eWeek is reporting that Apple will yet another offering… a medium sized iPad.
Fans of Apple’s iPad tablet can look forward to a version of the device with a smaller screen size—7.85 inches, to be exact—in the fourth quarter of 2012, along with a new version of the popular tablet in the first quarter of the year, according to a report in Taiwanese tech site DigiTimes.
According to unnamed sources “in the supply chain,” Apple will buy panels for the iPad from AU Optronics (AUO), as well as 7.85-inch panels from LG Display, the online site reported.
The next iPad will launch in March or April 2012, DigiTimes reported. That Dec. 12 article again cited unnamed sources in the supply chain for the information. The article said: “The next-generation iPads are expected to be available in the next 3-4 months as makers in the supply chain have started delivering parts and components for the new tablets to OEM contractors while reducing those prepared for iPad 2.”
Wow. Wow. Wow.
According to MacRumors, The price of the iPhone 4s can be anywhere up to $1,400 depending what part of the world you’re in.
In line with our report from earlier this month, Apple has launched the iPhone 4S in a number of new countries today. Based on an examination of Apple’s site and those of its carrier partners, we have found over 20 countries where the device appears to have debuted today.
The list of new countries includes: Bahrain, Brazil, Chile, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Malaysia, Morocco, Peru, the Philippines, Qatar, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Taiwan, Thailand, Tunisia, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, and Vietnam.
As we noted in our earlier report, pricing in Brazil is indeed very high due to the import duties imposed on such devices there, one major reason why Apple and Foxconn are working on ramping up production of iOS devices in the country. Pricing for the iPhone 4S through Apple’s Brazilian online store starts at the equivalent of $1410 for the 16 GB model and moves up to $1628 for the 32 GB model and $1845 for the 64 GB model.
Full Story at MacRumors.
At appflight, we offer several promotion tools for apps. QR codes are one of them!
Hubspot brings up a few more ways that QR Codes can be used on a daily basis.
1. At Conferences & Events
QR codes can be a great tool for marketers to use at conferences, events, and trade shows. At Dreamforce, for example, HubSpot put QR codes on everything: handouts, unicorns, presentations, and our stand-in. It gave our visitors an easy way to gather information from us quickly without having to jot anything down. During the HubSpot sessions, attendees could quickly get a copy of our presentation to take notes or follow along. The key was to put the QR code in as many places as possible to make sure anyone could access information quickly and easily.
The next time you’re participating in an event, consider places you could add a QR code to content you produce. Configure the QR code to send people who scan it to a targeted landing page on your website, especially one with a form to help you generate leads for your business.
2. On Business Cards
It’s a pain to transfer a person’s information from their business card into your contact database. You need to input their name, title, email address, and phone number. But some people are making this easier now by putting QR codes on their business cards to shorten the process. By scanning the QR code, all of the information from the card can immediately be pulled into your contact list, making a normally tedious process much shorter and more efficient. This can be a much easier way to capture leads you generate from in-person communication and networking. In B2B, anything that can be made easier or more efficient is helpful.
3. In Print Advertising
When people see advertisements in newspapers, magazines, or signage, they often ignore them. But with a QR code, many people become interested in what other information it leads to. A QR code can help your print advertising stand out and actually help a business connect with other businesses. Moreover, QR codes can help businesses gauge the success of the ad by knowing how many people scanned the code and visited the landing page (and even converted!) on their website. With the millions of ads that people see every day, a QR code can help it stand out and make an impression.
Read more.
There’s not much this little feature can’t do. We’re excited to see how it will be integrated with other objects in the future.
Amid rumors of a sale to Verizon and a plummeting stock price, DVD rental and media streaming service Netflix has released a new look for its iPad app, available now for users with iOS 5.
“Starting today,” wrote Zal Bilimoria, product manager at Netflix, in a blog post announcing the update, “Netflix members can enjoy a newly redesigned experience for the iPad that makes it much easier to discover and instantly watch TV shows and movies streaming from Netflix.”
