Wireless connectivity juin 21, 2006
Posted by Postmaster in Devices, Home of the Future, Mobile, Office of the Future.add a comment
eLab – Wireless connectivity.ppt
There are many technologies and standards in the domain of wireless connectivity. Some are complementary, others are in direct competition. The most interesting ones are presented below.
WiMax (Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access) is a technical standard for broadband wireless access, providing an alternative to cable and DSL last-mile access. WiMax technologies are developed by the WiMax Forum, a group of more than 200 companies, providers and carriers. The WiMax standard has a theoretical bandwith of 70 Mb/s and a theoretical range of 50 km. In practice, it reaches 12 Mb/s with a range of 20 km. The first large scale tests started in 2006 for fixed access (home to WiMax base station) and in the coming years WiMax should also support mobile access (mobile to WiMax base station and mobile to mobile).
Comparison with Wi-Fi: larger bandwith (typically 12 Mb/s against 2 Mb/s) and larger coverage distance (typically 10 km against 30-50 m); however WiMax networks requires a license, whereas Wi-Fi networks can be set up by anyone.
WiBro (Wireless Broadband) is a proprietary mobile broadband wireless access technology, developed by Korean telecom industry and supported by the government. Also it is in direct competition with WiMax, WiBro joined the WiMax Forum and agreed to harmonize with the mobile version of the standard.
Bluetooth is a short-range radio communication protocol providing a way to connect and exchange information between devices like personal digital assistants (PDAs), mobile phones, laptops, PCs, printers and digital cameras via short range radio frequency. Popular uses are wireless headset for mobile phones, PC mouse or keyboards, transfer of contact details, calendar appointments, and reminders between devices, wireless controllers of a games console, etc.
UWB (Ultra-Wideband) technology allows high-speed connections for short-range, wireless personal networks, to transmit video, audio and other high-bandwidth data between consumer electronic multimedia products. UWB complements other longer-range radio technologies such as Wi-Fi or WiMAX. It is used to relay data from a host device to other devices in the immediate area (up to 10 meters), e.g. from a laptop or a digital camera to a large screen display and speakers.
ZigBee is a low data rates and low power consumption radio transmission technology that is intended to be simpler and cheaper than Bluetooth and it is used in embedded applications requiring . ZigBee’s focus is to define a general-purpose, inexpensive, self-organizing, mesh network that can be used for industrial control, building automation, home automation, etc
Power line communication describes several different systems that allow simultaneous distribution of data over power wires. One such system is the use of home electrical wiring for remote control of lighting and appliances, using the X10 industry standard or the compatible Insteon (see below). Another is using power-line in order to provide broadband internet access. There are also prototypes of in-vehicle networks to transmit data, voice, music, or video over the direct current (DC) battery power-line.
Insteon is an integrated dual-band mesh network that combines wireless radio frequency with the home’s existing electrical wiring.
Mesh networking is a way to route data, voice and instructions between nodes: the infrastructure is decentralized and each node needs only to transmit as far as the next node. It allows for continuous connections and reconfiguration (or “self-healing”): when a node breaks down or a connection goes bad, the networks tries to “hop” from node to node until a connection can be reestablished. As a result, these types of networks are very reliable. Mesh networking can be applied to wireless or fixed networks.
Vending machines juin 13, 2006
Posted by Postmaster in eVending.add a comment
The vending machine is believed to have been first invented in Alexandria during the 1st century, but it is in the past 20 years that this industry has grown big. In 2000 it was a $30 billion business in the USA and $56 billion in Japan. Sodas and snacks account for most of the sales (more than 60% in the USA), but there are now machines offering anything from digital cameras, ringtones, batteries, organic food, kerosene (in Japan, for home heating), minute meals, etc. In Japan one giant machine offers 200 different products, stored at 3 different temperatures. According to this article, many advances in technology (cashless payment, connected machines, sensors, etc.) are not yet being widely implemented, as many actors in the vending business find technologies or fees related to these technologies (e.g. credit cards) too expensive and believe that there is no return on investment. Technology does however make a difference on the tracking and refurnishing side, for example by stocking the right amounts of products in a delivery’s van and by planning the driver’s route. Another survey shows that that consumers spend 50% more on average at vending machines when they can make purchases using their credit or debit cards, so the payoff should become interesting for operators.
Trends and examples:
- Pre-cooked frozen meals to be cooked and vended automatically in one minute or less: Hankers.
- Employees can order complete meals (1 to 15 days in advance) and get them from vending machines with their badges: O-Tomat, Codia.
- Healthy/organic snacks: HealthStation.
- Music, ringtones, videos or prepaid credit vending for mobile: Uphonia.
- Coca-Cola Japan installed vending machines that can be remotely controlled to provide drinks free of charge in case of a disaster.
- In Japan vending machines that sell alcohol are gradually being replaced by models capable of checking the age of a customer by scanning a form of ID, such as a driver’s license.
- Fuji has developed a makeup vending machine that can not only talk to a customer but also features a camera that displays an image of the customer’s face on a screen with a mocked-up image of what they would look like wearing a certain shade of lipstick.
