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Summer Reading

Published on July 14, 2010 in Books. Closed Tags: 2020, Andrew-Keen, bioengineering, biotech, Books, chromatophoria, Clay-Shirky, cult of the amateur, cybertheatre, Douglas-Rushkoff, Google, Henry-Jenkins, Jaron-Lanier, jeff jarvis, life inc, m2020, media education, mobile, MuLiMob, participatory culture, presentation secrest, reading, recommendations, rober h carlson, singularity, steve-jobs, summer, Trends.

Today my summer order from Amazon arrived

Here’s the list of books included I want to read this summer.

Absolute MUST READ and/or recommendations by friends:

You Are Not a Gadget: A Manifesto by Jaron Lanier

One of the godfathers of “virtual reality”… I’ve worked with Jaron with Chromatophoria at the CyberTheatre in Brussels in the nineties. I have always been following his work since then. This year, he released this book that has been recommended to me by many friends. The New York Times wrote in its review earlier this year: “It is necessary reading for anyone interested in how the Web and the software we use every day are reshaping culture and the marketplace.”

Life Inc.: How the World Became a Corporation and How to Take It Back by Douglas Rushkoff

I had the chance to collaborate with Douglas in the MuLiMob project a couple of years ago and he was so kind to participate to the Mobile Trends 2020 document I curated earlier this year (nearly 80k views by now!). Douglas has always been a great inspiration for me, he wrote a couple of interesting books the last decade. Life INc. is another MUST READ that has been receiving a lot of attention lately.

Biology Is Technology: The Promise, Peril, and New Business of Engineering Life by Robert H. Carlson

Tipped by friend Yuri van Geest (@vangeest), I’m really looking forward to start reading this one: this book should give me a deeper insight on (r)evolutions in bioengineering and a progress update on singularity.

Confronting the Challenges of Participatory Culture: Media Education for the 21st Century by Henry Jenkins

Convergence Culture (where old and new media collide) by the same author I read a couple of years ago so I definately didn’t want to miss this update focused on media education. From the back cover: “This report aims to shift the conversation about the “digital divide” from questions about access to technology to questions about access to opportunities for involvement in participatory culture and how to provide all young people with the chance to develop the cultural competencies and social skills needed.”

Then there are ones I didn’t had the chance yet to read and that were still recommended by friend Gerd Leonhard (@gleonhard), so I ordered them too:

The Cult of the Amateur by Andrew Keen

What Would Google Do? by Jeff Jarvis

And this one I was just curious to read:

Here Comes Everybody: The Power of Organizing Without Organizations by Clay Shirky

And a practical one to close with:

The Presentation Secrets of Steve Jobs by Carmine Gallo

And now for the toughest part… Which book to start first

Feel free to suggest similar interest books you absolutely want recommend and share – for my post-summer order

Smaato Mobile Advertising Award: VC Partners and Nominees shortlist 2010 announced

Published on July 29, 2010 in Announcements, Awards, Conferences, Developers, Events, Innovation, Mobile Advertising, Mobile World Congress and Startups. Closed Tags: 2010, advertising, advertising award, Apple iOS, award, Barcelona, blackberry, CTIA, Developers, Google Android, Mobile World Congress, mwc11, mwc2011, RIM, Samsung Bada, San Francisco, Smaato, startup, symbian, Windows Phone.

Smaato Inc., announced the VC partners and a first set of nominees for the Smaato Mobile Advertising Award 2010. The award will honor mobile publishers or developers with an outstanding mobile ad-enabled solution in several categories: Apple iOS, Google Android, Samsung Bada, Symbian, Windows Phone, RIM Blackberry, websites, branded games and mobile campaigns.

The VC Partners include Frank Boehnke (Wellington), Tim Chang (Norvest Ventures), Niall Davis (aeris CAPITAL), Tim Draper (Draper Fisher Jurvetson), Jörg Sievert (SAP Ventures) and Frédéric Veyssière (Innovacom).

Besides meeting with the above named venture capital partners, Smaato will invite the overall winner to participate at Mobile World Congress, the world’s premier mobile event, taking place in Barcelona, Spain in February 2011. At Mobile World Congress, the winning company will be given the chance to show its services in front of the world’s mobile community.

Here is a preview at some of the nominated mobile apps and websites registered so far for this years’ competition.

