Nokia N8 – Two Week Photography Review
Nokia N8 includes a 12 megapixel camera and Ziess lens
For a phone, the Nokia N8 offers an incredibly powerful camera and video package in a smartphone about the same size as an Apple iPhone. And for two weeks, I shot several hundred photos and dozens of videos on the smartphone’s 16 Gb of internal memory.
But let me jump back for a moment. About a month ago, a person named Chris reached out to me from WOMWorld.com and offered me the opportunity to try out the Nokia N8. The Nokia N8 boasts a 12 megapixel camera with a Carl Zeiss lens, so I jumped at the chance to do a test and review.
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iPad 2 Video Mirroring to Televisions
iPad 2 with Mirroring
Apple just announced the iPad 2, which is another insanely great device. Powerful, sexy, and affordable. (Just like me.)
One of the best features has to be the Video Mirroring capability. In my line of work, we use iPads for demonstration purposes. That’s all well and good for intimate conversations, but only so many people can huddle around an iPad. Not anymore.
This Video Mirroring allows you to plug your iPad directly into the television and display the entire iPad on screen. And some initial reports suggest that this will be backwards compatible to original iPads and then others contradict that. We’ll know in the next few days. I’m sure.
Imagine how powerful Video Mirroring on iPads will be in the hands of a trained speaker in a business presentation. This is the kind of flexibility we dream about in client pitches and presentations. You want hardware that has a wow factor.
I want to present from an iPad running Keynote, rather than a Windows PC running PowerPoint. It has nothing to do with quality of presentation and everything to do with the coolness factor. iPads are cool.
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iPad for Student Health
The more I use this iPad, the more I am convinced that it is the logical and necessary next step for students. It may not be the Apple brand iPad, but it’s becoming increasingly obvious that students will benefit on many levels from these ereaders.
We’re in the back-to-school mode, which means the inevitable articles about backpacks being too heavy. There’s this one about a kid who’s carrying a backpack that’s 27% of her body weight. Or this one that weighs out how much each item in a student’s backpack weighs.
Schools and textbooks are as necessary as they have always been, but the way we transport them is beginning to evolve. Even as I get my kids ready for school, I can see that they have too much to transport.
Here are a few things necessary to make ereaders viable for kids:
- Tough devices – Kids are not going to take good care of ereaders, particularly since they represent school and other “not fun” stuff. The device needs to be nearly indestructible. Even if it bulks up the device, a durable rubberized coating is probably necessary. Maybe the people who design the Panasonic ToughBook can help with a school-grade device.
- Controlled web access – As it is, parents have a tough enough time monitoring what their kids see on the Internet. A device like this would need to have parental and school control built right in, so that kids aren’t surfing inappropriate content when nobody is looking.
There are many, many reasons why we should be having serious discussions about ereaders for students. But it’s almost that time, and I have to get my kids off to school. And we’re renting a forklift to get their backpacks into the car.
Additional reading:
- Why You’ll Be Using an EReader in 5 Years
- Kindles + Kids = 37 Billion Reasons
- Another eReader Convert
Flash, HTML5, & Why We Need to Move On
You gotta wonder…how many people really understand the whole Steve Jobs vs. Adobe Flash debate? Sure, if you are reading this blog, you may already have a better-than-average understanding of technology. And you may even work and socialize with similarly tech-minded people.
But the rest of the consumer world? Maybe not so much.
For now, it’s not really that big of an issue. There aren’t that many iPads out there yet, so the device penetration is rather small. If they stay close to home (i.e., mostly use apps they buy in the Apple iTunes store), they’ll be mostly unaffected by the whole hullabaloo.
If the iPad takes off, and it probably will, it will mean that people will start to understand that the standards debate actually does matter to them. It’s the same way that people with old televisions started to understand that they just cannot watch HD television or use TV widgets (like the ones from Vizio).
