Advertising

June 13, 2006 The evolution of the computer human interface will take a step forward next month with the release of a Gyroscopic Gamepad. eDimensional already manufactures a number of innovative gaming accessories using technologies such as 3D, motion tracking, audio and voice recognition so it’s not surprising the company has added another interesting interface. With proprietary VRMS (Virtual Reality Motion Sensing) technology, the G-Pad Pro delivers a next generation gaming experience to current model Playstation 2 consoles and PCs. Using a 12 button analog configuration, the G-Pad Pro adds intuitive and precise motion sensing technology to improve gameplay performance in virtually any genre of gaming. Rotate the controller on multiple axes to gain four additional control options in three dimensional space. The result is advanced new movement functions and a smoother, more dynamic ability to control in-game action. Additionally, users may experience decreased hand fatigue compared to standard keyboards or controllers. Now, what can we do with this for non-gamers? Read More

June 1, 2006 Take a look at the adjoining graph and you can see the bite which resulted from the infamous “tech-wreck” and the bullishness of the advertising market ever since. The Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) yesterday announced that Internet advertising revenues reached a new record of US$3.9 billion for the first quarter of 2006, a 38 percent increase over Q1 2005 and a 6 percent increase over the traditionally strong fourth quarter figure for 2005. The continued growth of the internet is reshaping the media landscape – in the last three years internet ad revenues have surpassed cinema, outdoor, radio and magazine advertising revenues. Read More

May 19, 2006 The coming of digital paper seemed to take forever, but now that it’s here, we’ve seen a veritable explosion of products such as clocks, watches, rollable displays, and more recently, the holy grail we’ve all awaited since we could conceive the possibility, the digital book (the Sony Reader and iRex Iliad). But wait, there’s more! There's another very promising high res, low power display emerging and we’re about to see magink's proprietary digital ink technology used on billboards. Global outdoor advertising company JCDecaux appropriately premiered the new generation of high resolution magink-based digital billboards at the 59th Cannes Film Festival on Wednesday. The magink digital ink billboards are installed at multiple highly trafficked venues in Cannes, including one located adjacent to the Palais des Festivals, the official home of the Cannes Film Festival. The new displays will feature an array of full-motion video advertisements and information on the City of Cannes. The digital ink technology offers full-color, full-motion, high resolution and high contrast images that use ambient light to enhance image quality and visibility -- just like ink on paper.

Beyond the world of billboard advertising, magink will also be used with other display applications such as consumer electronic products, in-store point-of-purchase, and promotional displays. Portable devices such as PDA's and mobiles in particular will benefit from the low power consumption offered by magink. Nearly three years ago when we first wrote about magink, CEO Ran Poliakine told us, "magink could take the place of every screen based technology across the board" said Poliakine, "not just e-books where you can download newspapers, magazines and eventually video into a conventional 'book' format, but wallpaper, exterior building facades and countless other applications". Read More

May 12, 2006 You don’t need a degree in ergonomic engineering to realise that the Computer Human Interface (CHI) is still in its infancy. The QWERTY keyboard was designed 150 years ago, shaped by all the wrong reasons, and still masquerades as high tech when it is indeed a dinosaur. Ironically, it has been given an indefinite stay of execution thanks to the invention of the mouse, the lack of an obvious successor and a curious human resistance to change. Promising technologies such as handwriting recognition and voice recognition cried “ready” a few too many times before they really were and damaged consumer trust and … let’s just say that when we find a better way, we’re looking forward to a ceremonial burning of the keyboard. Logically, the computer can be interfaced with the human in many ways, and the BodyPad is a perfect example, as it turns body movements into computer inputs, effectively turning the human body into a Gamepad! BodyPad is a motion sensor game controller that works with Sony's Playstation 1 & 2 and Microsoft's XBox. Though it’s compatible with almost every existing video game, it’s ideal for fighting, dance games, and some sports games too! Indeed, a bit further down the track, we can see the BodyPad teaching us how to dance, box, throw a baseball, shoot a basketball or kick a football. Read More

