sneak peek into other people's lives

Photo and video sharing has become a phenomenon following the success of apps such as Instagram and more recently Snapchat, the platform that lets users send 10-second messages that disappear after they’ve been viewed, and which recently declined a buy-out offer from Facebook worth USD 3 billion. Now a new app could join them ; PeekInToo offers a real-time, virtual glimpse into an anonymous person’s life for just 12 seconds.

PeekInToo is offering a completely new way to perceive and virtually witness anything that is happening around the world, almost in real-time and upon request. Now, you are able to request and receive real-time Peeks - 12 seconds videos from anyplace in the world, anonymously. PeekInToo can do all that by just using your favorite mobile device without having to find or follow any friends in the area of interest. Imagine thousands of Peekers around the world willing to share real-time Peeks from your area of interest. Imagine also being able to request such Peeks whenever you want from places you intend to visit soon or that you would like to travel to in the near future or even instantly gather valuable live content from breaking news incidents. If video from a location of interest isn’t currently available, users can also use the PeekShout function in order to request a feed. Viewers can also rate others’ video. The app is free to download from the App Store, and an Android version is on its way. The video below offers more information about the app:

Humans find other people’s lives endlessly fascinating, and PeekInToo is a global social network that lets users be nosy for a short amount of time. However, to get back to Snapchat, look at what happened with that popular application. Snapchat has announced earlier in January, that it will release an updated version of its photo-sharing app, after a cyber attack exposed the usernames and phone numbers of 4.6 million users. The new version of the app will allow Snapchatters to opt out of appearing in 'Find Friends' after they have verified their phone number. Find Friends, which allows users to upload their address book contacts to help find friends who are also using the service, is the feature that was exploited by the hackers.

Noteworthy, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg praised Snapchat for creating a new niche for social media communication, calling it a "super interesting privacy phenomenon." Zuckerberg also offered a historical perspective, noting that instant messaging offered a way to communicate between groups and blogs provided a way to share publicly. However, before Facebook, there was nothing in between. [1]

And of course, there is the mobile service called Vine. The app that has been heralded as the “Instagram for Video,” allows users to create and share short video loops. And as mentionned Instagram. And of course the "share your life, voluntarily" pioneers, Facebook and Twitter. What sets however, PeekInToo apart from video and photo sharing apps such as Snapchat, Confide and Blinklink, is that this exchange is between you and a complete stranger, and therefore involves an element of risk and luck. Founder Yiannis Verginadis believes that "in the following years we are going to experience a burst of anonymous social networks." Which, judging from the appearance of anonymous photo app Rando last year, is a claim with merit. [2]

Some more info :

Rando is an experimental photo exchange platform for people who like photography. A rando is an image that is taken by you and sent anonymously to somebody completely random. A rando must be sent for one to be received. It's gifting rather than sharing. You will never know who received the rando, they will never know who sent it. You will know the location of where it landed, the receiver will know where in the world it was taken.

Taking cues from the self-destructive nature of Snapchat's picture messaging system comes Confide, a text-based messenger app that deletes text messages after they've been read and features an innovative scrolling system that prevents screenshots being taken. Arising from a need to occasionally remove the permanence of e-mails or texts, Confide offers people the chance to communicate via text without worrying that their messages will stick around indefinitely – think of it as a more professionally useful version of Snapchat.

[1] Ref. http://mashable.com/2014/01/15/zuckerberg-snapchat-privacy/

[2] Ref. https://www.prote.in/en/feed/2014/01/peekintoo

to be seen, after all, is to exist.

are you up for a Triptease ?

Triptease is a place where people save and share the best of their travel. Putting images front and centre, they capture what it was really like. Taken from their description : “We love travel. We love everything about it. The hotels, the restaurants, the bars and the wild beach parties. We believe getting out your own front door and heading off to a new destination might be the healthiest thing you can do. Travel reviews are a decade out of date. Travel, perhaps the most photo-worthy of all pastimes, is overrun with dull, anonymous text reviews. It's time for a makeover. We put photographs at the heart of Triptease. The process is easy, but the result is powerful. We help you create reviews worth sharing with the world.”

Triptease is a new kind of social site for travel. However, they do have a business side, since they aim to be working together with the industry. For business owners / users, you can set up a special account so that people know who you are. By encouraging your guests to share their experiences and create, Triptease expands your info and links back to your site. Tripteasers love sharing their experiences with friends and family. Every one of these reviews can have a direct link back to your website. As per their saying : “Happy guests become an army of marketers. Help your bottom line and cut out OTAs.”

