22nd May 2006

Cambridge's Bluetooth expertise extends the reach of advertising

interactive ads: coming to a site near you soon...

Wireless Bluetooth communications technology from two Cambridge companies is helping to make poster adverts interactive, by embedding a chip that allows passers by to receive detailed information using their mobile phones.

Hypertag - a company started by graduates from St Johns College in Cambridge - has pioneered a technology that allows consumers to interact with posters and signs, to receive detailed information such as a reminder, a ring tone or an MP3 sample. Up to now, this content has been delivered by a small PC installed behind the ad.

With the aid of a software development tool from Cambridge Consultants, Hypertag has now managed to cram the Bluetooth system in a single low cost chip - reducing size, weight, cost and power consumption. The breakthrough gives Hypertag a system that deals easily with many more usage environments - including wearing it for field promotions. Up to now, field marketers have carried the Bluetooth unit in a rucksack. Now, the entire Bluetooth system fits into a small 'badge' that can be worn on a belt or pinned onto clothing.

"While the bread and butter market for Bluetooth is mobile phones and headsets, the wide availability and capability of the wireless technology is attracting companies such as Hypertag to use it in extremely novel ways. We're now seeing demand for our toolkit from markets as diverse as consumer goods to medical devices," says Cambridge Consultants' Tim Fowler.

"Cambridge Consultants' Bluetooth software development tool has made it possible to replace a larger and more expensive PC arrangement with a stripped-down solution that is small, robust, and consumes far less power," adds Hypertag's Graham Tricker. "It's helping us take a big step forward with our interactive advertising technology."

The new hardware allows the current PC server to be replaced with a tiny 'embedded system' containing an array of single-chip Bluetooth subsystems. The implementation was made possible by Cambridge Consultants' xIDE software development kit, which gives users unrestricted access to the processing power of the microprocessor inside the market-leading Bluetooth chip - BlueCore - also invented in Cambridge by CSR.

Tests of the resulting design show that each BlueCore chip typically delivers content to current real-world phones at the same kind of speeds as PC based solutions. This enables an MP3 or video clip to be transmitted in 10 or 20 seconds typically.

Hypertag's first major UK campaign was on poster ads around the London Underground in early 2004. This summer represents a major period of business development for the company. Many major brands such as O2, Orange, Sony Ericsson and Nike are now exploiting the technology, and there are lots of promotional campaigns currently being prepared for summer events such as music festivals.

To download a high resolution image please click on the image below:

Notes for editors:

Cambridge Consultants develops breakthrough products, creates and licenses intellectual property, and provides business consultancy in technology critical issues for clients worldwide. For nearly 50 years, the company has enabled its clients to turn business opportunities into commercial successes, whether launching first-to-market products, entering new markets or expanding existing markets through the introduction of new technologies.

With a team of over 270 engineers, designers, scientists and consultants, in offices in Cambridge (UK) and Boston (USA), Cambridge Consultants offers solutions across a diverse range of industries including medical technology, industrial and consumer products, automotive, transport, energy and wireless communications. For more information visit: www.CambridgeConsultants.com

Cambridge Consultants is part of the Altran group. Altran Technologies, which is listed on the Paris Stock Exchange (FR:003463), employs over 16,000 consultants in 20 countries around the world. In 2007 the group generated a turnover of €1,591.4 million. For more information visit: www.altran.com

Hypertag is a mobile marketing technology company specialising in out-of-home interactive advertising. Founded in 2001, the company has created a new mechanism for brands to engage with consumers via their mobile phones in a truly opt-in and interactive way. Hypertags are short-range wireless devices that can be mounted in advertising panels or worn by a field marketer. Consumers simply activate the Bluetooth (or infrared) on their phone and hold it up to the Hypertag to receive marketing content such as ringtones, logos and video and music clips direct to their phone. Because Hypertags use Bluetooth (or infrared), transactions are free to both advertiser and consumer. Hypertag is revolutionising the out of home advertising industry by adding a new level of interactivity into what have traditionally been static, passive marketing media. Hypertag's technology has been used in a wide range of campaigns for brands such as Procter and Gamble, O2, Orange, Sony Ericsson and HP.

For further information:

Cambridge Consultants Ltd

Patrick Pordage
Marketing Communications Director
Tel: +44 1223 420024
Patrick.Pordage@CambridgeConsultants.com