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By: fbatista
18-02-2013
Development, Labs, Work

iOS Image Recognition and more

Here at Webreakstuff we love fiddling with new technologies and sometimes we just have to come up with an idea to take advantage of some new shiny framework or language.

It’s great because it’s really motivating to work with a new technology and by doing so implementing an idea of our own. Not to mention that regardless the idea turns out to be great or break, the learning experience will always pay off!

A few months ago, when we launched Bling, we felt that it would be amazing if we could improve the user experience by auto-magically recognising products just by the picture. We did some study on that subject back then, but eventually the idea was abandoned and we moved on. The “problem” was that we didn’t forget about what we learned back then and we had the urge to still build something with that knowledge, still lingering inside our heads…

Last week Fábio tweeted about 2 things he’s been working on lately:

  • An iOS app for recognising Magic: The Gathering cards and tell the user relevant information about said cards (like price, for example).
  • A blogging engine he built based on Meteor.js.

If you’ve ever wondered about ways to handle image recognition on iOS, or you are curious about the practical application of Meteor as a web development framework, you should check out his blog and the post about image recognition. The iOS app isn’t finished yet, but it will be soon.

After all this, we feel like we need to tell you: Try new things. Build new stuff. Even if you’re working on a corporate environment, talk to your boss / manager / superior and suggest that once every 2 weeks everyone takes a half a day to just brainstorm an idea and pick a new technology they are curious about and just hack away.

It doesn’t matter if it’s an idea completely out of scope of your business area (in fact, it’s even better if it is!) and it doesn’t matter if the ideas actually go through till the end. The point is widening your mind’s eye. Learn. New. Stuff.

You’ll feel like when you were a kid and you built your first original creation out of lego blocks.

Click here to read the full post!
By: Pedro Freitas
15-02-2013
Business, Labs, Work

log(r)

Every other day, here at Webreakstuff, we have an idea for an app. Most of the time it’s a web or mobile app, other times it’s a game or even a physical product. These ideas may solve a problem or be completely useless. The majority of them is briefly mentioned and soon forgotten. Others though, mingle in our minds for a while and turn into real products (Bling was one of these).

This week we felt like something was missing to maintain the team productive and communicating efficiently. We needed a simple way to keep everyone in sync without causing too much of a hassle. We figured that the solution would be a very simple app which allowed everyone to sum up their work day in a few sentences, kind of like a tweet about your output for the day.

We put on our Rails cap and made log(r) in a few hours – never mind the name, we really suck at that.

After trying it out for a few days we really like using it. In a couple of minutes it makes you go over the whole day in your head and compact it into a small textarea for others to read. You can think of it as an agile version of the 15-5 feedback report. On that same screen you have all your teammates’ reports. It also reminds you by email if you forget to log your day.

We decided to open up the app for everyone to use, so we had to make a few changes, like adding teams and timezone settings (oh, the dreadful timezones!), while trying to keep the app super simple.

Give it a spin at logr.webreakstuff.com, get your workmates on it and let us know what you think!

Click here to read the full post!
By: Fred Oliveira
18-12-2011
Work

Notes for week #310

One of the things we used to do on our blog, mostly inspired by the brilliant folks at BERG, was maintain weekly notes about what was going on at the WBS offices. I last posted those about a year ago, and as you can imagine, lots has happened since. Since these weekly notes are great way to keep a finger on the pulse of the company and what we do, we’re bringing them back. These are, then, the notes for week 310.

Photo

For most of the last 9 months, we’ve been exploring several ideas in the social shopping and recommendation space, eventually culminating in the official launch of Bling, a platform where people share the things they’re buying and add things they want to a wishlist. In return, we’re able to provide users with all sorts of smarts regarding products they might like, what shops may have cheaper items, among other things. The amazing thing about Bling is that once you start uncovering the veil of possibility, it becomes immense.

Click here to read the full post!
By: Fred Oliveira
24-11-2010
Personal, Work

It’s been a while

We’ve been mum in the last few months, but certainly not sitting on our hands. We’ve been working on new products, pushing quite a few new features on to Goplan, joining venture funds, speaking at Conferences, winning a few competitions and (lets be honest) having a bit of fun.

We have, though, been missing writing on our blog here, and we’ve made the decision of bringing this baby back, with a vengeance. Expect a flurry of new posts about our typical subjects of development, strategy and design (we have some exciting stuff to talk about) – starting first thing tomorrow. Now, we rest – today has been along, exciting day.

Click here to read the full post!

About Webreakstuff

Webreakstuff is a product think tank. We've worked with companies like Bell Canada, Techcrunch, Totspot, Sequoia Capital, MTV and Sapo on their own products, and we've built a few of our own (most notably, Goplan - an online collaboration and project management tool). You should follow us on Twitter.

 Our products

Bling

Bling is a platform where people share what they buy and maintain a wishlist of things they want to get. Users can also follow their friends and people they admire, or browse our explore pages - listing what people are adding across the site - for inspiration.

Bling

Back in 2005 we found a need for a great online collaboration tool to manage our clients and projects. We built one for ourselves, and then decided to open it to a greater audience. We turned Goplan into a full-fledged product, and we've been maintaining the platform since.

© 2011 —Bling. All Rights Reserved. Bling is a Webreakstuff product.