For reference, here's some Peek PR from 2008, right after their first product launched:

Peek, the first elegantly simple, email-only device, launched today. Created for people who don't need or want an expensive smartphone full of functions and software, the Peek device delivers unlimited email to and from existing accounts, anywhere in the U.S. Extraordinarily simple to set up and use, Peek has eliminated multi-year contracts, bewildering rate plans and hidden fees. The mobile device is super-thin, stylish and easy to use. There are no scary buttons; no confusing bells and whistles.

So they've basically gone from "hey, check out our new product! It's not quite as capable as a smartphone, but we're happy to make a reasoned case that the tradeoffs are worth it!" all the way to "Ha! Look! One of many overlapping BlackBerry features went down for a few hours, so fuck them! And fuck you! Buy a Peek or you'll eat dinner alone forever, like a loser."

You feeling ok, Peek?

PANASONIC MAINTAINS GLOBAL #1 POSITION IN CORDLESS TELEPHONES

Data from Leading Research Firm Confirms Substantial Lead in Worldwide Sales of Consumer Telephones

Secaucus, NJ (November 23, 2009) – Panasonic System Networks Company of America today announced that it maintained its #1 global leadership position in the cordless telephone market for the full calendar year 2008. Market data from the prominent information technology research firm MZA Ltd. confirms Panasonic's #1 position in worldwide shipments of DECT* cordless phones and other digital cordless phones.

Panasonic's share of the global cordless telephone market in 2008 was 19%, according to the MZA report, "The Global Consumer Cordless Telephony Market." The nearest competitor held an 11% share of the global market.

"Panasonic continues to be consumers' favorite because we start with the consumers' needs in mind," said Bill Taylor, President, Panasonic System Networks Company of America. "From handset design to features such as Talking Caller ID, our focus is on what consumers need and how our phones can enhance their daily lives. Consumers have made Panasonic the #1 brand year after year and know they can count on Panasonic telephones to deliver exceptional reliability and affordability."

MZA reported that DECT phones showed strong growth in North America relative to other digital cordless phones. In DECT technology Panasonic's market position was even stronger, rising from 20% in 2007 to 23% in 2008, surpassing the next nearest competitor by 8 points of market share.

MZA concluded that a variety of factors continue to drive sales, including a large customer base that prefers to own a landline phone, attractively priced packages from telephone service providers and the availability of multi-handset bundles.

*DECT: Digitally Enhanced Cordless Telecommunications standard for minimal interference and extended range and battery life

As far as fumbles go, confusing people about your new product's name ranks pretty high, and that's exactly what they did—we were there, and at first we thought the phone was called the Blur, then the Click, then the Cliq, as did pretty much the entire internet. Exhibit A, above.

Lance Ulanoff at PCMag took particular offense to the whole show, and went so far as to pen a takedown piece on the entire event:

The keynote did convey Motorola's sense of urgency. In fact, the whole event felt rushed. Motorola never stopped long enough to give us a good look at the CLIQ. It was like the Cliffs Notes version of a product launch. Major product points were glossed over or never explained. I don't think anyone specifically said that the big touch screen phone was hiding a QWERTY keyboard. Instead, you just kind of noticed it as the presentation went along.

Implied QWERTY! This is one of the most brutal hatchet jobs I've ever seen inflicted on a non-human, but it's probably deserved. Which is a shame, because the Cliq turned out to be a pretty swell little phone, actually! [PCMag]

You'd be forgiven for thinking Psystar had fallen off some kind of wagon a few weeks ago, when they somehow emerged from (possibly strategic) bankruptcy only to immediately release another hackintosh product, just like the ones that landed them in their predicament in the first place. Their move was bold; their post-bankruptcy statements, hilariously brash.

Now the Psystar PR team, such as they are, is back at it, and they're rallying the troops—this time, with a softer, more nuanced, but possibly still totally wrong message:

Apple's copyright on OS X doesn't give Apple the right to tell people what they can do with it after they buy a copy. Apple can't tell an applications developer that it can't make a piece of Mac-compatible software. They can't forbid Mac users from writing blogs critical of Apple. And they can't tell us not to write kernel extensions that turn the computers we buy into Mac-compatible hardware.

A new trial date has been set for January 11, 2010, in federal court in San Francisco. As we move toward trial, we'll be keeping you informed about the arguments, the evidence, and what's going on in the case. And, come January, Camara & Sibley will be ready to fight for Psystar, guns blazin'. We hope to see you there!

