Tech tap 1113 by Daniel Codd

TECH

TAP t r e n d s ac ro s s the planet

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TAP

Welcome to this edition of Tech TAP looking at some of the latest trends, insights, products and campaigns from across the globe. First up – they aren’t dummies! We look at the potential impact of technology on toddlers with over 38% of under 2 year olds already getting to grips with technology, and how one inventor has created a child’s game to inspire them to become programmers of the future. Also one for parents and kids comes the Canvsly App that helps you keep a digital version of all those cherished drawings your child ever stuck to the fridge…nice. In beverage news technology keeps the tills ringing with three new innovations – The Sonic Foamer that gives every pint the perfect head,

Tweet a Coffee from Starbucks and the transformation of vending machines to cashless can dispensers that could help see profits rise by up to 30%. Finally, in a bold sponsorship move we look at what Samsung is bringing to the NBA in a new $100MM deal that sees their technology integrated court side into the games so referees can review close calls. Toddler tech. Programming for the potty trained. Sweet tweets at Starbucks. And ballsy NBA sponsor Samsung - it’s all in here in your latest Tech TAP!

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Canvsly app digitizes kidsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; drawings.

Babies use mobile phones to play games and watch movies.

Sonic Foamer gives beer a head in seconds.

Pay on your mobile for your Kenya Airways ticket.

Locket launches developer toolkit to push to lockscreens.

Giant touchscreens put Manchester at visitorsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; fingertips.

Vending machines get smart to accommodate the cashless.

Sprite creates giant splash vending machine in Japan.

Playful robot will teach a 5-year-old to code.

News: NBA teams up with Samsung.

In The News: Yahoo and Starbucks.

Get in touch.

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The C anvsly app is a way to d igiti z e kid s ’ d rawings, share th e m , and gain p r i z e s for d oing so.

M / vi e w We’ve seen the connected device: this takes things to the next level. Whilst this has a thousand ramifications for the development of technology and interaction, what are the implications for brands? While this is all very new, Fujitsu claims that it could be utilised for gesture technology or integrated with touchscreen devices. Are we getting ever closer to a world like that portrayed in Minority Report? It appears so!

Fujitsu, the world’s third largest IT products and services provider, is taking a new approach in the endeavour to bridge the gap between the digital and analogue worlds by developing a user interface that allows for direct digital interaction with physical items like paper. Finger Link effectively turns whatever surface it’s on into a touchscreen and allows the user to select and digitize elements of any documents in its range using only your fingertips. Consisting of a fairly standard projector and a low-res webcam, the technology superimposes an interactive skin on the surface in front of it by first mapping out the area and measuring the borders of real world objects, such as a book, or several individual notes. Finger Link is then able to detect individual fingers, allowing the user to trace across the document and perform a variety of actions like selecting images or copying text.

Outside of print, it’s not clear what kind of applications Finger Link would have with other types of physical items, but the company does suggest that perhaps there are potential future applications when used in conjunction with gesture-controlled technology or possibly with other interactive touchscreen display systems. Until now, this type of enhanced user experience has required special sensors embedded into objects which made any mainstream application impractical. Fujitsu was able to simplify the process, making Finger Link an entirely commercially viable endeavour that it hopes to bring to market sometime in 2014. V isit t h e w e bsite

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38% Of B abie s U s e Mobil e P h one s To P lay G a m e s A n d Watc h Movi e s Thirty-eight percent of children under age two are using mobile devices, according to a new study by Common Sense Media. The source suggest, kids are using smart phones before they can talk. In 2011, just 10% of infants were using mobile phones. The infants aren’t just

chewing on the phones either. They’re using mobile media to watch movies and play games, Common Sense Media says.

66 percent of infants using the medium in both 2011 and 2013.

