Featured at GigaOM, Zumobi co-founder John SanGiovanni reflects on the shifting importance of hardware platforms in personal computing.

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"No one disputes the transformative change that desktop and mobile computing platforms have had on human communication in recent years. While the hierarchy of these devices is continuously evolving, phones are increasingly replacing desktops and laptops as the primary computing device in our digital lifestyle. Google found that more people have a mobile internet-capable device than a PC or laptop in five key markets (U.S., UK, Germany, France and Japan). In the U.S., this figure is eight percent greater.

"We’re also seeing growth in a complementary concept — let’s call it Nomadic Computing 2.0. In this model, the phone itself plays a central role in powering computing beyond its own small form factor. As the vice president of product design for the mobile media company Zumobi, I’ve noticed an interesting trend in the next generation of mobile user experiences. Increasingly, the functions and user interface scenarios that were once the purview of our other devices (PCs, laptops, TVs) are being powered directly by the computing hardware and software within our phones."

Read the rest here at GigaOM.

As the awards season kicks off this year, we wanted to take a moment to thank The Webby Awards for naming our MSNBC.com app as an honoree for best news app on handheld devices. The official honoree distinction is awarded to the top 15% of all entries that exhibit remarkable achievement to the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences (IADAS). The judging panel, comprised of web industry experts, including media mogul Arianna Huffington, Skype CEO Tony Bates, and Instagram co-founder Kevin Systrom, selected our MSNBC.com app among the best from the nearly 10,000 entries this year. We’re flattered to receive this recognition from the IADAS, and thank our partners at MSNBC.com for their commitment to and support for this app. Zumobi is pleased and humbled to be noticed among internet and media elites for its work and leadership within the mobile industry.

Want to check our award-winning app for yourself? Click here to download the app for your iPhone, iPad,, Android device or Kindle Fire.

All of Zumobi's apps are 'retina-ready,' making the most of the phenomenal hardware capabilities of current iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch models from Apple.

For those not in the know, 'retina display' is the term coined by Apple to describe their clearest, most vibrant displays. From their website:

<h7>"...the Retina display’s pixel density is so high, your eye is unable to distinguish individual pixels. Which means text in books, web pages, and email is crisp at any size. Images in games, movies, and photos pop off the screen. And everything is sharper. By developing pixels a mere 78 micrometers wide, Apple engineers were able to pack four times the number of pixels into the 3.5-inch (diagonal) screen found on iPhone 4S and iPhone 4. The resulting pixel density — 326 pixels per inch — makes text and graphics look smooth and continuous at any size.</h7>

Zumobi has earned a reputation for constantly updating apps to incorporate the coolest, latest features available in the wireless world. Click here to see a complete list of our awesome apps from the iTunes App Store.

<h7>Just because a brand is greatly admired doesn't mean the consumer will have a connection.</h7>

Laurie Sullivan at Media Post gives readers an overview of Zumobi's exciting new ad platform:

<span>The ZBi platform, which integrates into the mobile or device app, eliminates the traditional advertising ad units that typically confine the image within a box. It also allows brands to change the ad on the fly. The placement makes it look as if creative directors designed the page around the ad, integrating the creative piece with other text and images. Popular Science, Corning Glass, Ford, Mercedes, Sprint, Bank of America, Disney and Xbox are among the brands that have been quietly rolling out apps integrated with the service.</span>

Click here to read the rest of the article at MediaPost.

<h7>Adotas' Brian LaRue gets the inside skinny from Zumobi luminaries Ken Willner (CEO) and John SanGiovanni (VP/Product Development) about brand integration and strategies to improve mobile advertising through engagement.</h7>

<span>According to Willner, the platform allows for what he called “participatory advertising” via its incorporation into social media. By providing branded content and experiences to which users can add their own content (and, ideally, share with their networks), there’s a “living HTML experience you can come back to.”</span>

Click here to read the rest of the story.