Posts tagged media
Is Apple getting on the 3D TV wagon?
Apr 14th
Apple has had its patent request for iSpecs approved leading tech commentators to speculate on this ‘what will they think of next’ type of rumour.
3D TV’s have been touted for a while so it’s no wonder Apple is getting in on this game. Especially seeing the iPad is offering up what seems to be endless possibilities for media and mobile TV. 
But it’s all still rumours for now. iSpecs are what fans are calling Apple glasses that would allow wearers to watch 3D films on the go (as in on the iPad).
The glasses could also be plugged into iPods or iPhones and project in 3D.
The alleged new product would have a ’smart’ lens that would project the image from the screen and produce the 3D effect virtually anywhere, according to Zimbio.com.
The headset wouldn’t be connected to the device, so the watcher wouldn’t have to hold the player so close anymore.
There are also a few other neat things that the iSpecs could do, according to reports. Accessories might include a microphone for voice control, and even accelerometeres that could tell if the viewer was moving, etc.
Apple is feeding the future of all typed of media. But just imagine that we’ll soon have 3D advertising. No that is what could really bring brands to life in the eyes of consumers.
Absolut caught out by ‘I’m Here’ online film fans
Apr 9th
Vodka company Absolut had an idea. That brainwave may have come in the sauna (with the company being Swedish). Or perhaps during a roll in the snow.
But it was a very good idea. The idea was to work with acclaimed film director, Spike Jonze, and the result was a 30-minute robot love story film entitled, ‘I’m Here’.
It was released in January 2010, at imheremovie.com but unfortunately – or perhaps more fortunately – has been an overwhelming success.
According to the vodka folks ‘I’m Here’ is screened every two hours on imheremovie.com, limited to just 5,000 viewers per day, the capacity of the site is now to be expanded to 12,000 a day.
In it’s first weekend of release the online movie theatre apparently clocked up 230,000 unique visitors alone.
“’I’m Here’ marks an evolution of our commitment to creativity, and I’m very happy about the great interest in this film. It is a beautiful story and a fantastic piece of art,” said Vice President Global Marketing at The Absolut Company, Anna Malmhake.
Seen in the worst light, it could be just a load of spin from Absolut. But there are widen implications.
It’s a reflection of just how viewing habits online are growing. In fact as we’ve already reported on UTalkMarketing, Online video is medium of choice for marketers in 2010
Why? Well it’s all down to the growth of broadband across the UK.
Absolut obviously knew the film was going to be popular. Otherwise they’d never have commissioned it in the first place.
They’ve also been driving traffic by integrating the project on Facebook, making it possible for social networkers to see the film together with friends.
But it looks like they underestimated just how popular it might be.
Lessons to be learnt?
Marketers should never underestimate the potential appeal of online video
Get it right and 230,000 unique visitors could be engaging with your brand over just one weekend too.
With the costs of video production falling too, there are no excuses for not making the leap into digital celluloid.
We’ve even got some top tips on How to produce video that delivers on a tight marketing budget here
Race is on for publishers large and small to get mobile
Mar 23rd
Think publishing. Think revenue generation. Think multi-platform. Or your future might look pretty bleak.
Going mobile is nothing new to publishers. After all, how many years has WAP been around, never mind the smart phone.
But the planned launch of the iPad and it’s potential to revolutionise media and publishing is encouraging on those publishers to take action.
The reasons are simple. Going digital – and mobile - opens up the door on alternative revenue steams.
It’s something we’ve touched on a few times, most recently with the launch of Skimkits, but as tech advances, so do the opportunties.
However while major publishers may have had the budget and resources to make the digital leap, it’s not been so easy for smaller players such as bloggers.
A new development may be set to change all that. A new tool has been released that allows publishers to create and monetise a mobile version of their website, turning RSS feeds and web pages into mobile pages.
The best news is that Mobilizer, as developed by BuzzCity, is a free service, with no hosting fees, and free publisher support.
