Mind Reading Video Camera?

Are you the type of person that loves to record and document your life daily? Do you like to shoot cool little movies with friends? Better yet, are you the person that struggles to get the best 6 seconds of footage to put on Vine?

A problem that many people run into when recording it the useless time consuming footage that gets deleted anyway. Neurowear, a Tokyo-based company, may have developed a piece of technology that will help everyone with this problem. The Neurocam shoots whatever the wearer thinks is interesting.

It is a little gawky I admit, but the headpiece's camera that is uses is an iPhone. When the wearer is looking at something interesting the headpiece will evaluate the interest level of the user and that  will activate the camera. The headpiece uses 1-100 to gauge the level of interest and when anything passes 60 it will be recorded. A GIF, 5 second animated picture, will then be recorded. With the help of the iPhone the images are stamped with the exact location and date. 

I believe if the headpiece was less awkward looking and could supply its own camera, this product will be a real contender in the video recording market. What do you think? Will you try to wear it? It will be interesting to see how this product progresses.

Check out the video here:

http://bit.ly/HwUJdM

The Newest Form of Entertainment! Bitstrips!

This past week as I scrolled through Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, I saw endless amounts of these new comic strips meant to provide entertainment, called Bitstrips.  I also saw many of my friends complaining about how annoying they were to keep seeing.

 So when I saw this article I had to read it to get the scoop and see what all this was all about.

Bitstrips allows you to create a one panel cartoon, of your personalized avatars you've created or you and your friends, that can consist of a status under the cartoon and text bubbles throughout the picture!

For those who find these to be annoying and flooding their news feed wait no longer, as all you have to do is click the arrow by the Bitstrips posting in your news feed and select hide all and they will be gone for good.

Personally so far these have not bothered me on Facebook, but in time if they take over and that's all I see I'm sure they could, then I'll just have to block them. 

Another question we run into is, is bullying going to occur in these comics?  In my eyes I think yes, in time this is inevitable, especially with the younger generation.  Either Bitstrips will have to create a censoring system or it could cause major problems in this new world of social media. Bitstrips has created the stop bullying challenge to encourage kids to end bullying and speak up against it! CHECK IT OUT!



http://mashable.com/2013/10/30/bitstrips-walkthrough/

The New Era of Storytelling

Instagram, one of the world’s largest social media apps available for smart phones, has been the talk around the watercooler at CNN. With it being one year since Hurricane Sandy hit, leaving millions of people’s lives in shambles, CNN decided to do something to focus on the recovery effort.

During the Superstorm, people were using Instagram to document what was going on where they were. The app was used to show real time scenes of the destruction. According to Instagram, the uploads of Sandy were so high, that at one point, 10 pictures of the storm were being uploaded per second.

In light of the horrible disaster, CNN has created a video and photo series that is right on Instagram. This is the first time the news outlet has ever done anything like this. They sent Tim Lampe to New York, along with an iPhone. There, Lampe was able to capture hope. The series shows rebuilding, recovery, and the strength of those men and women who lost it all, but are still hanging on.

To me, I find it very interesting that this up and coming medium is now being used to get the story out. It is a very easy way for people with smart phones to become more informed on what’s going on in a more visual way.

Is this the new era of storytelling? Do you think that you will be using the app for more than just posting pictures of your dogs, food, or friends? I know I will now be trying to use Instagram to it’s full potential.

For more information on this, or to see some of the photos, check out the link below!

http://www.cnn.com/2013/10/30/tech/sandy-anniversary-instagram-storytelling/index.html?hpt=te_r1

The Twitter Change

As of Tuesday, November 29, Twitter has changed its format so pictures and video show up on a person’s timeline automatically. Changes can be seen immediately online and on any updated iOS and Android Twitter apps.

This new change may not seem like a big deal but there are already several concerns popping up through social networks according to "Twitter Now Fills Your Feed With Photos."

One of the most common ideas about having pictures and video show up on one’s news feed is that it makes Twitter look even more like Facebook. Twitter is supposed to be more about the text people produce and less about visuals. Having pictures and video readily visible may distract readers from the actual tweets that prompt the visuals.

