Posts tagged Apple
Apple shows us that it’s okay to not be perfect
Jul 19th
Guess what? Apple is “not perfect”. That’s what CEO Steve Jobs had to say on Friday after calling an emergency press conference to ease the minds of the thousands of tech journo’s across the globe that the iPhone 4 was in fact, not broken or being recalled.
Yes, it has antenna issues. However, those issues affect just 0.55% of Apple’s 3 million iPhone 4 users.
It appears that this antenna malarkey was just blown up by the media. One person called to complain and the media jumped on the problem like a fat kid on a cupcake. Poor Apple, success just doesn’t sell well these days. Consumers…well, the media, seems to favour the bad news and ignite panic. Take for example Google’s financial results reported on Friday.
We received the results too and reported them on UTalkMarketing. They were positive results. The company’s revenues and profits are up (you can read the nitty gritties here) but they are not up enough to please some with most of the media outlets reporting Google’s “disappointing” results.
But back to Apple. Jobs has promised every iPhone user a free case to help with the antenna issues – which, by the way, exist in all smartphones including RIM’s Blackberry.
He seemed a little upset in his presentation. Upset about how quickly you can go from being the most popular kid in the playground to the most hated, money making corporation.
Jobs just wants to make his users happy. And he’s fixing things to make them happy.
I watched the presentation on the internet (because my actual invite was lost in the mail) and I couldn’t help thinking though, if the answer is so simple – to send a free case out to users – why wasn’t there an email marketing campaign?
I frequently get email marketing messages from Apple telling me about new products and product updates, so why not this time?
Jobs was, as usual playing it smart. He wasn’t speaking to users, he was speaking to the media. He was advertising the Apple brand with a new “we love you, Apple user” message that doesn’t quite sound the same in an email. Jobs was advertising the fact that Apple, regardless of how unbelievably successful (selling 3 million iPhone 4s in 3 weeks) it is or becomes, will always go to great lengths to satisfy its customers.
And what a great ad it was…it had me at “not perfect”.
Is Apple’s famous ‘buzz’ marketing strategy to blame for its antenna issues?
Jul 16th
Apple is famous for keeping a shroud of secrecy around its new products, a marketing strategy that has also served the tech giant well for the past decade. But what if this time it was that very buzz strategy that led to the epic fail that has been the iPhone 4 launch?
Since its launch on June 24, Apple’s iPhone 4 hasn’t exactly received the warm welcome that has come to be synonymous with anything that Apple launches.
This week, product review magazine Consumer Reports said it could not recommend Apple’s latest iPhone. Antenna issues lived on and Apple’s share price plummeted 0.51% yesterday on the news that CEO Steve Jobs would be holding an emergency press conference today in the US.
No one, of course, knows what the conference will address leaving us to only speculate about a product recall.
It could very well be one of the largest product recalls in history – the iPhone 4 is already in the hands of more than 1.7 million people worldwide with hundreds of thousands more on pre-order.
Let the blame game begin.
Jobs’s insistence on strict design control of the iPhone could have led the tech giant to overrule internal concerns about the iPhone 4’s antenna reception.
His stance is said to have forced the company to deny carriers adequate time to test the new phone before selling it.
Apple engineers were reportedly aware of the risks associated with the new antenna design as early as a year ago. However, Jobs liked the design so much that Apple went ahead with its development anyway, according to a person familiar with the matter talking with the Wall Street Journal.
This ‘person’ claims that the device didn’t get the kind of “real-world testing” that would have exposed such problems because Apple was determined to maintain its secrecy – something the company has become famous for in terms of a marketing strategy.
Apple is so fearful of deflating the buzz it creates around its products that the phones it sends to its carrier partners for testing are “stealth” phones that disguise the device’s shape and some of its functions.
This means that Jobs can walk around on stage in his blue jeans and black turtle neck skivvy delivering a revolution. It has worked time and time again and has seen hundreds of people around the world camp out the front of Apple stores in anticipation of a launch just to be the first to see and use these highly anticipated gems of technology.
A full recall seems a long shot for Apple but mostly, for Jobs who has long been credited with taking Apple from computer maker to technology giant.
Announcing a recall would mean the company has been dealt a significant blow by the fickle and unforgiving marketplace. Some in the US reckon that at the conference, Jobs will offer in-store solutions to fixing the antenna while others are saying the company could offer users cases or bumpers.
But whatever Jobs delivers, have no doubt that this conference is about damage control, not of the antenna, but the entire Apple brand.
