Old Spice Man personalizing YouTube videos in response to Tweets

If ads could speak back to you, would you buy more of a product? It's something that might someday happen in the future, but for now, this is the next best thing. The Old Spice Man, admittedly already one of the most successful viral ad campaigns of all time, is now responding directly to Tweets, with personalized videos.

The Old Spice Man is probably better known to you by that name than by his given name, Isaiah Mustafa (a former NFL WR, no less). Muscular, with little body fat, Mustafa is probably attracting more attention from women than men, but the Tweets run the gamut.

What's great is that once the celebrities (and ordinary folks, too) get word of the video, they re-tweet it, spreading more Old Spice Man advertising to their followers.

For example, after a Tweet from Alyssa Milano asking "Are you flirting with me, @oldspice guy?," here was the video response.



Another such recent video is directed to Rose McGowan. She Tweeted "I like it too! @Oldspice I told my husband I have a crush on you. Oddly, he started using the oldspice deodorant. (via @Alyssa_Milano)."

She was responding, obviously, to another Tweet by Alyssa Milano; the two-costarred on "Charmed," you may recall. In response, Old Spice Man posted the following video:



Old Spice Man is answering more than just celebrity Tweets. In response to vandal182nyk, who asked "@OldSpice why does my 28 year old friend Mark Falanga still live at his parent's house?" (sorry Mark):



Other companies besides Old Spice have decided to get some Old Spice Man love (in a platonic way, of course). Starbucks Tweeted "@oldspice You look cold. Need some coffee?," to which the response was.



The only question is how they keep pumping out these videos. Does Mustafa get any sleep, or does he simply stand around in his towel waiting for another video idea to come in? Follow all the action at the Old Spice channel.

An Apple first? SVP signs up for Twitter. Why?

An Apple executive just signed up for Twitter. Amazing, given how secretive the company is (and that's why any story about a Tweet from Steve Jobs should be disregarded). Why, then, did Apple Senior VP of iPhone Software, Scott Forstall, just sign up for Twitter?

It is unclear, but as Forstall is SVP of iPhone software, perhaps it because there is some new iPhone - Twitter integration coming. It's not so he can follow tons of folks. As of the time of this writing, Forstall is following precisely one person: Conan O'Brien. Conan's last tweet was, interestingly enough:

I found a huge design flaw in my new iPhone. People get angry when I talk on it during a funeral.

By the way, both Conan and Forstall have verified accounts, so that means they are actually who they claim to be. That also brings up another point: Apple took the time to vet him for Twitter.

Right now, he's not posted any Tweets. Could this be where Apple explains the iPhone 4's issues (since they say it's all software)? Or is Forstall (18K+ followers) just out to try to surpass a million followers, as did Ashton Kutcher (who now has 5 million). Readers, what do you think?

Miyazaki disturbed by users' strange iPad fondling

Hayao Miyazaki is often called the greatest among Japanese animators. He is so well known that fans of his needn't have his first name uttered; Miyazaki is enough. Still, comparing use of the iPad to masturbation? Hmmm ...

Speaking in an interview for the newsletter (Neppuu) of his production company, Studio Ghibli, Miyazaki said he's not enamored with the magical iPad. Of course, Miyazaki has said before he doesn't own a computer or fax, so he might be somewhat of a technophobe.

After all, Miyazaki also noted that he got annoyed when everyone on trains started reading manga en route, and still later when folks began using cell phones on trains to call and text message.

Here's what he said of the iPad:

"For me, there is no feeling of admiration or no excitement whatsoever. "It's disgusting. On trains, the number of those people doing that strange masturbation-like gesture is multiplying."

Interesting analogy.

Mizayaki has created such classics as "My Neighbor Totoro," which Roger Ebert called "one of the most beloved of all family films" and "visually enchanting." Other such films include "Ponyo" and the Oscar-winning "Spirited Away."

With that list of classics, who cares if he doesn't like the iPad (we know, we know, Steve Jobs)? Watch a trailer for "Totoro," below.

A full iPhone 4 recall would cost $1.5 billion: analyst

Crisis management experts seem to agree that an iPhone 4 recall for its "Death Grip" problem is inevitable. However, most analysts believe that the odds of an iPhone 4 recall are small. Still, one took the time to calculate just how much it would cost Apple to do so.

Bernstein Research analyst Toni Sacconaghi, in a research note on Tuesday, estimated that such a recall would cost Apple $1.5 billion, or 3.5 percent of its total cash on hand. Sacconaghi did call a full product recall of the iPhone 4 "highly unlikely."

Instead, as proposed by many, a more likely solution, according to Sacconaghi, would be a free rubber bumper case in the packaging. While the darn thing costs $30 to buy, Sacconaghi estimated it would cost $1 for Apple to insert one in each box. Makes you feel good about buying a case, doesn't it?

That's great, but we'd probably all get black, wouldn't we?

At any rate, Sacconaghi took Apple to task over its recent behavior. It's a laundry list of items that have driven some (not many!) away from the iPhone.