The new look of the Netflix iPad app is the same that the company rolled out to Android tablets in mid-November, emphasizing larger, more touch-friendly options for more visual discovery and browsing. Netflix explained the purpose of its new interface in a November blog post:
“The new design is much more immersive and provides greater focus on the growing number of titles in the Netflix catalog. In fact, the new interface displays twice as many movies and TV shows as before, enabling you to discover even more titles you’ll love. Also, we’ve taken greater advantage of the tablet’s unique features, inviting you to swipe through rows of titles featuring larger artwork.”
Here’s a look at the new view, provided by Netflix:
Read the rest of the story at the Huffington Post
Add another company to the list developing Android based phones. According to TechCrunch, Panasonic has stated that they will start production and sales in Europe and then the US.
“In the post-iPhone era, a lot of things changed in Japan, once the most admired country in the mobile world. The number of cell phone manufacturers, for example, has fallen from 13 to five after massive consolidation and re-organization, and all of the remaining players fight with a shrinking and rapidly greying domestic market.
That’s one of the reasons why Nippon’s cell phone makers have been talking about going international for a long time (years after basically all of them gave up on the world market), but now Panasonic seems to be ready to get serious.”
Full Story at TechCrunch.
It’s safe to say that it’s not just Apple anymore… and it certainly isn’t just the US anymore. Smartphone sales and app downloads continue to expand rapidly on a global scale.
Note: It’s important to think about the global reach of your brand when developing a mobile or social app. For example, here at appflight we offer localized language support. You learn more about that here.
While smartphone adoption continues to pick up steam here in the U.S., new research from Strategy Analytics shows that China is hungrier for smartphones than we are. For the first time ever, China has pulled ahead of the United States in terms of the number of smartphones shipped.
Those expecting a huge blowout may be a bit disappointed by the results: while 23 million smartphones were shipped in the United States during Q3 2011, China squeeked by with nearly 24 million units sold. With that, China has become the world’s largest smartphone market by volume. Given that China has the most cell phone users in the world, it may not come as a huge shock, but companies looking to break into the mobile space have yet another reason to consider China carefully.
Strategy Analytics also took a look at the manufacturer break down, and for the most part the winners are who you would expect. The two top vendors in the United States are HTC and Apple, who together account for almost half of all smartphones sold in the country during Q3. Meanwhile in China, Nokia and Samsung take the top two spots, with each company accounting for 28.5% and 17.6% of the market respectively.
Full Story at TechCrunch.
Carrier IQ, a company that was recently outed as monitoring user movements and actions on phones, publicly apologized for – some – of their actions.
This morning, under the light of a dozen spotlights, Carrier IQ has retracted their C&D and publicly apologized to the developer.
In the months prior to receiving the C&D, developer Trevor Eckhart had published his findings that a number of Android phones (primarily Sprint’s) came out of the box with a nearly unnoticeable bit of software (built by Carrier IQ). This software, claimed Eckhart, could monitor everything from which apps were installed to which keys were pressed.
While Carrier IQ uses the press release to ensure that their software does nothing nefarious of the sort, they’ve apologized for taking the course of actions that they took.
Full Story at TechCrunch.
Well, this isn’t the strategy I was expecting, but it seems the FCC’s request to investigate the AT&T/T-Mobile deal under the lens of an administrative law judge last week just doesnt sit well with AT&T. Rather than be scrutinized, the company has instead withdrawn its application for the merger. But don’t let that confuse you. Buying Deutsche Telekom AG’s T-Mobile is still the big blue carrier’s end goal — the FCC just happens to be blocking the road at the moment.
What may be more interesting is that AT&T’s confidence seems to be dwindling. According to an official release, the company agreed to pay a $4 billion pre-tax charge on its fourth quarter balance sheet, which is the exact amount it would owe to affected parties should the deal fall through. $3 billion in cash would go to Deutsche Telekom as a default payment, while another $1 billion would go to the book value of spectrum that big blue would be forced to relinquish.
Full story at TechCrunch.
