The SPOKE Daily » Technology

Ask Ting Ting

Karen Lo — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 19:25:49 +0000

In a fast-paced metropolis, convenience plays a vital role in its daily operations. This is why Mobile Guide (HK) Limited is introducing Ask Ting Ting, the most comprehensive and practical guide to help travelers discover the best of Hong Kong. Ask Ting Ting, due to launch this coming August, functions both as an electronic city guide and mobile device that contains over 40 video tours and a database of recommended destinations from historic sites to limelight districts. Ask Ting Ting is available across all premium hotels in Hong Kong and comes with a local SIM card – essential to avoid any occurrence of data roaming fees. Users can also enjoy free local calls and unlimited Internet and email access. A built-in camera allows instant sharing of snapshots and its web-based content management system allows instant news feed on the latest attractions and events. Ting Ting is brought to live by the charming actress/celebrity host, Sarah Lian. Always perfectly attired in wardrobe sponsored by Shanghai Tang, Ting Ting will inform users with fun facts and cultural trivia as she explores the city’s hotspots. The Dim Sum guide is one of the highlighted features which shows photos of menu items with captions in English and Chinese to familiarize users with Hong Kong’s world-famous brunch cuisine. Other thoughtful features include the GPS maps and the ‘Take Me Home’ feature that provides users with the most direct route from their current position to their hotel. Addresses are displayed in English and Chinese to facilitate local taxi drivers. Get the preview here! Check out this article for more detail on Ask Ting Ting.

HOW TO: Use QR Codes for Small Business Marketing

Rachel Noonan — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 20:25:16 +0000

A Quick Response (QR) code is a two-dimensional code that can be scanned by smartphone cameras to automatically pull up text, photos, videos, music and URLs.

These codes have become mobile-friendly ways to point people in the offline space to online resources. Check out the article that talks about QR Codes in Marketing.

http://www.nextmedia-source.com/frame.php?id=466549

TOSHIBA LAUNCHES A 3D LAPTOP

Rachel Noonan — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 21:03:02 +0000

Do these glasses make me look like a nerd?

Last week Toshiba launched their consumer 3D laptop. They had three units set up, each profiling various shoot-em up games, racing games and enhanced music watching experience. The newly designed 3D Glasses are decent looking, but don’t work with traditional theatre 3D because it’s a different technology. FAIL. Attempting to train your hands to navigate the game using the keyboard proved quite challenging. I lasted 30 seconds playing the Batman game. I either kept punching myself in the face or moving into corners looking like I was getting ready to hibernate in my Batcape for the summer. I am not their target market!

Toshiba represented some past technological milestones by displaying older desktops, laptops and tablets for guests. When I asked the rep why they weren’t actually working, I got a blank stare. I went on to tell him about how I went to “another” tech brand event where they were featuring some old models that were plugged in and ready to rock. To truly get perspective on how EPIC the evolution is, seeing a game of PONG in action in contrast to the spectacular lighting effects of the Toshiba 3D laptop experience can really hammer it home. I personally don’t think the 3D Laptops will be commercially viable, but neither was the APPLE II back in 1977. What it did do, was allow for innovation to take another step towards larger adoption rates. With each prototype or new innovative model created, we learn more about user experience, how to better market a product and how to integrate the product into people’s lives, making it an essential part of our every day. Go Toshiba, keep ‘em coming.

http://laptops.toshiba.com/laptops/qosmio

Back in the day....

R.I.P. IE6

Susan Shapiro — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 02:23:44 +0000

So, I walked into the office today and to my most pleasurable surprise, I found an invitation sitting in my inbox to the official funeral of Internet Explorer Six, better known to us Interactive folk as IE6. Apparently, this long-time Internet resident had passed away on the morning of March 1, 2010 due to workplace injuries sustained at the headquarters of Google, Inc. The official invitation can be viewed here: http://ie6funeral.com/ I will most definitely be celebrating this momentous departure of a near and not so dear friend. Over the 8 long years that this browser has hung like a black ominous cloud over my head, there has never been a day that I have dreamt more about than this one. A tad bit exaggerated and slightly morbid, but ask any designer/developer/project manager that has ever battled with cross-browser testing and they will most definitely echo my sentiment. At many points in my career, my colleagues and I have contemplated how we could avoid the headaches and long nights spent maintaining the integrity of our beautiful online designs when viewed with IE6. It was like being in a virtual fun house, but the reflections were never funny. IE6 was a true rebel, rendering things to it’s own liking, never conforming to the rules and regulations of typical web standards. All jokes aside, you would be surprised at how many high-profile brands and Fortune 500 companies still use IE6 as their main Internet browser. Therefore, any attempt to avoid doing business for companies that still worked on this ancient browser could have been the death of all our careers. It wasn’t a chance we were willing to take. And now we won’t have to make that compromise. May you rest in peace IE6, alongside our other dearly departed friends, MS-DOS, floppy drive, dot matrix and all the other obsolete, BSOD-inducing technologies of the world. Good-bye and good riddance.

