With the impending launch of the Apple iPad, the Cupertino-based company’s shunning of Adobe Flash technology has been brought to the forefront of technological discussions. While it was one thing to forgo Flash on a small, mobile device such as the iPhone or iPod Touch, some are questioning whether lack of Flash support is going to be a make-it-or-break it feature for the new slate devices arriving next month – devices which, if you believe Apple CEO Steve Jobs – are “better than netbooks.”
Interesting read and question to think about. Does anyone have any experience with testing the two?
Skinput is based on an armband straddling the wearer’s biceps and detecting the small vibrations generated when the user taps the skin of his arm. It measures the vibrations and differentiates them based on bone densities, tissue mass and muscle size.
You can use different parts of your arm and even fingers to interact with it.
According to them it is 95% accurate and you can combine it with a pico projector and get some display on your arm as well.
check out the video
definitely an interesting concept, but until it is integrated into my T-shirt I doubt I will be interested in wearing an armband.
Starbucks is testing their new iPhone app that lets you pay using just the Starbucks Card Mobile app on your iPhone/iPod touch. Just enter your card number and your device will display a barcode you can use the same way as your Starbucks Card to make a purchase.
The app is currently being tested in Starbucks stores located in Seattle, WA, Cupertino, CA and Mountain View, CA, conveniently, the homes of digital powerhouses Microsoft, Apple and Google, respectively.
This app is an example of a revolutionary convergence between your wallet and smart phone. As well as a brand intersecting technology to shape consumer loyalty programs. Now the stage is set for Starbucks to employ an innovative digital couponing program. Stay Tuned.
There has been another update to the ‘Did you know?’ series. As always the information is fascinating and provides an inspirational look at convergence and the pace at which the digital shift is accelerating. I would recommend taking some of the individual stats with a grain of salt but it is a great presentation for communicating the bigger picture to clients and colleagues.
We blog about robots quite a bit. Here’s one that finds objects it can turn into drums, beats the object, records the sound and then plays with it until it gets bored.
We’ve told you we’re growing yes, and now we have a short description of all the roles we have on offer!
Take a gander at all the roles below and don’t be afraid to pass them on if you know some awesome people who might be right for us.
The positions we are currently recruiting for are:
Group Account Director
Coming on board as our new GAD (Client Services), your core focus is to manage our awesome Account Directors and Account Managers who are responsible for deliverables across all accounts. Having 8-10 years experience in marketing and client management under your belt, we can rely on you to keep clients close and generate revenue so that we can continue hiring.
Senior Account Manager
We’re looking for some strong Senior Account Managers to join our Client Services team. Help Amnesia Razorfish grow and develop solid relationships with clients and manage day-to-day account service. [click to continue…]
Five years ago, then twenty six year-old Ben Saunders was one of only three people to have ever skied solo to the North Pole. In doing so, he not only set the record for longest solo Arctic journey by a Briton, but he also managed to do so in the worst conditions in recorded history, according to NASA.
Next year, alongside Alastair Humphreys (who spent four years cycling across five continents and almost 75,000 kilometres) he will attempt the first ever return journey to the South Pole on foot. SOUTH will be the culmination of seven years of training and preparation; planned to stretch from the Antarctic coast, to the south pole and back again, it is set to be the longest unsupported polar trek in history.
On top of the remarkable human endurance element of SOUTH, Ben and Alastair will embrace the powers of social media and web 2.0 to document their ground-breaking trip, allowing the public to experience their expedition in real-time, and hopefully open a dialogue about climate change and environmental sustainability. It’s said that Vice-President Al Gore may join them at some point, and the entire program has been certified carbon neutral.
SOUTH is set to commence in October 2009, but the team’s progress can be tracked on their official blog. You can also catch Ben’s account of his North Pole journey at TED.com.
Researchers at the University of Zurich have combined the stylish, debonair appeal of polyester with the cutting edge science of nanotechnology to create a material that just cannot get wet. When coated with millions of 40nm-wide silicone nanofilaments, the hydrophobic polyester is protected by a layer of air that prevents water from making contact with the fibers beneath. Since water never makes it to the material, it can be submerged for two months and still remain dry to the touch. According to scientists, nano-polyester could be used to make swimwear with low water resistance that never gets wet and self-cleaning clothes.
Google’s personalized home page, iGoogle, is getting an update this Friday. Widgets on the page can support a new “canvas view,” which expands the widget to the full iGoogle window.
The new iGoogle also moves user navigation from tabs at the top of the page to a bar down the left side. This enables more pages and elements in the navigation, and I found that it made navigating iGoogle faster, since it provided a de facto table of contents for each page.
Like many of Google’s services, iGoogle is platform-aware. On a mobile phone, like on an iPhone or Android phone, when you log in to iGoogle, you’ll get a view of your page suited to the constraints of the device.
I would never tell a client that they should reduce their budgets in order to make us more creative, because quite frankly it isn’t true. A bigger budget obviously always provides you with greater opportunities but I love this idea posted by Howies that suggests when budgets are smaller it makes them think harder about what they should be doing with the money. As well as making people more creative and accountable it sort of makes the idea that much purer.
With free off the shelf tools and open source applications all you need is a bit of a technical aptitude, something interesting to talk about or show and voila, you have yourself a digital presence. If it’s good enough people will find it. It strips everything naked down to its barest form. It forces you to make sure you really do have a good idea before you start splashing your cash.
On a slightly different tangent but still using technology other people have built to tell your story is CCTV ‘video sniffing’. Essentially people use government CCTV networks to create mini productions. The UK has CCTV cameras pretty much everywhere, but what is interesting is that if you have been filmed, you are entitled to the footage. So essentially people are coming up with a concept and performing it in front of CCTV cameras, applying for the footage and editing it accordingly. Pretty damn clever in my opinion. The only down side is that it took one guy 5 years and over 200 applications to local councils to finish the project. But it shows what can happen if you put your imagination first before assigning your budget.
Amnesia Razorfish is a digital marketing agency headquartered in Sydney, Australia. It is the Australian arm of Razorfish, one of the largest digital agencies in the world.
We live and breathe digital and provide a range of services from strategy, media, creative, tech, social media, analytics and more.
