Keeping up with technology is a lot of work. Luckily, we enjoy wading through the noise just to find the gems of awesomeness sprinkled throughout. Fusion Radar is our gift to you, Current or Potential Client, so that you can enjoy all of the awesome without any of the drudgery. Unwrap it each week, and know that you’re loved by the geeks and pixel-pushers at Agency Fusion.
Structure
The Structure Sensor is the first mobile 3-D scanner. It clips onto your iPad and projects lasers in the form of infrared dots onto objects and spaces around you. Then Structure records the pattern of those “dots” onto photos from your iPad's camera to create 3-D renderings of objects. It also allows users to play augmented reality games and create apps that interact with real-world objects.
Bup
Bup is an efficient file backup system that uses the git repository format, along with its own tools, to make backing up large files simpler. It's capable of doing fast incremental backups of virtual machine images; it uses a rolling checksum algorithm (similar to rsync) to split files into chunks so that only changes are backed up.
SlickLogin
SlickLogin – which was acquired by Google just 5 months after launch – is a security startup with a unique, sound-based login system. In order to verify a user's identity and log them in, a website plays a unique, almost inaudible sound through your computer's speakers. An app on your smart phone would then pick up the sound, analyze it, and send your credentials back to the site's server, logging you in.
Peek User Testing
Peek is a new site usability testing program that records site visitors' questions, reactions, and activity as they explore your site. Peek then sends you the video recording so you can analyze and improve your site's performance. And since it's still in beta, it's currently free to use.
Forgotify
Forgotify is a site dedicated to exposing the 4 million songs on Spotify that have never been listened to. Site visitors just click the "Start Listening" button, and Forgotify begins playing one of the forgotten songs – no Spotify download or account needed.
Customer.io
Customer.io is an online platform businesses can use to manage communications with their clients. It has a few cool features, including the ability to send emails only to particular segments, and to automatically send customers emails when they leave a chat session. Customer.io also offers customer analytics services that include email performance stats and on-site user behavior data.
Hemingway App
Hemingway is an online tool that analyzes your writing and works with you to create a clear, concise draft. It highlights sentences it thinks are too long, as well as adverbs you can remove, uses of passive voice, and words or phrases that have simpler substitutes.
GitFixUm
GitFixUm is a fairly comprehensive guide that describes how to undo, fix, or remove commits in GitHub. It's a self-described "choose-your-own-adventure" guide that asks users a series of questions before directing them to the section of the guide that can help them with their problem.
Waterlogue
Tinrocket, a development company known for their photo editing apps, has released another app that's getting a lot of attention. Waterlogue is their new iOS app that transforms mundane cell phone pics into beautiful watercolors. These watercolors come in a variety of styles, including a "rainy day" look and a luminous option.
Broccoli
Broccoli is the newest JavaScript-based framework for building applications that run in your browser. This fast, reliable asset pipeline supports constant-time rebuilds and compact build definitions. It's a lot like Sprockets, except that it isn't tied to Rails and uses more modern architecture.