A Wider Net

Microsoft is bringing Surface to Boston for a public viewing at the Sheraton on Saturday. Details are available on this Microsoft Developer blog. This may be your best chance to see this exciting new technology firsthand as they roll it out through Sheraton hotels and a handful of other launch partners over the coming months.

Touch technology makes an incredibly intuitive user interface for a variety of applications. Touch kiosks and ATMs, when well-designed, have made our lives easier in many self-service solutions. The runaway success of the Nintendo DS handheld game system, which features touch control, has taught us a great deal about human/computer interaction and preferences. Sony has even introduced touch controls on the backs of their digital cameras. But those examples are nothing compared to Surface.

Surface features multi-touch capability, so you can interact with more than just one finger (think iPhone on steroids). It also features a ton of technology under the hood to recognize objects placed on it’s surface and interact with them digitally. It’s not a touch screen - it’s a whole new way of interacting with content.

For more information about Surface, check out Microsoft’s Surface page or my previous post.

Then it will have to include these guys: Experience Chocolate.

Custom chocolate tastings… I can think of no greater marketing innovation. At the moment.

I’ve already informed the marketing team.

Thanks to Corporate Meetings & Incentives Magazine - I’ve had this clipped and hanging around my office since it was published in the March issue. I’d link you there, but the article seems to have been removed.

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.

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?”

What’s a widget? Check here, here, and here. Widgets are basically virtual desktop accessories - clocks, radios, cd players, weather indicators, stock tickers, etc. They’re fun, wildly customizable, potentially super-useful, and most importantly - they’re entirely up to you.

From a marketing perspective there are great opportunities in widgets - ranging from advertiser-funded displays to entirely branded widgets like this Harry Potter widget. Once this baby adorns the screen real estate of their target fan base, the marketing job is over. This one provides a countdown timer and a news feed. Believe it or not, it’s not the first Harry Potter widget - this one conjures up a quote from the movies on request. Also, these widgets did not come from the film publisher. Movie makers ought to be looking at these widgets and integrating them into the overall fan experience - connecting them to direct news, fan programs, movie microsites, trailers, etc.

You may have noticed that those two examples were only for Macs. Macs have built-in widget support. PC users can use Yahoo Widgets - found here. And yes, the Harry Potter widget is available there, too.

At CES I also spotted a neat desktop device, the Emtrace WidgetStation that uses widgets so you can change it’s display features as often as you like.

Custom widgets for corporate communications are being created all the time - some using a platform like Yahoo, some are simply stand-alone applications. Basically, these mini applications are designed to sit on your computer screen and make available crucial information at all times - critical internal notices, announcements, schedules. The corporate widgets can combine critical updates with company brand, vision, and value reinforcement, as well as helpful information like local traffic updates, stock, and weather.

I’m buying stock in the really big companies that make really, really, really big monitors.

At CES, I found eStarling, a manufacturer of digital picture frames, and to my knowledge the only one out of about 50 exhibiting manufacturers, that allows you to email a photo directly to the frame. Apparently Thinkgeek was selling the WiFi versions these puppies at one point. Regardless, you can certainly “picture” these being used to send your loved-ones photos from far-far-away-land. Would it be so wrong to give these to customers and slip them a promotional image every so often? They are, after all, premium-priced premiums, and they have to put up with corporate logos tattooed all over their other SWAG. This just feels a hundred times cooler. Digital signage to the individual desktop. Banner Ad Designers rejoice! People may be ignoring you on the web, but they can’t ignore you if they’re waiting to see pics of the grandkids.

You can also have the display automatically grab images from an RSS feed, such as a feed from a Flickr photo sharing account. It’s a pretty neat device, and I bet there are lots of clever ways to use it for marketing and signage applications. Yes, I’d like one.

Their products have been featured many times on Engadget and USB News and at CES, Dream Cheeky had a booth full of crazy USB devices. These are the kinds of things that define the concept “would not buy for yourself but wish someone would buy for you”. From the office warfare USB Missile Launcher to the cuddly USB Kitty, there’s something here for everyone that you can’t send liquor to.

