Apple granted patent for sports sensors

Think Major League Baseball’s stats and live video iPhone app is cool? Imagine what Apple could do with technology it was granted a patent for this week: a network of sensors that deliver real-time velocity, impact, rotation and other data from sporting event participants to the web. Imagine your iPhone’s accelerometer placed inside a boxer’s glove, a snowboarder’s snow suit or a NASCAR driver’s car – with the information captured delivered to your iPhone or Apple TV while you watch the competition either in person or remotely.

Would you pay a premium for an event ticket that includes real time stats like that delivered to your iPhone? I would. Of course Apple is granted all kinds of patents all the time and only some of them amount to anything – but this one is very cool.

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Filed under: Innovation, Science , Design, Future, Gadgets, ideas, Innovation, iphone, Mobile, Technology

What teens want: No they are not too busy twittering to listen

Don’t get too caught up in the hype of digital media usage. That is a key message of “How Teens Use Media,” a new research report by the Nielsen Company.

“The notion that teens are too busy texting and Twittering to be engaged with traditional media is exciting, but false,” according to the executive summary. Instead of replacing traditional media with new media consumption, teens are simply making time for both, it concludes.

Other myths that the report debunks are that teenagers’ preferences differ vastly from adults, that teens’ media and entertainment spending is insulated from the recession (they actually reduce it, with out-of-home entertainment more affected than in-home) and that traditional advertising can’t resonate with teens (once ads break through the clutter, teens like them more).

The leading type of media use among teens is still television, with the average teenager watching 3 hours and 20 minutes per day, debunking the myth of YouTube as the lead medium. Actually, Nielsen says that teens watch more TV than ever, with usage up 6% over the past five years in the U.S.

In comparison, a typical teen only watches about 11 minutes of online video per day, Nielsen found, or an average of about 3 hours per month. That is much less than adults ages 18-24 who watch 5 hours and 35 minutes per month and even less than adults ages 35-44 who watch 3 hours and 30 minutes per month, according to the study, which compiled data from across Nielsen’s media measurement businesses and its biannual global survey of consumers across 50 countries.

“Teens watch less online video than most adults, but the ads are highly engaging to them,” the summary of the Nielsen report says. “Teens spend 35% less time watching online video than adults 25-34, but recall ads better when watching TV shows online than they do on television.”

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Filed under: Market Research, Marketing, Networks , Advertising, Consumers, Marketing, Networks, Online, Research, Teens, TV, Twitter, Video

We’ve got a new company Chair

Someone sent us this today:

der Sorgenfrei

The pitch:
“In production for over 60 years, this unpretentious chair is perfect for Office, Kitchen and Cafe alike. Oh, and did I mention that it’s extremely comfortable?”

Go get one

Filed under: Art

Results: Twitter Brand Survey – Spring Study

In the fall we conducted a short survey with Warren Sukernek on Brand Perception on Twitter. Survey was very well received, so we decided to do a follow-up survey in May. This time we surveyed 208 people with 6 questions regarding interacting with brands. The full results are here. A couple of key insights:

1)    Not surprisingly, most users (97%) agree that brands should engage their customers on Twitter. This is 8 percentage points higher than the fall survey. Clearly Twitter users want to engage with their brands. We are accustomed to communicating with companies on Twitter.

2)    The majority also have a better impression of brands that use Twitter for customer service (88%). This is 7 percentage points higher than the original survey.

3)    Proper usage of Twitter however, is paramount as 90% of users would frown upon poor or inappropriate brand use of Twitter. This is equivalent to the results found in the original survey.

4)    The power of a relationship is extremely strong on Twitter. 80% of respondents would recommend a company based on their presence on Twitter, a huge 20 percentage point increase from the prior survey and 84% of Twitter users will reward those brands they have key relationships by being more willing to purchase from them. This was a 5 percentage point increase from the original survey.

5)    Influencers: More than 80% of respondents have 100+ followers and almost 35% of respondents have posted more than 1000 Tweets since they signed up for the service. 

Full report

Filed under: Market Research , Brands, Consumers, Market Research, Research, Technology, Twitter