Consumer Electronics Daily News

Record, Edit, and Publish Videos From Your Phone with MixBit

The Youtube cofounders have created a new app that lets users record, edit, and publish videos that are as short as one second and as long as an hour. But this is not YouTube, reinvented. MixBit.com provides a collaborative experience-- users can remix videos that have been shared with the community. 

Chad Hurley, co-founder and CEO of Youtube, says about MixBit.com, "Today we want to remove the barriers to video creation. That means giving people intuitive and flexible recording and remixing tools so it’s easier than ever to tell meaningful stories through video. It means inventing new ways to encourage and enable people to collaborate with each other. And it also means exploring new approaches to identity, such as letting people upload videos without forcing them to sign up."

Read more at the MixBit Blog.

Go MixBit.com to download the app for free.

Beatbuddy: Tale of The Guardians Now Available

THREAKS are happy to announce that the mystical, underwater music-adventure Beatbuddy: Tale of the Guardians is now available worldwide on PC, Mac, and Linux. Developed by the funky German indie developer THREAKS, Beatbuddy: Tale of the Guardians uniquely combines gorgeous hand-painted artwork with challenging puzzle-platforming gameplay that is synchronized to the rhythm of vibrant music from world-renowned artists.

"Beatbuddy is the exact experience we wanted to deliver," said Wolf Lang, Co-CEO and Co-Founder of THREAKS. "What started as a student project to sync sound in an innovative, engaging video game has become a completely new way to experience music and gameplay together. On behalf of the THREAKS team, we hope that players have a blast as they explore the mystical world of Symphonia."

Beatbuddy is available on STEAM for PC, Mac and Linux under this LINK.

Watch the new launch trailer HERE (youtube.com/watch?v=5aJ7xzVIJEE) and download it HERE.

For media assets including logo, screenshots, and videos, visit the official Beatbuddy press site at www.beatbuddy.com/press.

Winner of 'Best Art' and 'Best Sound' in Intel's 2012 Level Up Game Demo Contest, Beatbuddy: Tale of the Guardians tells the story of an ethereal, blue creature – Beatbuddy - who is awoken from his eternal slumber in order to save the world of Symphonia from losing musical freedom forever to Prince Maestro. Beatbuddy's quest takes him to a series of worlds where he encounters vibrant characters, such as Harmony, Clef, Trebble, and Quaver, who aid him as he opens paths and solve puzzles on his journey. THREAKS has created a rich, interactive experience utilizing its patent-pending sound technology that syncs in-game animations andenvironmental elements with the rhythm, encouraging players to "play to the beat" of the music in order to complete the various challenges. Featuring tunes composed by hot trending DJs and musicians including Grammy-nominated composer Austin Wintory (Journey, Monaco, flOw), every striking 2D handpainted level incorporates a different song, creating unique rhythmic challenges that add to the tremendously refreshing Beatbuddy experience.

Developed by THREAKS and published by Reverb Publishing, Beatbuddy: Tale of the Guardians is available at suggested retail price of $14.99.

In celebration of the game's release, Beatbuddy: Tale of the Guardians is 10 percent off on Steam for a limited time. To stay updated on the latest game announcements, check out Beatbuddy: Tale of the Guardians Facebook page, the jocular THREAKS News show, and follow the development team @BeatbuddyGame.

 PRNewswire

Nintendo Launches Animal Crossing Plaza on Wii U

Animal Crossing fans are getting a new place on Wii U where they can talk about their towns and share images with players from all over the world. Nintendo announced the free Animal Crossing Plaza application during today's Nintendo Direct presentation. 

"The second-half of 2013 is packed with great games and great experiences for Nintendo fans, from new entries in longstanding franchises to software that highlights the many benefits of connecting our hardware to the Internet," said Scott Moffitt, Nintendo of America's executive vice president of Sales & Marketing. "We're always on the lookout for new ways that our fans can interact with their favorite game series, and Animal Crossing Plaza extends the fun of the infectious series to Wii U."

The new Animal Crossing Plaza application on Wii U for Animal Crossing fans is now available for download for free in the Nintendo eShop. The service will run through the end of 2014, and allows Animal Crossing fans from around the world to meet, interact and exchange information through the Animal Crossing Miiverse community. Players can import images they took in Animal Crossing: New Leaf for Nintendo 3DS, custom design QR Code patterns via their SD cards and organize them in albums. Players also can post messages to Miiverse with those images. The QR Code patterns posted can also be directly scanned and used in Animal Crossing: New Leaf. Players can select their favorite animal in the Animal Crossing Plaza to post about those specific animals or view posts only about them. If players want to see more posts, they can jump directly to the Animal Crossing series Miiverse community from Animal Crossing Plaza.

