September 28, 2011 09:10 AM Eastern Daylight Time
11 Teams, 40 Designers & Developers Compete to Define the Future of NFC Technology in 48 Hours
BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Isobar, a global communications agency, today announced the winners of Isobar Create 48, the first and largest “hackathon” of its kind in the US to explore the Near Field Communication (NFC) technology inside next generation consumer devices like the Google Nexus S and Nokia N9. The event, which challenged participants to push the envelop on NFC technology and find creative uses for this exciting new technology, drew more than 40 designers and developers and produced nine working prototypes in 48 hours.
“Isobar is an agency dedicated to delivering ‘like never before’ solutions to our clients. It’s what we do. It’s why we are here”
Held in downtown Boston’s Innovation District last week, the event featured experts from Google, Nokia, Tieto, ICS, the MIT Enterprise Forum and NFC startup Tagstand, who all showed examples of applications and demonstrated how to develop for NFC. After two days of inspiring competition, participants submitted their applications to a panel of expert judges from Google, Nokia, WHERE, Tieto and Isobar. Judges voted on the top three “creations” based on the following criteria: 1) Impact on a brand or a business, 2) Impact on consumers, 3) Commercial viability & market potential, and 4) The ‘like never before’ factor (i.e., its ability to change they way we see or experience the world).
The Isobar Create 48 top trophy went to team “Beer Pants Meeting,” whose members each took home a new Google Nexus S phone for developing “OnTap.” The “OnTap” Android application enables bar and restaurant patrons to use their mobile phone to view a menu, place an order, pay for it, then tap an NFC tag to tell the waiter their location. The application also has an NFC social couponing aspect – an amazing function that allows consumers to pay-forward and “plus-up” discounts to their friends anytime with a tap of their NFC phones – and each time the coupon is shared, the deal improves for everyone.
Second and third place went to “The Parking App” by Team “Bazinga” and “BarTap” by Team “WHERE”, respectively. The “Parking App” is designed to make parking “suck less.” Using an NFC enabled mobile device, the app locates garages near you, provides details regarding price, availability and directions, and enables you to tap your phone to the NFC code at the garage entrance gate to check in. The app also helps you remember where you parked, provides reminders for when a garage closes, helps quickly validate your parking at retail partner NFC kiosks, and lets you choose from a variety of payment options. “BarTap” by Team “WHERE” is an HTML5 based web application platform that helps restaurateurs quickly and more efficiently manage barroom rush hour traffic. When a patron walks into a busy restaurant and taps their NFC enabled phone to an NFC tagged coaster or table, they are presented with an option to open a bar tab and pay with PayPal. The patron selects and submits from a fully featured menu as bartenders fulfill orders from a tablet-based managed back-end queue.
Other groundbreaking prototypes included “TimeTap,” which leverages NFC technology to make time tracking easy and accurate, alleviating a huge tension in time-based businesses like advertising; “InfoSwap,” which enables an NFC-like interaction between NFC-enabled devices and devices like the iPhone 4 that do not currently have NFC, using a combination of an NFC tag and push alerts to seamlessly complete the receipt; and “Confluence,” which establishes cross platform NFC communication between NFC-enabled Symbian, MeeGo and Android devices, making it seamless to users no matter what OS their device is using.
A video with more details about the event is available at: http://vimeo.com/isobarus/isobarcreate48.
“Isobar is an agency dedicated to delivering ‘like never before’ solutions to our clients. It’s what we do. It’s why we are here,” said Michael Nicholas, chief strategy officer at Isobar. “Isobar Create 48 is an external celebration of ‘like never before,’ giving developers, creators and makers a free and open place to explore and build something entirely new. We were blown away by what the teams were able to create in such a short timeframe. Their applications took typical, everyday experiences and completely reinvented them, enabling consumers to make transactions, exchange content and connect like never before.”
Isobar Create 48 took place in Boston and ran from 3:00 p.m. Tuesday, September 13, to 3:00 p.m. on Thursday, September 15th. Awards were given out at the Isobar Create 48 Awards Celebration and After Party on the evening of September 15, 2011.
About Isobar
Isobar is a global agency that brings people and brands together like never before. We fuse creative thinking with technology know-how to uncover the best ideas and execute them across any platform or channel anywhere in the world. Our unique combination of creatives and creators ensures the best ideas never end up on the cutting room floor, empowering us to consistently deliver innovative and intensely relevant brand experiences for the world's best brands. With locations in Boston, New York and San Francisco, Isobar US is an Aegis Media Group Company and part of the global Isobar network of over 3,200 people in 32 markets. For more information, please visithttp://us.isobar.com.
