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L2 Think Tank (@L2_ThinkTank) reports that, according to Union Square Ventures Partner Andy Weissman (@aweissman), we’re moving into “the ambient computer age,” where our connected devices are becoming smaller and more powerful. The implications of this changes our media habits, the way we socialize, and much more. In an attempt to quantify this impact, Weissman outlines the 8 places in our lives where mobile will have the biggest near-future impact on investment:

Reading – A new breed of mobile-primary reading formats are emerging that allow us to consumer and share media in new and different ways.

Social – Our always-on devices give us instant access to sharing at all times.

Payments – In Japan people are already paying for subway rides with their mobile devices. Before long we’ll be using what was formerly a voice device for transactions, and this trend is already well underway in the United States.

Learning – We can now absorb information from our mobile phones and use the classroom as a venue for discussion and collaboration.

Location-Based Innovation – One in 3 searches on mobile devices have local intent.

Media – Facebook holds the biggest archive of photos in the world. Media in the mobile world is fundamentally conversational.

Blurring – The smartphones we keep with us on our hip at all times create a blurring effect in the world of connectedness. We’re no longer just connected on our laptops, but wired-in everywhere.

Medicine – Today patients share data and information with doctors in real-time.

Read this in full.

Contact Somersault (@smrsault) to help you take advantage of mobile trends to advance your brand.

And be sure to bookmark and use daily the SomersaultNOW online dashboard.

Project Glass is what Google is calling its exploration into eyeglasses that promote constant virtual reality to the wearer.

Nick Bilton (@nickbilton) writes in The New York Times (@nytimestech) about the soon coming debut of wearable glasses that serve as computer monitors.

Later this year, Google is expected to start selling eyeglasses that will project information, entertainment and, this being a Google product, advertisements onto the lenses. The glasses are not being designed to be worn constantly — although Google engineers expect some users will wear them a lot — but will be more like smartphones, used when needed, with the lenses serving as a kind of see-through computer monitor.

“It will look very strange to onlookers when people are wearing these glasses,” said William Brinkman, graduate director of the computer science and software engineering department at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. “You obviously won’t see what they can from behind the glasses. As a result, you will see bizarre body language as people duck or dodge around virtual things.”

...Like smartphones and tablets, the glasses will be equipped with GPS and motion sensors. They will also contain a camera and audio inputs and outputs.

...Through the built-in camera on the glasses, Google will be able to stream images to its rack computers and return augmented reality information to the person wearing them. For instance, a person looking at a landmark could see detailed historical information and comments about it left by friends. If facial recognition software becomes accurate enough, the glasses could remind a wearer of when and how he met the vaguely familiar person standing in front of him at a party. They might also be used for virtual reality games that use the real world as the playground.

Read this in full.

Also see our previous blogpost, “Point – Know – Buy.” And browse our blog’s Future tag.

What does this next advancement in technology mean for your publishing strategy? Will you seek to publish content for the exclusive consumption on these types of glasses? Write your comments below.

Contact Somersault (@smrsault) to help you identify blue ocean strategy for your brand.

And be sure to bookmark and use daily the SomersaultNOW online dashboard; including the Futurist News tab.

Novelist Ann Patchett discusses on The Colbert Report the importance of brick-and-mortar bookstores and explains what prompted her to open Parnassus Books (@ParnassusBooks1) in Nashville.

In Fast Company (@FastCompany), NYU journalism professor Adam L. Penenberg (@penenberg) interviews self-published author Charles Orlando, who’s written two volumes of The Problem With Women… Is Men. Orlando has sold upwards of 15,000 copies of his work as a Kindle, iPad, and iPhone ebook, as well as a traditional paperback, generating around $130,000 since its release in November 2008.

Which self-publishing service did you choose?

BookSurge Publishing (now CreateSpace, @CreateSpace). BookSurge was partnered with Amazon.com, and once I was published, my book was automatically included on Amazon.com (this was 2007/2008, before there was a real ebook publishing effort). It was print-on-demand with really good quality, so I didn't need to hold an inventory and I didn't need to be part of the backend stuff: shipping, fulfillment, returns, chargebacks, etc. Plus, I would get all the benefit of being grouped with best-selling authors, receive reviews, and more. They had multiple levels of service – editing, marketing, public relations, custom covers, and much more – but I elected to go with a flexible offering (allowing me a custom interior, custom cover, and no more than 10 interior illustrations).

What did all this cost?

Editor: $500 (flat fee)

BookSurge publishing package: $900 (now priced lower)

Cover design and all artwork: $750

25 copies (for review): Free.

Total: $2,150

He goes on to explain how he marketed his book.

I started a blog: three posts a week. Simultaneously, I spun up my Facebook and Twitter (@charlesjorlando) efforts and started publishing my blog posts to my Facebook Page. But I could see that readers had to leave Facebook or Twitter to interact with what I had written. As a test, I just wrote on Facebook, using the Notes application on my Page. And... voila... increased engagement and interactivity; more comments, more sharing on individuals' Walls. I took down my blog at the end of 2009 and in an effort to meet my audience where they "lived" I transitioned all my efforts to Facebook (and some on Twitter). My Facebook Fan Page was now a few hundred strong.

