Introducing Poopons – An App that Turns Dog Poo into Coupons [Video]

Dog poo in exchange for your morning coffee or muffin? Well not quite. A parody video has been released by creative duo, Ricky and Angela, poking fun at some of the quirkier apps now on the market.

As a dog owner, it really bugs me when other dog owners don’t clean up after their pooch. Nobody wants to step in a doggy ‘landmine’. So the idea of motivating dog owners to pick up after their dog by redeeming loyalty points is intriguing. The ‘idea’ is simple – use a ‘Poopon’ bag to pick up your dog’s ‘business’ and the warmth will cause a code on the bag to be revealed. You scan the code to collect ‘Poopon Points’ which can be redeemed at local stores.

Check it out…

(via BuzzFeed)

Portal to the Real Universe – There’s an App for That [Video]

These days there’s pretty much an app for everything. Well now there’s an app that’s creates a “portal to the real universe”, allowing you to see ‘invisible space’ and the ‘vastness of the Universe’ at your fingertips. Yup…the ‘Invisible Universe App’ is impressive!

Joshua Peek, an astronomer and Hubble Fellow at Columbia who works on research for NASA,  collaborated on this new Android app which allows the ‘Average Joe’ to see the universe in a new way through their smartphone, even if they can’t see the stars in their city.

Check out the video and see why I now want a ‘productivity hat’!

‘Gay Cure’ App Removed by Apple

Apple found itself under fire from gay rights groups this week as it approved a controversial app from religious group Exodus International who aim to ‘convert’ gay people to heterosexuality.

After more than 146,000 signatures were gathered in an online petition on Change.org, Apple has bowed to the pressure and removed the app from the app store. Good riddance.

MINI Use an App to Create Reality Car Chase

Stockholm based agency Jung Von Matt have developed a really clever promotional campaign to launch the new MINI Countryman.  They have created an iPhone app called “Getaway Stockholm” which allows the city’s iPhone-brandishing residents to play a reality game and be in with the chance to win a new MINI Countryman.

The idea is that you use the app to chase a virtual MINI Countryman. You can see on the app your location relative to that of the MINI. Once you’re nearby you tap to ‘catch the MINI. But the game doesn’t end there. Once you’ve managed to ‘catch’ the MINI the challenge is to keep it. You have to keep at least 50 meters away from everybody else playing the gamee as they can snag the car back. The person who has the virtual MINI in their iPhone after the game week ends wins the real car.

It’s a clever concept which makes great use of mobile technology – the app becomes the focal point of a fun campaign, creating ‘talkability’ around the brand and sustaining the interest of the public and creating PR opportunities across a week.  It will be interesting to see how many people download the app and take part.

This video was released to explain the game. All the fun kicks off this Sunday and the game will be played for a week.

Taking the Twit out of Twitter

A couple of weeks ago I attended the Dublin Web Summit. Ray Nolan, one of the speakers and Founder of HostelWorld.com and Worky.com, made a comment that stuck in my mind. He advised not to “tweet away your career” as he believes if you’re on Twitter all the time during your work day then you’re probably not doing your work and are therefore potentially less employable.

I would imagine that everyone reading this has at one time said that “so and so” is “always on Twitter”…how do they do it? There’s no big secret. These people are not glued to their PC, dashing out on occasion for a sneaky toilet break. Only 25% of Twitter traffic comes from the website Twitter.com. Most people use a few third party Twitter applications set up that allow them to conveniently update their profile, regardless of where they are.

So what tools can you use to allow you to use Twitter with ease? Continue reading »