Justin Timberlake and Interior Designer Estee Stanley. It sells home decor, from dishes to furniture. To start, you take a  quiz like the other subscription services that can detect your home style. There is a wide range of styles shown during the quiz, so not too worry if you think that they won’t cater to your style.

However, the website does come with a cost. Many of the products cost more than $100. Not saying that is bad, however, for many that can be a little pricey. Especially for a pillow or simple decoration. I would of liked to see more friendly prices. If you want to get exclusive discounts on the products, you can pay $10 a month to receive those discounts. Not to worry though, HomeMint is completely free!

Will you be checking out HomeMint?

Mobile Payments to Replace Credit Cards?

Studies have recently shown that the mobile phone may soon replace credit cards and cash by 2020. The study was conducted by a sample of 1,021 stakeholders and critics in the mobile industry, from executives and Google professors at universities nationwide. The use of smart device swiping (or mobile paying) will nearly eliminate the need for cash and credit cards. The study has shown that people trust and rely on personal hardware and software for transactions.

However, some are not too optimistic or would want this to happen. A respondent to the study included, “As much as I’d like to see a money-free world, I’m afraid the opportunities for the hackers and pirates are too great. I’m happy to buy my $2 Starbucks using my Android but I don’t know that we will ever feel secure enough to make much larger purchases that way.”

I think that it is great that we are advancing in payment methods and has made it possible to pay for coffee using our phones. However, I think that it might not be as safe to pay by phone especially for larger purchases.

Also, I don’t know if everyone would be inclined to do this and would give up their cash or credit cards.

Do you think that in the future that cash and credit cards will become a thing of the past?

Studybook: An Educational Tablet

Intel came out with a new tablet called the Studybook. It comes with the Intel’s Learning Series software. It also comes with an interactive ereader and LabCam applications. The cover is waterproof, dust proof and comes with shock absorbers. So that means that kids who drop this from their desk is in the safe zone and it will not break. The tablet has a 7 inch screen and runs windows or android system with a 1060X600 Pixel resolution.  It runs on the Intel Atom Z650 processor.

Wayne Grant, Director of Research included, “Students today live in a virtual world and this device can give a valid scientific experience for students in emerging economies. Representations of knowledge are changing. Tools are now based in tablet environments.”

Many teachers are now introducing new technologies into the classrooms. And now they are introducing the tablet. It can be quite convenient for the student since they don’t have to carry around a heavy laptop. It also lets them interact with class more with the apps on the tablet.

Do you think that classrooms should introduce the Studybook?

 

NYC Launches a Better Map App

New York launched a new map mobile app for tourists. It incorporates social media updates, OpenTable booking capabilities and daily deals. Store owners can also claim their spot and advertise. Right now it is free to advertise on the app, but that might change in the future.

It is great that cities are introducing a more easy to understand maps for tourists. Especially for a city like New York. Many tourists don’t know where to go, where to stay and where to shop. This app will help with that.

Even for businesses this is great. Many tourists will not know of local boutiques and local coffee shops (and good ones at that) and probably will never know them unless a local tells them about it. With this app they will be able to support local companies and find unique boutiques.

If you are traveling to New York City, will you find this to be a useful app?

Shoptiques: Shop Boutiques Like A Local

Shoptiques is a new website that lest you shop boutiques like you’re a local. The sites lets you buy from 50 boutiques nationwide with one flat shipping and return fee.

There are already other websites such as Farfetch that do this already. However, how is Shoptiques different? It is the product. Farfetch focuses on upmarket brands and the price tag is not very friendly. Brands are not a focus with Shoptiques and products are priced between $50 and $300.

To start shopping, you can shop by neighborhood such as Brooklyn or West Hollywood. Then you can filter by color, price, size and style. You also can browse across cities by category.

Olga Vidisheva, Founder of Shoptiques included, “We want to become a destination for boutique living and shopping. If you’re on the streets of Nolita, we want to tell you which boutiques near you have stuff. We really see our boutiques as partners, and we want to drive traffic to their offline stores as well. We benefit because they’ll be in business a long time, and we want to work with them for a long time.”

Need any information about the product, fit, etc.? Shoptiques also offers phone numbers to the boutique so that you have assistance when you need it. Vidisheva also wants to integrate SMS chat in the future so that customers can chat with the boutique over the internet.

Will you be checking out Shoptiques?

 

JoynIn: Group Couponing and CheckIn’s

Joynin is a new social app that combines your favorites from Yelp, Facebook and Foursquare into all one application on the web and on your phone. The website also offers you group coupons that you can your friends can use. It also rewards you for planning your whole trip.

You can also plan outings on the website and invite people via Facebook. You can confirm all the RSVP’s on Joynin. To start this, you state the occasion, where you would like to go, when, the place and offer a price point. Then you can message all the people you desire to.

Also you can check out Yelp reviews so you can be sure you are picking out a great Venue. With Joynin you can have a profile so you can connect with your friends and share your favorite spots.

Brenton Gieser, co-founder of Joynin included: “JoynIn is about is rewarding people for going out with their friends. So, we help people be more social in their social lives. They can go to bars and clubs and get rewarded for their influence.”

JoynIn also rewards businesses. They can bring in new customers by offering the coupons. This is a great idea for start up businesses.

Will you be checking out JoynIn?