Vine, a popular app and social media network where you film 6-second clips, has created many mini-celebrities, such as Jerome Jarre. The French Vine star is known for awkwardly and hilariously incorporating strangers and passers-by in his videos. Before he was becoming a Vine sensation with his videos, Jarre also co-founded the web based, event management software company, Atendy.  Jarre is a perfect example of how you can use your Vine stardom to build your brand.

Launched just this past January, Vine challenges its users to create meaningful and memorable content in just 6-seconds. With attention spans seemingly becoming shorter, it’s no wonder that Vine has become so popular in such a short period of time. You might be wondering how Vine or Instagram videos are different from YouTube, and the biggest difference is that the two apps are strictly designed for use on a mobile device. Since Instagram released its video feature in June, the life of Vine was in jeopardy. However, with pages devoted to sharing funny vines, such as the Best Vines page on Facebook, we can see that the lifeline of Vine continues to be healthy and stable.

Instagram videos offer users a much longer shooting time (15 seconds vs. Vine’s 6 seconds) along with 13 filters and the ability to delete the previously shot scene. Vine is much simpler in that you simply tap to record and post. There is no option to add filters, although they recently updated the app so you can go back to delete and move around scenes before you publish it. While there has been much debate over which app is, for lack of another term, ‘better’, we find that Vine caters to a tighter community but demands creativity because of its short time-frame and simplified editing tools.

If you’re not yet a Vine sensation, you can still make your voice heard and vine-ify your brand. Here are some helpful tips on how to master the popular app:

1. Use stop-motion for effects: The reason why stop-motion videos are so popular (the good ones, at least) is due to the amount of work and thought put into them.  One mistake could ruin the whole clip, meaning users have to go back and record the Vine all over again. Here’s a quick tutorial. Take a look at Target’s use of stop-motion filming for their most recent Halloween-themed Vine:

For more amazing examples, be sure to visit BrandsOnVine.com to get inspired by some of the world’s leading brands and their Vines.

• Apple has had over 50 BILLION app downloads since it’s opening date of July 10, 2008 and has 850,000+ apps available.
• Google play is close behind with over 48 BILLION downloads since October 23, 2008 with 800,000+ apps available.
• Apple is ranked the #1 App Store (not so surprising), with Microsoft following close behind at #3 due to their ranking system.
• A staggering 33% of all apps developed are games, with others landing much lower on the scale: widget apps (8%), entertainment apps (7%) and social apps (5%).
• Facebook Messenger has 700 million users (this doesn’t include their regular app users).
• Skype is way behind with only 10 million users.
• Canalys.com predicts that app sales will rise from $7.3B in 2011 to $36.7B  by 2015. Yes, the B means BILLION.
• Neilsen states that the most popular apps used are Facebook, Google Maps and The Weather Channel.
• The percentage of free downloads is predicted to rise from 90% in 2013 to 93% in 2016.

Have a look at the rest of the stats for yourself:

In the PR industry, it’s essential to be organized and on the ball. Our clients expect us to be up-to-date and relevant in a variety of industries; so there are a few apps that we have come to rely on here at the office that help us to bring our ‘A’ game every time.

1. HootSuite has many functions. It allows you to monitor multiple Twitter feeds for your different clients and you can schedule tweets ahead of time. You can also monitor mentions and you can select certain news feeds to follow (like a competitor) to stay up-to-date with the conversations surrounding your industry.

2. Zite is a useful tool for compiling top news stories in one app. You can choose the industries you would like to hear about, like social media, politics, current events, PR news, etc., so you can stay up-to-date with what’s going on in the world.

3. Google Drive allows you to store all your documents in one place. On the go a lot? This app is definitely a life saver when you need access to a document but are away on business. It’s also incredibly easy to file share with this handy app.

4. Flipboard is useful for putting all of your interests into one place. Similar to Zite, Flipboard chooses the top news stories based on your selected interests. It also displays your Twitter news feed and you can make your own magazines by saving stories and sharing them with selected friends. It’s great for sharing event ideas!

5. Trello a fancy to-do list and notepad for recording ideas. This app is useful for tracking what you need to do during the day, items that need to be picked up and projects completed. A great app for staying organized while on the go!

