There's a fantastic excerpt article over at The Next Web, covering a number of the steps involved in new product developments over at the mighty Apple. I'm not Apple-zealot (I'm not much of an anything-zealot, in fairness, unless Guinness, bourbon, heavy metal and video gaming count?) but it's a fascinating insight into how such a high-profile company manages to keep culture-changing products under wraps so well, for so long.
I interviewed at Apple last year, and got a few little insights into their web process too - including the launch of product pages in line with the devices themselves. I probably can't repeat them here (I can feel the icy breath of an Apple lawyer over my right shoulder as I type this) but suffice to say the sort of lengths mentioned in the article seem to be apparent in all corners of their business.
As reported by Digital Buzz Blog, there have been a few mobile apps created in recent times, with the primary purpose of promoting or supporting a video game title (GTA Quad Maps (unofficial), Read Dead Redemption guide (unofficial)).
AKQA has come at this more directly, developing a cross-platform mobile app that lets you get a flavour of the full game (Dance Central 2, on Xbox 360) by letting people use their mobile to record themselves, or a friend, dancing to one of a handful of tracks. The video then gets processed into a stylised version for you to share, and - nicely - face off against a friend of yours and ask your Facebook friends to vote on.
Nice, and a trend we will definitely see more of as devices & platforms cross over more and more in people's lives.
The Next Web has just posted about a developer called Scott Garner, who has created an interactive still life, that I think's awesome. I'd love to do something similar in all the rooms in my house - paintings you can play with :)
It's fascinating to see where cars are heading at the moment. Major manufacturers such as Audi, Mercedes-Benz and Ford are all racing to lead the integration of mobile technology, apps, APIs and more into their vehicle offerings, with "Chrysler's Uconnect or Audi Connect unveiled at CES this week [accounting] for nearly $7 billion (£4.55 billion) in sales this year, according to the Consumer Electronics Association." (see article linked below)
Now, there's a phrase I hadn't seen myself writing before I'd read the article below: "Car APIs". But it makes complete sense in many ways.
Major industries have been hugely disrupted by technology, especially over the past decade. Publishing, the news media, the music industry, the films industry, the games industry and more have all had their - previously seemingly secure - worlds flipped on their heads and many have lost out in a big way.
The music industry chose to fight "piracy" (which, a smarter person may have seen was a view of just how consumers wanted to consume music), suing anyone who had even heard of the name Napster, let alone downloaded an mp3. The movie industry followed a very similar path, choosing to take the world and his popcorn-munching dog to the cleaners. What happened? Apple decided "hell, if you guys aren't going to realise a trend in consumption habits, we will!" and promptly snaffled billions of dollars a year in revenue by launching iTunes.
Publishing is suffering the same fate, with Amazon and its Kindle offering leading the charge to disruptively innovate their market while they sleep (some efforts of course made by Barnes & Noble and Waterstones, but they are bricks and mortar retailers - Amazon cut them out of the loop long ago).
The news media industry? We all know the story there, with media conglomerates flip-flopping between paywalls, digital editions and anything else they can think of. Again, Apple is the wolf at the door with their apps platform and the media companies are looking increasingly nervous.
The games industry - one very close to my heart - is still to work out the effects of Steam, Valve's now well-established direct-to-consumer digital sales platform. And OnLive - a true surprise entrant (I didn't think it would be real, and certainly not good, but - bugger - it actually is) is not only revolutionising gaming, but also the general software market and "the cloud" to boot. Oh! And also giving the indie market even greater hope. Bang on...
So, then, I doff my cap (I actually don't own a cap, nor have I ever doffed. Least not with ladies present) to the automotive industry who are embracing technologies, creating in-house teams for planning and linking up with industry leaders such as Facebook (not that I personally think that's a great thing on its own).
It's an exciting space in many ways. Many people spend huge amounts of time in their vehicles (in the US especially, where driving for many hours between destinations is very commonplace) and already have connected, app-powered devices with them (laptops, tablets, smart phones). Why not make the leap of combining the vehicle (or mobile home/office for many) with that computational power, convenience and access and selling this as a new wave of purchase options.
What sort of things are being explored?
Pads with handwriting recognition (for writing emails & other comms)
Google Earth
A cutdown version of Facebook, alerting you of nearby friends and businesses, and status updates
Wikipedia (note that these are custom apps for the car, not just browser windows to the sites)
Local weather
Local petrol prices
Travel info
News
The ability for your car to act as a WiFi hotspot for your the devices you have with you (and to shut up/entertain the little darlings)
Check out the video of Audi's Connect system, showing off some of these features:
To sum it up, a line from the below report that I agree with whole-heartedly: "Manufacturers must deliver, or risk irrelevance."
Some really interesting insights have come out of this survey commissioned by the IAB. The survey of 600 consumers reveals some interesting insights into the devices used, and showing that no 1 device (mobile, desk/laptop or tablet) rules overall – in face they work in conjunction:
"even with extensive developments in tablet devices a role still remains for smartphones, desktops & laptops"
"usage patterns [verified] how the three devices can work in harmony within consumers' day to day lives. Mobile takes the hot spot on the morning commute; dipping mid-afternoon allowing the desktop/laptop to take over, with tablet usage surging in the evening – more than 50% of tablet interactions taking place in the late evening (between 7 - 12pm) resulting in tablets being the most used device amongst owners in the evening."
"Tablet usage really accelerated during the weekends with 25% of respondents choosing to use their device during their 'downtime' and 49% agreeing the tablet is the device that best allows them to be entertained."
"the majority of people with tablets are dual screening, with 51% of all tablet usage occasions occurring in front of the TV. In fact tablet owners are fifty per cent more likely to use their tablet to dual screen than their mobile (35%) or their PC (33%)"
Might be one of the maddest concepts I've seen. But it's disruptive in the world of digital/physical gaming crossover, and I like it. As the seed of something bigger, it's really interesting. With the popularity of movements/games/what-the-hell-do-you-call-them like Streetwars (edit: Oh, hang on, they call themselves an "assassination tournament", which is achingly cooler than I came up with) there would seem to be a market for this sort of experience, even if it's niche at the moment.
Hmm... mind wanders, thinking of that thing which will make me millions
Johann Sebastian Joust!
Johann Sebastian Joust is a no-graphics, digitally-enabled folk game for 2 to 7 players, designed for motion controllers(such as the PlayStation Move). The goal is to be the last player remaining. When the music — selections from J.S. Bach's "Brandenburg Concertos" — plays in slow-motion, the controllers are extremely sensitive to movement. When the music speeds up, this threshold becomes less strict, giving the players a small window to dash at their opponents. If your controller is ever moved beyond the allowable threshold, you're out! Channel the power of J.S. Bach, and try to jostle your opponents' controllers while protecting your own.
My favourite web-based music service has just launched a free HTML5 site that means you can listen to their entire library from any HTML5-supporting phone, with no charges. Take THAT Spotify Premium :)
At CES, Samsung are demonstrating their unidirectional smart window, which really does look awesome. What is it? Watch below to find out:
Now, if this can be turned on and off at will, windows around the world can become a functional device. Your bedroom window could be set to 'unblind' progressively as your wake up time approaches for a gentle rouse. It could then display the weather, your agenda for the day, missed important emails etc. Really exciting stuff and definitely a step towards the visions of the likes of Microsoft:
Crowd-[insert thing here e.g. -funding, -sourcing, -product dev] is only going to gain more and more ground as power and structures are further democratised and made available to all.
There's a great column in this month's Wired too, covering the next big global shift: the Third Industrial Revolution - the democratisation of energy. Generate your own energy (e.g. solar) and sell direct peer-to-peer.
