I’m a big fan of simplicity, because it shouldn’t take rocket science to explain a service or product. One of the masters of simplicity is Philip Kaplan aka Pud, who has made some fun products that even your mom can understand.

One of his most recent creations, TinyLetter, allows people to start an email newsletter in just a few clicks. It was purchased by MailChimp in August.

Kaplan’s latest app, Bellbot, might not get acquired, but it’s yet another interesting creation from a guy who has seen it all in Silicon Valley.

The service allows you to drop a single line of code on any page of your site, and a bell will ring when someone hits it. In a TinyLetter email today, Kaplan explains the service:

I came up with the idea a long time ago when I read a story about how Jeff Bezos (Amazon founder) in the early days rigged a bell to play every time Amazon had a new customer. Also I think it’s fairly common for sales people to ring a bell (or smash a gong) every time they have a sale. So this is a virtual version of that.

All you have to do is sign up for Bellbot, and you’ll get a unique code to drop on any page of your site. To go along with the usage Kaplan suggests, you should put the code on a “Thank You” page that happens after someone signs up for your site or buys something.

After you’ve placed the code on your page, just keep your Bellbot page open, sit back and relax. As soon as people start hitting your chosen page, the app will ring. It sounds goofy, but if you’re just getting started, this type of incentive will definitely keep you and your team in the know and pushing forward to keep going.

This could be great for a charity who is having an event and wants to let everyone in attendance know when a new donation is made. As donations come through and Bellbot starts sounding off, more people will be excited to donate too. This one falls under the “Why didn’t I think of that?” category, and Kaplan is a master at churning these types of apps out.

➤ Bellbot

Microsoft has been unafraid to create apps that run on devices made by competing companies, and the latest official app to arrive is Hotmail for Kindle Fire. Previously, Hotmail could be accessed on the Kindle Fire through the browser or the native mail application, but a dedicated Hotmail app developed by Microsoft allows for a more tailored experience. Based on Hotmail for Android, but modified for the Kindle Fire (a custom implementation of Android), the app syncs all mail, contacts, folders and subfolders, thanks to use of the Exchange Active Sync protocol in place of POP3 (which only downloads mail).

“We think it’s critical that our customers can use Hotmail from any device they choose,” wrote Director of Hotmail Product Management David Law on the Inside Windows Live blog, “So, in addition to making Hotmail work great on devices running Windows, we’ll continue to invest in great experiences on other major device platforms.”

Increase in number of Hotmail accounts on iOS and Android, from Microsoft

According to Law, there are over 12 million active Hotmail users on iOS and 3 million on the official Android app.

Our own Courtney Boyd Myers went hands on with the Kindle Fire shortly after its release, which you can read about here.

➤ Hotmail for the Kindle Fire

Amazon realizes that while its Kindle devices might be selling really well, there are a whole lot of people who prefer to read their books on an iPad.

Because of that reason, Amazon has released an iPad optimized version of its Kindle Store that looks and feels like a native app. No installation required though, simply visit: http://www.amazon.com/iPadKindleStore on your iPad to get the full experience.

The web app does a fantastic job of utilizing all of the extra real estate on the iPad’s screen, as well as allowing you to touch your way through the library of available titles to read on your Kindle app.

When you visit the page and log in, you’ll find the books that are recommended for you in all of its big juicy cover flow-esque glory. As you swipe your way through titles, you can tap on one of them for more detail. Once again, the web app uses the iPad’s extra real estate to show you detailed descriptions and user reviews.

After you purchase a title, you can read it within the Kindle app on your iPad or via Amazon’s online Cloud Reader, which is also optimized for the device.

➤ Kindle Store for iPad

The eagle-eyed folks at Domain Name Wire noticed a domain transfer of note today.

Amazon, which purchased a company called Quidsi in 2010 for $540 million, seems to be creeping its way into your home one room at a time. When Amazon purchased Quidsi, it acquired Diapers.com, Soap.com and BeautyBar.com. Those sites seem to cover a few areas in your home, including the baby’s room and your laundry facilities.

In 2009, Amazon purchased Zappos for $847 million, which gave the company a place to set up shop in your various closets.

Now it looks like Amazon wants to take over your whole darn house, as it has purchased the domain name Casa.com:

When you visit the site, you’re shown the following message that more than tips off Amazon’s involvement:

You have reached an invalid location. Maybe you are looking for http://www.diapers.com, http://www.soap.com, http://www.beautybar.com, http://www.wag.com …

Need more evidence? It looks like Casa.com already has a merchandising associate:

While this site will more than likely end up under Quidsi’s management, it is quite fascinating to watch Amazon evolve from an ecommerce company into a fixture in all of the rooms in your home. Throw the Kindle on top of all of this, and you may have something you purchased from Amazon in every room of your house this year.

