Sunday, April 28, 2013

Samsung Galaxy S4

Three Unboxing Of The NEW Samsung Galaxy S4


This weekend, Three Ireland have released the Samsung Galaxy S4. As a preview to this much anticipated piece of technology, Three filmed the above ‘unboxing’ video of the handset to showcase its features and whet the appetite of fans. Three have also announced that the handset will retail for €99 on their Classic Flex Max plan.

About the Samsung Galaxy S4:
· Android Jelly Bean 4.2.2 operating system, 5 inch screen.
· Lighter and thinner than its older brother the SIII, but still packs a battery that’s almost 25% larger
· More energy efficient processor and a new improved Super AMOLED display that requires less power
· Dual Camera take pictures with both cameras at the same time
· Dual Video Call allows user to show video chat companions what both views
· S Translator instantly translates voice or text, enabling foreign language phonecalls while travelling
· Smart Pause lets the user control the device with their eyeballs. Galaxy S 4 will know to pause the clip when no one is looking
· Smart Scroll recognizes where the user is looking and how they’re tilting the phone, and scrolls pages accordingly
· Air Gestures - scroll through items without even touching the screen, just have to wave a hand over the screen
· Air View - preview items by hovering your finger over items, such as emails, on the screen
· S Voice Drive - keep safe on the road by automatically converting text to voice when the phone connects to a car via Bluetooth
· S Health, along with the various sensors built into the Galaxy S 4, turns this smartphone into a fitness tracker
· EA Games have provided 16 optimized games on the Google Play store, including The Sims, Simpsons; Tapped Out and Need For Speed: Most Wanted

Wednesday, April 17, 2013

AIB Unveils Dedicated Digital Banking Store

Launch of The Lab AIB at Dundrum Town Centre


AIB have opened Ireland’s first digital banking store, The Lab (Learn about banking). Opened in Dundrum Town Centre and launched by the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources Mr Pat Rabbitte, The Lab is an innovative learning environment designed to help customers to maximise their use of existing and emerging technologies in banking services. Through dedicated and specially trained staff, The Lab showcases the best in class digital banking. The Lab is open to the public seven days a week during the centre’s opening hours.

AIB’s Director of Personal, Business and Corporate Banking, Bernard Byrne said "The Lab is a live research centre where customers will have one-on-one support and advice when learning about, and becoming familiar with, new banking technologies. Our mobile and online banking offerings are market-leading, yet almost half our customers have yet to embrace digital banking. Based in Dundrum Town Centre which has an annual footfall of 19 million people, The Lab will be accessible to a huge consumer base to demonstrate the range of technologies that allow their best use of banking services. It will give current - and potential- customers an insight into the benefits of marrying technology with banking."


The Lab provides an environment where customers can experiment with, and be guided through, self-service banking platforms in four zones:
(a) A Product Browsing Zone with an interactive learning wall where visitors can browse through products and services and video booths where visitors can video call financial advisors seven days a week for advice on home mortgages and other products.
(b) The SME area with dedicated meeting rooms for customer and bank meetings and an area where customers can learn more about digitising their business beyond banking.
(c) The Innovation Zone where customers will have first access to trialing innovations in mobile and online banking.
(d) A Self Service Banking Zone with mobile and online demonstration installations. A social media wall will also sit in this area with live streams from Facebook and Twitter.


Importantly, from a customer and commercial standpoint a majority of day to day transactions banking services will also be available in the Lab.


Over the coming months, The Lab will be used by AIB to unveil the next phase of banking innovations including Person to Person payments, a Personal Financial Management tool, a new SME online proposition and alerting functionality to allow customers more control of their finances.

Wednesday, April 10, 2013

SKY Launches €10 Million Marketing Campaign

Sky Ireland - Sky Broadband Has Arrived


This week Sky Ireland launched their biggest ever marketing campaign to promote their new Broadband and Telephone offerings. The €10m campaign combines TV, press, radio, outdoor and digital. The above ad forms the centrepiece of the campaign.

