TechCrunch
HTC Courts Bully #2 From Weird Science For A Much-Needed Marketing Boost
Look, there’s no question that HTC’s in a bit of trouble, and it’s at least partially because of its marketing woes. While HTC just recently posted some weak quarterly financials, rivals like Samsung are flush with cash to pump into their marketing and ad budgets. That said, HTC is looking to make a big a splash as it can, and Bloomberg reports that the Taiwanese OEM has reportedly tapped none other than Robert Downey Jr. for a two year, $12 million smartphone ad campaign.
Yes, really. And to be clear, they’ve reportedly inked a deal to feature RDJ’s likeness, not that of movie alter-egos like Tony Stark/Iron Man (though really, wouldn’t a tie-in like that make more sense?). Bloomberg’s Tim Culpan goes on to note that Downey will get final say over the ad campaign’s creative elements, which seems like it could go either way. He may be a gifted improvisor, but one could argue that the least thing HTC needs right now is yet another voice attempting to steer the company’s message.
After all, HTC spent much of last year looking for a bold thinker to fill its CMO position, and went through two of the them before CEO Peter Chou decided to appoint someone from outside the company. That someone was Benjamin Ho who served as (among other things) CMO for Motorola’s Asia Pacific operations. Since he officially took over the job, he’s been talking up how HTC’s “quietly brilliant” days are over, noting to the Wall Street Journal back in March that a punchier approach was needed to stand out in a crowded sea of competitors and that the company planned to double its global marketing budget to do it. Naturally, HTC has never provided a hard number — last year the company said it spent a mere 1/6th of what Samsung does on marketing — so it’s tough to gauge just how much this $12 million deal could hurt if it flops. Here’s hoping RDJ doesn’t get embroiled in any new scandals any time soon.
FAA Takes Further Steps To Abolish In-Flight Electronics Ban
In a move that’s sure to make gadgeteers cheer and worry worts grumble, the Federal Aviation Administration (lovingly called the FAA) is reportedly making plans to relax some of the rules put on passengers regarding in-flight use of electronics.
Tell me if you’ve heard this one before.
It’s not the first time we’ve seen promise of our Kindles during take-off, but it appears that the FAA is at the very least moving in the right direction.
If you have miraculously managed to avoid commercial airline flight, the usual practice on a plane ride is to turn off all electronics during take-off and landing, usually during the climb to 10,000 feet.
The rule was implemented in the sixties, when electronics more easily interfered with the electronic equipment in the plane’s cockpit, posing a clear threat to the safety of everyone on board.
According to the WSJ, citing a draft by a high-level advisory panel to the agency, fliers will be able to use electronic devices during take-off and landing, but cell phone functionality is still banned. These amendments to the law are still up for modification, as they haven’t passed through the FAA yet, but it seems clear from the report that everyone agrees on one thing: the rules are highly outdated.
The draft also cites that recent industry research shows that one third of passengers, at least once in their life, have forgotten to turn off electronic devices in the danger zone.
It’s interesting to see the evolution of our technology enact grand-scale change to an industry that’s sometimes overly cautious. Especially when the transformation is relatively recent.
It was only a year ago that the International Air Transport Association was claiming that gadgets in the sky with diamonds are more dangerous than we expected. Still, it’s been a long time coming considering that iPads are used in cockpits and (as stated above) many fliers forget to turn off their electronics anyways.
So who’s up for a game of Dots?
iFetch Is The Perfect Balm To Soothe The Conscience Of The Lazy Dog Owner
A new Kickstarter project takes all the work out of playing fetch with your dog, replacing your throwing arm with a nifty gizmo and keeping your hands drool-free. It’s essentially a more basic pitching machine that requires no human intervention, but the iFetch looks like an incredibly useful tool for the play-obsessed pup, so long as it can learn the necessary trick to get the cycle started.
At base the iFetch is a simple machine; dogs put a ball in one end, the iFetch winds up and launches it for retrieval. Once the dog figures out that all it has to do to get it to launch again is drop the ball in the big opening, the cycle is complete, and an infinite loop is theoretically created. From a dog’s perspective, we humans are merely flesh and bone prototype versions of the iFetch, ones that tire and grow weak.
The iFetch needs only AC power, or 6 C batteries for portable use, not proteins, carbs and nutrients. It doesn’t get arm pain, isn’t squeamish about a dog’s mouth fluids or a little dirt, and, can throw balls at distances of either 10, 20 or 30 feet depending on how it’s set. The iFetch project creators, an Austin-based family called the Hamills (no apparent relation to Mark), suggest the iFetch for small or medium-sized dogs, likely because larger dogs might find the balls too small (could be a choking hazard for a Great Dane, for instance).
In my extensive history of familiarity with dogs, I’ve also known some that don’t have any aptitude or interest at all in playing fetch, and it’s unlikely that the iFetch will change their mind on that score. But for those dogs that are fetch fans, there looks to be little not to love here, and the Hamills even suggest that you can use the iFetch with kids, too! That’s some hands-free parenting right there, and if you’ve got both dog and kid, the iFetch can instigate a ready-made Man vs. Beast competition at a moment’s notice.
The iFetch has already met its funding goal, so there should be not that much standing in the way of the Hamill family shipping by their intended delivery date of November 2013. Pre-order backer amounts start at just $60, which includes the iFetch as well as 3 balls, and a plug-in AC adapter. One caveat if you do pick up one of these: never forget to leave it on if you have a dachshund that doesn’t know its limits and live in a hot climate, for instance. iFetch is tireless; your enthusiastic little dog is not.
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