Are you into gaming or mobile or social gaming or earning rewards or all of the above? If so you’re in luck as playd iPhone and Android apps are now available for you to download on both the iPhone app store and Android Market place. Playd allows you to you rate, share, and discuss the games you love with your friends!

In an email sent last night Playd founders say:

I’m proud to announce that Playd is finally born! We spent the entire summer building and collecting feedback from you guys and now you can see it in action. As gamers our work is never done. We are forever working on new features and partnerships to offer you guys the best experience.

Playd app features include verified check-ins, real-time game channels with your friends and tokens. With tokens you can earn you free swag, discounts, DLC, and more! Here are a few Playd screnshots.

For more about Playd visit: http://playd.it or follow @getplayd on Twitter.

Disclaimer: Anthony Frasier, @AntyonyFraiser, cofounder Playd was one of the startups that participated in the NewME Accelerator. BlackWeb 2.0 and NewME Accelerator are owned and operated by Black Web Media.

Also read: Anthony Frasier and Tiffani Ashley Bell are the new face of Black Startups

Have you downloaded and “played” Playd? If so let us know what you think about the app in the comments below.

With the growing interest in QR Codes being used in the USA (already mainstream and popular overseas) Apple and Google/Android OS could disrupt the QR Code Reader App business and make QR Codes main stream by just adding the “Scan QR Code” option the native camera app. That’s it, that’s all. From there every iPhone or Android powered device would have a built in QR Code Scanner app by default. It’s something that a few apps are already doing with their camera option. I think both AT&T and best buy iPhone apps have this feature as well. The new version of TriOut has the “Scan QR Code” option as you can see in the screenshot below. Apple could add this option easily.

Now, will Apple or Google add or include a default QR Code reader app/feature? Only time will tell but I would think Google would add it first being how a lot of Android apps use QR Codes for quick installation.

Just a thought.

New in version Instagram version 1.7 are the following:
- Grid View for Profile Pages
- Optional Bio Field in Profiles
- Manage which push notifications you receive (on Edit Profile screen)
- Choose Profile Picture from Facebook & Twitter
- Stability Improvements for iOS 4.1
- Bug Fixes & Speed Improvements for Older Phones

Why is Instagram the new Twitter? For a few reasons. Instagram started as only supporting one mobile platform, the iPhone but via their newly announced API have allowed developers to create a desktop app and other mobile mashups such as Pic A Fight, the same way Twitter started. Also Instagram has connected me in a new visual way with new friends and old ones. Now I can not only have a conversation but see what my friends are seeing and have conversations about what they experiencing. If you’re looking for the whole follower numbers race, #hashtag support and with version 1.7 profile pages, Instagram is more like Twitter but all within a mobile app. The saying on instagram is not follow me but “hey, check out my photos!”.

Maybe I’m thinking to closed minded comparing Instagram to twitter but the similarities are there. I read recently that the instagram team didn’t look at the app as a photo sharing app but as a media application or something like that. Looking at the big picture I can understand what they’re aming for. Not Twitter or even Facebook but something better based off of experiences of mobile content from their users. I believe Path has the same goal as well. When you think about it, photos is what help Facebook reach 500 million accounts. Good luck to both Path and Instagram.

More post on Instagram
How brands can use Instagram and other mobile photo sharing applications today for customer engagement
The 7 most popular photos on Instagram, there’s more than lol cats!
Instagram now supports hashtags and launches Brisk Pics SXSW contest
On Thanksgiving Instagram is all about the Turkeys! 9 Thanksgiving Day Turkey photos on Instagram
Will Instagram become the next big mobile social network or just one awesome photo sharing app?

What is your favorite mobile photo or video sharing application and why?

by All Area Codes

What kind of iPhone user are you?

To sign up to be notified about the iPhone 4 on Verizon go here: http://www.verizonwireless.com/b2c/splash/iphone.jsp

For more on the Verizon iPhone 1.11.11 media event read:
Live From The Verizon iPhone Announcement via Mobile Crunch
Live from Verizon’s iPhone event via Engadget
Hello Verizon iPhone goodbye AT&T via gizmodo
Live Blog: Verizon Event via Mac Life

Are you going to purchase the iPhone 4 on Verizon?

Come Tuesday, January 11, 11:00 A.M., also known as 1.11.11. Verizon is to make an announcement in New York. Verizon has sent out the following non transferable announcement to selected technology bloggers and media outlets.

Also note during the Verizon wireless CES keynote there were no mentions of Verizon starting to sell the iPhone.

Now that the stars have aligned with the reports/rumors of the $50.00 AT&T iPhone 3Gs pricing, Apple blocking employees vacation days and the mandatory Verizon face-to face training Jan 25 to Feb 4, the Verizon iPhone is about to become a reality. So it seems.

The rumors are pointing to the Verizon iPhone media event on January 11 with the iPhone going on sell at Verizon starting February 3, 2011. Will it happen? Only time well tell. If not, expect the sky to fall, riots at Verizon stores, stocks to crumble and all heck to break lose on the blogosphere…. maybe.

For an added bonus, BGR is also guessing a big super bowl Verizon iPhone commercial push being the iPhone release date (February 3) is the same week.

Are you going to buy an iPhone on Verizon?

The infographic below by Website Monitoring Blog gives you a history along with facts and figures about Apple’s much beloved iPhone.

via: iPhone Facts and Figures (history & specs) | Website Monitoring Blog.

