What future products lurk in the hearts of companies

Posted Apr 8th 2008 4:36PM by Timothy Sykes
Filed under: Consumer Experience, Competitive Strategy, Google (GOOG), Microsoft (MSFT), Apple Inc (AAPL), Motorola (MOT), Nokia Corp. (NOK), Altria Group (MO), Washington Mutual (WM), Technology

When I saw the news of NTT DoCoMo (NYSE: DCM)'s new mobile phone that emits fragrances, I began wondering what other oddities today's corporate powerhouses may be working on. No financial advice here, these are just some ideas I came up with:

Apple Inc (NASDAQ: AAPL) will unveil headgear that doubles as both headphones and a personal masseuse, giving tantalizing head, neck and shoulders massages.

In an attempt to help with falling click-through rates, Google Inc (NASDAQ: GOOG)'s new mobile phone will be offered free as long as you sign Google's activation agreement requiring you to click on a mobile ad every hour, even while you sleep.

Not to be outdone by Google, Chinese rival, Baidu.com Inc (NASDAQ: BIDU), will design software that instantaneously translates Chinese websites to English and vice versa!

To attract more capital, Washington Mutual Inc (NYSE: WM) will partner with Altria Group (NYSE: MO) to give away thousands of cases of cigarettes to customers willing to deposit amounts over the $100,000 FDIC-insured limit.

And what I'm looking forward to most, Microsoft Corp (NASDAQ: MSFT)'s new operating system, code named "Love Doctor," will not only run your computer, it will also manage your personal relationships -- as determined by a special algorithm that Bill Gates is working on this very moment -- with the tagline "Life is tough, let us make it easier for you!"

I admit most of these ideas are unlikely -- at best -- but don't laugh at them; some might be here before you know it. After all, everybody laughed when they first heard about mobile ringtones, but billions of dollars in revenues -- and profits -- later, early adopters like Nokia (NYSE: NOK) and Motorola Inc (NYSE: MOT) laughed their way to the bank.

Timothy Sykes writes the blog timothysykes.com, is a former hedge fund manager, star of the TV show Wall Street Warriors and author of the book, An American Hedge Fund: How I Made $2 Million as a Stock Operator & Created a Hedge Fund

Tags: aapl, bidu, dcm, goog, mo, mot, msft, nok