Frustration with travel reviews drove Triptease founder Charlie Osmond to develop the service after six years working in social media for big names across fashion and politics. The startup is privately funded with Osmond investing proceeds from previous ventures as well as receiving some angel investment. He is joined by co-founder Alasdair Snow, Chris Warren Gash, marketing, Elsie Rutterford, business development, Pawel Lipka, development and Andrea Perrini, design. Osmond says Triptease is going after the luxury end of the global online travel market which is worth an estimated $75b. Competition is massive between Facebook because of its volume of social conversations and reviews giant, TripAdvisor. “We’re after a higher-end audience. When it comes to review creation, a typical user for us is more likely to be someone who would never contribute to Tripadvisor. When it comes to browsing reviews, Tripadvisor is a more direct competitor.” Revenue will be drawn from affiliate fees from click-throughs and the company is also planning some secondary services and revenue streams. “At present the industry encourages guests to post ratings to third-party review sites. Every review posted drives bookings via OTAs who take a cut from the hotel. We’re taking a different approach based around review freshness (less than six months old). If a partner (hotel, agent or airline) encourages a guest to create a review on Triptease, for a period of six months, while the review is fresh, we link directly back to the partner for free – no OTAs in the way.” [1]

[1] Ref. http://www.tnooz.com/article/triptease-wants-to-refresh-the-reviews-space-putting-an-end-to-ugly-faceless-text/

the Safeplug for internet anonymity

You wouldn’t post your home address just anywhere online. So why give it out to every website you visit ? When you browse the Internet, every site you visit knows your IP address (a unique number that identifies your computer on the Internet) which can easily reveal your physical location and home address. This information could be accessed, hacked or even sold, exposing your identity and location to unknown parties and putting your family at risk. Pogoplug (a cloud storage service provider) has launched a new privacy adapter, Safeplug, which the company says can add internet anonymity within seconds. With Safeplug, you can effectively stop websites from knowing or logging who you are and where you live. Safeplug sets up in 60 seconds and allows you to use your existing web browser, and even your phone, to browse the Internet with complete anonymity and peace of mind.

Safeplug does not require any additional software to be installed on your computer, and is compatible with any modern Internet browser that you already use. Safeplug uses the Tor network to secure your Internet connection. Tor works by routing your Internet traffic through a series of random destinations, much like driving a twisty, complicated route to throw off someone who is following you, making it impossible for websites and organizations to identify the source or destination of Internet traffic. While using Safeplug however, it is likely that you will notice reductions in your overall Internet speed and page-loading times. This is because your Internet traffic is being bounced to computers across the globe to make your Internet browsing impossible to trace. This will reduce in effect as Tor gains popularity over time. Also be advised, that Tor has been known as the home for many let’s say “not-so-legal” activities. Furthermore it is recommend that you clear your cookies between anonymous browsing sessions, even when using Safeplug.

working with Mozilla's PopCorn Maker

Popcorn Maker helps you easily remix web video, audio and images into cool mashups that you can embed on other websites. Drag and drop content from the web, then add your own comments and links ; all within your browser. Popcorn Maker videos are dynamic, full of links and unique with every view. Popcorn lets users link social media, news feeds, data visualizations and other content directly to moving images. The result is a new form of multimedia storytelling that lives and breathes more like the web itself: interactive, social, and unique each time.

Mozilla's Popcorn Maker is an initiative by the Mozilla Foundation to create a software that uses the Popcorn.js API to add web-rich features to videos, without having to learn programming. The software can be used by video creators and editors in so many ways ranging from creating an instructional video almost from scratch, to editing an existing video to add text, hyperlinks, annotations and so many other features. This, in turn, can be used to clarify the video, to add more information, to add nice effects, etc. Popcorn adds interactivity and context to online video, pulling the rest of the web right into the action in real time.

On the down side, it doesn’t have an option to create videos from scratch, and hence you cannot upload videos from your computer. There is no option to customize the workspace or at least resize the panels. You also cannot group elements and hence have to apply effects to individual elements. However, connect a video in the web with the content around it, and you get a video that behaves like the web itself, constantly changing and evolving, interactive, and sharable. That is what Mozilla has managed to achieve with the Popcorn Maker. [1]

A quick explanation of the Popcorn Maker Interface Components can be found on WikiHow here (last section) and here. In addition, “Using Mozilla Popcorn Maker to Create an Interactive Video” Tutorial by Miriam Posner, available here, and as a pdf download here.