A simple photo mobile social networking application The social networking aspects of Instagram are simple and familiar if you’re a Twitter user. While looking at users profile you can see an Instagram username, their first name, how many photos they have uploaded, how many followers they have and how many people they are following. As an Instagram user you have four options to interact with other users. You can follow them, like a photo, leave a comment on a photo or flag a photo for review. Instagram embraced their inner Twitter by not only how user profiles are shown with the following and followers but if you leave a comment with @username on any photo you will receive push notification as well. Other Instagram push notifications are sent to your phone when someone likes your photo or follows you. Another social feature of the app is the “Popular” photos section which you could almost compared to the suggested users list or trending topics on Twitter. No, I’m not saying Instagram is a photo version of Twitter and please do not call it that, but the similarities are there. Two other social parts that I believe is a key to Instagram’s early success is the “Find More Friends” options where you can easily find other Instagram users via your contact list, Facebook friends or Twitter friends. There is even a news stream to keep you update on your Instagram likes, and new followers.

Instagram is not complex to use even with all of the features mentioned above. The founder of Instagram, Stanford University graduate, Kevin Systrom, a former intern at Odeo that later become Twitter and a former Google employee along with Mike Krieger who is a former Microsoft intern and Meebo employee before joining the Instagram team doing design & development built the app to allow users share photos and interact with others in seconds. The simplicity and usability of Instagram is smart and you can tell they followed the K.I.S.S. (Google it) rules. Along with the thought of enhancing your photos, the Instagram team has built a fun app with a growing interactive community with “likes” and comments.

Cats and Early Adopters
Speaking of community, the type of photos Instagram users are posting ranges from food, models, babies, sporting events, music concerts, holiday scenery, nature, pretty faces and animals. When it comes to animals, you may see a few dogs but as of right now cats rule Instagram. Along with cats you may find some of your favorite web “tech” personalities such as Chris Messina, Robert Scoble, Jenn Van Grove, Chris Rauschnot, Kevin Rose, Tristan Walker, Angela Benton, Dave Delaney, Tessa and John Gruber sharing their photos. A few of my North Carolina friends such as Abbyladybug, TyDowning, Jay Dolan, Mollybuckly, John Lane and GirlonCamera have started to use Instagram too making my experience even better by sharing photos from families places. Regardless of who is using Instagram make one thing clear, as of right now it is not another look at me app or see how many followers you have but Instagram is about sharing your experience via awesome photos. Still if the app continues to grow I’m sure the how to get more followers question will become an issue and a problem for early adopters who right now just love to post photos.

One Million users?
Last week it was rumored that Instagram has already passed the one million user mark which is truly impressive for the nine month old startup. If you are new to Instagram or never heard of it and asking yourself how do they have over one million users, it looks like Instagram is popular overseas. Having one million users is a marvellous achievement for any startup but to gain one million users in nine months, with 500k in funding, little press, an iPhone only app and no social networking website is amazing. Yesterday one Instagram user posted a screenshot saying the National Geographic has joined Instagram which cold be the beginning of leading social brands starting to use the service.

What’s Next for Instagram?
As for what’s next for Instagram, maybe an updated website, longer profile history, an Android version, search options, more notifications options to know if your photo is on the popular page, follow photos, like notifications tracking,leaderboards, profile badges and no startup would be complete without stickers and widgets. Regardless as Gina Bianchini stated in The Seven Principles You Need to Know to Build a Great Social Product TechCrunch post, “Create a party, not a museum.” As of today, Instagram is a party for sure.

Do you use Instagram? If not what mobile photo sharing application do you use?

Instagram

Looking for a fast QR Code Reader / Scanner? Try my new iPhone app: CLICK HERE

Photo via: QR Anywhere

It seems that major brands are jumping on the QR Code bandwagon. Earlier this year it was Calvin Klein, now FOX Network has announced that viewers can gain instant access to content for FOX shows via FOX CODES (custom QR codes for Fox). Just last week I saw Gap use QR code in stores for user generated apparel recommendations. Both Best Buy and AT&T have released mobile apps with QR code readers too. Soon you’ll see QR Codes at Best Buy locations like the one above as well.  The question I have about the FOX Network QR code/ Fox Code what if you don’t have a DVR then you’re going to have to be quick with your favorite QR reader or just keep watching FOX for the next QR code to flash on screen if you want to scan it. That’s probably what FOX is going for but note, QR codes stand for Quick Response not quick rush to show a code. For example look for the QR code at the end of the video below. It shows for 1 second.

Video via @gavins

Regardless here are 10 iPhone QR Code Reader Applications to get you ready for the QR marketing madness

1. SocialWayne QR Code Reader [ itunes link]
2. NeoReader [ itunes link]
3. Optiscan [ itunes link]
4. StickyBits [ itunes link]
5. Barcode [ itunes link]
6. QuickMark [ itunes link]
7. TagReader [ itunes link]
8. Redlaser [ itunes link]
9. ScanLife [ itunes link]
10. Mirascape [ itunes link]
11. Best Buy [ itunes link]

Also note that we’re building in a QR Code reader with the next version of TriOut iPhone app to enable quick check-ins. We believe QR Codes and location-based services are a perfect tech mashup.

Update 2:
TriOut v2 for the iPhone with built-in QR Code reader is now available. Here’s the iTunes App store [iTunes link]

What QR Code reader do you use?

Here’s sldeshow of 11 of my FaceTime calls.

If you have an iPhone 4 how often do you use FaceTime?

The first is tethering using the MyWi 4.0 iPhone app. MyWi supports both USB and wifi tethering and it’s great. I have a sprint overdrive and since I’ve jailbroken my iPhone 4 I have used it less and less but I’m going to keep it for those just in case moment plus there are areas where Sprint is way better than AT&T. But the USB tethering option using MyWi seems faster, more stable. Also a jailbroken iPhone 4 is a non 3G iPad best friend. Just turn your iPhone to a hotspot, connect your iPad and your surfing away. Note, I kept my unlimited data account with AT&T and this is how tethering with the iPhone is supposed to be.

