Sweet Co-Branding: Google and Nestlé Give Us The Android Kit Kat.

To mark the release of Android KitKat, the latest operating system from Google, more than 50 million specially branded KitKat bars shaped like the Android mascot, will be available in 19 countries including Australia, Brazil, Germany, India, Japan, Dubai, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States.

Kit Kat's own website has been redesigned as a parody of a tech site as part of the promotion:

The press release:
Sep 3, 2013 Google and Nestlé announce Android KitKat



Google has ended months of online speculation about the name of the latest version of its Android mobile operating system by revealing it will be called ‘Android KitKat’, after Nestlé’s popular chocolate and wafer confectionery.



The creators of the world’s most popular mobile platform have teamed up with the world’s biggest food and beverage company to name the next release of the platform ‘Android KitKat’.

Android KitKat 4.4 - The Future of Confectionary video:


SWEET THEMES
Android has been developed by the company’s engineers under sweet-themed names ever since the release of Android Cupcake in 2009 and continuing in alphabetical order until the most recent version, Android Jelly Bean.


above: The Android KitKat statue at Google's Mountain View campus along with others representing previous operating systems, such as Gingerbread, Jelly Bean, Ice Cream Sandwich and cupcake

The news that the letter ‘K’ will be dedicated to Nestlé’s KitKat will surprise most technology commentators, who had widely thought the latest version would be ‘Android Key Lime Pie’.

“We couldn’t imagine a better name for our Android K release than the tasty chocolate that’s been a favourite among the team since the early days of Android,” said Marc Vanlerberghe, Director of Android Marketing.

STRONG DIGITAL PRESENCE
“We’re excited to announce this partnership with Android, the world's most popular mobile platform, which will help us to enable even more KitKat fans to enjoy their break,” said Patrice Bula, Nestlé’s Head of Marketing.


above: A small number of Android robot-shaped KitKat bars will also be offered as prizes in addition to the 50 million created.

“KitKat is one of the world’s top ten fast-moving consumer goods brands in social media in terms of fan numbers and engagement,” he continued. “We continue to build on its strong digital presence with interactive, creative branding campaigns.”



To mark the release of Android KitKat, more than 50 million specially branded KitKat bars will be available in 19 countries including Australia, Brazil, Germany, India, Japan, Dubai, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States.


above: The Android KitKat robot arrives at Nestlé headquarters in Vevey, Switzerland.

The packs will lead consumers to the website android.com/kitkat where they will have the opportunity to win prizes including a limited number of Google Nexus 7 tablets, and credits to spend in Google Play, Google’s online store for apps, games, music, movies, books and more.

CLOSER TO CONSUMERS
Nestlé’s branding partnership with Google is the company’s latest move in its ambition to leverage digital technology and online content to get closer to its consumers to better understand and cater to their preferences.

Earlier this year, Nestlé acquired its first-ever piece of online content property, the Petfinder website in the United States. The online database, which links prospective adopters with adoptable pets, is visited by more than 100 million pet-lovers annually

all images courtesy of Nestlé and Google

Pinstagram, The Ultimate Mash-Up. Your Instagram Photos In Pinterest Format.

above composite of instagram and pinterest logos ©iihih

I was wondering how long it would take for the ever-growing Pinterest platform to combine with the incredibly popular Instagram app. Not long as you will see with Pinstagram, a new site by co-founders Brandon Leonardo and Pek Pongpaet.

Below is a reprint of the article "Pinstagram: How Instagram Should Look On the Web":


We have all seen those mythical hybrid animals, like the zeroed, a mix of zebra and equine, or perhaps the more commonly known beefalo, a mix of buffalo and cow. You may even be familiar with the leopon, the result of breeding a male leopard with a female lion. Hybrids are real. And there are others too, mind you. But it's not all fur and feathers; many such hybrids live on the Internet. Especially sites like Pinstagram, a "Pinterest for your Instagram images," as co-founder Pek Pongpaet describes it. In an increasingly visual Web, it's a wonder that this hybrid didn't come about sooner.

Like most things on the Internet, Pinstagram happened fast.

