In Your Face™

The big news on the wire today is that Facebook has been given approval to trademark the word 'Face'. 
While this makes sense...it is also kinda ridiculous. Unlike the greedy genius of people like Gene Simmons, who trademarked the Money Bag icon, this is a move to protect an already powerful brand. To me, I think it's overkill. If you've established your brand as a household name within a product category or across many, and someone tries to spring board their success by infringement on your name, it's a non-issue. You win.

Regardless, Facebook is just a payment away from trademarking the word “Face.” As of today the U.S. Patent And Trademark Office has sent the social networking site a Notice of Allowance, which means they have agreed to grant the “Face” trademark to Facebook.

All Facebook needs to do is pay the issue fee within three months of today and the “Face” trademark will be issued and be published in the official USPTO gazette and everything.

I wonder what will be next? Will Twitter trademark Twit? Foursquare trademark Four? Maybe I'll trademark Porter and make my fiancée sign her soon-to-be new last name with a TM above it. I think I'm onto something... ~ p

(Source: Techcrunch)

Funny Friday: Cat vs Gator. Bad ass.

Yet another cat starring in Funny Friday. I guess Ben Huh, CEO and founder of The Cheezburger Network, was right when he recently said that 'cats are always the centre of the Internet universe'. This is more bad ass than funny. But the idea is simply hilarious. 

Facebook Email Will be More Than Email

I guessed this one right. Kind of. After I said, and many echoed, that Facebook was going to launch a Gmail killer, Facebook insists that was not their plan. But if that happens as a result of their re-invented message system, then I guess Facebook will have successfully changed email and messaging as we know it.

The system overhaul is still a bit of a secret. Facebook is currently rolling it out with an invite-only strategy right now, and will open it up for all to use slowly over the next few months. We're told that the revised system will better facilitate users needs and the 4 billion messages that are sent daily on Facebook by over 350 million people. Yeah, those numbers are crazy. It might be a while before you can test this system out for yourself, but in the meantime, check out this video to further peak your interest and hopefully answer some of your questions. ~ p

The Beatles on iTunes Was My Second Guess

Good for Yoko Ono for finally giving into the pressure of iTunes, and realizing that fans, including me, want to hear more, in the easiest way possible. Or maybe she's just running out of money. Either way, it's good for Beatles fans everywhere! ~ p

Miami, it's Time to Fan Up!

It saddens me that the Miami Heat bandwagon that I've jumped on has a lot more room than I would've thought. Especially at the beginning and end of games. It embarrasses me that they've had to put out a defense marketing strategy against their own city's fanship habits.

Really? I know it's nice out, and there are beautiful cars, and attractive people walking around all the time...but the rest of us who don't live in Miami would kill to see one of these games live and in person. Do you really need to be told to show up on time? The rest of the country, correction, the rest of the world sees all the empty seats every game until around the end of the 2nd quarter - just in time to hit the bar. Come on, Miami. Fan up. The world is watching. ~ p

Stickybits Could Make Your Brand Stick to Loyal Customers

Geo-targeting social services like Facebook Places and Foursquare are all the rage. And by rage, I mean obsessive behavior. Hey, I get it, I'm cool (sometimes), I 'checkin'. But when my friends start checkin-to their own living rooms, it makes me wonder...why didn't I think of that first?!

With so much attention on ourselves, a company called Stickybits has developed a platform that draws the focus away from us, and onto the products we like, and then gives us free stuff when we scan a unique bar code. It's essentially a product checkin app. And it could be the next big thing.

Why is this cool? If I'm a company, like Ben & Jerry's or Pepsi (both partners of Stickybits), I can incentivize you to engage, buy, interact, and share my product. This is an interactive way to generate brand loyalty and, if your product comes in a case that people need to buy before they touch, it can also drive sales. As a consumer, this is an easy, and possibly really fun way to get free stuff from brands and companies you already have an affinity for.

Each product has its own product wall (check out Pepsi's here) filled with all the comments, photos, and videos left by Stickybits users. The new app adds a leaderboard, rewards & challenges button, and suggests tags to add to each post (“review,” “tip,” “question,” “random”). And, for the benefit of brands and customers, you can share each scan with your friends on Facebook or Twitter. For brands, there are also analytics and campaign management tools.

The key to this equation is how good the promotions will be. If Stickybits can convince their brand partners to serve up exclusive deals, like, say, Groupon, this will be a surefire hit. If all I get is a XXXL white, see-through T-Shirt, the stickiness of this idea will fall flat. Check out (not in) stickybits.com for more details. ~ p

(Source: Techcrunch)

Apple Announcement will Change How You Listen to Music

Apple has an announcement coming tomorrow. Any guesses? Word on the street is that they are 'killing the MP3' file format by introducing a live streaming function. From the sounds of it, this would be cool and make a lot of sense. Basically, you and everyone else would access your music through a 'cloud' storage service, instantly streaming and playing music on your iTunes enabled device. This is a logic step moving forward. Why would we keep a catalogue of music, eating away our personal storage space, when we could simply access it in the same way from Apple's cloud? It would be even cooler if we could simply type in our user name and password and access our music from any iTunes-enabled device, mobile or not. 

