Open up your mind and say, ahh...

The Microsoft Surface Pro, the new flagship Windows 8 device that launched on Saturday, is reportedly sold out in many retail locations across the country.

Great success, right? Not so fast. Apparently, as reported by ZDnet, that fact might be misleading. In general, of course, selling out on the day of a product launch is good thing. But not if it only sold out because there weren’t enough Surface Pros available.

And that seems to be the problem here. Apparently, stores around the country only received a handful of Surface Pros, so they quickly sold out, leaving lots of angry customers with empty hands.

Microsoft seems to call it a win, though. “Customer response to the launch of Surface Pro has been amazing. We’re working with our retail partners who are currently out of stock of the 128GB Surface Pro to replenish supplies as quickly as possible,” Microsoft wrote on its official Surface Pro blog.

Critics have been quick to point out that this “amazing” response is not backed up by actual numbers, but just reports of stores selling out of Surface Pro models. But the real question is, how many did they actually have available in the first place?

To learn more about the controversy, watch the video above.

Image courtesy of Microsoft

The clickwheel of the first iPod worked by measuring electric field disturbances in one dimension. The first iPhone touch screen functioned similarly, but in two dimensions.

This week, Microchip Technology, a large U.S. semiconductor manufacturer, says it is releasing the first controller that uses electrical fields to make 3D measurements.

The low-power chip makes it possible to interact with mobile devices and a host of other consumer electronics using hand gesture recognition, which today is usually accomplished with camera-based sensors. A key limitation is that it only recognizes motions, such as a hand flick or circular movement, within a six-inch range.

“That’s the biggest drawback,” says University of Washington computing interface researcher Sidhant Gupta. “But I think, still, it’s a pretty big win, especially when compared to a camera system. It’s low-cost and low-power. I can completely see it going into phones.”

Gesture recognition technology has advanced in recent years with efforts to create more-natural user interfaces that go beyond touch screens, keyboards and mouses. Microsoft’s Kinect made 3D gesture recognition popular for game consoles, for example. But while creative uses of the Kinect have proliferated, the concept hasn’t become mainstream in desktops, laptops, or mobile devices quite yet.

Today, Microsoft, along with other companies such as Leap Motion and Flutter, are working to improve upon and expand camera-based technology to new markets. For smart phones and tablets, Qualcomm’s newest Snapdragon mobile device chip includes gesture recognition abilities, via its camera, but few mobile devices make use of gesture control.

Despite the six-inch distance limitation, the electrical-field controller could have some interesting advantages compared to camera sensors. “It’s really complementary,” says Fanie Duvenhage, director of Microchip Technology’s human-machine interface division.

Power consumption is a key issue for battery-powered devices. Microchip’s controller uses 90 percent less than camera-based gesture systems, the company says, and it can be left always on, so that it could be used to, say, wake up a smart-phone screen from sleep mode when a person’s hand nears.

The controller works by transmitting an electrical signal and then calculating the three-coordinate position of a hand based on the disturbances to the field the hand creates. Whereas many camera systems have “blind spots” for close-up hand gestures and can fail in low light, the Microchip controller works well under these conditions and doesn’t require an external sensor (its sensing electrodes can sit behind a device’s housing).

Perhaps most interesting, the controller could easily go into electronics that don’t have a camera, including car dashboards, keyboards, light switches, or a music docking station. In fact, Microchip Technology already sells components to 70,000 customers that make these products. Duvenhage says he imagines interesting uses in cars, such as controlling an in-car navigation system, or in medical or kitchen settings where users might not want to touch a button or screen.

The controller comes with the ability to recognize 10 predefined gestures, including wake-up on approach, position tracking, and various hand flicks, but it can also be programmed to respond to custom movements. Similar to the programming of voice recognition software, Microchip Technology built the gesture library using algorithms that learned from how different people make the same movements. These gestures can then be translated to functions on a device, such as on/off, open application, point, click, zoom, or scroll.

