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A few years ago you would have seen stuff like this in Hollywood movies only. Well, it’ll be available soon. iPhone OS 3.1 is expected to be released in September.
I’m really excited by the new opportunities this opens up for the iPhone developer community and playing with these 3.1 Beta 2 APIs is just so addictive!
Have you ever been in urgent need for a pharmacy that’s open 24 hours to get a drug? iPhone and iPod touch owners in Germany don’t have to worry anymore: Apotheken – the German word for pharmacy – is now available via the iTunes App Store. Grab your copy here! [link opens iTunes]
While the App Store has lots of applications that give you a list of pharmacies around you, Apotheken is unique in that it provides you with those drugstores only that are on emergency service and open at the time of your request. It’s the only official solution of the German Pharmacys’ Umbrella Organization (ABDA).
Each day the ABDA updates the list of roughly 2000 of the 21.500 drugstores in Germany which are on duty 24 hours. This exclusive data is available only from the ABDA – and now at your fingertips wherever you are.
The application has been integrated into ABDA’s backend services and makes use of the latest Google Maps features that have been introduced with iPhone OS 3.0. It requires just two touches two get directions to the nearest pharmacy which is available now. Apotheken can either locate you automatically or you can manually enter an address, which will then be used for the search.
The concept and screen design has been done by apertomove GmbH for the ABDA. apertomove asked acceleract GmbH to develop Apotheken for the iPhone.
With so many gimmicks with limited use in the App Store these days, I hope this application will add value for you and helps you being prepared if it comes to the worst.
Video has become pretty hot these days on the Web. There are many good viral video ads out there but only occasionally one really catches my full attention and simply blows me away.
OLYMPUS PEN Story, a commercial for a digital camera, is one such piece of art. I love it! I adore people who put so much effort (yeah, and budget) into digital wonders like the one below.
While the embedded video is the same as on their microsite, I encourage you to also visit their source, as it adds an extra bit of atmosphere.
The featured song by Johannes Stankowski, is even available as a free download.
This definitely is viral marketing done right. Cheers to OLYMPUS for bringing us The PEN Story.
(Thanks to fellow Mike Bracco for pointing me to it initially.)
Watch this cool 6-minute interview with Howard Rheingold. Howard is the man behind many things. His Smart Mobs blog is a must read for Social Media geeks! [Read more...]
Never before my job has been so close to disruptive markets and technologies and I absolutely appreciate it. To me it’s a great privilege being able to deep dive into some of the most amazing new technologies that are currently available.
Brainstorming ideas on how to leverage and take them to market with my peers is so much fun and I’m very much aware that doing this as a job which allows me to feed my family is something I should never take for granted.
Many of you have been contacting me over the past couple of months asking me to reveal details about my new company. [Read more...]
A really cool aspect of being connected with many entrepreneurs and being an editor for one of Europe’s most popular technology blogs is getting access to many private betas at a very early stage.
Yesterday, I’ve had the pleasure to spend an hour with 6rounds’ Dany Fishel (CEO) and their COO, Ilan Leibovich. Dany took me on a journey through their service, which just launched a couple of days ago. The image above shows Dany on fire (making use of a 6rounds real-time video special effect and me with the snow machine switched on).
6rounds is
I’ve covered the details in an in-depth review over at The Next Web. Make sure you check it out. We’ve got some invites for their private beta.
Update: In the meantime the 6rounds team has responded to our coverage at The Next Web!