TDC Games Shows Off America’s Funniest Home Videos Hybrid Board/Tablet Game At CES 2013

A startup from the suburbs of Chicago called TDC games showed off an exciting new way to play board games. Combining the power of QR codes, along with video playback, the company has created a hybrid America’s Funniest Home Videos game.

A Hybrid Game?

We’ve seen the app interactive toys at toy stores and department stores everywhere, we’ve even seen games like Life that have taken to the iPad for the “spinner” experience, however TDC Games utilizes the iPad in the game in different ways. For the America’s Funniest Home Videos Game, when the player selects an action card, they scan it with their tablet or smartphone (iPhone, iPad and Android devices) a video pops up with a decision box.

In the demo we watched it was a video clip of a kid kicking a soccer ball in the gym. The player would have had to decide what was going to happen next in multiple choice. That would dictate the next move on the actual game board.

TDC Games has licensed an entire library of proprietary America’s Funniest Home Video clips for this game which makes it interactive.

The Illinois based startup has several games in the works that will utilize several different technologies found in mobile devices to enhance the family game night.

Check out our video interview below:

Several startups from Chicago’s startup community are in the Startup Village at the largest startup conference in the U.S. it’s not too late to exhibit at everywhereelse.co The Startup Conference

Tech Media Elite Stop By Talk Startups At Startup America Stage CES 2013

Engadget Editor In Chief Tim Stevens speaks at Startup America Stage CES 2013 (photo nibletz.com)

Some of the top tech elite dropped by the Startup America Live stage at Eureka Park on Wednesday to take a break from the hustle and bustle of the Las Vegas Convention Center expo floor and talk to young companies, entrepreneurs and startups about what it takes to get coverage for CES and in general.

The panel was moderated by Frank Gruber, founder and CEO of TechCocktail, creator of DC Week and AOL alum. Joining him as panelists were Tim Stevens the current Editor in Chief at Engadget, Kelly Grant with Market Watch and Smart Money at the Wall Street Journal, and Jason Gilbert from the Huffington Post. All three gave very candid insights into what they are looking for and how to get them to read your pitch and visit your booth.

While nibletz dwarfs any of those sites in comparison, we still get 75 pitches a week on a regular week and during CES it swells to 125-150 per day. It’s hard for our staff to weed through pitches, imagine what it’s like for these guys. Well after today you don’t need to imagine.

Gruber started off the panel by asking the panelists what trends caught their eye at CES this year. Stevens said that he was happy to see a lot of the products that got their starts on crowdfunding sites like Kickstarter and Indiegogo exhibiting at CES. Gilbert agreed with Stevens pointing out that there seemed to be a backlash this year at CES against the “big” manufacturers and “super mega booths”.

Grant loved seeing health and fitness trackers but also said there were too many of them and she’s still looking for the ultimate one.

In talking about CES specifically, Gruber wanted to know what it took to get an email read. HuffPo’s Gilbert said that you have the subject line and the Gmail preview to sell him on a pitch, otherwise it’s probably headed to the trash. Stevens said that he was fortunate to have a team helping him find the diamonds in the rough.

For Grant, like us, its all about timing. You have a better chance at getting your CES related email read a few months earlier so she can put your booth on her calendar. Sending her emails during the show is useless as she (like many of us) don’t even bother reading emails until the end of the night. Like many journalists Grant works off a private email address for her colleagues to actually produce and edit material.

Eureka Park, CES 2013, Startup America Stage, Frank Gruber, Tim Stevens, Kelly Grant, Jason Gilbert

ltoR: Frank Gruber (TechCocktail), Tim Stevens (Engadget), Kelly Grant (WSJ), Jason Gilbert (Huffington Post) photo: nibletz LLC

Presentation and Product are Key

Another theme that all three journalists seemed to agree on is that presentation and product are key. We all know that for a startup a booth at CES can be an expensive thing, but you have to show that you care at least about your product. Speaking of products, Stevens said if you don’t have a product unfortunately Engadget probably won’t cover you. On that, Stevens added that if your product is on the market, going and selling, for more than two weeks it’s too late for Engadget, he likes to be on the cutting edge.

