The media has been calling us “the QR code killers” (TheNextWeb, Mashable, GigaOM). Although we never promoted ourselves this way, and we definitely never created our products with that thought, we must admit that this comparison to QR helps in explaining what we do. But let’s be honest: We are not QR haters. In fact, we are dedicated to the idea of connecting print to mobile, no matter which technology gets the job done.
To us, it’s about creating the best end-user experience by giving them access to great content and deals, objectively searching for the best way to do that. One of the things we do is create a network of advertisers and publishers who work on the same platform so the end-user only needs one single app for both use-cases. And instead of choosing to work with QR codes, we choose to work with image recognition technology. And that is how we’ve been labeled as “the QR killers”.
And that is fine with us, just as long as you know, that we have a broader vision.
We stumbled upon this research by Archrival about the thoughts of US students on QR codes. The most interesting from this report is the question “Can they scan?” Turns out that only 21.5% could! Those who didn’t
Tried but gave up
Thought taking a picture would scan it
Didn’t want to download the app
Decided it took too long
As you see, and as all companies in this field already know, there are some issues to be resolved. Scanning a code isn’t second nature to everybody yet.
With Shortcut we have already taken away some of those hurdles, due to the fact that Shortcut users already take pictures of pages every day. They know the routine. For them, there is no need to download and install another app. They just do what they are used to doing: Take a picture and automatically connect to mobile.
Last week we released Shortcut as an update to our previous Paperboy app. This post is the first in a series, which intends to describe some of the motivations and learnings behind the new app.
The first thing you will notice when you start Shortcut coming from Paperboy is the new look and user interface. The concept was developed from observing how users use Paperboy, by integrating feedback from our partners, and ideas from our team members. The design was then developed jointly between our product development team (Cristi, David, Franco, and Tomas) and the graphic designers PandA.
Putting content at the center of attention – and the UI
What users actually valued most while using Paperboy is the great print content. What they want is to share, explore, remember, and discuss the content. Great print content often comes with great design as well. For both editorial- and advertising- content. Thus, it makes sense to place the content at the center of the user interface. (An idea that came originally from one of our sales team members, who interacts with publishers and advertisers on a daily basis). Compare the old and the new version of the result screen below:
The old result screen on the left. The new result screen, shown on the two images at the right. Note how the content took it's place at the center of the UI, instead of being reduced to a tiny thumbnail. Also note the menu at the very right, which opens in a shape so it can easily be reached with the thumb.
The extended Path navigation as a winner
At launch the press unisono described our new navigation concept as “Path-like”. And this is where we took the inspiration from, indeed. Using a single button navigation for common actions allows to minimize the space the UI takes up, and thus supports the concept of putting the content at the center of attention. The + turning into an x is an elegant twist, which was used by Apple (on their Dashboard) besides Path as well.
The + to x menu animation. As seen from Apple (left) and Path (right). If you compare with our solution for Shortcut, we 1) changed the shape of the opened menue to adapt the movement of the thumb across the touch screen, 2) made the icons bigger and thus easier to hit, and 3) faded the background for the open menu, so that the contrast to the buttons is better.
We liked the concept so much that we decided to take it over. But not without testing it first! We had several alternative interfaces, which we tested with real users. (A later post will describe how we did that exactly on a shoestring budget.) In the end, the Path-style interface came out as the clear winner.
However, we did not take over the interface without trying to improve it. The buttons in Path menu are a bit small, and the circle arrangement seems suboptimal. We came up with a solution, which fills the whole screen and curves to fit the movement of the thumb in order to keep buttons easily accessible. (And yes, we should do a leftie version!)
This is just the first step – carried out in HTML 5
We see this implementation of the user interface as a first step. In the coming months we will add and rearrange some features and accordingly adapt the UI. The center stage will be reserved for the content, however.
Designing the results with HTML 5 embedded within a native app makes iteration simple. We are not the first to see this as the future: linkedin, facebook, and others follow the same path as well.
Another blog post will go into the details of our learnings while developing an HTML 5 mobile app. Strategically, the choice of HTML 5 was motivated by the following factors:
easy iteration of features and designs, without app-store submission
cross-platform deployment
measurability and even A/B testing possibilities. Since all is in HTML we can easily track actions on the navigation and use the collected statistics to decide on the future of features in a Lean-startup manner.
So, stay tuned for new features and further novelties in the UI of Shortcut.
Today, the name kooaba Paperboy is changed into kooaba Shortcut. If you are new to our service click here to download the free app and start today. Existing users will get the new app Shortcut via automatic update and will notice features such as:
A more intuitive interface
A smooth result page
Single button for all options
Scroll down to explore
Double tap to zoom
Faster recognition of the pages
Improved recognition of pages (more challenging pictures are recognized)
We created a new 37 seconds video to explain the concept
And another short demo video showing the app
For more information, downloads, and a list of all the supported print titles visit our new Shortcut website.
