Mazda Launching Mazda2 with Facebook Game
July 30, 2010 by Laura
Filed under Video Games
Beginning July 28th Mazda North American Operations (MNAO) will launch the 2011 Mazda2 in North America with a branded social game on Facebook. Called DriverVille, the game showcases the Mazda2, positioned as Zoom-Zoom Concentrated: compact and efficient, yet packed with style and substance. Built around the Zoom-Zoom Concentrated theme, DriverVille puts consumers in a virtual world to learn about and compete with the eco-friendly, fun-to-drive, five-door hatchback.
At the heart of this campaign is a big idea: to follow “Your Inner Driver” to the all-new Mazda2. “The Inner Driver is part of everyone that loves to drive, and Your Inner Driver wants a car with unique styling and the driving dynamics that only a Mazda2 can deliver in this segment,” said Rob Strasberg, co-CEO and chief creative officer of Doner. “The launch of this car is all about creating high-engagement content that allows our target to take ownership of their Inner Driver thru the MAZDA2 and then share those deep experiences with their social networks and their world at-large.”
“Since young drivers already live on Facebook, the logical place to start was to develop a virtual world called DriverVille. There, they can experience the Mazda2 through play, express themselves by pitting their unique Inner Drivers against others’ in all manner of entertaining ways, and then share the stories they’ve built,” said Justin Smith, executive VP-executive creative director-interactive of Doner. “Our brand socializing system radiates outward from DriverVille by distributing content through other social networks, live events, music, cinema, and content integration on leading video and passion point-oriented properties in gaming, music and fashion.”
DriverVille incorporates the best of classic “ville-style” Facebook games where all game activities can be shared with friends via the social network’s newsfeed. Players can customize their Your Inner Driver avatar to fit his or her driving personality and then play to win Driver Bucks virtual currency to buy virtual items as well as win weekly sweepstakes prizes. Among the challenges are mini-games like a race at Mazda Raceway and quests like acquiring snow tires, a snowboard and accessory roof rack in order to go snowboarding.
To access the game visit http://facebook.com/mazda (US) or http://facebook.com/mazdacanada (Canada) and click on the DriverVille tab.
Interview with Hanelle Culpepper - Director of Within (W/Audio)
July 30, 2010 by Doug
Filed under Interviews, Movies, News/Events, Reviews/Demos
You can venture into the realms of the unseen by tuning in this Saturday evening, July 31st, at 9 PM EDT/PDT to watch “Within“ on the Liftime Network. A thriller like “Within” is not the type of film that Lifetime fans are used to seeing, but take a view of the trailer and you can see Lifetime is getting more edgy.
Within is a supernatural thriller set in an otherwise unsuspecting town, the story of Rachel, a young girl who realizes she can see evil spirits. Rachel becomes witness to the disturbing death of her mother and though she and her father retreat to small town USA for a fresh start, she is not able to escape the visions of that dreadful day.
In her new town, Rachel befriends classmate Michelle Lowe. When Michelle’s penchant for schoolyard pranks turns from goodnatured fun to potentially deadly, Rachel suspects that her friend may be less than friendly. Rachel’s visions could be the key to stopping a series of violent attacks against the town’s children and unlocking the puzzle behind a decade-old disappearance.
Hanelle Culpepper on the Set of Within
Within’s director Hanelle M. Culpepper is an award-winning writer/director based in Los Angeles. She is a graduate of Lake Forest College in suburban Chicago and earned a Master’s Degree at USC’s Annenberg School for Communication She began her film career in 1997 when her first script earned her entry into Bill and Camille Cosby’s prestigious screenwriting program for African-American writers.
Her directorial debut was The Wedding Dress, a romantic comedy short about a carefree bachelor who finds a wedding dress in his girlfriend’s closet. It premiered at the 2002 Pan American Film Festival and has won awards at multiple festivals. She directed the short film “Six and the City” in 2003 and the documentary “How to Stand In Line for Star Wars” in 2005. She has also directed episodic television with a one-hour episode of Discovery Channel’s scripted crime anthology series Guilty or Innocent in 2005.
ToT chatted with Ms. Culpepper about Within, making the film, what went on behind the scenes, why it is showing on Lifetime, her feelings about horror movies, her feelings about being a director, working as an African America in the Hollywood system, and why it was really okay to work with kids. Oh yes, you can find out if she is Mac or PC, Final Cut or Avid.
Click play to hear Hanelle Culpepper speaks with us about “Within” and next her next horror movie which will be in 3D.