Read this in full.

Contact Somersault (@smrsault) to help you with your publishing, marketing, and branding needs.

Be sure to bookmark and use daily the SomersaultNOW online dashboard; especially take advantage of the list of self-publishers in the Publishers tab.

View more PowerPoint from Common English Bible

An international network of bloggers is now contributing to a 90-day blog tour for the new bestselling Common English Bible (http://CommonEnglishBible.com) translation. The “Common English Bible Change Your Heart and Life” tour extends from February through May, honoring the Christian observances of Ash Wednesday, Lent, Holy Week, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, Easter, the Ascension of Jesus, and Pentecost. Complete schedule and joining information is available at http://CommonEnglishBible.com/CEB/blogtour. You can also sign up using this form (https://adobeformscentral.com/?f=W8R37r%2AYUbcgX02O3qCg1Q).

In addition to the blog tour (Twitter #CEBtour), the Common English Bible National Public Reading Marathon is being synchronized for Holy Week (April 1-7) and Easter Sunday (April 8), conducted by churches, seminaries and colleges, and other organizations and streamed online. Readings will be scripture verses for the season selected from the Revised Common Lectionary (Year B). Information about groups hosting the reading marathon is available at http://CommonEnglishBible.com/CEB/blogtour or by contacting jpetersen@somersaultgroup.com.

Churches, bloggers, and others can also share Lenten Bible readings leading up to Easter in a free PowerPoint® presentation consisting of vivid color photography of nature scenes combined with scripture verses from the Common English Bible (Twitter @CommonEngBible – http://twitter.com/CommonEngBible).

The presentation (http://www.commonenglishbible.com/CEB/LentDownloads and http://slideshare.net/CommonEnglishBible) is comprised of nine Bible readings to observe Ash Wednesday, each Sunday of Lent, Good Friday, and Easter. It’s flexible enough to display only portions from it or all the slides, and to present them prior to or during church services, embed in blogs and other websites, or email to friends.

Along with embedding the slide presentation, bloggers can also embed a new 60-second video (http://vimeo.com/commonenglishbible and http://www.youtube.com/commonenglishbible), showing how the Common English Bible is an uncommon translation that clearly communicates in today’s terms God’s message of love to everyone, no matter what age, gender, station in life, or other personal outlook.

Beginning Feb. 22 (Ash Wednesday) and running through May 27 (Pentecost), the blog tour is an opportunity for bloggers to join together in writing posts around upcoming seasonal events using the Common English Bible, including commenting on verses from it, reviewing the Bible translation itself, interviewing the translators or associate publisher behind the translation, or discussing the translation with their readers.

Participating bloggers in the tour will receive a copy of the leather-like bound Thinline Bible DecoTone Tan/Brick Red edition, suggested themes, topics, and verses on which to write, an invitation to interview Bible scholars, and badges to place on their blogs indicating their involvement. Bloggers will have the opportunity to offer to their readers a free copy of the softcover edition: one copy per week for every week the bloggers write a blogpost that includes mention of the Common English Bible during the tour. The blogger with the most number of blogposts that reference the Common English Bible at the end of the tour will receive either a Kindle Fire or a Nook Tablet (their choice). Blogposts can be in the form of text, audio, video, and photo.

The Common English Bible text, including the Apocrypha, is available to search for free online at Bible Gateway (http://www.biblegateway.com/versions/Common-English-Bible-CEB/), YouVersion.com, and the translation’s website.

The Common English Bible is a collaboration of 120 Bible scholars and editors, 77 reading group leaders, and more than 500 average readers from around the world. The translators – from 24 denominations in American, African, Asian, European, and Latino communities – represent such academic institutions as Asbury Theological Seminary, Azusa Pacific University, Bethel Seminary, Denver Seminary, Princeton Theological Seminary, Seattle Pacific University, Wheaton College, Yale University, and many others.

The Common English Bible is written in contemporary idiom at the same reading level as the newspaper USA TODAY—using language that’s comfortable and accessible for today’s English readers. More than half-a-million copies of the Bible are already in print, including an edition with the Apocrypha. The Common English Bible is available for purchase online and in 20 digital formats. A Reference Bible edition and a Daily Companion devotional edition are now also available. Additionally, in the coming year, Church/Pew Bibles, Gift and Award Bibles, Large Print Bibles, and Children’s Bible editions will be in stores, joining the existing Thinline Bibles, Compact Thin Bibles, and Pocket-Size Bibles, bringing the total variety of Common English Bible stock-keeping units (SKUs) to more than 40.

Visit CommonEnglishBible.com to see comparison translations, learn about the translators, get free downloads, and more.