Another concern people have is regarding their privacy. Some people have ‘talked’ about what happens when they are scrolling through their timeline and inappropriate pictures show up at the wrong time.

However, there are people who enjoy this new change. It shows people that Twitter is trying to make their platform more ‘user friendly’ and less complicated. There are no more extra buttons to press to view photos or videos.

For the most part, I like the new Twitter change. There are several potential concerns I have but I guess we’ll have to wait and see where Twitter goes from here.

New and Improved Lost and Found

I couldn't help but to steal the finding of this innovation from my classmate, Rob Meacham, because I find it so fantastic! Tile is basically the world's largest lost and found where consumers purchase these small key tag like objects that can be attached to basically anything. The consumer must also download the Tile app in order for the tiles to be effective when on the go. You can add up to 10 Tiles on one account and you can share access to Tiles with friends and family.

The Tile app remembers where it last saw your Tile which allows you to easily find it right where you left it. Not only can you track the Tiles, you can also have an alert sound if triggered which will allow you to hear your lost item. The app works with iPhone 4s, iPhone 5s, iPad Mini, iPad 3 and 4 and iPod Touch 5. The app allows you to see yourself getting closer and further away from the Tile when within a 50-150 ft. range. Conveniently, you also don't need batteries for your Tiles nor do you need to charge them. On top of this, Tiles last a year and consumers will receive a reminder when it's time to order new Tiles and they will also provide you with an envelope in order to recycle your old Tiles.

The Tiles are sold in various increments and with differing prices ranges. One tile is $18.95 and the most popular option is buying three Tiles at once because then they reward you with one bonus Tile for free for a total of $56.85.

Personally, I would get a ton of use of out Tiles. I can't even describe the amount of times I misplace my possessions which drives me insane and causes me to waste a lot of time looking for them. The Find My iPhone app has always been one of my favorites because it's very important to have if you misplace your phone or if someone steals it because you can get an exact address of where it is located. It's great that there is finally an innovation that allows consumers to have the ability to track their possessions, other than their phones, because it's usually difficult to do otherwise. As long as a decent amount of people in your community also have Tiles and the Tile app, they can also help you look for your misplaced items.

How Google Can Get You Going

When you think of entreprenurial endeavors the word "easy" doesn't exactly come to mind. Getting a business up and going, establishing your brand, and getting in the marketplace is no easy task. Have no fear, Google is here to help you. Google Analytics  is a fairly new tool avalible to it's users which helps to measure important aspects of your business such as brand awareness, lead generation, and customer retention.

Google Analytics breaks information down for you that you may otherwise may have never known. The website will breakdown all statistics of your company website. The lead generation statistics that Google Analytics will generate for you tells you the demographics, and behaviors on the website of your visitors. Google makes it easy and efficient to establish your brand as well. The website allows you to optimize content, and reach a broader audience. By keeping your brand consistent, and knowing your lead generation, customer retention is highly important. Customer retention forms from branding and your lead generation; with Google Analytics helping you retain customers, you'll be running a better business in no time!

It's no wonder that such a great too like Google Analytics is so reliable and innovative; after all it is brought to you by Google. Whether you're building your brand, retaining customers, or trying to understand your lead generations of your business or company website, Google Analytics is a reliable and accurate tool to help.

MMS Is Growing For Mobile Marketing

For those that do not know, MMS stands for Multimedia Messaging Service. "Mobile advertising" usually conjures up images of banner ads or maybe native advertising, but a few firms think the future is in the humble text message.

Brands including Ikea, Kellogg, Bloomingdales, Starbucks and TV networks ABC, Fox and CBS have launched marketing outreach programs designed for SMS and MMS. The latter is seen by some as an opportunity for multimedia ads, including video.

Deep Malik, Iris's co-founder and COO, says brands can reach any phone, from an iPhone to a flip-phone. Why texting? Malik says consumers are more apt to open text messages than emails. He also says that, "a picture is worth a thousand words."

