Twitter maybe is working on its own iPhone app
(http://thenextweb.com/appetite/2009/11/07/twitters-secret-iphone-app/)

VentureBeat is throwing a new mini-conference and networking event, DiscoveryBeat.

DiscoveryBeat addresses one of the biggest conundrums for Silicon Valley’s most dynamic startups and developers: How to get your social game or mobile application noticed in an age of noise?

It will be held in the afternoon of Dec. 8 at the Automattic Lounge on Pier 38 in San Francisco, a hip location with an ocean view.

We’ll discuss the “secret recipe” for getting discovered in an age when getting discovered can mean huge viral growth and the difference between profound success or prompt failure. We think there are five main ingredients to the secret recipe for viral growth: 1) Social networking and marketing, 2) advertising, 3) web design, 4) partnering and 5) measurement.

We’re inviting the masters of viral growth so that we can learn from them. Speakers include Sebastien DeHalleux, president of Playfish (above), one of the hottest makers of social games. We also have Roy Sehgal (below, middle picture), general manager at Zynga and executive producer of Cafe World, the fastest-growing social game in history. And we also have Julian Farrior (bottom picture), founder and CEO of Backflip Studios, a Boulder, Colo.-based iPhone game studio that has launched No. 1-ranked hits (Paper Toss, Rag Doll Blast) thanks to a clever combination of creativity and marketing. We’ll announce more speakers — including those from non-game companies — in the coming days.

The recent controversy surrounding the advertising offer industry (OfferPal, etc) shows there are ethical issues around tactics. There’s clearly a trade-off between getting noticed and making money. Social game platforms such as Facebook and MySpace, and the iPhone,  Android,  and other app stores are great places for app developers to get growth, but these platforms also need to maintain the trust of their users. While there are no gatekeepers, each of these platforms have their own rules or etiquette guidelines, and moving quickly to respond to changes in these rules can make or break businesses. There’s tremendous opportunity to gain momentum if you focus on the platforms best for you, but the terrain keeps changing.

Like any of VentureBeat’s events, this will be an opportunity to network. Entrepreneurs will be able to forge the relationships with advertisers, social networking companies and game developers. These partnerships are needed to succeed to survive in this competitive industry.

The event will be followed by a networking reception with key participants from the ecosystem, from investors to CEOs, developers and platform makers.

The agenda is subject to change. Here are the moderated panels we have planned:

Discovery 1.0: Starting from scratch
If you’re a two-person garage development shop, and starting from scratch, how do you create an app that can go viral? With 75,000 apps in the Apple AppStore, discovery is a huge problem. Facebook is just as tough. You’re at a disadvantage because large networks have an advantage due to their built-in knowledge of how the game works and also because of their ability to more effectively promote. How do you exploit your newness and focus, using the key ingredients of success? How can smaller developers team up with bigger brands that have name recognition? When should they go it alone? How do they build a company that bigger investors will notice?

Discovery 2.0: Moving to the next level
The social app companies — those successful application companies that came of age on Facebook and the iPhone — have created their own ecosystems with successful titles that feed on each other. Now what do they do? How many different types of monetization schemes do they need? What can they learn from the bigger companies? Should they recruit executives from the old-world companies, to help with partnering or organizational discipline? What sort of analytics process should they have in place? Can anyone catch up with them?

Discovery 3.0: Bringing in the big guys
Established video game companies and entertainment giants are eyeing the social networking and mobile platforms as a source of future growth. For success, the big guys need to apply the secret ingredients in different proportions. How much should they invest in these areas, and how should they do it? Which kinds of partners should they recruit? Which business models are the best? Who has made the transition already? What mix of social networking, marketing, analytical measurement, advertising and web design ingredients should they apply?

For sponsorships contact Andie Rhyins, andie@venturebeat.com. To sign up to attend, follow this link. Sign up by Nov. 20 and you can get 25 percent off the price. Early bird pricing is $114, and after Nov. 20 it will be $149.

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What is Hold'Em Hand History?

Hold'Em Hand History is a free iPhone application for recording the details of live poker hands in order to review, discuss, and share them.

After saving the details of the hand, you can review the hand by playing the animated replay on your iPhone. Or you can share the replay with friends by uploading the hand via the app to this website and sharing the web-based replay URL with your friends. Click here to see a demo hand replayed via the web.

Watch the demo video below to see Hold'Em Hand History in action. Click here to see the demo hand replayed via the web.

Demo Video:

Another nice poker application for iPhone. Any for Android phones?

Reports about the new swine flu surfaced last March. By April, there was an App for that. Now there are close to 30 swine flu-related Apps in Apple's Store, the most recent from Harvard Medical School.

The HMS Mobile Swine Flu Center, released October 22, aims to be a comprehensive source of credible information about the H1N1 virus. This is compared to, say, Ecoshop's Swine Flu Detector app, which "identifies whether you are in the room with someone carrying the virus" and comes with a "for entertainment purposes only" advisory.

Harvard's swine flu app features educational videos and a quick diagnostic questionnaire that tells users whether their symptoms are consistent with swine flu. (My favorite item on the symptom check list: "You feel confused, or others say you are confused.") There's also a business add-on for employers that contains office preparedness tips and a "Learn" section that allows users to submit flu-related questions to Harvard professors. All in all, a handy resource, but the $1.99 price tag seems a tad high.

Current Clinical Strategies Publishing released a similar application last spring that only costs $.99. Their H1N1 Swine Defender app includes a detailed "diagnosis evaluator" that allows users to email their results (to their doctors, presumably). But most of the information provided in this app, and Harvard's, is available for free online. Do you really need to pay $1 to learn that you should stay home if you have a fever, vomiting, and sore throat? And if you want to track H1N1 infections in your area, why not give Google Flu Trends or HealthMap a try? Both are free.

iPhone App Review: PokerGauge

Today I’m crossing my love for poker with my love for tech by reviewing the iPhone application PokerGauge. You may remember my past iPhone review for one of the first games available for the device, Apple’s own Texas Hold’em game. Today I have a deeper cut from the app store which is marginally less fun, but a hundred times for useful.

PokerGauge is a mobile odds calculator that I deem the mobile odds calculator. While the marketplace for odds calculators on the App Store in no way rivals the plethora of tip calculators (seriously, who buys those?) PokerGauge isn’t the only one on the scene, just the best.

I do not have iPhone and reside in a country where iPhone apps are not accessible freely, therefore I am very glad someone is making the poker application review.