The second reason/ app is the my3G app. This app allows iPhone users to use FaceTime over 3G. Just the other day I had someone want to FaceTime with me but I was at a store with no wifi. With my3G  app, that wasn’t a problem. We connected and I had a FaceTime chat right in the store.

My bet is it’s more of AT&T and less Apple who disabled these features without being an additional cost like there is now for tethering and not enabling FaceTime over 3G. Regardless if you jailbreak your iPhone, teather and facetime over 3G at your own risk.

What are your top reasons to Jailbreak your iPhone 4?

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Location:J M Keynes Dr,Charlotte,United States

Many may be wondering if the iPhone 4 is so great why would you want to jailbreak it. Good question, so here are 4 reasons to jailbreak your iPhone 4.

5. Unlock your iPhone to use on T-mobile or another GSM carrier.

Warning: Jailbreak at your own risk. Have you jailbroken your iPhone or iPad? If so why or why not?

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Do you like coffee? What do you think about the iPhone 4 video capabilities?

Upon investigation, we were stunned to find that the formula we use to calculate how many bars of signal strength to display is totally wrong. Our formula, in many instances, mistakenly displays 2 more bars than it should for a given signal strength. For example, we sometimes display 4 bars when we should be displaying as few as 2 bars. Users observing a drop of several bars when they grip their iPhone in a certain way are most likely in an area with very weak signal strength, but they don’t know it because we are erroneously displaying 4 or 5 bars. Their big drop in bars is because their high bars were never real in the first place.
To fix this, we are adopting AT&T’s recently recommended formula for calculating how many bars to display for a given signal strength. The real signal strength remains the same, but the iPhone’s bars will report it far more accurately, providing users a much better indication of the reception they will get in a given area. We are also making bars 1, 2 and 3 a bit taller so they will be easier to see.
We will issue a free software update within a few weeks that incorporates the corrected formula. Since this mistake has been present since the original iPhone, this software update will also be available for the iPhone 3GS and iPhone 3G.
We have gone back to our labs and retested everything, and the results are the same— the iPhone 4’s wireless performance is the best we have ever shipped. For the vast majority of users who have not been troubled by this issue, this software update will only make your bars more accurate. For those who have had concerns, we apologize for any anxiety we may have caused.
As a reminder, if you are not fully satisfied, you can return your undamaged iPhone to any Apple Retail Store or the online Apple Store within 30 days of purchase for a full refund.

Wow! We’ll maybe all the blogging, YouTube videos and fake emails worked. I hope everyone can calm down now and just wait for the iOS 4 software update.

What are your thoughts on the Apple press release? Are you going to return your iPhone 4?

Uploaded with plasq‘s Skitch!

Regardless of the iPhone 4 problems or not, the amount of blog post, tweets and news we’re seeing about the iPhone 4 is ridiculous. If there is a real problem with the latest iPhone I’m sure Apple will release a fix soon. In the mean time, there are people starving, an economy in trouble and some people creating some awesome products in the tech world that we could be blogging about and covering instead of complaining about the iPhone 4. Especially if you own an iPhone 4. Create your youtube videos, do your test, tell your friends that you’re having problems with your iPhone 4. But remember it was just last week and you’re under the 14 day window to return your iPhone and if you’re that unhappy about the iPhone 4 take your $199 and buy the HTC EVO or wait for the Droid X or just go back to your iPhone 3Gs if you havn’t sold it.

So please stop complaining about your new iPhone 4 or just Take It Back!

Via Wayne Sutton a proud iPhone 4 customer.

There are some who thought the Facebook iPhone app wouldn’t be update because of Apple App store nightmare stories and the original Facebook app developer saying no mas. I’m glad the updates are still coming as this is the second Facebook iPhone update we have seen in the last 30 days.

How do you use Facebook on your iPhone?

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

I’m glad the employee didn’t hang up or get mad or insult the puppet or we would probablly see a rush in blog post about bad customeor support and/or “Apple Employee hangs up on puppet” type post. But this is another example of good customer service by Apple and for anyone on how to handel weird/puppets phone calls.

I’m a big fan of FaceTime, as it’s one of the reason I stood in line for 4 1/2 hours to buy an iPhone 4. Here are a couple of screenshots testing FaceTime with @Jakrose and @evancarroll.

Hat Tip to @Tiffani for the Puppet video tweet and @Gizmodo for posting.

If a puppet calls you on FaceTime how would you react?

I first saw the tweet from @Andybeal about “red duck tape” and was like what in the world. So I clicked on it, taking me to the @Fastcompany article about using scotch tape on the iPhone 4 to fix the signal. Here’s the link: The $0.001 DIY iPhone 4 Antenna Fix. But I wanted video proof, so I found a video from chedacheese on @Youtube. Take a look at the video to learn how to use scotch tape to fix your iPhone 4 signal!

Apparently Mr. Steve Jobs sent an email saying to just hold the phone another way or buy a bumper case. I’m shaking my head at you Steve! You can read more about that on @Techcrunch “Steve Jobs Responds To The Antenna Issue: Hold It Different Or Use A Case”

Do you think Apple new about the signal problem and who’s adding scotch to their shinny new iPhone 4?

Although the mall apparently had been open all night for people to start lining up at the Apple store’s front doors, I arrived at Crabtree bright and early at 5:00am, thinking that the mall wouldn’t open until 5:30am. To my surprise, we found two separate lines forming, one for those with iPhones reserved and another for those without a reservation. There were only about 50 people in the reservation line by the time we arrived at 5am, but unfortunately we found ourselves behind at least 150 others without reservations.

