iPad Turns Out To Have Superbowl Like Advertising Appeal

It looks as though the big advertisers are lining up for ad space in iPad apps and the platforms launch is drawing Superbowl like numbers! The New York Times is reporting that:

"iPad advertisements on print publishers’ applications cost $75,000 to $300,000 for a few months with some exclusivity, said Phuc Truong, managing director of Mobext U.S., a mobile-marketing unit at Havas Digital."

All the while developers are trying to figure out how to make the most of the opportunity and the hype. It's interesting that it has taken Apple to make this happen, I guess the advertisers are counting on the larger format of the iPad and the magic of Apple to make tablets / e-readers a mainstream consumer product and the publishers are doing a good job selling the launch.

French Arrest Hacker Who Targeted Obama Twitter Account

A 25 year old Frenchman who used the online persona HackerCroll has been arrested after hijacking US President Barack Obama's twitter account.

“This individual spread information about a dozen American personalities, notably Barack Obama, on specialist blogs,” Adeline Champagnat, head of the French office against online fraud, said.

HackerCroll appeared to be driven by the challenge and apparently acted alone in his quest to gain access to the accounts. No sensitive information was allegedly targeted.

“He thinks he is good at this, and he is,” Ms. Champagnat said.

The French were tipped off by the FBI according to this Globe and Mail article.

Offer-Based Ads In Your Mobile Apps?

Here is something to be on the lookout for! GIGaom is speculating a wave of in app offers as the result of the acquisition of Tapjoy by Offerpal Media.

Offerpal specializes in the kind of pitches that have quickly become very popular on social networking sites such as Facebook as a way to generate revenue and enable users to enhance the gaming experience. A casual gamer who accepts a trial offer from Netflix, for instance, could be rewarded with extra levels, while a fan of a mafia game could get a weapons upgrade by taking a survey.


Tapjoy delivers a related service for mobile developers looking to monetize their apps. The company offers free content or in-game upgrades to users who agree to download additional applications.

 I suppose it was inevitable, I just hoped it wouldn't happen so soon.

Is Voice Recognition Back? For Real This Time?

CNN technology writer John D. Sutter has compiled a case for why we should be taking voice recognition seriously. It's a story that has been written many times over the past few decades, but Sutter or at least some of the sources he's tapped believe that this time it might really stick. I'll admit that that it's a technology that has always been of interest to me and that the phone systems that I've used of late seem to be excellent at recognizing numbers and specific commands. The advancements of voice recognition technology. in particular applications that are aimed at cell phones and smartphones, is really looking like we may finally have a keeper.

"If you compare us to human performance, we are rapidly closing the gap," said David Nahamoo, IBM's chief technology officer for voice research.

Check out Sutter's article!