What the i-pad brings us is what I have been dreaming about for years. An environmentally friendly unit that delivers rich engaging content. The video shows the potential for advertisers. NB The reality will be if more opportunities are given to many creative providers, not just traditional agencies. Why? Because everyone deserves a chance to bring in new ways of communicating messages within a commercial context.

Today, Advertising is too ‘In your face’!
Many feel that advertising needs to be more innovative and less, ‘in your face’, i.e: surveys have suggested that text message based adverts / spam, windows pop-ups or what I call web-page over-takers (adverts that simply confuse and hijack your reading space) are irritating. Even advertisements before watching a video can really turn-off the viewer!

So, what kind of advertisement is acceptable?
It is a known fact that entertainment orientated, subtle and relevant advertising is popular. There is also no point is placing advertising on the back of rich content, as by that time the viewer or listener is ready to move on. Maybe sponsored space is the best way to go, for example, a classified section that is sponsored? Or, how about shorter commercials, e.g: less than 10seconds.

In summary, it is great to see new tools like the i-book store coming our way, what we don’t want is commercial dominance by some players else they will be ‘talking to the hand’!!

In recent years, McGonigal has grown especially interested in the way that massively multiplayer online gaming generates collective intelligence, and interested in the way that the collective intelligences thus generated can be utilized as a means of improving the world, either by improving the quality of human life or by working towards the solution of social ills.

For example,games like World of Warcraft give players the means to save worlds, and incentive to learn the habits of heroes. What if we could harness this gamer power to solve real-world problems?

She say’s:

Instead of providing gamers with better and more immersive alternatives to reality, I want all of us to be become responsible for providing the world with a better and more immersive reality.

It also took me back to a scary Star Trek (original series) episode entitled: A Taste of Armageddon
In this episode (plot summary by http://www.ericweisstein.com/fun/startrek/) Kirk, Spock, and three crew members (including Galloway and Tamura) beam down and are met by Mea 3 and a security detachment of two who take them to Anan 7 and members of the High Counsel. Anan 7 claims that Eminiar VII has been at war with Vendikar, the third planet in the system, for 500 years. However, no evidence of warfare is evident to the landing party who witness a fusion bomb “attack.” In fact, Yeoman Tamura’s tricorder shows no radiation disturbances, despite Anan 7′s claim that half a million people have just been killed. A counter-attack is ordered by Anan 7 and carried out by Sar 6′s activation of the “attack unit.” Spock realizes that the war is being fought by computers which calculate casualties and that the citizens who are declared “dead” are then required to report to disintegration chambers.

Click here to view the embedded video.

On a positive note, I really like this video as it is both well presented and provides great lateral thinking. For example, recently she has suggested and developed 3 games that encourage resolving world issues in a virtual environment but with a possible optimism and input for real world challenges or reflections.

The good thing about the U1 product is its potential to both adapt and provide flexible applications.

Another interesting concept is the 2 screen e-Book. I always wondered how writing an e-Book with links would work. Cynics suggest that it could limit the writing capability as the tapestry or mental images provided by great text will be compromised by a simple link. My view is that there is room for those that want an ascetic feel of a book and / or creative writing.

Take a look at the following. I wonder how many actual e-Books with interactivity are actually available yet?

Click here to view the embedded video.

There are many flexible video booth solutions available in the market-place and are often used at exhibitions and for personal events such as  Weddings and Christenings.

We recently spoke to some clients who consider Video Booth technology as an essential way to capture opinions, especially during for example, workshop breakout sessions or public meetings.

A recent project at Knowledge Hemispheres involved the set-up of a manual video booth. A council was conducting an campaign against the expansion of a transport station. They wanted to gather opinions that were both pro and con the central issues. Dates were booked for a video booth to be made available firstly after a public meeting and then for up to 3 weeks at local libraries. NB An essential  consent form was also completed before any video opinion was recorded. The final consolidated video was delivered to the client including a full recording of the public hearing.

The content was then re-purposed by being compiled into a series of Video podcasts that were time released. In addition, content was re-used internally.

There are many advantages for using a dedicated video booth especially through some wonderful automated stand systems, for example:

• Branding and Professional capture
• Focused questions through a survey mechanism
• Automated consent
• Forming part of the entire story.
• High Quality recordings
• Collection and moderation post event

With regard to the latter, an integrated approach is facilitated using such technologies, i.e: It encourages dialogue, captures views from people who may be shy to speak in public and in many ways is a enabling technology of democracy.

Other ways of capuring opinions, e.g: You Tube Direct
Youtube have recently released Youtube Direct. Combined with video booths, further content can be captured from personal camera mobile phone and video footage. The interface using an open source approach and includes a moderation panel. Once content is moderated it can be published on an Intranet or on a public website. One of the benefits of this virtual video collection mechanism is that the Bandwidth is YouTube’s with built in navigation!

It is a wonderful tool for Citizen Journalism, for example if you run a news-site, for example: BizBuzzzz you can ask for citizen reporting. Non profit organisations can call-out for support videos around social campaigns. From a commercial perspective businesses can ask users to submit promotional videos about your brand.

NB We consider Youtube Direct as a complementary service to reach an blended New Media solution -  just as outlined in the example above. i.e: Recording conventional footage, virtual/adhoc video from mobile devices and providing a mechanism to readily access opinions through dedicated video booths. The latter as previously stated will produce higher quality recordings.

