iPhone Interactive Video Ads are Here

Rhythm New Media just announced a new iPhone video ad unit, which for the first time includes in-video interactivity. By using the unique touch capabilities of the phone, Rhythm can overlay TV style ads with touchable buttons that activate a call, SMS, maps, or another video. Lincoln and Pepsi have signed up as the first advertisers for this new unit.

The first iPhone application to run these new ads is vSNAX Videos. They offer free, high quality videos from more than 25 premium media partners. Short pre and post-rolls (5 to 30 seconds) are dynamically inserted.

WFB (Working From Bus)

While today's CrackBerry society is never too far from the Web, wouldn't it be nice to hop on a bus and have connectivity that you would expect at work or home?

Starting Monday, Feb 25, San Francisco's 10-Townsend line is introducing a "Connected Bus" to its regular rotation. This green hybrid bus features Wi-Fi as well as touch screens that show where other Muni buses are on a map.

The city is obviously concerned about graffiti and other vandalism on the bus, but it is a great test for Muni and the public. Can't wait for my field trip!

Source: SFGate

Pizza My Heart

When a pizza craving hits me, I rarely opt for the chain restaurant variety. I typically stroll up a few blocks to my favorite neighborhood joint or bust out the Pillsbury dough (yep, Pillsbury) and whip one up on my own.

Domino's, however, is starting to tempt hungry people like me with its technology offerings. They are testing pizza tracking in 3,200 of its 8,000+ stores in the U.S. For safety reasons, customers won't be able to know exactly where the driver is, but the automated system can say whether or not the pie has left the store.

Pizza service technology (for lack of a better term) has taken shape in recent months. Papa John's and Pizza Hut have both introduced text-to-order and Dominos.com allows customers to rank pizzas created by others. The last time I checked, there were 11,800+ "registered pizzas," ready for ordering. Social networking for pizza? I doubt that is the last new media pizza offering we'll see this year...

Everyone's a Foodie

Whether I'm in a hotel for business or pleasure, I find myself browsing through all of the provided reading materials (save the Bible tucked away in a drawer). Last night, I discovered a Seattle magazine with a picture of some amazing blueberry pancakes on the cover. "Breakfast for dinner would be great," I thought to myself, yet decided on some standard room service fare instead.

Everyone, it seems, is a foodie these days. From culinary mini-classes at Williams-Sonoma to 30 Minute Meals recipe books, who doesn't think they can be the next Thomas Keller? Gourmet.com just relaunched their site, which is a clean and easy-to-navigate version of it's predecessor. It's yet another resource for everyday people to find inspiration for their upcoming meals.

Photography has played a big role in this shift. With Flickr tagging (my last "food" search yielded 2.477MM results) and sites like Tastespotting (which I have blogged about before!), culinary inspiration does not just come from the higher powers anymore. Every time I'm in the kitchen, I often have the need to grab my camera and snap a few macro shots myself.

So, maybe the person that took the blueberry pancakes picture wasn't a self-proclaimed foodie. But his/her work was enough to get me thinking about possibilities in the kitchen...and what my next brunch should look like.

Is that a pita in your pocket, or...

I typically think of my best business ideas while I'm out running. I've considered everything from fashion consultant companies to snack food stands to boutiques but I still haven't come up with something as brilliant as the Pita Pocket Bag.

So a few people may laugh when I pull it out at Nordstrom or J.Crew, but how much more fun would that be than your standard Coach wallet? While the burger phone from Juno is #1 on my food-items-turned-accessories list, the Pita Pocket Bag is a close second.

Material Girl

Ah, Tuesday. The day that DailyCandy Deals are delivered to my inbox and I am suddenly inspired to do some online shopping. There is nothing like the thrill of finding a good deal, especially when it's on something you've been coveting for a while. I've had my eye on a pair of brown boots recently, ever since I saw them on a very stylish girl near Union Square.

After a few rounds of Googling (since I am a hardcore comparison shopper and I like to see lots of images before I purchase something), I stumbled upon Polyvore.com. It's like collages + shopping + your own closet, all rolled into one. You are able to add items to a "set" and then save it for other users to view. This gives everyone the freedom to create outfits from items all over the web, which obviously isn't possible when you are cruising around on specific e-tailer sites. How else could you virtually combine a shirt from J.Crew with a dress from Nordstrom?

Even cooler still, is the fact that you can embed Polyvore.com code onto your own social networking page. All of your friends will be able to see your favorite outfits and maybe tell you if the date outfit you like maybe isn't a good idea after all.