Remote-Controlled Marketing

I recently received a box from BMC Software, an enterprise software provider focused mostly on Business Service Management, whatever that is.

The box was a marketing effort, presumably targeted at professionals who would likely be interested in BMC’s offerings, or at least willing to have them in for a dog-n-pony and introductions to other ‘players’ within the organization.

In the box was a 1/10 scale remote-controlled Ferrari Enzo. A cool little toy, I guess, if you’re into that. Even had a sticker with my name on each door. I assume they’ve done their homework and determined that their market is at least partially populated by people who like remote-controlled cars.

So what’s the clever marketing trick employed by BMC?

They didn’t include the remote control with the car—the thing that makes it go. If you want the remote you have to call BMC and agree to a meeting.

So the marketing here is interesting. I don’t know what these cars sell for, but it’s not trivial like a postcard or some other routine mailing that these companies do. They actually spent some money here, which makes me think they needed to be pretty targeted in their approach, right? Know your market, spend those dollars wisely. But this marketing campaign assumes a few things about the recipient:

• He/she is likely to be in the market for BMC products and services
• He/she is in a position within the organization to influence high-dollar software projects
• He/she might be encouraged to contact BMC and maybe even buy something simply because BMC so generously provided him/her with a non-functioning plastic toy car

I’d be interested to see the ROI on this campaign. Is someone really going to be influenced to do business with a vendor because they got this thing in the mail? It doesn’t even work. Maybe this pays off for BMC, I don’t know. Strange bit of marketing though, in my opinion. I gave the car away.

H.264 video: royalty-free forever

The outlook just got a lot rosier for the adoption of HTML5.

MPEG LA has announced that the h.264 (MPEG-4 Part 10) video coding standard will remain royalty-free forever, as long as video encoded with the standard is free to end users. This means sites like YouTube and Vimeo will never be charged licensing fees to serve video on the web. It also means that a huge hurdle has been removed for companies who had concerns about moving away from Flash video to HTML5 and the h.264 video standard.

Up to now MPEG LA’s position on licensing had been that h.264 would be royalty-free through 2015; after that, who knows. So prior to today’s news it was possible that licensing fees would kick in within a few years, and it’s difficult to promote a standard with that kind of uncertainty around a key technology. The uncertainty is now gone.

I think HTML5 will be good for the web and mobility, so I’m glad to see this decision.

Link to MPEG LA’s News Release (PDF)

Vimeo’s new iframe embed code

As a follow-up to a previous post about embedding Vimeo videos and having them work on Apple’s iOS devices (iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch), Vimeo just announced their Universal Player which will deliver the appropriate video format for the device being used. Vimeo’s FAQ page has more info on it, but the new method uses an <iframe> HTML tag to frame in the content, and the player will detect the device to serve the right video file. YouTube has recently rolled out something similar. Vimeo’s code looks like this (line breaks were added):

<iframe src="http://player.vimeo.com/video/12345678?title=0&amp;byline=0&amp;
portrait=0&amp;color=CC6600" width="640" height="360" frameborder="0"></iframe>

I did some quick testing and it worked fine. Both the iPad and iPhone were delivered h.264 versions, while Mac and PC still get the standard Flash player. I would like to see Vimeo offer some embed options to include serving straight HTML5/h.264 to the desktop as well and avoid Flash altogether.

WordPress doesn’t like the <iframe> tag, so if you’re using WP you will need to install the Embed Iframe plugin. In my testing this plugin has supported the new Vimeo method within a WP post. I have a test page here where I embed two videos, the first one using the new iframe code and the second one with the earlier javascript workaround.

Vimeo Tests

Test using Vimeo embed code for iPhone and iPad.

580×326

Using new Vimeo embed iframe code:

Using Javascript workaround code:

RIM to release the Blackpad

According to this Bloomberg article, Research in Motion (RIM), the maker of Blackberry smartphones, plans to release a competitor to the iPad this November: the Blackpad.

Pricing for the device will be in line with the iPad, which starts at $499, the person said. RIM is focused on reaping additional profits from the tablet effort, rather than competing on price to sell a large number of devices, the person said.

In the tablet market, RIM will have to demonstrate how its device can stand out against products including the iPad, which has attracted buyers because of its integration with Apple’s iTunes service and many software applications, or apps. More than 225,000 apps are available for Apple devices, the company said in June. RIM said in April it had more than 6,000 apps.

So they’re going to launch a new device with far fewer native apps, to compete against the iPad which has a mature app store containing tens of thousands of titles and huge brand awareness right now, and they’re going to demand the same price as the iPad? Good luck with that strategy. I have a few questions:

• Where’s the mobile OS to compete with Apple’s iOS4? RIM still hasn’t delivered anything close to the touch capabilities found on the iPad/iPhone today. This is not a trivial point and I don’t know that RIM has the engineering chops to do it.
• What’s RIM’s answer to the App Store/iTunes ecosystem? Easy integration is critical to the adoption of a new device like this.
• What’s the retail strategy — is there a store people can walk in to and get their hands on the Blackpad when it’s released? This has been huge for Apple, and RIM needs a response here.
• What’s the differentiator? Is there anything about the Blackpad that says better than iPad?