James Citron, the CMO of Payvia and former CEO of Mogreet. "People don't think about it but there are two apps that are on every phone — phone calling and texting." Even though people may have other apps, messaging or non-messaging, MMS is growing faster since it is required on all smartphones.

According to the CTIA, consumers sent some 74 billion MMS messages in 2012.

 Of course to receive a branded MMS message, a consumer first has to opt in. While there's no industry percentage for opt-in rates, Citron says some brands have gotten millions of consumers to opt in to their text messaging programs, often with the hope of getting a discount or coupon.

These days, especially this generation, is more likely to open a text message and read it than an email. Brands are now thinking of switching to MMS instead of email due to this. Common sense dictates that a text will get more attention than another email. With this, the company can send pictures and videos to capture the persons attention.

However, marketers have to determine for themselves whether MMS makes sense for their product.

Life After Recall: A Chobani Story

I love Chobani Greek yogurt. I mean, seriously, I do. From a quick morning grab-and-go breakfast to a simple (and healthy) late night snack, Chobani is my go-to. Not to my surprise, apparently I'm not alone. Chobani holds a 49.1% share of the fast-growing Greek yogurt market segment. However, what is surprising to me, is that according to the company, they still have a relatively low awareness score of 39%. Okay, enough about how much people (myself included) love Greek yogurt. This post is about Chobani's recent comeback from a isolated voluntary recall of yogurt manufactured at their facility in Idaho back in early September.

From an article on AdAge.com, I found that two months after issuing a recall of mold-tainted yogurt cups, Chobani is launching an aggressive advertising campaign touting the quality of its Greek yogurt. According to Chief Marketing Officer, Peter McGuinness, the new campaign is not a reaction to the recall but rather, a way to "prime the pump" for a larger campaign slated to debut next year.

I say, "yeah, right..." I believe we can look at Chobani as a prime example of quality and effective crisis management. Whereas the company denies this campaign to be a response, Chobani made another move that directly responds to the recall. Chobani's CEO and founder, Hamdi Ulukaya plans to mail letters to some 150,000 people that contacted the company during the recall. Ulukaya wants to thank them for "...sticking with us and standing by us." I believe this is a very appropriate and powerful move by Chobani and speaks directly to the integrity of the company holistically.

I know I will (and do) continue to purchase and enjoy Chobani Greek yogurt. However, will you?

YouTube Wants You To Hear The Music

Youtube has recently been rumored to one day incorporate a music streaming service as well as a video service. It has been said that they will unveil a paid subscription music service of $10 a month that will compete with Spotify, Rhapsody and Rdio. YouTube will tailor the music service to mobile devices. You will still be able to watch videos and will also be ad free. This service will benefit record companies by giving them bigger royalties. YouTube declined comments about the rumors, but sent out a statement: "We're always working on new and better ways for people to enjoy YouTube, content across all screens and on giving partners more opportunities to reach their fans. However, we have nothing to announce at this time."(NY Times)

This was originally rumored by Billboard, which is a major music company. The mobile factor has increased over the past two years from 6 percent traffic to 40 percent traffic. This deal would give them the license they need to covering artists official videos as well as user-generated content. The deal would also help make music on YouTube more organized and easier to find. This is major step for YouTube in the social media world. YouTube is one of the most dominant social media sites in the world. YouTube would definitely cause problems for music streamers such as Spotify, Rdio and Rhapsody because YouTube is one the most frequently used sites. Adding music to an already thriving company would give YouTube even more credibility. This is a great idea for YouTube, and presents a bright future for the company. YouTube will without a doubt be a top competitor in both the music and video business.

Below is the link of the article
http://nyti.ms/16AVWXY

Facebook Users Have New Warning Before Graphic Content

After a video of a woman getting beheaded went viral on Facebook, officials found themselves in a tough situation. Facebook officials had to decided whether to ban the video or not. Many users began commenting on the video asking for Facebook to take the video down. While Facebook was contemplating taking down the video, officials stated, "People are sharing this video on Facebook to condemn it. If the video were being celebrated, or the actions in it encouraged, our approach would be different”. Ultimately though, Facebook took the video down from the site.