It allows publishers to start earning mobile display advertising revenue with a payout of up to 65 per cent of total ad revenues. Publishers are able to choose the type of adverts that will appear on their mobile website as well as the number of ads and their position.
“It is common knowledge that consumer behaviour is shifting. Reading habits evolved from print-based media to web-based media and now mobile media is really coming in to play,” explains KF Lai, CEO of BuzzCity.
“It is vital that publishers are making their content readily available on the mobile. Many have invested in apps for the iPhone but this will only serve a small section of the market.”
In addition, publishers receive a unique QR code to display on their website, newspaper or magazine.
Users with a camera phone equipped with the correct reader software can scan the image of the QR Code causing the phone’s browser to launch and redirect to the programmed URL.
The simple act of reading may never be the same again…
The iPad is our silver bullet. Here’s why
Mar 22nd
At the end of January when the iPad was officially announced by Apple, techies, developers and Mac enthusiasts all over the world rejoiced. The journos (the ones that know about technology) cried a sigh of relief as the silver bullet for the publishing and media industry had been shot. Want proof?
But there are still those that remain skeptical as to what exactly the iPad will deliver, let alone how it will save the media (and revolutionise marketing…remember?)
Well I’ve found proof.
VIVmag, an all-digital magazine from the US that offers insight, advice and authentic stories to “inspire and motivate women”, has created its next edition of the magazine with the iPad in mind.
The issue is more interactive, entertaining and engaging than not just any other magazine on the market, but any digital magazine on the market.
There’s a sort of demo/behind-the-scenes look at the forthcoming issue below.
The iPad isn’t only reinventing what we formerly knew as the print media though. It’s taking digital to the next level.
The iPad will take full advantage of everything we can now do within the digital medium such as videos, moving images, interactivity including live surveys and games, music, sound effect…the list is absolutely endless.
This tablet computer is single handedly changing the way journalists approach their stories and the way that editors display it. It is employing creativity and making it a necessity, not a luxury.
So, it’s not surprising that big brands are getting on board, quickly (we can’t wait to see what the big mastheads come up with).
I’m also interested to see what the advertising is going to be like on these publications when the iPad arrives given that the media industry has poured some much into already.
They have a real chance here to step up to the plate and do something truly different, creative and game-changing. However, the first problem to overcome is to make sure that the ads don’t trump the content and that they aren’t distracting.
While exciting times lay ahead, like anything via the internet, it will also be a time of trial and error.
Demand for iPad higher than it was for the iPhone. Price or curiosity?
Feb 26th
There is more demand for Apple’s forthcoming iPad then there ever was the iPhone, according to new research.
Is this surprising? Yes. Why? Because all the reports that were flowing out of newsrooms immediately after Steve Jobs introduced the new product where negative.
“It doesn’t have this…it doesn’t have that…” Bla bla. The critics were wrong. People still want the iPad.
As I have said before, consumers are curious about Apple. It seems to be able to do no wrong and what the bloody hell would you want a camera on a tablet computer for anyway? Research has backed me up:
A new survey from RBC/ChangeWave reveals that 13% of consumers were either somewhat or very likely to purchase the iPad, compared with the 9% who gave the same reply for the original iPhone in a similar survey conducted prior to its launch.
Mike Abramsky, RBC analyst, said that while he does not expect feverish initial launch lines such as the iPhone attracted, “the data portends well for healthy initial iPad uptake.”
The reason?
The iPad’s unexpectedly low price point – starting at $US499.
Only 8% appear unwilling to pay Apple’s indicated iPad prices, according to the survey, that well below 28% who balked at initial iPhone pricing.
But perhaps the high demand is also due to people’s curiosity over what exactly the iPad will do and how it will enrich their lives. Tablets have been around for years, so why all the hype now?
Consumers have been told that not only will the iPad change the way we consumer media, it will revolutionise our use of the internet…of how we use technology! It will make our lives easier and I guess you’d be crazy not to buy into that when it’s for such a low price.
Top planned uses for the device among buyers includes surfing the internet (68%), checking e-mail (44%), and reading e-books (37%).
