As if it’s any surprise, South Korea-based Samsung has (again) resorted to its proven marketing tactics of trashing Apple’s iPhone in television advertising. A newly released commercial portrays the six-year-old smartphone as an outdated device, even by your parents’ standards.
Samsung obviously thinks the anti-Apple theme hasn’t run its course yet (one marketing whiz agrees). I’ll let you be the judge of that: check out the video after the break and meet us in comments… Read More
So this would be kind of embarrassing. All-star Spanish tennis player and Samsung spokesman David Ferrer served up a fault this afternoon during his attempt to send out what looks like a sponsored tweet expressing his love for his new Galaxy S4.
The problem? Shortly after Ferrer sent out the tweet, several of his 350,000+ Twitter followers noticed something peculiar about his Samsung shout out—it featured the infamous ‘Twitter for iPhone’ notation, effectively killing all of its credibility… Read More
Despite the massive marketing blitz, Microsoft’s Windows Phone platform has managed to regain but a fraction of market share lost to iOS and Android in years past. Figuring it could take a page from Samsung’s marketing handbook, Microsoft on Monday published on its YouTube channel a new Windows Phone commercial which takes a mandatory jab at Apple’s iPhone and its Siri digital personal assistant while also poking fun of Gorilla-sized Android devices from Samsung. The funny ad is aimed at boosting Microsoft’s and Nokia’s stagnant sales of Lumia handsets in the United States… Read More
Comedy web site Funny or Die originally said its satirical movie about Apple’s co-founder Steve Jobs, dubbed iSteve, would arrive on April 15, but they pushed it back a bit in the wake of Boston bombing.
The movie is now available online, as a free stream via the Funny or Die web site.
Directed by Ryan Perez, iSteve stars Justin Long of Dodgeball and Jeepers Creepers fame, who gets to portray Steve Jobs. The general public remembers the actor thanks to his amusing depiction of the Mac character in Apple’s Mac vs. PC campaign. Other roles include Lost‘s Jorge Garcia as Steve Wozniak, James Urbaniak as Bill Gates and Michaela Watkins playing Melinda Gates… Read More
Funny or Die production, the popular comedy web site founded by Will Ferrel’s production company, last month announced work on a full-length Steve Jobs movie dubbed iSteve and starring Justin Long as Apple’s late co-founder Steve Jobs. With the first official trailer having been posted to the Funny or Die web site, it looks as if this flick is actually a more serious depiction of Steve Jobs rather than a typical Funny or Die comedy production… Read More
Today is April Fools’ Day so don’t take everything you read at face value. Practical jokers as they are, Google is pulling a bunch of April Fools’ Day pranks so a lot of people will find it difficult to read today’s headlines without disbelieving them. Google’s jokes range from the Google Nose Beta button in search (“Smelling is believing”) to Google Treasure Maps, a new mapping product to help you find treasure in cities to YouTube closing down after eight years.
They aren’t the only ones, other brands pulled pranks of their own. Heck, companies are even issuing press releases with April Fools’ Day announcements. I’ve included more stuff right after the break, like Gmail Blue, a Google Maps Street View feature which lets you decorate your house with themes, a Lumia-branded microwave oven, the Samsung Eco Tree and lots more… Read More
So along comes Carlsberg with a novel idea: how about we market a new cider brand by piggy-backing on Apple’s popularity subtly? The results of the company’s brainstorming are, well, hilarious and downright amazing – as you can see for yourself.
The creative concept calls for a tongue-in-cheek reenactment of an Apple-like product launch hype, down to the line sitters, an Apple Store-like environment, lots of cheering and clapping and Carlsberg’ version of Geniuses.
You gotta love the ambiguous use of tech jargon and the obligatory Apple superlatives like “amazing”. My favorite line: “works perfectly in direct sunlight”… Read More
Wow, this has got to be a new low for the ailing Nokia and its boss, former Microsoft exec Stephen Elop. With everyone trashing Apple these days, from investors to big media to analysts, the Nokia CEO apparently thinks piggy-backing on the trend is the way to go to score a few coolness points.
After an interviewer on a Finnish television said he had an iPhone in his pocket, a petulant Elop – unable to control his manners – nervously quipped “how embarrassing, I’ll take care of that” before throwing the device on the floor as if it were a piece of useless junk. That’s the first time a big name CEO has exercised such an utmost disrespect for a rival, at least to my knowledge… Read More
Conspiracy theorists had a field day with yesterday’s confirmation that Kevin Lynch, Adobe’s Chief Technology Officer, will soon be taking an executive role at Apple, joining the iPhone maker as its VP of Technology and reporting directly to Apple’s SVP of Technologies Bob Mansfield. Lynch joined Adobe after the Photoshop maker snapped up Macromedia in 2005. Macromedia originally developed Flash technology and Lynch has been instrumental in its continuing development at Adobe.
