Entrepreneur Tech: iPhone apps from savvy startups

Summary: Startups are creating innovative mobile apps destined for success.  This week, 17-year-old Nick D'Alosio sold his Summly app to Yahoo for about $30 million.  We look at other iPhone apps created by startups that could also be in the same position one day. 

Move

The Move app records all of the walking, cycling, and running you do.  The storyline shows where and how much you moved during the day. 

The app automatically recognizes activities (walking, running, cycling, transportation), routes, and places.  The data is visualized on a map and a daily storyline that encourages the user to take small steps towards more healthy habits and lifestyles.  There is no need to start and stop the app, as it runs continuously in the background. 

Arro

Arro analyses ratings from stores.  When you want to buy something immediately, you don't have time to read reviews.  Arro shows your best choices and whether to get the product you're looking at in the store. 

You do not need to do the research yourself — Arro simplifies the searching process.  When a friend needs advice, text them a link with your suggestions. 

Arro was founded in Palo Alto, California, by Manish Vij, Sekhar Narayanaswami, and Aaron Snow. 

(Image: Arro)

Audiobox

Audiobox is a platform that lets you store, manage, and stream your media library online anytime and everywhere.  It provides integrations with third-party services, such as Last.fm, YouTube, Dropbox, Twitter, and Facebook. 

AudioBox.fm lets the user stream an entire music library through the Cloud Web Player, an online media player working with any common web browser. 

Audiobox was founded by Fabio Tunno, Claudio Poli, and Valerio Chiodino, and is based in Brooklyn, New York. 

(Image: Audiobox)

Celly

Founded by Russell Okamoto and Greg Passmore, Celly aims to create networks where existing social networks don’t work. 

Celly provides a quick way to form a group that everyone can join.  Participants can be organized into cells of unlimited size by texting a single message. 

In schools, students and teachers can communicate with Celly whilst keeping phone numbers private.  Group messages can be moderated by one or more curators to keep conversations on-topic. 

For city governments, businesses, and neighborhoods, each bureau, office, or block can communicate internally using private cells, which can be linked together into a larger network using hashlinks. 

(Image: Celly)

Gympact

GymPact, based in San Francisco, California, sets a committment for you to go to the gym — with a financial penalty if you don't get there.  If you meet your committment, you get a financial reward. 

Your penalties go towards paying other GymPact members that meet their exercise commitments.  It is integrated with Runkeeper for when you excercise outside. 

Founders Yifan Zhang and Geoff Oberhofer secured $118,000 funding in January 2012, with a further $850,000 in June 2012. 

(Image: GymPact)

Hubble

Hubble is a private sharing app that gives the family one place to see messages, check-ins, and shared experiences.  Hubblegrams — digital postcards — can be sent to selected family members within your private Hubbe network. 

Hubble's purpose is to help you stay connected with the people you are closest to — your family.  You can stay in touch, share experiences, and remember special and everyday moments of your family's life. 

Hubble founders Robert Evans and Andre Neumann-Loreck run Hubble from San Francisco, California. 

(Image: Hubble)

Relay

Relay helps you discover the newest and best visual entertainment from around the web.  Find GIFs, videos, and images, and send them ("relay" them) to your friends. 

Co-founders Joe Rideout and John McGee run Relay from Toronto, Canada, and have raised $700,00 in seed funding. 

(Image: Relay)

Hushed

Hushed gives you the ability to create private, loca,l and international disposable numbers to place voice calls and send SMS messages anonymously.  Having a private number allows users to continue the conversation on a more personal level without compromising security and privacy. 

Hushed numbers are temporary and can be disposed at any time. 

Founded by Justin Shimoon and Timo Mika Gläßer, Hushed is located in Gatineau, QC Canada. 

(Image: Hushed)

Laveem

Laveem gives consumers nutrition and allergen information for every food in the world to empower them to make better deciscions on their diets.  The core technology understands food compositon and nutrition. 

Laveem reads what allergens and ingredients food contains, what food groups it represents, what major flavorings it contains, and what dishes it is similar to.  The food information is organised so that queries return answers in a way relevant to your needs. 

Roximity

Roximity is a location-based alert system that sends targeted contextual offers, alerts, and messages to potential customers that are in the vicinity of their stores.  Sign up for notifications and be alerted when sales and discounts are in store. 

Roximity was founded by Daniel Newman and Austin Gayer, and is located in Denver, Colorado. 

(Image: Roximity)

Seesaw

Co-founders Aaron Gotwait and Jesse Engle created Seesaw to enable you to make better decisions by asking your friends for feedback when you are choosing a product to purchase.  You can receive an SMS message or see the options on your iPhone, and then vote and give feedback to help your friends decide. 

Seesaw is located in San Francisco, California. 

(Image: Seesaw)

Ubooly

Ubooly turns your iPhone or iPod touch into an interactive soft toy for children.  Buy the toy for $29.95, download the app, insert the iPhone into the soft toy pocket, and give the pet voice instructions such as "play a game". 

Ubooly is based in Colorado, and was founded by Carly Gloge and Isaac Squires. 

(Image: Ubooly)

Sunrise

Sunrise is a calendar app for your iPhone and is intended for Google Calendar users.  It integrates with Eventbrite and LinkedIn, and shows birthdays and events from Facebook. 

It was founded by Pierre Valade and Jeremy Le Van, and and is located in New York City. 

Eileen Brown is a social business consultant who has been working with collaborative technologies for 20 years.  Eileen creates the social business, energises communities and ignites social commerce and social CRM.  She develops social business strategy, customer reach and online branding.  Her book, Working The Crowd: Social Media Marketi...
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Disclosure

Eileen Brown is an independent consultant who works for Amastra.  Her opinions are her own.  She worked at Microsoft from 2001 to 2009.  She has no other affiliation to any of the companies that she mentions here.