LightMedia Blog

Windows of Opportunity - QR Codes

Wed, 23 Nov 2011 00:00:00 +0000

These strange looking codes are cropping up everywhere, from restaurants to cinemas, even on the side of livestock (!). People really are letting their imagination loose with what they can achieve using them. So what are they?

Brother Barcode

The QR code, or Quick Response Code, is essentially a 2D barcode. It belongs to a whole family but has emerged as one of the most popular types. It was designed to allow the contents it carried to be decoded very quickly, hence the name “Quick Response Code”.

Originally used to track cars in a Toyota factory in 1994, they are now a common sight in the public view. The boom of the smart phone and the mobile web has given birth to a new generation of trigger happy QR users, who can scan the codes to load up a mini mobile site tailored to a specific application/context.

Why should they interest you? – To put it simply, they can easily improve your marketing campaigns.

Novel Uses

Take a look at some of these clever uses of QR codes. These clever Croatian stamps allow the user to be taken to a mini mobile site. This site gives the user a text box to enter the code displayed on the stamp.

On entering the small code shown beneath the QR code, they are given a summary of when the mail was sent, how far it travelled and the route it took.

This process could be made even slicker for the user, by combining the code they would have to type into the QR code itself. They are designed for carrying information, after all.

These QR cows have been sprayed with QR codes. Intrigued passers-by scan the code and are given the chance to play a scratch card game on their phone. If they win the game, they win some dairy products from the farm. The innovative French farmer who created this concept now has many new customers.

This may look like an ordinary shop, but the products on the shelf are in fact just an image. A novel supermarket in Korea uses a large display on the underground station to allow travellers to shop using their smart-phones by scanning the QR code beside each product. The products they choose are then delivered directly to the customer’s door. The result of this campaign has allowed the supermarket to travel to no. 1 in Korea.

Some Ideas – What Could You Do?

These are just a few of the novel ways these codes can be used; let your imagination run wild.

An art gallery could use QR codes to replace those old audio tours or extend their showroom space.
A retailer could use them to promote discounts or enhance the use of their shop space.
A theatre could use them for on the door sales.
A cinema could use them to allow passers-by to see a trailer of a film advertised on a poster.
A restaurant could use the codes on a menu to allow a customer to see a video of the chef cooking their meal.
A TV advertiser could use them to allow viewers to step into their advert.
A more common use is just as a “tell-me-more” mechanism – print a code onto a product display or business card and have the mini site explain a bit more.

QR codes have been proven time and again to greatly improve marketing campaigns, generating new leads, customers and sales. Not only this but the structure of the sites involved can be creative, engaging and exciting.

As time moves on, the rate at which innovative new uses of these simple codes will arise is exciting. Combined with LightMedia’s knowledge of mobile web development, what could you achieve for your company using a simple QR code?

Coming Soon to a Site Near You - HTML5

Fri, 08 Oct 2010 00:00:00 +0000

So what is HTML5?

HTML5 is the latest version of HTML, a set of rules describing how to build websites in an industry-standard way. If the code for a site is written according to these rules, then it should work and be displayed in exactly the same way on any web browser which supports HTML (at least in theory). This includes all the ones you've probably heard of, such as Internet Explorer, Firefox, Safari and Chrome.

It's currently being developed by the World Wide Web Consortium, which is an international web-standards organisation. The latest versions of many browsers are including support for it's new features - including Microsoft when Internet Explorer 9 is released in the next few months.

What makes it so different from previous versions of HTML?

Quite simply, the new features will make it possible to build websites without relying so much on extra 'plug-ins' such as Flash and Silverlight (which require visitors to your website to have software installed before they can use your content). It's also difficult to make these plug-ins pull in content from elsewhere on your own or other sites, so being less reliant on these means that we can build complex sites that not only look good, but are also much more closely linked to 'web applications' such as Google Maps and Facebook.

