Well, if you’re a texting trucker or bus driver, you might have to keep your eyes on the road from now on! Today the U.S. Department of Transportation banned commercial truck drivers and bus drivers from texting while driving. Some cities, like Phoenix, AZ, have banned all drivers from texting while driving even if the state legislators in Arizona have bumbled several attempts at passing a statewide ban. Now, if only the cell phone manufacturers would invent technology that senses when the phone is being transported by a vehicle driver! Until then, I fear any texting ban is simply unenforceable unless the Department of Transportation requires cars to be equipped and retrofitted with internal cameras. Oh, Big Brother!
I’ve made a change to SMN that I hope will be helpful to you. Instead of listing news articles by source, I’ve listed this week’s set by topic. This should help bring a little more context to the list, and allow you to skim the headlines faster to find the news that most interests you. And as a bonus, it will improve my blog’s SEO. I would love to hear your feedback, let me know if this is better.
A pizza shop in New York has discovered how to generate a lot of social media buzz and sell more pizzas from it, without having any corporate presence in social media. Read about Crocodile Lounge and their strategy here. The key is to craft a compelling story that people will want to share. I’m sure you’ve heard this before, but if you want social media to work for you, offer something of value.
Be sure to check your Twitter stream this Wednesday, as rumors have been swirling that Apple will officially announce the iSlate tablet, or possibly the iPhone OS 4.0. Other rumors have claimed that Apple will end its exclusivity with AT&T for the iPhone, and make the announcement at this event. The invitation-only Apple event is said to be held in San Francisco at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts this Wednesday at 10am pacific.
I love the Intel ads. But I love Intel’s “Value Point System” even more. Developed with media agency OMD, Intel has developed a points system for website interactions that allows it to measure the effectiveness of its advertising. This is web marketing genius, read about it here.
Another thought to ponder is what does local, on-the-go mobile advertising mean for the likes of Yelp, Foursquare and Gowalla? Will one of these location-based social networking portals discover a new revenue model in location-based advertising? Maybe, maybe not. Leave a comment and tell me what you think. Each day, we’re moving closer to having our digital content on any screen, at any time, at any place. Marketers need to keep that in mind.
Many bloggers and industry analysts have pointed to how our society uses social media in a time of crisis. Haiti, of course, has seen a huge reaction in social media- the devastating loss and suffering has touched people from around the world. Like most people, I’m sure, I first heard of the news through my social media channels. And through social media, the Red Cross has raised an astounding $5 Million towards their rescue effort in Haiti. Below is a special section about the reaction to Haiti in social media.
You’ve all seen the commercial. It runs over and over again. It’s the only LG television commercial that’s running right now as far as I know. And the idea is really cool. I wanted to see this thing. So Tony and I head to the LG booth. We ask one of the people there to show us the Projector Phone. She says, “I’m not sure if we have that here or not. If it is here, it would be over there with the phones.” Tony and I go over there only to find that they have them connected to a wall with security wires. There is no way to get far enough from the wall to see how they work and no area to display the image on. A film crew was there for some German show and they wanted to see how it worked too. None of the LG people could find a projector phone that wasn’t connected to the wall. I can’t imagine the millions that were spent making and running that commercial. They should have had a whole room devoted to showing movies on the projector phone. This is a no-brainer. So LG, this was bad and an incredible missed opportunity.
Pump Speakers I don’t like the color and I have absolutely nothing to wear with them. And, oh, they’re speakers. Now I’ve seen speakers that look like a bust of Beethoven, speakers that look like a dog and speakers that look like shoes. I have seen it all. Please remove my eyes. These shoes would be ugly on a woman.
Pump Batteries This is the Yogen, www.yogenstore.com. It charges your iPhone by pulling the string over and over again. They call it the charger for life. They say it’s 100 percent green. It’s also great exercise. There’s only one problem. The minute you stop pulling the string there’s no more charge. Make these things so they can store a charge please. How hard is it to figure out that people don’t want to spend 30 minutes at a time pulling on this thing? Yogen, this is a good idea gone bad.
Wah Yung makes audio equipment. The booth pictured here was showing headphones. I use the word “showing” because that’s what they were doing. They weren’t connected to anything. And it didn’t look like anyone was interested in connecting any of them for me to listen to. Wah Yung makes a ton of equipment. But as a brand, they’re nonexistent especially at CES. And they had that same kind of bland look going as most of the booths from China. I don’t know why they keep going to CES. In the end, their efforts are both bad and ugly.
