Adtech panel discussion proposal - World 2.0

Well happy as I am about changing times in the US, the massive mainstream usage of social media/networking platforms (and i’m citing the US election as just the latest, biggest example here) has hammered something home to me: web 2.0, social media, etc are so clearly out of the underground that it’s just not that exciting to talk about it all anymore. And before i get a thousand social media guru’s blogging me to death about how brands don’t get the space, how vital our insights all are etc, i do realise there’s still a lot of good business to be had helping brands get involved (… which is what it’s all about isn’t it?) All i’m saying is that for me at least it feels like a ‘cost of entry/ignore it at your peril’ discussion these days, rather than the ‘brave new word talk’ of a while back.

So, with that in mind, i’d like to propose a panel/session be set up at Adtech talk about something that is very real and very exciting - making the real world interactive. Augmented mobile reality, hyper-reality, interactive real world… whatever you call it, to my mind the most exciting developments in digital marketing and communications are not happening on the web, but at the points where the web and real world meet. Advances in RFID, mobile, GPS, interactive projections, face/image recognition, motion sensing, etc etc etc are turning the world around us, and all the objects in it, into a massive, deep, digitally interactive experience that I think holds a lot more exciting possibilities than rehashing web 2.0 yet again.

So, before google announces that android will become an operating system for everything, how about starting our own discussions and momentum for World 2.0? I’d be happy to get involved, talk through some examples/ideas, bring some big name clients along… anyone else?

Ok... this might even get me thinking about an iphone... glup

My love for the device of the moment is no secret, but 3rd party apps like this actually make it a compelling device. Thanks, Next Great Thing

App of the Week: MindPulse - November 12th, 2008 by Forest

MindPulse is a new iPhone app takes advantage of a behavior of the brain called “entrainment.”

It could accurately be described as mind control, but instead of gathering an army of somnambulists à la Dr. Caligari, the creators simply want to make you: Focus, Relax, Meditate or Sleep. The lights and sound blink in unison and at varying speeds in order put you in the desired frame of mind. It’s like a digital drug cocktail: Adderall, Xanax, Ambien all in one!

Funny thing is, it actually kind of works. That being said, if watching a Dragon Ball Z fight scene or Cloverfield brings you to the edge of seizure, you probably don’t want to invest $3.99 into MindPulse. However, if you could use a little rewiring, plug in your headphones and place your iPhone over your eyes. It’s weird at first, but as you begin to relax, there is actually a noticeable change in your mental state – almost a conscious hypnosis.

While MindPulse may never sell a million copies, it is an interesting mobile extension into the “real world” and one that actually aims to serve a purpose. Not to hate on the Zippo lighter, because it’s awesome, but, like the iPhone heart monitor, MindPulse is an actual utility (in this case, a healthcare tool), even without the use of GPS, messaging or Internet connectivity and WAP formatting.

Of course not every random app signifies mobile’s progression towards the core of our life, but this is just one more example of how the phone is becoming an increasingly useful, flexible, personalized Swiss army knife.

MindPulse

Bike Thefts? RFID to the Rescue

Thanks PSKF for this post on use of RFID

by Dan Gould

Bicycle usage is up around the world - and with increased amounts of bikes come increased instances of bike thefts. Copenhagen residents alone had 20,000 bicycles stolen last year. Three initiatives from around the globe are aiming to combat and prevent bike theft using RFID (radio frequency ID) tags.

The University of Portsmouth in the UK has begun embedding RFID tags on bikes registered in their WASP (Wireless Asset Security Protection) program. Students can park their bikes in designated safe zones and register their position via mobile phone. If their bike is moved without calling and entering a pin code, cctv cameras will zoom in on the area to see if anything is amiss. Oregon State University takes a similar approach, “bugging” participating student’s bikes with RFID tags. It’s used mostly as a bike recovery and theft deterrent method and the bugs are free to OSU students. And finally, the city of Copenhagen is working with the Danish Technical Institute to create a better chip to help locate some of the city’s many stolen bikes.

Project splitwheel - user designed car

Thanks again Contagious for this great, if extreme example of people-involvment in product development.



How many of you remember that episode of the Simpsons where Homer is reunited with his long-lost half-brother, Herb, who also happens to be the CEO of a major US car manufacturer? Keen to create a car for the average Joe, Herb puts Homer in charge of a new project and relies on his distinctly common touch to create the next American classic. However the ‘Homer’ which looks like a cross between a lime green hearse and one of George Jetson’s wet dreams proves to be disastrous flop - ruining the company and prompting Herb to disown his brother.

Now that crowd sourcing and corporate transparency are hot topics, The Simpsons once again proves to be curiously prophetic, raising the valid question - do consumers really know what they want? It is with slight trepidation therefore, that we approach Project Splitwheel - described as a ‘revolutionary online project to design and build a new performance car based on collective decision-making.’

www.splitwheel.com

By signing up to join the online community, users will be able to vote on every significant stage of the car's development - making the finished article a truly collaborative creation. However, to avoid another ‘Homer’, Splitwheel’s creators have been careful to gently steer participants in the right direction; for those who are unsure which way to vote, the website contains a blog with expert articles and breakdowns of the trickier technical aspects. There are video podcasts showing performance tests of rival cars, along with forums where members can argue - or rather discuss - the finer points of automotive design. (God forbid someone should suggest running twin sequential turbos without a sufficient intercooling system. Pah!)

