Web Challengers Inc. - The Directory of Excellent Web Challengers!!

Robocalypse - Mobile Mayhem - Vogster Entertainment, LLC

Ravi — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 11:02:34 +0000

Robocalypse in collaboration with www.FreeAppaDay.com will be Free today and today only!

Real Time Strategy, Real Fun.

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**IGN: 8.8/10 + Editor's Choice Award
**Pocket Gamer: 8/10 + Silver Award
**TouchGen: 4.5/5
**UK's News Shopper: 8/10
**Slide To Play: 4/4

Based on the AWARD-WINNING fast-action strategy title for the Nintendo DS™!

Robocalypse – Mobile Mayhem features all the zany characters, hilarious dialog and exciting-yet-accessible action of the original game - enhanced for the iPhone's unique features!

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Featured on "5 awesome online-multiplayer games for iPhone"
-cnet

"Not only does Robocalypse actually make strategy fun but... it’s quite unlike any other game I’ve seen before... a highly polished and enjoyable game."
-UK's News Shopper

"Robot + Apocalypse = Awesome"
-No DPad

"Robocalypse is an entertaining and humorous game that any strategy gamer should check out."
-Touch Arcade

“A real-time strategy title with just about everything on the ball."
-Macworld

“..An extremely funny, well executed RTS... possibly capable of outshining Command and Conquer when it arrives in the app store."
-148Apps

“This is a polished RTS that will put a smile on your face. Strategy fans shouldn't let it go by unnoticed.”
-IGN.com

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In Robocalypse – Mobile Mayhem, players build and command robot armies to fend off attacks from the evil Demolisher and his near-endless supply of maniacal mechanical marauders.

The game features characters and dialog created by the comedic writing duo of Jay Lender (of Spongebob Squarepants™ fame) and Micah Wright and a storyline sure to keep players laughing for hours on end.

Featuring 10 unit types, 20 varieties of weaponry, 17 campaign missions, 18 unique multiplayer maps, a cast of powerful Hero robots and an intuitive touch-screen interface, Robocalypse – Mobile Mayhem ensures fun for everyone.

Robocalypse – Mobile Mayhem is playable online by 1 to 4 players – Play head-to-head or co-op over 18 unique maps and multiple play modes.

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For additional information, please visit www.robocalypse.com

Follow Robocalypse on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Robocalypse/75826035885
And follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/Vogster

Robocalypse - Mobile Mayhem

Vogster Entertainment, LLC

Free

http://a1.phobos.apple.com/us/r1000/013/Purple/d9/f1/f0/mzl.qedxuxxv.53x...

http://a1.phobos.apple.com/us/r1000/013/Purple/d9/f1/f0/mzl.qedxuxxv.75x...

http://a1.phobos.apple.com/us/r1000/013/Purple/d9/f1/f0/mzl.qedxuxxv.100...

2008 Vogster Entertainment, LLC

2009-09-18T00:00:00-07:00
Source: [Top 10 Free Apps]

Taylor Swift - Mobile Roadie

Ravi — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 11:02:30 +0000

Taylor Swift's Official iPhone Application featuring news, music, photos, videos & more! Stay connected with all the latest updates from Taylor on your iPhone.

Taylor Swift

Mobile Roadie

Free

http://a1.phobos.apple.com/us/r1000/020/Purple/21/c7/6b/mzl.hkmqpree.53x...

http://a1.phobos.apple.com/us/r1000/020/Purple/21/c7/6b/mzl.hkmqpree.75x...

http://a1.phobos.apple.com/us/r1000/020/Purple/21/c7/6b/mzl.hkmqpree.100...

2010-02-22T00:00:00-07:00
Source: [Top 10 Free Apps]

Scoops - Ice Cream Fun For Everyone - NimbleBit

Ravi — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 11:02:27 +0000

** Free for a limited time for Dizzypad Awareness Month **

Stack your ice cream cone high into the sky by tilting the phone left and right, catching as many scoops as you can while avoiding the vegetables (veggies ARE great apart from icecream!). The higher you go, the faster they fall, and the more wobbly your tower! Stack similar colors together for extra points.

