Archive for August 16, 2014

In Depth: StrypeBox

Posted in Products with tags on August 16, 2014 by itnerd

Toronto based StrypeBox is out to make life easier for you when you and your friends go out. Say that five of you want to go out and you want to split the bill. Most of the time it’s a bit of a pain. But that’s where StrypeBox comes in. It’s an add-on for online payment solution Stripe that allows people to pay each other.

There two ways to pay using Strypebox:

  • Users can collect payments directly from people who enter their phone number or email address into a “box” on the Strypebox site.
  • They can create a public “box” to allow people to pay them.

One advantage to StrypeBox is the fact that it’s a web based app that works on any platform. Though apps for specific platforms are coming in the near future. Another advantage is that no card reader is required to get paid. Finally, it uses 256-bit SSL security which means that you don’t have to worry about security at all. Payments are currently limited to Canadian credit cards and banks for now. You can expect to pay 2.9% + $0.45 per successful transaction.

I spoke to Sanjee Sathasivam who is the founder and CEO of StrypeBox and from our conversation, I can tell that he’s working hard to develop StrypeBox into a platform that people will want to use because it meets the needs of those who want to use it. It’s pretty early for this start-up, but I sense that their have something here that will appeal to people. I think they really need to start building  a base of users that will allow them to expand both in scope and the countries that they operate in.

The potential is huge for StrypeBox. My advice would be to keep an eye on them as I think you’ll be hearing from them really soon.

 

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In Depth: Prezi

Posted in Products on August 16, 2014 by itnerd

You might not heard of Prezi, but if you’re in a business that requires you to make presentations, you’ll want to make use of their services. Available on browser, desktop, iPad, or iPhone, it’s easy to use and highly visual. You could consider it to what Power Point wants to be when it grows up and the results are that you get presentations that don’t suck. 

Traditional presentation software requires preparing a linear story line using a storyboard approach. Prezi, on the other hand, allows for both a linear and a free-flowing presentation of a story line. The user creates a presentation on a large blank workspace called the canvas, where all the elements of a presentation are visible. A story line is then created by arranging the elements on the canvas. Various tools are used to connect these elements in order to communicate the presen- ter’s message. Like traditional presentation software, Prezi has the capability of integrating text, images, animation, audio, and video seamlessly into a single presentation. If you’re a visual person, you’ll love this. 

I had a conversation with Drew Banks who is the head of international at Prezi and I discovered that this is a company that’s not only located in San Francisco and Budapest, but has a very interesting culture. For example, if you look at the team, you’ll see that it has a very interesting energy to it and dogs are part of the team. It’s that sort of energy that produces great products which makes it very important for me to look for. 

Prezi has very scalable pricing based on your needs and has a very interesting roster of clients including BOX, TED, and Bristol Myers Squibb. Check them out if you want to kick your presentation up to the next level. 

 

 

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