perjantai 24. huhtikuuta 2009

Video time

Hi

This post will have two interesting videos.

First up: Seth Godin at Gel in 2006

Bio: Seth was founder and CEO of Yoyodyne, the industry's leading interactive direct marketing company, which Yahoo! acquired in late 1998. Godin worked as VP Direct Marketing at Yahoo before leaving to become a full time speaker, writer and blogger.


Seth Godin at Gel 2006 from Gel Conference on Vimeo.


Even though the video is old (2006) it nicely demonstrates how things take time. Nothing happens over night. The video/presentation is called: "This is broken". If something is "broken" i.e. the process or things/products do not work - then who is to blame? This is the question that the video/presentation tries to answer. Ultimately in an organization no one really wants to take responsibility of putting out there something that is (already) broken. Please see the vidoe - this is difficult to explain.

The other video is from TED.

Bio: David Pogue presents "When it comes to tech, simplicity sells." New York Times columnist David Pogue takes aim at technology’s worst interface-design offenders, and provides encouraging examples of products that get it right.



The video has numerous examples of what not to do when trying to get a service or product out there. Design does count. And when you mix this video with "This is broken" you start to see the point in UI and industrial/experience design.

To end this post on a relaxed manner Engadget informs us that:

Devious carrier pigeon caught trying to smuggle cell phone parts into prison. Case one: attempting to smuggle cell phone parts to inmates in a high-security Brazilian prison. Case two: Columbian authorities say that pigeons are likely being raised inside the prison, and then sent to the outside to collect the contraband handsets before doing what pigeons do best -- returning home.



Br. Vesa

keskiviikko 22. huhtikuuta 2009

iPhone 3.0 (?) speculations

Hi there

The new iPhone (3.0) is getting more rumors and speculations as we near the early June. Hopefully we will see a new and greater iPhone on 8.6.

Anyway here are a few news picks on the iPhone. Digitimes has teared down the components. Please see the pick for more details.



What is more "interesting" than components is the following speculation by PhoneNews. They claim that future iPhone and iPod Touch hardware will be capable of playing back full-HD video at 720p and 1080i resolutions! Seems that: Apple Resellers have been advised to start clearing out any remaining Composite AV Cable and Apple Component AV Cable stock. The move is aimed at cutting down inventory ahead of the introduction of Apple’s new Apple AV Cable, which consolidates the functions of both the Composite and Component AV iPhone-cables.

Other interesting news is by Ars Technica. The next operating system upgrade will include both voice recognition and text read-back capabilities kind of like with Apple latest iPod Shuffle.

Other rumors are around a "pro" version sporting a 5MP camera and the "smaller" version having a 3.2MP camera. There have also been rumors on an iPhone Nano.

To end this post check out the nice flexible phone concept.





For more info visit Ondo phones

Br. Vesa

perjantai 17. huhtikuuta 2009

App developers and store reviews

Hi

So yet again a new post. New York times is reporting on the iPhone app store success.

The idea is that smaller/niche developers can monetize throught the new channel. Ethan Nichols (30 year old) earned himself in 5 months 800.000 dollars with the iShoot application. Another success storey is based on 22 year old Kostas Eleftheriou who gained 100.00 with his iSteam app in three months.

Needless to say that these are the "success" stories. Similarly there was a case where three developers made a game going strait to the top 10 and was downloaded per week over 10.00 times. However the game was free. Thereafter (3months) they decided to give it a price tag of .99 cents. Well downloads fell to 200 per week - ration being somewhat 400:1. At the end they tried advertising and update/upgrades, but the game/app never made it again to top levels.

The idea behind an app store is to view it critically and as a new distribution channel. There might not be any time for price "testing" as trends emerge within days/weeks. Your app might be the hottest and most selling for only a short period of time.

Moving on Gizmodo: has an extensive review on apple, android (Google), blackberry, windows, palm and Nokia app stores.

Please visit their site for more info. Also below is a pick on the main differences.



Below some highlights from Gizmodo:

Apple:
* At least for now, the App Store is the standard by which all others are judged.
* With a $99 dollar developer's fee and a novice-friendly SDK, the barriers of entry for an iPhone developer are fairly low.

Android:
* Google has been much more lenient about what they allow in their store since the beginning but in the rare case that they don't approve of an app you can just go download an .APK file and side load it onto your G1 anyway.
* Google has been much more lenient about what they allow in their store since the beginning but in the rare case that they don't approve of an app, as in the case of tethering apps earlier this month, you can just go download an .APK file and side load it onto your G1 anyway.

Blackberry:
* Listing your wares in App World costs a hefty $200, which gives you the right to upload 10 apps, but doesn't come with any new SDKs or development tools. The payment system is PayPal, which is clumsy to use and a pain to set up. A minimum non-free price tier of $2.99, probably intended to filter out spammy apps.

Nokia, Windows and Palm:
* All still more on the speculative side.

More on ovi store as they arrive :)

Br. Vesa

keskiviikko 8. huhtikuuta 2009

SMS marketing and FB going to NYSE?

Hi

Interesting news section on how to value other "marketing" channels. Communities dominate brands tells us that: The newsmagazine Economist has gained more sales in India by promoting/selling their magazine through SMS marketing.

The idea: "The Economist introduced a daily Economist newsflash ad, with a short snippet of news from the current issue or a summary of the headlines etc. They increased India circulation by 39%; they increased subscriptions by 26% and news stand sales by 15%. In one year, using SMS. “ ---> Phenomenal success!!

Other stuff; tietoviikko reports that Facebook is preparing for the stock market. “On Tuesday, the briefing Facebook representative Larry Yu said the company now looking for a financial manager, who would have experience in a listed company's management.” "Larry Yu said the company also will consider a public share issue, but the plan does not even worthy of consideration. "

Facebook also reported its turnover to rise during the current quarter, 70 percent and estimates of the company's profits in 2010. " WHoow - NICE!!

The service is great but I am just worried that consumers will eventually get tired of using the service. It needs to be linked more to your friends and location. Now consumers/users are just increasing their friends lists and updating this and that. What a waste of time :) --> Go out and play. Or write a blog - hehe.

Back again later this week.

Br. Vesa