3D Display Advertising

We're rapidly moving into a 3D generation, with technology companies and entertainment houses developing a whole host of 3D consumer products. With that in mind, are we far off 3D display advertising?

BSkyB launched their 3D TV service in October this year, with consumers at home and in pubs round the country watching their favourite TV shows and sports behind 3D glasses. In terms of 3D TV advertising, Courvoisier secured its place in 3D advertising history as the first brand to create a 3D TV advert, which screened on Channel 4 in late 2009. With Google TV now launching across Sony's TV's, surely it wont be long until Google roll out their display advertising model to TV searches, followed by the potential of an exciting 3D display model.

Moving onto laptops, there are already several 3D laptops available to buy, with Acer, HP and Toshiba leading the way. Many believe it will be the games industry that drives 3D forward in the UK. For Macbook users, Apple announced the Macbook 3D earlier this year, with many believing the race for 3D content is already underway. With a more mobile internet population these days, the ability to watch 3D movies on the go will be equally important for growth, so the iPad will also play an important roll. If 3D display advertising is to hit the UK soon, 3D laptops and desktops will be the heartbeat of Google's revenue model.

Lastly, let's look at mobiles. I'm a big mobile advocate, so it caught my attention when Sharp unveiled the first Android smartphone with a 3D Screen. Display advertising has been slow to take off on mobile, but Admob are leading the way and showing some good results to prove this advertising medium is starting to simmer nicely. With that in mind, 3D display advertising now has the foundation stones to roll out to mobiles in the future.

To summarise, the thought leaders 'three screen' marketing strategy is all set to take advantage of engaging 3D advertising. It's also no surprise that Google acquired Bump Technologies (they provided a 3D desktop interface) back in March 2010. All the pieces of the 3D display advertising puzzle are in place. I can't wait to see some of the ads digital agencies come up with.

Theft Proof Wallet

No-one can make a 100% theft proof wallet, but it doesn't stop companies trying. Q might have come the closest.

The clever chaps at Dunhill and TungstenW have created the closest thing to a theft proof wallet. They call it a biometric wallet.

iWallet

The wallet is opened using personal fingerprint scanner encryption, so even if someone does run away with it, they'd have trouble getting opening it. The 'theft proof' wallet also has a carbon fibre exterior, which means it's water and scratch proof as well as unbreakable and lightweight.

The best part is the wallet connects to Bluetooth on your mobile phone. Thus, if the wallet and your mobile phone stray too far apart, you'll be alerted through your phone. Nice touch. Unfortunately, these wallets don't come cheap. The Dunhill biometric wallet retails at $700, with similar wallets not far behind at around $600

But for me, there is so much more you could add for that price - GPS tracking technology for a start. So not exactly cheap theft protection, but definitely a step forward in the right direction. [Read more at Aquiremag.com]

World’s Largest Water Balloon Fight

One word: Awesome.


[via. Yarsley.com]

Facebook File Sharing Service Coming Soon?

Sometimes email inboxes are simply not big enough to cope with the big attachments I send. This makes file sharing problematic. Occasionally I use the my company's extranet, but that often gets complicated with usernames and passwords. So more often than not, I'll use Drop.io. It's a neat cloud file hosting sharing service that lets you upload big files and share them privately using the equally neat tiny URL function they use.
I was planning on uploading a 12MB file this evening, when I came across a message from their blog that they had been acquired by Facebook. Curious. Reading further, it turns out Drop.io will be closing down. No new drops can be created or shared, and existing content from live file shares can be collected up to 15th December. After that, no more Drop.io. No more neat file sharing.

This begs the question - with Drop.io's assets, technology and founder, are we soon to witness a Facebook file-sharing service? Possibly connected to some sort of Facebook email? If so, does this open up yet another chapter in Facebook's privacy saga? Drop.io says that post Dec 15th all drops will be deleted, and no user data or content will be transferred to Facebook.

If Facebook does introduce a file sharing service, will they be bold and daft enough to try and claim rights on any content shared? Surely not. You don't see storage companies wanting a stake in your furniture, do you? It will be interesting to see what Facebook does with Drop.io.

Oh, and I eventually used MediaFire. Seems ok, but isn't as simple and cool as Drop.io. Wetransfer and Yousendit.com are also good file sharing options.