Colors don’t seem to be moving the new iPhone 5C off of the shelves. Retailers across the board are dropping prices on the new technology, with Best Buy the latest to offer a $50 price promotion with a contract. Yes, the 9 million phones sold on the first weekend was a new record for Apple, but it turns out that the 5s accounted for 3.4 times more sales than the 5C, or 6.95 million units of 5s sold and 2.05 million units of 5C sold. So while the 5s is flying off the shelves, the “repackaged” iPhone 5 isn’t moving quickly at all. It means that a flash of color isn’t, in fact, enough to move what is essentially last year’s model; people want what is truly new.
Tag: apple
Apple’s iBeacon Could Turn MLB Stadiums Into Interactive Experiences
The New York Mets have entered a trial utilizing Apple’s iBeacon indoor mapping feature to customize the At The Ballpark app for everybody that walks into the stadium. They are looking to customize the app based on where you are within the stadium, turning the ballpark into an interactive playground of sorts. The idea is to create a series of “micro-locations” within the stadium to trigger different experiences for the fans as they work their way through to their seats, or to get beverages and food between innings. Because iBeacon is customizable, each stadium would feature different experiences, intertwined with different brands. It’s a truly powerful technology that is just being put to the test; this feature could truly enhance venues of all stripes for consumers who aren’t intense fans or just want to experience the venue itself.
iPhone 5S & 5C Sales Top 9m
According to Apple, over 9 million iPhone 5c and 5s phones were sold in the first three days that they’ve been available, which is a new company record for the first weekend of sales. Compared to their last release of the iPhone 5, which sold 5 million handsets in the first weekend, it’s a vast improvement, and evidence that Apple created yet another product that consumers want. It should be noted, though, that the simultaneous iPhone 5s and 5c release across Asian markets – like China and Hong Kong – will have given the company a noticeable sales bump, and probably contributes to the extraordinarily high numbers of phones sold. The icing on the cake, for Apple, is that there are also now 200 million apple products that have updated to the latest iOS.
iTunes Radio Now Available
Though iOS 7 is the big story of the day, iTunes Radio is out now in the latest iTunes update. It’s a Pandora-like feature that allows users to create custom radio stations based on their personal musical libraries. It’s supported by ads at the moment, so users will have to part with $25 to upgrade to iTunes Match, which keeps the advertisements out of the headphones. It may be the sleeper hit of the day; this service is important to keep an eye on.
iBeacons Solve The Microlocation Problem
Location-based services have been in existence for quite some time, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t room for some serious improvements. If you want to share your location today, you can use GPS and wifi which work to a point, but certainly have their drawbacks. Just think about that time you stood paralyzed on the corner trying to decipher that blue dot on Apple maps before turning left or right. Well, a new feature rolling out in iOS 7 appears to solve that problem, and a few others.
Named iBeacon, Apple’s new feature will make use of Bluetooth Low Energy to send data to phones over short distances, approximately 10-50 ft in range. Using low cost energy emitters from companies like Estimote, companies will be able to deliver contextual data to phones within apps integrating iBeacon’s SDK. The result has many use cases, but the most groundbreaking being indoor mapping, which has been a tough nut to crack for retailers worldwide. Because of its improved location data, retailers will be able to identify where a shopper is, down to the aisle to guide them through the store. Beyond navigation, retailers will also be able to deliver hypertargeted offers and messaging. For instance, if a retailers sees that a shopper has been near the deli aisle too long, why not give them an offer for condiments. Take the big data and run with it. Other use cases range from mobile payments to more precise social check-ins.
Recent buzz around iBeacon has also pointed out its potential to supplant NFC and QR codes which have been used to forge a physical/digital connection albeit with less market penetration and greater cost. That said, tech like NFC will still have it’s unique capabilities as it provides connectivity at the product level, something that cannot be said from BLE.
