As if I have not already been to mini.com enough, configuring and reconfiguring Mini Cooper’s; Mini gives me yet another reason to check out their fabulous website. They sent out an email blast with “Secret Codes” that you can type into the search box, on the Mini website, that allow you to play with the site’s hidden features. Pretty cool. Give them a try.
Once you type in the code (case sensitive), look to the bottom left of the main window for instructions on how to use the hidden feature.
The Secret Codes (shhh!):
Reverse
Take It For a Spin
Under The Hood
MINImize
Great Flash work and another piece of Mini’s masterful marketing.
…and for all others not willing to be chained to AT&T in order to use the Apple iPhone.
On the downside, why does the iPod touch not include Mail.app or Google Maps, as the iPhone does? It would also be great to see the 16GB of flash memory boosted to 32GB soon.
Oh, and the other small thing that is missing from the “Vermonter’s iPhone”? The phone.
I have been a fan of SlidesShowPro, an Actionscript 2.0 component for Flash that helps you display photo galleries online, for sometime now and it looks to be getting a nice little update (video handling, etc.).
It is also a free update for existing users.
And now for the best feature of all! Both updates will be free of charge to all current users. Yes, free. Why? Because we’re crazy. No, seriously, we could have easily up-ticked both to “2.0″ and passed around the collection plate, but we don’t roll like that. Consider it a “thank you” for your constructive feedback, word-of-mouth support, and for taking a chance with us in the first place.
I have been a long-time user (in Internet time that equates to somewhere between one week and a few years…) of TinyURL.com to shorten long, ugly URLs into something a bit more manageable (and copy & paste-able). The service is quick and easy and does what it promises, but it is U G L Y. Almost to the extent that I don’t want to use it.
If you feel the same way and are looking for a similar service that is easier on the eyes, check out RubyURL.com
As for other URL shortening site designs, does this URLtea.com background make anyone else’s eyes go crossed?
One year ago, yesterday, Smirnoff launched it’s award-winning Tea Partay viral video advertising campaign on YouTube. The purpose being to promote it’s Raw Tea malt beverage product. The video used a hip-hop theme to exploit the stereo-typical east-coast preppie style. Something about this video made me, and a lot of other people, watch it repeatedly and talk about it (the true sign of a successful viral marketing campaign). The YouTube Tea Partay videos alone have accrued more than 3.5 million combined views. That is a whole lot of (nearly) free advertising.
Yesterday, in an attempt to repeat the success, Smirnoff released the west-coast response. This time, it is a Green Tea Partay. I am not sure this attempt will prove as successful for the Smirnoff crew, as this video is just not nearly as fun or catchy. But, who knows, sequels do tend to make money in the box office, because people can’t seem to pass them up (regardless of not typically meeting expectations). In addition, YouTube certainly has more users than it did last year at this time. Could that make a difference? Time will tell.
Microsoft looks to have made a huge step forward in Graphical User Interfaces and how we interact with computers by announcing it’s new “Surface” hardware/software.
Microsoft Surface represents a fundamental change in the way we interact with digital content.
With Surface, we can actually grab data with our hands, and move information between objects with natural gestures and touch.
Surface features a 30-inch tabletop display whose unique abilities allow for several people to work independently or simultaneously. All with out using a mouse or a keyboard.
The first surface products are not scheduled to arrive until Winter 07, so we’ll have to wait and see if this new user interface can live up to it’s promises.
I’m crossing the Brooklyn Bridge, where are you? Alright, not really, but I can pretend that I am. Google Maps has launched it’s rumored “Street View” maps today at Where 2.0. By selecting the street view button you can view and pan through a panoramic, high-quality, photo of the area. Right now, this feature is only available in certain areas, but take a look for yourself or at this example. Pretty…darn….cool.
[Update] If you, like me, have been wondering how Google obtained all of these images? It looks like they have a deal with Calgary video-imaging company Immersive Media Corp. They drive around in vans outfitted with special cameras mounted on top. What a great idea. They knew someone was bound to pay them a healthy sum for all those images.
