fbpx
Connect with us

Reviews

BumpOut: The Expandable Portable Speaker

Published

on

Take your music everywhere with BumpOut, the portable speaker designed for versatility. That was Zac Pierce’s initial idea when creating technology. They hit an early milestone by reaching their crowdfunding goal on Indiegogo in 4 days, pre-selling the speaker at a discounted price to backers. What’s neat about the speaker is it’s Motorized Expansion Technology™, where it expands to generate high-quality audio and rich bass. It connects through Bluetooth with a range of 30 feet and runs for 7 hours before the next charge. You can attach the speaker to any smooth surface with the BumpOut coins, including your phone. We connected with Zac Pierce and the BumpOut team to learn more about the innovative technology behind their portable speaker. 

How would you describe BumpOut?

BumpOut is a portable Bluetooth speaker that can fit in the palm of your hand and attach to any flat surface, including smartphones, mirrors, refrigerators, etc. The most unique feature is the speaker’s Motorized Expansion System. With one click of a button, the center of the speaker raises, generating high-quality sound & bass that drowns out the most competing products.

What is BumpOut’s mission?

Inspire and innovate for those that boldly do what they love, not just what they are told. BumpOut as a verb. Be inspired and work hard as it inspires others.

How does BumpOut differentiate from competitor portable speakers?

The main differences are portability and innovation. We have engineered a speaker with a  sleek design that fits comfortably in your pocket and can attach directly to your phone or case. Truly portable. Our patented Motorized Expansion Technology™ is an audio industry breakthrough. With the push of a button, the casing of the speaker expands, creating an acoustic chamber that results in powerful, high-quality sound, and rich bass response. We then paired this technology with BumpOut Coins that feature a patented repositionable adhesive that allows you to attach the speaker to any smooth surface, even your smartphone.

When you look at the crowded space of Bluetooth speakers there is a lot of “stuff” under $50 that leaves you wanting more: not loud enough, does not connect to your device easily, poor sound quality, etc… OR if you are willing to spend north of $150 you can get something that might meet your needs but is a big investment. We believe, after extensive research, that you don’t need to spend a ton of money to get the results you are looking for. There is an opportunity in the market for a quality portable speaker under $100.

Who is the ideal BumpOut customer?

Anyone who listens to music on their smartphone and wants the latest innovation in audio at an affordable price. We are proud that we have been able to incorporate game-changing technology into BumpOut, but the #1 focus is “quality of music”. That is why we partnered with the top audio engineers in the country and hired a high-end audio manufacturer to make BumpOut. It needs to sound great and your listening experience needs to be enjoyable.

Describe the use of the coin mounts.

BumpOut comes with coins that can be placed on any smooth flat surface so you can have your soundtrack at home or on the go. Coins have a repositionable adhesive that can be removed and repositioned. BumpOut speaker connects directly to the coins. Our test markets showed us that most youths will place the coin on the mirror in the bathroom so they can connect the speaker (to the mirror) while showering or getting ready for school or going out. Most parents said they will place a coin in the kitchen on the refrigerator so they can attach the speaker and listen to music while making dinner. Almost everyone we surveyed will place a coin on their smartphone for true portability and improve the “sub-par” audio quality and volume smartphones currently provide. Speaker does not need to be attached to the coin to listen to the music. The coins provide an extra feature to mount your speaker in various locations or, if attached to your smartphone, allows for easy portability.

What are some perks of crowdfunding?

Customer engagement. We have been working on this project for 2 years and have spent our own nest eggs on getting to this point. Crowdfunding has allowed us to engage with our customers and backers and bring validity to all of our efforts. You never really know what you have until you “flip the switch” on sales. To hit our Indiegogo goal in 4 days confirms everything we have been working towards.

What are some challenges you’ve come across along the way?

The biggest challenge with hardware is capital. It is very expensive to manufacture a product, which is why Crowdfunding is such an important process. Also, finding helpful resources for hardware development in Philadelphia is a challenge. We have kept our resources very organized and hope to be able to aid others in the city.

