Fujitsu, which applied for an iPad trademark in 2003 insists it has prior rights to the brand name. “It’s our understanding that the name is ours,” says the director of Fujitsu’s public relations division, Masahiro Yamane. He said Fujitsu was aware of Apple’s plans to sell the iPad tablet [as is the entire population of Planet Earth] and that his firm is consulting lawyers over the matter.

Fujitsu’s machine has a 3.5-inch color touchscreen, an Intel processor, Wi-fi and Bluetooth connections; it also supports VoIP telephone calls and runs on Microsoft’s CE.NET operating system.

In über-PR mode Yamane continued: “Mobile is a keyword for Fujitsu’s iPad too. With [our] iPad, workers don’t have to keep running back to a computer. They have everything right at their fingertips.”

Unsurprisingly, given their different markets [commercial versus consumer]  there is a massive price differential. Fujitsu's machine - which enables shop clerks to verify prices, check real-time inventory data and close sales - carries a unit price tag of over $2,000, compared with $499 for Apple's entry-level iPad.

Fujitsu’s case is by no means watertight. The US Patent and Trademark Office listed Fujitsu’s application as abandoned in early 2009, although the Japanese company resuscitated it in June 2009.

That background sound you hear isn't torrential rain; it's the smacking of lawyers lips!

Factual data only is sourced from the original attributed article. The data is then enhanced by additional research and comment.

A service launched this week by Bing enables advertisers to connect with consumers via food and paid search ads. Search for an ingredient (say, tomato) and the engine delivers recipes made with the item. Searchers will also get a list of nutritional value, calories, benefits, types and varieties, and more.

To the left of this data there are articles, ratings, cuisine, convenience, occasion, main ingredient, course, and cooking instructions. And for the green-fingered there are related searches, from how to grow tomatoes, history and facts to diseases.

While to the right of the page, surfers see a few paid search ads - although a Bing executive insists the new service is not supported by paid sponsorships or partnerships.

Bing's search engine spiders crawl sites for recipe content from partners, such as Delish.com and MyRecipes.com - both of whom have inked a content-sharing agreement with Microsoft.

Currently Google doesn't offer a similar integrated search ... but watch this space!

Factual data only is sourced from the original attributed article. The data is then enhanced by additional research and comment.

According to Procter & Gamble spokeswoman Tressie Long, the company doesn't see the project as an additional source of revenue growth - although it will doubtless deliver useful incremental sales - but more as a "learning laboratory".

Anxious not to ruffle the feathers of major stockists such as Wal-Mart, whose stores - both online and tangible - are a substantial channel for P&G brands, the canny FMCG titan plans to share the data it accrues with key retail chains.

The new virtual store will be owned and operated by e-commerce service provider PFSweb. Initially the store will remain in pilot mode, servicing around 5,000 selected consumers and offering only P&G brands. Product pricing on the site will be at the discretion of PFSweb, avers P&G [unconvincingly].

Maximum prominence, naturally enough, will initially be given to P&G's gorilla brands, notably Tide, Pampers and Olay, although second-tier brands will also feature.There will be a set $5 shipping fee for all orders.

The new site will be accessible only to P&G-selected consumers during during the pilot phase, but is scheduled to be extended to the public at large in Spring 2010 at www.pgestore.com.

Factual data only is sourced from the original attributed article. The data is then enhanced by additional research and comment.

Ford has embarked on a bold - some might say risky - strategy: "One Ford". Which, according to ceo Alan Mulally, is the development of global automobiles, rather than distinct cars and trucks for distinct markets.

This year Ford will launch the Fiesta subcompact in the USA along with its first global-platform car, Focus, using different approaches to marketing the two vehicles. This two-pronged strategy reflects the fact that while the Fiesta brand is largely unknown to Americans (although ubiquitous in Europe), the Focus marque is widely known stateside.

Integral to the plan for both models is the use of telematics - in-car technology for music, entertainment, communications and information.

