Apple has now created a new iPad page highlighting the features of both the iPad and iPad mini on their website. The new page is much like the iPhone page they launched earlier this month and points out everything that is ‘great’ about the iOS tablets.

Obviously it’s just Apple marketing going in to high gear in order to better fight off growth from competing tablets, particularly Android devices. The page is actually quite informative and gives you all the best bits of the iPad on one continuous page. Other areas on the Apple site have you navigation from page to page to get the full story.

Apple is obviously feeling the pressure from Android devices, and hopes that this new targeted campaign will be enough to keep people in their camp. What do you think of their recent iPhone/iPad campaign, does it smell of desperation or do you agree that the iPhone and iPad are the best consumer smartphone and tablet options on the market right now?

[ Source ]

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Yes, we already know about the regular ad-supported Amazon Kindle e-reader that lets you save a few bucks over the version that isn’t ad-supported, but it turns out that the full range of Kindle Fire tablets will not have the option for you to opt out of the ads. Even if you buy the range-topping $499 model, you’re going to be stuck with the “Special Offer” promotions on your lock screen.

This is in stark contrast to an earlier email from Amazon’s support team that stated you would have the option to “unsubscribe” from Special Offers. As it turns out, you can’t. No matter what you do, short of rooting and hacking your Kindle Fire, you’re going to see these “Special Offers” on your lock screen. Granted, they could be seen as a “value added” proposition that lets you know about deals with the Amazon store, but they’re still ads.

I don’t think this will be a deal breaker for most people interested in the Kindle Fire HD, but it could provide them with another reason to consider a different Android tablet altogether.

[Source]

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I would say, that’s why we are hooked to Google in the first place. And the internet giant is making millions out of it too. Now they are planning to take personalized advertisements and Google’s trademark “search suggestions” to the next level by getting into much more personal realms.

Google has applied for patent, technologies which can be used to record and analyze the background noise when we make phone calls. The idea is to get a picture of the environment we are in so that they can dish out the right advertisements for us. They are even planning a system to monitor the pictures we click.

Creepy would be a total understatement for this latest endeavor from the company we have started to love hate so much.

But Google is adamant that their “Advertising based on environmental conditions” will not amount to spying or will not trespass our privacy. They merely want to listen for things to pick up on stuff that could be used for advertising. Like if it is snowing, they can pitch to sell snow shovels. And they will be doing it using computers and algorithms like they usually do with our mails and internet search patterns. So human element and related naughty doings can be avoided.

Google released a statement saying that the patent filings needn’t mean that they would employ the technology in the future. But going by the signs, Google is not just dreaming of creating a world where sellers (companies) can eaves drop on our conversations and lives to get ideas on how to sell their products to us; they are planning to pioneer in it.

This is totally not done, especially in the so called free world we are in. But then are we really free. Personalized advertisements are a big hit even as we speak. I myself, at times, find it a tad convenient at having found an ad which takes me to something I had Googled for just seconds before.

Like I mentioned earlier, a whole new level of “creepy” is awaiting us just around the corner.

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When you decide to get yourself one of those free apps for your smartphone, you usually recognize that you’re paying the price by having to deal with in-app advertising, but did you know that you’re also paying in the form of increased power consumption?

A study was recently conducted by Purdue University and Microsoft, revealing that as much as 70% of the power consumed from playing the free games on your smartphone is actually attributed to downloading the advertisements and tracking your usage. This isn’t always the case and I’m sure that the physics engine in Angry Birds sucks up some juice too, but that’s still a lot of precious battery life being sucked away to encourage you to sign up for some dating site.

Naturally, if the free app of your choosing also requires a GPS connection, as well as either 3G or WiFi, these likely drain your battery too. The thing is that the information gathered through those means could also be used to process and funnel the right ads your way. To be fair, the tests were run on some older hardware–the Android-powered HTC Magic and Passion, as well as the WinMo-fueled HTC Tytn II–but it should mostly hold true for newer devices too.

They tested a total of 21 apps, including newspaper apps, photo uploaders, and games. In the case of Angry Birds, a full 45% of power consumption was for user tracking, including using GPS to presumably geotarget your ads. Of course, GPS isn’t actually useful for the game itself. You can read the full report in PDF form if you want more details.  To be honest, this information just sounds like a ploy to divert companies from offering their ads for free and monetizing them through other means.