[1] Ref. http://web.appstorm.net/reviews/media-reviews/mozilla-popcorn-maker-the-future-of-media/

Further reading / viewing :

Introduction to Popcorn.js on Vimeo, available here.

Documentation on Popcorn.js, available here.

Mozilla’s Webmaker Tools page here. Links to X-Ray Goggles (allow you to see the building blocks that make up websites on the internet) and Thimble (which makes it ridiculously simple to create and share your own web pages).

Want to get started, but don't know what to make yet ? Here are some projects you can remix now.

Pixel Press : draw your own video game

To describe it in short : the Pixel Press platform offers engaging, interactive storytelling tools that enables users of all ages to turn drawings into video games. Follwing a succesful Kickstarter campaign, with the upcoming release of Pixel Press on iOS & Android, you can create your own video game levels in just four easy steps ; draw a level, take a picture, design it, play & share. In the past, video games like Super Mario Brothers and Metroid were groundbreaking. Today, Pixel Press recreates the run and jump gaming experience, but in a completely new way. With Pixel Press, you don't just play a video game ; you create your own, making video game creation accessible to everyone, with no coding required. If you're not in the mood to create, or just don't have the time, you can play levels designed by your friends or other members of the Pixel Press community.

With the Pixel Press video game level creator you are designing five floors of a video game level (Think Mario level 1-1, level 1-2, etc). Your hero will start at the bottom floor and attempt to overcome the obstacles you create to reach the elevator at the end of each floor to advance up to the next floor. Your objective is to create a level that is progressively more challenging from bottom to top. Creating a level is a simple four step process - draw, upload & test, design, play & share.

And, don’t forget. Pac-Man was created on paper. Check out the info and photographs from Control Magazine here.

the DIWire wire-bending desktop machine

The 3D printing revolution is in full swing and is providing inspiration for a number of similar ways of creating new objects. If you have already seen how successful the 3Doodler pen — which enables users to draw physical pieces into existence — has been, now the DIWire hopes to follow suit by bringing wirebending capabilities to designers’ desktops for easy wireframe prototyping. [1] The DIWire is the first desktop wire bender, a new archetype for rapid prototyping, that transforms drawn curves into bent wire that can be assembled to make just about anything. Check out their Kickstarter campaign here.

Created by Pensa Labs, the device is around the same size as a typical office printer and can be connected to any computer. Users first digitally sketch out the shape they want their wire to be and then send the design to the DIWire. After loading the wire — which can be made of any bendable metal, even steel — the machine feeds it through and bends it according to the digital file. Users can make simple 2D designs or connect multiple wires together through soldering or clips to build up a 3D object. [1] The video below shows the machine in action:

[Ref.] http://www.springwise.com/machine-bends-wire/

handy tools & extras for cycles

Meet the “Nutter”, the next generation bicycle multitool. Featuring all the essentials for fixing your most common bike headaches. The Nutter combines all the tools you need when out riding into one simple unit. Its unique design and distinctive form turns the tool into a handle, giving you more leverage than other multi tools on the market. The tool weighs just 110g or 3.9oz. Housed beautifully in your choice of a burnt brown or jet black leather and recycled inner tube pouch, the Nutter features : a nylon tyre lever, 15mm box head spanner, spoke key, 3,4,5,6,8mm hex tool bits, philips head screw driver, flat head screw driver, T25 torx bit, magnetic tool bit extender, and (the most essential of all) a bottle opener.

“Sphyke” on the other hand, allows you to get the best quality, long lasting bicycle components without worrying about theft or having to carry a key. The innovative Sphyke C3N system replaces your bikes existing nuts and bolts with ones that incorporate a tiny combination lock. The combination lock simply encases the fastener with stainless steel shielding. There is a Sphyke lock that suits any skewer wheel. If it is a solid axle wheel there are 4 thread variations that suit all modern wheels. The nut and cap screw used in the Sphyke device are exactly the same as the one you currently use, and that bike shops are familiar with. So if you get a flat tyre or need to take your wheel off anyone has a spanner or cap screw. And most importantly, because the Sphyke system uses these normal nut or cap screws you can tightened your wheels and components as much as is possible.

SAHN Helmets is a new company by Matt Kelly and Sen-Huy Tan, and is based in Vancouver, B. Matt has been creating helmets for the skateboarding and water sports markets for over ten years as owner of Predator Designs. Sen is an industrial designer with notable cycling industry experience, and the two cofounders share a vision to provide better cycling helmet alternatives for the discerning buyer. SAHN Helmets is about riding. Not racing. The SAHN Classic is a helmet for those who may or may not define themselves as cyclists, but have a desire to look better while moving in and around the urban landscape, both on and off the bicycle.

