Monday, September 22, 2008

SanDisk, major labels announce slotMusic preloaded microSD cards

Source: http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/399490454/

Filed under: Portable Audio, Storage

We're not sure why the music industry thinks consumers want to buy even more physical media, but it can't seem to stop pumping out plastic in a futile attempt to stay relevant -- this time it's an initiative called slotMusic, announced today in partnership with SanDisk and several major retailers. The 1GB slotMusic microSD cards are preloaded with DRM-free 320kbps MP3s, and are aimed primarily at mobile phones -- the idea is that you'll be able to buy music and listen to it without having to sideload it onto your device using your computer at home. Sure, we can see the appeal of that, but when we half-facetiously asked SanDisk's reps if they expected us to carry around a stack of individual microSD albums, they didn't laugh when they said yes, and even told us that slotMusic media binders would be available at launch -- no, they weren't kidding. We're not sure anyone's going to be sold on going back to lugging around physical media with the iTunes and Zune WiFi stores out there, but it sounds like we'll be seeing quite a push for this from retailers and the labels -- and artists are apparently enthusiastic about using the full 1GB of space to include content beyond basic liner notes and cover art. We'll see when these launch around the holidays -- if we had to guess, we'd say this is just Ringles and CDVU+ part III.

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banner ad blindness

Eye tracking and usability research has indicated that not only are banner ads not clicked, they're not even noticed, a term dubbed "banner ad blindness," so they apparently don't even count for much in the branding department.

If a marketer determines that advertising is an integral part of their online marketing plan, and often they do, there are several formats and technologies that are capable of outperforming traditional display ads - by a lot - why aren't more people using them? Video ads for instance. Video ads are seeing anywhere from 10 - 20X CTRs over traditional display ads. They are also demonstrating recall of up to 4X over television ads. Why? Well, look at the graphic above, when a video ad plays the viewers attention is already focused on the content that was previously occupying that space. There are also rich-media banner ads that in addition to rich media content have the feature sets that make it possible for users to share and embed content directly from the ad.

Source: http://blog.heavybagmedia.com/2008/06/19/why-is-everyone-still-dumping-money-into-banner-ads/

Upcoming Conference: DPAC II Day 2: Tuesday - 10.28.08 - NYC

http://www.dpaconference.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=blogcategory&id=28&Itemid=37

Advertiser Track: Is The Widget The Future of Digital Advertising? As Publishers, Media Companies, Networks, Bloggers and the long tail use and push the ad widget, will the marketers come rushing in? As widget companies abound and offer simple DIY design tools that make it possible for any size media company and agency to create customized and inexpensive widgets for their advertisers, will this be the next killer app for brands? And how are agencies and brands using them now? What type of communication strategies and approaches are marketers using to engage consumers? Where and how do widgets fit into media plans? And what metrics do you use to track their efficacy? Lastly, do they have the right stuff to be the future of digital advertising? Moderator: Matt Goddard, CEO, R2integrated Speakers: Christian Oestielin, Product Manager, Google Gadget Ad Dr. Augustine Fou, SVP Digital Strategist, MRM Worldwide Heidi Henson, Director, RockYou Advertising

Missing Link Marketing - UPDATED

The New Landscape - It's an ocean out there.

The new landscape into which advertising and marketing programs are launched today is dramatically different from the "old world" of one-way media such as TV, print, and radio advertising.

The "ambient information" available today also empowers customers to do as much (or as little) research as they want before they decide to make any purchase.

The "always-available-ness" of this information makes it more useful to consumers because they can find it when they want it rather than be hit with it when they don't -- e.g. when checking email, watching TV, etc.

The Modern User's Expectations and Habits - Give me what I want, when I want it, where I want it.

That said, "too much information" also presents a challenge for modern consumers -- how to hone in on the right bit of information that he or she needs at that moment in time from the ocean of available information.

In the new landscape, modern consumers have developed habits and finely tuned skills to help them find and use information as well as cope with its abundance, variety, and differing levels of trustworthiness and timeliness.

Consumers ... if they can't find your information on the first few pages of search results, you don't exist.

If answer to the missing link is not found, they may simply not buy, postpone buying, or just buy what they know (previously purchased product, service, or brand).

The right info, at the right time, to the right person, through the right device.

So, couldn't every person have a different missing link? Yes. Doesn't that mean that it would be very hard if not impossible to identify every customer's missing link, let alone solve it? Yes. And even if we could identify each user's missing link, wouldn't it be cost-prohibitive to get a message out to each individual addressing his missing link? Yes.

All of the above would be unfathomable in the age of one-way media. But in the new digital landscape there are new tools, services, and methods which can help solve these missing links

continue reading....

