May 2013
1 post
2 tags
Consumr 2.0 and Being Thankful
It’s been a long journey to Consumr 2.0 and there’s a lot to be thankful for. I severely sprained my ankle while running to grab some documents, but I’m thankful it wasn’t worse. I’m thankful for tearing myself away from the office long enough to teach my niece to shoot a bow and arrow (she inspired Consumr!). I’m thankful for understanding loved ones, some of whom are chasing their dreams...
April 2013
1 post
4 tags
A (Belated) Foodie Congrats
I left this post in my drafts for way too long. I have to give a big congrats to Alexa, Soraya and Ted for the Foodspotting acquisition by OpenTable. They made me 5/5 with mobile predictions (I said they’d be acquired by a major local player within the next year, and it happened 9 months after I wrote it). More importantly, it’s a great outcome for an amazing team.
I remember...
December 2012
2 posts
October 2012
1 post
September 2012
3 posts
Check Your Peanut Butter for Salmonella
consmr:
The FDA has vastly expanded this week’s earlier recall of Trader Joe’s Peanut Butter to include dozens of other peanut butter brands including Sunland’s, Sprouts, Natural Value and more. The recall affects peanut butter suspected of sickening people in 19 states!
What should you do to be safe? Scan your peanut butter at home with the Consmr Grocery app. We’ll immediately tell...
3 tags
The End of a Foodie Mobile Era
An era comes to end today. Post Google acquisition, Zagat is discontinuing their iPhone and iPad apps. This makes me feel nostalgic.
In 2008 I inherited a 2 star iPhone app. It was Zagat for iPhone.
I didn’t have the luxury of scrapping the app so I listened to customers, tried novel approaches and redid the app piece by piece. The app became the #1 selling travel app (most days) and a...
August 2012
1 post
July 2012
1 post
June 2012
1 post
Zagat Went Free And No One Noticed
I’m a couple days late on this thanks to Consmr’s 100,000 new friends, but I was surprised that a big story on Zagat was missed this week despite all the coverage of the Google+ Local launch. On Wednesday, Google’s announcement of Google+ Local integration officially marked Zagat.com becoming a free website and all of Zagat (seemingly) going free. An era ended, but not many people noticed. While...
May 2012
2 posts
2 tags
5 tags
Project Glass Meets Reality
6 weeks ago Google introduced Project Glass with an amazing video demonstrating the product. Of course, it was a concept video and Google stated this is what it “might be” capable of doing. Many people overlooked that fact and took this to be a demonstration of the actual product, and so did more than a few publications.
Having worked on two early smartphone augmented reality apps,...
March 2012
2 posts
5 tags
Why Cisco Thinks CPG Reviews Are The Next Big...
If you pick up the March 2012 issue of Fortune magazine, you’ll see a full page advertisement from Cisco. Their ads tend to be well thought out, tied to research they’ve completed, and discuss the technology they ultimately intend to power.
It caught my attention that Cisco was touting user reviews as the emerging influencer in the consumer packaged good purchase funnel…
To...
11 tags
Siri, Yelp and Calling The Next Thing in Mobile
I’ve made a habit of successfully predicting where things are going in the mobile world over the last few years.
6 months ago when Siri launched, I talked about the largely ignored Yelp integration with Siri. I predicted Yelp and Apple’s relationship would improve and they would further integrate into Siri and create tons of value for Yelp. Well, I was the only person not surprised...
November 2011
1 post
3 tags
October 2011
2 posts
5 tags
Conflicted on Self Checkout
Whenever I go to a Manhattan Whole Foods on a whim there’s a 50% chance I pivot, turn around and leave. It’s the lines. They make IKEA lines on a Sunday look tame. Apparently everyone thinks to shop at the Union Square and Columbus Circle locations at the exact same time. We’ve all wondered if it’s worth it just for that one item you can’t easily get elsewhere. Of...
