Page 84 - DCAP609_CLOUD_COMPUTING

Unit 6: Cloud Computing for the Corporation

Pros Notes

Conceptually, it’s the most innovative system in the roundup. Rather than focusing on the
management of contacts, Hello helps users get through the actual pains of the first meet. In an
ideal use case, like in a populated mixer or on the convention floor, Hello can be passed to a new
acquaintance or filled in by the user — and all contacts are encouraged to leave behind photos.
Hello also collects location and time data to create an “encounter,” meaning that users can log
repeat meetings of the same person.
All of this data is managed in a beautiful mosaic — a visually powerful UI that logs by face
rather than by name. The aim of Hello is to commit new acquaintances quickly to memory and
to build a history and context around meeting others. Conceptually, it’s strong, and that’s
enough to warrant at least a spin.

Cons

One major flaw is that it actually doesn’t keep all of your contacts in one place — and there’s no
efficient batch process to import contacts seamlessly into the system and build a history with
longstanding friends. Furthermore, Hello doesn’t really adapt well to longstanding friends at
all — it’s only best when working with new people.
Another difficulty of Hello is that it doesn’t optimize execution among a group of people. The
process for inserting a new contact into Hello is one-way and with finite steps, so it can be time
consuming passing among a group of people. And, while the challenge is supposed to be
expedited via a partnership with LinkedIn that imports contact info with a quick snap of a
business card, this shortcut is only accessible via Android. This feature — and many others — are
meant to be incorporated across all platforms with new updates, but for now it’s a waiting game.

Bottom Line

Hello is great for networkers and early adopters who see many faces but have a penchant for
forgetting names.

6.2.3 Smartr

In a calculated rebranding achievement by longstanding contact management startup Xobni,
Smartr is a social contact manger available for Gmail and Outlook as well as iPhone, Android
and Blackberry. Smartr is a variation of Xobni’s heavy hitting pro service, which carefully
searches through inboxes for conversations and appointments to give a comprehensive look at
all interactions with a given contact.
While the basic service doesn’t have the Pro’s proprietary cloud backup, it still has plenty of
features that Xobni has developed in the last six years.

Pros

For a free service, Smartr definitely packs a wallop. Xobni markets Smartr as a “Magic Address
Book,” and it is able to achieve this magic via smart integrations with social media apps. The
more you put in to Smartr, the more you get out — the service is able to collect data across all
platforms and condense it into handy, in-depth contact profiles for everyone you’ve encountered.
A typical Smartr contact profile is packed with information — including a “History” tab that
shows how long you’ve been corresponding with someone and what your first email exchange
was and a “Mutual Connections” tab to see who you both have in common. Even better, the app
regularly pulls information from connections to ensure all data is relevant and useful.

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