By age eight, nearly three quarters of kids have utilized smart phones. Television is still the most commonly used device, with

M / vi e w The increasing numbers of infants and young children playing games on mobile devices is a trend that will continue until it reaches saturation point. Brands have a real opportunity in this space, not to target infants and young children, but to provide a valuable tool and resource to mum: helping her keep her kids entertained as she shops for example and becoming an ‘in-store ally’.

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Sonic F oam e r d e vic e giv e s any b e e r a h e a d in secon d s , i m p roving its a ro m a and taste . The craft beer movement has taken off in a big way in the past few years, elevating ale drinking to newly refined levels. The Sonic Foamer is a device that can give any beer a head in seconds, improving its aroma and taste. The machine is a platform that uses ultrasonic vibrations to create a froth on top of the beer, whether it’s a fresh pour or down to its last mouthful. Users simply place their glass on the device and press a button on the front, with a head appearing in a few seconds. The Sonic Foamer could be especially useful for craft beer drinkers, as the head not only helps the beer keep its flavour, but also

releases the drink’s aroma as its bubbles pop. The video below explains more about the invention: Having already proved to be somewhat of a hit in Japan, its developer California Creations is set to launch the product in the US in the coming months V i e w t h e vi d e o

M / vi e w Consumers are always on the hunt for new and engaging ideas. Whether technology like this is utilised in bars, or at home, brands have an opportunity to create technological products that support or enhance the experience of their core products. Align this with a core trend – the rise in craft beer – and brands have a great opportunity to deliver a different brand experience.

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Pay on your m obil e for your K enya ai rways ticke t

Kenya Airways and MTN Uganda have partnered to provide a new payment option that allows customers to pay for Kenya Airways tickets using the mobile money service. Building on their experience in the home market (Kenya), the initiative is part of the airline’s efforts to embrace technological advancement in the mobile and ICT sector to improve and simplify customer experiences. Speaking at the launch, the airline’s Head of Information Systems Development, Henry Obare said the Mobile Money

Payment option has registered success in Kenya. He expressed optimism that the Uganda market will equally adjust to the ease and convenience that comes with the use of MTN mobile money transfer services. With the new option now available to pay, customers will visit the Kenya Airways’ website or call its offices to make a reservation and obtain a reference number and fare quote in Uganda Shillings. The customer will then use their phone’s mobile money pay

option, enter short code KQ, reference number and amount to be paid. On receiving of the transaction real-time, the airline will email the air ticket back to the customer. There is also another option of collecting the ticket at any of the Airline’s offices worldwide. Obare said the airline has been at the forefront in embracing advancements within the mobile and ICT sector to enhance the customer experience.

M / vi e w M-commerce, NFC, Apple’s iBeacon and Passbook technology: mobile payments are big news right now. But amongst the advent of impressive technology, it’s easy to overlook the fact that utilising mobiles and smartphones in simpler terms can actually be more effective for businesses. M-commerce is a key consideration for brands as we go into 2014, but focus on consumer needs and preferences should remain the starting point.

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Locket Launch e s D e v e lop e r Toolkit T h at Lets App P ublish e r s P ush Ad s To A n d roid L ockscr eens Locket, the Android app that pays you (in tiny amounts) just for unlocking your smartphone, is today launching a toolkit for app developers that will allow them to publish their own content to users’ lock screens. That means when users see ads for apps on their phone’s screen, they can open up the app itself with just a swipe, similar to how a push notification works. Launched this summer, Locket is an early mover in the U.S. market to bring the concept of lockscreen ads to Android users. says that it has grown its footprint to roughly 300,000 users since launching just a few months ago. The idea, for those unfamiliar, is that of an opt-in experience where Locket displays ads on the phone’s lockscreen that you can choose to engage with or not by swiping to unlock your phone. These ads, for brands, businesses, movies,

apps and more, can take users to websites, Facebook Pages, coupons, or movie trailers, for example, or they can just launch the app in question, as is the case with those publishers adopting the new Locket SDK. More than 20 advertisers have run campaigns to date, including Hershey’s, Sunny D, Sears, ZipCar, eBay, Spotify and others, and more than 80 percent of advertisers renew with Locket. On average, the CTR on their campaigns is anywhere from 3 to 5 percent, Kim notes. Whether or not users click through, they’re still paid. At launch, this was 1 cent per swipe, capped at 3 cents per hour. That model has now changed. Instead, users receive 1 cent for the new, unique ad of the day. Explains Yunha Kim (one of the founders), “if we show users 30 different ads (because people check their phone 110 times on average), they get 30 cents. Sometimes we show

