The Freestyle Application

The Freestyle Application for iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch is calling songwriters, MC’s worldwide to enter the new Freestyle App Online Battle for a chance to become the next big recording artist.

MC’s and songwriters are invited to battle it out online for song supremacy in a six week online freestyle competition powered by SoundCloud. Competitors should submit a track created with Freestyle App for a chance to win a professional recording and a commercial release from My Major Company.

The competition sponsored by Freestyle App and My Major Company gives contestants the opportunity to submit their own lyrics recorded over the beats included in the app to win a professional studio track recording, a commercial release, and an opportunity to be signed to the My Major Company record label.

The competition runner up will win a $100 iTunes gift certificate and a Pro Account with SoundCloud.

To enter the Freestyle App Online Battle contestants simply download or update to the latest version of Freestyle app for iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch.

The Freestyle App is now available for free for the first 2 weeks of the competition. Get it now.

Each track uploaded to the Freestyle App Online Battle platform will be open to a public voting process for the first four weeks of the competition. The top 10 finalists from this voting process will then be judged by a panel of A&R and industry experts during the final two weeks to reveal the winner and runner up.

About The Freestyle App
The Freestyle App is an industry standard in the Hip Hop community and is used and supported by aspiring and established MCs worldwide.

Designed for songwriters, MCs and poets on the move, the Freestyle App serves as a mobile recording studio, combining a digital notepad, instrumental beat library, rhyming dictionary, and vocal recorder in one application, allowing App users to capture their creativity whenever inspiration strikes. Users can then seamlessly email or upload their recordings to Facebook, Twitter, or SoundCloud directly from the convenience of their iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch.

The updated 2.1 version of Freestyle was launched last year to rave reviews, the App’s original release quickly garnered over 100,000 downloads, becoming a top 5 selling music App in the iTunes App Store in less than 2 months. Heavy new beat bundles are now available for download.

My Major Company is a brand new record label which gives music fans a voice. It allows you to choose which artist to launch, supporting them financially and artistically from the very start. MMC is an online platform which gives Internet users and music fans the ability to invest in the career of the label’s artists, get involved at every stage of their development and retain a share of the profit generated by the release campaign following the bands launch.

The UnityRemote app is designed to turn the iPhone, iPod touch and iPad into a universal remote control and the latest 1.6 version focuses on further enhancing the applications unique features as well as delivering a whole new range of innovative elements that make this ultimate home accessory slicker and sharper than ever before.

The app’s ‘favourites’ function  which allows users to list their most watched TV channels under a ‘favourite’ icon on their iPhone, iPod touch or iPad screen has been updated to save users even more time. TV addicts can now add an unlimited amount of favourites, instead of the previous nine. With just one single tap of an icon on their Apple device, users can seamlessly flick between channels.

GEAR4’s engineering team have been busy ensuring that UnityRemote works as effectively as possible with all home electronic devices, both new and old. Having heavily optimised the app, memory usage has been minimised to make reaction times faster overall. Changing between the TV and CD player, or other devices, is both quicker and easier.

Thanks to a new and improved user interface on the app, customising key icons with images from personal digital photo collections couldn’t be simpler.

royal wedding app

ITN Productions has launched a Royal Wedding app exclusively with Getjar the world’s largest independent app store, where visitors will be able to download the highly anticipated software a week ahead of it’s general release.

Royal family enthusiasts can now follow William and Kate’s wedding preparations every step of the way by downloading the Royal Wedding app for Android and iPhone – completely free on GetJar for the next seven days.

The app, developed to support ITN’s Royal Wedding Channel on YouTube, delivers up to date news and entertaining video content on all things royal in the run up to the big day on April 29th. With hours of video content packed into the app and more being added each day, the app provides a quick and entertaining way to keep up to date with the nation’s favourite couple.

Miguel Tatay, Head of Mobile at ITN Productions, said: “We wanted to reach the largest possible audience and make the app open and available to everyone. As the world’s largest open app store, GetJar was the obvious choice to launch and distribute The Royal Wedding app.”

