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Via.Me by RadiumOne Labs

June 6, 2012 / Posted by

Via.MeFull disclosure: I don’t use Instagram and I’m not Pinterested. I say that because first impressions from friends about Via.me were that the site looks vaguely like Pinterest and the functionality of the app seems very Instagrammy. Because of this I went to check them out and there are indeed a lot of similarities between the Instagram and Via.me apps. Instagram though doesn’t have a Web site of its own. And while Via.me’s Web site does look similar to Pinterest, they are very different sites. It’s more of an elegant combination of Pinterest and Instagram.

Via.MeLike Instagram, the Via.me app uses the built-in camera on your iPhone to record photos or video (you can also record sounds) and post them to your Via.me, Facebook and Twitter accounts. Like Instagram, it comes with a suite of fun filters you can apply to your photos, instantly transforming them into apparent works of art. Having studied photography in college and even spent a little pro time behind the lens, it piqued my interest, and as soon as I left work I began a photographic odyssey home to Jersey City. READ MORE»

SOCIAL NETWORKING / ​​​FEATURED APPS

WeeMee Avatar Creator

December 1, 2011 / Posted by

WeeMeeAll great historical figures have their equally memorable clones. Katie Holmes has Suri Cruise. Homer Simpson has Bart. Corey Feldman had Corey Haim. Austin Powers has Mini-Me, and now I have my WeeMee.

WeeMeeThe WeeMee Avatar Creator lets me clone myself into millions of WeeMees. With over 40 hairstyles, hundreds of clothing and accessory options, 26 pairs of sunglasses for sunny days and 15 themed backgrounds to play in, I can’t decide whether to put on my Snooki look with orange skin and black hair bouffant, or channel Farrah Fawcett with long, wavy hair and a red bikini. I can clone myself anatomically correct, and add color and shade to everything from eyes to underwear. My WeeMee (I call her ‘MiNE’) gets more unique with the ‘closets’ feature that lets her shop for trendy, premium and branded items. Adding seasonal accessories, pets, Apple products and beverages (with and without alcohol) makes this app fun and personal.

WeeMeeCreating avatars in WeeMee is easy – I had a small army of adorable MiNE’s within minutes. Navigation features are identified with playful icons. I can save to the gallery, post to Facebook and Twitter, and add wings and panda slippers before you can say “Dolly.” Available for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch, the app includes a built-in address book so I can create avatars for my friends and use them as the contact’s image. I couldn’t help but dress my (male) boss as a mermaid under the sea, and my best friend looks good in vampire garb creeping in the forest.

WeeMee saves my army of avatars in a gallery which means I have easy access to a new persona each day. The app organizes my ‘closets,’ which allows for quick wardrobe changes and background switches. Today I’m in Aspen, tomorrow off to Paris!

I plan on sharing my new WeeMees with my friends and family. There are more than 50 million avatars in WeeMee, so I have a lot of cloning to do to claim my place in history as the woman with the most personalities.

Available in the App Store

SOCIAL NETWORKING / ​​​FEATURED APPS

Viddy

August 24, 2011 / Posted by

ViddyIt’s hard to believe that Viddy has only been available in the iTunes store for a little over four months. In that time more than 750,000 people have downloaded the slick app that is essentially a video form of micro blogging on a mobile app platform. More than an app, Viddy is also social Web site Viddy.com, where Viddyers and their followers can see, share and like each other’s videos. But the heart of the whole Viddy experience is this marvelous little app.

ViddyViddy let’s you shoot video and share it. Tap the share button and you’re immediately presented with a host of options including Facebook, Twitter and Tumblr. You can also upload the video to your Viddy account. Much like Twitter limits posts to under 140 characters, so Viddy videos are limited to under 15 seconds. The app let’s you post as is, or style your video with a host of themes, such as “Retro” and “3D,” with music to match. The themes are impressively professional looking and easy to apply. And they do add that something extra: A video showing the vapid questioning stares of unsuspecting co-workers was amusing enough, but after run through the “Junkd” filter it was actually whimsical and funny.

You can also import video shot on the iPhone camera, or videos edited in other apps such as Adobe’s PhotoShop app. One of the best features is that the app knows when to to stop recording so videos are never more than 15 seconds long. It’s easy to see how this app might lead to yet another interesting variant form of storytelling. What can you film in 10 to 15 seconds? Viddyers are testing those limits for sure. As I skimmed through the video snippets posted by a young woman I had randomly chosen to follow, I became aware of a fascinating, sometimes choppy, montage-like portrait she — whether wittingly or not — was painting of herself and her life. Goofy song parodies, random observations and pranks played on friends, combined with her infectious laugh, made for a moving picture of “TaylorMaylor.” Viddy is quite simply, Twitter for the mobile video age.

Available in the App Store

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