It seems we’re in a world full of busier and busier people, all looking for help managing their small tasks. Combine that with our technology dependency, and using tech tools to complete everyday tasks makes quite a bit of sense. Good thing there’s a whole host of new apps that help consumers find ways to [...]

Not long ago, the general vision of Interactive TV included an on-screen display with engaging apps and ways to connect with friends. Now, the view of interactive television involves watching the big screen and engaging with additional content on smartphones and tablets. According to a Nielsen and Yahoo report, about 86 percent of people access [...]

Brands have rewarded existing customers’ loyalty for quite some time. But now, new and even potential customers are getting rewards. From earning coupons and virtual currency for viewing promotional material to receiving special discounts merely for making a second purchase, consumers are getting rewards for testing a brand. New service LevelUp, created by the maker [...]

With many of us using technology for business and pleasure, there’s a good chance we’re replacing physical relationships with primarily digital ones. But a bevy of new apps are promoting tangible connections by using digital social networking to drive real-life interactions. The Situationist app encourages nearby strangers to meet. Hurricane Party helps create and share [...]

Brands are starting to use social photo sharing to reach new audiences. With the rapid growth of Instagram—two million users in less than five months, plus 130,000 registering each week—and the arrival of competitors such as PicPlz, it’s clear that the popularity of photo sharing is increasing at an astounding rate. What’s even more interesting [...]

Road trips are taking on a different look as in-car connectivity gets more sophisticated. It’s not just about using smartphones to stream a radio station or access a map. Now, it’s about smartphones connecting with the car to enhance our interaction both in and out of the vehicle. We’re seeing Ford, Audi, BMW and others [...]

Brands are underutilizing one of the Facebook “Like” button’s most powerful capabilities. When users click their Open Graph “Like” button—on and off Facebook—they’re creating a link to content on their wall and subscribing to future news feed updates. So by liking a certain page, consumers allow brands to publish stories to them in the same [...]

Entering text into an Internet search box may soon be a relic of the past. With data and mobile devices increasing in number, near field communications (NFC) and visual search improving, and location based services (LBS) growing, the day may come when we no longer need a keyboard to find what we need. “We’re trying [...]

When it comes to social recommendations, we know consumers listen to people they know. In fact, according to IBM’s “Capitalizing on the Smarter Consumer” report, 45 percent turn to friends and relatives when they want to know more about something. But are consumers buying the recommendations some sites sell based solely on their friends’ behavior? [...]

You may not know it, but we’re headed toward a time when nearly everything we interact with is connected. In fact, estimates are that by 2013, the number of devices connected to the Internet will reach 1 trillion. This “Internet of Things” includes everyday objects receiving and sending information. A good example is L.L. Bean’s [...]