It looks like Amazon is becoming the online version of Walmart.

I’m a big fan of simplistic design and when it comes to web apps, I want to know important things up front without having to click around a lot. If you’re a fan of minimalist web app design, and also a movie buff, this app might be exactly what you’re looking for.

WhatsOutt pulls in all of the latest movies that have hit theaters or are available for purchase on DVD and Blue-Ray. While the site could use a little bit of polish, I’ve found it to be quite helpful over the past week.

I’ve bookmarked the page as my default “I’m bored” alternative when there’s nothing to go out and do. I’m a big movie fan, so knowing what flicks are in the theater is important to me.

What’s out?

When there’s nothing left to do other than go to the theater for some popcorn and a (hopefully) mildly entertaining Hollywood movie, the question that you ask your friend or spouse is usually “What’s Out?”. This app lets you take a look two weeks in advance, and links you directly to Fandango for ticket purchases and Apple’s site for movie trailers.

Additionally, WhatsOutt will tell you what movies are available for purchase on DVD, Blue-Ray, or iTunes. Similarly, the app gives you the quick links to buy them just by hovering over the movie’s tile. I’m not a fan of using iTunes on the desktop so this is super helpful for me. I’d love to see the developer pull in Netflix’s latest titles for streaming as well, as it would make this app perfect for me.

I find that sites like Fandango and IMDB are extremely crowded when all I want is a tiny bit of information to help me make a decision, so when apps like this pop up they’re an automatic bookmark for me.

➤ WhatsOutt

Some shoppers are having a very frustrating holiday season, thanks to retailer Best Buy. Some of their gifts aren’t going to make it in time for Christmas, according to Moneyland.

In what can only be explained as a complete “Grinch” move, Best Buy has announced that there’s a good chance that those holidays orders you placed online won’t make it to the recipients in time for Christmas, three days before the holiday.

Oops.

Best Buy offered up this statement, as if it makes a difference to those affected:

Due to overwhelming demand of hot product offerings on BestBuy.com during the November and December time period, we have encountered a situation that has affected redemption of some of our customers’ online orders. We are very sorry for the inconvenience this has caused, and we have notified the affected customers.

Sorry for the inconvenience? Sorry my ass Best Buy, that’s not going to cut it. On top of that, the company isn’t sharing how many customers this screw-up touches.

Its customers aren’t buying it either, launching into the company on its forums:

…I am a VP in New York with a large global company and speak with stock analysts in the course of my work. I am not just a small town complainer who is used to being ignored. I may not be able to save Christmas for my family that Best Buy is trying to ruin but maybe I can make Christmas miserable for Best Buy too.

Yikes. This is a perfect example of why online shopping isn’t the end-all be-all. While it’s convenient to hop online and drag a few items into your basket, you have no guarantee that you’ll get the gifts in time. And it’s not just shipping issues, either. It seems like Best Buy happily accepted orders for items it pushed heavily on Black Friday and the days leading up to Christmas, but ran out of the items to fulfill the orders. Simple mistake, right? Not really, this customer says it took three weeks for Best Buy to let them know:

I ordered Games on 11/25 and 11/26 only to wait three weeks for them to tell me that they will not restock the item I purchased. It’s understandible (sic) if I was told initially that I would not recieve (sic) my products purchased, but to wait three weeks to be just written off is just poor customer service.

Ok, ok, surely a huge company like Best Buy will offer something in return for all of these people’s headaches. Right? Wrong. Here’s a response from an extremely not-so-helpful member of the “Best Buy Social Media Team”, Brandon:

I agree with you, this is not the best example of customer service. This holiday season presented us with a high volume of orders that had some effect on our systems. It is not fair to you what happened, so I apologize about the error.

In the future, feel free to reach out to us here if you are having issues with an order and we can look into it for you. I hope this experience doesn’t cause you TOO much stress over your holiday season :smileywink:

This is why online ordering gets a bad name, and the slight inconvenience of walking into a store, picking out your items, and shipping them yourself might be the way to go next year.

All online shopping isn’t bad though, rarely do you hear horror stories like this about Amazon. Take some notes Best Buy, or you won’t have any customers for the holidays next year. At least not ones online.

Meltwater Group released a study today about tablets based on conversations it has tracked on the web using its tool called “Meltwater Buzz”. While the iPad is the clear winner this holiday season, it looks like the Kindle Fire and Nook were the most discussed tablet for girls this year. Take that, Apple.

