Spring 2017- Widgets, Clicks, and Tweets

      Fit Tea is a detoxifying organic green tea which is used to elevate your energy levels, and make you strive away from drinking things that wouldn't benefit you like this product. It is mainly used as a skinning detoxifying remedy that is supposed to support your immune system and designed to cleanse your body. I constantly see it endorsed by celebrities online that are young, fit, and good looking. It is constantly being shared by mainly woman such as Kylie, Victoria, the newest addition to the group the "cash me outside' girl. They are trying to impose a message saying that hey, take a quick second to look at me and see that if you drink this you will turn out to be as bright and beautiful as me. It personally hasn't reached a convincing point to me and personally go out and buy the product. It's sad to know that these people probably don't even use the products they are endorsed by and are just telling other young people to go out and spend mon...

OVERVIEW        Wearables are the newest innovation in recording human communication and interactions. The wearable is an I.D. that will track when a person comes in contact with another being and tracking their moves such as vicinity and behavior data's. The wearable are meant to show the collaboration of employees and seeing ways to better the company.  BUSINESS EFFECT  The possibilities that wearable can bring to the business field are endless. Tracking of items with employees at stores to see how things are running and getting updates will help solve many problems.  The wait time to receive information on items will be cut down dramatically with the help of this new item. It also has many other uses which will help companies such as posing as sensors, microphones, and more. Wearables will be able to also connect with other preexisting smart technologies and create stronger relationships. 

Melbourne’s Metro Trains, does it ring a bell? How about Metro Trains: Dumb Ways to Die? For those of you that don't know, Melbourne's Metro Trains did an advertising campaign in order to bring awareness to train safety. They brought awareness by creating a fun app on smartphones called Dumb Ways to Die. It is a fun dark-humored game that shows harmful things that some people do that are most of the time caused by lack of intelligence. This game brings awa reness to the younger generation about the harm that trains and other actions may cause. Loads of characters were created in this app to show a different and "Dumb Ways to Die". According to  Metro Trains, they noticed a significant reduction in train accidents too. Talk about smart and effective!

Using Social Media as a Retail Shop The  Philippines , believe it or not, has the largest time spent on social media. The country has a 58% penetration rate, meaning a product or service has gone through social media about 58% of the time in order to gain publicity. They have the 6th largest amount of users of Facebook with approximately 60 million users. Overall, they value their use of social media. Due to their importance of social media, they are going to use it to their advantage. They are implementing social media into the e-commerce market. For instance, say you made an Instagram account to sell some items. Lazada Phillippines is a platform that was created so you could use your already made Instagram account to sell your products to a specific audience. The website is specifically made for users who are interested in buying items off of Instagram. The website has already made 10,000 sales in the market.  Not only is the company using Instagram to promote ite...

                          PETSMART HAS TAKEN A NEW APPROACH TO BRANDING!                                                               For new pet owners, how ironic is it to scroll down your Instagram profile and notice a Petsmart ad for new pet owners? Petsmart was smart to repost an actual image of a new kitty owner. This picture goes a long way. Besides it being a great photo, it's simple and organic.It feels natural when scrolling down the instagram feed and it's a subtle approach to promoting the brand. It offers a link to the company website where a person could find helpful information and also positions Petsmart as the place to go for new pet owners.                I would like to see Petsm...

                                             Google's New VR (Virtual Reality Headset)           So I purchased a brand new Google Android phone last year. Just for upgrading my phone, I received every new promotion Sprint could throw at me. One included what they called a VR (Virtual Reality) headset. Had no idea what it was and really didn't care because what I really wanted was a new phone to play with. Long story short and about a week later, my pretty little package was delivered by UPS. I opened it up and began the process of transferring my data onto my new phone....which took the entire night. I woke up early the next morning to clean up and noticed a second box inside of the original that I had totally forgot about. It was my VR headset! I had no clue what this new device could do so I gave it shot.     ...

Taco Bell, Snapchat, and the Millennial Consumer What do you get when you mix the best Mexican fast food and Snapchat? An amazingly cheap and effective marketing tool. Taco Bell has raised the bar for all companies who feel Snapchat is a waste of their marketing department's resources. Over the last four years, taco bell has utilized the millennial focused app to reel in a new generation of taco lovers. Knowing they are not a luxury restaurant and not attempting to come off as one, Taco Bell focus’ on a younger crowd to continue to push inexpensive and fair quality food. What better way to expand your business than focus on the core demographic on their most enjoyed app. While some companies have focused on sharing Snapchat stories to tell the tale of their food or using still shots of their food items to lure in the hungry Millennial, Taco Bell takes their marketing one step further. By giving the user a way to interact with their marketing campaign rather than be giv...

