high tech roadshow

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GBM’s iOS and Android Apps Of The Week

haytham ahmed // Adam Mills, Android, Google Talk, high tech cell phones, InternetRadio, iOS, IPhone, Meebo, Mobile Phones, TuneIn Radio 0

Every week the staff of GBM uses dozens of apps, some we can’t live without and some we can’t uninstall fast enough.

These are the apps we’ve been using or discovered recently that stood out in the crowd. They range from the practical to the time-wasting (in a good way).

Lumin — $1.99 [iOS]

Turn your iPhone into a magnifying glass.

Lumin

Lumin helps you view print in dark places or hard to see locations. When I want to upgrade the firmware on my HDTV, I can never remember the model number. iPhone does a great job of getting behind the thing on the wall. I can then use my iPhone camera and take a photo of the label. It’s also good for fine print in documents. With Lumin the image is magnified 2X and you don’t have to snap a photo unless you want to. It uses the LED flash for better viewing.

Kevin Purcell

Meebo — Free [iOS, Android]

If you like to chat on your phone, Meebo is the app that you want.

Meebo

Meebo brings a bunch of chat services into one platform. Once you fire it up, you can use AIM, Google Talk, Facebook, and more, to talk to your co-workers, friends and family members while on-the-go. I’ve been using it for quite some time now and I’ve found it to be the most reliable among its kind. Switching from 3G to Wi-Fi is seamless and the push notifications, when I have them turned on, work like a dream.

Adam Mills

TileStorm HD — $1.99/$3.99 [iOS, Android]

This puzzle game will keep you occupied for hours.

TileStormHD

TileStorm HD is a fun puzzle based game that tasks you with sendng your wheeled robot companion from one end of a spaceport to another. At $4 on Android it is a bit pricey for some, but well worth it thanks to 100 puzzles.

I’m usually tire of puzzle games unless they are well thought out. So far, I am still having fun moving my tiles around to get my robot around outer space, an industrial complex, medieval times and the jungle.

Josh Smith

TuneIn Radio — Free [Android]

This Internet radio app just got better with Car Mode and voice commands.

TuneIn Radio

I’ve been looking for the perfect radio listening app for a long time since I’m an NPR junkie and recently came across TuneIn Radio. It’s not focused on public radio stations specifically, instead offering up a single app for streaming multiple radio stations of all types.

Find stations from across the country based on type or genre or just search the call letters you want. There’s both a sleep timer and an alarm function so you can wake up to any station.

A recent update brought with it Car Mode, which has bigger, chunkier buttons and a voice search component that makes it easier to control.

K. T. Bradford

keep up with the newest technologies and contemplate about how these will be used in the future. On this blog I'll share my thoughts about the future of technology, based on the high Tech Road Show Blog inventions of today.

Google Testing New Location-Based Marketing Platform in Portland

haytham ahmed // Bernardo Hernandez, Facebook, Google location, Google Maps, Google Talk, high tech cell phones, HotPot, LinkedIn, location, Marketing, Mobile Phones, National Football Conference, NFC, Portland Oregon, taending, Yelp

Google is rolling out a new advertising and marketing platform for local businesses, and this time, it’s all starting in Portland.

You may recall that earlier this month, Google launched a social, Yelp-like service for consumers. Dubbed Hotpot, the service was based on data from Google Places, but it brought an entirely new, user-friendly interface and recommendation engine.

At the time, we noted that Google had beat Facebook to the punch in launching location-based recommendations; we wondered which company would be most aggressive on places-based marketing.

While Google has already dipped its toes into location ads within Google Maps and Search (and with special programs like Boost, its Hotpot marketing scheme is something entirely new.

Here’s the original Hotpot interface.

Just like Yelp does, Google will be sending businesses window decals and kits. According to Bernardo Hernandez, Google’s director of emerging marketing, “These kits are a multi-flavored sampler of marketing materials that can help businesses get even more exposure, get them rated and reviewed online and get more customers through their door.” The samplers will include basic cards and stickers as well as “high-tech, Google-ized goodies.”

Portland business owners can request a kit if they’ve linked their business to a Places page.

The most important part of the kit, according to Google, is the "Recommended on Google" window sticker pictured above. The sticker has Near Field Communications (NFC) technology built in, so many smartphone users will be able to touch their phones to the sticker and instantly receive more information about the business.

“Suddenly stickers are cool again!” writes Hernandez.

While we’re of the opinion that stickers are and will be perennially cool, we do think the NFC tech twist is a neat trick. In addition to the stickers, Google is also testing out some community events and competitions around Hotpot.

We look forward to seeing the results of Hotpot marketing — and eventually, we’d like to see numbers on Hotpot, itself. Do you and your friends and neighbors use Hotpot yet?

More About: Google, hotpot, location, MARKETING, trending

Skype and Facebook to Announce Partnership [RUMOR]

haytham ahmed // All Things Digital, Facebook, Facebook Connect, GameCrush, Gmail, Google, Google Talk, high tech cell phones, IPhone, Mobile Phones, Scott Banister, Skype, Skype 5.0, SMS, Twitter, Xbox 360

Facebook and Skype are working on a deal that would integrate Facebook Connect with Skype accounts, AllThingsD has learned citing sources familiar with the situation.

ATD has managed to get a hold of a screenshot showing the new features in action: once you connect Skype with Facebook, you’d be able to SMS, chat with or call your Facebook friends directly from Skype. You should also be able to login into Skype with your Facebook credentials.

The new features should go live in Skype 5.0 when the new version goes out of beta in a couple of weeks.

It’s a logical step for both companies. Facebook’s chat capabilities are somewhat limited compared to Google Talk, which is deeply integrated with Gmail, and offers voice and video chat capabilities. Enabling new ways to communicate with your Facebook friends is definitely one of Facebook’s goals. Skype, on the other hand, will be very happy to extend its user base with Facebook’s 500+ million users.

If the rumor turns out to be true, it would be interesting to see whether Facebook will also integrate Skype features into its web interface, or perhaps its mobile application.

Dating Site Where Gamers Pay to Play with Girls Opens for Business

Users of GameCrush have four basic options for making connections with PlayDates. The Arcade is for casual gaming, The Arena is for serious gaming, The Academy is for learning “tips and tricks” from PlayDates and The Edge is this service’s version of a red-light district.

There is a catch, of course. PlayDates don’t crush their controllers for free; it costs $0.60 per minute to have a pretty girl sniping with (or at) you.

The result is a growing list of paying users and PlayDates earning $20+ per hour playing video games with curious or lonesome guys. And before you ask, yes, you’ll find girls that are willing to do more than just play games if you ask nicely. Part of the reason for this is the service’s points system; Players are expected to tip points to PlayDates, who can then trade them to get real cash. Simply put, there’s a big incentive for PlayDates to “do more” to earn more points.

As part of today’s launch, GameCrush has added support for a wide variety of online and console games, as well as advanced social features and profile tools. The company has raised $700,000 in angel funding from the likes of Anthem Venture Partners, Zivity founders Cyan and Scott Banister and angel investor Paige Craig.