These are my web picks for July 2nd through August 4th:

• YouTube – iPhone4 vs HTC Evo – A brilliantly funny conversation of a typical iPhone customer with a mobile salesman. “I don’t care” what the HTC does “I want an iPhone” even if its a brick!
• Google Me social networking rumour is “very real” – Reckons rival Facebook’s ex CTO | TechEye – Google to start a facebook rival, it makes a lot of sense, but will it work? Google could have a second mover advantage and take heed of facebook’s mistakes. But will people use it? I don’t know. I don’t really want the hassle of maintaining 2 social networks, social networks have come and gone before, but is Facebook just too big to take down?`
• YouTube – Mark Webber Parliament Square F1 Pit Stop w/ Red Bull Racing (Full Version) – I’m not entirely sure the reason for doing this, but why not! Red Bull racing driver Mark Webber make a 6am pit stop outside the Houses of Parliament.
• BBC News – iPhone 4 signal fault leaves Apple ‘stunned’ – An unbelievable story, the fault with the iPhone 4 is that it is normally displaying too many bars, so when you hold it and the bars go right down, actually you were already in a low signal area. <br />
  While I am sure that this could be true, surely many people have had other phones and had no signal issues at all! Is this just that the iPhone is an amazing MP3 player, pocket PC, gaming device, etc etc etc but not that good a phone.<br />
  Perhaps next year they’ll release an iPhone without the phone! ….. Wait a moment, that’s the iPad.

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My Links for July 2nd through August 4th

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Synopsis

The law student was young and had his dreams. He’d qualified third in his class at Harvard, now offers poured in from every law firm in America.

The firm was small, but well respected. They were prepared to match, and then exceed, Mitch’s wildest dreams, eighty thousand a year, a BMW and a low-interest mortgage.

Soon the house, the car and the job were his. Then the nightmares begin: the secret files, the bugs in the new bedroom, the mysterious deaths of colleagues, and the millions of dollars of mob money pouring through the office into the Cayman Islands, dollars that the FBI would do anything to trace.

My Review

I have read almost all of John Grisham’s books, and The Firm is my favourite.  Mitchell McDeere is a young law student fresh out of Harvard and joins a unknown law firm in Memphis.  He soon discovers that there is more to the firm than is first obvious, they are a major money launderer for mob.  Mitch is stuck between a rock and a hard place.  On the one side The Firm who will kill anyone who they think could expose them.  On the other the FBI who want Mitch to put his neck on the line and take the firm down from the inside.

Buy The Firm at Amazon

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John Grisham – The Firm

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Synposis

In the Micronesian Islands, a top-secret US undersea lab vanishes . . .

At the same time, off Bermuda, a bathysphere operated by NUMA and overseen by Kurt Austin is attacked and becomes stranded half a mile below the surface. Only quick thinking and bold action will save the crew – which includes the head of a certain, now-missing undersea lab – from a watery grave.

Austin is convinced both events are connected, and he puts NUMA on the case. Soon he’s uncovering some hideous medical experiments and evidence of a terrifying virus that could be used to create a worldwide pandemic. Behind it all lies an ambitious Chinese criminal organization prepared to commit mass murder to achieve its ends.

Now Austin must put his life on the line in order that millions will be saved from death . . .

My Review

I’m a big fan of Clive Cussler’s books, though recently I have stopped buying the hardbacks as soon as they come out (as I don’t have space for them all!) and waiting for the paperbacks, because of this it’s been a while since I read my last Cussler!

I really enjoyed Medusa, the book is one from the Kurt Austin series, a series that I feel has really revitalised Cussler’s writing.  While I will always have a fondness for the Dirk Pitt adventures after twenty books it feels like the character story arc has run its course, whereas the Kurt Austin series (Medusa is the 8th in the series) provides fresh characters and with limitless possibilities.

The general storyline is a familiar one to Cussler fans, starting in the past on a New Bedford Whaling ship the Princess and then moving to modern times, where a current problem will find itself linked to the story of the Princess Whaling ship.  I thought this was a great read and got through the book in just 3 days.  Looking forward to the next!

Click here to buy Clive Cussler’s Medusa at Amazon UK

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Clive Cussler – Medusa

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I’ve often admired “HDR Photos” and this bank holiday weekend have had time to learn how it’s done and have a go myself!  HDR stands for High Dynamic Range Imagery.  It gives a greater dynamic range of luminance’s between light and dark which allows a more accurate representation of intensity levels found in real scenes.

