The electronic cigarette first received big-screen attention in a scene from The Tourist in which Angelina Jolie sees Johnny Depp puffing away on a smokeless device in the no-smoking section of a train. Now e-cigarette maker Blu Cig wants to take the smokeless experience one step further by rolling out a new "smart pack" next month featuring built-in networking.
Blu Cig's new smart pack will integrate a tiny radio transceiver operating in an unlicensed band. Equipped with a unique ID, the device will be able to instantly detect whenever it's within 50 feet of a Blu Cig retail location and vibrate to notify the user, as well as locate -- and potentially connect 
with -- other Blu smokeless cartridge users in the vicinity.
Still, analysts are questioning whether such capabilities will really benefit e-cigarette users. "This idea of using local wireless networking and location information to be alerted to people in your vicinity is potentially meaningful, but what is required is that the people otherwise share some strong affinity," said Forrester Research Principal Analyst Charles Golvin in a telephone interview Wednesday. "Two people who smoke do not necessarily have any affinity otherwise."
Driven by Consumer Feedback
Golvin sees more of an opportunity for this type of connected technology when applied to groups of individuals sharing a common interest that strongly motivates them to interconnect. For example, individuals with a strong political affinity, such as Tea Party members, would be more motivated "to encounter people of like minds in their general vicinity," Golvin observed.
However, Blu Cig argues that the new smart pack would be useful as an ice breaker in venues such as conventions and night clubs because they would enable users to strike up conversations with other e-cigarette users. And when the new smart pack goes on sale next month, it will only add $10 to $20 to the cost of a starter kit.
"The new features added to the smart pack -- especially the proximity alerts and social networking -- are predominately driven by consumer feedback," said Blu Cig President Jason Healy. "Plus, with the explosion in popularity of social-networking sites, it just made sense for us to connect something that's so inherently social --like smoking -- to something our customers are already using on a personal level." (continued...)
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