SMaRT Technology Services, Inc.

What Kind of Tech User Are You?

2009-06-10T14:07:00.008-05:00

Can you go a day without emailing or twittering? Has your laptop replaced your TV for entertainment? Do computers provide more or less control over your life?

The Pew Research Center offers an online test to see how digitally reliant you are. For the record, I am (unfortunately to some) locked in as Digital Collaborator - meaning I'm lost without my i-Phone, laptop, and internet. Whereas fellow SMaRT marketer, Anna, is a Roving Node who uses her gadgets for dealing with the logistics of life and enhancing personal productivity.

Take the test and see where you stand. Are you an Ambivalent Networker, Media Mover, or Drifting Surfer?

The Pew Center is a nonpartisan, nonprofit "fact tank" that provides information on the issues, attitudes and trends shaping America and the world.

PCs in China May Have Trojan Horse

2009-06-09T16:52:00.013-05:00

American Public Media's Marketplace recently reported that all PCs sold in China must have "blocking software" installed on them to block access to pornographic web sites. Those cautious about Big Brother warn that the mandatory application could act as a Trojan Horse for hidden tracking software to be used by the Chinese government to monitor user's computer activities. PC makers like HP and Dell are complying with China's demands because, well, China is the next big market.

Transcript of audio segment here.

Yeow! Get The Computer Off Me!

2009-06-09T13:28:00.007-05:00

Nintendo Thumb, Cell Phone Elbow, Guitar Hero Wrist. Technology, it seems, is out to cripple. What next? Well, it appears that more and more often we're either falling over our equipment or it's falling on us. According to American Journal of Preventive Medicine, an increasing number of Americans have wound up in emergency rooms after crashing with computers. "From 1994 to 2006, injuries caused by people tripping over computer wires or getting hit by falling equipment rose from about 1,300 a year to 9,300 a year, an increase of 732 percent nationwide."
Complete Live Science article here.
Original American Journal of Preventive Medicine report here.

Japan's 1st Green IT Expo

2009-05-27T01:49:00.008-05:00

We all know that Japan is such a tech-driven country, whether its about robots, gadgets, cell phones or back-end data storage and securities. And now they're officially trying to go green with their gizmo world.

Yes, everyone appears to be jumping on the green bandwagon. Yet sometimes stamping brands with green badges sometimes appears to be only a marketing nod to current social trends and energy challenges. Yet, the first step is acknowledgment at least. At Japan's first official "Green IT Expo", I did find several booths that addressed issues of energy conservation by being audited to determine carbon footprints and taking necessary actions to minimize their environmental impact. But I also found a majority who didn't acknowledge the title of their expo in any way.

What I did find were lavish displays that featured showroom sets for entertainment productions to introduce or discuss the latest server or security package. At one was a full-on magic show complete with dancers! (I was asked to turn off the video camera before the magician appeared suddenly in a cage). Each booth also featured scores of women to hand out advertising brochures and collateral. Others were quietly stationed in and around the massive center patiently displaying their services, hardware and software.

Was it green? Yes and no, but it's a start.

Alternative Tokyo Subway Advertising

2009-05-26T22:48:00.016-05:00

In Tokyo, one is bombarded by advertising everywhere you go. You can't escape. Above is a video display built into the top of a subway turnstyle. I can't imaging how anyone is going to retain any message because you're usually flying through the turnstyles with the masses anxious to catch the next train or get out of the station. But you do glance down as you swipe your automatic prepaid Pasmo train card. So, perhaps a one second glance will get planted into your subconscious.

Since the advent of e-ink and its very public launch on the cover of Esquire magazine in October, '08, we are now seeing it pop up in advertising, like this banner hanging in Tokyo subway trains.

I'M YOUR VENUS, I'M YOUR FIRE, IT'S YOUR DESIRE

2009-05-21T17:28:00.010-05:00

This past week Fujitsu Ltd. announced that they have developed the world's fastest central processing unit, called Venus, capable of performing 128 gigaflops - er, billion calculations per second. That's about 2.5 times faster than the previous record-holding model made by Intel. Comparatively, it takes your hand and a pencil .0119 seconds to jot down instructions from your brain. Which is a little different than the calculations speed per second for your mind to determine whether you need brats or dogs for Saturday's BBQ which may or may not happen depending on whether it rains. Can you compute that faster? Maybe.

Let's just say a CPU chucking out 128 billion calculations per second is fast, and after you throw tens of thousands of them into a super computer you've got something that should be able to do your laundry. There is a supercomputer at Oak Ridge National Laboratory nicknamed "Jaguar" that can crunch a quadrillion calculations per second. It's like if everyone in the world performed one mathematical calculation per sec, it would take 650 years to do what Jaguar can do in one day. And that's about 55,000 times faster than your typical PC. Vavoom!

