Edifer, Fab Mobile Options for GREAT Sound On-The-Go

I discovered some great small "speaker" mobile options for travelers and mobile warriors at CES this year. Edifer offers a few options that are perfect for those on-the-go.

Sound To Go PLUS is all about portability - they do an all-in-one micro speaker with re-chargeable Lithium battery. Encased in a brushed aluminum chassis, it features 2 channel stereo with 2 full range 1.25" drivers on each channel (magnetically shielded). It also features a built-in 'Class D' amplifier and a 3" x 1.25" oval passive radiator, which means someting to those in the audio world.

An auxiliary input enables the use of multiple host devices such as smartphones and iPads. They tout their system as a self-contained portable mini-speaker system that delivers exceptional audio performance above and beyond in laptop or tablet speaker systems today.   

With smooth curves and a streamlined chassis, the fully portable MP15 by Edifier® is the perfect music companion for all locations. With an SD card, USB slot, MP3 player capability and a built-in rechargeable battery, music can be played for up to 6 hours. Small enough for any bag or pocket, the MP15 packs a punch for sound!

Check them both out for fabulous sound on-the-go.

Edifer, Fab Mobile Options for GREAT Sound On-The-Go

Integrating HAPIness Into Your Life: Reflecting on the HAPIfork Launch

Another CES has come and gone and the HAPIfork is now officially launched. While I’ve attended hundreds of trade shows, probably 20 CES’s and launched dozens and dozens of products over the years, this launch was different.

In the course of one week, HAPIfork, the first connected fork that helps you slow down how fast you eat, garnered media attention from outlets on every continent except for Antarctica and I expect that will come soon given the hype.

People tweeted about HAPIfork from about 80 countries and wrote about it from 73 more. In less than two weeks, nearly 10,000 tweets mentioned #HAPIfork from around the world.

From Good Morning America, CNN, Fox News, ABC, NBC, The Today Show, Dr. Oz, World News Tonight to USA Today, the WSJ, Rolling Stone, Jay Leno, the Colbert Report, Huffington Post, Techcrunch, Scientific American and CNET, HAPIfork was brought the world’s attention.

Frankly, given that I think like as much like a journalist as I do a marketing pro, I knew HAPIfork would be hot. After all, it has a lot of unique selling points.

First, it’s a handsome looking gadget with a clean design that comes in five fun colors.

Second, it is unique in what it does: helps you slow down how fast you eat.

Third, it was developed by the French, a country known for enjoying their food and taking long meals.

Fourth, there hasn’t been an innovation to the fork in….I don’t know, perhaps since the invention of the fork itself?

What I didn’t anticipate was how fast HAPIfork’s “hotness” would accelerate, particularly at a show like CES which shows off thousands of new products and innovations from around the world. In other words, it’s a crowded show to make a new product from an unknown company in the U.S. truly shine.

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Integrating HAPIness Into Your Life: Reflecting on the HAPIfork Launch

HAPILABS Introduces HAPIfork, World’s First Smart Fork, at CES

CES kicked off this week with CES Unveiled, the official media event on January 6 at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas.

HAPILABS, a company focused on well-being in every aspect, whether that is achieved through fitness, diet, your sleep or how you eat, showed off their new HAPIfork at the event. Their goal is to make it easy for people to take control of their HAPIness, health and fitness through applications and mobile connected devices.

The world’s first connected fork that helps you lose weight by eating at the right time and at the right pace is also showing this new smart device at the Showstoppers media event on January 8 at the Las Vegas WYNN Hotel and all week at Digital Health at the Las Vegas Convention Center.

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HAPILABS Introduces HAPIfork, World’s First Smart Fork, at CES

The Pain of Upgrades: Migrating from a Lenovo to a MacBook Pro

My laptop is dying a slow horrible death. The fan is howling and all sorts of unknown noises are coming from in its hardware interior.

It's a Lenovo, my second over an eight year period. We all knew the day was coming.

“We” is anyone and everyone who has stopped by my office or seen me using it at an event. They'd hover over me and remark: I can’t believe how slow your machine is, yowsa – how do you get anything done?

