Archive for September, 2008

iKoto App for iPhone, Traditional Japanese Music at Your Fingertips

I’ve seen and played with a lot of iPhone applications, but iKoto take the cake on originality/education ratio. GClue, Inc., based out of Japan, has created a very innovative method to teach, practice, and empower musicians of the Koto. The Koto is a Japanese harp that creates a very distinct tone for traditional Japanese music.

The application allows users to record, play, and demonstrate their talent on the Koto all from a handheld device. The virtual strings vibrate with the tune so that the user can practice their hand and finger movements. The iKoto comes with the following selections: “Explanation of functions” “Play demonstration”; “Play recorded performance”; “Record performance”;
“Stop play or record”.

GClue has a long standing history of making outstanding mobile applications since 2000. This application can be found for .99 At the Apple iTunes store.

Here’s a video of the iKoto in action!

MySpace Music Launches

MySpace is known as one of the, if not the biggest social networks on the market. With millions and millions of users, advertisers get the attention of a lot of eyes, but it’s grown even bigger than that. MySpace has long been known to be the launching pad for music artists, knowing that the MySpace market is a target they just could not ignore. Users are able to listen, stream, and even “friend” artists and stay informed.

It just seems like a natural progression for MySpace to enter the music foray with their own MySpace Music site. Just 24 hours old and already MySpace Music has a huge following, and an interesting model that looks to beat out all other music sites. Four major labels on board (Universal, Warner, Sony, EMI), several major publishers, and even the largest independent music provider look to make MySpace Music stand out on its own merit.

Users are able to stream any of the music on the site for free, create playlists of up to 100 songs, share their lists, their streams, and even participate in ranking and viewing other users music selection. All of this creates a music social network that is bound to grow just as fast at their social network specific site, MySpace. New music is also introduced exposing users to new artists and up-can-comers, with the added ability to purchase music which is done through Amazon’s music download service. You want a ringtone? No worries, via Jamster any song on MySpace music can also be yours to carry on your mobile.

The flexibility of MySpace music is unheard of, and I look forward to seeing its growth.

Twitter Goes Political with Election 08′

If you’ve been on Twitter for the last few months, you’ve probably noticed a few of your stateside followers in deep conversation about the upcoming election to replace President Bush. While we all have our own opinion on how the country has been managed, the good news is that finally some change is coming and this election will determine the course of our future. Even our friends overseas are watching closely to see just what will happen, for better or worse.

Twitter has gone the extra mile and included a “Twad” (Twitter ad) at the top of their site to keep users up to date on the election, fundamentally calling it Election.Twitter. At midnight last night, Election.Twitter went live, finally acknowledging just how popular, if not important, this topic has been on their micro-blogging service. The site will be very familiar to long time Twitter users, except for one big difference. “What are you doing?” is being replaced with “What do you think?”, opening the floor for debate, discussion, disagreement, and speculation.

To get the low down on what is going on, stop by get involved, and get informed!

Newsflash! Twitter Group for Dads Exists!

Image via CrunchBase

In response to a comment from my post on TwitterMoms.com, Michel did an excellent job on bringing to the light the oft forgotten efforts of the father.

Too often fathers in movies, cartoons, and other media formats are depicted as oafish, bumbling males that know very little about caring for kids, but somehow miraculously come out on top in the end. While I won’t make an excuse for every male, there are some fathers out there stay-at-home, single, and otherwise who do an amazing job fathering children, and go through just as many hardships in child rearing, just different experiences.

There is a Ning group for Twitter Dads, and a Twitter account to follow for fathers looking at connecting with other dads to share ideas, experiences, and techniques for child rearing. @TwitterDads is a worthwhile follow for any dad in the midst of childcare, and the Ning group is slowly gaining some steam.

Twitter Search App for the iPhone

As if Twittering on our laptop or desktop was not addicting enough, the addiction was taken to a new level by making it easy to access from your mobile. Whether you’re logged into the Twitter mobile site, or using an app to type your life in 140 characters, the users find that they simply can’t get enough.

Let’s take Twitter to another level now. Twitter gobbled up Summize and created Twitter.Search, and now users are able to find exactly what they want by typing in search terms. The search will highlight all the conversations and make them available to you, along with providing a list of the hottest trending issues at the moment. Well thanks to Summizer for the iPhone, this app does everything Twitter.Search does, only you don’t have to go to any URL. This useful app sits directly in your menu is quickly accessible to find quick information on what is being discussed.

Mustache Inc’s tightly packaged app is definitely made with the on-the-go user in mind, and easy enough for general users to pick up as well. While version 1.0 is currently focused on searching and trend watching, the update, pending approval from Apple, looks to offer more options making this powerful app much more useful. You can find this app for $4.99 which is a little steep compared to some of the other apps available, but for marketers, advertisers, business professionals, or avid users, the cost is minimal compared to the use that they are sure to find in Summizer.

Uniting Moms that Twitter

One of the biggest critiques that has come against Twitter aside form scaling issues, has been it’s lack of grouping and/or allowing for Twitter contacts to be grouped. This has been one failure of Twitter to better help users organize their contacts, or speak directly to a group of contacts without messaging their entire follower list.

As a result, various small groups have popped up to fill the need, but all of them based on other social networks. TwitterMoms is no different, except TwitterMoms has grown exponentially with the number of registered users in the group. TwitterMoms establishes an online gathering place for moms who are informed, educated, and look to have a place for their voice to be heard. The market for female bloggers and micro-bloggers has seen a significant boost in the last year, and withTwitterMoms, this is just another example of users looking to define their own space, even if the social network does not do it for them.

