A lot of times our creative pursuits outside the office help us find new technology. Since that’s the biz we’re in, we like that!

You  might remember a little post I wrote about the creatives here at DC. Danielle has a fabulous shop on Etsy called Whimsy Garden. When she decided to start showcasing her work at craft shows, she was a “cash only” kinda stand. But now, she is able to accept credit cards thanks to her little friend “Square”.

Square is a credit card reader that attaches to your phone through the headphone jack. With just a few steps, you can easily set up shop! Then you can use their free app to accept any Visa, Mastercard, Discover, or American Express card from your lovers…..I mean patrons at a small fee – similar to PayPal. This is an awesome deal for someone like Danielle, who gained around 50% more business this year by accepting credit cards at her booth. Of course, this app wouldn’t be so fabulous if it didn’t work for both iPhone/iPad users and those of us who are still using Android (ahem…Danielle). Either way, it’s worth checking out if you are in this kinda biz.

After snagging myself a G+ invite and exploring the latest attempt from the search giant to grab a share of the social world, it appears this is their best effort yet.

It’s got a slick, clean look to it and even sports some pleasing HTML5 animations as well. The Circles feature alone is enough to keep me coming back to my profile every day. For a rundown of all the features, head to the G+ site.

What we want to know is this: from what you’ve seen, is Google+ a potential Facebook killer? Will Facebook remain the unquestioned leader in the social sector? Or can the two cohabitate successfully?

Let us know what you think, what you like, and what you don’t like in the comments. And if you haven’t gotten a chance to play around on G+ yet, let us know and we’ll send you an invite.

With Google+ being launched on a field trial basis this past month, much commotion has been made among internet consumers and marketers alike. The Google+ project is said to take on the Facebook dynasty in new and innovative ways. The network is similar to Facebook but has many of its own unique qualities. Google+, already being labeled as a social network, will essentially utilize all Google products into its navigation bar for a more complete experience.

For marketers, Google+ should provide enormous opportunities. While Facebook marketers can gain some insight into their consumers based on likes and their history on the Facebook website, Google+ may have the ability to do much more than that…

Imagine a consumer searching the Google homepage, researching a new electronics product they wish to purchase. After clicking on an ad from Google Adwords they are transported to your website promoting and selling that product. They come close to purchase but never convert. This would be the end of tracking for a marketer without Google+. What if you could then follow the consumer to their Google+ account where they go to ask for recommendations from the people they trust? This is the place for “remarketing”, where you could utilize hyper-targeted ads for these on the fence buyers to offer them free shipping with their purchase of the electronic item. Boom – Conversion.

Google+ has yet to launch to the public, nor has it made any announcement about its plans for Google+ advertisement, however the potential is there. Personally, I believe that privacy issues will be the biggest concern for Google+ when ad and marketing development comes into play. It will be interesting to see in the future how Google+ pans out for marketers, consumers and just plain internet users in the future.

Will It Rain Today? I designed an app for that.

My dad owns a lawn maintenance company, and the first thing he wonders when he wakes up throughout spring and summer is, “Will it rain?” I’m sure this is a common first thought—people with kids who play sports, construction workers, and people who just generally care about the weather. I live just a short walk from work, so I always need to know if I should grab an umbrella on my way out the door.

I love to design on the side, and since the smartphone boom I’ve had an interest in creating apps. So a programmer friend and I decided to make it fast and easy to answer your first waking thought. Yes, there are fine weather apps out there—the Weather Channel app is my favorite for answering all of your weather questions accurately. But sometimes you just want to know about the rain—temperature, wind conditions, the next 10 day forecast aren’t going to affect your day as much as a downpour.

Our WillItRain app loads quickly, since it only has to search for one piece of data: the chance of rain in the next 12 hours. It will give you a clear, brief answer—yes, maybe, or no.

We were even featured on TechCrunch shortly after the launch.

So if you have an iPhone, download it and check it out. It will become the best way to start and plan your day!

This morning the British tabloid The Sun reported that Apple is developing technology that will allow for an external transmitter to deactivate your iPhone camera at concert venues. Obviously, it could be a terrible marketing move — but not just for Apple.

