PLANET OF THE APPS: 30TH AUGUST 2011

It's Tuesday, which means our very own app expert Stuart Dredge was in the studio talking about, yes, apps. Here is what he said, but written down.. 

NEWS



BBM Music

BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) was recently in the news when it was accused of being used to start the UK riots. Now BlackBerry's messaging app is being used for something more legal: music. A new service called BBM Music is coming, which will cost $4.99 a month (UK pricing tba) and lets you stream 50 songs. Which sounds rubbish, but whenever a friend signs up, you get to listen to *their* 50 songs too - your available collection expands by 50 songs whenever someone else you know joins. So it's music sharing but entirely legit.



Booktrack - soundtracks for book-apps

A new startup called Booktrack is touting a new form of e-book: app versions with soundtracks. So it has a Sherlock Holmes story with 'authentic' London noises (hooves, crackling fires etc), and it has versions on the way for The Three Musketeers, Jane Eyre and Romeo and Juliet).

Boyz II Men say it's an 'app-driven world'

Boyz II Men haven't come to the end of the road after all! They're back, and they're very keen on apps. Band member Nathan Morris has given an interview saying he thinks all music will be free in a couple of years, as pure promotion for stuff that people will pay for: live gigs and sponsorship deals. But he also thinks apps are important, to the point of actually designing the band's new app himself. "I think we’re moving into an app-driven world. Five days a week most people aren’t able to get on their computer…"

REVIEWS



Bestival 2011

The app for the Bestival festival is out on iPhone and Android, and it does a lot of what other festival apps have done this summer - lineups, maps, info etc. However, the unique feature here is vouchers to get you cheap stuff at stalls and outlets around the festival site. So they're charging you for the app, but (I hope) you get cheap festival noodles…

Here is the link to the Android version of the app.

Forkly

This is an iPhone app which gets people to take photos of their food with their cameraphone when eating out, and upload their rating of the restaurant for other people to see. And it's actually part of a trend - an app called Foodspotting has been downloaded one million times, while another one called Nosh recently came out to approving headlines. The trend: everyone's a reviewer now: you can't enjoy your grub until you've marked it out of 10 for the wider world…

REM

Taking note of Boyz II Men's advice, REM have launched an official app this weekend. It lets fans stream samples from their back catalogue, watch music videos, upload photos taken at gigs, and choose any gig from their 2008 tour and watch fan YouTube videos - an interesting feature, since they're embracing the idea of fans shooting videos, versus, say, Prince who hates it. And there are other photo features designed to help you share moments when you're listening to a specific song.