Featuring Pierce Brosnan, the 60-second ad sees the famous Irishman returning home to Ireland to the apparent delight of the public. However, it is soon revealed that the cause of their excitement is in fact the arrival of Sky Broadband. In a series of everyday scenes showing Brosnan on Dublin’s quays, walking along a town main street, and enjoying a drink in a pub, the ad shows that not even a global celebrity can eclipse the arrival of Sky Broadband.


Launching the new Sky Broadband campaign, Mark Anderson, Director of Sales & Marketing at Sky Ireland said, "The inspiration for this campaign came directly from our customers, many of whom have been waiting for us to introduce broadband for ages. Our research showed that people in Ireland are excited about the prospect of getting their TV, calls and broadband from Sky in one bundle and the ad’s creative idea taps into that sense of anticipation."


Pierce Brosnan comments, "It’s great to be involved in the launch campaign for Sky Broadband in Ireland. I always love returning home whether for work or on holiday and this time was no different. The charm and tongue in cheek humour of the Sky ad really appealed to me and shooting in Dublin was a lot of fun. Hopefully, viewers will like it as much as I enjoyed making it."


The campaign was developed by ad agency WCRS who won the launch project following a competitive pitch. It was shot by director Taika Waititi (Flight of the Conchords, Boy) and Oscar & BAFTA nominated cinematographer Danny Cohen (Les Miserables, The King’s Speech).

Thursday, April 4, 2013

MiWadi Brings Storytime to Life with MiBooks

MiWadi MiBook TV Ad


MiWadi, Ireland’s No. 1 Dilute brand, has just launched their latest digital initiative, ‘MiBook’. This on-pack promotion gives children the chance to star in their own story. By simply collecting three unique codes from the reverse of labels and logging onto www.miwadi.ie, consumers can redeem a free personalised children’s story book from a choice of three.

Speaking today at the launch of MiWadi MiBook, Dee Cunniam, Senior Brands & Activation Manager for MiWadi said; ““MiWadi is the brand at the heart of a child’s imagination and our MiBook activation will fuel imaginations nationwide through our three fantastic story titles, My Trip to the Zoo, My Big Adventure and My Birthday Party. Getting children to read is essential for building up grammar and spelling skills, so creating a FREE personalised book, where the children themselves star alongside their family and friends, encourages more reading.”

Monday, April 1, 2013

Sky Research Reveals Our Daily Digital Diet



The following research into consumer trends was conducted by Sky Ireland. It looks at when and how our digital consumption peaks on a daily basis.

Breakfast: Commuter Snacks
The research showed that during their commute:
· 81.8% of people use their tablet or smartphone
· 49.4% will check their social media sites up to three times
· 51% read the news online
· 46.5% play games
· 44.2% catch up on emails



Digital indigestion
However, patchy Wi-Fi and mobile connections were cited as major frustrations, interrupting commuters’ connectivity. To compensate, 55.5% download books or music in advance of their commute and now the recently launched Sky Go Extra app lets Sky customers download the latest blockbuster films from Sky Movies and TV content from channels such as Sky 1 and Sky Atlantic to watch when and where they want, without the need for a Wi-Fi or 3G/4G connection.



Dining Digitally At home
With recent Comreg figures showing that broadband penetration rates stand at over 65%, people still see the laptop as the main digital dinner plate. However, with ownership of tablets and smartphones set to reach 2.38 million by the end of 2013, we are set to consume online content in a more a la carte way.



Sky seeing strong uptake of its Apps
According to Sky Ireland’s own download figures, this digital diet trend has seen total iOS downloads of its most popular Apps reach over 1.2 million in Ireland, including:
· Sky Go App - 295,782 downloads
· Sky News App - 318,259 downloads
· Sky Sports News App - 144,798 downloads
· Sky+ App - 177,326 downloads



“We are seeing a massive change in our digital diet,” says Mark Anderson, Director of Sales & Marketing, Sky Ireland. “Our research and download figures combined show that Irish users are very discerning when it comes to consuming digital content on the move. More and more often users are using home broadband to download content to mobile devices for later consumption – it’s the digital equivalent to a home-packed lunch! With unlimited broadband now available nationwide from Sky, and increases in multi-device usage by consumers, we expect that our digital diet will feature more media meshing as time goes on.”