The Common English Bible is sponsored by the Common English Bible Committee, an alliance of five publishers that serve the general market, as well as the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) (Chalice Press), Presbyterian Church (USA) (Westminster John Knox Press), Episcopal Church (Church Publishing, Inc.), United Church of Christ (The Pilgrim Press), and The United Methodist Church (Abingdon Press).

For a media review copy of the Common English Bible and to schedule an interview with Paul Franklyn, please contact Audra Jennings, ajennings@tbbmedia.com at 1.800.927.1517.

Articles in Harvard Business Review (@HarvardBiz) focus on the reinvention of retail that’s going on right now. “The Future of Shopping” explains that when the dot-com bubble burst 10 years ago, the ensuing collapse wiped out half of all online retailers. Today, e-commerce is well established and much digital retailing is now highly profitable.

As it evolves, digital retailing is quickly morphing into something so different that it requires a new name: omnichannel retailing. The name reflects the fact that retailers will be able to interact with customers through countless channels — websites, physical stores, kiosks, direct mail and catalogs, call centers, social media, mobile devices, gaming consoles, televisions, networked appliances, home services, and more.

If traditional retailers hope to survive, they must embrace omnichannel retailing and also transform the one big feature internet retailers lack — stores — from a liability into an asset. They must turn shopping into an entertaining, exciting, and emotionally engaging experience by skillfully blending the physical with the digital. They must also hire new kinds of talent, move away from outdated measures of success, and become adept at rapid test-and-learn methodologies.

A successful omnichannel strategy should not only guarantee a retailer’s survival — no small matter in today’s environment — but also deliver a revolution in customers’ expectations and experiences.

Read this in full (registration required). See a PDF version here and here.

In “Retail Isn’t Broken. Stores Are,” J.C. Penney CEO Ron Johnson is interviewed:

When Johnson joined Apple, in 2000, as the senior vice president for retail, conventional wisdom held that a computer maker couldn’t sell computers. Johnson promptly tossed out the retailing rule book and built the Apple Store from scratch. “The Apple Store succeeded not because we tweaked the traditional model,” Johnson says. “We reimagined everything.” Today, Apple stores are the highest performing stores in the history of retailing.

In November, Johnson took the reins as CEO of the venerable J.C. Penney department store. Times are tough for many retailers, but Johnson, characteristically, sees the chance to reinvent the department store as a great opportunity. He also understands the challenges ahead. “A store has got to be much more than a place to acquire merchandise,” he says. “It’s got to help people enrich their lives.”

Johnson discusses his vision of the future of retail and shares insights about innovation, leadership, and why he trusts his gut.

Read this in full (registration is required). See a PDF version.

“Know What Your Customers Want Before They Do” says

Shoppers once relied on familiar salespeople to help them find exactly what they wanted—and sometimes to suggest additional items they hadn’t even thought of. But today’s distracted consumers, bombarded with information and options, often struggle to find products or services that meet their needs.

Advances in information technology, data gathering, and analytics are making it possible to deliver something like the personal advice of yesterday’s sales staffs. Using increasingly granular customer data, businesses are starting to create highly customized offers that steer shoppers to the “right” merchandise — at the right moment, at the right price, and in the right channel.

But few companies can do this well. The article demonstrates how retailers can hone their “next best offer” (NBO) capability by breaking the problem into 4 steps: defining objectives, gathering data (about your customers, your products, and the purchase context), analyzing and executing, and learning and evolving. Citing successful strategies in companies such as Tesco, Zappos, Microsoft, and Walmart, they provide a framework for nailing the NBO.

Read this in full (registration required). See a PDF version.

Also see HBR’s portal The Future of Retail.

To stay current with news about publishing, consumers, branding, retailing, and more, bookmark and use daily the SomersaultNOW online dashboard.

The Somersault team is at the annual NRB convention (@NRB_Convention) (#nrb, #nrb12, #nrb2012, #nrbconvention) taking place in Nashville, TN, Feb. 18-21. NRB (@NRBonline), formerly limited to Christian radio and TV broadcasters, has broadened itself to include bloggers, pastors, writers, and others as “a non-partisan, international association of Christian communicators whose member organizations represent millions of listeners, viewers, and readers.”

President and CEO of NRB, Dr. Frank Wright, says Christian communication continues to evolve:

To the extent that Christian radio stations can become interwoven into the fabric and essence of the community that they serve, they’re going to be dynamic and helpful for decades to come.

However, having said that, I do think that many content producers are becoming agnostic as to which platforms their content goes out on. In other words, they’re beginning to look at distribution systems… as the UPS man, the FedEx man. I don’t think they care as much about which distribution system they use as long as their content is distributed to the largest possible audience.

Read this in full.

Also see RadioWorld’s “NRB Seeks to Keep Comm Ports Open” in which NRB senior vice president and general counsel Craig Parshall (@cpauthor101) explains why NRB has taken a stand against the FCC’s notice of proposed rulemaking on network neutrality.

Let Somersault (@smrsault) help you identify blue ocean strategy for your brand.

And be sure to bookmark and use daily the SomersaultNOW online dashboard.

Infographics by go-globe.com