Mobile Behavior: an Omnicom Group Company

1. Too Lazy To Count Calories? Now You Can Just Take A Picture Of Your Meal

"While the company chalks it up to 'magic', we’re assuming they’ve got a handful of people (be it through Amazon’s Mechanical Turk, or a room full of dudes promised free Internet in exchange for calorie counting) breaking down the meal in your picture item by item. Snap a shot of a chicken salad? They punch in some chicken, some lettuce, maybe some dressing — and bam, they’ve got a rough estimate."

2. Designing for second screens: The Autumnwatch Companion

"We were interested to see how much of the existing online content could be reused, which was easy for the species and habitat information drawn from the BBC Wildlife Finder, but articles and blog posts had to be simplified. This gave us the opportunity to experiment with presentation formats and interactions, including diagrams, image galleries and animations."

3. Unofficial app store Cydia lands advertising from Toyota

"This is the first major corporation we have seen put direct positive attention into the jailbreak scene, developing specifically for it and addressing this large userbase. Could this be a turning of the tide for the previously 'outlaw' jailbreak community?"

4. Did I mention how much I love Instagram?

"You see something, you whip out your iPhone. You take a shot and then you send it directly to someone else's brain. It's over in seconds (most of the time). It's sharing at the speed of thought, almost. Flickr isn't like that. In fact, I think Instagram makes it easier and quicker than it's ever been to think of an image and send it into someone else's brain. This is a huge deal, since we are primarily visual creatures."

5. What a Provider's Mobile Phone Logs Reveal about You

"German politician Malte Spitz sued his mobile provider to receive his personal phone data of over 6 months, to prove how this information, combined with other publicly available facts, such as from Twitter feeds, blog entries and website stories, can reveal much more than one wishes for. German newspaper 'Die Zeit' and computational journalism company OpenDataCity then rendered this data on an animated map with interactive timeline."

6. iAd Gallery by Apple

"The iAd Gallery is a celebration of advertising, featuring iAd campaigns from some of the world's best brands and their advertising agencies. The iAd Gallery gives you easy access to a selection of the fun and informative ads that have run in some of your favorite apps."

7. Facebook For iPhone Gets Event Check-Ins

"To be able to check-in to an event you have to (obviously) be invited and RSVP’d 'yes' to attending. Your location also has to match the location of the listed event venue, and it has to be the correct time of the event. All of this will presumably help dissuade gaming."

8. In a New Web World, No Application Is an Island

"'Right now, we’re in a native apps world,' says John Lilly, a venture partner at Greylock Partners, a venture capital firm in Silicon Valley. 'But people are underestimating the power of the Web. I think we’re going to see an explosion of Web-based apps over the next couple of years.'"

9. TV-Tagging App IntoNow Tries to Kickstart Discussions With New Release

"The startup is accommodating users with a discuss button they can hit to start public discussions with everyone; they can also use the button to initiate more private chats with just friends. Users can strike up conversations around series, movies and single episodes. While not as fluid as instant messaging, the discussions feature is real-time; and users are notified as new comments pour in."

10. Shall I Buy

"Shall I Buy is a mobile application that allows users to log and share their purchase intentions and get instant feedback from friends."

Tweetworthy is a weekly roundup of the most shared tweets from @MobileBehavior. You can follow us on Twitter here.

Temptd is an iPhone app that harnesses the power of social networks to strengthen personal willpower. Created by Frog Design, it is offered as a tool for followers of MTV's new docu-series 'I Used To Be Fat'.

According to the teaser site:

Whether you're struggling with weight loss or smoking, Temptd connects you with a community of people who are facing similar challenges. This free app uses game play to make it easy and fun to make smart choices, track your progress, and compete with others for willpower and karma points.

Temptd is a unique platform that combines Facebook with mobile technology to improve your long-term health and wellbeing through active social engagement.

Apps like Temptd bring the support of our social networks to us when they are most needed. We reach for our mobile device to feel connected just as much as to accomplish a task. The phone call is giving way to increasingly micro interactions such as hearting photos on Instagram or cheering Facebook friends on via Nike+. According to Paul Saffo, the smaller the quantum of creative act you ask of participants, the more they will participate. That split second it takes to "like" a friend's status update has the power to positively change behavior over time.

1. McDonald's taps iAd to support multichannel McRib campaign

“It really is all about being able to tell a story,” Ms. Carroll said. “This new mobile experience from the apple iAd platform uniquely puts the campaign in a customer’s hands – it helps create a stronger connection with the brand.”

2. Risk Reduction Strategies on Facebook

"Mikalah uses Facebook but when she goes to log out, she deactivates her Facebook account. She knows that this doesn’t delete the account – that’s the point. She knows that when she logs back in, she’ll be able to reactivate the account and have all of her friend connections back."

3. Hasbro unveils device that promises 3-D on iPod

"The nation's second-largest toy maker is set to unveil to investors on Tuesday a handheld device called My3D that attaches to the two Apple Inc. devices. It promises three-dimensional content that offers a 360-degree experience in gaming, virtual travel experiences and entertainment content."

4. The iPad Is About To Become A Video Game Console Controlled By The iPhone

"A few weeks ago, Big Bucket Software unveiled an amazing update to their excellent iPhone/iPad game, The Incident. Version 1.2 allowed you to use your iPhone as a wireless controller to control the action on the larger-screen iPad. With the upcoming version 1.3, The Incident is taking the next leap: to your TV."

