Itai Boublil

Tech & Innovation

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21
Jul 10

An Innovative Social News iPad App: Flipboard

Flipboard

If you have a iPad, you might want to take a look at this FREE innovative new app (iTune link). In brief, Flipboard turns your Facebook and Twitter account into something that looks like a magazine. Instead of scrolling down your Facebook newsfeed, you now can read it as if you were reading Times magazine. You should watch the video below, and see for yourself. It is quite brilliant, and add a different dimension to reading Twitter and Facebook feeds.

What is your thought? Do you find it useful?

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1
Jul 10

One More Reason Why I want to Get The iPhone 4

iPhone 4

The movie below was filmed and edited entirely on the iPhone 4!

Putting aside the fact that I find the quality of the video much better than the Flip camera, the ability to edit the entire movie directly on the iPhone with the iMovie app puts it ahead of the competition. I am not just talking about editing here, but I am also talking about uploading the edited movie to any social media channel you choose from the iPhone!

Part of my work responsibilities is to film and edit tutorial training videos that we then share on our social media channels. An ordinary filming day would look like this: meeting with the staff that participate in the video, filming a few scenes, and then filming some backup scenes just in case. After all this is over, I go back to my office and spend hours (sometimes days, depending with the type of video we are trying to make) to transfer all the information on my Mac and then edit it. A tedious long process.

Having the iMovie app on the iPhone does not necessary save you time on editing, but it does give you the option of editing on the spot, and making sure the scene you have just filmed works well with the many features iMovie offers. I can tell you from my experience that it is a big plus. The iPhone 4 has many more features that it offers, but this specific feature was the biggest seller for me.

Now all I have to do is to wait until it is no longer backordered. :)

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24
Jun 10

YouTube Adds A VuvuZela Button!

Vuvuzela

If you are like most people in the free world, you probably heard of the Soccer World Cup that is taking place in South Africa this year. And, if you have happened to watch at least one game during this World Cup, you must have heard the annoying sound of the Vuvuzela, a 65cm plastic blowing horn that produces a loud distinctive monotone sound.

Annoying as it sounds, it has now become the official trademark of the 2010 World Cup and something that will stay in our memory for a long long time.

Anyway, as I was editing a few videos on our YouTube channel this morning I discovered a new button, a Vuvuzela button (see picture below). When clicked, it will produce the same annoying vuvuzela sound until you press it again.

I am not quite sure why YouTube decided to put it there, but I thought it was interesting enough to share.

YouTube Add A Vuvuzela Button

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20
May 10

Watch The Web On Your TV (Google TV)

Google TV

This is truly an innovative product by Google, one that I have desired for many many months now. Google TV is a brilliant attempt by Google to synergies the Web and the TV.

The concept is simple, build a TV (two providers at the moment, Sony and Logitech) that you can use to watch both your Web shows and your TV shows. There will be an option of buying a separate box that you can connect to your TV, so you don’t really need to buy the actual TV (although it will be cool to own such a TV).

I don’t normally watch TV, and when I do watch it I usually use my computer to do so. This innovative approach, however, might change this.

I can actually see myself using the service especially when I try to watch international sport games (such as European basketball, and soccer), which is kind of annoying to watch on a 13″ screen (I cannot really lay down on the couch when I am using my laptop).

I look forward to seeing what direction Google is planning to take this product. How much would it cost? And, will they use advertising during the web shows?

From a Marketing perspective, this opens endless opportunities to anyone really to publish their business for much much less than a conventional TV ad.

Now all I have to do is wait for Apple to reveal its own (device?).

We will wait and see what happens. In the meantime, watch the video below that describes the new Google TV

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24
Apr 10

Typing In Gibberish That Anyone Can Understand

Transliteration

This post is mainly for people that type in languages other than english (like Urdu, Arabic, Hebrew, etc).
Ask yourself this: How many times did you find yourself traveling around the world, getting into an Internet Cafe house and type something like this:
“Shalom, Ani Karega Be Ztirich, Ve Ani nehene meod”
To any of you who do not understand Hebrew, or read Hebrew for that matter, this message would look like an unsuccessful attempt to compose a sentence by 3 year old. But it is NOT.

