Filed under: Feature | Tags: 3G, 3G iPhone, 5th Avenue, Apple, Apple Store, Handhelds, iPhones, News and Media, NYC, Smartphones, Soho, The Who Farm
3G LAUNCH DAY: THE PIMP IS BACK
This morning, I found a MUCH improved situation when I visited the 5th Avenue and Soho Apple stores in NYC. Both lines wrapped around the block and the media was out in true feeding frenzy form. Here are some pics from this morning’s adventures.
5th Avenue Store NYC: The Line
The Crowd
See mom, cool kids like iPhones too! Check out the man on the left and admire the shoes. . .as they so obviously compliment his friend’s pants.
iPhone Love
I swear I didn’t stage this. All three men don’t know each other and all three men are completely engaged in their iPhones. Ah, love. . .
In my morning conversations with folks in line, I found that 75% of the people I spoke to (extremely limited obviously) had a 1st generation iPhone and were upgrading to the 3G.
#1 in Line: The Who Farm Guy
As Engadget covered earlier in the week, Thewhofarm have been waiting since the weekend for the 3G iPhone. OK, they’re not really so much waiting for the iPhone as much as they’re trying to drum up press for their organization. The group supports organic farming and hopes to plant an organic farm on the lawn of the White House. When asked who they support for President, they claim to be non-partisan even though several of the members voiced support for Obama (shocker).
Minutes before 8AM when the iPhone went on sale, Daniel Simon from the group evangelized in front of the store walking back and forth carrying a Macbook much to the chagrin of nervous security guards.
Here’s my favorite pic of the group taken earlier in the week. . .proving that yoga truly can be done anywhere.
The Ovation
As the first members in line walk through the doors to the store, they are greeted by clapping and cheers from Apple Geniuses in orange shirts. Nice touch.
The Soho Store NYC: The Line
Despite some frustration given the store’s server going down, all in line were in high spirits.
Will I upgrade to the 3G?
No.
Why?
- I value my cheap monthly plan.
- I think the mapping functionality on my current phone, while lacking GPS, is adequate.
- The new 3G, while faster, doesn’t have pix messaging, a video camera, longer battery life or a removable battery, and cut/paste features. I’m not sayin. . .I’m just sayin.
- Apple = innovation. This product just doesn’t rise too far above their last game-changer. Oh, and that white plastic back reminds me of white disco boots from the seventies. . .and not in a good way.
Here’s my favorite piece of video from the day. Captured at the 5th Avenue NYC store, a man tells the line they are going to hell if they purchase an iPhone. I’m fairly certain that my God wants me to have an iPhone. Otherwise, I’m switching gods.
Many thanks to Elavia (pictured with groovy van below) and Eileen from IZZE for allowing me to roll with them and drink tons of free product.
For information on the upgrades on the 3G iPhone, click here. For information on the 2.0 software upgrade, click here.
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Filed under: Feature | Tags: 3G, Apple, Apple Store, iPhone, iPhone 3G, LA, NYC, Smartphones, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal
3G: WHERE IS THE LOVE?
Remember those lines that wrapped around the block in anticipation of the original iPhone? As of last night, the excitement wasn’t there. Check out some pics we took from NYC and LA.
NYC
This woman represents the front of the line at the Apple Store on 5th Avenue in NYC. If you haven’t heard the word by now, this group The Who Farm.org is trying to publicize their interests in growing organic with a strategic placement at the front of the line.
There’s nothing like a bunch of people with bare feet waiting in front of your store cutting vegetables. How’d ya like that installed user base PC? Boo ya.
The line.
LA
Photo Credit: Ryan Barlow
Um line. What line? Taken from the Santa Monica, CA store last night, this colossal line boasts less than 10.
About to head back to the 5th Avenue store. Let’s hope at least the publicity lovers have joined the line. Otherwise, I’ll be forced to chat with broadcast media people which always gives me an ulcer.
For information on the upgrades on the 3G iPhone, click here. For information on the 2.0 software upgrade, click here.
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Filed under: BROADCAST/CABLE | Tags: Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, AMPTP, Arts, Ghost Hunters International, Programs, Sci Fi Channel, Shopping, Television
SCI FI Channel’s summer season premiere of Ghost Hunters International on Wednesday night (9p) delivered 1.3 million A18-49 viewers, 1.4 million A25-54 viewers and 2.3 million total viewers. Scare Tactics also debuted this night (10p) with 1.1 million A18-49 viewers, 1.1 million A25-54 viewers and 1.9 million total viewers. A second new episode at 1030p also aired with the same viewership counts among A25-54 and total viewers but slightly higher A18-49 viewers at 1.2 million. (Cynopsis 7/11)
Click the image below for full episodes.