5. The Secret Gestural Prehistory of Mobile Device Use

"Mobile phones have changed how we shape our hands when we hold them to our ears. We form cradles for our thin, rectangular gadgets; there is no pinky or thumb extension... We just cradle with the left and tap, poke, swipe with the right. We all know these gestures, and now that we do, we're finding them in times past."

6. Inception Score to be Turned Into 'Augmented Sound Project'

"RJDJ is working with Christopher Nolan and Hans Zimmer to create a new project based on the score to Inception. This particular app will push music from the score through ‘dreams’ — i.e. filters — that are determined by location, time and activity."

7. YouTube reveals growing mobile usage stats

"A Google survey claims that 75% of respondents say mobile is their primary way of accessing YouTube, and that 38% feel YouTube Mobile is replacing their desktop usage of the video service."

8. Twitter Plus TV Creates "Social Viewing"

"Synchronous show tweeting: in which channels such as Discovery get a scientist or some other knowledgeable person to tweet along with a show about a specific topic, to add information. This is 'simple, but can be very powerful,' Sloan said."

9. ECODRIVE – Smartphone Cycle Concept by Juil Kim

"The Ecodrive has integrated lights and turn signals controlled via the handlebars. And no concept is complete without some form of smartphone integration so this little guy has a nice cubby hole for the iPhone."

10. How the Cell Phone is Changing the World

"That convenience, he says, drives their eager embrace of the phones. But the phones’ growing ubiquity—'they’re a technological Coca-Cola,' Green says—has other uses, too. Here are five ways they’re changing the world."

Tweetworthy is a weekly roundup of the most shared tweets from @MobileBehavior. You can follow us on Twitter here.

It's not easy for an advertisement to stop people in their tracks these days (especially in New York City), but a new interactive installation promoting the Discovery Channel's Stormchasers is doing just that.

Their "Urban Tornado Experience" caught our attention while we were walking down Broadway this weekend. We saw a moving image of a storm projected on a the side of a building. Upon walking closer, our image appeared within the storm clouds — it was like looking in a mirror to see an alternate reality reflected back.

Our first inclination, and that of fellow passersby, was to take out our phones to snap a picture. Right then, a call-to-action popped up:

• Text 0700 to 646-535-8432
• Receive a link to your photo on Facebook
• Add your email to the text to have the photo sent to you
• For example: 0700 name@mail.com

By texting in, you were also consenting to have your picture displayed on Facebook. We assume they time-matched the text with the image taken, not an exact science but a workable solution. And it definitely yielded a lot more content than having people text in pictures themselves.

This is a great example of "post-digital" advertising i.e. taking the interactive, participatory nature of digital and creating brand experiences that engage people in the real world. Increasingly, marketers are breaking down barriers between "online" and "offline," and mobile can be the glue between the two. For one, the mobile phone can allow people to interact with digital signage and installations (see Locamoda's apps for some great examples of what's possible). Secondly, people constantly use their phone to share cool experiences in the moment. The team that created this Discovery Channel ad recognized this. They leveraged this reflex and made it easy to turn their experience into a social one. Social media hinges on giving people something worth talking about and sharing online. Capturing their reactions creates great content for the brand too. They were also smart to direct people to where their images lived on Facebook, allowing them to easily Like or Share them.

You can see the images on Facebook here.

1. FourScore Location-based Marketing Analytics http://bit.ly/9rNRpI

2. Using Multiple Screens To Enhance Viewing Experience http://bit.ly/a961dY

3. E-commerce takes instant liking to Facebook button http://bit.ly/cJTg2O

4. Barcode Scanning Up 700% This Year http://bit.ly/9V4KM6

5. Nintendo Mii characters can be converted into a QR code http://bit.ly/cQHoXQ

6. Verdict's in on ABC's 'My Generation' IPad App http://bit.ly/cujmhH

7. Textaurant Lets You Digitally Wait In Line For Restaurants http://bit.ly/cM8KQE

8. The Mobile Apps That Affluents Download http://bit.ly/c81E9d

9. Jason Schwartzman Introduces The New Yorker iPad App http://nyr.kr/cbk6k

10. Mobilize 2010: Touch Has Won the Interface War http://bit.ly/ag7Nik

Tweetworthy is a weekly roundup of the most shared tweets from @MobileBehavior. You can follow us on Twitter here.

1. How Push Notifications Will Change Twitter (and possibly replace SMS) http://rww.to/daFXqE

2. Sex and the City goes mobile with a location-based NYC guide http://bit.ly/aDiYhb

3. Flickr Photo Map for iDevices annotates reality http://bit.ly/8YfHYw

4. Motivations for "liking" a company, brand or association on Facebook http://bit.ly/9mE39u

5. Twitter co-founder Biz Stone on how the next wave of social networks will change your business. http://bit.ly/9esjEs

6. Facebook Places integration helps SCVNGR surpass 100,000 Downloads in Just 48 Hours http://bit.ly/bwVhTH

7. Travel industry uses Facebook and Twitter to reach customers http://bit.ly/9Rg8rq

8. LED Suit Controlled By An iPhone http://bit.ly/9SPdmF

9. You Are Not Here - Using your mobile device to tour Baghdad from the streets of NYC http://bit.ly/9GvCZy

10. Integrated approach is key for mobile marketing http://bit.ly/9LtsfV

Tweetworthy is a weekly roundup of the most shared tweets from @MobileBehavior. You can follow us on Twitter here.

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.