The lines already forming on either side of the Apple store at 5:00am

As early as it was, people were generally in good spirits and playing nice. Some were still sleeping from the overnight camp while others took the time to catch up on their laptops or iPads even though the reception and WiFi service was pretty slow. One person even brought his guitar and played it in the beach chair he brought. Everyone slowly started making friends with their neighbors in line knowing that they may be in it for the long haul.

Around 6:15am a few Apple employees brought out 10 dozen or so Dunkin Donuts to feed the early morning crowd. A good sign of things to come!

Anticipation grew as 7:00am neared. A few minutes before 7am, employees took down the black curtain that prevented us from getting a sneak peak into the preparation for all the madness that was about to ensue and the crowd cheered for the first time.

You can see how fast the donuts went!

Immediately after the curtain fell (at 7:00am on the dot), 20 or so Apple employees came rushing out of the service door, running, screaming, and high-fiving everyone in line. We were all surprised, but it seemed like a great way to get the started!

Minutes later the doors finally opened at Apple and they started letting in about 10 people from the reservation line for every 1 person in the regular line. Needless to say, the reservation line moved pretty quickly for the first few hours while us in the regular line sat in the same place (only moving perhaps a foot an hour) for those first few hours.

The beginning of the non-reservation line...not moving

But around 11am we at the middle/back of the non-reservation line started heering loud mysterious cheers from the front of our line. Ended up they were just cheering every time someone from our line got to enter the Apple store, approximately every 10-15 minutes. It was pretty motivating, to say the least. After being there for 6+ hours I think Apple realized they needed to keep us customers still in line motivated as well. They started going down the line handing out packs of pretzels and Ritz crackers, bottles of water, and then all sorts of candy just as if it were Halloween.

Apple employees handing out snacks

Not only that, but just around lunch time, Subway staff came around passing out mini ham & turkey subs! Lunch? Really? Amazing. Then more candy. Then more water. Followed by Lindt chocolate passing out those little chocolates to anyone who wanted some. In the late afternoon Bare Essentials even passed out free makeup samples to all the girls. This line wasn’t actually half bad, huh?

Subway ladies passing out free lunch!

The line was moving about 5 minutes per person in line. I calculated I wouldn’t get into the store until 4:00pm at the earliest, but I stayed optimistic that perhaps it would start moving more quickly. By 3:00 I could start feeling the finish line as there were only 40-50 people ahead of me to go. We stayed energized by our new friends that we had just gotten to know over the past 10 hours. It was as if we’d known these people for months. We were never bored, but still eager to get through the line and back to our lives.

Here we could see the end of the line ahead...

But then something amazing happened. A young man approached us in line asking how long we’d been waiting here in line (this was typical as all the regular mall-goers had been asking all day what we were

Robin Patterson (a.k.a. God for the day) of Best Buy mobile

waiting in line for). When we told him since 5am, he told us that he worked over at Best Buy mobile and had a reservation for one of the 16GB iPhones cancel and he was offering it to me. Pure luck? An act of God? Either way, I left my place in line and followed “God” to his Best Buy mobile store and promptly paid for, activated, accessorized, and left the store with my new iPhone 4 in hand.

Upon leaving the mall I walked past my new friends who were still waiting in line and showed off my new gear.

They probably waited in line for another hour. Sorry Apple, you treated me really really well for those 11 hours, but in the end Best Buy mobile man saved the day!

I primarily use the first folder with @TriOut, Check.In and @foursquare. The other folder is full of some of the newer apps and apps I test out to see what location-based apps are up too, such as @doubledutch, @wereward, and @pegshot.
How many location-based apps do you have installed on your iPhone and which one do you use the most?
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Location:N Spence Ave,Goldsboro,United States

What are your thoughts on iAd? Do you think you’ll click on an iAd more than you would a text or regular ad?

PS: I never did make it to the movies.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Holdr beta waits on hold for you, so that you can get on with your life. If you are calling a number where you expect to be put on-hold (like an airline or the IRS), just fire-up Holdr, dial the number and press *7 when they put you on-hold. Holdr will call you back when they pick-up.

How Conference Starter works:

With Conference Starter you can start-up a conference call on the fly on your iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch. Simply select the moderator and the contacts you want to conference, and hit Start Conference. Your first 250+ minutes of conferencing are included in the $4.99 purchase price (you can purchase more minutes for 2 cents per minute, per person right from the app).

I see value in Bandwidth.com releasing both Holdr and Conference Starter apps adding to the list of their products as Bandwidth.com continues to be a complete communication provider service. I have installed both iPhone apps and see myself using Conference Starter often while I’m traveling and having conversations with various team members.

Also see the Gigam Review: Bandwidth.com’s New iPhone Apps Are Big Time Savers

More about Phonebooth:

“Phonebooth Free beta is the cloud phone system that is perfect for small businesses, freelancers and independent professionals. And when you’re all grown up, flip the switch to Phonebooth OnDemand, a full-featured office phone system with support for HD desk and conference phones”

*Disclaimer: Bandwidth.com/Phonebooth is a client.

Have you tried Holdr or Conference Starter iPhone applications? If so let me know about your experience in the comments.

1. Push Notifications for all messaging. This means you can get private messages and friend requests pushed to you as soon as they’re sent, like a txt message. We’ve also added push for friend check in, great for finding people when you’re out for the night hitting the clubs. The great thing is you can turn them on or off from within the app whenever you like, no annoying messages in the middle of the night.

