Microsoft has released a new commercial for the Windows Phone Nokia Lumia 920, and in it they show off both Apple's iPhone 5 and Samsung's Galaxy S. A lot. So much, in fact, it's hard to know what the commercial is about until the very end, when the Lumia 920 finally makes an appearance. Anyone outside Microsoft see the problem there?
The theme is: Don't fight. Switch. The setting is a wedding where the groom and the bride's side both use different phone platforms, and quickly get into a heated, and pretty funny war of insults that escalates into full-blown Mobile Kombat. When nothing but dust and decimation remains, the waiters wonder if Lumia couldn't just help them all get along.
Here's what Microsoft's Michael Stroh had to say on the Windows Blog:
I chuckled when I first saw the spot. As you?ll see, it plays off the strong?even irrationally strong?feelings some of us harbor about the technology in our purses and pockets. You might recognize someone you?ve met among the wedding guests. You might see shades of yourself. I sure did?and smiled.
I did as well. And it wouldn't be out of place on a late night comedy show. Actually, it would kill as comedy. But this isn't comedy, it's the real, brutal, smartphone market, and here is that Microsoft is promoting Apple and Samsung over their own brands, and that's exactly what happens to them in the market already. Apple had a "switcher" campaign for the Mac many years ago, and while they had a generic "PC" character, he was seldom if ever branded, and there certainly wasn't ever any recognizable, competing hardware in the frame.
Ultimately, however, I didn't really end up caring any more about Windows Phone than I did at the beginning, and that makes it a pretty ineffective commercial. Give it a watch and tell me what you think. Anything there that's better than, I don't know, say Microsoft actually releasing an XPhone Halo edition?
Source: Windows Phone via WPCentral
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Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheIphoneBlog/~3/kX5gLEtxHV0/story01.htm
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It’s only a matter of time before Twitter releases its own Google Glass app, as Kleiner Perkins’ John Doerr dropped the hint that the company was looking into building one during this month’s Glass Collective announcement. A tweet from an official Twitter Glass app has been spotted, interestingly enough by the gentleman who brought you the first unofficial Twitter app, GlassTweet. The user that it came from had no information in their bio when I looked at the profile, but it has since been deleted, along with the tweet below: You’ll notice the “Twitter for Glass” label, which denotes which app the tweet came from. That, coupled with the fact that the account has since been deleted, shows that somebody might have let the cat, or Glass, out of the bag a little too early. I reached out to Twitter, but the company provided us with no statement or comment on its intentions for Glass. It will be interesting to see what an actual Twitter Glass experience will be, as I can’t imagine that anyone would want to see every single tweet from their stream pass before their eye. I could see the utility of getting direct messages, perhaps replies and mentions and most certainly sharing pics and videos. Expect to see a lot of Glass apps popping up from companies like Twitter and Facebook in the next few months, as the companies are trying to figure out how best to tap into a device that could increase usage and let users share a brand new perspective with media. The example that I always use with people is that Glass will be really fun at a concert or other live event, where I don’t have to take a phone out of my pocket and remove myself from the situation. It will be natural to snap a shot without disrupting my field of vision and attention. [Photo credit: Flickr]
The UFC debut of two Strikeforce light heavyweights was spoiled by a odd ending. Ovince St-Preux beat Gian Villante in a majority technical decision after the fight was stopped because of a poke to the eye.
At first sight, Suitey looks like nothing more than a run-of-the-mill real estate website. But while sites like Trulia and Zillow merely provide a listing of available properties from a large assortment of brokerages and owners, all the properties on Suitey are being directly offered by Suitey itself. That?s because Suitey is a fully fledged real estate brokerage, and they believe they?re the first software-powered brokerage that offers a better, more transparent home buying experience. At their core, Trulia and Zillow are really nothing more than virtualized billboards. They provide a centralized location for brokers and owners to advertise their for-sale properties. Let?s say you?re looking for a new apartment, and you?ve narrowed down your list to five places. That means you?ll probably have to deal with five different real estate brokers, which from experience can be a total nightmare. With Suitey, everything is simplified. Once again, let?s say you?re looking for an apartment in Manhattan (for now, Suitey only offers listings in New York City). Once you narrow things down to five options on their website, you can contact a Suitey agent who will set a time to view all the properties with you. In the future, you?ll be able to video chat with the agent directly from the website. This face-to-face experience with Suitey?s agents is key to the company’s ethos. ?We want to ensure that our agents are people you?d feel comfortable buying a home from,? says David Walker, CEO of Suitey. He tells me that Suitey?s agents are heavily vetted by the company before they are hired in a process that ensures their competence and general likability. Once you?ve agreed to buy the home, Suitey gives you a one percent discount to sweeten the deal. That may not seem like much, but if you?re buying property for several million dollars, that rebate ends up being a couple thousand dollars you can put towards your deposit. ?I?ve never heard of anything quite like it, and it would interesting to see what happens,? says Laura Goldstein, Managing Editor of AOL Real Estate. ?People have such a bad association with real estate agents, and the customer service approach feels very appealing.? Suitey was one of the ten companies featured at the Entrepreneur Roundtable Accelerator?s Demo Day today. You can check out a roundup of startups from our coverage of the event here.
It's a treat to watch Lord Varys pull the levers of powers behind the scenes, as he does here in a conversation with Lady Olenna Redwyne
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Public release date: 23-Apr-2013
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