The only hurdle I currently see is people, including me, who do not have an iTouch, iPad, or iPhone and, therefore, do not have Internet or cloud capabilities on our iPods. I'm sure Steve Jobs simply sees that as an opportunity for me to upgrade my device and give him some more money. I can't blame him. I would buy a new device for this service. But first, let's see if tomorrow is indeed a day not worth forgetting. ~ p

Topguest 2.0: Will Virgin American Airlines Build Loyalty with Virtual Checkins? I Think Yes.

Topguest is a new platform that gives travelers loyalty points and rewards for checking in on geolocation applications. Since its launch earlier this year, you've been able to check in using Brightkite, Gowalla, Foursquare, Twitter, Google Latitude, Yelp and Loopt. Not only did you get the standard benefits, badges or promotions from the apps you used to check in, you also got rewards from Topguest when you checked in at a partner location.

You could see this app partnering with a loyalty company from miles away. Sure enough, with Topguest's 2.0 platform launching today, they are introducing some major changes, including a new partner in Virgin American. The new version also only supports Facebook Places and Foursquare, with a new mobile application for Android and iPhone. 

Using the platform, Virgin will users frequent flyer points in exchange for their checkins — a first for any airline. As Mashable reported, 'Virgin America guests can now earn an additional 25 Elevate points per checkin to Facebook Places or Foursquare — at the airline’s airport terminals or baggage claims — for a total potential of 50 extra points per flight.'

Brett Billick, Director of CRM for the airline, expands on that point: “Our innovative in-flight amenities have attracted some very tech and social-savvy flyers, so it is only fitting that we are now the first airline to offer its guests frequent flyer points for virtual checkins. Given the rapid growth of location-based checkins, this is something our flyers have actually been asking for — and we think it will give guests a compelling way to earn real world rewards for virtual checkins,”

Virgin America is just one of many new partners. The startup has formed a strategic alliance with Hospitality Marketing Concepts, meaning Hilton HHonors, Doubletree Hotels, Wyndham Rewards, Choice Privileges, Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants, Thompson Hotels, and Avis Car Rental are now participating as well.

This is big. Other virtual checkins from loyalty programs and companies will follow. As a quick aside, look for Facebook to make a splash of their own with Facebook Credits being used as loyalty points to reward checkins. This is just a hunch. Another prediction is that we will ultimately be able to use those earned Facebook Credits to buy real-world merchandise, online and off-line. But that's another story. ~ p

Funny Friday: Fart Blanket

You can't make this stuff up. How much money did this person sink into this stinkin' idea? When they are using 'the same type of fabric used by the military to protect against chemical weapons." you gotta think it's a lot. I hope this is real, because my Christmas shopping is now officially done.

Facebook to Launch Gmail Killer. Register Your Facebook Vanity URL Now.

Facebook has seemingly done it again. Speculation is rising about Facebook launching a full-email service that will integrate with and revamp the current Facebook inbox messages. It's code name has been called Titan, and it's said to be a 'Gmail killer'.

Facebook announced a special press-only event for this coming Monday, and it's strongly believed that they will use the event to launch their highly anticipated service.

As TechCrunch points out, 'Facebook has the world’s most popular photos product, the most popular events product, and soon will have a very popular local deals product as well. It can tweak the design of its webmail client to display content from each of these in a seamless fashion (and don’t forget messages from games, or payments via Facebook Credits). And there’s also the social element: Facebook knows who your friends are and how closely you’re connected to them; it can probably do a pretty good job figuring out which personal emails you want to read most and prioritize them accordingly.'

The word on the street is that your email account name will be the same as your vanity url. As an example, mine is facebook.com/portereport, so my email will be portereport@facebook.com.

If you don't have a vanity facebook url, you should really consider registering for it before Monday. With 500 million users, you might get stuck with YourName1223598952@facebook.com. And that will just be annoying for everyone. 

Or, if you have a vanity url that is, well, not something you want everyone to see and type, like some friends of mine, you might want to change it up. To do so, simply go into your 'Account Settings' and edit your 'User Name'. ~ p

Protect Yourself from Drunken Social Media and Emailing. You Know Who You Are...

Back in the day, it was called 'drunk dialing'. Then it evolved into 'drunk texting'. Now it's 'drunken social media'. We've all been there. Had too much before or after the bar and sent an FB message to a co-worker, an ex, some random chick you saw tagged in a photo on your buddy's wall...umm...anyway...moving on. You wake up the next morning feeling kinda stupid. Well now you can protect your sober self from your drunken self.

This week, web security company Webroot released a new browser plugin called “The Social Media Sobriety Test” with the tagline, “Nothing good happens online after 1 a.m.”

I know. Where was this plugin last Saturday night? Now you can at least prepare for next weekend.

After you download, it'll ask you to set your hours of intoxication, and if you try to sign into Facebook, MySpace, or even Gmail or Hotmail during that time, you’ll be asked to pass a test. Be cautious that you don't get caught at an afternoon 'client lunch' and you play outside your set hours.

