Name That App: StoryCorps

By Matt Kapko | 06.8.10, 2:57 PM | View Comments

**As published at digiday:DAILY**

Publisher: StoryCorps; developed by Bottle Rocket Apps Price: Free Platform: iPhone
Advertising: None
Functionality: B-
Fun Factor: C
Overall: B-

With a mission that’s as large and as simple as recording America’s stories, it didn’t take much to convince me to give the StoryCorps app a go-round. I absolutely love StoryCorps’ premise — recording people’s stories, and getting them archived in the Library of Congress — but I wish the app provided a better window into the tens of thousands of interviews the non-profit group has already recorded.

This app does a great job of introducing the user to StoryCorps with a limited selection of clips from about 35 interviews, but the true value of StoryCorps lies in its rich vault of far more stories. While the website offers a full selection of stories, it would be great if the app could do the same. Read more

@WWDC: Apple holds firm to leader status with iPhone 4

By Matt Kapko | 06.7.10, 2:54 PM | View Comments

**As published in RCR Wireless News**

SAN FRANCISCO – Although millions of fanboys and industry watchers have already seen what turned out to be the new iPhone 4 today, Apple Inc. CEO Steve Jobs still had a few surprises up his sleeve to share during his keynote at the company’s annual developer gathering.

If there is any less excitement or anticipation for Apple’s game-changing mobile device, that sure wasn’t apparent this morning. Lines began forming around the building at 6 a.m. this morning and when the gates to the main hall were finally raised for Jobs’ keynote there was a mad dash for seats (press included). The whole experience felt very rock concert in typical Apple fashion. Read more

Name That App: Bitbop

By Matt Kapko | 06.1.10, 2:51 PM | View Comments

**As published in digiday:DAILY**

Publisher: Fox Mobile Distribution, LLC Price: Free (with future pricing plans for movie rentals) Platform: BlackBerry
Advertising: None so far
Functionality: A-
Fun Factor: B+
Overall: B+

I’ve covered all the major networks’ efforts in mobile TV over the past five years, and yet I’ve never understood why they all haven’t done more to control the future of their content pipelines. With an entirely new distribution model at the ready — mobile video — it makes perfect sense for these big media companies to protect their property, maintain their relationships with viewers, and possible even create new fans in the process.

Think Hulu, but for mobile. And yet, there’s still no mobile app for Hulu, despite constant rumors of an imminent launch. Read more

Name That App: Tripit

By Matt Kapko | 05.26.10, 2:47 PM | View Comments

**As published at digiday:DAILY**

Publisher: TripIt, Inc. Price: Free Platform: BlackBerry OS, iPhone and Android
Advertising: None
Functionality: B+
Fun Factor: B
Overall: B+

I travel frequently for business, so finding the right digital tools for keeping track of all my itineraries has become a necessity. But it’s been a bit of an ongoing journey, simply because there are almost too many options. The one solution that has grabbed the bulk of my travel interest — at least since the beginning of the year — is TripIt.

Like any good app these days, TripIt has all the makings of Web 2.0: Users can connect with other users, share details about upcoming trips and then expand that reach to various social media outlets. Personally, I’m not interested in sharing my travel plans (work or personal) with much of anyone, but for those that are, this is a must-have feature. Read more

Name That App: SocialScope

By Matt Kapko | 05.18.10, 4:00 PM | View Comments

**As published at digiday:DAILY**

Publisher: SocialScope, Inc  Price: Free  Platform: BlackBerry OS, iPhone and limited Android devices Advertising: None

Functionality: A+
Fun Factor: A
Overall: A+

Just when I think I’ve found my all-time favorite client for Twitter on my BlackBerry, an alternative jumps into my radar and I begin the evaluation process anew once more.

I can’t remember how long it’s been since I requested an invite to check out the beta for SocialScope, but I finally got a code via e-mail last week and was downloading the app on my BlackBerry minutes later. The company has seemingly made an early commitment to developing for the BlackBerry, as it lists a number of compatible RIM devices on its site; there’s also support for the Android-based G1 and the iPhone. Read more

@ The Cable Show: Mobile is little more than an after-thought

By Matt Kapko | 05.14.10, 2:01 PM | View Comments

**As published in RCR Wireless News**

LOS ANGELES – After spending the last three days up close and personal with the cable industry at its big annual affair, I’m disappointed to report that mobile was hard to find. The wireless innovations and news I’d hoped to see were simply not there.

I’m not sure lobbying will do the trick, but the entire mobile industry should do everything it can to bring wireless out from the distant horizon it sits in now and into clear view for most business in this space who don’t yet see the light. Read more

@ The Cable Show: Bringing TV and content up to the modern era

By Matt Kapko | 05.14.10, 2:00 PM | View Comments

**As published in RCR Wireless News**

LOS ANGELES – Kicking off the final day of the cable industry’s big soiree, Federal Communications Commission Chair Julius Genachowski tried to dampen obvious concerns in the room over his latest regulatory plans. After duly applauding the cable industry for the massive investment it put into building broadband infrastructure, even going so far as to call it a “great American success story,” he pointed out how badly the country is lagging on rate of innovative change.

Whether or not those in the audience shared his sentiment, Genachowski said his core goal is to drive faster connections and reap the rewards that will flow from greater broadband deployments and innovation. He believes broadband capacity, penetration and the nation’s access to the Internet as a whole will be one of, if not the, largest driving factor in job growth and social change for the country at large. Read more

@ The Cable Show: It’s still a choice between digital pennies and analog dollars

By Matt Kapko | 05.13.10, 2:00 PM | View Comments

**As published in RCR Wireless News**

LOS ANGELES – Media moguls from cable operators, networks and studios met on stage Wednesday morning with a former Federal Communications Commission chairman and a venture capitalist to hold court on the rapidly changing business models facing the industry and how alternative screens are playing a role in that.

“Every single piece of technology that’s come into being has been a friend to content,” said Les Moonves, president and CEO of CBS Corp. It’s hard to imagine him saying that even just a few short years ago, but he shows every indication of being on board now. Read more

@The Cable Show: Finding nuggets of mobility in a cabled world

By Matt Kapko | 05.12.10, 2:00 PM | View Comments

**As published in RCR Wireless News**

LOS ANGELES – The mobile quotient during the first day of the National Cable & Telecommunications conference was disappointingly light. Particularly light, considering telecommunications is right there in the name.

Mobility plays an important and mostly dominant role in telecom but if this industry gathering is any sign, it still has a long way to go before it comes into the spotlight for cable. Read more

@The Cable Show: Reflecting on a path to media dominance

By Matt Kapko | 05.12.10, 2:00 PM | View Comments

**As published in RCR Wireless News**

LOS ANGELES – To hear Comcast Corp.’s chairman and CEO Brian Roberts tell it, the cable industry is on a collision course with destiny. The seemingly neatly divided world of entertainment that Roberts first jumped into as the son of Comcast’s founder Ralph Roberts is no more.

If all goes his way, the family-run business will pass all regulatory hurdles and close its $30-billion dollar deal to snatch up the controlling interest in General Electric’s NBC Universal by the end of the year. Surely few, if any in the audience here for Roberts’ keynote could have dreamed two decades ago of a cable operator becoming so powerful and flush enough with cash that it could take control of a content juggernaut like NBC. Read more