First, let’s learn about the technology, which isn’t entirely evil. Apple filed a patent on June 2, 2011 to include infrared technology in their cameras. Infrared sensors, like the inexpensive ones included in your TV remote, transmit data via invisible light within line-of-sight. Infrared sensors are inexpensive, tiny and the idea to combine them with cameras is brilliantly simple. There could be thousands of uses for this.

As an example of this technology being used for good, Apple envisions museums could use this to lead tours or provide extra information. When a visitor points a camera at an object or display, a small transmitter hidden next to the object will send a data signal to the iPhone to play videos, display text or other information. It doesn’t take too much effort for me to envision the wonderful things this technology could bring. I could come up with about a dozen robust advertising and marketing uses right now.

Now for the evil part. Apple is also including the ability for an external transmitter to disable the iPhone’s camera. The example they use is theaters and concert venues. Some venues already employ wireless phone signal jammers to prohibit texting and phone calls. Now they could place small transmitters around the stage to render iPhone cameras useless. As well, virtual and invisible “watermarks” could also be applied to objects, printed images — or anything — rendering them un-photographable. Again, it doesn’t take too much effort for me to envision the worrisome things this technology could bring — like police officers and TSA agents buttoning the tiny watch-battery-powered transmitters to their uniforms to prohibit recording (something Rodney King would probably take issue with).

Civil rights issues aside, we’re both here to talk about marketing. You and I know that record labels and movie executives will be the two most enthusiastic supporters of this cell phone camera-disabling technology. But in my opinion, they’re some of the people who should dread it the most.

I recently saw the innovative cellist Zoe Keating in concert at the Evanston SPACE, a small urban venue, north of Chicago. Recording was officially prohibited, but around me sat several individuals holding up their iPhones and Android phones, quietly recording bits of the performance. The Evanston SPACE ignored them, as did Zoe Keating. [Please see the update below from Zoe Keating] Where did those videos and images wind up? YouTube. Facebook. Twitter. Their personal blogs. They will be seen by others and hopefully new people will become introduced to Zoe Keating, and the beautiful and intimate Evanston SPACE. Will those people feel satisfied that they no longer need to see Zoe Keating live, or see another live performance at Evanston SPACE because they saw a shaky video with poor audio? Of course not.

As an advertising and marketing agency, we’re constantly looking for opportunities to promote things. Social media is one of several powerful mediums to share information, and fresh content is always needed. Record labels, movie executives, theaters, concert halls, venues and the artists themselves should be embracing amateur photography and recordings (as long as they’re not distracting to others watching the performance) instead of fighting them and creating enemies out of those that support them the most. They should empower everyone in the audience to be what they already really want to be: motivated and happy advocates and ambassadors who want to share their experience with others — and help promote you for free.

Apple files patents all the time for things that they never make it into production, and there’s no word on whether or not this new technology will ever see the light (or infrared light) of day. Hopefully this camera-disabling feature will remain on paper in the United States Patent and Trademark Office, and not in your pocket.

For now, look for ways you can empower your clients and customers to help spread the word about you. It’s the best kind of marketing move you can make.

UPDATE Zoe Keating isn’t just savvy about combining music and technology, she’s also pretty adept at social media. She actively engages with her fans on her Facebook page and Twitter. She wanted to clarify her stand on this and emailed the following note:

“In your story last week about Apple potentially blocking video recording, you mentioned a concert of mine where video was not allowed. The implication is that I didn’t allow the video. I want to set the record straight so that no one is confused: I allow and actively encourage video and photos at my shows. The only thing I ask is that mediatakers be aware of other members of the audience and not impede their experience of the concert (i.e. by holding a camera over your head and blocking other’s view.). At my concerts where video is not allowed, it is because it is venue’s policy that I cannot change.”
Thanks very much, Zoe

The use of tablets and eReaders are growing increasingly popular, and with more companies getting in on the market share there are plenty of different products to choose from. For those who love to read, Kindle, iPad or Nook are a great ideas, but for school textbooks I’m not so sure.

