Courtesy of  Jesse Luna

If you read last week’s Tech post by LATISM Founder Ana Roca-Castro, you heard the grim statistics on Latinos in technology startups. Although Latinos are underrepresented in tech, there are developers and budding entrepreneurs out there tinkering, toiling, and building the apps and businesses of the future.

Following Ana’s example, I reached out to my Twitter followers and asked “Latinos/as in Tech startups? Raise your hands!! #LATISM.”

That’s when I heard about LeaAnna Hernandez and her new Facebook application, MyMic.

The MyMic Facebook application lets you post audio updates to your Facebook profile or onto your friend’s Wall. You can post up to five seconds for free and there are paid options to post longer messages.

The application caught my eye because:
1. It is super easy to use. There’s a step-by-step MyMic tutorial on my blog if you have questions.
2. Your friends don’t have to install anything to listen to your messages.
3. My Facebook friends started asking about it once I posted my first message. I love attention.

I also liked the recent press release where LeaAnna says, “Sometimes we don’t want to be on camera. Maybe we’re having a bad hair day or the lighting isn’t the most flattering. With MyMic, none of that matters. Users, musicians, celebrities can easily record updates in their pajamas and no one would know the difference”.

I caught up with LeaAnna for an interview
JPL: Why did you select audio?

LH: I come from the radio industry…specializing in advertising. So i wanted to build an app that could marry radio with social. Businesses run commercials on radio stations. So I built the app for businesses to be able to run “social commercials” on Facebook.

JPL: I think I saw some stats that only one in a thousand YouTube users actually records and uploads a video. What do you think that ratio will look like for audio?

LH: I think that there are a lot of people that are camera shy and don’t want to be on camera. It literally is a production, having to get the right angle from the camera…nice lighting….good backdrop maybe.

With audio, it’s much easier and faster so I am inclined to think that it would be better but it’s still so new that only time will tell.

JPL: I tested the application and was able to post to my profile and to a friend’s Wall. Is there a way to post MyMic messages to the Facebook pages that I administer?

LH: In 2 weeks we are adding the feature to post recordings on Fan pages. I “like” your thinking.

JPL: Do you see businesses using MyMic the same way they use radio? Will they even start off using the same on air commercials?

LH: I think some brands will initially use their same radio ads. But others will get more creative.

For example, one advertiser I know is looking to create a promotion where they ask their friends to come up with a new slogan for the brand and record with MyMic. And they have an incentive attached to the promotion.

Feb 01, 2011 – HOLLYWOOD, CA, February 1, 2011:

MyMic (facebook.com/mymicapp) is the new Facebook application that allows users to record their voice and share with friends on status updates and wall posts.

With voice being the most powerful form of communicating, it only makes sense to combine it with today’s most popular communication platform, Facebook.  The application is free to use, with up to five seconds of recording time. It also has affordable pricing options for users who would like more time.
“By adding voice to the social network, users can now express themselves in ways like never before.  It’s a lot more powerful when you hear someone say I love you versus reading it,” said LeaAnna Hernandez, Founder and CEO of MyMic LLC.

“First there was YouTube. Now there is MyMic, the audio version of recording and sharing on Facebook,” Hernandez noted. “Sometimes we don’t want to be on camera. Maybe we’re having a bad hair day or the lighting isn’t the most flattering. With MyMic, none of that matters. Users, musicians, celebrities can easily record updates in their pajamas and no one would know the difference”.

Headquartered in Hollywood, CA, MyMic LLC is a new start-up that has future plans of expanding the brand and giving users a platform to share their voice socially. For more information please go: www.facebook.com/mymicapp

Since Apple opened the iTunes App Store in July 2008, independent developers have created tens of thousands of titles with the hopes of striking it rich through paid downloads (where they keep up to 70 percent of the sales) and more recently via advertising or premium upgrades.

With increased competition from major game developers and globally recognized brands, however, most independents lose money on their smartphone applications that are now also created for Google’s Android mobile operating system.

Yet it is still possible to get rich right away developing iPhone apps. Just look at how some of the top app makers to come out of nowhere did it.

