Plymouth, Michigan – During the past decade, the most important tool has been the Internet, especially email, online search (like Google and Yahoo), and social media, such as Facebook and Twitter. During the past couple of years, it has become very clear that book promoters need to take advantage of the huge popularity of hand-held devices with Internet connectivity…especially smart phones … especially iPhone Apps.

Publicist Scott Lorenz says he’s always on the lookout for new tools and technology to reach consumers and convince them to purchase his client’s books, products or services. “As part of my book marketing strategy, I have made several contacts and established continuing business relationships with iPhone App developers. The experience and knowledge I have gained convinces me that the successful book promoter will tap into any and every iPhone App that’s related in any way to their book.”

One app that’s an excellent case study is the Kids Book App an iPhone App created by 1776 Productions. The app connects book buyers directly with the San Francisco Book Review (SFBR) and Sacramento Book Review (SBR) which produce some 500 new book reviews every month from 40 genres – most of them books for young adults, pre-teens, and children. The Kids Book App not only provides hundreds of book reviews, but also author-related events, such as tour stops and book signings, in addition to author podcast interviews.

1776 Productions was launched in 2008 by Heidi Komlofske and Ross Rojek to help readers find new books and authors and to be a means to support and encourage writers, publishers, and readers. One of the latest ventures of 1776 Productions is the Kids Book Review App, which can be downloaded at the iTunes App Store.

Says Lorenz, “Any author of a book written for children, middle schoolers, teens, or young adults will certainly want to do what it takes to get a review of their book done by SBR or SFBR, which can be accessed anytime, anywhere by book buyers using the Kids Book App to make a purchase decision. In offering your book up for review, remember that SBR/SFBR is only interested in new releases that are within 90 days of their release date.”

“There are a few options for book publicists or authors to submit a book for review with us,” says Ross Rojek. “We have about 150 books a week coming in for review, with about 130 book reviewers. The address for mailing books is: 1215 K Street, 17th Floor, Sacramento, CA 94518.

One author who found this service especially helpful was Karen McFarren, author of “Flaherty’s Crossing”, who comments: “As an author, reviews are incredibly important and a wonderful tool for marketing your book. My experience with Sacramento Book Review/San Francisco Book Review was nothing short of amazing. I received an honest, timely appraisal of my story and would love to have future novels reviewed by this professional group. Their name, alone, adds credibility and should be on the top of any author’s review list!”

Says Lorenz, “If the Kids Book App does not meet your criteria, simply go to the iPhone Store and search the apps on sale there for one that is appropriate and relevant to your book marketing needs. Then go to the developer’s website and learn more about the App and how to get your book listed,”

Lorenz concluded, “Technology opens many new doors for us each month. Let’s be sure we enter every one!”

Westwind Communications Marketing
Kids Book Review 1.2
Download from iTunes
San Franciso Book Review Submission Guidelines
Screenshot
App Icon

Scott Lorenz is President of Westwind Communications, a public relations and marketing firm that has a special knack for working with authors to help them get all the publicity they deserve and more. Lorenz works with bestselling authors and self-published authors promoting all types of books, whether it’s their first book or their 15th book. He’s handled publicity for books by CEOs, CIA Officers, Navy SEALS, Homemakers, Fitness Gurus, Doctors, Lawyers and Adventurers. His clients have been featured by Good Morning America, FOX News, CNN, ABC News, New York Times, Nightline, TIME, PBS, LA Times, USA Today, Washington Post, Woman’s World, & Howard Stern to name a few. Learn more about Westwind Communications’ book marketing approach at their web site. Copyright (C) 2010 Westwind Communications. All Rights Reserved. Apple, the Apple logo, iPhone, iPod and iPad are registered trademarks of Apple Inc. in the U.S. and/or other countries.