The rise of the mobile photographer through snapping a digital photo on your phone has increased year over year since the first picture via mobile phone was taken by Philippe Kahn of his newborn daughter Sophie in 1997. It was projected by Infotrends that in 2016 alone, consumers would reach 1.1 trillion digital photos would be taken worldwide, with a cool 1.2 trillion in 2017 .  Over the last few years, the rise in photo taking and photo sharing applications has increased exponentially, and users continue to snap more and more photos of their memories. As consumers continue to take more and more photos of their loved ones, the growing number of tangible photo books, and photo book creation sites have allowed mobile phone photos to come to life as coffee table memory books, gifts for family and friends, or a memento for many years to come.  Photo books can be costly however, and the time needed to set up the photo books, format, and place the order c...

Campaign Disney Parks partnered up with the Make-A-Wish Foundation to help grant the wishes of children with life-threatening medical conditions. Disney invited fans to share pictures featuring the classic Mickey Mouse ears on Twitter and Instagram using the hashtag #ShareYourEars. For each picture shared, Disney donated $5 to the foundation. Participants were also encouraged to make a $5 contribution of their own to enter the sweepstakes for a chance to win special Disney prizes. The campaign was so successful that Disney Parks donated $2 million, double their original pledge. Effectiveness Disney could have easily made a $1 million donation, but it was more than just the money. It was about raising awareness and inspiring others to do good. And what better way than to use social media platforms and creating a hashtag. The benefit of using a hashtag is that it can become a trending topic and go viral, which it certainly did for Disney. It garnered the attention of cel...

The concept of wireless conference rooms is an interesting concept, which can conduct business a faster way. Any company will have multiple meeting spaces that will discuss many strategies and progress. Meetings would have to follow Internet connectivity into the wireless era and transfer data to Apple Airplay or Google’s Chromecast. In order for wireless conference rooms to work you have to adopt a wireless solution that connects offices, employees, and clients. It would make sharing easier and everyone would be involved, so their location wouldn’t matter. Companies would be able to wirelessly stream video and presentations across multiple conference rooms. Everyone would have access to the control and share a screen. These presentations would work on multiple platforms, such as PC or Mac, iPhone or Android. Wireless conference rooms would definitely change the way companies undergo their business and there would be less need to travel. You could make a presentation with anot...

Photography is being revolutionized with the new and improve 360-degree pictures. The new and innovative technology will allow for a single picture to capture the full 360-degree view from a single spot. Pictures can now be taken by using a contraption that has multiple cameras in a circle facing outwards in order to overlap the pictures and create a 360-degree camera or a single camera that pivots around a single point capturing a 360-degree view of the surrounding area.  Not only will this technology make people feel like they are in the setting in which the picture was taken, but it can also record events that can be beneficial in the future. An event that a 360-degree camera can be used at is a sports event. Currently, an ecological researcher is using a 360-degree camera to record a forest in Massachusetts to assess climate change and the effects on the environment. A virtual-reality headset can also be used in order to feel like they are in the setting itsel...

Working in the wireless industry for the last decade, I have seen first hand how quickly technology changes, and its impact on consumers.   Within a matter of 15 years, we went from a phone being a basic communication tool... To becoming consumers primary source of information; where you can connect with the world, run your businesses, and communicate with others; all with a touch of your screen. Can you imagine what type of adjustment that is for a consumer who is not considered "techie"? What about for an associate selling wireless devices and solutions to consumers? My company has been challenged with making sure our front line customer facing associates have the knowledge and skills needed to help serve customers.  As technology shifted, our training tools however had not made the jump.  Associates were more in tune with their social media accounts, or activities on their phone rather than reading through paper documents, taking web based traini...

