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Earlier this month, music, film and interactive folks flocked to Austin, Texas for the annual SXSW conference. One of the big mobile app announcements to come out of the event is a new social radio service called WahWah.

What is WahWah?
WahWah is a personalized radio service that makes listening to music more social and customized. You can listen with friends, fellow WahWah listeners around the globe or by yourself. The songs you hear can also relate to your location or activity you've selected.

How does WahWah work?
Get started by downloading the app and signing up using your Facebook account. Browse stations from trending and featured lists, your Facebook friends, stations created around you and activity. The app pulls from its library of 15 million songs to serve up the best music based on the context. Everyone who clicks on a radio station listens to the music at the same time.

How does WahWah differ from "Pandora" and similar music apps?
WahWah adds a layer of customization that isn't available on Pandora or Spotify by letting users select their location and activity. Also, because of its social nature, it's great for group activities like exercise or studying — even if you are physically separated from your group.

How much does WahWah cost?
WahWah is free at the Apple App Store.

With the Vine app and the recent success of 1 Second Everyday app on Kickstarter, it's becoming increasingly more evident that we are trying capture more meaningful moments in our lives and in a culture that is focused on receiving and sharing information.

“Posts on Vine are about abbreviation — the shortened form of something larger. They’re little windows into the people, settings, ideas and objects that make up your life,” says Vine co-founder Dom Hofmann on The Next Web. Similar to the 1 Second Everyday app, where users stitch together one second of everyday, Vine is a simple app that is directly embedded in Twitter and provides a six second clip.

Vine prides itself on telling a brief story within seconds while 1 Second Everyday threads all of your memories in a longer "movie". Cesar Kuriyama, the creator of 1 Second Everyday, believes that each second has a story and Vine brings that point home with creating smaller stories for a more frequent consumption. As different as these two apps may seem, they focus on capturing the brief seconds of life, whether that means capturing a dinner with friends or providing breaking news with live video.

It may be proof that as technology and culture has become more about consuming information, we begin to try to immortalize moments in our lives in a more meaningful way. Although each app strives to capture these moments, curation is definitely a defining factor. 1 Second Everyday limits you one second a day to capture an idea. Since you can't keep multiple short stories in one day, there's more careful consideration into choosing what should...

If you watched the American Music Awards last night, you may have noticed something a bit different with the way awards were presented. In lieu of envelopes and notecards, presenters pulled up the Samsung Galaxy Note II with the winner's name displayed on the vibrant, super sized screen. This paperless approach to a product integration was clever, but could have been better executed.

After seeing the phone pulled out three times during the show, I became aware of its appearance. However, this integration could have been better executed for the device's sake. Unique features this phone has over its competitors would have been interesting to see brought to life, while the brand had my attention as a viewer. For example, the Near Field Communication technology that is built-in would have been interesting to see demonstrated. There could have also been an interesting activation using the S-Pen engaging with device.

Regardless, this was a successful execution by Samsung in driving awareness for the handset. I'm sure the Galaxy Note II will sell just fine in the holiday season, but I was hoping it could show a little more of what it's made of while my attention was captured during the awards.

*Image via Phonearena.com 

Each year, U.S. households receive about 850 pieces of junk mail on average. That's definitely enough to make us all go postal. Luckily, the folks at Seattle-based PaperKarma have our backs. They created their free mobile platform for iOS, Android and Windows Phone with the mantra 'Kill Junk Mail, Save Trees' in mind. 

Using it is simple: all the mail recipient needs to do is take a photo of their junk mail. Poof! They won't see any more mail of its kind again. 

Here's how it works: the folks at PaperKarma created an extensive database of U.S. companies that send all kinds of mail. When a user uploads a photo of the offending junk mail, the service contacts the sender directly and, because of FTC rules, they must comply with the unsubscribe request. 

You may be wondering how the United States Postal Service can combat its financial troubles with apps like this on the market. Expect to see the institution focusing more strongly on shipping goods moving forward. For example, it is testing same-day delivery services for online purchases in certain markets. 

The future's looking so bright, your mailman (or lady) is gonna need shades! 

via Zagg.com

Rovio has partnered with McDonald's stores in China to launch branded, location-based add-ons to the mobile game Angry Birds. New game modes and power-ups can be accessed by downloading the standard version of the gaming app on a smartphone and visiting one of the restaurant locations. 

Like a Happy Meal toy for all ages, additions to the game are meant to be enjoyed by the whole family. Because Angry Birds has about 200 million monthly active users and caters to a general audience and broad age range, it's clear why the fast food bohemoth chose it as a partner. 

The partnership is being promoted through multiple traditional channels such as the Chinese McDonald's website and in TV ads. Consumers can also participate in an online poll to select one McDonald's location to receive a slingshot on its golden arches.  

Executions such as this are a great way to get customers in the habit of using their smartphones while in-store. This can pave the way for additional mobile engagements such as mobile payments, online purchases of branded goods, loyalty rewards for regulars and more. 

via PSFK