The precision is about the same as using a mouse, but the system has limitations. It can’t yet distinguish between, say, an open hand and a closed fist, or simultaneous movements of different fingers, an area the company wants to improve.

Today, less than a year after acquiring the German startup that developed the technology, the company is making a development kit available for sale, and Duvenhage says they’ll be looking to customers to see what uses they create. Microchip plans to reach mass production levels by next April, and it expects to see the first products using the technology on the market sometime next year.

It starts with a passion. In this case, Jacqueline Carly was a native New Yorker who felt compelled to move to action and help people with a gesture of some relief supplies for Hurricane Sandy.

She connects with her loudmouth boyfriend (me). I have the “loud bullhorn” of a platform. I ask for a place to stage a supplies drive collection.

It requires a community-minded place with their ears open: Microsoft New England Research and Development center (Microsoft NERD) comes to the rescue. Immediately. Late on a Saturday night. And in force. I have no idea what Sara Spaulding feeds those people over there at Microsoft in Cambridge, but they are fast, ready, nimble, helpful, and they went the extra distance.

It requires the community: you (and others). Without the actual supplies, the drive doesn’t matter. We had help from far too many people to name (and I will forget some of you), but Sara and Audrey and Jen and Lois and Marshall and Andrea and Walter and Keith and Nivas and Scott and Chris and Jeremy and John and Kevin and Anthony and Kerry/Dan and the many people who found a way to drop off supplies at the drop of a hat. The amount of help and feet-on-the-ground we had were amazing.

It requires research. Jacq finds all kinds of small DIY networks of people all over NY and NJ who are sourcing materials and supplies. People like Jennifer Iannolo were quite actively filling their Facebook profiles with all kinds of pointers to local communities of need. Jacq sends hers to the Unitarian Church of Staten Island and into the hands of the wonderful Reverend Susan. I forget where Jennifer took hers. And more are to come.

Then, it’s a matter of communication. I ask for a vehicle in case we get more than we can carry in Jacq’s car. We get another driver, Jen, and then Mike Bavuso from Big Foot Moving & Storage volunteers two guys and a truck and labor to take the rest of the supplies down to NJ. This happened via Eileen at Yard And a Half landscaping, who follows me on Twitter. Mike has no idea what he’s getting himself into, but he goes for it. We get an amazing pro moving company (who you should hire for your next move in the Boston area), who help us greatly.

We ask where to ship supplies to New Jersey, and Deb Ng finds the answer by the mayor of Newark himself, Cory Booker. So that’s how that gets done. I was talking with my small town’s mayor about what Mayor Booker did, and he was excited for the possibilities, because this kind of accessibility and this kind of velocity is what will power the next wave of active government.

And what’s it like to deliver these goods? Here are some words from Jen, our second driver:

“Delivered goods to New Hope Church in Newark earlier today. Never been hugged or blessed so much. Watched a woman with an infant get blankets I brought. Then went and reloaded with stuff friends collected and hit the shore area. Creepy! Large stretches of no lights, trees down, and boats tossed right up on land by the roads. Was able to do so all because you got an idea and ran with it. Got to personally bring generator gas and a birthday cake to a family in real need. It was a long, tiring, awesome day.”

That’s what YOU did. Jen helped, but you did it, too.

The Recipe

Without the passion, nothing starts. Without the platform, no one responds. Without the big-eared community anchor, we have no place to work. Without you, we have nothing to fulfill our passionate hope. Without the research and on-the-ground networks, we have no way to deliver. Without the “last mile” teams, we have no success.

Use this recipe if ever you’re compelled to movement. Find the actors for this and you will succeed.