M / vi e w As global smartphone penetration continues to rise, the mobile homescreen has rapidly become one of THE most desirable pieces of digital real-estate. Accessing a digital screen that consumers check regularly throughout the day is big business. However, privacy concerns still exist and regulations differ from market to market. Intrusive push notifications may well serve to alienate rather than engage consumers.

20 ads (20 cents), sometimes we show 40 ads (40 cents), depending on the ad inventory we have.” In other words, Locket only makes you money when it does. She tells us that the idea for launching the Locket SDK came from when one of the top three movie app companies reached out to the startup with a request to use a Locket SDK to publish movie ads and commercials to users’ lockscreens. “We didn’t think about doing that at all before, but we found out that this will be a game changer for the app industry…By using our SDK, they get to have 110 chances for a single user to engage with their app,” says Kim, adding that can increase user engagement by 8x over the publishers’ current system - push notifications powered by Urban Airship. At launch, the SDK is being adopted by five app publishers, but Locket isn’t allowed to name who,

only saying that they are in “movies, entertainment, music, lifestyle as well as games.” The SDK is also being made available for free to the top 10 apps that Locket is now working with, and Locket will continue to approve which publishers can and cannot use the SDK to serve lockscreen ads. Interested app publishers should reach out to Locket directly to learn more. Update: Locket wanted to be sure that developers understand the new SDK is mainly for developers’ contents, instead of ads. For instance, a game developer could show the current leaderboard or user’s score. But the content appearing on the lockscreen is still a kind of an advertisement – as the company itself dubbed these before, the interactive content appearing there are “first-glance” ads.We declined to update the headline as requested, but are adding this note for clarity.

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Giant touc h sc r e e ns put Manchest e r at visito r s ’ fing e rtips City centre visitors are to get a high-tech helping hand from giant iPad-style touchscreens. The 10 interactive ‘kiosks’ will provide instant local information for passers-by, putting Manchester at their fingertips. Council chiefs hope they will help make the city an international digital capital. The cost of installing the screens is expected to be covered by advertising income, and will not take funds from the public purse. They feature futuristic technology straight from the Hollywood movie Minority Report, with scanners which monitor onlookers to identify their approximate age and gender – and then serve up adverts to suit them. They will also feature live news headlines from the M.E.N. Known as ‘MiGuides’, they are already used in New York but are new to this country.

Councillor Nigel Murphy said: “Manchester is intent on becoming one of the world’s leading digital cities and one aspect of that is innovations such as MiGuide which use the latest technology to improve people’s experience of the city. “It’s not just about getting around the city – it’s about getting the most out of it. These digital kiosks will be an informative, useful and engaging addition to our city centre streets and I’m confident they will prove popular. “In the months ahead the content will keep growing and we’ll keep looking at imaginative ways which people can use the screens to interact with the city.” The screens will grace streets around Exchange Square, Market Street, St Ann’s Square and Piccadilly Gardens and are expected to go live in the next few days. Paul Simpson, managing director of Visit Manchester,

said thousands of would benefit from the service. He added: “The screens will keep tourists and locals alike up-to-date and in the know about Manchester’s exhibitions, attractions, transport, restaurants, shops and nightlife.”

