Can branded mobile apps make a comeback?

Remember Kraft's iFood Assistant? The meal planning/shopping assistant application was one of the first breakout hits in Apple's ( NASDAQ:AAPL ) App Store--launched in November 2008, iFood Assistant eschewed the free download approach common among consumer-branded apps, instead carrying a 99-cent price tag along with a wealth of recipes, how-to videos, coupons and related culinary-themed content. Consumers ate it up, and for a time, iFood Assistant even topped the App Store's Paid Apps list. But as a new Deloitte study points out, comparable success stories are few and far between: The Volkswagen Touareg Challenge and Audi A4 Driving Challenge racing games were hits in their time, but on the whole, only a small handful of mobile apps published by major consumer and healthcare brands have eclipsed the 1 million download milestone. Most fail badly: Eighty percent of branded apps under the Deloitte microscope failed to reach even 1,000 total downloads.

Writer’s Block: How to Break Through - Jerry Weissman - Presentations in Action - Forbes

Writer’s block is the proverbial stuff of legend and literature. The latest variation on the theme is Limitless, the Hollywood film starring Bradley Cooper and Robert De Niro. In it, Mr. Cooper plays a down-and-out writer who beats his severe case of writer’s block with a new drug that not only jump starts his creative output, but gives him many other advanced mental capabilities. Of course, the story is fictional—A.O. Scott’s review of the film in the New York Times called it, “an energetic, enjoyably preposterous compound… a paranoid thriller blended with pseudo-neuro-science fiction and catalyzed by a jolting dose of satire”—but the situation is very real: writers do run dry.

The "Secret" PATRIOT Act

During the U.S. Senate debate over the  PATRIOT Act renewal on May 24, Senator Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) told his fellow Senators: "There is secret law where, in effect, the interpretation of the law, as it stands today, is kept secret. So here we are, Senators on the floor, and we have colleagues of both political parties wanting to participate. Certainly, if you are an American, you are in Oregon or Colorado, you are listening in, you want to be part of this discussion. But yet the executive branch keeps secret how they are interpreting the law."

Tech zigzagging: on movies via Android Market, Netflix streaming and the trend away from unlimited data plans

Posted by Levi Sumagaysay on July 13th, 2011 at 10:37 am | Categorized as Uncategorized | Tagged as android , Apple , AT&T , data caps , EA , Electronic Arts , Facebook , FaceTime , gaming , Google , mobile , movies , Netflix , smartphones , streaming video , Verizon , video , video chat , wireless

As the trend away from all-you-can-eat Internet data continues, companies are rolling out or updating services that demand more and more bandwidth. GMSV first explored this issue last year (see Tech advances zig while access zags ), but now it is compounded by the fact that Verizon last week joined AT&T in moving further away from unlimited access. With the nation’s two largest wireless carriers now offering only tiered data plans to new subscribers, some, such as the Mercury News’ Troy Wolverton , worry about how this trend will affect innovation.

Jerry Chautin: Boost Your Sales and Enhance Your Brand With Little-Known QR Codes

Quick response codes have the potential to boost your sales, enhance your brand and turn your plain vanilla print advertisement into an interactive, multi-media marketing machine. "QR, which stands for quick response, is a free format that businesses can use to embed their contact information, website addresses, links to videos, and all kinds of info.," says Craig Aberle, a Sarasota resident and founder of Barcode.com. "I have one on the back of my business card."

Buster Keaton highlights new crop of July DVDs

While summer movies may be clogging the multiplexes, there are lots of new releases on the home video front as well. Here is an overview of some of the highlights coming to DVD and Blu-ray this month.

This remake of the 1981 comedy starring Dudley Moore and Liza Minnelli about a childlike heir who must learn responsibility or lose his inheritance is a mixed bag of laughs. It's worth watching, however, for the comic chemistry between Russell Brand and Helen Mirren, who plays Arthur's faithful nanny. It loses its way a bit when it tries to go for more dramatic territory near the end, but Brand and Mirren are a delight nonetheless. On DVD and Blu-ray Friday.

video.de | News | "Ohne Limit" ab September

Supersmart dank Superpille "Ohne Limit" ab September

Am 8. September kommt der US-Thriller "Ohne Limit" mit "Hangover"-Star Bradley Cooper und Robert De Niro auf DVD, Blu-ray sowie als Download in den Handel.

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