Android

‘Uber’ Convenient Transportation

We’ve all been there. You’re getting ready with your friends, and next thing you know, time has flown by and you need to get to your destination ASAP. So what do you do? In a city with little public transportation, it’s not common you’ll find an Angeleno standing with an outstretched arm on the curb.  Los Angeles is probably the only big city where a loud whistle won’t get you anywhere. With taxis being few and far between and the metro not going everywhere you’d like to go, something was bound to be created. Uber Los Angeles, an app available for both the iPhone and Android, is your on-demand personal driver. Just think, next time you need a ride, you’ll get a fancy town car or SUV with a driver ready and waiting to serve you.

 The best feature of Uber is its use of Google maps to visually pinpoint your location and all drivers located in your area. Rather than waiting twenty minutes without knowing if your ride will ever come, your driver’s time is estimated along with his individual customer rating. 5 stars and 1 minute away and you are ready to go!

Without interrupting conversations, you’ll be notified by text with your driver’s time of arrival, as well as when he arrives. Don’t worry about rummaging through your wallet for cash, your account during set up was linked to your bank! Paying your fare with tip included, all Uber asks is for you to say a quick “thanks” for their unbeatable service. Costing nearly the same as other modes of transportation, we don’t forsee any turning back.

Have you used this app?

P3R Publicity is a full-service PR firm based in Los Angeles servicing fashion, hospitality, consumer goods, non-profits, talent and lifestyle brands. Visit us at www.myp3r.com.

Kickstarting The Gaming World

Everyone remembers playing with their first gaming consolesPlaystationsNintendo 64s (Mario Kart, anyone?) and now hands free Wiis. What no gamer would have imagined was Yves Behar‘s design of an Android-based Ouya gaming console getting funded $950K on Kickstarter in under 12 hours! The gaming world has spoken.

Gamers have gone from gaming consoles to apps on smartphones and now back to the living room! This console will cost you only $99 and the games, just like some apps, are free! Alike every other new electronic device, this controller also comes with a touchscreen which will make sliding into this new technology happen with quite some ease. It’s time to put away those old controllers and dorky looking headsets because the gaming world is about to reach a whole new level of style next March.

Are you familiar with Kickstarter?

P3R Publicity is a full-service PR firm based in Los Angeles servicing fashion, hospitality, consumer goods, non-profits, talent and lifestyle brands. Visit us at www.myp3r.com.

Surviving Coachella with 4 Essential Apps

With thousands of music lovers flocking to the desert for Coachella, the weekend festival is finally upon us.  We’ve rounded up a few key apps for your survival during your stay in Indio.

Official Coachella 2012 is the app that has all of your need-to-know basics: artist info, set times, a “favorites” list to help you personalize your Coachella experience by choosing your sets, and a detailed map.

If you’ve ever been to any sort of concert before, you know that eventually someone is bound to get separated from the group.  Glympse is a free location share app, because everyone needs help navigating through the seemingly endless crowds from time to time!

Even though it’s not going to be the stereotypical scorching hot desert you imagine, staying hydrated is still the key to having endurance all weekend long.  You don’t want to miss out on your highly anticipated shows because you’re drained and dehydrated, do you?   Instead of grabbing that Red Bull, reach for some H20!  Water Your Body app tracks water consumption and then plots it so that over time, so you can correlate your hydration level with how you feel. The app is also equipped with alarms to remind you when it’s time to re-up, since you’ll probably forget during all the jam sessions.

Whether you’re blanking at what the song title is, or just hear a side stage song that intrigues you, Shazam is your savior.  The app captures a song, live or recorded, to find the name of the track and artist.

Which apps do you recommend?

P3R Publicity is a full-service PR firm based in Los Angeles servicing fashion, hospitality, consumer goods, non-profits, talent and lifestyle brands. Visit us at www.myp3r.com.

Facebook Buys Instagram For $1 Billion

Last week’s post about Instagram and Android was apparently a pre-cursor to today’s hot social network news. Mark Zuckerberg announced, via Facebook of course, that the company has acquired Instagram.

“I’m excited to share the news that we’ve agreed to acquire Instagram and that their talented team will be joining Facebook. For years, we’ve focused on building the best experience for sharing photos with your friends and family. Now, we’ll be able to work even more closely with the Instagram team to also offer the best experiences for sharing beautiful mobile photos with people based on your interests.”

The popular mobile photo sharing service sold for about $1 billion in cash and stocks.  Many young users of Instagram are worried this app will disappear into Facebook but CEO of Instagram Kevin Systrom assured fans that it “will be the same one you know and love.” The plan is to keep developing Instagram independently from the social network. This will allow users to post on other social networks, follow users not on Facebook, and to opt out of sharing on Facebook.

What do you think of this acquisition?

P3R Publicity is a full-service PR firm based in Los Angeles servicing fashion, hospitality, consumer goods, non-profits, talent and lifestyle brands. Visit us at www.myp3r.com.

Instagram For Android Is Finally Here

With more than 430,000 Android users on the waiting list, Instagram is now available in Google Play.  Smartphones running Android 2.2 or later will join the 30 million already registered users.  Previously, the photo app was only available to those with iOS.  Many Android users have been using Pixl-o-matic or RetroCamera, which aren’t as popular as Instagram, but slightly similar.

Instagram photo with different filters

iPhone users and celebrities really hyped the Instagram app to its high popularity status.  Seeing as how the Android culture pokes fun at Apple users, we wonder if Instagram growth will be as high as expected.

Do you think Instagram is just another hipster photo app or are you obsessed with editing your images?

P3R Publicity is a full-service PR firm based in Los Angeles servicing fashion, hospitality, consumer goods, non-profits, talent and lifestyle brands. Visit us at www.myp3r.com.

Google Maps Directions Gets Real-Time Traffic

Los Angeles is notorious for having M-A-J-O-R traffic.  Thankfully, Google Maps finally got back on the bandwagon of what individual GPS units have been offering for months, by adding real-time traffic indicators to directions.

How could Google be so behind the times?  They technically aren’t.  Google Maps used to show estimates of trip times based on traffic. However, users complained of inaccurate gauges of traffic conditions so they scrapped it last year.  Now it’s back, and it’s supposed to be better than ever with constant updating.

Now there’s REALLY no excuse to be late to your next meeting (not that traffic was a good one anyway!)

Which device do you use to navigate?

P3R Publicity is a full-service PR firm based in Los Angeles servicing fashion, hospitality, consumer goods, non-profits, talent and lifestyle brands. Visit us at www.myp3r.com.