RideBliss Chooses PointAbout + Ning
January 30, 2009
RideBliss, a service that promotes a greener way to commute, has implemented a mobile solution by combining Ning, the custom social networking tool, and PointAbout to turn the mobile Ning site into a downloadable application that can be distributed through the iTunes App Store.
The effect is striking. PointAbout wraps the private-labeled Ning site, turning it into a native iPhone application. The user can see recent RideBliss activity, new members, add and review photos, participate in discussions and more.
Using Ning as a back-end allows RideBliss to select a hosted social networking service for a fraction of the cost of creating and administering a proprietary solution.
Additionally, the private-labeled Ning site looks & works very well on a PC computer as well as the mobile device, giving RideBliss an end-to-end solution that encompasses both the PC and mobile environments.
PointAbout Mobilizes 1st Mariner Bank ATM & Branch Finder
January 23, 2009
PointAbout announced today the launch of First Mariner Bank’s ATM & Branch finder iPhone application. Video and screenshots below.
Here’s the press release:
R2i and PointAbout Develop New iPhone App for 1st Mariner Bank
BALTIMORE – January 26, 2009 – R2integrated (R2i), a digital marketing and technology firm, today announced that Apple accepted and released an iPhone application developed by R2integrated and PointAbout.
This free application is available to 1st Mariner Bank customers who own an iPhone or iPod Touch, allowing them to find ATMs and 1st Mariner Bank branches relative to their current location (automatically generated by their iPhone). The application allows customers to use their GPS location to find the nearest ATMs, including the more than 16,000 MoneyPass® ATMs around the country as well as other PointAbout Network information such as store sales, gas prices and more. Using the iPhone and iTouch GPS technology, the 1st Mariner Application makes it easy to find ATM’s throughout the USA and Branches in the DC/MD metro area. The application is available for download through the APP Store on customers’ phone or through iTunes.
R2integrated completed the creative design, developed the administrative and user interface ATM and Branch Locator system integrating with the PointAbout Network System. Using an Open Source CMS called DotNetNuke™, 1st Mariner is able to manage ATMs and branch information on a daily basis with real-time updates to customers via the application.
“1st Mariner Bank was able to create an iPhone application for a fraction of the traditional cost by using PointAbout’s thin-client springboard and R2i’s programming expertise. This approach gives 1st Mariner Bank the added benefit of being able to increase the application’s functionality without users having to download any updates and provides a new channel of communication between 1st Mariner Bank and its customers,” explained Daniel R. Odio, Chief Operating Officer of PointAbout.
“Providing our customers the ability to map step by step directions directly to our nearest branch or available ATM machine differentiates ourselves from other banks in the region. The application is ideal for any of our customers who want the service of a local bank, but travel either regionally or anywhere in the United States,” said Kevin Lynch, Senior Vice President, eCommerce, 1st Mariner Bank.
“Successfully designing, building, and deploying an iPhone application is a testament to our engineers’ ability to understand and implement new technology. The average user is highly dependent on their mobile device and we were excited to partner with 1st Mariner Bank to release an innovative new technology product to help them remain competitive,” said Chris Chodnicki, Chief Technology Officer and Partner, R2integrated.
Plans for future versions with increased functionality are in the works and expected over the next several months. The application is available for download through the APP Store on iPhone devices or through iTunes.