New and noteworthy app all-stars

Zeptolab/Cut the Rope
Ten days after this addictive puzzle-solving game debuted for 99 cents on the iTunes App Store last October, Cut the Rope was downloaded more than one million times. Ten days later, another million copies were sold. By year-end, this Moscow-based development company founded by two 28-year-old brothers had an absolute blockbuster with the sale of more than five million apps.

Co-founder Semyon Voinov, who previously worked as an artist with Helskini-based mobile development firm Digital Chocolate before joining forces with his brother full-time last spring, recently told us that independent developers can still thrive making iPhone apps because “there is no need to have a big team or business connections.”

That didn’t stop major game publishers from taking notice. Zeptolab’s first app, the 99-cent slingshot game Parachute Ninja, sold a respectable 300,000 copies with New York City publisher Freeverse. Last June, Zeptolab scored a publishing contract with Chillingo – the UK-based behemoth behind Angry Birds and other iconic titles. Chillingo, which markets games for an undisclosed cut of the action, was impressed with Zeptolab’s production values and chart-topping potential.

“We saw the great talent ZeptoLab had and the innovative gameplay design they had created,” said Chillingo co-founder Chris Byatte. “We realized that with even more polish, the game would have massive consumer appeal and we’re proud to see all the success we’ve helped them achieve.”

Pocket Gems/Tab Farm

Venture capitalists are paying more attention to iPhone app developers, including this San Francisco-based startup that was founded in September 2009. Stanford University MBA student Daniel Terry, who briefly worked in the product department of large mobile app developer Tapjoy, saw the success of freemium games on Facebook.

Freemium games like Zynga’s FarmVille cost nothing to download but hit players up for premium gameplay along the way. Before Zynga launched the official FarmVille app for the iPhone, Pocket Gems earlier last year scored a nice success with the similar game Tap Farm. With five titles in the App Store, Pocket Gems last month raised $5 million from Sequoia Capital, a backer of Google, Yahoo! and other groundbreaking companies.

First-mover successes
Steve Demeter/Trism
The poster child for overnight success developing iPhone apps, Steve Demeter boasted of making more than $250,000 in profit only two months after his color-matching game Trism debuted in the App Store in the summer of 2008.

“The key is to make an application that instantly proves its value,” Demeter explained when we interviewed him a year later.

The San Francisco-based Demeter, who was 30-years-old when Trism started selling for $4.99 a download, predicted early on that that the game would generate more than $2 million in profit. It’s estimated that Trism cleared $1 million, but increased competition in the App Store apparently killed its trajectory and there has been no major follow-up since. While he acknowledges that creating one of the first blockbuster hits for the iPhone changed his life, Demeter learned to keep his financials closer to the vest.

“Talking about numbers made me realize why people don’t talk about numbers,” he said. “You get people asking for loans, and (in meetings) that can become a stumbling block.”

Demeter said he expects to come out with Trism 2 in the coming months.

Ethan Nicolas/Ishoot
This former Sun Microsystems engineer literally quit his day job shortly after reportedly making more than $600,000 in only one month (including $37,000 in a single day) in late 2008. Legend has it that Nicholas, based in Wake Forest, North Carolina, programmed much of iShoot with his 1-year-old son on his lap during his off hours.

After a sluggish beginning trying to sell the shooter game out of the gate at $4.99 per download, Nicholas struck gold while giving away a “lite” version of the game for free. Thereafter, iShoot shot to number one on the free charts. Of the nearly 2.5 million consumers who downloaded the game in those opening weeks, more than 300,000 ended up shelling out a discounted three bucks for the complete game.

iShoot continued to gross hundreds of thousands of dollars thereafter. Naughty Bits, the iPhone app development company Nicholas formed, also enjoys modest success with the 99-cent Rhumb Line board game app.

GreatApps/iSteam
Not every million dollar iPhone app is a game. To date, this 99-cent novelty app – which makes your iPhone look like a steamy mirror after a hot shower – has been downloaded more than three million times.

The London-based, twenty-something developers behind GreatApps – who modestly claim to be just “three Greek guys playing with a Mac” – came together in November 2008. The company is now marketing technology that detects how firmly users tap touchscreen devices so that different responses can be programmed based on the amount of force applied.

Other GreatApps iPhone apps include the free titles Zen Piano, GoSanta!, and CometBuster that use the company’s TapForce technology.

