The iPhone app duplicates the functionality of the website very well while keeping the interface simple and clean. The main view allows you to scroll through a list of your friends’ upcoming events, and tapping on an event will show you where it is on a map and who else is going. There is integration with Google Maps and some PUSH notification options as well. I do expect there to be some updates to the capabilities of the PUSH notifications in the near future.

With so many Location apps popping up everywhere, I do feel this serves a niche that hasn’t been covered yet. Planning for the future isn’t thought of as much yet, and Plancast lets you plan for the future while you are on the go. Venue owners should take note/advantage of Plancast’s mobile app as well. There is nothing like seeing who is planning a meeting at your location and being proactive and offering specials or just reaching out to ensure satisfaction. Building loyal mobile customers can go a long way in this new techie world. Click here to get the iPhone app and then follow me on Plancast as well. Other mobile platforms, don’t fret. There is also a mobile site available for users on other platforms.

News began to spread early this week about Microsoft’s Xbox Live offering live streaming of sporting events in the very near future. There is reportedly a partnership being discussed with ESPN to offer similar streaming services to what is offered currently with ESPN 360. The Xbox Live ESPN service will require a separate fee in addition to your Xbox Live Gold subscription. ESPN 360 broadcasts live sports throughout the day and is offered by internet service providers who pay for the ESPN Service. ESPN360.com also allows users to chose from up to 10 live games or events at once. The games and events can be watched on 6 different screens at once. The service allows users to pause, re-wind and fast-forward games and events. This is an important announcement because this now becomes a growing threat to cable television. Many consumers agree that the ability to watch live sports is the main reason they continue to pay for cable television.

Here are three ideas that combined with a partnership with ESPN 360 would develop Xbox Live into a legitimate alternative to cable television with regards to watching live sports.

1) The partnership CBS has with the NCAA for broadcasting the NCAA Basketball tournament online via sportsline.com needs to include streaming you can see via Xbox Live (preferably in HD).
2) Sports specific cable networks (NBA TV, MLB TV) need to partner with Xbox live to stream their live games. This would continue to grow the international market and add value to these networks.
3) Smaller sports leagues (Major League Soccer, National Lacrosse League, Indy Car Racing/Champ Car Racing) and older traditional sports (horse racing and boxing come to mind) need to partner with Xbox Live to live stream their events.

The tipping point is nearing with regards to no longer needing cable television.  Once major live professional sporting events (Super Bowl, World Series, NBA Finals) can be streamed live through Xbox live, we would have reached a point where a legitimate alternative to cable has arrived. Considering the latest developments mentioned above, How far away is this?

Iconic comedian and “America’s funniest father” Bill Cosby introduced his project Cosnarati on Ustream (go here in case you missed it) and on other social platforms. And this week also marked the launch of Harvey Knows Best, a State Farm Insurance sponsored series of online animated shorts featuring comedian, host and author Steve Harvey.

The first in a series of 48 digital shorts launched this week. Each short is a vignette of Harvey ranting, raving and pontificating on some aspect of life in his signature comedic style and wit. Anyone familiar with the JibJab “Elf Yourself” campaign for Staples will note a similar use of digital with the Harvey Knows Best series, which is being promoted by SandersWingo, State Farm’s African American agency of record. Each video can be viewed on smartphones and on MP3 players. Take a gander:

YouMedia Chicago is an innovative, 21st century learning space, housed at the Harold Washington Library, created to inspire collaboration and creativity among Chicago urban young adults as they work in groups on projects and learn vital digital media skills. I spent a brief moment in the YouMedia lab tonight, and let me tell you the design and setup of all the technology is really nice! And since Black Digerati is based in Chicago, we’re currently working on developing a relationship with the leadership at YouMedia to act as ‘technology mentors’ to some of the youth. More info on that to come, but in the meantime check out the video created by some of the youth as they tell the story of YouMedia:

World Habitat Day Presentation from YOUmedia on Vimeo.

