Search Hide and $eek.

Google is receiving a higher percentage of it's ad revenue from mobile ads and searches. This trend is only going to increase. How and why? Let's face it, more people are searching via mobile than ever before. Mobile is on the grow. You know that. The reason Apple went fron the traditional iTunes sync model to iCloud is because the next demographic they look to sell devices to (Think iPad and iPhone, think India and China) don't own a PC or Mac to sync with. The mobile device IS the Internet to this widening group!

So now let's think further. Adwords, keyword bidding, where does that money go in the traditional "PC or Mac computer on your desktop" scenario. It goes to deep-pockets Google, some to Bing, less and less to Yahoo! How does Apple get in on this? They aren't going to dip into Google's arena, search, even Bill Gates couldn't dent that. How about subverting the search process? What if Apple had technology that delivered the search results while deadening the impact of click thru rates, bidding, and the other strings attached to search? Enter Siri. A neat phone-based feature that "valets" your search requests for you. It uses the web, heck it uses Google, but the click thru and eyeballs per thousand impressions benchmarks that define traditional advertising and Google's search model fall flat when Siri sings. Could Apple equip so many people with their devices, armed with a Siri, that the backbone of Google's revenue be at risk? Oh wait, they have sold millions of devices, made the software readily available to existing Apple product users and are creating wearable devices like Siri-watch phones... hmmm? Siri could grow to deliver more than just restaurant reviews and weather reports. Siri could be Apple's ying to Google's yang. All hidden in the hardware used by people the world over. Even Googlefolk. It's hide and seek, with the latest "peekaboo" sounding very much like a female voice from a gal named Siri. This will be interesting!

ASI Orlando

I was impressed by the size and scope of the ASI show this past week in Orlando. This organization's following encompasses so many people from so many industries - it is worthy to see in person how big ASI is. There are plenty of suppliers at the centerpiece event, a trade show. Hundreds of comapnies that brought their products to hopefully "wow" attendees, who lined up and down every aisle to see what was new. I saw things I easily recognized as promo items - plenty of pens, mousepads, keychains, etc. The "expected" giveaways known to be popular in the promotional product industry. Then I saw sign companies, umbrellas, kitchen knives, high-end engraved products, and very impressive incentive gifts. There was training avaiable on the trade show floor and at breakout events happening concurrent to the vendor show. Tony Robbins, famed motivational speaker, was giving an 8 hour boot camp. Bill O'Reilly was a keynote speaker. ASI has it's own certification system, broken into two levels mirroring college achievements. The BASI (Bachelors) and MASI (Masters) track of advertising specialties competency classes were happening throughout the event. The organization of ASI's event was well done, they have a very powerful brand. It's notable to see how many of our franchisees came to participate in piggyback events we hosted at the show. We had an EmbroidMe Regional Meeting, a "messaging platform" meeting to focus and create a newer tagline and direction for the brand's advertising and a software demo for EmbroidMe franchisees. Plan Ahead Events franchisees came to see the trade show, participate in a dinner sponsored by Hilton Hotels and attend meetings for their brand. Co-branding our meetings with industry shows worked well... I would like to see us do more in this vein. The blend of experiences that occur in a short but busy few days helps franchisees and franchisor alike.

CES big shake.

The big news late in the week was HPs new Envy Spectre ultrabook. It a beautiful glass-backed powerhouse designed to put competition on the board for Apple's MacBook Air. It has an Intel i5 or i7 processor, with options for 128 or 256 Gb solid state drives. It had an HD screen, capable of 1600 x 900 pixels worth of resolution. It has USB 3.0 ports and HDMI out, as well as integrated Ethernet. The glass on the back of the display is the new corning Gorilla glass. It is extremely resilient, and can take the impact of a drop or fall. This new glass was first rumored to be the main component of new generation mobile phones, HP snaps to attention and issues this revolutionary glass on a full size, lightweight laptop PC!

This laptop won a cNet.com CES "Best of" award and will be a major player in the battle for consumer's dollars in the new ultrabook category. Looks like a worthy competitor has arisen from the PC side of the fence.

CES Day 2

I think this OLED TV made a big splash - LG went BIG on the 55" available for real claim, and it's true! Check out how nice looking and rediculously thin this display is! Although they are higher def than regular LED Tvs, OLED models will be more expensive until the production lines make these routine and not special... a few years away. But drool with me for a moment?

Thin enough?

Really cool side profile...

Higher intensity color, lower power demands, better potential resolution, here come the promised OLED TVs! I first saw one at 2009 CES in the SONY booth. How come they didn't own this market?

CES cool

Just so the cool doesn't get lost among the IT geek stuff, these two things also turned heads yesterday at CES Day One.

• QooQ, a French company, brought forth a tablet computer running Linux that stores and explains recipes. A "culinary tablet" you could call it. It has content from expert chefs, an ingredient database, videos and wine advice. It's the type of tablet that is protected from the elements, you can splash it with food while cooking and sponge it clean when you're done. It is NOT diswasher safe! Neat for cooking fiends or bachelors on the way up the mac & cheese ladder.
• AR Parrot Drone. Ever been to Brookstone and seen the flying remote controlled 4 prop gadget/toy? This is it, with an HD camera. It flies indoors and outdoors (limited winds recommended) and is controlled with the gyro features of an iPad. When you load the software on the iPad, you takeoff, steer and land the craft using your hand and arm motions while holdingth Ipad! It hovers wonderfully, spins, and takes neat video that can be stored or viewed on the iPad. $299.