Random Culture

Giving Microsoft Credit for Innovation

I'm an Apple fan. A diehard Apple fan. However, I think Microsoft deserves some credit for innovation. Namely, the Xbox Kinect. Apple brought us a game-changer taking touch gesture mainstream, but Microsoft's Kinect is the future of gesture.

It's easy to see this in a recent showcase by Fast Company of a new platform called KinectShop, an augmented reality shopping platform. See it in action below:

Clearly, there are applications well beyond gaming. If this kind of innovation can still come from within the walls of Microsoft, I think a little more credit is due.

The Future of Mobile is... Money

You might have heard some buzz circulating about today's announcement that Twitter founder Jack Dorsey has just launched a new mobile payment system, Square. It's exciting to see this topic finally beginning to get some conversation, especially since mobile money transfer and payment has already gained some ground in developing countries. Click Here's own Jill Krumsick posted yesterday about this very topic. Here's an excerpt about what's already happening in the US, from her blog post, "Put it on my Mobile Tab."

"The developed world isn’t going to see a economic transformation in the same way emerging markets might, but major players are taking note and moving forward.  Established and start-up companies are testing the waters in mobile money transfer (ie. PayPal Mobile), but the future is looking toward point-of-purchase transactions with the mobile device.  This idea, coined contactless payment, entails scanable hardware embedded in/on the device.

At the Cartes Exposition in Paris two weeks ago, Visa showcased it’s contactless system with Nokia that will be introduced in the next year.  This system allows items under a certain price threshold go through immediately and for items over, the user will be prompted to enter a PIN number for added security.  Another similar system,  Mastercard’s PayPass mobile program partnered with Blackberry, is currently pilot testing in Canada.  And American start-up Bling Nation is working on a smaller scale to create local networks of banks and participating retailers with mobile device transaction capabilities."

Read Jill's complete blog post here.

This is definitely a trend to keep an eye on, and something that will likely show up in every list of predictions for 2010... including mine!

The Future of Mobile is... Money

You might have heard some buzz circulating about today's announcement that Twitter founder Jack Dorsey has just launched a new mobile payment system, Square. It's exciting to see this topic finally beginning to get some conversation, especially since mobile money transfer and payment has already gained some ground in developing countries. Click Here's own Jill Krumsick posted yesterday about this very topic. Here's an excerpt about what's already happening in the US, from her blog post, "Put it on my Mobile Tab."

"The developed world isn’t going to see a economic transformation in
the same way emerging markets might, but major players are taking note
and moving forward.  Established and start-up companies are testing the
waters in mobile money transfer (ie. PayPal Mobile), but the future is looking toward point-of-purchase transactions with the mobile device.  This idea, coined contactless payment, entails scanable hardware embedded in/on the device.

At the Cartes Exposition in Paris two weeks ago, Visa
showcased it’s contactless system with Nokia that will be introduced in
the next year.  This system allows items under a certain price
threshold go through immediately and for items over, the user will be
prompted to enter a PIN number for added security.  Another similar
system,  Mastercard’s PayPass mobile program partnered with Blackberry, is currently pilot testing in Canada.  And American start-up Bling Nation
is working on a smaller scale to create local networks of banks and
participating retailers with mobile device transaction capabilities."

Read Jill's complete blog post here.

This is definitely a trend to keep an eye on, and something that will likely show up in every list of predictions for 2010... including mine!

Quick Links: November 20, 2009

Twitter Traffic Declining
ComScore, Compete and Nielsen all report traffic to Twitter.com declining, after months of continuous growth. Has Twitter reached it's plateau of users?

Video Game Marketers Use Social Media
Great insights into how social media is providing value to video game marketers, not just in reaching players, but understanding them.

More Mobile Commerce: REI
Yet another retailer is enabling mobile commerce. REI has now added the ability to buy through their iPhone app.

Quick Links: November 20, 2009

Twitter Traffic Declining
ComScore, Compete and Nielsen all report traffic to Twitter.com declining, after months of continuous growth. Has Twitter reached it's plateau of users?

Video Game Marketers Use Social Media
Great insights into how social media is providing value to video game marketers, not just in reaching players, but understanding them.

More Mobile Commerce: REI
Yet another retailer is enabling mobile commerce. REI has now added the ability to buy through their iPhone app.

Quick Links: October 12, 2009

Say What? iCrossing's iPhone App
The folks at iCrossing have launched a social media monitoring iPhone App that allows you to quickly see what's being said about your brand, no matter where you are.

While You're Flying, Lufthansa Updates Your Facebook
Newly released "MySkyStatus" allows you to send information such as altitude, location, arrival and departure times via Facebook and Twitter.

Uniqlo Runway: 2009 Collection Site Launches
Yet another interesting site from the folks at Uniqlo.

Quick Links: October 12, 2009

Say What? iCrossing's iPhone App
The folks at iCrossing have launched a social media monitoring iPhone App that allows you to quickly see what's being said about your brand, no matter where you are.

While You're Flying, Lufthansa Updates Your Facebook
Newly released "MySkyStatus" allows you to send information such as altitude, location, arrival and departure times via Facebook and Twitter.

Uniqlo Runway: 2009 Collection Site Launches
Yet another interesting site from the folks at Uniqlo.

Clicks to Bricks: Threadless

Online t-shirt ecommerce site Threadless has opened it's first retail location in Chicago. Great example of a company starting out as an Internet pure-play and expanding the possibilities. According to Threadless:

"Why a store? A zillion reasons. Most of them revolve around ideas we
come up with for giving back to the Threadless community and not having
the staff, resources, venue or time to make happen. Ideas like teaching
design classes, hosting galleries with Threadless artist's work, having
real-world group critiques and other various events.

Another big reason has to do more with our product.
We've been quite selective with which shops carry Threadless product
and have even turned down some big-box retailers. Our reason for doing
so is twofold. First, our product line changes every week and most
retailers are not equipped to handle change that fast. Second, the
story behind each of our products and who creates them, how they are
created, scored and selected for print often gets lost in a traditional
retail environment. Our tees lose some of their specialness and become
just another tee on the shelf."

Find out more about the Threadless store here. Photo by cshimala.

Clicks to Bricks: Threadless

Online t-shirt ecommerce site Threadless has opened it's first retail location in Chicago. Great example of a company starting out as an Internet pure-play and expanding the possibilities. According to Threadless:

"Why a store? A zillion reasons. Most of them revolve around ideas we come up with for giving back to the Threadless community and not having the staff, resources, venue or time to make happen. Ideas like teaching design classes, hosting galleries with Threadless artist's work, having real-world group critiques and other various events.

Another big reason has to do more with our product. We've been quite selective with which shops carry Threadless product and have even turned down some big-box retailers. Our reason for doing so is twofold. First, our product line changes every week and most retailers are not equipped to handle change that fast. Second, the story behind each of our products and who creates them, how they are created, scored and selected for print often gets lost in a traditional retail environment. Our tees lose some of their specialness and become just another tee on the shelf."

Find out more about the Threadless store here. Photo by cshimala.

Nike: The Second Coming

Nike has launched a new site, The Second Coming, that allows users to create a "mash-up" video for their AF25 basketball shoes. While the whole "consumer generated" TV spot idea is nothing new, it's a very well-done website, and worth checking out. One of the great things they've done is allow users to post the completed mash-up on their own blogs or MySpace pages, which certainly leverages the true consumer-generated power of the campaign.

Link via Adverblog.