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Vending Mach in e s G e t Sm a rt to Accom m o date t h e C as h l e ss

M / vi e w It may sound obvious, but allowing consumers to pay in their preferred method is simply good business sense. And with so many consumers now starting to use mobile wallets, along with the introduction of NFC technology, there is a real opportunity for brands to sell products in new and innovative fashions. Add social advocacy into the mix and you have a real recipe for success.

More than 40 percent of U.S. adults say they can go a week without paying for something with cash, according to a survey conducted by Rasmussen Reports last year, but most of the roughly 5 million vending machines in the U.S. still accept only coins or bills, even as prices rise.Vending industry sales fell 18.3 percent between 2007 and 2011, to 1990s levels, before recovering slightly last year, to $19.3 billion. To boost sales, vending companies are installing new machines that accept credit cards and mobile payments and feature digital screens, video cameras, and smartphone charging stations. Machines that accept plastic can lift sales 25 percent to 30 percent, revenue per transaction rises 15 percent to 20 percent when the machines can prompt consumers to buy a Snickers bar along with their bag of Doritos. “The vending industry has had to respond to the change in consumer preferences in order to remain relevant and profitable,” says Brad Ellis, president of Crane Merchandising Systems (CR), one of the largest makers of vending machines.

Market researcher Frost & Sullivan says there were 500,000 to 700,000 so-called smart vending machines in operation last year and estimates there’ll be as many as 2 million by 2018. Coca-Cola (KO), which runs its own vending network, says it plans to roll out tens of thousands of machines this year that accept smartphone payments and track users’ purchases to offer an occasional discount or free drink. Coke has spent a year testing 200 machines in Austin, Tex. PepsiCo (PEP) is using a handful of malls to test machines with screens that allow customers to play video games with free drinks as rewards; the screens also run soda ads that feature actress Sofia Vergara. Sales at vending machine maker ZoomSystems are growing more than 25 percent a year, with its machines selling products from Apple (AAPL), Best Buy (BBY), and Proactive at airports, hotels, and casinos. The Wittern Group is pushing its machines into hospitals, to dispense items such as scrubs.

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Sprite cr e ate s giant Splash Vending Mach in e in J apan E W VE LO ! IS

Japan is a market with a huge offer of soft drinks. It was necessary to enhance the brand love by showing how refreshing Sprite can be. The weather in Japan can be shockingly hot and humid during the summer season and Sprite can refresh with its surprising citric taste. It started with a viral video about the possibility of creating

the Splash Vending Machine that summer which was quickly followed by the creation of a 6 metre tall Splash Vending Machine, where people who pressed the button were splashed when receiving a bottle of Sprite. At the Splash moment a photo is taken and later people were able to search for it on the Sprite website. The machine was located in 5 different locations, supported

by a TV ad, several outdoor advertising sights, interactive and in-store communications. The Viral was viewed 1.7 Million times in 20 days, with an engagement Rate of 1.72%. The day of the event, became a trend topic on twitter exceeding 5,000 re-tweets and on the day of the event the stores located near the Splash vending machine completely sold out of Sprite!

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P layful Robot W ill T e ac h A 5-Year-O l d To C o d e recruiting two former top Apple and Frog Design engineers to join his effort. “We learned that in order to make programming of interest to young children, it has to be a tangible product. It can’t be just software,” says Gupta. “We started building in ways that kids can have fun with.” Bo and Yana are two expressive robots that even a 5-year-old (or younger for true overachievers) can learn to program through an iOS app that features a drag-and-drop interface. The idea is to first to introduce kids to the very basic concept that the work they do can “control an object,” Gupta says. Next, the kids act to deliver a sequence of instructions. There is no need to learn difficult and boring syntax, which is usually where other kid-aimed programming languages start.

M / vi e w Not every brand will be able to start producing technological toys! However, there is a real opportunity for toy brands to integrate digital and physical offerings. LEGO, Moshi Monsters and Minecraft are simply three examples of toy brands currently bridging the physical and digital realms to provide a seamless playing experience for children. The ability for young people to continue playing on smartphone devices is a superb way to continue playing anytime, anywhere.