PR People and Press Releases

In a lot of “media” panels PR people get a bad rep. This particular panel didn’t do any PR bashing however they all agreed that your PR team needs to know your pitch word for word and the technology that backs your pitch. As a founder of a startup you don’t want to be at CES or any show for that matter, leave your booth to go to the bathroom and then have a PR person tell a journalist, “I’ll have to ask so and so” and make them wait. Journalists won’t wait.

Stevens and Gilbert both talked about how important exclusives were to them. Stevens said that a product they might not put a priority on would quickly move up the ladder if they got it first.

This panel was part of the Startup America Live stage at Eureka Park at CES 2013

See Scott Case and many more startup and entrepreneurial leaders at everywhereelse.co The Startup Conference

Draw Something Meets Twitter With New Social Startup Didlr: CES 2013

We met a very interesting, and fun, app startup from the UK and Atlanta Georgia at Eureka Park. The startup, called Didlr, essentially combines Draw Something and Twitter for a fun new way to socialize and interact with people across the globe.

Users download the app to their smartphone or tablet, on just about every platform commercially available. After the app is downloaded you go through the normal social networking notions like creating a profile and inviting your friends. Once you’re all set up you can get to Didling.

A Didl is using your creativity through drawings and creating pictures rather than through words. As they tell us in the interview below, 140 characters is a lot more limiting than creating pictures. Didlr allows you to be as creative as you like, or can be.

Thousands of people have already flocked to the service and see it as having a little more meaning than playing the once uber popular Draw Something.

Like Twitter you can follow friends, or Didlr’s whose pictures you like. Also, the more popular a Didl is the longer it stays on the front page of the app.

Creatively speaking Didlr has included a good sized color pallete and various brush tools for any artist.

Check out our our cofounder and CEO, Nick Tippmann’s interview video below.

See startups from across the country and around the world at everywhereelse.co The Startup Conference

Popchilla The Robot For Autistic Children Shows Off At Eureka Park, CES 2013

Raising children can be both hard and a blessing. Raising a child with autism is a lot more challenging. Autistic children often times have problems communicating even their simplest needs sometimes.

Parents of autistic children are constantly looking for “more tools to put in their tool chest” Michael Knight the founder of Popchilla, told nibletz.com in an interview.

Popchilla is a fun loving robotic stuffed animal that also has an app to go along with it. As an example Knight showed us a portion of the app where the Popchilla would tell the child to get his or her toothbrush and tooth paste from a virtual house on a tablet, and then brush Popchilla’s teeth.

Knight knew early on that Popchilla would be a success. His company used to make animatronic robots. He wold get questions from parents of autistic children all the time, asking when he was going to make a robot for them. He learned that sometimes children with autism actually interact better with robots rather than humans.

Popchilla was one of the most innovative things we saw at Eureka Park. Not only is Popchilla a cool robot, but when you couple that with the app you have a recipe for success, and definitely another tool for the tool chest.

Check out our video interview with Knight here:

Check out Popchilla at popchillasworld.com

Want to exhibit your startup at the largest startup conference in the U.S.? Check out everywhereelse.co the startup conference.

Tony Hsieh Talks ROC, Culture & 10 Hour Phone Calls At Eureka Park CES 2013

Tony Hsieh, Scott Case, Eureka Park, CES 2013,

Zappos CEO and Downtown Project founder Tony Hsieh speaks during a fireside chat with Startup America CEO Scott Case (photo: nibletz.com)

The Startup America stage as part of Eureka Park at the International CES started off with a bang this morning. Startup America CEO and technical co-founder of Priceline.com, Scott Case got a chance to have a fireside chat with Tony Hsieh. Hsieh is the CEO of Zappos, the founder of Link Exchange and the founder of the downtown project.

Their intimate fireside chat gave the standing room only crowd a peak into Hsieh’s mind. Hsieh founded his first company, Link Exchange, with his college roomate in 1996. They exited from Link Exchange by selling it to Microsoft just two years later. Early in the discussion Hsieh discussed the real reason that they sold Link Exchange. It wasn’t about the money, an enormous exit or even getting bored with the company. Hsieh and his partners decided to sell Link Exchange because the culture went bad.