We are indebted to you, because without you, there was no adventure, no story, no learning, and most importantly, no relief to those still fighting to get back to this century. And their struggle continues. If you want to help, there are many ways. The easiest? Text REDCROSS to 90999 and you’ll be donating $10 to ongoing relief efforts. And thanks.

illustration by matt dartford

For decades, Steve Jobs extolled the virtues of “building the whole widget”–in other words, designing and manufacturing a computer or a digital media player or smartphone as an organic whole, from the molecular materials of the hardware to the abstract bits and bytes of the software. The resulting products may not always have been as inexpensive or utilitarian as the standardized machines that ruled the PC marketplace, but they did always possess the svelte and winsome quality that Apple’s loyal customers love with a passion.

Earlier this summer, Microsoft tried to make like Apple. The company had never itself built computers, out of deference to its many hardware partners, but on June 18, it revealed the results of a three-year secret project: a sleek and distinctive Windows tablet PC called the Surface. No mere iPad knockoff, the Surface is Microsoft’s effort to build a “whole widget” of its own. It could well be the most beautiful and best engineered Windows device ever made. And it has bells and whistles that won’t be easy for Apple to quickly mimic.

Google too has concluded that it can’t really compete against the iPhone long term without its own end-to-end laptops, handsets, and tablets–hence its $13 billion acquisition of Motorola’s cell-phone design and manufacturing business. The Motorola patent portfolio is valuable, to be sure, but Google wants to find a remedy to the fragmented world its Android architecture has fostered. The immense diversity of Android devices and generations of not-quite-compatible operating systems are beginning to look like liabilities, especially to app developers who don’t want to have to support multiple versions of their own products.

So with Google and Microsoft as emerging widgeteers, might Apple finally be losing one of its historic advantages? Hardly.

At the annual World Wide Developers Conference held June 11 in San Francisco–the first big event since the death of Jobs–Apple demonstrated how its software prowess and skill at building interlocking digital platforms is the real game changer. How? By enlarging the definition of the whole widget. Increasingly, the Mac, iPhone, and iPad do not exist alone. Instead, Apple now offers a multidimensional, integrated ecosystem of devices held together by the centripetal force of iCloud. Apple’s ideal customer, who likely owns at least one of each kind of product, can now share a single user identity, and core personal content and data can be viewed, consumed, used, or manipulated in familiar ways regardless of platform, with any changes or additions from one gadget instantly available on any of his other Apple gear.

In other words, Apple can now boast of providing a complete, coherent, and consistent digital experience at home, at work, in your car, and on the go–without any conscious effort on the part of the user. It’s as if just at the moment when the visiting team finally steps up to the plate, they discover that the home team has moved the fences out, raised the pitcher’s mound, and increased the distance between the bases. This is a different ball game.

Apple didn’t announce some silver-bullet innovation at the WWDC to make all this possible, but instead described literally hundreds of new features and data services borne of software, many of which integrate how all its hardware products create, display, and share digital information. New versions of its Mac OS X and iOS for portable devices, along with much-improved data storage and remote processing services accessible via iCloud, will all come together in the next few months to markedly improve the quality of the entire Apple digital experience. Indeed, in many ways, improvements for the Mac will result in new capabilities for customers’ existing iPhones and iPads with no new hardware required.

That is what you get when you enlarge the widget, and it doesn’t even reflect the inevitable hardware improvements Apple is so famous for delivering like clockwork.

Microsoft and Google clearly understand this strategy. But Apple’s ecosystem is the product of carefully nurturing smaller whole-widget ecosystems in such a way that they could be stitched together. Until recently, Microsoft has always tried to contort Windows to fit just about any class of hardware–using a one-size-fits-all strategy that has never played out well in non-PC devices. Google has tried to turn its browser software into a modest computer operating system, even as it took a completely different approach to Android smartphone software, and now is trying to make coherent architectures that are intrinsically different. Software can paper over just about any incompatibility, but a patchwork is not an ecosystem.

