Idea: FriendHitch - Online dating with a difference

You know why online dating is so unpopular these days, its because sweetgirl18 is a 24 year old Tom and hot_chick_for_you is 38 years old Harry, promoting his home business. When angel_gal1989 and jenny362635 eventually decide to meet up in a community park, it so happens that they're both straight and looking for girlfriends.

The problem is that you cannot have a background check for each and every individual who is signed on for a dating web service. Even if you can verify the individual using their credit card, social security etc, you still cant verify if the person is as legit as he/she may look.

FriendHitch, is the idea of a social networking app for dating. Its uniqueness would be in the fact that it would only provide you results from your friends' friend lists. The app, when being used to search for a probable date, would scan the user's friends' friend list to identify singles. The singles would then be matched with the user's age, location, interests et all and returned in the most probable matches. The app would also allow users to specify a lot more than just age/location etc, this would help in searching for matches on a broader criteria. Thus once someone uses the app to find a date, the app would send a notification to the identified date and give both of them a platform to interact. It would even send a notification to the common friend to spice things up and request him/her to arrange a meeting if he thinks you'll click instantly. Since both, the user and the identified date would have a common friend, they would need to worry very little about the authenticity of the other person and could also get to know more about them.

Disclaimer: This post is not based on any personal need and the idea was just an accident between disfunctional grey cells and paranormal grey cells in the author's so called brain. However, the author definitely thinks this idea is a killer and would be an instant hit.

Idea: HomeRun - Complete Home Solutions Portal

There's more to buying a house than just selecting a place and paying the price. It's not as simple as selecting a number on the roulette table where you can bet all your worth. It involves a hundred hassles like negotiating the price, signing the property deed, getting the possession, getting your interiors done, home insurance, white goods etc etc etc. For each of these, one has to use different mechanisms and go to different places until they finally turn the house into their own home.

HomeRun is the idea for a website which would cut this running around for a home to a bare minimum. What good is the internet if we don't use it to combine related tasks into just a few clicks. HomeRun would be a portal which would offer end to end solutions for buying a house. It would begin with providing the users a listing platform to select a house. This would be like any other website on the net for property listings. Once the user has selected a house, HomeRun would provide the buyer and seller a negotiating ground for discussing the terms of the payment and preparing the contract. Users would have the option of discussing this online since mostly these terms are pre-defined. The website would also provide the buyer the convenience of getting a loan through a financial institution. The website will strike a deal with the bank for the best offer (at least it will appear that way!) and the user can get a good loan deal. The user would also be able to purchase a home insurance online. Not only this, the website would also, within the budget of the user, provide details about interior designers and also huge discounts on home furnishings, white goods etc which are purchased through the website (This would be as per the commission offered by such online dealers... all passed on to the user!).

By now you would have guessed it right... I am looking for a flat and if HomeRun was already existing, I would be one of the customers. Not just me, a few thousand first time home buyers, every couple of months!

Idea: My Hangouts - Favourite Hangouts of Your Friend Circle

Tired of visiting the same club night after night? The bar tender offers you your drink before you ask for it? The coffee guy doesn't give you sugar sachets cause he knows you don't use them? Wake up! Time to change your place.

My Hangouts is the idea of a Facebook/My Space app, which would let people show their hangouts in town. People could select from a drop down box or add a new area, mark it on the map, define it and rate it. Once a hangout is on the list, people could still add or delete features from the Hangout's dedicated page. This page could also link it to a fan page if it exists. Users could also mention their presence in their hangouts in a particular time slot. Thus, this maps enabled app would in real time, display not only the list of hangouts, their features, user comments, location on the map but also people on your friends list who are currently chilling at the hang out or would be when you plan to be there!

This app is bound to be a hard seller cause a lot of people love to show off their 'chill factor' and the so named hangouts would pay large to be featured on your app. You could also set it up as a website and take it to the next level...

Cheers!

Idea: CellHiFi - Use your HiFi for a Cellphone

This one's for you if you're one of those people who spend hours and hours chit chatting on your cellphone while indoors. It becomes a pain (literally too!) to hold that phone to your ears. Obviously, you have the options of a speakerphone, a handsfree earphone and other possible stuff. But then as time peaks, these too become annoying... Here's where the next idea for a new product finds its niche.

