Category Archives: Media

Here at the ‘Cap, we’re all excited about HTML 5, so much so, that we have started a monthly reading club in order to get through the 900+ pages of the HTML 5 Specs.   Definitely looking forward to the next year and a half or so…

One of the most exciting things coming out of HTML 5 is the new video element.  Just this past week at the Google I/O Conference, Google introduced a new open-source video format, now called WebM.   This new format is under an open-source license as well as optimized for the web, and it seems like it will help guide the direction of embeddable media on the Web.

There aren’t many projects that come through the door that don’t want to utilize some form of video, so we’re definitely excited to see some standardized rules come through in this next iteration.

Of course Steve Jobs isn’t a fan of the new format (read here), and he appears to have some viable points.  But regardless of that, it doesn’t really matter how the video codec turns out, HTML 5 is going to make the web a better place and I can’t wait to see how we can use it to take all of our projects to the next level.

One of the features of the new iphone 3g-s is the inclusion of a compass.  Considering that we have all these new phones equipped with GPS already , how is this a useful  you ask?  The problem with GPS it is only capable of determining the direction that you are travelling, but unable to tell the direction that you are actually facing if you are standing still or moving in a different direction than you are facing.  The combination of the new compass with the existing GPS, camera, and internet will allow for a potentially awesome application known as augmented reality.

Augmented reality is the addition of information to to the physical word, hence the term.  Imagine this possible scenario: as you walk down the street, you see a store you are previously unfamiliar with, so you take out your phone and point it toward the store.  The GPS would pinpoint your exact location, and the compass would figure out which direction you are facing so the phone would now know exactly what you are looking at, then the camera would serve as  the canvas for displaying information downloaded from the internet about what you are looking at such as store hours.  It is really exciting to imagine the possibilities that  all these technologies can provide when you combine them all into one package.

The internet has come a long way in the past 15 years.  Cities are almost completely covered by overlapping wifi hotspots and wireless data through mobile service providers; quite a contrast to 15 years ago when finding a home with internet may have been quite a challenge.  One of the benefits that this provides us with is a link to our personal media library through applications such as Orb.  Orb installs on your computer and it will allow you to stream all of your media content (pictures, videos, music) to any internet connected device such as your cell phone, wii, iphone, or any other computer.

Being able to stream content from a personal media center makes it a lot easier to keep your media files organized by not having to create duplicate files in different location, saving you time in transferring as well as space.  The downside, of course, is that once the internet gets turned off, you no longer can access your media.  If you have a nice collection of media that you want a quick way to access from virtually anywhere, maybe you should give Orb a shot.

Obviously, iPhone applications are the new craze.  One billion (1,000,000,000!) apps have been downloaded in a very short period of time, and with the upcoming release of iPhone OS 3.0 this number is sure to skyrocket.

With all this exposure, it makes sense that advertising within this platform would have a higher than normal return on investment.  A recent report from Greystripe reveals that iPhone users average 9.6 minutes per app.  I’m not entirely sure what this translates to in the world of advertising, but let’s look at Volkswagen’s “Polo Challenge 3d“.  I honestly have no idea how much it cost to develop this game, but nearly one million users have downloaded the app.  Exposing their product to that many people for an average of 10 minutes at a time should be very effective in theory.  On top of that, their audience chose to download the interactive advertisement.

Speaking of advertising demographics… according to Mobile Marketer, more than half (54 percent) of application users are in households with incomes greater than $75,000 per year.

How much would you pay for 10 minutes of undivided attention from one million enthusiastic individuals who are fully capable of purchasing your product?

Just a thought…

As a former full time musician I am all about artists rights, and believe they should be paid for their music. As someone who loves and works in web technology I believe in utilizing the internet as it changes our culture and economy. Today downloading music without paying for it is illegal, so don’t do it. But I think bands like Radiohead are thinking forward by offering fans a choice as to what to pay for their album.

I believe that record labels and traditional radio are fighting a losing battle. Artists are realizing that the future of music revenue remains where the artists are making their money now: concerts and merch. Releasing albums online will be a way to promote their music and develop a fan base. Internet radio will be how fans discover new music, and radio sites will make money through targeted ad sales. Subscription music is the wild card, it may last or fade away only time will tell.

So why all of the fighting and suing by the record labels, the RIAA and the MPAA? They (record labels and traditional radio) have always been the vessels by which we discover and purchase music. They are industries who are in many cases not evolving with the internet but fighting against the future.

If you told me even 5 years ago that a band could record their own album, put it online themselves and then make it to the stage of Saturday Night Live in just over a year, I would not have believed you. Vampire Weekend did just that thanks to active blogging communities.