Yokohama, Japan – Announcing that Yutaka Yagiura, the developer of Domo Todo+, has just released the latest update for iPhone, iPod touch and iPad users. With this newest version, busy list makers can add tasks and tags to their list with a single tap of their finger. Domo Todo+ 4.2 also syncs with Google Calendar, so the all of the user’s lists can be found in one location. The Google calendar feature also lets users edit their list from their device or their PC’s browser. The app is feature rich and guaranteed to simplify the list making and editing process.

This major update includes support for the new iPhone 4 operating system and retina display as well as SMS, Email, and alerts via local notifications. Other Domo Todo+ features include:
* Set up due date and time for projects or reminders
* Synchronizes with Google calendar
* Schedule events or errands to best accommodate your routine
* Manage checklists any time from any location to monitor your progress
* Easily add tasks and tags with one tap
* Tag based search allows you to find your tasks easily and quickly
* Keep all your tasks in one place
* Local notifications
*Supports iOS4 and retina display

On the home screen, important dates are easily identifiable by red circles on the calendar, and tasks are prioritized with colored labels. A red label signifies an overdue task, orange is for items that are due soon, and a blue label means that the item is due at a later date. Users will quickly come to love the color gray, as a gray label means that a task is completed, and they no longer have to worry about it!

Setting a new task is as easy as tapping the ” ” button. By touching an existing item, users can quickly edit their tasks. Items can also be marked by priority, or shown as completed. With a single gesture, users can search their lists by choosing tags, and highlight and prioritize tasks that need to be done immediately. Tapping the “List” button also lets list makers sort their tasks by simply dragging and dropping them where they want. With the Google Calendar sync feature, the user also gets notifications right on their device of upcoming tasks and appointments sent by Google Calendar.

Device Requirements:
* iPhone 3G, 3GS or 4, iPod touch and iPad
* Requires iPhone OS 3.0 or later
* 2.2 MB

Pricing and Availability:
Domo Todo+ 4.2 is only $2.99 (USD) and available worldwide exclusively through the App Store in the Productivity category. Promo codes are available for qualified reviewers. Please specify the website or blog you represent when making your request.

Domo Todo+ 4.2
Purchase and Download
Media Assets

Yutaka Yagiura is an iPhone application developer located in Yokohama, Japan. He has talents on developing high quality, useful applications for mobile device platforms. Copyright (C) 2010 Mobile-App-Marketing-Makeover & Edward Turner. All Rights Reserved. Apple, the Apple logo, iPhone and iPod are registered trademarks of Apple Inc. in the U.S. and/or other countries.

Chandler, Arizona – RateWatch is MF Software’s free app for iPhone/iPod touch that gives you a quick view of the latest key interest rates and a daily calendar of the day’s economic indicators. It launched in 2008 and quickly garnered tens of thousands of downloads, generating revenue for MF Software through the use of mobile advertising networks like Google’s AdMob. “We found AdMob to be easy to integrate, but not very lucrative on average – our eCPM rate has hovered around $.50-$1 for years,” says founder Matthew Formica.

Like everyone else following the launch of Apple’s new iAd network, Matthew wondered how it would do compared to the existing heavyweights of the industry – and he has been pleasantly surprised. “What surprised us most was the eCPMs – consistently over $7 to this day.” Even with new less lucrative developer app ads now showing up on iAd, eCPMs remain over $7.00 with 60-70% fill rates for RateWatch.

With revenue up as much as 14x, MF Software is looking for new apps to take free to capitalize on iAd’s riches. Matthew continues: “For the first time, it makes more sense to provide an app free with advertising than to sell it for $.99!”

Device Requirements:
* iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad
* Requires iPhone OS 3.0 or later
* 1.5 MB

Pricing and Availability:
RateWatch 1.9.5 is free and available worldwide exclusively through the App Store in the Finance category. Download RateWatch today to see the iAds in action, and explore the latest mortgage rates, LIBOR rates, daily economic news, and more.