(BlackDigerati by @BlackDigerati)

Recording giant EMI has announced a partnership with streaming music provider, Grooveshark that will allow users to access the work of thousands of artists and songwriters  licensed under the EMI and EMI Publishing umbrella. Listeners can now log on to Grooveshark and legally hear EMI artists such as, Coldplay, Letoya Luckett, Joss Stone, Corinne Bailey Rae, and many more.

The deal is a result of EMI’s lawsuit against Grooveshark earlier this year. Grooveshark did not have the rights from EMI (or any major label) for the music that they were providing and EMI was the first to intervene. Now that the two companies have agreed upon a “mutually sustainable deal” EMI will receive revenue from their music catalog available on Grooveshark.

Like many streaming music sites, Grooveshark is ad-supported but offers a $3 per month ad-free version. Grooveshark CEO Sam Tarantino said, “We will continue to deliver the best music service on the Internet to our users, and we will expand our capacity to strengthen fan-to-artist connections through our technology.”

In this short video, fellow Black Digerati and Radio-Television-Film professor S. Craig Watkins talks about his new book ‘The Young and The Digital‘, which explores digital natives dynamic engagement with social media, online games, mobile phones, and communities like Facebook and MySpace. Check out the video below:

(via Black Digerati @BlackDigerati)

Inspired by a map of Sir Mix-A-Lot’s “Posse on Broadway,” Tyler Gray, deputy editor at FastCompany.com decided to plot Jay-Z’s “Empire State of Mind.” It’s got to be one of the coolest mashups evar. And maybe the BK in me is adding to the bias, but whatevs, it’s definitely worth a peek. (Click here to see the full map and note Jay’s corresponding bars at each point on the map.)

AT&T has launched the “Spirit of UNCF” sweepstakes, an digital competition that enables visitors to either vote from their website Vote Spirit or by texting VOTE to 65579.

At stake are two incredible on-campus experiences: a campus-to-community technology education fair powered by AT&T Technology and an exclusive Hollywood-styled red carpet campus viewing party, complete with a celebrity host from the 2010 UNCF An Evening of Stars^® Tribute to Lionel Richie presented by Target. One lucky voter will also win a complete AT&T Technology makeover and VIP trip for two to the live taping of An Evening of Stars^® for next year.

The winning HBCU will be announced on Monday, Nov. 16, 2009 with the individual sweepstakes winner announcement to follow. The on-campus rewards will occur on Saturday, Jan. 23, 2010, to coincide with the national televised airing of AEOS on ABC, NBC, CBS, FOX, and CW affiliates and nationally on BET Networks and WGN.

Users of the site are encouraged to upload video that shares their fondest HBCU memory.

Our Markus (Robinson) will be voting for FAMU. Which HBCU is your choice? So far, Southern University is leading in the top ten.

Documentary filmmaker Ken Burns has consistently produced works that tell as much of the whole story as possible. (See Ken’s list of films here.) In fact, his PBS bio states that he has produced films that are “unafraid of controversy and tragedy.”

This fall, Ken Burns presents The National Parks: America’s Best Idea on PBS, which is available online to view until Friday, October 9. PBS has fully embraced the use of digital media for this project and on Wednesday, October 7 there is an accompanying webinar for teachers at 8 p.m. ET that focuses on using digital media to teach about the parks.

This is a segment on Yosemite National Park’s Buffalo Soldiers that is absolutely remarkable in content and information. And the gentleman in the photograph is Colonel Charles Young who was the leader in charge of the Buffalo Soldiers of Yosemite. (For more information on The National Park Service visit here. I’ve selected Washington, D.C. as a target because of the number of black-related sites and parks protected by NPS.)

The MacArthur Foundation (Digital Media and Learning) took the lead in funding scholarship, research and activities centered on digital media and youth culture. The videos of scholars Anna Everett (Professor, University of California Santa Barbara, Film & Media Studies) and Nichole Pinkard (Chief Technology Officer/Director, University of Chicago, Center for Urban School Improvement, Digital Youth Network) were uploaded in 2006, but in 2009 the conversation continues about Internet use, digital media and the divide across communities and race.