It seems like nowadays, just about everyone is now using an iPhone or Android smartphone. That shift--which has happened in only the past few years---is the inspiration behind Austin's Toopher (www.toopher.com), which is using the ubiquity of smartphones to make it easier for websites and businesses to prevent fraud.

If you're an attorney on the go, what's the best way to look up that legal reference or check through current statutes? There aren't that many options. However, a Houston-based startup, PushLegal (www.pushlegal.com), is hoping to change that, by creating a set of mobile applications which allow lawyers to look up statutes, rules, and case law on the go. We spoke with the firm's co-founder and COO, Alex Torry, who helped us understand what the company offers to its users.

If you've ever been sitting around tailgating at a college football game, but don't have any tickets, you're familiar with the issues with trying to find a ticket and having to deal with sometime unscrupulous ticket scalpers at the gate. However, now that everyone has a mobile phone, why not use that phone to connect with other fans who have extra tickets, at the game? That's the idea behind MeetMeTix (www.meetmetix.com), a new Austin startup headed by Jesse B. Dyer.

Looking to take your online business connections and turn that into a stronger, in-person, off-line relationship, Austin-based CanWeStudios (www.canwestudios.com) launched its app yesterday. We caught up with co-founder James Sinclair to learn more about the company.

What is CanWe Studios?

James Sinclair: CanWe Studios is a platform company that designs technology that allows users to identify other people that have commonality with one another. It's based on an outcome prediction tool.

In an age of instant cell phone photos, kids having phones at a very early age, and social media sites a regular part of every teen's social life, there's been an unfortunate intersection of easy-to-access cell phone cameras, the Internet, and illicit photos from teens. We spoke with Steven White, co-founder and CEO of ImageVision (www.imagevision.

As an online retailer, what's the best way to find and attract online consumers to buy your products? And, how do you do it profitably? Austin's Adlucent (www.adlucent.com), headed by Jon Armstrong talked to us about how the company is applying big data analytics and software to the online, paid search market, to help those retailers better find and land customers.

What is Adlucent?

Jon Armstrong: Adlucent is a big data analytics and technology company that specializes in e-commerce.

If you're a soon-to-be mother, looking for baby names, how do you go about getting the opinions of your friends, family, and others about what to name your child? Austin-based BellyBallot (www.bellyballot.com) has a suggestion: let them vote on it! The startup--co-founded by Lacey Moler--came about as part of Moler's own experience as an expectant mother. We caught up with Lacey to hear more about the service.

If you're an entrepreneur or small business owner, you might have figured out already that trying to find an office for your firm is slow, antiquated, manual, and something which is absolutely not online. That's what TheSquareFoot (www.thesquarefoot.com) is trying to change.

In recent years, cloud-based storage has become extremely popular, allowing users to store files to the cloud, and access those files from anywhere. However, what do you do if you already have lots of storage, want to access that storage from your mobile device or the web, but need better control over access to that storage (such as in an enterprise), and don’t want to keep paying monthly for that cloud storage? One option is to take advantage of the software of TappIn (www.tappin.

A few weeks ago, Dallas-based Safarious (www.safarious.com) launched its site, an online site which focuses on wildlife and adventurers, and provides an online community for those interested in outdoor adventure and travel. One of the site's co-founders, Clay Knight, tells us about how the site came about, plus talks about his involvement in such companies as Whole Security (acquired by Symantec) and TabbedOut.

First of all, what is Safarious.

It's that time of year again: it's just about summer, students are out of school, people are on the move, and apparently, the self storage business is launching into its busiest time of the year. Austin-based startup Sparefoot (www.sparefoot.com) is at the center of that activity, so we thought we'd talk with CEO Chuck Gordon about the company and what it's up to.

A couple of weeks ago, Austin-based Polygraph (www.polygraph.com) launched its Facebook analytics product into the market. Chris Treadaway--a technology industry veteran who last worked as a executive at Microsoft and who is the company's CEO-- told us how the company came into being, and spoke to us about how the firm is looking to help mine the vast amounts of data now being added to Facebook and other social sites to help companies understand their customers.

How do you create and test a product which takes videos, photos, and other information--in real time--and broadcasts that to a television network? In the case of Chris Wyatt, CEO of Dallas-based Youtoo (www.youtoo.com), you buy an entire cable network, and develop your software and products around it. Wyatt--a serial entrepreneur who last built and sold GodTube.

How to you take the infinite flow of user-generated, social media, and filter and shape that into something which helps you as a company or brand? Austin-based Mass Relevance (www.massrelevance.com) think it has figured it out, by allowing companies to integrate tweets and other social content directly into television shows, concerts, events, and more.

Almost everyone we run into in the Austin area talks about the regular Door64 (www.door64.com) networking events, and about founder Matt Genovese, and how helpful Matt's events are in connecting with others here. We thought that--for the few who haven't attended the events or heard of Door64--that it would be worth sitting down with Matt to learn more about how he's trying to pull the Austin technology community together.

