Next Great Thing

Citysense is a new service that takes a mass approach to location-based services (LBS). Just as Twitter poses the question “What are you doing?,” Citysense asks, “What is everybody in my city doing right now?”.

Based on users’ inputs, the service can show you how active locations in their area are at the moment. If certain areas are well as which ones are abnormally active, they’ll be displayed in red on a sharp infrared-style map (right)–perfect for the agoraphobic, or traffiphobic. To this end, the developers have included an alarm that will wake you up earlier if the city is busier than normal before your commute.

This type of movement tracking recalls a recent study that used location-tracking data from 100,000 cellphones in Europe to monitor human movement. The study suggested that most people can be found in one of just a few locations at any time, and that they do not generally go far from home. While some had concerns about the privacy implications, it was a step towards answering the question of how to measure something as ephemeral as movement. Data like this could be used to create computer models for understanding emergency response, urban planning and the spread of disease.

The developers of Citysense have also made anthropological use of their data. According to O’Reilly Radar, the Chief Scientist is modeling the flow of data and has delineated seven “tribes” of people.

Each group is represented by a color and each one has it’s own type of destination (for example Greens are more likely to end up in the hospital after a night out). Very interestingly those destination-types translate across multiple cities — suddenly it becomes a lot easier to figure out where to go when you are in a new city. You can watch two Processing visualizations that shows the tribes moving around SF (one, two).

This last point is what Citysense will be moving towards in the future. That is, it will answer the question: “Where’s everybody like me?” In this case, it sounds like Dodgeball or Loopt, but for people you don’t know. Will that be an attractive proposition? Will people want to meet up with random, yet like-minded users? Online, sure, but offline is a different ballgame, right? One would think, but online connections are increasingly facilitating offline meetups. Just look at the “team buying,” or tuangou, phenomenon. Chinese shoppers began discussing prices online in chat rooms and forums, then meeting up at a store, flash mob-style, to bargain a discount on the spot. Now dozens of team-buying websites have sprung up to catch the trend. But one need not look further than online dating to see the potential of profile-matched meet-ups. Mobile dating services like ipling and BEDD are springing up based on the concept of mobile matchmaking.

Still in beta, Citysense is launching in San Francisco and then Chicago for starters. It’s an opt-in service–if you sign up you allow them to locate you–so its success depends on widespread adoption. Indeed, it can never truly answer the question of where everybody is–maybe just your next date.

Once a year, some sixty miles south of Nashville, Route 24 is invaded by thousands of music fans forming an endless line of traffic that goes on for miles. For four days, they flood Manchester, Tennessee (population 8,294) turning it into the biggest flash-city in the United States–all in the name of rock n’ roll.

The annual Bonnaroo Music Festival, which was once dubbed the ‘present day Woodstock’, has come to represent today’s eclectic iPod generation. How often does one have the opportunity to see Willie Nelson, Metallica, Kanye West and BB King all in one weekend? The word “Bonnaroo” is Cajun slang meaning “have a really good time,” which is the ultimate goal Bonnaroo’s planners strive to accomplish.

While over 150 acts performed at this year’s festival, it was possible to find fun and innovative things to do without even hearing a single note of music. Bonnaroo 2008 is a great example of a new breed of festival–an experience where attendees are offered an array of activities aside from just music. You could dance it up in the silent disco, get your hair done at the salon, take a few swings at the batting cage, sing your favorite rock anthem backed by a live band at the karaoke lounge, get your game on at the video game tent, even record and edit your own mobile video that could end up in Spike Lee’s new documentary film. The list goes on and on…

That’s not to say that music wasn’t the main attraction. Main stage headliners Metallica and Pearl Jam blew away concert goers, while special late night sets by DJ Tiesto and My Morning Jacket kept us all up until the wee hours of the morning with epic performances.

But while Bonnaroo, and many festivals like it, are usually an escape from the outside world, politics and high gas prices were topic that were consistently addressed throughout the weekend by both festival- goers and artists alike.

On Friday night, Chris Rock performed for the largest audience ever for a comedian. During his hour plus set, he covered controversial issues in typical Chris Rock fashion. “Let me tell you something,” he jokes, “If I invade IHOP, pancakes become cheaper in my house.”

During Pearl Jam’s Saturday night set, lead singer Eddie Vedder spoke adamantly about the ever-increasing need for change. “It is welded in our Constitution that people have not only the right, but responsibility to make change,” Vedder told the cheering crowd of over 70,000.

Young attendees expressed their political beliefs as well (mostly liberal). Some fans decked out their cars and RVs with phrases like “Obamaroo” and “It’s time for change.” Others expressed their opinions by wearing politically-charged T-shirts expressing their distaste for the current state of our Government.

Many festival-goers made time for health and fitness. While some brought their yoga mats to stretch in the warm Tennessee sun, others caught one of the many workout classes being offered throughout the weekend. It was quite surprising for me to see so many people promoting good health at a music festival, considering the healthiest food being offered was pizza!

When all was said and done, Bonnaroo ‘08 was home to many spectacular performances and countless unique experiences. Until next year…

Nokia Rolling Out Mobile Advertising Training Labs [MocoNews]
Nokia is planning to set up “Ad Labs” in Boston and London in order to better educate traditional advertisers who shy away from the scary “black art” of mobile. They cite a lack of practitioners in the planning and creative concepting of mobile campaigns.