The Emperor
This is a chair for guys who think they’re Captain Kirk but in a gaming or business sense. It’s a true command center where the screens come down and surround you at the push of a button like the Cone of Silence in Get Smart. What kind of guy are you if you sit in this chair all day long? When will your laser beam destroy the White House? Will you shoot James Bond immediately or strap him to a table, put some special Wah Yung headphones on him and turn up the volume slowly until his head blows up or he escapes and kills you? Either way it’s bad although slightly cool.
iPhone TV
This one really made me angry. It’s an attachment that’s supposed to turn your iPhone into a TV. I immediately wanted to know what stations I could get. So I asked someone. She said, “You can pick up the local stations.” I said, “Like analog stations?” I said this knowing full well that there are no more analog stations. We live in an exciting digital world. She said, “No, they are digital.” To which I became even more confused. Was I going to have to carry a satellite dish around or connect to a cable box? So I asked, “Can I see it work?” She said, “No, it hasn’t quite been totally figured out yet.” This is bad and a tease from the folks at https://www.cydle.com/
Cydle M7 Mobile Internet Device
It was frozen and no one could unfreeze it. They teased me yet again after the iPhone TV thing. That’s cold and bad.
The Cue
The Cue had a great set up and looked like a really interesting reader. It’s connected to its own digital magazine and bookshop and also features stuff like e-mail, weather report, calendar, news, etc., within the device. However, the device was so slow that I immediately asked about the processor. The Cue guy said, “This isn’t the processor it will ship with in March. That processor will be faster than this one.” Then I asked how much. He said something like $700. Hmmmmmmmmmmm. This is where my thoughts started to go all over the place. Can I trust him about the processor? Do I even have $700. I might have to buy a new bike. That sounds like a lot of money. Where are Tony and I going to eat after this? Will I be paying for Tony and me to eat? And when I eventually came back to the moment, The Cue had finally downloaded the first page. Bad.
China
If China is taking over the world, it will be a very bland world. A world of washed-out pastels. And all the fonts will be the same. I don’t think I’m going to like it. I’m a colorful character.
Real-Time Recorder
This was actually a pretty nifty device. For idiots like me who can’t figure out how to digitize a DVD on their computer, you can get this thing. It makes a digital copy directly to your iPhone or computer from the DVD player. There is one catch. It does this in real time. That’s kind of bad. But this actually works and you can buy it now.
Casio People
Here’s just a taste of the world of CES. There are numerous beautiful people telling you about the new and exciting world of consumer electronics. I’m not going to say they’re bad. You have to judge for yourself.
The Organizer
I really don’t understand this one. It’s a pack for kids or kid-like adults so that your toothpaste and brush and stuff all have a pocket. And it hangs around your neck like it does around this future boy or whatever he
Arnie is unsure about the TV Hat ... does he have tunnel vision?
is. This did catch my attention. And I did spend time with it. But my final conclusion was pretty simple. I don’t want there to be a nuclear war where we come out of the shelters as small ugly green people even if we do have nice organizer packs hanging around our necks.
Porn Debate
This sign is sitting toward the back of the show almost as if it was accidentally transferred from the Adult Video Convention, which was going on down the street. There was no porn debate going on at CES. I couldn’t figure out what it meant. There was no petition to sign. Ron Jeremy was nowhere to be found. Most porn is pretty ugly and so is Ron. So I’m going with ugly.
TV Hat
This is me wearing a hat with an iPhone tucked in the front and a magnifying glass inside. It’s so you can watch movies on your iPhone. It’s a TV hat. It’s an interesting idea but I wouldn’t go anywhere with this person and neither should you.
Mink Man
Again, you be the judge. At least it’s not full-length.
The earthquake that decimated Haiti knocked out about half of the country’s international communication links. Haiti has about 20 connections running out of the country—by satellite, overland routes through the neighboring Dominican Republic and one fiber link connected to the capital, Port-au-Prince. Two of those were down entirely, and eight were damaged and not operating properly, according to an analysis by Renesys Corp., a network-security company in Manchester, N.H.
