Adiqus was birthed out of the idea that we need to give people deals and discounts based on proximity and location. A Groupon meets Foursquare… 2-3 months BEFORE the iPhone came out. So, we worked diligently on our project. Having a daily deal program where everyone would see ads based on where they log in from. And… having local agents in each market called Advangelists.

This is what Groupon and Living Social in some ways now actually do. Being in Kansas City, it is a small market that tends to get few investment dollars. So, we didn’t get to build the vision. It pisses me off and disappoints me… but, I realize that I am on the right track. Having a solid idea that you don’t capitalize is my own fault and there is lots of lessons to be learned. And I keep getting on the horseand will continue to do so. But for now, let’s marvel at the millions that I have lost. lol.

Here are some of the numbers that Groupon through out in 2010. The Wall Street Journal says that the CEO mentioned $760 Million in revenue in 2010. So, this chart I’m about to show you is about 8 months worth of data.

Read More: What $480 Million Looks Like to Groupon

Paul Butler a student of math and visual design badassness. He had collected approximated data from Groupon by monitoring deals at the end of each day. He then put this data into a large database and began to map it out. Each box is a deal. He used height to represent number sold, and width to represent the price. Area is therefore gross revenue, and color is city for the top 20 cities.

Click for a larger, interactive version. Only works in browsers that support SVG, i.e. not IE.

This is seriously bad ass and shows which types of businesses succeed in the daily deal market.

The outside of the Xoom is not that original, in my opinion.  It’s a tablet.  There were 1,231,449 just like it at CES, – 10.1” display with 1280×800 resolution, front (2MP) and back-side (5MP with flash) built-in cameras and weighing in at 1.6lbs. The back-facing camera captures video recording at 720p while the display playbacks video at 1080p.   Not too shabby.

However, the inside of Xoom is bad ass.  This is why the Xoom became the stand-out gadget this year at CES.  They crammed a powerful punch into this tablet, the NVIDIA Tegra 2 dual core 1GHz processor. Pow!  The Xoom also includes a 32GB hard-drive and 1GB DDR2 RAM.  Motorola is also reporting battery life of 10 hours of dedicated video which really makes it a stand-out from many of the tablets we saw this year.  Really?  10 hours of video play?  I’ll have to test this firsthand to believe that.

One reason that I think the Xoom is one of this year’s stand-out is its OS – Google’s Android 3.0 (Honeycomb) software, which has been specifically customized for tablet hardware.

Previous versions of the Android OS have relied on physical buttons embedded in the hardware to navigate menus within the OS but Honeycomb eliminates that in this OS build as the main navigation buttons – Home, Back, and Menu – have become part of the touchscreen. This is a crucial improvement for the OS as it makes it a more universal OS that will give hardware manufacturers a bit more liberty to innovate.

One of the highlights is the way that Gmail widget works. It’s been a long time coming and is accompanied by new widgets for calendar, contacts, browser and a YouTube links. The Xoom also comes with a barometer, along with the accelerometer, magnetometer, ambient light sensor and gyroscope.

The Xoom will launch on Verizon 3G in Q1 of this year but will be upgradable to 4G LTE in Q2 which we think is great.

Motorola came out swinging… let’s see how consumers react to this great device.

The LGNewsroom site has all of the press information about the new products being released here at CES.

The LG Press Conference began with a video of Jane Lynch from Glee telling us about the power of SMART. Check this, Jane was NOT wearing a jumpsuit.

Wayne Park, President and CEO of LG Electronics, talked about the products that LG is releasing here at CES. The main components of business they are focusing on are the Home Entertainment division, Home Appliance division and Mobile Phones division. They are dedicated to making all of their products “Smarter”.

According to Park, LG is developing technologies to gauge the future market landscape. Strengthening business competitiveness is a key area of focus for LG in 2011, as well as preparing for future business in the coming years. LG is making a strong push in investing in R&D and innovation.

Quality management is another key focus for 2011, LG is championing the mantra of quality, from the top of their organization to the lower ranks.

Face the challenges of 2011 to sustain growth and keep LG at a competitive edge in their core business division.

Next up, CTO, Dr. Skott Ahn, the former CEO of the Mobile Communications division. He was responsible for 20% growth year over year, every year in charge.

Smart TV is a product that LG is launching this year. In 2010, they launched broadband TV, in 2011, Smart TV is the reinvention. They will offer premium content providers such as Google Maps, Hulu, Youtube, Netflix and many others.

Plus, they are launching a Smart TV app store that looks pretty impressive. They are launching the Smart TV Upgrader, which will put LG App Store onto any TV with HDMI. This seems very similar to Apple TV.

