Take a peek into a hackathon assembled on the fly.

By Marissa Louie, July 2

What happens when someone come up with a half baked idea that could -potentially- change up the commerce game, then decides to act upon it?

We are about to find out because in the past few hours we’ve assembled a team including up to 8 developers, 1 designer, and myself on the fly to hack it out and see if it will work:

• William Nelson
• Craig Benson
• Sugam Pandey
• Steve Enzer
• Lucija Kordic
• Ari Greenberg
• Joanne Sun
• Michael Arace
• Suyash Joshi
• Marissa Louie

We even have a sponsor who called with a generous offer:

Special thanks to appbackr, The New Way to Finance Your Apps.

The premise: I came up with an idea for a new platform about a day ago. Then we announced the hackathon on a whim.

The plan: Spend up to 48 hours developing an iPhone app while challenging ourselves to produce something of value to society.

This weekend should be a blast. Perhaps more fun than the trip to Belize, surfing, and golfing outings I cancelled in order to build this!

About the Author:

Marissa is a contributor to Adotas, BusinessWeek, and Huffington Post. Follow her on Twitter: @malouie

Marissa Louie is the Founder and CEO of HeroEx, San Francisco’s affordable 1 hour delivery service, where customers buy items then have them delivered in 1 hour or less.

Contact her at (510) 375-1941, or email marissa@heroex.com.

With the upcoming Apple Developer Conference slated for the first week of June, Apple fans are hanging on the edge of their seats to see the latest iFantasticProduct unveiled. But, for those of us who don’t need the cutting-edge and brand new version of everything, here’s a smashing deal for you!

The iPhone 3SG 16GB is now on sale in stores at Wal-Mart for a slashed price of $97! On the Apple site, this phone version is still listed as $199. Granted, it sounds so much cooler to say you got your phone from Apple, rather than Wal-Mart, but I’m all for saving $102!  This deal, only offered with a new 2-year AT&T contract, is the best that I’ve seen so far besides getting a refurbished phone.

I think it’s time I look into replacing my stoneage 3G iPhone and upgrading before Wal-Mart shoppers pile up the phones in their carts next to the bulk size bag of potato chips, clearance DVD’s and Hannah Montana bed sheet sets.

And as an added bonus, look at the new market the iPhone will be available to! Sweet!

In celebration of the release of their first iPhone application, Dale Carnegie Training is giving away 200 hardback copies of “How To Win Friends & Influence People.” This classic book has sold over 15 million copies to date, and incorporates human relations principles which have helped generations of people worldwide enjoy personal and professional success.

The books will be distributed via contests to the readers at 20 blogs – including Bubblicious. To enter, our readers simply need to follow bubblicious on Twitter, and retweet this post (see the “Tweet this” button below). Winners will be notified via DM. Here are the overall Contest Rules on the Dale Carnegie blog.

The application is a an adaptation of Dale Carnegie courses aimed to help you enhance your relationships with others, gain cooperation, and be a leader. The skills gained can be directly applied to improving public speaking, mastering workplace culture, presentation effectiveness, team member engagement, leadership development, sales effectiveness, customer service and lots more.

For more information about the Secrets of Success app, visit the iTunes store.

There is no limit to the quantity of iPhone apps out there. From apps that make silly noises to apps that calculate your tip on a dinner out, the selection is almost limitless. A new app, Zoetica, launched today offers a solution for those interested in the nonprofit world (an interest of mine). The Zoetica iPhone app aggregated nonprofit tech and social change blog posts, making sure the content is at your fingertips at all times. Continuing with the nonprofit theme, the application is free of cost in the iTunes store.

What makes Zoetica different than other news aggregators is that Beth Kanter, Social Media and Nonprofit expert, hand selects the blog feeds that are ultimately aggregated into the app, ensuring the user will receive the most relevant information in the space. The app was created through a partnership with AppMakr and is in itself an example of the possible use of such a tool for a nonprofit. The service makes app development possible for groups with limited budgets and limited tech skills, something many nonprofits can use. AppMakr offers different price points that allow for almost any marketing budget to include an app in the plan.

For more information about the application as well as possible uses for nonprofits, please visit Beth Kanter’s blog

WeeWorld gets more mobile with a new iPhone app. It lets you customize your WeeMee on the go. You can then use your new avatar for caller ID purposes, even on other people’s iPhones (your friends, of course–who else would have your phone number?). From there, you can also use your avatar for social networks like Facebook, where WeeWorld also has an app. As far as other social media outlets go, you’ve pretty much always been able to use your WeeWorld avatar for the likes of AIM chat. The same goes for the new mobile avatar creation app.