Robots Bo and Yana could help turn today’s kids into a bunch of software engineers. The bigger question: Is programming a fundamental literacy skill for the next generation? When former Google executive Vikas Gupta had a daughter two years ago, he wanted to get her interested as early as possible in computer programming, a skill that a growing contingent of educators believes should be taught to kids alongside reading and math. But while there are a number of efforts to teach coding in elementary school, Gupta wanted to educate even younger kids. That’s why he set out to build his own product,

The product team spent time figuring out how to get kids to stay engaged. For Gupta, an important part was making sure the robots appealed to both boys and girls. For a while, the team couldn’t get girls to be as interested in the product. But they kept tinkering and eventually covered up the wheels that made Bo look like a vehicle. “The very instant we made that change, it suddenly became a toy girls wanted to play with, I can’t tell you why. That’s a question for others,” Gupta says. While Bo is an “explorer” that can travel around and dance, Yana is more of a creative type that can’t move on its own. Yana was designed to match the imaginations of children and can be programmed to make sounds and flash lights to facilitate kids’ creative storytelling. The aim is to eventually see the robots, for now available at an price of $49 and $149, in stores, schools, and homes.

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In the ne ws : N B A T e a m s U p Wit h S a m sung in T h r ee- Y ear , $100 Million D e al C ov e r ing C ou rt-S i d e Tabl ets and T V s The National Basketball Association has signed a wideranging, $100 million deal with Samsung Electronics Co. 005930.SE +0.54% to bring the South Korean company’s technology courtside in the form of tablets and monitors that NBA referees use. According to people familiar with the matter, it’s a strategic move for two organizations looking to expand their global reach. As the NBA’s official provider of tablets and televisions, Samsung will supply the courtside monitors that referees use to review close calls when the NBA begins its new season this week, moving Samsung into the valuable space so close to the action. The three-year deal will instantly make Samsung one of the most visible companies during NBA games, while bringing the basketball league into closer partnership with the electronics giant, which is the world’s largest seller of smartphones and flat-panel televisions. The league is also expected to customize video content for Samsung devices, including televisions, where Samsung is trying to set itself apart from rivals by building an ecosystem of unique offerings.

M / vi e w Technology inherently supports us in our daily lives, both professionally and personally. Outside of product sales, there now exists a real opportunity for brands to align their technology with tangible (and highly visible) uses, as demonstrated here. Ironically, consumer technology provides solutions not just for consumers, but for businesses and organisations: smart brands are recognising this, and the PR and sponsorship opportunities that it provides.

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IN THE N E W S

E W VE LO ! IS

View th e video

V i e w t h e vid e o

Yah oo! T h e Wor ld’s Fir st ‘Hands O n S earch’

S ta rbucks : Tw e e t a C off e e

Introducing the world’s first hand on search, allowing visually impaired children in Tokyo to search with their hands. The vending machine-like pod recognises your verbal search, then recreates with a 3D printer. For the first time, visually impaired people will be able to touch what they can’t see, anything from giraffes to skyscrapers… Yahoo! also run ads to get more 3D inventory.Very cool!

Sometimes it’s the simple ideas that are the most effective and we love this one from Starbucks. The coffee giant has teamed up with Twitter to launch the Tweet-A-Coffee campaign. People to send a $5 Starbucks gift card to anyone in the US via Twitter.

It’s a really simple idea, users just need to link their Starbucks and Twitter account and mention@tweetacoffee to send the gift card to a friend, family, follower, or anyone for that matter. They can even include a message to let them know that their next Starbucks is on them. Unfortunately for those of us that are outside the US, Tweet-A-Coffee is only available in the US currently.

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Want to g et in touc h ? email us your news & views tap@momentumww.com http://blog.momentumww.com/blogs/wwtap

Sources: Tech Crunch, Mashable, Digital Buzz, Springwise, Business Insider, PSFK, Fast Company