Mobile news

Tags: Apps & Games, Featured, Health & Safety, Newcastle University, Limbs Alive

21 May 2012

Stroke victims can now play a video game to regain motor control, thanks to improved medical technology that engages patients more fully than traditional therapy.

The "Circus Challenge" game tricks participants into exercising their arms while performing virtual acts like juggling, taming lions and walking the tightrope.

Circus Challenge, a joint creation between scientists at England's Newcastle University and gaming developers at Limbs Alive, has already made a difference in one stroke patient's life. Danny Mann of Northumberland had so much fun pretending to swing on the trapeze that he barely noticed the exercise involved in the activity.

"The therapy exercises I normally have to do are dull but necessary but this game is something different which encourages me to keep going with my therapy," he said.

Janet Eyre, professor of Pediatric Neuroscience at Newcastle, suggests at-home gaming sessions like these may improve motor skills faster than traditional therapy.

"The brain can re-learn control of the weak arm but this needs frequent therapy over many months and there are not enough therapists to provide this on a one-to-one basis," she explained. "With our video game, people get engrossed in the competition and action of the circus characters and forget that the purpose of the game is for therapy."

This video game and others like it are striving to improve the lives of stroke patients, cerebral palsy victims and those on the autistic spectrum who have difficulty with movement and communication by challenging them with fun, but still focused, activities.

The Webhab program, for example, combines Nintendo's Wii gaming system and cloud computing so therapists can remotely assist stroke patients in their own homes. "Pop Those Balloons," a Canadian medical video game, gently prevents stroke victims from "cheating" and reinforces exercising the impaired sides of their bodies. And Aeir Talk, an app created by Joe Hill for his two autistic sons, lets parents upload audio flashcards so children learn to associate words with a familiar voice.

These medical apps and video games may eventually produce a new kind of "gamer" as the medical world intersects more with the entertainment medium for patient therapy. And that possibility is growing, as doctors, developers and governments alike begin to realize the benefits of using technology to promote motor and speech therapy.

Circus Challenge's developers, for instance, plan to make their creation public later this year thanks to a $2.4 million grant from the British government. If the investment pays off, the invention could lead to other games that will allow stroke victims and others to enjoy -- and not dread -- their physical therapy sessions.

Tags: Apps & Games, Featured, Innovations & Inventions, IPhone, Navatar

21 May 2012

Blind and visually impaired people who have an iPhone handy may not need a guide dog anymore, thanks to an app that guides them through unfamiliar places.

Navatar, the smartphone app created by University of Nevada engineers, helps blind and visually impaired people get around by providing an affordable, portable indoor navigation system.

The system uses 3-D sketches of buildings, which are generally accessible through Google's SketchUp program. Once the user enters the information, the app provides step-by-step directions.

Navatar may have the sketches pop up automatically in the future, and the team is also considering adding GPS to create an outdoor navigation app.

This innovation demonstrates how mobile technology can replace many current solutions to problems for people with disabilities. Although indoor navigation systems already exist, they need expensive hardware that isn't affordable. Navatar's choice to use existing devices like smartphones will likely propel it towards widespread adoption.

Smartphone apps are already helping the blind read Braille and do homework by using tactile mobile technology, so people who cannot see can feel vibrations giving them the necessary information.

Scientists and engineers are making strides in harnessing advanced technologies for the disabled, but some of them, particularly innovations to help people who cannot walk, are often prohibitively expensive. One of Navatar's concrete advantages is that it will likely be very affordable, since it is a simple app on a smartphone.

PETA gave Navatar an award because it decreased the need for guide dogs, but that's not the only potentially cost-cutting recent invention that replaces dog labor with mobile technology. The "e-Nose," a digital bomb-sniffer can help keep dogs out of harm's way by detecting threatening scents digitally. Together with Navatar, the e-Nose demonstrates how mobile technology can interpret the outside world by simulating one of the five senses.

People often associate apps with fun games like Angry Birds or entertainment like Facebook and Pandora, but as a platform, apps can offer a stunning variety of services, and Navatar demonstrates how some of these services have the potential to positively impact lives.

Tags: Apps & Games, Cover Story, Lifestyle, Media-Mind, Strategies & Solutions, ESPN

17 May 2012

New media is giving cable stations problems, as viewers flee to online alternatives, but ESPN's mobile apps and online presence offer a model for traditional media to transition into the future.