6. Facebook Pages is useful if you manage multiple pages on Facebook. Here, you can monitor conversation about your client/business and respond to fans. You can upload and edit photos, send private messages and create posts all from your phone!

Well it’s Friday yet again, and we’ve got a special 8 second video with a HUGE tip for all you PR pros out there! Check out a member of our very own EDPR team, Danica Forshner, as she shares some helpful advice above!

The scanner we’re using while carrying out this task is the hipstreet Swipe (available on Shop.ca for $127.49). This small piece of machinery packs a big punch, allowing you to portably scan and store anything and everything you’d ever want to! The portability is especially useful when scanning magazines, as you don’t need to rip any pages out – or fold them unnecessarily. Plus, if you don’t own a copy of a magazine or newspaper piece, you can always scan another person’s copy – without ever needing to borrow it!

An added bonus: this scanner comes with a tablet/iPhone app that makes portable scanning even simpler! Check out the app demo video below:

Quite honestly, this scanner has helped make this rather mundane and tedious job a little more fun!

What’s the one task that professionals haven’t been able to do on their iPhones until now? Edit and create Microsoft Office documents, of course. The once annoying quirk has been fixed at long last, with a ‘free’ version of Microsoft Office appearing in the iTunes App Store.

This version of Office will mean that iPhone users will be able to open and edit existing Word, Excel and Power Point documents; perfect for any last minute tweaks before a big presentation or handing in a report. Not only will people using the iPhone app be able to edit existing documents, they’ll be able to create new Word and Excel documents as well and send them to their peers.

Now this app sounds like the big answer to our Microsoft Office-less smart phone void but if something sounds too good to be true, it probably is. The iPhone app, although free, will only work for those who subscribed to Microsoft Office 365 service; this service has a price tag of approximately $100/year. An advantage of having the app linked with the Microsoft Office 365 service is cloud storage. All documents opened/created/edited using the app will be saved the 365 Cloud, ensuring there is only one central version of the document with all up-to-date changes.

Another not so favourable feature of Microsoft Office for iPhone is its incompatibility with iPad. Now from strictly a user-friendly standpoint, making Microsoft Office available on the iPad (and iPad mini) seems like a much more logical choice. With an iPad, the screen is bigger making everything easier to see, work with (for spacing of a Power Point) and type on. Additionally, iPads can be used with wireless keyboards making them like lightweight laptops.

But as Jill Duffy from PC Mag pointed out, Microsoft Office has been around forever and probably could have convinced more iPhone users to adopt Office for iPhone had they introduced the app a few years ago. Now users have found different word-processing suites that are smart phone compatible to use (such as Google Drive) or even ‘work around’ app suites that they are used to using.

Download the app here.

Sources:

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2420509,00.asp

http://gulfnews.com/business/technology/microsoft-office-for-iphones-1.1198470

http://mashable.com/2013/06/15/hands-on-with-office-for-ios/

One tech-savvy musician that’s using Vine to promote his new single is Jason Derulo. Known for tagging all his singles with his name, the R&B singer was one of the early adopters of Vine and now he wants to use the app to promote his new single, “The Other Side” which dropped last week. Essentially, he had the song broken up into 6 second increments that can be chosen to ‘score’ your Vine video as you post it. The singer is asking fans to tag the Vines with ‘#TheOtherSide’, then Derulo and his team are going to choose a bunch of them to edit together to create a full-length ‘fan video’ to be posted on YouTube.

Ayal Kleinman, Warner Bros Records VP of Marketing says Vine is “the emerging social media platform” for artists. Also commenting, “The high-energy feel of the song really lent itself well to the platform, and so all the elements came together to create this really engaging promotion.”

Vine seems like the perfect opportunity to not only allow singers/bands to put their music out to a wider audience, but also to have a more personal relationship with their fans by ‘Vine’-ing backstage or sharing behind-the-scenes clips!

Over the years, medicine has come so far that sometimes we wonder if all those fancy scanners and simple shots from the world of Star Trek are not that far off. News released over the weekend is just another example of how the world of technology is helping victims/patients have even better quality of life.

A U.S. bionics firm, Touch Bionics has announced that they have developed the first upper prosthetic limb controlled by an iOS application. The aptly named ‘i-limb Ultra Revolution’ has 24 different grip options, device training and problem diagnoses that can all be controlled by your smart phone.