Original article from October 22, 2007.

http://mktsci.com/missing-link-marketing-executive-brief.htm

The Need For Speed - Using Social Media to Speed Innovation

Source: http://www.mediapost.com/publications/index.cfm?fuseaction=Articles.showArticleHomePage&art_aid=91111

Posted September 22nd, 2008 by Augustine Fou

Beyond the well-known examples of social media Web sites like Facebook, YouTube, MySpace, and others, what exactly is social media?

Beyond the obvious characteristics of user-generated content, many-to many interactions, conversations with peers, raw and uncensored, etc. what are the defining characteristics of social networks that are not generally talked about? Why are they valuable?

continue reading ...

(requires free registation)

Recap: Defining Characteristics of Successful Social Media

1. Increases in value over time, from the collective actions/work of the community.

2. Provides real-time or near-real-time information in statistically significant numbers.

3. Leverages the collective work of the community to vet accuracy and relevance.

A Game for the Mentally and Dexterously Gifted

Source: http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/yankodesign/~3/397166185/

Mobius PLAY is a toy/puzzle by designers Paul Sandip and Suhasini. It challenges manual dexterity and mental concentration. The toy constitutes a continuous mobius ring having its ends permanently joined together and a dual snout magnetic roller. One has to hold the mobius ring in one hand and try to move the magnetic roller along the track. Just looking at it and trying to figure out how. . . is brain teasing me. Beautiful concept - a toy sexy enough to stand as an art piece.

Designer: Paul Sandip & Suhasini Paul

Paul Sandip, Suhasini Paul

Intel Atom N270 1.6Ghz vs Atom 330 1.6GHz Dual Core vs Core 2 Duo U7700 benchmarks

Source: http://forum.eeeuser.com/viewtopic.php?id=43085 by: inside_the_fire MemberRegistered: 2008-09-05 I was bored, so I went and did a benchmark on the performance of Intel Atom N270 (CPU that comes in EEE PC 901/1000/1000H) Rig: Asus EEE PC 1000H STOCK (1GB Ram, 80GB Hard Drive, GMA 950, Atom 1.6Ghz) Windows Vista Ultimate SP1 with all updates installed. For the test, I got rid of all unnecessary background apps, and disabled Aero and Dreamscene. The Test was run by Sandra 2009. The higher the values, the better. Processor Arithmetic Test This test determines how the CPU handles arithmetic and floating point instructions. Intel Atom N270 1.6Ghz - ALU: 3862 MIPS iSSE3: 3280 MFLOPS Intel Atom 330 1.6GHz Dual Core – ALU: 8032 MIPS iSSE3: 6724 MFLOPS Intel Core 2 Duo U7700 1.3GHz – ALU: 12105 MIPS iSSE3: 8423 MFLOPS Processor Multimedia This test shows how the CPU can handle multimedia instructions and data Intel Atom N270 1.6GHz – 8291 kpixels/s Intel Atom 330 1.6GHz Dual Core – 16920 kpixels/s Intel Core 2 Duo U7700 1.3GHz – 24742 kpixels/s Memory Bandwidth This test reveals the speed of the CPU's memory cache Intel Atom N270 1.6GHz – 3.54 GB/s Intel Atom 330 1.6GHz Dual Core – 7.18 GB/s Intel Core 2 Duo U7700 1.3GHz – 9.53 GB/s Hard Drive Performance This shows how fast the Hard Drive can read and write data. I did this to see how fast the stock hard drive is on EEE PC 1000H. The hard drive is a ST980811AS 80GB (SATA150, 2.5", NCQ, 8MB Cache, 5400rpm, 16ms Random Access Time) Read – 32.84 MB/s Write – 29.78 MB/s Conclusion No surprises from the results, the Atom CPU that comes in EEE PC 901/1000/1000H is very underpowered, so dont expect miracles. It gives enough performance for Surfing the net, Office work, basic gaming, music and smooth HD 720p playback. It handles Vista fairly well, a little bit slower than XP, you wont really feel the difference. I like the fact is that the upcoming Atom 330 Dual Core CPU will give double the performance of the N270 (duh), and this new model is set to come with the next gen EEE PC's. If you want a netbook that can perform extremely well and play 1080p HD movies with no lag, then i suggest that you wait for another 3-4 months for the new EEE PC's. The new Atom CPU wouldn't increase the price by much either, (maybe at most $50 extra), so no harm in waiting for Power Users who want an ultra-portable laptop that does everything you throw at it. Obviously, the Ultra Low Voltage Core 2 Duo thrashes the Atoms, and I would personally prefer paying $100 more to have the Core 2 CPU rather than the atom, especially when the Core 2 give you only an hour less worth of battery for roughly 2.5 times the performance. Hard Drive speed - as I expected, fairly decent for a netbook, very pleased with it. I hope this gives you a good insight to how the EEE PC 1000H performs, and also help you decide whether its worth waiting for the Dual Core Atom or not. ________________________________ EEE PC 1000H Black |XP Home SP3|2GB Ram|Atom @ 2.0GHz|GMA 950/128MB|Dolby Sound Room|80GB SATA-150 5400rpm HD|BIOS 1005