So, Fujitsu's plan is to have a supercomputer chock full of these microprocessors, fully named Venus SPARC64 VIIIfx, up and running by 2010 at the Institute of Physical and Chemical Science (Riken). Again, Moore's Law of computational miniaturization is in full swing here. Fujitsu was able to double the number of central circuits integrated onto a chip -- measuring about 2 centimeters square -- from four to eight. That's a chip 2 times the width of a CD case according to the over-hyped and almost useful Wolfram Alpha.

And The Venus will be greener -- designed to be energy efficient by cutting electricity consumption to about one-third of current levels.

Like many of the largest supercomputers churning out Matrix-like realities, the Venus will be used for new industrial pharmaceutical development, earthquake prediction and rocket engine design. But on the consumer level it may be used in devices such as personal computers and digital electronic appliances, perhaps leading to the development of equipment such as portable simultaneous interpretation machines and automated driving devices for cars. That's what I need.

Take a Sad Song and Make it Worse?

2009-05-20T11:37:00.008-05:00

Trafalger Square, London, UK
Telecom giant T-Mobile recently staged a pseudo Flash Mob marketing spectacle in London. I was there to witness the sneaky shenanigans orchestrated by agency Saatchi and Saatchi where they pulled off an ad scheme/event that was part Web 2.0, part media, part guerilla, part interactive, part show, part event, part viral - and part disturbing!

At 7:10pm, Thursday, April 30, I ascended from London's tube at Trafalgar Square station to find 13,000 people singing the refrain from Beatles' Hey Jude. "Na, na, na, na na na naaaaaa, na na na naaaaaa, Hey Jude!" Caught off-guard by the spectacle, I found myself in a dream - what could be more London? What crazy vortex did I step into? But in front of the crowd was no staged Beatlemania band, just a stadium-sized karaoke screen with song lyrics. Thousands gleefully and mindlessy sang; hundreds into microphones (some reportedly fake). US popstar Pink even showed up, er was hired, to sing-along. And then I noticed large camera booms swinging over the audience. Something was amiss. It was too orchestrated. The dream evaporated the next morning when my suspected fears were confirmed and learned it was a staged promotional flash mob "karaoke" event hosted by global telecom giant T-Mobile.

I learned this was the followup of their "successful" Liverpool Station flash mob last February which became a viral marketing hit ala youtube. At the Liverpool gig 400 dancers (who rehearsed for a month) appeared at the station in disguised randomness and performed a pre-choreographed dance, capturing unsuspecting passerbys "in the moment" as they hastily texted event images to friends afar - all while being filmed by hidden cameras and later posted online. (In the "making of" video, producers even wholly admitted "as soon as the public spots a camera, game over".) How sneaky is that?

During April's latest event, thousands descended on central London after T-Mobile posted a youtube teaser, distributed flyers, and texted those who carry their service. And yes! The lemmings amassed! Whereas the Liverpool Station spectators were unwillingly ensnared into a promotional event, this "Hey Jude" shindig brought the willing onto the camera screen in some faux feel-good sentimental aura. The next day, the local media fawned all over it. Participants talked about the "once in a lifetime event", posted videos, texted friends. Bingo! All free viral advertising. Keeping the momentum going, Saatchie edited their footage in 48 hours and showed a 30 second spot during Saturday's #1 TV show "Britain's Got Talent". Within a week, the subway advertisement video screens were aglow with 10 second spots of the event. All under the T-Mobile tagline "Life's For Sharing!" smartly tapping into social marketing trends - we're all connected - right?

As a 2009 marketing tool, yes, the event was a successful awareness campaign: part human, part Web 2.0, part mobile, part guerilla, part interactive, part show, part event, part viral.
And part disturbing.

Yes, they effectively moved beyond static "Us to You" campaigns. Kudos for that! But it somehow appeared hollow, lacking honesty and sincerity. They used the zeitgeist of Flash Mobs and tainted it. In an age when consumers see through marketing manipulation, I'm surprised so many fell for this. But perhaps that's London for you. It was a participatory event where OZ willingly revealed himself pulling all the levers of what was really a controlled media experiment.

Yes, Life IS for Sharing. But for a marketing event? A sign of things to come.

IT Support Expo - London Style

2009-05-17T15:27:00.006-05:00

SMaRT Marketing Director, Jeff Wichmann, explores the latest tech support vendors in Europe and their various marketing techniques at London's annual tech event.

