Group items tagged

Good old-fashioned reading is on the rise thanks to the booming popularity of e-readers. In 2007, a study by the National Endowment for the Arts found that half of 18-24-year-old Americans read no books for pleasure. The e-book era may be changing that. A Sony-commissioned survey conducted in May found that 40 percent of e-reader owners report reading more than they did with print books. Amazon says its customers buy roughly three times as many books after getting a Kindle. And finally, smartphone apps have re-popularized classic games and toys. The much-anticipated Scrabble iPad app hit the market this fall after the wide adoption of Newtoy’s Scrabble knockoff, Words With Friends. Electronic Arts has turned the classic Lite Brite into a digital experience.

Philo hosted one of its “virtual viewing parties” for the NBA’s Sprite Slam Dunk Contest this weekend, where O’Neal posted play-by-play comments on the contest while viewers could check-in and interact on the Philo website, its smartphone apps, or a Philo widget hosted on the NBA.com website.

was the first time a smartphone game had broken free of the Best Mobile Game ghetto and moved up into the big leagues. With a reported development cost of about $150,000, the addictive fowl-flinging game is racking up ungodly profits.

Angry Birds

Pedestrians walking by were invited to use their smartphone as a controller in a digital paddle game similar to the classic Pong. By visiting the website, people could choose which reward they wanted and then use their finger to swipe up and down on their touchscreen phone to move the paddle. If they lasted more than 30 seconds, they got a coupon for the reward they chose and could collect their free fast food treat from a McDonald’s restaurant.