LAYAR: SPRXMobile recently launched Layar, “the world’s first augmented reality browser for mobile.” Layar “displays real-time digital information on top of reality in the camera screen of a mobile device. While looking through the phone’s camera lens, a user can see houses for sale, popular bars and shops, jobs, healthcare providers and ATMs.” Layar premiered on the Android platform in the Netherlands yesterday, with five launch partners: ING (bank), funda (realty website), Hyves (social network), Tempo-team (temp agency) and Zekur.nl (healthcare provider). Until this amazing utility is available State-side, you can read more and view screenshots at Layar.eu, and/or watch this YouTube demonstration.

TRACKLE: We recently learned during research for a client that, while some people are aware that they use RSS on a regular basis, many users of RSS are not aware of what it is even though they already subscribe to updates from their favorite sites, podcasts, and the like. People don’t know what RSS is – and they don’t need to. It's not the simplest thing to describe: say, “oh, it means ‘really simply syndication’” and you haven’t really explained it any better. The challenge becomes: how do you say “subscribe to this content or update” in a way that’s more intuitive? You could come up with a name/skin for RSS feeds and alerts that implies "a way to track your favorite digital content"… Trackle, currently in beta, aims to be an effortless way to keep you notified about all the things that are important to you. There's already a whole catalog of Tracklets to choose from.

GET HUMAN: Automated phone systems are notoriously clumsy and user-unfriendly. When you have a problem you need addressed by customer service, talking to a glorified answering machine often only exacerbates your frustration. The desire to circumvent automated systems and speak directly to a human was the impetus for GetHuman, a site that collects all the ways to “bypass phone systems, talk to a live person, share customer help tips”. GetHuman isn't exactly new, but their new mobile app is. Now it’s even easier to get better customer service from anywhere with the free Get Human app on your iPhone or iPod Touch (iTunes App Store link).

TWEET PSYCH: See what your Twitter may reveal about you with TweetPsych. "TweetPsych uses two linguistic analysis algorithms to build a psychological profile of a person based on the content of their tweets". It works best on account with more than 1000 tweets, but may still be revealing when applied to those with fewer.

In Bb 2.0 takes the next step in YouTube-fuelled musical collaboration demonstrated by Kutiman's Thru-You and Tan Dun and Internet Orchestras. Named for the tuning of each clip, In Bb 2.0 is designed to give the viewer more control over the remix (though "Start All" and "Stop All" controls would be a welcome addition). Create Digital Music described it simply: “As the name implies, everything will blend, so you can start the videos as you wish, and control volume with the volume sliders. It’s part of the ongoing evidence that sometimes simple ideas can be deeply musical and effective."

Tinker is a Twitter aggregation tool that aggregates Tweets into “events” – and does so in a way its creators claim is “brand-safe” (filtering out negative conversation, surfacing only positive conversation in the form of what Tinker calls “events”). In some respects this is a step away from the Web’s overall leanings toward greater transparency. In another respect, Tinker makes Twitter more useful for marketers, which could in turn draw even more users into the Twitter and micro-blogging universe. Watch this Tinker demo video and visit Tinker.com to sign up and learn more.

It will be interesting to see what comes of Amazon’s Kindle Publishing for Blogs. Amazon describes it as “a fast and easy self-publishing tool that lets you upload your blog for sale in the Kindle Store”. See that part about “for sale” in there? My hunch is that makes more sense for an already-free blog to remain free when read on a Kindle, but I have yet to create an account and explore Amazon’s broader publishing program further. If you have, kindly share your experience in the comments. Thanks.

A second edition of Linkage already? Yes. This batch of inspiring links comes from Associate Creative Director Brent Eveleth. Brent's email added another element of commentary with the "currently" status under each link -- a wonderful addition to the usual "check this link out" email. Nice touch, Brent.

Perspectv is a way to track instances of any word or phrase across Tweets, blog posts, news feeds, searches, etc. It allows for single or comparative views, and can show you real-time data on who’s saying what about your brand.

Currently: exploring perspctv to inform the handling of social media in a new business project's discovery phase.

BONUS: nytimes.com  had a great visualization of Twitter chatter during the Super Bowl (click “Talking about ads” on the left to see the discussion of the spots – Career Builder clearly kicked a**.)

Designer Mark Boulton shares some great insight into his team’s transparent process of architecture and design for the new Drupal.org site, including some novel ideas for ad hoc testing (fresh!), rapid prototyping using CSS and HTML (hot!) and a system that eases into the design phase gradually (gradual!).