USA lags on cellphones’ marketing potential [USA Today]
During the Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival, US mobile marketing campaigns noticeably limped behind other global campaigns. The poor showing just goes to underscore the above.

Ben Heck Mods Atari 7800 into Portable Retro-Gaming Wonder [Gizmodo]
This retrofitted Atari 7800 is yet another example of Newstalgia. With the original insides plus a seven-inch widescreen, this old-school gaming unit is ready to play–today.

Sleep Texting? [Textually.org]
There is sleep walking, sleep talking, sleep eating and sleep driving; now we need to worry about sleep texting? Experts see the new phenomenon as a natural extension of the younger generation’s reliance on text messages for communication.

Duff McKagan Goes nuTsie for Mobile Music [Mobile Content Today]
Welcome to the jungle, Duff–the business jungle that is. Melodeo, parent company of nuTsie.com, announced yesterday that Duff McKagan, founding member of legendary rock band Guns N’ Roses has joined the company’s advisory board. nuTsie allows anyone to upload and listen to their iTunes music from any PC, mobile phone or smart phone as well as explore other users’ music. By jumping aboard a digital music venure, Kagan joins the ranks of M.C.Hammer, Ludacris and Justin Timberlake.

Technology to Promote Social Inclusion [PFSK]
In Brazil, mobile is helping to close the digital divide through a new location-based service. 0800 Rede Jovem lets young people discover free things to do in their neighborhoods, such as sports lessons, art exhibits and movies, as well as job opportunities. In a country where 80% of 19 to 32-year-olds own a mobile phone, the program has gained traction. 93% of members found the information useful, 62% acted on it, and 64% passed it on to others.

Both of them. I couldn’t check email en route to the office. I’ll miss calls and texts today. I won’t know where my friends are tonight. People may think I’m rude, or dead. Indeed, my phone has become such an extension of myself, it’s like losing a limb. At least I’m at a computer today–otherwise, this would be truly tragic.

I’m not the only one who can’t deal without a phone. Even with the faltering economy, new research from Harris shows that people will get rid of their landlines and dinners out before their cellphone.

…the 60 percent of consumers who will limit their discretionary spending will curtail going out to restaurants (74 percent) and limit their purchase of electronics (71 percent). 41 percent of consumers, however, have no plans to stop or cut-back on the purchase of cell phones…

For teens, it’s even more essential. OTX not only found that the cell phone was their most important device, but that over half “absolutely could not live without” it.

And this isn’t just in the Unites States. People in developing countries often invest in phones before healthcare, education–even housing.

“People making a dollar a day can’t afford a cellphone, but if they start making more profit in their farming, you can bet they’ll buy a phone as a next step,” Polak says.

In today’s world, connection is currency, and cell phones are the ultimate connectors. With mobile as such an integral part of people’s lives–especially young peoples’–it becomes a natural and incredibly powerful touchpoint for marketers. Add to this the targeting that can be done–by time, location, and demographics–and you have a win-win situation. Brands hit just the right person with relevant information they might actually use. That’s a far cry from a 30-second spot. Indeed, I wouldn’t care half as much if I left my TV at home.

Workers Refuse Jobs with No Facebook [News.com.au]

For younger workers, staying socially networked is essential–even at the office. According to a recent study, a third of 18-to-24-year-olds would consider jumping ship if Facebook was banned, while 21 percent more said they’d be “annoyed”. Nearly half of businesses in the U.S. restrict employee access to social networks because they hog bandwidth (both digital and mental). But lets consider this: the 40-hour workweek died with the Internet; there is an expectation of 24/7 access now. Social and professional lives have bled into one another, and social networks like Facebook fuel both. Perhaps Singaporean company, Serena Software, has the right idea with their “Facebook Fridays.”

Thirty Countries Exceed 100% Per Capita Cell Phone Usage [Research Brief]

Global mobile usage continues to grow with two third of the global population texting daily. The US is scheduled to reach 100% per capita mobile usage by the year 2013.

Loopt Social Mapping Service Now Available on Most Popular BlackBerry Phones From Sprint, Alltel, T-Mobile and AT&T [PR Newswire]

Location-based social mapping and networking service Loopt will now be available to download free for BlackBerry-wielding customers, regardless of their carrier. With the creation of social LBS apps for the iPhone, will people just hang out with like-phoned friends? There’s always Dodgeball!

So Young, and So Gadgeted [NY Times]

What comes first: Cellphone or avatar? When should a kid get a laptop? Matching Piaget’s developmental stages with hip, education tech tools looks to be the next phase of education.

Survey: 80% of Youth Using P2P Would Pay for Legal Version [b-side]

80% of UK Youth overwhelmingly agreed to pay for a legal music file-sharing subscription. UK youth average 1,770 song files on their MP3s with half of them illegal downloads.

Sony lifts mobile gaming with Wii-style handset [Times Online]

Sony Ericsson has released a gesture-controlled handset with Gesturetek technology, similar to the Korean Samsung phone we talked about. Hoping to tap into the casual gamer market, everyone’s favorite time-waster, Brickbreaker, will come pre-installed.

WeMix turns mobile into mic for artists [Mobile Marketer]

Want to be the next Ludacris? We sure do. The rapper’s new site WeMix.com is a music creation community that acts as a user-generated record label, giving unsigned singers, rappers, musicians and producers a channel to be heard and get discovered. Now thanks to VoodVox you can audition over the phone, laying down vocals, tracks and beats and uploading for others (and Luda himself) to hear.