BIOME

Editor’s note:I know it’s New York but the little creatures look snaargly!! and not sure if they ship but the Art books and tee-shirts are neat…

Meredith Dittmar, Emily Gobeille & Theodore Watson have taken the Riviera Gallery space and transformed it into miniature worlds containing invented fantastical flora and fauna.

Viewing portals bring visitors into a world where they can interact with the animated creatures who live there. Visitors can use their voice, cell phones, keys – any object – to communicate with and ‘feed’ the creatures. They will react differently to the various sounds that are made, learning and building a sound memory over time. When people are not interacting with the creatures they carry on with their normal behaviors.

Surrounding the portals, a larger world has been created, invading the space with vines and plants that guide visitors through Dittmar’s world of polymer creatures, great and small.

Curated by Tatiana Arocha

Riviera Gallery – Williamsburg / Greenpoint / Bushwick 103 Metropolitan Avenue, corner of Wythe, NY (USA)

web:www.seeyouattheriviera.com

Mobile Monday Melbourne – July 7

Mobile @ Google

An in-depth look at Google on the mobile

Google has always been at the forefront of innovation and open software development and things are no different in the mobile space. There has been a lot of talk in the press recently about Google’s mobile activities from potentially buying wireless spectrum in the USA to the game-changing Android mobile operating system.

This month we welcome Justin Baird to present an in-depth look at what this Internet giant is doing to revolutionise the mobile phone.

Coming from a engineering and product management background with companies such as Dolby Laboratories and Meyer Sound Justin is now the Senior Consumer Product specialist at Google Australia. Justin’s role in Google takes him across the length and breadth of Google’s product development.

Hear from Justin as he showcases some of Google’s latest mobile innovations including, the user-friendly YouTube Java application and Google Maps for mobile with the “my location” feature pinpointing your exact position at the push of a button.

Justin will also showcase the Android platform and some of the applications that have already been developed (as well as some that are still in the pipeline), as well as touching on some of Google’s mobile advertising initiatives.

Horse Bazaar
6pm
397 Little Lonsdale St, Melbourne

Agence Topo – Call for projects

Residency program for Web art production under the artistic direction of the independent curator Sylvie Parent.

Topic: The Geographical Web or Geoweb

Throughout 2009, Agence TOPO will produce a body of Web works comprising geographic references. Nowadays, the popularity of cartographic and earth visualization tools such as Google Maps and Google Earth has become an increasingly tangible component of how we experience the Web. Moreover, the use of geolocalization systems, such as GPS, is spreading and increasingly present in the digital world. Artists are appropriating these technologies to create travelogues, to reflect on urban space, and to conceive collective psychogeography and locational media projects.

Artists interested in this theme, and by the production context offered by Agence TOPO are encouraged to submit their proposals. The projects could also include an “off screen” component, such as performance, installation, exhibition or mobile networks, that complements and expands the Web features and possibilities.

Submission deadline: 15 August
www.agencetopo.qc.ca/

Day Of The Figurines at Royal Festival Hall

Presented by Hide & Seek Festival and Meltdown

Blast Theory presents Day Of The Figurines, a mass participation artwork using mobile phones that is part board game and part secret society. Set in a fictional English town that is littered, dark and underpinned with steady decay, the game unfolds over 24 days, each day representing an hour in the life of the town. Up to 1000 players place their plastic figurines onto the board. They are moved by hand in a meticulous performance throughout the duration of the exhibition.

Players sign up at Royal Festival Hall and then participate by sending text messages. They must help other players as they receive updates from the town, missions and dilemmas. They can also chat to players who are near them in the town using text messages as events unfold in the town: a gig by Scandinavian death metallists, an invasion by an Arabic army, a summer fete.

MELTDOWN is Southbank Centre’s largest contemporary music festival. Running from 16 – 22 June, in 2008 it is curated by Massive Attack.

HIDE & SEEK FESTIVAL runs from 27 – 29 June 2008 at the Southbank Centre + various venues across London. A worldwide photographic treasure hunt, a night-time chase across London and unique flashmob dance – the new cultural phenomenon of social games has arrived this summer with the

Hide & Seek Festival, a 3 day extravaganza of free games and play. Five Best Alternative Summer Events, The Guardian

Day Of The Figurines Opening times
12 June – 5 July, 12 noon– 8pm (some late finishes at 10pm during Meltdown and Hide & Seek)
Venue: Level 1 Foyer Royal Festival Hall, South Bank Centre, London

For more details
www.southbankcentre.co.uk
www.hideandseekfest.co.uk
www.blasttheory.co.uk
www.mrl.nott.ac.uk
www.pervasive-gaming.org

iPhone will be available in Australia on July 11.

Apple has announced that its new 3G iPhone will be available in Australia through mobile carriers, Optus and Vodafone, on July 11.

Unveiled by Apple CEO Steve Jobs at the opening of Apple’s annual Worldwide Developers Conference (WDC) in San Francisco, the new 3G version of the popular iPhone will allow faster Internet access for both consumers and business users alike.

“We’ve learned so much with the first iPhone,” Jobs told a packed audience at WDC. “We’ve taken what we’ve learned and more and created the iPhone 3G; and it’s beautiful.”

The 3G iPhone will include built-in GPS for real-time mapping and location-based services. It will also feature new iPhone’s 2.0 software that will provide support for Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync, allowing users to send and receive Microsoft Exchange email.

