Why the new Kindle should be an Apple Tablet.

Both Apple and Kindle are fierce competitors with almost every other player in the space, both on the hardware, software and content side. A deal like this would make perfect sense.

Amazon has the best purchasing experience and the largest title library (Not counting Google's free archive of classics most people would not want to purchase anyway). Amazon is also not able to manufacture a good quality hardware device over the long term. Their second Kindle (which I own), took everything they had to pull off. The screen is great, but the rest of it is a cheap, non-touch, plastic experience. Amazon knows it needs to stick to what it does best.

Apple designs and delivers killer hardware and software combos. See my blog post on how Apple will be able to deliver the combo of both full-color backlit LCD and digital ink in one device.

I would not be surprised to see the Apple Tablet with it's e-reading experience powered by Amazon.

Amazon may still choose to manufacture a pure reading 'Kindle' device, as the Apple Tablet will obviously offer a lot more and reading will only be a small part of what the product delivers.

But if the two were to do a deal, I would not be surprised if Apple helped Amazon out with design and the best manufacturing supply chain in computing. It may even be a Kindle device powered by Apple for under $100. Apple-Kindle device anyone?

Both Apple and Amazon believe in a more closely guarded environment. This deal would make cultural sense for both companies and catapult them far ahead of everyone else. A killer combination in a quickly evolving competitive marketplace.

I can see Sony prepping for Seppuku (Harakiri) already...

Posted via web from Jared Hendler

Avatar...and why it reflects a new reality for us.

This is not a movie review...there are plenty of those. This is my take on how we will evolve with technologies like those that have inspired and made this film possible.

Actors as we know them will cease to exist. The everyday man...the undiscovered talent...the struggling actor, with the gifted inflection of voice, but not necessarily the outward beauty that Hollywood demands will replace them. Companies will emerge that create these complex characters complete with PR campaigns that breath life into these fictitious creations by placing them in the real world. These companies will 'lease' their creations out to the film studios at a much lower cost than the millions that Brad Pitt demands. These same companies will license the right to bring Marilyn Monroe and Jimmy Dean back from the dead...

Gaming will develop to the point where we will be able to insert ourselves into any narrative, via our own avatar, and become part of the experience. Technology will reach the point where we will not even be able to tell the difference. It will be truly immersive. Psychologically this will be our largest challenge as many of us will prefer the invented worlds vs. our own. Some of us already do. As a result, the 'Second Live's' as we know them today may be the precursor for the ultimate parallel universe for those that wish to live 'elsewhere'.

We are already in love with our machines - our technology. Given that, this is not that far of a stretch. If I have children in this lifetime, getting them purposefully involved in gaming may be just as important as learning Chinese, for it will be the way we navigate the emerging world.  Gaming will be the new driver's license and is a lot more complex than learning how to drive a car. So, start early.

Take a read about the new level of interaction on Sony's Playstation platform with the release of Sodium One.

Introducing Sodium One: The Next Evolution of PlayStation Home

After the Avatar screening, a friend turned to me and said "Wow, she was fantastic. I'm never going to be able to meet anyone like her".  He bought the fantasy and wanted to dive in. You could sense the frustration on his face.

When will all this happen?...it's happening now and the reality of getting lost within another dimension is here.

Posted via web from Jared Hendler

The Apple Tablet is sure to use Epaper Screens with Color And Video.

In order for Apple and the other tablet manufacturers to put out a device that makes sense as an all purpose reader, they must have e-ink. We have been lead to believe that digital ink technology with a refresh rate powerful enough to drive video does not exist.  Not true.

Take a look at PixelQI's technology that will be driving the Notion Ink Smartpad.  A spin-off from the early inventions of electronic paper, it's combined with an LCD. It's dual-purpose screen behaves much like the e-ink display on an e-reader for daylight, long battery-life performance, but it can also display movies too. It also works as a traditional full-color backlit LCD. These screens rival the best epaper displays on the market today but in addition have video refresh and fully saturated color.  The epaper mode has 3 times the resolution of the fully saturated color mode allowing for a high resolution reading experience without sacrifice to super color fidelity for graphics.

