Well I am not going to call XfinityTv.com’s new sites style a rip of Netflix, but I will say that they must have been heavily influenced by Netflix’s recent site update and paid quite a bit of homage to Netflix.

What’s weird is being influenced in this case is not a bad thing, I think they actually one-upped Netflix in some ways.  But as these sites become more similar looking as a user I begin to think: “Why am I paying twice for a similar product?”

What do you think about XfinityTV’s new site update?

Thanks to a submission from Europe we have a new interactive campaign for HI-TEC to look at.

Last year, the independent Amsterdam ad agency CCCP, launched one of the most successful viral videos of 2010: ‘Liquid Mountaineering’. Produced for Hi-Tec Sports, the film introduces a new extreme sport called  ‘Liquid Mountaineering’ and features three guys doing what man has attempted for centuries: walking on water.

Now the Liquid Mountaineers are back. And like every proper extreme sport they now have their own video game. However, there’s a bit more to it.  Whereas regular games are only about having fun, Hi-Tec takes it a step further. “The Infinity Run”, as the game is called, is actually is a unique and fun way to sell shoes.  As far as we know, it is the world’s first “Game Webshop”.

CCCP founder Eelco Keune said ‘The game is part of a carefully planned campaign that was kicked off by the viral. Now that we have established a firm base, we want to focus on the ‘magic behind the sport’, the ultra water repellent Hi-Tec V-Lite Infinity model.’

Players can choose from the three Liquid Mountaineers who starred in the original video and try their luck at running on three lakes ranging from Alaska to Brazil. Not only must they have the speed and skill to run on water, but players must also avoid the dangers lurking in the depths, which can pop up at any moment. After playing you can buy the Hi-Tec V-Lite Infinities you just ran on. The lucky player who obtains the highest score each week will receive a free pair of trainers.

Simon Bonham, Global Marketing Director for Hi-Tec, added, “We are very excited to launch this unique ‘Game Web Shop” as phase 2 of our Liquid Mountaineering project. The original viral has, for the past 12 months, engaged with consumers the world over and we are delighted to be able build on this phenomenal success with The Infinity Run on-line game.”

Give it a go at: http://www.hi-tec.com/infinity-run/

Bout damn time this actually looks clean, intuitive and sharp. Anyone else checked it out yet? I am a fan of the new layout. But not everyone is, in fact many users are claiming that Netflix removed too many features. Do you like or dislike the new layout?

The review of the new site:

Cons: The the scrolling action doesn’t feel comfortable at all. And they could have refined the top navigation to a more attractive UI design. The ability to click on a film title from the old site and go directly to the film’s detailed page was placed in the mouse-over pop up which delays the time it takes to get to the reviews page for each movie. And due to insight gained from the message board: The sort and search feature was removed altogether. That last part is upsetting many customers because it does not allow users to search for films the way they used to. This is a bit of an easy fix for Netflix they should just bring this feature back to accommodate the larger Netflix user base.

Pros: I love the size of the film covers now, they really add to the experience for me. And the layout seems simple and intuitive.

To everyone in the community that assisted in reviewing the Netflix site update I appreciate your input. I hope you continue to give input and feedback in the future and as a Netflix account user as well, I hope Netflix listens to your critiques too!

Why I liked the overall layout:

I enjoyed the new Netflix layout because I am a sucker for bigger covers of movies, I used to work in movie theaters and I love movie posters more than most. And it is more similar now to iTunes and I like iTunes for its movie section better than Netflix hands-down. That is a personal taste so albeit it may not be for everyone that is my rationale. That said I do not like everything about the user experience, I especially dislike the auto scrolling feature because it does not feel natural at all.

When comparing this layout to Blockbuster.com too in my opinion their is no comparison. Blockbuster.com’s layout is lousy because:  it is so busy and filled with calls to action left and right, it is not following the rules of “KISS” ( Keep It Simple Stupid ), and less about the movies and more about the branding for blockbuster.  And on their selections page their is not enough horizontal separation between the movie covers themselves. But if your looking for an argument about why you would switch media providers it has to do more about the sites selection of films than just about UI/UX.

iTunes still wins in my opinion as far as layouts go for the movies section. It has a clear focus and an easy on the eye approach in my opinion.  But Netflix is a good runner up layout wise, just because they got rid of the redundant Calls to action for “Play” and the stars ratings feature which was dominating the visual presence on the page in the prior layout.

The review of the old site:

Pros: Star ratings were clear, I did like the left and right scrolling arrows it was more user friendly than their newer sites mouse hover auto scroll. I wish they would bring back this scrolling feature to the new site.

Cons: The star ratings plus the call to action for Play were taking up a lot of real estate. In comparison to the newer site the images of the films covers are very very small, and in my opinion hurt independent films and foreign films because they have to rely more on the name of the film then the cover of the film to get a click. The UI became quite dated.

Supplied to us by a fan. Thank you, LaShaunda!