As a content marketer, I’m rooting for a quick end to the debate. Right now, I know how to push out compelling messages in Flash. And in HTML and widgets and video, etc. If the developers tell me that we can do something with a particular technology, I try to understand what kind of message I can deliver…obviously paying keen attention to the limitations of the medium. It’s just the way it is. It’s not a big deal, we just learn to communicate brand value and message through whatever medium people happen to be using.
If I have to learn the nuances of communicating through HTML5, great, I’ll do that. If I can keep using Flash, terrific, let’s get moving.
In the meantime, I just hope that this debate doesn’t have some kind of chilling effect on people’s willingness to buy new devices, including the iPad. Sometimes people sit out new technology to see which will be the dominant format. Most of the world sat out the latest Blu Ray versus HD DVD. They didn’t care who won. They just wanted to buy stuff, so they waited it out. People who didn’t even remember the VHS versus Betamax debate could reference it as a prime example of the original video-format wars.
Let’s solve this HTML5 versus Flash versus open source versus Apple versus Adobe debate quickly. We need to get on with the business of selling devices, creating great content, and exploiting the best new technology channels.
Twas the Night Before iPad
Apple iPad
On the eve of iPad, the buzz is everywhere. Once again, Apple has managed to make themselves the topic of discussion. Every newspaper, magazine, blog, and website seems to have some sort of opinion on the iPad.
This week’s episode of Modern Family (a very funny show) even featured a major story line that included the iPad. Not just a mention, but a major, intrinsic part of the story. The iPad got some of the best product placement ever known to television.
Sure, it’s a great display of awesome or “insanely great” technology, but it’s much more than that. It’s a demonstration of how well Apple can connect with their target audience. This is a brilliant marketing story unfolding in real time.
Apple is one of those rare companies that creates a culture that they feed with well-timed and well-conceived products. They know their audience, which happens to include the media. And they play to them.
Many books have been written about Steve Jobs, the marketing of the Macintosh, the iPhone, and soon the iPad. But these are real-time chronicles. What will be interesting is the hindsight perspective that we have 10, 15, 20 years from now. It’s a brilliant marketing case study that will help us understand why we were mesmerized and powerless to the siren call of Apple’s product line.
Sure, other companies are out there trying to steal the spotlight from Apple. But people aren’t that stupid. Apple has positioned itself as a trustworthy company that people just…well…like. It’s like a wedding, and the guests adore the beautiful bride. Even if she happens to be a tablet computer.
In the meantime, I look forward to reading the breathless first reviews from people who stand in line all night to get the first iPads. It’s all good cheery fun that dovetails with the improving economy and the coming of Spring.
And, at least for a little while, it’s nice to be part of the Apple geek club.
LINKS: Not necessarily endorsements:
- Product and marketing lessons from Apple
- What 1984 Macintosh marketing reveals about iPad
- Steve Jobs: Lessons from a Marketing Genius
Apple’s 10 Billion…eBooks?
Apple iTunes Store Sells 10 Billion Songs
Ten billion. That’s how many songs have been legally downloaded from Apple’s iTunes Store.
This is what that looks like: 10,000,000,000
If it look impressive, that’s because it is. And it is significant because it may represent a small victory in the war over digital piracy. Apple has made it easy and affordable to buy music (something the record industry didn’t do themselves). As a result, people have paid money for stuff that they can easily steal.
If you own an iPod, iPhone or some other Apple device, you know that the Apple iTunes Store is really, really easy to use. Plus, they sell more than just music. You can get movies and TV shows as well.
As the iPad comes out, Apple will begin to roll out ebooks, newspapers, magazines, and other new media content. It’s going to be a broad range of materials, many of which will be purchased by the download. (Currently there is no subscription model.)
From a content perspective, this is a huge opportunity. People have grown used to getting content for free on websites. Few websites have managed to get money out of their visitors. Marvel Digital and Disney Digital have online subscription models, but those are premiere brands with highly exclusive content resources and characters.
