Mobile bank introduces itself with mobile orchestra

BNP Paribas has launched what it is claiming to be the first fully-digital mobile bank; 'Hello Bank'.

To commemorate the event Publicis Conseil, in collaboration with master production company B-Reel and the Czech National Symphony Orchestra, recorded a special performance of 'Carmen'.

During a performance in Prague led by conductor Libor Pesek, the outfit's 60 musicians put aside their instruments and picked up mobile phones and tablets.

To show how much effort went into creating the performance a behind the scenes video was also released which how the mobile devices were hooked up to 227 different interfaces, and linked together via WiFi.

Watch both the performance and behind the scenes below.

Australia's emergency 'Softstop' sign system

Getting people to notice road signs can be difficult, especially on busy commuter route.

In Australia the government is trying to tackle this head on, as they have experienced problems from people ignoring warning signs when entering a tunnel in which there was a fire.

As a possible solution, the 'softstop' sign was created. A sign made from water and light it was brought to fruition by an R&D programme that used technology from Laservision, a creative technology firm that designs architectural lighting, permanent attractions and special events primarily for the entertainment industry, along with pump manufacturer Grundfos.

The combination of the two allows for a sign that appears directly in front of the car, making it difficult not to spot.

Watch it in action below.

Budweiser lets you make friends with a clink

It's an age old tradition across the globe, you say "cheers" (or regional equivalent) then 'clink' glasses, an almost universal symbol.

Now American beer brand Budweiser in Brazil wants to make this social act, even more social, with their Buddy Cups.

The smart cups detect the contact between them and adds the other person as a friend on Facebook, this is done via a chip in the bottom of the cup and a code which you scan with your smart phone to activate it.

The cups are reportedly going to be used for events and concerts, but how far afield no one is sure.

Watch a video about the new cup below.

Mobeam advert is a crazy musical

San Francisco based start-up company Mobeam has patented technology that will allow barcodes to be scanned from Smartphone screens at checkouts.

The point-of-sale possibilities are endless for coupons and other far more fun advertising promotions. Plus, it is better than replacing every checkout scanner in the world.  

To promote the technology, Portal A created this heavily Auto-Tuned supermarket musical, in which a frustrated cashier bursts into song over the wonders of Mobeam. It includes an obligatory rap, a talking fish and a dancing janitor. The video is silly in the extreme.  

This however is not an app you can download, it is a technology targeted at business to add to their apps. The reason for this? Modern phone screens are too high definition for normal barcode scanners to read, so the technology sends signals via an LED to the scanner to ‘trick’ it into thinking it is reading a normal barcode.

Whilst the technology will only appeal to developers and advertisers, the video will appeal to everyone. Watch it below.

Advert targeting Doctors can only be heard with stethoscope

Africa Health Placements and South African agency Boomtown collaborated on an innovative direct mailer, targeted specifically at doctors.

Africa is currently suffering from a lack of medical personnel, in particular doctors, so to encourage foreign doctors to work in Africa they sent a special mailer that could only be heard by doctors. The mailer had a pressure sensitive pad, with a label stating "place stethoscope here". Once the pad was activated the device played a low level MP3 that could only be heard with the help of the medical device.

The advertisement won a silver Clio Healthcare award, which rewards creative excellence in advertising in the medical industry. Check out the video below for more info about the campaign.

Google Glass is here.

Recently Google gave developers the chance to get their hands on a pair of Google glasses, called Glass, or more importantly, access to the API which allows apps to interact with them. 

They also set up an oppurtunity for  "creative individuals"  to trial the glasses via a campaign on Twitter and Google+, called Project Glass.

Using the hashtag #ifihadglass they are looking for people to give a reason why they should be the first to get their hands on the glasses in 50 words or less, however the winners will still have to fork out £1,500+tax for the privilege.

To encourage people to enter Google has released a video on YouTube which shows how Glass can be used, inclduing the voice operation, which uses the line "OK glass" to begin a command; i.e. "OK glass take a picture"

The video also highlights the sort of tasks you can perform with Glass, from text messaging, video calling, photo taking to searching Google and finding a location on a map. There is also an automatic-picture-taking mode, which takes pictures at preset intervals.

The glasses are the next step in wearable technology, allowing the user to record everything they do, as well as interacting with others via video, although the headset doesn't actually have lenses in front of your eyes, just a small screen (viewable via a mirrored glass block) above and to the right of the wearer's right eye. Whilst not the only wearable technology in development (other companies including Microsoft has been developing their own versoin of Glass), the Google Glass is the one closest to completion, having first been announced last year, and featured in our blog last April.

Find out more at the Glass Website and watch the video below.