Tennis Channel will air nearly 150 hours of live and same-day game coverage of eight tournaments that comprise the Olympus US Open Series. Starting July 18 through August 17, the network will feature seven primetime Sunday doubles finals as well as semifinals, quarterfinals and more in hi-def. (Cynopsis 7/11)
Yesterday during a meeting at the Sherman Oaks base of the Alliance of Motion Picture & Television Producers (AMPTP), SAG officials walked away from the final contract offer on the table. A counteroffer was presented to AMPTP and plans to meet and continue the negotiations are on for today. SAG leaders continue to argue the AMPTP offer does not meet their requirements regarding new media and DVD residuals in addition to product integration and force majeure protections. (Cynopsis 7/11)
HBO at the Television Critics Association’s press tour announced pilot pickups for three series, including one involving iconic film director Martin Scorsese. The three are “Treme,” a drama set in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina; “The Washingtonienne,” a comedy that will be produced by Sarah Jessica Parker; and a drama set in Atlantic City in the 1920s from Scorsese. (The Hollywood Reporter 7/10)
The Sundance Channel, recently acquired by Cablevision, will launch a Sunday-night comedy block in September. The block will be anchored by “The Life and Times of Vivienne Vyle,” a half-hour series about a daytime talk-show host that will star Jennifer Saunders of “Absolutely Fabulous” fame. (Variety 7/10)
More people in the 18- to 49-year-old demographic that advertisers prize find shows on Bravo engaging than any other network on television, according to a new study by Nielsen IAG. Other cable channels in the Top 10 were VH1, TLC, MTV and TBS. (Mediaweek 7/10)
NBC Universal CEO Jeffrey Zucker said that corporate owner General Electric has no plans to sell off the TV company. As evidence of NBCU’s security within GE, Zucker pointed to the company’s recent acquisitions, which have included cable networks Oxygen and The Weather Channel. (The Boston Globe/Associated Press 7/10)
Filed under: ONLINE SERVICES/INTERACTIVE MEDIA | Tags: NASCAR, NBA, Turner Broadcasting System, Viacom, World Wide Web, Yahoo, YouTube
ONLINE SERVICES/INTERACTIVE MEDIA
Heroes fanboys (and girls) who are missing the show can get wet their whistle beginning Monday on NBC.com with a new trilogy of webisodes introducing a brand new character: ordinary mailman with super powers Echo De Mille. New webisodes premiere each Monday this month. (Cynopsis 7/11)
Under a new multiyear deal, Turner Broadcasting System has become the exclusive online ad-sales representative for Yahoo! Sports‘ NBA, NASCAR and golf Web pages. The pact also gives Turner access to Yahoo!’s advanced targeting technologies to help pinpoint consumer preferences. (TVWeek.com 7/10)
Viacom issued a statement this week claiming it never asked for nor does it have any intention of obtaining personally identifiable information of YouTube users. It says all the personal info will be scrubbed from the data before being transferred to Viacom. (Cynopsis 7/11)
Filed under: WIRELESS | Tags: 3G iPhone, Apple, Application Store, Apps Store, iPhone, iPhone 2.0, Smartphones, United States
Tucked away on the iPhone 2.0 version of Apple’s Application Store is a counter for the number of times that each application has been purchased . When this information is combined with an application’s price, and the uniform 30% that Apple pockets on each download, it is possible to know how much Apple is making from the App Store. As of 4PM (PST), that number hovers around $55,000. This is pretty incredible given that the iPhone 2.0 software is not officially available and App Store does not officially open till tomorrow, that bloggers have only been able to access the Apps Store for less than 18 hours, and that the 3G iPhone, with the App store built in out of the box, is not even on sale yet in the United States. If sales of applications stay at the current pace, which they won’t, because they are going to speed up dramatically, the Application Store would still provide Apple with an additional twenty million dollars of revenue per year. (http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/07/10/before-the-app-store-%E2%80%9Copens%E2%80%9D-it-has-already-made-apple-55000 7/10)
As of now (about noon California time) the iPhone 2.0 software update hasn’t officially launched yet, but everyone who cares knows that for the last five hours they could download v.2.0 anyway and access the App Store. Early download stats are coming in on the most popular apps. We’ve divided these into two lists, one for paid apps and one for free apps (there’s a big difference in download numbers). We’ll update for comparison purposes in 24 hours or so. (http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/07/10/iphone-app-store-the-early-list-of-top-downloads 7/10)
All of us iPhone fanatics are just getting our hands on the new apps, but I’ve already found one that I’m sure to consider indispensable within the next few months: Facebook’s new app. Why is it so compelling? Because it almost eliminates the need to maintain a separate contacts list on my phone. While Facebook’s web app for the iPhone was cool enough, the native app basically transforms Facebook into a mobile directory with rich information about your friends. (http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/07/10/facebooks-iphone-app-almost-replaces-my-contacts-list 7/10)
While I agree with this in principle, I can’t in practice. While sharing information with my iPhone is a pleasurable experience, sharing information with Facebook especially when it comes to a mobile number seems more questionable given Facebook’s access to that data for whatever purposes they see fit.