By the virtue of his job, Lynch had to cross swords with Apple as the Cupertino firm refused to support Flash for the iPhone. Watchful fans have dug up this cringe worthy homage to MythBusters, a parody video from 2009 where Lynch attempts to get Flash working on the iPhone by pretending to blow up Apple’s handset. He also ran over it with a steam roller and destroyed it in a blender. First day on the job should be fun, indeed! Jump pat the fold for more goodies… Read More
Folks who can’t wait for Ashton Kutcher’s Steve Jobs biopic to hit theaters—its April release date was recently pushed back to allow time for more marketing—will be happy to hear that another Jobs movie is going to be launching next month.
No, it’s not the Sony-backed flick written by Aaron Sorkin. It’s actually a Funny or Die production. The popular comedy website, founded by Will Ferrel’s production company, has apparently recorded a full-length, ‘very silly’ Steve Jobs movie… Read More
As this commercial amusingly asserts, there isn’t an app for everything after all. Apple’s tablet can replace paper most of the time and assist us in almost every way but one, revealed at the very end. Meet us in comments… Read More
Apple has long been known for its army of loyal followers. They use Macs and iPhones, and swear by them. And they constantly argue with Android and Windows users that their choice of platform is superior to theirs. You know, fanboys.
But there’s more to being an Apple fanboy than just carrying around an iPhone, and scoffing at the competition. So to help separate the real ones from the fakes, the folks over at Mackeeper came up with this ‘How Apple are you?’ infographic… Read More
OMG, Apple is doomed, run for the hills! Yes, the stock is taking some beating, but business fundamentals look as good as ever. Apple is doing just fine without Steve Jobs and remains the most profitable technology company out there – and by a large margin, too.
That’s why I’m glad comedian Bill Maher mocked some media outlets for insisting on a negative spin to their Apple reporting. “What does it take to make people happy in this economy?”, he asks rhetorically. “This is our problem, nothing is ever good enough.”
He nailed it. Arianna Huffington (rightfully) blames the stock market. Apple should give stock manipulators a finger and just follow in Dell’s and Amazon’s footsteps and go private again. At least Tim Cook & Co. would no longer have to wear the straight jacket of what these crazypants analysts are expecting. All of Wall Street runs its spreadsheets on Apple devices, by the way… Read More
Former Apple ad man and creator of the famous ‘Think Different’ campaign Ken Segall has been garnering a lot of headlines in the Cupertino blogosphere lately. Last week, he published a blog post on why Samsung’s anti-Apple marketing has been so effective.
And this week he was spotted at an event for the University of Arizona’s Marketing Department, again talking about his former employer. Among other tidbits, Segall divulged that Apple considered some silly names for its smartphone before calling it iPhone… Read More
Yesterday, we told you about Tapbots’ entertaining way it deals with folks who pirate its popular Tweetbot app. If you download the Twitter client without paying for it, it will auto-insert an embarrassing phrase into its Tweet sheet.
But the guys on the Tapbots team aren’t the only ones having fun with pirates. Jake Marsh, creator of the new Conditions weather app, also takes a creative approach in dealing with people who steal his work. Check it out… Read More
We’re not sure if this is cool, or copyright infringement, but either way here you go. We’ve come across what appears to be a toy iPhone, that has seemingly been jailbroken. Notice the Cydia icon in the bottom row of icons?
Of course, it’s not called an iPhone. The packaging reads ‘Telephone Intelligent.’ And instead of Cydia, the iconic brown icon is labeled ‘Gift.’ But either way, it sure looks like someone is selling toy jailbroken iPhones… Read More
In today’s episode of ‘Where are they now?’ we take a look at Apple’s former SVP of retail John Browett. He began his career at Apple in January of last year, replacing the highly-regarded Ron Johnson, but only lasted about 9 months at the company.
Browett has been fairly quiet since he left Cupertino in October. But his name surfaced in headlines again last night when word got out that he has accepted the position of chief executive, or CEO, of U.K.-based retail chain Monsoon Accessorize… Read More
Talk of Apple working on a smartwatch has really heated up over the past week. Following a speculative piece from a former Apple engineer, both the NYT and the WSJ have reported that the company is indeed building such a product.
So what will this so-called iWatch do? Things like Siri, NFC and support for third-party apps have all been thrown about. But according to the folks over at Joy of Tech, the watch’s built-in Dyson hand drier will be its killer feature… Read More
It’s pretty obvious that Apple doesn’t want people jailbreaking its devices. While the company isn’t going out and suing hackers like ahem, Sony did, it’s not exactly making it any easier for them to open up its mobile OS either.
And the company’s disdain for the process is especially evident in its Knowledge Base article on jailbreaking, which points out that unauthorized modification of iOS can cause instability and other major device issues… Read More
Imagine you are awoken in the middle of the night by someone pounding loudly at your door. It’s a man and his girlfriend, and they’re upset because someone just stole her iPhone, and the Find My iPhone app led them straight to your house. Now imagine this is a regular occurrence.
Unfortunately for Wayne Dobson, he doesn’t have to imagine. Due to a glitch in Sprint’s location-tracking services, phone finding apps have been sending owners of missing iPhones and other handsets, as well as police, to Dobson’s home in North Las Vegas for the past two years… Read More