Patrick Mork, CMO of GetJar commented: “We’re thrilled to be able to offer The Royal Wedding app exclusively on GetJar. The Royal wedding is the talk of the town and downloading this app will allow everyone to feel part of it. We expect this is going to be extremely popular and are delighted to be able to make this app free to consumers on GetJar”.

Interestingly the survey revealed that only 18% of respondents now aspire to replace their current handset with the Apple based iPhone, the market leader in the field for the last few years.

While this is hardly likely to be the death knell of the iPhone, the vast range of manufacturers offering the Android based product means that customers have an enormous choice when it comes to replacing their current device, both in price and application.

Apple have also cornered the market for mobile apps during their current reign, but that is all about to change too according to Getjar, who predict that Android apps will outnumber Apple by 2 to 1 in the near future.

Patrick Mork CMO of Getjar says;

“The survey results make it clear that all eyes are on Android, as well as the importance of brand equity in the increasingly competitive mobile app space. In addition, the data also reveals that brand marketers and advertisers also have a reason to be hopeful about consumer’s appetite for in-app advertisement.”

App usage is clearly on the rise with the survey results showing almost 34 percent of consumers spending one hour or more using apps per day, compared to 49 percent who spend the same amount of time watching television.  Fifty-eight percent of respondents use mobile apps more than once a day.

The importance of brand equity was pushed to the forefront, as almost 80 percent said that the quality of the brand’s app makes the brand more trustworthy.  Furthermore, 72 percent of those surveyed said they were more likely to engage with a brand if they had a good app.

Advertisers have reason to be hopeful.  Seventy-three percent of respondents said they have downloaded an app with advertising in it, and almost 60 percent said they’d do it again. Almost one in four made a purchase after having clicked on a mobile ad.

Discovery continues to plague app publishers.  Only 25% discovered the apps they were looking for using actual app stores.  Nearly 50% had actually discovered apps while browsing online and nearly 17% had discovered apps through friends or social media.

Other survey results include:

• Gaming apps are the most popular, followed closely by social networking apps
• The amount of free apps and the ease of search topped the list of things users look for in an app store
• The cost of an app was the biggest deciding factor in whether to download an app or not

Chic app

Value Retail, operators of the Chic Outlet Shopping® Villages, have announced the launch of the official Chic Outlet Shopping app, which will enable users to discover Europe’s leading luxury outlet destinations through an easy-to-navigate, interactive digital experience.

The Collection of Chic Outlet Shopping Villages are the latest word in smart shopping and welcome 25 million visitors to the nine luxury outlet destinations every year.

The Collection is home to 900 luxury outlet boutiques of renowned international and niche European brands offering reductions of up to 60% on the recommended retail price, all year round, in addition to the tax free savings (up to 15%) available to non-EU residents.

Coveted names include Agent Provocateur, Anya Hindmarch, Belstaff, Bimba & Lola, Calvin Klein, Desigual, Diane von Furstenberg, Missoni, Mulberry, Matthew Williamson, Smythson, Tumi, Temperley London and Vivienne Westwood, with some 50 brands currently selecting the Collection as home to their only outlet boutique worldwide.

The Chic Outlet Shopping app allows users to experience exclusive content and innovative features which include:

• Plan Your Visit to any one of the nine Chic Outlet Shopping® Villages from any location – worldwide.
• The online booking service for the Shopping Express coach service operating from the local city centre with direct transfer to each Village.
• Access to comprehensive interactive maps of each of the nine Chic Outlet Shopping® Villages: simply touch, pan and zoom maps to view the Villages in detail.
• Search facility and filters in the Brand Directory to locate any of the 900 luxury outlet boutiques by name or by category.
• View exclusive content developed by Chic Outlet Shopping® including video highlights on Chic TV and Editor’s Corner featuring celebrity interviews and insider shopping tips.
• Purchase pre- charged Gift Cards, redeemable at all of the nine Chic Outlet Shopping® Villages.

The iPhone, Ipod Touch and iPad compatible Chic Outlet Shopping app is available for free download from the iTunes and Apple app store.

Designed and developed by an in-house team using the Guardian’s content API, the new Guardian App for iPhone and iPod touch showcases news, comment, features, photo galleries and multimedia, including guardian.co.uk’s award-winning video for the first time.