FedEx’s new Launchapackage.com “service” is fantastic! Not only is it fun to use, but also a great example of effective online branding. It is very simple to send a virtual package. You start by filling out your FedEx delivery slip, of course.
Add the contents to your package; write a message to your recipient, upload pictures and documents. Then launch your package (the fun part). Pull back on your rubber band loaded package and let that sucker fly. Don’t pull hard enough and you are warned by messages such as these:
(Posting continued after images.)
Now to be more critical of a service that could be truly outstanding and useful. The service is fun and a great marketing tool for FedEx, but it really does not do anything my email cannot. The maximum size for document attachments is 3MB (1MB per document). The total picture size limit is 2.5MB (500kb per picture). Most email services can send and receive attachments up to 10MB.
So, how about increasing the capacity of the service to make it more like Senduit, which allows users to upload and transfer files up to 100MB in size. The virtual FedEx service would then truly be useful, because it picks up where email file transfers leave off.
A more useful FedEx online delivery service would make sense. Make FedEx the first company/service that comes to mind when shipping or transferring any type of information. After all, as online transfer speeds and capacities increase, many will no longer be using traditional FedEx shipping services to send information (via CDs or DVDs). FedEx might as well capture the online file transfer market while they can.
5/20/07 - Interesting tie-in:
Traditional FedEx delivery still faster than file-transfer over a high-speed Internet connection, when transferring more than 1 terabyte of data. In other words, if you have a lot (a whole lot!) of data to transfer, just send it via an overnight delivery service. It will get there faster than the online file transfer (even if ideal transfer speeds are sustained).
Keep in mind that 1 terabyte of info is more than any typical company would need to send. We are talking about more than 212 DVDs of data to equal the 1 terabyte. So this info is more trivial, than useful. Nevertheless, still interesting…if you’re into this kind of stuff.
I heard rumblings of some Google visual changes over the past week, but had yet to see anything different. Maybe it took time to propagate, or maybe it’s new today. Either way, this just hit my Firefox browser tonight.
A personalized Google homepage is now termed “iGoogle”. I understand that it is important to promote these personalized pages, because it probably allows Google to improve their algorithms by tracking logged-in users, but come on. Haven’t we had enough with the “i” something names? Yes, five years ago it was clever, because “I” do this and “I” do that, but let’s move on.
Maybe they were deciding between iGoogle, miiGoogle, and wiiGoogle? Wii - the next to be copied naming convention?
So, privacy concerns aside, customized websites are absolutely great. If you allow websites to take a little information from you (past purchases, etc.) you can really save some time and be turned on to things you may like that you hadn’t heard of - for better or worse depending on your pocketbook situation. Today, I jumped on iTunes to purchase a song that I had heard on the radio yesterday. Before I could even perform a simple search for the song, I noticed that it was listed as number 1 on my “Just For You” recommendations section. How cool is that?
Google has found success through customizing and targeting ads, Amazon has basically built their business around customization (”if you like that item, you’ll love these”, type of recommendations). Is it possible to take this customization model into the “real” world, offline? Maybe through a combination of web and brick and mortar models (you know, click and mortar). I would love to purchase all of my groceries online. It would save a lot of time to pull up your account on the grocery store’s website and be greeted with “This is what you purchased last time you shopped with us, do you need to add or remove anything?”. You then make your online purchase and pick up your pre-bagged groceries at the store (or have them delivered) at a time that is convenient for you. Then based on your purchase history, items could be recommended for you, or even better - just show up in your grocery bag as free samples. Next time your purchasing groceries: “Did you like the sample of organic fluff last time? Please rate it, so we can better suit your tastes.”
Personally, I’m perfectly happy giving up a little about myself, to make life easier. Bring on the customization!
Oh, and the song I bought? “I’m a Flirt by R. Kelly“. The iTunes Store recommended it even though it knows that I’m not a big fan of R&B. The song is catchy as heck, but I am not necessarily proud of the purchase…given his seedy history. Hopefully, in this instance only, Apple and the record label collected all the profit and left the artist with zilch.
In other personalization news, Last.fm is fabulous (and pretty too!)…when it works.