Mobile Smartphones
Smartphone Roadmap, in 2011, LG is launching the Optimus 2x is the worlds first smartphone with a Dual Core processor, NVidia AP20h, plus it plays 1080p HD. It is also pretty small weighing in at 3.8oz and slim at a mere 0.36 inches. Very slim phone with an amazing display that is very bright. In fact, LG claims it to be the brightest display on smart phones.

Smart Appliances
So, LG has created some new amazing home appliances that can connect via wireless connectivity. The appliances contain what LG calls ThinQ technology, which allows for “smart access”, “smart diagnosis” “smart food management”, “smart adapt” and “smart grid.”

Smart access control allows users to monitor home appliances with their Smartphone / Tablet. You can also personalize your appliacance by downloading wash cycles, recipes, etc.

The Smart Grid function helps reduce electricity automatically.

LG is also have a smaller press event tomorrow where they are launching their line of Tablets.

All in all, I am very impressed with the new line of products by LG. They are launching over 30 new TVs and 14 new mobile devices.

This is completely true and changing the world as we know it.  The folks over at Cognitive Media created this visual art transcription drawing.  Here is what they had to say:

“Here’s our latest effort in the video Scribing arena. I say arena, but there seems to be very few of us doing this sort of thing. This is for the RSAnimate series we are doing. We are getting a great response from it and we are fortunate to have great sponsors at the RSA. We thank them and the great speakers we get to listen to and translate. If it wasn’t for the rich content they provide, we wouldn’t be able to do what we do.  Anyway, Dan Pink gave great talk at the RSA in London about what motivates us and here’s how we translated what he said. We are just about to start work on another two ‘animations’ and they should be up very shortly.”

As a part of the community of Android users that are constantly innovating beyond what Google issues as the stock operating system, I can see this concept coming to fruition all the timer.  With new innovations becoming a reality on a daily basis, simply because of developers that work to give back to the community of their knowledge freely, compliments being their only compensation.

Back in November we had a post about this.  I am re-posting as I really enjoyed the video.

(Thanks for the tip Rick)

Looks like Engadget has the scoop on a possible (probable?) Android/Sony gaming phone.

Here’s some info:

“Here’s what we can tell you about the hardware: if you’re a gaming fan, this is exactly the kind of phone you’ve been waiting for. The device is described as cross between the Samsung Captivate and the PSP Go — in other words, it’s a landscape slider with game controls in place of the typical QWERTY keyboard. The D-pad is here, but instead of the small joystick, the device will have what was described as a “long touch pad” for analog controls, along with standard PSP buttons and shoulder buttons. The phone has a large display, described as being between 3.7 and 4.1 inches with WVGA or better resolution, a 5 megapixel camera that we’re told might not be final, and it’ll likely have a 1GHz Snapdragon CPU on board. The phone is mostly black with some silver highlights, and the gamepad area is white / silver in color. Apparently it’s currently branded as a Xperia device, but it looks like it will carry PlayStation branding as well. Those who’ve seen the phone say it looks “pretty damn sexy.” The mockup above probably doesn’t do the actual hardware justice, but it should give you an idea of what you’ll be dealing with.”

On the software side, it looks like the device will be running Gingerbread (Android 3.0) with a phone-specific skin, and there will be a new area of the Android Market specifically for the games.

Jump over to Engadget for the entire article and the massive ” Android + Sony + Gaming = FTW” and “Heeeeellllzzzz yeah” commentary.

Gizmodo mock up:

Apple has purchased the patents for an electronic casing industry called Liquidmetal®.

On August 5, 2010, Liquidmetal Technologies, Inc., a Delaware corporation (“Liquidmetal”), entered into a Master Transaction Agreement with Apple Inc., a California corporation (“Apple”), pursuant to which (i) Liquidmetal contributed substantially all of its intellectual property assets to a newly organized special-purpose, wholly-owned subsidiary (the “IP Company”), (ii) the IP Company granted to Apple a perpetual, worldwide, fully-paid, exclusive license to commercialize such intellectual property in the field of consumer electronic products in exchange for a license fee, and (iii) the IP Company granted back to Liquidmetal a perpetual, worldwide, fully-paid, exclusive license to commercialize such intellectual property in all other fields of use (together with all ancillary agreements, the “Master Transaction Agreement”).

This video show the elasticity of the compound.

From the companies website:

“As the demand for product “miniaturization” continues in the electronic casings industry, Liquidmetal® alloys enable smaller, thinner and more durable designs. Current casings technology is pushed to the limit in supporting these new designs and specifications, especially requirements for larger LCD screens, thinner wall sections and pure metallic surface finishes for products such as mobile phones, PDA’s and cameras.