” I was dreading waking up and going to work at my own company” Hsieh said during the fire side chat. From that point forward culture has played a crucial role in everything Hsieh does, from the companies he invests in to the employees Zappos hires. To one end culture is a condition of being around people you like “I try to be around people I like being around”, pretty simple concept, but it transcends across just your friends and personal circles. ” companies that have strong cultures out perform companies that don’t” Hsieh said about several studies that have been done on the subject.

Numerous articles have been written about Zappos and the community of employees that work there. Even though the company famous for their “return it for any reason” shoe return policy, is part of Amazon.com now, Hsieh said that it was a prerequisite to selling to Jeff Bezos that Zappos still functions independently. Zappos recently moved their warehouse operations to the Amazon umbrella because warehousing is something Amazon exceeds at. Hsieh and his other Zappos executives still handle customer service, marketing and every other part of the business.

Zappos is always mentioned alongside companies like Google when it comes to culture, and lifestyle within the Zappos campus, which is moving to the old Las Vegas City Hall next year. It’s the company’s culture that drives their employee base. When Zappos has a new hire they go through a traditional interview, once they pass that interview, the next interview is entirely based on how that person will fit in the company culture.

Case commented that when they were growing Priceline.com that culture was important as well. Like Zappos, at one point Priceline went from a company of 10 employees to over 100. In the early stages one person accounted for 10% of the culture.

“10% changes the culture if you’re not careful about it” Case warned to startup founders in the room.

Culture is just as important to Hsieh in his Downtown Project/Las Vegas Tech Fund companies. He wants to know that startups and their founders will fit in the culture in Las Vegas.

Hsieh committed to investing $350 million dollars in growing downtown Las Vegas (not the strip). He wants to make it the biggest and best city for coworking in the world. Startups and entrepreneurs in the downtown Las Vegas community, and Hsieh’s employees for that matter, live by the Three C’s, collisions, community and co-learning.

Hsieh has $50 million dollars set aside for investing in startups and small businesses. To be the recipient of part of that money though, Hsieh looks at the possibility of ROC (return on community) verse traditional ROI (return on investment). Hsieh just invested in a building at a prominent intersection in downtown Las Vegas. They are using that building for a community speaking theater where distinguished entrepreneurial and startup speakers will speak to community members. Hsieh admits that any other real estate investor could make a lot of money with the same location for a bar, restaurant or even a McDonald’s franchise.

From all the different parts of Hsieh’s business life, everyone in the room benefit from Hsieh’s discussion with Case. He even let on to a milestone Zappos recently had, their longest continuous customer service phone call. The length, 10 hours.

See Scott Case and several other startup and entrepreneurial leaders at the largest startup conference in the U.S. everywhereelse.co The Startup Conference, click here

CES 2013: Memphis Startup CoyoteCase Presenting At Eureka Park, Announce Samsung Galaxy S III Case

Back in October we were the first tech media outlet to report on hometown Memphis startup CoyoteCase. The company founded by entrepreneur and concerned uncle Jonathan Page, produces a phone case originally for iPhone that protects your phone, and you as a person.

Basically the CoyoteCase doubles as a personal security system in addition to a bump proof case for your iPhone.

There is a little bit of competition in the market already. For instance there’s a case out there that also holds a small pepper spray can. There’s another case with a personal alarm, and one in the works with a taser (that will most likely never make it to market).

CoyoteCase combines the power of a loud audible personal alarm, along with BlueTooth and an app. The BlueTooth connectivity, combined with the app, add functionality like a tie in to a home’s alarm system, to give a monitoring station GPS coordinates of the users location.

CoyoteCase is making its first big tradeshow debut at the International CES in the Eureka Park startup tech zone. Page is also presenting at CES unveiled.

Page took this occasion to announce a CoyoteCase for the popular Samsung Galaxy S III Android smartphone.

After CES, CoyoteCase will be one of the 130 startups in the Startup Village at everywhereelse.co The Startup Conference

CES 2013 Preview: zoomStand To Launch Giving Your Device More Positions Than Karma Sutra

Laptop and Tablet stands are great. They can keep your laptop or tablet propped up for movie viewing, set at a good angle for typing, or they can sit your tablet upright for displaying. A Phoenix startup called zoomStand is about to rock the stand world that allows you to set your tablet or laptop in more positions than the Karma Sutra.