The idea is a very easy concept and nothing that I actually feel 'innovative' about. CellHiFi (or whatever better you might want to call it...), is a product which would allow one to connect their handphone to their home HiFi system. CellHiFi would have an A2DP Stereo bluetooth receiver which would transduce the signal and feed it to the HiFi auxiliary input. For those scratching their head, a common bluetooth receiver connected to the music system. The product would be so small that it could even be housed inside the HiFi system and perhaps sometime in future all HiFi's would be pre-fitted with this. The usage is simple, search for the HiFi bluetooth device on your phone's menu and connect! All incoming and outgoing calls would then be heard on the HiFi speaker and a power mic bundled in the CellHiFi would make it sure that the user is heard on the other side crystal clear.

Idea: AnswerMe - Answering Machine With a Difference

Have you ever felt the need to turn off your cellphone for everyone until unless there's something really important. This is a condition you can not achieve without having a personal secretary or a set of callers who you can really connect with telepathy and use it to send a broadcast message!

Well, AnswerMe is an intended mobile phone app which would serve as an answering machine with a special feature. The answer machine can be programmed easily for a mobile phone. Once the app is turned on, any incoming call would be auto answered after a select number of rings, a pre-recorded message stored as an audio file would be played back, after which a new audio file would be set for recording using the incoming phone number and the time stamp. This would function as a simple answering machine.

The difference with AnswerMe would be that it would have a specific mode 'Urgent Only'. When this mode is selected, a different voice message will be played conveying that "The user is only accepting urgent and important calls at the moment, in case this can wait please leave a message and wait for a response, else hangup and redial to connect." Now that the app knows the number from which the call originated, if another call is received from the same number in a gap of 120 seconds, the app will let the call pass through otherwise it will route it to the answering machine again.

Idea: ePenance - Online Confession, Repentance and Absolution

I might sound like it but I haven't committed enough Sins to reach this idea of an online confession application. In fact, this idea struck me when I was thinking what would be the perfect way of repentance for someone else who is the biggest sinner i have known (No disclosures!)

The idea is to have an application 'Penance' for social networking websites like Facebook, MySpace et all. The application would allow users to confess their Sin(s) of the day/week and would provide them an action for repentance after which they would be forgiven in the absolution. The excitement would lie in the fact that the user's friends would select the repentance/punishment that would be suitable for the Sinner (User!), these could also be suggested by the app*. Friends can not only select an action but also vote on someone's suggested action. The action with maximum votes (random in case of a tie) would be assigned to the user for repentance. Once the Sinner confirms that they have faithfully performed the action of repentance, they would be forgiven for their Sin by the Lord.

*Examples of suggested actions could be:
Feed a poor, Say Sorry 100 times on the Wall (Facebook),Visit the Church/Temple, Compliment 10 females on their shared photos, Donate to Charity, etc.

Note: This could even be a full fledged website if additional features can be thought of!

** Lord, I hope you forgive me for all my past, 'upcoming' and "special featured" Sins by thinking of this application ;-) **

EDIT: Please excuse the image, i avoid any possible controversies

Idea: Good Ol' Books: Marketplace for Used Textbooks

Alright, the name sucks. Anyone who thinks they can come up with a better one, leave a comment. I'll edit the name and give you the credit.

Quick question: What have you done with your old textbooks? Most of us can hardly remember. Those who do would recall selling them in trash or passing them off to others.

The idea here is to setup a website wherein students can sell/exchange old unwanted textbooks online. The portal would be a listings type website like the popular auction websites (Eg. Ebay). Users can register themselves free and list the titles they own based on the ISBN (International Standard Book Number) along with other details like edition, year, condition and the amount expected. Someone looking for the same title could send a message to the seller through the website to confirm the transaction. The seller would then be required to confirm the trade, pay the website a small say 5% commission to the website after which both buyer's and seller's information would be shared with the other and they can execute the transaction.

The website could gain huge popularity amongst students who would be able to sell their old books for some extra cash and can also buy used books to save more money. The website can also be used for exchanging Novels, other non text books and even as a channel for donating old books for the under privileged classes.

