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Digital Fitness

As you may have seen from my Insta posts. After a few weeks of traveling, I’m back into a regular routine with the local gym.

Now, whilst I’m used to the hard weights, machines, benches, etc… I came across an innovative machine where you can train.

Take Tonal..

Now, I used to train at cyril’s Gym in Cinderhill, Nottingham when I was growing up…

It was a lovely gym! – The main guy, Cyril, was a man of few words but had everything you needed in the gym for a good workout!

Now… times have moved on – from the gyms with concrete floors, a load of barbels and dumbbells, with lots of free weights.

There’s carpets, nice music, TV on each running machine, etc… and that’s fine. But sometimes, I prefer the old skool gyms…

Anyhow… it looks like all this could be potentially replaced!

As mentioned – Tonal, is a screen, a gym, a personal trainer…. all in one.

Here you go. Digital Fitness – Digital Weights.

Basically, it’s using magnetic force instead of the traditional gravitational force.

You know gravity, right? – Newton… apple…head….. well, we’ve moved on. And it’s all about magnetic forces!!

Is it as good as the traditional? – I can’t comment, but the word on the street is, in a blindfolded test… most couldn’t tell the difference.

Bal… I like my bench and various handles, will this TV screen do that?

Well… it’s not just a TV screen (though that is the main feature… because you’re personal trainer will pop up on it)… but yes.

You can have all the other ‘bits’ to make it a ‘real’ gym.

Now you’re probably thinking… this is great, but how much is it going to cost me.

Yes… as it’s new. As it’s a big screen. As it’s digital. It’s not going to be cheap. In fact, it’s $2,995! – or you could subscription for $200/mo.

Living outside the San Fran area… you might struggle, as the installation is only happining in that area – for the moment.

Matter of time before you see it in your local gym? – I guess so.

In fact… will you need to go to the gym? Is this the 1980’s all over again?…. (obviously not… because it’s Digital!)

 

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Monday Motivation

Monday Motivation…

I thought, it’s been a while since I’ve shared a ‘Monday Motivation’… and being 1st of October (hasn’t 2018 flown by so far!), what a great moment to share a motivational quote…from John Wooden (& Forbes)

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Bal's Friday Thought

Bal’s Friday Thought…

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One does enjoy a ‘Proper Whiskey’…

We’ve seen Celebs collaborate and introduce new products to the market place.

We had Dr Dre… with the Beats Headphones. Which were a phenomenal success.

Now you have Mr Conor McGregor… introducing you to some ‘Proper Whiskey’.

My nephew text me and told me about it! – He said ‘Check this out… you going to try some?’

You know you have to, right? – similar to the Beats… if Dre… a master of his art, knows a thing or two about sound… must have done a good job on the headphones…. McGregor must have teamed up with some of the best in the world… and I’m sure Conor likes a drink or two… must have have produced a half decent Whiskey!

It’s not always about endorsements. I feel, you got to go one step ahead.

Collaborate with experts and bring out a new product, for the World to enjoy.

Dr Dre and Jimmy Iovine – came together to produce and introduced the world to Beats Headphones.

And you can’t argue how successful they have been. Good or not… that’s a personal opinion… but they sure have made a buck or two for the founders.

So Connor… has done the same.

Along with Bushmill’s former distillery manager, David Elder… they have produced the Proper No. 12 Whiskey.

And straight away… you know it’s going to be big! You know it’s going to be popular… and it’ll sell lots. If you like blended whiskey or not… you’ll be intrigued.

And the marketing has started…. and what timing. You may (or may not know) Mr McGregor has a big fight coming up soon also…. so timing is perfect.

Not only that… his social media following is huge. And what a better way to promote your product..

So there you go…. the future isn’t about Endorsements.

It’s about Collaboration.

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Planes, Trains and Automobiles

Last week was crazy! Clocked up several miles… but more importantly, I’m now 20 points away from my British Airways Executive Club – Silver Status!! 

What does that mean Bal?

Not much to be fair! – basically… it means – I’ve spent an obscene amount of money on travelling…. flying… with BA!

Not just flying. I’ve spent a fair amount of time in my car. I don’t mind that…. I’m in my environment… I’m listening to my music… I’m singing along… loudly at times. 

Then there’s the train. Getting my paper orange ticket… 

Okay… when I’m on the London Underground… it’s all contactless…. thankfully to my Oyster card, it’s quick to get around.

Now… all of this got me thinking… which mode of transport is the most ‘digital’ or has ‘innovated’ the most. 

For me…. I think… the airline industry. 

Everything from the mobile tickets/passes…. to the security checks (those scanning machines where you just stand with your legs apart)….

I got off my flight from Sofia, Bulgaria last week. From the moment the plane doors opened – and to me being in my car (I had parked in Heathrow T5 Pod Parking) took me 20mins. That included, getting off the plane, from B terminal to A terminal in T5… then those passport scanning machines… onto the self driving Pod to take me to my car… and into my car!

Secondly… it’s got to be the car industry. We’re hearing a lot about self-driving cars… (which I believe will be soon on our roads). We have the Tesla auto-pilot function in Tesla’s…. now called the ‘Enhanced AutoPilot’.