2. TriOut for Business is now fully integrated into the app. I’ll get into more details next week, but in a nutshell, you can now get and share coupons and special offers from participating businesses you’ve visited. If you choose, they can be sent to your email and supports push too, so if there’s a time sensitive offer like a free cup of coffee today only, you won’t miss it. Like everything else in TriOut, you have full control, we won’t push or email anything to you unless you say so.

I’m not sure how fast things are going with the App Store right now, but I’d expect it to hit sometime next week. The TriOut mobile web app will also be updated to support TriOut for Business, we don’t want to leave you out. We hope you like the updates and take advantage of the great local deals we’ve been able to line up for TriOut users.

Guest post by Lawrence Ingraham from May 1, 2010 on http://tri-out.com/blog

Written by: Lawrence Ingraham, Founder/Lead Developer for TriOut. Follow Lawrence on Twitter. You can reach Lawrence via email at law@tri-out.com

Disclaimer: I’m a partner with TriOut a location-based startup in NC where I serve as the Business development/marketing strategist.

Recently App Notifications released App Notifications 2.0 for the iPad and iPhone and it work/looks great.

Here’s the pitch from http://www.appnotifications.com

What is the purpose of your application?
Push is an iPhone App that acts as a client for the Apple Push Notification Service. We support push from RSS feeds, Google Voice, Facebook, Twitter, Email, 3rd party with a standard API. We even include a REST API. We also support multiple devices syncing if you own more than one iPhone/iPod Touch device.

We also have a full featured website available at 4push.com (use a desktop browser) where you can read your notifications, change your settings and more.

App Notifications is an iPhone app that acts as a client for the Apple Push Notification Service.
Use our ready-made Twitter, GMail, Google Voice, and RSS notification services to instantly receive new tweets, search results, emails, RSS feeds, or create your own custom notifications with our simple REST API.

*Disclaimer this is not a sponsored post and they did not ask me to blog about their apps.

What is your favorite iPhone and/or iPad app?

– Post From My iPad

Location:Chapel Hill Rd,Durham,United States

If you have been anywhere near the internet the last few days I’m sure you have heard the story about Apple’s lost iPhone. I’m not going to go into details about it because it has already been well document all over the social web but you can read more about it here via Gizmodo “How Apple Lost the Next iPhone” But in short Gray Powell, a North Carolina State University 2006 graduate went out for drinks on his birthday and lost the next generation iPhone and the rest is pretty much been capitalized by blogosphere and Grays future with Apple is unknown at this point.

photo via Gizmodo

Today I saw a sad update on the case of the lost next generation iPhone on cnet.com were they interviewed Gray’s father saying that Gray is “devastated” and I can only image what he’s going through. Gray has the dream job that many people would die for, to work at Apple and not only work for Apple but to work in the department that test the next generation iPhones. Now with “social media” and blogs doing almost anything for traffic paying $5,000 for a lost or stolen next generation iPhone, Gray Powell name will be marked in the social web history books as the guy who went out to drink on his birthday, lost/forgot his iPhone and caused a PR media social web nightmare for Apple and an entire case study on blogs and journalism will come out of it.

So what’s next for Gray? At this point I think only Steve Jobs, Apple’s HR department and Gray knows as the world waits to see what will become of his job status with Apple. Some have said it was a simple mistake and some think for sure Gray will be fired. Regardless of what happens here are 6 ways I think Apple can fix Gray Powell’s personal brand/PR problem and look awesome by doing so.

1. Use Gray Powell in a new iPhone commercial showcasing MobileMe remote wipe/find features
2. Bring Gray Powell on stage to announce the next generation iPhone in June (rumor)
3. Record a video Q&A with Steve Jobs, Gray and the iPhone team discussing the entire situation and use that to opportunity to announce the date for the next iPhone event.
4. There’s an official Apple iTunes twitter account called @iTunesTrailers and at one time I thought @appleinc would become Apple’s official Twitter account but nothing happen. Now would be good time for Apple to enter the “social media” space and allow Gray to be that guy who manages it to talk about the life/culture of Apple. This would not only be for Twitter and Facebook but for blogs as well. Not that Apple needs any social media/marketing help but in this case I believe some sort of crisis management plan would have been a better way of handling the entire situation.
5. Let the media/bloggers have Gray Powell for interviews…hmmm
6. Send out a press releases about the entire situation and how Apple plans to prevent things like this happening again.

One or none of the suggested ideas may happen but regardless I wish Gray Powell well and I hope he has a bright future ahead of him at Apple.

*Disclaimer: I live in NC and have friends/partners who work at NC State and Apple but I have had zero contact with Gray or any of his friends or family members regarding the situation.

What would you like to see happen with the case of the missing iPhone and between Gray and Apple?

Regardless how these apps are upgraded/released for the iPad, here are five apps I can’t wait to be released made/upgraded for the iPad.

1. GoogleEarth

4. Photoshop.com

5. MacDailyNews

What iPhone apps you can’t wait to see made for the iPad?

– Post From My iPad

Location:Turtle Point Dr,Raleigh,United States

I just wanted to use the word “breaking” in a blog post, it sounds exciting right? Sorry about that. Either way the big news is there’s a new iPhone app on the way that will allow you to upload photos and videos to FourSquare. How you ask? Well, the iPhone app called SquarePik. SquarePik is created by Florida based startups Thirtynine and Pikchur and uses FourSquare API to post. The way the iPhone app works is a very simple. You login with your FourSquare email address or phone number. After signing in you’ll see list of recent FourSquare activity from your friends. There’s a places button that will use FourSquare’s API to find locations nearby. After you select a location, then you click the icon to upload media which can be either existing media or taken on the spot. Next SquarePik will check you into the location and post links to the uploaded media inside of FourSquare and send links to your social profiles such as Twitter & Facebook status updates if you have those options enabled in your FourSquare settings.