The zoomStand is extremely flexible because of its unique build and telescoping legs. It’s height adjustable guaranteeing your workspace, no matter what it is, is what you need.

“zoomStand is the first modular and portable laptop and tablet stand that doesn’t sacrifice ergonomics or comfort in the name of simplicity. zoomStand fills the need for a singular accessory that can hold any device, in nearly any position and is easily portable. Coupled with the dire need to be able to get out of a chair and still be able to comfortably use a mobile device is where zoomStand fills the void. A single zoomStand can be used as a desktop riser for a laptop, as a standalone desk or as a theatrical holder for your favorite tablet while lying in bed or on the couch while watching a movie. The possibilities are nearly endless. ” co-founde Chris Piper told launch.it

Piper and his team are set to debut the first manufactured prototypes at Eureka Park the startup zone at the 2013 International CES. They plan to finish manufacturing in time for a spring 2013 release.

CES 2013: CEA Partners With Launch.It For Eureka Park Coverage

Launch.it a New York startup that bills itself as an event news and social information management platform announced earlier this month that they’ve partnered with the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) to power the official news channel for Eureka Park, the startup zone at the 2013 International CES.

Eureka Park is in it’s third official year and has grown 40% year over year. This year there are 140 startups exhibiting throughout the duration of the show. In addition Startup America will host a content stage with speakers, panel discussions and even pitches throughout the event.

“Every great company starts with a eureka moment, a unique idea that launches the next must-have product or service. And through our partnership with CEA, we have ensured that you can now find these companies within their dedicated home in the Eureka Park TechZone and online through their dedicated interactive news site,” said Brian Cohen, CEO and Co-Founder of Launch.it said in a post on the company’s website. “I’ve worked at and attended CES for more than thirty years and it has been one of the best places to find these fledgling start-ups and diamond in-the-rough companies waiting to be discovered and make it big.”

Launch.it will provide access to all of Eureka Park’s startups to these important tools:

· In-depth social analytics

· Wiki-like environment to make story updates in real-time

· Investors and media can follow companies to get real-time updates

· An action box to engage readers for investment and media opportunities

· Facebook comments for insight and feedback

· Rich multimedia, tags and geo-location for enhanced engagement and discoverability

· “Buy it and Trial it” buttons to drive users directly to point of purchase

· Customized tweets for precise messaging and branding

“CEA recognized early on that startups are now an integral part of the consumer electronics industry and created Eureka Park to cultivate and support the passionate entrepreneurs,” said Trace Cohen, President and Co-Founder of Launch.it. “Having attended CES for the past few years, Eureka Park, in it’s first year last year, was one of my favorite areas to walk through because of the innovative startups looking to disrupt multiple industries. Best of all, I had the opportunity to ask questions, meet the passionate founders behind the ideas and can now support them through our partnership to make sure all their news can be easily found, discovered and shared.”

Of course nibletz.com the voice of startups everywhere else, will be covering the entire show including Starutp Debut and the entire Eureka Park experience as well. We’re looking forward to in depth interviews, pitches and reporting on all of the innovative startups in Eureka Park.

Through our previous web properties, and now nibletz, we’ve covered CES for the last decade. Typically with shows like CES we turn to BusinessWire or TradeShow Wire for up to the minute news releases.

CEA partnering with Launch.it, a startup in it’s own right, will better position the Eureka Park startups to make a bigger splash among the over 3500 companies exhibiting during the week in Las Vegas. Launch.it is better positioned in terms of the newest trends in news delivery and social media over the more traditional news services. This way the startups in Eureka Park have their own clear and coherent voice that’s a bit more relevant than traditional newswire services.

60 Startups From Everywhere Else Gear Up For Startup Debut At CES 2013

60 startups from “everywhere else” are set to take the stage next Sunday January 6th as part of the annual “Startup Debut” at CES 2013. This event puts early stage startups in front of as many as 800 journalists and tech media aficionados in an intimate setting where founders can get 1:1 about their companies.

Last year, Liquipel, debuted their product at Startup Debut, held at the HardRock in Las Vegas. The waterproofing product for smartphones had an exceptional award winning year after their initial debut at the event.

