Have you ever been listening to a song and wanted to know what it is? Shazam solves that very issue by letting you “tag” a song and discover the name, artist and album of the song in question. Having used the BlackBerry app for many months, we can say that it works nearly flawlessly and it’s a must have app for any music enthusiast.
Today, Shazam let us know that they’re announcing a major social sharing update to the app for iPhone, iPad and Android called Shazam Friends. The update allows users to discover and share new music with their friends on Facebook. For some reason Shazam has only rolled out social sharing over Facebook it seems, which, considering it’s a mobile service, you would think Twitter would be the first choice.
The guys who brought you Tether are coming out with a new app called Wakeful. The app is currently in Beta and it looks pretty awesome. Wakeful helps you start your day off right by replacing the conventional alarm clock buzzer with a voice that reads out some important daily information including local weather, stock information and the day’s top headlines. Check out the above video for a brief demo.
We’ve been talking about Mobihand’s AppVerse for some time now and the system has been rolled out to BlackBerryCool’s store. AppVerse allows you to share and discover apps through your social graph as well as build your online app profile.
The system still seems like it’s in Beta even though it’s fully funcitonal. While the concept is great, we’d like to see improvements with some site functionality such as making profile pictures easier to upload (they cut off and don’t specify sizes), allowing you to set specific Twitter sharing options (also not limited to 140), and a better way to connect with friends (eg Twitter). Continue reading ‘AppVerse Social App Sharing Available in BlackBerryCool Store’
RIM and Best Buy have announced the pre-orders, pricing and launch date for the PlayBook. The PlayBook with WiFi will come in three models including a 16GB, 32GB and 64GB version priced at $499, $599 and $699 respectively. The PlayBook is scheduled to be available April 19th (9 days after rumors thought it would launch), from all Best Buy and Best Buy Mobile stores. The device will also launch April 19th in Best Buy and Future Shop in Canada. You can preorder your PlayBook today online at: Continue reading ‘BlackBerry PlayBook Now Available for Pre-Order Online’
Foursquare user Smokit is a Foursquare Jumper. Check out @somkitl‘s Twitter feed too.
Almost every modern, relevant web service and app is using badges and virtual goods to motivate their users to participate and act more on the app/service. Websites such as The Fancy, Foodspotting, Raptr, Untappd, GetGlue, OneTrueFan etc. all use basic game mechanics and virtual goods to motivate their users. While all of them are seeing some great traction with their users, Foursquare has a unique group of Indonesian users called “Jumpers” that have taken the virtual goods hoarding to another level.
The Indonesian badge mafia has a goal of grabbing every single Foursquare badge available and they’ll do so by any means necessary including fake checkins, web/geo workarounds and even paying other users to check them in. How did this group come about? Well a lot of it has to do with the country itself. Indonesia is a country of 240 million people, of which half is under the age of 29. These young adults are obsessed with the web and the startup culture that fosters innovation in the space. Not only are they die hard BlackBerry and smartphone users, but they constitute a significant portion of Facebook, Twitter and Foursquare’s traffic. Continue reading ‘Indonesian Foursquare Jumpers Show How Virtual Goods Motivate’
Whrrl is a community of people who are discovering the world around them and building focused communities that recommend and discover places together. Whrrl enables people to checkin, make a list of things they want to do locally, and join affinity groups of people with similar interests. The goal is to motivate users through game mechanics and rewards to drive real-world purchases and discovery of local businesses.