Sounds great! But why this new name?
We have two reasons for that. First, not only newspapers are interactive (for which Paperboy was initially designed for), but also many magazines joined the last couple of years. The name paperboy clearly refers to newspapers only and that gives you the wrong impression.
Second, interactive print advertising is going to play a bigger role in the future. Using Shortcut, you will get access to the most interesting deals and extras on your mobile phone by taking a picture of ads and billboards with the shortcut icon. We already offered Smart Ads on a smaller scale and now – starting here in Switzerland – we are taking this to the next level. Read about our partnership with APG and Publicitas and about our vision on interactive print advertising in this blogpost.
Paperboy was about newspapers. Shortcut is about newspapers, magazines, but also about ads and billboards.
You see more and more QR codes popping up in print advertisements. It’s called ‘interactive print advertising’. What it does is connecting you to the web – or other digital extras – by scanning a code with your mobile phone that is printed on the advertisement. This basic idea is good, because advertisers can directly offer interested readers more information and tools such as videos, store locators, and more.
QR-Code as a stepping stone
We believe QR-Codes are belonging to an intermediate technology used for things it was never meant for. Despite the enormous media attention QR is getting, it still is not at a level where people are really using it. It does not seem to fit into peoples daily routine. Besides that, we have also seen a lot of misplaced QR codes, and many mistakes like codes in magazines that are too small to scan. Sure, there are cases in which QR makes sense, especially when they are generated dynamically. For example when you get a ticket after delivering a package to the post, or the creative case of the Korean supermarket. But for print- and outdoor advertising, it is simply not needed.
But why still this QR technology?
It is because nobody has really taken the lead to set a standard. Of course, it is hard to do, because you need a lot of people and companies working on the same thing, including media agencies, advertisers, advertising agencies, publishers, developers, and of course the consumers. Although QR is being experimented with, we believe it is not really practical for interactive print. It was a makeshift solution, accessible to everyone.
There was nothing better…
Here in Switzerland, we are trying to build something that will change this. Something that comes much closer to augmenting on a scalable level, and flawlessly integrating interactive print advertising into peoples daily life.
For that being able to work we need to have all those different stakeholders working together. Therefor kooaba is partnering up with the leading media agencies in Switzerland (outdoor and print) and combining this with the already existing relationship we have with publishers end consumers on our interactive print use case. The solution will be build around our all-in-one app ‘kooaba Shortcut’ using image recognition technology. And now QR codes are no longer needed. Image recognition technology is fast, reliable, doesn’t ruin your layout and can be controlled from remote and at any time.
It fits in the bigger picture
With Shortcut, hundreds of thousands of users worldwide are already connected with over a 1’000 daily newspapers and magazines. Sharing the digital version, storing it and even discussing articles with other readers. Interactive print advertising fits well in this environment. That’s why it only makes sense to combine those two. We aim to make all print ads, newspapers and magazines interactive. Media agencies, publishers and the users are all collaborating to support this vision. And advertisers will have easy-to-setup options (introducing at the beginning of Q2, useful modules such as sweepstakes, mobile coupons, store locators and more).
The right partners
Today, we are not only announcing our new app, but – as said earlier – are also introducing a partnership with the biggest outdoor media agency (APG) and the leading print media agency (Publicitas) to set the standard for interactive print advertising. Together we can make this product mainstream and pull it out of the niche of some experimental ads. The two industry leaders here in Switzerland have decided to focus on a single solution and a single strategy.
The right time
Everyone has a smartphone and a data plan and knows the routine – but now that interactive print supported by image recognition technology exists, we can take the next step. It is time to stop overusing QR codes. For us, the short-term goal is clear: To make interactive print advertising as accessible and useful as possible to benefit publishers, advertisers and the end consumer.
What’s next?
Not long from now, every print ad will be interactive. Print and outdoor advertising will help create a truly interactive city with statues that come alive, political billboards that introduce you to the candidates, movie posters that show trailers and tell you the next showing time, restaurants that allow you to peruse a menu and book a table, coupons that you activate by being in a spot at a particular time, shopping from magazines and digital commenting on newspapers enlivening.
Publishers, advertisers and media agencies work seamlessly together on this integrated system bringing the consumers the best content and most complete experience.
And what do we do? kooaba is creating the windows. To be continued….
Since early on, we have built our image recognition platform not only for our own apps, but also opened it to developers from around the world in the form of an API. This is motivated by our observation that users are not served best with one image recognition app for all purposes, but rather multiple niche products – each with its own unique use case and business potential. It is simply impossible for a single company to cover all of those use cases properly. Thus, our API has been quite a success with hundreds of accounts deployed.
