The Spark of Genius Series highlights a unique feature of startups and is made possible by Microsoft BizSpark. If you would like to have your startup considered for inclusion, please see the details here. Each weekday, Mashable chooses one startup to profile in our Spark of Genius series. While we're inundated with applications from great startups, it's more demand than we can keep up with.
[More from Mashable: Highlight, Annotate & Save Web Pages With Scrible]
In response, we're kicking off a new series we'll use to feature even more companies worthy of reader attention. Each weekend, we'll handpick a few startups that we think are building interesting, unique or niche products.
Parking In Motion, for instance, is working to solve a problem that most drivers experience on a daily basis: finding parking spots. FullForesome is a niche social network for golfers that helps them do more of what they love do -- golf. LikeJournal is taking a stab at turning Facebook "likes" into bookmarks. And then there's AirRun, an iPhone app for gofers; it's a practical app for an economy still on the mend.
[More from Mashable: Localmind Uses Foursquare & Facebook Checkins for Q&A Platform]
All worthy ideas, we think. Take a look, test them out and then share your thoughts with us in the comments.
Quick Pitch: iPhone app [iTunes link].
Genius Idea: Find parking faster.
Mashable's Take: Finding a parking spot in metropolitan areas can be a hassle. PIM provides users with a map or list view of 16,000 parking locations in 300 U.S. cities, 50 Canadian cities and 200 European cities to simplify the process.
App users can also check out prices, hours of operations, remaining capacity and entry points, as well as pay and reserve a spot before they arrive. Eventually, PIM will add support so users can pay their parking meters remotely. Android and BlackBerry versions of the app are also in the works.
Quick Pitch: AirRun is a location-based job hub for iOS devices [iTunes link].
Genius Idea: Hire cheap labor for the tasks you don't want to do yourself.
Mashable's Take: Earlier in the week, Gigawalk launched with a splash by offering iPhone users a quick and easy way to sign up to complete tasks in exchange for compensation. AirRun operates under the same model -- anyone can outsource jobs to iPhone users interested in making a quick buck.
With AirRun, users can be seekers or runners. Seekers create jobs, specify the pay for the services they're requesting and select applicants to fulfill their requests. Runners can locate nearby tasks on a map, apply to complete jobs and get compensated for their services, all via the application.
Quick Pitch: LikeJournal is a social bookmarking site powered by the Facebook Like Button.
Genius Idea: Treating "likes" as bookmarks.
Mashable's Take: When you click the Facebook Like button, you're sharing your interest in something with your Facebook friends. The action is also not dissimilar to bookmarking a website to revisit later. Such is the premise behind LikeJournal, a site that collects your Facebook "likes" as bookmarks.
In addition to its website, LikeJournal offers both Chrome and Firefox extensions to give users quick access to their recent "likes" and "like" search functionality. The overall experience is quite rudimentary right now, but as Facebook users log more "likes," there's certainly potential for LikeJournal to build out a service that helps users better manage their "likes."
Quick Pitch: FullForesome is a website and iPhone application that makes it incredibly easy for users to round up playing partners for a round of golf.
Genius Idea: Never schedule a tee time for one again.
Mashable's Take: Avid golfers are often in search of partners -- at least, that's what I hear from my father, the golfer. FullForesome, a social networking site for golf enthusiasts, offers users a simple way to find and pair up with other golfers via its website and companion iPhone application [iTunes link].
The FullForesome user can specify course preferences, add friends, schedule tee times and use the app to solicit friends or strangers with similar interests to join him or her in a round of golf. Course managers can also choose to sign up to help their customers better coordinate their golf plans.
With ringing endorsements from trade publications, the service seems very well suited for digitally-savvy golf aficionados.
Image courtesy of iStockphoto, quavondo
Series Supported by Microsoft BizSpark
This story originally published on Mashable here.
[More from Mashable: Highlight, Annotate & Save Web Pages With Scrible]
In response, we're kicking off a new series we'll use to feature even more companies worthy of reader attention. Each weekend, we'll handpick a few startups that we think are building interesting, unique or niche products.
Parking In Motion, for instance, is working to solve a problem that most drivers experience on a daily basis: finding parking spots. FullForesome is a niche social network for golfers that helps them do more of what they love do -- golf. LikeJournal is taking a stab at turning Facebook "likes" into bookmarks. And then there's AirRun, an iPhone app for gofers; it's a practical app for an economy still on the mend.
[More from Mashable: Localmind Uses Foursquare & Facebook Checkins for Q&A Platform]
All worthy ideas, we think. Take a look, test them out and then share your thoughts with us in the comments.
PIM: App Makes Parking Easy
Genius Idea: Find parking faster.
Mashable's Take: Finding a parking spot in metropolitan areas can be a hassle. PIM provides users with a map or list view of 16,000 parking locations in 300 U.S. cities, 50 Canadian cities and 200 European cities to simplify the process.
App users can also check out prices, hours of operations, remaining capacity and entry points, as well as pay and reserve a spot before they arrive. Eventually, PIM will add support so users can pay their parking meters remotely. Android and BlackBerry versions of the app are also in the works.
AirRun: Outsource Jobs to iPhone Users
Genius Idea: Hire cheap labor for the tasks you don't want to do yourself.
Mashable's Take: Earlier in the week, Gigawalk launched with a splash by offering iPhone users a quick and easy way to sign up to complete tasks in exchange for compensation. AirRun operates under the same model -- anyone can outsource jobs to iPhone users interested in making a quick buck.
With AirRun, users can be seekers or runners. Seekers create jobs, specify the pay for the services they're requesting and select applicants to fulfill their requests. Runners can locate nearby tasks on a map, apply to complete jobs and get compensated for their services, all via the application.
LikeJournal: Bookmarking Site for Facebook "Likes"
Genius Idea: Treating "likes" as bookmarks.
Mashable's Take: When you click the Facebook Like button, you're sharing your interest in something with your Facebook friends. The action is also not dissimilar to bookmarking a website to revisit later. Such is the premise behind LikeJournal, a site that collects your Facebook "likes" as bookmarks.
In addition to its website, LikeJournal offers both Chrome and Firefox extensions to give users quick access to their recent "likes" and "like" search functionality. The overall experience is quite rudimentary right now, but as Facebook users log more "likes," there's certainly potential for LikeJournal to build out a service that helps users better manage their "likes."
FullForesome: A Social Network for Golfers
Genius Idea: Never schedule a tee time for one again.
Mashable's Take: Avid golfers are often in search of partners -- at least, that's what I hear from my father, the golfer. FullForesome, a social networking site for golf enthusiasts, offers users a simple way to find and pair up with other golfers via its website and companion iPhone application [iTunes link].
The FullForesome user can specify course preferences, add friends, schedule tee times and use the app to solicit friends or strangers with similar interests to join him or her in a round of golf. Course managers can also choose to sign up to help their customers better coordinate their golf plans.
With ringing endorsements from trade publications, the service seems very well suited for digitally-savvy golf aficionados.
Image courtesy of iStockphoto, quavondo
Series Supported by Microsoft BizSpark
This story originally published on Mashable here.
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