Apple’s Tim Cook knows he has to be very careful not to over-standardize these individually dazzling devices. That’s why it is unlikely that Mac OS X and iOS will ever subsume each other. The masterstroke is in using iCloud to knit them together, which hides the complexity of managing and not duplicating all those trillions of bits that each of us consume or manipulate every day. For today’s digital consumer, syncing data, managing your access to it, and keeping it all straight and secure is the key to a powerful digital experience that we are only now beginning to grasp. Cook, an operations wonk who is a master of taming complexity, might even be better at figuring this out than Jobs was. And since Apple usually improves any screen it focuses on, a new and improved AppleTV platform could become an intriguing fourth species in the ecosystem.

So while it’s certainly a bonus for consumers that Microsoft and Google have joined the game, Apple’s lead could conceivably widen before they can even begin to play. There will be glitches as Apple moves into its post-Jobs era, but Microsoft and Google have so much to learn that the company has plenty of time to figure out how to live without Steve.

The Spark of Genius Series is made possible by MicrosoftBizSpark. Each post highlights a unique feature of a startup. If you’d like your startup considered for inclusion, please see the details here.

Name: mor.sl

Quick Pitch: mor.sl features curated recipes from the top food bloggers and publishers around.

Genius Idea: Tell mor.sl what you like and how much time you have, and it will recommend the recipes that work best for you.

Let’s be honest—for many of us, cooking seems like more trouble than it’s worth. Why spend hours grocery shopping and slaving away in the kitchen when your favorite Chinese restaurant can deliver Kung Pao chicken to your door in less that 45 minutes?

According to mor.sl, a unique and personalized recipe site, cooking is less of a drag than you think.

It’s common knowledge that preparing food at home is more nutritious and less costly than dining out every night. The trick to non-stressful cooking is having a plan. This is where mor.sl comes in.

Tell mor.sl about your skill-level, tastes and allergies and it provides you with curated recipes that make sense for you. You can sort through options by prep time, type of cuisine or even main ingredient, so you can cook with what you have on-hand instead of shlepping to the store. Mor.sl also asks whether you self-identify as a carnivore or herbivore—vegan, pescetarian, no red meat—to better select dishes that you’re sure to enjoy.

The site stresses that cooking and eating requires us to utilize all five senses, making it a truly human experience. Preparing food for others also allows us to share and connect in a way that’s not possible over a restaurant bread basket.

Mor.sl currently focuses on recipes only, but intends to expand to provide grocery shopping and meal planning tips.

Would you use mor.sl too cook your next meal? Let us know in the comments.

Image courtesy of iStock, luchezar

Series presented by Microsoft BizSpark

The Spark of Genius Series highlights a unique feature of startups and is made possible byMicrosoft BizSpark, a startup program that gives software startups three-year access to Microsoft software development tools, marketing visibility to help promote their business and a connection to the BizSpark ecosystem, giving them access to investors, advisors and mentors. There is no cost to join, so if your startup is privately owned, less than three years old and generates less than U.S. $1M in annual revenue, sign up today.

Virgin Galactic has announced plans to enter the commercial space payload delivery business, with Virgin founder Sir Richard Branson making the announcement at the Farnborough International Airshow in England. Virgin Galactic will use the same aircraft designed to launch passengers aboard SpaceShipTwo on sub-orbital space tourism rides, to carry a small, two-stage rocket capable of delivering satellites into low earth orbit.

The announcement isn’t a huge surprise, as it’s long been assumed the WhiteKnightTwo carrier aircraft would serve as a launch platform for other space-bound vehicles beyond SpaceShipTwo. Keeping the naming of its space vehicles relatively simple, LauncherOne is capable of carrying up to 500 pounds (225 kilograms) to low earth orbit for less than $10 million.

“Virgin Galactic’s goal is to revolutionize the way we get to space,” Branson said at Farnborough. “Now, LauncherOne is bringing the price of satellite launch into the realm of affordability for innovators everywhere, from start-ups and schools to established companies and national space agencies. It will be a critical new tool for the global research community, enabling us all to learn about our home planet more quickly and affordably.”

Artist rendition of LauncherOne’s second stage separation.