Can you stack your cone past the MOON? Throw on some tunes in iPod, and start stacking! Scoops is fun for kids and adults alike, everyone in the family can take a turn.

"Scoops acheives what almost every game should have, simple but immesely fun gameplay. Not is it just good fun, this game will have you flicking through your home screen’s right back to it." - iPhoneAppReviewer.com

Features:
- Daily world wide leaderboard
- Tilt based controls
- Color matching bonuses
- Local high scores
- Pause on touch, and during iPod controls
- Send scores to friends

Scoops - Ice Cream Fun For Everyone

NimbleBit

Free

http://a1.phobos.apple.com/us/r1000/032/Purple/36/de/76/mzl.fqitlqpq.53x...

http://a1.phobos.apple.com/us/r1000/032/Purple/36/de/76/mzl.fqitlqpq.75x...

http://a1.phobos.apple.com/us/r1000/032/Purple/36/de/76/mzl.fqitlqpq.100...

2008 Ian Marsh

2008-09-26T00:00:00-07:00
Source: [Top 10 Free Apps]

Baby Scratch - Async

Ravi — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 11:02:25 +0000

Introducing Baby Scratch: the first iPhone DJ Turntable with a built in sampler! Scratch your own voice! Annoy your friends!

Features:
• sampler (if you can hear it, you can scratch it!)
• the Flare scratch engine
• battle record with classic DJ samples
• 3 built-in beat loops
• level fader
• transformer button

Baby Scratch

Async

Free

http://a1.phobos.apple.com/us/r1000/021/Purple/20/78/b7/mzl.kwsfxdgj.53x...

http://a1.phobos.apple.com/us/r1000/021/Purple/20/78/b7/mzl.kwsfxdgj.75x...

http://a1.phobos.apple.com/us/r1000/021/Purple/20/78/b7/mzl.kwsfxdgj.100...

Async Pty Ltd

2009-12-14T00:00:00-07:00
Source: [Top 10 Free Apps]

FourWhere Mashes Up Foursquare and Google Maps

Ravi — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 10:57:40 +0000

Sooner or later, every popular web service with an API spawns a Google Maps mashup. FourWhere, which launches today, combines data from the increasingly popular location-based social network Foursquare with a Google Maps-based interface. Thanks to this, you can now easily find Foursquare venues around your current location or a location you plan to visit. The site was developed by social media analytics service Sysomos.

Sponsor

The FourWhere service itself is pretty basic. You simply browse the Google Maps interface and a right-click anywhere on the map will bring up a menu that allows you to either see nearby venues on the map or user comments about these nearby venues. In the future, Sysomos also plans to add additional services based on the company's extensive database of social media sources.

First Step Towards Integrating LBS Analytics Into Sysomos' Main Services

As Sysomos co-founder Nilesh Bansal told us, the company plans to bring location-based sources - including Foursquare - to Heartbeat and MAP, Sysomos' professional social media and analytics and media monitoring applications. For Sysomos, launching a free service is just a first stop towards learning more about this space.

As services like Foursquare, Gowalla and others continue to gain momentum and slowly inch towards the mainstream, social media monitoring services like Sysomos or Radian6 need to give their customers to monitor these communities. If these services go mainstream, a bad comment on Foursquare about a restaurant could easily have the same effect as a negative Twitter message or Yelp review.

Source: [ Web 3.0 (Design)]

CheapTweet Wades Through the Sea of Tweet Deals

Ravi — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 10:57:38 +0000

Whether a website sells off your email address or forces you to install some pop-up plagued toolbar just to get 10% off your next online purchase, searching for online coupons can involve treading in dangerous waters. Enter CheapTweet, which uses both algorithms and crowdsourcing to verify its content, and suddenly looking for the best deals online isn't quite so scary.

The self-described "Twitter-based social deals search engine site" does precisely that

- it finds tweets about deals and coupons through a custom search algorithm and then allows its users to upvote or downvote the deals on its site.

Sponsor

Tweeting deals, if your wondering, can be big business. In 2009, Dell made more than $6.5 million through Twitter deals and CheapTweet probably sent a few of those customers their direction. The ad aggregator is actually celebrating its 5 millionth indexed deal with a roll-out of a refurbished website, which includes upgrades to its search engine, the voting mechanism, a redesign and and new feature, the "DealStream".