MF Software
RateWatch 1.9.5
Download from iTunes
Screenshot
App Icon

MF Software was founded in 2008 and is based in Chandler, AZ. It focuses on high quality applications for iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad, and its most well known app is Stock TickerPicker, consistently among the top-20 Finance apps on iPad. Copyright (C) 2008-2010 MF Software. All Rights Reserved. Apple, the Apple logo, iPhone, iPod and iPad are registered trademarks of Apple Inc. in the U.S. and/or other countries.

Aalsmeer, The Netherlands – Mekentosj BV today is pleased to announce a brand new version of Papers for iOS, a PDF library app for anyone doing research. The new release adds iBooks-like highlighting and note taking functionality for PDFs on the iPad, as well as support for fast user switching and the high resolution retina display of the iPhone4.

In the 3 months since its release thousands of researchers have embraced Papers for iPad as their favorite way to read their PDFs and research articles. One thing was clear however, their number one request was the ability to highlight or copy text passages and leave notes on PDFs. With today’s new release that is now possible. Highlighting and note taking with Papers for iPad is simple and intuitive; what iBooks allows you to do on eBooks, Papers allows you to do with PDF. It makes reading an even better experience on the iPad.

Simply tap and drag to select a piece of text and tap highlight or copy, that is all there is to it. Highlighting can be very accurate thanks to a loupe that pops up while you select text, and Papers for iPad deals with multi-column PDFs too.

In addition, with Papers for iPad you can capture all the ideas, comments and thought you have while reading your PDFs. Tap and hold anywhere on the page and a sticky-note pops up on which you can type away. A red pin will help you quickly locate where you left your notes, almost like Google Maps for your Papers!

But also for iPhone owners there’s exciting news, Papers is now fully optimized for iOS4. It supports fast application switching, as well as the razor sharp retina display of the iPhone4. PDFs never looked this good.

“A couple of years ago, a Mac OS X application came along and blew my socks off. Now, the company behind Papers, Mekentosj, has done it again, this time by bringing its killer app to the iPhone in a timely manner. It doesn’t disappoint.” – Ars technica

“When I found Papers on the app store, I realized that I had found a solution that was not only easier, but helped me conduct research in ways I didn’t even know I needed with a mobile device.” – WhatsoniPhone

iTunes Rewind 2009 | Ranked among the top 30 Best Apps of the Year 2009 in the UK iTunes store.

Device Requirements:
* Papers works on all iPad, iPhone and iPod touch models
* Syncing with the Mac version of Papers requires Papers 1.9 (sold separately)

Pricing and Availability:
Papers 1.8 for iOS is available for $14.99 (USD) in the iTunes app store. Review copies are available. If you are interested in trying Papers for iPad, iPhone and iPod touch and are a member of the press or would like to cover it on your website or blog, please contact us by email for a free copy. A press kit with high resolution images available on request.

Papers 1.8
Purchase and Download
Splash Screen
App Icon

Mekentosj BV creates innovative software for scientists. During a PhD in Cell Biology, CEO and founder Alexander Griekspoor together with his friend Tom Groothuis formed the duo “Mekentosj” and developed a number of scientific Mac applications, two of which won Apple Design Awards for best Best Student and Best scientific Mac OS X application, respectively. What started in spare time became a passion and has grown into mekentosj Inc. Now a small team of ex-scientists turned software developers aim to create new and innovative applications for researchers, of which Papers is a prime example, it won Mekentosj’ third Apple Design Award. Copyright 2010 Mekentosj BV. All Rights Reserved. Apple, the Apple logo, iPhone iPod and iPad are registered trademarks of Apple Computer in the U.S. and/or other countries.

Sydney, Australia – Lilliput Labs today is pleased to announce the release and immediate availability of Mailboxes 1.0 for the iPad. Mailboxes is a multi-user Gmail client, providing the easiest, most secure way access your Gmail or Google Apps email on a shared iPad. Designed from the ground up to handle multiple users, Mailboxes manages your Gmail account credentials for you, securely storing them in the built in iPad Keychain. Mailboxes also allows you to set a 4-digit passcode to protect your email from others.