The International Help Desk and IT Support Expo was held at the end of April in London. On hand were many IT Service Management companies from both Europe and America holding seminars, demonstrating case studies, workshops and briefings. ITIL best practices were stamped everywhere. I went in and explored the creative and whimsical displays. Notice the SDI "Lounge" guarded by a Star Wars figure holding their latest PR catalog "The Service Desk Strikes Back".

University of Milan During Design Week, 2009

2009-05-01T11:47:00.007-05:00

The stakes are high in Milan when melding design and technology. Seriously, everyone is up against superhuman Italian conceptualizer/artist Leonardo de Vinci with his Mona Lisa, Last Supper and his plans for a helicopter, a tank, concentrated solar power, a calculator, and an outlined rudimentary theory of plate tectonics. And that was 500 years ago!
But you have plans for the latest and greatest green solar commune lounge. That's nice. But it's not stopping students of the University of Milan, a leading institute in Italy and Europe for scientific productivity, and professional designers from trying to develop the next best thing. As part of Milan Design Week, the Uni put on quite a show in their courtyards: large installations that focused on energy in terms of smart and sutainable use, with attention focused on the home, the city and landscape. But also energy "as a creative process, a project attitude which in not - or is no longer typical of a group of professionals since it is now a commonly shared thought."

Surrounded by the college's historical architecture you could find sustainable, ecological architecture and new inventions by Italian and international designers such as Mauricio Cardenas, Marco Piva, Luca Trazzi and David Chipperfield. The daytime offered relaxing strolls through the exhibitions, but at night, the place was lit up like a rock show, with thousands of revelers packing the halls.

PANASONIC - An Intro to Milan Design Week

2009-04-28T15:06:00.006-05:00

SMaRT Marketing Director, Jeff Wichmann, explores the Panasonic exhibit at Milan Design Week.

The vast array of installation displays at Milan's Design Week was mind-boggling. Thousands of world-class designers descended onto this gorgeously grungy fashion-conscious city to make it the Capital of International Design. Hundreds of old warehouses, courtyards, and ancient Italian pavilions and courtyards were filled with elaborately furnished innovative design concepts for furniture, architecture, auto, lighting, art, fashion, appliances and housewares to be used in either the home, corporate boardrooms, hotels, restaurants, or clubs. All together, it was a design lasagna: inspirational, abstract, efficient, low-brow, hi-brow and a little absurd.
Electronics giant Panasonic featured Japanese lighting designer Naoto Fukasawa on opening night to show off his latest concepts. Set in an upscale Milan district warehouse, he and his team converted the interior into a minimal black and white labyrinth of lighting installation. Though the white mannequin statues at the entrance desk were unexplainable, they brought abstract comedic relief to a corporate stage show of dangling orbs and desk lamps.

Marrying design and technology, Panasonic used... "concealed mechanisms and quality materials to make for better design." Their fixtures consisted of glowing spheres, domes, and buckets, all with a classical appearance, yet Fukasawa emphasized, "They may look old, but they are very modern." In other words, if it ain't broke... Yet, Panasonic claims their latest "light sources" are built with environment-concious, energy saving designs "for high efficiency and long life." Today, while every company is tattooing itself with green stamp mantras to demonstrate at least an essence of sustainability, Panasonic is no exception.

Also on display were relaxing lounge chairs that electronically swayed forward and back. Reclined in these futuristic Lazyboys, staring up at the myriad of lights on display, I got my first taste of holistic design that the Festival portrays: our lives, surrounded by good design, is essential to our well being.

Akihabara - Tokyo's Electric City!

2009-04-20T05:26:00.005-05:00

Akihabara - Tokyo's Electric City! from SMaRT Technology Services on Vimeo.

SMaRT Technology Services' Marketing Director, Jeff Wichmann, visits computer and electronic center in Tokyo.

Flashing neon signs, giant ideograms, gaudy posters selling tech goods -- it's all in Akihabara, Tokyo's electric city where you can find any electronic consumer good from around the world. Computer superstores bustle with thousands looking for a deal on the latest laptop. And here, it's all about size and portability. The smaller the better. Sony, Dell, and Toshiba all have micro computers selling anywhere from 500 to 1,500 yen ($500-$1,500). Every store has barkers on microphones announcing the latest deals and brands. Each isle has four sales reps ready to assist with a purchase or barter at a moments notice. Pre-recorded sales announcements in Mandarin scream from the ceiling appealing to the masses of new wealthy Chinese recently visiting Japan. If there is a recession in Japan, you can't tell in a place like this where wallets are springing open and deals are made every hour. This is no Best Buy. And it's certainly no Circuit City.

Massive Spider In Yokohama!

