Flash comes to Android

The Android 2.2 Operating System now has full support for Adobe's Flash player. Will this be a key manoeuvre in the Android vs iPhone battle, seeing as there are no plans for the iPhone to support Flash.

See it in action here:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-10947784

Android market share increasing

Read this nice article explaining why Android is doing better that the initial figures suggest, against Apple. Android's market share is increasing and it's taking that share from Apple.
It also brings up something I keep on forgetting; which is that iOS isn't just on the iPhone - you've got to include iPods and iPads - which take the numbers up to a hefty 18.3 million devices.

http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/android_steals_market_share_from_iphone.php

Adobe vs Apple - the next step

In the next chapter of the Adobe vs Apple saga; Adobe have teamed up with Greystripe to land their next move. Together they'll be trying to deliver Flash based ads to the iPhone!
Well is actuality Greystripe will be converting Flash ads into HTML5, which will work on the iPhone. Additionally the ads will work on Google's Android smartphones.

It will be interesting to see if this conversion, almost by hand, by Greystripe and Adobe will work and where it will take us in the Apple vs Adobe ever-continuing war.

Read more:
http://mashable.com/2010/06/07/adobe-flash-ads-iphone/

http://mediamemo.allthingsd.com/20100607/adobe-tries-creeping-back-onto-the-ipad-with-help-from-greystripe/

Become a Starbucks Barista with FourSquare

The inevitable has happened: Starbucks has teamed up with FourSquare to provide a Barista badge to those customers who check-in to 5 or more Starbucks. At the moment, this doesn't actually get you anything - but Starbucks are saying that they are deciding what to give back to FourSquare Baristas.
FourSquare will also be providing businesses with stats about their customers soon.

Read more:
http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/03/11/starbucks-fans-can-become-a-barista-on-foursquare/

Up in the Vouchercloud

The Vouchercloud app hit the app store on 8th February 2010 and has been present in the top 25 free apps from day one. With over 150,000 downloads and a daily average of 10-15000 a day. It seems it may be an iPhone app with a shelf life greater than an X-Factor contestant!

It provides discount vouchers for shops and restaurants in your local area and is the first mobile app to offer such a service. The variety of vouchers is great, as is the mix of small and large chains.
Paying for a subscription gives you access to premium vouchers and further savings but there’s more than enough money off and free cups of coffee to keep you going for a while without.

However it has one big downfall, you need to remember to check the app before you take your wallet out. Perhaps when GPS can pinpoint you down to an actual store we can start to get meaningful push notifications “Hey Fiona! thanks for coming in. Why don’t you use this voucher for a free cup of coffee?”

It’s one step closer to location based promotions but we’ve still got a while to go.

iTunes link:
http://ax.itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/browserRedirect?url=itms%253A%252F%252Fax.search.itunes.apple.com%252FWebObjects%252FMZContentLink.woa%252Fwa%252Flink%253Fpath%253Dapps%25252fvouchercloud

Disney launch iPhone app

Disney are launching an iPhone app, allowing Disneyphiles to access content wherever they are. It also features the Click2Life feature, whereby exclusive content can be accessed by taking pictures on the phone of images on posters and on the website.

http://www.reuters.com/article/internetNews/idUSTRE59R0HX20091028

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2009/10/28/business/AP-US-Disney-iPhone.html

Flash comes to mobile (properly)

The full version of Flash is coming to SmartPhones (although the iPhone isn't playing ball). The next version of Flash will be designed to work on SmartPhones as well as PCs. Advances in the software mean that is can be used with HD video and touch screens.


http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/8287239.stm

Spotify iPhone App is finally here (almost)

Spotify have released a video of their iPhone app. Apparently a few reporters have been able to see the app in action as well. It will be available to all Spotify Premium users for free.
The key to the app is the that you will be able to play songs offline, so you can use the app at home, on the train and even on the underground with no connection.

http://www.spotify.com/blog/archives/2009/07/27/spotify-for-iphone/

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/pda/2009/jul/27/spotify-digital-media


EDIT:
A more in-depth review:
http://sharemyplaylists.com/spotify-iphone-app-in-depth-review/

Flash coming to Android

Flash is coming to Android and probably before it appears on the iPhone. Flash has been sorely lacking on many mobile devices. With Android being open source, it was only matter of time before someone enabled Flash on it. Although Apple and Adobe are working together to get Flash onto the iPhone. The Palm Pre (which I'm quite excited about) will also support Flash.

http://www.moconews.net/entry/419-will-flash-come-to-android-before-the-iphone

new iPhone ad units

Ahead of version 3.0 of the iPhone and its software, AdMob have announced three new types of ad unit.
The new units will be:

• Mobile Social Networking, which lets consumers access advertisers' social content from an ad, including their Twitter feed, Facebook page, Digg, MySpace account, Flickr photos, and Linkedin.
• Search, whereby users can run searches within an advertiser's mobile site straight from an ad unit.
• Multi-Panel Banner, which delivers multiple calls to action in one rich media ad unit.
• Scrolling Canvas lets audiences access more information about a product or service without clicking away from the application they're on.

Read the full story here:
http://www.marketingvox.com/new-iphone-ad-units-focus-on-social-search-fresher-rich-media-044269/

BOO! The Sound of Twittering?

Is AudioBoo the sonic version of Twitter? In the three months since it launched it's become the popular way to say something online. Stephen Fry using it must have been a springboard for its success. But then again our very own Mr Mason has AudioBooed already, which can only have increased its popularity:
http://audioboo.fm/boos/11729-eye-of-the-tiger

Will people find vocally twittering as popular as the 140 characters? Only time will tell, but with iPhones becoming ever more popular, it's probably easier than typing in the 140 characters.

Read more:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2009/may/26/audioboo-youtube-twitter

Pandora makes money!

Pandora is finally making some money and it's all thanks to its iPhone app. It makes most of its money from affiliate schemes with Amazon and iTunes. This has been increased significantly by the addition of an iPhone app.
I'm glad to see that some of these great online music apps are being monitised finally, as they've provided me with great music over the years and I hope that other apps / sites can follow suit.

Read more:
http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/05/07/the-iphone-is-accelerating-music-sales-for-pandora/

NB Unluckily Pandora is only available in the US due to licensing issues.

Star Trek ads on your iPhone

An exclusive Star Trek ad has been launched for the iPhone, by MEC Interaction in association with VideoEgg.
As more and more people get on the mobile web I think that mobile ads will become more important in digital marketing. So keep your eyes open for similar things.

http://www.netimperative.com/netimperative/news/2009/april/star-trek-campaign-beams-up-on-iphone

iPhone OS 3.0

The big update for the iPhone OS. Looks like they are adding loads and making it more powerful.

http://digitaldaily.allthingsd.com/20090317/live-blog-iphone-os-30/

Ooooh copy & paste, which has been sorely missing from the iPhone.

http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/09/03/16/late_rumor_has_iphone_3_0_getting_copy_and_paste_multitasking.html