Despite all of the tremendous benefits of iBeacons, privacy concerns cannot be overlooked which may explain why Apple has been conspicuously quiet about this feature in the iOS 7 announcements. The data accessible through this rollout would give developers a tremendous amount of data, like precisely how long you spent in the bathroom at JC Penney. As always, it is less about the data and more about how you use it, so let’s hope that marketers and app developers are smart about how they communicate this information with their users.
New iPhone 5S Has Fingerprint Authentication
At its event today, Apple announced the long suspected division of the iPhone line to include the new iPhone 5C as a budget alternative to the existing iPhone lineage, carried on by the new iPhone 5S. The 5C is offered starting at $99, has a polycarbonate back, and comes in 5 bright colors. The 5S is offered starting at $199, is aluminum, and comes in 3 metallic colors: gold, silver, and slate gray.
The 5S has a full set of improvements including a new processor, 64-bit architecture, an improved camera (it shoots 720p video at 120 fps to allow for some impressive slo-mo shots), and possibly most exciting, “Touch ID” fingerprint authentication. The iPhone 5S is a veritable media machine, but what could be most intriguing about the device is the new security peripheral: the Touch ID sensor.
While the fingerprint reading is never made available to other apps, the end of the password could be near, as services could issue “trusted device” status to a user’s phone, given the greater security of a fingerprint scanner. Soon we’ll know if the nuts and bolts of the technology will allow for extended permissions chains to link the device’s master unlock function, driven by a thumbprint, could be used with third party applications without actually revealing the thumbprint to the app as a form of primary authentication.
iWork For iCloud Beta Goes Public
Apple announced that its iWork Beta in the iCloud is publicly available. Initially, only developers had access for the service, but now any user with an Apple ID can test iWork ahead of the official fall launch. Apple, now deep in battle with Google and Microsoft in cloud applications, announced the service this June at the WWDC event, noting that the iCloud-enabled suite would support previously native-only apps like Numbers, Pages, and Keynote, allowing for Google Drive-like functionality across platforms. iWork for iCloud apps work with Safari 6.0.3 and later, Chrome 27.0.1 and later, and IE 9.0.8 and later. Life on the cloud continues to expand, and this is another big step in that direction.
Vevo Coming To Apple TV and Samsung Smart TV
Vevo, the leader in music videos, has inked a deal to bring their service to Apple TV and Samsung Smart TVs. The deal will deliver on-demand content to the two OTT platforms while expanding Vevo’s presence beyond YouTube. Over-The-Top video has plenty of functionality but lacks the breadth of content required to push it into the mainstream, so we’ll see if they can sign anymore major content partners down the road.
iTunes Radio Launches In September With New Ad Scheme
iTunes Radio is officially debuting later this year, and an Ad Age report detail how advertising will work on the new platform. Several high profile brands – like McDonalds, Nissan, and Pepsi – will be part of the launch. In January 2014, ads on iTunes Radio will become widely available via a platform called iAd for a minimum buy-in of around $1 million for either interstitial audio ads, video ads, and “slate” ads, display ads that will take over whatever screen the consumer is using. Users will be served one audio ad every 15 minutes, and one video ad every hour. Apple users, however, will be able to avoid ads by purchasing iTunes Match.
Google Launches Chromecast
Google finally entered the streaming fray with a thumb-drive-sized product called Chromecast that promises to deliver digital content to your TV with unprecedented ease. Chromecast is a step above other streaming devices in multiple facets: it’s size makes it simple to transport, Google says that the interface is as simple as plug-and-play over any WiFi network, and it’s only $35 – cheaper than any other similar option on the market (like Roku, Boxee, Xbox, or Apple TV). Chromecast also provides for phone integration, but it’s an open interface; it won’t prevent different makes and models from connecting to the HDTV. It has native YouTube, Google Play, and Netflix apps, but you can also watch video from any streaming device you want. The real kicker, though, is the ability to open new Chrome browser tabs on the TV; there’s finally a way to stream content on an HDTV in the same way as users are used to streaming content on their laptops. So although it’s not quite as sexy as Google promises – you do have to charge the device with a cord that takes away from the sleek aesthetic – at a $35 price point, there will be plenty of willing guinea pigs.