The Nook and Kindle Fire seem to be a hot topic for girls, perhaps because it’s less about apps for them and more about books and other content that is readily available on both platforms. It could also be because of the type of advertising campaigns the two companies are using.

Barnes and Noble has been running the below obnoxious Nook ad on TV, featuring Jane Lynch from “Glee“, which most certainly attracts a female audience, much like the show does.

If online conversation translates into Christmas wish-lists, it could be a heck of a holiday season for Amazon and Barnes and Noble.

This infographic shows conversations on blogs, and it’s most certainly not all about the iPad:

One of the most brilliant minds in consumer internet today is Bing Gordon, partner at VC firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers. He joined the firm in 2008, and watches over the sFund, which is dedicated to all things social.

Gordon currently serves on the board for Zynga and Klout, and draws from many years of experience as an executive at Electronic Arts (EA). He was the driving force behind the branding of EA Sports, which is arguably the company’s best known brand.

In the video below, Bing Gordon discusses his thoughts on how to be a CEO in the era of the “consumer internet”, which is a completely different era than the first big Dot Com boom. Everything is social these days by default, and Bing Gordon is a master in the field. This is a keynote address from the 2011 Endeavor Entrepreneur Summit.

Listen and learn.

Purchasing books has been transformed a lot recently with the arrival of the iPad and Amazon Kindle devices. Browsing through books for purchase has never been simpler.

Unfortunately, browsing for books to buy on the web isn’t quite an elegant experience. Even Amazon‘s own site has felt stale for sometime without major upgrades or special treatment. Having to search for books the same way you would search for clothing or other items to buy on Amazon.com feels almost like it’s from 2001.

Even though books are going digital, people are still buying physical copies. I passed up on buying the digital version of the Steve Jobs book, as I wanted the physical version to hold in my hands.

Bookflavor pulls in books from Amazon’s site and displays them in an extremely attractive and simplistic way, and also shows way more book reviews than even Amazon.

It’s all in the presentation

When you go to Bookflavor, you’re shown the top sellers on Amazon by default. You can also switch between that and the New York Times Best Sellers list.

The books are shown in a large thumbnail on a white background, and aren’t numbered. It’s a simplistic presentation that is reminiscent of how books a shown on the iPad and Kindle Fire. Clicking on the book will take you to its own page, with information pulled from Amazon and GoodReads. The information is shown on a similar white background in large font. The site itself even looks great on the iPad.

As you scroll down the book’s page, you’ll find reviews from both Amazon and GoodReads. This is something that Amazon should take notice of. Getting book reviews from all different services on the web is important. Having as much information and perspective on a book before buying it is nice to have. While Bookflavor only pulls in the two, I imagine that it would be simple for the developer to pull in even more services. That’s the only downside of the site.

If you’re still buying physical books from Amazon, you might want to skip the Amazon site until its time to checkout. Bookflavor has a link on its book pages directly to the Amazon page for purchasing, but your decision may already be made thanks to a recommendation from someone who never wrote it in to Amazon’s site.

➤ Bookflavor

Online ordering is a wonderful thing. Amazon has nearly perfected the ability to let you order something one day, and magically receive it almost the next day.

Keeping track of all of your online purchases through email receipts is a hassle though. Slice is a site that wants to give you a history of all of the items you’ve purchased, as well as the ability track them in real-time.

Your order history

While Amazon does a great job of this themselves, when you’ve ordered from other sites you’re not so lucky. Slice brings everything together simply by connecting your email account to the service. It currently only works with Yahoo! and Gmail only. Sorry, Hotmail users. However, you can forward your orders to orders@goslice.com to be included from any account.

Once you’ve connected your account, Slice will go through your emails and pull out the known ones that were receipts from orders. It pulls out the tracking numbers as well, so you can track your packages from within the Slice site.

I found that Slice missed some of my orders, perhaps it was because they were from sites unknown to the service. You can forward missed receipts to orders@goslice.com and they’ll be placed in your account. That’s pretty handy. You could do all of this with filters and searches in your Gmail account, but it would take forever to set up.

Tracking pre-orders

This is where Slice holds the most value for me. When you pre-order things, it’s easy to forget about them. If you’ve ordered a book, a new device, or a video game, you simply can’t keep everything at the top of your mind. Slice shines here and shows you exactly how many days until your pre-order will be delivered.

While it might take some time for you to tune Slice to track all of your purchases, if you’re an avid online shopper, it might be worth it.

Slice also offers a pricing alert feature that will tell you if a recent purchase is priced cheaper somewhere else. Again, this is all done automatically so it’s quite handy.