Why is SquarePik important? Well in the very competitive location based app market, apps such as Whrrl, Brightkite, TriOut and Yelp provides a way for users to upload a pictures but Foursquare has yet to implement such features. Now with SquarePik not only does it allow Foursquare users to send media to there networks but if FourSquare was thinking about adding media uploads, SquarePik has developed the app to show them how. Note there are a few more features to SquarePik but I’ll let you find them out once the app is released. I don’t have a release date for the app but be sure to follow @Squarepik on Twitter for updates and a big thanks/congrats to Davide Di Cillo @DavideDiCillo of Thirtynine along with Pikchur team for allowing me to test the app.

The Pitch:
SquarePik is an easy way to add photos and videos to your foursquare check-ins. It will also show you all photos and videos that were dropped at a venue.
URL: http://squarepik.com
Twitter: @SquarePik
SquarePik is a joint venture between Pikchur Inc. and 39llc.

Would you use this app?

What do you think? Win or Fail?

Are you going to buy an iPad?

So today is the big day, Apple “fanboys” and “fanladies” are all hyped up about the announcement of the Apple Tablet, we hope!.  If you’re like me then at 1:00 P.M. EST you will be glued to a computer screen either refreshing a page for real-time updates or searching tweets. I’m still waiting for the day when Apple will start to live video stream their events but until then we’re stuck with micro updates from the lucky individuals with press badges who are able to  attend the event. While some of you will rely on Tweets and various sources for up to the minute coverage, here’s my list of links for Live Apple Tablet Coverage.

1. MacDailyNews: http://www.macdailynews.com/100127_special_event.html
2. Gizmodo: http://i.gizmodo.com/5457641/apple-tablet-event-liveblog-+-january-27?skyline=true&s=i
3. Slashgear: http://live.slashgear.com/
4. Mashable: http://mashable.com/2010/01/26/apple-tablet-all-the-rumors-in-one-place/
5. Engadget: http://www.engadget.com/2010/01/27/live-from-the-apple-tablet-latest-creation-event/
6. iSmashPhone: http://www.ismashphone.com/2010/01/apple-event-live-blog-wednesday-10-am-pst-save-the-date.html
7. The Apple Blog: http://theappleblog.com/2010/01/26/live-coverage-of-apples-january-27-media-event/
8. Wired: http://www.liewcf.com/archives/2010/01/live-coverage-apple-latest-creation/
9. MacWorld: http://www.macworld.com/article/145805/2010/01/apple_event.html
10. AppleInsider: http://live.appleinsider.com/
11. Technologizer: http://technologizer.com/appletablet/
12. MacRumors: http://www.macrumorslive.com
13. Macnn: http://live.macnn.com/
14. Ars technica: http://live.macnn.com/
15. ZDNet: http://blogs.zdnet.com/Burnette/?p=1626
16. Gearlog: http://www.gearlog.com/2010/01/live_blog_apple_january_27_announcement.php
17. Gdgt: http://live.gdgt.com/2010/01/27/live-apple-come-see-our-latest-creation-tablet-event-coverage/
18. Crunchgear: http://www.crunchgear.com/2010/01/27/crunchgear-live-at-the-apple-event-listen-read-and-watch-as-it-happens/

Also see: 7 Sites to Watch Live Coverage of Apple’s “Latest Creation” Event

Also you can join the conversation about the Apple Tablet on Hot Potato on the  ”come see our latest creation” channel  here: http://hotpotato.com/events/apple-media-event-4dG4Co

If you have a site that is not listed, let me know in the comments. Thanks and Happy #TDay

Update 1: now 18

Back in June of 2007 I had this grand idea of launching an iPhone blog called iPhonesinRTP.com. The RTP part was for Research Triangle Park, NC. Meaning the blog was going to be about iPhone users and apps from the area, along with general iPhone and iPhone app news. Since the launched of the iPhone I have published over 255 post and have covered various local Apple events such the original iPhone launch in 2007, along with the iPhone 3Gs launch in 2009. Other blog entries included featuring iPhone wallpapers, tips and iPhone app video reviews.

For the readers of iPhonesinRTP.com I want to say thank you for your support but do to other projects, working at Twine Interactive and launching TriOut with @LawPower my time is very limited. Plus there’s tons of iPhone blogs and it seems like everyone is talking about the app store and covering niche apps on most gadget blogs. I’ll still cover iPhone news and apps here on SocialWayne.com from time to time and will redirect the iPhonesinRTP.com url to this post.

If you would like for me to review your iPhone app please email: pitches at socialwayne dot com .

While I didn’t buy none of the apps, as if I did you would see a better screenshot below, I did find it interesting and just a sign of the times as we become more mobile, that we’ll see major brands move to the app store. Especially with the recent news from Ebay and Open Table about the success of their iPhone apps.

My question is, what took them so long?

PS: This is my first blog post using the new WordPress 2.0 app for the iPhone. I wanted to test it out too.

What are some other major brands you have seen in the app store and what are some you wish you would see that are not there yet?

The app is called Photoshop.com Mobile. I immediately downloaded the app but haven’t had a chance to really use it yet. I think it’s a good move by Adobe to release the app especially since the iPhone leads flickr as the #1 source of mobile uploads. Either way here are my top seven iPhone apps for editing photos.

1. Colorsplash

3. SnapBox

What app do you use to edit photos on your iPhone?