In a world defined by smart phones and mobile devices, how can retailers and brands reach their customers best? Austin-based Appconomy (www.appconomy.com) think it has the answer, with its AppWallet platform, which helps developers to easily create apps and help merchants and consumers to connect via mobile devices. Appconomy is backed by Qiming Venture Partners and True Ventures.

Today's data centers are known for their consumption of city-sized amount of power, to run banks of servers and air conditioning. Those power hungry data centers need nothing short of a revolutionary technology breakthrough to break free of those limitations. Austin-based Calxeda (www.calxeda.com) is looking to do nothing less than that, revolutionizing the server market by creating servers based on ARM-based chips, which consume far less power and space than traditional x86 processors.

Last week, Dallas-based Entouch Controls (www.entouchcontrols.com) announced it had raised a Series A round of capital. The firm is headed by Greg Fasullo, a serial entrepreneur who has had prior success and co-founder of Valere Power. Greg filled us in on what he's up to at Entouch Controls.

What is EnTouch Controls all about?

Greg Fasullo: We're a bunch of tech guys.

As automotive web sites go, there are lots of review and information sites giving you information about new and used cars, magazines and information sites for auto enthusiasts, and discussion sites and groups for all kinds of cars. But, it turns out, there are not any automotive sites specifically geared towards women. That's something which Los Angeles- and Austin-based VroomGirls is looking to change--with the backing of sponsors like Toyota, Ferrari, and Lamborghini.

In the new world of social media, how do you get the attention and interest of users enough that they'll be willing to post to Facebook or other social networking sites about your company, product, or cause? Dallas-based BestBuzz thinks its has the answer, in the form of a mobile app which allows you to scan a QR code to enter contests and promotions, and at the same time let others know about the sponsor.

Last week, Austin-based Rallyhood (www.rallyhood.com) announced its first mobile apps, for both iPhone and Android, for its online service for helping groups, busy mothers, and others to manage different group activities. Rallyhood's founder, Patti Rogers, spoke to us about what the whole idea is behind Rallyhood and the story behind the company.

What is Rallyhood?

Patti Rogers: We are a group coordination app. The whole idea is making it easier to bring people together and get stuff done.

Recently, Austin-based Wisegate (www.wisegateit.com) launched a social networking site aimed at business professionals, focused on senior IT professionals. To get the story on the company, how it is really quite different from a typical social network, and how it's helping IT execs with their jobs, we caught up with founder and CEO Sara Gates for an interview.

What is Wisegate?

Sara Gates: We are an anti-social, social network.

A few weeks ago, Austin-based Spiceworks (www.spiceworks.com) announced a new, $25M funding round from Adams Street Partners and Tenaya Capital, as well as its existing investors. To get some insight into what the firm is hoping to do with its new warchest, we spoke with Scott Abel, CEO of the company.

Thanks for the time. That's an impressive amount of new funding -- what are you going to be doing with those funds?

Scott Abel: We're really excited to have two new partners.

For our profile today, we talked with Austin-based Phunware (www.phunware.com), the mobile application developer behind such popular iPhone applications as the Discovery Channel's Mythbusters application. Alan Knitowski is CEO of the company, and a successful serial entrepreneur and investor. We spoke with Alan about the firm.

Yesterday, Austin-based Dachis Group (www.dachisgroup.com), the social business and media consultancy firm headed by former Razorfish CEO Jeffrey Dachis, and backed by Austin Ventures, said it had raised another $30M in a Series B funding round for the company. To gain some insight into how Dachis is putting together a company aimed at helping businesses leverage the emerging world of social sites such as Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube, we spoke with Jeff to hear his thoughts on the area.

For this morning's interview, we spoke with Rakesh Agrawal, CEO of Houston-based SnapStream (www.snapstream.com), which develops software which allows users to search within television shows. We caught up with Rakesh to hear about what the firm's products do, how it has transitioned into the commercial market, and where it is going next.

What are SnapStream's products used for?

Rakesh Agrawal: SnapStream is a software company based in Houston.

If you're a company looking for just a small amount funding, there seems to be a decreasing number of places you can go to find capital. One local startup, Austin-based MicroVenture Marketplace (www.microventures.com) is hoping to help that, with its own service to connect entrepreneurs and small business owners with "micro" investors. We spoke with Bill Clark, CEO of the company to understand the concept behind the firm, and what it offers to its customers.

Bill, thanks for the time today.

Last week, Austin-based Zilliant (www.zilliant.com) announced that it had raised another $13M in funding for the company, which develops software for pricing optimization for manufacturers. To get the story behind the funding, and what the firm is up to, we spoke with Greg Peters, the firm's CEO.

Congrats on the new funding.

Earlier this month, Austin-based aDealio (www.adealio.com) rolled out its online deal site in Dallas, after its launch a few months ago in Austin. To get an idea of how the site fits into the daily deal and group buying space, we spoke with Ryan Koonce, CEO of the firm. Koonce is a repeat entrepreneur who spent a fair amount of time at successful startups in the Bay Area, and talks a bit about his projects here and the business.