I can see RIM getting some limited traction in the enterprise just due to brand recognition, but I don’t know if that’s enough to take the Blackpad very far considering they’re already late to a game they probably don’t even want to be in. And Blackpad is an awful name.

Hewlett-Packard Co., which bought smartphone maker Palm Inc. this month, said it plans to produce a tablet device that runs on Microsoft Corp’s Windows operating system.

HP bought a company with a strong mobile operating system (Palm’s webOS) and tons of valuable patents, and they’re going to put Windows on their tablet instead?

Microsoft Chief Executive Officer Steve Ballmer said yesterday the software company plans to increase its focus on tablets.

Translation: The software company plans to increase its focus on what the innovative companies are doing and attempt to duplicate that somehow.

What I think is likely to happen with these companies scurrying to jump into the ‘tablet’ space is something akin to the commodity PC market: A race to the bottom.

Connecticut Turnpike last weekend

I was working in Connecticut last weekend and came across this burning trailer while driving on I-95.

Vimeo HTML5 Embed Workaround

Many people are using Vimeo.com for their video hosting rather than YouTube. I’ve been using it for nearly a year. Personally, I like it better than YouTube because you’re not limited to 10-minute segments per video. I like the features they provide with a Vimeo Plus membership, and the user community that’s grown there. Also, the content on Vimeo seems to have more of an artistic focus, with some very talented folks posting quality work.

One of the limitations with Vimeo right now, however, is the lack of HTML5 embedding and the impact this has on iPhones and iPads. You can view videos on the Vimeo.com mobile site (www.vimeo.com/m) with your iPhone and iPad (neither of which will display Adobe Flash content), but if you want to embed your videos on another site, Vimeo doesn’t yet have a player implemented to handle embedding for those devices.

YouTube has a solution in place, and there’s been some push from Vimeo members in recent months to get this done there as well. Recently the Vimeo staff responded that they’re working on it, and I expect they will deliver something good. We don’t know how long it will be until it’s ready, so in the meantime I thought I would post a temporary solution to get embedded Vimeo videos working on the iPhone and iPad. This is not my original idea. I found it in this YouTube video describing the process, and decided to document it a little further and put it here. Thanks to YouTube user “optikalefxx” for posting his solution for everyone.

(It’s nothing more than a javascript browser-sniffing workaround/hack, but it works well enough and might be a good way to bridge the gap and get your videos to these popular iDevices until Vimeo delivers a proper API for it.)

Here’s a link to the code in a PDF you can download, including some notes, caveats and assumptions about using it. (If you have trouble with formatting when copying the code from the PDF, try this Google doc where I have included a complete HTML page that you can work from.) I assume you’ll know what to do with this, how to modify it for your particular video ID, dimensions, controls color, etc. As always, make a backup copy of any files before you modify, and test it across your platforms and devices before publishing. This method is intended to be temporary, and it may break in the near future as Vimeo implements their HTML5 embed solution, so don’t put this out there expecting it to be a long-term fix. Caveat developer.

Take your files mobile with Dropbox

Here’s the idea: you’re away from your computer—Mac or PC—and you want to use your mobile device to access folders and files that are saved on your computer. A cloud sync service like Dropbox can fill that gap and provide quick and easy access to your files. I’ve been testing this for a while and it works great.

The way it works:

• You have a Dropbox account (free 2 GB account, or pay for more space).
• The Dropbox application is installed on your computer, which creates a folder called ‘Dropbox’ and syncs this folder (and every folder inside it) to your online account.
• Any folders and files that you would like to be able to access on your mobile device, just move those into the Dropbox folder structure.
• Install the free Dropbox app on your mobile device, enter your login information, and have access to your online account and all of the folders and files you have synced up on your computer.

It’s important to point out that this is not some ‘virtual’ folder—the Dropbox folder and its subfolders actually exist on your computer, so it’s no different than your current folder hierarchy: your data is still stored on your hard drive. The only difference is that once a file is saved locally, a copy automagically gets pushed to the cloud. This serves several purposes:

1. A remote backup of your files. In case your computer were stolen or damaged such that you couldn’t get to your data, you could recover your files from Dropbox. This is reason enough to do it.
2. Remote access for viewing up-to-date copies of all your files when you’re away from your computer.
3. The ability to share a file with someone else, either by using the Public folder or by emailing a link to the file directly from the Dropbox mobile app.

As of this writing Dropbox mobile apps are available for iPhone, iPad, Android, and iPod Touch—according to the Dropbox Anywhere page, Blackberry support is coming as well.

I’ve found the Dropbox service and the mobile applications to be very stable and reliable so far as I have used them on iPhone and iPad. I experimented for a while with a free 2 GB account, but recently upgrade to the 100 GB service for $20 a month.

