The Spark of Genius Series highlights a unique feature of startups and is made possible by Microsoft BizSpark. If you would like to have your startup considered for inclusion, please see the details here.
Each weekend, Mashable selects startups we think are building interesting, unique or niche products.
This week we’ve focused on three startups that have created technological shortcuts to simple tasks.
Manpacks lets men skip the department store with subscription underwear. Snipreel edits YouTube videos within the YouTube player, and Wishgenies sources gift recommendations from people with the same interest as the intended recipient.
Genius Idea: Saving men time by automatically replenishing staple items.
Mashable’s Take: The premise of this site is that men hate department stores. If it’s right, it’s offered a smart service. It lets men schedule shipments of essentials such as underwear, razors and socks every three months.
A similar service, Hoseanna, does the same for women.
But how much underwear does a guy need?
10-14 pairs on hand, helpfully suggests the site, for a laundry cycle of about 2 weeks.
Genius Idea: An easy way to mix and match YouTube moments.
Mashable’s Take: SnipReel is still in closed alpha, but it has a solid idea: Make it easy for people to create highlight reels from multiple YouTube videos or cut down a longer video to short-attention-span size.
The tool either overlays the YouTube player when users hit a bookmarklet or edits videos from an editor on the site by simply copying and pasting the URL.
Genius Idea: Gift ideas recommended by users with the same interests as your recipients.
Mashable’s Take: When you sign up for Wishgenies, you’ll need to tell the app the products that you enjoy or want most and what your interests are in addition to information about the gift recipient. That’s because it uses existing users’ favorite things to make gift suggestions.
When somebody lists a gift recipient who matches your interests, the products that you cited might end up on their list of suggestions.
It’s a smart give-and-take system, but at the moment it’s too new to be of much help. It’s not pretty, and few gift ideas have been shared.
Each weekend, Mashable selects startups we think are building interesting, unique or niche products. This week we’ve focused on three startups that have created technological shortcuts to simple tasks.
Manpacks lets men skip the department store with subscription underwear. Snipreel edits YouTube videos within the YouTube player, and Wishgenies sources gift recommendations from people with the same interest as the intended recipient.
Manpacks: Subscription Essentials for Men
Genius Idea: Saving men time by automatically replenishing staple items.
Mashable’s Take: The premise of this site is that men hate department stores. If it’s right, it’s offered a smart service. It lets men schedule shipments of essentials such as underwear, razors and socks every three months.
A similar service, Hoseanna, does the same for women.
But how much underwear does a guy need?
10-14 pairs on hand, helpfully suggests the site, for a laundry cycle of about 2 weeks.
Snipreel: Highlight Reels From YouTube Videos
Genius Idea: An easy way to mix and match YouTube moments.
Mashable’s Take: SnipReel is still in closed alpha, but it has a solid idea: Make it easy for people to create highlight reels from multiple YouTube videos or cut down a longer video to short-attention-span size.
The tool either overlays the YouTube player when users hit a bookmarklet or edits videos from an editor on the site by simply copying and pasting the URL.
Wishgenies: Social Gift Ideas
Genius Idea: Gift ideas recommended by users with the same interests as your recipients.
Mashable’s Take: When you sign up for Wishgenies, you’ll need to tell the app the products that you enjoy or want most and what your interests are in addition to information about the gift recipient. That’s because it uses existing users’ favorite things to make gift suggestions.
When somebody lists a gift recipient who matches your interests, the products that you cited might end up on their list of suggestions.
It’s a smart give-and-take system, but at the moment it’s too new to be of much help. It’s not pretty, and few gift ideas have been shared.
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