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Sega Alliance launched, will provide marketing and production support for indies
Sega has announced a mobile initiative that it's calling the Sega Alliance, which seems like a publishing division of Sega Mobile. Sega says the Alliance will "provide participating developers with comprehensive marketing and production support as well as creative consultation." In other words, this is Sega's version of Chillingo, where the company will find indie developers doing good work and back them up with production and creative support, as well as partnering in the revenues when the apps are released. For a lot of indie devs looking for a spotlight, this is probably good news. As open as the App Store is, it can be hard to get seen by users and the press, and teaming with Sega is a good way to do so. Jack Lumber is a new $.99 game on the App Store, and it's the first release through Sega Alliance. The game was created by Owlchemy Labsthe folks behind Snuggle Truck, and it's a game along the lines of Fruit Ninja, where you have to draw lines across your iPad or iPhone to cut wood instead of fruit. The game looks interesting, and we'll have to see how this Sega partnership helps its chances.
WWDC Interview: MacTEK Consulting & Training
Neil Ticktin (Editor-in-Chief, MacTech Magazine and MacNews) interviews Doug Hanley of MacTEK Consulting & Training at WWDC 2011. Doug was kind enough to tell us about their thoughts on the announcements on WWDC, and how it will affect their plans moving forward. TUAW and MacTech Magazine teamed up to speak to developers at WWDC 2011 about the keynote announcements and how Apple's new technologies will help them and their customers. We'll bring you those videos here, MacTech.com and MacNews.com. Also, check out the free trial subscription offer for MacTech Magazine here.
Box.net's 20 iPads arrive at D7 Consulting
A few months back, Box.net launched its effort to deliver 20 brand new iPads to a business that could make use of Apple's tablet and the cloud sharing service in an innovative and interesting way. Box.net eventually chose D7 Consulting, a construction consulting company in Newport Beach, California, to receive the iPads. Yesterday, I drove down to the company HQ to see the beginning of the project. Over the next 12 months, Box.net will provide not only the free iPads but also free service to D7's employees. Together, the two companies hope to get a good look at, as Box's Marketing Communications Manager Sean Lindo put it, "the possibilities and realities of cloud and mobile devices for how people need to work today." TUAW will be following up periodically with Box.net and D7 to see how the project is going. As you can hear directly from D7 CEO Joe Daniels in the second half of this post, the next year is going to be an interesting experiment, not only to see how his employees are able to use iPads with their work on construction sites but also to see how Apple's tablet can be used reliably and well in the workplace. In the gallery below, you can see yesterday's unboxing. Read on for more on how this all came about and what challenges Daniels expects to face in the coming weeks. %Gallery-97114%
TUAW's Daily App: Umbrella Today
Last fall, I moved out here to Southern California, and while I don't mean to brag, my concerns about the weather outside have fallen right off of my list of priorities; it's sunny and 70ºF here most of the time. However, back when I lived in Chicago, I had to check and see what the weather was like every day before I went out . While I was interested in the temperature, the conditions, and even the wind speed (it's a Windy City, in case you haven't heard), there was really just one question that I needed answered: Umbrella today? Umbrella Today is a site that answers that question for you. It's the brainchild of tech consultant firm thoughtbot. All you have to do is punch in your ZIP code, and you will get a yes or no answer as to whether you'll need to bring that umbrella or not. Of course, you're not always near a computer, so they've turned the site into an iPhone app. The app will not only answer the question, but it will even provide scheduled alerts or push notifications when you need to carry that umbrella. I love it -- it's simple, practical, and effective. The app is US$1.99, but even if you have an issue with that price, you can set up an email alert on the site for free. Still, a one-time payment of $2 is cheap for never being caught empty-handed in the rain again.
Strand Consult to iPhone users: You're delusional and a big, fat liar too
In a report that is sure to bring cheer to legions of Verizon Droid owners, Strand Consult is saying that all of us who have purchased iPhones are delusional liars. CNET's Chris Matyszczyk reported in his Technically Incorrect column that the Danish marketing consultants posted an article titled "How will psychologists describe the iPhone syndrome in the future?" Among other things, the article describes the similarity between iPhone users defending their (according to Strand) deficient smartphones and the psychological condition known as the Stockholm Syndrome. The latter has been used to describe how hostages often begin believing and defending their captors. Unswitchable Microsoft fans have also been accused of Stockholm Syndrome. Yep, we're all delusional, and Strand Consult offers "proof" of how we've all been taken in by Apple by listing 20 deficiencies of the iPhone platform (most of which, by the way, are no longer valid). The company even goes so far as to say: In reality the iPhone is surrounded by a multitude of people, media and companies that are happy to bend the truth to defend the product they have purchased from Apple. Not only are we all delusional wackos, but we're also liars! Strand wittily created a name for our disease -- The iPhone Syndrome -- and is glad to share this with everyone in a free report. Of course, you have to register to get the report, which most likely puts you on a marketing email list. The following quote may provide some insight into the potential customers they're hoping to reach with this report. if you are one of the many other phone manufacturers: Nokia, Sony Ericsson, Samsung, LG, HTC etc., you will most probably be very envious of the euphoria that Apple has invoked in their customers. I'm glad to be part of the Crazy Ones that Apple celebrated in the Think Different ad campaign. How about you? Do you think that we're all unable to see that the Emperor has no clothes, or is this report an insult? Do we completely disregard the mobile industry's rush to imitate various elements of the iPhone, including the App Store? State your opinion in the comments. [via CNET]
Accenture developing virtual meal technology, brings videoconferencing to the dinner table
If you're just finishing up what was likely a delicious and fulfilling Christmas dinner with your friends and family, connecting with loved ones probably isn't a problem at the moment, but for elderly and single folks who live alone and far away from old friends and relatives, Accenture is looking to expand their dinner tables as far as the webcam can see. The "virtual meal technology" seeks to aggrandize the dining room beyond a single home, allowing folks to enjoy separate meals while conversing together in real-time. Utilizing the basic premise found in videoconferencing, the plans are to unveil an (almost) automatic system that doesn't require a great deal of know-how in order to operate, with prototypes "automatically detecting" when someone is about to eat supper, and then searching for available family members that would also be interested in scarfing down some grub while chatting it up over the system. The firm is also pushing the medical aspects of such an invention, as it reports that "elderly people who eat alone often don't eat enough or eat the wrong kinds of food," which would allow younger family members to correct those eating habits before more serious health issues develop from malnutrition. While the company hasn't released any draft equipment just yet, it's hoping to have a prototype system available "in around two years," and while it's aiming for the "$500 to $1,000 range" per household, things could get a lot cheaper if your insurance company ends up footing the bill.
Guide to becoming a Certified Mac Professional
If your love of Apple's products is evolving into a desire to work for or with them to some degree, informit.com has a nice roundup of the various Apple certifications one can earn, ranging from consulting, system administration and even getting trained to train. The individual articles provide nice summaries, as well as a few gotchas, for each of the certifications, as well as links to Apple's official sites. This is a nice starting point for making that leap from 'living room Mac nerd hobbyist' to 'paid corporate Mac nerd.' Scoring that choice parking spot, however, is an entirely different certification altogether.
