Filed under: Feature, ONLINE SERVICES/INTERACTIVE MEDIA | Tags: Android, App Store, Apps, Apps Store, Blackberry, Gartner, Handhelds, iPhone, Kettle, Mobile, Olivier Peyre, Palm Pre, Smartphone, They Make Apps
GOT MOBILE APP DEVELOPERS?: THEYMAKEAPPS DOES
As someone who prides herself on being a digital nerdstress, I often field questions from folks looking for mobile app developers. It’s very analogous to that moment where someone texts you looking for a good restaurant or bar in their neighborhood. Inevitably, your mind goes blank and the vestiges of cool locations are lost rendering you helpless in directing your friends to that cool bar you always want to refer people to. Eventually, perhaps you muster up the mental energy to pull a few developers out of thin air, developers who most likely have no additional bandwidth to take on new projects. FAIL.
Enter TheyMakeApps, an online directory of iPhone application developers categorized by location and price. iPhone users have so far downloaded over 3 billion applications from the iTunes store. A recent study from Gartner found that users will download, on average, 20.1 apps per smartphone this year. With that much consumption, it’s easy to see why everyone is looking for a good developer. With over 100K registered iPhone developers, it’s easy to see the need for something which weeds though that much choice. The challenge in finding the right person is in finding someone who can execute the vision at the right price. They Make Apps helps it all come together in a slick user interface that makes the process a bit more fun.
How to
Currently, users can browse through apps filtering by price (up to $20K) and by location. The site was developed by Kettle, a NYC-based digital consultancy. Olivier Peyre, Creative Director of Kettle, tells me that search will be available soon. Clearly, search is a critical feature allowing users to drill down on exactly what they’re looking for, be it a mobile app developer specifically or a developer who has worked with a brand of interest. I like that the site allows for users to save mobile developers of interest for a comparative look later in the process. Any developer can easily sign up on the site to be included in the directory.
Currently, the limiting features for me are the lack of search (which is already on its way), the lack of budget options above $20K, and the lack of Blackberry, Android and Palm Pre developers. Some nice-to-have features would be a way to vote up and down certain developers creating a hot list of preferred vendors and a way to email developers of interest to friends.
TheyMakeApps isn’t exclusively for agencies and developers. SPIN magazine used the directory to find the developer for their latest project. Nick Pandolfi, Digital Edition Manager of SPIN describes his experience:
“TheyMakeApps was a huge help with SPIN’s latest development project. Rather then reach out to all our contacts for developer references, it was a quick way to find locally based developers and see exactly what they specialize in. I’m sure we’ll be using it again soon!”
TheyMakeApps is simply the glue connecting need to the solution. And frankly, I love glue.
Related articles by Zemanta
- Staggering iPhone App Development Statistics to be Unveiled at Inaugural App Exhibit at Macworld 2010 (prweb.com)
- Mobile apps to generate untold riches for developers (go.theregister.com)
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=54a31ccb-46d2-47ec-bd98-a44a1f446d54)
Filed under: Feature | Tags: 2009, California, Castro, Downtown Los Angeles, LA, Los Angeles, Mariachi Square, New York City, NYC, San Francisco, Santa, Santacon, Santarchy, SF, United States, Washington Square Park
SANTACON: DON’T MAKE SANTA MESS YOU UP
Downtown Los Angeles
Photo Credit: Daily Marauder
Over the weekend, the Santas converged, ready to get their drink on. Santacon began in 1994 in San Francisco when a group of 30 Santa’s converged on downtown SF and caused a bit of Kris Kringle mayhem. That spontaneous coordination of Santa fun has progressed into an international phenomenon. Saturday, Santacon dropped in on NYC, San Francisco and Los Angeles. The crowd descended on a Santa-infused pub crawl bringing chaos and fun in its wake. Did you happen to catch the red and white tide? If so, here’s a few pics to catch you up on the fun you missed.