Group vp of marketing Jim Farley believes that Ford's in-vehicle telematics and communications platform, Sync, should  emulate Apple's iPhone by hosting third-party applications. 

"The bottom line is, when you enter your car, it should be as cool as your iPhone. My point of view is that we create an open platform like iPhone and let the applications flow based on Sync. This seems odd, since you would think we want dollars, but we want the Sync community to grow and these applications are more creative than we can create."

Or as MediaPost's headline aptly put it: 'Ford's Message: We Are The Medium'.

Factual data only is sourced from the original attributed article. The data is then enhanced by additional research and comment.

Chicago-based video advertising specialist  Liquidus is developing a feature in its BannerLink ad technology that allows advertisers to instantly amend prices from their content management system, and have the changes reflect online as soon as they occur - for example the Staples product prices displayed in the banner ad (left).

According to the firm's co-founder and evp of creative services Chris Carlton, "consumers interact with the ads at least eight times more than the average industry banner ad, with an average interaction rate of nearly 17%."

The next product version, scheduled for release this summer, will have automated "human voiceover" capability. Currently , Liquidus' system offers a text-to-speech feature, where a script automatically generates a voiceover. The update, however,  will enable Liquidus to record sound bits of human speech and stitch the script together.

The firm's rich media video banner ad format holds huge amounts of data, enabling  advertisers to add substantial inventory specs in one advertisement. For example, an auto dealer can have up to 200 car listings in one banner ad. Each listing might support a video that includes animation and several other functions.
 

Factual data only is sourced from the original attributed article. The data is then enhanced by additional research and comment.

The twosome, who each dominate their respective markets, have developed an advanced retail sign with touch-screen panels that enable shoppers to access coupons or promotions. It will also display product images.

The slightly sinister gizmo is equipped with video cameras and specialized software that recognize the age, gender and height of people facing them; they'll also record which products and images attract the most attention. The data-gathering droids report to retailers which marketing messages are the most effective, enabling mall and high-street retailers to evolve marketing approaches that better those of their data-rich online competitors.

Exploiting traditional retailers' paranoia at the market incursions made by online rivals, Joe Jensen, general manager of Intel's embedded computing division, rachets-up his sales pitch: "Every year retailers lose more ground to online [outlets], and they have to do something about that."

The pitch continues: "Embedded computing adds intelligence to products that aren't computers, including retail point-of-sale systems, office equipment, car entertainment systems and factory gear."

It just so happens that Intel and Microsoft both have sizeable embedded businesses.

According to independent observer Nikki Baird, managing partner of analyst firm Retail Systems Research:"Signs are a logical target, since the medium is believed to be growing at a time while most other forms of advertising are in decline. The concept gained momentum among retailers about six years ago - starting with banks of TV screens set up to display simple marketing messages."

Since when, continues Baird: "Companies such as Wal-Mart Stores started putting advertising displays or kiosks in other parts of stores. More recently, software companies and retailers have exploited the spread of smartphones, developing applications that allow cameras to photograph barcodes of products so viewers can check prices online at other outlets".

 

Factual data only is sourced from the original attributed article. The data is then enhanced by additional research and comment.

For at least a decade US magazines have been experimenting with barcodes and icons that could link readers to websites in a bid to add interactivity to paper pages.

Now Esquire is set to grab the bull by the horns in its March issue, utilizing monotone barcodes that can be connected via smartphone to online styling advice related to items featured in the magazine's pages.

InStyle magazine is also adding interactive graphics to its  articles, while Entertainment Weekly and Star are including them in ads.

The idea is not new. Back in 2000, a company called Digital:Convergence introduced a product called the CueCat - but the technology was convoluted requiring users to by a handheld scanner.

Says Jonathan B Bulkeley, the chief executive of Scanbuy, which is working on the mobile program with Esquire and other publications: “This idea is basically the same - it's just everyone [now] has a scanner in their pocket."