However, this is no conceptual exercise; the final design will be submitted to British sports car manufacturer and Splitwheel partner Caterham, which will turn the prototype into a fully-fledged production car by the year 2010.

Splitwheel is the brainchild of Wikitanium - a UK-based company operating online projects to design and build new products in partnership with manufacturers and consumers. Contagious spoke to founder and managing director, Piers Drake:

‘Whether you refer to it as "prosumerism" or "transparency", the fact is that consumers are now better informed, better connected and more willing to get involved with products - from design through to development. The automotive industry is perfect for such an initiative because people are spending large amounts of money on an extremely familiar product. There are countless owners’ clubs, online forums and message boards where people passionately discuss the merits/downfalls of their cars. Our thinking was to channel this activity into an actual outcome and gives consumers the chance to put their money where their mouth is.’

Exciting stuff this - we couldn’t help thinking that it was only a matter of time until someone stepped up and really put crowdsourcing to the test, building collaborative brands from the ground up. One thing’s for sure; projects such as this require a delicate balance between dictating consumer conversations and facilitating them. By harnessing the existing social networking activity and providing users with useful, engaging ways in which to learn and contribute, Splitwheel looks like it may have just struck the perfect balance. We’ll be sure to keep you ‘up to speed’ with any updates *contribute to crowd-sourced groan here*

www.wikitanium.com

Visa befriends Android

Thanks Contagious

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Visa recently unveiled a partnership with Google’s mobile platform, Android, where users can sign up to receive offers from marketers that will be delivered directly to a simple interface on their mobile phones. In practise, this means that Starbucks could send consumers vouchers for cut-price cappuccinos straight to their mobile handset.

Those who opt in click an ‘offers’ button for the latest promotions, and can then use their handset to find out the location of their nearest Starbucks (normally right in front of them). Visa is also teaming up with Nokia to roll out a mobile payment system before the year-end.
Contagious caught up with Prakash Harirami, senior business leader, global product innovation at Visa, to find out more.

Contagious: What are the specific benefits for Visa Mobile services developed for the Android platform?

PH: The benefits include:
Alerts: Near real-time notification of purchase activity based on customised cardholder preferences. The consumer can personalise the types of alerts delivered to their mobile device according to pre-selected parameters, such as the size of the transaction or whether the transaction is in foreign currency
Offers: Consumers will receive targeted offers from merchants directly to their phone. These offers, ranging from discounts to loyalty offers, could be based on a consumer’s previous purchase activity.
Locator: The Locator service is expected to integrate with technology developed by Google, such as Google Maps and Google location-based services, to show consumers nearby locations of merchants sending them offers, or of an ATM that accepts Visa.
Finally, with more than three billion mobile devices worldwide and 80% of the world's population living within range of a cellular network. Visa has a significant opportunity to extend our products and services to geographies where they don't exist today and enhance the consumer payment experience.

Contagious: Nielsen Monitor-Plus reports that credit card companies in the US – including Visa – have reduced the number of TV spots that they’re buying by 24% year-on-year. Are you planning to invest more in mobile platforms instead?

PH: This is a significant milestone because it shows how Visa is making mobile commerce a global reality. We developed a flexible, iterative mobile platform approach to encourage market trials, learn from real experience, and draw out the business models that make the most sense in each situation and local market. Visa’s continued investment in its mobile technology comes as more consumers adopt mobile devices which play a central role in commerce.

Contagious: How easy to track are the promotions that are run on the platform?
PH: Visa can easily track mobile offers/promotions on its platform, including redemption rates and purchases by merchant.

Contagious: How big will Google Android be?
PH: By developing these mobile services for the Android platform, Visa has taken a step toward achieving our goal of combining two of the world’s most powerful and ubiquitous consumer innovations: electronic payments and mobile technology.

TV+Social Network=?

Thanks WSJ for this article on how the bastion of 1.0, the TV, is moving into the world 2.0

New television ventures promise to bring the community-building features of the Web into the living room

Our television set is about to become a lot friendlier.

Seen by many as a one-way medium where the content comes through but nothing goes back, the TV generally goes off and the computer goes on when people want to connect and communicate with others.

But now, some of the tools that allow people to build communities and socialize on Internet sites like MySpace and Facebook are making their way to the living room.

TV Takes a Cue From the Web

Ever wish your television talked back? Well now it does and more. Stacey Delo talks to WSJ's Christopher Lawton about the new ways people are using their TV to be social. (Oct. 24)

The movement was pioneered in part by videogame-console makers such as Microsoft Corp. as a way to connect hard-core gamers for competitive matches, and it is gaining momentum as those companies and others seek to entice a broader audience to chat with friends, share photos and recommend movies and music over their television screens.

