The largest mobile phone operator in Japan, Softbank intends to sell robots they call “Pepper” in Japan in February 2015 and in the United States within a year through Sprint which they took control recently. Created by Aldebaran, the robot is priced at around $1,900. It is already greeting and welcoming customers at Softbank stores in Japan.

Pepper is an intelligent and first of its kind humanoid robot designed to live with humans. The social robot can recognize and react to your emotions and live without any assistance. Unfortunately it will not cook or clean for you. But he can be a good companion that reacts to your voice, touch and emotions. Pepper’s great ability is its reactions to your emotions. It can recognize your burst of laughter, your frown, anger, joy, sadness and translate that into its reaction. Analyses of your facial expressions, body language and words and adopting itself to cheer you up are Pepper’s sheer strength. He can play your favorite song for you no matter what the condition you are in. More you communicate with him, more data that he will gather to react and comfort you. What a companionship it will be?

Text ads are everywhere. We see them all over search, and all over sites within content. It might seem like text is everything, but images can add a lot of context that text cannot. Research shows that our brains process images differently than text, which is why so many brands incorporate image and text. Nike, Apple and even Chase Bank all incorporate some image with their text.

You should aim for the same effect in your own messaging, and it’s easy to achieve if you have a good eye for what pairs well. Here are some tips to help you utilize images in your mobile and banner advertising.

Tell the Customer What to Do

Be bold and tell your customer exactly what you want them to do. Do it in a button, where they can clearly see what they are supposed to click. Strong colors like green or blue are good, but red is not. After all, you don’t want the customer to stop do you?

Also, tell customers what to expect in your call to action. Are customers downloading a report? Use “Download Now” as your call. Same with “Learn More,” “Apply now” and “Find Savings.” These calls are far more effective than “Click Here.”

Try New Things

Start with an ad that is fairly close to something your competitors run, then work on adding your own spin. This is all part of competitive research and you will find that what works for your competition will not work for you. Human pictures can help make your products more relatable, while the product itself can be a valuable sales pitch. Apple, for instance, rarely shows real humans wearing their products. The emphasis is on that iconic white. Test these new ideas in separate ad groups and track their results to compare with your top performers.

Include Data on Pricing

It’s a misconception that customers don’t want to see the sales price. You can use a colored burst to highlight the cost, or you can look for other methods to lower the price without changing what the consumer pays. Try subsidizing shipping costs to your local area or offering a coupon code to people who click your ad. Testing will be crucial here, so that you can maximize your returns.

Keep it Relevant

Relevancy to the consumer is still your number one goal. Every element of your ad should be designed to get the customer clicking on something that will bring them closer to a point of action.

Bio: Ted Dhanik is the CEO and co-founder of the Los Angeles based advertising company, engage:BDR. Ted Dhanik helps business owners run engaging ads on the Web. Find out how to use display advertising to generate business leads with tips from Ted Dhanik.

Written by: Denton Vacuum, LLC

Summary: Metallic finishes are applied using advanced manufacturing techniques.

Ever wonder how motorcycles, bicycles and cars all get that anodized finish to the metallic parts they use? Some of that work is old-fashioned elbow grease, but advanced manufacturing techniques like sputter deposition can help give metals the brushed finish hobbyists and collectors expect in high quality products.

Basic Technique

The piece to be finished is placed inside of a vacuum sealed chamber, where the process of plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition begins. The metallic coating of the substance is broken down into a gaseous form, using extremely intense heat. The molecules are then fed into a vacuum sealed chamber, which is cooled at precise intervals. As the chamber cools, the molecules come to settle upon the substrate. In order to form a smoother finish, the substrate may be rotated so the molecules can coat its surface evenly.

Using Magnets

Another method utilizes magnetron sputtering, which pulls and reflects particles based on their ionic charges. This technique is often used when an even coating is desired, because of how the molecules move within the chamber. Typically, magnetron sputtering systems leave no visible defects and the layers are microns in thickness.

Final Thoughts

There are a ton of uses for this technology that extend beyond the finish of hobby products. Plastics, for instance, can receive a metallic coating to reinforce their strength. That greatly reduces the costs of producing screws and other small objects needed in the construction of jet or car engines.