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A Video Ad, In a Paper Magazine
lee1 writes "The first-ever video advertisement will be published in a traditional paper magazine — Entertainment Weekly — in September.
The video will be displayed on slim-line screens
around the size of a mobile phone display and will have rechargeable
batteries. The associated chip can hold up to 40 minutes of video, and uses technology similar to that used in singing greeting cards, playing
the movie when the page is turned. The first clips will preview CBS
shows and advertise Pepsi, but they will only be distributed in Los Angeles and New York.
Imagine the fun hacking possibilities."
I searched in vain for anything in the article that says something about sound. Even if the ad will have audio, I don't think it will last long in that form. From what I understand, the technology to put relatively cheap audio ads in print periodicals has been around for sometime - nobody uses them for a reason. It would make the periodical a menace for any environment where quiet is valued (e.g. doctor's office or library). Pure video, on the other hand, does not suffer from this problem.
Moreover, I'm sure that if they can make a small flexible screen, then can probably also make a small "unmute" button that allows the user to choose to listen to the ad.
For your intellectual edification:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w7GErbdNRrE
Dedicated Cthulhu Cultist since 4523 BC.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w7GErbdNRrE
This is what it looks like
Yes, there will be sound, no you can't set the volume, yes it plays with sound when you first open it, this is an advertisement after all -- they want you to attract the attention of those around you.
You should check out the Wired article. It has a YouTube clip.
Or........ we could look at the fact that the lion's share of the cost of a technology is wrapped into the conceptualization and production of the first unit brought to market. Then we could look at the fact that the cost of technology decreases as the "new hotness" factor wears off. Do you see where this is going?
AFAIK that cover was fixed areas, kinda like those old LCD games, or a 7-segment display, etc. You can only turn areas on and off, it wasn't a pixel-based display.
I didn't bother to do anything with the issue that I bought, but I did notice that the thing kept going far longer than I expected it to. I think I bought the thing in September of last year and it was still going up until last week before giving up the ghost.
I wouldn't expect someone like you to be commenting on an article like this when they clearly don't know what they're talking about. You'd know, right off the bat, from the article summary that it uses a mechanism similar to that of greeting cards with sound chips in them. That means THERE IS NO STANDBY MODE. It's either ON. OR OFF. The tab that is pulled when you open the card, and in this case... the advertisement fold itself, removes the complete power short that prevents the battery from powering the device at all.
You can't possibly think a battery is going to drain that fast. I have greeting cards from 3 years ago that still play the samples as loud as I first opened them. They're your standard CR232 cells inside... so they don't even recharge.
Advertisers don't pay the bill for you. In fact, you are paying indirectly for the ads by using your wallet. Whenever you buy a coke or a pepsi, a fraction of the price you paid ends up being invested in a publicity somewhere.
I searched in vain for anything in the article that says something about sound.
It does have sound. It this video posted by another commenter below, you can see the speaker at the 1:02 minute mark:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w7GErbdNRrE
It is dangerous to be right when the government is wrong.
It couldn't be repurposed. It was a fixed layout Eink design. Nothing more than an overglorified LCD style animation, similar to those in the Tiger Electronics and Game & Watch systems. Portions became dark, those portions became light. The screen itself couldn't have been salvaged for anything because while it was Eink, it wasn't the kind of Eink that many people hoped it would be (individual granules acting as pixels.)
You make it a joke but...
Pretty sure that's Family Guy: Blue Harvest spoof on Star Wars that the whole "INTERGALACTIC PROTON POWERED ELECTRICAL TENTACLED ADVERTISING DROIDS" thing comes from...
I'm sure one of the next versions of Flashblock, NoScript or Adblock Plus will take care of this.