...Sony is facing competition from other robot manufacturers, including Honda. It is also facing competition from toy manufacturers selling low-‐end knock-‐offs (e.g., Poo-‐Chi). How should these affect Sony's positioning strategy? "AIBO is not at all intended to replace live animals," said Grace Ann Arnold, spokeswoman for Sony Electronics. "It is technologically designed primarily for entertainment purposes. You can train it and teach it. It does have emotions and instincts built in. But it is not intended to replace animals." "We're keeping in perspective that it's a child's toy," said Rachel Johnson, spokeswoman for Tiger Electronics. "It's fun and exciting and a whole new level of interactive play. But it's not our goal to replace household pets." When firms adopt a reverse or breakaway positioning strategy, there is no pretense about what they're up to. Part of the appeal of their cleverly positioned product offerings comes from explicitly subverting convention through unconventional promotions, prices, and attributes. In contrast, companies that use stealth positioning adopt a covert approach. They conceal the true nature of their products by affiliating them with a different category. This is a powerful strategy for marketers when a category is in some way tainted. Consumers may feel intimidated by products in the category (as can be the case with new technologies); they may be skeptical of the products because previous offerings...
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...AIBO grew out of Sony's Computer Science Laboratory (CSL). Founded in 1990, CSL was set up to emulate the famed innovation center at Xerox’s Palo Alto Research Center (PARC). CSL's first product was the Aperios operating system, later to form the base software AIBO's. When Nobuyuki Idei became president of Sony in 1995, he sought to adopt a digital agenda, reflected in the new motto he gave the company, “Digital Dream Kids,” and the prominence he gave to CSL.[8] Two AIBO Prototypes and transparent ERS-7 Famed engineer Dr. Toshitada Doi is credited as AIBO’s original progenitor: in 1994 he had started work on robots with artificial intelligence expert Masahiro Fujita within CSL. Fujita would write that the robot's behaviors will need to “be sufficiently complex or unexpected so that people keep an interest in watching or taking care of it”.[9] Fujita argued that entertainment robots might be viable as "A robot for entertainment can be effectively designed using various state-of-the-art technologies, such as speech recognition and vision, even though these technologies may not be mature enough for applications where they perform a critical function. While there exists special and difficult requirements in entertainment applications themselves, limited capabilities in the speech and vision systems may turn out to be an interesting and attractive feature for appropriately designed entertainment robots." His early monkey-like prototype "MUTANT" included behaviors that would become...
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...1. Cum ar putea factorii personali sa influenteze cumpararea unui AIBO?Dar a unui WEET BOT? Desi un robot este o “persoana “ fara sentimente, printre factorii care pot influenta cumpararea acestui tip de produs se pot regasi aceleasi nevoi/necesitati care apar in cazul cumpararii unui animal de companie. Desi AIBO este doar un robot,el poate suplini in mare masura prezenta unui animal de companie. Functiile acestuia sunt din cele mai diverse. Avand un vocabular de peste 1000 de cuvinte, AIBO este capabil sa inteleaga comenzile si sa poarte chiar si conversatii, dar nu foarte complicate. De asemenea, robotul AIBO nu trebuie spalat,nu trebuie hranit si nici nu necesita o atentie sporita. Cu toate astea, robotii raman insa accesorii mecanice. Punand in balanta avantajele si dezavantajele acestor roboti,putem spune ca avem si un raport sentiment- pret, in conformitate cu investitia in sine. Avantajele mai sus mentionate sunt menite sa serveasca cumparatorul ,facilitandu-i intr-un fel sau altul viata sociala. 2. Ce factori culturali si de clasa sociala ar putea influenta decizia de cumparare a unui AIBO sau a unui WEE BOT? In ceea ce priveste achizitionarea unui robot, atitudinile consumatorilor fata de produs pot fi complexe. Ele variaza in functie de: infatisare, de aptitudini sau de timpul de functionare.prezenta raportului calitate-pret este esentiala, cumparatorul punand calitatea si pretul redus pe primele locuri. In ceea ce priveste factorii care pot influenta alegerea...