Los Angeles
Mariachi Square, Los Angeles “Sado Masachristmas”
Photo Credit: Daily Marauder
We were in attendance on this one and it was truly an interesting array of creative holiday spirit. Locations were communicated either through traditional means (shouting) or through more digital means (Twitter). As this is a driving town, I was relieved to find that the flask-bearing crowd took the subway from location to location.
And who knew Santa had beef? In this shot, clowns show up to protest Santa’s progression through the streets. And yes, it rains in LA.
La Perla Los Angeles
Photo Credit: Daily Marauder
Here the singing Santas take over the subway. Yup, I didn’t know LA had one either…
New York City
Washington Square Park, NYC
Photo Credit: Sdavisk
San Francisco
Castro, San Francisco
Photo Credit: Jon Bauer
For more information on Santacon coming to a city near you, check out this calendar of events. Happy Holidays from one Santa to another.
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=2b1e8eff-0b3d-4396-a50e-470351d3db5d)
Filed under: Feature | Tags: Facebook, I'm on TV, Kids and Teens, Marketing, New Year, New Year's Eve, Time Square, Toshiba, Twitter
PICTURE YOURSELF IN TIMES SQUARE: I’M ON TV
Sunday, December 13th, 2009. 1:00PM. Times Square. If you happened to be walking through the tourist-infested crowds in Times Square yesterday, you might have caught a red hoodie-wearing Marauder smiling back at you. My inner monologue would be, “I don’t know why you’re braving Times Square at the holidays in the rain either.”
As part of Toshiba’s countdown to New Year’s Eve, the company is launching a marketing campaign dubbed “I’m on TV.” Eighteen videos will be selected a day to air up to three times on Toshiba’s LED screen in Times Square. Participants are asked for their vision for the next decade to be recorded in 8 seconds of silent video. In addition, several videos will be selected to air on New Year’s Eve in the countdown festivities from 6PM to midnight.
The social marketer in me would have loved to see them post the videos immediately to Twitter or Facebook to make the campaign a bit more viral. As exciting as it is to know that your silly face was on a screen in Time Square, it would have been that much more exciting if those videos could travel the internet to all corners of the world. Toshiba, that is my vision for you.
So go, wax poetic about the New Year. I’ll see you in Times Square.
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=fe6555e3-ee34-4d30-9e50-262cb9296b5c)
Filed under: Feature | Tags: April Donato, Blackbox Republic, Burning Man, Facebook, Match.com, Nevada, Online dating service, Sam Lawrence, Social network, United States
GAY OR STRAIGHT?: BLACKBOX REPUBLIC ATTEMPTS TO ANSWER THE QUESTION
“Bisexuality doubles your chances of a date on a Saturday night.” –Woody Allen
Blackbox Republic, a private network for dating and friendships, launched today with a focus on “keepin’ it real” with regards to sexual orientation and relationship style. With hundreds of online dating sites, I hardly saw the need for yet another. I sat down, via phone, with CEO Sam Lawrence to try and figure out what this new site brings to the dating table.
About a year and a half ago, co-founders April Donato and Sam Lawrence packed an RV for a 17-hour drive from Portland, OR to Burning Man in the Nevada desert. That’s one hell of a long time in a vehicle with someone. Left without their digital devices to distract them, they resolved to participate in that time-honored tradition of speaking to each other. They began to chat about relationships from friendships to dating. From mass-market social networks like Facebook, to straight up online dating sites like Match.com, they didn’t feel like there was an outlet that represented what they were looking for in an online meeting place.
Hence, Blackbox Republic came to fruition, aided by $1M in angel funding. In essence, the site allows users to prescribe who they are and what they are looking for with a degree of gay [cough] [cough]…gray. Common American perception leads us to believe that each of us is either gay or straight. Delve a little deeper and you will find that sexual orientation comes in all sorts of flavors. Sam exploded my brain a bit trying to break this all down for me.
From hetero to gay, there are 5 different possibilities. Users provide their selections using Kayak-like sliders on their profile pages. Sam and I discussed one particular example, which clarified the situation for me.