The bookstore at my school (Bradley University) is owned by Barnes & Noble, and is therefore running a campaign to use a program called NOOKstudy. This software is said to save up to 60% with eTextbooks, will instantly download digital textbooks, and is being offered to students as an eTextbook free 7 day trial. One of their selling points is even that you don’t need a Nook to run the program, as it runs through your Mac or PC.

A brief demonstration video on the NOOKstudy website highlights the fact that with this program you can: take notes, tag content, and add links to relevant web content, customize your highlights and annotations, search everything quickly, search for notes or text across your library, instantly access all your eTextbooks and class materials. All of this is stored in one place, organized by course.

Sure, the video showing all the features is flashy, but I’m not sold. Everything that the program features is something that I already do between my textbooks, notes, and laptop. As I’m reading, I highlight in the book and my notebook, annotate in the margins, can look up more information online, and create both electronic and tangible folders for each classes work.

Barnes & Noble’s goal here is, of course, to sell Nooks. They’re hoping that students will love the NOOKstudy program so much that they’ll go buy a Nook and purchase books and textbooks off of that in the future.

Personally, I will always be one to keep purchasing actual textbooks, and not switch over to eTextbooks. There is just something about having a tangible book that I can bring to class and can physically write in and place post-it notes throughout. So much of today’s world is focused on electronics and it can be nice to have a book in front of you, even if it’s your ten pound calculus book. The big pile of textbooks that I see sitting on my desk remind me of all of the work I need to do for each class and keep me on task.

There is something to be said for the feeling that comes with flipping the last page of a 950-page text. To me, it’s a sense of accomplishment, and a feeling of “Hey, maybe I do know all of this stuff after all.” I, like many other college students, spend enough time online and I don’t see studying online working out so well. When I crack open a book, I force myself to buckle down and study away from any possible distractions. If I were to study off a website, I know Facebook and Twitter along with an array of other sites would be open on other tabs as well.

If you were to see me reading on a plane or at the beach, an eReader very well may be in my hand. But in the classroom, I’ll be sticking with the real deal. And I can assure you that come fall, my desk will still have paper folders and notebooks ready for my use in the semesters to come.

The one issue with e-readers and tablet computers that isn’t mentioned much, but matters a lot to me, is their durability. I’m hard on everything I own — and I read quite a bit online and offline. Most things I read aren’t things that I need to keep around forever. I love not having to worry that I’m going to break my latest issue of Wired or that I might drop my copy of The Fortune Cookie Chronicles as I read it while brushing my teeth in the morning.

ABOVE Corning’s imagining of a flexible glass substrate.

Flexible displays for e-readers, tablets and phones may be the answer. Roel Vertegaal, the director of the Queen’s University Human Media Lab in Kingston, Ontario, has invented a prototype for a paper phone. “This computer looks, feels and operates like a small sheet of interactive paper, meaning that when users are reading they don’t feel like they are holding a sheet of glass or metal,” he explains.

Vertegaal describes his smartphone prototype, called PaperPhone, as a flexible iPhone.  Through it’s graphic interface you can read books, play music or make phone calls. You  interact with the 9.5 cm thin film flexible E Ink display by tapping and bending. For now, the fascinating part of this cell phone is just the display. The battery, antennas and other circuitry for now exist in a device that’s about the size of, well, a cell phone. Vertegaal plans to unveil the phone next week on May 10th at the Association of Computing Machinery’s CHI 2011 (Computer Human Interaction) conference in Vancouver.

We’ve come a long way since the days of “Help, I’ve fallen and I can’t get up.” Of course, almost everything in our lives is affected by the evolution of mobile, so why not emergency response? Like Life Alert, the system the nice old grandma used in the famous fall commercial, there does happen to be “an app for that.” Called “Fall Alert“, it makes a phone call to a programmed number if it senses the person carrying the phone has fallen.

I started thinking about mobile and emergencies last week, when the city of Chicago announced that it would accept images from 9-1-1 callers to help them analyze emergency situations. As much as idiots who text while driving have caused emergency situations, perhaps this will help tilt the scale a little back toward helpful and good for mobile technology.