Camara & Sibley? That sounds suspiciously legitimate! And what happened to David and Goliath, and applesauce? It seems they're moving away from the silly rhetoric and returning to an older, more sympathetic refrain:

Everyone here values openness. And that's how we're going to fight Apple: in public. We have nothing to hide. We buy hundreds of copies of OS X legally, from retailers like Amazon and Apple itself. We're probably one of Apple's biggest customers. Then we install these copies of OS X, along with kernel extensions that we wrote in-house, on computers that we buy and build. Then we resell the package to people like you. That's it.

The court date is set for just a few months from now, when, assuming Psystar stays serious about this, we might actually get a decent show. [Psystar via OS News—Thanks, Rob!]

The small irony here is that Sony Ericsson makes Windows Mobile phones, whose credo is that it's all about choice. But what are you waiting for, take the poll!

I, for one, think there are too many damn Twitter apps—Apple really should just block every Twitter app submitted after today. I hope Microsoft takes a hard line as well with its app store, I really wouldn't want there to be too many choices. [Twitter, Twtpoll]

Following their endearingly blustery update announcement, a Palm spokesperson explained that the company will take this fight, possibly the greatest battle of our generation, to the ends of the earth. Or at least to the leading opt-in industry advocacy organization for USB hardware:

Palm believes that openness and interoperability offer better experiences for users by allowing them the freedom to use the content they own without interference across devices and services, so on behalf of consumers, we have notified the USB Implementers Forum of what we believe is improper use of the Vendor ID number by another member.

To quote the least appropriate person possible, uhh, "Boom?" But what does "improper use of the vendor ID number" mean? Palm isn't very specific, though I imagine they have a conceptual, rather than a compliance, issue with Apple. In other words, Palm seems to think that Apple's use of the its vendor ID to shut others out of using its software is somehow wrong, or out of line with the USB-IF's stated ethos. That, and the fact that Palm pretty much has to question the legitimacy (or usage) of Apple's vendor ID, because by designing the Pre to masqaurade as an iPod, they're blatantly infringing upon it. Check this USB-IF compliance update from 2007:

The Vendor ID used by a product must match the VID of the company producing the product (the integrator). Please ensure that the VID used by the product matches the company making the product. The USB-IF does not permit the product to display the silicon VID instead of the company making the product...With written permission, the device may be listed on the Integrators List.

I've got a feeling Palm doesn't have that permission slip.

The best part of this whole fiasco is how low stakes are: Vendor IDs, "USB Compliant!" badges and iTunes syncing are all that's materially at risk here for either company. All the rest is a battle for good PR, fought by PR people. If nothing else, it has been, and will continue to be, really, really fun to watch. [Quote via AllThingsD]

First, the tweets:

June 2009 will be an important month for Zune lovers.

Naturally, this got some other Twitterers a little excited. The followup:

New product launch, that's all I'm allowed to say. Hold off from buying an iPhone/Pre. :)

Well, that's a pretty clear statement: Don't buy any of these popular phones, because we're releasing a product soon. Wow?

Granting that this is a Microsoft-run Twitter and that the announcement is well-informed, here's what it would mean: Microsoft could be offering up a combination of a Zune phone reference design and combination Windows Mobile/Zune software to device manufacturers, come June. But until these errant Tweets are addressed by someone who we know can speak authoritatively for MS (not some low-level marketing minion), this is about as convincing as any of the other countless Zunephone/Pink "reports" we've heard to date—that is to say, mildly.

Mainly, it's the source of these rumors that bothers me. The info comes from a Twitter account that claims to be connected to Office 2010 The Movie, a Microsoft advertising page promoting the next version of MS Office. Thing is, I can't find a link to this Twitter page anywhere on office2010themovie.com, nor can I find mentions of @officethemovie by any other notable Microsoft Twitter accounts. It is linked! Hmm.

There's plenty more to be suspicious of. The Twitter account is brand-new, and their limited tweets regarding Office have been strange:

Office 2010 will include Twitter, Facebook, and other social networks integrated right into Word. That's just a hint of what's to come!

Social networking in Word? Not to mention that half of these Tweets were posted through Tweetie, a Mac client.

Beyond these superficial oddities, there's a conceptual problem. Why would MS allow a Zune phone announcement to leak through a low-profile, unconnected Twitter account, especially when such an announcement runs directly counter to the company line?

UPDATE: This Twitter account is link to from the OfficetheMovie website, but at best that makes the Twitter account the official mouthpiece of a part of the marketing team for a Microsoft product with little-to-no relation to the Zune project, not an infallible voice of the Zune division, much less the company as a whole. It'll be interesting to see how this is dealt with when Redmond wakes up. Oh here.

