Bits Bright new ideas from Seedcamp

The Guardian brought SeedCamp to my attention the other day, which is like a European KickStarter for entrepreneurs. Lord Sir Alan Sugar would be proud.

http://www.bit-tech.net/blog/2011/08/16/bright-new-ideas-from-seedcamp/

 

Opensignalmaps is an interesting one, handy for showing the 3G spots around you.

 

Dont see much point to most of those! 5 out of 6 are just solutions to problems that either dont exist or are not particularly important.
Crowd - i can already see pictures of places I havent been to and id rather see something for real anyway.
EnergyBob - i have a timer and thermostat in my house. If this is meant to save money on heating bills, Im just gonna spend it on the subscription for this instead!
Citymapper - Already plenty of solutions i can use to find my way around and if your trying to get somewhere for a purpose, why do i need to know how many calories ive burned?
Myws - im not in this industry so cant comment. i guess it could be useful.
opensignalmaps - if I have 3G signal, great. if i have no 3G signal, how am i gonna get the maps to my device?! Besides, i aint gonna walk around just to get a better signal, i have better things to do.
Travelstormer - isnt that what the pub is for? Do people not want to talk to their friends anymore?

Just my 2pence worth!

 

I thought exactly the same thing about EnergyBob. I think it's a good idea in principal, but badly executed and hugely overpriced. Why would anyone pay £88 upfront for a gadget, and then £8 a month thereafter, forever, in the vain hope of trying to save more than £8 a month in energy. Most people have a fairly usual routine anyway, so it's not like the timer on most systems is going to hours out.

If the government/s decided to back the scheme as part of their energy efficiency drives - by subsidising the unit price and waiving the monthly fee - it might be in with a chance. As it is, total rubbish.

According to OpenSignalMaps I have no signal where I live at all. Bit strange, as I have two mobiles on different networks and full strength on each. Bit more work needed there...

CityMapper I quite liked, but the calorie count is so generic and inaccurate they may as well leave it off.

Like the idea of Seedcamp itself though - it's the best idea on the page!

 

Citymapper is great. Travelling in London is a nightmare for those of us that don't know the city very well. And this lays out all the choices and the relevant timings in one place.

Been really handy for me already to work out the quickest way to terminal 4 at heathrow