Media-Mind is our column charting how technology's opportunities and challenges transform traditional media and entertainment, for better or for worse.

The worldwide sports leader has several cable networks, including ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPNU, each of which is viewed via the company's comprehensive mobile app, Watch ESPN. The app is available for iOS and Android and provides access to popular shows like "SportsCenter," "Pardon the Interruption" and "Mike and Mike in the Morning."

In addition to giving viewers the opportunity to watch ESPN wherever they go, the app is available for free to customers with Bright House Networks, Comcast, Time Warner Cable and Verizon FiOS TV as an extension of their cable subscription.

Broadcasters like NBC, CBS and FOX, along with pay cable stations, are losing ratings as customers look to Hulu and Netflix to watch their favorite shows on demand. The loss of live viewers diminishes the stations' worth to cable providers and hurts advertising revenue, something ESPN's strategy is helping it avoid.

ESPN's decision to offer its own app rather than license its product to other companies allows the network to control the way it redistributes its content. Watch ESPN puts all the company's broadcast content in one place, making it the best option for viewers who want to watch the station's programming on-the-go. In addition, the station's partnership with cable companies make sure it is still valuable to providers at the same time, serving its customer better.

One of the only flaws the Watch ESPN app has is it's only available to subscribers of specific cable providers. For example, a New York viewer who has Cablevision as their provider does not have access to the Watch ESPN app. However, as ESPN continues to work out deals with remaining cable providers, the app will become even more of an asset to the company as it attempts to reach viewers all over the world.

There is even an alternative for customers who aren't somewhere they can watch ESPN. The company's new ESPN Radio app allows customers to stream more than 30 of its radio stations across the company. Users can download the app for a one-time fee of $5 and stream unlimited for as long as their data plan will allow, and they'll have access to podcasts featuring commentary from the station's analysts and reporters.

ESPN Gets It

Any time new media arises, the automatic reaction of content providers seems to be to stick with traditional methods for as long as possible. However, by embracing mobile devices' ability to carry its product beyond the TV, ESPN is blazing a trail to increase its audience and reach markets it may never would have otherwise.

ESPN specializes in live programming, the one type of show that analysts say is immune to DVR and capable of sustaining ratings. However, the company still went out of its way to create new ways for its fans to view its content and its future-focused emphasis is paying dividends. The network adopted a philosophy that viewers should be able to watch ESPN on "the best available screen," and its digital portfolio has added value to its affiliates, its rights holders and advertisers.

ESPN's model for offering content digitally may not work for other cable stations, but the company's success suggests that embracing new media is a good thing, if done correctly.

Tags: Apps & Games, Facebook, Featured, Strategies & Solutions

10 May 2012

Facebook is opening the App Center, an app store for iOS and Android, a venture determining the social network's ability to monetize its mobile customers.

As Facebook's IPO approaches, the company is aggressively pursuing ways to monetize its more than 400 million mobile users. When users access the site on personal computers, they see ads, which generate revenue, but Facebook's mobile app has no means to do so just yet, and the company is prepping to plug the hole.

Forrester Research predicts apps will generate $38 billion by 2015, so Facebook could gain a substantial revenue stream if it is able to jump full-throttle into the market.

Facebook hinted at its intentions to create an app store at the Mobile World Congress this year, partnering with a group of carriers and mobile device makers to encourage standardizing Web browsing, a move positioning the company to open its App Center.

Partnerships with popular sites like Pinterest, eBay and Foursquare may help generate interest in Facebook's app store and propel the company's monetizing effort. Still, many mobile users have already installed apps relating to these sites on their mobile phones, and may be reluctant to download another version for Facebook.

Also, Facebook could run into bumps along the road as it attempts to lure app developers to make the project a success. A study found developers are more likely to use Google+ to create social networking apps, despite Facebook's wider audience.

Facebook's decision to redirect customers to Google and Apple's app stores illustrates the company is making strides to compensate for some holes in its App Center, but its model may have a hard time going against Google+, which integrates Google's YouTube and Gmail, as well as Android and Apple's larger offerings.

However, developers may be drawn to the cross-platform nature of Facebook's app store, and the network's large audience will also be a draw. Android is losing cachet with developers, possibly due to the platform's fragmentation and malware issues, though it still pulls in a fair amount of money from its apps.