While testing the product out in focus groups across the country, he met a man who, for the most part, identified himself as gay. That said, he did like to have a relationship with a woman from time to time. Typically, this is a choice that is not respected within the gay community and therefore was something that he did not share with most people. On the flip side of the orientation equation, if he were to mention the possibility of dating women to his parents, they would have him mentally married with children in minutes.
His slider would therefore be somewhere between gay and bi. Frankly, these identifications of orientation, status, partners, etc fuel my entire interest in the site. Sam adds, “The only choices before now were advertising-focused public spotlights like Facebook, or online personals sites built around chemistry tests and splintered by race, sexual orientation or religion. We are aiming for something radically different. If Facebook and Match.com had a hot love child it would be Blackbox Republic.” A hot love child that could potentially be halfway between hetero and bi.
Not only does Blackbox allow you the tools to more accurately identify yourself, it provides a walled-in garden so that you could hopefully feel more comfortable sharing these things. The site is subscription-based, intended to weed out the riff raff. A basic subscription starts at $5/month and travels up the scale to $49 depending on features and the number of people joining together. I mean, what better way to get your threesome all using the same social network? In addition, users are verified by the community using a voucher system.
Here’s where I am a bit confused. When I asked Sam the purpose of Blackbox from friendship-based to dating, he responded that the site is intended to provide a place for people to be real with each other. Conversations on the site range from friendship to dating with leads to some confusion on what I would be using the site for. While I may share what orientation I am to potential partners, I wouldn’t necessarily want all friends to know. In addition, the prioritization of orientation on the site leads me to believe that the site is focused on the LGBT community, which after speaking with Sam is certainly not the case. It is true that online dating sites are somewhat splintered by race, religion, etc but that is because those individuals choose to associate with their particular groups, be it the Jewish community on J-date or the black community on blacksingles.com. The site is well designed and easy to use but I still don’t need another online dating site…and that in my mind, is exactly what this is.
Related articles by Zemanta
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=af43d635-8cbb-4d38-91bc-646aed7e4be4)
Filed under: Feature | Tags: Andrew Kippen, Avner Ronen, Blip.tv, Box, Boxee, Clicker, D-Link, Facebook, Hulu, Myspace, Netflix, Pandora, Revision3, Suicide Girls, Television, The Escapist, YouTube
THINKING OUTSIDE OF THE BOX, OR IN THIS CASE IN IT: BOXEE UNVEILED
Guest Writer: Martha Rivera
A sold out crowd gathered at the Williamsburg Music Hall in Brooklyn, NY last night for the unveiling of the Boxee beta as well as to catch a glimpse of the highly anticipated Beta Box.
Launched in 2008, Boxee is software that aggregates media content from the web and your personal computer and streams it on your HD television. It searches web based content providers like YouTube, Netflix, MySpaceTV, Blip.TV, CBS.com, Revision3, flickr, and Pandora, among others and brings the content straight to your living room television. Missing still from the list of content providers is the online video site, Hulu. In addition to streaming web content, it also pulls media content from your own personal computer including your ITunes, personal videos and pictures. Boxee is an open source platform allowing users to create their own apps. To date, there are over 300.
“Our biggest challenge is distribution,” said Boxee CEO Avner Ronen. The hurdle is getting cable affiliates and major content providers, like Hulu on board. At the core of the problem is fear of piracy and concern that the advertising is stripped from the content. However, Boxee pulls online content as is, which includes the advertising that is attached to it. Boxee also has the ability to track a host of analytics far outweighing television’s usage reporting. Ronen is hoping media companies and cable providers will become comfortable once they understand usage.
Four weeks ahead of its wide release at CES, Ronen introduced the beta software and Boxee Box, as well as announced the launch of 3 new apps: the hipster soft-core site Suicide Girls, the online gamer e-zine The Escapist and Clicker, TV guide, entertainment search engine and DVR all rolled into one.
Boxee Beta
Overall, Boxee Beta looks great and is much more user-friendly. The UI has been streamlined with a new layout. The menu, previously hidden, is now front and center. The home screen has been redesigned to feature the main menu, featured content, personal queue and the friend feed.