The iPad may have greater potential than first touted and gives further weight to Apple’s predictions that the iPad will be in the hands of more than 10 million consumers by the end of the year.
Better fix those censorship rules then guys.
Google – Buzz or Boredom?
Feb 15th
From Bruce Townsend, Actinic
Google seem to have created a bit of a buzz lately with a product called… well, Buzz. But is it any good, and should marketers pay it any attention?
Google Buzz is essentially a feed reader, and a pretty basic one at that; in fact it seems to be derived from Google Reader, which has been around for a few years now.
With Buzz, though, Google have done some clever things. They’ve included support for media; given it a particular focus on social networking sites; and made it easy to add feeds from the main ones. They’ve also integrated it with Google Mail. So now you can check your emails and view posts from all the people you are following, all in one place – including picture feeds from Flickr and Picasa, and video from YouTube.
They’ve also branded and marketed it quite neatly. Coupled with its profile within Google Mail, this has grabbed a lot of attention and made it the talked-about application of the moment.
Being a feed reader, information does only flow in one direction. Comments posted only appear in Buzz, not in the application the original message came from. This may prove to be a weakness, and makes it vastly inferior to Flock, which has never gained much of a following. On the other hand, Buzz has the benefit of Google’s massive weight behind it.
To really gain traction, Buzz may have to actually wean people away from services like Twitter, and it may be too late in the day for that. Initially it will probably be used mainly for person to person interaction, particularly Google Mail users. But it could become a useful tool for businesses wanting to monitor what customers are saying. And with Google behind it, who knows how far it will go?
It’s certainly one to watch.
The iPad hype isn’t over yet, just wait until version 2
Jan 29th
Many reports are being very negative about the iPad, they say Apple has got it wrong. But this is all part of a greater marketing plan – the iPad revolution ain’t over yet, the best is yet to come and we’ll be just as sucked into that as we were this one.
I know that by now most will be feeling a little inundated with iPad information and are probably growing a little tired of hearing about Apple’s latest and greatest invention. However, I am surprised by the number of negative reports about yesterday’s launch (a great moment in history people!)
I don’t want to come across as too much of an Apple advocate, most will know I was happy with Dell for years before crossing over to the greener side of the Apple last year. But the iPad, without any doubt at all, is revolutionary.
Some reports say that the iPad is a “disappointment” and that it didn’t live up to the hype. Many reports have also gone and listed everything that the iPad doesn’t do – including such things as include a camera and Flash for example.
But to them I say this, you have missed the point of the iPad and completely forgotten Apple’s tremendous history of success.
The iPad isn’t meant to be a smartphone or a laptop. There are smartphones and laptops that do those jobs incredibly well and doh, the last thing that Apple would want to do is to make two of their best selling products redundant by cheaper alternatives.
The iPad is meant to act as a replacement, or an easier alternative to reading a book, a newspaper, or watching TV on the run.
While the iPad may not be perfect right now, I bet the next version will be pretty close. Remember the first iPhone wasn’t perfect…then came the 3G version one year later. The first iPod’s weren’t great either, they were big and bulky and didn’t have much memory. Now the likes of the Nano have an inbuilt video camera and the iPod Touch supports web browsing.
Give the iPad time people and don’t under estimate the magnificence of Steve Jobs and the incredible marketing genius that is Apple.
e-Readers will save the media industry and lead the ad market to recovery. Or will they?
Jan 22nd
e-Readers, Tablets and Kindles are going to save the media industry! Have you seen those headlines?
There is widespread excitement among the newspaper industry at the moment with all this hype over Apple’s upcoming ‘Tablet’ (or iSlate…or whatever). The reason is that just a few months ago people were saying that the newspaper industry was poised for failure.
It couldn’t attract advertisers due to falling circulation numbers. London’s evening free press was pretty badly hit too, those papers (London Lite and thelondonpaper) actually no longer exist. But, with the launch of these tablets and the like, the rebirth of the newspaper industry is being touted.
Suddenly, apparently, advertisers will be attracted once more to the newspaper mastheads and brands.