As the iPad hits the streets, Apple is going to be working hard to get you to pay for content. Amazon already gets people to pay for ebooks and blogs on the Kindle, so there is a segment of the population prepared to pay for content.
No, don’t get me wrong. I am not looking forward to paying for stuff that I am getting free today, but that’s how it goes. Only so many websites and publishers can survive on the freemium model. Eventually someone is going to have to pay.
Sure, there will always be people who figure out a way to get stuff for free. In fact, many pirates don’t rip DVDs and MP3s because they want the media. They do it because they enjoy the challenge of cracking the code or beating the system. (And DRM doesn’t seem to work.)
With ereaders like the Kindle, Nook, and iPad, publishers are going to have to figure out a way to get people to buy digital books and magazines. Free is not a sustainable business model for most publishers. As the music industry will attest, it’s not going to be easy, but it is possible to get people to pay for media.
Price them right, make them easy to get, and maybe in a few years I’ll be blogging about how there were 10 billion ebooks sold on the Apple store.
LINKS – NOT NECESSARILY ENDORSEMENTS:
- Apple iTunes Store Records 10 Billionth Download, Gives Away $10,000 Gift Card
- 10 Billion Songs Sold by Apple’s iTunes Store
- Simon & Schuster Issues Digital Piracy Policy
- Publishers Fear eBook Piracy, But Shouldn’t
- Piracy, Avid Readers and New Business Models
TV Apps Kickoff – 3 Things You Need to Know
The 2010 Superbowl officially kicked off the Age of TV Apps. The technology has been around for a few years and is already available to many people. But Vizio’s TV app Superbowl commercial was the kickoff heard ’round the world.
So what are TV apps? In a most basic sense, TV apps are like the applications you download for your iPhone. Small, limited-use software that allows you to personalize your hardware.
New stuff that was once only available for your computer — and then for your iPhone — is now available for your television. If you have Direct TV or Verizon FiOS, some of this is already baked into your cable box. Obviously you can get TV apps on the Vizio TV, but also on many Samsung and Sony televisions as well.
You can already use things like Twitter, Flickr, and Facebook on your TV.
Here are three things you should know about TV Apps
1. The technical field is relatively open.
Sure, there are some key players like Yahoo who have already set themselves as leaders, but that can change. Currently, Yahoo controls the application and administers the software development kit (SDK). Note: From our personal experience, Yahoo was somewhat slow in distributing the SDKs to developers. That’s unfortunate because that could irritate programmers who could create an open-source system that could render Yahoo’s TV Apps technology obsolete. If you have the desire to create apps (or even a completely new OS), the time is now. The tech is in place for you to build the next great widget, gadget, social network, or living room app.
2. TV apps will present design challenges.
Weather TV app available through DirectTV
TV apps will face several user interface challenges. The most notable is that most people don’t have a keyboard on their television remote control. Sure, you can pull one up on the screen, but as you can imagine, typing with a little remote-control button is a pretty poor user experience. If you’ve used a Wii remote to create a Mii character, you know how tedious it can be to type out a long name. Designers will clearly make the difference between apps that succeed or fail. The old design rules will need to evolve to take advantage and address the limitations of a 10-foot interface.
3. Content & marketing opportunities will need to evolve.
The iPhone and other smart phones forced content developers and marketers to rethink the way we package messages. Long-form had to give way to shorter, more relevant messages. If not for mobile communications limitations, Twitter would have never gained a foothold in society. Face it, a 140 character message fits better on a cell phone screen than, say, a PowerPoint presentation. People who mastered the Twitter format (including URL shorteners) emerged pretty quickly as masters of the medium. And the marketers quickly caught on with brand messages. That’s a long way of saying that the new language of TV apps is still in flux. If you want to create content or marketing messages for TV apps, try to figure out what works with this new interface.
If you’re already exploring TV apps, congratulations. You’re probably going to have a head start on this unique and exciting new communications channel. I look forward to seeing what you create.
