Redefining coffee buzz

Never mind Google’s new Chrome browser — that’s getting plenty of coverage elsewhere. But what’s a smaller-than-Google company to do when it comes to differentiating its wares at a big convention?

Coffeemaker manufacturer Nespresso, in addition to having an auto-play, vaguely porno soundtrack on their home page, came up with a gimmick for the recent IFA 2008 conference. (There should be a sentence here telling you what IFA is, but for the life of me I can’t find the acronym defined on their site anywhere — if you know, please leave a comment.)

Offering attendees a chance to set complimentary coffee down upon an interactive table, the company demonstrated just how goofy high tech can get. Coffee cups, rigged with bottom pads that could be read by cameras mounted under the table, triggered pop-up info panels that appear right there on the table which doubles as a screen. These revealed facts about the product. But riddle us this — if you haven’t finished the cup of coffee that’s bringing up the data, are you really awake to follow the message?

Update: Mystery solved: IFA stands for the International Franchise Association. Thanks to @axonmetrix via Twitter. (@bookeriv says it’s the Independent Frycooks Army. I’m skeptical.)