CheapTweet allows its users to search for deals by category and keyword and will customize the stream of tweets according to their votes and Twitter conversations. They can also up and down vote tweets, like they've become accustomed to on sites like Reddit, Digg or Google Moderator. The "DealStream", which contains a user's customized results, can also be read as an RSS feed.

As CEO Hayes Davis points out in a press release, CheapTweet is poised to help distinguish the good from the bad as more and more companies prepare to monetize through Twitter.

"Online channels will only become more cluttered, as social networks start to monetize with ads," said Davis. "CheapTweet's service makes it easier for shoppers to sort through the clutter online and shop more effectively."

We've not only heard a number of rumors and anonymous tips on what the Twitter ad platform will look like, but other companies like 140 Proof have begun to enter the market, bringing tweet-like ads to third party clients. This doesn't even account for the vast number of small businesses taking advantage of the service to pass out Web-only deals and coupons.

With all of these ads, CheapTweet will help weed out the bad apples. Its users down vote nefarious tweets, the algorithm cuts out spam using a form of natural language processing and the multiple tweets about the same deal are combined to cut down on the noise.

We think that a service like CheapTweet has found a perfect niche and its the ideal service to recommend to your less technically-savvy relatives, as well as those just looking for a deal. Like we said, searching for online deals can put you in some dangerous waters and this service helps clear out some of the flotsam and jetsam.

Source: [Web 3.0 (Design)]

Springpad Takes on Evernote with Semantic Technology, Barcode Scanner

Ravi — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 10:47:36 +0000

Springpad, a rival to Evernote's popular cross-platform note-taking service, has just bumped the competition up a notch with a new release that integrates semantic technology to automatically enhance the notes you save with relevant info. What this means is that if you save a movie, Springpad is smart enough to know it's a movie and it will offer you showtimes. If you save a product, Springpad displays price comparisons and links to shopping sites. Save a recipe and you get menu suggestions. And the list goes on. In other words, Springpad doesn't want to just be a note-taking app, it wants to be a fully realized digital assistant.

Sponsor

Evernote vs Springpad: the iPhone App

While Evernote is, at this point, still the more robust product when it comes to supported platforms -the company offers Windows, Mac, iPhone, Android and Blackberry versions in addition to a platform-agnostic "web clipper" - Springpad is starting to catch up. Along with the numerous enhancements launching today, the company now offers their own "web clipper" browser bookmarklet (previously in beta) along with an iPhone application for mobile note-taking and reminders.

Like Evernote's iPhone app, Springpad's app (iTunes link) lets you input text or snap a photo, but it also integrates a barcode scanner which takes advantage of the phone's camera in order to record and save a specific product. In addition, the iPhone app lets you browse items by type in case there's something you want to remember, but don't have it right in front of you. This is ideal for adding things like restaurants or movies - the sort of things that come up in conversation ("You really should rent this movie - it's great!") but are later forgotten as we return to our busy lives.

The Smart Web Clipper Knows What You're Bookmarking

Also new today is the web clipper. Now out of beta, this bookmarking tool lets you save anything you see on the Internet to your notes. This can be a product, a restaurant, a book, a movie, a recipe, a wine, a business or just a simple bookmark of a page which you can choose to annotate if desired.

What's different about this tool is the way it uses semantic technology to understand what it is that you're saving and offer relevant links to other information when you view it again in Springpad. For example, after adding a recipe, you'll be provided with "quick links" for actions like "add to shopping list," "search for coupons," "send to me" (an email option) and "print recipe." You can also add your own notes or personal tags (e.g., "March dinner party") if desired.

The App Store: Do Something with your Notes

Springpad users also have an included app store that helps you do things with the items you save. Although not listed among today's updates, this is arguably one of the company's standout features which should appeal both to new users or those switching from Evernote. Instead of just providing a searchable repository of notes and saved items, Springpad lets you add apps that help you actually do something with the items you collected. There's a wine notebook for those who want to record wine reviews and selections, a weekly meal planner for recipe snippers, a movie tracker for film aficionados, a travel checklist for vacation planning and even a blog post planner for scribes like us. And there are dozens more, too. Additionally, later this year, Springpad will launch an API for developers who want to build their own apps for this directory.