It also currently doesn't work on a mobile device, so your iPhone, Blackberry or Android could still be your enemy when you're out on the town.

Regardless, this is cool. I will definitely try it with my buddies the next time they're over. ~ p

Funny Friday: I've Got An iPhone

Let me speak frankly for a minute. True fact: cats and porn rule the Internet. There is one word I could use to sum those two things up...but this is a family-friendly blog. Seriously. It seems like all you need is a ridiculous song and a dancing cat and - BAM! - you have a YouTube sensation. Hey, works for me. Warning: You might not be able to get this song out of your head. Have a laugh. It's Friday! ~ p

Angry Birds Paper Cutout Movie

What's the difference between someone who has a job and someone who doesn't? The person with a job plays Angry Birds on the way to work. The person without a job makes a movie about Angry Birds using paper cutouts. Here's to unemployment! Enjoy. ~ p

Glasses-Free 3D Mobile Device from Sharp...the 3D HD Glasses-Free TV Can't Be Far Behind.

Boy. I'm glad I didn't just spend a few thousand bucks on a 3D HD TV. If you're one of the few who did, you might not want to continue reading. I did enough research to know that 'they' were working on a 3D HD TV that you could watch without wearing goofy glasses. Now it seems like it's going to become mainstream sooner than expected.

But this post isn't just about a 3D HD TV (I can't resist the ridiculousness of the three syllable acronym) coming to market, it's also about a 3D Mobile that's being developed by Sharp for Android...that will not require 3D glasses. I draw the quick correlation to 3D HD Glasses-Free TVs because I have a Sharp Aquos and it's amazing - still everything I need for the best HD experience after 4 years.

If Sharp has developed this technology for commercial use on a mobile phone...you know that their 3D HD Glasses-Free TV isn't far behind.

Regressing back to the 3D Mobile. The working names are Galapagos 003SH and 005SH, both handsets sport 1GHz Snapdragon CPUs, Android 2.2, and a 3.8-inch 3D-capable display with 800 x 480 pixel resolution. The main difference between the two phones is the full QWERTY keyboard on the 005SH, but 003SH makes up for it with a slightly better camera, a 9.6 megapixel model capable of recording 720p video, while 005SH sports a (still formidable) 8-megapixel camera.

If you're wondering about 3D content (or lack thereof) for the device, you have a good point. Not much will be supported off the start. But Capcom has announced the 3D versions of their games Mega Man, Ghosts ‘n Goblins: Gold Knights, and Resident Evil: Degeneration for Android, and the first smartphones to feature these games will be the 003SH and 005SH from Sharp.

The 003SH is coming to Japan’s Softbank this December, and the 005SH is due February next year. ~ p


(Source: Engadget)

Go to the Mall with Your Friends Without Leaving Your Living Room: eBay Group Gifts.

I go to the mall on my own. This is because I never to go the mall unless I absolutely have to for birthday or Christmas present reasons. If you ever see me in the mall with others, you can know that I've been dragged there against my will.

I am not the norm.

I realize that groups of people socially shop all the time. They always have and always will. But with online shopping getting more and more of our hard-earned money, the whole 'group shopping experience' has been dying.

Not any more.

Social Shopping has been gaining speed, I'm told. It even has an official term: Social Commerce. As far as I'm aware, this has been done through the means of Social Media users and separate, non-convergent technologies. I actually experienced this over the weekend as my Mom and Dad used their Blackberry to take a picture of a shirt that they thought I'd like as they were shopping and emailed it to me before buying it. I did not like it. That Social Shopping, er, Commerce exchange saved them money. And it saved me the guilt of letting it sit in my closet unworn. Win-win.

To capitalize on this insight, today eBay announced the launch of its Group Gifts service, enabling people to use the power of their social networks to collectively purchase gifts.

Andy Palmer, manager of buyer experience for Group Gifts, shared why they came up with this service. “The inspiration came from a couple of places. First, eBay saw that people were using social websites to buy virtual gifts for their friends at a very high frequency. We thought that it made sense to take that to the next level and help people come together to buy actual gifts. Perhaps more importantly, eBay recognized that the process of group gifting as it exists in the world today can be difficult and frustrating at times, which is a shame because giving as a group is a wonderful way to give people bigger, better gifts without spending too much during these tougher economic times."

Makes sense, Andy. Makes sense.

There are also other cool features, like 'Social search suggestions'. “Social search suggestions are gift suggestions eBay makes for your friend based on information we’ve pulled from their Facebook profile. These suggestions are what eBay considers ‘targeted inspiration.’ You’ll see a results set after clicking on one of the suggestions that will be relevant to your friend’s interest while delivering a broad spectrum of related items."

You can also, of course, ask friends to pitch in on a gift for someone. To do this, you can send email invites or Facebook invites privately; spread the word publicly by posting on Facebook or Twitter; or share the unique group gift URL, which directs users to the group gift page.

Cool. If I liked shopping I would do this. And as someone who does not like shopping, in fact, I would still join in on the fun. ~ p

(Source: Mashable)