I’ve mentioned Dropbox in several blog posts—I’m not involved with the company in any way, just a satisfied customer. They’re doing a really good job.

Steve Jobs & Bill Gates

A clip from Steve and Bill’s new talk show

Get a Blog / CMS

This post is focused on blogs and publishing (Content Management Systems, or CMS)—the companion piece to this is Get a Web Site where I looked at some of the products and services for creating your own site without the need to hire web designers and programmers—but there’s not too much difference these days between a web site and a blog, depending on what it is you want to do. It’s easy enough to create a space for both or just combine the two, but before you choose a technology platform it’s important to be clear about your online goals, and plan your approach from there.

Some of the options listed here will provide a hosted environment for your blog, or let you install the software on your own domain. The top blogging systems available today are outstanding in the level of functionality and control they provide, allowing anyone to publish something very sharp and professional-looking. You can’t go wrong with any of the products listed here, they are all good.

Some features to consider when planning your blog/CMS:

• Embedded video, audio, maps
• Photo galleries
• Social media integration (Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, etc)
• Form building & data collection
• Discussion forums
• Calendar of events
• E-commerce (online product sales)
• Site analytics/stats (tracking visits to the site, pages accessed, keywords used, referring sites, etc)
• Polls/voting options
• Blog post comments
• Custom HTML, CSS, javascript, PHP
• Companion mobile-optimized app

WordPress

WordPress.org (www.wordpress.org) is the organization that develops and supports the WordPress blogging software. They don’t offer hosting on their domain, but they provide the free software and templates to install on your own web host. It’s the system I installed for this blog, and I like it a lot.

WordPress.com (www.wordpress.com) provides free hosting for your blog on their domain (yoursite.wordpress.com) if you don’t want to register and maintain your own domain.

Both of the WordPress services above offer the same technology, site templates, plugins for additional functionality (contact forms, image galleries, comment management, site statistics, etc), and support forums. WordPress is probably the most feature-complete and well-supported blogging system available today. They have done a fantastic job, especially considering they are giving it away for free.

TypePad

TypePad (www.typepad.com) is another popular blog system, with lots of well-designed templates and advanced features. They charge for their service but the prices are reasonable, starting at $9 per month which includes web hosting. TypePad supports audio, video, javascript, custom HTML, mapping to your own domain name, site statistics, and much more.

Movable Type

Movable Type (www.movabletype.com) labels itself a “Social Publishing Platform” for creating blogs, websites and social networks. I haven’t used it but it appears to be targeted to more sophisticated needs than just basic blogging and web sites. Their showcase page and client list show some of the people and organizations that publish with Movable Type. Movable Type is free for a basic version and pricing options are listed for more complex needs on this page. I think the pricing is very reasonable for a business site, considering how much this system offers.

Squarespace

I haven’t spent any time using Squarespace but I watched the product tour video and it’s very impressive, and appears to be one of the most popular blog systems going. Pricing starts at $8 per month and goes up from there, depending on feature needs. They have a nice examples page to get an idea of how people are using it.

Tumblr

Tumblr (www.tumblr.com) may be one of the easiest systems to get started with. You set up a site name — hosted on their servers or your own web host — pick a theme (template) and start posting. I like its simplicity: you can be up and running in a matter of minutes. Post text, photos, quotes, links, dialogues, audio, video, slideshows, whatever. Keep it private or share it. There are some really nice design themes to choose from. Check out the Why Tumblr page for some inspiration. Cost: free.

Blogger

Blogger (www.blogger.com) was acquired by Google a couple of years ago and has a large user base. Like Weebly it uses a simple drag-and-drop interface to put various elements on the page. Access controls let you decide who can edit and publish to your site, so you can keep it to yourself or share out your blog with family or a work team. Blogger profiles let you look up others who share your interests. They also have a variety of design themes to choose from. Blogger provides the hosting, and it’s all free.

Posterous

Posterous (www.posterous.com) calls itself the “dead simple place to post everything” — for first timers, casual bloggers, social media pros, families and groups. I’ve explored Posterous a bit and it’s really simple to get a casual blog up in a matter of minutes. Free.

2010 Product Reviews and Comparisons

I found some online reviews and comparisons among blog software and CMS systems. I don’t know how authoritative this is, but it seems to be a pretty complete overview of the major systems out there.

Blogging Platforms (blog-software-review.toptenreviews.com)

1. WordPress
2. TypePad
3. SquareSpace
4. LiveJournal
5. Blogger
6. BlogHarbor
7. Xanga
8. EasyJournal
9. Open Salon
10. Vox

Content Management Systems (cms-software-review.toptenreviews.com)

1. eZ Publish
2. Joomla!
3. Drupal
4. WordPress.org
5. Movable Type
6. Expression Engine
7. Mambo
8. TextPattern
9. b2evolution
10. Frog