At CES, I was impressed with Samsung’s unique digital signage solution “MagicNet”. Most digital signage systems use some kind of central server and a network of signage player devices - one per digital sign.  Then, of course, you need the flat panel displays. Samsung integrated their player device into a few LCD models, greatly simplifying the system. Now all you need for a complete digital signage solution is a bunch of these Samsung monitors all networked together, and one standard PC running their MagicNet software. The capabilities are generous, including playback of most media file types and graphic file formats, and the ability to incorporate live video.

This is a good option for new installations (where you don’t own the displays already) and touring applications that want to simplify setup. You can use it for enterprise communications, event signage - pretty much all the typical digital signage applications.

And here’s where the love-fest ends. Try to find MagicNet on the Samsung website. Here’s a link to a MagicNet LCD screen. In the center of the screen it clearly states, (spelling error and all) “Super high contrast ratio with 178°/178° viewing angle topped of with MagicNet.” but nowhere on the page is a link to learn about MagicNet. Nice.

So - their online marketing may be a mess, but the technology looked pretty spiffy. I’m sure your favorite A/V system integrator, marketing partner, or Samsung dealer can help you get going with MagicNet.

Use caution if you’re considering digital signage, since we see it done poorly more often than not. Make sure you have a clear idea of who the signage will target, what content they will find interesting enough to stop and absorb, and most importantly - who will be producing this content and how often.  Often times the content isn’t changed often enough, it’s poorly targeted, or the sign’s layout is too complex and confusing - rendering it highly ignorable.

For example - at one recent trade show I attended, the digital signs in the lobbies were display scheduling information for the three days prior to the day I arrived. Page after page of information was outdated, making the signs dreadfully ineffective. There’s nothing quite as sad as an unwatched digital sign.

One of the devices from CES that I’ve found myself thinking about often is the Pepper Pad. This Linux-based tablet is in a word, loaded. It’s bright touch/stylus screen is large enough for browsing and watching movies without all the bulk of most laptops or tablet PC’s. A 20G hard drive is adequate for a decent amount of movies and music, and it’s WiFi connection allows viewing of media stored elsewhere. Add to that a VGA camera, bluetooth, dual infrared, USB, and a few other bells and whistles and you have a mighty entertainment and browsing device.

You may have noticed that, unlike other tablets, this device has a split thumb board in the upper corners, plus a scroll wheel, and a 5-way directional pad. All this tactile control input at your thumbtips makes this device extremely versatile for browsing and email. It’s also splash-resistant and fairly light at 2.2 lbs.

From a marketing perspective, this makes an interesting portable kiosk or presentation device. You can hand this to someone and, after they get over the coolness of the thing, they can watch a short presentation, fill out a survey, or play a learning game. While not as light and portable as a PocketPC device or even a UMPC device, the larger screen and easier text entry may make this a superior choice for data entry or media viewing. It’s battery life is limited, however, to less than three hours, which may affect it’s usefulness in mobile applications. It’s worth considering in a lobby to fill out forms and watch informational videos, and it’s worth considering at an exhibit where it can sit on a charger between users.

Edit: I changed the above text to reflect the fact that the camera is, in fact, VGA resolution - not 2 Megapixel.

The Maxtor Heap was at Macworld, too. This interesting public marketing campaign was designed to position Maxtor’s backup solutions as a “life saver” because losing data, such as digital photos, can literally be like losing a part of your life. After seeing the heap of photos in the Las Vegas Airport, and the heap of CD’s at the Las Vegas Convention Center South Hall, and then the cityscape of CD’s at the Maxtor booth, I figured I had found the end of the rabbit hole. Apparently not: 500 miles later at Macworld, the home of the iPhone launch, I spotted another Maxtor heap (of photos). This time, the signs adjacent to the heap were adorned with small Maxtor backup drives permanently affixed to the signs. I guess they figured that the drives would have been stolen in Las Vegas too quickly (or maybe they were?)

I watched for a few minutes while waiting for the show doors to open and no fewer than five people tried to yank the drives off the signs. I dearly hope there was a hidden camera on this sillyness as it would make a great viral marketing video for YouTube.

Apologies for the blurry photo.