ASUS confirm dual-core Atom Eee PCs this year, bigger SSD & HDD

After a leaked ASUS slide confirmed the Eee range would reach 23 different units, company president Jerry Shenhas spoken about some of the upcoming models and the segments he expects the Eee PC to occupy. According to Shen, two new categories - Ultimate and Pro Fashion - will launch this year, each with dual-core Atom processors and increased storage. A choice of 120GB HDD or 32GB SSD was suggested.

In late September, the Eee PC S-series is expected to launch with a 10.1-inch 16:9 aspect display with LED backlighting, 4-5hrs battery life and 32GB SSD storage. ASUS will be targeting the netbook at the "high-end" of the netbook market, with an estimated $700-900 tag.

Intel's dual-core Atom 330 processor has been delayed until Q4 2008, but Shen is confident that supplies of the single-core Atom N270 CPU will remain consistent through to late Q2 2009. Total Eee PC shipments, according to ASUS' predictions, will exceed 1.5-1.6 million units in Q3 2008, and Shen says the company is confident it will achieve its targeted annual shipments of five million units.

Sunday, September 21, 2008

A Taste of the Canon 5D Mark II's Mindblowing Full HD Video [Canon 5D Mark II]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/398933485/a-taste-of-the-canon-5d-mark-iis-mindblowing-full-hd-video

Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer Vincent Laforet was one of the first people to get his hands on the most coveted camera on the planet, Canon's 5D Mark II. He talked to us a bit about the breakneck stills-and-video shoot he put together in just a few hours to see what this camera can really do. You can catch a glimpse of the incredible results here and why Laforet says that it's the "best camera ever" that will "redefine the industry." Yes, what you're looking at are screencaps of the video from his site.

ALL IMAGES©Vincent Laforet
It's not the camera's still photography performance that Laforet says is a game-changer, as duly impressive as it is—he says it matches what your "natural eye in can see the worst light" which is "a big deal." It's the video, which he says—only half-jokingly—makes him "never want to shoot another still photo."

You're only getting a diluted taste of it here. Laforet noted that this DSLR obliterates the video quality of Canon's dedicated HD XH-A1, especially in low-light. Laforet says that for the first time ever, using a DSLR or any other camera was "not a struggle at all," even "at night, outside, in a city" which can be the among the most challenging lighting situations of all. (Compare these stillframes screencapped from his site to Nikon's first D700 shots here.)

It's the cost that makes it a revolution, and a boon for indie filmmakers. With $25,000 worth of SLR lenses, Laforet and his small crew were able to perform comparably to what would take at least several hundred thousand dollars worth of motion picture camera lenses (and some of those you can't even buy). He even said some of the most expensive ones were unnecessary. Here's a rundown of the lens they used (with rough price estimates):

• 7.5mm lens (custom)
• 15mm fisheye ($650)
• 16-35mm f/2.8 ($1600)
• 50mm f/1.2 ($1100)
• 85mm f/1.2 ($2000)
• 135mm f/2 ($1000)
• 200mm f/1.8 ($4500)
• 400mm f/2.8 ($7000)
• 500mm f/4 ($7000)

That and a $2700 DSLR body. A testament to its ease of use is that Laforet is a photographer; he has no professional film experience and had never used the 5D Mark II before, yet was able to storyboard, cast, shoot and edit the clip in just two days, with less than 12 hours notice. In particular he noted that dumping the MPEG-4 video takes way less time than it would with an actual HD camera. The only issue that would stop a person from shooting a TV pilot solely with this camera is sound matching, he says. If that's covered, you're gold.

The video he shot, "Reverie" will be available soon, though not soon enough. [Vincent Laforet - Thanks so much, Vincent!]

