Hard on the heels of our story about BlockChalk comes word of Nixle, another location-based service for community messaging. But where BlockChalk focuses primarily on letting neighbours communicate with each other, Nixle adds a component for secure messaging by local government and municipal agencies.

Through Nixle’s community information service, granular, location-based information is pushed out directly to the community by SMS, web and email. As with BlockChalk, neighbourhood residents can broadcast locally targeted news, events, and recommendations. Additionally, thanks to a partnership with Nlets (who provide messaging services for law enforcement agencies), Nixle says it is the first authenticated and secure service for connecting municipal agencies, schools and community organisations with residents in real time. Nixle’s servers are even housed within the Nlets secure facility. This means police departments can send alerts and advisories right from their police terminals.

Nixle is offered at no cost to government agencies, community organisations and consumers. Local residents can decide how much information they want to receive in real time; and all messages are archived online for later access.

Since Nixle launched publicly about a year ago, more than 3,800 public safety and community agencies across the United States have begun using it. The New Jersey-based company also plans to expand internationally; could you be a partner in your part of the world? (Related: More neighbourhood problem-solving: SeeClickFix — In Boston, an iPhone app for civic complaints — In San Francisco, civic complaints via Twitter.)

Website: www.nixle.com
Contact: info@nixle.com

Spotted by: Jim Stewart

Giving softly-spoken consumers everywhere a better chance of getting themselves heard, the Talk-o-Meter is a chat-monitoring iPhone app designed to show conversation dominators the error of their overbearing ways.

After a brief calibration period to identify the voices in a dialogue, the app recognises who is speaking and keeps track of each person's talk time. The results are displayed as red and blue bars indicating the balance. Speakers can then glance at the Talk-o-Meter as they converse, and—the designer hopes—make adjustments if they are monopolising the discussion.

Talk-o-Meter is priced at EUR 3.99 on the Apple iTunes Store. Its creator, Unperfekthaus, is working on a new version of the app that can be used by more than two people, to identify those who dominate group discussions. One to try out or get involved in?

Website: www.talk-o-meter.de/e
Contact: info@unperfekthaus.de

Spotted by: Reinhard Wiesemann

It was back in 2003 that we began covering nethoods, as our sister site calls them, and since then GPS and mobile technologies have greatly increased locally focused possibilities. BlockChalk is a new site that aims to provide the online equivalent of a neighbourhood bulletin board where residents can use their mobile phones to leave location-based messages for other people in their community.

Billed as “the voice of your neighbourhood,” BlockChalk lets mobile phone users leave messages (“chalks,” as the service calls them) on their block, their street, at the coffee shop or anywhere they happen to be. Neighbourhood tips, restaurant recommendations, pothole alerts or even lost pets are all perfect candidates for location-tagged message topics that can be left on BlockChalk, which allows other users of the service in the same area to reply either publicly or privately. No signup is required to use the service, and BlockChalk never reveals a user's identity or exact location unless they specifically request it. The mobile application is now available for iPhone, Palm Pre and Android-based handsets, with Blackberry and Nokia support coming soon. Launched early this year, BlockChalk is now used in more than 114 countries, 8,700 cities and 13,700 or so neighborhoods. The Bay Area startup is also in the process of integrating its service with Twitter's new geo-enabled API, it says.

Besides helping to connect neighbours with each other and with a wealth of hyperlocal information, BlockChalk also promises a world of advertising opportunities for local businesses; for developers, an API is already available. One to partner with in your neck of the location-based woods...? (Related: Connecting neighbours and landlords online — More neighbourhood problem-solving: SeeClickFix.)

Website: www.blockchalk.com
Contact: contact@blockchalk.com

Spotted by: Judy McRae

Back in 2007 we covered Jott, a voice-to-text dictation service available from any cell phone. Since then, Jott has expanded their service offerings to include Jott Voicemail, which allows users to receive their voicemail as email and text messages; Jott for Salesforce, which allows business managers to call and update their salesforce from the road; and a voice-to-text conversion iPhone app. However, Jott isn’t alone in this field. UK-based transcription company dictate2us last month launched their d2u Transcriber app, a fully integrated digital transcription system for iPhones and iPod touch.

The d2u app allows its users to dictate notes directly into their device and upload the audio to d2u's team of typists, who then transcribe it. Transcriptions are returned by email as Microsoft Word documents, normally within the hour for files less than five minutes long. The app is free to download from Apple iTunes stores. Users are charged GBP 1.50 per recorded minute for the transcription from audio to text.

These apps are shining examples of the opportunities that the iPhone provides as a mobile computing device, and also of the possibilities for adding revenue-driving services to mobile applications. As consumers live increasingly mobile lifestyles, what on-the-go productivity services will we see next?

Website: www.dictate2us.com/app/
Contact: ian@applebybowers.com

The mobile apps continue to come fast and furious in industries far and wide. One of our latest spottings? An iPhone app from insurer State Farm that lets customers look up policy information, record accident details and submit claims.

Available both for the iPhone and the iPod Touch, State Farm Pocket Agent is a free application with features for all consumers, whether or not they're already customers. Its On the Road feature, for example, uses the iPhone's GPS to help users find the nearest hotel or gas station or call a tow truck, taxi, locksmith or rental car service. A built-in checklist, on the other hand, reminds drivers what to do when they're in an accident. Then, of course, there's a way to look for nearby agents. Registered State Farm customers, meanwhile, can do all that plus look up their policy information, record accident details and submit claims, including photos of the accident taken with their iPhone cameras.

Serving as a sort of mobile brand butler, as our sister site would say, Pocket Agent is just one of many examples of the myriad new opportunities enabled by the iPhone and Android platforms. Make consumers' lives easier when they need it most, and they're more likely to become—and remain—loyal customers. (Related: Real-time flight reviews via Android and iPhone — Zipcar's iPhone app finds and unlocks cars — Adidas creates free iPhone guide to Berlin's street art — ING app for G1 phone uses camera & compass to show nearest ATM.)

Website: www.statefarm.com/iphone/index.asp?WT.svl=104

Spotted by: Chris