Idea: HomeLurk - Assignment Community for Students

How many times have you got the 'E' grade in school when you failed to submit your homework? The most obvious reasons were a many, no resources, the dog ate it, no understanding, the wind blew it, we had homework? and the most popular of all 'No Mood'. Now, what if you could go online, and get your homework reference in a few clicks, learn, understand, customize and submit! Super! aint it?

The idea 'HomeLurk' is an online assignment community portal which would target students at various levels. The website would allow users to sign in and upload their own assignments for download credit. These would pass through an online plagiarism checker and be properly classified based on the Grade/Class/Year, Subject, Chapter, Topic. Each upload would get the user 3 download credits which they can use to download any 3 assignments. Users could choose the assignment based on a selective preview.
Another way to operate could be to have the assignment rated on a scale of 5 and based on the score of the assignment, the users would be given credit from 1 to 5. The rating could be done as a back office job or could be based on user's comments and reviews. To insure users are reviewing and commenting on articles, every 5 accepted comments and reviews would get user and extra credit.

Students would be encouraged not to submit the exact download copy of the assignment since their teachers would have unlimited access to the website's plagiarism checker. [Smart students like we were, would know what to do ;)]

A plethora of other features can be added to the website like student chat, free assignment grading, user's assignment backups et all.

I wish somebody would have thought of this when I was in school. A better grade would have gotten me a better today with a better pocket and a better position to better my prospects by starting up one of these my ideas.

Idea: MediFile - Online Medical Records System

The last few ideas I have posted have been greatly inspired by my laziness and carelessness. Be it looking for keys or figuring out what to cook. For a change now, I'm posting this huge potential idea which can be a part of the medical revolution.

Remember the last few doctors you consulted and their prescriptions? Recall all your known allergies, which year were you operated or the symptoms your last illness had? If you do, you're one of those highly organized people who have all their medical documents intact.

The MediFile idea is a service which would maintain the records of all registered users in a central database. The service would record and track all medical details of the user like consultations, diagnosis, symptoms and even their medical insurance policy details. Each time the service user would go in for a consultation, the doctor could dig out the entire medical history of the patient in a few clicks, even without being a registered/affiliate medical practitioner.
Medical institutions would need to be partnered with and their doctors could directly key in the patient's data using the patients unique id. In case a doctor/dispensary is not partnered with, the user could photocopy/scan and send the documents which would be updated in the database. A lot of government support can also be worked out so as to help out in research data and organize the health care industry.

This idea may be taxing to implement but can be a real pay-off.

Idea: KeyPS - Locate your missing keychain

Came home buzzed last night, cant remember where you left the keys? Is your home decor like a system where you slide your hand under the couch to dig out your laptop, a system which might get messed up if someone else cleaned your place? Are you a blonde?

If the answer to any of the above questions is Yes, you need a KeyPS. If No, you will need it some other time.

KeyPS (Sound it like: GPS) is a product idea which would help you locate your misplaced keys using the omnipresent bluetooth technology. The KeyPS keychain would be a small sized key chain fitted with a bluetooth receiver, a rechargable Lithium-Ion battery, a strong LED and a high frequency buzzer. (For the non techs: a speaker and a light). The components would be so configured to sound the buzzer and light the LED once a Bluetooth connectivity is established with the KeyPS key chain.

Thus, anyone looking for their keys could use their cellphone to search for all Bluetooth items in the house, select the KeyPS, enter the passcode (pair code) and voila! you have your keys waving and calling out to the user!

Note:

• The KeyPS might feel bulky in design but thanks to Nano technology and micro energy, this assembly can be confined in an enclosure much smaller than your pen-drives.
• The rechargable battery to be used could be a normal electrically charged, solar charged or motion based charged.

Those of you think this business idea is difficult to setup, no need to work on this as your start-up. Just Get The Patent!

Idea: Lock Stock and Barrel - Cook with what you have

I have some chicken, butter, tomatoes, cheese, bread and onions lying in my fridge, an empty stomach and totally no idea what I should eat. Only if there was a list of all 'unconventional' stuff that can be cooked with these ingredients...
This is where the next idea is coming from.