As well as allowing you to put video and audio files directly onto a web page, HTML5 includes something called Canvas, which is a way to draw shapes, text and images on a page as if you were using a pen or a paint brush. Out of all the new stuff, this is the bit that our developers here at LightMedia are most excited about! It'll be very useful to anyone who wants to make games and other interactive elements.

Hasn't there been some controversy about it?

Yes, there's been a lot of discussion in the industry over which types of media files (especially video) HTML5 should require web browsers to support. Some formats are widely used but covered by patents (so using them would involve licensing and royalty payments), such as H.264. Some are free from patents as far as is currently known, but not as commonly used, such as Ogg Theora. The heated debate among the big names of the industry - including Microsoft, Apple and Google (each of whom have their own preferred options) - is set to continue for some time.

What else do I need to know?

Because the new features in HTML5 are so advanced, it's not possible to use many of them on older browsers. Although this applies mainly to Internet Explorer (from version 8 downwards), it presents quite a challenge for designers and developers. We have to design and build sites that can not only give a great experience to visitors with the latest browsers, but also gracefully fall back on older technology when necessary. This will become less of a problem as browsers which don't support HTML5 are phased out over time, but for now it's something that's important to bear in mind.

In a very real sense, HTML5 is a signpost for where the internet is heading. It will help us to build websites that deliver content in more imaginative and integrated ways, to a greater audience.

In The Clouds - What is Cloud? What are Cloud Servers?

Fri, 30 Jul 2010 00:00:00 +0000

What is it?

In essence its providing information, software, and other resources on demand, like the electricity grid does.

For example say you have a web project that is going to require a very large amount of concurrent users for a short space of time. Rather than buying in lots of servers and networking them up together, you can get a third party cloud server host to do that for you. Rackspace offer cloud servers rented in hourly slots. This is Ideal for a short term project. A cloud server is a virtual server, therfore can be deployed in minutes with most providers.

Thanks for that... Still have no idea what you're on about

Simply think of it as a server on demand service. You rent what you need and when. With no 'real' server to setup it's all virtual.

Application

Cloud application services or "Software as a Service (SaaS)" deliver software as a service over the internet. This means the software does not need to be installed on your own machine to use it. This simplifies setup and updating as you are not responsible for this. You can rent software over the internet when you use it.

Infrastructure

Cloud infrastructure services or "Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS)" delivers computer infrastructure, typically a platform virtualization environment as a service. Rather than purchasing servers, software and network equipment, clients instead buy those resources as a fully outsources service. The service is typically billed on a utility computing basis, in other words by how much you need and use.

Yawn! That's enough technical bore. What does it mean for a SME?

To start the idea of having a utility based style of IT delivery can have a huge cost advantage for the SME.

By not having to fork out the initial costs of a traditional IT infrastructure companies can utilise resources as needed. Their IT infrastructure becomes a service expense (like a gas bill, or phone bill) since there is no hardware to purchase or maintain. The cloud model allows companies to change providers easily if they find their current provider is not working for their needs.

One other disadvantage of traditional IT setups is that users need their software on their machine to do the work. Which means when a user is offsite they need it installing and setting up on their laptop, or phone etc.. With cloud solutions they have potential access to their software from anyway, including their files.

Nearly finished... honest!

Is this the future of IT? Some say so, some say it's just another fad and buzzword that will soon die like many others. But I personally can see the real potential for this and when someone delivers the 'killer app' so will the masses.

Knowing Me, Knowing You... I Think

Mon, 21 Jun 2010 00:00:00 +0000

Social Networking. Good or bad?

I remember the days prior to Facebook, MySpace and Twitter. When MSN Messenger was the application to use and email was the way to share photos. When it comes to the internet things come and go faster than a pay check. But one thing that’s been growing ever stronger is social networking.

What is it? Is it networking? And just as important is it social?