4Square Labs, AccuRadio, AccuWeather.com, aka-aki, Aloqa, AroundMe, audioBoo, Barcode Scanner, Brightkite, Bubble, Bump, Buzzd, bWeather, Cellfire Grocery Coupons, City Sense, Compass, cooliris, delivr.com, Doodle Jump, eBay Mobile, eBuddy Messenger, Evernote, Facebook, Fandango Movies, FishLabs, Flirtomatic, Foursquare, Fring, Google Sky Map, Gypsii, Handmark Pocket Express, iCarly: Sam’s Remote Lite, ICQ, iheartradio, imeem Mobile, itsmy, Jumbuck, Kyte, Last.fm, Layar Reality Browser, Liquid Air Labs, Lufthansa, MapQuest 4 Mobile, Meebo IM, Mobiluck, moblr, Moco Space, moTweets, My Tracks, NearbyNow, Nimbuzz, NYTimes, Orbster, pageonce, PandaHome, Pandora Radio, Qeep, Qik Video Camera, RadioTime, RjDj, Rummble, Seesmic for Twitter, Shake, Shazam, Sherpa, Shozu, Skyfire Mobile, SMS2.0, Smule, SPB Mobile Software, Spotify, Squace, Tonchidot, TuneWiki, TV.com, virtual, Twidroid for Twitter, Twikini, unlike networks, USA TODAY, Venista m-Joy, Waze, The Weather Channel, Worldmate, Yelp, YomoMedia.

If you haven’t applied for the award yet, you can still register at www.smaato.com/award.

Deadline for submissions is August 20^th, 2010.

I’m again looking forward to review the entries together with the following jury members:

Andy Favell (mobiThinking), Bena Roberts (GoMoNews), Carlo Longino (WIP Mobile Jam), David Murphy (Mobile Marketing), Derek Kerton (Kerton Group), Frederic Lardinois (ReadWriteWeb), Giselle Tsirulnik (Mobile Marketer), Heike Scholz (Mobile Zeitgeist), James Cameron (Camerjam), Jim Cook (MobiAdNews), Kei Shimada (Infinita, JP), Lubna Dajani (Mobile Monday, NYC), Mark Wächter (Mobile Monday Germany & MMA), Matthäus Krzykowski (VentureBeat), Matthew Snyder (ADObjects), Michelle Sklar (bnetTV), Peggy Anne Salz (MSearchGroove), Ragnar Kruse (Smaato) and Tim Green (Mobile Entertainment).

The winner will be announced during CTIA San Francisco, October 6-8, 2010.

Vodafone Mobile Clicks 2010 Competition Announced

Published on July 27, 2010 in Announcements, Awards, Developers, Innovation, Mobile Events, Mobile Monday, MobileMonday, Startups, Vodafona Mobile Clicks and mobile 2.0. Closed Tags: 2010, amsterdam, apps, competition, Developers, Innovation, mobile, mobileclicks, picnic, startup, Startups, vfdev, vfmc2010, vodafone.

Vodafone today announced the launch of Vodafone Mobile Clicks 2010, a competition to identify and develop the best, most innovative mobile internet start-ups. Vodafone Mobile Clicks 2010 will run across three European markets – Netherlands, Portugal and UK.

UPDATE August 11:
Due to a lot of interest from Spanish mobile startups in the last 2 weeks Vodafone announced that Spanish participants are now allowed to register for this year’s contest as well. In sum, only startups from ES, NL, PT & UK are allowed to submit. Deadline will remain August 22nd, 2010 for all startups. Register at http://bit.ly/vmc2010.

The contest is open to any start-up with a great idea for a mobile site, service or application and entrants can compete for the €150,000 prize fund (€100,000 for 1st place and €50,000 to the runner-up) by submitting entries to www.vodafonemobileclicks.com. The competition is open now, and the closing date for entries is midnight, August 22nd, 2010.

Each entry will be judged on five criteria: originality, creativity and innovation; technical and operational feasibility; economic and financial viability; value to end-users; and finally, on the quality of the management team.

The judging will take place over three rounds. Each competing market will draw up a shortlist of their five best local submissions, a winner will be selected from each shortlist and finally all local winners will be invited to represent their country in a live final at the PICNIC Festival in Holland on September 24^th, 2010, where the overall winner will be chosen by a panel of mobile industry experts, including Om Malik, founder of the GigaOM Network, Russell Buckley, VP Global Alliances at Admob (recently acquired by Google), Peter Vesterbacka – Co-Founder Mobile Monday and myself.

This is the third time I will be part of the jury and I have to admit that this is one of the most exciting competitions for mobile startups. I am always impressed by the high standards of the jury selection process that Vodafone is setting, only the best startups come out of this competition. This year, I’m particulary happy to have some great pals and mobile industry experts in the jury. Can’t beat this one!

Launched in 2008, Vodafone Mobile Clicks is a Vodafone initiative designed to accelerate innovation in the mobile internet sector across Europe.

Previous Vodafone Mobile Clicks winners include Layar, an Amsterdam-based company who developed an augmented reality service that allows mobile customers to see information on nearby points of interest by simply looking through a phone’s camera lens. Layar has recently announced a strategic partnership with phone manufacturers LG and Samsung.

For further information about the Vodafone Mobile Clicks 2010 competition, or to enter your company, go to: http://www.vodafonemobileclicks.com

Here below are the Entry Criteria:

- Vodafone Mobile Clicks 2010 is open to any individual aged 18 or over resident in the Netherlands, Portugal or the United Kingdom and to Dutch, Portuguese and UK-based start-up companies, businesses, institutions and all other organisations.