Run Time 16:07
Download MP3
Within stars: Mia Ford, Sammi Hanratty, Lori Heuring, Sam Jaeger, Brent Sexton and Stacey Haiduk. “Within” debuts on Lifetime on Saturday, July 31 at 9 PM.
Call of Duty: Black Ops Coming to Nintendo DS
July 30, 2010 by Laura
Filed under Nintendo DS, Video Games
Activision revealed new details today about Call of Duty: Black Ops’ release on November 9th with the confirmation of an all-new companion game for the Nintendo DS family of hand-held systems, developed exclusively for the platform by n-Space. Call of Duty: Black Ops for the Nintendo DS will put gamers in the boots of CIA-backed operatives that are dropped into the shadowy world of deniable operations with an expansive arsenal of weapons at their disposal.
“Call of Duty: Black Ops for the Nintendo DS is going to take the handheld Call of Duty experience to a new level,” said Dan O’Leary, n-Space Studio Head. “From taking the controls of an attack helicopter to flying an experimental stealth fighter jet, players will have a wealth of new features to utilize.”
Call of Duty: Black Ops for the Nintendo DS will feature six-player online multiplayer mode with a new Perks System, as well as a unique two-player Co-Op mode and Arcade and Challenge Modes that allow gamers to replay the single-player missions to earn extra points to unlock additional achievements.
Call of Duty: Black Ops for Nintendo DS is rated “T for Teen” by the ESRB. For more information, visit www.callofduty.com/blackops and also via Twitter @JD_2020.
Cisco Wants to Help You Be a Better Host
July 30, 2010 by Laura
Filed under Hardware, Networking
If you are hosting family and guests this summer, information from Opinion Research from a consumer survey conducted for Cisco’s Consumer Products group might interest you. The survey data indicated that:
- 59 percent of adults plan to use a computer or Wi-Fi device while visiting family and friends this summer, and 37 percent said they will tap into their host’s wireless network to access the Internet.
- 73 percent of young adults ages 18-34 say they plan to use a computer or Wi-Fi device while traveling, and nearly one-half (47 percent) plan to access the Internet through their host’s home network.
As the summer travel season kicks into high gear, more families going on vacation plan to use a wireless Internet connection on a computer or Wi-Fi-enabled device, such as a smart phone or video game player.
Cisco’s Valet wireless router is designed to make it easy for everyday consumers to set up, use and manage their home wireless. For guests, a home equipped with Valet means an end to the frustration of trying to connect to someone else’s wireless network. For hosts, the simple controls of Valet let them set up a separate wireless connection for their visitors without the hassles of lengthy passwords or security protocols. The guests are free to use their laptops or mobile devices around the house while the host’s home network remains highly secure and private.
The summer travel survey was conducted by Opinion Research in June 2010, with 1,000 adult respondents, 48 percent male and 52 percent female, representing all regions of the U.S. Overall, the results showed:
- 88 percent of those surveyed plan to visit friends or family this summer.
- 71 percent of respondents said they plan to bring a laptop or Wi-Fi device when traveling.
Kindle for iPhone and iPad Adds Word Lookup and New Search Options
July 30, 2010 by Doug
Filed under Cell Phones, Gadgets, iPad
Amazon shipped an update to its Kindle app for the iPhone and iPad. Version 2.2 adds a variety of new features, such as instant word lookup that quickly finds definitions for highlighted words. The included dictionary provides over 250,000 entries and definitions, however users can also choose to look up content on Google or Wikipedia.
Plus users now can search inside the book on iPad. Devices running iOS 4 can also take advantage of multitasking capabilities to quickly move between different apps.
Kindle 2.2 is now available as a free download from the App Store
TripAdvisor Teams up With Nokia
July 30, 2010 by Doug
Filed under Cell Phones
TripAdvisor has announced a new partnership with Nokia which will include an Ovi app for Nokia’s Ovi Store, and integration of the TripAdvisor service into Nokia’s Ovi Maps.
The TripAdvisor for Nokia app allows travellers to search for popular hotels, restaurants and attractions in their vicinity, as well as find the cheapest airfares available. The app is available in 12 different languages, giving travellers around the globe a localised TripAdvisor experience.
With the tap of a finger, Nokia users can now find and filter hotels and attractions by rating, distance and price. Travellers can also post reviews while they’re on the road and their experiences are still fresh.