For its part, Apple's easy-to-use mobile payment system helped build its iOS and iPad apps empire, which make billions. Taking a page from Apple, Facebook will need to set up a simple mobile payment system if it has any hope of approaching Apple's success.

Facebook's mobile base continues to grow without bringing the company financial rewards, and the upcoming App Center may change that -- but Facebook needs to prove why downloading an app from them, and not Apple or Google, is better for the user. Otherwise, Facebook admits its mobile user growth may be a liability and not a boon, and it could damage the company's IPO and stymie revenue, since Facebook Mobile struggles to generate money as is.

Tags: Apps & Games, Facebook, Featured, Strategies & Solutions

10 May 2012

Facebook is opening the App Center, an app store for iOS and Android, a venture determining the social network's ability to monetize its mobile customers.

As Facebook's IPO approaches, the company is aggressively pursuing ways to monetize its more than 400 million mobile users. When users access the site on personal computers, they see ads, which generate revenue, but Facebook's mobile app has no means to do so just yet, and the company is prepping to plug the hole.

Forrester Research predicts apps will generate $38 billion by 2015, so Facebook could gain a substantial revenue stream if it is able to jump full-throttle into the market.

Facebook hinted at its intentions to create an app store at the Mobile World Congress this year, partnering with a group of carriers and mobile device makers to encourage standardizing Web browsing, a move positioning the company to open its App Center.

Partnerships with popular sites like Pinterest, eBay and Foursquare may help generate interest in Facebook's app store and propel the company's monetizing effort. Still, many mobile users have already installed apps relating to these sites on their mobile phones, and may be reluctant to download another version for Facebook.

Also, Facebook could run into bumps along the road as it attempts to lure app developers to make the project a success. A study found developers are more likely to use Google+ to create social networking apps, despite Facebook's wider audience.

Facebook's decision to redirect customers to Google and Apple's app stores illustrates the company is making strides to compensate for some holes in its App Center, but its model may have a hard time going against Google+, which integrates Google's YouTube and Gmail, as well as Android and Apple's larger offerings.

However, developers may be drawn to the cross-platform nature of Facebook's app store, and the network's large audience will also be a draw. Android is losing cachet with developers, possibly due to the platform's fragmentation and malware issues, though it still pulls in a fair amount of money from its apps.

For its part, Apple's easy-to-use mobile payment system helped build its iOS and iPad apps empire, which make billions. Taking a page from Apple, Facebook will need to set up a simple mobile payment system if it has any hope of approaching Apple's success.

Facebook's mobile base continues to grow without bringing the company financial rewards, and the upcoming App Center may change that -- but Facebook needs to prove why downloading an app from them, and not Apple or Google, is better for the user. Otherwise, Facebook admits its mobile user growth may be a liability and not a boon, and it could damage the company's IPO and stymie revenue, since Facebook Mobile struggles to generate money as is.

Tags: Apps & Games, Featured, Innovations & Inventions, Kinect, University of Minnesota

09 May 2012

Can gaming equipment diagnose autism? Scientists say yes, illustrating how mobile technology meant for entertainment can have wide-ranging medical applications.

University of Minnesota researchers harnessed the sophisticated motion sensors on Microsoft's Kinect to develop a system of detecting autism.

Researchers set up Kinects throughout Minnesota's Institute of Child Development, and use the devices to see children's interactions with them to find behavior patterns that fall along the autism spectrum. Detecting behavior along the autism spectrum disorder can take a long time, since many of the tell-tale signs are subtle and easy to miss unless the children are subject to lengthy, intense observation.

The Kinect experiment processes the children's movements and submits the data to an algorithm that can sort out potential cases of autism, alerting the scientists about children who need further study.

If this monitoring method catches on, it may help detect autism early, since it streamlines the processes of determining which children exhibit behaviors that need further examination. This is important, because detecting developmental delays for children on the spectrum as soon as possible help them get better treatment earlier.

This is the first time researchers used gaming devices to identify autistic characteristics, but autistic children are reaping widespread benefits from the rise of mobile technology, particularly tablets and portable gaming devices.

Studies indicate autistic children can hone their social skills using interactive games, and communicate better through apps specially designed to help them articulate their thoughts.

This diagnosis strategy could also be adopted in other areas, with hospital waiting rooms installing Kinect sensors processing multiple patients and several different algorithms, creating a sort of automated triage system.