2009-04-19T09:42:00.003-05:00

A giant robotic spider came to Yokohama on Friday, April 16, for a 5-month festival commemorating the 150th anniversary of the opening of the city’s port. The spiders came from France where they were built my steampunk performance art group La Machine. Check out this awesome video of the arachno-fest performance when one of the 12-meter (40-ft) tall, 37-ton mechanical spiders moved its mechanical legs, shot steam and water, while fire, fog machines, lights and music added to the spectacle.

Tokyo Lives - Tokyo Phones!

2009-04-15T00:43:00.012-05:00

Tokyo display flagship for Japan telecommunications giant KDDI reveals the future of telecom -- your cell phone and your lifestyle are one and the same and organically evolving. 5 spiraling floors display future concept designs, the hottest phone displays, at-home media interaction (controlled by one's phone of course) and a wireless cafe on top. All in the effort to display KDDI's research on advanced technologies that they hope will form a future technological foundation for improvement of communications systems infrastructure.
And that future lies in organic creative technology. For the musician in all of us, they have concept cell phones that turn into keyboards, drum sticks, or harps. Also featured is a "dog phone" designed by avant-garde sculptor, painter and novelist Yayoi Kasuma. On display are power adapters that look like vines and mini video projectors the size of a credit card. One floor features the sexiest life-style phone displays for the athlete, the party girl, the student, or the accountant. And although featured brand names are Kyocera, Hitachi, Sanyo, Sony Ericsson, Toshiba, and Panasonic, they all have the same rectangular shape that either flip or slide, yet none look like phones in the States made by the same manufacturers. One display housed US phones made by Samsung, Panasonic, Kyocera that appeared so utilitarian black in contrast with the rainbow of cool colors offered in Japan. But the only reason they were on display was to feature the US' superior streaming video via cellphones which show 40 frames per second verses 15 frames in Japan. The only difference is one must pay in the States for this feature whereas it's included in Japan. And what about the suffering iPhone in Japan? I asked showroom host Yasuhiro Sekigouchi what he thought, "It's cool, but I don't have one. It is limited by the lack of video taking options and multi-media messaging. But I do have three friends in Tokyo that own one and they enjoy it."

The building also features "Wired Cafe 360" on the top floor with tropical plants and casual woodsy atmosphere that contrast with the neon rich buildings up and down the streets of Harajuku. Wireless hotspots for laptops are hard to find in Tokyo where most use their cell phone for all interactions and web surfing. Since forming in 1953 as a domestic phone company, KDDI has evolved into tech-savvy giant that effectively synthesizes our creative lifestyle choices with our inherent ability to communicate with one another.

Eye Candy iPhone Apps

2009-04-10T02:10:00.006-05:00

At a recent design meet-up in Tokyo I met Tetsuya Imamura of J's Avenue, Inc. - a small Tokyo-based company that focuses on content development for game consoles, mobile phones, PC networks, and pachinko machines. Tetsuya waved two iPhones around showing a cool new application he developed - Stuffed Animal. It's mostly eye candy fun featuring an interactive animated racoon. Hold the phone over your head and he'll try to jump into your view. "I tried to import 3D models into the iphone," he explained. "I thought friendly animals in a virtual world might be cute." This app follows his first, Metallic Worm, where he began building a virtual world. "I thought animated, life-like metallic objects would have impact," he added. These are the first apps he developed for the iPhone which was introduced in Japan 10 months ago. He's currently developing other apps that may be available for the rest of us, if Apple approves them of course. Yet, he's also planning on creating apps for the Android phone. Keep a look out.

Tokyo Technology

2009-04-08T01:37:00.011-05:00

I'm in Tokyo where I will be reporting on technical innovations. In this gadget-rich city that consumes technology for breakfast, it will be tough to choose from its IT menu because it pervades all levels of daily life: the cell phones that do everything, the micro-laptops, robots, digital rice makers, and even the wireless heated toilet seats. Some practical, some just plain ridiculous. When wandering through its winding neon-rich streets, one half expects to walk into sci-fi teleportation portal that sends you across this mega metropolis of 12 million people packed in an area 6 times the size of Chicago. Currently, I sit reporting from a private wireless library on the 49th floor of a building in Roppongi Hills. Looking out the floor-to-ceiling window I see the city before me - a labyrinth of winding streets, hidden coves, subway routes, and millions of invisible wireless waves connecting everyone 24 hours a day. Time to dive in.

