The goverment is getting more tech savvy by the day! The United States Enviroment Protect Agency and the Department of Transportation have teamed up to create QR codes for car shoppers. These new codes will be displayed on the fuel-efficiency labels that are stuck on each car at the dealership. Once you scan the the code, you can get specific information to that particular car, including number of gallons burned per 100 miles, an estimated annual fuel cost for the car, and both the average and best miles per gallon range for cars in that class. Alternative-fuel vehicles and electric vehicles have their own QR codes, too.
The website powering these QR codes, FuelEconomy.gov, is hoping to help consumers make smarter, more cost efficient decisions when it comes to purchasing a new vehicle.
Not too long ago, Sony admitted that their Playstation Network was, indeed, hacked. Their members were heavily urged to change their password to aleviate any chances of their account being infiltrated since they had to provide contact information and (more importantly) credit card information when enrolling. These hackers can not only steal vital information but render a handful of features on the Playstation (playing online games, using netflix, software udpates, etc) useless.
Well, with phones evolving with media players, GPS's, and now the integration of NFC (Near Field Communication), the devils advocate in me can't help but make a cameo. Hearing how your credit card can be scanned through your wallet (video below) can be a bit of a chilling, paranoia-inducing thought, no? Think about how many times you've heard a friend or co-worker that had to get a new card because someone stole the numbers while paying the bill at a restaurant or shopping online. Since its origin in the early 1960s and many advancements later, people are still being able to steal credit card numbers.
What defenses can we look forward to in this newer, easier, faster advancement of mobile commerce? With the avenues that we're connected to with our phone (WiFi, 4G Networks, Bluetooth, Facetime/Tango, etc) while letting the world know where we are at all times (Facebook, Twitter, FourSquare, etc); is this a recipe for hackers to use as a backdoor into our personal information?
Maybe my cautious skepticism is no different from the many back in the 60's who thought credit cards were a dangerous step in exchange for easier shopping. Other than having a bank that will reimburse you for stolen cash, what tech advancements could help? Could there be:
Cases that could shield/lower the range hackers need to connect?
Detection software on the phone that would put up a firewall or lock the phone temporarily?
Detection software at store entrances that would detect illegal scanners (the same security detectors that shoplifters set off)?
Not only do we have to worry about other people stealing our cash and identity, but we also have to acknowledge that we have to beware of our own spending activity. Would you be more inclined to shop knowing its that much easier? If we're making technology that makes it easier to spend, wouldn't we be placing ourselves even closer to debt? Some find it beneficial to get rid of cards entirely.
Don't get me wrong, I'm very intrigued by all this and could very well be inclined to try it first hand. However with the introduction of any new platform, software or hardware - there are going to be bugs and kinks to work out - and when it deals with your hard-earned money, are you willing to take that chance?
You might have already heard that Japan has already utilized these mobile wallets and has grown in popularity with its introduction back in 2005. However did you know who's been providing the standard technology used for these wallets?
A few weeks ago we blogged about McDonald's super-sized out-of-home disappearing cup campaign in Paris, France. Now, the french fry kings are offering more freebie's to unsuspecting consumers... but with a catch. McDonald's Pick-n-Play campaign (created by DDB Stockholm) prompts Stockholm passerby's to play with their Pong-inspired video game; using your mobile phone as the remote and the digital billboard as the display. If you beat the progressively more difficult boards and last more than 30 seconds, an instant coupon is sent to the gamers phone for a free item at McDonald's.
Just more brilliant interactive and out-of-home advertising from McDonald's. Wonder what they'll come up with next... I vote for a DOOH billboard that dispenses french fries when you use your phone to unlock it. Creativity, interactivity, mobile... all of this IS digital out-of-home and McDonald's does a fantastic job at being innovative in the DOOH space and showing the potential for what can come next.
As we venture forward into advanced interactive technologies, where touchscreens are all the craze, we're now one step closer to touching nothing at all. A group of students over at Texas A&M have developed a "multi-touch no-touch, uh... touchscreen", where a grid comprised of a combination of LED lights and infrared sensors creates a digital web of sensors. This allows not only precise interaction, but it also reads varying degrees of pressure. So say if you're painting, you'll be able to get those variances of painterly strokes.
For germaphobes, this is a godsend, for everyone else, its another wall that's being broke down to make the interactive experience that much more immersing and entertaining. The opportunities for this kind of technology can be anywhere. Need to find your location at the airport, zoo or museum? How about checking in at the hospital?
After watching the Heat put the Mavericks in a box last night in Game 1 of the NBA Finals, I noticed that the court-side correspondent held a bright piece of hardware. Surrounding her mic were four screens that animated the NBA Finals logo with the ABC logo. Small attention to detail can result in a big impression, no?
BANE!!! Yes, that's right folks, unless you've kept your spoiler-free head under a rock, you'd know that Batman's next adversary will be one of his most difficult foes to handle. To start off the hype for next years conclusion to Christopher Nolan's trilogy, a newly released website has been open to the public, which is only an audio track, but it's no match for the keen internet masses that found it was a hash-tag #TheFireRises, which, once on Twitter, Dark Knight fans would find a link to another portion of the viral website to discover what the secrecy is all about - a photo mosaic movie still of Bane; Batman's enemy in the next(and last) Dark Knight series
This isn't the first user-generated ad to create buzz for a film. Similar to my previous post for Jake Gyllenhal's Source Code, users would submit their Facebook profile picture to integrate in the poster. However, instead of just accompanying your picture with the poster, it now helps reveal the image by building a mosaic of all the user-submitted photos.
I love ideas like these because it's left up to the audience to bring the marketing to life. They directly interact with it and then get rewarded for their viral efforts. It taps into Facebook where their friends see the post in their live feed, and therefore the response grows exponentially; getting the word out and making for a very successful campaign that's easy on budget. As a follow-up to this viral marketing method, I could picture(and would hope) to see this on movie theater networks, having it animate all the pictures in to build the mosaic, leave them with a call to action to check out the site or to simply, "get ready". Nonetheless, I always enjoy creatively cryptic marketing executions and the dedicated fans to crack the shell open.
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