Social-media Web sites were put to the test by the disaster. Twitter Inc. and Facebook Inc., as in past crises both political and natural, were swamped with messages and photos. Carel Pedre, a deejay and television personality in Haiti, has been regularly updating his Twitter feed, including with images of cars crushed by debris and citizens running from the wreckage in tears.
Mashable reported Wednesday night that Red Cross had already collected more than $1 million for Haiti through their $10 text message donation initiative (text “Haiti” to 90999), which is backed by the U.S. State Department. Relief groups also took to Facebook to report updates about the earthquake, correct misinformation and connect with concerned citizens. “One thing is certain,” Miller wrote, “people turned to social media in droves for their questions about the Haiti earthquake, and many organizations were already there to help.” Here’s how the cable news channels are covering the earthquake. A trending topic on Twitter related to the Haiti disaster is Pat Robertson, who is taking flak for his comments Wednesday that Haiti’s misfortune stems from a pact that nation made with the devil.
Take a look at the computer you’re using. Imagine what it would look like if you took away all the peripherals- the monitor, the keyboard, the mouse if you’re using one. The computer doesn’t need those things to run, that stuff is just for the humans. Also take away the CD/DVD drive, the USB toys you have plugged in and all the cables. What you have left is the CPU, the Central Processing Unit. Now imagine squeezing that CPU with your hands to make it as tiny as possible. Mold it into a neat little box. Behold, this is the Plug Computer.
Marvell Technology Group Ltd. is a company in the business of digital storage, communications, and consumer silicon solutions. They’ve come up with something so revolutionary, they’re not even sure just how much it might change the world. Marvell debuted the new Plug Computer 3.0 this week at the International Consumer Electronic Show. I almost can’t wrap my head around this device:
It’s tiny. The picture above is pretty close to actual size.
It’s energy efficient. Most computers consume between 95-650 watts. The Plug Computer is only 3 watts.
It’s powerful. 2.0 GHz of processing power. Yowza.
It’s roomy. 2GB of flash memory for storage and 1GB of system memory.
And it’s cheap. The Plug Computer 3.0 isn’t ready for the consumer market just yet, but it should retail for around $49 per unit. (You can buy a SheevaPlug right now for $99.)
Ok, so what. It’s a computer processor that I can plug into my wall like a night light. There’s no screen, and no buttons. Why would anyone want this thing?
This is the kind of product at CES that I might have completely missed. If it wasn’t for Guy Kawasaki sitting on the panel at the Plug Computing Pavilion, I probably wouldn’t even make it over to the Marvell booth. It’s easy to be seduced by the likes of the Intel booth, or the cool helicopter Drone controlled by an iPhone. The Plug Computer isn’t much to look at, but I now realize its potential is quite astounding.
From left to right: Guy Kawasaki, Rob Enderle, Jon Van Bronkhorst, Marek Mokryn, and moderator Paul O’Donovan
Why the Plug Computer matters
Panelist Jon Van Bronkhorst said at the conference, “Storage is the root of everything we do.” Yes, of course the Executive Director of Product Marketing for Seagatewould say that, but he’s right. Over the years, the majority of us have come to rely on computers to store everything from family photos to banking statements. Computers have become the most important medium for keeping record of our lives.
But for a lot of people, our most important computer files are stored away on a home computer. This makes it really difficult, if not impossible for some, to access those files while being away from home. And even when you are home, those files are susceptible to damage or permanent loss if anything were to happen to the hard drive.
There’s no reason the average consumer would buy a Plug Computer right now. What Marvell has created is essentially a blank slate. It’s a platform that other developers and programmers can build from. Software is really going to be the driving force for the Plug Computer’s wide-scale adoption. Can you imagine what the iPhone would be without Apps? “Paperweight” comes to mind.
At the panel discussion, Guy Kawasaki reflected on what it means to be an Apple Evangelist, and how the Plug Computer is designed with the same spirit of innovation and commitment to developers. “If you give engineers a really rich platform, the tools, and the marketing promise… you’ll be amazed at what they create,” he said.
An alternative to the Cloud
“We like to call it your personal cloud,” said Bronkhorst. The Plug Computer can be used as a simple and cheap personal home server, giving you secure access to any of your files 24/7. All it takes it just plugging it into the wall.
