Geek Force Utterz #034 - Tap Tap NIN

I still don’t own a copy of Tap Tap Revenge, the NIN Edition, but I will soon. How could any iPhone-owning NIN fanatic resist? It’s priced at only $4.99 and, as I mention in today’s episode of Geek Force Utterz, I think that really is the sweet spot in terms of iPhone app pricing.

Listen in to the call above (or listen on Utterli.com) and leave your thoughts in the comments.

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Nine Inch Nails Video Game for iPhone

This morning, Spyboy (@spyboy on Twitter) brightened my day with news that a Nine Inch Nails-specific version of Tap Tap Revenge is coming to the iPhone. The story broke yesterday on TechCrunch, but I’ve been in a work-induced haze these past few weeks, and I didn’t catch the news until just now.

Tap Tap Revenge, if you’re not familiar, is like a combination of Guitar Hero and Dance Dance Revolution for the iPhone and iPod Touch. The goal of the simple, intuitive game is to tap in time with the music as a series of dots/thumb-targets scroll across your screen. In this new NIN version, you’ll be able to tap along to over a dozen songs from the last two albums put out by Mr. Trent Reznor and company.

The significance for me is, of course, the geek convergence—Nine Inch Nails + iPhone = teh awesum—but TechCrunch elaborates on why this release may be significant in other ways:

The partnership is among the first to bring licensed content to an iPhone application ...Provided the app does well (and I think it will), expect to see more brands and artists step forward to release their own applications (or acquire the popular ones that are already out there). The most lucrative apps will be the ones that can fuse licensed media, as Tap Tap Revenge has. But we’ll also be seeing more branded apps - it won’t be long before we’ll see iBeer by Coors, or Fender’s PocketGuitar (there’s already a lighter app by Zippo). The App Store is still in its infancy, and we’re only beginning to see its potential for monetization.

What artists or bands would you like to see Tapulous team up with next?

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Geek Force Utterz #003 - Genius on iPhone

I think the new Genius playlist building feature in iTunes 8 is pretty badass. There’s one problem, though: I’m hardly ever in front of my iMac to take advantage of it. For a guy who spends so much time in so many different places (commuting on the bus, teaching in Cambridge, working in Boston, and walking all over the city), the main way I intake music nowadays is through my iPhone. So, in today’s Geek Force Utterz, I’m geeking out about the possibility of Genius coming to the iPhone with today’s 2.1 software update.

Remember: if you can’t see/hear the embed above, you can always listen to the call on Utterz.

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Geek Force Utterz #001 - Managing Expecations (Cut Off)

I’m going to making (hopefully) daily calls to Utterz to discuss things that I’m geeking out about. The first of these calls, about geeks managing expectations, is embedded above. If you can’t see/hear it, click here to listen to it on Utterz.

Not familiar with Utterz? No problem. The gist of it is that it’s a phone call recording service. You call in, it records what you say, and then it spits it out onto the Internet.

Why have I decided to do this? Well, it’s fun, first of all. Second of all, it’s easy. And third of all, it’s something I have time for. I drive fifteen minutes from my house to the bus station every morning and, seeing as I’m usually not up for the radio that early (at around 5:30 a.m.), I might as well do something productive with my time. Fourth, and lastly, it doesn’t cost me anything. Because my drive takes place before “nighttime” is technically over (at least according to my cell phone plan), the call is free.

This first call was my reaction to the Internet reaction to yesterday’s Apple “Let’s Rock” event. Still with me? Good! Basically, I wanted to take a few minutes to talk about managing expectations if you’re a geek, and why that’s so important in this over-hyped, media-saturated culture we live in. The call gets cut off (I guess I should manage my expectations of AT&T’s calling area, huh?) but it’s worth a listen.

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Stream Your Music from Your Home Computer to Your iPhone (For Now)

Simplify Media allows you to listen to your home music library from anywhere (including your iPhone), and, while I think this is a service with amazing potential, I’m sure that I’m not the only one who thinks this application is doomed. Mashable certainly seems to agree. We could be wrong—after all, my friend Leslie wrote about the service last year, and it’s still around—but I think the release of an application for the high-profile iPhone is going to be a nail in their coffin, if not several nails.

With Pandora on the verge of extinction, I’m constantly looking for ways to discover new music. I think Simplify Media’s ability to let me share music libraries with up to 30 friends could be one way to do that, but I hope that it’s not dead and gone before me and my friends get the chance to really try it out.

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