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10.12.2009

zing!: bringing bow chicka bow wow to your iphone

With recent posts about stupid/pervy iPhone apps like LuckyFortune and Puff!, here's one that's kind of fun and cool. I recently heard from Jason Wong, CEO and co-founder of San Francisc-based i5labs, who have introduced a new soundbox app, zing!, which promises to bring bow chicka bow wow to the masses.

Jason apparently woke up one morning with a silly idea: create an app for situation-(in)appropriate sound effects available at the touch of a button. Over the course of eight weeks, Jason and his team grew the app from a single tension-building "dun dun duhhhhn!" into a series of 27 sound effects.

Okay, so this app is not going to change the world. But come on. A villainous "muahahahaha" laugh, or a joke punchline rimshot? Or the gentle, uncomfortable sound of crickets chirping There's a sound for every situation. You could certainly liven up a boring college lecture. Hours of fun.

Fun fact: the infamous "bow chicka bow wow" guitar riff was produced for zing! by none other than Bay Area musician Goh Nakamura. Jason promised to send Goh on tour if he sells a million of these things. "So get your copy today," says Goh. To learn more about zing!, go to the i5labs website here, or just purchase the app for 99 cents on iTunesicon