The thing is…I've only had it for four years and it's been on its way out for half of those four.

It seems as if I grew up in a world with different standards. The thought of a piece of machinery you paid $2,500 for with all the bells and whistles dying within a few years wouldn’t be acceptable…it’s absurd and yet we've all been brainwashed into thinking it’s not.

Manufacturers and reviewers alike are both to blame for creating such a consumable world where we're constantly shelling out more money for more reliable hardware, which it should have been reliable in the first place.

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The Pain of Upgrades: Migrating from a Lenovo to a MacBook Pro

Paul Gillin's Attack of the Customers: Don't Be A Victim

I now have a copy of Paul Gillin's book Attack of the Customers, available on Amazon, which I'll dive into just after CES. The jist of it is how customers are rising up to have their voices heard: Why critics assault brands online and how to avoid becoming a victim.

He raises the point that an attack from a customer or a flurry of customers can go global and viral ina matter of hours, not days or weeks. The impact to a big brand once something negative goes viral can be traumatic.

Attack of the Customers explains how social media can be used to destroy as well as to build. It offers actionable strategies to prevent and prepare for disasters before they strike a company, demonstrating ways that creative engagement can turn critics into raving fans.

Read an excerpt from the book Gillin published many months ago before the book was published using the example of when Procter & Gamble announced the most significant technical advance in disposable diapers in a quarter century. The new Dry Max line featured an absorbent gel that improved diaper efficiency while cutting materials and costs by 20%.  

He uses real examples from some of the biggest brands today. He asserts that customers complain because they care and when they care, you can turn a disaster or potential one into a positive outcome using social media and other effective ways to communicate online. 

Additionally, Paul's blog post on the book's unveiling offers a discount code for 30% off.

 

Paul Gillin's Attack of the Customers: Don't Be A Victim

Happy Holidays from Magic Sauce Media!!

Happy Holidays from Magic Sauce Media!!

Happy Holidays from Magic Sauce Media!!

The Roku Box: The Perfect & Easy Way to Stream Content

Streaming. So many of us are doing it now to get our content, yet folks like my sister or friends from other parts of the world I keep in touch with through old fashioned email and yes, even sometimes social networks, don't stream. It's not their normal way of viewing or listening to content.

Roku has come up with a way to make it easy for anyone to use. Their mantra or at least one of them is: streaming made simple. With over 150,000 movies and shows instantly available, Roku delivers various titles to match your mood. Using Netflix, you can see up to 1080p HD video or TV shows through Hulu Plus. There are also hundreds of free movies from Crackle or the latest Hollywood releases on Amazon Instant Video. There’s also access to premium services like HBO GO and EPIX, available via participating providers. 

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The Roku Box: The Perfect & Easy Way to Stream Content

Mobile Loco Brings the Best of Advertising, Geo-Location & Branding to the Mobile World

Held last week in San Francisco, the MobileLoco event merged the best of geo-location, advertising, branding and the mobile world.

Run by serial marketer Mark Evans, the event aspires to dive into the brand, advertiser and mobile convergence in the context of the Social, Local and Mobile (SoLoMo) marketplace.

The discussions revolved around what this convergence means for big brands, consumers, SMBs and the mobile and location industry.  

On-stage, we heard from the likes of Andrew Mason of Groupon, Benchmark Capital's Bill Gurley, Banjo's Danien Patton and the Mobile Engineering Lead of Airbnb Andrew Vilcsak.  Other voices included Bloomberg TV's Cory Johnson, Google's Don Dodge, Nextdoor's Nirav Tolia, Postmates Bastian Lehmann, Foursquare's Holger Luedorf, Micello's Ankit Agarwal and others. 

Above: Andrew Mason, CEO of Groupon

Client inTooch partnered with MobileLoco so users could easily and seamlessly exchange contact and social network information on the fly. A free mobile app for iPhone and Android, attendees could network that much faster and more efficiently using the app rather than have to exchange business cards or manually add Twitter and Facebook 'handles.'