Branson added that Virgin Galactic has already received deposits from four private companies intent on using the LauncherOne for “several dozen launches.” One of the companies, Skybox Imaging, is planning to deploy a constellation of high resolution imaging satellites. Another of the new customers is the recently announced Planetary Resources, the asteroid mining company.

The small satellite industry is growing as engineers are able to cram more and more capability into smaller packages. Virgin Galactic’s LauncherOne is competing with existing air launch provider Orbital Sciences, as well as small, ground-based rocket launch services. But air launch ideas aren’t limited to the small satellite industry. Scaled Composites – the company that designed and is flight testing WhiteKnightTwo and SpaceShipTwo – is also working with Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen to develop the largest airplane in the world, which will air launch a SpaceX Falcon 9-based rocket capable of carrying heavier payloads to orbit.

Both Virgin Galactic’s LauncherOne and Orbital Sciences’ Pegasus rocket feature small wings to aid stability during the drop from the carrier aircraft and turn the rockets make to their upward trajectory to orbit. By using a carrier aircraft, rockets can be launched from 50,000 feet, independent of weather conditions on the ground. And unlike ground-based rockets that are limited to a handful of launch sites around the world, air launched rockets can be carried almost anywhere to optimize the entry to the desired orbit.

WhiteKnightTwo has recently been busy with resumption of flight testing for SpaceShipTwo. The flight test team at Scaled Composites made eight flights with WK2 last month, the last two included releasing SS2 for glide flights.

Images: Virgin Galactic

Kim, who is finishing is degree at Art Center College of Design, had three days to carry the project through from concept to completion.

Ideas, sketches, and notes tacked on the wall of Kim’s studio show the evolution of his proposal.

A comparison of “the big three,” Apple, Google, and Microsoft. “I decided that Microsoft needs to be… slightly aggressive, unlike Apple and Google’s friendly marketing,” writes Kim.

Microsoft’s current logomark.

Kim’s proposed redesign changes the typeface to an uncapitalized sans-serif, with a well-adjusted kerning.

It’s a “new start,” writes Kim, whose visual identity appropriates outer space imagery in stark black and white.

How the current logo works with Microsoft’s diversified product lines was a major concern for the young designer, who thinks that the perspective angle of the current logo clashes when it’s stamped on hand-held products.

On the left, Kim points out some of the company’s newest, coolest products. On the right, their over-friendly branding for Microsoft Office–”a branding effort that simply does not inspire people.”

The centerpiece of Kim’s proposal is the new logo, which he calls “the slate.” It was inspired by the oblique perspective of windows in corporate office towers.

Adapting the slate for the company’s many product lines, from tablets to software, shows its flexibility.

Meanwhile, a super-sized version frames a re-written brand philosophy:
“The Next Microsoft is built around a belief and passion for the future…expressed in a bold and mysterious fashion.”

The slate becomes a window pane, like Microsoft’s past logos, which can be super-sized to frame the “mysterious” imagery Kim sees as essential.

Another iteration of the slate shows crowded city streets.

And a third, the city itself.

Stamped on a Surface tablet and Windows phone, the slate is a less “busy” visual identity.

Which also extends to Microsoft’s packaging. Here, boxes for the company’s newly-unveiled line of tablets.

Kim demonstrates that the slate could be a ubiquitous presence in the multi-armed corporation, fading into the background at any scale.

Again, we see how Kim has imagined the new logo adapting to Microsoft’s various brand families.

He’s even reimagined print ads–here, we see a full-page spread (or billboard?) for the Surface tablet.

The designer thinks the brand isn’t properly conveying the excitement and vision of their new products–here, he redesigns an ad for the Windows phone.

The same goes for the company’s newest iterations of desktop software, from Office to the Windows app store.

Yes, the slate has even colonized a Manhattan billboard, one of the areas in which Apple has done such an excellent job marketing their brand.

A “loading” screen shows the slate being filled in, while the Windows phone loads.