My favorite social networking feature is the ability to connect to your Facebook and Twitter accounts. Any media that your friends or followers share with you will automatically populate on your queue. Too busy to watch videos at work? Don’t have the ability to watch video because you don’t have an office or are on the go? Another feature allows a viewer to send media assets to your queue so you can watch when you get home.
The search function has also been streamlined. Now users can search for movies, TV shows as well as local and online content at once. Boxee Beta populates all content from your computer as well as from any web source that works with Boxee. Of note, you can now mark content as “watched.” Better yet, the search function lets you omit “watched” content from the results.
Boxee focused specifically on TV shows in the Beta redesign. TV shows are now organized by season and episode. You can follow your favorite TV shows, and like Hulu, it will automatically populate your queue with new episodes.
Another new feature is the Global Menu. This menu is essentially the shortcuts screen. It provides quick access to predetermined shortcuts, favorite apps, history, and settings.
Other features include allowing users to interact with the apps without having to download them, a now playing button on every screen allowing easier navigation back to the player, a new Last.fm and flickr interface as well as a main background that changes based on the time of day.
As of this writing, 85% of Boxee’s 700,000 users use a Mac. However, Boxee Beta has not forgotten about its Windows’ friends. It will now run on Direct X, which will mean a better experience for the PC user.
Boxee Box by D-Link
The night also included the highly anticipated unveiling of the Boxee Box. Boxee partnered with D-Link, better known as the makers of wireless routers, to create the hardware. Astro Studios, the cutting edge designers behind products like the X-Box 360 and Nike, designed the sleek cube. This small black submerged cube will sit on top of the many boxes taking up space near your TV. The guys at Boxee hope that eventually you’ll do away with all those boxes and just use the Boxee Box.
The Boxee Box will retail at $200 and will be available for distribution sometime in 2Q10.
Why Boxee?
I’m a three-screen user. I watch TV, while surfing on my laptop, with my phone not far away. Having used the Alpha, I don’t know if I can give up my computer that easily. As I was navigating the web content on Boxee, I found my multi-tasking self wanting to toggle out of the screen to search the web while the video played. Because I was unfamiliar with the navigation, or more like because I’m a specific type of navigator, all of a sudden I felt trapped. According to Andrew Kippen, VP of Marketing, “Boxee is about fighting tradition. It’s streamlining your viewing experience by consolidating it all into one. Boxee is the tip of the iceberg for what’s possible.”
The Boxee Beta version seems much more straightforward. It’s easy-to-use features will allow users to not feel so (excuse the pun) boxed in. Then again, in this case, that’s what the creators of Boxee want you to do. Engage with the content within the box.
Related articles by Zemanta
- Boxee Beta: Finally Ready for Primetime (Just About) [Boxee] (gizmodo.com)
- Boxee, a Start-Up, to Offer a Device to Put Web Video on TV (nytimes.com)
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=da4183b4-7c20-43e9-8a87-eb28a27d2fa5)
Filed under: Feature, ONLINE SERVICES/INTERACTIVE MEDIA | Tags: Bohemian Rhapsody, BohemianRhapsody, Freddie Mercury, Mercury, Muppets, Planets, Queen, Recreation, Solar System, YouTube
BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY: MUPPETS STYLE
Uploaded on November 23rd to mark the 18th anniversary of Freddie Mercury’s death on November 24th, this video has amassed just under 5 million views in 4 days on YouTube alone. Impressive numbers to say the least.
In addition, it’s just really f-ing funny. Mama!!!
Related articles by Zemanta
- Watch This: The Muppets’ ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ (cinematical.com)
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=de7ac73e-5569-49c2-ae50-d17eecbe8cb3)
Filed under: Feature, ONLINE SERVICES/INTERACTIVE MEDIA | Tags: Adam Sandler, app, Butterball, Chef's Timer, Communities, Epic Change, Facebook, Flickr, Football, Gary Vaynerchuk, Gary Vee, iHost, iPhone, iVillage, Martha Stewart, NFL, Online Communities, Social media, Social network, Socialvibe, Tanzania, Thanksgiving, Thanksgiving Song, Turkey, Tweetsgiving, Twitter, Wine Library TV, YouTube
THANKSGIVING JUST GOT A BIT MORE SOCIAL
Making the Tasty Treats
The first year my mother tried to make a turkey, she apparently over-stuffed the bird and a turkey powder keg blew a hole through the oven door exploding precious white meat all over the wall of our kitchen. Being that I had heard this story on numerous occasions, my first attempt at bird making was very well planned.