Liquidmetal alloys possess a unique combination of performance and processing characteristics that are in many ways superior to all available high performance materials such as magnesium, aluminum, titanium and plastics, providing innovative design and manufacturing solutions to the electronic casings industry.

Key Casings Advantages:

With approximately 2.5 times the strength of commonly used titanium alloy and 1.5 times the hardness of commonly used stainless steel, Liquidmetal alloys enable sophisticated, engineered designs required by the evolution of new technologies
Enables thinner, smaller designs while providing greater protection for internal components
Permits thinner walls while providing greater strength
Allows larger, wider screens for expanded features and capabilities
With precision net-shape casting, Liquidmetal alloys can be readily fashioned into intricate, innovative designs resulting in a unique aesthetic advantage
Excellent durability
Scratch and corrosion resistant
Non-reactive

As the demand for innovative electronic casings product designs increases worldwide, Liquidmetal alloys’ cutting edge materials technology is finding an ever increasing and important role in providing designers, engineers and manufacturers solutions to meet expanding customer needs. Liquidmetal alloys combine the processing and cost advantages of competing technologies and performance characteristics that exceed current super alloys which position Liquidmetal alloys in the forefront of many design centers around the globe.”

As seen on Gizmodo.

Let me start by saying that my reasons are mine and mine alone. I don’t pretend to know why others are involved; that isn’t a huge concern of mine. And while I am sure there is a certain level of vanity in it all, that level is very, very low.

For me, it’s all about business; and  while I understand that isn’t some altruistic warm and fuzzy reason (I’m not trying to save the world here) it is my reason.

My company started as a web and brand development business eleven years ago and with the onset of social media we have moved more towards the direction of marketing and PR through social media. Plain and simple, this project allows me to show my clients that I can use my reach to help their company to succeed.

And then, when the bills are paid, I can use that reach for some great causes (here is the warm and fuzzy), like the event that we just did with the Wisconsin Humane Society.

One last thing,  I don’t look at this as a competition, but as a project as Fast Company has so aptly named it. We are all in this together,  and to that end I’m listing the people I know who are involved with the project and would love for you to support them by clicking their links and please feel free to comment with people you know and include their links. Let’s see what we can do when we support each other.

Charles Gartland  – http://fcinf.com/v/abnw

George Kasica – http://fcinf.com/v/b7bq

Eric Sforza – http://fcinf.com/v/awud

Jon Kurozawa – http://bit.ly/aoupAQ

Chad Schomber – http://fcinf.com/v/c5pd

Sarah White – http://fcinf.com/v/ahjx

A. Ryan Thompson – http://fcinf.com/v/djjk

Nate St. Pierre – http://fcinf.com/v/bxch

Susi Schuele – http://fcinf.com/v/dokl

Rebecca Bradley – http://fcinf.com/v/doc3

Mia Kurozawa – http://fcinf.com/v/csvg

Charles Gartland – http://fcinf.com/v/abnw

TweetUp Girls – http://fcinf.com/v/br74

Jeanette Pham – http://fcinf.com/v/b24p

And me – Michelle D’Attilio – http://fcinf.com/v/dxub

Samsung is full of win.

I think the only way the kindle survives is if it adds Internet browsing and email. What I do see as a smart move on Amazon’s part is that they are creating the Kindle apps for phones other than the iPhone. So they are still getting people buying the books.  Now, I have to assume that their profits come from books sales as opposed to the hardware sale of the Kindle so this is a good move on their part.

Strange timing though because as I am writing this blog, a commercial comes on for the new Kindle DX. Their selling points: You can read in bright sun. Really. Really?  This is what they are selling? You can see the screen in the sun.  Guess what Amazon, you can see the iPad screen in the sun too.  They have one point that gives them a slight edge: free 3G anywhere in the world.  This is valid, but isn’t going to sell me on spending the $379 for the DX when the wifi low end iPad is only about $100 more.

That being said, it would be nice to have an option for a lower end reader that allows internet and email. These seem like simple additions to make to the Kindle so that they can truly compete.  Hey, I know, kindle and Flash should team up and make a product that supports flash and has all of the books with a cheaper monthly internet browsing plan than AT&T offers. Now we have a winner!!

Now if all Android devices could do this and had better video codec support I would be even more smiley.

Check out Sven’s instructions HERE on how to do this yourself.