Here’s how Kim explains the differences between Apple, Google, and Windows UI. On the left, Apple’s interfaces rely heavily on “skeuomorphics,” or design details that make it seem old, worn, and familiar. On the far right, Microsoft is the opposite, with a purely digital interface. In the middle, Google is somewhere in between.

Kim seems to be a fan of Microsoft’s Metro UI language, but he has a few bones to pick. For example, the current super-bright color palette makes certain things tough to read. He proposes a more somber alternative.

As to the “pure digital” UI, Kim appreciates the notion, but argues that it makes certain apps illegible, like the Wallet app. Here, he introduces a few design “metaphors” to increase legibility.

Kim sees his proposal as a way to make good on the company’s history as an innovator. “Microsoft: A promise made, a promise kept.”

In the battle for your mobile wallet one company has been noticeably silent: Apple.

Google has its own mobile payment service: Google Wallet, and Microsoft even announced in June that it would be adding a digital wallet service with NFC capabilities to Windows Phone 8 that would store credit card and mobile payment information.

So, where is the world’s favorite fruit company?

In its announcement of iOS6 mobile payments were left off the agenda. The company unveiled Passbook, a service for keeping track of tickets and coupons, but not credit cards.

According to the Wall Street Journal, some Apple engineers fought for mobile payment functionality. However, the decision –- a very intentional one -– to leave mobile payments out of iOS 6 was made anyway.

The reason?

“Apple is always a comfortable number two,” said Piper Jaffray Analyst Gene Munster to the Wall Street Journal. “They let their competitors do their market research for them.”

Mobile payments are expected to hit $600 billion worldwide by 2016; however, most mainstream consumers are still not adopting them. NFC, the technology that allows you to tap your phone on a surface in order to pay, also isn’t expected to be available in most merchants for another few years.

According to the WSJ, Apple doesn’t want to be the one facilitating mobile credit cards payments when the service isn’t ready, for fear that customers will blame Apple for merchant’s failures during the process. Under that logic, we may not see Apple deploy NFC or mobile payments in the iPhone for some time, and especially not in the upcoming iPhone 5.

What do you think about NFC? Would you like the ability to make payments by taping your iPhone at a point of sale or is the technology still a little too new for your comfort? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.

Via Mashable: http://www.mashable.com

The Spark of Genius Series is made possible by Microsoft BizSpark. Each post highlights a unique feature of a startup. If you’d like your startup considered for inclusion, please see the details here.

Name: Signature

Quick Pitch: iPhone app connects customers with sales associates 24/7.

Genius Idea: Leveraging mobile to provide an unprecedented level of customer service.

Though online shopping has undergone multiple transformations over the past two decades, the same can not be said for brick-and-mortar retail. Shoppers are still brought in using approximately the same marketing tactics (think direct mail catalogs, window displays, seasonal sales). Product is still refreshed at the same rates and customers still line up and check out, with few exceptions, at cash registers.

Signature, a mobile app company that bills itself as the “ultimate personal shopping assistant,” is looking to reengineer the way consumers shop in stores — namely, the stores of upscale clothing retailers. The San Francisco-based startup has partnered with Neiman Marcus to develop a custom iPhone app to better facilitate communications between stores and customers.

The app, called NM Service, is currently being piloted at four Neiman Marcus locations: San Francisco, Calif.; Palo Alto, Calif.; Austin, Texas; and Neiman Marcus’s flagship store in Dallas, Texas.

It has two interfaces: one for shoppers and one for sales associates. Shoppers are able to able to browse event schedules, new arrivals and promotions. As they browse, they can favorite products and even arrange for them to be placed in a dressing room ahead of arrival, Signature CEO David Hegarty tells Mashable. They can also make appointments and leave messages for associates, and see which ones are on the floor. A built-in QR code reader lets them scan signage for trend and product information displayed in-store.