What is your team like?

The core of the team is Founder Zac Pierce and partners Brian Zamrowski and Mat Chacko.  We have surrounded ourselves with high-level specialists to ensure that we are delivering the best possible product for an affordable price.

What is BumpOutU?

We believe in today’s youth. By providing guidance and exposure to career paths that foster individual talents, we aim to make a meaningful impact on the Creators of tomorrow. Our first live event held on October 8th brought community leaders, entrepreneurs, and students together for a day of bumping music and breakout sessions developed to inspire creativity and ideas backed by positive action. With our backers’ support, our commitment to BumpOutU, and proactive approach to making a difference will scale along with our company.

How did you advertise?

On a budget! In these earliest stages, we rely heavily on PR and focus on technology and audio outlets.

What are some tips you can give to entrepreneurs looking to crowdfund?

It is a LOT of work but, if you go into it with a plan of what you want to learn from the process, it is extremely helpful. You learn about what features really resonate with your consumers.

Jie writes about influencers and startups in various industries. She is a designer turned techie, and when she is not writing, you can find her in her workshop working on her next big project.

Continue Reading
Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Reviews

What’s the Best Subscription-Based Graphic Design Service in 2025?

Published

on

When it comes to subscription-based graphic design services, the right fit depends on your specific requirements, needs, and budget. That said, the best graphic design subscription service would give you the most value for your money and the best results for your project.

Here are four of the most popular unlimited graphic design players and why they are crowd favorites.

1. Penji

Best graphic design subscription service Penji

For years now, Penji has been hailed by users as the best graphic design subscription service. Featuring a state-of-the-art app, it’s one of the creative subscriptions that makes it so easy to request a design and attach all the visual pegs you need. Requesting revisions is also easy; you only need to point your cursor at a section of the design, click, and type in your comment.

The best part? Penji has a powerful team of vetted designers (it only hires the top 2% of creatives), making it arguably the best graphic design subscription service. That means they can handle anything you might need – from logos and branding guidelines to posters,  packaging design, and even UI/UX design.  

Pricing: Subscriptions start at $499, with a 30-day money-back guarantee

2. Design Shifu

Best graphic design subscription service Design Shifu

Design Shifu can be one of the best creative as a service providers for users who are new to graphic design outsourcing. They also offer one of the cheapest options for limited design credits (not unlimited) which can be good enough for those who are just testing the waters.

Pricing: Starts at $199 per month for 5 design credits

3. Kimp

Best graphic design subscription service Kimp

Kimp, meanwhile, is one of the best graphic design subscription service options for small businesses and startups with a limited budget. They offer a turnaround time as quick as 24 hours and allow two active requests at a time. Their cheapest package is already enough for day-to-day graphic design needs. If you need video design and motion graphics, however, you may want to consider getting their pricier tiers.

Pricing: Starts at $448.50 per month

4. ManyPixels

Best graphic design subscription service ManyPixels

Also included in our best graphic design subscription service providers is ManyPixels. It offers branding and marketing designs, including social media, web design services, and illustrations. Aside from graphic designs, the platform also does video editing and motion graphics, making it a good choice for influencers and ecommerce brands.
Pricing: Starts at $599 per month

Featured Image Credit: Photo by Jakub Zerdzicki from Pexels

Continue Reading

Reviews

Prowly Review: Boost Your Media Relations with Ease

Published

on

Prowly review

Looking to get a boost on PR? Help OM out by signing up for Prowly with this link.

SEO work involves various elements, and understanding how each one functions is crucial for success. While many of the best all-in-one SEO tools come with a hefty price tag and require a monthly subscription, they are often only accessible to larger companies that can justify the expense. For smaller businesses, investing in an expensive SEO package can be challenging.

That’s why we’ve gathered a list of the best free SEO tools available today, including Prowly, which can help you enhance your search engine optimization efforts without breaking the bank. Start optimizing your website today by exploring the most effective free tools you can use right away.