Facebook has recently added warnings signs to videos with extremely graphic content. The warning reads "WARNING! This video contains extremely graphic content and may be upsetting." This doesn’t prevent other videos of the same nature as mentioned above to be uploaded to the site, but this is way to shield the content to some degree.

I stand by Facebook’s decision to not ban content of graphic nature. I also agree with the move to add warning signs before the content is shown. I believe that it is up to the viewer to choose if they can handle the content they are about to see, not the website. Facebook’s decision on the issue was a difficult one but they made the right choice.   

YouTube Devleoping a News Channel

     YouTube has begun developing a news channel with content ranging from some of the largest to smallest broadcasters.

     Tom Sly, the new director of development for Google, hopes to bring the right news at the right time to YouTube subscribers, which is now over 21 million.

     Sly focuses on three characteristics of success for a YouTube news channel:

• Amount of time spent consuming content
• Number of subscribers creating meaningful content
• Breaking major stories first on YouTube

     I believe YouTube has sealed the deal in becoming a reliable source for content.  With print media dying a slow death, will news strictly become video based?  Technology keeps moving us towards a world that is more and more animated.  Vine is an entertainment tool only allowing users six seconds to make a video, which brings out some very creative people.  Instagram has begun a video program allowing users 15 seconds of time, which gives them more time to produce quality content.

     More and more we are seeing a shift in who is producing the content.  Almost everyone has the ability to make a quality video just using their phone.  I think we will continue to see this shift of content being produced.  News stations cannot be everywhere, but with today's technology they don't have to be.  The public can break the news to them immediately as it happens.  This is making for a much more integrated society encouraging others to be involved with our community, and our news.

To read more on this article click here!


                          

The APPLE Tree Keeps Growing

The Apple industry has been busy at work with their recent releases of the I phone 5s and 5c and of course the IOS 7 update. Apparently that's not all they've been working on, a couple days ago on October 22, 2013,  Apple unveiled it's newest products the Ipad Air, Ipad Mini, and new Macbook Pro to the world, http://tinyurl.com/nuuafae. Each product comes with its own special qualities that are bound to get consumers excited for Christmas shopping season. The Ipad Air is in fact the thinnest and lightest Ipad to date and will offer a performance that is double the previous generations. The Ipad Mini will actually be the same size as previous models but will offer a Retina display and the same A7 processor of the Ipad Air. The Macbook Pro and Mac Pro will offer longer lasting battery life and have both been fitted with special Iris graphics. While all these  products seem to be very interesting and exciting; they carry the same tradition of being expensive like most of Apple's products. 

The Power of 6 Seconds

Vine has been around for almost a year. I'm sure that many of us have looked at the videos that are flooding the Internet. I have to admit that I have even tried my luck at making Vines. According to Mashable Vine grew 403% in the year. Making it the fastest growing app worldwide. 

In an article by Saya Weissman, Vine is broken down into the helpful ways that it can be used. The biggest feature that Vine has to offer is its time limit. With an increase in the amount of social media and interaction that we are all surrounded by today, our attention spans have been shrunk. Audiences are looking for information and entertainment in a short amount of time. 

Using Vine gives you repetition, a narrative and brand exposure. 

Vine runs its videos on a loop . You can create a concise message that will make an impression on its viewers but avoid boring them at the same time. 

Often people find it easier to understand and relate to information when there is a narrative attached. Vine is a great way to tell a story with a creative and compelling twist. From the time that Vine was first launched to now users have made large strides in how to captivate audiences with interesting features. 

Vine's popularity has drawn brands  to give it a try too. Oreos, Target, and Samsung are a few brands that have made use of Vine. Vines ability to show benefits and new products for free, gives brands a larger audience and exposure from likes and revines. 

Vine to many of us is primarily a place to find hilarious videos and hours of distraction. If we were in charge of a social media campaign would any of us turn to Vine as a possible tool? I think Vine is valuable and it removes some of the corporate feel that brands can be associated with. Vine gives brands a way to show a more interactive and humorous side to the business world.