Chicago’s move reminded me of the only time I’ve called 9-1-1, when I was driving and a car in front of me was swerving liberally into the neighboring lane and into the oncoming traffic lane. I stopped at a gas station to make the call, keeping an eye on the offending vehicle, which was stopped behind a few cars at a light. After explaining the situation calmly, something like, “HELP-THERE’S-A-DRUNK-DRIVER-AND-HE’S-DRIVING-DRUNK-AND-SWERVING-AND-DRUNK-DRIVING-AND-HE’S-GONNA-KILL-SOMEONE-HELP!” The dispatcher got the location information (somehow) and continued to ask questions.

While answering, I was rendered speechless because the drunk driver proceeded to drive the few feet into the car in front of him, while the light was still red. It was such a light tap that the other driver got out, inspected the bump, and waved it off, letting Mr. Drunk Driver step back into his car. I explained this to the dispatcher, who was having a hard time understanding me, as I was coming across as a bit dramatic (Who, me?). I would have loved to send a picture at that moment, first of the car and the evil life-endangerer who was about to drive away and kill someone (so he could be identified at a later time), and then of my own shocked and amazed and helpless face.

I did luck out, however, since the driver proceeded to hit the person in front of him AGAIN before the light turned green, and that driver knew at that moment that something was up. Police showed up, and I exited the scene having done all I could.

I read the next day in the paper about an arrest—the driver had been hitting cars for a few miles in parking lots, etc, before being arrested for life endangerment. He had been trying to commit suicide with a bottle of pills, it didn’t take, so he went for a little ride to get the job done. Yipes.

In this case, mobile photos could have helped identify the vehicle, make, and possibly driver, since I know the basics—truck, van, car, but would have a hard time identifying further than that to anyone.

So hooray to mobile for helping with emergencies, and to the city of Chicago for taking this first step. And can I get a loud collective “Boo!” and a hiss for those who text while driving, so we can help move mobile more toward good on the scale and away from the harm side.

I like to think we’re helping evolve emergency response a little, even in our line of work. Demi and Cooper has recently launched an “ICE app”, which, among other things, lists an emergency contact on the wallpaper of an iPhone, and within the app lists medications a person is allergic to and currently taking. Hospitals can sponsor the app and offer it to people in their area. Check out the app here. The Sherman Hospital version of the app will be available for download soon!

For you avid readers out there, Google has launched its new eBookstore. After a brief period browsing the page, here’s what I’ve come away with.

• The pricing for the eBooks on Google mirrors what you’d see on your Kindle, iPad, or any other eReader you have. New releases and best sellers range from $10 to $15, with slashed prices for less popular or older titles.
• The collection of free titles is abundant and easy to access. Within seconds of loading Google eBooks for the first time, I was reading Chapter 1 of Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities. All you need to access the titles is a functional web browser, which you most likely possess if you’re reading this blog post.
• Launching a book in your browser, you’re able to adjust font, font size, and line spacing as you read. Each book has a Contents section that lets you jump around easily. It’s not mentioned whether taking notes or highlighting text is available. From what I gathered, it’s not yet a feature Google Books offers.
• Whether the book is paid or free, diving into its pages for the first time places that title in a “My Google eBooks” page, which saves the book for later use. The page you were last on is bookmarked for your return, as well.
• Google boasts that it has the largest collection of eBooks around (of which nearly 3 million are free), and there is unlimited storage space for all of your titles.

It’s my recommendation that you start out by browsing the “Best of the free” section on the Google bookstore home page. You’ll find a huge variety of authors, including Shakespeare, Austen, Dickens, Twain, and Melville. Have fun, but remember to keep stretching yourself creatively as well. As Einstein once said, “Any man who reads too much and uses his own brain too little falls into lazy habits of thinking.”

On the business side, Google’s bookstore appears to be competing with Amazon’s Kindle. Downloading an eBook on Google lets you read the title on Android, Apple, PC, Barnes & Noble, and Sony platforms, but it does not appear that a Google-purchased book can be read on Kindle. This reaffirms that Amazon is on an isolated, albeit sizable, island in the eReader community.