If what is promised can be delivered via the likes of Apple, Kindle and other eBooks may become less prevalent devices than expected, and the Apple's of the world could well take the lead. After all, why carry two devices?

Posted via web from Jared Hendler

Why Live Digital Video is poised to re-Invent Advertising and Online Entertainment...again!

TV commercials used to be live. The thrill of watching the entertainers we loved in real time is what grabbed the viewers of the 50's. With live streaming technologies readily available and affordable - things are about to come full circle, as LIVE is poised to catch our attention again.

With consumers tired of push (pollution messaging as I call it), brands are quickly understanding the necessity of bringing value to their audience. You do not do this with a :30 or any format who's singular purpose is about focusing on your product or service. You also do not do this with a singular message. You do this by thinking about continuous programming. A campaign is no longer a few spots against an expensive media buy over a 6 month period. A campaign is ongoing programming with no end in sight. An ongoing stream of consciousness from the brand that brings value to it's audience. Brands understand their verticals and respective audiences very well and they understand what they want. All they need to do is bring valuable content and engage their audience in their respective interests within that vertical. The product should be a by-product so-to-speak, not the focus.

Lets take an idea that is as old as TV itself. The celebrity endorsement. Lets tie the celebrity to a brand, maybe even one that cares about or is involved in cause marketing that aligns with the brand. Now lets give the celebrity free reign (yes, free reign), to broadcast live anytime they want to from wherever they are, cause related or otherwise. All of a sudden the idea of a fan being able to catch their favorite celebrity or live progress related to their favorite cause campaign becomes a must watch. An exclusive moment. An extension of reality TV, but with focus, celebrity and purpose - along with all of the spontaneous (and sometimes embarrassing moments yes) that the brand can stomach. Match that all up with live FB and Twitter feeds allowing fans to participate and you get the picture.

Those of you that have a Ustream account know the power of their new broadcasting application enabling anyone to broadcast video live from your iPhone.

Live formats will also be taken advantage of again by online media and new entertainment companies -  not just advertisers.  On a related note, Ashton Kutcher and Katalyst Ent are making some waves this morning with the announcement of his :30 min live 'variety' show broadcast from the Katalyst offices in LA. As much as many people think this is a gimmick, given my opinions on the above, I think Kutcher is onto something.  At least he is giving the format a shot. Kutcher has already been experimenting with KatalystHQ, short episodes of his office.  I real live version of 'The Office'. KatalystHQ has some of the highest viewings online and so this is the next logical step. Today it is all about exploration and iteration and regardless of whether this works or not it will continue to place Katalyst in a great position. Read more about the event here: Ashton Kutcher's Live Webvids: Genius New Format or Celeb Desperation?

The leaders in the live streaming space for now are:

http://www.ustream.tv/

http://www.justin.tv/

http://www.livestream.com/

Posted via web from Jared Hendler

Enough already...there is no Google Phone (Nexus One)!

Why? Because Google is not a hardware manufacturing company people! I am more than willing to bet that all this is about is Google giving their staff access to the latest Android OS coupled with the best partner hardware in Alpha stage for testing and PR purposes. If I am wrong...great!  But then Google is making a big mistake working with a partner.  If they want to do this right - they should be prepared to staff their own ID dept, source their own manufacturing supply chain etc.  Either way, this will be fun to watch.

Posted via web from Jared Hendler

Imagine hooking up actions in kids toys to Twitter....mommy knows exactly what you are doing!

That is exactly what a group of folks at Belgium's Hasselt University have done.  Application for this is endless.  Great spin on a simple idea. Video speaks for itself or read the full article in FastCompany.

<p>INCA Award 2009 WINNER: Twoddler from IBBT on Vimeo.</p>

Posted via web from Jared Hendler

How Will Journalism Survive the Internet Age?

The Federal Trade Commission held two days of workshops on this very subject matter this past week on December 1 to explore how the Internet has affected journalism. The event was free and open to the public. The workshop assembled representatives from print, online, broadcast and cable news organizations, academics, consumer advocates, bloggers, and other new media representatives.