To do this I used the AEB (Auto Exposure Bracketing) on my camera to take 3 photos at different levels of exposure in rapid succession.  I hand held the camera but should have probably used a tripod.  The computer then merges the three images together into an HDR photo.  This looks kind of disappointing as it needs further mapping to look right on a screen.  I then used tonemapping to reveal the details in the highlights and shadows.  This can also be used to create a more artistic “Painterly” effect.

These are some images from my first attempt, I didn’t fully understand what I was doing but was pleased with the results!

This photo “Crossroads” or “At a Crossroads” is taken at the Matfield Village Crossroads.  This was my favourite photo, I like the different looks of the signpost where some are much newer and brighter than others, however I do think the blue of the cycle route signs are a little too vivid.  the greens and oranges of Morellos in the background nicely offset the sign.  To finish off the clouds in the sky have come out very dark and black, despite it being a cloudly day.  I’d love to retake this shot when there is a red sky.

This picture of Mark and Son Butchers uses a very similar tonemapping settings to the previous.  I liked the way the details of the tiles and brickwork come out in the image and the vividness of the blue signage.  This photo was taken as the storefront was being repainted and I particularly like the paint can with brush sticking out by the front door!

Finally a photo of a Fordson Major tractor, I’m not so sure about this image.  I like the “urban, industrial” effect – the detail in the rust and green on the the tractor, but I think maybe the blue is a bit over saturated.

If you like these photos check out my Flickr http://www.flickr.com/photos/88958920@N00/ and see if I’ve posted any more since!  Hopefully this will be the first of many.  If you have any experience with HDR or any views on the photos please leave a comment, I’d love to know what you think or any advice you have.

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My first foray into HDR Photography

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Boo hoo is a gripping, insider’s account of the rise and fall of this most controversial of internet startups – a global, online retailer of sports and designer clothes.  ‘Such a dazzling version of the boo phenomenon that as readers turn the pages they will be rooting for the company to survive even though they know the story ends in disaster.’ The Sunday Times

Boo Hoo is the story of Boo.com a online designer clothing store founded in 1998 by Ernst Malmsten, Kajsa Leander and Patrik Hedelin.  They set out to create a global fashion website launching simultaneously in several countries.  The book is written by Ernst Malmsten and is a facinating insider look at the Boo story from the idea’s conception through to the end.

I found that the book was a brilliant read and many of the lessons in the book or website designs are as useful now as they were 10 years ago.  10 years ago I wasn’t involved in eCommerce and can’t remember ever visiting Boo.com.  However when I consider today’s leading websites, few are as complex as Boo set out to be -

E.G. Boo aimed to launch with

• Free delivery and returns to all the countries they operated in
• Different prices for each territory
• 3D Product images
• A Fashion Magazine (again personalised for each country)
• Leading designer brands
• A Virtual Assistant
• Free returns

There are few websites today which try to do so much.  Ultimatly from reading the book I think that this was their downfall, the systems were so complex they never seemed ready to launch, should they have tried to launch in one country first, make a stable income then grow?  Or were they right to be bold?

The book naturally seems a little one sided, as it was written by one of the founders it is their view of the Boo story, while it seemed a in-depth expose of what happened it does also feel a little one sided in where blame is centred.  There are many headline grabbing lines and interesting stories – Boo burnt through $188 million dollars before it failed, when told there were security issues in their offices, they employed a team of ex Gurkha’s to protect the building.

All in all I would really recommend this to anyone interested in the Internet or eCommerce or just wants a good read!

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Boo Hoo: A Dot Com Story

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Just a quick post as I found this video hilarious!  This weekend is the final testing session before Bahrain opens the 2010 Formula One season on 14th March.  In Spain as the cars are testing and Ferrari practice their pit stops, one McLaren employee will do anything to get a look under the back wing.

He seems to find Ferrari’s reaction funny, They don’t!

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McLaren caught spying again!

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Public outbursts against companies on Twitter

These last few weeks it has seemed like each has had a different social media story, centred around the consumer fighting back.  A prime example of this is the recent story (from econsultancy) of Paperchase selling a design which was allegedly plagiarised from an independent artist.  (Note – Since then Paperchase have stated they bought the design in good faith from an independent supplier).  The artist initially complained to Paperchase direct but to no avail, unable to fight it through the courts she used Twitter to bring attention to this and soon (once picked up by a famous figure) generated 1000′s of twitter posts and  emails directed to Paperchase.

