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Martin Hofmann

a personal blog about technology, communications and other stuff that interests me

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Archives for August 2006

Ads with a personal touch

by Martin · Aug 27, 2006

BBC News has interesting article about the future of advertising and some of the new technologies that could be used to create “personal” and “interactive” experiences. One example is the use of facial recognition software to determine whether the person staring at an outdoor/subway ad space is male or female, which would lead to different ads being served up. More on the BBC website.  

I’d be interested to read more about the future of online advertising, too. I can still count on one hand the number of times I have clicked on a Google or MSN ad in the last three years.

Filed Under: Media

Boeing loses Connexion

by Martin · Aug 18, 2006

Boeing announced that it will shut down its inflight Internet service Connexion, which allowed passengers on a number of airlines to surf the Web during flights (via CNN).

Boeing says the market for the service didn’t materialize. Scoble thinks that 30 bucks was too expensive for two hours of service. I think it probably failed for a different reason: space.

I tried Connexion during a Lufthansa flight to Germany last year. The connection worked perfectly and it was a fast surfing experience. The problem was that I was sitting in economy class and had absolutely no room to actually work on the computer. It is one thing to use a laptop on a plane to watch a DVD. But it is almost impossible to actually type on the keyboard and get stuff done even if the guy in front of you hasn’t yet lowered his seat dangerously close to your crotch. I basically had to put the laptop monitor on my legs and put the keyboard against my belly. It looked more like I was playing accordion than working on a computer.

A look at an overview of airline seat dimensions shows that there are very few airlines who offer a little bit of comfort for economy class passengers. As long as there is no room to actually properly use a computer for work, and make onboard Internet usage useful and fun, it doesn’t really matter how expensive the service is or how much trouble airlines have to go through to install a service like Connexion. To make a service like this work, it is not enough to win over the business class.

Filed Under: Technology

Evoke 2006 demoparty and computer festival in Cologne

by Martin · Aug 11, 2006

Great festival across the ocean: Evoke 2006 is starting today in Cologne, Germany.  Programmers, graphic artists and musicians are coming together to show off their skills in a number of categories. Demoscene.tv will be broadcasting live from the party.

(via heise.de)

Filed Under: Great stuff, Technology, Transatlantic

More mobile messaging

by Martin · Aug 8, 2006

Research firm M:Metrics says picture messaging is on the rise because more people own camera phones these days. Jupiter Research comments that “the growth in MMS (multimedia message service) has still been very very slow compared to what mobile phone operators had hoped for” and that “a growth in uptake of camera phones has been fuelled by the fact that there are decreasingly small amounts of non-camera phones available in the market place” (via BBC News – Technology).

Well, I didn’t buy my phone because of the camera. But now that it is there, I have started to use it. For example when I ended up in the middle of a World Cup party.

09-07-06_1230.jpg

Maybe new mobile software will help drive growth for multimedia messaging. The findings by M:Metrics should be an encouraging sign for software developers such as Toronto-based Ambient Vector who build new kinds of social networking offerings to be used with camera phones.

When I was in Europe in June I was surprised how much text and picture messaging is used by people of all ages. I have sent and received way more messages on my cell phone in those few weeks over there than in the last 18 months in Canada.

The roaming worked perfectly with my Fido phone for both voice communication and text messaging. But now that I am back in Canada, I get error messages (did my phone overdose on SMS in Europe?) Need to get that fixed.

Filed Under: Technology, Transatlantic

Drowning in content?

by Martin · Aug 7, 2006

“[T]he total posting volume of the blogosphere continues to rise, showing about 1.6 Million postings per day, or about 18.6 posts per second. This is about double the volume of about a year ago.“

David Sifry, CEO, Technorati in State of the Blogosphere report, August 2006

So many postings, so little time. If blog search engines aren’t doing the job for you, Forbes.com columnist Jack Trout has some tips on dealing with Info-clutter.

The blogosphere continues to grow at an amazing pace. Go to David Sifry’s blog entry for all the numbers.

Filed Under: English, Technology

Getting noticed at CTIA IT & Entertainment 2006

by Martin · Aug 4, 2006

High Road’s resident telecom and wireless PR experts Sarah Spence and Jo-Anne Stayner are hosting a webinar on best ways to get exposure at this important industry show. Brad Smith of Wireless Week will join them to provide insights and guidance from a media perspective. The seminar is on August 9th at 1 PM EST. Go here for more information and registration.

Filed Under: Communications, Events, High Road

The Internet and the way we spend our time

by Martin · Aug 2, 2006

Statscan today realeased the findings of a survey on “The Internet and the way we spend our time”. Most of the findings aren’t really surprising. But I found it interesting that heavy users watch about the same amount of television as non-users. So the Internet isn’t really replacing television as a favourite past time. I must be an exception. 

(via The Star)

Filed Under: Canada, Media, Technology

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