Revolights ensure maximum safety by providing both lighting and sighting in one fully-integrated, revolutionary design. The patented Revolights Bike Lighting System consists of four narrow rings of LEDs—two white and two red—which mount directly to the front and rear wheels of your bicycle. Lithium-ion batteries, bracket-mounted to the front and rear hub, supply power to the LEDs. The batteries are lightweight and rechargeable via USB. A fork-mounted magnet and an integrated accelerometer provide speed and orientation data to the rings, allowing the LEDs to illuminate only when oriented at the front or rear of the bicycle.

Spurcycle is a new bike accessory company. Their first product is a set of grips made from individual colorful rings. The product allows you to personalize your bike grips with an endless number of color patterns. GripRings are made of silicone and are plush and flexible. They are easy to install and can fit nearly any style of handlebar. Each set includes 16 rings of your choice, eight for each bike grip. GripRings work best when they have a smooth surface to grab—heavily textured (i.e. bead-blasted) bar surfaces can be wrapped with glossy tape for improved ring security.

Revolv : the smart home integration hub

To put it in a few words, Revolv unifies your different smart home automation systems on one integrated platform, controlled via your smartphone and tablet. The Revolv Hub, unlike other home automation solutions, doesn’t require an Ethernet cable. Simply plug it into a central location in your home to get the best wireless range. Then magically connect it to your Wi-Fi network in less than a minute. The Revolv Hub sports an unprecedented 7 wireless radios speaking 10 different wireless languages. Starting with Z-Wave, Insteon and Wi-Fi compatibility, and with future software updates adding support for ZigBee and other languages, Revolv is on track to support hundreds of devices in the next year.

The Revolv Hub acts as the brains to wirelessly control all your smart home connected devices, regardless of their protocol. Out of the gate, it will work with dozens of today’s best-selling smart home devices, including Sonos, Philips hue, Yale locks, Insteon and GE lighting products. Thanks to automatic firmware updates, Revolv will get smarter and more capable every month. Whether on vacation, planning a date night, or just hanging out on the couch, the 'Home' dashboard gives you a birds-eye view of all the devices in your home. With a quick glance, see your home's current status, recent device activity, and access all your favorite On-Demand Actions. Tailoring Revolv to fit your lifestyle couldn't be easier with 'Actions'. No programming required. Choose an Action from Sensors, Time, Location or On-Demand triggers, and then add the devices you want to automate.

GoldCoast skateboards

GoldCoast Skateboards is a Salt Lake City and California based company specializing in longboards, cruisers, transition skateboards, and fun on four wheels and two trucks. Their longboards are made from North American Maple or Bamboo, cold pressed, and precision cut. Wheels are made from their proprietary urethane formula that guarantees you a consistent, predictable, ride every time. GoldCoast configure their longboards and skateboards to deliver maximum fun each and every time you take them out.

In their own words : " We love the fact that skateboards come in all shapes and sizes. Our approach to our products, whether it is a longboard, wheels, even a t-shirt is to convey a sense of fun with quality design and materials."

The GoldCoast “Sick Days” contest will pay skateboarders USD100 and give them a GoldCoast complete skateboard to take the day off and go skate. GoldCoast has been giving away a “Sick Day” to one winner a month all summer long.  Everyone that wants a paid day off work can enter here on the GoldCoast skateboarding Facebook page by explaining why they are the most deserving to win a GoldCoast “Sick Day,” and "Liking" the Green Label Facebook page.

Malle W. Trousseau Kitchen Set

If you're like most of us, the stuff in your kitchen is mostly a cobbled-together assortment of hand-me-downs, odd items from the secondhand store, and a cheap set of knives from Target. While that probably gets the job done, you'll feel a lot better about cooking if you update your cookware with the Malle W. Trousseau Kitchen Set ($5,800). Typical of products from the MoMA Store, these are carefully designed items that highlight the beauty in everyday objects.

The ultimate kitchenware set, and an extraordinary gift, The Malle W. Trousseau is a collection of 43 of the best kitchen utensils from around the globe. The designer was inspired to create this set when his daughter left home and asked for kitchen items to take with her. Each product has been selected for its unparalleled functionality, beauty, and quality. It comes in a sturdy wooden-framed recycled cardboard “trousseau” organized by function into three trays. Included in the set are various pots, pans, knives, cloths, towels, containers, dishes, cutting boards, assorted tools, and a leather apron ; nearly everything you need for a well-appointed kitchen.