– Posted from my iPhone

For news from the blogosphere:
Regator

Notifications (must configure your feeds)

Breaking news:
BNO News

Huffington Post

Main stream media news:
AP Mobile

– Posted from my iPhone

For those of you who follow me on Twitter know what I’m a huge Brightkite fan. I’ve been using the service since it launched and was in private beta. I’m not sure what came next Whrrl or Loopt but when they were launched I decided to give them a try also but neither stuck with me like Brightkite as I found Loopt to be very “spammy” by sending out unwanted messages to my contacts and Whrrl web and mobile app user interface wasn’t as easy to navigate or understand as Brighkite at the time. This was around mid year 2008. Since then a lot has changed for Loopt and Whrrl as for usability and functions but Brightkite seems to have stayed with their core features and design.

New to the location based iPhone app scene is foursquare, which was launched in March of this year during SXSW. Foursquare which seem to be a dodgeball.com spin-off focuses on “ways to explore a city.” allowing “checkins” to various locations in which the more you check-in, the more badges you’re able to unlock. Foursquare is limited to major US cities at the moment but last week I was able to travel to NY and have the opportunity to “play” foursquare. Just like other location based apps foursquare is a social network and has both Twitter and Facebook integration. Unlike brightkite or Whrrl foursquare allows only text based updates and where the other two allow you to post photos. Either way, foursquare seems to have caught the attention of geeks early adopter world, but why? A few things foursquare does over the other location based apps that make users stick is the game mentality of the service. The more you check-in at various locations the more badges you unlock. Foursquare also awards it users by giving them “mayor” badges at locations they visit more frequently than others. Another game like feature is the city leaderboard that’s updated by the day to show the person with the most check-ins.

As with all location based apps there’s always the security concern as sharing to much information. Something I found out while hanging with Brett Petersel in NY is that if you’re friends with someone then you can send them a direct SMS text message from the app allowing users to see your mobile number. We think you have to be friends for that to happen if not that’s a major security flaw.

Still while in NY I used contintued to use Brightkite to check-in add new friends and post photos as it’s still my favorite location based service. A few features that brightkite has over foursquare is the ability to upload photos and have them post to flickr and Facebook. Brightkite’s focus is to have conversations around a location.

As for Whrrl, I used it a couple times at during my NYC trip but between trying to check-in with foursquare and brightkite I often didn’t check-in as I think about using Whrrl more at conferences and events vs random day to day check-ins but I’m continue to evaluate my usage of the service. Whrrl also has done a great job of listening to it users about usability and features. The Whrrl iPhone app version 2.0 and website are a vast improvement over the service initial launch.

When it comes to Loopt, I haven’t used the service enough to really evaluate it and I’m not sure if I ever will. (sorry guys).

Here’s an excerpt from a blog post that Kipp Bodnar and I co-wrote for Louis Gray about the business impact of using brightkite but it also apples to other location based services.

Business Impact of using location based apps

As more businesses are using social media to reach new customers or engage with existing ones online, the business impact of using location-based services can be huge for companies looking to reach targeted local users. We’re already seeing companies using twitter for coupons or promotions and that’s great but what if you wanted to reach people who you knew that visited your company previously or worked near by. With Brightkite you can easily do location based advertising by the block, or city and go beyond advertising to understand the real-word referrers that normally send people to your business.

What’s next?
As for what’s next in the location based apps battle, my guess is augmented reality. Already I’ve seen a brightkite augmented reality mashup and the upgraded yelp iPhone app has augmented reality built-in too. My guess we’ll see other web based apps start to use location based services for marking and building niche communities by location. The question is will they partner with an existing service like Brightkite, Whrrl and foursquare.. only time will tell. Also I think we’ll start seeing the ability to upload video to both Brightkite and Whrrl from the iPhone (I hope).

By the way, no I didn’t go to NY just to play foursqare

What is your favorite iPhone location based app and how do you use it?

What is your favorite iPhone blogging app?

– Post From My iPhone

We’re waiting …

– Post From My iPhone

1. Google Latitude

2. Native Gmail app with push notification

3. Google Voice

I guess what bothers me the most is that Google has the time, the money, the developers to make and release these apps for the iPhone but they have yet to see the light of day. It makes perfect sense for Google to have these apps for Android but to have these apps for Blackberry and not the iPhone, I’m feeling left out.

– Post From My iPhone

Twitter video apps are apps that allow you to record or upload existing iPhone 3Gs video and send a tweet for your followers to watch the video. Some of the Twitter video apps have their own social network and even allow you to send the video to YouTube, myspace or FaceBook. Take a look at four of the apps below.

1. TwitVid

Are you using one of the apps
above to send video to Twitter? If not what app are you using and do you think it’s a good idea?

– Post From My iPhone

Incase battery back.

Mophie iPhone juice pack

Richard Solo battery

FuelTank battery

Kingston Kensington

IV from fastmac

As an iPhone power user, I have the incase iPhone extended battery. Do you have an extended iPhone battery? If so what brand and model.

– Post From My iPhone

Now that we have the iPhone 3Gs which makes it easy record video, two new apps are available to send video to both Twitter and Facebook from your iPhone. One is called Tweet Reel and the other is called Video Up.

I haven’t tested either one of the video apps yet but they both look interesting. I’m wondering how well video up will do after the new Facebook app is released that will have video uploading features built in as well.

As for me, I’m currently using Posterous to send audio and video to both Twitter, Facebook and my blog at the same time. Another video iPhone app I’m waiting to see upgraded for iPhone 3Gs is the 12seconds app that will allow you to send short videos to both platforms.

How are you sending audio and video to Twitter and Facebook?

PS: Don’t forget about your blog.

– Post From My iPhone

1. ZGrip Pro for the iPhone.

5. mini spring clamp
This is my home made solution. I went to my local camera shop, Peace Camera and purchased a mini spring clamp tripod mount that will hold my iPhone.