Medical centers are using iPads to check patients in instead of traditional paperwork, and since Apple is also developing a motion sensor system similar to Kinect, the next generations of iPad may come equipped with Kinect-like sensors so patients waiting for treatment could be assessed through sensors to determine their situations while they wait.

Doctors still need to examine patients personally in most cases, but this method can help root out children and patients who likely require extra medical attention. If this observation strategy catches on for doctors looking at autistic patients, it may also catch on to identify and treat other ailments, potentially improving health care diagnosis on a wide scale.

Tags: Apps & Games, Featured, Reports, GirlsGoGames

02 May 2012

More tween girls are turning to the Web to take quizzes and play social role-playing games, illustrating how a key demographic is paving the way for future gameplay.

A new report by tween gaming platform GirlsgoGames.com's 7.6 million U.S. site visitors found nearly 50 percent of girls between the ages of 8 and 12 are turning to the Internet for entertainment and social gaming. They are also spending more time once they get there, with monthly playing times doubling from 38 minutes to one hour and 18 minutes.

The news reflects something people have known for some time: girls typically focus on being creative, cultivating friendships and engaging with a community of fans, a trend that is carrying over into adulthood and influencing digital gaming.

Tablets, laptops and mobile devices are replacing yesterday's cardboard cut-outs and tween celebrity magazines. Girls are using the devices to take quizzes, formerly the domain of the teen beat magazines, and virtually dress up their favorite electronic "paper doll" celebrities in new clothes and makeup.

Not surprisingly, the tween girls and their $260 billion in U.S spending are especially attracted to the social aspects of online gaming and to interactive games where they can share content. Games that involve cooking, dressing up and quizzes topped the list, followed by make-up/makeover and animal games.

The report dovetails with news earlier this year from MocoSpace that more women than men play mobile games and underscores this gaming industry shift may be more substantial and enduring.

The mobile social network's survey reports more than a quarter of women age 30 and over play mobile games for more than three hours a day, compared to just under 19 percent of men in the same age group, challenging the notion of a "gamer" as a teenage boy hunched over a console controller in a dim basement.

And women, like the girls they once were, are playing social games, fueled in part by the rise in social gaming on smartphones.

Many popular mobile games like "Words With Friends" encourage people to play against others via social networking sites. The social aspect of these games may continue to draw in more women and girls, especially as developers take advantage of the trend and start creating more titles with female players in mind.

The video game industry is taking note of the growth of social gaming reflected in Zynga's popular Facebook games like "FarmVille" and "CityVille." These gaming companies will likely continue developing increasingly social mobile games, especially to feed the growing appetites of the "pink" gamer who, as she ages, continues to demand creative and social titles.

Tags: Apps & Games, Featured, Health & Safety, Oxford University, PTSD, Tetris

01 May 2012

For soldiers fighting Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, or PTSD, popular game Tetris is as helpful as therapy or medication.

A research team at Oxford University discovered playing Tetris alleviates symptoms of PTSD, including flashbacks, by interrupting the process of storing painful memories in the brain.

"Tetris therapy" doesn't erase or suppress the memory, but because Tetris engages the same parts of the brain used for imprint vivid mental images, playing the game soon after trauma may interfere with the mind using those areas to store extensive, detailed recollections.

The Tetris therapy could be especially helpful for soldiers in combat zones trying to stop reliving painful experiences, as accessing the game is easier than making time for extensive talking therapy, or risk the side effects of pharmaceutical drugs used to treat PTSD. The U.S. Army could use the popular game to treat returning and deployed soldiers.

Smartphone use in the Army is on the rise, and since Tetris is available as an app and on portable gaming devices, troops will have access to the game, even from remote outposts.

This isn't the first time research suggested video games can help people with psychological or neurological conditions. Autism researchers credit social games on iPads with helping people develop social skills and communicate more clearly, while studies show app games like "Angry Birds" help elderly people stay mentally keen.

There are already apps on the market to monitor stressed-out mobile phone users, like iHeal, which is designed to prevent drug relapses but can also be used to gauge PTSD patients' health, helping them know when to seek care. These monitoring apps could be used to see if Tetris therapy is working, by comparing the stats of people who are regularly playing Tetris to combat symptoms with those who do not.

Video games are sometimes maligned for turning the mind to mush, but this study, along with others, illustrates how they can positively rewire the brain and supplement more traditional treatments for mental disorders.