Where is this blog coming from? I have been reading how Tech Crunch is in a vicious online battle with Last fm…

Last.fm is a UK-based Internet radio and music community website, that claims over 30 million users. Last.fm builds a profile of each user’s musical taste by recording details of all the songs the user listens to. This information is transferred to Last.fm’s database, the profile data is then displayed on the user’s profile page.

Tech Crunch claimed their sources revealed that Last.fm shared their user base’s personal info with the RIAA. They denied it. Tech Crunch is now proving that CBS (who owns Last.fm) asked Last.fm for their user base info for internal purpouses only and then turned the info over to the RIAA.

Unbelievable. It is time for the corporate music industry to stop this before they alienate all of their clients… I think it’s already too late.

When I heard that the new version of iPhoto (included in iLife 09’) featured facial recognition, it made me want to upgrade.  I’m holding off on the iLife upgrade for now, but I did come across ILovePhotos. ILovePhotos is a free  “Software as a Service” that includes a web app and a desktop app. I downloaded and installed it, it integrated with iPhoto and began scanning my pictures. Within moments it had detected hundreds of faces. All I have to do is tag each face with a name, the software will handle retagging each time this face re-occurs in existing and future photographs. It even integrates with contacts in my Address book!

I believe facial recognition is going to be used more widely in the coming years, as our faces will be tied to our personal information. This could be used in every day life when you recognize a face but can’t remember the name, just sneak a picture with your iPhone and reference the picture on the web.

Of course this has all kinds of Big Brother implications now that video camera’s are being used publicly in metro areas. I was in London last month and they have camera’s set up on most streets and throughout their mass transit system. We are living in very interesting times…

Just search around a bit in Groups on Facebook, you will find pages promoting everything from rock bands to beer to politicians. These same people are also using Twitter, Flickr, YouTube etc. to promote by developing content, driving traffic and holding contests.

One industry you don’t see a lot of in the social media arena is automotive. Many older industry’s have had trouble adjusting their marketing to the web. Finally a motor company is not only utilizing today’s web but making it interesting. The Ford Fiesta has been sold overseas for awhile, they are bringing it to the states in 10’ and marketing by using online content driven by… well, the drivers.

Ford gave 100 Fiestas to people selected from 4,000 applicants. The winners get to use the cars for six months in exchange for completing “missions” with different themes. They’ll share their experiences through YouTube, Flickr, Facebook and Twitter accounts that Ford created for the campaign.

Ford is using this campaign (they are calling it “The Fiesta Movement”) not only to promote the car but to get genuine feedback publicly from the drivers. This is using social media as it was meant to be used. I think Ford is going to get some great results. Good move Ford!

FordFiesta Twitter page

The Fiesta Movement Facebook page

Fiesta Movement Flickr Page

FiestaMovement YouTube account

Throughout my time here at Bottlecap, I’ve worked on a number of e-commerce projects ranging from offering only a few products to thousands.  With the tools and resources available today, there has never been a better time to get started.
Advantages

• Open 24/7
• Cost of running and maintaining is significantly less than a physical storefront
• Requires less man-power
• Easier to collect data/statistics, which can help you make better decisions

Disadvantages

• Less personal, some customers prefer the face to face interaction of a brick and mortar store
• Customers may not trust the security of online payments

What is preventing more businesses from developing a web presence?  A lot of it has to do with the fact that starting an online business requires a significantly different skill set than a traditional one.  And often, people are afraid of what they do not understand.  This is where Bottlecap can help bridge the gap between the technical and non-technical side of things.

Is your business or idea ready to make the leap?

Who wouldn’t want to connect a network of 175 million active users to their up and coming web app or website? With Facebook’s newest venture, Facebook Connect, that is now very possible.  Facebook Connect allows you to integrate the Facebook Platform into your very own site, seamlessly connecting your site to users’ Facebook accounts.  Users can then share information and actions on your site with their friends on Facebook, or even connect with other Facebook users who also use your site. When a new Facebook user signs up to use your amazing new application, they’re not just signing themselves up, they’re bringing their (on average) 120 friends along with them too!

For example, this weekend I noticed Netflix has integrated with Facebook Connect, so I gladly connected my two accounts by simply logging in to Facebook Connect through my Netflix account.  Now, whenever I rate a movie on Netflix, an entry is posted to my Facebook Wall.  All of my Facebook friends can see the movie I rated, the rating I gave it, and a description and thumbnail of the movie. They are also linked directly to the Netflix home page, or to the movie’s page. In essence, I’m giving Netflix free advertising to all of my friends, who very likely have similar tastes in movies.

As the Facebook community continues to grow at an incredible rate, the value that it can bring to any website is priceless. And with Facebook Connect now being available on platforms such as the iPhone, the possibilities are endless. Is your web app taking advantage of this power?