Obviously companies should do all they can to operate fairly, but I do wonder how powerful Twitter is for complaining.  I would have never heard of ANY of the Twitter scandals if it wasn’t for eConsultancy or other Internet blogs!  Also it is only a story for a short space of time before the next story comes along! (more on this from eConsultancy)

That said once a celebrity gets behind something it could then spread like wildfire.  A couple of “Celebrities” that I follow I find often give quite frank and biased views about Products, Companies and people, surely it won’t be long before a twitter libel case!

The Map of the Internet

The above planet map from Experian Hitwise (found through Dave Chaffey’s SMART insights digital marketing blog) shows the relative amount of traffic that each site receives (sufficed to say this blog has not made it there yet!).  I’ve been enjoying the BBC show Virtual Revolution and thought that they used this diagram to great effect.  The point they made was that although anyone can set up a website and there is an unlimited amount of space on the Internet,  that isn’t how it happens – The web has one search engine (Google), one Social Network (Facebook), one video site (You Tube) and one book store (Amazon).  It seems its not just about having a good website, but also about marketing it well.

Shop the high street from your armchair with Google Streetview

According to Search Engine Land, Google are to expand their street view service to look inside stores.  They say “I received a tip from a New York retailer named Oh Nuts, that Google came to their store to take pictures for a new Google Maps product named “Google Store Views.” I was told that they took pictures of the inside of the store, every 6 feet, in all directions. They also took pictures of products.” See CCTV images of the Google photographer at Search Engine Land.

I’m not convinced by this, Any photos they take of displays and products will most likely be out of date by the time they are uploaded.  It could be a nice feature for iconic flagship stores to show off their fantastic architecture and displays, but generally I’m not sure why customers would use it.

Boots may partner with other retailers for in-store delivery service

IMRG posted this small news article, but one I thought could have interesting implications.  They report that Boots UK director of multichannel Tim Stacey said: “There are a lot of retailers with great offers, particularly in sectors such as fashion, which don’t have a good reach. We have over 2,600 stores and can reach many of the small towns where other retailers don’t have a presence. And it could also be another route to market for pure-play retailers who don’t have a store network.”

Obviously space could be an issue for this but it could be a very smart way for Boots to increase their footfall into stores, with many people working during the day and unable to accept parcels at home this could offer a solution to them.  For Boots this would bring more footfall to their branches, get their brand listed on other retailers sites, and I’m sure a large proportion of customers will go on to spend in Boots after collecting.

Multichannel retailers need Multichannel returns

Another post from eConsultancy, sometimes when I read eConsultancy I think their bloggers may be using it as their own “Social media” way of getting back at retailers.  However the posts are usually grounded in good theory.  In this post Graham Charlton tells the story of his faulty mobile phone that he cannot return to store despite the company having a large network of stores.  I think it is essential that all retailers forget the words Multi Channel and focus on Cross Channel.  A customer who wants to use more than one contact route, eg store and online should be considered a much more valuable customer, more likely to spend than one which only shops via one channel.  To this end if a customer wants to buy online and return in store, this should be made as easy as possible.  etailers with “Bricks & Mortar” stores have a fantastic advantage, their stores give them legitimacy and a more trusted brand than pureplay online retailers, so don’t loose your advantage by not having a joined up cross channel culture!

That’s all for this post… Now it’s over to you

If you have any opinions on any of the stories mentioned or have found other interesting etail related stories please leave a comment!

I’m currently reading – Boo Hoo $135 million, 18  months… a dot.com story from concept to catastrophe

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Since my last Etailwatch post I’ve seen a lot of interesting web stories.  Firstly though congratulations to all the companies who won an award or were nominated at the Drapers 2010 etail awards last night!

Laithwaites Wine

I must have read 3-4 reviews of the relaunched Laithwaites wine website so I thought I should check it out myself!  Internet Retailing highlighted the benefits of the ATG platform which allows Laithwaites to centrally manage sales across all their retail channels.

eConsultancy also posted a very in-depth review where they highlight the ease of shopping with the narrow by options, however while these are very good offering a range of matching options I am surprised Laithwaites don’t also use a drop down menu for basic categorisation as some customers may be overwhelmed by the left hand navigation and look for a more traditional categorisation.

Once on a product page there is plenty of information about the wine and even winemaker to help you make your choice, Bazaarvoice are providing customer reviews.  The reviews are helpful but as many are anonymous it is hard to trust them, once there are more reviews and you can see all the wines one reviewer has reviewed I’m sure this will be a much more powerful tool.