About R2i
R2integrated (R2i) is a high growth, next generation digital marketing firm specializing in creating meaningful customer engagement in online environments. R2i provides expertise in social media, marketing and building customer relationships by leveraging online and mobile technologies. R2i possesses a comprehensive set of professional services, including marketing, design, and technology to assist companies with next-generation Website development needs. Complementing its digital marketing expertise, R2i is a national leader in emerging technologies and content management systems, which help customers achieve feature-rich functionality with rapid, cost-effective development. R2i currently has offices in Baltimore, Northern Virginia and New York. http://www.r2integrated.com. 410-327-0007 x 1246 lhill@r2integrated.com
About PointAbout
PointAbout wraps robust web applications with a thin-client springboard to harness the power of a native application while maintaining the flexibility of the web, creating mobile applications across multiple phone platforms without any ramp-up time, no need for proprietary programming expertise and little or no re-development of your current site. Mobilize and monetize your brand in ways never before possible. http://www.PointAbout.com 1.800.976.3703 Daniel.Odio@PointAbout.com
About 1st Mariner Bank
1st Mariner Bank, headquartered in Baltimore, MD and a subsidiary of 1st Mariner Bancorp, operates 25 full service bank branches in Baltimore, Anne Arundel, Harford, Howard, Talbot, and Carroll counties in Maryland, the City of Baltimore, and Shrewsbury, Pennsylvania. First Mariner Mortgage, a division of First Mariner Bank, operates retail offices in Central Maryland, the Eastern Shore of Maryland, and Massachusetts. First Mariner Mortgage also operates direct marketing mortgage operations in Baltimore City. To find out more about us, please visit us at www.1stmarinerbank.com or www.1stmarinermortgage.com.
Sean Shadmand Speaks at Georgetown Entrepreneur Day
January 23, 2009
Today Sean Shadmand was on the Georgetown Entrepreneur panel on Strategy for gaining mass market appeal, along with Max Durovic – Arrow Inc., Casey Golden – Small Act Network, Yuri Horowitz – Sol Systems, Michael Ortner – Capterra. The guest speaker was Morgan O’Brien, co-founder of Nextel Communications and now Chairman of Cyren Call which is advisor to the Public Safety Spectrum Trust Corporation.
Thanks to Omid Mashhadi and Georgetown for setting this great panel up.
PointAbout Featured in Huffington Post
January 22, 2009
The Huffington Post reviewed our 2009 Inauguration application, writing, “A company called PointAbout created a special GPS-related app for the inauguration that guided users to the Mall via Metro or street directions. It also offered to find free hotspots, inaugural balls and the nearest Starbucks.”
PointAbout adds traffic cameras
January 21, 2009
PointAbout has added live traffic camera information to its 2009 inauguration application. This feature and functionality allows the user to see, in real time, how busy various locations are at Washington, DC., including Georgetown and downtown DC.
PointAbout featured in MocoNews
January 20, 2009
PointAbout was featured in MocoNews: “PointAbout launches iPhone app for inauguration-goers: Washington-D.C.-based PointAbout has teamed up with PR firm Qorvis and law firm Patton Boggs to create an iPhone navigation app just in team for the 2009 inauguration, WaPo reports. Via the phone’s location-based service, the app helps users navigate the capital by foot or Metro train, make reservations at Zagat-rated restaurants, find free WiFi hotspots, route local Starbucks and locate inaugural parties. PointAbout formed six months ago and has created the service on a mere $7,400 budget.”
PointAbout Profiled in The Washington Post
January 18, 2009
PointAbout was profiled by reporter Kim Hart in The Washington Post, in an article titled “PointAbout Hopes Inauguration Can Be Its Debut as Well“. The article is below:
Monday, January 19, 2009; Page D08
Tomorrow’s inauguration will officially kick off the 44th presidency, but it is also serving as a launching pad for a District company trying to capture the attention of about 1 million smartphone users pouring into the city.
PointAbout, a six-month-old firm, teamed up with public relations firm Qorvis and law firm Patton Boggs to build an iPhoneapplication to guide inauguration-goers around the city. Using the phone’s GPS capability, the application senses visitors’ location and helps them navigate the capital by foot or Metro train, make reservations at Zagat-rated restaurants, find free WiFi hotspots, locate inaugural balls to crash and pinpoint the shortest route to the nearest Starbucks.
The idea for the free application was conceived by Qorvis to help people figure out Washington, which isn’t the most intuitive place to navigate. The company enlisted PointAbout to make the application work on the Blackberry. Mapping company FortiusOne, based in Arlington, joined the effort to power the applications’ map tools. Qorvis said it’s been downloaded “several thousand times” since it landed on iTunes a month ago.
