Bridget Carey: The Digital Dish

Three South Florida tech startups compete at SuperConf

Nine tech start-up companies are competing for $25,000 in cash and prizes at the first SuperConf, a Miami Beach conference for technology entrepreneurs.

The two-day conference begins Friday with presentations from the newly formed tech companies, three of which are from South Florida: Call Loop, which does mobile marketing; Luxset, a website to organize group discounts for activities; and Appush, which helps create web and mobile apps.

On Saturday, eight tech entrepreneurs from around the nation will offer advice to the crowd, including Ashvin Kumar, the CEO of Blippy.com, a social network tied to shopping and reviews.

Event organizer Auston Bunsen, a 24-year-old web developer in Coral Springs, said that although the 175 attendees are coming from around the globe, he created the event in part to bring together the South Florida tech community.

Also, he felt there was a need to fill the gap left by the annual Future of Web Apps conference moving from Miami to Las Vegas this year. It has been held in Miami for the past three years.

"The tech community here is pretty big, but its dispersed,” Bunsen said. "Every time I went to FOWA, we connected. And I wanted to see that happen again."

SuperConf will be at the Miami Beach Convention Center. As I write this post, about 20 tickets are still available, starting at $175 for one day. More details at SuperConf.net.

[Update: The grand prize winner ended up being ShoeFitr, a company from Pennsylvania: Shoefitr.com]

Customer service isn’t best served on Twitter

Dear Citizens of the Internet: If you’re having trouble with your gizmo and are not pleased with the doohickey’s performance, taking your gripes to Twitter and Facebook doesn’t guarantee your issue will be resolved.

In this week's Poked column, I address the effectiveness of going to social media for customer service, and the netiquette you should keep in mind if you do get a response: Customer service isn't best served on Twitter

Get better Zzzs with the Zeo Personal Sleep Coach

Here's a quirky gadget that monitors your sleep cycles overnight and helps you become more conscientious of improving your sleep health. There are a few things I would like to see improved, but after using it for a couple weeks, it was fascinating. Read this week's full detailed review online: Zeo Personal Sleep Coach motivates you to sleep better

Since the review ran, I've been asked a few questions about the headband. The first night, wearing it was irritating and it took willpower to not rip it off. (But it came off anyways in the middle of that first night.) The next night, I adjusted how tight it was and looped it around my ponytail to give it more support, which seemed to make it more comfortable to wear. After day three, wearing it didn't bother me at all... although a few nights I did still knock it off my head.

Since these headbands wear out after 90 days of continuous use, I'd only use this once in a while to maintain and monitor sleep health. And you can request multiple accounts for one unit if you want to share with others.

LinkedIn Skills somewhat helpful, but far from perfect

Filling out a LinkedIn profile lends itself to paranoia, anxiety, and perhaps a newfound addiction to painkillers:

How do other people fill this out? Does anyone care about my skillset anymore? Does this even qualify as a talent?

Well, hopefully a new LinkedIn tool can be of assistance. It’s called Skills, under the "More" link in the navigation bar, and it shows what talent keywords are trending among other users with that phrase in their profiles.

Although the tool is in its infancy, on a very basic level it can help job seekers stay ahead of the curve. You can use it to see how you can stand out -- or better fit in -- against the trends. In my most recent Poked column, I write about tips on how to use it, and when it's pretty much useless.

AT&T's HTC Inspire 4G is impressive

I was pretty impressed with the HTC Inspire, the first phone to tap into AT&T's faster HSPA+ 4G network. It's AT&T’s slickest Android phone yet – and the $99.99 price tag sweetens the deal. 

The HTC Inspire comes loaded with Android 2.2, HTC Sense 2.0 and built-in Adobe Flash player. LCD screen is 4.3-inches. Camera is 8 megapixels with autofocus and flash, and records HD video in 720p. Has a 1 GHZ processor with 4GB of internal memory and 8 GB on a microSD memory card, but supports up to a 32 GB card. Can be a mobile hotspot for up to five devices with DataPro with Tethering plan.

But keep in mind that when AT&T releases its reportedly faster and more-improved LTE-4G network later this year, this phone won’t be able to take advantage of that.

Also, although the HTC Sense phone-finding features are handy, the map of the phone’s location is just a general area – not specific to know exactly where it is in a building. So it’s decent for helping you know if you left it at a restaurant or work, but not whether you left it in the bathroom or on your desk.

