Android $10 Million Challenge
Android Challenge I will accept submissions from January 2nd to March 3rd 2008. The best 50 submissions will receive $25,000 to fund further development. After the next deadline of May 1st 2008, ten prizes of $100,000 and another ten prizes of $275,000 will be awarded. The other $5 million will be distributed as part of Android Challenge II, which will take place over the 2nd half of 2008.
http://code.google.com/android/adc.html
Google, meet Gattaca
Google-funded 23andMe.com has become the latest genetic screening service. Customers will be able to see their genetic ancestry and predisposition to twenty genetic diseases. Health insurance companies, start your engines.
http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/11/17/23andme-evil-or-the-way-of-the-future/
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/17/us/17dna.html?pagewanted=1&ei=5124&en=49c07f4b639e5c5f&ex=1353042000&adxnnl=1&partner=permalink&exprod=permalink&adxnnlx=1195506100-1jWYsnHM1WzenuV8fPIPEQ
Poll Daddy 2.0
Users can customize their own data-collecting widgets and embed polls, surveys, contact forms, and even quizzes on their website or blog. Basic polls are free.
http://www.polldaddy.com
NBC Picks Up MySpace Show
NBC has made a deal to air “Quarterlife,” a drama about twenty-somethings created for and currently airing on MySpace TV. The deal is the first time a made for internet program has been picked up by a television network in the United States.
http://www.myspace.com/quarterlife
http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/11/16/nbc-picks-up-made-for-myspace-show-quarterlife/
Bravo For In-Text Ads
The new season of Bravo’s Project Runway saw a 40% rise in viewership, in part because of an "in-text" ad campaign.
http://publications.mediapost.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=Articles.san&s=71222&Nid=36507&p=910435
Universities To Crack Down on Piracy
Congress is mulling a bill that would force universities receiving federal financial aid to explore deterrents to piracy while also offering alternatives to illegal downloading.
http://publications.mediapost.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=Articles.san&s=71209&Nid=36507&p=910435
This Is Your Brain On Phone
Ad man David Droga is working with the New York City Department of Education on The Million program. Free cell phones will be given to New York’s one million public school students pre-loaded with learning tools. The more a student uses these tools, the more schwag he or she earns.
http://adage.com/article?article_id=122090