Perhaps it sounds sinister to say so, but the antenna issue has highlighted a series of failures by the company, the main one being that its consumers were not at the forefront of the company’s minds during the launch phase. If they were, rigorous testing would have been undertaken. The big question now is will Apple be forced to change tactics in the future?
Secrecy is part of the Apple brand, buzz is the key to its marketing strategy and without those two things, Apple could be just another tech company. Remember, the Apple iPhone only has 18% of the smartphone market and it is solely its brand and reputation for making products that simple ‘work’ that has carried it that far.
Apple must apologize, but at the same time it cannot admit failure, otherwise all the merits upon which its brand was built in the first place will be insignificant.
For a full background on Apple visit UTalkMarketing’s Apple Hub, click here
Why businesses should not ignore the power of touch-screen web surfing
Jul 6th
Two thirds of UK businesses have no idea how their websites function on touch-screen devices such as the iPad and iPhone, according to a new LinkedIn poll.
Commissioned by user experience specialists Foresite, the poll reveals that of the 103 UK company directors who answered the survey, fewer than a third (32%) had tested if or how their websites worked on the devices.
Not only is it important to see how a company’s website appears and how the brand is represented, but businesses must know what ads on their site look like and make sure they are functioning.
With more than 3 million people across the globe holding onto an iPad already and with more than 1 million iPhone 4’s sold in the first few weeks, touch-screen devices are a market that is rapidly expanding and anyone who is online must keep up.
Last week, I was the lucky winner of a three month unlimited ‘buy one get one free’ pass to a particular brand of cinema complex. I immediately looked that cinema chain up on my iPad, which was on the coffee table (I didn’t want to walk to the study to get my laptop of course).
I typed in the cinema’s name and the website immediately popped up. A good start, but then I could not click on anything or navigate around the site. Instead of going to see a movie on Sunday (and spend a a couple of tenners at the candy bar) I didn’t know what was on so I decided to stay home and watch the Long Way Down on DVD.
I’ve had similar experiences with supermarket brands and banks – this is not good news for online business. Read the rest of this entry »
Apple debuts its iAds – but troubles remain
Jul 5th
Last week, without too much of a murmur, Apple released the very first iAd and thus its debut into the highly lucrative mobile advertising world. But it’s antenna issues could spell trouble for the famed tech giant.
iAds debuted on iOS 4-based devices on Thursday, with the first examples of Apple’s program enabling advertisers to present interactive ads directly within iOS apps.
The ads are embedded into iPhone applications, and when clicked, they appear as a window within the app. The ads have video and interactive components it hopes will combine the emotional punch of TV commercials with the engagement of the best internet pitches.
But while ads began to appear in some applications, not all of the iAd network has have gone live, according to Apple rumour network AppleInsider.
For example, some apps have a placeholder banner that reads “iAd,” but no advertisement is displayed and it cannot be selected. And some applications that others have found iAds in, such as “Mirror: for iPod and iPhone,” sometimes have a blank space.
Early sponsors Dove and Nissan reportedly paid $10 million in order to be among the first to advertise with the iAd service but Apple is apparently planning to charge companies close to $1 million by next
Apple shelled out for Quattro Wireless earlier this year so that it could own and control the way ads are served on its devices and have a say over how analytic data is reported.
Jobs said Apple started the program, which is native to the iOS software developer kit, to help developers make money on free applications in the App Store. Read the rest of this entry »
Think an iPad is too big for your bag? Just roll it up…
Jul 2nd
Apple’s iPads could soon allow users to roll it up like a good old fashioned newspaper thanks to new technology being developed in Australia and Italy.
Researchers at Australia’s Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, Melbourne University and Italy’s University of Padua are using laser technology to make products – including TV;s, iPads, mobile phones and Kindles – more flexible, thinner and cheaper.
While this all sounds pretty cool, I can’t help but think ‘so what’.
I have an iPad (as of the second day it was officially available) and I have absolutely no desire to put it in my handbag and carry it around with me.
The device is excellent, I use it for everything from reading books, playing games, using apps, email and checking my finances. But the device tend sit on my coffee table and I am mainly reaching for it during an ad break or when I have time to laze about on the couch.
It really isn’t an ‘on-the-go’ device. But, that being said, with the future of newspapers looking bleak, perhaps in a few years time when e-readers and tablets are more advanced – as well as a broader offering of Wi-Fi services in city centers – we’ll be more willing to ‘roll it up’.