Getting started with Prowly

Prowly review

As mentioned in my Demio review, the convenience of SaaS allows you to quickly use software through your browser. Signing up for Prowly is as simple as clicking the “Try it for free” button in the upper right corner of the site.

Prowly pricing

Prowly review: subscription

Prowly offers a 7-day free trial so users can try before they buy. Beyond that, they offer an Essential plan for smaller-scale users and a Professional plan for agencies.

The most basic form of the Essential plan starts at $119/mo, while the Professional plan starts at $189/mo. You can add features to your plan—including media monitoring and access to Prowly’s media contact database—for an additional cost.

What can Prowly do?

Prowly review: schedule

Remember that thing I said about customer experience? Prowly clearly got the memo, because as soon as you sign up, they invite you to schedule a meeting with them. This shows a real dedication to customer support that you don’t see every day. But since I’m only trying out the product for a review, I opted out.

Dashboard

Prowly’s dashboard maintains a simple, inviting design. This is especially helpful since the choices you’re presented with are a bit overwhelming. As someone with limited PR experience, the very idea of starting a press release feels daunting.

Still, front and center on your home page is a simple timeline you can use to wrap your head around Prowly. It breaks it down into four easy steps: creating press releases, finding media contacts, setting up a newsroom, and sending email pitches.

Let’s take a look at each of those features.

Making press releases with Prowly

Prowly has a wide array of options for crafting press releases. You can upload a .docx file, start from scratch, or choose from various templates like event announcements and new hires.

These templates are designed to get your mind jogging, rather than filling in the blanks Mad Libs-style. The text editor is fairly simple with limited font and formatting options. Still, you generally don’t want to get too wild with a press release.

Make sure not to hit “Publish” before it’s fully done, as you can’t go back and change it. 

Finding media contacts

Prowly review: contacts

Like with the press release tool, there are a few ways to get started with finding media contacts. You can import or manually add your existing contact list, but you can also peruse Prowly’s extensive database.

Media contacts range from entertainment to politics, business to beauty. They include some of the biggest names and publications in journalism. Just keep in mind, you’ll have to buy an upgraded plan to get access to the contact database.

If you just want to get started, importing existing contacts makes for much less hassle. At the bare minimum, you can put in a few emails and move on to the next step…

Creating a Prowly newsroom

A Prowly newsroom is a custom webpage designed to compile your brand’s content, press releases, and other news. While it’s less customizable than your own website, it allows your media contacts to easily find all of your content in one place.

This can be a useful tool for shaping your narrative. You can organize your PR output into tabs and categories, and customize the design to suit your brand. Still, I’d argue you could probably do better making a media tab on your own website.

Sending an email pitch

Finally, the main event. You’ve made your press release, your newsroom, and compiled all your contacts. Time to pitch!

You can choose to select certain recipients or email your whole contact list. Prowly gives you the tools you need to create an engaging email, with a dozen professional fonts and a bevy of text options.

Where the newsroom layout is fairly one-size-fits-all, you have much more customization options with your pitches. This makes sense since the email pitch is the thing that gets your media contacts hooked.

You can add images, tables, files, and links to your pitch, as well as additional press releases and a call-to-action button.

Like many CRMs, Prowly includes personalization tokens. These are variable text elements that can be tailored to specific recipients. For example, you can add a Greeting token that inputs different greetings for different recipients. Then, by applying values to people in your contact list, you can ensure they each get a greeting that’s specific to them.

After that, simply review your email and send it off! Prowly recommends you sort your emails into campaigns, which makes it easier to keep track of different releases and review their success.

Monitoring and reports

Prowly : Testing

One of Prowly’s more impressive features is its media monitoring dashboard. Above and beyond keyword research, this tool includes widgets to track sentiment, reach, domain authority, and much more.

While easily sending out and keeping track of pitches is great, this tool makes Prowly worth your while. Every tool at your disposal from WordPress to Google Ads has some flavor of monitoring, but this is the rare dashboard that synthesizes every metric a PR agency needs. Just as important, the custom widgets also let you exclude the data you don’t need.