Handibot : a unique power tool

The Handibot is a new kind of portable, digitally-controlled power tool for cutting, drilling, carving, and many other machining operations – a first Universal Digital Power Tool (UDPT) – or just, a Smart Tool. If you're familiar with industrial CNC (computer numerically controlled) equipment, think of the Handibot tool as a portable version of CNC. But instead of taking material to a stationary machine, you bring the Handibot to your material ; that being your jobsite, your remodeling task, your project, your work, etc. That essentially means that you can put your Handibot tool to work on a table, the floor, the ceiling, the wall, wherever you need to precisely cut, drill, or carve. Armed with a software application developed just for the kind of job you need to do, a Handibot tool is ready to go to work on your job, task, or project with a squeeze of the “Start” button. [1]

Arcs, curves, complex shapes, and 3D forms are no challenge for digital cutters. The tools will cut a curve or complex form as easily as a straight line. They can cut virtually anything with precision and repeatability. There is an almost unimaginable range of jobs and tasks for which the Handibot will be helpful.

Handibot is the creation of ShopBot Tools, a North Carolina innovative company which designs, manufactures and distributes professional CNC (Computer Numerically Controlled) routers for milling, drilling, and cutting of wood, metals, plastic and other materials ; powerfully, precisely, and affordably. ShopBot founder Ted Hall created the company to make the power and precision of CNC technology affordable by individual 'makers' and small to midsize manufacturers.

[1] Ref. Handibot Kickstarter page http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1320575205/handibottm-a-smart-digital-power-tool

re.vu : your online resume page

Modern technology makes it possible to design a dynamic, interactive, and visual resume that is significantly more effective at representing the whole person than a common resume alone. This is the core concept of re.vu (pronounced "review") - a radical redesign of the traditional resume. Re.vu makes it simple and fast for anyone to create an original and compelling visual resume. The rich combination of widgets, themes, and personalized settings makes each re.vu unique and memorable. It’s not just a visual resume, it’s a better visual resume available to everyone, free of charge. And yes, there is a place to link to your traditional resume too.

The key to using Re.vu is to have an account with LinkedIn, the professional social network. When you set up a Re.vu account, you're asked to utilize its LinkedIn importer, so it can build your résumé timeline based on the data stored at social network. The timeline is the core of your résumé landing page at re.vu/username. Page creation is performed with a floating toolbar that makes it easy to change the background, theme, or arrange elements on the page. Unfortunately you are not offered many choices, since Re.vu does not want anyone going wild on cv design. Re.vu wants to keep things totally professional. For that reason alone, a Re.vu page is the best place to send prospective employers than any other landing page. [1]

At Re.vu the page is about the data, not the background. The timeline of your work and education is only imported once. After that, you have to keep it updated separately from LinkedIn. Once the data is imported, visit your profile and make edits anyway, because the fun stuff for the page isn't imported, you have to add it. That includes logos or images for each job you've had in the past, which pop-up when a cursor is passed over that section of the timeline. The Infographics tab will let you insert vital stats (put in numbers for anything, like businesses you've started, articles you've written, etc.), as well as graphs showing your job duties, favorite pastimes, interests, and languages. You can also upload portfolios of your work to show off. These are the extras that make for a more interesting online résumé and, hopefully, will lead to a great job interview. [1]

[1] Ref. http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2405041,00.asp

Swami's surf boards

Swami’s is named after the infamous point break in Southern California where the founding members used to surf.  Established in NYC in 2000, the label is now based in London, continuing their reputed surfboard production as well as creating an ever growing collection of surf essentials and accessories. Swami’s is the Hindi name for Master, combined with a love of surfing the brand is set on a quest to ensure that their products won’t harm waterways and the ocean. Products are made with an emphasis on art, design and craft and produced in an environmentally sound way working with European craftsmen and supporting small initiatives in developing countries.

By focussing on the iconic board shapes that defined the modern era of surfing through 50s - 70s, the Monk is hand made in England with a back-to-basics celebration of classic board building technics; double wrapped patched decks, tail blocks, split gloss/wet n' dry finishes all in deep resin colored tints shaped with premium modern materials and processes. The Monk is Swami's quintessential single fin logging board - built for effortless glide. With plenty of volume and weight, flattened nose and tail widths are the key aspects together with round rails and rolled bottom to complimented the deep teardrop concave in the nose. The perfect solid platform for timeless nose riding, makes for catching the smallest waves early, with plenty of room to take a stroll.