The (Augmented) Reality of the Situation: Emerging Trends and Issues

This exciting online conference, with complimentary registration, is set to run at 1:00 p.m. EDT on Thursday, August 1, 2013, headed by Mike Jude, Ph.D. Connected Home Program Manager.

Augmented reality (AR) is here to stay, causing regulators, politicians and network operators to scramble in order to make sense of this new technology.  One thing is certain: AR is not primarily about social networking.  It is a powerful new communication and business tool that will transform such activities as a local directory search. Service providers, and those who provide their technology, must understand AR and prepare to leverage it for new revenue generation.

Why This Matters to You:

• Learn what AR really is (hint: it isn't social networking)
• Understand the public policy and regulatory issues associated with AR
• Pinpoint the opportunities in the AR market, specifically how can you make money using AR

This briefing will significantly benefit communication service providers and network operators in North America by identifying the dynamics of this new market as well as the implicit opportunities.

Supporting Quote

"Augmented reality (AR) is in the news lately, with many expressing concern that it will lead to a loss of privacy," said Stratecast | Frost & Sullivan Program Manager Mike Jude. "However, AR is a transformational technology that is much more important than simply a new form of social networking. It will transform the way we interact with information and the world around us."

Supporting Resources

For more information about Frost & Sullivan's Stratecast practice, please visit: http://stratecast.frost.com

Registration

• To attend the briefing, email [email protected] your full name, job title, company name, company telephone number, company email address and web site, city, state and country.
• Receive a recorded version of the briefing anytime by submitting the aforementioned contact details.

About Frost & Sullivan

Frost & Sullivan, the Growth Partnership Company, works in collaboration with clients to leverage visionary innovation that addresses the global challenges and related growth opportunities that will make or break today's market participants. 

PRNewswire

TopCoder's Global Community Surpasses Half a Million Members

TopCoder®, Inc., the world's largest open innovation platform and competitive community of digital creators, surpassed half a million community members yesterday. Representing the world's best algorithmists, software developers and creative artists, the members compete and collaborate to create valuable, real-world solutions on TopCoder's state-of-the-art platform.

Already welcoming over 50,000 new members this year, the TopCoder Community is on track to set record growth in 2013. The largest growth year in TopCoder history was 2012 with 68,397 new members.

"I'm extremely happy to see the TopCoder Community reach the half million point," said TopCoder Founder Jack Hughes. "But it's about so much more than the numbers. It's about the depth and breadth of what the community is able to do."

Founded in 2001, TopCoder is designed to accelerate the development of new digital products and services for Fortune 1000 enterprises, small and mid-sized businesses, and government agencies. Through crowdsourcing and open innovation, specialized competitions invite multi-disciplinary community members to effectively and efficiently solve clients' challenging problems, including application and mobile development, user experience, graphic design, and big data projects. Member expertise and capability canvasses the entire digital lifecycle, from ideation, to all phases of software development, and continued through maintenance, updates and security of created assets.

Hughes is constantly amazed by the sophisticated platform built by the TopCoder Community and the tools that enable member engagement. As the community grows, so does the talent pool and opportunity for innovation. "TopCoder attracts people who want to help each other and work together in both a competitive and collaborative fashion," added Hughes. "They are willing to support one another even when there is no commercial aspect, when it's simply a learning exercise. That's the most gratifying aspect of TopCoder."

TopCoder members reside in 239 countries, with the top three regions being Asia at 43 percent, North America at 26 percent and Europe at 13 percent. Since its founding, TopCoder has paid its members over $47.7 million in prize money.

"TopCoder is the twist in my life," said TopCoder Member and Copilot Jerrish Issac Varghese. "I started as a novice coder in the community and gradually learned how to participate in different competition formats. Those experiences took me to new heights in my career. Thanks to TopCoder's wonderful platform, I can collaborate with talented people around the globe and I'm really proud to be among the half million members."