Prowly is teasing a forthcoming feature that lets you view stats on your campaigns through PR reports. As advertised, these reports go above and beyond, compiling data to show the complete picture of your PR work.

As it currently stands, the lack of specific stats on a campaign’s success is one area where Prowly could improve. For PR workers, the ability to compile deliverables makes a big difference, so I hope this feature gets rolled out sooner rather than later.

Is Prowly worth it?

Prowly review

For companies, agencies, and entrepreneurs working in PR, Prowly (wait a sec… PR owly!) promises an easier way. It highlights the ability to easily create, release, and track press releases online.

Prowly’s most impressive features are its media monitoring tools and contact database. I was somewhat less impressed with the press release tools themselves, but I acknowledge the utility of having a simple online dashboard to keep track of them.

Prowly is definitely a strong PR tool; the contacts and monitoring tools alone are enough to make it worthwhile. Still, it faces a common SaaS problem: how much ownership will you give up for convenience?

For that purpose, I like the fact that Prowly also lets you import releases, contact lists, and more. You can choose whether you want a convenient experience or a custom one, which is an attitude more SaaS programs should have.

Prowly is sort of the Canva of PR software. It’s shiny, accessible, and gets the job done, with a few impressive tools that put it over the top. But if you want something fully custom, you’ll still have to make it yourself.

Final rating: 7.9/10 ✅

Like what you see? Sign up for Prowly today.

Continue Reading

Business

Bit.ai Review for Businesses in 2025: Is It Still Worth It?

Published

on

When you’re collaborating on documents with other writers or co-workers, how do you keep everyone on the same page?

Truth be told, for most of you, the answer is probably Google Docs. It’s quick, efficient, and easy to share. But what if there was a better way?

Bit.ai professes to be “the world’s most powerful workplace and document collaboration platform.” In this Bit.ai review, we’ll put that claim to the test.

Bit.ai Review: What is Bit.ai?

Co-founded by Raj and Saje Sandhu, Bit.ai has been offering document collaboration to companies like Canon and Harvard University since 2007. The company employs a global team with headquarters in San Francisco.

What does Bit.ai offer?

Bit.ai has grown into a smart documentation and knowledge management platform tailored to businesses of all sizes. 

With the release of Bit 3.0 and the built-in AI Genius Writer in time for other tech players’ version of AI boom, the tool is now as much about content intelligence as it is about collaboration. 

Features include:

  • Collaborative document editor with AI assistance
  • Smart content library with internal linking
  • 100+ file type support and embed options
  • AI-powered writing and content structuring
  • Automated themes, templates, and formatting
  • Cloud integrations (Google Drive, OneDrive, Box, etc.)
  • Document tracking and engagement insights
  • Branded, interactive documents
  • Customizable workspaces and guest access
  • SSO, 2FA, and admin-level security controls

We’ll explore some of the key features in the next section.

How much does Bit.ai cost?

Individual users and Bit.ai offers a flexible pricing model suited for individuals, teams, and growing businesses. Here’s a breakdown of the current subscription plans (based on annual billing):

  • Free Plan – $0/user/month. Includes up to 10 documents per user, 5-user limit, single document import, access to integrations and collaborative workspaces. Exporting, version history, and AI tools are not included.
  • Pro Plan – $8/user/month (billed annually). Offers unlimited documents and users, bulk document import/export, access to version history, and 20,000 AI Genius Writer words (with add-on). Also includes advanced permissions and external sharing features.
  • Business Plan – $15/user/month (billed annually). Includes everything in Pro plus more advanced collaboration features like guest access, embed options, and extended AI capabilities. Also includes top-tier permissions and document management features.

Monthly billing is available at higher rates. Bit.ai also provides custom enterprise plans and continues to offer discounted rates for education, startups, and nonprofits.

Bit.ai Review: How to sign up

Getting started with Bit.ai is as simple as inputting your email and receiving a six-digit verification code.

After that, you’re asked to fill out information like your name, your job title, and your department at your company, as well as create a password. Right off the bat, Bit puts businesses first, setting itself apart from Google Docs before you even log in.