“We’ve done it. You can push email to Microsoft Exchange,” Jobs said.

More>…

Portable Film Festival – Call for Entries

No cinemas, no queues, no tickets, no e-scalpers, no timetables. Call for entries for the third annual Portable Film Festival  is open now until 30 May 2008 – an online film festival presenting the very best in international film and video culture. From the very second that the Portable Film Festival opens it’s virtual doors, festival punters can take the programme away with them. All they need is a portable device like a video iPod, laptop computer or fancy mobile phone.

The Portable Film Festival will award prizes over each of our 6 categories, as voted by our users. The main award – the Grand Hopper – will be awarded in our flagship category Short Film. This is your chance to show the world what you’ve got.

Entries close 30 May 2008

http://www.portablefilmfestival.com

iPhone Hacks

Tools for Unlocking the Power of Your iPhone –
By David Jurick and Adam & Damien Stolarz
Price: $5.99/month – Start a 30-day free trial:
http://iphonehacks.oreilly.com/

Join iPhone Hacks and gain advanced access to hacks, tips, and tricks to make your iPhone experience even better. You’ll learn how to do things to your iPhone that would surprise even Apple engineers! Members of this community site can make comments, participate in the forums, and help author the book by submitting their own hacks.
http://iphonehacks.oreilly.com/

Mobile Monday Melbourne May 5th

“Cash for Content” – Monetising mobile content

Many producers & publishers are looking to mobile as the new frontier for content, and with the rise of 3G mobile content is not just ring-tones and wallpapers. These days mobile content consists of almost anything you can find online, from
Audio Visual content such as movies and TV series right through to mobile games, images and premium text based content. In this MoMo we will explore the various way of generating revenues for your hard earned work and look at the associated business models.

For discussion:

* Does mobile content pay, and if so how much?

* Monetisation tools such as Premium SMS, WAP billing and Off-Deck payment portals
(PayPal, Bango)

* Content licensing models, working with carriers and content aggregators

* The Global mobile content opportunity, the world is beating a path to our door

* Ad funded content

Panel:
Martin Ince: Portfolio Manager, Interactive Data Services, Wireless & Mobility Products, Telstra
Martin oversees Telstra’s premium rate SMS products, InfoCall 190 and the SMS & MMS Access manager.
Hear from Martin about where content monetisation is headed from the top end of  town.

Jim Shomos: Producer ‘Forget the Rules!’
Forget the rules was the first comedy/drama series in the world to broadcast all episodes on TV, broadband and mobiles, and was nominated for two MIPCOM Internet and Mobile TV Awards in 2006: best original content, and best interactive format (winner)

Jim has extensive experience in mobile content licensing especially when dealing with carriers having had exclusive relationships with 3 Mobile and Optus.

Mark and John Lycette: Owners of Lycette Bros
Formed in 1997, Lycette Bros. creates interactive and animated digital media. For the last three years they have been creating mobile content for the global market. Lycette Bros work continues to be commissioned, exhibited and awarded internationally.

May 5th
6.00pm to 8.00pm
Horse Bazaar
Digital Art Gallery Bar
397 Little Lonsdale Street
Melbourne

A-LURE: A LOCATIVE MEDIA GAME

Come and play the real world between April 12th -20th, as streets and buildings become the canvas for innovative media artworks that trigger social interactions and active engagement within the community. The A-LURE game elements are artworks installed as digital projections, interactive video, sound works and other innovative media throughout the City of Melbourne.  Mobile phones and the internet will be used as tools to discover, interact and create where players are ‘lured’ to locate and interact with the artworks in public spaces.

A-LURE examines the modern cultural lures present in our society that tempt us away from confidence, self-respect and acceptance. Through A-LURE, young people with experience of hardship and artists at Visionary Images have been collaborating to create alternative ‘lures’ that will encourage empathy, understanding and respect for cultural diversity. Game players can also add their own ‘lures’ via the internet or mobile phone.

Start to play the real world by registering as a game player by: SMS: text the word ‘register’ followed by a nickname of your choice to 0428 141 103 or b) WEB: visit www.a-lure.org and follow the instructions.

Jodie McCleery, info@visionaryimages.org
T: 03 9427 1351
www.visionaryimages.org

MEGA – mobile enterprise growth alliance

CALL FOR APPLICATIONS – Be a part of Australia’s Mobile Industry future

Business Development   -   Professional Development -   Industry Development

·         Want in-depth knowledge about the mobile content and applications industry?
·         Want to work directly with people engaged at the cutting-edge of this huge growth sector?
·         Want to develop your idea for content or applications?
·         Want your staff to be across opportunities in the mobile space?

The mobile content and applications industry is one of the fastest growing economic sectors globally and, in Australia alone, is set to top $1B by 2009. Australia is very well positioned to increase its international market share and reputation as a hothouse of mobile technological innovation and creativity.

The mega (Mobile Enterprise Growth Alliance) program addresses this timely opportunity through a hands-on, industry-led program that teams up creative, IT and business people for professional and business development. Ideas for content and applications are groomed through a series of intensive workshops and dedicated mentoring before being pitched to industry experts and investors.

mega is being held between March and June 2008 in Melbourne, Sydney and Adelaide. A very limited number of positions are available in each state, applications close soon.

See mega.org.au for details or email Justin Brow on justin@mega.org.au.