New Scred release (“Arc of Infinity”)
A new mini-update of Scred is available which we have dubbed ‘Arc of Infinity‘. It provides some important fixes and features. Larger updates are still on their way!
We would also like to take this opportunity to thank the many users who have joined since our public release. Your blog articles and feedback have been very important to us and we are continuing to work very hard to build an excellent service. Keep the comments coming!
The updates will be available immediately at https://www.scred.com/
Changes on website:
- If your currency differs from that of a pool you are a member in, the balance on your My Scred page, and in the Pools page, will now be displayed in both the pool currency and automatically converted to your own (based on the current exchange rates).
- Fixed a problem where the description of a pool shown to non-members was occassionally incorrect.
- Made more obvious to users that profile data is only shared between friends! Check your profile to add bank accounts or edit your information.
- Adds support for a comma in the transaction ‘amount’ field, as well as a dot (e.g. “1,32″ is the same as “1.32″).
- Some links to Mobile Scred corrected.
- Help pages somewhat clarified with emphasis on ‘Screding’, or our debt shuffling mechanism.
- Various small visual and usability tweaks.
Changes on Scred Mobile (now at version 1.0.1):
- If a user was not a member of any pools the application would crash. This is fixed.
- Previously if the user left a pool but still had transactions stored on the phone that were for that pool an error would be
given, but there was no way to remedy this other than to delete all transactions. Now the user is given the option to delete the bad transactions. - The last used currency is now stored. This is especially useful when abroad and regularly using one currency out of many.
- Now you are given the option to delete all successfully synchronised transactions immediately after synchronisation.
You can install the latest version of Scred Mobile from http://www.scred.com/mobile/ . As many have already found out, it is an essential tool when out and about, and works even when you have no network connection.
Buxfer can’t take the flack?
Buxfer have been making a big deal out of their newly released offline client. For a moment I believed they had finally caught up, but I then took a closer look at what they are doing. Their application is based on a mobile version of Google Gears, which is interesting enough, except that their version currently only works on Windows Mobile and, this is the real sucker, it is read-only for offline use.
Now, I realise Buxfer has been moving more and more into the realm of personal finance tracking, which is good for them and for people who like being really particular (I refrain from using the more vulgar term) about where they are spending their money, but it doesn’t help you much if you’re travelling with friends or spending a nice night out and find yourself paying. You need the solution to work wherever you are and with ease. Who voluntarily uses Windows Mobile anyway?
I had the audacity to point this out to them in their blog. Unfortunately it seems they did not appreciate the facts and the post was later removed… A wee company like this, out for just a few weeks, causing problems? So, Buxfer, be prepared for some pretty stiff competition and seasoned coders. I guess we’re no longer beneath your radar.
Greetings from Startup Camp
We’re here at Startup Camp 4 in London for two days. An interesting event with some four hundred participants, most from early stage startups, like us. We’ll probably have some conference blogging here on the Scred blog, but there’s also a more personal take on my blog. You can also take a look us and other startups taking part in the “best startup competition”.
Leisure Suit Larry Creator Likes Scred!
When Al and Margaret Lowe were over in Finland they were convinced Scred would be useful at keeping relationships intact, and they should be the experts. Al sent me a funny email about Scred too:
“Scred is a real ‘friend-saver!’ No more hurt feelings over who didn’t pay his fair share for the stripper!”
The challenges in marketing
As many startups have realised, getting your product released is, while challenging, only half the work. They are all wondering how to then reach their potential audiences and tell them of their wonderful products. This is especially true for the people involved with Scred as we are a bunch of techies. We’d love to be able to focus 100% on creating the perfect product and have users magically appear, but unfortunately things are not quite that simple. It’s self-evident, really, but always worth remembering: a good product is worthless if nobody knows about it.
With our humble resources we have managed to gain some visibility. One surprise was that despite aiming for a global market, and having a product that is very much developed with that in mind, local media has been most valuable. I guess it is only natural for them to be keen to see a Finnish business being successful, and they should never be overlooked. World domination must start somewhere.
The article at sektori.com was probably the best Finnish one as it was clear on what we are doing and a fair amount of visits were generated.
Piercing the international media has proven more difficult but with perseverance and thought we are slowly seeing some results. I think the factor which is helping us is that our product is genuinely useful and not just web or social networking built for the sake of it. Indeed various blogs and sites have been quite positive.
The article at KillerStartups is my favourite so far. The writer there put in some effort to ponder on why Scred could work and what risks are involved. So not only is it publicity but it contains useful views for us as well.
The weeks ahead are going to be super busy (well, what else is new?). Expect to see some important and useful new features to really help Scred along. Rest assured, we are not sitting idle.
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