But it doesn’t stop there. When you sign up, you create a profile for your whole company, getting a custom subdomain for your team to access your library.

And there you have it! Once you’re logged in, you have the option to see a tutorial. If you want to upgrade to a paid plan, use the handy “Upgrade” button in the lower left corner of your dashboard.

Bit.ai Review: Features

The Bit.ai web app includes tabs for your dashboard and a list of all your workspaces.

The Bit.ai dashboard

Your Bit.ai homepage allows you to view recent activity, featured templates, tutorials and updates, as well as see how close you are to your document limit if you’re a free user.

Free users get access to most core collaboration features but not premium functions like AI, exporting, or advanced version tracking.

You can open documents directly from the dashboard, but only using a featured template or a recently-opened one. To create something from scratch, you’ll have to head over to Workspaces.

The Workspaces tab

First thing’s first: create a workspace. Workspaces are where your documents are created, saved, and shared. Once you’ve made one, you can create a new document, either by using a template, importing an existing document, or starting from scratch.

Creating a document with Bit.ai

When you create a new document in Bit.ai, you’re taken to a bare-bones writing editor similar to Notion. In addition, AI Genius Writer is now integrated into the editor to assist with outlines, rewriting, or prompts. I always find it hard to start writing when you don’t have anything visual to guide you, but once you get the hang of it, it’s fairly intuitive.

I think the reason for this no-frills approach is to make it easier to take meeting notes and write down quick thoughts about a project. For more in-depth functions, however, you can highlight your text after you’ve written it to change the formatting. There’s also a + icon next to your cursor that lets you add links, embeds, files, code blocks, and more.

One neat feature of this text editor is the ability to link directly to other documents and content in your Bit.ai library. It makes it much easier to cross-reference documents than it is in Google Docs, Word, Notes, etc., another great benefit for businesses.

There’s no need to save your documents in Bit.ai—that happens automatically. When you’re done, however, you can share it with collaborators and others, lock it to prevent further edits, change its associated colors, view stats and version history. Note: exporting, version history, and AI writing are reserved for Pro and Business plans.

Bit.ai writing templates

Bit offers a huge range of templates, with themes geared towards managers, marketers, designers, educators, and much more. Some of these are designed to function as static documents, such as thesis papers. Others can be hubs for entire business processes, like the video production template.

After trying out a few of these templates, they’re great at showing off all of Bit.ai’s functionality, but they’re useful even if you don’t use Bit for everything. They offer great templates for outlining your processes, making it easier to set a roadmap and including things you might not have thought of.

Importing documents into Bit.ai

While Bit.ai professes to support a massive range of file types, their import menu is a little peculiar. You can choose to import from “Word” (which just allows you to import .docx files from your computer), from a number of cloud-based sources, or Markdown, .txt, and .pdf files.

The strange thing is, you can’t click on “Word” and then upload a .txt file, nor can you click on “PDF” and upload a Word doc. I have no idea why it’s formatted like this, but it made my upload attempts very confusing.

Not to mention, formatting isn’t included when you upload, and the first two uncommon file types I tried (Pages and Final Draft) were both incompatible.

As of 2025, Bit.ai also includes AI Genius Writer in its paid plans—an AI assistant built into the editor that helps generate content, rewrite sections, and build outlines based on your input.”

Bit.ai Review: Final thoughts

So, how does Bit.ai live up to its thesis statement? Is it really “the world’s most powerful document collaboration platform”?

It may not be the most powerful, but it’s certainly grown into one of the smartest options for teams and businesses. While it’s still not a traditional writing tool—you won’t get full font customization or a rich formatting toolbar—it now offers much more under the hood.

With features like AI Genius Writer, smart internal linking, advanced templates, and built-in document analytics, Bit.ai shines as a modern content hub for collaboration, documentation, and knowledge management.

The platform still has room to improve when it comes to document organization and formatting flexibility, but it’s made impressive strides since its earlier versions.

Final grade: 8/10

Continue Reading

Trending