What makes the inauguration app even more interesting is the scrappy start-up behind it. PointAbout was created by four tech-savvy entrepreneurs, all of whom have been involved with successful companies in the past — so successful that they can afford to work at the company for free. Since forming in August, the firm has spent a grand total of $7,400. Talk about a tight budget.
Chief executive Scott Suhy spent 16 years at Microsoft, and left more than a year ago with plans to start a company. He met Chief Operating Officer Daniel Odio, who also runs a real estate company, at an event put on by tech networking group Tie-DC. Isaac Mosquera, the firm’s head coding guru, and Sean Shadmand, the strategy genius, met at George Mason University and moved to San Francisco to start FamilyOven.com, a recipe exchange site. They recently moved back to Washington to be closer to family.
All four work out of a large Eastern Market rowhouse. White boards with brainstorming notes cover the walls in the living room and kitchen, and Odio and Shadmand live on the second and third floors. They want the space to become something of a haven for entrepreneurs who want to drop by, hang out and toss around ideas.
At first, the four of them met every week at a coffee shop to try to come up with a business idea. They decided they wanted to focus on mobile, which they see as the largest untapped market.
PointAbout’s goal is to help brands interact with customers on mobile phones via easy-to-use applications. Most smartphone applications are typically labor-intensive to create because they have to be coded separately to work with each phone’s software. PointAbout says it’s found a way to develop applications for the mobile Web, and then connect it to the software, so the applications have access to the phone’s camera, address book and GPS function.
So, for example, you can find the closest bar, take a picture of the beer selection and send it to all your friends.
The inauguration application is a “way to show the world what’s possible,” Odio said.
By using a smartphone’s camera, Web browser and GPS function, the applications “make everyone into an on-the-scene-reporter and an in-the-moment content provider,” Shadmand said. He envisions an application that lets people take pictures of graffiti in their neighborhood to report it to the police department from their cellphones, for example.
PointAbout has teamed up with other companies with the need for similar tools. It’s launched an application for real estate broker Long & Foster that displays all listings and property photos within three miles of where a homebuyer is standing. It created another one for Baltimore-based 1st Mariner Bank to help customers find the nearest ATM that doesn’t charge a fee to get cash.
After a couple of hours of showing me everything their apps could do, Mosquera and Shadmand bundled up against the cold night air and headed to a poker game. They invited me to come along.
It turns out another inaugural event was happening at the Dupont Circleloft office of Nclud, a Web design start-up that was hosting the firstGeeksLovePoker game. About 15 guys from a cross section of area tech firms – Clearspring, Raytheonand BearingPoint, to name few, were there. Martin Ringlein, co-founder of Nclud, said it would likely become a regular event.
“I just thought it would be fun to get a bunch of guys together to talk — maybe about companies and business plans, maybe not,” said Scott Mendenhall, senior vice president of technology at IXI Corporation, a McLean company that analyzes markets for the financial industry.
They struggled through their first few games of Texas Hold’em– about half admitted they didn’t know much about poker — with a Will Ferrell movie playing on the big-screen TV in the background. But eventually there were winners.
The prizes: one gift card for iTunes and another for Subway.
They were all much more excited about the prospect of free sandwiches.
PointAbout Featured in TechCrunch’s Guide to Inauguration
January 18, 2009
PointAbout was featured in TechCrunch’s Guide To The Inauguration. TechCrunch writes, “PointAbout 2009 Presidential Inauguration Guide: Free app with a countdown to the inauguration, distance to the inauguration steps, and lets you navigate Washington, D.C.
with maps of public transport, parking, free WiFi zones, and a Zagat’s restaurant guide for the city.”
PointAbout featured in the Miami Herald
January 18, 2009
PointAbout was featured in The Miami Herald for its 2009 Inauguration application. Click here to read the full story.
PointAbout Featured on MSNBC
January 17, 2009
PointAbout was featured on MSNBC in this article titled “FortiusOne and PointAbout Inauguration Mashup Gives Attendees a Voice”.