In addition, in conference voting can also provide another way to capture opinons and feedback:

In terms of implications for users, yes, it is different but is it different enough for accessibility and connectivity from an integration perspective, i.e:

1. Future phones probably should be more semantic in nature, making it easier to interface with daily tasks.
2. In terms of applications, will it demand proprietary development paths or standardised adaptation of existing ‘Apps’?
3. Will it work with some the emerging exciting touch, tablet and surface computing devices?
4. Could different versions be made available with even more innovation demonstrated for different ability and functional requirements?

The advert is correct at suggesting that there is a need to rethink what technologies are suitable or fit for purpose.

NB I still have friends who prefer some of the rugged Nokia’s with their traditional large displays, keyboards and menus.

The following video takes you through a mini-tour:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Online Web content is changing!

Incidentally, it is also worth watching: The Machine is (Changing) Us: YouTube and the Politics of Authenticity – This is effectively an update of the initial featured presentation (pls see the video above). It explores an  interesting aspect of New media, i.e: The way that people are currently focused on promoting themselves.

Click here to view the embedded video.

It is important to ask is Youtube really a community or simply a platform for the projection of self expression?
Could outlets such as Youtube be considered as potentially artificial, especially as there is a delay to a possible interactive response?
Will microblogging and Video Bloggimh have a limited life once we all get over the age of reality TV, i.e The compulsion to be entertained by Idol and X-Factor type programmes?

I remember when companies hardly used Youtube. Now major organisations are using it  as an outlet, especially with the addition of on-screen tagging.

With over 20,000 daily video updates, more research is required to understand if there is a rise or drop in personal content.
In addition, more insight is required into the behaviour of the online watching community.

What has really changed for viewers? Or, are we still too passive to absorb what we are given?
Anthropology can be defined as the study of cultures/communities – currently the Internet is still moving to fast to track!

It is important with any audience to get a devoted and loyal audience.

Watch out for when Leo say…

You don’t get fired you get cancelled.

My personal view:
The video gives us hope, re: a more liberated media – through the people rather than corporations…
However, my view is that the old media giants still have a lot of power!
In addition, advertisers are still with the latter.
NB We should still work hard to produce good content by the people for the people.

It will certainly bring about the potential for

1. A more comprehensive eBook
2. New field based applications
3. Collaborative working (inc: content sharing)
4. Greener apps – reducing paper
5. Colour for a A new type of interactive experience for content / articles/ ebooks.

If the latter is true, have publishers already started to develop books with on-line links to reliable references?

But what about basic issues such as:

• Accessibility
• Battery life
• Standards
• Interoperability both in terms of applications and different hardware (will there be a return to IBM VS APPLE)
• Secure information &
• Ensuring you don’t get mugged!

Could it become an interface for a surface computer? Now that would be something!

The CEO of Orange Tom Alexander states

the watch phone is the must-have gadget of 2009. It’s handcrafted, exclusively limited, and will turn heads on the high street”, and will supposedly bring “a 21st-century experience to our 21st century customers.

Set up like a normal phone this device has all the normalities of a regular phone, from the sensitive touch screen number and text pad, to the user friendly red and green call and end buttons.

It also has the capability to take pictures however the down side here is that it does not have an accelerometer to tell the camera if it is upside down or not so this would require a twist of the wrist to take right-side up pictures.It also has music player which can be connected to a blue-tooth device, that can also be used for voice calls as well as video calls.

The major downside to this phone is the price, though available on both pay-as-you-go and monthly payment, this phone would range between £500 and £1000!

Being compared to a James Bond gadget the watch phone is simply taking on-screen gadget technology and bringing it to reality, enhancing its features by adding more usability tools.

I was also surprised that when looking around Best Buys, a popular US electronics retail outlet, I (maybe it was me!) could not locate any Internet Radios. I was passed from department-to-department. Maybe I was asking the wrong questions. At one point I was directed to the car radio department, they then they told me to visit the Blue-Ray section!?

This morning CEO Mitchell Berman announced that Zillion, a TV-on-the-Internet service from the privately held start-up Vaenco, had added a new element to its distribution strategy: In addition to offering its on-demand programming through Internet service providers, Zillion will serve consumers directly. To promote both approaches, Berman said the company is working with consumer electronics manufacturers to embed enabling technology in their Internet-enabled TV sets and set-top boxes (e.g., Blu-ray disc players). These devices won’t become available until the second half of next year, however; nor does the company expect to move beyond trial deployments with ISPs this year.

In an interview earlier this week, Berman said …

… the company’s focus remained on striking partnerships with ISPs — in particular, telephone companies. (Cable operators, whose pay-TV businesses are ZillionTV’s main competitors, have been understandably cool to Zillion, although Berman said he continues to try to strike deals with them.) For telcos, Zillion serves two purposes: It gives them a video service they can bundle with their phone services at no extra charge, and it encourages their customers to sign up for higher DSL speeds. But Berman said Zillion wanted to be able to promote its service to everyone in the country, which led to the decision to offer its service directly to the public in areas where it has no ISP partner.

Does this mean the start of true convergence?
NB Convergence has to be both both a hardware and easier software perspective, almost bordering on The Semantic web, i.e: Web 3.0.
The video is interesting as it suggests a personalised service. Does this mean we have control on the adverts & tags!?
The real question has to be if all that we have to watch is Reality TV, at least it will be easier to vote!