Fully electric and capable of doing 300+ miles. Then there’s the BMW’s, Mercedes, Audi’s of this world… who have the hybrid models. The Japanese who were the first I believe with the hybrid cars – continue to innovate – remember Toyota investing a huge sum of money into Uber.

Finally… it’s the trains I feel.

Not much has gone into them. Unless I’ve missed it.

I keep hearing that Virgin Trains are doing a lot – with paperless tickets… and they have a Digital/Innovation team working on several items.

Yes – there’s HS2 – a high speed rail link between London and Birmingham. Which will extend to the north, through Nottingham and back to London. When will that be? – a few years for the whole thing yet.

Might have the first flying cars by then 🙂

 

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Bal's Friday Thought

Bal’s Friday Thought…

…Either Act or Forget.

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The Cheaters Edition…

So, I was relaxing at home one evening… and watching a bit of TV (I know.. crazy right, how on Earth I get time to watch a bit of TV is beyond me!) but there I was, watching a bit of TV and an advert came on for Monopoly.. The Cheaters Edition!!

We’ve all been there…. at family get-togethers, Christmas, Events, etc…

… and there’s always one, (or two) who cheat! – So this, in my opinion, is a great idea!!! – The Cheaters Edition!

I’m so going to buy this!

But it really got me thinking – I remember, when I was a kid, there was one version of Monopoly.

Today, there’s a few…

And then.. there’s Digital versions – that’s right, you can download a version onto your phone/tablet. You can play it on the computer – you can play against friends… there’s so many options!

Then… there’s the collaboration with McDonalds!

Shows the diversity of the original game.

And that’s only a great thing.

This is exactly what should be happening. Looking at variation to appeal to new customers, crowds and consumers.

Looking at how to engage with different ages. Looking at how to attract more customers. Looking at how to grow the brand – moving it into digital.

If you own a business or work in a company, how are you ensuring you keep growing and keep attracting customers?

By the way… I wasn’t one of the ‘cheaters’ at the traditional Christmas Monopoly game in the Bansal household… honest. 🙂

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Weather Technology…

Who remembers when the weather was simple, and straight to the point? – you know what I mean… Michael Fish on the BBC using those magnetic symbols…

What a throwback! – love the shirt!!

You know where I’m going to go with this… that’s right, why haven’t I got a shirt like that!!

Ok… the magnetic symbols were replaced by TV screens. Why? – because it was easier, quicker and less work for Michael to do.

That’s right – the Screen Technology helped to quickly move around different regions of the country – zoom in and be more specific about weather. Remember the remote control they used to hold – where they’d press the button to move the screen to the next one! – fabulous times….

What technology did… and does today, is improve the process.

The process is – the weather person to share with us what the weather is going to be like. Is it going to rain. Will it be warm. How windy will it be…. etc…  Technology helps the whole process and experience.

With advancements in Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality – combine the two and we now have ‘Mixed Reality’ – there’s so much more you can do.

You can immerse yourself in the weather! – well… we’re getting there.

One weather channel used technology to share what the weather will be like.. but not only what it’d be like, but show what will be happening. In this case, it’s a hurricane. Lots of rain. Lots of wind.

Now we can imagine what it’d be like. But showing it – well, that’s a whole new experience.

Rather than me talking about here… here’s the weather video…

Remember… it’s about the process…. AND the Experience – make it memorable.

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Bal's Friday Thought

Bal’s Friday Thought…

Forget the Past…

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Review of Apple’s Event… and the New iPhones

Yesterday… Apple had their Event. Their main conference.

Some brilliant new items were announced, along with the new operating system… iOS12. Did you follow it? – Have you watched it all? – if not… don’t worry, I’ll summarise it here for you.

1. New iWatch

That’s right – there’s a new iWatch.

Packed with many new features – like it detects when you fall over, and has much more going on the watch face – but the one feature that really stands out is that it’s got the ability to carry out an ECG! Detecting low and high heart rates, shows Apple is leading the way with wrist worn health care technology.

2. New iPhone XS

Let’s be honest, the iPhone X has been a major success. It’s features (face recognition and much more) has been well recieved by customers. And now… well, there’s been an upgrade! You can now have the iPhone XS.

In fact, you can have an XS or an XS Max! The Max has a bigger screen… bigger screen than what you’d look at on an iPhone 8 Plus!

We were expecting it… and oh boy, doesn’t it look impressive!!

And it’s packed with some brilliant features…

One of the main features which i’m personally looking forward to is the Dual Sim!- that’s right… the iPhones will be able to accommodate 2 sims!!

3. …and one more thing.

The iPhone XR!

That’s right… a ‘lesser version’ of the X. It’ll be available in several colours… and therefore, here’s the full iPhone line up…

iOS12 will also have some great features…grouping messages and notifications on the home screen…. and much more. So much, I’ll have to test it out, and share it with you in an up and coming blog post.

One thing I did like about the Apple Event, was that they announced it on Twitter… and if you ‘liked’ it… then they notified you when it started. Ensuring no-one missed it. Brilliant marketing. But then… wouldn’t expect anything less. It’s all about having the ability to Think Differently.