Hasta La Gadget!

It’s well known that advertisers track our web-surfing habits to tailor the ads we see, but they’d prefer to know exactly what’s going on inside of that brain of yours. NeuroFocus’ aptly named Mynd, a full-brain wireless EEG sensor headset, serves as a stylish and easy way to record your thoughts whilst gazing at logos and lusting after products. In addition to neuromarketing applications, the European Tools for Brain-Computer Interaction consortium (TOBI) see it as a tool to help develop new technology for those with neurological disabilities. Sporting looks straight off the Game Grid, the Mynd is made of medical-grade EEG sensors to capture brain activity 2,000 times per second and a Bluetooth radio to shoot your thoughts to the smartphone, tablet, or PC of your choice. The wireless bit represents a huge upgrade over traditional EEG caps because it makes the headset’s mind-reading powers available in shopping malls and living rooms instead of just hospitals. All so the sellers of things can know just how effective a spokesperson the ETrade baby really is. PR’s after the break.

Continue reading NeuroFocus makes first wireless EEG sensor headset, don’t call it a thinking cap

NeuroFocus makes first wireless EEG sensor headset, don’t call it a thinking cap originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 23 Mar 2011 11:13:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Kristen Schaal has eyeballs. Red, fiery eyeballs lusting for the blood of her enemies on the battlefields of the PlayStation Suite. Yes, Sony Ericsson is keeping up the fine tradition of freaking us the hell out with its Xperia Play ads, this latest round starring an innocent-looking lady with a devilish demeanor. Skip past the break for those vids and if you’re wondering why Kristen’s so psyched about the Play, check out our very latest hands-on with the device — it’s coming to Verizon with stock Android, don’t you know!

[Thanks, Calvin]

Continue reading Sony Ericsson’s latest Xperia Play ads are disturbing, yet awesome (video)

Sony Ericsson’s latest Xperia Play ads are disturbing, yet awesome (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 22 Mar 2011 08:23:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It isn’t exactly a spring chicken, nor is it particularly new to the advertising game — Best Buy utilized the stuff back in 2009 to push electronics — but a new ad campaign from manly body spray purveyor Lynx (Axe in the US) is making augmented reality nearly unavoidable. Created by BBH, a global ad agency, the video below shows travelers at London’s Victoria train station staring up at a giant screen to find themselves greeted by a skimpily attired fallen angel. The stunt, launched on March 6, drew a lot of attention from passersby, and in more than one instance elicited some pretty, well, bold behavior. Up until now, augmented reality has mostly been a play thing of the geek set — even previous advertisements enlisting such tactics required a decent amount of work from the audience — but if these fallen angels are any sign, we could all be traversing a more unreal world very soon.

[Thanks, Ben]

Continue reading Lynx augmented reality stunt drops scantly clad angels on terrestrial travelers (video)

Lynx augmented reality stunt drops scantly clad angels on terrestrial travelers (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 17 Mar 2011 15:19:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Kate spade new york is currently running an aroma sampling campaign in two places in Tokyo, giving consumers a chance to take home a sample of its new fragrance product “twirl” as it goes on sale across Japan.

Not too dissimilar to the manga dispensing ads I recently stumbled upon, kate spade is promoting the twirl perfume with posters in Omotesando and Shinjuku subway stations that feature peel-off scented cards. Not only can you experience the product’s smell but there are QR codes on the back of the cards so that you can enter a competition to win twirl goodies, such as a necklace or bag designed in the same way as the perfume.

Not quite as generous as Adidas — who are currently loaning out running shoes — but then, considering the quantitive nature of the product, the approach is very similar but more practical for the industry.

The aroma sampling posters are in the two stations from March 7th to March 13th, but the campaign is over when they’ve all been claimed. Certainly when I was there they were going quickly, even being taken by people who were obviously not the target consumer: these kinds of campaigns have a strong curiosity kick that engages with passers-by, no matter whether you buy perfume regularly or not.

You don’t have to go to the lengths of compiling a statistical project to know that advertised and actual broadband speeds are two pretty disparate entities, but it does help. Ofcom, the UK communications regulator, recently took a thorough look at 11 broadband packages, which collectively account for over 90 percent of all British broadband subscriptions, and found that actual download throughput was less than half (only 45 percent) of the advertised “up to” speed. The worst offenders were resellers of BT’s ADSL lines, with Orange dipping below 3Mbit on its 8Mbit lines and TalkTalk occasionally offering only 7.5Mbit to users paying for a 24Mbit connection, while Virgin’s cable connectivity won out by sticking most loyally to its listed rating. What Ofcom proposes for the future is that all these service providers start offering Typical Speed Ranges that more accurately reflect the bandwidth a potential subscriber would be buying into — a proposal that might actually have some teeth as the British Advertising Standards Authority is currently in the midst of a review specifically concerned with broadband advertising practices. Transparency in the way we’re sold broadband? That’d make a welcome change!

Shocker! UK regulator finds average broadband speeds are ‘less than half’ those advertised originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 02 Mar 2011 05:42:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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