“Our collaboration with Nokia further strengthens our commitment to providing trusted and valuable travel advice at home or on the go,” said Steve Kaufer, TripAdvisor founder and CEO. “We are thrilled to launch TripAdvisor for Nokia, which gives even more travellers a new way to access the more than 35 million traveller reviews and opinions available on TripAdvisor.”
As part of the agreement, a dedicated TripAdvisor service will also be integrated into the popular Ovi Maps environment.
“The ability to find the best places around you is a key advantage of connected mobile services. The Trip Advisor integration means Nokia users get immediate access to the latest user reviews of the restaurants, hotels, and attractions in their immediate area, or anywhere else in the world they may want to discover while on the go. Global free drive & walk navigation on Ovi Maps means that once you find that great place, you are sure to get there hassle-free using Ovi,” said Robert Rogers, Senior Manager, Ovi Publish.
The TripAdvisor for Nokia app is available for free to all Nokia Symbian touchscreen smartphone users globally today on the Ovi store. Trip Advisor for Ovi Maps launches today in select markets, with full global roll-out scheduled within a month.
Ford and TechShop Team Up in Detroit, So Anyone Can Make the Next Jump In Auto Tech
Ford, the only US auto maker that did not need a government bail out, is working with TechShop to have an open workshop in the Detroit area so anyone, from backyard tinkerers to software engineers, can come in and experience the next must-have in auto technolgy.
Only 3 months ago, Ford and TechShop met for the first time at the largest DIY event of its kind, 2010 Maker Faire in San Mateo, Calif. Ford was invited to the event to show off its “American Journey 2.0” open- innovation vehicle app project with University of Michigan students.
A Place to Invent
TechShop is a membership based open access concept started in 2006, which offers affordable access to space, tools, and machinery. Right now TechShop has locations in California and North Carolina, with more than 800 total members.
“Ford has taken a leadership role in tapping ideas from outside the automotive space, including with academia, consumer electronics and information technology companies, to help create powerful first-to-market technologies such as Ford SYNC. Why not extend those opportunities to individual inventors and the maker community as well; asking them to embrace the vehicle as a possible platform for their ideas,” said K. Venkatesh Prasad, group and senior technical leader, Ford Infotronics Research and Advanced Engineering.
Ford technical leaders will share the company’s vision on individual inventive contributions and how Detroit-area entrepreneurs can play a part during the Detroit Maker Faire held at The Henry Ford in Dearborn this weekend.
Ford is the first automaker to collaborate with TechShop, said Mark Hatch, TechShop CEO. “We are thrilled that Ford wants to work with TechShop to create a game-changing innovative workspace in Detroit, a market area full of a talented community of makers, hobbyists, backyard mechanics and general tinkerers that we have been trying to enter for more than a year.”
Open Innovation and a Conversation with Customers
The Ford and TechShop collaboration is just another example of Ford’s adoption of an open innovation model to reach out to likely and unlikely groups and people as partners.
In recent years, Ford’s outreach to automotive outsiders for ideas has included a who’s who list of academia, suppliers, consumer electronics and information technology companies. That list also includes more unlikely suspects, such as consumers and software developers.
Last spring, for example, Ford actively engaged consumers to submit, share and suggest ideas and technologies on the “Your Ideas” section of the Ford brand interactive consumer Web site, www.thefordstory.com. The pilot session generated some 3,600 submissions, giving consumers the ability to participate in a community-based setting where they could review and rate posted ideas and track what people thought about their own suggestions.
And, more recently, Ford announced the creation of a virtual community to engage software developers to innovate around SYNC. Interested developers can visit the SYNCmyride Web site and click to submit their innovative ideas, and sign up for the latest information and news about the upcoming SYNC application programming interface (API) and software development kit (SDK). Through July, nearly 800 app developers have signed up.
In theory, the collaboration with TechShop is an easy extension of the individual engagement fostered by open-source initiatives such as “Your Ideas” and the new SYNC developer network.
Ford also hopes that the TechShop will inspire its own Detroit-area engineers, designers and scientists to innovate on their own time. “Inventors don’t have access to the same type of equipment or tools during off-hours as they do during work hours,” said Hatch. “We want to offer them an affordable place to go that has the necessary equipment and resources to make their inventive ideas a reality.”
ParkVu Updates Music WithMe BlackBerry App
July 29, 2010 by Doug
Filed under Cell Phones
ParkVu today announced new features and significant user experience enhancements for the Music WithMe BlackBerry app. Simplifying music listening for a new generation of music lovers who want all their music on their smartphone, anytime, anywhere, Music WithMe wirelessly syncs users’ iTunes playlists with their BlackBerry, via a cellular or Wi-Fi connection. No longer tethered to cables or a secondary music playing device, Music WithMe provides an easy way for smartphone owners to have their favorite music with them on the go.