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...value proposition? AIBO was not only a lovable toy but also an intelligent functional product that Sony programmed to respond with affection to creatures that ask for people’s nurturance. Sony made it have “brain” and motor skills by artificial intelligence software, made it have “emotion” and “personality” which made customers take it as real pet, or companion. People give care to it and get reaction as well. This kind of feedback loop is an area where people are really emotionally vulnerable. From these AIBOs people can get something touched their hearts and make things easier and more entertainment in life. * What is appeal to buyers in Japan and US? The reasons why AIBO can succeed in Japan were because: First, many Japanese lived in small apartments so that they can’t keep real pets at home. AIBO was the perfect robotic pet, which possesses the fun of a living creature without making the messy inconvenience. Second, the number of elderly population was growing and AIBOs can give them as part of companions. And last, the culture of Japan from all the famous cartoons they grew up with was “Robots are heroes”. So they can accept and love AIBO easily in this environment. But culture in the US is different. The robots appeared in their famous movies and books are often enemies, so older Americans aren’t very comfortable with robot pets since they think there’s something dangerous about technology. Besides the mainstream Americans don’t know what can AIBO really do, but the...
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...The term “brand equity” is a combination of brand value, brand strength and brand image (also referred as brand description).The ability of a brand description to be able to cater to the needs and wants of a target market using the right marketing mix leading to the brand strength (loyalty) which ultimately leads to the brand value thus making these three interconnected and forming a brand equity chain. On the basis of this, brand equity is defined as the value brought about by the various benefits of brand such as security of sustained future revenue. There are different ways of measuring brand equity or the “added value”. The value is derived from the actions of consumers who rely on brand knowledge structures and who respond to products, price, communication etc. Two important components for this brand knowledge are brand awareness and brand image. While brand awareness is characterized by breadth and depth in terms of various consumption situations the brand comes to mind and the likelihood that the brand is recalled, brand image is consumer perceptions about the brand. The second article gives an in depth knowledge about the ways to measure a brand equity system which help in interpreting marketing strategies and assessing the value of the brand. The third article covers the brand valuation literature. This brand valuation can be measured by looking into two areas i.e :marketing measurement and financial treatment of brands. But there are various obstacles to this valuation...
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...http://www.sony.net/Fun/design/activity/product/rolly_01.html Rolly a fost lansat pe data de 10 septembrie de Sony Style Japonia ca un inlocuitor pentru Aibo, cu un pret de vanzare de 39,800 Yen, in jur de 170 £ . Rolly este un robot in forma de ou care combina functiile unui music player cu cele ale unui robot. Are doua roti care ii permit sa se roteasca si sa se miste, precum si doua benzi luminoase cu LED-uri care suporta pana la 16 milioane de culori si doua manute in forma de cupa care se pot deschide si inchide in ambele parti, toate acestea fiind sincronizate in functie de melodia ascultata. Rolly are mai multe moduri de operare printre care si functionalitate Bluetooth. Acesta poate reda muzica direct de pe orice device cu Bluetooth cum ar fi telefoane mobile, laptopuri, mp3 playere etc. Rolly are deasemenea un accelerometru care detecteaza daca player-ul sta orizontal sau vertical. Cand acesta este in pozitie orizontala, roata de sus poate fi folosita pentru a schimba melodiile sau playlisturile, iar roata de jos controleaza volumul melodiei. Cand acesta este in pozitie orizontala, volumul poate fi controlat prin rotirea robotului in stanga sau in dreapta in functie de nivelul volumului dorit, iar pentru schimbarea melodiei robotul trebuie miscat inainte sau inapoi. Rolly are o memorie flash de 2 GB. Bateria lithium ion este incarcata prin usb sau prin achizitonarea unui incarcator separat. Bacteria are o autonomie de aproximativ 4-5 ore depinzand de nivelul de...