Brand new sport features will enable users to track their favourite football teams, receive goal alerts and follow minute-by-minute matches with automatic updates. News and politics live blogs have also been re-designed to provide the best user experience for guardian.co.uk’s acclaimed rolling coverage.

The update demonstrates clearly how our user expectations have grown during the last twelve months and also give an indication of how mobile applications have integrated themselves into our daily routine.

The people at the Guardian have taken on board feedback from users of the original Guardian app during the last year and have developed the product as a direct result of such feedback, creating what they believe to be a standard setting application within the industry.

The latest version of the Guardian app features:

• Award-winning Guardian video, available over 3G and Wi-Fi
• Live football scores and goal alerts by team or match
• Automatic updates for live blogs, including minute-by-minute sport coverage
• Integrated reader comments underneath stories
• Brand new homepage design including multimedia carousel
• Enhanced trending topics and most-viewed stories
• Landscape reading mode
• A brand new search facility, across the guardian.co.uk archive

Original most popular features retained:

• Customisable homepage and the ability to ‘favourite’ sections and contributors for quick access to relevant articles
• Comprehensive offline browsing mode with the ability to save articles and read them later
• Superb picture galleries, allowing the user to flip through all the latest images, covering everything from news and sport to fashion and wildlife
• Access to guardian.co.uk’s audio and podcasts

The new Guardian app is available to download from the iPhone app store and will cost £2.99 for six months or £3.99 for a year. The app is ad funded in the USA where it is avaiolable as a free download.

This Day in Led Zeppelin app

This Day in Led Zeppelin is the first in a series of apps that chronicle the biggest names in music, including unique audio-visual elements. Compiled by the team who run the award-winning This Day in Music, This Day in Led Zeppelin is a celebration of one of biggest and most successful rock music acts the world has ever seen.

The app includes events like Jimmy Page seeing Robert Plant perform live for the first time with his group Hobbstweedle, the date all four members of  Led Zeppelin played together for the first time, right though the band’s career to the 02 reunion show and Jimmy Page’s recent collaboration with U2’s The Edge and Jack White.

This Day in Music team then spent over a year researching every gig Led Zeppelin ever played and checked out studio dates, live venues and many research books while setting about writing song notes about every studio recording.

“It’s been a mammoth task, but at the same time very rewarding. It’s made me listen to every Led Zeppelin song, watch live performances and contact other Zep fans for their help. One thing I’ve learnt from this is that they were undoubtedly one of the finest rock bands (if not the best), we’ve ever seen. I was lucky enough to see Zeppelin live at The Hard Rock in Manchester, England when I was 14. They were absolutely brilliant: I can still see them walking on-stage, plugging in and then hitting us with a wall of sound! I remember being at school the following day, my ears still ringing.” said Neil Cossar, MD of This Day in Music.

A complete interactive experience, This Day in Led Zeppelin includes:

• A list of every gig the band ever played, including set lists, recordings, gigs, TV performances – the daily Zeppelin diary
• A Led Zeppelin quiz with hundreds of interactive questions
• A detailed critique of every studio track and every Led Zeppelin album with a unique link to play any Led Zeppelin track contained in your own iTunes music library
• Hundreds of Led Zeppelin trivia facts with brand-new Led Zeppelin graphics.

This Day in Led Zeppelin is a comprehensive guide to the group’s career, using Led Zeppelin trivia and facts covering the group’s entire history.

This great music app is a must for any Led Zep fan and also includes the following bonus features:

• Free ringtone – unavailable elsewhere and unique to this This Day in Led Zeppelin App (though the song is not performed by Led Zeppelin
• A Led Zeppelin career overview from former Melody Maker editor Chris Charlesworth, who, during the 1970’s, spent time with Led Zeppelin on their US tour and flew with the band on their private jet ‘The Starship’
• Links to the official Led Zeppelin website and the band members’ own websites
• Free unique Led Zeppelin art wallpaper
• Includes many photographs of Led Zeppelin live and recording venues specially shot for this music App

Neil Cossar, MD of This Day in Music, is a life long Led Zeppelin fan and explained:

“I had the idea of making individual apps for some of the biggest acts in the world, and thought the best one to start with would be Led Zeppelin, because of their iconic status.”

