Like every other Apple announcement before, yesterday’s new product unveiling did not fail to stir up conversation. Ping, the new iTunes social network, is said to threaten Last.fm and put the nail in MySpace’s coffin. Boxee’s Avner Ronen is defending his product against the refreshed Apple TV. The new iPod Touch has two cameras! But amidst all the commotion, one product refresh stood out to us — the humble iPod Nano.

The device is even smaller than it was before and now really lives up to its name. One reason for this is the new touchscreen, increasing the physical efficiency of its interface. It lets us swipe and tap our way through music just like the iPod Touch and iPad before it. We are able to smoothly flip through albums.

The aspect that has us most excited, though, is the ability to use the device in new ways. Earlier this year, Frog Design’s Fabio Sergio described an emerging touchfrastructure, explaining that touchscreens help make devices easier to repurpose than to re-engineer and should therefore be seen as infrastructure. We see examples of this in everything from an iPad orchestra to a Japanese Burger King and even heads-up display while on-the-road. Now, with the new iPod Nano, this touchfrastructure has been extended to a device that is only 1.48 by 1.61 inches big.

These screens are tiny, and while they are meant for music, we can imagine them being used (read: hacked) in interesting ways. Were it to have an app store, how would a screen this size contribute to our media diet? How does it function as part of the larger ecosystem of screens, say alongside an iPad or even Apple TV? What about grouping many together? Siftables immediately comes to mind, as does Blinkendroid and the iPod wall, all of which make a case for miniature screens working together. No, some of these ideas are not yet possible. Still, it is important to constantly consider what could be next in how we interact with screens because they will only continue to multiply.

Early last week Extra Reality announced a new augmented reality platform called Popcode. It improves the mixed reality experience using image recognition.

Popcode shows the camera picture on your phone’s screen just like when you go to take a photo. But view a picture or poster with augmented reality content and it comes to life on the screen – the app adds extra content as if it were actually there in the world around you.

[It uses] what is known in the trade as a Markerless Augmented Reality platform. That means you can add additional content onto any image (providing it has enough texture). You do not need to print large black-and-white markers to be able to add Augmented Reality (AR) content to the world using Popcode.

With Popcode, taking part in an augmented reality experience feels smoother and even magical. Like we’ve seen with apps like Google Goggles or kooaba, computer vision could let us leapfrog barcodes entirely. In 2007, the BBC described this as “hiding messages in plain sight.” This could change the way we interact with everything from paper maps to everyday t-shirts.

Click here for a few examples by Popcode.

To help users overcome information overload, Altoids has created Tune Out, a Facebook app available for Android, iPhone, and desktop computers.

According to Big Spaceship:

Using Tune Out, fans select their favorite friends they want to receive Facebook and Twitter updates from, opting out of updates from old high school classmates and the other contacts they’d rather not hear from on a daily basis. The functionality speaks to the conviction that defines Altoids mints. You know who your real friends are. Ignore the rest.

This reminds us of T-Mobile’s myFaves (Fav 5) and is relevant to anyone trying to survive today’s hyper-connected world. Increasingly, people are looking for ways to more efficiently consume information. Twine founder Nova Spivack recently stated that “with the real time web, the amount of information we have to handle is changing the Now… Now is becoming a lot denser. There is a lot more information in per unit of Now.” Because of this, we are learning to optimize intake through filters and lists, following only those that provide value. With Tune Out, Altoids hopes that users will “ignore the noise” using their branded utility.