You can read the full review at MiamiHerald.com. But before you buy, be sure to check out AT&T's Motorola Atrix 4G that hits stores tomorrow (Feb. 22). Although I haven't had a model to test yet, the first "NirvanaPhone" is sure stand out from the rest of the Android herd.

Deadline today for Technology Leaders of the Year nominations

Do you know a leader in South Florida's technology community? Someone who has used technology to improve a company's efficency, develop a new product, or made contributions to build the community?

Tuesday Feb. 15 (that's today!) at 5 p.m. is the deadline to nominate someone for the Technology Leader of the Year Awards, given by the Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce.

The awards are presented for:

• CIO/CTO – Small/Medium/Large Enterprise (Separately and can be public or private)
• Technology Infrastructure & Resource Management
• Best Up & Coming Technology Innovator
• Best Use of Technology
• Top Technology Student (university level only)

Directions to submit a nomination can be found here: Technology Leaders of the Year Awards

Looking for love? Cupid's got apps for that.

No date for Valentine’s? GPS can help you find other singles nearby.

Don’t feel like combing your hair? Take an avatar of yourself to a virtual bar.

To see if that person you "met" is compatible, upload your photos into an app that reads personality traits. And if you like what you see, spend a few bucks on a virtual dozen roses.

The Book of Love has a new chapter: Dating by app.

Smartphones and Facebook are giving way to new love-seeking technologies that go beyond the typical computer-assisted profile matchmaking.

For Valentine's Day, I spoke with a few creators who are seeing growth. Check out today's story: Looking for love? Cupid's got apps for that

Miami is top ranked city for lost cellphones

Would you rather get punched in the face by Justin Bieber than lose your phone? If you said yes, you're not alone; so would 45 percent of the people in a recent Norton survey.

The question is a cheap laugh by Norton's survey creators, but it's valid. Physical pain would be better than going through the headache and cost of getting back your main communication tool. (That's, of course, assuming Bieber could punch hard enough to cause physical pain.)

And Miami knows that pain the best, as more phones were misplaced in Miami than any other major U.S. city -- with New York and L.A. right behind. Nationwide, 77 percent of adults said they once lost a phone, and 23 percent have had one stolen.

But losing a phone that's not password-protected is downright debilitating. If my phone didn't have a password, someone could access my e-mail, bank account, personal photos, contacts, family addresses, Facebook account, Kindle account, AAA membership card - even wirelessly reprogram my home DVR.

In the Norton survey, respondents said it cost an average of $125.30 to resolve a missing phone, and a third said it took two to four days to sort everything out. And 87 percent said they had no way to remotely wipe out data from a lost phone.

Using a password is the most basic way to protect yourself, but you may consider investing in something more. Software is available to back up your data, protect against viruses and help you wipe out data remotely - but not all of it comes cheap.

So what to do? Read the rest of the Poked column for a few options you can weigh.

Review: MetroPCS Craft doesn't take advantage of 4G

In case you missed it last week, here's the review of the first 4G phone from MetroPCS, the Samsung Craft. But it's not a smartphone, so buying it just because it is a 4G phone is pretty pointless -- especially considering the phone crashed often when loading a full website.

 

No long lines for Verizon iPhone 4

This wasn't the usual iPhone Launch Day dance. Lines were short and only a few camped out in the wee hours, compared to the thousands that were in line this summer when the iPhone 4 first launched.

This time, for Verizon's iPhone 4 store launch, the lines were modest. About 20 people or so at the busiest South Florida Verizon stores. And various reports in other areas say the same -- not many people waited in line for the doors to open at 7 a.m.

It's not as big of a store event because it's not a brand-new version of the iPhone. Rather, it's similar to the version that AT&T customers have had since last summer. And there were opportunities to order online instead of camping out. It went on sale to everyone Wednesday online, and on Feb. 3 to existing Verizon customers.

Here's the early report from this morning's launch: Crowds small for Verizon iPhone 4 launch

[Top photo of Katy Westby from Pembroke Pines and Sasha Fernandez from Miramar waiting for the doors to open in Pembroke Pines. Bottom photo of Arlene Canin from Coconut Creek and Candy Morse from Pembroke Pines, walking out with their new iPhones. Photos taken by Walter Michot.]