A lot of people are developing mobile-first products.
They're bypassing websites and going straight for the App Store, or they're building hardware for mobile devices.
Some are skipping iPhones and Androids altogether and building tablet-first products.
Here are a list of the most promising mobile-first startups we've encountered.
Mixel is an iPhone app that lets you splice up multiple photos into a single collage with beautiful filters.
What it is: Take pictures in the Mixel app or upload them from your mobile camera. Then create a single-image collage out of them. The collage pieces can be shuffled, and Instagram-like filters can be added.
Date Founded: Relaunched August, 2012
Based in: New York, NY (Flat Iron)
Founded By: Khoi Vihn
Funding: Raised $100,000 from a 2010 TechFellow Award followed by $600,000 from CrunchFund, Polaris Venture Partners, Betaworks and Allen & Company.
Why you should care: After a failed first launch and a product pivot, the new Mixel app is receiving this kind of praise from investors:
This @mixel iPhone app is a-m-a-z-i-n-g. Reminds me of animoto in its simplicity and elegance. Nice job!
— Michael Arrington (@arrington) August 20, 2012
Turf is a new iPhone game that looks like SimCity but uses check-ins like Foursquare.
What it is: Take over the buildings in your city virtually. Turf lets you own buildings you check-in to, battle other users for their properties, and advance to new levels. It has elements of Foursquare, SimCity and Mario.
Date Founded: 2011, launched August 2012
Based in: New York, NY (WeWork Labs)
Founded By: Michael Tseng
Funding: $600,000 seed round led by RRE
Why you should care: Turf was one of the first buzzy Kickstarter projects. The app is exceptionally beautiful because its founder Tseng, doesn't have a typical tech background. He is a graduate of Savannah College of Art and Design and was a creative at advertising agency Crispin Porter + Bogusky.
Within its first four days, Turf users generated 100,000 check-ins on the app.
Pebble is a watch that's synched with your Android or iPhone. It plays music, tells time, the weather, and more.
What it is: Pebble uses iPhone and Android apps to help the wearer control everything from music to exercise data on his or her wrist. It raised $10 million on Kickstarter.
Date Founded: May 2012
Based in: Palo Alto, CA
Founded By: Eric Migicovsky
Funding: $10 million on Kickstarter
Why you should care: Pebble is the most funded Kickstarter project to date, raising more than $10 million on the crowdfunding site. It's also an innovative form of wearable technology; it's more convenient than taking out a phone.
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