We all know the industry is scrambling. Not a week goes by whereby a new publisher consolidates or closes its doors. Survival clearly will depend on evolving....and fast!

But in what directions? I'll offer a few thoughts here.

Curate content. Don't just rely on your own. The consumer knows that marquee content gets floated to many news organizations for repurposing. Be seen as the leading curator for your vertical in addition to providing insights within your own original content.

Conversations surrounding your content often outlive the content itself and the reason we consume media in the first place. Be a safe harbor for the conversations and participate in them. Play nice with others such as Twitter, Netvibes, Bloggers, Facebook and yes, even Google.

Netvibes, a startup based Paris, France, that lets users build custom home pages, is testing a service that pulls together real-time data from Twitter and Facebook, as well as frequently updated blogs and news sites, on personalized home pages. Called Wasabi, the new service is built on technology that helps keep up with an avalanche of real-time information from across the Web.

Once you activate Wasabi, you can choose a "smart reader" view in the upper-right corner of the screen. This view consolidates previously separate RSS boxes into a stream of intermingled headlines. Twitter and Facebook updates and other information, such as the current weather and e-mails, are shown in the same feed.

Distribute your content. Organizations should not care where the consumer interacts with the content, only that they do. Monetization is a key factor in this and the industry needs to coordinate revenue sharing models amongst it's own. Don't give it away and share in the wealth.

The Tablets are coming...and lots of them but don't be something that you are not. I was horrified to read that Sports Illustrated was considering releasing it's own tablet. Anyone remember the ESPN mobile phone fiasco? Time Warner is a content company, not a hardware manufacturing company.

Is Sports Illustrated’s Dazzling Tablet Mag The Future of ‘Print’?

The problem with this is that consumers will need a device that can read ALL magazines. They do not want devices specific to magazines or to publishing houses. Amazon doing this makes sense as it is a technology company and has no interest in producing the content. Time Inc doing this does not - it should be a technology agnostic content company.  Get it?

And then there is AOL's seed.com. An exciting and innovative new platform that will allow writers, photographers and videographers to participate in creating great content across AOL's network of industry leading websites. This is a great example of the very way that content creation is evolving.

As I settle into my Sunday read of traditional publications via my Kindle subscriptions and content via my Mac, I am swayed heavily by what I am subscribed to within Alltop, Twitter follow recommends, Delicious, Stumblepon, Tumblr, Posterous subscriptions and the like...

My only regret is no longer having leftover newspaper for my fireplace on a cold winter's night.

More fun and games from some recent headlines on this subject from the last week are below.

Automated AOL News: Heralding The Future of Online News Writing?

Why Murdoch Can Afford to Leave Google for Bing

Group of Magazine Publishers Is Said to Be Building an Online Newsstand

The Fall and Rise of Media

Posted via web from Jared Hendler

Augmented reality comes to Esquire Magazine...

The irony of it all...given the whole point of AR is in bringing the technology into our real lives, not the other way around.  Either way, publishers have to try anything they can right now just to make an impact.  You be the judge, but this feels a bit gimmicky to me.

Posted via web from Jared Hendler

Why Rupert Murdoch is right to take his stand with Google...

Criticism of the old guard think Rupert is bluffing, crazy or out of touch as he threatens to pull all of his content being indexed and displayed by Google.  The truth is all publisher's content take resources to produce and income to sustain no matter what platform it is on.  Nothing has changed, with the big exception that we are about to save a lot of trees - finally!

John Battelle sais it best - “Just give Google summary text and headlines to index (like the W.S.J. does now), Then do your best to convert would be readers to your paid model. That’s it. What’s the big deal?".

I do agree that it is that simple.  Publishers got themselves into this mess by giving it all away for free while not fully understanding that digital was 'the' vehicle vs. some new medium on the side to be toyed with.  What the publishing industry does need to better understand is how to build brands or a better voice given how news and information has become more of a commodity - and consumers understand that.

