The days of traditional cell phone plans may soon be over.

Toktumi’s new $1 iPhone app, Line2, provides users with a second phone number, with both its own voice mail and contacts list. The app allows you to conduct calls via AT&T airwaves or over the internet through AT&T’s 3G data network or Wi-Fi. It works both on the iPhone and iPod touch.

The big news? Neither option uses AT&T minutes – so no more worrying about exceeding monthly talk time limits. The Line2 service cost more than pocket change – $15 per month – but in the long run it could be a money-saver. Also, there are some perks that could benefit small businesses, in particular, such as call screening and voice mail forwarding to email.

It’s going to be interesting to see what kind of splash this makes in the coming months. How will AT&T respond to this perceived threat? After all, Line2 incentivizes users to reduce their AT&T plan to one with fewer minutes. And it’s surprising Apple approved it given how closely it resembles the iPhone’s own software – after all, Apple has a track record restricting against apps which appear and/or function too much like their own programs.

Needless to say, we’ll be watching closely to see how this plays out in the media.

Blog post from graphic designer Kate:

The difference between a job and a career is that your career is driven by a passion for a particular subject. As many of my coworkers will tell you, I’m passionate about many design-related subjects, particularly typography. And I’m not alone – look no further than this guy’s rant against Arial for proof (disclosure: clip contains some profanity).

Those of us who have successfully turned graphic design into a career are afflicted with what GOOD’s Eric Wicks dubs obsessive-compulsive design disorder. Designers, by and large, are a passionate, persistent, motivated, and – yes – obsessed bunch. It takes a certain obsession, Wicks argues, to draw inspiration from the art and nature and stories all around us that enable us to transcend the everyday in our work. Whether it’s through taking walks downtown or scrolling through countless subscriptions on Google Reader, designers can find their inspiration just about anywhere – but we have to actively seek it out. After all, to quote Edison, “Genius is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration.”

Every designer has his or her way of tackling the task at hand, finding the motivation, inspiration, persistence and just a hint of passionate craziness to deliver a successful design. Is your designer obsessed? Well he or she should be!

There are apps for cooks.  Apps for music.  Apps for the great outdoors.  There’s even an app that simulates farting noises.

But just when you thought Apple’s iPhone had an app for everything known to man, you find out that even Apple’s iPhone has a limit. 

App Image

Last year, freelance photographer Sebastian Kempa, who lives near Dortmund, Germany, began a project to show how clothes “are our second layer of skin.” According to Kempa, “clothes disguise, reveal, mirror our innermost being or help to hide it.” Kempa has taken pictures of dozens of people with and without their clothing, and is showing the “before” and “after” results on the site, www.naked-people.de.

Kempa along with many people in Germany, do not consider his work anywhere near pornographic, so Kempa was shocked when he tried to create an iPhone application for his online exhibition, and it was rejected by Apple.  In a second attempt to make the application work, aware that Apple wouldn’t display anyone without clothing, Kempa used pictures of the models in clothing and in underwear, rather than fully naked, and called the application Not Quite Naked People.

Apple’s response?  No dice,

This is not all that surprising considering the fact that last month, Apple made the decision to remove nearly all “sexy” content from the App Store,  although some applications like Sports Illustrated’s swimsuit app and Playboy were allowed to remain.   Apple SVP of Worldwide Product Marketing, Phil Schiller, said “It came to the point where we were getting customer complaints from women who found the content getting too degrading and objectionable, as well as parents who were upset with what their kids were able to see.”  When asked about the Sports Illustrated app, Mr. Schiller said Apple took the source and intent of an app into consideration. “The difference is this is a well-known company with previously published material available broadly in a well-accepted format.”

Just last week, the iPhone application for another newsmagazine, Stern, was blocked by Apple for several weeks, apparently because it included a fashion photo with a nude model.   As for Mr. Kempa, an Apple spokeswoman declined to comment on his website and instead referred to Schiller’s recent comment on all “sexy” content.

That explanation worries some German publishers who don’t think a technology company in California should be allowed to decide what is objectionable to the rest of the world.

So where do you draw the line?  Is judging “sexy” content on a case by case basis a slippery slope or a fair way for Apple to assert “good judgment?”  While the fate of these racey apps is yet to be determined, I have a feeling they will increasingly become a part of Apple’s past and not its present.

Kit Kat is the #1 candy bar in Japan thanks to flavors like miso, green tea, sweet potato, blueberry, and yes – soy sauce.  A soy sauce Kit Kat sounds less than appetizing to most of us around the office here at Braithwaite, but Nestle, who makes Kit Kats, is too busy counting its yen to care.

The point is clear – know your audience and what they want.

Right now, we’re working on re-branding a company that does insurance for classic cars.  We’ve been talking about campaigns that involve custom baseball cards showcasing the cars, an iPhone app, and beautiful women.  We could guess which item we should invest thousands in, or we could just ask.  So we’re asking.

Branding isn’t the only place where you need to know your audience in order to turn them onto what you’re selling.  The same can be true of employee engagement.  If you are working with a large manufacturing workforce in rural Pennsylvania, you should communicate with them in their dialect and jargon.  If you are laying off employees in Germany, think about getting each worker a case of the local beer along with their transition packet.

Today, there are a number of tools for those willing to ask.  Online surveys, social media monitoring, and good old fashioned phone calls will give you a sense of what your audiences want.  They’ll even go so far to give you direction in terms of tone, reputation, relevance, and other soft measures of effectiveness.

Soy sauce Kit Kats may sound disgusting to you, but you are not selling to yourself.  Ask for and listen to what makes your customers or employees happy, and all your communications will be much sweeter.

How many of you can say you’ve sold artwork by age 14? After tonight, twenty middle school students from North Philadelphia’s Young Scholars Charter School will add this credential to their growing resume of academic and personal achievements. Their work is being showcased at the 3rd annual Young Scholars Student Silent Art Auction held at Studio Incamminati in Center City. Braithwaite is proud to support Young Scholars in their efforts to close the achievement gap for low-income, minority students and instill a culture of creative and academic excellence at their school.