The last three examples are taken from "Japanese Innovation Comes in Interesting Ways — How about Vending Machines"
Geomarketing and mapvertising juin 8, 2006
Posted by Postmaster in Innovation, Mobile, eMarketing.add a comment
eLab – Geomarketing and mapvertising.ppt
The goal of geomarketing is to deliver relevant content for a given geographical context. Geomarketing tools have been traditionally used to determine where consumers are or what type of consumers live in a specific area, but the popularity of online services such as Google Earth or MapQuest opened new fields of application.
Dubbed “mapvertising”, combinations of maps or satellite pictures with geographic/thematic search functions allow marketers to place relevant information, ads, promotions, etc.
Many services support interactive Yellow Pages-like advertising combined with maps: Google Local, Microsoft Live Local, Yahoo Local, national geoportals, etc. A user can search for a shop, a hotel or a gaz station around a given location and sponsored results usually appear before “organic” results. Yahoo! Local shows them as links next to the map and Google is experimenting with red pins for regular results and icons/blue pins for sponsored results. When a user clicks on a pin, a balloon shows up with name, address and phone number, as well as information such as customer reviews and a link to the business Web site. Google is planning to integrate video, chat and pay-per-call or click-to-call in these balloons. A potential customer could watch a video about the product and then directly contact the seller to get more information or to know if a given model is still available.
The potential for mapvertising development is huge, as (for now) Yellow Pages advertising market is bigger than the entire existing online search advertising market.
Marketers also develop new ways of using these tools:
- Fiat used Google Earth for an online treasure hunt promoting the Fiat Sedici.
- Adidas launched a quiz combining football trivia and location of players and teams (via Google Earth).
- HBO used Google Maps to create a tour to follow some of the Sopranos storylines.
- A company called RoofShout paints ads on rooftops in order for them to be viewed on satellite mapping sites (Google Earth, Windows Live Local).
- A German company called Artfield transforms fields into huge advertisements that you can see from planes or Google Earth.
Nutrition, Health and Wellness juin 7, 2006
Posted by Postmaster in Devices, Mobile, Nutrition.add a comment
eLab – Nutrition, health and wellness.ppt
Shifting dietary patterns (for example increased consumption of saturated fat) combined with a sedentary lifestyle are proven risk factors for diseases such as obesity, diabetes or cardiovascular disease. In 2001 such chronic diseases contributed approximately 60% of the 56.5 million total reported deaths in the world and it has been projected that, by 2020, chronic diseases will account for almost three-quarters of all deaths worldwide.
Some figures:
- 170 million people worldwide with diabetes
- Worldwide, at least three hundred million adults are obese and at least 155 million school-age children are overweight or obese
- 2% US adults and 5% children suffer from food allergies
The World Health Organization and many actors in the sector of public health are promoting healthy diets as a prevention measure. Beyond these public health problems, more and more people are becoming conscious of nutrition and wellness issues: the global “better for you” foods market reached almost $129 billion in 2004.
Mobile devices and wearable computers will likely become an integrated part of the nutrition, health and wellness approach, especially in the domains of preventive medicine, self-help and activity tracking. In May 2006 the creation of a Bluetooth working group on Medical Devices was anounced, with 19 members including IBM, Intel, Motorola or Philips,whose goal is to expand the use of Bluetooth into the medical, health and fitness markets.
Some possible applications:
- Monitoring blood pressure, glucose level, food intake, etc.
- Tracking exercises, burned calories, etc.
- Reminding patients to take their medicine, suggesting meals (and restaurants), etc.
- Sending data to doctors or intelligent agent
Some examples:
- Dedicated devices measuring burned calories (Bodybugg, Nike+iPod) or keeping track of food and calories intake (CalorieScanner, Salter Nutrition Kitchen Scale, modified Aibo)
- Hundreds of online tools and applications (FitDay, StartYourDiet, Calorie-Count)
- Applications for PDAs (WeightWatchers On-The-Go with 25’000 item food database, Atkins 2Go) or mobile phones (MyFoodPhone, Nutracheck)
- Mobile health monitoring (Lifewatcher(article),site in Japanese, eMediate)
Gamers and advertising juin 2, 2006
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eLab – Gamers and advertising.ppt
The idea is to sell real-world advertising in electronic games, played on a computer, a console or online. Companies such as Massive Inc. (bought by Microsoft in May 2006) place billboards, posters, vehicles, pizza boxes, etc. within the game in order to increase gamers’ brand recognition. In virtual worlds such as Second Life, people create their own avatars (online alter ego), they build houses, they start virtual business (clothing, real estate, detective agencies, sex shops…), they organize social events, and so on. These virtual worlds are extremely interesting because they show people’s intimate dreams and fantasies, and because they have a huge potential for marketers.
Gamers account for 70% of the 18-34 year-old male demographic who spend more time gaming than watching TV. Furthermore Nielsen Interactive Entertainment has shown that gamers recall advertisements in games up to 35% of the time and a Harvard Business School study shows that over 90% of core gamers do not mind in-game advertising, as long as content is relevant to the game and enhances the gaming experience.