UPDATE: Dennis Liu, the Office Movie guy, writes to us to clarify:

Officethemovie" was a rogue twitter. "Office2010movie" is the right twitter page.

[Neowin]

Microsoft spokesman Lou Gellos, whose Office Space-esque statements on the original cancellation were probably the only reason the story—which I'd like to remind you reflexive naysayers was about a large company building an at-work bar for their employees—gained traction in the first place, confirmed the reversal to Techflash, saying that Spitfire (the contracted pub chain) and Microsoft had discovered "a creative way to find that happy medium." That happy medium apparently entails drinking only after 3:00, exclusively during scheduled gatherings and special events. WinMo Wednesdays anyone? [TechFlash via CNET]

Wow. Really. Just. It makes my head hurt. [Ed Yourdon/Flickr]

To set the scene, December is the season where all the PR companies are throwing out 50x the normal amount of emails in order to gear up interest for their clients for January's CES (the largest consumer electronics show in US of the year). This means massive distribution lists, massive list blasts and everyone having to wade through piles of pitches that may or may not be right for their publication.

This particular event all started with a blogger (not us) asking politely to be removed from an email distribution list because they don't cover the products the firm was pitching. Then, this happened:

CES publishes a list of press. You are one of a few thousand.

Everyone has access to that list for all kinds of reasons.

It is publicly published.

As a PR agency we use that list so we can solicit press for booth appts

I hope you can appreciate that.

If you don't, let me introduce you to the "delete" button

Or in the future do not sign up as a press person for CES.

Furthermore, do not make any threats to my company.

I don't need you to tell me what is right or what is wrong.

I have been in the CE business for 42 years

I have seen nasty people like you melt away faster than a snowball going
up hill in the rain

I am waiting for an apology

Maybe we can meet at CES for a hug or a slug

P.S. I just visited your web site. I would hardly call your blog a
publication,

However, you do have very interesting content and we have lots of client
you would like to know more about to help you in your endeavors.

Call me

[redacted]
President/Owner

Yeah, the president and owner of the firm sent that email. Wow.

C'mon folks, if we can't get along, let's just be civil. Thanks for passing on the email dudes.

Update: The emailer added his original email here.

Please remove me from your list. My publication does not cover these types of products.

I did NOT sign up to receive info in this category, nor anything close. By CES guidelines, I should not have received this, making it dangerously close to spam. That reflects poorly on your company.

Thank you.

Hi, Ben,

I spotted the article about Circuit City and MAD Magazine on your site.

fyi, I became aware of this "situation" only this morning, and I have sent a note today to the Editors of MAD Magazine.

Speaking as "an embarrassed corporate PR Guy," I apologized for the fact that some overly-sensitive souls at our corporate headquarters ordered the removal of the August issue of MAD Magazine from our stores. Please keep in mind that only 40 of our 700 stores sell magazines at all.

The parody of our newspaper ad in the August MAD was very clever. Most of us at Circuit City share a rich sense of humor and irony...but there are occasional temporary lapses.

We apologize for the knee-jerk reaction, and have issued a retraction order; the affected stores are being directed to put the magazines back on sale.

As a gesture of our apology and deep respect for the folks at MAD Magazine, we are creating a cross-departmental task force to study the importance of humor in the corporate workplace and expect the resulting Powerpoint presentation to top out at least 300 pages, chock full of charts, graphs and company action plans.

In addition I have offered to send the MAD Magazine Editor a $20.00 Circuit City Gift Card, toward the purchase of a Nintendo Wii....if he can find one!

All the best,

Jim Babb
Corporate Communications
Circuit City Stores, Inc.
Richmond, VA

[Consumerist]

They broadcast a 30 second video (what format isn't clear; I hope the aliens have VLC!) into space which was voted on by the British to best represent life on Earth, or at least the moments of life on Earth that involve trying to sell unhealthy corn chips. Peter Charles, Head of the "Doritos Broadcast Project" can apparently still sleep at night after saying "We also shouldn't be too surprised if the first aliens start arriving on planet Earth immediately demanding a bag of Doritos." If so, the universe is more doomed than I thought. [Physorg]

"Starting March 22, Sony will offer Fresh Start free of charge. We want VAIO users to have the best experience possible with our PCs, and we believe Fresh Start will help ensure that happens right out-of-the-box."

First off, the Bloomberg article that was cited that supposedly had Bach stating the Zune was going to be number two after Christmas doesn't explicitly have him saying that.