The clip will attach to my tripod for stable video recording.

The four Twitter apps I have installed are:
Birdfeed:

Tweetie:

In terms of my favorite Twitter iPhone app today, I have to go with birdfeed because of the interface, speed and layout options. The Twitter app I find most useful is Tweetdeck because of how easy it is to make group searches. The Twitter app I use most often is Tweetie because of the speed and I have most of my Twitter accounts setup with it already. Twitterrific is an old school classic as being the first ever Twitter app for the iPhone and they have NC ties so I keep it installed. Twitterrfic does have some features I like but the new 2.0 app is an overload sometimes when I want to do something quick (sorry guys )

Now it’s your turn, Twitter me this, Twitter me that, what is your favorite Twitter iPhone app and why?

– Post From My iPhone

I’m sure by now you know what today is, iPhone 3G S launch day and for the third year in a row I was able to catch up with an old friend and take some pictures/videos of the Apple Store opening plus the hundreds standing in line for the iPhone. When I arrived, I saw Ashton, who for three years in a row now has been first in line to buy the iPhone at the Apple Store in Crabtree Valley Mall. I first met Ashton in 2007 when he purchased the 1st generation iPhone and I was able to take this picture of him, which has been viewed over 5,000 times on flickr and I was recently told it may the first picture of a consumer with the first generation iPhone on the web.

Asthon first in line at the Appe Store 2007

Fast forward three years later, Ashton and I make our yearly routine of meeting at the Apple Store on iPhone launch day and as normal he’s first in line. I must say this year’s iPhone activation seems to have went a lot smother than last years. Ashton walked in the Apple store, told the employee he wanted a white iPhone and it was purchased and activated in about 15 minutes versus the 8 plus hours he spent in the store last year. Then in about another 15 minutes Ashton had his iPhone 3G S synced with his contacts, music and photos loaded. Great job this year by the Raleigh Apple Store team. Also it was interesting to see others who were buying the iPhone 3G S talk about what color they were buying. Most seem to have purchased the white iPhone 3G S 16 GB version, especially if they had purchased a black iPhone last year.

Asthon first in line at the Appe Store 2008

Asthon first in line at the Appe Store 2009

For those of you who are waiting to purchase an iPhone 3G S, I recommend coming in later today to avoid the line and I’m almost sure they won’t run out of iPhones. If you reserved your iPhone you have until today to come pick it up. Below are some more videos and photos from the iPhone 3G S launch at the Raleigh Apple Store in Crabtree Valley Mall.

Apple Store opening for iPhone 3Gs

Test video uploaded from iPhone 3G S to youtube.

The line waiting to enter Apple Store for iPhone 3G S

The Apple Store iPhone 3G S activation station area:

For a hands on review of the iPhone 3G S, see today’s episode of Talk Social News recorded from the Apple Store today here -> Hands on iPhone 3G S review & more AT&T upgrade fail news – episode 060

Did you stand in line for the iPhone 3G S or are you going to wait?

Is this your first iPhone if you purchased an iPhone 3G S today?

Update:
I went to meet some friends in line a few hours later at the Apple Store. The line is still long and it’s a slow process to get everyone into the store because Apple won’t let you leave without the phone being activated.

@ginnyskal & @mammalpants in waiting line

@Kitch with his new iPhone 3G S

There’s a new additive app in the iTunes app store called Binary Game [itunes link] made by John Kassimatis @yonnage and Gary Vaynerchuk @garyvee The app cost $1.99 and if you’re good at math and very competitive I recommend you give it a try. Here’s a video screencast of the game.

If you’re watching @garyvee’s twitter stream then I’m sure you know all about the app, take a look at one of the 1st tweets about the game tonight.

I’m starting to see a trend from new iPhone apps being released in the app store. With so many app being created and everyone trying to cash in on the popularity of the iPhone, developers now need to do more marketing for their app to get noticed. But with all the marketing your app still must be interactive, fun and must do more than just fart to make a few thousands dollars from the app store.

With the Binary Game, Gary and John has created an app that’s fun, competitive and social. The game has has it’s own website http://b1narygame.com/ with a Challenge mode & Speed Mode High Scores page where you can see all the top 50 high scores.

Another trend I’m seeing is that almost every new iPhone app has it’s on twitter profile:

The Binary Game twitter profile is @b1narygame With @Garyvee ‘s popularity I’m sure this app will be a success and the @b1narygame profile will have more than 2 followers it has right now.

I’m going to stop here and let you download the game and recommed you give it a try, as I’m going to try to increase my score and stay on the Binary Game top 50 list.

What’s your thoughts on the game? If you have an iPhone app how are you marketing it?

Before tweetie was released I was using the iPhone web app Hahlo mainly because the amount of people I’m following on twitter and the other iPhone applications were hanging on loading my twitter public stream and my replies. Then a few weeks ago my good friend @Ocell told me about tweetie and I’ve been using it ever since. Tweetie is made be atebites and can be downloaded from the iTunes here [app link] Here’s a screencast demo of tweetie.

A few other notes about successful twitter iPhone apps:

Remember to keep it simple and clean – one of the reasons why twitter works is that it’s simple.

• Separate the replies from the direct messages and public tweets. I love twitterrific but this is one of the biggest complaints I hear about the app.
• Make the app have some PEE, that’s stands for Popularity EnhancEr. – One trend about successful iPhone apps is that it either shoots, farts or is a flashlight and tweetie does two out of the three

• Monetize it. – tweetie cost $2.99 and just look at what tweetdeck a popular desktop twitter air app has just received VC funding.

What is your favorite iPhone twitter app and what desktop twitter app do you use?