PELAGO

Pelago was founded by former Amazon executives in 2006 based on the belief that three key trends, (1) pervasive location-awareness, (2) perfect information, and (3) people as media, will converge to create an opportunity for life-changing innovation. Pelago's mission is to remove all barriers to inspiration, information and human connection. Pelago's most recent product, Whrrl v2.0, enables storytelling in our daily lives. Launched in March, 2009, it is a mobile and Web application that enabl... es people to capture and share the moments of their lives, as they happen, in story form. Through location, photos and text updates, users can easily turn everyday life experiences into lasting stories that can be remembered, organized and shared. The user controls exactly who can see his or her story, ranging from total privacy to publicly visible, including optional broadcast via status updates on Facebook and Twitter. Whrrl v2.0 is available now as a free application through the iPhone App Store, and anyone can participate via the Web, SMS text, and digital cameras with an Eye-Fi wifi-enabled memory card. Whrrl v2.0 stories are collaborative: two or more people who are physically together can “join” and contribute to the same story from their separate phones, allowing a single shared experience to be expressed from multiple points of view. In addition, each story has its own unique URL that can be easily shared. After the real-world experience ends, the story may be edited by the participants via the Whrrl website and shared with others through Facebook, Twitter and/or email. Whrrl v2.0 on the iPhone utilizes Facebook Connect for Mobile to allow Facebook users to bypass Whrrl v2.0 account creation and login with their Facebook accounts. Linking a Facebook account to Whrrl v2.0 also enables access to the user’s Facebook friends list, ability to publish stories as status updates, and all photos taken through Whrrl can be automatically published to Facebook photos. For non-iPhone users, Pelago provides several ways to participate in Whrrl v2.0. First, any mobile phone user can create and update stories by sending SMS text and email messages. Second, people who own a digital camera and an Eye-Fi wireless wifi-enabled memory card can upload pictures taken with the camera in real-time to a Whrrl v2.0 story. Finally, anyone can visit the Whrrl v2.0 website (www.whrrl.com) to view and comment on stories.More