What Will They Think of Next?: Santa Sends a Personal Video Message to Your Child

Every year, kids from all over the world pen letters to Santa, assuring that they've been nice, and requesting their favourite toys, along with things like peace on earth and happiness for all. They might receive a letter back confirming that Santa has received the note, but in the digital age, why not take things one step further? Sympatico/MSN has done just that with a dedicated Website, www.portablenorthpole.sympatico.msn.ca/home that allows you to create a personalized message from Santa to a child of your choice.

Visit the site, and answer questions like how old the child is, whether it's a boy or girl, and what his/her name is. Select (from an existing list of options) what the child has requested for Christmas (a doll, electronic toy, or movie, perhaps?) To make the message even more personal, you can even upload a photo of the child, which will appear on the "nice" list that Santa has on his lap.

Once completed, show the child the video message that Santa e-mailed to you for him/her; you've got connections! The fact that he calls the child by name, knows his/her age, and even what the child has asked for, will light up the child's face. The only drawback is that if the child's name isn't in the pre-made list, while you can manually type it in for consideration to be added to the growing list, Santa won't say it. The same goes for an unusual gift requests.

The video can be accessed at any time afterwards via an e-mail address and password; or by clicking on the direct link.

From a technology perspective, the site is actually part of a beta platform set up by Ugroupmedia. The company hopes to utilize the patent-pending technology for other concepts in the future, ranging from online advertising to video blogging.

Black Friday, Holiday Shopping Looking Up...Considering

You've probably been bombarded with the words "economy", "downturn", and, (yikes!) "recession" over the past few months but, as Tracy Mullin, President & CEO of the National Retail Federation (NRF) puts it, "no one is canceling Christmas because money is tight." To the contrary, while customers will be tightening their belts a bit, they're still going to be out there shopping like they do every other year. They'll just be more mindful of snagging the best deals.

The NRF says that price will play by far the largest role in purchasing decisions this holiday season, with 40% of respondents to its Holiday Consumer Intentions and Actions Survey citing sales or promotions as what they'll be looking for. This year represents the smallest increase in planned spending: up just 1.9% to US$832.36 per person vs. $816.69 last year. But the number is still up, which is a positive sign.

Shoppers will likely cut back on gifts for the family, says the NRF, because they feel their family will "understand their current situation". Surprisingly, however, many will still make personal purchases, waiting until the holiday season to take advantage of the best deals. Overall, the NRF expects holiday spending to increase 2.2% to US$470.4 billion: not too shabby, considering.

As for Black Friday, which is one of the busiest shopping days of the year and scheduled to take place on Friday, November 28 (right after Thanksgiving), the NRF projects that shoppers will be gravitating more toward "personal and practical gifts" instead of big-ticket items this year. The Federation cites things like DVDs, CDs, and books as being most popular in the technology category (55.6%), followed by gaming consoles, Blu-ray players, and other like items (30%). (Funny enough, HD DVD players actually outsold Blu-ray players on Black Friday last year!)

Consumers will be changing one other thing this year: more will be opting to pay by cash instead of credit. But with good enough deals, they will fork over the dough.

Given the number of e-mail notifications I've received over the last few days about product price reductions, it appears that retailers (and manufacturers) are working hard to offer enticing enough deals to keep customers in the shops. Remember: if you don't shop while the economy is in a downturn, you'll only make it worse! (Some may call that female logic, but I digress).

In retrospect, it's eye-opening to think that at this time last year, retail prices were dropping drastically due to the strength of the Canadian dollar. Meanwhile this year, price drops are happening for a completely different, and opposite, reason. But on a positive note, it just goes to show that things happen in waves, and for every downside there's an up. I'm confident that holiday shopping will be just as hot this year as it was last; leading up to bigger and better years to come!

Happy Shopping!

HDTV: Who Knew Football Was SO Powerful?

The RetailBRIDGE cites a study that claims 5.5 million U.S. TV viewers purchased HDTVs during the holiday season and football's Superbowl in February 2008. To put this number in perspective, 28 million U.S. households in total own HDTVs. This means that 20% of the current HDTV population in the U.S. jumped on board during the Christmas season and Superbowl timeframe. Wow!

There are obviously other factors that come into play here: amazingly low prices during those few months (and even still today!), the upcoming FCC transition to all-digital TV, and growing consumer knowledge about HDTV overall. But a major surge in sales during those 3 months is great news for the industry; and just reinforces the importance of the holidays and sports. It's incredible when you think just how important gift-giving and sporting events are to the CE business.

The study, which was conducted by Frank N. Magid Associates, reports that one-quarter of the U.S. population now owns an HDTV; and almost 10 million homes now have at least two HDTVs. 30 million Americans say they plan to buy an HDTV this year, and virtually all of them say they'll go HD.

As more and more consumers begin to understand HDTV, and the sources that are required to obtain content, the format is poised for major growth. When will we reach 100% penetration? Judging from the way things are going now, I think we'll get pretty darned close by 2009.

For those who aren't familiar with how to get HD, here's a quick recap of the requirements:

1) Buy an high-definition TV (720p, 1080i, or 1080p, with the latter being the "best" quality possible; but all three technically representing HD-quality)

2) Buy an HD source, like a cable or satellite set-top box, Blu-ray disc player, or Sony PlayStation 3.

3) To access high-definition programming via cable or satellite TV, contact your provider and subscribe to the high-definition channels you want. In most cases, the provider should have some sort of HD add-on pack that includes most, if not all, of the available high-def channels. If you want to watch a high-definition DVD, you must buy a Blu-ray disc and play it back in a Blu-ray player. If you buy a standard DVD movie, it will not become high-definition if you play it back in your Blu-ray player; although it will be upscaled to a better quality image.

That's it, and you're off to enjoying HD content in all its glory!