The Plug Computer will appear as a mountable drive from your laptop, just like a USB flash drive or a camera does. It’s an “always on” device, and it can be password protected. It uses Ethernet and Bluetooth to connect to other computing devices, serving both data and applications, and its accessible from the internet. The Plug Computer runs on Linux, the most popular open source operating system.
With this device, a personal server environment can be a reality for common computer users. Marek Mokryn, a marketing director for Marvell, was also part of the panel, “Imagine what if most servers are not in the web, but in the home?” Mokryn explained that the Plug Computer can be the means for a content delivery network to your home, a center for all multimedia and connect to many common devices like the iPhone and Sony PS3.
And impressively, a network of Plug Computers is completely scalable. You can have one, ten, even hundreds of Plug Computers working in unison. The processing power and storage capacity increases incrementally with each additional unit. It is completely feasible to build a supercomputer right your own home, if you really wanted that.
More than just storage & web accessibility
“This is the tip of the iceberg,” said Rob Enderle, principal analyst at The Enderle Group. Enderle pointed out that before the Plug Computer, processors and memory had been expensive. Now that cost isn’t a limiting factor, there’s really no telling what developers can create with this platform. Enderle believes that the Plug Computer can manifest very practical solutions for home automation, automobiles, health, safety, entertainment and beyond.
Imagine that the computer in your refrigerator communicates with your plug network and sends you an alert on your mobile phone that you’re out of milk when you’re near a grocery store. Or perhaps a small computer on your mountain bike detects that you’ve had a serious fall, and it connects to the plug network to alert your doctor and calls 911.
The capabilities of the Plug Computer are only limited to the developers’ imagination. Marvell had produced a website,PlugComputer.org, which houses the Plug Wiki and Plug Forum and serve as informational resources for developers.
Nerdy fact, today’s date is a palindrome. Ok, moving on.
The Consumer Electronics Show (CES) is the yearly international tradeshow of the Consumer Electronics Associationheld every January right here in Las Vegas. It’s a pantheon of gadgets, computers, cameras, phones, TV’s, network technology and everything in between. At this year’s event more than 2,500 technology companies introduced over 20,000 new products, drawing 120,000 industry professionals from around the world. With more than 5,000 reporters, analysts and bloggers in attendence, the web is flooded with news coverage. If you have some time, explore social.cesweb.org, CES’s own social media aggregator.
3DTV – Well, they could have just called this year’s Consumer Electronic Show, 3DTV World. That is essentially what it was. There were 3D televisions of all shapes and sizes and pretty much all the manufacturers had one. It was hard to tell them apart. Even the 3DTV girls were similar.
I seem to remember it talking longer for HDTV to spread to every manufacturer. There is definitely not a 3DTV gap. And they look fantastic as long as you’re looking directly at the set and paying really close attention. Once you turn away, everything gets foggy and the effect is gone. Plus, you’ll have to wear glasses. Without glasses, 3DTV is 3-image TV. Not good.
CES was crowded so I was unable to recreate my home viewing experience. Also, I didn’t have my chair/command center with me. I sit around 10 feet or so from my 50” Sony. My command center is the chair’s footrest.
It’s where I look at my computer, work, look at the television, look at the computer, etc. I really couldn’t figure out whether it was going to be difficult or easy to add refocusing back to my 3D experience in the sequence.
Samsung Tick Tock – This was one of the really simple and colorful things at the show. It’s an MP3 player with a motion sensor that has only one button. What that one button does depends on how you are holding the device. It’s very innovative and cute. Why it’s called Tick Tock, I have no idea. But who cares?
This Crosley display was just cool.
Crosley – Sometimes when I like something, I just really like the booth or I enjoy the display. I love this retro TV display that sits in the middle of the Crosley booth.
Crosley used to make radios. Now they make these retro-looking devices with a modern purpose – like USB turntables that look like museum relics. I don’t think that LPs are ever going to make a comeback, but there is something wonderfully charming about the mix of old and new in their products.
Panasonic’s 152-inch Plasma HDTV – Wow, bigger really is better, except when it comes to stomachs. This thing is clear and beautiful. I wish they would’ve put something fun to watch on it. It was mostly a film showing all the different aspect ratios it could show of a drag race and then one spectacular shot of a mountain. You’ll have to rip out a wall for this thing but it’ll be well worth it. I’ve included a head for you to use as a size reference.