Some figures:
- gaming industry’s revenues are expected to break the $10 billion mark in 2006 (of which in $300 million from in-game advertising)
- 6 million paying subscribers for the online game World of Warcraft, 165’000 residents in the Second Life virtual world, 7 million avatars as visual representation in the Yahoo! community
- Second Life residents spend 5 million (real) dollars a month for virtual products and services; according to this Business Week article, more than 3'000 residents earn an average of $20'000 (the real green ones) a year; British branding firm Rivers Run Red is working with real-world companies to bring their products inside Second Life.
In Second Life it is already possible to find Coke, Corona, Evian, virtual McDonalds with free burgers, Nike shoes that make avatars run faster, etc. What is really interesting is that some of these brands or products have been brought in Second Life by residents and not by the companies themselves.
There are however anti commercial feelings coming from some gamers/residents, who do not want to have “3D spam” in their world. Some also express concern about privacy issues, as their activities in virtual worlds can be tracked. Others are skeptical about real-world marketing in Second Life, because they completely change their personality online and like to keep the two worlds separate. Finally, each virtual world or game has a different culture and public, which means that no single marketing approach is likely to be successful. As this Harvard Business Review article concludes, this is virtually unexplored marketing country.
Podcasting and videocasting juin 1, 2006
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The concept of podcasting (combination of iPod and broadcasting) was proposed in 2000. Podcasting is a method of distributing multimedia files, such as audio programs or music videos, over the Internet using either the RSS or Atom syndication formats. A podcast can be downloaded automatically and it does not require an iPod to be listened to: some say that more people listen to podcasts on personal computers than on portable devices. Videocasting is becoming increasingly popular, with video functionalities on the new iPod or on the portable Sony playstations.
Podcasting started gaining popularity in September 2004, and in June 2005 it was definitely recognized as Apple adding podcasting capabilities to its iTunes music software. In the first 2 days after Apple’s launch of podcast on iTunes, customers subscribed to more than one million podcasts and some podcasts now have very large audience: as of February 2006 The Ricky Gervais Show had an average of over a quarter of a million downloads per weekly episode. Market research forecasts that by 2010 about 50 million people will have downloaded a podcast at least once, 15 million will download podcasts on a regular basis.
Business and marketing people quickly saw the interest of podcasts: in an environment where information overload becomes the norm, podcasts provide an effective way to get a message across to prospective buyers. Indeed podcasts usually address a niche and are listened to almost exclusively by interested individuals. Furthermore they can be easily tracked. Several companies provide technical solutions for advertising on existing podcasts, such as Fruitcast, CastFire, or Podtrac. They connect content producers (podcast or videocast) with advertisers that can buy “airtime” according to relevant criteria.
Other models than buying "airtime" on popular and thematic podcasts exist: several large corporations (VW, Cadillac, Nike, Honda, Sony PSP) have already launched their own videocasting campaigns, Kraft offers over 100 audio recipes to download, Whirlpool sponsors a podcast called Family Life that covers topics such as premature birth, setting limits for teenagers, long-distance grandparents, and so on. Gemey-Maybelline (L’Oréal) gives beauty and make-up tips via audio and video podcasts.
Collaborative marketing mai 30, 2006
Posted by Postmaster in Collaborative Web, Office of the Future, eMarketing.add a comment
eLab – Collaborative marketing.ppt
Traditional mass marketing techniques seem to be declining in effectiveness and increasing in costs. Indeed this 2006 survey shows that 78% of American advertisers feel that traditional television advertising has become less effective in the past two years. 80% of them will spend more of their advertising budget on Web advertising and 68% of advertisers will look to search engine marketing. Advertisers are also looking at alternatives to traditional TV advertising and will spend more on: branded entertainment within TV programs (61%); TV program sponsorships (55%); interactive advertising during TV programs (48%); online video ads (45%); and product placement (44%). Furthermore, traditional promotions have decreasing ROI: according to a Nielsen survey, between 1987 and 1997, trade promotion spending increased from 35% of the marketing mix to 54%, yet consumer sales remained relatively stable. One of the ideas to improve marketing efficiency is collective pooling of marketing efforts, information and intelligence in order to bring combined products/services to a greater audience at more economical costs. Collaborative marketing is generally based on commonality (geography, timeframe, audience, theme, etc.) and can be of many forms, for example:
- Lake Geneva and Matterhorn region marketing campaigns organized by the tourist offices of Geneva, Lake Geneva Region (Vaud) and Matterhorn Region (Valais)
- various partners advertising during a music festival or cultural event
- retailers and manufacturers targeting key shopper groups
- consumers become co-creator of a product (see entry on co-creation)
All marketing elements are potentially integrated around a common theme that communicates a brand value for the retailer and the strategic manufacturers:
- product development: for P&G Advisors, customers try new products and provide feedback
- pricing: in HP partition pricing, customers pay incrementally for capacity as they need rather that paying upfront for hardware
- segmentation: Dell allows customers to configure, price and order products according to their needs
- support: Cisco rewards selected network engineers that answer support questions on their online community by certifying them.
For detailed examples, see this article.
Most collaborative marketing initiatives rely on technological platform to connect the partners involved: customers, design/sales/marketing departments, suppliers, etc.