But, just a few years ago, a similar technology to what is being developed in Australia and Italy was being used to develop screens that would replace light bulbs. The screens would be fastened to a ceiling like wallpaper to light a room. We’re yet to see this come to market though…
The laser technology for the iPad and similar devices will potentially dramatically cut manufacturing costs and make color displays brighter.
The biggest advantage for advertisers and app makers? Location based marketing.
Apple, Google, Microsoft and the battle of the browsers
Jun 29th
There seems to be an all out war going on between the internet browsers at the moment. Internet users have a choice between Internet Explorer, Google’s Chrome, Safari and Firefox – and they’re just the big guys. But which is best for you, your computer and your browsing habits?
Here’s a cute video on what an internet browser actually is:
Each and every one of the browsers mentioned is on the marketing trail. They all promise to deliver the best browsing experience, the best visual elements of browsing, faster searches, etc, etc. But here’s the real breakdown:
Google Chrome
Google has just released Chrome 5.0.375.86 to the Stable channel on Linux, Mac, and Windows, with a fix for a number of security issues. More importantly, the integrated Flash Player has now been enabled by default. Built-in Flash was previously only available in the developer and beta releases of the speedy WebKit-based browser, and the release to the Stable channel means the integrated plug-in is now available in its mainstream version.
Not only is Google giving Adobe’s Flash technology another vote of confidence (Flash Player 10.1 for Mobile will be rolled out on Android 2.2 phones first), but the integration also means any updates to Flash Player will be delivered directly via Google Chrome’s updating system, ultimately minimizing security risks that tend to surface when one uses outdated software and components.
Chrome is light weight, colorful, has an easy browse facility, contains its own task manager and a great bookmark facility.
The main advantage of this browser is default searching facility. If you type text in the link bar, the browser automatically shows corresponding search results. If you type website address in the link bar if it is available, the browser will find the site and display it. Otherwise it will search related information.
Chrome also interoperates Java Script super fast and of course, is compatible with all other Google products including Google Docs.
Disadvantages are that as Chrome was developed in 2008, it is available with beta versions as usual. But at the end of the day, Chrome is under a brand name that most internet users have come to love and trust: Google.
Another disadvantage of Google chrome is its history search box will fetch all types of data - even text from HTTPS-protected financial sites.
Internet Explorer
Many internet users have grown up with Internet Explorer (IE). It is the simple, pre-installed easy to use web browser that has never really posed any real problems for internet surfers. However, in an era where everyone is clamoring for a slice of the internet/tech brand pie, IE has become too boring for some internet users.
IE is actually a very typical Microsoft brand. Microsoft was or is the dawn of the internet. When I think of computers I think of Microsoft, but the brand can’t rest on those sorts of laurels when someone like Google is out there waving the ‘cool’ flag.
IE has recently release version 8 of its browser, which is selling itself on the grounds that it helps protect users from evolving online threats. The new SmartScreen filter and other built-in security features help users stay safe by protecting against deceptive and malicious websites which can compromise your data, privacy, and identity.
The Microsoft browser also comes with parental controls, so safety is a big selling point of this browser. Its usability should also win over families that have one main desktop computer. However, my main issue with IE is that it tends to be quiet slow, perhaps it’s too busy with all those security checks.
Firefox
I downloaded Firefox 3.6 this morning, and I must admit, I really love it. I’m not being bias though, on my MAC desktop computer at home I have Safari. I use Firefox on my laptop and at work I switch between Firefox and IE. I tried Chrome once and to be honest, it kept asking me to update it so I became annoyed and uninstalled it – to give Google credit though, this was Chrome beta. But back to Firefox…
This morning I downloaded the new version and it asked me to pick a theme, a persona. So now the top of my browser has a nice green design with the Firefox logo. It looks cool, and I can change it. At the moment I can have FIFA logos, Harry Potter themes, Snoopy cartoons or a nice picture of a sunset. I love that sort of personalization…and wasn’t it just last week that Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said that the web was moving towards personalisation?
On the technical side, I’ve always found Firefox extreme quick. I also love the brand, it’s not too flashy and overdone and so ‘in your face’. It’s very subtle which is less intrusive, it’s a browser after all, it doesn’t have to therefore penetrate every aspect of your internet life (as Google often does).
Firefox calls itself a “global community”. It’s a public benefit organization “dedicated not to making money but to improving the way people everywhere experience the internet”.
The browser is also an open source software project whose code has been used as a platform for some of the internet’s most innovative projects.