As an accomplished software copilot, Varghese, who lives in India, works closely with TopCoder clients to ensure successful project completion. He was instrumental in the creation of NoNameSite.com, an online community of 13- to 18-year-olds that fosters computer science skills through educational gaming.

Each year TopCoder showcases its most talented members during the TopCoder Open, a worldwide programming and design tournament that offers over $300,000 in cash prizes. TopCoder Open finalists will compete in Washington, D.C., November 10 – 14, 2013.

Video: Hear more from TopCoder Founder Jack Hughes.

PRNewswire

Sogou: the Google Killer?

Sogou, a Chinese Internet company, has recently released a new product which is designed based on the Discovery engine technology. The revolutionary Discovery engine could knock Google off its pedestal, due to its new approach to search engine technology. Previously, Google released a similar product but it failed. Sogou's new product combines search technology with Internet Explorer, pushing information to users that is based on information searched. It is also possible that the Discovery engine will change the traditional "search frame + main words" mode.

Sogou is a sub company of Sohu and it has the third biggest number of users in China. The main products of Sogou include input software, web browsing, and the search engine. On the 10th of July, Sogou released a new product-- Sogou for Internet Explorer, which carries the Discovery engine technology. The featured function of the product is "Sogou Discovery," which is able to recommend users relevant information smartly in multiple areas such as news, shopping, travel, and more. Users can acquire the information directly.

The Discovery engine represents a new trend in search engines. Previously, Google released a similar product - Google Related, achieving simple information recommendations, but it was shut down in 2012. Moreover, in 2011, two other famous Chinese search engine companies, Baidu and Qihoo360, also claimed that they would make attempts to do some breakthrough investigation in this area. With these new search engine technologies on the horizon, when will the verb "to google" fall out of favor?

PRNewswire

DreamFactory Showcases Latest HTML5 Developer Tools As Sponsor of DevCon5

As a sponsor of the DevCon5 developer conference in New York next week, DreamFactory Software will introduce mobile application developers to new techniques that can reduce the time it takes to develop and deploy mobile applications for the enterprise. The Silicon Valley-based company recently launched the DreamFactory Services Platform, a standards-based, open-source mobile architecture that enables developers to connect HTML5 and native applications to a wide array of web services including SQL Data, BLOB Storage, User Management, App Hosting, and External Integration.

Developers who have used the new DreamFactory Services Platform say it lets them focus their efforts on design and user experience, and spend much less time on back-end integration. At DevCon5, HTML5 developers who use popular JavaScript frameworks such as AngularJS, jQuery and Sencha Touch can learn how to further boost their productivity and streamline the development of highly functional mobile apps for enterprise use. DreamFactory will showcase a suite of just-announced wizards and resources that make it even easier for developers to use any of the top three front-end frameworks in conjunction with the open-source DreamFactory Services Platform.

"What we hear from front-end developers is that connecting their apps to essential, cloud-based back-end services can be a struggle," said Bill Appleton, co-founder and CEO of DreamFactory. "Our Framework Wizard is designed specifically for developers who use AngularJS, jQuery and Sencha Touch, so they can quickly get productive with the DreamFactory Services Platform and take advantage of our efficient and modern development architecture."

DreamFactory and Modus Create co-present to HTML5 developers at DevCon5

At DevCon5, Appleton will demonstrate how HTML5 developers can benefit from a services approach as they develop mobile applications for enterprise use. He will outline the current state of mobile app development and deployment, and discuss the need for an approach that uses powerful cloud services through a REST interface that supports JSON objects for HTML5 or XML documents for native applications. He will demonstrate how to install the open source DreamFactory Services Platform on popular cloud computers from Amazon Web Services,Microsoft Azure, and Rackspace. Integration with popular client frameworks such as Sencha Touch, jQuery Mobile, and AngularJS will be highlighted.

Also on hand will be Patrick Sheridan of Modus Create, a product development, training, and services company based inReston, Virginia. Sheridan will take attendees through the steps involved when his firm recently used the DreamFactory Services Platform to provide back-end integration for a cloud-based enterprise-wide address book app. 

Appleton and Sheridan are presenting the session "How to Apply a Services Approach to Enterprise Mobile App Development" on Thursday, July 25 and 2:15 p.m.

DreamFactory enables enterprise mobility using agile development techniques

The DreamFactory Services Platform provides access to a rich set of back-end resources through a REST interface that supports both JSON and XML documents. This standards-based, open-source mobile architecture enables developers to connect HTML5 and native applications to a wide array of web services including SQL Data, BLOB Storage, User Management, App Hosting, and External Integration.

