Friday, 20 December 2013
Mobile Rewards Startup Kiip Upgrades Its User Contests With New “Challenges” Product
When Kiip announced last week that that it’s powering rewards in Zepto Labs’ popular Cut the Rope mobile games, co-founder and CEO Brian Wong said it didn’t share one of the key details (because, uh, reasons) — that this is the debut of a new Kiip product called Challenges.
The company is best-known for allowing advertisers to sponsor rewards in games and other apps at key moments, say when players beat a level. With Challenges, instead of just giving each user a reward, brands can run contests and sweepstakes and give prizes to the winners. For example, Wong said Cut the Rope players will have a chance to win plush toys today.
That concept may sound familiar to readers who have been following Kiip, because it first started offering these types of user contests about two years ago, through a product called Swarm. (At the time, Wong told me that Swarm would allow Kiip to enlist advertisers in new industries like automotive, where “you can’t give away a million cars.”) Since then, however, Kiip has been relatively quiet about Swarm — Wong told me this week that the product is doing fine, but it’s really meant to be integrated with games, andhe’s been spending more time talking up Kiip’s efforts to bring rewards to other non-gaming apps, such as Any.Do, 8Tracks, and Recipe Search.
Challenges are supposed to address several of the main limitations to Swarms. For one thing, they could only be activated at a specific point in the game, which meant that if a player wanted another chance to win the prize, they’d have to go back and play that same level again. Now, however, Wong said that contests can now be “run dynamically” on any game level. He also said they can now be triggered server-side, which means they can be updated more easily, without requiring any changes to the software development kit.
Even though Wong describes Challenges as a specific product within the broader umbrella of Kiip’s Swarms, he also suggested that all Swarm campaigns would have access to the new features. This might seem like a pedantic point, but honestly, going back-and-forth with Wong about the relationship between the two products me a little nuts. So I asked Wong why he didn’t just call it Swarm 2.0 (or, you know, something like that), and he replied, “That’s great feedback. Challenges just stuck. We might rename it.”
via TechCrunch » Startups http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/techcrunch/startups/~3/2KdYAHWLFBg/
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Gift Guide: Something For A Twenty-Something
Twenty-somethings are some of the hardest people to shop for. They’re changing so quickly, interests waxing and waning by the day, making it pretty difficult to figure out a great gift for the holidays.
But have no fear.
At least one of these four suggestions should be a good fit for a young professional or college student, whether they’re your family member or a friend.
Roku 3
The Roku 3 is quite possibly the best media streaming device available. Where all the tech specs are concerned, it’s got best-in-class technology under its tiny, shiny hood, which ultimately means that it works more reliably than other options like the Apple TV. For a young pupil off at University, Roku makes it dead simple to play Netflix, Hulu, ESPN, and a thousand other channels by simply hooking it up to a TV and turning it on. Plus, the Roku 3 remote comes with headphones that let you listen to the content privately, a feature which could keep roommates happy during finals time.
Fitbit Force ($129)
The freshman fifteen is a real thing, trust me. Being away at school makes it easy to eat whatever you want, whenever you want, with no one telling you to do otherwise. But a good way to stay motivated and aware of your health is to use the Fitbit Force. The biometric wristband doubles as a watch, but also offers intensive metrics on your calorie burn, steps taken, flights climbed, etc. You can even input nutritional information into the accompanying app to have a full read on your health over time.
Mophie Juice Pack Helium ($79)
FOMO has never been stronger than it is today, with the majority of humans simply addicted to their smartphones. College kids are among the worst, which means that their smartphones are always dropping like flies. The Mophie Juice Pack Helium for iPhone ensures that the phone can stay with you through the day and doesn’t add on too much bulk, offering 80 percent extra battery. Indicator lights on the back give you a read on when the Mophie itself is charged, and how much battery it has left throughout the day. You can snag this guy for $80.
B&W P7 Headphones ($399)
Music is a huge part of any college experience, and a nice set of headphones can make all the difference walking to class, studying at the library, or hanging out in the dorm. The P7 over-the-ear headphones from Bowers & Wilkins are far more expensive than ultra popular Beats headphones, but they also stand out from what everyone else is wearing. But being stylish is only a small fraction of what the P7 headphones bring to the table, with sound quality that is truly impressive. They even come with a microphone attachment so you can switch between music and phone calls.
via TechCrunch » Startups http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/techcrunch/startups/~3/zt8CNfAfgco/
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