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...HUMANOID ROBOTS Prashant Chandak, Shobhan Mankad, Siddhi Tatiya G.H. Raisoni College of Engineering and Management, Wagholi, Pune. Some forms of Humanoid Robots may model only the part of body, for example, from the waist up. Some may have ‘Face’, with ‘eyes’ and ‘mouth’. While on the other hand, some Humanoid Robots are built to resemble a human body exactly. Such robots are called as “Androids.” Given below is an Android robot showing replica as that of a female body: Abstract- This paper presents Humanoid Robots, one of the applications of electronics engineering. Humanoid Robots are basically the robots with their overall appearance similar to that of a normal human body, which allows it to interact with the tools made for human or its environment. In general humanoid robots have a structure same as that of a normal human body consisting of one face, two hands, two legs, etc. Index Terms- Humanoid Robots, Robotic Components, Robotics, Types of Humanoid robots. I. INTRODUCTION A humanoid robot is an automatically working robot because it can adapt according to changes in its environment or itself and continue to reach its goal. This is the main difference between humanoid and other kinds of robots. II. FEATURES Some of the capabilities of a humanoid robot that include are: Self recharge- Humanoid robot have a unique and special ability to recharge itself automatically. Autonomous learning- It learns or gains new capabilities without outside...
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...Available online at www.sciencedirect.com Pattern Recognition Letters 29 (2008) 1024–1032 www.elsevier.com/locate/patrec Learning to learn: From smart machines to intelligent machines B. Raducanu b a,* ` , J. Vitria a,b a Computer Vision Center, Edifici ‘‘O’’ – Campus UAB, 08193 Bellaterra, Barcelona, Spain Computer Science Department, Autonomous University of Barcelona, 08193 Bellaterra, Barcelona, Spain Available online 14 September 2007 Abstract Since its birth, more than five decades ago, one of the biggest challenges of artificial intelligence remained the building of intelligent machines. Despite amazing advancements, we are still far from having machines that reach human intelligence level. The current paper tries to offer a possible explanation of this situation. For this purpose, we make a review of different learning strategies and context types that are involved in the learning process. We also present the results of a study on cognitive development applied to the problem of face recognition for social robotics. Ó 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. Keywords: Intelligent systems; Cognitive development; Context; Social robotics; Face recognition 1. Introduction The golden dream of artificial intelligence (AI) remains to design and build systems showing human-like intelligence. Nowadays, the machines can perform remarkable things: there are chess algorithms able to play at international masters complexity levels, applications to coordinate...
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... or threatening Reverse for Services Breakaway for Packaged Goods. Stealth for Technologies. Reverse Positioning 2. IKIA IKEA has long been celebrated in the business press for its innovative marketing and phenomenal growth Cheap and stylish inventory Top stores compete by carrying enormous and varied inventories Key factor in the stores high performance is its brilliant reverse positioning 3. Commerce Bank 4. JetBlue Breakaway Positioning 1. Swatch Swatch became the best –selling wristwatch of all time 2. The Simpsons The fox network has done a breakaway positioning when it launched its animated series The Simpsons in 1989. 3. EZ Squirt Ketchup Stealth Positioning 1. EyeToy: Play. 2. AIBO. 3. Mac Mini. Conclusion Short Summary In order to break out of the pack, you must shift mature products back and push new products forward to the growth phase of the product life cycle. Most firms build their marketing strategies around the concept of the product life cycle-the idea that after introduction. It doesn't always necessarily have to be that way. The case describes three positioning strategies that marketers use to shift consumers' thinking. Reverse positioning strips away product attributes while adding new ones. Breakaway positioning associates the product with a radically different. And stealth positioning acclimates leery consumers to a new offering by cloaking the product's true nature. A company can use these...