9 tags
What Siri Means for Local Search
My dad just got an iPhone 4S as a gift from my family. He’s never been the most tech savvy person in the world. I for one was apprehensive about getting him a touchscreen smartphone given his Kindle is sitting in a drawer and his reliance on print newspapers. He insisted on showing me this thing called “Siri,” unaware that I’m fully familiar with the platform from their...
September 2011
4 posts
9 tags
Flipping For Dollars - Google's New Reader
Yesterday Robert Scoble shared that Google was launching a “Flipboard killer.” Kara Swisher then followed up with more details about the app, named Propeller – not to be confused with the AOL social news site. Considering that Google recently closed a similar web-based project in FastFlip, it’s interesting to see them getting right back on the saddle. Ultimately, if Google News has proven to be a...
4 tags
Whole Foods Deal - $10 for $20
consmr:
Wondering why Livingsocial’s website is slow today? That’s because they’re running a Whole Foods special for $10 for $20 in groceries. It’s a shame it’s only 1 voucher per customer because otherwise we would be stocking up!
http://livingsocial.com/deals/123805-20-to-spend-on-groceries
5 tags
Analysis of the Deal - Zagat's Tiger Uppercut
Today’s big news was about Google’s acquisition of Zagat. A ton of people have asked me to comment because of my former affiliation. A few nice folks think my efforts directly contributed to the acquisition (Wired’s article has some highlights under 21st-century). I appreciate the sentiment. Everything I say here is based on my own personal analysis. It’s really about Google and the...
4 tags
Foursquare on Amex Homepage
I went to the homepage of americanexpress.com and this is what I saw. I’m absolutely amazed by this. I think it was pretty cool to have worked on one of Foursquare’s earliest partnerships — but seeing Foursquare’s development since then come so far is astounding.
July 2011
2 posts
OOO
Running a start-up means never setting an out-of-office.
3 tags
Consmr on New York WPIX Morning News
My mom was really proud.
June 2011
5 posts
Consmr: Getting to Know Our Community →
consmr:
We have tons of enthusiastic users already providing content. We will be highlighting our most avid “Consmrs” in this section.
Introducing Roderic R. from Indiana…
Bio:
Roderic is an elementary teacher of gifted and talented 5th and 6th grade students in rural Indiana, seeking to bring…
6 tags
Yes, People Are Searching For Gum
“Shoppers will go through the online research process for gum. It’s a process they’ve learned from researching the $40,000 SUV.” – Jim Lecinski, Google’s Managing Director of US Sales & Service
The online habits of consumers have changed in the last few years. The same methodologies that consumers are using to research a TV or even a car are the same methods that users are...
6 tags
Roundup - Here's what they're saying about Consmr
In case you missed it, here’s some of the great press surrounding Consmr:
Ad Age - Meet the Yelp for Packaged Foods
The Next Web - Consmr let’s you rate and check-in to packaged goods
Mashable - Consmr is the Yelp for the Supermarket
Forbes - Consmr is Product Reviews Gone Wild
PSFK - Check in to Products You Are Using The Independent - Site Mixes Social Network with Consumer...
2 tags
Why I Started Consmr
If you’re following this blog, you probably know my background. I spent the last few years pushing forward in the review and mobile worlds. Whether it was building partnerships with Foursquare and Foodspotting, or trying to bridge the gap between the print and mobile world with the iPhone and iPad, I always believed in solving problems through technology and social media. Mobile and social helps...
4 tags
Internet Week: Catch Me If You Can
I’m crawling out of my cave temporarily for Internet Week… here’s the fun stuff I’m participating in.
Tuesday, 1:30PM - Social Food Apps At the Internet Week HQ you’ll see a discussion about new apps that help you make decisions about what to do when your wallet is out; whether you’re at the grocery store or sitting down for a gourmet meal. Anyone with an...
May 2011
3 posts
Stickers!
1 tag
April 2011
1 post
5 tags
Disable Gmail's Also Include
I was hoping to figure out how to disable Gmail’s new “feature” called Also Include. Why? Because it just doesn’t work and it’s a distraction to me. If Google’s Instant Search was all about saving a few precious seconds, then this feature nullifies that time saving.