First Video Ads on The Facebook Mobile App

         

Facebook will now be putting advertisements within their mobile app. Facebook introduced their first “video advertising within its mobile apps, but for now the new units will be restricted to ads for other apps, rather than made available for a wider selection of brands”.

I am not all that surprised that Facebook has decided to do this. Seeing that this is already taking place on the main website, it was only a matter of time for this feature to go on the mobile app. The article states that “the new video feature is part of Facebook's Mobile App Ads for Installs scheme, which developers use to drive people to their apps on Apple's App Store or Android's Google Play store from within Facebook. They've become an increasingly common site in Facebook users' mobile news feeds in recent months, particularly for free-to-play games, with developers keen to use Facebook as an alternative discovery channel to Apple and Google's app stores.”

Personally I hate all the ads that I see on Facebook, which is the main reason why I use “Ad Blocker”. By using this feature it removes all the ads from websites including Facebook and YouTube. No one likes it when their news-feed is covered in different ads. That is not the reason that we all use Facebook. I wish that Facebook would have less ads on their site so that I wouldn't have to use a feature such as the Ad Blocker, but I don't see that happening anytime soon.

Will this just be another reason that drives people away from using Facebook? Most people liked the mobile app because it was ad free. How will this impact that? 

Read the full article here!

        

When Does it Stop for Apple?

As we all probably know, whenever a new iPhone comes out, there is a very high demand for the product. Often times just days after the release, stores have run out and orders are being placed online.

Recently, when Apple came out with the iPhone 5c and the iPhone 5s, the company's plan was to satisfy the consumers who are willing to pay top price as well as the consumers who want the product but at a cheaper cost.

The 5c is made out of plastic, and therefore is cheaper than the 5s which is made the same as the iPhone 5. With this being said, Apple thought that the 5c would outsell the 5s with flying colors.

The opposite has actually happened.

Apple has "cut back 5C production by 35 percent and increased 5S production by 75 percent," which tells us that they were completely off when estimating which product would oversell.

This isn't a bad thing, at least not for Apple. But what it's saying about us as consumers is what's worrying me. If Apple sees that we are willing to pay a higher price when a lower one is available, then who's to say that they won't raise their prices altogether in the future? We are already paying top price for Apple products in comparison to others, so how far is the company willing to go?

I hope that the company does the opposite; since they see how much their product is taking over maybe they will be more lenient on the prices, but most likely they won't. I know from first hand experience that once you go Apple you never go back; so for my sake, Apple, please let's keep the prices low!

See the Article Here:
http://www.forbes.com/sites/timworstall/2013/10/20/apples-market-segmentation-difficulties-with-the-new-iphones/

Social Media Tells Who You Are Before You Can

How many times have you heard that whatever you post on any social media is available on the internet forever? We were always warned that whatever we post on social media had the power to either block us from a job opportunity or could get us fired. In today's media cultured world, employers go through job applicants' social networks, specifically Facebook and Twitter to discover what kind of person they are attempting to hire. So, what could your Facebook or Twitter tell the employer about you? Are the findings accurate portrayals of yourself? What are the differences between good traits and bad ones?

Employers typically look through social media to discover five traits: extroversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, emotional stability and openness to experience. Unbeknownst to me, most researchers believe that there is no direct link between conscientiousness and the amount of drug and alcohol pictures posted on social media. Although after reading the article, "What Social Media Can (Really) Tell You About Job Applicants",I still believe that these pictures have no business being on a Twitter feed or a Facebook page, these pictures show employers a sign of extroversion. 

One of the commonly mistaken traits that are perceived falsely by employers is extroversion. The authors of the article gave an example explaining that the people most desirable to hire in sales and marketing positions are extroverts. Extroverts tend to post or write about drug or alcohol related activities often. Lead Author and Ph.D. student at NCSU, Will Stoughton concluded, "If employers plan to keep using social media to screen job applicants, this study indicates [that] they may want to focus on eliminating candidates who badmouth others - not necessarily those who post about drinking beer".