This board is the cornerstone of our collaboration collection with Paul Smith. Available in a very limited edition of 50, each board is individually numbered and signed by Sir Paul Smith along with the owners' initials set into the deck.

Filmed on location in West Cornwall, Swami's short film profiles multiple British and European longboard champion Sam Bleakley: surfer, explorer and writer. An insightful glimpse into a surfer's state of mind, travel wonder lust and the ultimate draw back home. Directed by Stephen Langmanis and Alan Aboud. See behind the scenes pictures, and read about the story here.

Masanobu knives

An embodiment of the best elements of traditional and Western-style Japanese knives, the Masanobu VG-10 Series seamlessly pairs modern technology with traditional hand crafted techniques. Using VG-10 steel for the blade, Masanobu has created a knife that has a razor sharp edge that is also stain and corrosion resistant. VG-10 Cobalt, a strong steel forged of iron, carbon, manganese, molybdenium, colbaltium, chromium and vanadium ; one of the highest quality types of steel used in knife production, retains an excellent level of sharpness that is easy to maintain. 

The thinness of the blade and the octagonal shape of the handle are design points found in the highest quality traditional Japanese knives, allowing for precision cutting and a secure grip. It is without a doubt that the Masanobu VG-10 Series is amongst the elite line of knives available. The series is comprised by five blades characterised per their use as : a chef’s knife, a slicer an utility (petty) knife, a multi-purpose and a French slicer. 

Features a traditional, octagonal, pressed wood handle with nickel silver bolsters for perfect balance. Manufactured by Mcusta, in the city of Seki, home to Japan's most skilled knife makers since the 13th century, the corrosion and stain resistant VG-10 steel is as thin and strong as can be. The Santoku, which means "three virtues," is capable of handling fish, vegetables and meat, while the other two, smaller knives are best suited for more intricate tasks.

DIY apps : A list of online mobile applications creation resources [13 + 13 more]

Applications (either web, mobile or desktop) are exploding exponentially, simply because they make people's lives easier and fun. In a couple of clicks, an App gives your audience the bite site chunks of information they need at exactly the right moment. Apps enable you to interact with your customers, employees and community quickly and effectively. Apps are great marketing tools, demonstrating you are at the forefront of innovation. Soon, people will expect every go ahead business, organization or connected individual to have an App. In this article we have attempted to compile a small collection of online application building websites, that you might find handy in your initial search. Wording is mostly taken from the website’s own description of services and application creation process.

MobileRoadie is a very popular web app builder amongst the media savvy. The first thing you'll probably notice when you visit this site is that the company touts high-profile celebrities as some of its customers. That said, it serves plenty of small businesses looking to create a native mobile presence, according to the company's CEO Michael Schneider. "Consumers aren't really consuming the information that small businesses are putting out online in the same way that they were in the past," he said.  You can use the platform to create a mobile version of your web site for free; the service starts at $99 per month for creating native iPhone or Android smartphone apps.

Those of you who dream of a successful startup better pay attention to TheAppBuilder. It’s one of those stories where a couple of savvy developers discover a market gap and come up with a well-executed and successful solution. In their words, “we wanted to allow anyone to create an app, same way that WordPress works with websites. We want to cater to the small business owner who just wants a presence on mobile marketplaces. He/she might not have coding skills, but they really shouldn’t need any to use TheAppBuilder. Those who want to take things further and have some HTML5 skills can use some really fancy techniques. We’ve even seen people building and embedding games using HTML5 canvas.”

Knack is a database, forms and web applications builder with powerful options for formulas, equations, files, and images. It allows for easy and flexible relationships to connect your data (including one-to-many and many-to-many). You can import data from spreadsheets or add it manually. Allows for simple drag and drop applications creation and seamless integration to your website or blog.

An online mobile applications creator, focused primarily on businesses without large software creation budgets. Bizness Apps is making mobile apps affordable and simple for all small businesses. DIY iPhone, iPad, HTML5, and Android app platform that allows any small business to simultaneously create, edit, and manage mobile apps online without any programming knowledge needed. Coupons supported, as well as a wealth of other features like gps integration, event logging, push notifications, facebook and twitter integration.