LINKS, NOT NECESSARILY ENDORSEMENTS:
iPad – Content, Marketing & Comics
Steve Jobs presents the iPad
If you’re a Macintosh fan or a Steve Jobs zombie (Jobzie?) today was like Christmas. Maybe even better. Today, as if you didn’t know already, Apple finally announced the long-awaited tablet device “iPad.”
If you follow this blog, you know that I primarily talk about content, interactive media, and marketing. Oh yeah, and occasionally comic books. So let’s talk about what the iPad means for each of my favorite topics:
- Content: Well, as I’ve said before, it all comes down to content. The best device in the world will only go so far on mediocre content. Touch screens are cool, but they need to be worth the extra cost.
Positive: As usual, Apple fully delivers on the iPad. Right out of the gate, you’ll be able to tap into the iTunes store for eBooks, videos, games, and music. Plus there’s probably a lot more content on the way. You can buy the iPad knowing that Apple will provide plenty of content in full, brilliant multimedia and color.
Negative: It’s hard not to compare the iPad to the Kindle when it comes to reading ebooks. At this point, it looks like Kindle’s e-ink has an advantage over the iPad’s screen. It’s just nicer to read books on a reflective surface, as opposed to an active matrix display. Sorry, color just isn’t that important for the enjoyment of text, particularly long-form prose.
- Interactive media: We’re now in a society where we fully expect to be able to interact with a certain amount of media. And Apple doesn’t disappoint here. The iPad is packed with nifty new tech that will allow us to touch, drag, scale, and game. We are at the tip of the creative iceberg, and it’s exciting to just dream about the amazing applications that will take advantage of the iPad platform.
Positive: What’s not to like? It’s going to revolutionize gaming and allow you to take your fun wherever you go. As a parent, I love portable movies and games. Apps are what made the iPhone special, and the same tech will work on the iPad. Nice.
Negative: It looks like I may have to re-purchase movies that I have on DVD so they play on the iPad. Something tells me I will be buying a lot of stuff to feed my iPad.
- Marketing: At the core, Apple is an electronics manufacturer, but somehow they have managed to position themselves miles above the rest of the industry. Their brand is huge. No other manufacturer can launch a product quite like Apple. Plus Steve Jobs knows how to give a presentation. If you’re a marketer, take a close look at your lame PowerPoint decks and ask yourself if you can somehow do better. (You can.) Apple’s marketing is a brilliant mix of art, science, and magic. This is what they should study in universities.
Positive: Apple breaks many marketing rules, but somehow they make it work. We can all learn from them when it comes to branding and event marketing. Apple makes it look easy, even though they are probably working like mad in the days leading up to the event.
Negative: What they do as marketers isn’t really taught in school. And try as they may, very few marketers can match their magic formula for generating excitement around product launches. But is this really a negative? Nah, it gives us marketers an achievement goal.
- Comics: It’s hard to say how this will affect the comic book business. Comics are already being pirated and distributed through torrents. Up until now, people had to buy printed comics to get a decent experience. Sure, you could read a pirated comic on your computer monitor, but the mechanics were wrong. Monitors are horizontal, while comics are vertical. Marvel’s Digital Comics actually give a pretty good experience, but it still required you to be sitting in front of your computer. I work in front of a computer all day, so sitting at my desk to read is a bit unappealing. Printed comics are still my favorite way to read full-color comic books. But for how long?
Positive: The iPad could make reading comics really exciting. I would love to read my monthly titles on a nice, clear tablet. I could store them on the device (as opposed to reading them in the cloud), that would free up a lot of space in my house. Set the right price, and I will pay for a digital subscription to my favorite comics. I’m ready, let’s go.
Negative: The pirates are already killing comics the way they nearly killed music and movies. If piracy doesn’t stop, it won’t make economic sense to create comics. Easy file sharing and torrents could kill mainstream comics as we know them today. The iPad just gives the pirates a better platform for sharing files.