AVAILABILITY
The DreamFactory Services Platform is available now as an open-source license from www.dreamfactory.com.

PRNewswire

TranscribeMe and MindSwarms, Two Innovative San Francisco Start-ups, Announce Partnership

TranscribeMe, the technology leader in keyword-searchable voice-to-text transcription, and MindSwarms, a digital market research platform delivering authentic consumer feedback, are partnering to create a new level of consumer insights through speech processing of video content. MindSwarms' clients can now search through consumer video insights on the MindSwarms platform by keyword or topic search with speed and accuracy, a solution that product-focused Fortune 500 companies are actively demanding. Built on the premise that accessing the value in audio and video should be simple, accurate, and affordable, TranscribeMe has revolutionized the transcription sphere with a self-service portal, a recording and transcription mobile app, and a simple-to-build API, all of which boast superior 98-100% accuracy.  The TranscribeMe and MindSwarms partnership provides searchable and shareable video consumer feedback quickly.

MindSwarms is an online, qualitative market research platform used by researchers, agencies, and marketers to generate video insights by inviting desired demographic groups to answer targeted questions from wherever they are via smartphone/tablet, alleviating the need to bring participants to one physical location and allowing for a more authentic commentary. All research studies by MindSwarms are quick-strike: domestic studies are turned around in 7 days; international studies in 14. Only TranscribeMe's transcription service was fast and accurate enough to fit MindSwarms' needs. Adding to the growing suite of MindSwarms analysis tools, researchers are now able to easily search consumer video responses at a glance.

"We see a great synergy between our two companies, allowing us to jointly provide researchers with the most accurate consumer analysis possible, and we're excited to be partnering with MindSwarms to enable their community of Fortune 500 companies to capture the full value of their video content," says Bethanie Krogstad, Vice President of Sales for TranscribeMe. "Our hybrid platform combines the best of speech processing technology and skilled crowd-sourced labor to deliver a service that makes video and audio data searchable and shareable, thus adding value for all users."

Says Kalara Schuster, VP of Sales and Marketing for MindSwarms, "We are constantly in search of ways to enhance the experience for researchers on our platform – TranscribeMe is one of those great tools. Our clients use the MindSwarms platform to collect video-based mobile consumer insights quickly, so the partnership with TranscribeMe means we can integrate transcription seamlessly and automatically into our online video matrix, adding a written element to the rich video content."

More information on the MindSwarms/ TranscribeMe partnership can be obtained from Nathan Pikover, Senior Sales Executive for TranscribeMe.

PRNewswire

International Jury for Gamescom Award 2013 Announced

In 2013, the most coveted distinction of the European games industry, the gamescom awards, will be presented by an international jury comprising of media experts from the games industry from August 21st-25th, 2013. Bild.de, the German online portal of the publishing company, Axel Springer, with the widest coverage, is a newcomer to the jury. Due to the significantly expanded range of contents, this year the jury will be assessing hardware and software in a total of 17 categories. “The gamescom award jury comprises of experts from the national and international games industry. The gamescom 2013 offers more premieres than ever before. We are most eager to find out which novelties are going to receive an award this year,” commented Tim Endres, Project Manager of the gamescom.

An overview of the jury and the categories:

• Petra Fröhlich, Editor in Chief, Computec

• Joachim Hesse, Editor in Chief, spieletipps

• Bertram Küster, Redakteur Spiele, Bild

• Michael French, Editor in Chief MCV, Develop

• John Gaudiosi, Editor, Gamerhub.tv

• Alex Simmons, Editor in Chief, IGN

• Christian Bigge, Editor in Chief, computerbild.de

• Fabian Käufer, Editor in Chief, MTV Game One

• Rene Meyer, Journalist, Die Schreibfabrik

• Bernhard Schneider, Senior Buyer Multimedia, Drogerie Müller

• Michael Trier, Editor in Chief, Gamestar/GamePro

• Christian Nutt, Features Director, Gamasutra

• Martin Robinson, Feature Editor, Eurogamer

• Andreas Garbe, Editor, ZDFinfo

• Harald Hesse, Editor in Chief, GamesMarkt

• Jens Quentin, Editor, Freelancer

• Sven Wedig, Managing Director, 4U2Play

• Guy Cocker, Editor, GameSpot UK

• Frédéric Fau, Editor in Chief, jeuxvideo.com

• Best of gamescom (keine Einreichungen möglich)