Newsweek may be onto something by highlighting their writers and editors as the stars to follow, but they need to do more.  As I have said for years now, these are channels to compete with the larger networks - not just for print but for all forms of content (audio & visual) - the sooner these organizations realize that the better.  Yes, some of them are getting it right, but no-one is being bold.  If they were, digital video, engagement and co-creation would be front and center rather than being relegated down to a segment of the publication.  Data shows that video on the NYTimes is one of the most viewed sections of their 'channel'...move it up already!

Posted via web from Jared Hendler

Messaging evolves...it has to!

First the launch of Google Wave followed by the folks at Mozilla with Raindrop.  Being a beta user of Google Wave it is clear to see it's value although hard to validate given how few of my network are on the service.  Mozilla Raindrop is still in dev and it seems it will connect to the cloud via a desktop client of sorts.

Regardless of where these two technologies net out, I am sick of having to check 5 different feeds and respond to messages on multiple platforms (despite everyone's attempt at integration).  Isn't it about time the technology started to work for us, as opposed to us working for it?

Take a look at Raindrops demo...

<p>Raindrop UX Design and Demo from Mozilla Messaging on Vimeo.</p>

Posted via web from Jared Hendler

Verizon takes a very smart stab at AT&T while embracing the iPhone in prep for launch. Brilliant!

Posted via web from Jared Hendler

Fabulous video featuring Rory Sutherland at TED: Life lessons from an ad man...

Posted via web from Jared Hendler

Adventures in merchandising...

Having just visited Hollister's new flagship store in Manhattan I was blown away by the experience they have created. No picture taking is allowed but surf, meets urban, meets art, meets dark, broody, club culture with a big dash of Ralph Lauren thrown in at a fraction of the price point.

A BIG reminder of the impact that bricks and mortar still carries as a part of the brand experience (when done right). So fantastic I would actually take friends there to hang out. Did I mention the product is fantastic too.

Good on Abercrombie and the merchandising department for not forgetting that in an increasingly digital maketing world, the sex appeal of the tangible is still a big deal.

Posted via email from Jared Hendler

Should Amazon be selling private label products?

Should Amazon be selling private label products?  No.  Why not?  While Amazon is an online retailer, I'll argue that the perception of their business and the relationship that the consumer has vs. a bricks-and-mortar retailer differs greatly.  The tangible nature of a supermarket, electronics, or clothing chain supports the believability and value created by private label.  While Amazon is a retailer, it is in fact a virtual one that has the perception and strength of being a neutral third party bringing the best choices in consumer products to their customer base.  Supporting their own brand conflicts with this idea plain and simple.

More on this debate can be read here.

Posted via email from Jared Hendler

Mobile growth to be fueled by new social UI...

If technology in development by the likes of Google (Android) and some of the top handset makers(Nokia, Motorola, LG) is any indication, social is about to get a lot more integrated into mobile.  Forget that iPhone Facebook app, I'm talking about full integration of social as if the device were built to serve all of your streams and all apps/networks were able to talk to one another.  As the lines between communication tools blur and we look to aggregation networks to help us distribute and collect all of our communications, these devices and their software are bound for yet another major milestone.  While the iPhone and all of it's apps are a major step forward, the device itself - like many others, evolved from the phone with voice as the focal point.  Fact is - we all talk less - type more.  What if devices (both hardware and software) were designed for and by our new communication tools and networks of choice leaving the remnants of Ma Bell behind us?  Another revolution may be afoot and you can bet it will be an open platform which may level the playing fied between Apple and everyone else.

Take a look at the following for current developments in the marketplace:

The New Faces of Android 

Motorola Cliq

Posted via email from Jared Hendler

Burning Man, Chaos Theory and the future of Digital Media...

Having returned from Burning Man about 2 weeks ago, I was struck by how much it taught me about the future of our fast evolving digital media industry.  Chaos Theory came to mind.  The enactment of seemingly random acts interconnecting to form a cohesive whole or interrelated structure.  Overall a terrific reflection on the discourse surrounding media fragmentation over the last 10 years and how media leadership has struggled to catch up.  (Media giants continue to align in their struggle to understand and contain the beast).  So, what's this all mean?  Confirmation of course that this will only get 'worse' or 'better' depending on your 'glass half full/half empty' POV.  I go for the latter, but a stark reminder at how no-one-industry will ever be able to 'plan' or 'track' all media vehicles every again.

