Urbanshortcut.com - new cool web2.0 startup

I haven't written much for a while now, since I've been working hard on a few very interesting projects. The first to go live in private beta is a really cool web2.0 site: www.urbanshortcut.com. The site aims to help people to find great places in major European cities. Matching your interests and taste with other users, you will find great places for shopping, nightlife, staying and dining. This is helpful in the home city, but really meritorious when you travel to new cities.

I call it a personalized travel guide!

Flextreme - GM Electric car

Finally, GM has released a concept car which fuels on electricity, and uses diesel as a internal battery charger. This gives the car a range of 55 km!
Since the range was the main problem with the electric car last time around, this is great news!

Now, I challenge you all to show GM that the Internet community appreciate their effort in creating this wonderful car! Post about this on your blog and facebook, mail your friends and buy it when it finally releases!

Widsets API - Widsets gets more and more interesting!

Today I surfed around on the Widsets developer site, and it's obvious that it's a really competent API! Have a look, a great start is the Widsets Wiki.

I'm going to release a Widset myself within a month or so!

Start your own social network

As a followup to a comment that I just wrote I want to say something about my view on creating a social network (or a site in general).

Since it's pretty easy to create a social network or user generated content site nowadays, I find lots of new sites in these areas. Many are pretty good, and some are less impressive. Since I am a very generous person I will share my views on creating a website.

1. Business or pleasure
Are your site meant to be for business usage or for pleasure? Focus on one of these fields - When I'm working, it's not likely that I (or my employer) want me to be distracted by to much fun, and when I'm not working I might want to be able to relax a bit and even show pictures of myself at a party - That I wouldn't do if business contacts where using the site.

2. Choose your target audience
You must have a legible target audience when you plan your site. Will your site appeal to the taste of everyone? Should it be a general site or are you targeting people with a special hobby or profession?

When you choose your target audience, try and choose one that includes you. If you're into comics, do something with comics. If you want your site to be successful you'll have to marry it for a few years, so try to select an area that you like or are interested in yourself.

3. Check the competition
I guess that you must have some ideas that is value adding to your audience. Unless you have a huge marketing budget or are very good at guerrilla marketing, it will be hard for you to reach your audience if you aren't doing something new and fresh.

4. Get something out there quick, and get feedback
Since you went to step four your site have a clear target audience, and it has enough new and interesting functionality to appeal to the audience.
Now communicate with your visitors and let them co-drive the development of the site.

Or ignore the steps and follow your intuition from start to end! Either you will have a good intuition, and then the site have a chance of becoming a success, or your intuition sucks and the "soccer and knitting site" isn't a big hit. If it's a hit, write me an email and thank me, if it's not, the site is a great showcase for future employers!

Any steps or thoughts you think I missed? ;-)

Widsets - back on my phone, I've missed it!

A while ago I installed Widsets on my cellphone, and I was a frequent user for a couple of months. Then I succeeded in hanging it by closing it at the wrong time. After that it hang my cellphone every time I tried to start it.

Well, even though I was a frequent user of widsets I started to use the Mobile Opera instead, which is the best mobile browser around, so I didn't reinstall the Widset app.

Now however, I reinstalled it for some reason, and man it is a great java app! Much better way to follow blogs and news feeds than through the Opera alternative.

So if you haven't already, give it a try, it fit my needs perfect and it's highly addictive!

When will a cool voip company team up with SocialUrl?

SocialUrl is a nice site for storing and handling your online identity. You fill in information about your existing social networks, so that your friends and visitors can see your full Internet identity (what's my name on Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn, do I have a blog).
It's also a social network which is pretty fun. Reminds me of old "Who watches the Watchmen" comic. Will there be a social network where you can include you SocialUrl identity?
Also, apparently SocialUrl is a site driven by a couple of very nice college students. At least that's my impression from some conversation with their founders.

Anyway, except for the fact that it was fun that Linus "the social marketer" at Rebtel turned up on their first page when I created the screenshot above, it's an obvious and great idea behind SocialUrl. Looking at myself, I'm registered at many different networks and have lots of friends from different social contexts. I want a better overview of both my connections and my own profiles, and that, in some ways, is achieved with SocialUrl.

Another thing I would like to achieve is to reach my contacts and friends at the appropriate platform at every given time. If they are very active users on Facebook, and I want to send a postcard "hello, how are you these days", I want to send the message to Facebook. If I want to reach a person fast, it would be nice to know if it's phone, mobile text message, msn or email to use.
I want to use the right message type for each message context.

The coupling to Web2.0 voip services is obvious - Some of the people I know very well, some I don't know and many are abroud. To be able to store all my connections in one place, and make or receive "anonymous" calls from people I don't know, or public calls from people I know, is all possible with service like SocialUrl connected to the voip service. Most of the functionality exist already, as widgets for blogs or social networks, so it wouldn't take a to big effort to reach my Utopian communication ideas. You can even spell it in a three letter word - API.

So the conclusion is, work together with a network as SocialUrl or create an open API! That's right, you heard me. Create that open API now!

The possibilities for great communication are endless - the success factor in most cool startups is to what degree the startup can fulfil peoples need for communication!

Why I like Rebtel, Jajah, EQO and their likes!

I get a few recommendations on different voip operators now that I've written a couple of posts on web2.0 voip services. And I am impressed of both services and the ideas that companies as Rebtel, Jajah and EQO offers! I think like this:

• If it's possible, I want to do all my communication with my cellphone. I love java applications since it adds value to my cellphone usage, and also because the mobile browser is really crappy (well opera is pretty good, but my experience is that custom written java apps for mobiles is far better than a mobile web page).
  
• A unique number for every contact, that I can store in my ordinary contact list is the best way to make me happy!
  
• If mobile phones is not an option, or way more expensive than landlines, I'm willing to use my land line
  
• I think it's great to use web applications to set my preferences - It's easier that way than on a cellphone. Every tool should be used for what it's best at.
  
• I'm willing to use web applications to place calls if the price is much lower than that I get with a service where I don't have to use the web service.
  
• I like widgets where I can make it possible for people to reach me, without giving them my real phone number.
  
• I expect pretty OK sound quality from my calls.
  
• I don't want to download any new applications to my computer. Remember, I'm a web2.0 guy believing in the web application revolution. Actually, a downloadable executable will actually stop me from trying a service.
  
• I don't want to call with my computer. That means I need extra gadgets like headphones and microphones - I already have a phone for that.
  
• Value adding features are a great plus. A nice example of this is the Facebook app from Rebtel.
  
• I don't care about text message services
  
• Open API's would be cool - imagine all 3rd party solutions that would be created for you! But I haven't seen that yet.
  
• Ok, I lied about downloadable executables. I would try an app if it was an Adobe Air app.
  

What do you think? How do you think when it comes to services like these?