Creating a mobile app with iBuildapp can also have an app published within minutes. The Publication Tool allows individuals, businesses and corporations to create customize apps and manage their own iPhone/iPad Application via online application creation engine. The idea is to offer an easy way for traditional media publishers to port their content to Apple’s devices via web based interface. Users can create their own Catalogs, Flyers, Brochures, Reports, Digests, etc and deliver it via our SaaS solution. Marketing and Social Media can create their social communities easily within minutes and communicate to the clients instantly. Founded in 2010, IBuildApp is providing solutions to Fortune 2000 and small businesses, not-profit organizations and media artists.

AppShed Academy is a versatile and comprehensive online tool to facilitate student development of apps in education. Intuitive, step-by-step learning allows teachers to include app development in the ICT curriculum without the need for an in-depth understanding of the app creation. This exciting technology allows students to express their creativity through a powerful app building tool which can be tied in with school projects and assignments as well as extra-curricular activities like sports teams.

MyApps (still on Beta version) is an online service that allows users to create their own mobile applications for various platforms. The key features of MyApps are its user-friendliness, the capability to create applications fast, and accessibility. No specialist knowledge is required to create an application. The website offers two options: one for individual users and one for businesses. Regular users log on and choose one of the 16 types of application (including Lover, University and Cooking), configure the format and then add functional modules by simply dragging them from the menu. Each application has an advertising module, but users can deactivate it once they pay the annual fee.

Weever offers everybody – small businesses, not-for-profits, and individuals like you – the opportunity to get their site on to the mobile web easily and affordably. Weever is the next step in expanding the mobile web … for anyone who wants to use it. Weever Apps works across iPhone, Android, Blackberry Touch and iPad/tablets out of the box. Weever works in the browser, but it can also be installed like any other app. Weever is accessible ; A non-technical administrator can update the app at any time. Weever is also affordable ; the Basic Apps are free.

AppBaker is a powerful online platform that makes it easy for agencies and traditional web developers to build delicious mobile apps for their customers. With an abundance of features and capabilities, AppBaker offers a fast and inexpensive way to build and manage unique, native, custom branded iOS, Android and HTML5 apps, covering about 99% of mobile devices. What sets AppBaker apart is that it’s got just the right mix of technology, creative freedom and discipline. For example, it gives you all the tools you need to build your app but lets you go wild with the creative parts, it can turn your app from native iOS into Android and HTML5 with a click of a button, and it takes care of complicated stuff like making sure your app is following each App Store’s specifications. AppBaker also offers these pre-cooked, industry specific things it calls StarterPacks. StarterPacks are a great solution for agencies with a lot of clients within the same industry, or ones that are looking to build a great industry-specialized app, even faster, but without compromising its quality, customization or professional result.

ViziApps enables anyone with computing skills to create a custom mobile business app. The selection of widgets, images, and icons make coding unnecessary and significantly speeds the mobile app development process. Taking advantage of ViziApps' drag-and-drop approach to mobile app development, users can use the images provided in the ViziApps Studio or incorporate their own images, such as logos, photos, and illustrations. A portfolio of templates lets app builders start with a proven design, then customize their apps to effectively promote their particular brands. All without doing any programming.

Zoho Creator a very popular database software creator helps you build web based database applications to organize your business information. Online database software is designed to offer an organized mechanism for storing, managing and retrieving business information over the web. Online Database software helps you store business critical information in the cloud, where everyone can easily access the data from anywhere, anytime. Zoho Creator's drag and drop interface makes database application development a breeze.

ShoutEm, is focused on companies that want to publish an ongoing stream of content and information to a mobile app. ShoutEm is a mobile application creation platform that allows you to create mobile app for iOs, Android and HTML5 in just minutes. Wheather you bring content into your site into one of their CMS integration options or creating your content directly into their appbuilder its easy to get your message to mobile app users. If you are designing for your brand or simply bringing your idea to the mobile market ShoutEm makes it easy for you to make the vision connection to your audience.

Something more niche, Wufoo is a web application that helps anybody build amazing online forms. When you design a form with Wufoo, it automatically builds the database, backend and scripts needed to make collecting and understanding your data easy, fast and fun. Because they host everything, all you need is your web browser and a few short minutes to build a form and start using it right away.

Furthermore, check out the following :

Application Craft. The company's development environment uses a drag-and-drop interface for assembling features and touts one-click application deployment on platforms including Apple iOS, Android and, actually, Facebook. It uses HTML widgets for geo-targeting, analytics, and social media sharing. The company's free version supports creation of up to 10 apps (but you have to run the company's ads in them when you distribute them).  

App Press. Founded in 2010, the company behind this cloud platform for Android and Apple iOS apps created it with graphic designers and creative agencies in mind and it shows. A small business can rely heavily on existing content to create highly visual mobile applications. The App Press service offers an instant preview feature so progress can be reviewed along the way.

