It was so much fun designing and building the Cheese’wich Facebook application for Tillamook, that we decided to continue the fun on mobile so users can grill a face onto a cheese sandwich anytime, on-the-go.

The app is now available on iTunes and the Android market. Happy grilling!

Many brands are already on board with Google Wallet including Macys, Subway and The Container Store. We’re most excited about how brands can use Google Wallet and the popularity of mobile deals and real time check-ins. Making a morning coffee run could become so much easier and personalized if upon checking in your regular drink gets automatically added to a queue, brewed and paid for with the push or touch of a button. It’s already happened with cameras, video cameras and handheld gaming devices, but we can’t wait to ditch our cash, cards and maybe even ID’s and keys to access everything by carrying just one thing.

Helms Art District across the street. Photo taken with the Instagram app.

We’ve now reached an age where professional grade cameras can be purchased for as little as under $2000, which people are referring to as the HDSLR movement. As manufacturers continue to produce high quality tools, creatives and enthusiasts alike are empowered to invest in professional equipment and create compelling content of their own. This content then takes on various forms digitally as people tweet, blog, or post their work on Facebook, tumblr, Flickr, or YouTube.

Not only are professional cameras getting a facelift, but companies are also investing in photo applications for mobile devices, sometimes developing for a mobile app before the website. Letting mobile take priority makes sense as sharing and real-time become more and more important. Many users enjoy taking on-the-spot photos conveniently with their phones because it integrates being part of a social network. Many photo apps alter mobile photos with functions like color pop where users can apply certain “actions” to make their phone photos look better.

Applications like PicPlz, Path, and Instagram have a lot of potential to become powerful tools because they create better quality photos incorporated with real-time sharing and a geolocation tag. By combining location, real-time, and quality media these applications are in a different league than older players like Photobucket or even Flickr. Because the users of today are interested in getting information instantly and all the time, these photo applications are following in the footsteps of social networks like Twitter, where a constant stream of feed is being processed, but is ripe with high quality photos. People are now given the opportunity to share their stories in a rich, interactive way, even if they are told in short snippets of 140 characters or a photo taken with a phone.

Last night a few of us braved the three-hour line at the Apple store and picked up the highly anticipated new iPhone 4’s. With our hands on the phones, we are really looking forward to tapping into all its cool innovations for our mobile projects. We can’t wait to develop optimized apps for the Retina display and design gaming concepts using the built-in gyroscope and accelerometer. We’ve also been testing out FaceTime with each other, sparking ideas for AR and social media capabilities.

Smartphone gaming has entered into the gaming arena with a strong force. Spotting people playing games with each other through their phones is becoming as common a sight as people playing on a game console, or playing with other portable gaming devices. About 41% of smartphone users play games at least once a month, 16% play at least once a week, and 13% play everyday. There was a 35% decrease in feature phone gaming, but a 60% increase in smartphone gaming this year.

Having built an iPhone app for the Los Angeles Philharmonic, we recognize the value of casual gaming experiences for users. Our app gives LA Phil fans a fun, interactive experience that puts them in the shoes of conductor Gustavo Dudamel. The convenience of gaming on a smartphone reaches a wide demographic who aren’t necessarily avid gamers, but enjoy the experiences as an outlet of release, or a quick break from their everyday lives. It is important for developers and brand marketers to tap into that valued experience, because they could have users interacting with their brand for hours in a cross-platform environment. Mobile games can effectively have people virtually experience a brand, and have fun at the same time.

The trend of mobile gaming is currently going strong, and the upcoming release of the Apple Game Center, a social gaming network launching for the iPad and iPhone this summer, could open more opportunities for creative marketing efforts. The Game Center will become Apple’s social network that provides a space for players to connect, earn achievements, and compare high scores, similar to Xbox Live. The popularity of social games is apparent judging by the success of some of Facebook’s games: Farmville, Mafia Wars, and Restaurant City.

[stats via comScore]

[stats via comScore]

This morning we were hit with a 4.4 magnitude earthquake in LA that woke and unsettled many, including myself. Instantly using the iPhone for earthquake news, I first checked the LA Times app, then the New York Times one. No reports yet. I then thought of checking the Facebook app, anxious to hear any news, which instantly showed a stream of updates from friends about the earthquake.

We’ve all been reading about the competition between Facebook and Google Buzz, Facebook and Twitter – the list goes on. However, we haven’t given much thought to Facebook vs. news sources such as the NYT or the LA Times.

Obviously Facebook and news sources fulfill different information-giving roles, however, as digital is progressively becoming a large part of our personal lives, it seems that news apps could integrate a social news function to receive news updates from our friends as well. And vice versa, Facebook could serve the latest breaking news.

Bravo Gustavo app has also been chosen as an iTunes Store Staff Favorites.