Turntable Riders: Bicyc...

Now this is a pretty cool concept. Over in Japan, Cogoo, a bicycle sharing service, has created the world’s first device that transforms your bike into a DJ turntable. Check out the stunt above which shows this ‘Turntable Rider’ in action, combining two great elements of street culture, BMX and music. The ‘making of’ video Related Digital Buzz Posts: 5 Gum Augmented Reality Music Mixer B-Reel Mind Tricks: Brain Powered Slot Cars Cannes: YouTube Interactive Music Machine

After A Bump From SXSW,...

What’s a SXSW bump worth? To Redwood City’s Banjo, which pools check-ins and geotagged updates from friends across all the major social networks, it was worth 100,000 downloads during the interactive part of the conference. That brought the app to more than 900,000 users. Of those, a little more than a half-million users are active every month and iOS users still outnumber Android ones by two-to-one. That’s not bad for an app that has grown pretty much organically since it came out nine months ago, and Banjo is showing an upward tick in users at least if you look at its footprint on Facebook . Social networking is a tougher category to acquire customers in at least compared to games, where developers usually have very cash rich businesses that can pay for marketing. For comparison, Path has said in the past that it has two million registered users, but it’s not clear how many of those are active. Banjo’s numbers almost certainly make it larger than every new social, local and mobile app that we profiled ahead of SXSW. On the back of that momentum, Banjo has an update out that makes the app even more of a central hub for all location activity on other social networks like Twitter, Foursquare and Facebook. It adds Instagram to the other social networks that Banjo pulls check-ins and location-tagged status updates from. Our own Sarah Perez has called Banjo the “ creepy/awesome cyber-stalking app “ that shows you who’s nearby based on their Facebook and Foursquare check-ins and geotagged tweets. Banjo now feeds all notifications all into one place and there’s a new slide-out navigation menu that’s similar to what Facebook introduced to its mobile apps a few months ago. Banjo’s chief executive Damien Patton said the company was extra careful around not  creating too much hype around SXSW. The issue is that the conference has gotten very crowded with product launches which mostly flame out afterward. “We made a conscious decision not to have a big presence at SXSW,” Patton said. “They’re not our target market.” He also says that like in earlier years, post-SXSW consolidation is coming soon. “I don’t have a crystal ball to know who will get acquired, but we’re really trying to focus on the mainstream user for now,” he said. Banjo is funded by BlueRun Ventures and Lightspeed Venture Partners.

Report: Apple To Unveil...

Apple has as a little event on the books next Wednesday. Maybe you heard about it . The iPad 3, with its high-res screen, is said to launch on that day. But there could be more surprises. Several “one more things,” if you will. Get out your salt shakers. Digitimes is stating this morning through two separate reports that Apple plans on announcing an 8GB iPad 2 along with the iPad 3. Citing unnamed upstream supply chain source, one report states the 8GB model would allow the iPad to hit different segments “and to defend against Windows 8-based tablet PCs” — something Apple shouldn’t have to worry about until the fall. But this move, if it’s true, is classic Apple. It makes perfect sense and is a move that runs parallel with a popular theory at TC HQ in which Apple is not replacing the iPad 2 next Wednesday, but rather adding a high-res model to the still-successful iPad 2 product line. You see, Apple likes to make money, and the iPad 2 is still selling like gangbusters even though it’s almost a year old. Plus, if rumors are to be believed, the iPad 3 will look a lot like the iPad 2 — well, externally at least. The iPad 3, if that’s its name, is more like a supercharged iPad 2; it’s an iPhone 4S. Even though the two models will likely use different internal components, the similar physical design should allow for a similar manufacturing process. This is the expensive part of making a gadget. Apple’s manufacturing partners might be able to produce both tablets without a major retooling allowing Apple to pad its manufacturing revenue margins even more. It’s then up to Apple’s star marketing team to sell the public on two, seemingly competing iPad models. Another plausible theory involves the education market. By reducing the size of the flash memory, in theory, the overall cost of the iPad should drop, allowing Apple to sell it at a lower price. Digitimes says $300-$350. But in 2012 flash memory isn’t a major cost. And, given the interactive iBooks’ physical size, an 8GB iPad would only hold one or two digital textbooks. Digitimes is also reporting that Apple is set to begin production on a 7.85-inch iPad around the third quarter. This model is reportedly to be sold for $200-$250. As with most early Apple reports, these claims are simply unverified rumors. Digitimes has the tendency of publishing a wide number of reports on Apple, seemingly hoping a few will come true. But these two seem likely. Apple will not kill a product that is still making money, and it’s only a matter of time until Apple caves to popular demand and releases a smaller iPad. But, you know, take these with a pinch of salt — and then throw that salt over your shoulder and hope they come true.

Autism Speaks: Kinect P...

I expect the Microsoft Kinect to be partnered up with tonnes of digital billboards and installations this year, and here is just one example to help kick it all off. Autism Speaks has created a Kinect powered digital billboard featuring a life size girl who avoids eye contact no matter how hard you try. The Related Digital Buzz Posts: “Saving Lives” Interactive Digital Billboard Microsoft: The Future of Xbox Kinect IBM: Colour Sensitive Interactive Billboards

Yesmail releases ‘...

Yesmail Interactive has launched a tool that lets marketers track their competitors and follow new campaigns in real time. The platform, called Yesmail Market Intelligence, allows marketers who join to follow the digital marketing activity of other brands, from the times they deploy email blasts to the number of views their YouTube channel received the previous week.