The weather may finally be starting to cool off, but the Internet is ablaze with thoughts and opinions on Apple. The iPhone 5 and iOS 6 were released this week, and people are lining the streets in front of Apple stores around the county hoping to be among the first to get their hands on the device, despite criticism that the phone isn’t much of an improvement over the previous generation. True to the Internet spirit, the occasion has inspired a number of memes and videos poking fun at the new phone and its rabid fans.
The new season of TV shows are also premiering, and the Social TV trend is unavoidable. It seems like every show has its own companion app. We’d love to know which ones you use and what you think of them in the comments.
Read on for the rest of the news, viral videos, and Infographics you may have missed this week…
Top Stories from the Digital World:
After 250m App Downloads, Shazam Expands Its Social TV Features (Guardian)—With the new season of television premiering, the music-ID app is making a play to become the biggest name on the second screen. Users will now be able identify just about any TV show they are watching and get served trivia, Twitter feeds, cast information, and soundtrack information.
Paddy Power Betting Comes to Second Screen (AppMarket.TV)—A really interesting use of second screen technology comes from a group of Irish bookies. The iPhone app will sync with any soccer match a user is watching and get instant updates on betting odds.
BSkyB, Channel 4 and Zeebox Talk Second-Screen Potential for TV (Guardian)—Some of the major networks in England held a formal debate with Zeebox, the UK leader in Social TV apps, to discuss the opportunities and challenges facing the Second Screen. Is the UK leading the US in this emerging field?
Record-Breaking Season Premiere X-Factor Drives 2.1 Million Social Conversations and Over One Million New Fan Profiles (IBC)—That headline just about says it all, but X-Factor is currently the champion of the second screen for Fall 2012 premiers. Can any other premier top 2.1 million conversations?
Salesforce.com Combines Social Investments for Marketing Cloud (DMNews.com)—Marketers finally have an answer to what Salesforce plans to do with Radian6 and Buddy Media after it acquired the latter in June. At the annual Dreamforce conference, they announced that they would use the two to create a cloud-based social analysis program called Marketing Cloud.
Viral Videos of the Week
At first, we were going to show this video from golfer Ben Crane dealing with his hair loss, but another video came along a few days ago that shattered everything else. This ad for the Samsung Galaxy S3 takes a comical look at the legions waiting in line for a brand new phone, which is clearly the iPhone 5. The ad is hilarious and does a great job promoting the features of the Galaxy while subverting the iPhone, and has already gotten nearly six million views in just two days. Now that is viral marketing.
Infographics of the Week
Again we saw a few great Infographics this week. The first comes from Sarah Wenger, who takes a look at which countries have the strictest laws and regulations regarding the Internet. We also saw a pretty good one on Business 2 Community that crowns the official king of Social TV. But the winner this week is Bit Rebels, who created an awesome Infographic to help anyone trying to start blogging. The Infographic not only looks great, it is packed with great tips and is incredibly helpful for anyone having trouble creating content.
Read more: