News // Facebook makes an emotive purchase.

Photograph: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

In a recent deal, Facebook has acquired the photo-sharing app Instagram for $1bn - a huge investment and one that has drawn much attention from media experts.

A smart move for Facebook?

According to an article on the GigaOM website here, Instagram was Facebook's biggest competitor, a threat that was growing each day as more and more users discovered this addictive and fun app. Instagram thrives where Facebook lacks, in emotive mobile photo-sharing. Instagram (unlike Facebook) is a mobile-thinking company, which succeeded in creating a social sharing experience, and most importantly, a passionate community. 

Instagram created an emotional social affinity that Facebook lacks and which it so desperately desires as part of its platform. Facebook is essentially built on photo-sharing and Instagram had found a way to do it better, creating a serious threat. And with 15 million users already, Instagram was growing at a rate guaranteed to make Facebook shake in its boots. The solution: a buyout, no matter the cost.

Let's hope Zuckerburg and Facebook hold on their promises, to maintain the integrity of Instagram and the vision behind its creation; to capture the spirit of emotive human sharing through photographic experience that is essentially mobile.

Apps everywhere // apps for everything.

According to a CheethamBellJWT report '100 Things to Watch in 2012', "Navigating the vast world of apps is already daunting, and the app-ifying of everything (desktops, cars, TVs, etc.) is only just beginning." 
  

  

It is apparent, even to the non-techno-savvy consumer, that there is an absolute abundance of apps. They cover everything from transforming your voice into that of a duck to booking your parking spot at the local train station.
  
In the same report, CheethamBellJWT also warns that "The novelty of apps will wear off as consumers become paralyzed by too many choices." Too much clutter around our media platforms is not a good idea. It means we have to work harder for consumer engagement and cut-through new cynicism created by mediocre apps and short fads.

  

Isobar Create London
In a recent event held in London, 65 developers (grouped into 20 teams) were invited to a 34-hour hackday. The inspiration behind the event was to bring together some of the brightest developer minds to create innovative and practical apps that can have positive effects in the physical world. 
  
The teams raced to create NFC (near field communication) applications for four categories: Retail, Finance, Sporting Events and Leisure and Entertainment. Some of the apps that impressed the judging board included:
> Theme park app -  centralised the experience of visiting a theme park with a digital ticket to the park, advanced ride bookings and the purchasing of food and drinks
> Tap-to-WiFi app - allowed smartphone users to automatically login to WiFi networks in cafes, hotels and conference venues by simply touching a poster
> Supermarket app - allowed shoppers to scan products straight from the shelf, to personalise the shopping experience by diet and simplify the checkout process.
  
Interesting app ideas and a great sense of innovation behind the event. There is wonderful strength in bringing together great minds in stimulating environments such as this one. 
  
With such an abundance of apps that cover all aspects of life, are we simply becoming more lazy and new media dependent? As we continue to embrace these ideas of "new" and "more", are we not moving towards a point of total convergence? Perhaps, or perhaps not, but it will be interesting to see which way this one goes.

Nutrition app // what happened to simplicity?

A new iOS app has been released that enables consumers to determine the amount of fat, saturated fat, sugar and salt in more than 20,000 products in Australia. The app, called FoodSwitch, has been developed by medical health provider Bupa and is designed to assist people to make healthier food choices when shopping. 
  

 

  

Shoppers need to simply scan the barcode on the product to retrieve this information. A clever and certainly useful idea, but are we becoming too obsessed with the components of what we consume?
  
After all, we know what's good for us right? The basics of nutrition have always been the same, knowing the specifics is not likely to stop us from consuming bad foods.
  
Let's keep it simple.
  
More information on the Bupa FoodSwitch app is available here.