Copia – Copia is basically a reader that encourages sharing and community. I don’t think it’s going to work because the Apple tablet will be a reader and more. However, I did like the display and the idea behind it. Conceptually it was fun. All that talking about literature with your friends is intellectual. Plus, I really liked the big stack of books.
I’m hoping that isn’t all the titles they have available digitally. Also, if you watch the video on their page you can hear their song. It’s peppy.
Thin TV – They have become remarkably thin. So thin, in fact, that there’s no reason to take a picture of them. If you try to take a picture from the side, you won’t be able to see anything. That’s how thin. Not cut-your-finger thin, but easily decapitating thin. I hope that makes any sense. I also hope you are never decapitated by a TV.
The one pictured here also has almost no border. It’s mostly edge-to-edge screen. I’m like you. I hate it when they’re calling it 50 inches and using valuable screen space for speakers and buttons and stuff. Unacceptable.
Robuddi – All you have to do is attach him to your kid and you’ll always be able to find said kid with the GPS in Robuddi’s belly. That’s right. Robuddi is a cute, rubbery spy. Now you can track your little dude’s or dudette’s movements. You’ll have to hope your little one doesn’t manage to lose Robuddi for it to work. Nothing would be worse than looking for your kid and only finding Robuddi. Someday we’ll all have Intel chip implants and Robuddi will be obsolete. Oh well.
Intel Core Chip – Speaking of Intel, check out their unbelievable display. It’s really something.
Intel is making a crazy new chip that holds three times what will fit in your brain. They didn’t say that, but they should. Could anyone really prove them wrong?
Panasonic Power Maker – That isn’t what they call this thing, but that’s what I am calling it. Panasonic is not good at naming things. What does Lumix mean? Anyway, Panasonic wants folks like you and me to make our own power using methane gas, solar energy, residential battery cells and the MAKER you see here.
It looks really complicated doesn’t it? You have no idea. In the end, I just wanted to know if I would make enough electricity to power my home. She said, “The Japanese are more conservative with their electricity than Americans. It depends on the size of your home and your usage.” In other words, NO. So, I’m figuring three hours of 3DTV at most. I like the concept though. Maybe someday.
Samsung's wall display was awesome.
Samsung’s Giant TV Leaves and Laptop Wall – Yes that’s right. They had a really spectacular display at Samsung that included a leafy looking wall of screens and a wall of laptops. Samsung spent some serious money to prove they were ahead of the curve.
Casio’s Digital Art Frame – This is a simple digital photo frame that makes your photos look like seven different kinds of paintings. Seems pretty cheesy but it will give people something to talk about when they’re bored at your party. In other words, it’s worth its weight in gold.
Giant Steps for Mankind – Maybe there were some, but I didn’t see them. It’s hard to know where to start or where to finish at CES. I was there for about 3.5 hours. It seems like a lot, but I missed plenty. Were there some fun things? Yes. Was there anything that completely blew my mind? No. And, where are all the villains with the mind-control devices and tiny killer toys? I never saw them either. And I was looking for them.
I didn’t see this at CES but I heard about it. I looked up a few times to see if it was hovering over me. It never did. It was probably hovering over Lady Gaga. And who can blame it?
The Bad and The Ugly are next. Watch for them later this week.
The latest example of using paid advertising as part of content was on Fox’s Sunday (1/10/10) pregame show before the Arizona–Green Bay playoff game. As usual, Subway sponsored part of the show with its name plastered on all the screens behind the anchors. But then Subway spokesman Jared showed up in the Fox studio with a table full of Subway sandwiches and he talked all about them. Then he bantered with the anchors and athletes who sat on set for a total of about one minute.
Advertisers continue to integrate their products with content so viewers don’t ignore them during commercial time or zip through them via their DVRs. That’s not to say Subway didn’t have lots of TV spots during the football game – they did – but it must have been a hell of a package deal. And more and more non-news programming is willing to sell out to advertisers.
It’s clear the Jared appearance is part of Subways long-term plan to connect Jared and its healthy menu to athletes and celebrities as this clip shows.
Soon after Jared was featured in-studio, American Idol had a :30 TV spot, which reminded me of A.I.’s deep integration of its sponsors, Ford and Coke. A.I. is one of the originators in integrating advertisers into its content, frequently playing music videos (like this one) during the show featuring Ford products and A.I.’s contestants.
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