So how is this related to Burning Man and my experience there?  For one, the event is a random gathering of folks from around the world with few rules, generous amounts of energy and creativity that are constantly rewarded by random acts of kindness.  Sound familiar?  As chaotic as it all seems, it all works - all the while continuously creating customized experiences for us in order to form deeper emotional connections as we continue to move away from the vanilla flavors we were forced to consume before.  Keep in mind that as primitive and bohemian as this festival is, most participants are superbly socially and technologically connected.  Not at the event of course (this is how we escape from it all), but off of the playa -  this group are the thought leaders and pool of influencers that are in fact inventing much of the new media being developed today.

Posted via email from Jared Hendler

Credit card, solar powered parking meters!

Maybe I'm behind the times but why we don't have these in NY is beyond me. Maybe because the city is broke and they prefer to give out parking tickets?

Posted via email from Jared Hendler

Saved by Ben & Jerry's at US Open

Saved by Ben & Jerry's (client) during a long wait between mens semi- finals at US Open!

Posted via email from Jared Hendler

The next mobile frontier - Augmented Reality Apps...

Minority Report comes to mind when taking a look at what I am certain will be the next big wave in mobile applications.  Simply put, Augmented Reality utilizes a local camera as an input device, combined with either location based services or visual bar code in order to overlay artificial objects or navigation right over the visual.

All sorts of applications are popping up and the most obvious are those that are related to mapping or friend-finders or sorts.

Imagine holding up your phone camera and as you turn around all of your friends pop up based upon their location and distance from your current location?

Or imagine signage and review information magically appearing over retail and restaurant locations as you tour an unfamiliar city?

Watch these videos for a much better view of what is in store for us.

Masahble: Top 6 Augmented Reality Mobile Apps

Layar: The Web Browser for Reality - Coming Soon to iPhone

Posted via email from Jared Hendler

A better blogging platform?

via fastcompany.com

Posted via web from Jared Hendler

Streamed consciousness and parallel tracked conversations.

Beyond being rude, what does it mean now that many of us are tracking multiple conversations in the presence of others? I am convinced that, etiquette aside, we are changed forever as our technology becomes a multidimensional representation of self. Parallel conversations inform the present while others are put on hold until the mind is able to grasp the answer we seek. The immediacy of technology now allows us to take our time with an answer-how ironic. The opportunity to involve others unaware. Who's question or conversation is it anyway, and who's answer?

This is the tide of our newly intertwined conversations. One on one will never be the same as we jump into the river of our collective streamed consciousness and conversations.

Will YouTube trump local news affiliates?

As featured in the NYTimes, YouTube is experimenting with a local news filter at: http://www.youtube.com/news. Viewers are able to pull local news-feeds down to a specific zip code. While much of the news-feeds are in-fact professionally produced content, many are not. Pro-sumer feeds often make up in value what they lack in content and I was surprised at how much I learned from/about my own neighborhood.

Short term, this is an experiment. Long term this could easily trump local news affiliates given at how nimble this could become.

Success rests on the quality, reliability and relevancy of local news sources which of course will be up to local reporting - professional and pro-sumer alike.

Either way, local news affiliates from the major networks will be given a run for their money once this matures.

Can the mobile ecosystem support multiple OS environments?

Having attended an iBreakfast this past summer on moblie app development, I could not help but wonder if it makes sense moving forward for app developers to have to cater to multiple mobile OS platforms. If you use the PC wars as any indication of this, the answer would tell us that the ecosystem cannot support more than 1 or 2 OS platforms in the mobile space. Two of the main reasons that Microsoft became the planet's OS are:

1. Hardware neutrality: Distributed model enabled multiple hardware platforms to adopt the OS giving consumer a wide choice of hardware.
2. Application support: Once distribution was in place, developers naturally gravitate towards the largest ecosystem.

Mobile device are of course the next generation of computing. Evolution of 'The Cloud' will ensure that all of our data will be available at all times making our mobile devices the only devices we will need (with a bit of help from mobile keyboards and portable screens).