This seems like the silver bullet to save the industry doesn’t it? It’ll reignite good journalism and revolutionize how we consume news media. But I have my reservations.
Firstly, one report in the US said the ‘Tablet’ will cost around $999. I don’t know too many people that can afford that…they might stick to paying 20p for a copy of the Sun each morning with a side of breasts on Page 3.
Secondly, how will the ads differ from web ads?
Are they going to be interactive?
There is no doubt that January 27 will be an exciting day. But I think it’s too soon to be predicting the rebirth of the newspaper masthead.
There’s going to be pay walls next year around News Corp publications and I predict several other publishers will follow suit. So even after you do pay this $999 for a ‘Tablet’, you then also have to pay for a copy of your newspaper of choice.
It all sounds very expensive. And people have enjoyed getting the news for free for so long will they be willing to pay and to view it on a fancy reader? The reader (I’ve seen leaked pics) looks as big as a laptop…will consumers really want to lug it around all day? I for one can’t afford a bigger handbag, nor can my back.
Apple’s device is widely expected to be geared toward the publishing industry, a hub for newspaper, magazine, and book reading in addition to accessing music, games, and video. And with its App Store already a huge success, Apple will enter the market with a major advantage.
And is worth noting the success so far of Amazon’s Kindle in the US so far – it was the most popular Christmas gift last year.
When iTunes started selling music on the internet I know that the industry had its reservations about that too: “We download music for free, why would we all of a sudden pay for it?”
Perhaps I’m echoing those calls with this ‘Tablet’ business. Don’t get me wrong, I’m just as excited about this gadget as most. I do however think it is a bit early to be suggesting it’s the industries savior.
Furthermore, look how long it took advertisers to get on board with social media. Will they jump aboard these e-Readers instantly? Publishers are going to have to make some interesting deals with advertisers to make them worthwhile for both the newspapers and the consumers.
Google’s Living Stories: free SEO, but no ad dollars
Dec 10th
Will news survive in the digital era? Google says yes, and has launched ‘Living Stories’ to prove that it isn’t the news industry’s enemy, but its friend.
The ‘to pay or not to pay’ for news content debate may rage on but what’s most exciting about this is that it makes online news a more appealing – and more commercially valuable commodity – that publishers could charge for.
Google says that what has often been overlooked in the ongoing debate about the future of news is the nature of the news story itself and the experience of how it is read online.
On its blog, Google said, “We believe it’s just as important to experiment with how news organizations can take advantage of the web to tell stories in new ways — ways that simply aren’t possible offline.”
Living Stories, in partnership with The News York Times and The Washington Post, is being tested through Google Labs and features new ways to interact with news online. (For more info read our news story here).
Living Stories takes a different approach to the way that news is traditionally presented and read, playing to certain unique advantages of online publishing. It unifies coverage on a single, dynamic page with a consistent URL and organizes information by developments in the story.
The software also knows where a user has clicked before by turning those stories a different shade of blue. “Living Stories automatically tracks user interactions with the story, helping users get the latest updates to the stories they’re following and sift through the coverage in novel ways,” says its blog.
Andreas Pouros, chief operating officer at search marketing agency Greenlight, believes that Google has essentially found a way to try and bring publishers on-side by offering them free SEO, and what in his view, would appear to be a win-win situation for all involved.
“This marks a significant collaboration between Google and some major heavyweights in the publishing industry,” he says.
But of course only time will tell of which approach will gain the most traction.
Money, honey?
Google thinks Living Stories can help newspapers adapt to a shift that is causing millions of people to get their news from online sources instead of print. But that’s a huge problem for newspapers because they make most of their money from ads appearing in print.
Even though the Living Stories page design follows the usual Google template – simple layout, plenty of white space for potential online advertising – the search engine giant has no plans to show ads during the experiment.
Is there anything besides ad placement in Living Stories that could open up a new revenue stream for money-starved media outlets? Not as far as we can see. Will Living Stories be a viable solution to save the media industry? I am thinking ‘no’.
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