Sales associates’ version of the app has tools designed to help them provide better service. They can view a shoppers’ online and in-store purchase history, helping them better understand their preferences and suggest items that might compliment previous purchases. They can also see which products a customer has favorited. They will be notified when a preferred customer arrives in-store, accompanied by a Facebook photograph.

All sales associates have been provided with iPhones and app training, Ginger Reeder, VP of corporate communications at Neiman Marcus, tells Mashable. Customers can learn about the app by picking up booklet instructions in kiosks around the store, and by speaking to their regular sales associates.

Hegarty says that future iterations of the app will be more personalized. Users will receive notifications about new merchandise based on their previous purchase history, and have the option to list not just favorite products but also favorite designers.

Beyond the custom app he and his team have developed for Neiman Marcus, Signature also has a general platform app which works with two Seven for all Mankind locations: one at Fashion Island in Newport Beach, Calif., and another in the Flatiron district of New York City. A few more retail partners will be onboarded later this year, and an Android version of the app should also arrive in time for the holidays, he says.

Signature currently has eight employees and has raised $1.1 million in angel funding from Draper Fisher Jurvetson, Triangle Peak Partners, Amicus Capital, Don Hutchison and Dave Pell.

Series Supported by Microsoft BizSpark

The Spark of Genius Series highlights a unique feature of startups and is made possible by Microsoft BizSpark, a startup program that gives you three-year access to the latest Microsoft development tools, as well as connecting you to a nationwide network of investors and incubators. There are no upfront costs, so if your business is privately owned, less than three years old, and generates less than U.S.$1 million in annual revenue, you can sign up today.

The Spark of Genius Series highlights a unique feature of startups and is made possible by Microsoft BizSpark. If you would like to have your startup considered for inclusion, please see the details here.

Name: Bombfell

Quick Pitch: Bombfell sends fashion-challenged gents curated clothing suggestions each month.

Genius Idea: Real live stylists use algorithms and personal opinion (like what color works best with your skin tone) to ensure the best possible fit and style matches for users.

Calling all gentlemen. Does your wardrobe need an upgrade? The free-to-try website Bombfell wants to turn you into the hottest-looking guy you can be, $69 at a time.

The name is short for “Bombfellow”, which is the male equivalent of a bombshell, according to the company. Those who wish to reach Bombfell status but lack the time and dedication need only create an account—a team of stylists will do the rest.

The concept for Bombfell came about when friends and former Harvard roomates Bernie Yoo and Jason Kim realized they were relying heavily on outdated wardrobes, and lacked the time and energy to hit the mall.

With the help of Sarah Lee, a fashion-minded stylist, Bombfell was born.

After users create an account, supposedly, the team of stylists makes sure they know everything they need to make you look as good as possible. Each month, users are presented with one curated piece of clothing. If it’s a winner, the item can be purchased for a flat $69.

“Users provide a lot of information about themselves – body shape, skin tone, favorite brands, style preferences and much more,” co-founder Bernie Yoo tells Mashable. “We employ an algorithm on the back-end that suggests clothing recommendations to the stylist.”

A human expert still has control, however. Each item is initially selected through an algorithm; the final decision goes to a stylist. If they don’t think a shirt will look absolutely rad on you, the company says it will be vetoed, algorithm be damned.

“We’re building an experience from the ground up that fully takes advantage of being an online service and leverages data to create a personalized, scalable and affordable service that anyone can enjoy,” says Yoo.

Bombfell carries a number of well-known brands, including Ben Sherman and French Connection.

Would you sign up for Bombfell? Let us know in the comments.

Series Supported by Microsoft BizSpark

The Spark of Genius Series highlights a unique feature of startups and is made possible by Microsoft BizSpark, a startup program that gives you three-year access to the latest Microsoft development tools, as well as connecting you to a nationwide network of investors and incubators. There are no upfront costs, so if your business is privately owned, less than three years old, and generates less than U.S.$1 million in annual revenue, you can sign up today.