Secretive company shoots secretive ad for secretive product that probably doesn't look like this.
(Credit: http://artilleryunit.com)The Sierra Sun has an interesting tidbit of information that some blogs have picked up: Apple is apparently shooting an ad for a new, unreleased product in Truckee, Calif., which is near Lake Tahoe and good skiing during the winter.
Reportedly, the ad was being shot at a diner called "Jax at the Tracks." (We haven't been able to confirm whether Apple really was filming in the diner, but it does exist). The Sun reports that "because the product they were advertising hadn't been released, members of the group didn't release any information, or allow any photographs."
Bud Haley, owner of the dinner, told the newspaper that, "Apple found us, they're trying to show us as a hip and cool spot for the 20-something crowd."
So tantalizing, isn't it? "Hip," "cool," "20-something." I think I just inhaled an aphrodisiac.
Got a mock script you're willing to share?
(Source: MacDaily News via Sierra Sun)
It may not be April Fools', but don't tell that to The Onion. On Monday, the satire magazine posted news of its fake sale to a fictional Chinese company called Yu Wan Mei that specializes in "amalgamated salvage fisheries and polymer injection."
Along with changes to all of The Onion's front page content, the site's online store underwent a revamp with some humorous entries. The best? A $4,250.99 mystery device with no purpose or explanation besides three glowing LEDs and what looks like a cell phone antenna. Its description simply reads "the device has been completed and is now available for sale. Code 41-Virtue-00B."
Amusingly enough, you can get as far as adding the item to your cart and going through checkout, although you can't actually make the purchase. However the T-shirts on the site are real. More products can be found on Yu Wan Mei's site, which is--of course, fictional.
The lights are there for your protection, and obedience.
(Credit: The Onion)
Sony's OLED TVs at this year's CES show
(Credit: CNET Networks)If Sony wants to be effective in this mystery marketing game, it's going to have to be more patient. Unlike B&O's "Serenata" campaign, which made us wait weeks before letting the secret out, Sony's latest product went live only days after its teaser site began to circulate in earnest.
But no matter. It turns out that the box under wraps was what it called the world's first OLED TV, referring to its ultra-thin and flexible screen technology that uses organic light-emitting diodes. The energy-efficient TV is just 3 millimeters thick and will sell for $1,740 beginning December 1 in Japan.
The 11-inch set won't send masses rushing to buy it, but Sony is anxious to take the lead in this market because competitors are close on its heels. It's also hoping that OLED TVs will eventually overtake plasmas and LCDs as the screen of choice.
(Credit:
Sony)
Of all the companies that have caught the mystery marketing bug, Sony is quickly becoming the most prolific perpetrator. In fact, the campaign tactics may be too secretive for their own good. The Sony "Rolly," for example, still has people guessing what it's all about even after the product was officially unveiled.
Its latest entry is equally baffling. A teaser page on Sony's Japanese Web site offers virtually nothing other than an obscured photo and the obligatory "Coming soon" tag line. (We're thankful that they at least spared us the cliched countdown clock.) Engadget speculates that it could be an all-in-one PC, which wouldn't be a bad idea considering all the coverage that Gateway got with its version this week, but it's really anyone's guess.
And here we are, once again, getting suckered in.
(Credit:
TimeZone)
It never fails. Everytime we vow not to get sucked into another mystery marketing campaign, we end up giving in. We're not sure if it's sheer nosiness or plain stupidity--probably both.
Just as we were drawn against our will to Lenovo's secretive "Reserve Edition" ThinkPad site and B&O's "Serenata" countdown page, we're now hooked on an ultra-exclusive watch appropriately called the "Incognito 2008." Still only a concept that won't be delivered until next year, the watch nevertheless appeared at an auction in Monaco where the bidding started at 100,000 euros and eventually sold for 400,000, or about $566,000, according to BornRich.
What little we do know about the elusive timepiece, which was reportedly purchased by well-known Hong Kong distributer, is that it's made by House of DeWitt, features rare materials with a lithium-aluminum alloy case and is accompanied by its own "flying tourbillon" regulator. Oh, and it's expensive.
(Credit:
Basis Audio)
Hint: It's not a kitchen appliance. Another hint: It's not military equipment. And it's not both.
If you guessed turntable, you're either a true audio aficionado or a cheater. We thought it was some kind of high-tech meat slicer.
Modestly dubbed the "Work of Art" by Basis Audio, the player in question boasts a list of technical specs as long as long as the title track of "Layla" by Derek and the Dominoes. Among its many attributes is an anti-vibrational technology called a "Resonance Annihilator," which makes us think that perhaps we weren't too far off in our rendering-plant guess to begin with.
Not since the "Transrotor Artus" have we seen a vinyl player as elaborately designed (or disguised). BornRich says Basis systems aren't intended "to make a hole in your pocket," which is a good thing--the Transrotor, by contrast, goes for $150,000.
(Credit:
Luxurylaunches)
Sure, a multimillion-dollar yacht is OK, especially if it has multiple bars on board. But the true seagoing sybarite needs a luxury submarine.
That's why some very wealthy adventurers are apparently flocking to U.S. Submarines of Portland, Ore., a company that builds custom models "for the eccentric billionaires who want mysterious and secret subs," according to Luxurylaunches. It says there are 100 luxury subs now in the water with unidentified owners. (Does DHS know about this?)
The price of covert underwater travel is predictably high, ranging from $12 million to $80 million. But you can get a perfectly decent 10-passenger sub on the low end of the scale for just $15 million, though the gym may cost extra. We already sense a new Tom Clancy book in the making.
(Credit:
Engadget)
It takes some doing to create a significant buzz among jaded bloggers, but BMW has managed to do just that (and just as it had planned, we assume). The minicontroversy centers on a special Flash page that teases what looks to be some kind of uberdevice that "touts the ability to play MP3s, DVDs and CDs, has USB and Bluetooth connectivity options, can recognize voice commands, and has a 65,000-color LCD to boot," according to Engadget.
The question, of course, is universal: What is it? And BMW has done little to answer it, naturally, thereby heightening the curiosity factor. Autoblog, for one, asked why an automaker would want to get into personal electronics.
It may not be as much of a stretch as it seems. As we all know, co-branding of everything from laptops to cell phones has been common among luxury car companies for some time. The test will be whether BMW is actually designing and manufacturing this device itself--whatever it is.
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