• Best PC Game

• Best Console Game (PS - Sony)*

• Best Console Game (Xbox - Microsoft)*

• Best Console Game (Wii - Nintendo)*

• Best Mobile Game (incl. Handheld, iOS, Android, Windows)

• Best Hardware / Peripheral

• Best Social / Casual / Online Game

• Best Online Multiplayer Game

• Best Family Game

• Best New Generation Console Game

• Best Role Playing Game

• Best Racing Game

• Best Action Game

• Best Simulation Game

• Best Strategy Game

• Best Sports Game

PRNewswire

Americans Are Slower To Transition From E-Commerce To Mobile Shopping

As digital commerce extends into mobile technologies, growing numbers of consumers are integrating smartphones into their purchasing processes. This worldwide trend is moving fastest in certain emerging markets, where switched-on consumers are proving more apt to embrace m-shopping than are their developed market peers. New research shows that just 16 percent of US online consumers have used a mobile device to shop online, far short of consumers in emerging markets such as China and India.

After more than a decade of tracking consumers' use of digital technology, global communications company Havas Worldwide has undertaken a major study to look at emerging paths to purchase around the world. Working with research partner Market Probe International, Havas Worldwide surveyed 10,219 adults in 31 countries, representing a combined population of more than five billion.

U.S. sample findings from the study include:

• In-store as showroom for digital commerce: Globally, 43 percent of those surveyed have used a smartphone to check for a better price or product reviews online while shopping for a product in a store. The practice is standard in China (74 percent), India (62 percent), and Singapore (58 percent).  Yet, in the United States, less than one-third of consumers (32 percent) have used a mobile phone for comparison shopping or research while browsing a brick-and-mortar retailer.
• Americans are less likely to see a smartphone as a POS: Despite the majority of top retailers investing R&D dollars in mobile apps, only 26 percent of US consumers are comfortable purchasing products with their smartphones. Conversely, in China and India the majority of consumers are comfortable doing so (64 and 54 percent).
• Americans are less worried about privacy/security when shopping online:  Despite high-profile security breaches regularly making headlines in the US, Americans are less concerned than their global counterparts about sharing sensitive information online or being the victim of fraud. Globally, 78 percent of consumers worry at least occasionally about their security when shopping online.  More than half (54 percent) of respondents in Brazil worry every time they make a purchase online, as do 49 percent in Chile, 43 percent in Colombia and Mexico, and 32 percent in Argentina. Similarly, 37 percent in France and 33 percent in Italy are every-time worriers. In contrast, only 1 in 10 Americans worry every time they place an order online, and 1 in 4 report that they are never or only rarely concerned about the security of their information while making purchases online.
• Peer reviews have less influence over Americans: More than 3 in 5 global respondents (61 percent) trust peer reviews of products and services more than they trust expert reviews. Here, too, percentages are far higher in China and India (87 and 74 percent), as well as Brazil (78 percent), than in the US (58 percent).

"Our study explores how consumers are moving on from the last decade's relatively simple and static model of digital commerce to the more complex and dynamic systems of m-shopping, using a mix of fixed and mobile devices," says Matt Weiss, Global Chief Marketing Officer of Havas Worldwide. "This shift is most pronounced in Asia, where wider adoption of m-shopping is giving brands and developers great incentive to push through new mobile-centric services. They're well placed to be ahead of the curve in the coming generations of m-shopping technologies and systems."

"Brands and their marketers need to understand that mobile technologies are far more than just desktop digital in a handier format, especially in markets where desktop is not as common," says Marianne Hurstel, Vice President, Havas Worldwide's BETC and global chief strategy officer, Havas Worldwide. "They are radically changing the consumer-brand relationship. Mobile devices provide each consumer with a personal 24/7 media space in which they control who and what appears."

"The evolution of digital from a desktop paradigm to a mobile paradigm makes it far more difficult for marketers to retain consumers' attention," says Matt Weiss. "In markets where smartphones are the norm, brands must aim to create preference by developing apps that make transactions quick and seamless, and that offer more value than the consumer can find elsewhere. More and more, this will mean making smart use of data to engage people at point of purchase with tailored offers that convince them to close the deal."

PRNewswire