“The user response we’ve received since launch has been phenomenal. BlackBerry owners love that they can get all their iTunes music on their smartphone wirelessly — and they can use their BlackBerry media player for playback,” said Jeff Fedor, co-CEO of ParkVu. “With the user in mind we have introduced new features to Music WithMe including an enhanced sync experience, making it even easier for BlackBerry owners to leave their digital music player at home and use their smartphone as their primary music listening device.”
Using a cellular network or Wi-Fi connection, Music WithMe automatically and wirelessly downloads music files from users’ iTunes collection to their BlackBerry smartphone. Now with the latest version, BlackBerry owners can track the status of their downloads. For each playlist, for example, users can see how many tracks have been uploaded to the cloud and how many have yet to be uploaded from iTunes. In addition, Music WithMe now has the ability to sync music libraries that are stored in network attached storage locations.
Music WithMe allows for remote wireless syncing and, unlike streaming solutions, once music is downloaded, no wireless connection is required meaning no more data is used — saving money and battery power and providing a dependable music listening experience regardless of cellular reception. Tracks are downloaded directly to the BlackBerry memory card and are played as usual.
From within the app, users select which iTunes playlists they want stored on their BlackBerry smartphone. Music WithMe then works with iTunes on the PC to ensure that any changes made to the playlists are automatically reflected on their BlackBerry smartphone.
Music WithMe does not have to be open on the device to sync with iTunes. When the desired playlists are selected, the settings are stored directly on the BlackBerry smartphone. Using BlackBerry smartphone’s native media player, users can listen to their favorite songs from iTunes directly on their device.
Music WithMe New Features
- Playlist status display — Number of playable tracks, not supported tracks (video or DRM protected), tracks in the cloud, tracks needed from iTunes, tracks that cannot be found
- Support for music libraries that are stored in network attached storage locations
- Support for playlists with duplicate names — user added “audiobooks” or “recently added” playlist
- Playlist selection preserved across devices and if app is reinstalled
- Support for iTunes playlist folders
Availability
Music WithMe is available at BlackBerry App World for a one-time fee of $14.99 after a free 30-day trial.
Tiffen Announces Update for Photo fx Ultra for iPad
Tiffen has announced an update to the popular Photo fx Ultra, a photo enhancement software application for the Apple iPad. The Photo fx Ultra v2 is available at the Apple iTunes store for $5.99 and free update to current Photo fx Ultra users.
What’s New
The added Paint filter to the Image group with the following brushes: Color, Clone, Blur, Black and White, Mosaic, Red Eye, Repair, Scatter and Eraser. New Photographic Group offers opacity control added to the Mask brush settings and crop and rotation enhancement. Now users can rotate by 1/10 of a degree. Photo fx Ultra v2 also has corrected Tint feature.
Photo fx Ultra v2 provides an user interface that takes full advantage of the increased screen size and higher resolution available of the iPad. Features include a new Color Correct filter, more presets, a search capability for all filters and effects and file compatibility with Tiffen’s Dfx Digital Filter still image editions that run as a standalone application or plug-in for Adobe Photoshop or Apple Aperture, allowing the transfer of filter settings.
Other Features
Levels filter, Sharpen, Auto - Eye Light, Color Compensating, Color Conversion, Light Balancing and Photographic filters, Opacity control for Masking brush settings, Crop and Rotation Enhancements including Crop to standard print sizes such as: 4×6, 5×7, 8×8, 8×10, 8×12, 11×14, 12×12, 12×18, 16×19, 16×20, 16×24 and 20×30, Rotation control by 1/10 of a degree and user defined rotation angle.
T-Mobile Wins JD Power Customer Support for Cell Firms Again
July 29, 2010 by Doug
Filed under Cell Phones
T-Mobile again has the top spot in the quality of its help for customers, JD Power found today. The company had the highest score for its service at 777 points and was the only one of the top four carriers to get a five-star mark from subscribers. It thrived primarily on the level of over-the-phone support.
AT&T scored only slightly lower, at 757, but was rated just three stars by its users. Scores for Verizon and Sprint weren’t immediately available, but Verizon’s network reputation wasn’t enough to avoid a lower score and a three-star rating, while Sprint’s gained only a two-star rating.
A customer loyal enough to refuse to switch typically scores 827 points, but someone determined to change carriers often rates the current carrier’s support at 602.