One company will let you connect with other drivers and retailers through regular license plates, another will help you buy and sell real estate without brokers, a third promises to turn household organic waste into fuel.
At the very least, some of the 70 or so start-ups at the semiannual Demo conference in Silicon Valley over the next few days grab your attention. Here are a few worth watching:
*Bump Network. Perhaps another car is blocking yours as you try to pull out of a parking space. Maybe you left your wallet in a cab. Bump uses license plates and other offline “identifiers” to allow you to connect. Through this Web and mobile-messaging platform, you can send a message to the owner of any license plate in the U.S. — via e-mail, text or voice. You snap a picture of a license plate, but the would-be recipient must “claim” their plate and register on Bump.com. The company says users will be able to control privacy but concedes it’s a bit Little Brotherish. Bump plans to roll out emergency roadside assistance and other services in the coming months. The basic service will be free.
*HomingCloud. This social-networking site is billed as an online matchmaker for real estate. It will connect residential buyers and renters with sellers and landlords. Interested parties can send each other private messages. Sellers can use video to show off properties. The service will be free for one month, after which you’ll pay $15 to $20 to list a property or to seek one.
*MicroFueler. Can you really turn dirty diapers into usable fuel? Not exactly. But E-Fuel unveiled the MicroFusion Reactor, which lets folks at home turn all types of organic waste into sugar water, which is then fermented into ethanol. Billed as the “first home ethanol system,” the MicroFueler consists…