Currently: marveling at the transition this creates from prototype to design to developed code.

 
Boxee is a social app/media player that plays your music/vids/photos, streams programming from the major networks (all sponsored by advertising), podcasts, torrents, photo feeds, you name it, it probably plays it.  Then, it broadcasts what you and your friends are enjoying, so you everyone will know you’ve been watching those re-runs of Small Wonder.

Currently: NOT watching Small Wonder. I swear.

Props to Brent again for the inspired finds.

Here, as at other Tribal offices, we forward each other links of interest all the time. Some Tribal folks pride themselves on it. Art Director Scott Rench is one of those people. Below are the great finds from his most recent batch of "That's Edutainment" emails. Keep 'em coming Scott!

Viral Fast Food
It seems like McDonald’s Japan is taking the viral food retailing trend pushed by Krispy Kreme and Burger King to another level. They’ve now opened two exclusive Quarter Pounder Shops in Shibuya and Omotesando that are completely devoid of any McDonald’s branding.

Would You Like to Add a Pic With That?
Twittering your fake event is so last year. Why not prove where you are by adding photos to your Twitter posts? Visit TwitPic and follow the simple steps to add photos to your pretend events.

MyStickies
MyStickies allow you to place little squares of digital paper anywhere and everywhere you feel like in the world wide web. Along with the ability to put sticky notes on webpages MyStickies offers a powerful interface to browse, search, sort, edit and generally have a wonderfull time with your sticky notes from any computer that has Internet access.

Personal Mobile Content
The Japanese have always been ahead of us when it comes to technology. I remember seeing my first camera phone in Tokyo several years before it made it state side. If you want to see what mobile life will look like in a few years look at Japan. PePiCo (Personal Picture Content) is a platform developed by Cybermedia Japan that allows users to take photos and create personalized content. Visitors to PePiCo can make e-cards, wallpapers, and games that feature the subject of the uploaded photo in a funny story/scene that can then be passed along to friends.

We're hoping to make this "Linkage" post the first in an ongoing series of the random links that inspire and delight us. Big thanks again to Scott Rench for the "Edutainment" links.

This BusinessWeek article, How Companies Use Twitter to Bolster Their Brands, made me think. At first, I didn't get much further than the subtitle:

The “creepy trend” part is slightly confusing. What’s so creepy about attentive customer service? Monitoring Twitter feeds that mention your brand is one thing, and a no-brainer at that. Like any social network, online or offline, this is an environment in which brands are expected to be sociable. Tweeting back to the offended party might be a more appropriate response than no response at all.

Sure, the potential is there for brand voices to come off as creepy, awkward or forced when venturing into emerging social situations such as Twitter feeds – but brand voices face the same challenge in every medium. The anxiety expressed by the BusinessWeek article reflects the hesitation many marketers have for social networks like Twitter.

There are good reasons for that hesitation. Twitter is new, and therefore a little scary for some. Like blogs and other social networks, it demands dedicated resources. Twitter is unreliable, now notorious for repeated outages and network down time. Twitter is instantly public – whatever you do is out there for everyone to see, right away. Sounds intimidating.

There are good reasons to be brave, too, because it’s pretty cool when it works well. GM used Twitter in an attempt to help a ready-to-buy customer at a Saturn dealership who couldn’t find a salesman. Jet Blue uses Twitter to monitor customers in need of information on flight delays or cancellations. Brands like Dell, Comcast, and Whole Foods recognize the Twitter user as an “influencer” of a target audience, and pay attention accordingly. The potential for evolving customer service is huge. The immediacy can work to a brand's advantage, enabling real-time responses that reach a consumer wherever he or she may be. This is a new means for brands to prove their usefulness to consumers, but it's probably not for everyone.

Still, what’s so creepy about it? The article points out that “not all Tweeters want Corporate America following their Tweets” -- yet they continue to post Tweets for everyone to read! That’s a conflicting message, but it’s also a defense mechanism. These influencers are still getting used to the personal transparency that, in many ways, resembles the same transparency consumers want from their favorite brands. Transparency can be a scary thing, because there's no hiding once you have it. Right now, these conflicting messages keep corporations guessing about how best to socialize their brands.

Personally, I’m fascinated that people who willingly and publicly broadcast their lives, 140 characters at a time, are so surprised to learn that the likes of Jet Blue or Zappos are reading Twitter feeds. Because, really, which is creepier: microblogging your every move for the entire world to read, or responding to a single post that implicates your brand or business by name?