Google’s attempt to compete with the massively popular app Flipboard is just that…an attempt. Flipboard by far my favorite iPad app. I use it religiously throughout the day and it’s my primary source for news. However, being a Google fan, I downloaded Currents and gave it a shot. The end result: it does some things nicely, others not so much.

The problem with new products that come out and attempt to compete with other products that are already very successful is there really needs to be an incentive to change. Outside of experiencing a major issue with a product or service, the act of changing one’s behavior requires something more than “comparable.” The new product needs to offer something the current product doesn’t — and that’s where I believe, at least for me, Currents fails.

Currents is a nice app. It has a beautiful design, it has a lot of publication feeds and it’s fairly easy to set-up and use. To be honest, the one thing that Currents does better than Flipboard is the set-up function. It’s a lot easier to find and add a publication to your feed in Currents than it is through Flipboard.  But that’s where it ends. Currents doesn’t offer me anything Flipboard doesn’t. I’ve invested a lot of time and I’ve become comfortable with Flipboard. If Currents doesn’t offer me anything Flipboard doesn’t, why would I change?

Outside of not differeniating itself from Flipboard, at its core, Currents isn’t social. Right now, that’s what I love about Flipboard. Flipboard makes it easy to share what I’m reading. Currents does allow you to +1 (recommend) an article and does allow you to share via Facebook, Twitter, etc., but it’s not as easy as it is on Flipboard.

Overall, Currents is a fine newsreader app. It mirrors Flipboard…just not as nicely. While Currents is a good option for those looking for a news aggreator app, Flipboard does it better and is more social. I’m sure Google will make some improvements to Currents, but right now, I’m sticking with Flipboard.

P.S. How the heck does one get to the original article through Currents? Flipboard gives you the article’s link, but I have no idea how to access the original article through Currents. Someone help me out.

In the digital space, we’re always looking at what the next trend is going to be. We’re paid to ensure we’re in the loop of “what’s hot” and how our company and/or clients can implement it into their business. As such, for the past 12 months I’ve been completely fascinated with augmented reality (AR). In my opinion, and if I had to scale the level of opportunity, impact and importance, AR would be on the top of my list for trends-to-watch.

Augmented Reality has been around for quite some time, with its roots dating back to the late 50s – the term “augment reality” was coined in 1992. While there have been a significant amount of uses of AR, the most well-known to the general public is the yellow “first down” line used in the National Football League. However, as the smart phone has continued to occupy more hands and more of our daily lives, AR has begun to get more attention. As a result, more companies and brands are beginning to explore AR and put more emphasis on its potential use.

For the sake of trying to keep this article short, I’ll focus mostly on mobile use, but will touch briefly on examples of AR outside the mobile space.

Common Uses:
• Location overlay: Right now, the broadest and most basic use of AR is in terms of location. You can use Yelp’s AR app, for example, to find a nearby restaurant, hotel, hospital, shopping outlet, etc.; and then get reviews and tips on Lonely Planet’s AR app.

• Information: For those who like to travel, you can use Wikitude World Browser to find information and data about a variety of points of interest. Not only that, but museums are starting to use AR for their exhibits and to share information. One of the coolest apps that I’ve recently started playing with is Sekai, which allows you to tag a location with information (photos, text, video)

• Gaming: One of the coolest uses of AR is in the gaming industry. While the initial gaming will be basic, we’ll eventually evolve into more complex and advanced gaming. A few cool examples: Rock’em Sock’em Robots; AR.Drone Parrot; Zombie ShootAR

One of the most intriguing uses of AR comes in the potential collaboration with location-based services. Imagine the uses of an AR-LBS partnership for city and state departments. I’m imaging a protocol where data about everyone who visits a certain location is stored in the cloud and only accessible by local police departments. Say a store was robbed, a child gone missing, or someone assaulted. Your local police could simply point their phone at a designated location and see everyone who was at or near that location within a given time period. An interesting and useful way to cut down on crime and violence.

