Deepend

I.E. crosses Chrome's Axis

Hot on the heels of the news that Internet Explorer has dipped below Chrome (in some circles at least*), Yahoo has announced they are launching… yes, their own browser Axis!

Initially this sounded like a very silly idea but as this CNET article explains, since the end of the original browser wars building and promoting browsers has been all about search revenue – something that Yahoo clearly needs to address in a novel way to begin scaling the seemingly unsurmountable Google mountain.

Furthermore, the current fragmentation of the browser market across competing products and the ever diversifying mobile and tablet platforms has considerably reduced the barrier to entry in the browser market. As I’ve been wondering lately and CNet remind us, it’s only a matter of time before Apple get told off for hard-wiring Safari into iPhones and iPads in the same way that began Internet Explorer’s demise from its impenetrable monopolistic advantage as the OEM PC defacto browser (and also Yahoo’s co-distributed browser to 80 million subscribers per year).

After this happens there could be whole a new market for a beautiful, user-friendly, fun-to-use mobile browser with an engaging, exploratory search method. Perhaps Axis will fit this bill – but will it be able to turn the tables on Google and Firefox’s apparent commitment to corner the mobile browser market?

One thing’s certain. Poor old I.E.’s just lost another friend.

Pip Jones
Technical Director

* ps a website I help administer currently has a 60% IE share, 20% Safari, 10% Firefox and 2% Chrome which demonstrates how widely variable browser demographics can be!

Light + connected devices = &)

(download)

Click here to download:

Light_connected_devices.zip (8.87 MB)

Sent from my iPhone

European Online Privacy Crackdown Arrives with a Wimper

Since the EU surprisingly ruled last May that the use of browser cookies now requires explicit user acceptance – European websites have been slow to react. The year-long compliance deadline  is looming next week amidst increasing worries about what will happen to those websites who haven’t or cannot rebuilt their systems to avoid the use of the ubiquitous (and predominantly innocent) technology. Although the rules are reported to be vague and confusing, the $500,000 fine figure seems to ring out clear enough.

But will they actually start enforcing this next week?

Apparently not according to this PC Pro article and several BBC news articles which show that even the UK government sites aren’t going to be compliant – the ICO isn’t going to fine anyone!

Personally I think it’s been a phenomenal waste of everyone’s time triggered by paranoid bureaucrats and weak politicians who don’t understand the technology but just like making new rules to enact – even if they’re unenforceable and end up causing more harm to the users they are trying to protect.

I wondered last year why they were throwing the baby out with the bath water in response to third-party cookies, which can potentially leak private data from one domain to another, by effectively banning cookies altogether. Now I can see that they had in fact made this distinction in the “enforcement powers” and definition of “substantially distressing”.  

I also don’t remember them asking us if we actually minded. I personally hate advertising, especially scatter-gun mindless “coverage”. I would rather pay for premium ad-free content and channels than be told a hundred times a day to buy a product I already have, will never want or cannot physically use. So when I hear that an advertiser is going to make use of my online behaviour - which I have already consented to being analysed explicitly or implicitly via my browser choice, security settings and the terms and conditions of my ISP and websites I visit – to serve me more relevant adverts for the revolutionary idea of products I might actually be interested in then I will happily turn off Ad Block Pro.

ICO Deputy Commissioner Dave Smith (an anonymous agent?) said "In the area of cookies, it's quite hard to satisfy the test for a fine." Followed by an ICO statement of "In reality the placement of a cookie on an individual's device will not meet the necessary criteria to be considered for a CMP [civil monetary penalty]." .

So what on earth was the point of scaring everyone for the last year and wasting our time and energy!? If you’re going to make a new law at least bang a few people up to make it worthwhile.

I just dearly hope that the Australian paranoid bureaucrats and weak pollies won’t just blindly follow in the EU’s footsteps and force a new barrage of unnecessary legal pop-ups and stupid technical questionnaires none of us want to answer before lolling at cute kittens.

Pip Jones
Technical Director

Dr. Reggie Watts on innovation and out of the box thinking

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ej_BHc1UaDA&feature=related

Twitter map to aid adland

A ‘Twittersphere’ map which charts the relationships between Australian tweeters could be used by marketers to identify the social media influencers they should be targeting, researchers said.

The Twittersphere Map, generated by researchers at Queensland University of Technology (QUT), reveals the interests and links between 950,000 local twitter accounts.

Researches at QUT’s ARC Centre of Excellence for Creative Industries and Innovation (CCI) pulled the users into groups, revealing topics which brought the different clusters together.