- Participants must be or must have the intention to become a start-up enterprise/business in the field of mobile internet products or services. Start-up in this context means that the enterprise/business must be less than 3 years old.

- Each participant may submit only one entry.

- Entries from Vodafone Mobile Clicks 2008 and 2009 may resubmit to Vodafone Mobile Clicks 2010.

Good luck to all participants and I hope to see you at the finals at PICNIC!

The AppCircus Autumn Tour

Published on July 23, 2010 in Announcements, App Economy, AppCircus, Application Stores, Applications, Awards, Barcelona, Developers, Mobile Apps, Mobile Monday, Mobile Premier Awards, MobileMonday, app stores and apps. Closed Tags: AppCircus, apps, appstore, Developers, dotopen, droidcon, Events, mobile, MobileMonday, mobilepremierawards, mpa2011, opencoffee, organizers, pitches, Presentations, Startups.

We are currently putting together the AppCircus calendar of events for this autumn. We have already some 30 cities confirmed that will integrate an AppCircus at their local event, ranging from Mobile Mondays or Open Coffee Club events to droidcon camps and other international conferences. We have events scheduled in North America, LATAM, EMEA and Asia.

If you’re interested to host an AppCircus at your event in your city, feel free to contact us to receive more information as an organizer or as a supporter.

The AppCircus is an open source global traveling showcase of the most creative and innovative apps presented by their creators during some of the most influential international events in mobile/web. AppCircus is open to developers, startups and any other organization.

Here’s a short recap of the FAQ to organize an AppCircus at your local event:

* it’s FREE!
* it integrates easily into any event (you just need 20 to 40 minutes for 5 or 10 app presentations)
* you can keep any local sponsoring you raise
* we share international sponsoring (if available)
* you select your local jury to select the presenting apps
* it’s your local nomination to the Mobile Premier Awards

If you’d like to be included in our launch communications in September and get your event scheduled on our website, please contact us asap and we’ll get back to you with all details.

Habitar – Bending The Urban Frame

Published on July 11, 2010 in Announcements, Augmented Reality, Experience Design, Future of Mobile, Innovation, Innovation in Mobile, Internet of Things, Mobile Culture, Mobile Trends 2020, Near Field Communication (NFC), Sustainability, Ubiquitous Acces, Ubiquity, Urban and mobile 2.0. Closed Tags: architecture, city, design, design scenarios, emerging, fabien-girardin, habitar, jose luis de vicente, mediateca expandida, Networked Urbanism, nomadic architecture, participatory systems, spatial intelligence, Urban, urban frame, urban future, urban software, urbanisation.

Last week, I received a copy of the HABITAR magazine, titled “Bending The Urbam Frame”. Habitar is a walk through new emerging scenarios in the city curated by José Luis de Vicente with the help of Fabien Girardin, both based in Barcelona.

“Utopian and radical architects in the 1960s predicted that cities in the future would not only be made of brick and mortar, but also defined by bits and flows of information. The urban dweller would become a nomad who inhabits a space in constant flux, mutating in real time. Their vision has taken on new meaning in an age when information networks rule over many of the city’s functions, and define our experiences as much as the physical infrastructures, while mobile technologies transform our sense of time and of space.”

The magazine is a catalogue of ideas and images from world-class artists, design and architecture studios, and hybrid research centres including Timo Arnall, Julian Bleecker, Ángel Borrego – Office for Strategic Spaces, Nerea Calvillo, Citilab-Cornellà, Pedro Miguel Cruz, Dan Hill, IaaC – Instituto de Arquitectura Avanzada de Cataluña, kawamura-ganjavian + Maki Portilla Kawamura + Tanadori Yamaguchi, Aaron Koblin, Philippe Rahm architectes, Marina Rocarols, Enrique Soriano, Pep Tornabell, Theodore Molloy, Semiconductor, SENSEable City Lab, Mark Shepard.

Together they come up with a series of potential tools, solutions and languages to negotiate everyday life in the new urban situation.

This new urban landscape is no longer predicated solely on architecture and urbanism. These disciplines now embrace emerging methodologies that bend the physical with new measures, representations and maps of urban dynamics such as traffic or mobile phone flows. Representations of usage patterns and mapping the life of the city amplify our collective awareness of the urban environment as a living organism. These soft and invisible architectures fashion sentient and reactive environments.

The works are also exposed in an exhibition in LABoral – Centro de Arte y Creación Industrial in Gijon [Asturias] in Spain.

You can download a PDF copy of the magazine here but I recommend you buy the paperbook version, you can buy it here (English – Spansih – price = 5 €).

The work is a real recommendation for everyone interested in new emerging urban scenarios, urban design, planning & architecture, nomadic architecture, spatial intelligence, urban software, participatory systems in cities and networked urbanism.