To startup an entry level business website, one can think of having a webpage that unlike recipe websites would not ask users to select the dish they're want to prepare. On the contrary, it would ask users to input the ingredients they have and provide them with a list of conventional and untried unconventional dishes that can be cooked with the available ingredients. Being a bachelor and living alone, I have a vast experience with the 'Bread-ington Cuisine', 'Egg-xican Cuisine' and the 'Noodle-ese Cuisine' - all of which were discovered, prepared, tried and discarded in my own kitchen. (To be really honest, they're were some dishes of the Egg-xican cuisine that actually were good and I would love to share it with people facing similar situations in life!)

This website would not only help select a dish to prepare but allow users to upload their own recreational recipes, rate other such recipes and maybe even win a year's supply of the ingredients if they're unique recipe is chosen the 'Grub of the Month'.

So the next time someone doesn't know what to do with only bread crumbs, carrots and olive oil left in their kitchen, you have another visitor!

Idea: BizJigSaw: Matchmaking for startups and businesses

Finding a date for the weekend is a matter of few clicks these days thanks to the numerous dating websites that help us finding a partner. These partners however have a probability of 90% to be just for a weekend or two.
But, if you're into finding like minded entrepreneurs to have a life long relationship, there's basically nothing except the likes of LinkedIn. It just boils down to 'Weekend meetings are abundant and Weekday meetings are scarce'.

This idea involves the setting up of a dating like website, only, it will make matches between entrepreneurs and available resources. Any entrepreneur can setup a profile describing the nature of business they're planning to start/operating in, the positions they want to fill up, the capital base et all. Those who are just willing to be a part of a startup/business can create a profile and offer service in their domain of expertise. The website will then make matches on earth. There are a dozen websites thriving on the net to provide resources to Startups but none of them is currently providing human resources in this extremely convenient fashion.

Let the professional matchmaking begin!

Idea: I-Deal - Mobile Search for Best Product Prices

With the mall culture setting in so fast and retailing being the new buzz-iness, it becomes almost inevtiable for people to compare, rate and select the best for there use. What if You get to decide which superstore they go to?

I-Deal is a business idea for startups to help customers determine the ideal deal they're looking for. Imagine using your camera phone to click the barcode of a product and receiving the best deals available in your area for the product. The camera would capture the barcode, convert it into numbers, add your demographic details and send an SMS to a server. This server would compare the price quotes of the product from all superstores in the location and send an SMS back with results classified as Nearest, Best Price and Best Deal. The user can choose if they want the cheapest price, or willing to travel the smallest distance or looking for that free with the product offer.

All this is possible by setting up an SMS Server, a mobile app and product list, store location and quotes from retail stores chains.

Idea: In Da Hood - GPS based Friends Locator

In Da Hood, is my idea of a service for GPS based mobile phones. This would be developed as a mobile app which would be map based (Google Maps for ideal) and would record the users location with a map place-mark. It would work in conjunction with a Social Network (Facebook, MySpace) website to auto-upload the user's current location. It would also download the locations of the user's contacts and display the same on a map with place-marks. It could also be set to auto alert if a particular friend's or all friends locations change and move away from/to the user's vicinity.
Now that the GPS mobile phones are fitting in the pocket, physically and financially, who wouldn't bet on a service that would help them locate who's In Da Hood!

I'm sorry guys, but a turn off button would also be a feature to protect the interest of Girlfriends, boyfriends, wives, husbands et al. Better safe than busted!

Idea: WeCards - Mobile Contacts Backup and Transfer

Switching brands of cellular phones makes it a pain to transfer your entire contact list, calendar entries etc.

This idea 'WeCards' is based on virtual contact cards (also called: vCards) and is perfect to capture the niche created by the above requirement. This would be maintained as a simple web based service which would allow users to register and identify the make of their current phone. Then the users can periodically update their contacts list (option of automatic pre-set time or manual) which would be saved in a universal contact format. The concept that would distinguish this service from other contact back up services would be that users would be allowed to identify the make and model of their cellphone before they restore contacts from the latest backup.
This would ensure that they can backup contacts from any phone and restore to the same or another.

