Byte-size news: Shirts now come with funky beats

Plenty of people have a loud shirt that they like to pull out for special occasions. Well, Vodafone is cooking up literally loud shirts of its own.

To promote the Vodafone New Zealand Music Awards, the company has given hundreds of staff special T-shirts that pack their own special sound system. The music will also come to life for smartphone users who have downloaded the free Vodafone Music Awards app for Android and iPhone.

All they then need to do is point their phones at the staff and a T-shirt graphic will come to life with Avalanche City's latest single, You and I.

"Today's technology is pretty incredible and we wanted to find a way of connecting our passion for Kiwi music with our love of cool innovation, while having some fun," Vodafone GM of Brand & Communications, Suraiya Phillimore-Smith, says.

"We know that Android and iPhone users are going to love seeing this in action. "

Wear your music

For users who prefer their music on their smartphone, instead of on someone else's shirt, they can also download tracks directly to their smartphone via the Vodafone New Zealand Music Awards app.

Although previously a lack of talent would slow those superstar dreams, game developer Ubisoft has devised a fun option that requires you have only enough skill to operate a smartphone.

They've just launched the Just Dance 3 Autodance application, which lets people create their own choreography using the camera on their iPhone or Android smartphone.

It's based on the company's top-selling dancing game.

Created videos can then be shared on the users' Facebook pages and through a special YouTube channel.

Economic mashup

Getting all mixed up has paid off for a pair of Massey University students.

Graham Jenson, a PhD student, and fourth-year student Alex Gibson recently won the supreme award in the Great New Zealand Remix and Mashup competition.

More than just a YouTube tribute video, the pair's entry - 100 Companies - used a variety of government data sources to help present a unique view of the economy and shows how different factors affect national prosperity.

"Graham had the nasty part of doing the research and putting the data together," Gibson says. "Then I got to play around with the graphics and the design of it."

The clever site landed the duo the $10,000 Supreme Data Mashup award.

"It's a fantastic use of interactive technology and public data to make sense of topical problems," the creator of Open New Zealand, and the lead judge for the category, Nat Torkington, says.

You can check out their creation at mash.hashbang.co.nz

Got any news, gadgets or queries? Contact: lindsay.harvey@apn.co.nz