MobSpree™ Launches Touchplay™ Engine for iPhone and iPad -- Premiers with Two iPhone App Stories; Supports Rich Media Experience on iPhone OS Devices

The first TouchPlay Apps, Ordinary Mary and Peter Rabbit, are now available from iTunes App Store. $1 of each $3.99 purchase will support Haiti relief. Unlike other methods of digital publishing, the Touch Play experience incorporates narration, images, animation and interactive play. Children and adults immerse themselves in the stories, create their own scenes using characters from the story and then share them as email postcards with friends and family members.

Sacramento, CA (Vocus) January 29, 2010

On the heels of the introduction of the Apple iPad, a company called MobSpree has premiered their new TouchPlay™ interactive engine, an entirely new publishing experience that taps into the full interactive and rich media capabilities of iPhone OS devices including the newly announced iPad. Ordinary Mary’s Extraordinary Deed is the first in a series of TouchPlay experiences created by a co-publishing collaboration between SnackLogic and Gibbs Smith. SnackLogic has also created a TouchPlay adaptation of The Tale of Peter Rabbit. Both are available now from the iTunes App Store for $3.99 and are being optimized for the upcoming iPad release. Unlike an eBook experience, The TouchPlay engine brings these heart-warming stories to life in an entirely new medium that includes professional narration and voice characterizations, interactivity and creative play.

Inspired by the ‘acts of kindness’ theme in Ordinary Mary, SnackLogic and Gibbs Smith will dedicate $1 of the purchase of each of these stories to the Red Cross towards Haiti earthquake victim relief for the foreseeable future.
“MobSpree developed the TouchPlay engine to enable any business with a story to quickly create and publish an iPhone OS-optimized experience without the cost and difficulty of programming a one-off app. SnackLogic and Gibbs Smith have done a fantastic job of adapting and optimizing their content into engaging TouchPlay experiences. Any parent with an iPhone has discovered the power of the device to occupy bored children, but we think parents will really appreciate these companies for creating an exciting new literary experience that parents and children enjoy together. We’re looking forward to the many upcoming TouchPlay experiences SnackLogic and Gibbs Smith are working on for children and adults.” said Brian Sevy, MobSpree Co-Founder and Chief Mobile Strategist.
The TouchPlay platform supports the way that mobile consumers actually consume information—in brief, highly visual and interactive media “snacks,” Sevy noted.
“As a publisher who specializes in materials that are educational, beautifully illustrated and highly appealing to a number of lifestyle interests, we are extremely pleased to lead the movement to new methods of electronic publishing,” said Christopher Robbins, CEO of Gibbs Smith. “The TouchPlay experience is particularly appealing to our readers. Unlike other methods of digital publishing, it incorporates narration, images, animation and interactive play. We have witnessed both children and adults immerse themselves in the stories, create their own scenes using characters from the story and then share them as email postcards with friends and family members.”
“With a TouchPlay experience, even young children gain positive exposure to works of literature and engage in the interactive experience for as long as an hour,” Robbins said.
The launch of Peter Rabbit – TouchPlay and Ordinary Mary – TouchPlay are the first of many projects from SnackLogic and the SnackLogic - Gibbs Smith co-publishing relationship that will use the new TouchPlay(tm) Interactive Engine from MobSpree.

About MobSpree

MobSpree is a mobile marketing technology and services company that helps businesses reach their customer’s mobile time slices. They created the TouchPlay engine to help publishers, consumer brands, retailers, travel destinations and other businesses bring their stories to life by tapping into the full interactive and multi-media capabilities of iPhone OS touch-screen devices. In addition to TouchPlay, MobSpree offers a range location-based and social media engines and mobile web services optimized for iPhone OS devices. They uniquely integrate marketing programs, mobile apps and web services to generate, measure and optimize responses. Connect at http://www.mobspree.com.

About Gibbs-Smith

Celebrating its 40th anniversary in 2009, Gibbs Smith specializes in beautifully illustrated lifestyle books covering topics such as interior design, architecture, cooking, children's, home, green/sustainable and more.

About Snacklogic

SnackLogic works with publishers and independent authors to bring TouchPlay experiences to iPhone OS devices via the iTunes App Store. Stay tuned for more news about SnackLogic and upcoming titles. As readers, authors, artists, publishers and communicators, find out how you can participate by connecting at http://www.snacklogic.com. Ordinary Mary is available on the iPhone and iPod Touch today and is currently being optimized for the upcoming iPad device.

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