Other Examples

As I mentioned, most of my fascination is in the mobile AR spectrum, but there are quite a few interesting usages on other platforms. Here’s a sample:

• General Motors is testing an AR system for their cars to help with poor driving conditions
• AR textbooks (video)
• Social kiosks: Unilever ice cream machine; Diesel’s fashion cam
• Medical usages
• Lego’s augmented reality kiosk
• Adidas’ augmented shoe
• The Rolling Stones: Exile on Your Street

As you can see, there are a lot of interesting uses of AR and a lot of opportunities as the technology continues to advance. Are there obstacles that need to be addressed before AR is mainstream? Absolutely. However, companies and brands have taken the first step. As research and innovation continues, I think we’re going to see a major breakthrough in the AR space within the next 12 months.

Let’s say you’re on vacation in a foreign country and you wanted to go sightseeing. While you may grab a map (a look like a complete tourist), in the future you’ll use your phone as a guide. What augmented reality will allow you to do is gather information about historic landmarks by simply pointing your phone toward a building.

With this continued advancement in technology and our continued evolution of a connected society, the biggest issue I see with AR – like social media – is privacy. We’re all exhibitionists and love to share information and broadcast ourselves to the public, but until now, we had control. Taking a look at the bigger picture, and not simply on social media, we’re at a crossroads with emerging technology. We must decide whether to relinquish complete control, or stifle innovation.

While the opportunities and potential for AR is endless, how much do we want to give up? How naked are you willing to get? How comfortable are you with having your daily movement tracked and publicized for anyone and everyone to see? There will obviously be checks and balances – maybe the option to opt out at any given moment (that raises another question regarding curtailing innovation), but are you willing and ready to give up control?

Personally, I love the potential of AR and am excited for the solutions it can provide. While there’s a lot more depth to the technicality and business-uses of AR, I want this post to simply open the discussion. Are you likely to participate or does the lack of privacy scare you off? Are the solutions and luxuries that AR will provide worth the cost of always being monitored?

Your thoughts?

A while back I wrote a post that argued against focusing on coming up with the next “big thing”. My point was that if you concentrate solely on trying to come up with a cutesy campaign, that you’re going to overlook the simple and little things that actually deliver. However, that’s not to say you need to stop trying to be innovative. I there’s a big misconception that being innovative requires the next “big idea” when, in fact, being innovative often is the result of doing the little things extremely well.

You’ve all heard the saying “there’s no such thing as a stupid question”.  I’m going to go one further and say “there’s no such thing as a stupid idea”. Yes, there are ideas that don’t work, but there is no such thing as an idea being stupid. How many times are you sitting in a meeting and you’re tasked with coming up with “two or three good ideas’? I understand that it would be timely and a waste of time to go over every single idea; however, that’s not to say you should dismiss an idea.

Think of the products and companies that you consider “innovative”. These products and companies didn’t become innovative by dismissing ideas. They became innovative by encouraging ideas and encouraging brainstorming. They became innovative by welcoming change and willing to take risks. They serve the unknown.

I come up with topics for blog posts at odd times. Often times, those ideas are actually that, ideas. Ideas that I may not have enough content to fill an entire post, so I jot the ideas down. I probably have 10-15 ideas that may consist of a paragraph or two or three bullet points. Rather than forgetting or ignoring these ideas, I keep them saved and I’m able to go back and add as thoughts come to me. This spurs innovation. This process ensures that I’m not constricted to thoughts and ideas that are current and top of mind.

How can we become innovative if I’m asking you to stop thinking outside the box? It’s not that I don’t like creative thinking. It’s the idea that all your work and thoughts are focused too much on fame and notoriety. Continue to focus on new and creative processes, but your entire plan shouldn’t be filled with ideas that are “new” or “groundbreaking”.

All to often we’re scared to speak up and go against the status quo. However, with innovation, we’re expected to fail – something most people fear and don’t understand. Innovation doesn’t come by coming up with the next “best thing”, rather it comes from coming up with a unique solution to an already established problem.

So go ahead, run with scissors.