Luxury Watchmakers Create Free iPhone Apps to Promote Their Products
During the initial rise of Apple’s stunningly popular iPhone and iPod Touch, makers of the world’s most expensive watches definitely felt a tremble of fear at the competition a highly accurate digital time keeping device could offer to their product lines. It seemed that the necessity of a wristwatch just might disappear, but now these big companies are striking back with innovative software to promote their products and keep them at the forefront of mobile device users’ minds. Using free apps, the watch making companies are aiming to keep consumers intrigued by their unique designs and in a buying frame of mind when it comes to luxury watches.
Huge names such as Bell & Ross, Dewitt, Dior, Piaget, Van Cleef & Arpels, and even global giant Breitling, have all created apps by which they intend to woo a potentially new base of customers. Rather than aiming their efforts towards the traditional customer base of watch collectors, the companies are hoping to draw in a more tech savvy and younger fan base from among the growing mobile device demographic. As profits for watch makers continue to dive, the cheap advertising available via iPhone apps is intended to be a cost effective measure for the companies to raise their sales levels in the coming year.
Super Monkey Ball 2
When game developer SEGA of Japan first unveiled its hit game Super Monkey Ball for Apple’s iPhone, gamers were delighted, anticipating the port of one of the most popular video games in recent history. However, much to the dismay of gamers worldwide, while the tilting mechanism built into iPhones functioned in favor of intriguing play, the game itself received poor reviews due to what many felt were poor controls. Now, SEGA plans to remedy this situation by introducing a sequel to its popular puzzle game. The decidedly cute graphics helped the game sell well across the gender lines, but the company hopes its future release will please the more hard core gaming audience.
By teaming up with developer Other Ocean, SEGA seeks to improve the controls in Super Monkey Ball 2 by focusing on what it learned from customer feedback it garnered after the initial title’s release. By taking a lesson from Nintendo’s Wii console, the gaming giant is employing massive development efforts to upgrade the precision of controls and make the game far more playable than their last go around. Gamers will be able to calibrate the controls to suit their own styles of movement, thereby increasing the effectiveness of the controls to suit the individual user.
Rumble in Smart Phone World As iPhone Braces for Competition From Nokia N900 and HTC HD2
Any time that a product captures the hearts and minds of consumers worldwide it is going to9 prove difficult to go up against, particularly when that product is an innovative one such as Apple’s iPhone. For years, this hi tech wonder machine has been one of the most sought after devices in a huge range of demographics, but the times just may be changing for the ruler of the smart phone universe. It appears that the Nokia n900 has other plans for smart phone users and its powerful mix of heavy processing speeds along with the ability to get broadband web browsing without having to find a WiFi connection, just may be enough to give this company a major edge when Nokia brings out their secret weapon: the Fennec browser. This particular piece of software will enable Flash animations that allow users to watch YouTube videos over the web or play their favorite games. It will be incredibly tough for Apple to keep its hold on the app market once the Nokia n900 takes off.
This is not to say that Apple is going to be shoved into oblivion, in fact, far from it according to experts. The real prize here is that consumers will benefit from the competition like never before. One only needs to look to the HTC HD2 to see that there is definitely a major wave of competition soon to be crashing up against Apple’s long held and highly secure shores. Analysts predict that Apple will not go down without a fight and that price drops are to be expected, a benefit that will bring a huge number of people into the smart phone market and help make the devices even more widespread than they currently are. This means that in the future, consumers should expect to be able to choose from a range of high end products at much more affordable price points.
Cost Conscious iPhone Users Flock to Freedom Unlocking Provides
When it first entered the market place only a few short years ago, the iPhone was lauded at nothing short of a miracle for technology. The device was expected to be the world’s most advanced smart phone at its price point and this attracted a huge number of customers who flocked to the device and gave Apple record profits for their hi tech gadget, creating a brand new market that other competitors rapidly attempted to gain entry to. Along with the iPhone came the exclusive carrier agreement with Apple’s chosen purveyor of wireless communications. This meant consumers had to put down a large amount of money if they expected to be able to use the phone, no other carrier was available - that is, until the unlock iPhone movement took hold. Tech experts from around the world were furious at the competition crushing attitude Apple exhibited and used their prowess to come up with a way that consumers could not only cut costs on air time, but also have a greater measure of control over their iPhone.
The nexus of this movement brought forth a wide variety of solutions to solve the problems of those wanting to unlock iPhone 3G phones. The ease of use that these solutions offered meant that it was no longer the hi tech elite who could benefit from this new found freedom. Today, many cost conscious consumers have chosen to unlock their mobile devices in the pursuit of more reasonable phone service that offered them the pricing and benefits they desired. Despite the movement, many still remain unaware of the benefits to them after their phone is free of the Apple stranglehold. The primary social motivator is the consumer base forcing the corporate powers to recognize that when they pay for a device, they have the right to do with it what they please. The cost saving, the greater control over personal property and the defense of personal rights is what experts believe will keep this movement rolling until the corporations come to see the error of their greed driven ways.
Zombie Themed Game Released for iPhone and iPod Touch
The UK based game developer Westbright has released a simple turn based board game app for the iPhone called Zombies 1.0 that will be playable on the iPhone as well as the iPod Touch. The game is based on the classic game called Daleks, a familiar favorite for UK gamers. Due to its friendly, comedic approach, Zombies 1.0 is expected to be a hit with family audiences that can feel comfortable with its content when it comes to younger gaming fans.
The husband and wife team behind the game, Matt and Maggie West, set up Westbright Ltd in 2003 to develop these kinds of titles that offer non complex gaming fun for all ages. In Zombies 1.0, players will maneuver through levels attempting to avoid hordes of zombies that are constantly coming their way. Players will be able to out navigate the zombies so that they collide with one another and burst into flame, even making use of a Fleeing spell in order to do so. With the aid of Banish spells, players will be able to get rid of an entire group of zombies that are getting dangerously close to them.