Tags: Apps & Games, Featured, Reports, Fiksu

30 April 2012

In March, consumers downloaded two million fewer iPhone apps, or a 30 percent drop, highlighting a shifting taste from cheaper novelty programs to higher-quality service software.

Smartphones, which accounted for around one in five phones sold last year, pushed apps to the mainstream. Sometimes free, and often wacky, the first crop of these handheld-programs turned hundreds of thousands of smartphones into barcode scanners, arcade machines and photo booths.

But the novelty is wearing off, and consumers increasingly demand sophisticated apps to run on a growing spate of faster smartphones. As a result, consumers are downloading fewer of these free or cheaper programs, which often cost 99 cents, and instead, are willing to pay for apps that can help the blind to read, check-out customers or monitor the health of patients.

In short, apps are no longer required to run locally, on the device, but instead in the "cloud," opening a channel for developers to create better apps and monetize on in-app purchases and recurring service charges.

"With the novelty factor of the iPhone 4S launch and the holidays well behind us, March's download dip was expected," said Micah Adler, CEO of research firm Fiksu.

Carriers, competing to expand their 4G service, are partly responsible for the shift. As faster broadband-like speeds reach customers, more powerful smartphones are able to run more robust apps, allowing them to stream music and television shows.

In the past, developers were largely crippled by slower infrastructure, limiting the features they could build into mobile versions of their programs. But 4G is opening up higher-quality services, and as a result, pushing out cheaper and simple first-generation apps.

In fact, carriers, which used to make money largely on calling and texting services, have largely capped plans to cash in on data. But now, the trend is trickling down to developers, giving them a larger canvas to create better apps, and increasing the competition to stand out.

Despite the drop in downloads, Fiksu said the cost of marketing held steady. The cost of acquiring a loyal customer, or a user that opens an app more than three times a month, fell to a cent to $1.30 last month.

As flood of apps overwhelm consumers, independent developers, such as the 12-year-old whiz kid that topped the charts, will likely be pushed out. And established brands, like Angry Birds, spend millions in marketing dollars to push their titles to the top of the rankings, and continue to garner the most downloads.

Tags: Apps & Games, Editorials & Opinion, The Score, Nintendo

27 April 2012

Nintendo posted a loss in its latest fiscal year for the first time since 1981, leading industry analysts to wonder if the stumble is a blip on the radar or the start of a trend.

The Score is a weekly column scoring controversial events in the mobile industry. Want to get to the point? We'll break it down and give you the score.

The Setup: In November 2006, there was no company in gaming that looked better than Nintendo. Critics were showering the company with praise for its innovative Nintendo Wii home console, and the Nintendo DS was on its way to becoming the most successful portable gaming system of all time.

Fast forward six years and 100 million Wii sales later, and the company is in a far different position. After an incredible run, sales of Nintendo's home console have come to a halt and its one-time innovative controls and graphics have become dated. Meanwhile, the Nintendo 3DS, the company's successor to the DS, stumbled out of the gate. After year on the market the console is only now, after a significant price drop, beginning to gain traction.

After three straight years of declining sales, Nintendo finally finds itself in the red with an outdated home console and a handheld fighting for its life against smartphones. But despite everything that has gone wrong for the Japanese gaming company recently, it can turn it all around if it lives up to the expectations it has set for itself in 2012.

Final Score: Nintendo: +2,500 points

Wait, what? Nintendo posts a loss for the first time in 30 years and the company comes out with a positive score? It actually makes sense. Nobody's perfect. Nintendo is allowed to have a bad year and it can be just that: a bad year. A collection of factors played against the company this 2011.

The Wii was aging and Nintendo planned to stem slow sales of the home console with the launch of a new handheld while it put the finishing touches on the Wii U. Unfortunately, Nintendo misjudged the market and what customers were willing to pay for a dedicated portable gaming system in the age of the smartphone.

However, the company countered with a price drop and some great games, regained its swagger, and by the middle of the year expects to be able to sell the 3DS at a profit rather than a loss.

Nintendo is not out of the woods just yet. There is plenty of skepticism surrounding its upcoming console. If it fails to take off with users, the company could be in more financial trouble. However, if the Wii U lives up to expectations and the 3DS continues to sell at its current pace, then 2012 will be a smashing success for Nintendo, and the company will be on its way to starting up a new streak of profitability.