The Roundup
Everything you missed this past week on Product Hunt: Top products, spicy community discourse, key trends on the site, and long-form pieces we’ve recently published.
Kidding... sort of. This Is Not Allowed is a gallery of photo’s deemed unacceptable on certain social media platforms. While it sounds risque, the makers’ mission is; “to create a space that celebrates sex positivity, enables social activism, recognizes legitimate adult businesses, and reclassifies LGBTQ+ content as regular content.”
So whilst the pictures might get you some glances over the shoulder at work, the point is they are body positive, consensually posted images.
The makers Julie, Ellie and Lucy state that they “understand the importance of content moderation, within moderation” - meaning that while these policies are important, the dialogue around sexuality and beauty standards within them are grey. They claim that when social media companies remove some of these photos, they’re acting within society’s conventional definitions of beauty.
Social media content moderation and censorship is a hot topic, but not a new issue. With widespread media coverage on the question of “who regulates social media?” coupled with the recent election, tech giants like Facebook, Google, TikTok, and Twitter have had to defend their positions in governing content. Just yesterday, Twitter announced the relaunch of its blue verification badge policy, in addition to new account types and labels.
As social media continues to play a huge role in our lives and media consumption, we’re curious to see what new features or tools arise that help shape those decisions. 👀
Giving new meaning to the phrase ‘bedroom workout’, the PIVOT bed transforms your bed into a functional gym.
To activate gym-mode, lift the frame of the bed and lock it into an upright position. Users can then use the base to perform workout activities and even pop out an optional power rack. The creators also claim you can use the frame to do dips and pull-ups without the fear of being toppled over.
What might seem like an unorthodox solution may help those living in small spaces or those looking to save time in the morning instead of traveling to the gym. With many areas in the world still experiencing gyms being closed, this might be an interesting substitute.
PIVOT Bed joins the burgeoning at-home fitness trend, with many companies receiving funding this quarter to grow their product ideas (Playbook, Caliber, and Future to name a few). Earlier this year, we covered Tempo in our newsletter as a popular choice for an at home gym; a product with 3D sensors to track your motion and improve your form. We also saw larger players like Lululemon step in to acquire Mirror - a literal mirror that acts as an interactive home gym.
Would you consider sleeping with your gym? 🤔 🤔 🤔
Currently invite-only in TestFlight, the app is incredibly simple. After receiving your invite link, type in a username then hit the big red button. It will notify everyone else currently in the app. Be prepared for a lot of notifications.
According to maker Daniel Greenberg, “Push Party is a new entrant to the exciting space of post-social digital campfires that rekindle a more intimate, authentic connection between users and the people they care about most.”
Daniel also tells us that, “For the last few months, Push Party has been in beta being used by some of the biggest celebrities, influential people and venture capitalists.”
Since usernames don’t need to be verified right now we’re calling sus on the celeb handles on the product page. 😏
The open-ended username means conversations can flow, if hard to follow, through the notifications feed. With 5000+ pushes sent in under 24 hours, creative users are already plotting ways to connect more meaningfully.
Push Party is giving us strong Yo vibes, the app that would simply let you say, ‘Yo’ to other nearby users. Yo famously raised a $1.5M round at a $10M valuation for the simple social network in 2014. Push Party has ‘pushed’ (sorry) past Yo’s valuation, securing its seed led by Trae Stephens of Founders Fund against a $200M valuation, although the exact sum invested is undisclosed.
The internets resident mischief-makers could well be poking fun at current tech trends with this latest drop and press stunt, or it could be creating the next big thing. 🤷♀️
Either way, we’re here for it and whatever MSCHF drops next.
Last week, Raspberry Pi launched Raspberry Pi 400, a portable keyboard with a complete built-in computer.
This fancy but ultra-powerful keyboard comes with a mouse, power supply, micro HDMI to HDMI cable, and SD card preloaded with Raspberry Pi OS - although, if you’re already a user of Raspberry Pi you can purchase the keyboard as a standalone unit.
The product has an impressive list of features for a keyboard (4GB of RAM anyone?), but most impressive is its low cost and portability for those on the go or those learning programming.
In the past few months, we’ve seen other cool keyboards that can power-up your fingers. 🆙
Lumi Keys is a portable illuminated keyboard that can help you learn music, where Keychron K3 is a wireless mechanical keyboard with the world’s first hot-swappable low profile Optical switches. With people working from home, the option to invest in a deluxe keyboard is quite tempting.
Google officially announced the integration of AppSheet into its tools.
AppSheet is Google Cloud’s no-code development platform which allows you to create powerful apps without code. It will be part of the Google Workspace family, which recently brought together Gmail, Calendar, Drive, Meet, Chat, and more (and was responsible for some notable icon changes). 👀
Google acquired AppSheet at the beginning of this year. Similar to other no-code platforms, it uses machine learning to analyze data from a spreadsheet and build a prototype app without users needing to know code.
However, it isn’t the only no-code platform that was released this year — flashback to when we covered the AWS no-code app builder. Amazon’s Honeycode is a great contender with its drag-and-drop interface and similar ease of use.
