We are gearing up for summer here. In preparation for the upcoming sunny days, we’ve made a playlist on Spotify to get us in the mood. If you have Spotify, you can listen to it here. If not, let us know and we will send you a copy on CD-ROM*.

Oh, and don’t forget to check out this month’s HOT issue of “word.” - mbooth.com/word

- Lauren and Andrew

 *no we won’t

Helping You Match: To help shoppers match clothing to their current wardrobe, online luxury shopping engine for women, LuxeFinds, made a mobile shopping app that searches based on color (via @ellen)

Virgin Movie: Virgin Airlines is creating a TV show/short film that is produced entirely during regularly scheduled flights. The set could be your next flight!

Facebook IPO: Thinking about buying a piece of Facebook when the company goes public later this week? A $38 a share there are better things you can be spending your money on, like a Waffle Cone Maker and tuxedo paisley vest and tie set (here’s looking at you, Karl.)

— Lauren M.

Will the Real Warhol Please Stand Up: With its last campaign, Art Series Hotels in Australia asked guests to try and steal a Banksy painting. In its newest campaign, the hotel groups is asking guests to spot the real Warhol painting among a multitude of replicas. If you figure out which one is real, the painting is all yours.

Beary Good Deal: For Volkswagen’s winter sale, they offered a deal on their winter-ready SUVs – but only until this bear woke up from hibernation.

Low Line: I am all for this idea to turn part of the abandoned subways in to an underground park. Check out the video the team put together on Kickstarter.

Just Dance Dance Dance: For the launch of Just Dance 3 and to prove that anyone can dance, the brand created “Autodance” – an app to record your movements and then syncs those movements to music. 

— Lauren M. 

Cool Thing of the Day: Check out this hand-cranked cocktail shaking machine.

Cool Thing of the Day 2: Look at the United States made in skillets.

Mural Locator: I love street art so I am very excited to see this: Mural Locator is a site that helps you find murals near you. The closest one to out office is on West 21 between 8 & 9!

— Lauren M.

Sometimes there’s nothing better than the simple surprise of your friends picking up the tab when you’re out for dinner or drinks. With the new location-based app, Slingr, now you can treat your friends to a night out from anywhere in the world. 

When you check in to a venue using Slingr, you can link through Facebook, Twitter or other social networks, connecting your friends to a menu system which is tied directly to your table - you can even specify which specific food or drinks items you’re in the mood for. The app is free to users, while providing an added potential profit for venues by extending their customer base to those who aren’t physically in the account.

The app is still very new so it will be interesting to see how it plays out - and if people are really inclined to hand out drinks from across the country or if this is something better shared in person.

By the way, if anyone wants to test it out I’m thinking about lunch at Shake Shack, I’m kind of in the mood for a burger…

- Jess

Wake Up Song: Yes, we have seen a lot of brands putting out alarm apps recently. But, honestly, they have all been great. Up next: the Uniqlo Wake Up Social App that will wake you up with a custom song that contains the current time, weather and day of week.

Curing the Hiccups: A 13-year-old from Connecticut is launching her own line of lollipops designed to stop hiccups, Hiccupops. She made them in her kitchen and this summer will be matched up with MBA students to help launch her product nationwide. 

Urban Plant Tags: Love these “urban plant” tags: teaching us the right way to take care of the corner mailbox or the lamp post.

— Lauren M. 

Here Comes the Sun: Ray Ban released an app, “Bright Light” that finds the “sunny spots” near you. It will also give you walking directions from A to B, giving you the route where you will be in the sun the most.

Instagram Camera: The Instragram Socialmatic Camera is a design concept for a combo digital camera and photo printer (think: a digital Polaroid camera) that looks like the Instagram App icon. The camera would sync with your Instagram and Facebook accounts.

Blackmail Yourself APP: Dubbed as a “goal-oriented self-blackmail” app, Aherk! (what is with all the weird app names people!?) will leak embarrassing photos of you on Facebook if you don’t meet your deadline.

— Lauren M.

This morning I read an article on the Next Web about an interesting app designed to help motivate you to achieve your goals. Aherk! is described as “goal-oriented self-blackmail.” To use the app, you must first set a goal and a deadline to achieve the goal. Then, you must upload an embarrassing photo that will be shared on Facebook if the goal is not met. Your Facebook friends vote and decide if you meet your goal or not.

While the concept is interesting, I can’t see many people voluntarily signing up for this. The fact that friends are the judge of whether or not goals are met leaves a user’s reputation completely in the hands of others who can determine if the photo is shared regardless of whether or not the person actually completed the task. I love my friends, but no thank you.

The idea of an app that aims to help you better yourself is not new, as there are several organizational apps like Producteev, and also other apps that use social pressure to get you moving such as GymPact. Even apps not necessarily intended for this purpose can do the trick - I can’t say that I don’t feel a twinge of guilt when I see Rob checked into the gym at 6AM on foursquare (client). Apps can help you achieve goals. However, in my opinion Aherk! needs to rethink its strategy if its intent is to be a serious motivational tool.

What do you think - is Aherk! motivational or just attention-grabbing?

-Alicia

Draw Something Ads: Draw Something is rolling out a new type of ad model – integrating the ads into the game. The app will integrate brand names into the word choices so users will actually be drawing the ads.

Brand as a Human: Founder of La Colombe coffee, Todd Carmichael gave an excellent talk at the PSFK conference last month. He explained how his brand needs to think and act like a human being and other values brands should follow. Definitely worth the watch.

Smile Child: A children’s store in France created shopping bags with pictures of indifferent children – but when you hold the handlebars the kid’s face on the bag turns to smiles. 

— Lauren M.