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Tech Blog Entries Summary

Technology makes communication amazing!

From the following ten topics I covered, we can not only amaze how technology has changed the communication, but also are excited to have fun with different new tech or apps.

#1: Mobile Broadcast TV

#2: Apple Daily’s Action News

#3: Six-Sense Technology

#4: Independent Media

#5: Microblogs

#6: E-book Reader

#7: Search Engine's future

#8: CNN’s Satellite-fed Communication

#9: Skype 3G App

#10: Youtube Mobile Add Ads

Some other topics I am interested but not covered such as Second life game, the social responsible-related apps of Google.org etc.

Within over one last month, every day seems to have a new thing to excite us, such as iPad, Google Buzz, Skype 3G app, Microsoft’s Skinput etc. As a communication professional like me, so many new tools make the situation more complicated, but also create new digital tactics to reach out target audience. So challenges and opportunities combine. In the coming future when I go back to Shanghai, do hope all of those tools can be implemented effectively in the mainland market.

Internet Auction Report #3: Results

 On March 11 2010, we finally sold out the first Sock Doll for White Day.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=220566094519&ssPageName=STRK:MESOX:IT

Besides, the product awareness was also spread through the online campaign. The result is displayed as follows:

Items	No. of Views	No. of Comments
Valentine’s Day Promotion on Facebook	22	11
Valentine’s Day Promotion on Renren.com	14	9
Ebay shop: White Day Pink Bear	22	1
Ebay shop: Valentine’s Day Red Rabbit	14	1
Total	72	22

Campaign Highlights:

• Online social media such as Facebook or Renren.com is a good Word of Mouth Marketing channel.
• The product off-line display should be considered to attract target audience.When we brought the Sock Doll to the class, many classmates liked it or even took a picture by cell phones to post on Facebook or wrote comments on Facebook/renre.com.
• Interaction is important! In the Valentine’s Day promotion, winner’s photo display of their DIY process attracted not only the original friends’ but also many other new friends’ active participation on the online discussion.

Key Learning:

• Price should be lower. Some classmates who liked the doll complained to us that our price is a little high. So cheaper, more sales!
• Product off-line display should be considered to do more in the campus such as half-day product show outside of the campus canteen.
• Yahoo is a popular auction site than ebay in Hong Kong. Some friends just complained it took time to register account on ebay.com.

Appendix:
1. Valentine’s Day Promotion on Facebook

2. Valentine's Day Promotion on Renren.com

Tech Blog #10: YouTube Mobile Adds Ads

Do you see the Mazda’s ad picture on the left? Yes! It is a video ad on YouTube mobile site. This latest ad offering has attracted three large advertisers’ investments including Mazda, Kia Motors and Sony Pictures.

According to the statistics, YouTube’s mobile app has "tens of millions" of views per day and has grown 160% in 2009. So, how big cake it will be? However, making ads viewable on mobile phones is not as easily as imagined since those video ads should be encoded in a mobile-friendly format while most mobile browsers can't handle Adobe's Flash. So YouTube is still on the way to fix a universal mobile app for different smart mobile phone handsets. I am not a tech guy but I believe this kind of technology problem is just nothing for the smart YouTube guys.

What really get me to have a further thought are two findings.

Firstly, mobile offers advertisers many attractive possibilities. No other device is as personal, interactive and constantly within reach as a cell phone. And cell phones get advertisers more accurate ad targeting due to its parameters such as device type, mobile channel, location or even demographic information. But, how does mobile ad go far? Although mobile provide advertisers different formats including messages, banner and full-page ads on mobile Internet sites etc, advertisers seem still not to prefer it a lot. According to the latest statistics from OUTSELL (see the below picture), mobile ads not only occupy just a small amount (i.e. $1.1B) in the total ad spending but also face the spending decline (i.e. 15.9% down from 2009). So will YouTube’s new app change the situation? Will more advertisers except for those three ones above be involved? Let’s wait and see.

Secondly, from Facebook, Twitter, Skype to Kindle, YouTube, it seems that every popular tech app is rushing into the 3G world and being mobilized. SmarTone, the new iPhone operator in Hong Kong just developed a print ad with the proposition of “140,000 apps to be amazed” (see ad picture as follows). I think this is not just iPhone’s case. Other mobile phone manufacturers are also using a variety of apps offering as a selling point. Just like the ad saying, APPS REALLY MAKES OUR COMMUNICATION LIFE AMAZING!

Tech Blog #9: Skype 3G app

Early in 2009, Skype has just launched a lit version of Skype™, for mobile phones such as Blackberry etc. It helps to cut down the overseas phone cost as Skype mobile users are only charged by their mobile operator for local air time and data usage based on the type of calling service and data plan they have purchased. But many operators still blocked its calls, prohibited its customers from downloading Skype’s software or imposed fees to undermine Skype’s attraction.

So, what’s going on in 2010?

Fortunately in February, Skype has announced its partnership with Verizon from March to bring a new Skype app to Verizon's 3G service, which means the app will be more easily accessible on the fly. Besides, Skype 3G app will allow free and unlimited Skype-to-Skype calls only if your cell phone’s unlimited data package.

So how big of a deal is this Skype announcement? Let’s see Henry McCracken’s comment from PC World:

There's nothing inherently historic about Skype being available on phones -- it's on the iPhone (albeit over Wi-Fi only right now) and I first used the service on a Windows Mobile handset years ago. (Only briefly, though -- it taxed the phone to the breaking point, and voice quality was pretty miserable.) But a major carrier such as Verizon not only grudgingly permitting Skype but buddying up with it as a selling point for its phones is an interesting twist.

(source from http://www.csmonitor.com/Innovation/Horizons/2010/0217/Skype-3G-app-to-hit-Verizon-phones-in-March)

Tech Blog #8: What Made CNN a Global Reputation?

Everyone knows about CNN. But what made CNN so famous in the world? Someone maybe knows it is the first Gulf War! Definitely, during the initial hours of the Coalition bombing campaign in 1991, CNN became the only news outlet with the ability to communicate from inside Iraq, with live reports. At that time the bombing destroyed all of the usual communication channels including military ones. No wonder even President George H. W. Bush said he depended on CNN's news to decide what was the next step would be during the media interviews.

But why it is CNN instead of other media who can control the exclusive news source? It is the power of Satellite-fed communication! CNN just rented several Satellite Phones for its 24-hour live news broadcast. When this advanced and military-focused technology was applied for journalism, all the news became real-time. Besides, other media also depended on CNN’s source to cover stories about the Gulf War.

Even nowadays, satellite-fed technology is still the key or exclusive communication channel in disasters. Take an example for Sichuan Earthquake in 2008. Earthquake could easily destroy the cell phone and Internet communication except for Satellite-fed communication. The live TV news host utilized satellite phones to interview with the onsite reporters about the latest information.

From this point of view, it is not the news content but the amazing communication technology made media success!

Microsoft's Skinput

Just watched the following video on Youtube. Microsoft also developed a state-of-the-art touchscreen technology similar to Six-Sense Technology. Does that really mean we no longer need to bring the cell phone, PSP, camera or even netbook for a trip? Skinput or Six-sense Technology will be our another brain to help us solve everything.  Exciting!