Do you feel that it is ok to have pictures of alcohol and drugs on your Facebook? Would you feel nervous if the employer pulled the information from your Twitter in a job interview? Despite the article's example, I would. 

Check out the article here:
http://on.mash.to/177zagd

Can Apple read your messages?

Can Apple or the NSA read your messages? 

If you ask the representatives of Apple, they will say they cannot due to end to end messaging. They will absolutely deny that there is any way throughout the Apple system that can lead them to looking at a message sent to and received by someone. 

If you ask researchers and security experts who have been working on this topic, they will say the exact opposite. They say that there is a weakness in the key infrastructure and that Apple can change they key whenever they want to, enabling them to read our iMessages. 

If Apple actually can or cannot do this is a bit unclear, but Apple said that the work these researches have done is just theoretical. If the NSA were to ask for survalience of a phone because of a crime, then they would surely go through the law before agreeing to hand over the messages.

My opinion on this matter is that when Apple was asked if they could look at people's messages, they probably answered in a general way. Meaning that they did not as a general rule look at iMessages sent back and forth. If they did it would be unacceptable and a huge privacy issue. I believe that the researchers that figured out there was a way for Apple to look at messages are correct. Apple, if need be through law because of a crime, can look at people's messages. I don't think Apple would use their ability to look at messages for any other reason though which is why they have denied that they are able. 

 A cryptography researcher and professor at Johns Hopkins University Information Security Institute, Matthew Green, states in a tweet that the message in the end of this story was not to go against Apple, but to let Apple and other companies become aware that "they shouldn't oversell the security capabilities of their products, because someone will take it apart to check their work". 

For more information on Apple and their privacy policies and seeing your messaging visit this link!

http://mashable.com/2013/10/17/apple-nsa-imessage/?utm_cid=mash-com-Tw-main-link 

"Get Covered Illinois"

After the whole idea of Obamacare, states are now trying to get people to become aware of being health and obtaining health care. A marketing team in Chicago, Illinois has set up a new idea to encourage people to get healthy!

The campaign is called "Get Covered Illinois" and will be the largest social media campaign that Illinois has ever made before. The campaign has a $33 million dollar ad plan for radio, TV and billboards for the campaign that will encourage the people of Illinois to look into being healthy and having a health care plan if they don't already.   

The campaign mostly covers

1.  Twitter
2. Facebook
3. Youtube 

                                                            any popular social networks
 

With the new launch of the federal governments website for health care, people of Illinois are looking to "Get Covered Illinois" to get answers on what they should do, especially after the campaign and ads were put on hold due to technological problems on the federal website. They're responding to people on social media as best as they can, trying to spread the word about getting health care.

Other states have created campaigns to help encourage people to get health care, but none have a social media plan exactly like this one.

Overall, I think this is a good plan that most states need because people still don't understand that they need health care. I believe that if all states created a campaign like this than more people would be willing to look into getting health care if they don't have it. I also think that the whole idea of using social media for the campaign is a major plus because people log onto social networks so much on a daily basis that they're more likely to see it, especially young adults.

You can find more information on The Huffington Post

Healthcare Promotions are Turning to Social Media

    A Chicago marketing agency has turned to social media to promote and advocate for the importance of health insurance. With all of the chatter buzzing about on social media regarding Obama’s healthcare plan, it only seems right that efforts to promote the healthcare reforms take place on social sites such as Facebook and Twitter.

    The campaign itself, Get Covered Illinois, is an advertising campaign that uses Facebook, Twitter, and Youtube in addition to more traditional methods like billboards, TV and other advertising mediums. The goal of this campaign is to encourage the young people of Illinois to get healthcare insurance. So far the number of likes and follows are few but growing. The main idea is to get traffic from Facebook and Twitter directed to the Get Covered Illinois Website where individuals can get more information on health insurance, as education on the importance of healthcare insurance is the first step to a healthier America.

    I think this campaign is ingenious. Facebook and Twitter is where a majority of the young population is, so marketing a campaign aimed at their age group using a medium they are actively engaged in is the perfect strategy to gain support for healthcare, from young people.

Dying to know more? Click Here!