Brilliant Mapping by Elastic Space

Kai Exos — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 15:11:49 +0000

I can’t even begin to tell you how excited this makes me. Back in December, I was invited into George Brown School of Design to mentor the post-grad students on their final projects. One of those bright, young stars had an idea to improve the wayfinding at Union Station. It would be incredible if an individual user could access Timo’s idea independently from another user. Then ‘outsiders’ who weren’t using the system would avoid confusion. But then again, they’d be confused anyway.

Map/Territory from timo on Vimeo.

Prosthetic Brands

Kai Exos — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 19:50:16 +0000

The theories around trust marketing assume a general ideology wherein brands ask for extended engagement by a consumer. Over the past few months, I’ve witnessed some rhetoric that calls upon a push-pull metaphor to somehow tip the scales in favour of a rudimentary idea. I’m tired of it. That kind of basic thinking doesn’t equate to insights that are valuable in a campaign’s development. Sure, it’s a good start. Ultimately, what we’re trying to do is promote an infectious brand personality to sell something. Why should anyone care for a product that barely works? A glow behind the type doesn’t make it our saviour. Or a video that tries to trick the viewer into associating humour with product benefit? Come on, be genuine. When you’ve chosen to market to a consumer’s belief system, reinforcement is more critical than the push or pull. Buyers are not necessarily part of your brand’s community just because they’ve purchased the product. No one has the time to care if it’s not useful. We can’t sell lies, no matter how clever the execution. Branded entertainment has given us freedom to create weird and wonderful stories that prepare the consumer to start caring. Think of all the great products you’re loyal to. Did you originally opt-in to be exposed to the brand? Probably not. Only when we’ve done enough work for a person to trust a product, can a brand can assert itself prosthetically. A brand becomes part of a person’s identity. Like Zugara’s Social Shopper, dubbed Fashionista on tobi.com. That’s some cool shit. Know why? ‘Cause it’s useful. Think of how much trust a woman has to give to allow an app to see her live and fit her into that little dress on a webcam. Spending money on awareness campaigns that don’t equate to dollars won’t help the brand build itself; so you’ve gotta build in efficiencies to save time and cost. SPOKE and Praxis did a custom publishing piece for Quaker, nearly 1M issues. Simultaneously, on the same full-day of shooting, our film crew captured coverage for the 15 second TV spot. The cost-efficient delivery mechanisms at retail, online and in health environments are what bring it all back to the brand’s personality. And useful, entertaining content with a fresh, integrated approach shows the audience why we care. It’s not enough to spout rhetoric to prove the media or delivery. It takes a deep conversation to find out who actually cares enough to trust your brand.

GIFs for You

Karen Lo — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 21:26:43 +0000

In my quest of finding the perfect GIFs for our blog readers, I came across the work of the New York photographer/graphic artist duo – Reed+Radar. Apparently the future of online fashion editorials is headed towards 1987 (that’s the year when animated GIFs were first introduced by CompuServe – thanks for the info, Wikipedia!) Except now, they’re called “Augmented Realities”. Enjoy and happy holidays!

3D FX OMG

Kai Exos — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 15:54:43 +0000

James Cameron is changing the game. I need to change my pants.

BELL Samsung Galaxy Launch Party

Karen Lo — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 19:56:33 +0000

Wednesday was the first snow fall in Toronto. What could warm up a techie’s heart more than some wine and hors d’oeuvres at the launch party for BELL Samsung Galaxy android mobile phone at the Thrush Holmes Empire? The Samsung Galaxy is now available exclusively through BELL beginning December 10, 2009.

Samsung Galaxy phone and its Android mascot.

Share your thoughts on the new Samsung phone with Notable TV host, Julian Brass, for a chance to win one of the 15 giveaway Galaxy phones.

A few of the 75 guests at this exclusive guestlist event.