Imangi Studios/Harbor Master HD
The husband and wife team behind Washington D.C.-based Imangi Studios understood how to expand their business by the time the iPad was released last April. In 2008, Keith Shepherd stopped developing software for the healthcare industry to start his own company in his Dupont Circle apartment.

While Shepherd paid some of his bills developing puzzle games like the $1.99 Little Red Sled, the company scored its first major hit with the 2009 Flight Control-like line-drawing game Harbor Master. Rather than selling the app for $1.99 – its iPhone price – Imangi offered the free Harbor Master HD to iPad owners on day one and it became a top downloaded iPad app right away. During Apple’s 2010 Worldwide Developer’s conference last June, Shepherd’s wife and business partner Natalia Luckynova estimated that Harbor Master was downloaded to approximately 10 percent of all iPads at that time.

Although it’s difficult to track how much money Imangi is making from Harbor Master HD, the company generates income from advertising and premium “In-App” purchases that range between 99 cents and $4.99.

Greg Grunberg/Yowza
When NBC cancelled its drama Heroes last year, actor Greg Grunberg had a flourishing app company to keep him busy. In 2009, Grunberg created Yowza, a free app that distributes mobile coupons on behalf of more than 300 retailers including Crate & Barrel and Gap. The company claims it has more than five million users that can redeem deals at 15,000 nationwide locations. Yowza, which Grunberg told the LA Times is profitable and currently raising money, charges participating merchants $59 per month, per store.

These household names were unknown three years ago

Wealth and fame from iPhone applications is not restricted to opportunistic individuals. A few small development companies that operated in relative obscurity before the App Store debuted are now among the most notable media and technology companies on the globe.

Rovio Mobile: Founded eight years ago, this Finnish developer enjoyed modest success until the 2009 release of Angry Birds. This game-changing title, which has generated more than 50 million downloads across multiple platforms including Android and iPad, is poised to become a multimedia crossover hit.

Tapulous: Before getting acquired by Disney last year, this company developed some of the top grossing iPhone apps of all time including Tap Tap Revenge 3. The Palo Alto-based company was founded in February 2008 by serial entrepreneur Bart Decrem with funding from several Silicon Valley investors.

Lima Sky: This New York-based developer created Doodle Jump, which at 99 cents is the top selling iPhone app of all time. Lima Sky president Igor Pusenjak told the Wall Street Journal that Doodle Jump had more than 200,000 downloads on Christmas Day alone.

Posted on 12 January 2011 b Michael, Mobile Marketingwatch.com

A legal battle is brewing between Microsoft and Apple.

While there’s nothing new about lawsuits and patent claims generating heated rhetoric in the competitive mobile space, Apple is making big waves (even for Apple) in its ongoing effort to secure a trademark for the term “app store.”

Despite Apple’s initial trademark play some three years ago, only on Tuesday did Microsoft file a motion for a summary judgment which would effectively prevent Apple from securing the controversial trademark that was first sought by Apple in 2oo8.  (read more)

In the filing, Microsoft argues against Apple’s move to secure the trademark claiming that “‘app store’ is generic for retail store services featuring apps and unregistrable for ancillary services such as searching for and downloading apps from such stores.”

Nonetheless, Apple feels justified in pursuing its legal ownership of “App Store,” which many believe is, indeed, a vague catch-all designation for any digital storefront for mobile applications.

According to PC World, the status page for Apple’s trademark request now reads: “an opposition is now pending.”

Legal analysts who have weighed in on the matter contend that Apple’s possession of the “app store” trademark could broadly impact the mobile community, where numerous brands and tech giants have either already launched app stores of their own or continue to actively develop them.

Google Docs has gone mobile.

Google announced today that it is expanding the capabilities of the Google Docs viewer to accommodate iPhone, iPad, and Android platforms by enabling users to open a wide variety of documents via their mobile device with the Google Docs Viewer.
Since the start of 2010, Google has allowed users to store a wide variety of file types (up to 1Gb of data) online. But, until now, the cloud-based data was only accessible on non-mobile devices.