Both products are robust platforms that require no-code, carry a friendly UI, and allow for real-time deployment. There are of course many other awesome no-code tools that do similar things: Retool, Thunkable, Webflow, Candu, Airtable, or even Internal.
Which no-code platform do you plan on testing out? AppSheet or Honeycode?
Last week, Ryan Hoover had some big news to share. 😸
Last week, Apple dropped new products including the much anticipated iPhone 12, its first 5G iPhone.
To avoid FOMO, here’s a recap:
📱iPhone 12 & iPhone 12 Mini were part of the big reveal yesterday. The new phones are thinner and smaller than previous models, flaunting an ultra-protective ceramic glass screen. The size isn’t a problem for its 5G speed or fastest smartphone chip. The iPhone 12 is going for $799, while its mini counterpart starts at $699.
📲iPhone 12 Pro & iPhone 12 Pro Max shares similar features to the iPhone 12, but offers a new playground for photography. They are the first mobile cameras to record and edit Dolby Vision HDR videos, accompanied by LiDAR technology (the stuff NASA uses) for AR experiences.
The lenses on both phones will surely make for some Instagram-worthy shots. The iPhone 12 Pro will start at $999 whereas its fancier counterpart the iPhone 12 Pro Max will start at $1099.
🔉HomePod mini is 360 degrees of crisp and connected sound. At just 3.3 inches tall, you’ll get an intelligent assistant that acts as a speaker for your music or Apple TV, an office or home coordinator for your daily tasks, and an intercom for your house. Gift yourself this mini multitasker for $99.
The battle of the 5G phone is heating up just in time for the holidays, as Google released its contender the Pixel 5 just two weeks ago. Are you team Android or iPhone? Cast your vote for your pick.
E-commerce is having a moment right now with more businesses turning to online selling.
Swell, launched last month, offers a powerful ‘headless’ e-commerce platform for modern brands, startups, and agencies.
The platform offers unlimited product options, flexible discounts, subscriptions, customizable checkout, and multiple integrations.
With so many e-commerce platforms on the market, it can be difficult to compete with established household names. The creators of Swell believe that headless e-commerce with a no-code editor is the way to go.
In case you’re wondering what headless means, Michelle Teo, one of the makers, explains, “The front end and back end are completely separated, which means brands get freedom of expression to build whatever and however they want.”
Here are some early impressions from the community:
“Eric, Joshua, and the rest of their team are so thoughtful when it comes to the future of the space. Swell is going to crush it, love what they have built.” – Taylor Clauson
“Looks like Shopify Plus on steroids. Really nicely done. And those illustrations are just so captivating.” – Jake Disraeli
“Really impressed by the performance and speed. I've checked out some websites that use swell, and they're quite fast. Good stuff.” – Celik Nimani
If you were waiting for a sign to start selling online, this may be it.
Recently, Nat Martin dropped Diorama, a tool for making beautiful movies with your phone.
Nat, CEO of Litho and one of the makers of Diorama, says now you can create Jurassic Park-like films anywhere from your bedroom to the beach. You can produce far more sophisticated animated visual effects than ever previously possible on your phone.
This is great news for makers and creators who want to create better content without spending a fortune. The iPhone is a pretty powerful machine as explained by Nat, “If you have an iPhone with an A12 chip or newer, actors can also interact directly with the props in your scene through body tracking, and the app has a selection of live video filters, which help blend virtual objects with the camera feed.”
To get the most out of Diorama, you’ll need an iOS device with ARKit support (generally iPhones no older than 5 years will support this) and a Litho AR controller which costs $99.
We’ve seen smartphones replacing photo cameras and now with the latest AR developments, we’re seeing smartphones getting into the big screens. Just imagine how many more talented producers will get a chance to bring their visions into reality.
Here are some reactions from the community:
“Wow. That is sick. I've never seen such an interesting use of AR. Just awesome.” – Mi Wy
“The UI and workflow shown in the second video is just amazing.” – Aidan Wolf
“Looks cool! I like that you are recognising that accessibility and ease of use are a key to make it go viral!” – Sabina Weiss
Dreams of becoming a movie star suddenly don't seem so far fetched. 🎬
Google’s in-house incubator Area 120, launched Tables last week, a tool for collaboration, workflow, and automation.
This new Google tool is drawing some direct comparisons with the no-code giant Airtable, which recently upgraded its new platform with Sync, Marketplace, Apps, and Automation while raising $185M. We wrote about this in more detail.
Google positions Tables as a project management tool to get teams on the same page (and the same virtual table) with bots, automation, and seamless integration to other Google products like Sheets, Groups, and Contacts.
While there are many productivity tools in the market and many adopting a Kanban board approach, Trello, Monday.com, Asana to name just a few, Google has an advantage of tapping into its existing user base of millions of users already invested in Google’s ecosystem (Gmail, Drive, Docs).
The product was launched in a Google-like freemium fashion.
You can use Tables for free, with support for up to 100 tables and 1,000 rows. The paid plan includes a 3-month trial, starts from $10/month/user giving you up to 1,000 tables and 10,000 rows/table.
Would you switch to Tables?
