Monday, January 24, 2011

Will.i.am Launches Will.i.apps With First 360-Degree Music Video For The Black Eyed Peas

Every major music artist these days seems to have their own iPhone app, but the latest app from the Black Eyed Peas is like nothing you've ever seen before. The app (iTunes link, $2.99) lets you follow each band member's Twitter feed with photos, pose the band members in a 3D photo shoot, and even does an augmented-reality trick (when you point the iPhone camera at the Black Eyed Peas' latest album cover, a character representing one of the band members pops out and shows his latest Tweet in a speech balloon). But what is really original about the app, is the 360-degree music video. The video for the song "The Time: The Dirty Bit," puts you in the center of a dance party with the Black Eyed Peas and a bunch of fans. (An iPhone 4 is recommended). As you turn around while looking at the screen, you are surrounded by dancers and the band members. You can pan left or right, all while the video is playing. It's like Google Street View filled with hot dancers, but in video. "You are submerged and engulfed in a party," says will.i.am, who spoke with me recently about the app.

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