So that’s it. The ‘Net and the pundits are already buzzing about the iPad. I’m going to immerse myself in the excitement and optimism.
Merry Christmas, Apple fans.
Good Content in New Channels
Win the blue ribbon for creating good content.
As the tech world breathlessly awaits the new technological wonder by Apple, it’s worth taking a step back and recognizing what this is all about. Y’know, deep down.
It’s about Content. Content with a capital C. The kind of content that will make the Apple iPad tablet device worth buying.
Superior hardware is great. But without content, it’s going to get dull fast. And with faster processors and cheap RAM, dull happens at mind-boggling speed.
There is a tablet PC and ebook ereader war brimming on the horizon. Cheap laptop versus Netbook
But the excitement isn’t really about the hardware. It’s about the content experience the technology will bring. And here’s the really important point: We all know that this type of content already exists. We can close our eyes and imagine how cool it will actually be when we can buy it. It’s a Jetsons fantasy.
Every week Hollywood releases a new action-packed thriller dripping with special effects. Of course, these movies find a core audience, but they usually come and go fairly quickly. Many people avoid these movies because the plots simply string together the special effects. And yet, audiences came out in droves to watch Avatar. It had enough story to make the special effects relevant and necessary.
IMax, 3D, and special effects existed long before Avatar. It’s just that people heard that the story was good (it was) and the special effects were awesome (they were). So people not ordinarily inclined to run out to the theater and wear 3D glasses went to see Avatar.
So what’s this mean to you?
Well, if you’re a content creator, it could mean a lot. If you create good content, some of it may find life on another device. People with a tablet will be looking for content, so you and your target audience have another opportunity to discover each other. Think of it as Content Meets Opportunity.
If you’re a marketer, then you gain a new channel for sharing your brand benefits. People want to discover new products and services that make their lives better, easier, or more fulfilling. If you have a brand that does that, your audience will want to know more about it. They may even want to try it before they buy it. New channels mean new ways to connect with your target audience.
The iPod changed the way we interacted with music. And the iPhone changed the way we thought of applications. These devices became personal lifestyle extensions. So, yes, there’s good reason to be excited about Apple’s “big announcement.”
However. If you create lazy, uninspired content or you hype mediocre brands, please don’t bring it to this new device. Let’s not clutter brand new screens with irrelevant content or messaging. Nobody wants it or needs it.
And now, let the tablet wars begin!
10 Marketing Tech Predictions for 2010
I’m a total nut for tech predictions. Love ‘em. Not only does it get me excited about the future of technology, it warms my marketer’s heart. Every new tech channel represents a new way for marketers to communicate with their target audience. And for people to discover brands and solutions that they actually want.
Since I primarily write about tech trends that affect marketers, here are my:
The Words + Pictures = Web
10 Marketing | Tech Predictions for 2010
1. Widgets and Apps Will Explode
Yes, we saw a pretty big year for Apps, thanks to the iTunes store servicing the iPhone and iTouch. But with Android and Kindle and even HP having stores, we’re going to see a big, fast expansion of useful apps. And people will want these apps to synchronize across devices and platforms.
What it means for marketers: A lot. Brands that create useful apps will see adoption rates soar. It doesn’t matter if it’s branded. If people need something, they will use it. If it happens to keep your brand top of mind, well, then good for you.
2. Web Analytics Will Improve
Every marketing initiative needs to have some sort of measurable ROI. Without a strong analytic package, you can’t tell what works and what doesn’t. The tools that we use are probably (hopefully) going to get better now that Adobe owns Omniture. Even free packages like Google Analytics are getting better, which pushes paid solutions like WebTrend and Omniture to innovate to remain competitive. Expect to see better tools for measuring Flash.
What it means for marketers: Good news for marketers who like numbers. Now, you will have even more numbers.
3. Microsoft Will Strike Back
Signs of life are bubbling up again from Redmond. Microsoft took a beating from Google, which has reinvigorated their competitive spirit. Bing is turning out to be a pretty decent search engine, which is encouraging for search marketers.
