You’re One App Away From A Comfortable Retirement

acorns appTo build wealth, and become financially independent, you need to start investing early and there is an app for that. Acorns enables you to start saving early, invest often, and feel secure about your financial future without having to think about it.

So, how does it work? Simply connect a credit card, or debit card and a checking account, and enter some characteristics about yourself. Acorns will automatically recommend a stock portfolio based on information like your age, time horizon, investment goals and the amount of risk you’re comfortable taking. Then each purchase you make with the registered card is rounded up to the nearest dollar, and the difference is invested in low-cost ETFs. For instance, if you spend $10.49 on lunch, that remaining 51 cents is invested. And if you’re worried about the safety of your personal information, don’t be, because Acorns has been awarded TRUSTe’s Privacy Seal for the collection and use of personal information. According to its maker, “what makes Acorns different from any service out there is that it offers a personalized investment portfolio with no account minimums, no commissions, and fractional investing all at your fingertips”.

What Sparks Our Fire: An app that intuitively makes it easy to save and invest.

What do you think of Acorns? Would you use it?

Coffee As Unique As Your Handprint

Memory-by-Wenyao-Cai-Electrolux-Design-Lab-2012-finalistA small but important part of many people’s lives is the intimacy of having a barista who remembers who you are and more importantly how you have your coffee. Memory is a coffee maker that uses hand print recognition to act as your personal barista and make the right cup of coffee for the right person. Set it to your preference of weak, medium or strong coffee or even an espresso to a ristretto. When you’re ready for your perfect cup of coffee, Memory will scan your hand and get it right every time. The machine was designed by WenYao Cai from China, an Electrolux Design Lab 2012 finalist.

No matter how hard we wished it wasn’t, Memory is still in the concept phase and isn’t ready to be on the market just yet.

What Sparks Our Fire: An innovative gadget that allows you to get your perfect cup of coffee with a simple scan of the hand.

Do you wish Memory was out on the market? Let us know your thoughts.

Food Without The Fuss

photo-main (1)Our kitchen has drastically changed over the last 30 years to make our lives easier when preparing meals. Now, there could be a new addition to our existing high tech equipment: a smart microwave/oven that can learn your habits and help you stay fit. It’s called the MAID oven (that stands for Make All Incredible Dishes), and it learns your tastes and habits.

MAID Oven is a Kickstarter project that met its $50,000 goal in just five days. The advanced oven has a list of recipes, and users can upload their own into the database. Once you’re ready to bake, the oven has settings to automatically set the temperature and cooking time for whatever dish you might be whipping up. The coolest feature the device offers is that MAID Oven can act as a pseudo health-conscious dietitian. Depending on your eating and fitness habits (it can sync with your smartphone or smart watch), the oven will make suggestions for meals that factor in your calorie intake and taste preferences. It has access to an unlimited number of recipes from the web so you don’t have to worry.

Another feature of the sophisticated oven is you can control it with your voice. You can actually tell the oven what’s for dinner — it’s got built-in voice recognition. It doesn’t end here. MAID Oven also comes with an accompanying smartphone app. This means you can get push alerts when your food is done cooking, adjust cook time and temperature settings from afar, or remotely activate/deactivate the oven while you’re away from home. Isn’t it magical? Feel free to check out MAID Oven baking pizza, pasta, and even cake in the Kickstarter’s demo video below.

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MAID should be ready to go to market by Thanksgiving 2015. Hopefully you can deactivate the dietary suggestions for the holidays!

What Sparks Our Fire: A useful device with smart features and functionality that could truly make cooking easier, healthier, and more fun.

Will you be making some space in your kitchen for the MAID Oven?

Yes, Take Advantage.

AppsEverywhere

We all remember the 2012 study that revealed making a phone call is only the fifth most popular use for mobile phones, right?

We are living in an incredibly exciting time where mobile phones are no longer being used to just make calls and send text messages. There are becoming devices with endless possibilities. The popularity of smartphones has established a flourishing market for mobile apps and we talk a lot about them here on #HowToStartAFire. For instance, Hitlist, HuminTraces, Mootch, etc. But, as more adults are increasingly turning to mobile apps, so are their children. According to a 2013 mobile study, children under the age of 2, 38% had used mobile devices like iPhones, tablets or Kindles for educational apps. So far, the U.S. has been the fastest to adopt mobile apps. According to some experts, the app revolution rivals the industrial revolution; there is even a Kickstarter project aimed to raise money to make a documentary about the human side of the app revolution.

The catalyst for this revolution is clear: simplicity, convenience and added-value. With these alone, apps are changing the way we live our lives in a big way. They are replacing books, maps, MP3 players, etc. The world just can’t get enough of mobile apps. According to some research, the average user has 41 apps on their device, and as of October 2014, Apple has a total download of 85 billion apps from games, and music to productivity and health-related apps. People are spending more and more of their time on apps and favor social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, Twitter,  and Whatsapp.

This new habit is a golden opportunity for businesses. A successful mobile application can readily provide another revenue channel, boost productivity, efficiency, competitive edge and user experience aside from your website and/or brick and mortar store. So, what are the ways you can use the power of mobiles apps to your business advantage:

  1. Reshape customers’ engagement: Engage with your customers in real-time, by location and profile information. If done right, you can turn them into revenue generators. For example, grocery stores apps can offer recipes and link ingredients to purchase in-store.
  2. Add value to customers: Making it simpler for your customers to get in touch with your company by offering them tools that make their life easier. For instance, many phones carriers like Verizon offer the option to pay and monitor bills via apps.
  3. A marketing and promotion opportunity: One way is to offer redeemable coupons and location-based push notifications. H&M is great at doing this, by sending push notification discounts when you walk pass a store. This increases the likelihood of having people visit you when they had no plan in doing so.
  4. A retail opportunity:  If you sell products or services online, a mobile app may be an option worth considering as it gives your customers the opportunity to make a decision on the go. 84% of shoppers are now using their mobile phone while they shop in the physical world.
  5. Maintain your brand image: Use social media like Instagram, Tumblr, Facebook, etc., to enhance your brand message and boost recognition. It allows you to share the brand tone, company culture, etc. Or monitor what people say about your brand and adjust.

What Sparks Our Fire: Apps have become powerful tools in our everyday lives, but more importantly have redefined the way businesses and marketers can approach consumers.

Have you already joined the revolution or are you left behind?

The Future Of Printing Is Rolling Across A Piece Of Paper

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While the hype is around 3D printers, the world of 2D printing is having some innovation with Zuta Lab Mobile Robot that travels across the surface of a piece of paper, dropping ink. So, if you are a mobile person who is always on the go, then this awesome pocket-sized printer would deliver the best news for you. According to its creator, the idea was to shrink the size of the printer box to provide users with a means of printing on the go, while retaining the ability to print on large pieces of paper, so that people don’t have to wait to get home or to the office to print.

The teardrop-shaped portable printer is small enough to fit in a bag (3.9 x 4.5 inches) and weighs 300 grams. The printer is being designed to roll itself over the paper and is battery powered via USB. The battery lasts for about an hour on one full charge while one inkjet cartridge will be good for more than 1,000 printed pages. The devise uses standard HP inkjet cartridges for refill and takes an average of 40 seconds to print an A4 page. The project was successfully founder on Kickstarter and the first shipment is due in January 2015.

What Sparks Our Fire: A printer that goes where you go and prints from your phone on any size page

Are you ready to give Zuta printer a try?