Firefox is super fast and it’s the ideal browser for watching TV online. What is also brilliant about Firefox is that if your computer crashes or your internet restarts, Firefox can restore your browsing sessions. It also is able to remember your tabs so if you cross out of Firefox, it’ll ask you if you want it to remember those tabs for the next time you launch the browser.
The browser also allows you to store your favourites as tabs on the actually browser interface, as does IE, for easy access.
So what are the disadvantages? Firefox’s tendency to crash with Flash downloads.
Safari
Apple’s Safari browser was mad especially for MAC OS. Safari is a graphical web browser Safari is also the native browser for the iOS. A version of Safari for the Microsoft Windows operating system supports Windows XP, Windows Vista, and Windows 7. The latest stable release of the browser is 5.0. Apple and Google are neck and neck with their browsers, however Safari’s disadvantages are that it is compatible with all MAC programs, leading users to think it is only really worthwhile on MACs.
But some cool features include bookmarking links to particular pages as “Web Clip” icons on the Home screen, opening specially-designed pages in full-screen mode, pressing on an image for 3 seconds to save it to the photo album and it supports HTML5 new input types…not Flash though, a sore point with Apple.
Somewhat sneakily, Apple uses software updates to make it easy and convenient for both Mac and Windows users to get the latest Safari updates, which kind of makes Safari the default regardless of users preferences and borders on malware distribution practices.
So there you have it, which browser do you prefer?
Apple faces iPhone reality – market share is not all that
Jun 25th
Amazingly, Apple’s iPhone represents just 4% of the European mobile market despite its CEO Steve Jobs touting that iPhone 4 will sell 1 million handsets this week upon launch.
New data from comScore has put the tech giant in its place today as it reveals Apple has just 18% of the smartphone market across five European nations – the UK, France, Germany, Spain and Italy.
However, the iPhone has facilitated “fundamental change” in mobile user behaviour and ignited fierce competition among device and operating system (OS) providers, says the researcher.
iPhone owners are the most voracious consumers of mobile media with 94% using mobile media, 87% using apps and 85% browsing the mobile internet.
With just a 4% share of the European market, iPhone users represent only 12% of all mobile media users.
Shocked? I certainly was, but only because of the volume in which Apple often blows its own trumpet.
Analysts have this week said the iPhone may top 2 million sales by the end of this week with the new iPhone 4 selling 1 million. This really does change everything, as Steve Jobs said just a few weeks ago. But it hasn’t changed market share much yet 2 although it certainly has had the competition shaking in their boots and rush new technologies, handsets and operating systems to market in order to compete.
The European smartphone market is growing 38% year-on-year, but the most recent year has seen some significant developments.
In the past 12 months, although the dominant OS, Symbian, gained device owners, market momentum has now moved to the North American operating systems of RIM, Apple and Google, each of which has grown by substantial percentage over the past year.
Jeremy Copp, Vice President Mobile Europe at comScore, said, “To date the iPhone has had a disproportionate impact on the European mobile market considering its relatively modest installed base of around 10 million.
“It has catalysed the consumption of mobile media and opened the eyes of brands to mobile as an engaging marketing medium. However, it has also prompted other device manufacturers and OS vendors to elevate their game so the poster-child of the smartphone generation now faces serious competition.”
The market researcher has named Google’s Android as “the one to watch” as it gained 1.7 million users in a particularly short period of time.
Why Apple’s iPhone 4 will steal the mobile marketing spotlight
Jun 7th
‘This changes everything, again’, says the email marketing campaign I received from Apple this morning about the iPhone 4. Should we be excited though? Initially I couldn’t help but feel a bit ‘so what’ about the newest iPhone. I soon changed my mind though.
Perhaps it’s because it was ‘leaked’ by technology site Gizmodo last month. Maybe it’s because I’m still figuring out my new iPad or maybe it’s simply because I feel like I’ve seen it all before. But the fact is we haven’t seen it all before, previous iPhone’s were just the beginning of many great things to come out of Apple.
A marketers dream?
The iPhone 4 provides a wealth of opportunity for mobile marketing and advertising, but the primary benefit introduced in the 4th generation device is the addition of a gyroscope which will allow developers to create motion-controlled apps that have 6-axis motion sensing. Mobile advertisers can utilise the advanced motion-sensing as well.
Developers can now access the location of a device, the direction it is facing and the orientation of the device using 6-axis motion sensing, meaning next-gen mobile apps and advertisers can utilise all these features combined to develop some pretty impressive things.