"Perhaps the bigger, longer-term concern for Apple investors is the emerging pattern of hubris that the company has displayed (you think?), which has increasingly pitted competitors (and regulators) against the company, and risks alienating customers over time. Examples of its behavior have included its limited disclosure practices (Steve Jobs' health; plans for deploying its cash balance), its attack on Adobe's Flash, its investigation into its lost iPhone prototype (which culminated in a reporter's home being searched while he was away and computers being removed), its restrictions on app development, and its ostensibly dismissive characterizations of the iPhone's antenna issues (i.e., phone needs to be held a different way; a software issue that affects the number of bars displayed). The worry is that collectively, these issues may, over time, begin to impact consumers' perceptions of Apple (no, really?), undermining its enormous prevailing commercial success."

All will be better if Apple's change to the signal level display fixes everything. our guess is if it can be fixed in software (and really, it's not just about signal level displays), it will. If not, hang on tight.

AdMob CEO: no enforcement of Apple's new ad policy (yet)

Despite the fact its iOS SDK policies were change in such a manner as to exclude AdMob, the mobile advertising firm that Google acquired, Apple does not seem to be enforcing that rule. Omar Hamoui, founder and CEO of Google's AdMob division, made that comment at the MobileBeat 2010 conference on Tuesday.

Hamoui said, "They haven't been enforcing (the new regulations) yet. We're very appreciative of that."

While the new iOS SDK policies didn't specifically exclude AdMob, they prohibited ad networks owned by or affiliated with "a developer or distributor of mobile devices, mobile operating systems or development environments other than Apple" (such as Google) from collecting analytic data. Without analytic data, AdMob couldn't track who had clicked on their customer's ads, and advertisers won't buy ads if they can't determine how many people had clicked on it.

Until now, there had only been anecdotal developer evidence that Apple wasn't enforcing its new policies. It is unclear why Apple has not enforced the prohibition. It's possible the rumored FTC or ITC investigation into Apple's iAd program had something to do with it.

In terms of contingency plans, if Apple were to enforce the rule, Hamoui skirted the issue by mentioning other platforms (including, naturally, that Android OS we hear so much about, where AdMob already has a presence). Hopefully, it won't come to that.

Despite all this, Hamoui noted that he was happy to see the introduction of the iAd network. The more, the merrier, basically, he said. "The really rich pretty ads they're doing are making advertisers and agencies think about what mobile means. Anybody getting advertisers interested in mobile is a good thing. It's not at all a zero-sum game."

At the very least, though, AdMob has yet another reason to thank Apple. It's been said that the development of the iAd network after Apple acquire Quattro Wireless (an AdMob rival) was what the FTC needed in order to approve the AdMob acquisition by Google.

Is XP Immortal? Downgrade Rights extended to 2020

It is the OS that wouldn't die. It sounds like a horror movie, and for Microsoft, it probably seems like one. Microsoft announced on Monday that the "Windows XP Downgrade rights," which allows a purchaser of Windows 7 to choose to downgrade their OS to Windows XP, without paying for two copies of Windows, would continue until 2020.

In the past, Microsoft has terminated such a program a few months after the "next, next" version of Windows was introduced (in this case, 7, which was released in Oct. 2009). The problem is that 74 percent of businesses have not transitioned off of Windows XP, and many businesses want to standardize on a single operating system to simplify IT support.

The new policy, Microsoft announced in a blog post, will allow customers to downgrade to either Windows XP or Vista throughout the life cycle of Windows 7. Windows 7 Professional won't retire until 2020, which means XP will have a life that spans nearly 20 years (it was introduced in 2001).

Downgrade rights are available only for OEM copies of Windows 7 (those that are pre-installed by manufacturers or system builders). Also, despite this extension, while currently some vendors have been pre-installing the downgrade copy of Windows, that factory-install feature will expire on Oct. 22, 2010. That means that Windows users who want to downgrade a Windows 7 system to XP will be forced to do it themselves beginning on Oct. 23 of this year.

At the same time, OEMs must stop installing Windows XP Home on netbooks as of Oct. 22, 2010; finally, those netbook vendors may sell PCs with Vista pre-installed only through Oct. 22, 2011.

AT&T will move 'Heaven and Earth' to improve its network: CTO

AT&T Chief Technology Officer John Donovan, speaking at VentureBeat’s MobileBeat 2010 conference Monday in San Francisco, said that AT&T was committed to improving its network, and that AT&T “will move heaven and Earth” to meet the data needs of its customers. We've heard that before, however.

It's something we heard from AT&T before, a promise that they would improve their network. Those of us saddled with AT&T service, whether for the iPhone or some other device, haven't been impressed by their results.

Additionally, while Donovan described his vision for a future as one in which more and more data flows through mobile networks, it's hard to align that with a company that has recently instituted the first tiered data service plans among U.S. carriers.

True, we fully expect all U.S. wireless carriers to adopt such plans, but it's hard to reconcile these moves, along with moves toward tiered service among wired broadband companies with the increasing push by media companies for consumers to use more bandwidth. The ISPs and carriers want us to use less (or at least, encourage us with tiered plans), while media wants us to use more.

Donovan also stated that AT&T has faced a shortage of the components needed to improve its network. It is not a question of money or commitment that has prevented such improvements.

“I’ll tell you the things it’s not been,” Donovan said. “It’s not been capital, it’s not been conviction and commitment.” AT&T “will move heaven and Earth” to meet its customers’ growing data needs, he said.

Many consumers already have their eye on something that will improve the AT&T network: a Verizon iPhone. If it comes, as many expect, in Q1 2011, and if AT&T customers defect in droves (which most do not feel will happen), could we see improvement by attrition?