I just heard about PDRM's My Distress application for smartphones. With this mobile app that's equipped with GPS, users can signal for help in emergency situations using their smartphone. The signal will immediately be routed to the control rooms of the Selangor police headquarters and eight district police stations.
Signal for help using your mobile phone
I foresee many prank signals of people trying to 'test' or 'accidently' signaling the cops but I'm interested to know how the cops are going to curb false calls. Also, will be good to see how fast is the response time for this app. But overall, I think it's a great effort from the police department to invest and develop apps which are beneficial to the public.
P/S: Much better use of fund compared to the 1Malaysia Email system which I still think is a complete waste of money.
Subscribers download coupons from McDonald’s Japan’s website but instead of showing the coupon on the phone screen to the clerk and paying with cash, customers can place their orders, redeem their coupons and pay the tab – with their wallet phones. The customers can punch in their orders on their handsets while waiting in line.
Nevermind global adoption, WOULD MALAYSIANS ADOPT NFC?
Yes, eventually. No doubt there would be fear of hackers, dead batteries and crashing phones but this is a similar situation when online payment was introduced. Users were first sceptical about e-transactions too but they grew to be accustomed to it. Though banks struggled a little to build consumer’s trust, some brands like AirAsia built confidence and grew stronger with e-payment. Now it’s apart of their daily lives.
Does This Eliminate The Need Of Banking?
Digital Dudette thinks: It might, if banks do not innovate and grow together with mobile technology.
•In UK, the recession has dented consumer trust in banks, making mobile operators' promises of an electronic purse and e-money services even more appealing.
•Mobile payment systems created by telecommunication companies in Japan and Kenya are more successful than some joint ventures between telecos and banks.
•And with prepaid development like Vodafone: With M-Pesa, an individual would go to a kiosk, buy a pre-loaded card, enter a code into their mobile device and make transactions.
“Banks will lose customers and revenue stream.” But then again;
•Mobile operators don't realise how hard it is to develop trust in a payment brand. They have no experience.
So banks must adapt. Mobile’s the future of banking.
The most innovative segment in Digital Marketing and perhaps one of the most over used word since last year, Augmented Reality has probably been exposed to plentiful of clients and how they could potentially create novelty in Malaysia by being one of the very few brands to use.
What is Augmented Reality?
I think one should first see an example of AR in a video before reading about it because words cannot tell you how cool it can be. Simply said, AR works by receiving input from your device (eg. webcam) and uses a technology to alter the reality in the output (eg. computer screen). Find out how it works in-detail in How Stuff Works.
Who’s used AR in Malaysia?
Perhaps one of the first to leverage on this technology is MAS Airlines, who developed the MHdeals AR App. It uses GPS to position airports around you and display the best Malaysian Airline deals. See the video below to learn how MAS Airlines used AR.
My point of view.
The usage of AR is rather pointless in this app. As a user, if I’m travelling, my need to locate an airport nearby me sounds bit daft. Perhaps they could have taken a little more initiative to do an integrated campaign with print. For example, they could print a map of China and use AR to recognize the country, thus showing the users the latest promos MHdeals are offering to fly there.
Lesson to learn?
Though augmented reality is COOL, it SHOULD NOT be used if it doesn’t serve a distinctive purpose.
AR Success Story - Stella Artois Bar Finder App
I love how the idea of AR technology was beautifully executed for Bar Finder app by Stella Artois. It’s serves a purpose, it’s convenient, it’s the reason why people would want to embrace AR. It’s lifestyle driven app to drive sales, what could beat that?
#NEW UPDATES (Nov 2011):
Latest adaptation of augmented reality in Malaysia.
1.F&N Big Fun Fest: Augmented Reality Dance in streets of KL.