Update: Here's a leaked YouTube version of the video, which does not do it the justice it deserves, but still looks good:

Army Awards Contract for 'Thought Helmets' (Seriously, it's Tinfoil Hat Time, like, Now) [Telepathy]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/398966749/army-awards-contract-for-thought-helmets-seriously-its-tinfoil-hat-time-like-now

From the "how the hell did we miss this" department comes word that the U.S. military is hard at work creating "thought helmets" for its soldiers. If fully realized, this mind-interfacing piece of gear would allow for what plebeians would call magic, and Arthur C. Clark would call basic telepathy. The "good" news is the Army believes telepathic communication between soldiers in the field is entirely possible, some day. The bad news is that "some day" is decades away for this incredibly ambitious plan—this ain't no video game controller, folks.

"Having a soldier gain the ability to communicate without any overt movement would be invaluable both in the battlefield as well as in combat casualty care," the Army said in last year's contract solicitation, which was awarded last month to a coalition of scientists and extraordinary gentlemen from the University of California at Irvine, Carnegie Mellon University, and the University of Maryland. "It would provide a revolutionary technology for silent communication and orientation that is inherently immune to external environmental sound and light."

The system, in theory, would work thusly. First, it would "decode the activity in brain networks" so soldiers could radio commands to their squad simply by thinking of the message. In the system's early stages (and, again, we're talking theoretical here), the person on the other end of that thought transmission would hear a robotic voice speaking the command into their headphones. But that's kind of primitive, don't you think?

But scientists eventually hope to deliver a version in which commands are rendered in the speaker's voice and indicate the speaker's distance and direction from the listener.

Yeah. We hu! mans. Pr etty amazing at times. At times. [TIME, Image: Wired]

One Billion People Tuned in to See the LHC Break [Lhc]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/399004305/one-billion-people-tuned-in-to-see-the-lhc-break

The CERN scientists said the LHC's big malfunction this weekend was the result of a "faulty electrical connection between two magnets that stopped superconducting, melted and led to a mechanical failure and let the helium out," but we snarky Internet folk know better. It was performance anxiety! With more than a billion people tuning in to watch the first proton beams make their way around the 17-mile ring, the LHC just got a little potty shy. "It is quite overwhelming," said CERN spokesman James Gillies. "We weren't just on the news, we were top of the news." And now you're buried under a mountain of repairs. Get to work so the world can end already! [New Scientist]

iYo Rocks the Baby Then Charges Your iPhone [IYo]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/399131543/iyo-rocks-the-baby-then-charges-your-iphone

Swedish designer Peter Thuvander likes yo-yo's so much that he designed an iPhone charger concept around them. Called the iYo (what else?), the device charges its lithium ion battery cell with an OLPC crank that's turned using the spinning power of a yo-yo. "The remote control needs only 30 cranks—which is nothing when you yo-yo," he said. Just 30 cranks and your dignity, Peter. I kid, of course, being someone who sleeps with a Duncan yo-yo under his pillow. The video demonstrates what a good idea this is:

[Peter Thuvander via Core77 via Treehugger]

Nokia's E75 QWERTY slider spotted in the wild

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/398952102/

Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds

Espoo's usually a pretty cold place, but HTC's S740 has to feel the heat coming off Nokia headquarters now that the purported E75 slider has been spotted in its natural habitat. We don't have a ton of information about this thing, but considering the length of time that transpired between the E71's first spy shot and its release, we do know that we could still be in for a bit of a wait before this thing is announced, much less retailed. If Nokia manages to keep the thickness in check, we're thinking this could be a fantastic form factor for S60, Eseries or otherwise -- and since the phone borrows heavily from the ID of the beautiful E71, we're optimistic it's going to be a looker. Let's just get it out the door in a reasonable amount of time, alright?

[Thanks, African Remix]

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Dell's Studio Hybrid torn down for kicks and giggles

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/399002656/

Filed under: Desktops

We've only one thing to say here: it's about time! Dell's Studio Hybrid has been shuffling around for well over a month, and we're just now seeing someone with the nerve to take a putty knife to this cute 'lil desktop and photograph its innards for all to see. As expected, there ain't much breathing room in the 7.7- x 2.8- x 8.3-inch box, but there's a smattering of pictures and a full disassembly video waiting in the read link below. Go on and look, sicko.

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LG's KC910 Renoir detailed in pics, is high art

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/399162276/

Filed under: Cellphones

Yeah, we've seen the PR, ogled the specs, but real honest-to-goodness pics are doing nothing but make our grins bigger. LG's KC910 packs everything under the sun into its newest and flashiest handset, from an 8 megapixel cannon to Dolby Mobile, GPS, WiFi, Bluetooth, 7.2Mbps HSDPA, this will be a tough review unit to return if we get our paws on one. Apparently still slated for an October release, we've no word on pricing, but you can expect it to sting dearly off-contract. We'll be following this set really closely, so do swing back and we'll be sure to tell ya what we find out. Follow the read link to get the pics.

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