The iPad is a wonderful device for communal areas like the living room, letting people browse the web, use apps, and play games together. However, a shared iPad isn’t ideal for reading email since Mail leaves your email either open for anyone to read. You can also passcode lock your iPad to protect your email, but that means that no-one else can use it.

Mailboxes lets you both share your iPad as well as being able to securely access your Gmail and Google Apps email. All you have to do is enter your credentials and set an optional 4-digit passcode. When you want to access your email you’ll get prompted for your passcode. Once you’ve entered it Mailboxes will then load up your email in the familiar Gmail web interface. Then, when you’re done or the iPad locks we automatically log you out. Mailboxes is the easiest, safest way to access your Gmail or Google Apps account on a shared iPad.

Device Requirements:
* Compatible with iPad
* Requires iOS 3.2 or later
* 0.1 MB

Pricing and Availability:
Mailboxes 1.0 is $2.99 USD (or equivalent amount in other currencies) and available worldwide exclusively through the App Store in the Productivity category.

Lilliput Labs
Mailboxes 1.0
Purchase and Download
Screenshot
App Icon

Founded in October 2009, Lilliput Labs Pty Ltd develops applications and websites for the iPhone and iPod touch. Copyright (C) 2009-2010 Lilliput Labs Pty Ltd. All Rights Reserved. Apple, the Apple logo, iPhone and iPod are registered trademarks of Apple Inc. in the U.S. and/or other countries.

iFixNow.com, with the experience of over 1,000 Apple iPhone 3G and iPhone 3GS repair services performed in the Los Angeles Metro Area, brings the best service to the newest gadget in town, the iPad.

“Yes, now we are offering local service, in Los Angeles, California, for Apple iPad repairs.iFixNow.com can repair almost any iPad-related problem. However one of our most popular services are broken or cracked iPad screen, glass or digitizer. If you happen to drop your iPad, crack its screen or your dog tries to play with your newly acquired gadget, you are just 30 minutes away from the solution to your chores. Just give us a call to our hot line 1 (888) 998-0777, set up an appointment, and while you wait you’ll have your iPad fixed and returned to you, as new, in less than 30 minutes,” said Hector, owner of the business.

They even give a 90-day warranty, and it will cost you less than half what Apple will be willing to charge you for such an accident. Rated as the best iPhone repair service in Los Angeles, California,ifixnow.com now saving one iPad at a time.

January 2010 saw the launch of two highly anticipated digital devices – Apple’s iPad and Google’s Nexus One mobile phone. Though both launches generated a lot of buzz, observations gathered from eXelate behavioral data indicate that the iPad launch not only generated increased purchase intent activity for all Apple products it also did so for the entire portable computing space.

According to the inaugural issue of the eXelate indeX, a new regular audience data trending report from eXelate’s Data Lab, audience shopping trends showed that the iPad launch event on Wednesday, January 27th created a positive impact on Apple’s current roster of products. It also helped generate purchase intent and interest that lifted the entire portable computing segment. eXelate’s Lab did not observe a noticeable impact on technology purchase intent segments queried for Google’s January 5th launch of their Nexus One mobile phone.

The eXelate indeX is a regular “trend watch” issued by eXelate based on anonymous audience identity and activity data gathered from billions of monthly unique targeting events on over 200M segment unique users that are part of the eXelate eXchange.

Shopping activity is defined by the report as qualified interactions with leading shopping promotion and comparison websites by eXelate’s in-market shopping audience of over 40M US Unique Visitors.

As the iPad will not be available to shoppers for over a month, it appears that the press coverage for the launch of the product spurred demand for associated Apple products that currently can be priced and purchased online. According to purchase intent activity gathered from eXelate’s Shopping Intent segment, on Wednesday, January 27, the date of the iPad announcement, consumers seeking to purchase currently available Apple products surged 27%.