With the new iPhone app, WeeWorld is taking its virtual environments one step closer to the mobile realm. Having incorporated itself into a wider-range virtual world and porting that to other platforms such as Facebook, WeeWorld has been rather calculated in its strategy towards expansion. Having a greater mobile presence indicates that WeeWorld is seeking better engagement and interactivity with new and existing users. I, for one, would love to see more ways in which to interact with my virtual environments through my mobile device.

While there aren’t many direct ways in which the new WeeWorld avatar creator can interact with the WeeWorld’s online virtual world, the new iPhone app is certainly a step in the right direction. Given the growing presence virtual environments have on our every day social interactions, even something less involved such as an avatar can have a great impact on the mobile and associated web-based markets.

Virtual goods, for one, present an opportunity for WeeWorld to increase visibility and revenue by offering an iPhone app such as this, especially if the economy around purchasing accessories for an avatar grows through WeeWorld’s mobile presence. Tying this in with other socially-driven platforms and marketplaces is a good way for WeeWorld to segment and re-aggregate a good portion of its existing and upcoming options around its virtual environments.

Especially with the upcoming release of the Apple iPad, WeeWorld could have even more chances to combine its mobile and web-based efforts. As the iPad will have a greater focus on web activity and mobile browsers, the opportunity for Facebook apps to increase their mobile options may be achieved with the iPad and similar devices. For those, such as WeWorld, that already have iPhone apps, the potential behind the iPad is even greater for mobile access and interfacing options with its users.

So, everyone is making their own mobile devices these days. At least, that’s how it seems. Connecting a hand held device to the web and enabling it with Wi-Fi seems to be enough reason to make one’s own mobile device and sell it for an exorbitant price. Yet the ability to use these mobile devices to run various platforms could entice developers, build out a growing marketplace, and become the new way of doing business. Companies such as Amazon are looking to move in on Apple’s turf in order to get a piece of this pie.

Apple’s iPhone still dominates on the mobile app scene. It’s cell phone has won the hearts of millions around the world, with the iTunes App Store attracting countless developers, publishers and buyers to its mobile marketplace. The growth f an entire industry is looking to mobile as its future, and Apple is starting to see more and more competition from others seeking a comparable platform approach to the mobile app forum.

Amazon, for example, has the Kindle. It was launched as a mobile book reader, and has seen some good numbers in the couple of years it’s been out on the market. As a mobile device that is able to connect to the web, however, it has much more potential beyond that of an e-book reader. According to BusinessWeek, Amazon is looking to expand by launching a platform where developers can create apps to run on the Kindle.

It makes sense for Amazon to move in this direction, especially as Apple continues to launch mobile devices that support its growing selection of apps. Enabling developers to create apps for an open platform supported by Kindle could mean additional revenue streams for the online retailer. The best part, is that Amazon gets to maintain its position is a relatively intangible retail service, moving deeper into the mobile app industry and being able to provide access to more virtual products.

Industry-wide, Amazon’s move will also spur further growth in the mobile app space. Google has already begun to impede on Apple’s territory with its Android platform, which is run on multiple devices and is more open than Apple’s own platform. Amazon could learn from the existing battle between Google and Apple in this regard, as the two platform extremes demonstrated by Google and Apple represent two sides of the regulation spectrum.

The concern is that Apple is too strict with its review process, without having a transparent system for developers to navigate. Google, on the other hand, could let malware creep into its Android Marketplace, as it’s more lax with its approval process. Reaching a middle ground could be a good way for Amazon to launch an app store for Kindle, encouraging the developers right off the bat.

Additionally, the ensuing war against Apple’s app domination is being taken up by more than just Google. Several mobile devices from several companies (i.e. GPS navigation service Garmin), will be looking to make some extra money through mobile apps and the ownership of a platform that runs on their self-distributed devices. While this breaks up the industry a great deal, it also gives developers and publishers more options for distributing content.

Against Apple in particular, apps running on Amazon’s Kindle could be for music or television content, which could cost less than what we find on Apple. Amazon already made a similar move when releasing its own mp3 download service, though this didn’t seem to make much of a dent in Apple’s jurisdiction. Specifically towards the price wars, consumers are less likely to see extreme differences amongst different devices this time around, as it’s clear that industry-wide changes are capable of being made.

Whether or not this oncoming variety of devices and content distribution will remain consumer-centric remains to be seen. With so many of the big players being involved, the standards established around the mobile app industry could end up evening out in favor of companies like Apple, Google and Amazon. I think it’s important to keep the consumers in mind when developing competing platforms and methods of mobile app distribution, so hopefully we’ll see some efforts towards this direction as well.