Hardware neutrality will be the champion of Microsoft and Google's Android. Apple has the lead on apps along with momentum due to its first mover advantage and the ease at which developer tools enable entrepreneurs to enter the marketplace. RIM had the lead on 'push' communications, but that will narrow as competing software closes the gap quickly.

The big difference from the PC marketplace is how consumers latch onto a few select leading hardware devices (unlike the PC industry). Remember StarTAC from Motorola? Everyone had to have that phone. The same applies to a few select devices today.

In some ways we can look to the PC market to see how this will net out. In other ways mobile computing has a psychology all of its own. Just because you allow choice of hardware does not guarantee adoption by the consumer and mobile industry as the PC market once did.

What is certain is that a few players will fall as the ecosystem will be unable to support them all.

Social Media - the evolution of the species.

A few years back I wrote a small post on ADD, and the fact that we treat it as if it is a disease. Not so. Like it or not, ADD is simply part of our evolution as a species. Evolution used to happen over long periods of time, barely noticeable. Today, just as we are what we eat, we are what we create and our technology is as much a reflection of who we are as it is a reflection of what we are about to become. Simply put, apply Moore's law to ourselves and the new speed at which we are evolving makes noticeable evolution the order of the day. ADD may be the first tangible proof of that, as we rush to label behaviours that we find hard to accept or understand - our minds and bodies racing to keep up with the pull and distractions of our own invention.

Social Media, a derivative of our core psychology as social beings is nothing new. What is new is how the fast-paced evolution of technology extends the interconnectedness of us all without boundaries. It is how we now communicate.

History tells us, that if we are to be a part of evolution, we need to evolve to survive - those who do not will die.

The Content Dilemma

Given the momentous nature of the day, I could not avoid connecting the subject matter with this historic event. About 18 months ago I wrote a post entitled "Will YouTube choose the presidency?". My point was in recognizing how the protected walls of the traditional media powers no longer controlled what was broadcast to the consumer. In the race for the presidency, candidates no longer had to pander to, nor did they have to spend the media dollars required in the past in order to reach their supporters. (How many of you saw Bill and Hillary's spoof of the Sopranos on YouTube?). The paradigm shifts that played a major part in the election reveal opportunities for us as digital marketers and content creators.

Big Media no longer has the luxury of being an appointment based medium, requiring FCC licensing. Non linear, what you want, whenever you want it, however you want it, digital delivery will become the order of the day and big media will be forced to deliver revenue models against this. Hulu is probably the closest view into what traditional TV may look like in the future and evidence that all professionally produced content will be accessible digitally via the web, mobile or otherwise. The challenge will be in the fact that all digital video will be accessible in this way creating even greater competition for the major networks. Browsers do not discriminate and anyone can now compete at marginal cost. Watch for the next big content hit coming from an unknown talent or - gasp - a brand. The big advantage the networks have are the dollars to market their own properties and the power to buy the ones that challenge their own.

UGC will evolve. It has to. As we experiment with a new medium, we will gain the skills to become better storytellers ourselves. The consumer will ultimately be empowered by the fact that they can and will compete directly with professionally produced content. The best of us will challenge the networks by forging new creative paths and creating new business models. Look for brands to compete with the networks for access to the best undiscovered talent.

Branded Content must seek to tell stories beyond the brand. Brands must find the places that they are passionate about, create value and give the consumer a voice. Anything resembling a chest-thumping, commercial excercise will be skipped, deleted or passed over. Brands need to create transparency by embracing the issues facing their industries and by being open to being challenged in the open.

Search will evolve beyond words and links. We watch more than we read and contextual video will force the search engines such as Google to deliver media rich results. I was greatly inspired by the article below in the NYTimes this past weekend that pointed to the fact that video search via YouTube was becoming a reference tool for kids. If that is not an opportunity for creating value, I'm not sure what else is.

No matter what part of the content ecosystem we participate in, change is here and embrace it we must.

At First, Funny Videos. Now, a Reference Tool.

All Digital Eyes on Obama
Article highlighting the potential role the new administration may play in regulating the marketing services industry and how we as an industry are looking to self regulate.