michael douglas smith

UCL Final + adidas = all in!

Editor — Fri, 18 May 2012 23:26:44 +0000

One of the biggest matches of the year is tomorrow and with the UEFA Champions League Final being held in Munchen, Germany and both finalist being official partners adidas has gone ‘all in’ at many key sites in the Bravarian capital! In addition to launching a micro site they produced an amazing 3D video at the famous Fashion House Hirmer as seen below that shows a real time display of the fan predictions of who will win. Head to the micro site and get all in on your prediction: http://uclfinal.com

Smartphones Used by 50% Working Out

Editor — Sun, 06 May 2012 16:30:04 +0000

The Smartphone is becoming more prevelant in daily life even during workouts. Somewhat related to a recent post, Lab42 put together this infographic showing how smartphones are being used during workouts, around fitness and how the gamification of social status/rewards are creeping into the mobile workout space.

The Testimonials: The Next kickstarter Success?

Editor — Fri, 04 May 2012 18:20:08 +0000

Kickstarter has been showing tremendous results for game developers, designers and other creative projects and people over the last few months. One category that has not exploded with a major over funding achievement yet has been publishing, yet a new soccer book is seeking to change that title The Testimonials.

The Testimonials, a fictional novel by Michael Douglas Smith, has just launched a kickstarter campaign to produce the book, publish and distribute it directly to the market at a low cost for the end buyer. Kickstarter often finds success for projects where traditional publishing may not have an appetite for the project.

“I originally wanted to publish this book before the 2010 World Cup, but the tasks to get it to market would not have met the timeline and the effort to lock down a publisher without them taking ownership of the project just didn’t make sense. However, kickstarter offers the opportunity to control the process, guage the community interest and based on that increase the value of the product while reducing the cost to the eventual market,” noted Smith.

The Testimonials is a fictional novel about six boys on two continents whose paths cross through war and football (soccer) culminating in a testimonial match for one of them at one of the world’s biggest clubs. Three of the boys grow up in Africa during a time where young men must ‘kick a ball or carry a gun’ and better be good at one of them to survive. The other three grow up in Irish families in Charlestown, MA at a time when its home of one of the nation’s largest and most fierce Irish mobs. Both sets of boys face challenges that cause them to serve their countries, communities and families allowing them flourish to become professional soldiers and footballers in the face of many harsh challenges.

A testimonial match, often referred to simply as a testimonial, is a practice in some sports, notably football and especially in the United Kingdom, where a club puts on a match in honor of a player for service to the club.

The Tesimonials (www.thetestimonials.com) can be found at kickstarter, twitter (@thetestimonials) and Facebook.

mCommerce, The Wave is Coming

Editor — Wed, 02 May 2012 18:23:53 +0000

Mobile payment hasn’t become the de facto method of financial transactions just yet, but it is projected to overtake those archaic credit cards, checkbooks and bank notes you’ve been lugging around. The ability to make payments from your mobile device will make it your preferential PPD (Personal Purchasing Device). SapientNitro put together this amazing infographic on the topic.

Apps Aren’t Easy!

Editor — Wed, 02 May 2012 16:29:14 +0000

Everyone loves the dream of writing some code and watching 50M people download it like Angry Birds, but the reality is the super hit franchises don’t happen easily. Most take a lot of work to break even let alone make money. You need a strategic marketing advantage or you had better be willing to work to push the marketing for success. The compan app promo, albeit they are int eh app promotion business so their posture may be skewed, but they put together this nice info graphic.

The adidas Predator LZ

Editor — Wed, 02 May 2012 16:19:09 +0000

The boys at adidas have been teasing this boot for a few weeks and finally its here! adidas launched the Predator® Lethal Zones boot; the new boot was unleashed at a unique event pitting some of the best players in the World against each other in five deadly challenges designed to test every aspect of a player’s ability.

The launch event was created to showcase the capabilities of the new Predator® Lethal Zones boot which is composed of five, super-light (SL) rubber and memory foam 3-D zones, each designed to support perfect ball control.

Leading global stars, including Manchester City’s Edin Dzeko and Manchester United’s Luis Nani and Tom Cleverly, took on the challenges and tested their abilities in the latest iteration of the adidas Predator®. Available content includes iamges of the launch and the new adidas Predator® boot.

The Top Health & Fitness Apps

Editor — Tue, 01 May 2012 02:13:10 +0000

With today’s announcement of adidas and 505games upcoming micoach console game, I thought it approporiat to highlight the top current health and fitness apps on the market. Hightable created this infographic for exercise, eating and sleep.

Is the South Rising Again?

Editor — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 15:03:30 +0000

OK, so from a percentage of growth the South had a lot of head room which is making some movement, but Silicon Valley still leads nearly everyone else cumulatively by dollars. Still good to see in the infographic by Venture51 that the South is growing on startup funding.

The History of Travel

Editor — Sun, 29 Apr 2012 17:24:42 +0000

Travel has evolved massively the last two hundred plus years and Teletext didn’t miss out. The travel industry’s past has been very colourful and the future looks just as bright. The following infographic shows some of the key events that led to the travel industry we now know and love.

Game Change, More Sport Social Media Info

Editor — Sat, 28 Apr 2012 00:10:23 +0000

KT Tape, the company that produces those cool tape patterns you see on athletes, put tother another insight into social media in sport. Sport is the force multiplier of so many things, but social media seems to be somewhat exponential. Here’s the infographic.