Tag: Josh-Lovison

The Internet gets married, has kids, settles down

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Grow up (via Ant's photostream/Flickr)The Internet is on its way to settling down. Don’t misunderstand me, as far as the interwebs are concerned, 401 still means unauthorized access and has nothing to do with retirement (yes, that’s a geek joke). Instead, it means that the Internet is giving up on the chaos of its youth and settling into a respectable and tactful adulthood. At the root of the issue lies the concept of online identity.

For the past decade, our collective online experiences have been modeled after a Matrix-esque experience. We select usernames, which become our residual self-image. Behind these fairly anonymous handles humanity as a whole has been able to momentarily devolve into caustic, self-righteous, judgmental twelve-year-olds (not me, of course). Not that this was necessarily a bad thing, it just was. But the status quo is changing. So what’s the agent of change? Continue reading “The Internet gets married, has kids, settles down”

Apple takes off the gloves

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Apple takes off the gloves (iStock)There were a few big announcements regarding the iPhone and iPod Touch at WWDC this week.  The biggest announcement was actually just a price drop: With the iPhone 3G at only $99, it hits the magical price point that’s going to move a lot of phones.  Though admittedly, there is still a large issue in the monthly costs to AT&T, as a plan with unlimited data and text is going to be more per month than the phone costs.

Apple’s newly announced numbers show a continued acceleration in the popularity of the AppStore.  While 40 million iPhones or iPod Touch devices worldwide reflects a steady progression, the announcement of 50,000 apps in the AppStore is a sharp increase over past numbers.  With over one billion apps downloaded since the AppStore’s inception, that’s an average of 20,000 downloads per application. Continue reading “Apple takes off the gloves”

Mobile applications as the second Web

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mobilewebYou might think the iPhone has conquered the mobile universe, certainly in the US. Or at least, that’s what the bulk of articles published in 2009 seem to indicate. While the iPhone has heavily influenced mobile in the states and abroad, the numbers overstate the scenario dramatically. As a result, some amazing shifts haven’t gotten much notice.

It’s articles like this one that are the problem. In this instance, the Net Applications data looks at Web browser market share for mobile devices, but in the methodology caveats listed on Net Applications’ site, it points out that the browsers needed to be HTML and JavaScript compliant. Well, no wonder the iPhone has such a commanding lead — tons of other feature phone and even smartphone mobile browsers aren’t included. Continue reading “Mobile applications as the second Web”

Volvo’s gaming efforts stuck in the pits

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Forza

Being the resident car guy at the Lab, I recently came across the Volvo S60 concept car online; A nice looking car with decent lines. Volvo has been experimenting with interactive experiences on their website for some time, previously with their Rush game. Now, they were offering a free S60 racing game. Initially, it looked like a cool way to promote consumer engagement.

While games are not new, and racing games are everywhere (Forza rocks), that an automobile manufacturer might create one around a concept car seemed unique and worthy of a try. And I didn’t expect it from Volvo. They make nice cars, but plays in the video game space? Continue reading “Volvo’s gaming efforts stuck in the pits”

Hottest trends in gaming

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PSP Go video demo

Here are continued impressions from E3.  They are, as promised, thoughts on Sony offerings and the larger gaming trends.

Sony: I got a “hands-on” with the new PSP Go.  I think this device is less a competitor to the Nintendo DSi, and much more of a competitor to the iPod Touch.  The device centers on the concept of digital distribution for games and video – no more UMD disks.  Getting rid of a disk drive has certainly made the device more portable, but it still doesn’t seem as pocket friendly as the iPod.  The ability to leverage a control pad is great, as are the tie-ins between the PS3 and the PSP devices, but I see the device as primarily appealing to the existing PSP owners, much as the DSi has been an upgrade to the Nintendo DS. Continue reading “Hottest trends in gaming”

E3 – Hits and Misses

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E3 2009 is my fifth E3, though I managed to miss the recent “awkward years.”  While the rumor was that this E3 would return to prior glory, I’ve been a bit disappointed – the show is much more guarded than in years past.  The press conferences on Monday and Tuesday had some neat surprises, but few of those surprises managed to make it out to the show floor. Continue reading “E3 – Hits and Misses”

Is Twitter the perfect fad?

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twitterfad4From 1980 onward, conversations were happening on a broad scale online. First on Usenet, then on IRC, then AIM chat rooms, and then Internet forums. And now Twitter. At each evolutionary step of the meta-conversation, previous incarnations die off in favor of newer, better features. Right now a lot of people are asking if Twitter is a fad. And it probably is. But it has all the makings of the perfect fad.

I call Twitter the “perfect fad” because it brings together three elements that have ideally aligned: Digestibility, Search, and Scale. Continue reading “Is Twitter the perfect fad?”

A million voices, a million editors

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Africa - Andrea Planet WallpaperThe TED conference showcases lectures from some of the most interesting voices in technology, arts and media.  Most recently, I discovered a short, four minute video on text message reporting of violent crisis in Africa.  The concept is a great one, but the larger concept behind this particular incarnation is what is fascinating.

The project initially allowed thousands of updates reporting break outs of violence, and aggregated that content.  But eventually they had more content than could be realistically consumed.  So after having success with a crowdsourced approach to content generation, they decided to take a similar approach to content filtration.  Which is brilliant. Continue reading “A million voices, a million editors”

ESPN.com gets glittery, unicorn makeover

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Screengrab from ESPN.comThis is the best story we have seen in weeks.  Apparently the ESPN site has an Easter Egg for old school gamers.  When visiting the site in Internet Explorer and entering the Konami code, one of the most famous cheat codes in gaming, the site gets an aesthetic makeover suited to an 8-year-old girl.

The makeover seems to come from cornify.com, and while the unicorns and pink text might be deemed by some to be a welcome addition, one thread posting in the article about this trick notes that there is a job opening for web designer for ESPN on Disney’s recruiting site.

See the full page screenshot: Continue reading “ESPN.com gets glittery, unicorn makeover”

Recession marketing gets obnoxious

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iStockThings are taking a turn for the worse.  No, I’m not talking about the economy; I’m talking about the marketing about the economy.

As is often the case, it starts with a good thing.  In this case, it was the brilliant Hyundai Assurance program (kudos to IPG’s Initative folks for that one).  A great idea, the program really spoke to the concerns that the country was having at the time.  It decreased the risk in buying one of the key big ticket items.  Many other car companies followed suit.  And until now, this was all a good thing.

Now Virgin Mobile is bringing the concept to wireless companies with their “Pink Slip Protection” offering.  Continue reading “Recession marketing gets obnoxious”