Factual data only is sourced from the original attributed article. The data is then enhanced by additional research and comment.

Rubicon evp John Thomas Batson (27) has thrown a lifeline to some online publishers with a system that matches ad inventory to high bids on ad networks and advertising exchanges in which web publishers and advertisers buy and sell space.

In just two months Batson has convinced thirty of the web's larger digital publishers to form a digital consortium where they aim to sell online advertising at rates 60% to 300% higher than at present.

Batson describes his role as that of a 'scarcity referee', ensuring that no publisher under his watch will continue to sell large amounts of cheap digital ad space. (He deflects concerns about antitrust liability by explaining that publishers will all decide their own prices just as they do now.)

Instead, media outlets will sell the premium ads themselves, transferring what's left over to Rubicon. The latter will meld  the inventory, infuse it with consumer data that news outlets collect from their readers [e-mail addresses, gender, income and hobbies] and sell it to marketers with a need to reach carefully defined audiences. "Everybody wins," says Batson.

Participating web publishers include such gold-plated names as Time Inc, Tribune, Hearst and Media News Group.

If Rubicon nosedives, more media outlets could fold for lack of ad revenue. Or they'll come up with new business models, which would mean consumers could be paying for the news they read online.

But if Rubicon succeeds it will help publishers challenge Google-owned DoubleClick, the largest online ad seller which handles 50% of ad network inventory and controls 23% of the world's $65 billion internet ad market.

Observes Rubicon ceo Frank Addante: "That's huge, but it means there's a fragmented 77% still out there. We're going to bring that together and be the platform that helps people compete against Google."

But there's no shortage of competition from other firms that repackage or resell web ad slots. They include AdMeld, Pubmatic and Yahoo's Rightmedia.

Publishers are motivated to work with Rubicon by a survival instinct,  Batson says.

Whereas he is motivated by the nobler desire to keep news and information free. "I don't want to see the day when people have less access to online information - when only the wealthy can afford to read news," says Batson. "But with what we're doing, that day won't come."

In addition to Batson's selfless ambition, Rubicon might well pick up a few billion dollars en route!

Factual data only is sourced from the original attributed article. The data is then enhanced by additional research and comment.

Chipmaker Freescale expects the Smartbooks, known as reference designs, to be copied by manufacturers and appear on retail shelves by the summer. The devices claim all-day battery life, constant internet connectivity, a touch screen, Android operating system and are expected to be available for less than $200. Chinese PC leviathan Lenovo will introduce a more costly version of a smartbook at the same show.

“The smartbook market has the potential to be as large as, or to exceed, the netbook market,” says Lenovo's director of consumer marketing Ninis Samuel, who describes the device's target market as ranging from "early teens to post-graduate young adults who use the web heavily".

“These consumers don’t necessarily need the full PC functionality of a laptop or netbook all the time, but they do desire a device that can give them a rich web and media experience on the go with a stylish and cool design,” Samuel adds.

Factual data only is sourced from the original attributed article. The data is then enhanced by additional research and comment.

The iViewer set, from British manufacturer Cello Electronics, has built-in internet access, and requires a broadband or WiFi connection in order to view web channels. Until now the BBC catch-up service was available only on TV via set top boxes, games consoles or a digital TV subscription with Virgin Media.

Other internet channels available on iViewer will include Jamie Oliver's Ministry of Food, YouTube and video podcasts by news providers CNN and chat show host Larry King.

A delay in the delivery of an essential chip manufactured in the US set back the software writing process by four months.

"We start manufacturing the sets in County Durham this weekend," Cello managing director Brian Palmer told BBC News.

The LCD sets are available in 26in and 32in models (priced £399 and £499 respectively) and are upgradable remotely by Cello when BBC iPlayer starts broadcasting in HD.

Factual data only is sourced from the original attributed article. The data is then enhanced by additional research and comment.