The Apple iPad announcement also seems to have had a positive residual impact on the “portable computing” category as a whole. Building up to, and peaking on the announcement day, the number of consumers interested in purchasing a laptop computer also grew. The eXelate Lab saw a 31% increase in activity from Tuesday, 1/26/10 to Wednesday, 1/27/10in the Laptop segment. On a week to week basis, the jump was even greater at +57%.

Interestingly enough, this expected “coattail” impact of the announcement actually lasted longer on non-Apple products, as we observed another increase of 26% on Thursday 1/28/10.

Although no similar impact was seen on the date of the Nexus One announcement, it is important to note that observed Shopping intent activity during the Nexus One introduction may have been impacted by the launch date’s (January 5th) proximity to Christmas and New Year’s Day, as well as the increased media clutter in the days leading up to the Consumer Electronics Show, where Google’s announcement was one of many technology launches to happen during the week.

“The findings of this and many future trends identified by our Data Lab and published in the eXelate indeX will result in more optimized campaign planning in 2010 for our advertiser, agency and ad network partners,” said eXelate Chief Revenue Officer Mark Zagorski. “As most advertisers have been comfortable with the concept of buying specific, identifiable, audience segments, we feel that it will be important to not only look at how audiences behave, but also who comprises these audiences. With eXelate’s broad pool of data, we are able to look at both.”

According to Ms. Ayelet Nuta, Director of Analytics and head of eXelate’s optimization research and Data Lab, in future eXelate indeX research reports, the lab will dig deeper into how specific audience segments react to market activity and how their behavior patterns differ.

eXelate’s Data Lab is able to pinpoint specific dayparts and market segments which can greatly improve campaign performance – based on actual audience data and campaign performance and not just market intent – thereby generating significant and unexpected improvements in campaign results.

eXelate plans on issuing regular eXelate indeX reports tracking unique audience activity trends throughout 2010. The current report can be found at: http://www.exelate.com/indexreport

With Macworld 2010 around the corner, the iPhone continues to lead innovation and dominate the smart phone market. iPhone application development has become an even bigger market with well over 140,000 available apps boasting just over three Billion downloads. Key indicators from 2009 and projections into 2010 as seen by iPhoneAppQuotes, a Macworld 2010 First Looks exhibitor, include:

* App developers see more earning potential with iPhone platform – current apps available for Palm Pre: 1,000; current apps available for Google’s Android: 20,000; current apps available for iPhone: over 140,000

* In 2010, iPhone application development will triple and reach 300,000 (Source: IDC, the Street)

* Request for quotes to develop new iPhone applications are up 30% from June 2009; Q1 requests are expected to be up 20%

* With over 100,000 registered iPhone app developers, iPhoneAppQuotes has experienced a 20% increase in registered developers in the last 3 months

* In only 10 months, over 3,000 leads for developers have been generated by iPhoneAppQuotes

” iPhoneAppQuotes has made a huge impact on our business, generating a sales growth of 200% in only the first four months,” Christopher Young, CEO and founder of Momentum Mobile, Inc., said. “We don’t consider them just a lead referral company, we consider them a key team member. The ROI they show is incomparable to other methods used in our business.”

In response to this trend, Macworld 2010 will debut the Mobile Applications Showcase, highlighting the latest innovations from iPhone app programmers. One of the fifty exhibiting companies will be iPhoneAppQuotes, a leader in iPhone App resources. The five-day expo runs from February 9-13 in San Francisco.

A new Jeff Kagan Report & Comment discusses Google and its first wireless phone, Nexus One and Android: how it may change the wireless industry and how it compares to and competes with the Apple iPhone.

This report also looks at how Google and Apple will impact others like RIM, Palm, Samsung, LG, HTC, Motorola and others, as well as networks like AT&T, Verizon, Sprint, T-Mobile and others.

“Strategies are changing in the wireless industry. In a few short years the entire industry will look completely different. Will you be a leader or will you be caught by surprise?” asks Kagan.

The report discusses the changing wireless industry and the two companies that are not wireless companies yet are both leaders in their field and using their power to reshape this industry.