TwitterMoms is not a Twitter clone, but rather a forum where twittering moms can gather and share their thoughts, have their replies tracked and added on to by other users. There is a timeline service that allows users to see when comments were made in the conversation and reply to them accordingly. There are individual topics that you would expect to find in a forum, and so every user is able to join a conversation or start one themselves. An amazing idea for those looking to connect with others like minded mom that communicate through Twitter.

If you’re a mom looking at connecting, definitely check out TwitterMoms! If you’re already a member, leave a comment and let us know what you think, I’d love to hear what a user thinks about this amazing group.

MicroSD Music A Good Idea? SanDisk Thinks So

Records, 8-track tapes, cassettes, CD’s, physical media has been a constant in the world of music. Just recently within the last ten years, music has begun the transition from physical to streaming/download acquisition. When I try to think back on the last time I actually entered a music store, I’m almost shocked at how out dated the concept of buying a CD really is. Today with access to iTunes, Amazon Music Store, and other outlets to purchase your media, I was shocked when I read that SanDisk was able to convince music labels that the future was in MicroSD.

Big labels bought into this idea after what had to be an amazing presentation, and to make it even more amazing was the fact that they convinced Walmart and Best Buy to carry the product. Quite honestly this idea may have been approved, but it’s dead before it’s even started. Pricing is not bad, with SD cards looking at a retail value of about $7-$10 apiece, but of course that’s before markup, and any other additions they plan on adding to the sale.

Just looking around my house I don’t know where I would put my MicroSD card, my phone maybe, but I don’t use it as a media player nor would I want to. I’d like to know what mind numbing, hypnotic method they used to get anyone on board with this idea. If you want a taste of this market, I suggest by early, because the MicroSD idea will almost certainly be dead by next year.

Can anyone say collector’s item?

Spread the “Good Word” with Gospelr

If you’re looking at either spreading the “good word” or hearing some messages of praise and encouragement, turn no further then Gospelr. This Twitter-clone application brings together all the positivity and encouragement of the Christian faith to those who seek it out.

It was just a matter of time before something like this happened. It’s not necessarily a bad thing, especially since it was established due to the perceived harshness of Twitter conversation. Gospelr looks to focus on connecting people for motivation and to share their faith with one another. No longer do you have to pay for missionaries to reach the far parts of the world or into the homes of people, now you can do it all online, and Gospelr looks to work that angle.

Because it’s based on Twitter’s API, integration into Tweetdeck and various other apps that play well with Twitter. An interesting addition to the Gospelr homepage is that the site will refresh for you, keeping you current at all times with the latest messages to hit the network.

If you need to hear the Word, be uplifted or encouraged by those strong in their faith, then check out Gospelr. While your there, check out the cool RSS button, now that’s creative!

Wordia Replacing Dictionary.com?

Image via Wikipedia

The dictionary, for years, had been the bane of my existence as a kid. I remember when I did not know something I was always told “look it up.” I remember being frustrated tearing through the massive dictionary just to find an answer. As I got older I began to appreciate the dictionary along with its cousin thesaurus. As a communications professional in my adult life, these two, both physical and through various apps, have become the cornerstone of my career as a writer.

We all know dictionaries are not hot properties, and people are not tearing down the house to find new ways to make it better, but in an interesting turn of event, Wordia has done just that. Created by former TV producer Edward Baker, and funded by ex-Bebo employee Michael Birch, Wordia looks to mashup Dictionary, YouTube, and Wikipedia. This hodge podge looks to be more for entertainment rather than serious information, but with Birch’s previous eye for start-up successes, it might have some legs to stand on.

Wordia is the site where everything you get is in video format. Looking up a word will provide you with a video explaining the word, definition, and other vitals you’d need to attain understanding. While there is still text, user generated videos will be attached to the word, and users will be able to rank the videos in term of their favorite, most accurate, and most humorous to name a few options.

This is definitely not your parents dictionary, but I still question whether the videos are necessary as opposed to a major distraction. I look forward to seeing how many users jump on board and the accuracy and reputation the site builds.

Twitter redesigns interface, still somewhat unstable

While going through the RSS feeds this morning, I saw a great write-up on CNET about the interface redesign on Twitter.  Great in that, it’s well written and covers all the positive points, but it seems that Twitter has pushed more emphasis on making their web app look pretty as opposed to actually stable.

Here’s a summery of what is new and changed:

• Smaller tabs that were on top of the timeline to the right sidebar, where they can occupy more space, making them larger clicking targets. They also moved the following/followers/updates stats to the top of the page and made them larger, so now I can really see how deflated my follower numbers are.
• The most important change, in terms of functionality is the addition of AJAX to the “Home” and “@Replies” pages. Their new implementation allows you to refresh the items in your timeline without having to reload the whole page.
• New design customizer with this release, which allows you to change the colors on your Twitter profile with the help of a color wheel.

Great, new ways to make it look pretty, but still barely works properly.  I’ve been using Twitter on and off for a year now (follow me at twitter.com/mikepanic) and while I did manage to crack 12,000 text messages by subscribing to some major news outlets and having them sent SMS to my cell phone, most of what I’ve found is that it’s just noise, even from people I know in real life.  For more than 3 months now I haven’t had tweets coming into my cell, I’m very happy about this and do not miss it one bit.  I also rarely go to the official Twitter site, rather I use Twitterific on my Mac to read and update tweets.

What is most frustrating, outside of the noise and constant “read my new blog post” tweets that I myself am guilty of sending is the lack of stability.  The service seems to be going down, still, several times a month.  How can I stand behind and love an app just because it’s pretty looking when it isn’t stable?