A list of apps and websites that provide similar services, just for my own curation.
Here’s a list of apps, websites and services that I believe are both good, comparable and competitive. I’ll be adding more to this list as we go so that people can visit just this page to get more updates. So keep the bookmark! Here we go…
Text+Dropbox based Blog hosting services
http://calepin.co/
http://scriptogr.am/
http://www.markbox.io/
https://www.pancake.io/
Collaborative file sharing/project management apps –
http://wiggio.com/
I must highlight Wiggio first because it’s an amazing tool, with file sharing, team meetings, mobile apps, a Facebook style news feed and the best part – a price tag of free!
http://teambox.com/
Teambox is another great tool. It does pretty much everything that Wiggio does but the pricing starts at $25. Due to the price, there are some features you wouldn’t find in Wiggio, like Dropbox integration, Group Chat and Gantt charts. But if that’s not what you’re looking for, you can either try the free Teambox version for up to 5 people or just stick with Wiggio…
http://asana.com/
Asana is in essence a project management app. It integrates heavily with your GMail and gets you all sorts of amazing project management features. It does not, however, include file sharing like Wiggio and Teambox have. It’s basic level is pretty powerful in itself but paid versions are available. Mind you, Asana is a serious app and it’s pricing reflects that. It asks for $100/month for a “premium workspace” with 30 members.
iOS based Voice Push-to-Talk type apps…
http://heytell.com/
HeyTell is the older, more popular version.
Mac Network Blocking Apps – The Mac OSX is pretty powerful. It has a lot of in-built tools that really take care of your system. However, it lacks, like every other OS out there, a good firewall. There are a couple of tools out there that can quickly and easily block incoming and outgoing connections from the various apps you run. Here they are –
http://www.obdev.at/products/littlesnitch/index.html
Little Snitch is a great tool. It gives total control to the user, asking about each and every connection that any application wants to make to the outside world. Sounds a little overwhelming? It is! Little Snitch is not for the casual user. Even to keep it at it’s simplest whitelist/blacklist model, one needs to do a lot of reading. Not a good idea…
http://www.metakine.com/products/handsoff/
Hands off is another application that promises what Little Snitch does. In fact, why do I even bother? It seems that the makers of Hands Off got their “hands on” some Little Snitch code and copied it outright. The application does exactly the same things as Little Snitch in exactly the same way, just changes a few words and images here and there. Again, point for ease of use? (-10)
http://tcpblock.wordpress.com/
Finally! Something easy! I found TCPBlock while looking for alternatives with the explicit need to not use/be like Little Snitch. I found this. TCPBlock takes a bit to install, it needs you to restart your Mac (I know!). But it’s worth it. It is truly the simple whitelist/blacklist model. Just go to your System Prefs, open the TCPBlock pane and add an application you want to block. You’re done! In fact, TCPBlock keeps logging all application requests in the background, without bugging you constantly like Little Snitch or Hands Off. This, Sir, is the winner. Very easy to use and unobtrusive. What does it loose on? Not enough complex. But then again, if you’re a power user, you’d be using Little Snitch,
Presentation websites –
http://prezi.com/
http://speakerdeck.com/
Social Video sharing apps –
http://viddy.com/
http://socialcam.com/
Infinite Cloud and Local Storage (various tech) –
http://www.libox.com/
http://www.pogoplug.com/
http://www.bitcasa.com/
Couple sharing apps –
http://trypair.com/
http://cupple.mobi/
http://www.simplyus.com/
http://avocado.io/
Personalized Social Front Page service –
http://www.glos.si/
A very stylish social aggregator that connects to the major Social sites to deliver your content on a single page.
http://www.rebelmouse.com/
If you’re not looking for glam in this section, rebelmouse is your gig. Just sign request and invite and connect your services and your page will be ready…
https://www.vizify.com/
Vizify takes a slightly different approach to a personal page, asking you for various inputs to create a stylish page that you can control. Nonetheless, it’s still a Personal page service…
Quick and Easy Mobile/NFC payment –
http://www.google.com/wallet/
https://squareup.com/pay-with-square
http://www.engadget.com/2012/06/11/apple-passbook/
Make your own Wikis –
Personally, I’m not a fan of the wiki script. It seems too complex to be making a simple page. I’d rather do it in basic HTML. But, lovers of the wiki will swear by the two following services –
http://scriptogr.am/
http://wikipackit.com/
And if you want a pretty comprehensive list of Wiki solutions, visit –
http://www.wikimatrix.org/
Things I’ve found to be amazing but no competing services for –
Control Smart TVs with your mobile phone(s) –
http://discover.clikthis.com/
Custom Content search tool –
https://wavii.com/
Hide your Internet usage while on public Wifis (both iOS and Mac apps) –
https://www.getcloak.com/
Automated research tool –
http://wedunno.com/
Dunno is my new favorite research app. I have a habit of keeping hundreds of tabs open in my browser just because I want to read one small thing. Not any more! I just open the Dunno app on my iPhone or on my computer and add the topic of interest. Dunno automatically searches for the best pages related to the topic (mostly starting with the wikipedia page for it) and then every once in a while, reminds you that you need to look into this topic. It truly is a #BrainSlap !