More of What's New: Sharing Tools & a Smart Quick-Add Bar

Other new features today include social sharing option which lets you post to Facebook and Twitter, a personalized email address for sending in thoughts, notes, itineraries and confirmation numbers, and a smart "quick-add bar." This bar lets you type in anything into Springpad's web interface to receive a list of suggestions from across a number of web services and the publicly shared notes from other Springpad users. If you find yourself always coming across suggestions from particular users, you may want to "friend" them on Springpad. The friending model used here is one that mimics Twitter's involving one-way connections betweens followers and "followees." This makes Springpad more social than Evernote without the pressures of having to accept or reject requests like on Facebook.

As of now, Springpad has a lot to offer those interested in a web-based and mobile note-taking application. However, you may find Evernote to be a slightly more stable service. We ran into a couple of slowdowns when using Springpad's website today. In addition, the suggestions displayed in the quick-add bar aren't as speedy as your typical search engine's autosuggest feature is. However, if you're looking to do more with your notes than simply collect them, Springpad is shaping up to be a viable alternative to Evernote. It's no longer a mere note-taking app - it's more of a digital assistant...and who couldn't use one of those?

Source: [ Web 3.0 (Design)]

Facebook To Sell Tickets With Eventbrite

Ravi — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 10:47:33 +0000

Facebook looks to be partnering with event marketplace Eventbrite, a move may have been foreshadowed by recent design changes on the site. The announcement of a partnership was first noticed by a Facebook user who sent in a screenshot to TechCrunch this morning.

Facebook's recent redesign has showed a much more public events page, a feature that would go along with selling tickets to events quite perfectly.

Sponsor

The text of the announcement, which was hosted at facebook.eventbrite.com but has since been removed, read as follows:

Collect money for your event with Eventbrite

Eventbrite is partnering with Facebook to enable you to collect money for your event. Your attendees pay with credit card and Eventbrite collects the money on your behalf and sends you a check when your event is over. We charge a small service fee for every ticket sold. 5.5% + $.99c, which attendees pay, costing you nothing.

Eventbrite has helped event organizers around the world sell over 10 million tickets. We're excited to help you sell yours and put some delightful cash in your pocket.

Until recently, the Facebook events page was primarily focused on one thing - the events you had specifically been invited to. That's no longer the case. Now, clicking on the "Events" link in the left column brings you to a page that lists not only all the events you're invited to, but any public events that any of your friends are attending.

This seems like a definite shift in focus toward becoming more of a go-to place for finding what's going on around you instead of just keeping track of invites. And if companies can get in on the game and start offering events that users can purchase tickets for through Facebook, then we're talking.

Eventbrite had already made it easy for its users to share events they created on the Eventbrite website on Facebook. This announcement would not only be sharing events, but allowing Facebook users to buy tickets through the site.

Update: We heard back from Facebook and this is what they had to say on the supposed deal:

EventBrite is currently testing a Connect implementation. We don't have anything more to share at this time.

Source: [ Web 3.0 (Design)]

Miso: A Foursquare-Like App for Homebodies

Ravi — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 10:47:27 +0000

If your Foursquare check-ins could be limited to backyard outings and trips to the mailbox, you may be interested in a new mobile application called Miso. With this service, a startup from Bazaar Labs, also the makers of a social network called Flixup! for movie chatter, you can perform Foursquare-like "check-ins" when watching a particular TV show or movie. Homebodies, this app is for you.

Sponsor

With Miso, instead of checking in to locations outside of your home, like bars, restaurants and events as you do with popular mobile applications like Foursquare, Brightkite, Loopt and Gowalla, the Miso app takes the "check-in" model and uses it to connect people enjoying TV shows and movies. Although you could check-in when watching a movie at a local theater, the app is just as useful to those who tend to stay at home.

Foursquare for the Boring?

For those with the heyday of youth behind them, social outings to bars and restaurants and other "fun" events are slowly replaced with more boring trips to the grocery store, playgroup meetups and other errands unworthy of sharing with a mobile social network. In addition, tighter household budgets forced upon families by the down economy has many trading weekly evenings out for low-cost movie nights at home, cuddled up with the latest Netflix DVD - or even just good ol' fashioned cable TV.

