Mobile

Facebook has gotten another top app developer to agree to use its Facebook Credits payment system. The latest to do so is RockYou, the sixth biggest app developer on the social network, which says in a statement that Credits will be the "exclusive virtual currency" in its games and apps for the next five years. That follows similar agreements Facebook has reached with CrowdStar and with Zynga, although the latter wasn't an exclusive deal.

A billboard in New York City is using augmented reality in a Calvin Klein ad. Instead of beautiful model frolicking with her friends, people passing by - at least those without a smartphone - see only a giant QR code.

Cisco has launched a tablet computing platform for business and education similar to Apple's iPad. The device is called Cisco CIUS and it integrates tablet computing capabilities with high-definition interactive video and inter-operability with Cisco TelePresence.

Interactive production company, Tool of North America (note: for more on Tool, see the interview with its digital executive producer, Dustin Callif, that was published on itvt.com, June 9th, 2009), has teamed with "technology-infused" creative agency, Domani Studios, to develop an application, dubbed "Touching Stories," that contains four interactive live-action short films shot by five Tool of North America directors and designed specifically for the Apple iPad.

As planned, iAds debuted on iOS 4-based devices on Thursday, with the first examples of Apple's program enabling advertisers to present interactive ads directly within iOS apps. Engadget has Dove's entry, starring Major League Baseball's Albert Pujols and Andy Pettitte.  

The cheesy As Seen on TV ad for the $30 hat -- essentially a black curtain hanging from a baseball cap with a ludicrously long bill -- has quickly become the hot new viral video.

YouTube on Wednesday launched a revamped version of the mobile version of its website, which the company says is now serving 100 million videos a day. The company said that playbacks on mobile devices were up 160% in 2009 over the previous year.

A new app by web developer Webtab uses both Facebook Connect and mobile app technology that can be downloaded from iTunes to let users buy drinks - real ones - for their friends. Called Bartab, the app is live in San Francisco with plans to be rolled out in other cities including New York and Los Angeles.  

Foursquare and other moso networks' popularity relies on the overinflated sense of self importance many people possess in the age Facebook and Twitter. People want to know where I am, people want to know what I'm doing. In other words, it's a tool for feeding ego, or perhaps a receptacle for the excess.