Smart phone growth is accelerating and will become dominant during the next few years. There are enormous opportunities and risks involved for every player, including handset makers, networks, network equipment, and App makers.

The wireless industry already looks much different over the last few years and that transformation will continue. Over the next few years it will look like an entirely different place.

This report discusses where the industry has been and where it is heading. It looks at the new opportunities and the hidden challenges. It looks at how certain leaders may lose their footing and become followers or worse. It has happened before in the 1990′s and it is about to happen again.

Click here for PREVIEW and additional information about reports: http://www.jeffkagan.com orhttp://www.jeffkagan.com/jeff_kagan_report_&_comment.htm

MOTO Development Group today unveiled a video and photographs of a touchscreen performance test between the Google Nexus One, the Apple iPhone, the Motorola Droid, and the HTC Verizon Droid Eris.

DIY with One Finger and a Drawing Program

MOTO Development Group created the simple technique so that anyone can evaluate the resolution and accuracy of touchscreen devices before they buy. To conduct the test, consumers open a basic drawing program and draw a few diagonal lines drawn across the screen.

Draw Slowly. On a quality touchscreen, people can draw clean straight lines, even while going very slowly. The image that appears on screen accurately represents the slowly drawn lines. However, on inferior touchscreens, it’s basically impossible to draw straight lines. Instead, the lines look jagged, stair-stepped or zig-zag, no matter how slowly you go. The inferior image results from the sensor size is too big, the touch-sampling rate is too low, and/or the algorithms that convert gestures into images are too non-linear to faithfully represent user inputs.

Pressure Matters. A good touchscreen device will produce linear output regardless of whether you’re using the full pad of your finger, or just the edge. If you want to test the most extreme performance, draw very lightly with the edge of your finger. The artifacts will increase significantly, showing which device is really the best with a weak signal.

Even on a single device, the amount of pressure and the part of the finger you use on the screen has an impact on how well it senses. This is important because quick keyboard use and light flicks on the screen really push the limits of the touch panel’s ability to sense.

A good touchscreen device will produce linear output regardless of whether you’re using the full pad of your finger, or just the dry corner of your cuticle. When comparing devices, make sure to use even pressure across all of them.

Millimeters Matter.

Small differences in touchscreen sensitivity actually reveal exponential difference in performance. Less sensitive touchscreen systems are infuriating to use for typing.

And the Winner Is…

The iPhone! The iPhone’s touch sensor showed the most linear tracking with the least amount of stair-stepping. The Droid Eris and Nexus One tied for second with only faint wiggling – but actually performed best at the edge of the screen. Last in the line-up was the Motorola Droid, which demonstrated significant wavy artifacts or “stair-stepping.”

The Real End Game

To create a superior touchscreen experience, the key is to develop a touchscreen sensor that has the highest possible signal-to-noise ratio, or SNR. When a manufacturer gets it right, the device tracks touch inputs almost as if they were connected to physical objects in the real world. Key drivers of SNR include:

• Conductive sensor material
• Substrate material
• Substrate thickness
• Distance from display (the biggest noise source)
• Sensing waveform
• Sensor pattern
• Sensor pitch
• Analog sensing circuitry
• Sample rate

Touchscreens are a catalyst for innovation and a powerful way for device manufacturers to differentiate their products in an intensely competitive marketplace. But as MOTO’s demonstration shows, there’s a right way and a wrong way to deploy the technology. MOTO has worked with capacitive touch interfaces for more than 15 years, and offers up these essential dos and don’ts for anyone entering the field:

• Don’t skimp on materials. With touchscreen hardware, manufacturers get what they pay for — and consumers will notice the difference.
• Allow ample time to develop your algorithms. Don’t treat touchscreen algorithms as an element of component sourcing; create a distinct touch development track in-house to make sure your products are both responsive and accurate.
• Closely integrate touchscreen hardware, software, and user interaction development as early as possible in the product development process. Never treat them as separate tasks.

http://labs.moto.com/diy-touchscreen-analysis