Imagine having to work at 5 a.m., it’s below 0 degrees outside, and you are dreaming for your car to be warm and toasty when you step in without having to go outside to start it. You constantly press the snooze button to get an extra few minutes, by the time you realize you’re almost late, you log onto your phone and tap on the BlueLink app , remotely start the car, adjust the temperatures, and off to the shower you go. By the time you're done getting ready, your car is ready for you too. No need to scrape off the ice or sit in the cold car waiting for actual heat to blow. Sweet!  For some of us, that future is now as Tesla announced they have a self-driving car. Hyundai has a feature that is very convenient for us that we can use our smart phone or smart watch to launch the request through cloud and initiate it within the vehicle. Blue Link app lets you access your car from a distance including, startups by setting the timer and temperature we desire, locking...

Who doesn’t like to go on a vacation, especially when you can fly for free. Is there a special place you’ve been wanting to travel but just couldn’t afford it? Perhaps Hawaii? Well, let me tell you how you can get started.  Many airlines offer similar mileage program, but for now we’re focusing on American Airlines Reward Program . To get started you need to sign up and open an account with American Airlines AAdvantage. Once your application is approved you can earn up to 30,000 miles after spending $1,000 in purchases within the first 3 months. However, an annual fee of $95.00 is required. In order to earn mileage points you need to use the credit card. You earn one mile for every $1.00 spent on other purchases such as grocery, shopping, eating out with friends, and even to pay your phone bill. Earn 2 miles for every $1.00 spent on eligible American Airlines purchases. Occasionally, American Airline AAdvantage will offer a promotion of 50,000 miles when you open an accou...

Augmented reality seems like it could only be seen in sci-fi movies, but Microsoft has announced their HoloLens glasses. It uses superimposes a computer-generated image on a user’s view of the real word and provides a composite view. The company has announced that it’s AR headset will be available next year. Although the technology is in its early phases Microsoft has set its views on the squarely on enterprise customers. There was demos that were shown as games, but that was just to show its viewers the capability of the platform. Microsoft has recently shown the headsets potential business applications and it is clear that the company is focused on traditional business roots when it comes to the HoloLens. Many enterprises can use these devices to show designs, collaborate with other individuals, and have a better understanding of each other's ideas. Business ideas are clearly better illustrated and these computing devices present a better opportunity to bring informati...

Need a little help picking an outfit in the morning? Or perhaps taking the perfect selfie? Amazon has the solution: Echo Look . The Echo Look is a smart speaker that acts as an intelligent personal assistant. It responds to the name “Alexa.” Just like its predecessors, you can ask Alexa to read the news, play music, and get traffic updates. What’s new about this Echo product is its built-in camera and machine-learning technology. Camera Take full-length pictures and 360-degree videos. The 5-megapixel and depth-sensing camera blurs the background to make your outfits "pop." Lookbook Build a personal lookbook from the pictures you take. Browse your outfits and share photos with friends. Echo Look can help you discover new brands and trends based on your personal style. Style Check Submit two photos of your outfit. Based on fit, color, and styling, Style Check will determine which outfit suits you better. One of the major criticisms...

Companies like amazon, at&t, and xfinity, have gotten onboard. There are ways to improve the quality of your life by utilizing technology to take care of the small stuff. Like changing the temperature when you wake up in the morning, to making your coffee, making sure your lights are off in the house, and door is locked. These are the little things we may forget and knowing we have systems and programs in place to make these things get done sounds great to me. Smartthings.com/products helps you integrate technology into the things you already have and know how to use.         Some of the products on this website can be seperated into catagories hubs, integrations, voice assistants, lighting and switches. There are different brands 2gig, aeon labs, Amazon, Belkin and Bose. This website allows you to interface with a representative and ask questions about products. One of my favorites is the cameras and doorbells, This really changed the market for security feat...

Disney's renown characters like Mickey and Minnie Mouse might be played by robots in the future reducing the need for the company's employees to wear heavy costumes for hours. Disney will be able to cut down its number of employees and instead use robots to carry out such duties to entertain it's over one million visitors per year. The new and upcoming technology, hopes to change the experience for Disney's visitors and Disney's functioning capabilities itself. Disney has filed a U.S. patent application for a robot that can physically interact with humans like an animated character. The patent describes a robot that is filled with fluid or air to make it soft which would reduce collision impacts with humans who might want to hug the characters. The build up of the robots could also sense pressure and adjust depending on the humans it interacts with such as adults or children as well. For now it is unclear whether or not Disney also hopes to replace its Princess c...