A / B Testing

So often changes are made to sites because it is thought to be the right thing to do, but I wonder how many etailers fairly A / B test these changes.  Have a look at this interesting post from the Get Elastic eCommerce Blog where they look at an A / B test of the colour attribute on a product page of the Official Olympic store.  Its easy to look at the results and think it is obvious why variant B is the most successful but it shows how important page design is, as all variants are commonly used on websites.  Page design can be a battle between brand identity and usability, A / B testing can be a powerful tool to quantify the value of changes.

The iPad

I still haven’t decided my opinion on the iPad.  I love the concept of having a Star Trek style pad, something roughly the size of an A4 notepad, but lighter.  I could see how it would be something very easy to use throughout the house, much more naturally portable than a laptop.  However it is limited by the Apple software and I just feel that personally I would probably spend the same or less on a laptop which would be more powerful.

However I think they will be highly successful as most users will already be familiar with the Iphone style interface, and if someone is thinking of buying a Netbook the iPad is a serious alternative.

What does the iPad mean for etailers?  I think it means that suddenly Apple have a great device for “mobile commerce”.  With a 10 inch screen rather than a 2 inch screen, unlike a iPhone, sites will naturally be very shoppable.  I can foresee users watching TV while randomly browsing shopping sites on their iPad, it could bring your webstore into the customers living room, rather than just being part of their office!

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Mercedes GP who bought last years Championship winning team Brawn GP have become the first team to launch their 2010 F1 racing car.

The above teaser was released early this morning prior to the car’s launch at Mercedes Benz museum in Stuttgart.

The new Mercedes car is named the Mercedes MGP W01 and the paint work brings together the heritage of the Mercedes Silver Arrows and the blue highlights of their title sponsor Petronas.

Michael Schumacher says his target is to win the championship, and I think he’s in with a very good chance.

Here’s the full press release from Mercedes.

Today, the new Silver Arrows Formula One works team MERCEDES GP PETRONAS was presented at the Mercedes-Benz Museum in Stuttgart. Nico Rosberg and seven-time Formula One World Champion Michael Schumacher along with team management Ross Brawn, Nick Fry and Norbert Haug were introduced to guests with a presentation and press conference.

Over 600 guests, including 200 media representatives and 200 Mercedes-Benz employees, visited the Mercedes-Benz Museum, one of the biggest and most famous car museums in the world, to see the launch of the team and the unveiling of the new Silver Arrows livery. Mercedes-Benz employees from the company’s manufacturing plants in Untertürkheim and Sindelfingen, 100 of whom were invited for their outstanding performances and 100 selected through a popular internal draw, also had the opportunity to take their first look at the new MERCEDES GP PETRONAS team.

The event opened with a welcome speech by Dr. Dieter Zetsche, CEO of Daimler AG and Head of Mercedes-Benz Cars before Michael Schumacher and Nico Rosberg unveiled the new Silver Arrows livery for the 2010 season on last year’s car. The team’s 2010 car, the MGP W01, will make its track debut at the first Formula One test in Valencia on Monday 1 February, with the 2010 Formula One season starting in Bahrain on 14 March.

The new silver and green livery creates a true marriage between the heritage of the Silver Arrows and the team’s title partner PETRONAS. The legacy of the Silver Arrows goes back to the 1934 Eifel Race when, on the evening before the event, the white paint was sanded off the Mercedes W25 race car to fulfil weight regulations (750kg formula) and the silver colour of the aluminium surface of the car appeared. This season, with the return of the Silver Arrows, the MGP W01 will shine in silver combined with a flow of iridescent silver and green shading. On the nose and other parts of the car, traces of black carbon fibre visible are visible – a reminder of the first Silver Arrow of 1934.

MICHAEL SCHUMACHER:
“Finally the 2010 Formula One season is firing up! I have to say that I am totally committed to this new challenge. This season feels like a re-start for me and I am so motivated. We have a very exciting combination at MERCEDES GP PETRONAS. We have a World Champion team in every sense of the word and I cannot wait to get into the car for the first time in Valencia. I am convinced that MERCEDES GP PETRONAS will be in a very good position to fight for the championships this season and I will definitely give it a go. Driving for Mercedes-Benz again is like the closing of a circle for me as I started my racing driver career with the three-pointed star on my helmet. This is another reason why I cannot wait for the competition to get underway.”

NICO ROSBERG:
“You can really feel the successful motorsport history of Mercedes-Benz here at the Museum in Stuttgart and to be part of the new Silver Arrows team and that racing heritage makes me feel extremely proud and motivated. Since joining the team in November, I have spent a lot of time at the factory in Brackley, at Mercedes-Benz High Performance Engines in Brixworth and here in Stuttgart, which has given me the opportunity to settle in and get to know everyone. I have seen how hard the team is working on the new car and I really can’t wait for the opportunity to drive it for the first time in Valencia next week. I am looking forward to working with everyone at MERCEDES GP PETRONAS and will give it my all to reward their fantastic efforts with good on-track results this season.”