Here are a few sites to help get you started using language even the most beginner chef can understand. As an added bonus, after several years of trial-and-error, the Marauder kitchen recommends sage butter (and lots of it) underneath the skin. Also, when attempting to brine, soaking a bird in the crisper overnight is probably not the best idea…
How-Tos:
Videos to impress the giblets out of your friends:
Amazing recipes itemized by course:
Wine Pairing
Gary Vaynerchuk from Wine Library TV offers 12 wine selections to pair with the bird, a somewhat more difficult wine-pairing item.
Giving Thanks
Tweetsgiving
Last year, Epic Change launched Tweetsgiving raising $11,000 for charity in 48 hours. Those donations were used to build a classroom in Tanzania. How’s that for giving thanks? This year, the bar has been raised to $100,000. While many are returning for their third plate of stuffing, Tweetsgiving will be raising awareness across social networks from YouTube to Twitter asking users what they are thankful for. Follow @tweetsgiving on Twitter and tweet about what you’re thankful for from now until the 27th using the hashtag “#tweetsgiving” at the end of your tweet.
Socialvibe
Socialvibe donates to charity by marketing brands such as Kraft, Timberland, and Powerbar. Every time a brand is successfully marketed, charity benefits. At first, I thought this sounded a little sleazy. But really, marketers scream for your attention on a daily basis. At least in this case, charities benefit somewhere along the line.
Download the Thanksgiving Feast App to play. Every time you add a meal to the table, a real meal is provided through the UN World Food Programme.
Setting the Mood: Best Thanksgiving Song
Sure, this song is old but no has yet to top Adam Sandler on the joys of Thanksgiving.
Talking Tryptophan
Yet again this year, you can get your thanks on via many of your favorite social networks.
Get real-time cooking advice from the Butterball team either on their Twitter feed or Facebook page.
What to do when mom locks herself in the bathroom because your 35-year old brother insists on making fart noises at the table? Butterball may not have the answer for that one…
Get your spirit on with 23,000 of your other friends on the Thanksgiving fan page.
Mobile App Fun
iHost: Thanksgiving
Developed by a Rhode Islander (big-ups to my home state), iHost helps you get organized from menu, shopping list to budget. Their most recent update supposedly added recipes from local Newport, RI chefs. A little Rhode Island flavor has come to southern California. Very nice.
Chef’s Timer
If you’ve cooked with your iPhone in tow, as I always do, you know the device only has one timer. In most situations, that works just fine. But, what about situations where you have three side dishes and a turkey crammed into your tiny NYC oven while your friends stare at your assortment of tiny snacks in disdain? Yup…there’s an app for that.
Thanksgiving = Football
For those of you who know me, you understand why this comes last in the list. I know next to nothing about football. I do know that the grunting emanating from living rooms countrywide leads me to believe that you all care. This year, the NFL is offering a central portal for all 3 Thanksgiving games.
From Marauder’s home to yours, have a wonderful Thanksgiving.
Related articles by Zemanta
- The TwitterKids of Tanzania (epicchangeblog.org)
- Thanksgiving Wine Picks: A Trainwreck of Love (dirtysouthwine.com)
- How To Cook A Turkey: 7 Tips From Butterball University (huffingtonpost.com)
- Turkey tips from experts at Butterball University (seattletimes.nwsource.com)
- Brine Your Thanksgiving Turkey for Juicier Results [Food] (lifehacker.com)
- Recipes for a Vegan Thanksgiving (well.blogs.nytimes.com)
- How To Carve a Turkey (howcast.com)
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=7ebf5684-9eac-41c6-9d8c-d00e268ada4f)