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...STRATEGIC PLANNING AT APPLE INC. Review: One of the most demonstrated and an innovative firm in the world is Apple Inc. Apple Inc. is an American company which is a multinational corporation. The headquarter of Apple Inc. is located in Cupertino, California. This company has expertise in developing, designing and selling personal computers, and computer software and consumer electronics. Macintosh, the iPod, and the iPhone are the best-known hardware products of this firm (wiki). Steven Paul Jobs was born on 24 February 1955, in San Francisco, California, was an American entrepreneur, marketer. Stephen Wozniak was born on 11 August 1950, was an American electrical engineer (wikipedia). Bill Fernandez who was a common friend of these two partners introduced the both at Homestead High School in 1971 (Biography). Jobs dropped out from Reed College after only one semester in 1972. Then he joined the creative classes at the school and spent 18 months. In 1974, Jobs worked for Atari as a video game designer (Biography). Apple Inc. was founded on April 1, 1976, in Job’s Garage by two extremely innovative and intelligent minds Steve Jobs and Stephen Wozniak. Their entrepreneurial venture was funded by selling Volkswagen Bus belongs to Jobs and a scientific calculator belongs to Wozniak (Biography). For spiritual enlightenment, Jobs visited India and then came back to California in the fall. A job was interested in starting his new venture and he convinced Wozniak to become his partner...
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...In recent years the mushrooming power, functionality and ubiquity of computers and the Internet have outstripped early forecasts about technology’s rate of advancement and usefulness in everyday life. Alert pundits now foresee a world saturated with powerful computer chips, which will increasingly insinuate themselves into our gadgets, dwellings, apparel and even our bodies. Robots on SCM Obviously, it hasn’t turned out that way. It is true that industrial robots have transformed the manufacture of automobiles, among other products. But that kind of automation is a far cry from the versatile, mobile, autonomous creations that so many scientists and engineers have hoped for. In pursuit of such robots, waves of researchers have grown disheartened and scores of start-up companies have gone out of business. It is not the mechanical “body” that is unattainable; articulated arms and other moving mechanisms adequate for manual work already exist, as the industrial robots attest. Rather it is the computer-based artificial brain that is still well below the level of sophistication needed to build a humanlike robot. Nevertheless, I am convinced that the decades-old dream of a useful, general-purpose autonomous robot will be realized in the not too distant future. By 2010 we will see mobile robots as big as people but with cognitive abilities similar in many respects to those of a lizard. The machines will be capable of carrying out simple chores, such as vacuuming, dusting, delivering...
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...Resumen de Libérese del ciclo de vida del producto, Youngme Moon El texto habla de el concepto de ciclo de vida de producto les ha estrechado la visión a los expertos en marketing. Tienden a una visión de túnel, a ver solo una trayectoria posible para los productos exitosos. Una consecuencia de esta visión de túnel es el reflejo competitivo de expandir productos a medida de que maduran, agregando beneficios nuevos por sobre los anteriores en una lucha interminable por diferenciar y rejuvenecer su ofertas. Con el tiempo el producto ampliado se vuelve el producto esperado, por lo que debe enriquecerse aún más para seguir siendo competitivo. Las empresas y productos exitosos que han desafiado las “reglas” del ciclo de vida, se caracterizaron por posicionar y reposicionar sus productos de manera inesperada y lograron cambiar el modo en que los clientes los categorizan mentalmente. Así pueden rescatar los productos que se hunden en la fase de madurez y regresarlos a su fase de crecimiento, o catapultar productos nuevos hacia su fase de crecimiento superando los obstáculos de aceptación de los consumidores. Se describen 3 estrategias de posicionamiento que los expertos en marketing utilizan para reforzar un giro mental en los consumidores. 1. POSICIONAMIENTO INVERSO: les quita atributos sagrados a los productos y le añaden uno o mas atributos cuidadosamente seleccionados, los que generalmente solo se encuentran en un producto altamente agregado. Casos: i) IKEA Cuando...
