A Wider Net

IF: You have a great RSS news feed for your internal staff. But they’re running some kind of software - financial, business, CAD, etc - and it consumes their whole screen all day. They can’t see little popups and they have no room on-screen for widgets. Your feed gets lost in email and you want to make sure everyone sees it immediately. They need this information, and they need it now. Where do they display it?

THEN:

Pertelian. A tiny USB display that you can program to display whatever you want. Your RSS feed of critical news, for example.

I just (finally) got around to playing with one. It works very well. The range of things you can display is very impressive. Setup is a little clunky and requires installation of Microsoft J# (why?) but I imagine they have a way to roll these out for enterprise users a bit more easily.

Other things you can display:

Finance rates, Stocks

Weather

Mail

Sports Scores

Network Statistics

Computer System Statistics

Call Center Stats

I just watched all of the marketing videos of the Tenori-On I could find, and I may watch them again a few more times. This thing is mesmerizing to watch and delightful to hear. You can’t have one. They’re sold out already (for now). I do hope to see one soon, and eventually I expect to see them in performance pieces at trade shows and meeting openers.

This is no toy - it’s a powerful and pricey musical instrument. It seems to work on a very simply principle though - you create loops of music by pressing different lighted buttons corresponding to different notes. The lights in the buttons come to life and animate your music as you play, creating brilliant visuals on both sides of the device so everyone can see. It’s digital music meets performance art.

It was shown two years ago at Siggraph and is apparently ready for the masses. Of course, I would probably find that my rhythmically challenged fingers could barely get it to make sound let along music, but it looks sooooo easy in the videos.

It is certainly made to look a LOT easier than it is. This is also a good example of how effective web video can be. Not only do videos really sell products like this well, but 43,000 views on YouTube in a few weeks for free is a pretty nice way to get the word out.

Watch the videos and enjoy. Use headphones.

Catch some decent coverage here and here.

Image from Engadget.

Edit: It’s the iPhone without a crummy phone limited by a crummy network. What I don’t get is - 8 and 16GB of memory…. They just upped the video iPod to 160GB, which is cheaper. Sure, this is an amazing device - it has WiFi, and an internet browser, and YouTube videos, and a Facebook application, and a wireless iTunes store (Parents - protect your credit cards!). But 16G of memory? Is that a joke? Instead of playing movies an music you’re going to be spending your time managing space.

Ah well, nothing is perfect, and I’m sure this is why it has a battery life of nearly a day. It will be a high-demand item for corporate incentives - even more than the big-monthly-expense iPhone.

16G? (I’m thinking - Back to the Future’s Professor “16 Gigabytes??!?!?!?!?! How could I be so stupid?”)

The blogs are busting about a pair of new cameras from Sony. These new teeny tiny digital cameras have several remarkable things going for them. First, they sport giant wide-screen touchscreens on the back for easier camera control, photo manipulation, and custom focusing. If you’re a gadget freak, you may find it amusing that Sony would be early to market with a touchscreen camera when they couldn’t manage to place a decent touchscreen experience into their phones, music players, or hand held game consoles. Instead, they let themselves get flogged by the likes of Apple and Nintendo. But Sony clearly has something here.

These cameras are beautiful. Sleek, tiny, and well-designed - clearly a sign that manufacturers are taking design more seriously now. By adding a touchscreen, Sony has managed to pack incredible features into a tiny device without the typical “button overload”. This is especially helpful if you’re looking for a special gift this holiday season as it looks like these devices will not only be attractive, but they should be easy to use by anyone.

The most innovative feature, and the reason for my posting it here, is the smile detection system. Face detectors have been present in cameras for a while, and they help the camera decide what type of exposure and flash to use in many situations for optimal pictures of people. This camera builds on that facial recognition technology by actually detecting when people smile. The camera can be placed in a mode where it waits for a smile to appear then it quickly snaps a picture. The skeptic in me thinks that simply advertising this feature will sell cameras, even if it doesn’t work well - and Sony knows how to market useless features better than anyone (disclosure: I own two Sony TV’s, a Sony monitor, a Sony camera, and a Sony Playstation2 - I may not appreciate Sony’s method of foisting proprietary storage formats like on us consumers, but I admit they make great stuff). If this feature works as advertised, however, it should make these cameras incredibly fun to use.

And there’s also one or two business uses for smile detection I might mention. The first is obvious - on an event, when you’re taking candids, you’re more likely to catch those elusive smiles that make an event more appealing when looking back at the photos. The second is a little more “out there”. Smile detection cameras would be great at customer service points as a way to measure the friendliness of the service team. You can set a measurable goal of “smile percentage” and have a camera snap pictures only if it detects the customer smiling on the other side of the counter. It would encourage, if not demand, service reps to be friendly and strive to make the experience enjoyable for each customer. A camera never lies.

I guess you could also use this technology at a Registry of Motor Vehicles, a passport office, or at a warehouse club whenever an identification photo is needed. It could save time by snapping the moment it detects a smile, reducing retakes. The problem is, it can’t seem to make sure your eyes are open (that has to be easier than detecting smiles, Sony!) and it can’t save your hair.

e-Photographia seems to have hit it first.

As this review points out, every living thing has heard of the iPhone. We are collectively the victims of another unstoppable buzz campaign from Apple. Like many reviews of this slick new device, the comments are mixed. The iPhone is slick, elegant, and potentially game-changing. At the very least, every handset maker in the world has been given a challenge to make better devices and for that we will all benefit. But, like the iPod, the device is technically imperfect and, like the iPod, competitors should be able to beat the iPhone technically and at lower prices. The question on every analysts mind must be: Will people continue to buy the iPhone despite the inevitable availability of lower cost, technically superior products, just because it’s an iPhone (just like they do with iPods).

