Has the time really come for me to join Foursquare? I know that mobile is where it’s going, but do you all really need to know where I am at every moment? I’ve been grappling with this for a long time. My esteemed colleague Alyssa just joined, after much protest.
Today, Foursquare launched its Blackberry app. I just may have to try it.
Also…on the topic of mobile, a great read today in Ad Age around 5 mobile trends for 2010.
I don’t know how I missed this viral ad from Samsung, but it is one of the best ones I have ever seen and I’m so jealous I didn’t think of it. Tapping into our cultural obsession with cuteness, the video shows various adorable baby animals and how they creatively use the Samsung Ultratouch cellphone (hint: not as an actual phone). This ad combines two of my favorite things: cute animals and miniature dioramas. What could be better?
As a dedicated BlackBerry fan I’ve often felt that the iPhone — and to some degree, its cultish following — was somewhat full of hot air about the greatness of the gadget. Turns out, now it literally is.
There’s a new app out now called Blower, which developers claim can be used to “blow out candles, herbs, and refresh your skin during hot summer nights.” Um, wow. How lazy can you be?! Basically, Blower just moves air through the speakers of your iPhone to create, which is exactly how the speakers work when playing music. Sorry, but this sounds like the most superfluous app ever created. I’ll stick to my BlackBerry — and to breathing myself, for that matter.
TechCrunchposted today about an interesting new iPhone application called iCurfew, which allows kids to send their parents an e-mail showing their location. Sort of like FourSquare, but that only the ‘rents can see. It’s certainly an interesting idea — when my brother and I were in high school, we usually preferred to check in with my mom via text message rather than a phone call. I suppose this would be one step easier and makes it harder for teens to be dishonest about their whereabouts (not that I ever was, since I was — and am — a total goody two-shoes). However, TechCrunch’s Michael Arrington suggests that kids will find loopholes, like “pay[ing] off someone to hold onto your phone and hang out at the movie theater messaging nice things to your parents while you are off doing God knows what.”
Does this app build trust and encourage communication between parents and children like it claims, or is it too “Big Brother“-ish and will make kids go to greater lengths to conceal their whereabouts? Either way, I think the more important question here is, “Why does your 16-year-old have an iPhone in the first place?”
He’s the leader of the free world and an unabashed Crackberry addict, but he can’t figure out…Twitter?!
U.S. President Barack Obama admitted to being Twitter-shy because he’s too clumsy to type on the phone, during a conversation with a group of students in Shanghai.
Some of our most beloved social media networks, including Facebook, MySpace and Twitter are blocked or censored by the Chinese government, which sparked an inquiry from one of the students about whether they should be able to use Twitter freely.
Obama’s reply? “Well, first of all, let me say that I have never used Twitter. My thumbs are too clumsy to type in things on the phone.”
Andrew LaVallee of the Wall Street Journalwrote an article yesterday about the world’s first Twitter-dedicated device, developed by New York mobile startup Peek. The TwitterPeek will enable people to post and read Twitter updates on the go. I’m pretty sure that anybody needing to post and read Twitter updates on the go likely has a smartphone, no?
Could this actually make a profit? Is the market big enough? Doesn’t a smartphone negate the need for a Twitter-only device? I can’t actually buy that there are people who want Twitter, but don’t want to surf the Web on their phones. Do they exist?
Volkswagen has created a new iPhone application for the launch of its 2010 GTI model. The free app, called “Real Racing GTI,” allows users to compete by racing others and posting their scores on an online leaderboard. Users can also post their racing videos on YouTube if they wish.
How will Volkswagen’s app compete with other brands using mobile, you ask? By offering free cars!
“Players who download the app will be eligible for the 2010 GTI sweepstakes, which gives away a 2010 GTI Limited Edition Model every week for six weeks beginning Nov. 2nd. Each day that a player finishes a lap in the Real Racing GTI game he or she can enter into the sweepstakes.”
Incentives are important, especially in the oversaturated mobile app space.
File this away under, “Yes, there really is an app for that.”
Think of it like Facebook-meets-iTunes’ App Store. The newly launched AppBoy bills itself as “a social outlet for mobile app lovers.” Got a great app idea? Now you can submit it for review or trial to your online friends, who will provide feedback and vote if they like it. If your idea gets enough votes, you get a portion of the proceeds when your app goes on sale.
Too bad someone already thought of Shazam — I’d be all over that one.
Anyway, Clue has just reinvented itself for 2010, by incorporating text messages into game play. To be honest, the game shares very little with the original. Nobody gets murdered with candlesticks and there are now spies involved. The interesting twist is that players can text “SPY” to a dedicated number that will then respond with clues for playing the game.
Many of you may have already seen New York Magazine’s article entitled ”What’s Your Widget?“ in which noteworthy Big Applers like Jimmy Fallon divulge their favorite web applications. According to the author, “you can tell a lot about people by their apps.” This is true, Miss Sarah Bernard. I especially enjoyed learning that IT specialist Philip Blake has a weak bladder and Gossip Girl actor Matthew Settle is deeply insecure. Riveting.