[Source]

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Oh, how the mighty have fallen. Research in Motion used to be the most corporate-centered smartphone company in the world, catering primarily to people in three-piece suits who had to look like they were busy all the time. Times have changed and now you want to be hip, cool, and connected. So, RIM is apparently revamping its company image.

Say hello to the four new mascots for Research in Motion, a group of four cartoon superheroes who are daring you to be “be bold” for 2012. This looks like it’s more in line with the Saturday morning cartoon crowd than it is with the financial blokes on Wall Street. The four cartoon characters are meant to embody four types of BlackBerry users.

GoGo Girl is the achiever, “saving the day with a brilliant strategy, a smile or a spatula.” Justin Steele is the advocate, “always ready to stick up for his friends.” Trudy Foreal is the authentic, “not afraid to call it as she sees it.” And Max Stone is the adventurer, “able to jump out of a plane.” RIM held an informal survey to see how their users broke down and 31% self-identified as achievers, followed by 27% adventurers, 24% advocates, and 18% authentics.

I guess it’s good that RIM is going in a bold new direction, since the old direction was heading straight to the poor house, but I’m not sure this almost kid-centric approach is really what they should be doing.

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We spotted this on a Toronto subway, the ad shows a young couple at a coffee joint, happily enjoying their Sony Vaio laptop. They stand out from the crowd, because they are the only human characters in the image. The rest of the folks at the coffee joint are blank-faced marionettes using what appear to be aluminum unibody notebooks.

Yes, none of those other laptops have the Apple logo on them, but it looks quite clear that the MacBook-ness is heavily implied. We can safely conclude that Sony is saying the Mac users are just puppets who have no personality of their own. Indeed, the tagline for the ad is “Stand Apart.”

The Sony VAIO line has always pushed its stylishness and this almost coy anti-Apple campaign is no exception.

The post Sony Launches Anti-Apple Vaio Against MacBook Campaign appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

And here we go with semantics all over again. Motorola recently aired a television commercial wherein it claimed that the Atrix was the “world’s most powerful smartphone.” Well, Samsung begged to differ, saying that its Galaxy S II leaves the Atrix in the dust. So, the ad has now been pulled.

This comes by way of a ruling by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) in the United Kingdom. The ASA says the ad is misleading. In the strictest sense, it is. The Atrix is powered by a dual-core 1GHz processor, while a 1.2GHz dual core chip runs the show on the Galaxy S II. Based on that raw figure alone, you’d figure the Samsung was more powerful.

But that’s not what Motorola thinks. It says that they didn’t claim they had the phone with the fastest processor; they simply claimed it was the most powerful, thanks to its ability to power that laptop-like dock. So, just because Samsung isn’t selling a “unique computer-like accessory,” Motorola has the “most powerful” smartphone.

Semantics. It’s all semantics. Either way, both phones are going to be trumped with the Nexus Prime once its 1.5GHz processor hits the stage in a couple of months.

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I’m no marketing guru and I don’t claim to be an advertising expert, so I’m not entirely sure how I would react to that kind of company slogan. While the period in between the two words implies that Sony Ericsson is making something and then we can believe it, I’m more inclined to believe that we’re supposed to take what they have and pretend it’s something that it’s not.

The expansion of the Sony tagline over to the Sony Ericsson camp isn’t the only development to merge the two related families. Sony has traditionally gone with a blue color scheme and Sony Ericsson has traditionally done the green thing, but this SE ad is featuring Sony’s shimmery blue rather its usual vibrant green.

This merging of the brands might be to create a more united front in the marketplace for all Sony products, so it’s very well possible that the “make. believe” tag line could get expanded into the PlayStation, Walkman, Cyber-shot, and other lines as well.

Can dreams come true? Sony Ericsson says it can make it happen.

Source: MobileSyrup

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Bell is trying to say that you can get Internet access from them without having to deal with messy service agreements and long-term contracts. In doing this, Bell says that their Internet is “perfect for hookups with no commitments.”

Hookups, eh? Bell further completes the mental imagery of a college “hookup” by having a gal move in nice and close on an unsuspecting guy. Maybe they’re at a keg party and she’s telling him that she loves following on Twitter and she wants to follow a little closer. Or something.

If Buddy plays his cards right, he’ll score tonight with “no strings attached.” Go for it! Just make sure you have an adequate, ahem, antivirus program in place.

Source: Intomobile

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