As with all things new there is a backlash of people for and against it. Ask a teenager what they think of Facebook they would probably call it their 3rd parent. Ask my dad on the other hand and I would get a slap around the head for being rude.

My view is that there are pros and cons to using social networking. The ability to send my recent wedding photos to everyone I know just days after the wedding at no cost to myself was great. On the other hand I have one of my best friends who never joins in with us at the pub on the weekend now as he is arranging an online game with some friends he has never met.

Social networking for businesses… honest

The social networking savy amongst you will have noticed I didn’t mention LinkedIn. Now personally I feel this one fits into the business category only while the others mentioned can fit into work and leisure.

Visit most of the big corporate sites (and smaller companies) today and you will find links to their facebook and twitter pages. These sites allow companies to pass information on to their clients with ease, speed, and most importantly, without the client having to go find the data themselves. This key feature is what makes social networking great for companies. You can post to your twitter page about a great new product line, a weekend promotion, or even what colour you are decorating the office. This then gets pushed out to everyone who is keeping track of your company on their twitter account. They don’t have to go and look at your website every time they want to know when your next 10% off day is, they get it pushed to them, right in front of their eyes.

Wow I'm so excited and I just can't hide it

Let me sum up the advantages of the two main social networking sites, for leisure and work.

Facebook – The current king of the social networking world (or at least from my view). Facebook is very easy to use because it allows you to share photos, videos, and text to anyone you want who also has a facebook account. For leisure purposes it’s a great way of keeping in touch with your friends, for companies it’s a great place to have a presence and to market yourself.

Twitter – If you know what blogging is then it’s a micro version of that officially. If you don’t then think of it as a SMS Text Message. The difference is you send a message to everyone on the internet and it’s up to people whether they want to read it. They can then decide to “follow” you on twitter. This basically means whenever you send a message to the internet they will get the message. An excellent way of quickly, instantly, and unobtrusively letting people know what you are up to. From a company’s point of a view this is free marketing at an audience who have chosen to take an interest in your company.

Things can only get better

I started off with whether social networking was really what it says, and you know what? I think it is. It’s a great way of getting yourself or your company out there and who knows what the next 12 months of social networking will bring.

You can see our Twitter and Facebook pages by clicking the links at the bottom right hand side of the page next to “Follow LightMedia on”.

Twitter focus on World Cup 2010

Mon, 14 Jun 2010 00:00:00 +0000

Well another tournament has just kicked off, and everyone is full of excitement, hope, and promise.

Will England be the 2010 Champions? Who knows. But one thing that is happening is micro blogging giant Twitter have just launched their Twitter Official World Cup 2010 website.

Twitter is a micro blogging system that allows you to push out status updates of what you are doing out on to the internet with no technical knowledge and very quickly. If you do not know much about twitter why not have a quick Google. There are some great articles on it. Or go straight over to Twitter.com.

This site is a great example of aggregating various tweets based on certain individuals, teams, and Top Tweets (updates that are currently catching the attention of many Twitter users).

According to Twitter's official blog:

"Fans have a unique opportunity to connect with players, teams, and brands using Twitter to join the matches in a new way. We also are providing a list of suggested accounts to follow during the tournament and a World Cup theme for your profile page. We'll leave it up to you to learn how to do the neat little trick we're calling hashflags."

It's nice to see a great example of how Twitter can be used to help show our support for our country. Shame it won't be long ;)

p.s. If you wanted to know what our hashflag is it's #eng

Google's new web indexing system called Caffeine

Fri, 11 Jun 2010 00:00:00 +0000

I have heard today that Google have this week released their completed new web indexing system called Caffeine. I thought it was worth while doing some research into this and letting you know what it is, what it does, and ultimately what it means for your website.

So, what is Caffeine?

Caffeine is Google's new all singing, all dancing search index. When you search on Google you do not actually search the whole internet in a few seconds. What you are actually doing is searching an index, like in the back of a book. Historically Google (and most other search engines) have taken a 'snapshot' of a website at a given time and added it to their index.

