Opportunities for news in augmented reality and geotagging mobile applications
Like with most things iPhone-related, the sight of a new application sends people into a frenzy. However the latest development in augmented reality applications could be useful for both ecommerce and the news industry.
Adult content hits the iPhone
The day many iPhone developers have been waiting for has arrived. Yes, I'm talking about the availability of adult content on the iPhone.
Thanks to the iPhone 3.0 OS, which includes parental controls, the App Store has its first officially sanctioned app that provides adult content.
Apple's customer service fail
All too eager to get cut and paste and a few other new features on my iPhone, I downloaded the latest 3.0 upgrade from iTunes not long after it was released.
However, after something like an hour of waiting, and just as the download was about to be completed, I get an error message on iTunes, and my iPhone screen looked like this:
Why AT&T cares more about new iPhone users than existing ones
The new iPhone will be released on June 19th, and while data upgrades, new features and lower costs makes the product attractive to new users, current iPhone owners may experience sticker shock when they try to upgrade on June 19th.
AT&T customers purchasing an iPhone for the first time will be able to get a 16 or 32GB phone for $199 or $299. But many customers in the middle of their AT&T contracts for first or second generation models will have to spend $399 and $499 to upgrade.
The price increase has already gotten a negative response from many vocal iPhone owners. The Washington Post called the new iPhone a “sucker’s bet” yesterday, while CNNMoney is waiting until Christmas to get one, and TechCrunch thinks it's a "very questionable upgrade."
Angering early adopters may not work out for AT&T longterm — AT&T's exclusive contract with Apple could expire as soon as next year — but in light of its unusual relationship with Apple and the cost of supporting the network-sucking smartphones, it looks as if AT&T is focusing on growing the iPhone user base at the cost of customer loyalty.
Microsoft is getting marketing savvy
When one thinks of tech companies that know how to market themselves, Microsoft probably isn't on the list. Instead, it's considered a stodgy old stalwart that is better known as a company many love to hate.
But an interesting thing has been happening lately: Microsoft is getting its groove back. At least when it comes to how it presents itself and its products to consumers.
How do you get positive feedback online? Showcase your fans
Research in Motion has had a major hurdle in the way of selling its smartphones over the past few years: it's called the iPhone. The Blackberry may have sold 6.7 million smartphones in the third quarter of last year, but that was a record quarter, and Apple shipped 6.9 million iPhones in the first quarter of its existence.
The other problem is that the iPhone has incredibly high user participation rates online. There are many more conversations about the iPhone happening on the web than the iPhone, which RIM is tring to fix.
As the Blackberry maker learned last year, 76% of consumers don’t think companies tell the truth in advertising, while 78% trust the recommendation of other consumers. According to Brian Wallace, Director of Global Digital Marketing for RIM, money spent on advertising and an appealing website was effectively wasted: “we were where our customers were not.”
The Gray Lady lends its brand to advertisers
The New York Times, desperate to earn some money in these dire times for media sites, is experimenting with advertising online and seeing some positive results.
Unwilling, or perhaps unable to wait for advertisers to start pouring money into the web, The Times is using its own creative team — and its brand — to make itself more attractive to advertisers.
Nokia's Ovi Store gets off to a rocky start
Companies like Nokia were in the mobile phone business long before Apple but with the iPhone and App Store, Apple has been able to eclipse larger rivals in the innovation department.
Today, Nokia fired back at the App Store with an app store of its own: Ovi Store.
Can iPhone apps lift your brand value through association?
Brands can get a generous lift when affiliated with high quality products such as the iPhone. But what about the applications in the App Store? Let's look at why Apple should build a sustainable eco-system for technology-based mobile applications, which is the key to product quality and research into the potential of mobile applications that brand marketers can harness.
Apple's response to netbooks: a tablet?
When asked about netbooks earlier this year, Apple COO Tim Cook didn't beat around the bush: "They have cramped keyboards, terrible software, junky hardware, very small
screens, and just not a consumer experience, and not something that we would put
the Mac brand on, quite frankly".
That's fine, but the reality is that netbooks have made a huge mark on the market and have been given credit for driving much of the growth in the PC market. It's not hard to see why: for $300 or less in some cases, consumers can have an internet-capable 'mini-laptop'. In this economy, it's safe to say that many netbooks have been sold to consumers who otherwise would not have made a laptop purchase due to price considerations.
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Web 2.0
Graham Charlton
Strategy & Planning
