Trend alert // what's coming up?

In an article on Mashable, Shane Snow highlights eight media trends "on the cusp of being mainstream and others (that) still have a bit to cook before breaking the surface." With the pace of change, a few days on the sidelines can leave you seriously behind the game. What is interesting is to watch these trends develop and to be able to identify the patterns they reveal. By understanding what's going on right now we can more accurately predict what will emerge tomorrow.
  

Eight key trends that we can see developing now are:

1. Targeted, Geo-Mobile Coupons - Foursquare is leading the way with hyper-relevant coupons that catch you when you are in the right place with coupons that are useful to you at the right time
2. Audio Watermarking - offering a new way to connect digital devices, embedded audio we cannot hear will shortly have the ability to communicate with our devices
3. Passive Location-Based Networking - tracking your friends as a trend has picked up quickly, albeit some privacy concerns, with Highlight being the most popular app for this (see grabs below)
4. Motion Tracking and Facial Recognition for Intention Data - technology is developing rapidly and the personalisation and analysis enabled by facial recognition and motion tracking is an appealing concept to many developers
5. Automatic Social Media-Activated Discounts - large brands like Amex are launching Twitter and Foursquare integrations, enabling them to engage with consumers while they're on the go through incentives (see clip below)
6. Brands Building Publications and Entertainment Channels - the focus is shifting from bought to owned media as big brands attempt to engage and retain their consumers in entertainment spaces
7. TV on the Internet - the online experience gives us more control, enables us to choose what we watch, when and how, and allowing this trend to grow in strength as it gains the backing of program publishers
8. Mobile, Immersive Reality - as technology catches up with fantasy, an augmented reality will soon play a role within our everyday reality

  

Highlight features and functions

  

  

Amex sync with Twitter demonstration