Unfortunately, you’re out of luck if you want to get rid of it. I’ve found no way...
March 2011
2 posts
8 tags
Google Mobile Payments vs Apple Mobile Payments
Last week, I made this comment in response to my previous post about mobile NFC payments on the Nexus S:
Ultimately, Google will want to handle the mobile payments themselves. How do they do that? Do they use Google Checkout? Stores would need to accept that as a payment method through an NFC station… and even then it’s just routing back through the same big credit card companies....
5 tags
February 2011
1 post
7 tags
Netflix on Android & iPhone: Is Windows Phone 7...
The mobile industry moves so fast that today’s plan is tomorrow’s trash. What’s also apparent is that each mobile platform’s approach is both providing and constraining user choice at the same time.
Thanks to recent developments, if you’re a Netflix user and you own a smartphone you may be out of luck. What’s affecting iPhone and Android Netflix users? Two...
January 2011
2 posts
NYC Start-Ups to watch in 2011
A little late to this but great run down on the NYC startups to watch like Scoop St, GroupMe, etc. Coming in at the top slot is Consmr.
Dear Amazon Android Market – So Long and Thanks...
It’s official, the Amazon Android Market has no hope of helping premium Android developers.
I’ve been hoping for an alternative to the Android Market which, despite the sales volume of Android, generates a fraction of the sales that iTunes does. I welcomed the Amazon Android market because they would likely fix all of the issues that the Google Android Market suffers from AND have the power of an...
December 2010
7 posts
Draw your own conclusions
Zagat’s badge (launched Feb, 2010)
NY Magazine’s badge (launched Dec, 2010)
8 tags
Android Market Changes: Everything But What We...
As someone who started in December of ‘08 working on an Android app, before there was even a paid app store, clearly I saw the reasons why Android would be successful. It still amazes me though how little has changed with the Android Market since then.
The recent changes to the Android market still miss many of the basic issues and concerns that continue to make the iPhone “the” platform...
2 tags
Augmented Reality presented by MESA
I’ve linked a couple of write ups below on the MESA Augmented Reality panel. This is the second augmented reality event that I’ve had the pleasure of participating in with Professor Feiner of Columbia University. There isn’t much that we’re doing today that he hasn’t done over the past 20 years. Just instead of carrying a computer on your back, it’s now powered...
Google's Nexus S Cannot Do Mobile Payments
If you’ve read my blog, you know I mourned the death of the Google Nexus One.
If you’ve read my Twitter you know I created a trending topic about Gingerbread when I mistakenly thought I was receiving Android 2.3 but instead was a two part 2.2 update (sorry again).
So clearly I’m interested in the Android platform, and in fact have an absolutely slick looking new version...
3 tags
Android Market Thought Of The Day
So Google is now adding an age ratings system to all of the apps in the Android Market. I wonder how this outranked the other concerns that both consumers and developers have had for years?
November 2010
3 posts
10 tags
Thanks Harvard Cyberposium
Okay this is my second try at this (epic Tumblr fail: next time, Tumblr should make sure that they allocate all resources to saving posts in progress when the site is crashing).
Big thanks to the folks involved with the Harvard Business School Cyberposium. The mobile apps panel was a huge success, and I was humbled and thrilled to be invited to represent consumer products in the mobile app world....
7 tags
Zagat Food Trucks [BETA] →
technoculture:
Interesting new way for Zagat to stay current and on top of new trends in dining. Legitimizes food trucks as well.
October 2010
2 posts
3 tags
I Finally Made It To Harvard!
Like any Brown University grad, Harvard was my safety school. Well now it’s time for me to give Harvard a second chance…
I’ll be speaking at the Harvard Business School Cyberposium on November 13th. There will be lots to share with the audience and fellow panelists on the future of mobile apps, app interconnectivity and the evolution of app stores. If you’re interested,...
