Deals & More

The second half of the startup competition at our MobileBeat 2009 conference in San Francisco is starting now. This morning, a group of companies presented a range of mobile services; now, seven more companies (selected from hundreds of applicants) are presenting a number of cool mobile applications.

Here are the companies, what they do, and the news they’re announcing on-stage:

Aloqa tells you about events and friends around you, based on your location. Unlike many mobile location-based applications, Aloqa uses more than just a device’s built-in GPS to determine a user’s location, such as cell towers and wireless network. The company just launched its first application, which is for devices using Google’s Android mobile operating system, and announced that has raised $1.5 million in first round of funding. Read more in our article about Aloqa’s funding .

CardStar allows users to store their reward and membership cards on their mobile device — supposedly it displays bar codes that can be scanned at the checkout counter. The company launched on the iPhone and iPod Touch, and just announced an Android application today. The company says the app should be available in the Android Market within the next two weeks. Initially, the features will be identical to the iPhone application, but the company plans to add one-to-one personalized messaging in August.

IQ Engines is an image and video-tagging company that says it can label images and videos from the internet and mobile phones, then associate them (for advertising purposes, presumably) with online retailers. The company says it just started beta testing with strategic partners.

Ringful is building applications that combine personal devices and personal health records. Its first application, which was just approved by Apple, is an iPhone application called Asthma Journal, and allows users with asthma to enter daily information about their symptoms, medication, and more. In the next version, Ringful will allow users to send their data into the Google Health service, and then analyze it further.

SocialScope describes itself as “a mobile inbox for your social networks.” It allows users to access services like Facebook, Twitter, and now Flickr on your phone. Features include groups and URL expansion. The application is currently available for the BlackBerry, but the company plans to expand to other platforms. It has been in private alpha test, but SocialScope is opening a beta test to more users today.

Tazzle just released Tazzle IT, an application for printing emails, photos, and other files from BlackBerry devices. In fact, the content being printed doesn’t even have to be on the phone — you can also use your BlackBerry to view and print the files on your computer. The company says the application eliminates the hassle of trying to make your smartphone work with your computer.

waze is a mapping application that shares real-time traffic data gathered from the drivers who are using the service. Users build and edit the maps themselves. The company is already on Andriod phones, and is launching a beta test for Windows Mobile phones today. You can read more in my article about waze when it first launched in the United States.

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