With the approaching introduction of iAds, Apple has created a niche opportunity to sway mobile advertisers to its corner of the mobile ecosystem, says Mobile Marketing Watch.
For brands wanting the combination of iAds, the iPhone 4 device and iOS 4 means the possibilities are endless – but they will come with a hefty price tag.
Apple’s tight control will undoubtedly make itself known, and will likely limit full-out functionality to brands going directly through iAds.
Steve Jobs said at the WWDC 2010 event yesterday that Apple created iAds to help developers make more money. The problem before iAds had been that mobile ads on the iPhone were a bit of a mess: different systems supported only basic interaction.
With iAds, developers get 60% of the revenue generated by the ad in their app, so who’s on board?
Jobs said, “So let me tell you some of the brands that will be advertising with us. Nissan, Citi, Unilever, AT&T, Chanel, GE, Liberty Mutual, State Farm, Geico, Campbells, Sears, JC Penny, Target, Best Buy, Direct TV, TBS, and Disney… those are some of the brands.”
Apple CEO has projected that Apple would have 48% of the mobile advertising market locked up by the end of this year.
At the keynote, jobs demonstrated an iAd for the upcoming Nissan Leaf electric car. It’s a compelling ad, Ad execs are clucking their tongues over the richness of the iAds platform (while seemingly missing the fact that they could have always built engaging experiences on the web this way without resorting to Flash). Read the rest of this entry »
Businesses lure in customers with iPad-led innovation
Jun 3rd
If you thought the iPad would make a good contribution to your coffee table, something you fiddled with while watching the news, you are wrong. The little tablet gem is proving pretty popular with businesses the world over, and more importantly, it’s driving innovation.
Budget Aussie airline JetStar – whose parent company is Qantas – is renting out iPads as part of its in-flight entertainment system.
The Apple iPads will be available for passengers to rent on flights over an hour long (and in Australia that’s not hard),and will be pre-loaded with movies, TV, books, music and games, for $10 (£5.70).
The service is a combination of Australian in-flight entertainment service provider Stellar Inflight and UK-based Bluebox Avionics 2 the in-flight entertainment software company.
THE iPad is already a tasty product among gadget lovers, but a North Sydney restaurant has become the first in Australia to replace their printed menus with Apple’s new touch screen device.
Meanwhile, another Aussie business, the Global Mundo Tapas restaurant in Sydney’s Rydges Hotel, is handng out iPads with a custom-made iPad application which allows customers to browse the virtual pages of the menu with a sweep of their finger.
Diners can peruse the dishes and see a picture of what the dish looks like along with tasting notes before compiling their order and sending it wirelessly to the kitchen.
The iPad menu can also suggest the best wines to go with certain dishes and suggest the best food pairings.
When ordering steak, users can even specify how they’d like the meat cooked and which sauce they’d prefer. It will even ask them if they’d like fries with that.
With innovations like these, it’s no wonder analysts are expecting sales of the iPad to hit 5.5 million by the end of this year.
Next year, one Macquarie Group analyst reckons that sales will top 13 million units worldwide, citing continued strong demand.
I can’t wait to see how other businesses will be utilizing their iPads!
Apple’s evil twin emerges in China
Jun 1st
So, you thought only Louis Vuitton handbags and Rolex watches could be faked? Well it seems even the iPad has an evil twin.
Despite Apple’s massive success with iPad – having already sold more than 2 million genuine iPads since its launch 2 months ago – a Chinese challenger has emerged, beating even Google to the game.
The iPed, no that’s not a spelling error, is identical to Apple’s massively popular tablet and is selling for a fifth of the price at around $US126.
Available in Shenzhen in the country’s south, the lookalike product runs on Google’s Android operating system and is said to be powered by an Intel chip.
Pictures of the iPed, filmed by Japanese TV news and posted on YouTube, show the gadget being sold in a Shenzhen computer mall in packaging that looks remarkably similar to an iPad box.
The change in vowel is seemingly the only major difference in appearance between the two computers.
A review of the iPed on tech website TECHi says “the iPed is exactly what you’re thinking: a Chinese knock-off”.
“The iPed is an Intel-driven, Android-based copycat packaged like an Apple product and, to be honest, it doesn’t look half bad.”
Last week, Apple and its contract electronics manufacturer Foxconn refused to confirm or deny rumours that the iPad was being made at Foxconn’s massive Shenzhen factory, which had been hit by a spate of staff suicides.
The iPad will go on sale in a further nine countries in July including Austria, Belgium, Ireland, Luxembourg and the Netherlands.
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