“Danny Devriendt has been key in delivering the Bluetooth SIG messages to industry contacts, online influencers, traditional media and end-consumers. The inventive integrated marketing/communications approach, using a mix of traditional outreach, direct influencer contact, a broad range of online tactics and viral marketing helped the Bluetooth SIG reach over 85% brand recognition, and triggered multiple awards and honorary mentions.“
Anders Edlund, Communications and Marketing Director, Bluetooth SIG
FireChat is hotter than even its name suggest here at SxSW. The application allows you to chat with another user, without requiring any cell or network connection.
Open Garden, the Silicon Valley start-uo that created it lets FireChat use the resident build-in phone radios such as Wi-Fi and Bluetooth to generate an ad-hoc network that allows to chat.
By creating mesh network based on peer-to-peer connected phones, FireChat circumvents the need for a cellular service, or a ‘official’ wifi network. FireChat allows for phone to phone conversations up to 20 meters, but the service can also hop from phone to phone, extending the service as long as there is a crowd to carry the signal.
FireChat still works when power is down, so is also an ideal application to have in case of emergencies. A hyperlocal network is extremely interesting. It allows for communications that are not track-able, because they do not run on carrier network, or on the internet as such.
We’re getting connected, anywhere, anytime. For some this is a scary thought, for some everyday reality. As miniaturization enables computing and transmitting devices to get smaller and smaller, we can make more little things smarter. Wireless connectivity, Bluetooth Low Energy technology, NFC, and high performance location are being built in a plethora of devices. Even consumer goods packaging gets its smart chips incorporated.
All of these devices are being hooked up to the internet, creating de facto an internet of things. Machine to machine data enables you to use your credit cards, helps road side assistance, combats shop lifting and enhances home automation and security (to name a few). Connected sensor devices are playing an increasingly dominant role in fast moving areas such as home care, patient follow-up and healthcare in general. Small armies of sensors, analyzers and detectors connect through the local area networks, or through the all-mighty smart phones to the internet.
This feeds the web and its connected servers a vast amount of crunchable data. And our artificial brothers are getting better and better in smartly analyzing… and dealing with whatever is thrown their way. Artificial Intelligence, it is a dirty word…
But let’s face the facts: intelligent, interconnected machines help us evolve faster as a species. Much like the control of fire and the inventions of the wheel, steel, writing, electricity and social security the connected computer power propels us to a next level.
Stand-alone computers have beaten the world-chess-champions decades ago… Google connected cars have driven countless hours through our towns…without human assistance, solely steered by web connected computers. Now IBM’s “Watson” is beating the heck out of human Jeopardy! champions. Watson runs on a small independent network of 90 servers, and is able to deal with complicated language challenges and a need to flawlessly understand complexities of humor, dark puns, vague metaphors and other subtleties that were usually guarded for the human brain’s pattern recognition and analyzing capabilities. Imagine what a Watson-like setup can do when linked to the full power of the millions of servers on the web.
Ray Kurzweil sees in his “fifth Epoch” a merger of technology and Human Intelligence, a moment where the methods of biology will be integrated into the human technology base. I do not know about that, but I do know that the power of the internet of things, enhanced with a sentiment loaded social and semantic web is emerging fast, in countless small devices very near you…
And that, is not necessarily a bad thing ;-)…. or is it?
Yay! (yep, I picked up that disturbingly vocal thingy as well) We earned a Certificate of Finalist Recognition in the category Communications Campaign of the Year in Europe in The 2009 International Business Awards (aka the Stevie Awards).Basically, our communication approach and execution of celebrating 10 years of Bluetooth™ wireless technology was selected from more than 1,700 entries received from organizations and individuals in more than 30 countries.
It feels extremely good to feel the work recognized, and see that the integrated communication mix ranging from viral tactics, social networks, event support and more traditional die hard PR execution did not go unnoticed.
No communication strategy can be pulled off without a client believing in us. Kudo´s to Mike Foley, PhD., Executive Director of the Bluetooth SIG and Anders Edlund, Marketing Director and their team for having faith and keeping us sharp.
Thanks also to Marta Majewska and Dirk Bosmans, for great work, creative thinking and going the extra mile (and knowing Bluetooth better than a camel sand…)
For the yearly Bluetooth gift guide event, we geared up our trusted cars again. The Lotus Elise packed with new goodies, and Felix, our Landrover Lightweight armed to the teeth with wireless Bluetooth systems. London, here we come!
Well, when you give a new toy in our hands, we want to try it, test it out. So we took Felix our Bluetooth enabled LaRo Lightweight into the Normandy forests. Simple mission: go and dive it into the muddy roads till it gets stuck. Yep, that way we could check out our 24 volt 5 ton winch.
So all excited we floored the jeep into the most obscure corners of the woods de Bretonne and the steep slopes of the Seine estuary. We jumped over tree trunks. We splashed through water. We did see an abandoned Toyota buried in a muddy field. We dived into mud pools that could hide a camel. We tractored through prairies. We pushes fences. We ploughed through ditches. We ripped of branches.
We had lots and lots of fun, sore bums and bruises. But we could not get the Lightweight stuck. Sigh. There will be other times!
The cutest ambassador forBluetoothwireless technology on this trip is without any shadow of doubt young Leon Nolf.He walked around with his fancy, ear-protecting Bluetooth enabled headphones (from MSA Sordin) for days… stealing many many hearts. Le coquin… J
We did not catch a lot of sleep lately, and Stefaan from SD motors has not seen his bed for ages… but our Landrover Lightweight is ready in time for our viral trip to France.It’s equipped with a multitude of Bluetooth enabled devices and features a sound system that would freak out many a DJ J. We decided to call this black panther like demo car “Felix”.
On Thursday morning we leave for our Bluetooth SIG viral tour. First assignment: discover the beautiful beaches of Northern France, from Boulogne up to the well known Omaha, Utah, Sword, Juno and Gold beaches in Normandy. We will stop, show the endless hordes of tourists what Bluetooth wireless technology can do, and move on.
Apotheosis is a couple of visits to Rouen, where the most magnificent sailing ships of the planet gathered together before majestically sailing down the Seine on Monday 14th . With a forecasted reach of over 10 million people, a hell of an event.J
Our trusted Bluetooth SIG Lotus, and Parrots 1952 MG TF will be joined by a paratrooper Landrover Lightweight. Three more days. And this is what the car looks like right now. Don’t panic.
Finnish Bluetooth peripheral company Iqua has an extremely nice Bluetooth headset, the Smartbadge. If you spend way too much time at tradeshows, it is good to have a decent badge holder (God, do I HATE commercial lanyards!). Iqua provides one that doubles as a headset. Battery goes on forever.
Found a viral movie featuring the Smartbadge. It is –of course- politically incorrect. J