VIRTUAL ASSISTANCE

2009-03-25T14:42:00.006-05:00

The bot race to find the perfect personal assistant has been on for a long time with developers across the world still hell-bent on creating a virtual assistant whether they've been a talking head on a computer screen or a rubber facsimile with a giant power cord. Remember, the idyllic 1950s vacuuming robot with apron only evolved into a simplistic Roomba. And still hovering in the fatalistic future is good 'ol HAL from Space Odyssey 2001. Yet, we're still trying to go there. NPR host Liane Hansen talks this week with Microsoft researcher Eric Horvitz about the development of their virtual personal assistant Laura. And while Microsoft is forever focused on PC utilization (ehem), Japanese programmers have been trying to "make it real" for years, like this expo video from 2006.

Future Shock: The PC of 2019

2009-03-20T13:06:00.005-05:00

Great article this week from Computer World regarding the future of computing. In many ways, we are already there - cloud computing, increased personalization of devices, more interactivity. Say goodbye to laptops as devices get smaller, more flexible, portable, interactive - um, hello iphone. Also say adios to mice and keyboards as touch screens, voice commands, and even brain waves become the dominant input methods.

And keeping with touchy feely technology similar to last week's Siftables post, check out this MIT Labs video regarding sensing technology so personal that it blurs the boundary between individual and machine.

SIFTABLES - Building Blocks For Brains and Bodies

2009-03-16T16:39:00.013-05:00

As we watch the gap between physical interaction and computerized models shrink and fold into each other (iphone, Wii, Korg Kaossilator), we begin to see our future. At the recent TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design) conference in Long Beach, California, David Merrill of MIT Media Lab demonstrated how they've taken alphabet blocks to a whole new level. Based upon our inherent human ability to think and solve problems by understanding spacial relationships and asking "What if we could reach in with both hands and grasp any information we wanted?", they developed interactive computerized blocks the size of cookies. Each "Siftable" has a screen and can sense each other with their wireless communicators. According to Merril, "They are an example of a new ecosystem of tools for manipulating digital information." Siftables are not yet on the market, but they say "soon."

CeBIT This Week!

2009-03-05T14:55:00.008-06:00

This week, the world's largest IT exhibition, CeBIT 2009 in Hanover, Germany, features 4,300 firms from 69 countries presenting digital solutions, trends and innovations. Featured exhibits include "Webciety" and "Green IT" plus the latest in robots, itty-bitty computers, and future-thinking options for medical, social, manufacturing, distribution, banking, government and science within our global environment. It IS the melting pot of IT - bar none. From the global stew, The State of California is the official partner of the event and of Germany's IT and telecommunications industry association, BITKOM. And yes, the Governator did open the event on Sunday. Reportedly, the exhibitor numbers are down from last year's 5,845 due to the current glum global economic situation. But that won't impact those presenting or attending looking for solutions in a pared down future that honors practicality over techno-bling. Scientific American went inside and posted this video review.

The Future According to Marc Andreessen

2009-02-20T13:13:00.004-06:00

Have a look at this optimistically frenetic interview with Marc Andreessen, co-founder and chairman of Ning and an investor in startups such as Digg, Plazes, and Twitter. He's best known as co-author of Mosaic and founder of Netscape. He is on the Board of Directors of Facebook and eBay. Try keeping up with his mind as he flies through the current state of affairs with social networking and the latest tech trends.

Cyber Sport Orbita

2009-02-18T13:12:00.005-06:00

A new mouse is in town. Yes, yes, yes. Most of us have conditioned our fingers to a traditional 2 button mouse or our laptop touch pad. But this little gizmo from Ausie company Cyber Sport offers a whole new interactive experience. The big selling point on this 800 DPI mouse is the use of a spinning scroll-wheel that replaces the typical left and right mouse buttons (push down for left-click, squeeze for right, spin to scroll). You'll get 3-axis control over wireframe 3D models, Google Earth exploration, video jogging, or game zooming. Drawbacks? The $98.50 price tag and learning curve. Can one build a better mouse... trap?

Extreme PC Cooling

2008-09-23T10:34:00.001-05:00

Still somehow not satisfied by the vast array of PC cooling options at your disposal? Then perhaps ThermalTake's new Xpressar case will suit your excessive ways, with it boasting what the company claims is the first DC inverter type micro refrigeration cooling system to be used in a PC case. That system, which is more or less a reworked air conditioner, promises to keep your components 20°C cooler than your average liquid cooling system, and a full 40°C cooler than a regular air cooling system, although the folks at DarkVision Hardware seem to be a bit skeptical of ThermalTake's testing methods. You also won't be able to use any old motherboard with it, with only a handful from ASUS, Gigabyte and MSI supported, but the case itself seems to be more than accommodating enough for the rest of your components. No word on a price just yet, but you can pretty safely bet you'll be paying a premium to be a part of this particular "world's first" endeavor.