Anchor
Generating considerable buzz at SXSW was this audio liveblogging app. Users can record and post up to two minutes of audio – live, not recorded – and reply to posts with their own audio clips. Think of it as a combination of podcasting and Periscope – enabling conversations between users.
There are hurdles to be overcome – how to police offensive comments, and how to discover content, since the only text allowed is brief descriptive captions. But it's filling an obvious media niche, and with programmatic buying increasingly making inroads on the audio space, it's one that Dmexco-goers should be paying close attention to.
App Store
Google Play (beta)
Dmexco 16
The official Dmexco app is a must-have for delegates – it packs in a complete list of exhibitors and seminars, a map of the site and a calendar for planning your Dmexco schedule to the last minute. There's also information on check-in and travel, plus – most importantly – the details of the official Dmexco party.
App Store
Google Play
Cologne Guide
Whether you're just staying for Dmexco or planning to extend your trip, there, there's plenty of useful info in the official KölnTourismus travel app. It bundles tourist information and links to useful services like the KölnCard travel ticket, plus guides to what's on and points of interest. Proving that Cologne knows what it's about when it comes to digital – you'd hope so, since it plays host to Dmexco – the app also packs in an augmented reality feature to point you in the right direction.
App Store
Google Play
WhatsApp Messenger
If your company's attending Dmexco mob-handed, staying in contact is vital – the event is massive, and it's all too easy to lose track of your colleagues. Setting up a WhatsApp group for the event is the perfect way to communicate – just remember to change your profile pic to something appropriately sober before adding your co-workers...
App Store
Google Play
Pokémon Go
The app everyone's talking about this year is Pokémon Go – the game that married augmented reality to a dose of Millennial nostalgia and racked up more active online users than Twitter. Every marketer and advertiser wants to know how you can monetise this phenomenon – and what better way to make the most of your hours traipsing around the halls than by catching 'em all?
App Store
Google Play
Field Trip
Before there was Pokémon Go, Niantic Labs created Field Trip – a location-based city guide that highlights areas of interest, from trendy bars to little-known historical sites. Drawing on sources as diverse as food blogs, vintage postcards and cultural commentators, it serves up location-based "cards" that give you the inside track on your locality. In a city with as much history and culture as Cologne, it's a goldmine of useful information and historical trivia.
App Store
Google Play
Pete's Dragon
This isn't a downloadable app, but we're sneaking it onto our list anyway. Why? Because it's an exciting glimpse into the future of augmented reality. Go to dragonspotting.com, scan the QR code and you're plunged into a hide-and-seek game where you're asked to point your phone at different types of object – couches, bushes and so forth. Point it at the right type of object and you're treated to a glimpse of the titular Disney dragon.
What's really clever is the way the app employs Google's Cloud Vision technology to identify objects on the fly, using machine-learning algorithms. It only works in real-time with Android smartphones, though – iOS users will have to content themselves with taking static pictures. It's a great demonstration of how AR's set to evolve – and how marketers will be able to make use of image recognition technology in augmented reality apps.
dragonspotting.com
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