[INTRO]
Welcome to Fetch’d—your weekly dose of new apps and tech innovations. I’m your host, Mika Nova.
Maiden podcast here, episode numero one-point-uno. So here’s the LD on what you can expect. Every week, we’ll dive straight into a top five list of new products from the world of tech. Think of it as one of those TLDRs—but better, cause you won’t have to read a thing.
You get? Let’s do this.
[5—KANYE INSPIRE ME - Website]
Starting at five. You may have noticed that recent Yenado blowing up your Twitter. Keeping au courant, we have the website Kanye Inspire Me. While the name is straightforward, Yeezy on the other hand…
As site creators Christopher Reath, Danny Jones and George Kedenburg III describe their product—quote: “Kanye Tweets + Kanye GIFs = Random Art. Let the Yeezus guide you!”—end quote.
Go to the site, hit the “Ye” button and you’ll get morsels of WTF like:
[Cars have four wheels. Hoodies have hoods. It’s amusing to me when some one [sic] says this is an original hoodie. Bro… it’s a hoodie—@kanyewest]
But sometimes in this randomizing algorithm you’ll find truth, like:
[you can say anything as long as you put the right emoji next to it—@kanyewest]
And a solid word to the wise in 280 characters or less:
[try to avoid any contractual situation where you are held back from your ideas—@kanyewest]
[4—STARTUP COMPANY - Computer Game]
Number four, Startup Company by Jonas Hovgaard and owner of Denmark-based indie gaming studio, Hovgaard Games.
This single-player, sandbox game casts you as the CEO of a new virtual startup. That’s right, you’re Richard Hendricks—minus Gavin Belson, Jian Yang and those paralyzing panic attacks.
Your mission, should you choose to accept it, “complete client contracts” and rake in the green—at least till your Series A round—or “build your own products” like Paul Graham is watching—always, creepily watching. In short, it’s a geeky love triangle between the The Sims, Sim City and those with a fetish for infographics.
In keeping with an authentic startup experience, there are several gameplay modes: build (which entails pimping your office with swag you shouldn’t really be spending that seed money on—yes Zane, I’m referring to that air hockey table with LED strip lights which auto-sync to the Daft Punk soundtrack of TRON: Legacy playing on non-stop repeat), hiring (drafting employee contracts that attract top talent—yasss queen!), competing and winning big contracts, developing your product, as well as releasing, updating and scaling your way to success. Scale, bitches—SCALE! Startup Company is available for purchase on Steam for $9.99 USD and compatible with Windows, Mac and Linux OS systems.
While the current release is an Early Access version, developers confirm it’s stable and playable. In fact, you’re invited to help optimize the product and take it even further.
[3—PUPPRRR - App]
Number three—the app Pupprrr, connecting non dog owners with dogs (and their owners) for a playdate.
Want a pup, but can’t commit? Live in New York or Boston? Then, Puppprrr’s for you.Here’s how it works: Dog owners set the going rate for a fifteen-minute date with their furry SO. Non dog owners scroll through these posts—Sammy the Shiba, Rhubarb the Rottweiler, or tag-teaming Chihuahuas Biff and Bambi—till they get a match. All parties agree upon the deets of the meetup. And voila, Fido gets pencilled in between his third naptime in a favorite sun spot on the floor and his late afternoon intensive ball-licking sesh. If the date goes particularly swell, the Requestor can “Re-up” their date for an additional fifteen-minutes of play time. Simple. Supply—plus—Demand.
Oh hey there Skeptics, maybe it feels like dog owners are pimping out a bestie on a canine version of Tinder, but at least a portion of every transaction goes to supporting non-kill shelters. Dog owners can even donate 100% of their profits. As creator and co-founder Nathan MacKenzie states, “It’s more about sharing the experience of playing with your dog, not renting a dog.” In the near future, the team hopes to include adoptable dogs.Pupprrr is available for free download in the App Store and Google Play. Visit their site if you’d like to put in a request for Pupprrr to come to your city.
[2—KITE PHONE - Tech Product/DIY Kit]
Number four—KitePhone, a DIY smartphone kit operating on Android.
iSquare Mobility’s completely configurable kit comes with all the hardware you need to make your own compact device, including: the Kiteboard—a 1.2 GHz Quad Core A53 processor with 2GB of RAM and 16GB storage—Android ready OS, 4G enabled, ability to interface with anything—including select Raspberry Pi attachments and your own boards—rich peripherals that can support up to two cameras and more—all running on an optimized LiPoly battery. For the casing of your phone, you’ll need a 3-D printer.
As creator Shree Kumar puts it, “Smartphones are increasingly becoming black boxes that limit your choices in unreasonable ways… the world of Kite is an empowering world for all… to make a range of useful devices.”
Currently, KitePhone hopes to raise just under one-million-dollars by May 27. Pledge as little as one-dollar and help him ship kits globally for tech education projects. Donate to his Kickstarter here.
[1—MOTIVATION-YEAR PROGRESS - App]
And in the top spot this week, the iOS app Motivation—Year Progress. From creator, co-founder, CTO and maybe your future boss (yes, they’re hiring), Don Bytyqi, this simple app helps you beat the procrastination monster by reminding you how fast time is moving.
Download the app and you’ll get notifications on how much of the year, month and day has passed to keep you on track, stay motivated and use your time effectively. Check it. Damn—50% of the day is gone. Let’s wrap this podcast up.
Motivation is available in the App Store for $.99. TBD on the ETA for the Android version, but Bytyqi says it’s in the works.
[CLOSING]
I’m Mika Nova. Thanks for tuning into Fetch’d and plug in next week for a new episode.
[POSTSCRIPT]
For this episode of Fetch'D, a special thanks goes out to:
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