``When we're done with the holiday, people will look and say, `There's Apple and there's Microsoft,''' he said. ``The reality of the numerics are that Apple will still be No. 1.''

You could interpret that as a declaration that the Zune will be number two. But you could also interpret that as a consumer mindshare statement, with Microsoft joining Apple as the (only) two competitors for the average person's money.

Secondly, Robbie Bach would have to accept the challenge by October 31, which also involves him shaving his head if Microsoft doesn't become #2. That's a tough bet for an offhand statement you made.

However, even if the bet is accepted, Microsoft will have a hard time unseating SanDisk because of the way the market works. Over 70% of SanDisk's players are less than $100, and most of their product line costs less than Microsoft's cheapest player, which starts at $149. If this is the case, Microsoft's trying to grab land from Apple, not SanDisk, which is definitely harder—even with a big marketing push come November.

To win, Microsoft will have to spend lots and lots on ads and really hope Apple messes up somehow, which seems unlikely now that the latter's products for this Christmas are already on the table.

Our point? It seems unlikely that Microsoft can pull out the stops this season to blast away on TV ad time, online ad space, and print ad pages to get the consumers informed and interested in the Zune, even with the new and improved features. At this point it's not a problem of building a better product, it's a matter of getting it in front of people's faces. And that wonderful strategy of giving first-gen Zunes the new features may come back to bite them as most those 1.2 million customers probably won't be buying new players.

Here's our bet. If it somehow happens that Microsoft is ends up in the #2 spot by January 1, I'm going to shave my head—not because I don't think Microsoft can do it, but because my hair is getting a little long. [ZDNet via Zunerama]

A friend of mine at one electronics manufacturer says he has trouble because his counterparts in Asia always announce products without letting him know, so the Asian editions get blown all over the web, stealing his thunder. One major cellphone maker is constantly vexed by a European carrier that likes to blab about phones that are supposed to be secret. On a regular basis, Amazon.com posts products that ought to still be under wraps.

Recently, we had a situation where PR agency people handed us ready-to-print information and images, which they then discovered had been under embargo from their client. They asked us to pull it down, but it was just too late, it was all over the web. And besides, it wasn't a breach of any agreement.

Journalists and bloggers are not the untrustworthy ones—in fact, we're probably the only ones who still have some respect for the secrecy. As it stands now, anything that appears in public or via honest-to-goodness leak is fair game, embargo or not. But I encourage the industry to take it one step further: if the product appears in any form, we should be at liberty to share what you have given us directly, in informative briefings and press events. Why run half-assed product announcements when we know the full story? That doesn't hurt us, it only hurts you, the companies.

The point of an NDA is to keep competitors, retailers and consumers from knowing what's next, for reasons of competitve advantage or product sell-through. But when you can't keep the secret, why should the news suffer?

That said, it is not my plan to ever break an NDA or even a verbally agreed-to embargo. But I strongly encourage you to recognize that when the cat gets out of the bag, you should release us from our embargoes. Otherwise, all you'll keep getting from us are secondhand-sourced stories that only tell half of the news, with a tiny follow-up when the product is officially acknowledged.

I mean, who in gadget journalism even wants to keep this stuff past a few weeks anyhow? Ugh, old gadgets. Anyhow, think about it. It could save us lots and lots of time over the coming years. What do guys and gals think? Would be pretty nifty, huh?

Thank you,

Brian

(PS, I am totally appreciative of everyone who sends out review units, just thinking how we can be more efficient. Every minute counts when +12 hour days are the norm. )

I know all about the junkets because I've been invited to many, and in 2004, I actually went on one. It was totally amazing, one of the best ways to see Japan for the first time. But it had a negative effect on my work—rather than boost the company's presence in my stories, it diminished it. I didn't want anyone to think I favored them. It was frustrating, and I vowed never to go on another paid-for trip.

On the flipside, the companies and many who go on the trips argue that it's the best way to experience new technologies, and understand how they are developed and made. They are correct. Many writers for the New York Times, Wall Street Journal and other papers of record have never seen what a lot of trade journalists have, for this reason. And even if you have a sizeable travel budget, organizing your own transportation and meals can be a giant pain.

Lately, Brian and I have been talking about an alternative. If a junket is planned, say, to a research facility in Korea, why not assign a package price for reporters? It could be a very publicly disclosed number, so that our readers know the score. Already, some great publications like CNet arrange to tag along on junkets, all the while paying their way. We think this should become a standard feature of the junket. We cover our airfare and hotels, while you cover the invaluable experience. Sound good?