But what about app overload? Have we as a society become so used to having our problems instantly solved, our questions immediately answered and our boredom quickly curtailed by the false notion that we are engaged in combat (see Al Roker’s favorite app), that we are losing our collective patience and ability to be resourceful and creative during those moments when technology fails? With over 85,000 iPhone apps and 2,500 Blackberry apps, could these apps eventually wear away at those humanistic qualities that were once innate, but are becoming rare? Are we suffering from collective A.D.D.? Or are all these apps just allowing us to accomplish more in any given minute than generations before us?
Sure, there may be a veritable blood bath going on over at Conde Nast, with more and more job losses announced every few days. But while the renowned purveyor of glamorous glossies like Vogue, Bon Appetit and Lucky is enduring troubling times with its print publications, the media mainstay is seemingly optimistic about virtual ventures.
Conde is aiming to offer digital versions of their most popular titles for iPhone and iPod Touch, beginning with GQ this December. Available on iTunes the same day the hard copy hits newsstands, each monthly magazine app will feature every page in its print counterpart, as well as related audio and video content.
When it comes to magazines, I tend to be somewhat of a traditionalist, I guess. From the age of 12, I knew exactly what day of the month Seventeen would hit my mailbox, and I promptly tore through it voraciously (quiz first!). To me, there’s no substitute for turning the physical pages of a magazine, but this platform sounds like something I’d be willing to test out before fully commenting — oh, actually, guess I’ll have to get an iPhone first.
Finally - A Sports Organization Embracing Social Media
For a variety of reasons, sporting organizations like the NFL, SEC and others are attempting to take a hard line on social media (specifically, on Twitter). This is happening for a variety of reasons, particularly because of the desire to protect the exclusive relationships with media outlets. While many sporting organizations are trying to curb and regulate social media use, there are a few trying to embrace it.
The New York Mets appear to be hitting the idea of fan-activated, in-stadium social media out of the park (which is good because as you know, this year, that was a bit of a rarity — sorry, Mets fans, had to do it). In all seriousness, next year the Mets will debut several activations through txtstation that will help enhance the fan experience. Fans will be able to submit their pictures taken via camera phone to appear on the big screen. Verizon Wireless Fan Choice Awards will run various text polls to which results will be displayed in the stadium in real-time.
The above examples as well as the various other mobile-based social media initiatives planned for next year will provide a great model for organizations out there looking to capitalize on social media opportunities rather than trying to stifle them. Nicely done, Mets!
Today, the City of New York launched a software development competition called NYC BigApps, with the goal of making the city “more transparent, accessible and accountable, and an easier place to live, work and play.” The city’s Economic Development Corporation and the Department of Information Technology and Telecommunications gathered over 170 datasets for the competition, including geographic locations of points of interest, census data, property valuation, events and traffic information.
The submitted apps will be judged on their benefit to the city, originality, visual appeal, effect on data accessibility and transparency, and commercial potential. The grand prize is $5,000, plus dinner with Mayor Bloomberg. I hope the people who developed the incredibly cool UpNext iPhone app will enter!
Need to find out if your date is a crazy or a creep? Now there’s an app for that. I’m not sure if blind dates still happen, but if you find yourself in such a situation, don’t be caught unawares! Assuming you have one piece of data, such as a name, e-mail, or phone number, Date Check from Intelius can give you a whole range of information on your suitor.
Features start at the very basic end (showing horoscopes and calculating astrological compatibility), going to the mid-range crazy (checking for the names and ages of everyone living at the subject’s residence), to full-blown psycho (with the Sleaze Detector and Net Worth features). Sleaze Detector warns you of any criminal convictions, felonies or misdemeanors (um, hello, bad boys!) and Net Worth (my personal favorite) tells you all about his/her property, because obviously the square footage and assessed property value are excellent indicators of romantic suitability. Why stop there, Net Worth? What about investment portfolios, savings accounts, and maybe inheritances, too?
The app itself is free, but pulling the information is not. But who can put a price on a possible love match? I’m eager to see how well this app fares, given that the Offender Locator app was such a hit. Caveat emptor: sometimes it’s better not to Google before your date.
Big news for math nerds everywhere! Texas Instruments just released an iPhone application that does everything its BA-II Plus financial calculator does, right on your phone, and costs about half the price of the actual calculator. I wonder if an iPhone app for the TI-83 Plus — calculator of choice for miserable high-school math students — will be next. (Mine was covered in stickers and had my name written on it in Wite-Out, to prevent theft! Also, I mostly used it to play games, which is why I’m in PR and not accounting.)
I’m guessing no, since those things cost about $100 and are on the back-to-school shopping list of every student in the country. Plus, it would be hard for teachers to monitor for cheating and/or clandestine text-messaging if students were allowed to play with their iPhones in class.