With iPhone lovers paying people as much as $100 to wait in line for them in Washington, D.C., a half-mile queue forming at stores in Tokyo and the first iPhone 3G customer waiting for 55 hours in New Zealand, questions over the demand for the new iPhone have been answered. Consumers who were interviewed said they view the iPhone 3G — which went on sale around the world this morning — as more of a portable PC than a smartphone. (
ClipSyndicate/Bloomberg 7/11, The Washington Post 7/11, Bloomberg 7/11, Yahoo!/Associated Press 7/11)
iPhone relevant data points, courtesy of Nielsen Mobile:
Demographics:
67% of US iPhone users are male (compared to 48% of all mobile subs)
55% of iPhone owners are under 35 (compared to 34% of all mobile subs)
63% of iPhone users earn above $75k (compared to 38% of all mobile subscribers)
24% of iPhone owners are Hispanic
9.7% of streaming video users and 4.9% of mobile internet users own an iPhone
Popular Features/Media Consumption Habits:
75% use the phones MP3 player
68% use the Wi-Fi functionality of the phone
76% send e-mails over their phone
37% of iPhone users watch video on their phone (10X more than ave. mobile sub)
82% access the internet (5X more than ave. mobile sub)
17% stream music over their phone (7X more than ave. mobile sub)
20% play online games on their phone (9X more than ave. mobile sub)
Smartphone Market Share:
HTC 25.2%
Research in Motion 23.4%
Palm 19.3%
Apple 11.6%
Source: Nielsen Mobile (Cynopsis 7/11)
Filed under: GAMING | Tags: Double Fusion, Games, Microsoft, Nolan Bushnell, Playstation 3, Sony, The Wall Street Journal, Xbox 360
The price of the Xbox 360 Pro console will fall from $349 to $299 — possibly by this Sunday — as Microsoft responds to strong demand for PlayStation units from its rival Sony, according to published reports. Sony said it intends to keep its PlayStation 3 pricing as is. (The Wall Street Journal 7/11, The Wall Street Journal 7/10)
Top online gaming portal Yahoo! Games has put together a huge collection of free ad-supported online games from many of the top casual game publishers, aiming to offer more than 400 titles by year end. Start ups Double Fusion and NeoEdge, led by Atari founder Nolan Bushnell, will sell pre-roll, mid-roll and post-roll video ads to the games. NeoEdge allows ads to be embedded within games without invading the source code, simplifying the ad insertion process significantly. (Cynopsis 7/11)
Filed under: TECHNOLOGY | Tags: DisplaySearch, Garmin, Latin America, Liquid crystal display, NPD Group, Samsung Group, Television, YouTube
TECHNOLOGY
Samsung will unveil its new Crystal Design series of LCD and PDP television sets in late August. The units are the first in Europe that can receive multimedia files for a home network and RSS feeds from the Internet. (Pocket-lint.co.uk 7/10)
HDTV prices could take off in a few years due to the growing demand for desktop computers with flat-screen monitors in such emerging markets as China and Latin America, according to NPD Group’s DisplaySearch unit. Demand for LCDs is expected to rise by 15% in Latin America and 10% in China through 2012. (TVWeek.com 7/10)
Garmin has officially confirmed that its new Oregon handheld GPS range will be available for purchase. Each of the five models is equipped with a 3-inch color touchscreen, as well as a water- and shock-resistant casing. (SlashGear 7/10)