May 11, 2006 With the world’s largest electronic entertainment expo (E3) opening overnight, there’s some exciting new products appearing on the radar over the next few days. One that we think has long-term merit perhaps beyond the realm of gaming, is the Gaming Headset X205 from Motorola. The X205 has a noise-cancelling microphone that supports clear voice recognition commands, a premium quality mono ear cup so users can easily communicate with others in the room, an ergonomic design to minimise the discomfort after endless hours in the saddle and inline mute and volume controls for seamless sound management. Read More

May 3, 2006 As the world of advertising continues to embrace new technologies, we will see some wonderous and compelling new ways to meet people who are selling what we need when we need it. Last week at the National Association of Broadcasters convention in Las Vegas American Blimp Corporation’s Lightship/Lightsign subsidiary unveiled a new advertising platform of sheer genius. We’ve seen a few media concepts of great foresight of recent times, but this promises the hamburger with the lot to advertisers. The A-170 Video Lightsign airship marks a new era of outdoor advertising, one that has been long heralded by scifi writers – flying electronic billboards. It has a high quality colour LED screen measuring 30' X 70' that can be used to broadcast live TV, Internet sites, stock tickers, slide shows or any other media. Indeed, the Lightsign has been designed with such an array of technologies in mind, that it’s really more an integrated marketing medium than an outdoor medium utilizing GPS tracking (changing the message to suit the audience below and the time of day), two-way communication with customers, text messaging and phone tie-ins. Modern materials and technologies now offer what was previously an almost cost prohibitive promotional platform into a very cost-effective, completely portable arsenal of sticky and very effective marketing technologies to target a mass audience or select demographic or any captive audience! Mark our words – this is big! Read More

April 25, 2006 Given that it’s the most obvious way in which two males can exercise their testosterone without outright violence, arm wrestling probably predates all other sporting contests. It is known to have been a common way to while away the hours for Rome’s all-conquering armies and depictions of arm wrestling have been found on the walls of Egyptian tombs, though we suspect that informal contests predates those historical notations my ten of thousands of years. Which is why we think this high-tech update of the game deserves mention. It’s arm wrestling with an electric shock for the loser. The contestants wear elbow pads and gloves, and when the circuit is completed by the back of a losers hand touching the pad, they get an electric shock! Here’s something bound to appeal to all those perverse natures out there. Latestbuy seems to have a wide range of games in which the loser gets shocked – quite literally. Apart from arm wrestling, you can also inflict pain on your opponent by dueling with Laser Guns, remote control Battle Tanks and a game designed to pit your reaction time against your opponent, Lightning Reaction Xtreme. There’s even a memory game like the one’s you probably played as a kid. Well, Shocking Memory is kinda like that! Read More

April 19, 2006 The internet continues to radically change the world of media and cross-media fertilisation continues to develop even more potent mixtures of compelling, targeted entertainment. Games are now a part of mainstream global entertainment, with professional gamers and teams gaining celebrity status and six figure incomes. Similarly, reality television is now an established winner as networks attract massive audiences of vicarious thrill-seekers by getting low- or no-paid nobodies to bare their all in the hope of becoming highly-paid somebodies. Mix it all together and put it on the web as high-resolution video that users can stream to their computer and you have the makings of yet another new high-appeal hybrid genre that raises the profile of all concerned. And so it came to pass that video game publisher Ubisoft, which sponsors an all-women gaming team known as the Frag Dolls, has partnered with MTV’s GameTrailers.com site to produce five weekly online-only episodes about the recruitment of the newest team member. The first episode premieres today. Would we be a trifle cynical to note that all eight candidates, not to mention the incumbent FragDolls in their entirety are unrepresentatively attractive? Read More

April 15, 2006 When the US sneezes, the world catches cold, and in no area is the US more a leader than in media technology and trends. Which augers well for the internet economy with the release of the full 2005 year Nielsen Monitor-Plus, the advertising intelligence service of Nielsen Media Research.. Advertising spending for 2005 rose 4.2% over 2004. Advertising spending increased in many reported media, led by Internet (23.3% gain), National Spanish-Language TV (16.9%) and Cable TV 11%). Local (10.1%) and National Consumer Magazine advertising (6.7%) continued to rebound with healthy gains in 2005 and outdoor media put on a healthy 7.3% gain. Read More