As part of their integrated campaign in support of the company’s 2012 Versa Seda model, Nissan is leveraging a previously widely unexploited Apple iAd feature to help deliver the campaigns’ young, tech savvy target consumer.

The Versa iAd utilizes gyro technology–offered on the iPad and iPhone–to allow the user to take in a 360-degree view of the car as they pan their device to the left or right while viewing the ad.  True to its name, the iAd also offers elements of jazzy interaction to the experience: when a viewer shakes their phone, for example, the people in the ad will put on different hats. 

A classy convergence of technology and targeting!

The big search companies are always finding new ways to push the limits of search, like search suggest and voice search (to mention a few).  Well, sometimes, typing to get the right search can take too long, and speaking a search query just isn’t appropriate in a crowded or noisy room.  Worry no longer…yesterday, Google announced Gesture Search, a new Google Labs application for Android-powered devices running Android 2.0 or above in the US. Gesture Search lets you quickly find a contact, an installed application, a bookmark or a music track from hundreds or thousands of items, by simply drawing alphabet gestures on the touch screen.

Just open Gesture Search, and draw the letter “V”; the application will search your Android 2.0 device and return a list of items starting with “V”.  Voila!!!…there’s your buddy Vaclav’s phone number!  Fret not if your handwriting is slop and your “V’s” resemble busted-up “U’s”….the application will return results for both letters.

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Google recently announced their Click-to-Call feature allowing local advertisers to post their phone numbers in Adwords ads, enabling seamless one-stop connectivity between advertiser and consumer via a Smartphone Adwords ad.

Going one step further, this week, the search giant is rolling-out their Click-to-Call platform on a national level where advertisers can add a national phone number to the last line of ad text for any existing or new campaign, making it easy for customers to connect with the business by phone directly from the ad, regardless of their location.

“This can be especially helpful when you’re trying to connect with the business call center rather than a specific business location. After searching for travel services, for example, you might want to call to discuss trip planning with an agent… Now, if you’re using an iPhone, Android device, or Palm Pre, you can just click the phone number to call the business without needing to navigate to a new page”.

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