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...Oracle corp is the second largest software company in US by revenues. Its are of activity is completely within the world of technology. Since the beginning of 1990-s Oracle was one of the key players in developing new technologies, in the areas of database throughout systems, hardware, analytic software, customer relationship straightened, categoric resource planning, and etc. The technology that it spreads is not only used by its customers, but also by itself first hand. Boeing a large organization, Oracle saved the loggings, risks, complexities of its own business pressures which triggered the need for new software of its own needs. Then, after realtering the same issues could be in other organizations, prepared the newly designed solution to other companies by making some adoptive notifications to the software by preparing new technologies, new fill, of expertise were created in IT industry ranging from database administrators to EIP consultants as well as new titles the Orcl, 201 Equal. The groups of new motion of global Oracle IT world began attracting the minds of people in IT industry. The corporation also sponsored the team named Oracle to socialize with the people audited by the IT industry. It is also deep within legal and political issues. In 2000-s, Oracle hired the Aslanft Group Culture owner is former US Altering Counsel John Asnolf. 946 May Tokyo Tsushin Kogyo K.K. (Tokyo Telecommunications Engineering Corporation), also known as Totsuko, established...
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...Introduction to artificial Intelligence Intelligence: Definition 1. - Its ability to learn or understand or deal with new or trying situations. - Skilled use of reason. 2. It’s the ability to apply knowledge to manipulate one’s environment or to think abstractly as measured by object criteria (as test) Views of intelligence 1. Autonomous movement – Movement of object; Eg Robot intelligently E.g vaucansor (18th Century), Shaker – 1970, Sony Aibo (1998) 2. Thinking – Ability to use brain. ▪ Eg Deep Blue defeats Garry Kasparov- 1997 ▪ Eg In Playing games 3. Playing Games A computer may be said to be intelligent if it beats the user. Types of Intelligence 1. Linguistic-Verbal intelligence- Ability to communicate effectively, use of in different forms, sensitive means. 2. Logical – Mathematical intelligence – Ability to carry out computations. 3. Musical 1 – Playing piano, singing, recognize non verbal. 4. Spatial – Ability to work with minimal information provided(scarce information) 5. Intrapersonal 1 – Able to understand your self, read others moods, emotions. 6. Interpersonal 1 – Ability to relate well with others. 7. Bodily kinesthetic Intelligence- body flexibility – acrobatics. NB: 1. The above types are referred to as multiple Intelligence Theory by Howard Gardener. 2. People have different strength in each intelligence area. This demonstrates different talents, as people...
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...Table of Contents Executive Summary……………………………………………………………………3 Background……………………………………………………………………………..4 Situation Analysis ……………………………………………………………...2 Competitive Analysis …………………………………………………………….5 SWOT Analysis …………………………………………………………………..6 Strengths……………………………………………………………………6 Weaknesses…………………………………………………………………8 Opportunities……………………………………………………………….9 Threats…………………………………………………………………….9 Marketing Opportunity Analysis…………………………………………………………10 Marketing Plan Summary……………………………………………………………….11 Target Market……………………………………………………………………11 Competitive Benefits………………………………………………………………12 Positioning Statement…………………………………………………………….12 Promotional Plan…………………………………………………………………………12 Gaming Conferences…………………………………………………………….13 Online Promotion and Advertising………………………………………………13 Beta Release for Critics……………………………………………………………14 Product Marketing and Cost………………………………………………………14 Conclusion…………………………………………………………………………………15 Bibliography……………………………………………………………………………….16 Executive Summary Sony Corporation offers a variety of innovative products and services to consumers in multiple market segmentations. Sony’s product design expertise, high quality products, innovation, and competitive pricing are some of the companies well known attributes that keep them in a competitive position. Sony Corporations most profitable market, video games, continues to grow selling video game counsels at record numbers. Introduction of Sony’s new virtual reality system...
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