Mickey Kataria, a Google Docs software engineer, announced on the Docs Blog that the upgrade will “help you view PDFs, .ppt, .doc and .docx files you’ve uploaded to your documents list, without needing to download the file.”
Additionally, you can now “switch quickly between pages and pan/zoom within a page.”
A relatively quiet arrival given the headlines and noise generated from Apple and AT&T’s lingering iPhone 4 supply shortage, the debut of Google Docs for mobile devices will, at last, eradicate from the digital world one of the biggest complaints of many smartphone users – the inability to view PDFs, Microsoft Word, and Microsoft PowerPoint files.
The laudable mobile endeavor on the part of Google is expected to lend favorably to the company’s not-so-subtle effort to present Google Docs as a more modern, and cooler alternative to Microsoft Office.

It’s looking increasingly likely that Myspace hasn’t shown the turnaround News Corp expected, and so they are going to help their troubled sibling along with massive staff cuts. Myspace is now expected to axe between 550 and 600 staff today, which is a full 60% of the company, and it’s rumored many of these employees will be international.

Believe it or not, internally, Myspace employees are actually relieved by the latest rumor, because they expected seventy percent of the work force to be laid off. 60 percent at least gives them 10% more chance of keeping their jobs.

Not that it matters: News Corp is likely gutting Myspace in order to make the venture look better on paper so that they can sell it to another buyer. Myspace is going down, sooner rather than later… it’s just a matter of when.

Near the close of regular trading on Monday, Apple’s shares were trading at $329.43, up $6.87 or more than 2 percent, giving the company a market value of roughly $302 billion.

Meanwhile, Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster issued his forecast of what’s coming for the new year, including popular predictions of a Verizon iPhone and new iPad, followed later in the year by an update to the iPhone as well as new Mac lines. As for the Verizon iPhone, it’s not a new prediction, with Munster having already guesstimated that Verizon will ship 9 million iPhones next year.

Munster also sees improved cloud services from Apple as likely, as well as the possibility that we will see iPads offered with a subsidy from carriers, presumably in exchange for customers agreeing to a long-term contract. Currently, iPad owners don’t get a discount (in fact the 3G version costs $130 more), but they also don’t agree to pay each month for the wireless service.

The “What will Apple do” question is likely to preoccupy more than just Wall Street. Expect many of the product introductions at this week’s Consumer Electronics Show to be examined through the lens of how they will compete with both current and expected products from Apple, which is skipping the show as usual.

Longer term, Munster said he still expects Apple may expand its television “hobby” and start making its own line of TVs.

by Ina Fried
Posted on January 3, 2011 at 1:20 PM P

If you answered yes, then I think you agree with us.

The 15th annual Webbys–awards for superlative websites, online videos, and interactive ad and marketing campaigns–this year has a new category for mobile apps. Judges include Twitter co-founder Biz Stone and Foursquare co-founder Dennis Crowley.

As we’ve noted many times, smart phones allow Internet access that’s cheaper than having a home connection. They also allow connectivity to the consumer anywhere and any time, making it imperative for mobile media to become real-time relevant, such as with location-based services (LBS). All online media needs to optimize itself for mobile–for example, making videos both available and playable–if it wants to remain relevant to the web at large.

“We’ve seen few developments have as profound an effect as apps and the mobile web,” David-Michel Davies, executive director of The Webby Awards, said in a release. “Apps have transformed the online experience, changing the way we access content, and enhancing every aspect of our daily lives.”

Early entry deadline for the 15th Annual Webby Awards is Oct. 29, 2010. Nominees will be announced in April 2011, and winners will be honored at the gala ceremony the following June.

Considering the well-known character limitations of SMS text messages, it should be easy for mobile app winners to know how to craft a traditional five-word Webby acceptance speech.

Many businesses; small, medium, large,  are rushing to get a piece of this social gold rush. They’re pitching their virtual tents to try to strike social gold without having a proper plan in place.

To help we have added our 10 cents. (Yes, the information is  free you don’t have to download anything.)

3 -Steps to successful business listing on “Facebook”

1. Ask yourself why?

I need you to read the above question about 5 times until it sinks in. Yes, it’s important to understand the main reasons why Facebook gained so much popularity and has surpassed Myspace, Friendster, Hi-5 and other social sites in break neck speed.

The main reason why is ”Connectivity with people we know in a simple clutter-less way.”

