Today Samsung announced their new Tablet device called the Galaxy Tab. Samsung markets it as a media device. We think its even better for Augmented Reality. Layar is even included in their press photo set of the Tab.
The second wave of Augmented Reality Experiences Augmented Reality on the mobile has started with lots of point of interest applications. “Where is a house for sale (and how much)” and “where is a restaurant (and is it any good)” are well known examples. The second wave for mobile Augmented Reality is an immersive one and will will be an addition to the first wave. With immersive AR people step into a different world, either by playing a game like Conquar which is a risk like strategy game on Layar or by experiencing how the Berlin wall looked like. This is made possible by adding interactivity and more graphical elements like 3D models and animation. This is what the Layar Publishing platform can enable for brands, publishers and agencies.
Tablet devices like the Galaxy TAB with their big screens and high resolution displays will ensure that this next wave of immersive Augmented Reality experiences will look even better then on a phone.
Layar is selected as a Technology Pioneer 2011 by the WEF. The Technology Pioneers is a group of up-and-coming startups selected after a rigorous process by the WEF selection committee. Last year’s list included Twitter and Playfish. The year before, Mint and Etsy were named. This year the list also includes GetJar, Spotify and Foursquare.
At Layar we feel honored to be part of this list and look forward to the two big WEF events in Tjanjin and Davos.
The WEF says the following about why Layar is named a Technology Pioneer (more in this PDF, page 21)
“Why the company is a Technology Pioneer Layar is pioneering the new medium of augmented reality which could become the mobile sector’s killer application. This new medium is still in the early stages of development but is already being viewed as an essential component of the next generation of entertainment and advertising.”
This week’s layer of the week is a scavenger hunt created by Condé Nast Digital for one of their clients Samsung. A great showcase that shows the capabilities of our platform and how it can be used to create a branded experience. We talked to Matthew Miller from Condé Nast Digital.
Together with the launch of version 3.1 we introduced our publishing environment to support paid layers. The two separate environments often leads to some confusion and therefore we will merge the developer and publishing environment into one environment. In this environment you can find all features. This means less hassle for you because you can develop and manage your layer(s) in one environment.
In order to make a smooth transition we recommend you to create a publishers account – if you still don’t have one. How to create a publishers account can be found here. On this page you can also find an overview of the basics of our publishers environment. If you already have a publisher account you won’t have to take any actions!
The migration of these two environments into one is scheduled for September. More detailed information will follow in the coming weeks. If you already have questions please send them to maurice@layar.com
No we didn’t augment the hamburgers, or the sausages. Or even the beer. We did have a great time with the BBQ to kick start all who were back after the summer vacation. Kids, pets and significant others were there too. Check them out in this photo set.
A representation of the Layar team (Claire, Matt, Maurice) plus Marc from Hoppala were in the US last week. After having spent some fantastic days in New York (check here for the blogpost), we had a very nice (yet short) stay in San Francisco. Our minds are still boggling – what a fantastic city, crowd and attitude!
Like the NYC version, the SFO visit was aimed at getting new dedicated Layar developers in, to bridge the gap between the huge demand from the US (in Layar users and in Big Brands wanting a layer on Layar) and the limited amount of dedicated Layar developers in the US compared to Europe. We are often being approached by Big Brands (Fortune 500 companies, major advertisers and publishers) who would like to have a layer but we now have to recommend good European developers to them – as there are too little good US developers to choose from in our Layar Partner Network (LPN). Read more
Vodafone Hungary worked together with their agency Soda Team to create a layer for one of the biggest music festivals in the world: Sziget. A fine exmple of a good sponsored layer. A short Q&A with Horvath Tibor, Sales and Marketing Director of Soda Team.
What is the Sziget layer about and what does it offer? The Sziget layer provides all necessary information for visitors of Sziget 2010, one of the 10 largest festivals of the world. It is a useful tool for the visitors to get the most out of the festival. Read more
The USA are by far the biggest market for Layar in terms of usage and demand from big brands – many major US or global advertisers contact us every week for wanting a cool AR experience. But unlike Europe which has a very established Layar developer community, we don’t have a wide array of experienced and active local US Layar developers and agencies to connect the big advertisers with. Read more
After a successful edition of our NEXT event back in June we’re now organizing two similar events in the US. Claire Boonstra (Co-founder), Matt Miesnieks (Head of Customer Development), Maurice Groenhart (Community Manager) and Marc Rene Gardeya (CEO Hoppala, member of the Layar Partner Network) will visit the US in the second week of August.
The layer of this week is the first layer that has been published on our Augmented Reality platform which has 3D texture animations. Quiznos, a big fast food restaurant in the United States and Canada, is specialized in toasted sandwiches used the Layar platform for their campaign. The Quiznos layer includes a store locator, several videos, animated 3D and location based coupons. We talked to Mathijs Gajentaan from Winvolve who developed this layer for Quiznos.
The second wave of Augmented Reality Experiences
Layar is selected as a 
Like the NYC version, the SFO visit was aimed at getting new dedicated Layar developers in, to bridge the gap between the huge demand from the US (in Layar users and in Big Brands wanting a layer on Layar) and the limited amount of dedicated Layar developers in the US compared to Europe. We are often being approached by Big Brands (Fortune 500 companies, major advertisers and publishers) who would like to have a layer but we now have to recommend good European developers to them – as there are too little good US developers to choose from in our 
