Filed under: Feature, COOL SHT | Tags: Apple, Steve Jobs, Google, NYC, Smartphone, SXSW, Twitter, Yelp, Davos, Austin, Newspaper, Foursquare, Lady Gaga, Pinterest, 2012, Driskill Hotel, Naveen Selvadurai, Lowline, underground, park
THIS WEEK: THE DESCENT OF SXSW
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This week, SXSW descends over Austin. If you’re unfamiliar, SXSW is a three-in-one conference encompassing interactive, film, and music. SXSW has launched a few innovative companies in its midst including Foursquare and the now-acquired Gowalla. In my opinion, it’s a nerd fest reunion with some music folks on the back end. Once a year, all of my digital nerd friends from all across the US get together to drink, party and possibly hit a panel or two. This week, I had a conversation with an ad agency executive in NYC about the merits of SXSW.
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While this particular person had never attended SXSW, he felt that the information which returned was never of value. The thought was that SXSW was simply a drunken booze fest without value.
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I thought about this argument and sat down to read an article in the New Yorker about Davos. Davos, as contrasted to SXSW, rounds up the top world leaders with the hope of igniting inspiration at the highest levels. I’m sure cocktails are shared but I’m guessing no one ends up at the Driskill Hotel at 2 in the morning passed out in a hotel lobby arm chair. That said, my argument in defense of SXSW centered on the simple physical aggregation of start-up folk, programmers, product people and marketing experts alike. Primarily, in the past four years that I have been attending SXSW, this has included an audience under the age of 35. We are young, we are innovators, and yes, we like to drink. Let’s face it, a cocktail or two lowers our fears and in many cases, allows creativity to flow. Steve Jobs referenced LSD as “one of the two or three most important things [he had] done in [his] life” as he considered the experience principally one which opened his eyes to creativity in ways he did not think possible.
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Now, I’m not condoning alcoholism or drug use. I’m simply pointing out that discounting SXSW because this particular audience parties or drinks heavily,is simply disregarding it based on unfair terms. It may be Spring Break for digital folks but don’t we all need a vacation from reality every once in a while? If you’ll be at SXSW, I’ll be speaking on a panel entitled, “Are We Killing Social with Social?” Stop by and share some thoughts, cocktail or no cocktail.
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In other news, Pinterest is surging while Google + is puttering, Lady Gaga becomes the first person to hit 20MM followers on Twitter, newspaper revenue tanks shocking no one, smartphone owners now outnumber other mobile users in the US, Yelp shares surge on their first day of trading, and co-founder Naveen Selvadurai is leaving Foursquare.
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Some more Cool Sh-t:
The Lowline: Underground NYC Park Life
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.
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- Staggering iPhone App Development Statistics to be Unveiled at Inaugural App Exhibit at Macworld 2010 (prweb.com)
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Filed under: WIRELESS | Tags: Android, Apple, Business, HTC Magic, LG Electronics, Mobile phone, Research In Motion, Smartphone
While other carriers might finally be dipping their toes in the Android water this month, T-Mobile has been in this game for a long time. They got their first Android phone (the G1) out last October, and managed to launch two more (the myTouch and the CLIQ) within the year. It makes sense, then, that they’re the first to pipe up with some usage details. (Mobilecrunch11/4)
If you’re determined to shake down some deals during the mother of all U.S. shopping days, then forgive the cliche when we tell you there’s an app for that. Powered by dealnews, the just-released version 2 of their Black Friday app (iTunes link) adds a number of new features for bargain hunters. (Mashable11/4)
LG Electronics, the world’s third-largest cell phone maker, is eyeing sales gains of 20% this year and in 2010, Skott Ahn, the CEO of its mobile-device business, said. At a separate event Tuesday, LG Electronics CEO Yong Nam said the company was “investing heavily” in smartphones, adding that, “We’re not yet there but we’ll get there.” Nam said LG saw companies such as Apple and Research in Motion, rather than fellow handset makers, as its chief competition. Reuters (11/3) , The Wall Street Journal/Dow Jones Newswires (11/4)
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Filed under: WIRELESS | Tags: Android, BlackBerry Storm, HTC Corporation, HTC Hero, PC World, Research In Motion, Smartphone, Verizon Wireless
Verizon Wireless will introduce an HTC Android-powered smartphone Friday alongside the Motorola Droid, the carrier said. The $99 handset, which Verizon Wireless has dubbed the Droid Eris, has similar features to the HTC Hero, industry observers reported. Verizon Wireless also said last week that it was “very pleased” with the initial sales of Research in Motion‘s BlackBerry Storm 2, which launched Wednesday. Yahoo!/PC World(11/1) , The Wall Street Journal/Dow Jones Newswires (10/30)
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Filed under: WIRELESS | Tags: Advertising, Family, Greystripe, Handhelds, iPhone, Parenting, Smartphone, TechCrunch
A few months ago, Techcrunch wrote about mobile ad network Greystripe study that placed “iPhone moms” (mothers of young children who own iPhones) as one of the new and growing mobile advertising demographics on the street. In August, Greystripe claimed that iPhone moms made up 29.5% of all iPhone users. Today, the ad network is releasing a follow-up report which offers detailed behavioral characteristics of moms in their iPhone ad network. (Techcrunch10/26)
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Filed under: WIRELESS | Tags: Business, Chief executive officer, Google, iPhone, Microsoft, Mobile device, Smartphone, Steve Ballmer
Microsoft personnel are working around the clock to restore personal data lost during a recent outage of the company’s Sidekick mobile device, and Steve Ballmer, the software giant’s chief executive officer, says his company needs to do more to assure enterprise customers that a similar mistake won’t occur in the future. Ballmer said it was imperative for Microsoft to “explain to customers our method and process and quality approach and what went wrong in that case and how we are making sure that it does not happen again.” Network World (10/19) , InformationWeek (10/19) , CNET/Beyond Binary (10/19)
Google is said to be planning to release its own smartphone directly through retailers, as opposed to through a carrier partnership, in what could be a huge disruption to the industry’s business model. Google’s phone “could be the first credible competitor to the iPhone.” (Iwantmedia 10/21, Internet News10/20)
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Filed under: WIRELESS | Tags: BestBuy, BestBuyMobile, Google, PalmPre, Rebate, Smartphone, Sprint Nextel, Windows Mobile
Shoppers who pick up their $200 Palm Pre smartphones starting June 6 will have no need to send away to Sprint Nextel for their $100 rebate because all of the U.S.-based 1,067 Best Buy Mobile outlets will provide them on the spot, the retailer said. The question is, will Best Buy have enough phones to sell: Sprint CEO Dan Hesse said he expected Palm Pre handsets to be in short supply “for a while.” CNET/Crave (5/20) , PC Magazine (5/20) , MocoNews.net (5/20)
PC maker Acer will expand its smartphone presence this year with the introduction of 10 models, including one based on Google‘s open-source Android and the remainder running on Windows Mobile software, a top executive said Wednesday. Aymar de Lencquesaing, who heads Acer’s phone unit, said the company had talked to 40 operators, adding: “We’re in discussions with all of them. To date none of them has said ‘thanks, but no thanks, and never come back.’” Reuters (5/20)
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