Taking Social Media to this extreme…

I doubt it. My first thought was this is really hard to look at because it is so busy, the type choice was not my favorite but that aside the content seems cryptic ( because of 140 characters and less mentality ) and I think it speaks volumes about the impatience of marketing in 2010. But I don’t want you to think I am painting a picture that is all bad, quite the opposite I find it revolutionary to some degree. With the benefits of SEO + promoting your business’s own marketing platform + getting content out to your fans as quickly as a tweet. I can see why it would be appealing. And for that forward thinking they have proved that they can create a conversation about themselves, and that in itself is well done. On the downside wonder if the site’s user experience is all that pleasant, for me anyways it was distracting and not catching my attention. Maybe the UI execution not the strategy could be a factor in my distraction.

What are you thoughts is EURO RSCG LONDON’s site blowing you away or is it harder to look at then your own twitter page?

Oh and the background provided from the source:

Euro RSCG London, a leading global advertising agency, launched its new website yesterday that is taking a unique approach to reaching its audience: letting the 200 people within its office power its website in real-time. http://www.eurorscglondon.co.uk/ Euro RSCG are the first global advertising agency who have made their website fully social which is being seen as a sign of the future for the global creative industry.

Euro RSCG, whose clients include Reckitt & Benckiser, Citroen, Dulux and Kraft wanted its website to be a true embodiment of what life is like in the office – friendly, informative, creative and most of all people based by making full use of the popular social media site, Twitter. Euro RSCG staff can control the site by tweeting specific hashtags and the names of recent tweeters are integrated into the site’s design to show who is influencing the site and which hashtags they are using.

“The agency listens to its employees and connects with its clients on a completely new level” stated Russ Lidstone, CEO Euro RSCG London, “This new Twitter centric website embodies our belief that social media should sit at the heart of what we do”.

The NYTimes are a-changing. Apple has lead the way in application development, they really pioneered the entire model to monetize apps. That set the stage for a future where all content including what we get for free could become part of a paid for model. This model hypothetically works for all types of content, right? But what about the newspaper industry why can’t they make an app for the paper? Well the NYTimes responded with an application for the iPad. It seemed successful people liked it but… that’s only tiny percentage of computers, so here comes the application for all computers.  And the only question that remains as to why this new product would or would not work is that: why would the general public pay more for news when they already have so many outlets giving out their content for free?

And I think their response has been to create an application that will create a better product than their online free source, and better than reading their print newspaper. Plus in the demo that they showed I hardly noticed any advertisements in there, I wonder if they’ll strip the majority of them because lets face it that is partly the reason why free content sucks so much these days. But ads aside there are 100s of other .pdf applications that came before it. Why this one? What is so special about Adobe Air?

It seems like NYTimes are really banking on their previous experience with the iPad. They did create a great user experience for their new application on it. And maybe they learned enough that it might just work. It definitely will be a more friendly format for the user experience. And as far as the content providers consider Adobe Air is a much less restrictive format than relying on using an application like an internet browser to run your website for you ( because you have to limit your content to what all browsers can and cannot do, the limitations are much less when you are building your own software ). I would also dare to make the assumption this program will be loaded with polls and other interactive content that will make use out of their customers in a way that we’ve never seen before. But questions remain such as: Will it generate new users at the price point they set it at, will it last as a format? Will it be secure? Will it actually become a standard model for a newspaper? That’s left in question but if anyone was going to pioneer this path it would be NYTIMES. I have hope that it works out for both the media industry and helps actually cut down on the worlds carbon footprint. Wouldn’t it be nice to see at least print newspapers go the way of the do-do bird? I think so.

Clearly Apple & Adobe have settled some differences too if their working so candidly together on a product like this.  And that will matter if this does become a standard new model for newspapers that the two companies form a bit of an alliance, and drop their differences. What are your thoughts on this new application: Is the price point too high? Do you think that that as an application model other papers will want to follow? And do you think that not just papers but school books and a ton of other content will come next?

I’ll leave with the thought, what if by developing within the standards of an iPad companies will be forced to create adobe air applications that than also can be used to deliver content in application format for the rest of the computer users. With the good comes the greedy, not many companies ever sold a product with “new & improved” in the same sentence as “and cheaper too.”

Find out more about this product at: NYTimes.com/TimesReader

This is not a paid for article.

Making Future Magic: iPad light painting from Dentsu London on Vimeo.

Can’t help but think this video seems like a fun experiment. But I can’t help but think in a few years people will be able to see with their naked eye these kind of 3D sculptures of light more and more for advertising. And this will all seem like the Atari… or will it?

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Photography: Portfolio Review & Development

Mentorship
Duration: 6 Months
Starts: Saturday, September 25, 2010 at 2PM EST
Meets: Group meets one Saturday per month. One on one sessions scheduled independently.
Mentor: Keith Lane

Whether you’re an emerging photographer, an aspiring professional about to knock on a decision maker’s door, a mid-career shooter in search of practical strategies for advancing in the business, or simply a keen amateur wanting to become as good as you can be, The Portfolio Review and Development Mentorship offers a special opportunity to accelerate your photography career and skills. Read More here.