For more information on this and other apps visit www.thisdayinmusicapps.com.

The forward thinking SmartLink app will allow users to control a docked iPhone or iPod Touch using a second iOS device from anywhere in the home by combining Gear4’s sophisticated SmartLink technology with home wi-fi.

Not only does the SmartLink app turn iPhones and iPod Touches into a wireless remote control, it also features a built-in music player and adds additional features to a range of GEAR4’s docking stations including the HouseParty SmartDock, HouseParty Airwave and AlarmDock Halo.

As with the SmartDock app, SmartLink automatically syncs clock and alarm settings when docked, which stay synced when removed. Up to two different alarms can be set at any one time, and users have a choice of two visual clock interfaces.

Finding favourite radio stations has never been easier. Using the SmartLink app, users can see who and what they are listening to, all on the screen of their iPhone or iPod touch and autoscan for the best stations – all with the tap of a finger.

The SmartLink app will be available from the Apple app store this month as a free download, with further developments promised during this year.

It is fair to say that last minute shopping can be an extremely stressful and tiring experience and so the worlds largest open app store, Getjar, have offered the following five apps to help ease the pain and save hours of marching up and down the high street frantically searching for that perfect gift.

Five Top Shopping apps

• Shopsavvy – a barcode scanner app that will have you comparing prices like a pro
• Xmas Fireplace – a creative app that allows you to design and send your own holiday cards, without the hassle of trips to the post office and stationary store
• Gifted Men – Are you having trouble finding a gift for the man in your life? Gifted Men has hot deals across men’s shopping categories like Days Out, Gadgets, DVD’s, Men’s Fragrances, etc.
• In the Bag Shopping List Web App – InTheBagShoppingList.com is an online shopping list program. Access it from home, work, or your mobile device. Share an account with your spouse so you can both see and update the same list of items. This way you can both be in sync when buying gifts for friends and family.
• Award Winning Grocery Shopping App – Christmas shopping wouldn’t be complete without a bountiful supply of festive snacks and beverages. Find in this app a loyal assistant to help plan, check off, and remind users to purchase favourite goodies to enjoy over the Xmas season.

Close My Deal iPhone App

A new iPhone App based on the insights of a professional negotiator from the world of entertainment offers small business owners insight into how to negotiate both in their business and daily lives.

Over the past 25 years Clive Rich has worked in the music & entertainment industry with the likes of Simon Cowell, Sony, My Space and The Royal Opera House.  He has leant on that experience to develop a unique iPhone App which will help you get more of what you want when making business deals, selling your car or even buying a house.

Close My Deal is a portable confidence boosting toolkit for anyone involved in deal making and negotiating – skills which are seldom taught or practiced yet fundamental to any individual’s life or business.   It will train you on professional deal-making techniques – giving you practical tools and confidence to be used every day.

The iPhone App (which is packed with video content, practical advice and tips) will coach you on how to handle difficult people and situations and will empower your inner winner.

Close My Deal, which comes with an e-book training manual and various fun tools to manage multiple deals, will help you discover your own personal strengths and weaknesses and perfect your personal negotiating style.

The Close My Deal iPhone App comes with six features:

• a profiler to chart your personal negotiating style
• a how to win step-by-step guide to developing professional negotiating skills;
• a tough guy emergency service for combating bully boys and stop them in their tracks; a game plan to help you take control and get a better win;
• a practical coach/ problem solving tool for showing you why negotiations go wrong;
• a ‘who holds the aces’ tool to help you analyse the balance of negotiating power so you can play to win.

On the launch Clive Rich commented, “We all negotiate pretty much 24/7 in today’s fast-moving and inter-connected world.  Everybody needs collaboration to succeed in this global economy with the best partnership deals being done by the best negotiators.  This is the one App that will help you make deals happen and win on your terms”.

Close My Deal is available for the ITunes App Store is free for a limited period after launch and then will be priced £2.99.