The problem with this approach is the data you search in Google can quickly become out of date, this is certainly the case for a news site like the BBC. With Google's traditional index system some sights were indexed more often than others and were categorised into layers of importance. These layers could have been updated daily, weekly, or monthly.

With Caffeine Google will continuously analyse the web in smaller sections and continuously have it updating. The Caffeine indexer will add content immediately to the index when it finds it. Rather than in a batch every week for example.

What does Caffeine do? (Apart from get you up on a Monday)

Well Google have said:

"Caffeine provides 50 percent fresher results for web searches than our last index, and it's the largest collection of web content we've offered. Whether it's a news story, a blog or a forum post, you can now find links to relevant content much sooner after it is published than was possible ever before."

This basically means that content on the web should appear in Google's Index a lot faster. The speed in which it appears probably will depend on the type of content that is published. By this I mean news articles, blogs, and even tweets from Twitter will get indexed a lot faster.

Ok, what you are really interested in... What does this mean for my site?

Well to start I just want to make it clear that is is my opinion from reading other articles and putting together my own research. As with everything Google, nobody can give a definitive answer as it's all very hush hush as to how something works in Google. I'm pretty sure they will not want the guys at Microsoft Bing knowing everything.

Well first off I believe it's going to allow Google to have a much, much bigger index of web content. In their own words they say:

"Caffeine lets us index web pages on an enormous scale. In fact, every second Caffeine processes hundreds of thousands of pages in parallel. If this were a pile of paper it would grow three miles taller every second."

WOW! That's a lot of information!

Will this affect my index?

The unfortunate answer is possibly. As with this sort of question the more competitive your site is, the more competitive the keywords, therefore the more competition you have to fight with in Google. What this will probably mean though for sites that keep fresh and updated content on, especially in specialist fields of interest, it could well help.

Right then, let's round this article up

The only thing that is for sure is the search engine world is an ever changing area, and for Google to fight off the competition they need to come up with fresh and exciting ways of working with peoples data. So watch this space, I think it's going to be very interesting...

iPad

Mon, 07 Jun 2010 00:00:00 +0000

Well unless you have been living under a rock the last couple of months I am sure you have heard about the iPad. Well we have been monitoring its release closely, and after a bit of persuading we managed to get the MD Tony to purchase one for us. (Although actually secretly I think he wanted it more than us).

So my aim for this article is to give it a firsthand write up and review.

Initial impressions

Lovely. It really is a lovely piece of design engineering. It looks slick and defiantly has that WOW factor to it. (I have to admit it wasn't quite as much wow as some people I know because I have been an iPhone user for a few years)

The design is thin and slender, defiantly easy to take out with you when you’re out and about. My ownly grip, it is heavier than it looks, and I would worry whether it would smash when you drop it. Luckily though Tony has thought ahead and purchased a soft case for it.

Application

Ok so aesthetically you can tell I think it's gorgeous. But let's be honest a great looking car would be useless without a great engine and internal workings.

When you turn it on it takes a few seconds to "Boot Up", which is a lot faster than any laptop I have used before. When it has loaded up it looks exactly like the iPhone's dashboard. You get a screen full of icons to click on to open up a desired application. Although when you first purchase it you get very little on it app wise

At the moment of writing there are a handful of applications that have been written specifically for the iPad, what this means is they have been developed to take the larger screen into account. Although you can run iPhone applications on the iPad, they will open roughly at the resolution size of the iPhone. Therefore a lot of the screen space is wasted.

The speed of loading seems great, and a perfect app to show off its features is the RightMove application. It can search for properties for where you are currently stood. For example it showed us some flats that were available on the same road as our office (where we were testing it).

Would I buy one personally?

Although I think it's a great piece of kit, and really can see the use for it commercially, I do not think on a personal level I would justify the price tag.

Although with any gadget, over time I might be persuaded.