Startups from Texas, New York, Toronto, LA, Virginia and even Budapest will exhibit at the Bali Hai Golf Course, two blocks south of Mandalay Bay.

SocialRadius one of the earliest social media marketing agencies, and a die hard supporter of startups, started the event in January 2010 at CES. They now hold five annual events with their two biggest being CES and SXSW.

Nibletz, the voice of startups everywhere else will bring you all of the startup goodness from Startup Debut as part of our ongoing team coverage at CES 2013.

Linkage:

Complete team coverage of CES 2013 can be found here

The next big startup event after CES is this

Startup America Stage Headed To International CES

The Startup America partnership has done a phenomenal job of promoting startups across the United States at key events throughout the year. Last year they had an entire area at the Hilton Hotel for startups as part of SXSW. They also partnered with Startup Rockon to bring equally amazing programming to stages at the Republican and Democratic National Conventions.

Continuing with that theme, Startup America has teamed up with the Consumer Electronics Association to bring the Startup America Stage to Eureka Park at the International CES. The International CES is the largest consumer electronics trade show on the western hemisphere and is happening January 8-11th in Las Vegas.

The Startup America stage will be part of CES’ startup pavilion called Eureka Park, which is housed at the Venetian Hotel and easily accessible via a free shuttle from the Las Vegas Convention Center.

“Innovation defines the International CES and we are thrilled to partner with Startup America to bring programming that highlights the young start-ups and entrepreneurs who will shape the future of technology,” said Gary Shapiro, president and CEO, CEA. “We look forward to the exciting sessions on the Startup America Stage at the 2013 CES shining a light on the companies and innovations of tomorrow.”

“Eureka Park will be home to some of the most cutting-edge startups from across the country this year at the 2013 CES,” said Scott Case, CEO of the Startup America Partnership. “We’re incredibly excited to bring together startups, investors, large companies and media to highlight the amazing innovations taking place at this world-class event.”

Innovation is a major theme, this and every year at CES however the past few years they’ve added an exhibit area for startups. Last year Eureka Park was packed. CEA is able to attract startups with lower cost both space, provided they meet the criteria.

CEA has also announced that Eureka Park is 40% bigger this year, adding even more startups and innovation to the mix.

The Startup America stage will feature panels, keynotes, and Q&A’s from top speakers in the entrepreneurial and startup ecosystem across the country.

Linkage:

For more on the International CES visit here

For more on Startup America visit here

Startup America is also part of this, the largest startup conference in the US

CEA Opened Eureka Park In 2012

The Consumer Electronics Association, the producers of the Consumer Electronics Show (CES), this year introduced a new area to CES. Over the years CEA has added several category specific areas to the ever-growing show floor. China, Korea and Japan all have their own areas in addition to the ability to spring for a full booth on the main show floor.

Eureka Park was housed in the Venetian hotel which was also home to the exhibits in the 70000 area and PMA which is the photography convention that merged with CES this year.

Putting Eureka park in the Venetian hotel as opposed to the convention center, allowed CEA to offer start-ups their own place to play and show off their wares, apps and ideas. It also allowed CEA to offer booth space at the largest trade show in the western hemisphere at a lower cost than the premium spaces at the Las Vegas Convention Center.

More after the break
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CES 2012: Check Out Cubelets Robot Construction Kits For Kids By Modrobotics

The erector set has stepped into the next century with a new product by Mod Robotics called Cubelets. Cubelets are a modular building block robotic construction kit for kids. Mod Robotics is targeting kids aged 8 and up but at they explain to us in the interview younger kids have enjoyed cubelets as well.

All kids like to start with putting blocks together. One of the reason brick blocks like Lego’s or Megablocks are so popular is because kids like “clicking” them together. Cubelets allows you to “click” together blocks like children are used to, however the nearly 30 different blocks are divided into three important categories Sense Blocks, Action Blocks and Think Blocks.

Some blocks have motorized wheels, others can be controlled by light, motion and proximity, while other blocks block communication. Each block has a different function which allows the constructed robot to do different things.

As kids use the cubelets longer they realize what each block does and have come up with some wild stuff.

Check out the video for a brief description and to see Cubelets in action. This is actually one of the coolest things we saw at CES this year.