In our last blog we talked about the ten mobile apps that are changing the world, as presented by Ian Finley, Research VP at Gartner. Here we look at the remaining five….
6. Nest is a smart thermostat, which is driving the possibilities of IOT (Internet of Things). Google paid several billions of dollars to buy this company, but the potential is endless. Sensors are now built into all kinds of devices, from cars to aircraft to boilers. Nest provides a way of connecting devices, such as security systems, heating or the TV via a smart remote or this instance our mobile devices and enables to carry out planning and analysis remotely.
7. Hotel Tonight takes unsold inventory of hotel rooms and makes them available that day. So if you need a hotel room at the last minute, you can find one and usually at a much lower cost. These kind of apps are changing the economics of the travel industry, which has already been hit hard through mobile app development. They work on the presumption that a lot of travellers are not are their desk and need to get access to this information on the move. The upside is that the traveller gets a better price and the hotel gets to sell rooms that might not have been sold otherwise.
8. FightBack is a way for women to fight back against rape. A very real and scary statistic is that it is predicted that 3 out of 10 women in the US, has or will be raped during their lifetime. This is a huge scale problem all across the globe. But these compelling mobile apps allow users to call the police via one button access, and alert friends and family of what is happening and their location so they can get help quickly. Some apps also activate video and voice recording, that can be used later as evidence.
9. Serval Project gives a view of the direction of where mobile technology is heading. For example, when a natural disaster occurs, such as an earthquake, the first thing to go down is the infrastructure. These apps allow mobile devices to create a ‘peer to peer’ or ‘mesh’ network, which bypasses the usual listening points on traditional networks, thereby enabling communication to take place, where it would not usually be feasible. This opens up the opportunity to break down more barriers, and allow communication in places or to be accessed by those who would not ordinarily have access.
10. Bitcoin Wallet is possibly the most far out app, insofar as it allows you to carry Bitcoins with you to other places. It is moving Bitcoins from out of the electronic world and into the real world to be used as currency to buy products and services.