Today, we announce a brand new release of our API. The biggest news that it is much faster. Recognition times below 1s are now possible. We achieved this by optimizing the whole query path and stripping out unnecessary overheads. This also brings API users much more granular control over how much meta-data they want to store and retrieve with each recognitions result. Furthermore, we also offer an Android demo application, which makes development of a simple app much easier.
What’s new in detail:
Amount of returned metadata can be chosen for each individual request. If you only need a bare image recognition, you don’t have to parse all those metadata anymore. And you get the recognition results faster as a bonus.
Extensible interface. Lacking something in our API? Let us know, so we can rectify that. The API is ready to go beyond image matching and we have several things in the pipeline. Stay tuned!
Quirk free. Our previous query API was built around our apps and some of our API users had to work around its special behaviors. No more hacks! Ever.
These new features allow for new kinds of applications, also especially in the field of augmented reality, thanks to the faster recognition.
For the Android demo app, it lets you set basic config such as group ids, compresssion etc. via a dedicated UI. This way you can test the parameters that work best easily, and then take over the code into your own project. The screenshots below illustrate some details of the app:
API demo-app: settings screen. Allows for API specifying request parameters via a graphical user interface
API demo app: result screen. Shows meta data for matched reference image, as well as paramaters such as timing etc,
On Friday, the new Nokia phone – the Lumia 800 – was released in Switzerland. And it’s no coincidence that today we are also launching Paperboy for Windows 7. Together with Nokia Switzerland, we developed Paperboy for the Windows Phone marketplace. Kudos also to Adam Walker, who did the heavy lifting in terms of coding. The screenshots below give you an impression how the app looks, but to get the full experience you really have to try it. So smooth.
Here’s a quick video tour:
About the Lumia 800 itself, we think it’s great! It feels solid, and its beautifully-shaped case makes it a pleasure to look at. Using Gorilla Glass 800 x 480 ClearBlack screen, its deep black color (from the AMOLED technology – as seen in Samsung’s Galaxy series) gives it a really nice finishing touch.
Carrying a fat wallet can be a pain. Its bulkiness makes the back pocket of your jeans a rather unattractive shape. It is even said to harm your back because you have to sit in this slightly slanted position. It’s hard to locate that customer loyalty card in your fat wallet when you need it. And what’s up with all these faded receipts you carry around? And the coupon that expired two years ago? As with many of life’s small problems, Seinfeld probably sums it up best:
So, wouldn’t it be nice to have a thin wallet that slips easily in the front pocket of your jeans, or the pocket in your suit? I have to admit that I am a bit of a productivity geek, and recently I spent some time researching solutions to this problem. Here’s what I found: Basically, there are three options:
Optimize the contents of your wallet
Get a better wallet
Get rid of your wallet altogether
Optimizing the contents of your wallet
A normal wallet these days usually contains some cash (bills or coins), some plastic cards (credit cards, loyalty cards, …), and some paper snippets like receipts, photos, coupons, etc.
How can you optimize this? The most potential is probably with the cards. There are some loyalty cards you probably rarely use. But of course, if you don’t have them in your wallet all the time, you certainly won’t think of bringing them along when you need them. The straightforward solution is to take pictures of the cards that you don’t need very often and don’t need a magnetic strip to use. E.g. for most frequent flyer cards, you just need the number, and the gate agent can just type it in instead of swiping your card. The same holds true for certain loyalty cards. So what do you do to remember the number? Take a picture of the card with your phone, and archive it so that you can retrieve it easily when needed. This works really well with Déjà Vu!
Same story works for for receipts: snap a picture to save it, dispose of the paper version, and keep the (backed-up) digital copy by using Déjà Vu. To easily retrieve cards and receipts, just use tags, like the video below illustrates:
Another way to optimize i.e. limit the number of cards you carry around is to see if you can combine certain cards. Some frequent flyer cards offer combining it with a credit card, the same works for the Swiss half-fare card. Some progressive countries such as Estonia allow you to put credit for public transport on your ID (so you don’t need an additional card). In some places you can drive without your license, as officers can check your driver’s license with your id.
In fact, the country you live in can make a big difference in the number of cards you have to carry. In the US, your driver’s licence is your primary ID. In many countries, they are separate cards. The currency is another big factor: Do you have to carry a lot of heavy coins (Swiss 5 franc coins, arrgh), or do you have to carry huge stacks of paper money with little value (Indonesia, arrgh).
Get a better wallet
Some wallets are already really fat and heavy even when they’re empty. (Go and check at the wallet section at your local department store. It’s quite surprising). But there are some wallets that explicitly try to solve this problem. Of course the look of it should still be somewhat decent. Googling around, I found this wallet, which claims to be thinnest on the Earth:
The Slimmy wallet
I ordered one and have to say it’s quite nice indeed. The only disadvantage is that it doesn’t have a coin pocket. But if it had one, it would drastically increase its size, so you have to carry loose change in your pocket.