What it means for marketers: Microsoft is serious about making money in search, so they are actively courting search marketers. We’re already seeing them push Google to release new features, which is good for everyone. If you are using search engine marketing (SEM) campaigns, you can expect more options from Bing. And from Google, who will continue to maintain their lead.
4. Tech Will Move Off the Desktop
In recent years, everything has been focused on the desktop. But powerful mobile tools have changed the way we interact with websites. The traditional desktop will survive 2010, but it won’t be the only way people interact with the web.
What it means for marketers: It means that every new device — from the Kindle to the television — is now a new channel to communicate with customers. Smart marketers will be putting messages everywhere.
5. Newspapers Will Slip Further
Okay, this one is almost a little mean. Like teasing the short fat kid in school for being, well, short and fat. But newspapers are going to slip even more rapidly than they did in 2009. In the end, it’s likely that we’ll end up with a few national papers (like USA Today), a few regional papers (like New York Times), and maybe a few weekly local papers.
What it means for marketers: It’s a mixed bag. If you have a good PR team, you can get a story on the wires and have it syndicate to a lot of readers. That’s very encouraging. But with fewer reporters and papers, it’s going to get harder to get some ink. With less print out there, it will get a little more challenging to communicate with older demographics.
6. Mobile Marketing Will Get Sophisticated
We’ve been marketing to mobile devices for years now. Some agencies are quite good at it, but sadly, many more are not. Most mobile marketing is pretty lame. This year we’ll see the good agencies roll out marketing campaigns that make full use of mobile devices. Right now, mobile marketing is still rather simple. Look for more sophisticated and personalized applications.
What it means to marketers: It means that mobile content and incentives will need to be formatted for multiple screens. Don’t expect users to wait for your massive homepage to load.
7. Electronic Coupons Will Become Location Aware
Everybody loves a good discount. But if you forget your coupon at home, you may wait until the next trip to the store before you make a purchase. That’s a missed opportunity for brands. Many new devices have location-based software, so more marketers will figure out how to use this for offering coupons and incentives at just the right moment….like when they’re in close proximity to a store.
What it means for marketers: More sales and happier customers. Also, brick and mortar stores will star to win back customers from online shoppers.
8. Content Marketing Will Matter Again
Traditional media is slipping fast. That doesn’t mean people don’t need content. People want to know more about the product you sell, but also about how your product compares in the category. Content marketing will mean that your content must be fresh and vital for your target. Set it and forget it? Forget that. Write more content and make sure it’s formatted properly for the channel.
What it means for marketers: Make friends with a good copywriter. Try to tap them for ideas on how to update websites and other resources, so that your are providing proactive content for your audience.
9. Social Media Marketing Will Mature
Over the last few years, social media channels have become an effective way to connect people and products. But as the audience grows and diversifies, Facebook (and other social channels) will offer more mature and measurable ways to talk to targets. Banner ads? Sure, for certain awareness campaigns. But also look for more powerful fan-page types of services that give more flexibility and power to the brand.
What it means for marketers: Social media is probably going to get more expensive, but you’ll get more for your dollars.
10. New Hardware Will Change Brand Messaging
Kindles, iPhones, and the eagerly anticipated Apple tablet will give us new and interesting ways to tell people about our brands. But as the hardware becomes more powerful, it takes longer to figure out how to truly use it effectively. Initially, we just mash up existing technologies with new technologies (look it’s video…and now it’s on an iPhone!). New hardware will give us some immediate and measurable ways to deliver messages. But this year we’re going to peel back another layer to these devices, and discover new applications and opportunities.
What it means for marketers: Figure out how your message scales to new hardware before the competition figures it out first.
So there you go. Those are some of the tech trends that I believe will affect marketers in 2010. I’m sure I’ve missed a few things, but now you know what sort of stuff I’ll be working on this year.
Did I miss anything? Let me know your thoughts.
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