1. An app that helps users map and track down missing Gowalla items: http://bit.ly/dlUqqS

2. Neuvo has created a “try before you buy” augmented reality iPhone app http://bit.ly/b5tczG

3. The Accidental News Explorer #serendipity http://bit.ly/bXG5Hq

4. Debating native versus web app? Here’s a useful comparison: http://bit.ly/bNu9wS

5. Businesses Add iPad to Their Briefcase http://bit.ly/ceHgEm

6. Man watches his home being burglarized via his iPhone http://bit.ly/bOThxd

7. Ways mobile phones are used while food shopping http://bit.ly/d90aJz

8. It’s Modern Trade: Web Users Get as Much as They Give  http://bit.ly/b5kwRc

9. Mobile Crowdsourcing: Boskoi Informs Foragers About Wild-Food Sources http://bit.ly/9CVlgT

10. Five Mobile Trends Redefining Travel http://bit.ly/bYohl1

Mobile is redefining our mobility. This may seem like an obvious statement, but it is very much worth exploring the specific ways in which mobile phones (and the persistent connectivity they bring) are changing the way people explore, commute, and vacation — and especially how businesses are and can be adapting. Here are five key trends redefining travel and transportation:

Sharing Trips

Traveling is about collecting and sharing experiences, and the mobile phone has become a tool that lets people chronicle where they’ve been and what they’ve seen. Rather then writing postcards home, applications like Jeep’s TripCast, Tripline, and Dopplr let travelers plan and broadcast their travels, bringing their friends and family along for the ride. With MySkyStatus, Lufthansa made use of existing services Facebook and Twitter to automatically update passengers’ friends and followers with their whereabouts. And since mobile brings planning into the moment, these tools can create new experiences. Friends might discover they are in the same city and meet up. A follower might recommend a nearby place to visit. Or the app itself can recommend new spots to add to your itinerary.

Curating Places

How do people decide on where to go in the first place? New mobile tools are giving both people and brands the ability to curate maps with their favorite spots. Socialight’s platform has been used by brands like the Travel Channel and Wyndham Hotels to create their own location-based services that recommend places to visit. Through Foursquare, companies like Bravo, the History Channel and HBO have added tips about selected venues. Gowalla makes it easy to create a to-do list of locations and share with friends, while SCVNGR turns visiting places into a game. The NYTimes’ Scoop, Pepsi’s Loot, and Nike’s True City also provide “city guide”-style services. These apps make it easier for people to explore and discover new places based on their relationships and interests.

Collaborative Transit

Connected technologies are giving drivers new ways to collaborate and solve everyday problems. Spotswitch, Roadify, and Spotscout help users locate and share available parking spaces, which cuts down on pollution as well as frustration. Google’s OpenSpot does the same, encouraging people to be generous strangers through “Karma Points.” Mobile phones are also changing the way people carpool. Services like Weeels and Fare Share help people coordinate and share cabs, for instance. Maybe driving isn’t the way to go, SoBi’s app enables a low cost bike sharing alternative for New York City.

Real-time Planning

We are creatures of habit, and most people don’t like surprises. Thankfully, the phone can make our travels both more predictable and more efficient — even as they unfold. CooCoo partnered with the Long Island Rail Road to deliver SMS-based train schedules to riders. Next Metro’s app makes sure residents of North East England don’t miss their train. For ultimate precision in planning ahead, Exit Strategy points out the best subway car for an optimal exit. Both British Airways and American Airlines use mobile friendly QR code based boarding passes, increasing efficiency while letting fliers forget about tickets.

Smooth Sailing

Mobile phones allow us to forget information. First it was phone numbers, now thanks to self-locating smartphones, its directions. We’ve essentially outsourced these things to the device, which can orient us and tell us – turn by turn – how to get where we need to go. Phones are replacing separate GPS systems in cars (which is why Garmin created the nuviphone) and continue to improve the driving experience. Augmented Driving uses the iPhone camera to analyze road conditions and detect lanes and other cars. Other products let drivers use features of a phone, but without the risk of distracted driving. Ford and its SYNC technology has taken on texting and driving with audible SMS; AppLink reads tweets aloud to the driver. This is in addition to hands-free calling, turn-by-turn navigation, music search, and traffic, all things that make the road a bit smoother.

Allison Mooney & Caleb Kramer

November 4

New York, NY

Allison Mooney

September 30

New York, NY

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