MobileAppLoader. This platform offers templates for all sorts of small businesses to use in their mobile app development -- that includes everyone car dealerships to contractors to automotive services companies to hair salons. Its claim to fame is "app in a snap," which lets a small business get an application created and published fairly quickly.

EachScape is an open drag & drop environment for creating, managing and monetizing high-end applications. Using EachScape, non-developers can create high quality, highly customized, gorgeous applications delivered in native code. Applications built on EachScape are truly custom, not based on templates. We offer a rich set of features and functionality that can be incorporated into any app. Gain immediate access to a rich mobile ecosystem with incredibly powerful code from developers.

AppFurnace is a set of online tools that help you to create all kinds of apps without having to be a programming genius. You can produce simple interfaces, location-aware apps and extend beyond our in-built functionality with your own JavaScript and make your app the way you want it. AppFurnace isn’t just a template, it gives you control to design interfaces, create location-aware experiences and, if you want to take it further, add your own JavaScript and produce exactly what experience you want.

Springbase is a complete development environment in the web browser, coupled with a fast, secure application delivery platform. You can start developing right away. When you're ready, push your applications to any number of users around the world, with no software to install and no servers to manage.

Caspio empowers anyone to quickly create online databases and complete business applications without writing a single line of code. Using an intuitive app-builder, the user can simply "point-and-click" your way to creating powerful online database apps that deploy seamlessly to your own website, intranet, CMS, or blog. Since 2000, organizations of all sizes utilize the Caspio award-winning, highly-scalable online database platform to become more productive and profitable.

Appsbar was designed to fill the gap between over-simplified apps and costly, professionally-produced apps. It presents myriad personalization opportunities with a unique interface that guides creators through the entire. Appsbar was introduced in 2011 as the first cost-free way for anyone, at any skill level and with a limited budget, to make rich, personalized apps that reflect their own personality, business or event with direct access to app stores.

AppMakr is a do-it-yourself app creation platform that lets anyone make their own iPhone and Android apps—no coding required. Between push notifications, HTML 5 functionality, native high-resolution photo galleries, branding and design customization, ad support, live updates, the AQI (App Quality Index) and more, you’ll be able to make a robust, high quality app to show off your awesome content.

App Express. Billed as a do-it-yourself app builder for small and midsize businesses, this platform supports the development of applications for appointment scheduling, handling invoicing and accepting payments, messaging and marketing with coupons (among other things). The service allows for creation of apps that work on either iOS or Android. It also includes an option for creating a one-page mobile-optimized Web site. A future edition will support HTML5.

MobBase. Pitched at companies that are trying to build a mobile fanbase, so there's lots of media considered for the app templates. It supports the development of custom apps for iOS and Android.

Andromo is different than those 'cross-platform' app makers you may have seen. Andromo actually generates custom Java source code for each app you make, compiling and linking it on our cloud servers using Google's official Android SDK. You get a stand-alone, native Android app. Not some sort of half-baked HTML content masquerading as a real app. Andromo apps look and feel like real Android apps because that is exactly what they are. They are faster, more efficient, better looking and more reliable than apps made with a simple 'cross-platform' app maker.

BuildChatter. Making Facebook applications has never been this easy. BuildChatter is specially designed to create various forms of Facebook applications that you might want to make. Be it a fan page or an online store, BuildChatter will provide you the perfect tools which will help in giving your page a unique touch. It is easy to operate and provides a wide array of options and designs to the user. BuildChatter also allows the users to build a custom Facebook Application. All of this can be easily done within a matter of minutes.

For more platform specific tools you can read here.

One of the key attractions for developers in creating apps is the ability to earn money from either selling the app itself or running advertisements on it. However, for midsize businesses not intent on making apps a profit center, mobile app development can still be a useful tool in the enterprise. First, IT managers should consider that mobile use is still expanding, and the majority of device owners install and access apps round the clock, even during social situations or travel far from home. For this reason, a mobile app might be a useful complement to traditional corporate communication tools, such as e-mail. For example, a company could create a company portal app for its employees in order to disseminate company news, distribute training podcasts or videos, or even send out emergency messages. As it is easier to access content from a device carried at all times rather than from a desktop PC at the office or a laptop left at home, it could increase buy-in regarding enterprise communications. [1] Read more at IBM’s “Midsize Insider”

[1] Ref. http://midsizeinsider.com/en-us/article/android-app-development-surging-as-indic