The latest "Star Trek" movie is getting its own mobile application months before the film will be released, complete with features such as location-based services, special offers and a second-screen viewing experience during the upcoming Super Bowl game.

The app, which was developed by Paramount Pictures using Qualcomm Labs? Gimbal platform, delivers exclusive content and gaming experiences in which users? smartphones recognize real-world sounds, images and locations. Users will also be able to interact directly with materials such as billboards for Star Trek Into Darkness.

?The ?Star Trek Into Darkness? app, powered by the Qualcomm Labs? Gimbal platform, harnesses the power of the smartphone to bridge the digital and physical world, allowing the studio to market the film in the real world and simultaneously bring users into the film?s story,? said Peter Marx, vice president of business development at Qualcomm Labs.

?Apps incorporating the Gimbal solution are able to offer fans increasingly relevant, personal, timely, and useful experiences, data, and content in a more private manner based upon the end user?s location, activities, and interests,? he said.

?The studios and companies producing these apps are then able to create coherent and valuable relationships with the consumers traveling through the real world.?

Rewarding users
The upcoming film Star Trek Into Darkness opens in theaters on May 17, 2013. It is the second entry in a reboot the franchise with J.J. Abrams as the director.

The app for the film was announced at the Consumer Electronics Show this week and will launch at the end of January. It leverages Gimbal?s context awareness technologies, such as audio scan, which can be turned on to automatically recognize and reward users for watching film-related content on TV and other media.

For example, users watching next month?s Super Bowl game will be able to unlock exclusive content when a TV ad for the film appears in the second quarter.

The app also has an image scan function enabling users to interact with images printed or viewable in the real world.

Additionally, users will be able to collect points, earn badges, and work their way through the Star Trek Academy using the app and its Gimbal-enabled technologies.

Personalized experiences
New content, such as videos, images and wallpapers will be delivered directly to users? mobile devices.

Users who register for the app will be automatically entered into a sweepstakes for the chance to win a VIP trip to the U.S. premiere of the film.

?The app is a connection for the consumer to connect the fictional world with the consumer?s real world,? Mr. Marx said. ?It brings the alternative reality of Star Trek and other worlds to fans.

?Not only does the app deliver exclusive content and advanced real world game experiences to its fans, but the Gimbal solution allows fans to experience a personalized and tailored experience,? he said.

?Content combined with context, allows fans an endless real world gaming experience for their favorite films, beyond the culmination of the films? series.?

Final Take
Chantal Tode is associate editor on Mobile Marketer, New York