Since most horror themed games for the iPhone rely too heavily on gore or horrific scenes to be suitable for children, the team at Westbright worked to provide a more comic gaming style that would remind players of Scooby Doo and other family friendly titles.
Zombies 1.0 will work on any device running OS 2.0 or later and retails for $2.99 through Apple’s App Store.
Four Seasons Offers New App
In an effort to build on the momentum for its campaign to enter the digital era and establish an online presence, the Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts App for the iPhone has been released by the hospitality industry giant. The app has been designed in response to demand from guests who expressed a strong desire for both a convenient booking portal and gateway to side destinations while on vacations.
The app comes at a time when the Four Seasons has been building its brand by establishing a YouTube channel, an online magazine, and both corporate and individual Twitter feeds to keep the company’s image strong in the minds of consumers. All of these upgrades were created to meet the wishes of guests who had requested more online interactivity via comments on the company website and participation in surveys. Prior to this, Four Seasons’ website had enjoyed a fairly substantial amount of visitors who enjoyed videos of the hotels as well as an extensive photo library. The “virtual vacations” users sampled through that website are now greatly expanded by the app.
Using the app, customers will be able to find a room from one of the Four Seasons 80 resorts or hotels around the world, select a spa treatment and make reservations, or take a digital tour of the company’s travel offerings. The app is available for free download.
Battle Bears
When it comes to iPhone games, few are as unique in their approach as the recently released Battle Bears title from developer SkyVu Pictures. Players control a rampaging teddy bear and gun down opposing bears in this first person shooter. All of the violence in the game is cartoonish and over the top, but still the title is not geared towards children.
Players will take on the role of a teddy bear that has been caught behind enemy lines and must battle its way out by choosing from a large arsenal of weapons including an assault rifle that contains unlimited ammo and secondary weapons such as unicorn blood toxic to your opponents, a crossbow made from a unicorn’s horn, a profanity megaphone, a pot of gold used to devour their souls and a bearzooka to shoot the limbs of your fallen enemies. Sand bags and other defensive counter measures are also available to protect the player as the rounds progress and the action grows more intense. The controls were designed to be easily grasped after a brief tutorial so that players can get directly into the action within minutes.
SkyVu intended the game as a comical farce of fairy tale violence, but potential gamers will want to take note that the gore can be intense if the gore mode is turned on. The protagonist featured in the game does tend towards high levels of what many may consider to be inappropriate language so the game is clearly aimed at a more mature audience.
Battle Bears is available for download with a $1.00 price tag.
Touch Squash: World Championship 09
Game developer Rolocule Studios is releasing the first ever squash 3D sports game for Apple’s iPhone and iPod Touch. The game is titled Touch Squash: World Championship 09 and will attempt to capitalize upon the growing global popularity of this tennis-like sport. It will use the PARS scoring system adopted by the World Squash Federation and offer unique third person perspective as players square off against artificially intelligent opponents, each designed to provide a level of challenge for players that ranges from beginner up to expert levels of difficulty. Players will be able to participate in matches on courts in 24 countries and even compete in 4 unique tournaments around the world.
Touch Squash is the seminal title from Rolocule and the company’s hope is that the game will provide not only an outlet for those who enjoy this more obscure sport, but a means through which those interested in squash can learn more of what the sport is all about. Due to the speed at which the ball moves, squash is not suited for televised presentation and as of yet, is not an official Olympic sport.
The recently released v2.0 of Touch Squash also features worldwide multiplayer functionality via the AGON Online social platform for iPhone games. This service allows players to compete against those in other nations to win awards and publish their stories on Facebook, Twitter and other social networking sites.
Touch Squash is available to those with the iPhone 2.2.1 or later update and costs $0.99 from Apple’s App Store.
My Phax
Mitek Systems, Inc. has announced a new app that will allow iPhone users to send a fax using the camera on their phone. The Mobile Phax app gains its name from a combination of the words ‘fax’ and ‘phone’ and is part of the Mitek System’s family of apps called Office on My Phone, referred to as ‘OOMPH’. The intent behind the software is to allow customers to make further use of the cameras already built into their mobile phone devices which the company views as particularly useful to mobile professionals who would otherwise need to locate a nearby copy center in order to send a fax.
Using the optical camera on the iPhone, Mobile Phax takes a picture of any document and converts that to the Adobe PDF format, converting the image into a high quality printer friendly image so that the phone becomes something akin to a traditional fax machine. These printer friendly images are then sent via e-mail to the intended user for printing purposes. The patent pending IMagePROVE technology automatically rotates, crops and scales the picture of the document’s hard copy to render it suitable for printing.
The My Phax is available for download via Apple’s App Store for $4.99.
My O2 App Gives iPhone Users More Account Information
Mobile network provider O2 recently announced their latest app, My O2, has been released to allow iPhone customers easier access to their account data so that they can better track the amount they are spending via their phones. While this information has been previously accessible either online or through SMS, the My O2 app allows the data to be accessed via the iPhone’s unique interface. The developers hope that this will give customers greater freedom and encourage greater interaction with O2 services as the easier monitoring method leads to a greater sense of security for end users.
Both Pay Monthly and O2 Pay & Go customers will be able to view their tariff details, their remaining balances on their inclusive allowance, along with a summary, and their most recent bill in addition to Bolt Ons which may be part of their account.
Developer Mobile Interactive Group (MIG) assisted in the creation of the app and designed it with the idea of it making it easier to present on other smart phone platforms. The design process was also intended to ease the integration of even more features in the future.
The My O2 app is currently available for free download in the Apple App Store to all O2 users.