Will the iPhone require Apple to take a more controlling stake in mobile advertising? A recent rumor has emerged saying that Apple is acquiring Quattro Wireless, an advertising company that is considered to be a competitor to AdMob. While the rumor is unconfirmed and the reasons behind Apple’s purported interest are unknown, it makes for some interesting speculation as to what Apple may have in mind for its advertising future.

In the middle of the rumored acquisition talk is a battle of pride, glory and industry dominance. Google acquired Quattro Wireless competitor AdMob before Apple could close the deal, with some saying that this slap in the face caused Apple to “steal” music search tool LaLa from Google before an acquisition was complete. The ongoing spat may have led to Apple’s supposed acquisition of QuattroWireless, but there’s likely much more to the story than just a company feud.

Apple is in a powerful position as far as mobile devices go, having created and successfully marketed the iPhone on a global scale. Focusing on its platform capabilities, Apple is primed to take the mobile economy in a number of directions. Building out its mobile platform means the furthered generation of an app marketplace that could sustain developers, publishers and service providers. Improving on the device itself will help Apple to retain its customer base in the face of oncoming competitors in the smartphone industry.

Google could become a major contender in the mobile space, as its own Android operating system stands to create a viable marketplace to harbor developers as well. The ability to monetize one’s mobile platform is at the forefront of discussions surrounding smartphones at this point, as the meeting of enterprise and consumerism happily plays out in the havens of wireless service providers.

The point here is that Apple could very well take a larger stance in mobile marketing that occurs around its platform and app marketplace. Early on it appeared as though Apple were moving in this direction, having worked closely with a number of mobile advertising firms towards experimental marketing campaigns associated with native apps on the iPhone. With the growth of the iPhone app market, however, the ability for third parties to take advantage of access to iPhone customers gave revenue opportunities to all parties involved.

Being the middle man, Apple could really benefit from having a more established ad network through which third parties could run campaigns, either unifying the experience for end users or simply extending additional options to advertisers and app developers.

Regardless of what Apple’s plans are, the company is forced to take a closer look at the system operating independently of its own “cult” world, as well as the system it has helped to create and standardize. So far, Apple has announced plans to make iTunes available via the Internet, marking the small but obviously necessary steps Apple is taking to become more convenient for its consumers. Keeping a focus on the consumers will continue to help Apple in whatever ideas it has towards the integration of an ad network.

Sprite may be looking to join music artists with iPhone users for the creation of the next big hit. A new app called ZoozBeat features tracks from various artists such as Dallas Austin, all of which can be remixed by app users for a unique beat. The ZoozBeat mobile app turns iPhone users into music producers, with the iPhone as your mobile music studio.

What do users get out of it? The fun of making beats based on exclusive content from well-known artists. Users can then upload the music and share it with the world. Artists get the chance to hear their own creations from new perspectives, tapping into the power of the crowd towards this end.

The app itself works by shaking, tapping or tilting their iPhones. The music gets remixed according to your motions, adding a bit of dynamic fun to the ZoozBeat iPhone app. You can download new beats, learn more about the artist that initially created the beat, and edit music to your own personal tastes.

It seems unlikely that the participating artists would want to seek the aid of iPhone users for the purpose of creating new beats. Even if this was the case, the ZoozBeat iPhone app acts as a mini mobile portal for the artist. Creating content for a mobile app like this increases visibility and finds new ways in which to explore the music industry.

The other interesting aspect of the ZoozBeat app is that it utilizes some of the iPhone device’s best aspects, appealing to a wide user base. For the purpose of marketing an artist, combining the iPhone and its capabilities as a device makes for great access to consumers. What the consumers do from there is up to them.

Even as the music industry struggles to find a way to regain its days of glory, the new economies of mobile and web apps introduce new opportunities for it to do so. What remains to be seen is how much the music industry will have to rely on associated branding in order to do so.

Sprite gets to reap the benefits of associated branding by powering the ZoozBeat app, using music as a universal marketing message to reach out to consumers. Artists, on the other hand, rely on brands like Sprite for a certain amount of distribution and access to a wide range of consumers. It’s an interesting play, and it’s one that has been gaining steam in the web and mobile app realms.

Time will tell if such apps have any lasting power, with combined strategies seeking similar ends. The cooperative efforts towards reaching a single goal means that partnerships could continue to be successfully forged, with a necessary focus on the end consumer to help carry the marketing message to their friends. ZoozBeat in particular is an interesting way to promote music, its popular artists, and the engagement of users.