I don’t have that answer of course, but I suspect iPhones will sell no matter what. In the meantime, the iPhone is among us, we have rumors of another iPhone right around the corner, and we have time to ponder it’s success from a marketing perspective and it’s usefulness as a marketing or communications tool.

As far as the marketing hype is concerned, we have only to look back at Macworld 2007 during which Steve Jobs finally unveiled the phone, after months (if not years) of endless and frantic rumors and speculation. I was a few hundred miles away at CES and once it was announced, that’s all anyone at CES was talking about. Steve Jobs had stolen the thunder of the largest consumer electronics event from hundreds of miles away. It was simply astonishing. Months later, on iPhone launch day, despite the over-abundance of iPhones at retail stores, the news media only covered the stores that had long lines filled with mattress-toting diehard fans, afraid to miss having their $1,975 phones on launch day. The media clearly loves Apple, because there were plenty of stores with plenty of stock and no rabid fans. Today, there are still iPhone stories in every magazine, newspaper, newsletter, and blog. Clearly Apple has a handle on brand loyalty and hype.

As a gadget, it’s has strong appeal despite its technical limitations, and because the price is out of range for most cellphone slingers, it has become arguably the hottest VIP gift you can give without wheels. And because it can display video and images so beautifully, it makes elevator pitches engaging. It’s the handset equivalent of a fancy car and a Rolex watch carrying prestige and gadget-chic. I imagine we will see at least one exhibitor at every trade show in America offering an iPhone giveaway, just like the iPods when they launched (before everyone got one).

For those of you simply hating the overpriced little thing, or if you are one of the unfortunate people charged with finding one for someone else, here’s a video you’ll love: The iPhone in a blender.

Eee, a brand name intentionally meant to sound like Wii, represents the first ultra micro PC at the affordable level. In fact, if this lightweight wonder offers internet browsing, WiFi, and a webcam for $200, then sign me up - it’s a perfect TV-chair-side companion to check sports scores, TV listings, email, weather, and shop for anniversary gift that you just remembered when one of those annoying “spoil her” diamond commercials flashed on your “spoil him” plasma screen.

It’s also the same price as a Sony PSP, making it the biggest tech-gadget incentive gift bang-for-the-buck I’ve seen lately.

If anyone sights one in the wild, please report in immediately.

Found on Engadget.

I haven’t listed a premium gadget in a while, and I have been meaning to mention this one. The Zen Stone is the latest MP3 (or Digital Audio Player - DAP) from Creative and the latest salvo in the ongoing war against the iPod(s). This one is positioned squarely against the iPod shuffle but it has several important advantages: It comes in all kinds of colors, feels nicer to the touch, you can choose to shuffle or not, you don’t need iTunes software, and it’s half the price of a shuffle. It probably also sounds better.

I like the $40 list price, and the (optional) accessories like the keychain clip, the TravelSound dock with speakers, and the sound isolating headphones give you most of what you’d want in a teeny player. Rubber gel skins give you additional branding opportunities.

I’m sure companies will find that this device’s price and features and better branding options will make the Zen Stone a better fit for their incentive or marketing campaign. It’s very easy to drop a podcast or two on here before you hand it to your employees or customers, and even if they already own a big player like an iPod, they will appreciate this for it’s ultra portability for when they don’t feel like bringing their more fragile and more valuable player everywhere they go.

You do have to contend with the lack of prestige. Creative doesn’t have the Apple brand appeal and popularity and, as such, doesn’t feel like as much of a gift. But you can work out a less-cheesy version of this positioning: it’s better and it’s cooler - just like we are, and we prefer to carve our own path and not copy what everyone else is doing.

You hand these USB memory drives to all your booth visitors. They run home and plug it in to see if they’re one of the lucky ones who get a spoken message “You are a lucky winner”. Everyone else hears “Thanks for visiting . Checks us out at www..com” every time they use the drive.

And if you want to be less annoying you can simply load it up with a pleasantly subdued remix of your company jingle.  I’d want it loaded with the Jetsons doorbell, but that’s just me.

Found via Everything USB

Eleksen showcased their new line of Windows Vista-compatible laptop bags at CES. They utilize a new feature of Vista called SideShow. SideShow allows Vista to reach out to other devices and display small bits of information on them. The devices include remote controls, bags, peripherals, etc. The display can support a variety of user-friendly applications. For starters, a remote control with a SideShow display can display context-sensitive information to help navigate a media center PC remotely. A keyboard can display information about your application, incoming text messages, email status, weather, etc. A speaker can display the current status of your media player.
Here is a shot of a SideShow applications at Microsoft’s CES booth - it’s a smartphone controlling a PowerPoint presentation - with the presentation visible on the phone. Here are two other products - a keyboard and a speaker each with integrated display.
You can read more about these devices, along with loads of other SideShow devices at this site devoted to all things SideShow.

Marketers have long appreciated the value of branding carry-ons. Now we can start to think about what to place on these feet-on-the-street micro billboards.

Of course, the first thing that comes to my personal-space-minding mind is a shoulder bag that displays “if you can read this itty-bitty sign then you’re TOO CLOSE”. But in reality it’s plenty big for an animated version of your brand, or even a side-scrolling message. Folks waiting to board an airplane will spot your billboard-baggage while stranded in the jetway and strike up conversations like “You work for Google? Cool - we’ve been thinking about adding Google Enterprise Search to our company - can we talk about it on the 12 hr flight to Auckland?”

This is becoming a perennial favorite: fosfor gadget’s top 10 weirdest USB drives.

The winner has my vote, too: