Laura’s Winning Ideas

Here’s a toy/business tool that a proposal master might like. Nabaztag is a cute bunny who delivers information visually and with audio feeds from the internet.

Weather forecasts and traffic reports can be communicated with colored lights and wiggling ears. Messages can be sent via email to be read out loud.

It knows when the rabbit owner is in, because it is outfitted with a motion detector. A variety of web sites can be monitored and read, including headlines from your favorite paper, blog posts, or stock quotes.

He has some antics that lend personality and make him a toy or pet. It is the latest way to stay plugged in without being in front of a monitor.

I could see having one of these at home to use as an alarm clock and then have it read blogs to me while I’m getting ready in the morning.

Here’s my excuse as to why proposal team members might like this:

You can email a message to the rabbit, like: “Just wanted to let you know that an amendment to the RFP has been announced. We expect the amendment by 2:00 this afternoon, so the proposal meeting is changed to 3:00 instead of 8:00 this morning. Stop for a latte before coming in!”

This rabbit links to a WIFI network to deliver messages. The latest version has a microphone, and can distinguish scent. Humm. How the scent talent will be used is a mystery so far. Widgets to get the bunny to do a variety of things (useless and otherwise) are in the works around the globe.

How about a loaner rabbit for your technical leader when working on a proposal with you? If you work with engineers of any type, this should be another way to get them into your office.

Another cute use is to have this at home to deliver messages when the kids get home from school. This is more animated than a note left on the refrigerator and might be enough fun to get them to do that homework.

Note that you’ll need a wireless connection to the internet to make a home for the bunny. The latest version is due out with US retailers December 8. See their website at http://www.nabaztag.com to see demos and get more information.