Nike is engaging its legions of devoted FuelBand-sporting devotees with NikeFuel Missions, billed as "the first game powered by your all-day activity."

The Facebook app goes live on Dec. 11th, picking up on its "Game On, World" theme by inviting fans of the almost one-year-old digital monitor to come and play: "In a world conquered by cold, you'll have to earn your way out with the help of Calvin Johnson, Alex Morgan, Allyson Felix and Neymar Jr. Do more with your Nike+ Fuelband. Advance your avatar. Stand out on the leaderboard."

Watch the "In a world..." movie-style trailer (complete with Inception-style soundtrack) and find out more about Nike's other new digital push, below.Continue reading...

Martha Stewart is hitching her personal brand to the patriotic push behind Made in USA brands. This fall she's launching what she hopes will become the first annual American Made Awards, a celebration of American artists, artisans and entrepreneurs. Inaugural sponsors are Avery Dennison and The UPS Store. 

"Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia is the embodiment of my passion for food, design, crafts, gardening and so much more,” she commented in a press release.

“It is also the realization of an entrepreneurial dream. I am excited to recognize the work of other creative entrepreneurs and it is my hope that American Made will become an annual initiative for the brand that will continue to nurture honorees, support their passions and expand their businesses, setting an inspiring example for the MSLO audience and beyond."Continue reading...

Seattle-based Wavii, is moving out of stealth mode, getting a major boost when it was tweeted (or auto-tweeted on registration) Monday by top Google exec Marissa Mayer. Under wraps for many months, the site's tech foundation has made this a complicated start-up, as founder Adrian Aoun told Geekwire: “We are focused on tough technical challenges that really effect people’s lives, and a lot of that takes time.”

Using a proprietary element of natural language processing (NLP) and machine learning, Wavii creates social content culled from news, blogs, and tweets across the web, delivering information in a Facebook-like feed; in a way, making Facebook out of Google — all the more interesting, then, that Google’s Mayer is kicking the tires. Using Facebook Connect to enter, users pick a combination of a dozen topics that generate an “interest graph” from which Wavii creates a personalized content timeline.

As TechCrunch puts it, “Like on Quora, you can follow individual topics and people at any time — the Wavii algorithm eventually learns what you like and drills down, offering pared down summaries, visualizations, related data, images and videos tailored to your tastes.”Continue reading...