Aside from these features, movement of the i-limb ultra revolution is controlled by a body’s electric signals sent from the arm’s nerves when the muscles are contracted. The arm also features a rotating thumb and individually powered fingers along with a fully moving wrist. With so many advancements in technology associated with the prosthetic, anyone wishing to use the arm will have to undergo extensive training but it sounds like it is definitely worth it. CEO of Touch Bionics, Ian Stevens, has said the arm offers, “unparalleled dexterity and control, enabling wearers to more easily perform activities of daily living and this increase their quality of life.”

Losing a limb, no matter the reason, has to be tough on a person but with research and advancements like this one, we are getting closer to recreating the human experience. Check out the video below of the i-limb in action!

 (Source)

GetGlue is an entertainment-based social media tool that lets users ‘check-in’ to the shows, movies, music, books and sports they’re watching/listening to. In return, the user can earn virtual stickers to mark their check-ins. These stickers can include limited editions for premiere episodes or opening weekends, along with achievement stickers for using GetGlue often or checking into a particular show on a consistent basis. In the spirit of sharing, users can also connect their social media accounts and choose to share their GetGlue check-ins via Facebook, Twitter and/or Tumblr. The more media you check into, the better the recommendations GetGlue can give you when you’re in a bind. User information is compiled to provide expert recommendations on fellow user media consumption patterns.

Movies ‘cling’ to Top-of-Mind thanks to GetGlue

The nature of GetGlue lends itself very well to being used as a marketing tool for individual shows, as well as to networks and studios. Movie distributors have invited fans of upcoming releases to check-in to their movie before the release date to receive exclusive stickers or sneak-peeks. What a great way to create buzz for your movie, and garner organic virality on user’s social media feeds!  Television networks have a bit of a different tactic. I noticed when I checked into the show ‘White Collar’ last night,  there was a 15% merchandise discount being offered to those checking in.  Clever, no?

Currently GetGlue has a variety of partners including 20th Century Fox, The CW, AMC, ABC Family, Disney Theatrical, Discovery, ESPN, FOX, Food Network, Hachette, HBO, HGTV, MTV, MSNBC, Showtime, Penguin, PBS, WWE, Random House, Simon and Schuster, Syfy, Sony Pictures, Travel Channel, USA Network, Universal Pictures, and Warner Bros. theatrical.

Direct TV is also a GetGlue partner. They offer viewers the opportunity to check in to shows on their television screen; doesn’t get much simpler than that, increasing the chances that people will actually use GetGlue.

The GetGlue system of ‘checking in’ to a movie or television program is also a good way to gauge the size of an audience watching at any given time. Users can monitor comments related to their check-ins, in order to get a feel for what other viewers like or dislike about the show.

The ‘stickers’ are definitely the MVP that makes GetGlue unique. Gamification remains a strong incentive for consumers, the act of collecting appeals to the competitive aspect of human nature.

GetGlue is a great combination of entertainment and marketing activation  – a format they should definitely “stick” to. Get it?

The study consisted of 4 men and 4 women driving a total of 500 miles, 250 without music and then 250 with music. Their entire journey was monitored using the MotorMate app for things such as speed, acceleration and braking. The drivers’ footage was then reviewed by psychologist Dr. Simon Moore.

So what makes a song safe? Here are the criteria:

• ideal volume: 55-65 decibels (for comparison, this is about the volume of conversation at a restaurant or office)
• the tempo of the song should mimic a human heartbeat, between 60-80 beats per minute

To encourage safe driving Confused.com put together a Spotify playlist of the 50 safest songs to play while driving. Take a look at the picture below for some of the highlights.

On the flipside, let’s take a look at the criteria for what makes a song ‘unsafe’ to listen to while driving:

• Songs with a fast tempo. Faster songs make drivers subconsciously speed up to match the beat of the song.
• Noisy, fast songs excite and arouse a driver. This stimulation means they’re more focused on the music than driving

Also, make sure you actually like the songs you are listening to. The stress and distraction of not liking a song, or constantly changing the music, will distract you from driving too.

So there you have it: you now know the songs to play and the tunes to avoid next time you hit the road. Your turn – which songs are your ‘go-to’ road trip songs? ABBA? Bon Jovi? Musical theatre classics? Share with us in the comments.

Happy listening & safe travels!