ROSS BRAWN, TEAM PRINCIPAL, MERCEDES GP PETRONAS:
“It is a privilege to be here at the Mercedes-Benz Museum in Stuttgart today for the official presentation of the MERCEDES GP PETRONAS Formula One Team. With your first look around the Museum, you realise the fantastic racing heritage of Mercedes-Benz and we hope to be able to contribute to those successes going forward. Our team have been working extremely hard throughout last year and over the winter on the development of the MGP W01 and everyone at the team is looking forward to the start of testing in Valencia next week. We have two excellent drivers in Nico and Michael, who will form one of the most exciting and one of the best partnerships on the grid, and with the support of Mercedes-Benz, Aabar, our new title partner PETRONAS and all of our team partners, everyone is looking forward to the 2010 Formula One season with anticipation.”

NORBERT HAUG, VICE PRESIDENT MERCEDES-BENZ MOTORSPORT:
“With today’s presentation of our new MERCEDES GP PETRONAS Formula One Team, a new and certainly the most important chapter of over 100 years of Mercedes-Benz motorsport history begins. The new Formula One season will offer challenges which will be bigger than ever before in over sixty years of the sport’s history. We look forward to the cooperation with our drivers Nico Rosberg who has enormous capabilities and perspectives, and with seven-time World Champion Michael Schumacher who is no less motivated than at the time when he began his professional motor racing career with Mercedes-Benz and then made his first step into such a successful Formula One career with our support. Today I also cordially welcome our new title partner PETRONAS as well as our co-investor Aabar/IPIC together with all of our team partners. I warmly welcome all our colleagues from last year’s World Championship team Brawn GP headed by Ross Brawn and Nick Fry to the Mercedes family. There are challenging tasks ahead of us and we will tackle them with power, consistency and full motivation.”

Post from: The Barsley Brief

Mercedes GP launch 2010 car

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In this instalment of Etailwatch  Christmas sales stats, Augmented reality comes to etail, hover effects and the best of 2009.

Christmas day sales up by 29%

Econsultancy has commentated on an eDigital research survey which shows that Christmas day sales are up on last year by 29%.  Most interestingly over 75% of the people surveyed were online on Christmas day or Boxing day.  Read the full report and download the survey from Econsultancy here

Internetretailing.net also reported that Boxing day saw the most ever visitors to John Lewis’ site

Augmented Reality in etail

The web moves so quickly etailers are always looking for ways to differentiate their sites from the competition. Ian Jindal’s blog In No Particular order featured Zugara.

Zugara have created  software for a new type of fashion consumer.  “The Webcam Social Shopper.

and here it is in action on a American etailer’s site

When I saw this I really liked how well thought out the software was.  It makes a standard etail site a social shopping experience as the user is able to thumbs up or down a product, post pictures to their facebook, which will could have a viral effect on the site.  I am sceptical whether it would increase conversion, or how the quality of the user experience over a wide varied fashion retailers catalogue but I think it could really drive traffic to a site.

Enhancing your page with hover effects

The Get Elastic eCommerce Blog have posted “12 ways to enhance your online store with Javascript Hover effects.  I think this is an area which many sites are currently developing and can really improve a site’s usability.  Personally I like the use of hover over on product listing pages on swatches to make the thumbnail change colour, out of stock / promotional messaging – as it is a clear call to action to a customer and also obviously drop down menus.

I am a bit wary of using it to provide cross sell information etc as I feel when you hover over something what pops up should be expected by the customer and you don’t want to bombard them with hover overs.

Best of 2009

With the end of the year, and the end of the noughties invariably there are many “Top lists” from etail blogs, some of the ones I picked up on were

Get Elastic – Wrapping up 2009 – By just giving one top post per month this focuses you on some key website topics

Econsultancy – 24 eCommerce sites reviewed – A selection of the Website reviews that Econsultancy have written this year.

Finally

I hope you have found this issue of etail watch interesting, if you have thoughts on any of the above please leave a comment below.  Alternatively if there’s something you have read which I haven’t covered or a blog / news source you think I might enjoy please let me know (leave a comment or use the contact page)

Post from: The Barsley Brief

Etailwatch – Christmas Sales, AR in Retail and Hover Effects

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