Notes:

• This idea can be extended to Calender entries and Notes in cellphones
  
• If any of the user's contact is also a registered site member, they're latest contact details would be updated automatically in the user's contact list. (Like Plaxo, ZYB etc)
  
• A small Java app can be developed for users to install on their phones, this could automatically detect target phone and allow auto-sync of phonebook.

Idea: RandomsUp - Social Network Apps

We do not interact with everyone on our friend lists on Facebook, MySpace etc. Well, if you do, this aint for you. To randomly keep in touch with our friends, i had a thought of a small application.

RandomsUp (I'd acknowledge someone who suggests a better name!) is a small application that can be built for Facebook, MySpace, Twitter etc. This App would initiate each time a person logs into their FB/MS account and search for online friends. It would randomly select 1,2...n (preference based) friends and send them a random 'Hi/Whats up' message. In case there are no friends online or other privacy constraints, the app could send a random 'Hi' to any random offline friend. Everything in this app would be customizable, the friend list to be considered, the set of 'Hi/Whats up' messages set, the number of unique friends to send the message, message to be sent as Wall Post / PM (depending on the website) and an option to run on log-in or run daily at a pre-set time.

Come to think of it, this app wouldn't require more than a week to start from scratch, develop and run online on the likes of Facebook and MySpace.

Idea: UniCard - One Card Fits All

Imagine not having to carry all your cards in one wallet. The Drivers License, The Tax Payer Card, Voter's Card, Credit Card, Debit Card etc etc.

The UniCard is a concept with immense upward potential. As would be the initial requirements too. UniCard would be a regular looking smart card with a photo, name, magnetic strip and some gibberish numbers on it. Its speciality would be that it would hold a 512K Sim Card embedded in it. The SIM would be holding a PROM (Not EEPROM for security purposes) on which data would be stored with the highest possible encryption. This card would be an individual specific rather than individual and service specific. Thus, the card could be programmed to serve as a credit card, a tax payer card, voter card etc etc. The card would have two levels of authorization - 1. A Passcode and 2. A Biometric fingerprint.

The UniCard service provider would need to also provide UniCard Scanners which would be built to read the card depending upon the requirement as a Bank Card for Banks, A Driver's License for Traffic Cops etc.

To avoid chaos due to a missing card, each individual subscribing to this service would be issues two similar cards, the secondary being activated only when the primary is locked on request.

This should give a fair idea of the plan, although the actual plan if penned would go on to more than a few hundred pages excluding the technical aspects of the card.

 At least our grandchildren would be using this sometime....

Idea: Automated Billing Trolleys (The Super Market Diaries)

To mark my first post, i would definitely introduce my obsession about changing the way supermarkets work. Those of you who know me well, would definitely have heard this before from me.

It's really annoying how picking up a couple of items at Big Bazaar and the likes in India, we have to be standing in a queue that never seems to end. The idea is called 'BillFast' and is aimed at reducing these long queues at supermarkets and large format retail stores. It would require mounting a Bar Code reader on the handle side of the supermarket trolley facing the basket space. This would be connected to a 5 line monochrome LCD display. Also, a retractable USB cable to connect to the billing desk.
How it works: Any person who wants to pick up less than 10 small items can pick this trolley, use the barcode scanner to scan the items and ]verify his items and total price on the display. For billing, there is a separate express billing counter where the USB would pulled from the trolley and connected to the billing counter to transfer the list for billing. The count of items and names would be displayed on the billing monitor and the items can be verified while packing.

Notes:

• This would be the first generation concept and eventually the entire billing could be brought on similar lines
•  The number of items have been restricted to a convenient number to avoid errors in verification of the items scanned and the items actually present in the trolley.
  

Nightmares...

Night after Night, I get these dreams that make me a tycoon several times a sleep. There are wild opportunity beasts that torment me and invite me to conquer them. Its difficult to keep silent and sit aback. I've been working on taming a few of them but i need an autonomous army that can learn of the beasts from me and conquer them anyway they want. Thus, today onwards, I declare this ground as the platform of my interactions with these devils of sleep. I hope I could be the one, one which could help you conquer your dream monsters.