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Graphic & Web: Portfolio Review & Development

Mentorship
Duration: 6 Months
Starts: Saturday, September 25, 2010 at 11AM EST
Meets: Group meets one Saturday per month. One on one sessions scheduled independently.
Mentor: Keith Lane

Whether you’re an emerging graphic designer and/or web designer, an aspiring professional about to knock on a decision maker’s door, a mid-career professional in search of practical strategies for advancing in the business, or an entrepreneur planning to launch or expand your own company, The Portfolio Review and Development Mentorship offers a special opportunity to accelerate your design skills and career. Read More here.

To find out more about Keith or to sign up for either of these two courses click here!
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Visit the site for the full experience: http://www.lifebeforedeath.com

Credits:
Advertising Agency: XM Asia Pacific, Singapore
Agency website: www.xm-asia.com
Executive Creative Director: David Brown
Senior Art Directors: Danny Lim, Cheng ShuYau
Interactive Designer: Joel Chua
Copywriters: Calista Teo, Remesh Panicker
Flash Programmers: Edalene Tay, Leon Ng, Chris Luo, Ong Hon Tat
Technical Developers: Chai Chok Fern, Lydia Tay
Voiceover Talent: Remesh Panicker
Production Manager: Candice Chong
Account Director: Gerard Lim
Additional Credits: Qeren Communications, Lien Foundation
Published: July, 2010

Updated April 12th.

** Update **
My first impression of the iPad is that it is altogether too heavy to carry around like a book with one hand. It is easy to read and probably a better e-reader than many of the other e-readers out there ( because of it’s screen & luminosity ) but I bet it’s battery life is a lot shorter ( although I have heard positive reviews from owners about battery life, does it equal though 8000 pages that a Sony E-reader will get? I don’t know. ) but I can gripe that it is heavy and fragile and if you have a protection case than it get’s bulky and is not something you can hold in one hand for a very longtime ( because of the device’s weight ). I was happy with the website navigation experience. It was pleasing to the eye, smooth, and pretty much perfect for a flight companion. It does not replace a lap-top but it does handle media well. What I don’t see is the point for day-to-day life. You won’t feel safe walking outside with this device ( subway unlikely, park bench it could get scratched if it was put down on the wrong surface yikes ) it is far too fragile and right now and it is something you have to pretty much put it in a case ( at an additional cost from day 1 or a laptop bag ). My biggest complaint though and reason why I will wait until a later version is that it is too fragile, too heavy, and I can’t see you placing this device at the kitchen table without blowing it up with one accidental water spill. It will make a nice couch companion while you chat with friends as long as you have a safe place to put it because if you sit on it well there goes 500 dollars.

This thing needed in mind to be kitchen table friendly and sturdy, and in my opinion it is not. I also think it is missing the opportunity to really challenge magazines. It does not replace a print experience, although that is a hard challenge to come by with a 1st-gen device I kind of hoped that it would be on par with a magazine. It isn’t but it does feel nice for interactive news sites. It really has a nice interactive experience, but to do both this device would have had to been slightly larger, thinner, lighter, and a helluva lot less fragile. What it is good at and what I was surprised most about was the typing experience. It was much better than an iPhone and will allow people to write freely to their friends. One other sticking point is that for gaming this screen can’t get heavy use without scratching or breaking ( you’ll need to fork out more for screen protection sleeves ), to be honest I am not sure they they didn’t include button areas outside of the onscreen touching so that the basic button mashing games out there wouldn’t wear and tear on your device. I foresee long lines and screen fixing mini booths around the malls around the country to fix these devices and I am not impressed with how I was handled with my iPhone broken screen * Which is still shattered but usable. Why have I not paid to fix it? It costs $200 to fix with apple, $120 with the mall dude who works for apple and does the mall booth as a side job, and $30 dollars to buy the parts yourself and gamble with trying to fix the screen as it is quite tricky.*

I am all for innovation and on one hand I would love to praise this device as it will help the design industry in many ways, but I have to be straightforward and honest about it: Good look future iPad v1 users heed my advice though if you are looking for the holy grail device, wait another 2 or 3 generations ahead before buying. But if you do buy it buy a screen protector, and a case to protect it from day 1, although I think a product like this should be sold with these kind of safety considerations already fixed and that this is the same nickel and dime tactic they pulled with the iPhone and iTouch products.
** /Update **

Interested in seeing how your website or others look on an iPad? Try Ipadpeek.com the sans the scroll-bar this experience is true to form.
http://ipadpeek.com/

One thing to note, some people are saying that their is no scroll bar ( but there is a small black line ? ) on the iPad. A way more accurate tool to showcase an iPad site can be downloaded the with iPad SDK kit. You can download that here: http://developer.apple.com/ipad/sdk/

Do you have an iPad? tell us about your experience about it. Was it worth the wait? If so why?

Thank Rajja, and Tom for the links!

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