Thanks to Miso, even homebodies like this can participate in the check-in craze. Although you can still share what you see at the theater, if desired, the beauty of this app is that you don't need a social life to socialize via your mobile. Instead, you can just chat it up with other fans of home entertainment, where you discuss the latest episode of "Lost" or the newest HBO original movie, for example.

Using Miso

To use the app, you "check in" by sharing what you're watching. And as with Foursquare, you can unlock badges the more use participate on the network. (At last - couch potatoes can have badges too!) These badges help you show off your interests to other Miso users so you can connect with similarly like-minded folks.

According to news from MobileBeat, a new version of the app is set to go live this week during the South by Southwest conference. In the updated release, you'll have the ability to add location along with your check-in - in case you ever make it out to the local cinemaplex after all. You can grab your copy of Miso from here (iTunes link).

Source: [Web 3.0 (Design)]

New State Law Bumps Colorado Off Amazon's Affiliate Map

Ravi — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 10:47:22 +0000

Online retailer Amazon has ended all Colorado-based affiliate accounts after a new law passed by the state's legislature would have forced them to collect and pay state sales taxes. The law, HB 10-1193, states that any affiliate marketer making more than $10,000 for a retailer is declared a legal agent, and a state presence, of that company. Rather than be forced to pay the state taxes, Amazon has instead side-stepped the law by closing its doors to all affiliates based in Colorado.

Sponsor

Residents of the state can still buy from Amazon and can even be referred by affiliates in other states, but the company's affiliates in Colorado are out of luck. In a letter to its affiliates announcing the termination of their accounts on Monday, Amazon decried the new Colorado state law and encouraged affiliates to "express their views" to the General Assembly and to Governor Bill Ritter.

"There is a right way for Colorado to pursue its revenue goals, but this new law is a wrong way," Amazon wrote in a letter to it's affiliates. "As we repeatedly communicated to Colorado legislators, including those who sponsored and supported the new law, we are not opposed to collecting sales tax within a constitutionally-permissible system applied even-handedly. The US Supreme Court has defined what would be constitutional, and if Colorado would repeal the current law or follow the constitutional approach to collection, we would welcome the opportunity to reinstate Colorado-based Associates."

A court decision in 1992 ruled that online retailers only have to pay state sales taxes to those in which they have a physical presence in, such as with offices or warehouses. Colorado's new law says that affiliates represent a presence in the state, but in reality they are just marketing partners, not part of the company as the law suggests.

Backlash yesterday was largely targeted at the Colorado legislature, and not at Amazon for ending the program. It makes more sense for Amazon to end their affiliate program in Colorado than to be forced to file state taxes, especially since they can still make money from customers in the state. By attempting to collect on taxes from online retailers, Colorado has effectively shot themselves in the foot; Amazon affiliates can no longer make any income which means less income tax for the state to collect. There are other companies through which to run an affiliate account, but why would they want to pay taxes either?

"I should have come out very publicly about this when I first heard about it," writes investor Brad Feld, himself one of Amazon's discontinued Colorado affiliates. "I expect the Internet Affiliate business in Colorado will completely die within the next thirty days (every company that has an affiliate business will turn off all of their Colorado-based affiliates.)"

The Colorado legislature should have foreseen this outcome - it's not the first time Amazon has been forced to shut down affiliate programs. In July of 2009, Amazon closed off their programs in Rhode Island and North Carolina, and has previously sued over a law passed in New York in 2008. The suit, however, was eventually thrown out and Amazon has since been paying taxes for New York affiliates they feel are too valuable to give up.

The decision in Colorado should make entrepreneurs and small business owners participating in similar affiliate programs in any state nervous, especially those in states with large deficits and small consumer markets. California's budget woes and it's large consumer economy could make a bad combination for Amazon who might be unwilling to give up their valuable affiliate program there if a similar law is enacted. The problem for affiliates in smaller states is that Amazon won't think twice about shutting down their program there, as evidenced by Rhode Island and North Carolina.

Source: [Web 3.0 (Design)]