Analysts say social networking has the potential to play a key role in shaping what people watch and do on the biggest screen in their homes. They say that eventually could pay off -- perhaps in terms of subscription revenue or advertising -- for the companies involved in these mostly nascent ventures, as efforts to marry the Internet and the TV gain traction.

"The TV set is evolving and content itself is evolving," says Michael Gartenberg, an analyst in the research division of Darien, Conn.-based Jupitermedia Corp. Understanding what friends are watching or doing on their TV screens "has to have a tremendous amount of value," he says.

The Journal Report

• See the complete Technology report.

Seeking Connections

Gamers have been able to message and befriend each other through the TV since 2002, when Microsoft launched Xbox Live, the gaming and entertainment service that allows Xbox-console owners to connect to the Internet and compete against each other in multiplayer games. More than 60% of Xbox owners subscribe to Live, according to Microsoft, some paying a $50 annual fee for a premium version of the service.

Right now, the only way to chat with fellow subscribers is to create a game session and invite them in. Some users create game matches for the sole purpose of chatting, showing that for many, the social experience is just as important as the game, says Marc Whitten, general manager of Xbox Live.

The Redmond, Wash., company is redesigning Xbox Live to add more social-networking features. The idea is to give subscribers more of the social connections they crave, while broadening the appeal of the Xbox console beyond the hard-core gaming community.

Jason Schneider

The new version, due out Nov. 19, will include a chat feature in which groups of as many as eight people will be able to communicate with each other via headsets, regardless of what they are doing. Members also will be able to share photos and create unique graphic images of themselves, called avatars, that can interact with other subscribers' avatars in a virtual community.

Eric Word, a recent high-school graduate in Columbus, Ohio, says he is looking forward to the new Xbox Live because he won't have to enter game sessions to talk to friends. "Sometimes I don't get in the mood to play, but I still want to talk to these people and see how their day is going," says the 18-year-old Mr. Word.

Sony Corp., too, is preparing to launch a virtual-community service for its competing PlayStation 3 videogame system. The free service will allow players to create avatars, interact with others in a virtual world and chat through the game console.

The company says it plans to launch the service, called Home, this fall, though it declined to be more specific.

A Broader Audience
TAG Networks Inc., of Mountain View, Calif., is trying to expand social networking based on gaming beyond videogame consoles to a much broader cable-television audience.

The firm owns a subscription-based games-on-demand TV network that allows people to use their remote controls and cable boxes to connect and play with other casual gamers. According to founder and Chief Executive Sangita Verma, the setup is simple: Gamers create profiles, compete for high scores in their area and match up for multiplayer games. Next year, the channel will introduce a more formal social network with buddy lists, messaging and other ways to connect multiple players.

"Gamers today expect to be able to communicate and play against other people," says Ms. Verma. "I think there is a paradigm shift in the way people think about games and play games."

TAG TV has more than 200,000 subscribers in Hawaii and is being tested with cable companies in Texas and Alabama.

Movie studios and software firms also are helping to bring social networking into the living room.

Studios such as Walt Disney Co., Sony Pictures and Viacom Inc.'s Paramount Pictures are adding features to Blu-ray movie discs that allow people with certain Blu-ray DVD players to interact while watching movies. Disney's recent release of "Sleeping Beauty," for example, includes a "movie chat" feature in which friends watching the movie simultaneously from different locations can exchange messages on their TV screens with Internet-connected devices such as iPhones or BlackBerrys.

New York software firm Boxee, meanwhile, has incorporated social-networking features into a media-player application designed to be used with a remote control and viewed on a large screen, like that of a TV connected to a PC.

The application, which can be downloaded free, offers users a single interface through which to organize and play media content such as videos, movies, music and photos from their PCs or the Internet. It also allows users to sit in front of their TV screens and, via remote control, recommend movies, music and other content to Boxee users they have befriended. They can see in real time what songs those friends are listening to or the movies or TV shows they are watching by monitoring a so-called media-activity feed appearing on their screens.

For piracy reasons, Boxee's software stops short of allowing people to share content with friends. But Dave Mathews, vice president of product development, says that even if a person is watching a pirated copy of a movie or TV show and recommends it to friends, the software will send the recommendation and tell the friends where they can stream the content legally.

Versions of Boxee's software for Apple Inc.'s Macintosh computers and for PCs based on the Linux operating system are in testing. A version for PCs running the Windows operating system is due out by the end of the year.

Robert Basil, an information-systems manager in Tempe, Ariz., has been testing Boxee on a Mac Mini connected to his flat-panel TV for several weeks. He says he likes Boxee because he prefers media recommendations from friends rather than professional reviewers.

"Nobody knows what you like better than your friends," says the 41-year-old.

—Mr. Lawton is a staff reporter in The Wall Street Journal's San Francisco bureau.

Write to Christopher Lawton at christopher.lawton@wsj.com