This sentence was written (hypothetically speaking of course) by an adult who decided to travel abroad and enjoy some quality vacation time. This individual found it hard to update his Facebook Status because the keyboard at the Internet Cafe House that he was using did not support his native language, Hebrew.
What he tried to communicate to his family and friends back home translated to this:
“Hello, I am in Zurich at the moment, and I am having a great time”.
Now, what if I told you that there is a way to transliterate this sentence: “Shalom, Ani Karega Be Ztirich, Ve Ani nehene meod” into this: שלום, אני כרגע בציריך, ואני נהנה מאוד

The service is called “Google Transliteration” and it is brilliant!
Google Labs launched the service two days ago, and after testing it in many different ways, I am very happy to finally have a tool that makes my life easier when I try to send emails in Hebrew (thus far I have done so by using the iPod Touch).

There is a sample:

Google Transliteration (Click Image)

Now, where ever you travel in the world you have the ability to type in Gibberish (the way it sounds in your own language), and get your “weird” looking message transliterated into the language of your choice.
Go ahead and give it a try.

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23
Dec 09

The “Flip” (Product Review)

The "Flip"

The Flip is a small camcorder that let’s you film 1 to 2 hours (depending on the model) of high definition digital video. No software needed , no cables needed, and no irritating experience…hmm, I doubt the latter if you are a PC owner (thank god I am not).

I read a lot about the “Flip” camera, in fact, every corner I “turned” on the web, people were raving about this product. There were many times that I almost ended purchasing the product, but refused to do so until I actually test the it myself.

Finally, as part of my position as a Social Media Marketing Manager, I had the opportunity to put my hands on a “Flip” camcorder. I “played” with it for more than 24 hours already, and these are my thoughts:

It is the easiest and simplest digital device I have ever used. Turn on–>Click the red button–>film. Simple.
The sound and quality are quite impressive for such a small device. It produces a good YouTube/Facebook videos, but that is about it. I would not use it to film a trip to the Caribbean for example. For that, you will need to invest in a device that is a bit more expensive than $149.
The only problem I see, and I really feel sorry for all PC owners, is when you try to upload your videos to your computer. If you are a Mac owner, it takes about 20-30 seconds from the time you connect the “Flip” to your Mac to the time you press the Facebook widget on your iPhoto to upload the selected videos to your Facebook profile. Now, this is when you use a Mac. If you are a PC owner (like my wife), it will take about 6-10 minutes to: download the Flip software to your computer (god knows why)—>upload the video from the Flip (very tedious process)—>upload the video to your Facebook account manually (i.e. log on to FB account, and upload the video). For some reason, the “Flip” software on PC does not give you the option to upload to Facebook, which was very weird to me. I hate to repeat it, but If you are a Mac owner, you have nothing to worry about.

Overall, the “Flip” is a great, and even a brilliant, Social Media camcorder to have on the road, although I would not use it for an online podcasting. For that you will need to invest in something a bit more expensive.

Personally, I will use it for some simple home/work videos, or maybe capturing the aftermath of a Blizzard (like the one we had two days ago) to send to your friends and family overseas, but no more than what I just described.

Do you own a “Flip”? What is your take on it? I am curious to hear what you have to say about this device.

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2
Dec 09

The “Square”

Squareup.com

I am very excited about the “arrival” of the Square. It was announced today on both Mashable and Techcrunch, and I truly see it changing the way we do business, and more importantly how convenient the process of online purchasing will turn into.

Ironically, in the past week I processed a few thoughts about the possibility of having a similar product that it is Mac/PC based Payment System (note: the square is a mobile based payment system). In fact, it happens every time I try to purchase online, and asked to fill in my credit card information. I always thought it was too long of a process.

The idea for an internet based payment system is not new. 12 years ago I held a marketing position in a company named Mondex, which used a somewhat similar concept. I will not go into too much details, but basically Mondex provided an electronic device that is connected to a phone landline (at the customer’s house), and can withdrawal electronic “cash” directly from the client’s checking account, and place it on a special chip that was embedded in the card (similar to a debit card, but with control of how much money one can put on his/her personal card). Customers could then go and shop around local businesses until they used all the money on their card.

