How Do You Unlock Your Phone?

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The days of using a button or passcode to unlock your phone appear to be long gone. The simple “slide to unlock” feature that Apple released with the first iPhone in 2007 is already outdated. New Apple and Samsung phones are placing emphasis on new technology that allows you to use your fingerprint to securely unlock your phone. The folks at Motorola with their partners at VivaLnk agree that their unlock feature needed an overhaul, but it’s not exactly the same as what Apple and Samsung are doing.

Owners of the Moto X phone can now use temporary tattoos to unlock their phone. All you need to do is place the back of your phone over the tattoo to simply and quickly unlock your phone. Users no longer need to worry about password protecting their phone and taking the time to enter it. Is this more useful than a fingerprint scanner? Probably not, but it is a great attempt by Motorola to differentiate its offering from the competition. The tattoo is the size of a nickel, lasts for five days, and connects to your phone by using near field communication technology.

What Sparks our Fire: Seeing Motorola attempting to differentiate itself from the big guns of mobile technology.

Would you use a tattoo to unlock your phone?

Motorola Has Resuscitated Print

Who says print has to be dead? At least for this one ad for the Moto X, print is alive and interactive.

With the help of paper-thin electronics, about a quarter of the readers of Wired in the San Francisco and New York City areas will be able to see the Moto X change colors within their magazine. This video announcement comes on the heels of the sale of 500,000 Moto X smartphones in the third quarter, which is about 5% of the sales that Samsung reported for their S4 handset in the first month after its’ release. Google clearly hopes this ad will drum up interest and support for their competing phone and increase sales for the coming quarter.

In any case, it’s an interesting ad with an interactive aspect and an creative innovation in a medium that hasn’t lately seen much.

What Sparks Our Fire: Innovation in what many see as a “dead” medium.

Would you buy this magazine for the purpose of experiencing this ad?