Sprint Launches SMS to Landlines

"From July 12 to October 12 '05, Sprint PCS subscribers will be able to send a text message to a landline phone. Text messages, which are converted to voice, can be sent to any landline phone in the United States. When the person answers his or her home phone, they will "hear" the text message you sent and can reply back to you with one of the available responses. You will also receive a text message on your Sprint PCS Phone when a response is sent back to you."
--via Engadget

Study: Behavioral Targeting To Go Up

"Behavioral targeting advertising is projected to increase by 65 percent in 2006, as reported by interactive advertising agency media directors and planners who were attending the May iMedia Agency Summit in Florida. Nearly 20.8 percent of all media purchases in 2006 are expected to be behavioral targeting purchases."
-- iMedia Connection via MarketingVox

Earlier:
Time Warner To Test Behavior-Targeted TV Ads

Concept: Book Interface for Radio

The "book radio", designed for a class at Ivrea, "takes the mental model of a physical book where user can browse by flipping pages, read by keeping a page open, and create a reminder of a specific page by placing a bookmark. Each page of the "book radio" represents a frequency. The user flips pages to scan the frequency spectrum; opens to a specific page to listen to a station; places the bookmark on a desired page to listen and store the station; and slides the bookmark up or down to control the volume."
-- via We Make Money Not Art

TiVo Upgrades Ad Service

"TiVo upgraded its service to let about 1 million of its subscribers instantly respond to specially coded advertising. For example, after watching an ad for an automobile or family vacation, users can ask to have a brochure sent to their home. In addition, ads embedded with special "tags" will pop up as small pictures, sporting branded logos, even when users are fast-forwarding thought those commercials. "
-- Washington Post via Lost Remote

Also, "Japan is looking at making skipping commercials illegal, as a violation of the country’s copyright law" (Engadget); and a new study reveals that "women most often made the decision to buy the DVR, and understand how to work it better than men and love the DVR for being easier than a VCR." (AdJab)

Simpill: Packaging with SMS Reminder

Another one of those lonely bottles that talk to their owners. "The SIMpill medicine bottle uses SMS tech to monitor patients’ medicine-taking habits, alerting patients or their caregivers via text message when they miss a prescribed dose."
--Iconoculture via Cool Business Ideas

Earlier:
Talking Packaging

AdSense Wishlist

I've been running Google AdSense ads on this blog for some time now and am even about to recieve my first check (ooha!), but there are a few things I wish for.

1. Sometimes Google is feeding no ad units at all and the placeholders become ugly gaping holes. While Google lets you pick an alternative image to fill in the placeholders, it would be nice if the script allowed collapsing them altogether.

2. On individual post pages, contextual targeting works great. On the main and archive pages with many regularly updated posts, the targeting often breaks down. The blog is about advertising and Google seems to recognize that, but when I write about a new Sharp dual-view display, I get fed ads for discounted LCD displays.

3. Reporting for individual ad units would be nice, too, so that publishers know if Google Links are as useful as the standard text ads.

Timescope and Augmented Reality

These guys augmented a telescope to overlay historic (or futuristic) images of a landscape the 'scope is trained on. "The basic idea of the "timescope" is a virtual journey in time via telescope. The device contains additional controls that enable viewers to view a place in the past or future time through its eyepiece." I imagine you can embed virtual billboards, too.

Sharp Announces Dual-View Display

It's been only a week or so since NY Times ran an article on multi-blade TV screens, and Sharp just announced it begins mass production of a dual-view LCD. "This LCD if used in a TV would allow viewers sitting to the right and left of a screen to watch different channels by simultaneously displaying different images into the right and left sides of the screen through a backlight." Twice as many commercials for the same money, eh.
-- Digital Camera 101 Reviews

Earlier:
Future: Multi-Blade Screen Technology

Product-Centered Comparison Banners

Since everyone was writing about this new ad format, I, too, am test-driving it. Near the sidebar's top, see eMiniMalls from Chitika, a format that allows comparison shopping within a banner ad unit. Nifty. Especially since Google's context targeting sucks as of late and the sidebar space just sits blank.

Fujitsu Shows Bendable Electronic Paper

Fujitsu showed their prototype of the film substrate-based bendable color electronic paper with an image memory function. "The new electronic paper features vivid color images that are unaffected even when the screen is bent, and features an image memory function that enables continuous display of the same image without the need for electricity."
-- press release via i4u

Earlier:
Sony Develops Foldable Roll-up Display
Update: Foldable Displays In Two Years
Future: MicroMedia Paper
E Ink: Digital Price Tags
E Ink: Digital Billboards
E Ink: Digital POP Display
Digital Signage and Electronic Paper
Wall-sized E-Ink Electronic Newspaper
E Ink: Digital Signage & Billboards
Interactive Wallpaper