You will need:

• Hardware
  • Nexus One
  • Micro USB OTG cable (e.g.)
  • USB Dual Power Cable (e.g.) to provide power to the hub chip through the uplink port, since the Nexus One doesn’t provide bus power (yet)
  • Powered USB 2.0 hub (will charge the Nexus One) (e.g.) and optionally a battery pack for mobile use (e.g.) (some power calculations)
• Software
  • Android 2.2 Froyo (2.1 may work, too)
  • ConnectBot
  • Download binaries…
    • boot.img or zImage
    • Modules
  • …or build a Nexus One kernel from source
    • # Fetch msm kernel tree
      git clone git://android.git.kernel.org/kernel/msm.git
      cd msm
      # Switch to Nexus One 2.2 Froyo
      git checkout origin/android-msm-2.6.32
      # Get config
      wget http://sven.killig.de/android/N1/2.2/usb_host/.config
      # Patch (No device mode, Andrew de Quincey’s work not ported yet.)
      wget http://sven.killig.de/android/N1/2.2/usb_host/android-kernel_msm-v2.6.30-rc2-27223-g248970b_Nexus-One_usb-host.patch
      patch -p1 < android-kernel_msm-v2.6.30-rc2-27223-g248970b_Nexus-One_usb-host.patch
      # Build
      make -j2 ARCH=arm CROSS_COMPILE=/android-ndk-r4/build/prebuilt/linux-x86/arm-eabi-4.4.0/bin/arm-eabi-
  • Install kernel
    • # Boot from RAM (till next reset)…
      fastboot boot arch/arm/boot/zImage
    • # …or write to flash (boot.img from a nandroid backup)
      /getramdisk.py boot.img
      /mydroid/out/host/linux-x86/bin/mkbootimg --kernel arch/arm/boot/zImage --ramdisk ramdisk.img --base 0x20000000 -o boot_usb-host.img
      fastboot flash boot boot_usb-host.img
  • Start ConnectBot and connect to Local
    • su
      insmod drivers/usb/core/usbcore.ko
      insmod drivers/usb/host/ehci-hcd.ko
      insmod drivers/hid/usbhid/usbhid.ko
      insmod drivers/usb/storage/usb-storage.ko
      # Wait for usb-storage to enumerate partitions
      mount /dev/block/sda1 /sdcard/usbstick
  • To use adb over WLAN
    • adb connect IPAddress:5555

Adorned with LEGO men and, really, only as pretty as it has to be to get the job done, the LEGO printer doesn’t look like it’s the fastest, though it does create a pretty unique printout. The pen slides back and forth, building images and text one line at a time. It’d probably have trouble with the finer details, though maybe it could just use a finer pen.

Check it out in the video.

Via Boing Boing

Harley Davidson has been marketing to women riders since 1920. Can you believe that? Now in 2010, it happens to be their fastest growing demographic. That is with almost 100 years of marketing.  So why is it working now and what can we learn?

I think the reason why it is working now is two-fold. One because I think women are finally ready for it. This to me is a big part.  Women are ready to step into the driver’s seat, and I am thankful to the many generations of women who came before me that have allowed this generation to feel comfortable doing so. Secondly, Harley Davidson stopped marketing to women and actually asked them what they wanted and what their concerns were.  Then they addressed those concerns. Effectively creating a market that may not have been there otherwise.

What I find so interesting is that the biggest concern that Harley Davidson heard from women about owning their own bike was this; “If I am out riding alone, and the bike tips, I can’t pick it up. At 500+ pounds, it is too heavy”.

What I love is that Harley didn’t go back to the shop and create a lighter bike. Instead, they developed  a process to teach  women how to lift the bikes.  (Now maybe they altered the weight of the bike a bit, quite honestly I don’t know but 500+ pounds is a lot.) My point is they opted to empower the woman by developing a plan and then teaching it.

I think what we can learn here is that if we have a market that we are trying to target but for some reason we are not getting the desired response, (even after almost 100 years), maybe we need to step back and talk to that market.  Instead of market to them maybe we should listen to them.  Be willing to hear the feedback and then address the issues. Perhaps then we will see a return from the marketing efforts.

I have to thank Harley Davidson for the chance to meet so many wonderful women who attended the event and for teaching me how to pick up a bike. (Yeah that is me picking up a Harley!) It was very empowering. A wonderful day overall and you can bet that if I ever decide to buy my own bike I’ll be looking at a Harley.

Download from the Android market now.  I just did.

Via Sony via Akihabara News via  Gizmodo

• New User Features
• New Platform Technologies
• New Developer Services
• New Developer APIs

Android Now Has 50,000 Applications

Android 2.2 Is 2x to 5x Faster For Apps (Plus So Many More Features)

This Is Adobe Flash 10.1 on a Phone (It’s Not Bad)

Additional highlights over at Gizmodo.