Dyson takes on all in one taps

After creating innovation in the vacuum cleaner and hand-dryer worlds, James Dyson is taking on the all in one tap, producing a tap with their Airblade technology built in. 

The new tap uses the Dyson V4 motor, which 125 engineers have spent 15 years working on, costing over £40 million to develop. All this goes to prove that despite this time of austerity Dyson has continued to invest in design and technology.

There's a lot of different statistics being thrown about at the launch, but the ones that grab the most attention are the reduced carbon emissions; 67% less than traditional hand dryers and 62% less than paper towels.

The company has also developed new Airblade hand dryers that are smaller and more efficient than previous models.

Take a look at the hand dryer tap and the new motor in the video below.

Book-less library set to open in Texas

Yes, you read that right, America's first book-less library is set to open soon in Texas.

In a move in-line with the growing trend of using e-readers, iPads and tablets to read books, the library, which will be called BibloTech (a play on the French bibliothèque), will resemble an Apple store more than a traditional library, with not a book in sight, but instead rows of desks and computers screens.

Visitors to the BibloTech in Bexar County, Texas, will be able to borrow ebooks via ereaders, which will be available from the library for a period of 2 weeks, just like a traditional library. To start with, the library will have 100 ereaders, 50 ereaders for children, 50 computer stations, 25 laptops and 25 tablets and, through a deal with ebook providers, has access to over 10,000 titles, a number that they hope will grow substantially as time goes by.

The idea of a book-less library is not completely unique; schools and universities have already started them, but this will be the first one open to the general public.

Chameleon clock app for the iPad

For those with iPads here's a great app that turns your device into a transparent clock - a bit of fun for a few minutes!

Click here to download.

Best for PR Awards

The Think Tank has received four awards in the 'BestFor PR Industry Awards' announced today, 18th September 2012.

The awards have been keenly contested and 'BestFor' describe them as follows:

' PR Agencies across the UK have the opportunity to apply for a BestFor PR ranking. Our independent judging panel rigorously assesses each application and if successful, agencies are awarded a gold, silver or bronze ranking and listed within the relevant ranking table.

Each ranking table on the BestFor PR website enables companies seeking PR agencies to identify, select and contact leading agencies in the applicable sector or region that match their requirements.'

We are thrilled to have received the following awards:

Silver - Consumer Category
Silver - Property and Construction
Bronze - Technology
Bronze - National Category

This is a great credit to our PR team. Well done to all.

Click here to find out more.

Two new interiors shows to open in London in 2013

Two new interior design trade fairs are set to open their doors in London next year.

In a brave move in a market that has seen the demise of several shows, including Design Prima, in recent years Office Interiors at Earls Court and DX, at Excel, will avoid the September Interiors scrum focussing on the beginning of the year.

Office Interiors is organised by Diversified Business Communications and will be held on 13th and 14th February. The organisers present the show as a 'vibrant, fresh and exciting new event dedicated to the UK's office interior industry'. 

DX is organised by UBM and launched by Ian Rudge, co-founder of the 100% Design and Tent shows, in collaboration with graphic designer Neville Brody and architect Ad Rogers. The show will focus on the relationship between design and technology and will be at Excel on 19th and 21st May 2013.

To find out more about DX click here

To find out more about Office Interiors click here.

Top predictions for IT Organisations and Users 2012

Technology analysts/research group Gartner has released a summary report for its ‘Top Predictions for IT Organisations and Users, 2012 and Beyond: Control Slips Away’.  Certainly an interesting title which made The Think Tank PR team want to read more.  

Gartner foresees that by 2016 at least 50% of enterprise email users will rely primarily on a browser, tablet or ‘mobile’ client instead of a desktop client.  Put simply that means employees will be bringing iPads, tablets and other personal mobile devices into your workplace.

In terms of a reflection of how we live and work today, this speaks volumes.   

But the report goes on to say that through 2016 the financial impact of cybercrime will grow by 10% per year, due to the continuing discovery of new vulnerabilities.  IT delivery is changing to add the use of cloud-based services and support the use of employee-owned laptops, smartphones and tablets.  

The implications for securing data and systems enterprise-wide are significant in terms of new and evolving security issues; the implications for marketing and communications professionals may mean an escalation in the need to protect trademark infringements, data protection issues and, of course, how everyone uses and accesses social media at work.  

Read more here.

Make your iPhone into an interactive table

Do you get frustrated with the size of your touch screen on the iPhone. Well now you can plug it into the “Table Connect”, a table that turns its screen into a massive 58-inch multitouch surface to let you search and browse the data. Your iPhone's screen is projected onto its surface, allowing complete control over your iPhone.

Click here to see more.

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