Now we know the main reasons “why,” so let’s see if we can help build around this concept of  ”connectivity” with people we know. (Sorry for being  condescending, bare with  us we know what we are talking about )

When we know someone, we are almost in a “exclusive” type of club with that person.  Whether you know them from our past lives or our present, knowing them ties us together.  So in regards to your business, you may have a list of customers that have shopped, or used your products and services .

What is the compelling reason they shopped or used your services? What keeps bringing them back to your business?
2. What are the compelling reasons consumers want to “like” my business on Facebook?

If you’ve answered the above question, then now you can build your Facebook page. You see, people have to have a reason to follow you. They don’t want to follow you unless it you have done something for them or know of them.  Remember, that nobody wants to be advertised too.  This is why it is vital to build around an incentive program, or promotion, with that thought in mind.

Example; Dos Equis “Most Interesting man.” Has over 900K followers. They have built a Facebook page around their character, which indecently has nothing do with the beer; however, he is “The Most Interesting Man in the World.” So what a cool, and very personal way, to communicate with him through Facebook. Genius idea supported by multimedia campaigns.  (Before you throw your hands up in the air and cuss us out and say, “Well they have millions of dollars to do these types of big budget advertising ideas.” I need you to slow down, take a deep breath, pray, and hold your horses- you too can do the same on-a smaller scale)

3. Build an online/instore Incentive or promotion that draws people to your Facebook page and gets them to come back.

On a smaller scale, I was sitting eating lunch at a Chick-Fil-A in the beautiful city of Ontario, CA and notice that the franchise owner was welcoming every patron with a laptop in hand.

He would say: ” Hello thank you for visiting us for lunch. Do you want a “free lunch” today?

Like my girlfriend often says “OBVIEEEE” for “Obviously. ” So 9-out of every- 10 would say “yes”. Then he would proceed by saying, the most common sense genius social marketing idea:

” You on Facebook? If so, just “Like” us and you will get a free lunch on us!”

It was that easy.

He used an instore promotion  as an incentive to get Facebook users to  ”like.”and immediately created a qualified list of people that are “connecting” to his location through Facebook. (Remember we discussed “Connectivity.”)

His location got the coveted marketer’s ”greenlight,” or exclusive rights, to run promotions to each person through Facebook.

I have to admit, I signed up and now I get discount lunch coupons, gift card ideas etc. Oh, I also got a “free lunch.”  Click Here for an example of the promotions they are running.

Recap:

To recap, Facebook starts and ends with “simple connectivity.” Your business has to have a compelling reason to get users to “like” them on Facebook. Just because you have a Facebook business pages,doesn’t necessarily mean people will follow or “like” you. Remember that it is a tool, like anything else you have to use it correctly.

Here are some resources to help you get started with your Facebook business page:

Facebook Business Profile builder:

http://www.faceitpages.com/

Once your page is up, connect and communicate with your followers using this to tie in instore and promotions the marketing ideas are endless. They have a corporate set-up for businesses that allow you to up load up to 15 minutes of audio. Bing, bing, bing (sound of bells as an idea) run “social commercials” or record up to a 60 second audio clip. Click below for more information on this tool.

Facebook app:

http://www.facebook.com/mymicapp

Cool Facebook app that allows you to broadcast your voice. The first 5 seconds are free, no hardware or software to download. Just point, click, record and post. They also have a corporate account that allows the Facebook business profile users to upload up to 15 minutes and record 60 seconds of audio… Can you say “Social Commercials” or “Social Infomercials to your Facebook Followers?”

Story Written by: MM Team -12.28.10

According to the blog All Things Digital , the company received $ 200 million this week by the firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield and Byers, as their former shareholders contributed 50 million. Since its creation in 2006, has received about $ 360 million of capital.

In its official blog , the company said that as part of this round, ” we added two new members to the board of Twitter: Mike McCue and David Rosenblatt. The experience that these directors bring to the organization, along with the new investment will help us continue to grow as a company and business . ”

Twitter also highlighted the significant growth that has taken over the past 12 months. microblogging service amounted to 100 million new registered accounts and users sent 25 billion tweets during that period . In addition, the company grew its payroll from 130 to 350 employees.

” We are proud of what Twitter users have made, we are proud of our work, and we are proud of our team. Thanks for being part of this work, means a lot to us , “the company said in a statement.