Another option I was recently pointed to is the AbrAsus wallet (hat-tip: Alex). (Funny enough it is also from Japan).
Here’s a pretty cool demo video for that wallet (in Japanese).
Actually, a really great (i.e. slim) wallet would make a good Christmas gift!
Getting rid of your wallet altogether
Of course, with the smartphone revolution (which added another thing to carry around in the first place) the hope is that the phone will replace the wallet altogether.
Mobile payment is on the rise, and the latest phones come with NFC, which allows not only for payment but also couponing, receiving digital receipts, etc. One such implementation is Google wallet.
The same NFC technology can be used for identification in public transport or even to serve as your national ID. There are still some privacy issues to be resolved for the latter, of course.
Alternatively, if it’s just about cashless payments on the go, you could opt for the cool kid on the block, Square.
Recent studies claim that will only take a couple of years until mobile (in-store) payment will take off.
Until we have reached a wallet-less society – do you have other tips to make your wallet slimmer? Let me know!
Update: just this Sunday the fat wallet problem was discussed in one of the larger Swiss Sunday Newspapers. By now you should be convinced that there is a problem. And solutions to it.
You’ve seen United Colors of Benetton’s Unhate advertisements. They’re seared in your brain.
There’s the one with Merkel and Sarkozy. Another with Obama and Hu Jintao. One featuring Netanyahou and Abbas.
According to the Associated Press, Benetton withdrew an image of Pope Benedict XVI and Ahmed Mohamed el-Tayeb after the Vatican threatened legal action. The White House made it clear that it was against the idea of using the US President’s likeness for commercial purposes. Sure, Benetton has a history of provocative ads, but these take the cake.
We’re happy to be working with Benetton this weekend to make these ads even more interactive. If you’re a reader of the Austrian Kurier, you can take a photo of the Kurier to unlock a special coupon redeemable at Benetton Megastores in Vienna and Saltzburg from Friday, December 16th to Monday, December 19.
Our image recognition software is fun to play with even if you’re not in Vienna or Saltzburg this weekend. If you take a picture of any of the ads with Paperboy, (try it!) you’ll be redirected to the advertisement on your phone where you can watch the UNHATE Guerilla videos, enter a contest and see the rest of the ads via the UNHATE website. There, you can watch the film UNHATE, by French director Laurent Chanez, about the precarious balance and complex interweaving the drive to hate and the reasons to love. That’s a nice message for the holidays.
You might already know that we connect thousands of users to thousands of newspapers and magazines every single day with Paperboy. You can then share this page with friends, store it for future reference in ‘my.kooaba’ or ‘Evernote’, or explore the links to related content on your phone.
Try it: Download Paperboy for iPhone or Android. Take a picture of a page in your favorite printed publication and you are taken directly to the corresponding digital copy on your mobile phone. Make sure though, the publication is supported because it doesn’t work on all publications (yet). Click here for the list.
But this is just part of our vision. We ultimately want to bridge the gap between print and digital completely and combine the best of both worlds. Connecting all those people with all that content brings an incredible frontier of new opportunities. Whether you’re reading an article, commenting on a blogpost, or researching a new topic, you are communicating with others. This is something that is very common online, or face-to-face, but simply isn’t possible directly through paper publications, until now.
Now, with your phone, you can comment on something you read offline, without using your favorite search engine to type in keywords to find a corresponding article. Just take a picture of the article with Paperboy. And it will link you to the digital version of the article. Comments and all. Think about that. Let it sink for a while…. It’s almost magic
With Paperboy, we feel that we are one step closer to having the perfect blend of print and online content. As you know, many of us still prefer reading articles on paper, but many of us also want to be able to do things online, such as commenting and reacting.
Leave a comment on printed articles
When taking a picture, you will see a new link at the bottom of the mobile page like this:
Click it and you can leave a comment
It will be shown directly in the list of the reactions of others!
Commenting on content is just one of the things that we will continue to improve as we bring readers closer together. We hope that readers will soon expect high quality digital extras to accompany printed content.
Paperboy supports an ever-growing list of of newspapers and magazines. (Here you will find a list of all of the publications.) We think it’s quite impressive!
If you’re a publisher, you should join today. It’s as easy as pie. All you need to do is upload a PDF to our system, when there is a new publication. (If your favorite paper or magazine doesn’t use Paperboy – send them a note and ask them to!)
Much more to come
2012 is going to be an exiting year. Commenting on articles is just one of the first elements of our plan to create an all-round reader experience. By the beginning of next year, for example, you can expect a major update on Paperboy that will bring mind-blowing improvements in both UI and UX. We will continue to bring the community together in ways that add value to how and what you enjoy reading, online and offline.
And just as important, we will continue to expand our coverage to include more print titles. Many more magazines have shown interest and will be making their publications interactive for their readers.
