GPS Revolution: 10 Applications That Make the Most of Location

The cover story of the January issue of WIRED provides an informative and exhilarating look into the possibilities that the advances of GPS technology and proliferation of Mobile devices provide to advertisers.

My faves:
iNap - a travel alarm that keeps you from dozing past your destination on public transit. Just use the Google map embedded in the app to indicate where you'll be getting off, then hit the hay. As long as your iPhone can get a GPS signal the program will track your location and trigger an alarm a preset distance before your stop. Remember to wipe off the drool before disembarking.
ShopSavvy - Scan a barcode with your phonecam and the app shows you how much the product costs online as well as at other stores nearby. You can even pull up reviews to make sure you're not skimping a little too much.

This is similar to the ideas we had shared when pitching a large unnamed clothing retailer - use GPS to send messages to kids when they are in the mall, with a coupon good only that day, and their loyalty card balance, and a relevant perk (i.e. spend $20 and get one free ticket to a movie at the theatre - also located in the mall).

So cool. So fun. So real.

The Third Screen is going to be a lot of fun in '09. Lots of possibilities. Lots of innovation.

Soda Jerk

My cool brother-in-law Dave made me a mix with a version of Bill Janovitz (frontman of Boston-based indie pop legends Buffalo Tom) covering Little Mascara by The Replacements (Minneapolis-based indie rock gods).

Apparently Bill Janovitz has a blog and posts a new cover song each week. So far he has covered Blondie’s Dreaming. Springsteen's "One Step Up", Paul Simon, etc. and I am sure a bevy of good stuff to follow.

I gotta hand it to Bill. for one, he is cool dude with good taste in music (and a nice guy to boot). But he is also embracing the inevitable ubiquity of the Internet and using it to his advantage. Doing what he loves and putting it out there for people as opposed to kicking dirt and resisting change. I am sure the result will ultimately be more people being exposed to, or rediscovering his music (as I just did) and ultimately buying more of his CDs.

Kind of like Ryan Adams doing soundboards of all his shows and putting them online virtually the next day, sometimes with CD cover art. Hey, do you think the Dead were onto something?!

Kudos Bill. And thank you. I am going to now expose your music by sharing these songs to a lot of new fans, and buy the latest Buffalo Tom CD next time I am in a music store.

Rock and roll will never die.

PEW Study on Adults using Social Networking Sites

A new article that confirms what I am seeing from the recent surge of my non-interactive-agency friends who are now discovering Facebook (read: I was friended by the girl your friend dated in high school and you have not seen her since...):

http://www.pewinternet.org/PPF/r/272/report_display.asp



Not surprisingly they are just using SNS to connect with people they already know but have lost touch with.

CES

The annual Consumer Electronics Show took place in Las Vegas this week (the city built on dreams), and unveiling the latest gadgets of the future. And this article from CNN highlighted a few of the stars:

LG is producing a tiny touch-screen cell phone you wear on your wrist
Sony's Vaio Lifestyle PC weighs 1.4 pounds and can fit in your coat pocket
Polaroid's Instant Digital Camera, due in March, contains a built-in printer

Knight Rider Redux

Here it comes. Brought to you by CNN, cars with real, networked, wi-fi'd computers in them. This is going to open a whole new market for online advertisers and software developers. Imagine driving by a Starbucks, your GPS senses it, and offers you a relevant time-based message and a coupon to stop in for $1.00 off a new seasonal latte? It will be interesting to see who gets the jump on this (Read: NOW) and is there for the product launch.

Gentlemen, start your engines.
http://www.cnn.com/2009/TECH/01/09/ces.cars.computers/index.html