In a world where handsets are released weekly, it gets hard to keep track of all the numbered models. I sometimes confuse model numbers, but always remember names like Rokr, Pebl and Chocolate. While memorable, these naming conventions can also be value laden. Handset names can easily attract a certain demographic, or even repel it. Take LG’s Chocolate phone. It sounds like the most decadent and smooth phone on the market. The Pebl sounds like a small, solid phone. Now, what consumer group will be attracted to decadence? Which group seeks durability and small size? These names can also become a sales burden. Perhaps a numbered system would be better….

When does photo sharing stop making sense? I understand why people post photos related to news stories in the LA Times, or even of the city where the paper is published. It does not make sense to assume people will share all their photos from their newspaper’s webpage. There are so many other photo sharing sites with a huge range of features and benefits. The market for photo sharing services is reaching saturation. Consumers are overloaded with the number of choices to share photos. It’s what my colleagues Joe Wilcox and Michael Gartenberg call feature overload - there are so many choices available that consumers throw their hands up with dismay instead of making a decision. It’s great that websites are allowing consumers to realize the potential of their digital cameras. However, the choices are starting to confuse consumers!

What is truly surprising is the willingness of camera vendors to branch out to printing. Companies that have long provided both imaging and printing devices, such as Canon, can justify offering high-grade photo-quality printers. However, when a camera-oriented vendor enters the printing game, it seems like pure folly. The at-home printing market may not be shrinking, but it certainly isn’t huge. To enter the printing market, vendors must prove that they have mastered printing technology in order for consumers to buy their products. To establish a name as a capable printer vendor take times. Unless the device and supply price are so low that consumers can’t help but be attracted to the brand, new entrants to the at-home photo printing market are in for a hard slog.

A fingerprint scanning system could certainly increase the security of a school and its students. The same system could also replace the need for passwords on the school computers, and track PC-use activity. Sure, bullying could lead to misuse of accounts (a child could be forced to scan a fingerprint so a peer can get up to trouble), but a fingerprint scanning system in a school could really unify the electronic experience. Of course, those pesky consent issues will prevent a simplified system like this from working.

Triggerfinger’s approach seems innovative and interesting, but like in many instances the biggest obstacle to adoption is consumer perception. Consumers will have many questions, and some folks will give it a try. The key to testing market flexibility and interest when introducing a new concept is education and patience. Vendors of new products, like Triggerfinger, must show consumers how a device or software will change their lives. Simply expecting that the market will understand the product is not enough. Willingness to change also takes time. While a few early adopters will be eager to try a product, the mass market may need a little extra urging over a longer period of time to even think of testing a product. Triggerfinger’s innovations will not win out over existing input devices in the short term, but the products are garnering attention from major players in the US software and hardware sectors. Only time will tell what battles these products might incite.

The motionlingo is billed as a ‘personal fitness companion’ – a GPS device that plugs into a portable media player to provide audio queues and updates while exercising. It’s pretty impressive, and non-intrusive if I’m already carrying a music player. I simply stick the two devices in my running belt, and off I go. As an active sportsperson, it’s been a fun little device to work with. It took some time to get up and running when I first had it out of the box, but it was eventually able to adapt to the new environment. I live in an urban area with pretty dense tree cover, so triangulating with three satellites is sometimes difficult. When I took the motionlingo through some flat, open farmland and to a remote and rocky area of the Canadian shield, I had a good clear signal the entire time.

When the device is working, it’s great to have audio cues announce distance, speed, pace, calories burned, and more. A recorded voice provides frequent updates depending the program I set, lowering and raising the volume of my music ever so slightly to provide the updates. When I return home, I can synch the motionlingo with my PC, use the provided software to track my performance and peg my mileage on a Google map. It took some getting use to the software interface, but certainly wasn’t a challenge that would prevent me from using the system.

The buttons on the motionlingo bugged me, though. They are scattered on all sides, and a bit difficult to get used to. While I am somewhat coordinated, with the ability to run and fiddle with a device, I repeatedly had to stop and look at the device to figure out which button to push to change the program or get an update. It was a bit of a pain, and something I couldn’t really practice when you are sitting at home. This is Adeo’s first stab at an audio GPS device, so I speculate the next production run will resolve this layout issue.

The motionlingo sells for $149 US, and is a pretty cool device for those active folks who don’t want to check a wrist-worn device to analyze performance. So while I may not need GPS when I’m outdoors, it’s a novelty that can enhance the sporting experience.