Above: Steve Brehaut, Renee Blodgett, Julien Salanon

Continue reading "Mobile Loco Brings the Best of Advertising, Geo-Location & Branding to the Mobile World"

Mobile Loco Brings the Best of Advertising, Geo-Location & Branding to the Mobile World

inTooch Teamed Up With MobileLoco: Users Can Exchange Data On The Fly

inTooch, a mobile application that supports both Android and iPhone, easily and seamlessly allows you to instantly exchange contact and social network information on the fly.

inTooch teamed up with San Francisco-based Mobile-Loco this past week, an event that explores the convergence of brands, advertising and mobile.   

Attendees were encouraged to download the free mobile app, so they could quickly exchange all their contact information or a portion of it with new people they met at the event, including their social media network data. 

Whenever you meet someone you want to stay in touch with, you simply call the person, the app detects that you have called them for the first time and prompts you automatically to exchange your contact information, giving you the option to exchange your Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn details as well.

Since geo-tagging is built in, the inTooch app tracks where connection requests are made and will link all connection requests to the location, in this case the Mobile-Loco event in San Francisco, CA. When users browse through their connections, they can see all the connections they made at Mobile-Loco.  After the event, inTooch will also send an email to each user who sent a connection request during Mobile-Loco with the list of all the contacts they met at the event, resulting in a more efficient way to follow up and turn contacts into relationships that matter. 

A useful augmented reality feature, which is popular for personal encounters, is a report that informs you of all the things you have in common with that person (friends, places you visited, music, movies you like, social network info, check-ins, interests you share).

Unlike most apps, inTooch works regardless of whether the person you just met has it on his or her cell phone, making it the most natural, straight forward and easy way to share your personal or business details.  inTooch is available for download at http://www.intooch.com and is free for users. Currently, inTooch works with both the Android and the iPhone, with support for other platforms and mobile devices coming later this year.

Photo above is of inTooch's CEO Julien Salanon on the MobileLoco stage. 

Disclosure: I provide some consulting to inTooch.

inTooch Teamed Up With MobileLoco: Users Can Exchange Data On The Fly

LeWeb's The Internet of Things: From Lightbulbs & Robots to Augmented Reality Apps & Air Quality

LeWeb Paris continues to grow year after year, with this year reaching over 3,500 attendees. 

From a couple of hundred attendees in the first year, they had 5,000 attendees this past year alone for both their London and Paris events, London being a test, something that they plan to continue doing in the years ahead.

They attract big players like Orange, Microsoft and others and mid-tier players known in Europe and beyond, like Parrot, as well as tons of start-ups eager secure funding and entrepreneurs looking for the next big thing. It's also an incredible place to "schmooze" on the floor at the event itself as well as the umpteen after parties and events they hold in the evenings throughout the center of Paris.

I returned to San Francisco from an exhausting trip of meetings and pow-wows to hear that LeWeb was acquired by Reed MIDEM, one of the leading events organizers in the world. How that changes the format of LeWeb moving forward is yet to be seen, but more budget and marketing should 'in theory' lead to more "high-touch" events, better food and higher profile speakers. That said, it could also drive ticket prices up.

Acquisition aside, Loic and Geraldine LeMeur managed to pull off yet another fabulous event, from A-list speakers to entertainment and networking.

So, who showed up there and unveiled their latest?

Parrot's CEO Henri Seydoux, who I had an opportunity to meet several years ago when they hosted the TravelingGeeks trip I organized to Paris, was as charming as ever on the LeWeb stage in an interview with Loic LeMeur.

Within LeWeb's theme of the "Internet of Things," he made what could have been a 'faux pas' by saying that you can't reference women as things or you'll be in trouble for a long time. It didn't turn into a faux pas though at least from what I could tell, since everyone laughed -- including women. I happen to like their products and team. As an aside, rumor has it that his actress daughter played a role in the latest James Bond film. Ahh yes, the things you learn at LeWeb.

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LeWeb's The Internet of Things: From Lightbulbs & Robots to Augmented Reality Apps & Air Quality