On the map, the green dots represent topics or popular people such as Kevin Rudd or Julia Gillard while the yellow shows the strength of their following.

Associate Professor Axel Bruns said marketers and public relations professionals could use the CCI’s algorithm to figure out who the leading users are in a certain area.

For example, if a wine brand wanted to reach out to wine connoisseurs Bruns said he could identify the Twitter user with the most followers who frequently tweets about wine. 

“For a defined topic area you could most definitely work out who is the most important, most influential user,” Bruns said.

“If you are doing marketing the ones with the most followers are the ones who you want to target.”

Google Doodle Honors the Father of the Modern Synthesizer ­ Bob Moog

How can marketers react to multi-screen trends?

With increasing smartphone penetration, the growing use of tablets, as well as laptops and PCs, it's more than likely that people are viewing TV while using another device, or with one close at hand. 

For our Multi-Screen Marketer report (free to Econsultancy members), produced in association with the IAB, we looked at the trends in this area, and the important lessons for marketers. 

I'll look at some of the stats from the report, as well as examples of publishers and brands that are beginning to adapt to this trend. 

Multi-tasking across devices has arrived: the stats

Unlike some other digital phenomena, it’s not the sole territory of early adopters. Even among those respondents with just a television and computer, 52% report that it’s somewhat or very likely that they’re using another device while watching television.

With each screen added to the mix, that percentage rises, with 60% of smartphone users (three screens) and 65% of tablet owners (four screens) saying that multi-device use is the norm while watching TV.

Using devices to respond to TV

Tablets change the game, because they bring the app ecosystem together with the best usability aspects of the smartphone and computer. You can do plenty with your phone, but it’s not always easy.

65% of smartphone users in the sample say it’s very common that sites don’t work well for their device. Tablet owners are significantly more likely to use their mobile devices to take an action sparked by something they’re watching.

The lessons for marketers

These multi-screen consumers are ready to switch attention to their second (or third and fourth) devices when they become bored, or when distracted by a text or some other alert. 

For marketers, there is an opportunity to create content and experiences which are complementary to that shown on TV.

This may be to complement live events and provide further opportunities for advertisers, or to optimise response rates to advertising seen on TV. 

Here are a few examples: 

Prometheus

To promote the new 20th Century Fox film Prometheus,  a new three-minute trailer for the film was screened simultaneously online, on Channel 4 and on social TV app Zeebox.

Viewers were then encouraged to tweet about the film using the hashtag #areyouseeingthis. During the next ad break, Channel 4 screened a 40 second spot which included viewer’s tweets about the trailer. 

Those shown on screen were all positive, though not all of those on Twitter were: 

The campaign was a success in terms of getting people to talk about the film, with the volume of tweets peaking at more than 4,000, while the hashtag was trending for a while. At its peak the Twitter activity reached more than 15m users. 

Continued at Econsultancy.

Earned Media Through Facebook Promotions: Sharing, Entry Are Different Results

Stevie Turns Your Social Feeds Into TV Shows

via TechCrunch 

Espresso machine can print text messages on coffee foam with edible ink

Created by Seattle cloud texting company Zipwhip, Textspresso is an espresso machine that can not only send and receive text messages, but can also print those messages on coffee foam using edible ink.

We’ve seen numerous ways to add personalized messages to products ranging from chocolate bars to cookiesto cans of soup, but recently we came across one that has an interesting new twist. Created by Seattle cloud texting company Zipwhip, Textspresso is an espresso machine that can not only send and receive text messages, but can also print those messages on coffee foam using edible ink.

To create the Textspresso device, Zipwhip installed a Jura Impressa Xs90 espresso machine with SMS and printing capabilities using an Android app, servo motors, an Arduino microcontroller and a retrofitted Canon printer. Users can text their order to the device, which will then brew their coffee and keep it hot on a warming plate until they pick it up. Perhaps most interesting of all, though, is that the machine can use edible ink to print text on the coffee’s foam, opening the door to a world of personalization possibilities. For example, the machine can be used to text the last digits of a customer’s phone number, enabling them to easily identify their coffee when they go to pick it up. The video below explains the premise in more detail:

Zipwhip actually created its Textspresso machine as a way to showcase its cloud texting service, and it has no plans to produce more of them, it says. The code and plans for making the device are open source, however, and available to anyone seeking to make their own. Tech-minded entrepreneurs and coffee shop owners worldwide: time to build one for yourself?

Website: blog.zipwhip.com/2012/04/30/textspresso-machine-celebrates-cloud-texting-technology
Contact: info@zipwhip.com

via Springwise