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20 Cool New Startups You've Never Heard Of

By Mary Branscombe 5:50 PM - March 25, 2010
 

Picture 2 of 21

 

Picture 2 of 21

   

Extra Laptop Screen: The Panel by MEDL

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A 17-inch laptop doesn’t give you the same amount of screen space you get by using two monitors side by side. With The Panel you could spread out your windows to get more done even when you're traveling, or do email on one screen and enjoy full-screen video on the other. It plugs in via USB and at 13 inches and 2.2 pounds it’s not too heavy to carry around (and unlike a 17” monster laptop, you can choose to leave it behind sometimes). The company behind it, MEDL, is looking for backers; if they find someone to bankroll The Panel it could be on sale by the end of the year for around $300.

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trueno07 03/26/2010 12:21 PM
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Strange that most of these are Android apps/utilities...

Not really, but it's good to see this kind of stuff being developed for the Android platform.

killerclick 03/26/2010 1:42 AM
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So the only innovations are applications for phones? I don't have or need a smartphone, this is useless to me! Bah!

JohnnyLucky 03/26/2010 2:56 AM
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Rebtel’s Android app sounds interesting. I'll have to check it out.

dxwarlock 03/26/2010 3:24 AM
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am I the only one scrolling and reading going "hmm one of these must be interesting" and getting to the end to realize none of them was?

not one of them made me stop and go "that's kind of cool" they all seem like everyday things you'd find on the marketplace appstore already, or in wal-marts electronic section.

Tomsguiderachel 03/26/2010 4:11 AM
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DXWarlock :
am I the only one scrolling and reading going "hmm one of these must be interesting" and getting to the end to realize none of them was?not one of them made me stop and go "that's kind of cool" they all seem like everyday things you'd find on the marketplace appstore already, or in wal-marts electronic section.


I think Zosh sounds amazing--I hate having to print then scan stuff in after signing it--this adds the signature for you. Thickbuttons could change the way smartphone users type....I dunno, I think a few of these are actually a big deal.

Tomsguiderachel 03/26/2010 4:11 AM
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killerclick :
So the only innovations are applications for phones? I don't have or need a smartphone, this is useless to me! Bah!


Many of them are web sites not phone apps!

milktea 03/26/2010 5:50 AM
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At first I thought this article could excite me with cool new inventions. Instead, it wasted all my time scrolling through all 22 pictures. The only interesting thing was the nano-scale camera sensor.
I'm pretty disappointed with this year's Startups.

climber 03/26/2010 11:48 AM
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No way am I going to send my signature to any company over the internet, to be placed in a document. You want identity theft, go for it.

climber 03/26/2010 11:52 AM
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climber :
No way am I going to send my signature to any company over the internet, to be placed in a document. You want identity theft, go for it.


I was referring to the Zosh app.

jtt283 03/26/2010 12:20 PM
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Yeah, I would like to have seen more hardware, not software; paint-on solar cells, a new battery technology, cheap superbright LED lighting; that sort of thing. Oh well, it's coming...

Anonymous 03/26/2010 2:07 PM
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The most boring 20 companies I've never heard of ..... for a good reason. /yawn

Tomsguiderachel 03/26/2010 5:37 PM
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climber :
I was referring to the Zosh app.


Do you feel that way about online banking too? Or financial tools like Mint.com?

marybranscombe 03/26/2010 11:25 PM
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@jtt - the hardware launches were The Panel, Quantum Film, Glide TV and Phone Halo (so 4/20)... there were a lot more mobile apps and Web services than new hardware, perhaps because hardware is still more expensive to develop on a startup budget. A new battery technology means a lot of investment in chemistry which is harder than physics to industrialize and reproduce reliably, but it's an area I keep tracking!

@climber - the signature gets embedded into the document that's sent, just like any fax; today a lot of people print out, sign and then scan forms to email. Zosh actually saves the mathematical vectors of your writing so it could prove you signed something (or didn't). The Zosh team did ask me if I'd be prepared to save my signature online to use with devices that don't have a touchscreen and I said 'depends on who secures the site' but there are huge potential security risks in doing that and it's not what the app does today.

@JohnnyLucky - I expect to save a lot of money with the Rebtel app!

pocketdrummer 03/30/2010 11:10 AM
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"designed by Lady Gaga’s stylist!"

Is that supposed to be a good thing?

Anonymous 04/08/2010 4:27 PM
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Can you tell us more, like does it include "Bluetooth" or even USB connectivity to interface with PC or Mac?

artilano 04/08/2010 11:58 PM
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MEDL is seeking funding for a product that already exists. Samsung has the LapFit, which is also a USB monitor. And just about any monitor maker can come up with this using DisplayLink.