Remember, it is 1998 so please do not attempt to draw a direct link between the square and Mondex.

Back to the square. I think it is a welcomed addition to the Internet world. I wonder, however, if having a device that is so simple to use will have any impact on our purchasing behavior. If you think about, what is easier than swiping your card using your iPhone to purchase?

There are still some security questions I have in mind, but I am sure they will be answered once the product is fully launched.

What is your thought about this device? Do you think it is good, bad? Will it make you purchase more?

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16
Nov 09

Mac vs. PC, an Inbound Marketing Purchase Experience

Mac or PC?

I am finally back to writing after a very long period (for me anyway)of 10 days without a computer. The only way I could communicate with the outside social media world is by using my iPod touch, which was not fun at all (especially in the morning when I go through my RSS reading).

I have been wanting to purchase a Mac for a very long time, and finally I had the opportunity to do so this past weekend after my computer (PC) decided to crash for no good reason. I never used a Mac before, so naturally I was a bit apprehensive before making a decision to switch. I am glad I did.

As an entrepreneur and a marketer, I believe that a product should have a few simple, but very important, characteristics:

Simplicity
Innovation
Creativity (not the same as innovation)

The Mac has it all, and then some. After so many years of using a PC , switching to Mac opened an entire new world of simplicity and creativity, which I have never experienced before with any of the other (PCs) computers I owned. It is only after using Pages, and Numbers I realized how much aggravation I could have saved by simply switching to Mac earlier (Note: there are many more features, but I do not intend to cover them in this post)

The entire purchase experience was something I truly enjoyed. No push, no “must sell” attitude, and of course genuineness. I write genuineness because I made sure to check a few technical details prior to the purchase, and used it to test the salesman who helped me. He did not fail, and in fact, did a great job in selling me only what I needed, and no extra (i.e. salesman at best buy, for example, will always try to sell more than what you really need).

The reason for this type of approach is simple. Apple knows what their products worth, and their technical force knows it too.

How is this related to social media marketing? Simply by having the right attitude and approach to your community. The salesman used pull marketing instead of trying to push me into something that I didn’t need.”. He was their to help first, and not to make a sell. The service after the purchase was friendly, and made me feel as if Apple is my personal friend. I like this type of attitude, especially when you spend a lot of money on a very good machine.

Just for general information, I purchased a MacBook Pro.

Do you own a Mac? Can you share your experience?

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9
Aug 09

Google Voice

I have been wanting to Blog about this last week, but I needed some time to test it a little bit more before I could review it. Google Voice is GREAT! I love it. Getting spam phone calls always get me mad, and Gvoice seems to be the perfect solution. What it does is simple, but genius. It gives you a single phone number that rings all your phones, saves your voicemail online (just like checking your emails, but now you can listen to it), and transcribes your voicemail to text. There are other cool features such as listening to messages while they are being left, or block annoying callers by marking them as SPAM. I only started using it now, but from what I tested so far, it is really a brilliant idea.

I think the most useful feature for me now is that I do not need to call my voicemail every time someone leaves a message. I find the process of checking voicemail messages annoying and tedious.

My Gvoice number is (Six Zero Nine) 948-ITAI.

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4
Aug 09

HootSuite, product review

I started using HootSuite as my main Twitter tool, and I have to admit that I really like it. It did not take too much of my time to understand all of the features it offers, of which I find a plus since I have zero tolerance for incompetency when it comes to new services and products.

The service is easy to set, use, and understand, which is a good thing taking in consideration all of the innovative features it allows you to use. I especially appreciated how easy it was to add multiple accounts, and furthermore, how easy it is to manage these accounts. Innovation is a good thing, and HootSuite is certainly using it.

HootSuite gets 5 stars for using SM tools to educate their clients. They do so extensively by using YouTube tutorial videos to explain everything from setting your multiple accounts, to using different features.

Another good thing is that it is an online service, which mean that I did not have to download any “heavy” software to my hard drive.

In sum, I think HootSuite is a good free product (for now) for you to test. It is as easy as opening a Twitter account.

Itai BoublilInbound Internet Marketing & More