"We were joking one evening about how Instagram is worth $1 billion and how Pinterest's valuation might already be in the $500 million range," says co-founder Brandon Leonardo. "And we were thinking about the idea of a Twitter for Facebook, what that would be like. Then I could tell Pek started thinking about it. The gears started turning; he was visualizing a Pinterest for Instagram."



Not more than 24 hours later, Pongpaet had already coded and designed it. This sort of fast turnaround is pretty natural for Pongpaet and Leonardo, who come from a hackathon "get stuff out as fast as possible and ask questions later" type of background.


above: Pinstagram on the iPad

If this sort of idea had popped up within a larger company setting, for example, it would have "taken months," says Pongapaet.

Since Pinstagram's debut just a few weeks ago, the site has already seen about 6,400 Facebook likes of Instagram images, thousands of tweets and a few hundred pins.

Pinstagram: An Indicator of the Evolving Visual Web
Services like Pinterest and Instagram are integral to the future of the visual Web. No longer do people send photos to document memories; they are lifestreaming as it all happens, with pictures telling the story. It's no wonder that Facebook snatched up Instagram while it still had the chance.


above: my own pinstagram page

"The visual medium has always had international appeal," says Pongapaet. "Sending pictures is very common. If you stick to English, you'll alienate a lot of people. Visual mediums let you transcend all barriers. It takes seconds to process a photo."

What about Webstagram, the Instagram Web viewer? Isn't this a sufficient way to view Instragram images on the Internet? For some, it's perfect. But like many news Web sites, Webstagram is organized around "popular," "my photos," "liked," "hot," "photo of the day" and more. It feels more like a news website and less like a glossy, Pinterest-like magazine.



"The reason I built Pinstagram is because this is my world view of how Instagram should look on the Web," says Pongapaet. "Our core focus is to recreate the Instagram experience on the desktop and to be able to extend that to our users."

Not everyone wants to see their Instagrams in a Pinterest-like layout, however, and Pongapaet acknowledges that.

"There are always different interpretations," he says. "That's what great about art, about having different APIs - people all have different interpretations."

Pinstagram just integrated into Facebook Timeline. As the Instagram-Facebook integration continues to rollout, so will this nifty Pinterest-Instagram hybrid beast.- by Alicia Eler on May 11th, 2012 for ReadWriteWeb.

Below is a video interview with Pongpaet about Pinstagram:


Pinstagram

I Have PSD. Clever Short Film Shows How To Photoshop Your Life.

If you use Photoshop as frequently as I do, you find yourself wishing you could use the same set of software tools to edit, undo or re-do many aspects of your own life. Undoing a crazy night, editing blemishes on your skin, altering the color of your wardrobe, even lightening your over-toasted bread.





Julia Vakser Zeltser and the folks over at Hyperakt did just that with their fun "I have PSD" short film, which shows what it would be like to apply Photoshop tools to your real life.





Photoshop dexterity (PSD) is a skillset acquired by proficient users of Adobe Photoshop, the world's most ubiquitous digital tool for creating visual ideas. Qualities of PSD include supernatural powers of imagination and an overwhelming desire to constantly make the world more beautiful. PSD affects people from different walks of life. In fact, there is a high probability that you have PSD.

CREDITS
Hyperakt
Julia Vakser Zeltser, screen writer, director, producer
Deroy Peraza, co-director
Jason Lynch, senior designer
Catherine Catanzaro, interactive designer
Eric Fensterheim, junior designer

Friends:
Justin Weinstein, film advisor
BJ Formento, photographer, Formento + Formento, fandf.org
Richeille Formento, stylist, Formento + Formento, fandf.org
David Dimeola, animation, The Brigade, brigade.tv
Joe Beshenkovsky, editor
Shawn James Seymour and Yoshimi Tomida, music, Lullatone, lullatone.com
Joshua Formento, gaffer
Craig Keirce, gaffer
Tyrone Rhabb, grip
Jeremiah Boncha, junior designer

Actors:
Johan Matton, lead actor
Nikki le Villain, Egyptian
Ezili, boa constrictor
Lily la Vamp, pin up girl
Chris, gangsta
Kate Hasting, makeup, French maid

Special Thanks:
Whitney McCleary & Adobe Systems
Lenny Zeltser
Jenna Shapiro

Follow PSD:
twitter.com/​hyperakt
ihavepsd.com
facebook.com/​Photoshop