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Apple Airs Two New iPhone TV Ads

Posted by Joe Rossignol at 7:48 pm

Apple tonight uploaded two new TV ads to its official YouTube channel, entitled “Brilliant” and “Discover,” touting the over 700,000 apps available for iPhone 5. These ads are part of the same new advertising campaign for the iPad. Hit the break to watch the second TV spot. (more…)

Mar

iOS Concept: Quick Access Lock Screen Toggles

Posted by Joe Rossignol at 1:02 pm

Jailbreak developer Sentry, creator of the popular multitasking tweak Auxo, has shared yet another video that conceptualizes how quick access lock screen toggles should work on iOS. The video is very brief, detailing a quick swipe to the left to pull out the toggle drawer for Bluetooth, cellular data, location, Wi-Fi, and more. While I think the concept makes sense, I don’t necessarily agree with the design. What about you?

Feb

El Plato Supreme

Posted by Joe Rossignol at 11:44 am

Samsung has previewed a new TV ad called El Plato Supreme that will air during the Super Bowl, starring comedians Paul Rudd, Seth Rogen, and Bob Odenkirk. Throughout the 60-second spot, Rudd and Rogen are surprised that they cannot say the words Super Bowl, Ravens or 49ers because they are trademarked.

The video has almost 2 million views on YouTube in just 24 hours, with many commenters suggesting that this commercial might have something to do with Apple and the numerous patent infringement lawsuits it has been involved in over the past few years. What’s your take on this TV ad?

Jan

How Ironic: Apple Airs New TV Ad Promoting ‘Do Not Disturb’ Just Hours After Date Bug

Posted by Joe Rossignol at 5:38 pm

Earlier this morning, a number of iPhone users woke up to the realization that the new Do Not Disturb feature on iOS 6 had neglected to turn off at its intended time. The error was attributed to yet another date bug within iOS, as the calendar turned to January 1st, 2013 around the world.

Apple, ironically, has now unveiled a new TV ad that promotes the same Do Not Disturb feature that was causing iPhone users issues on the same very day. The 30-second spot stars tennis pro Serena Williams playing ping pong in the narrator’s dreams, which go uninterrupted because he is using Do Not Disturb.

Gangnam Style Makes YouTube History: 1 Billion Views

Posted by Joe Rossignol at 11:15 am

The music video Gangnam Style by Korean pop star Psy has become the first video in YouTube’s seven year history to pass 1 billion views — yes, 1,000,000,000 — since being uploaded on July 15th, 2012. The video has received over 6,000,000 likes and Psy has collected over 2 million subscribers to his YouTube channel already. If you believe in the concept of something going viral, Psy mastered it.

2012: Year in Review

Posted by Joe Rossignol at 11:30 am

We’ll step outside of our usual Apple and tech boundaries to share this impressive video that recaps this past year’s highs and lows, bringing everyone together. It’s worth the watch.

[The Loop]

Siri, Open My Garage Door

Posted by Joe Rossignol at 7:30 am

Now that the novelty of Siri has wore off since the featured debuted on the iPhone 4S last year, interesting tips, tricks and enhancements surrounding the voice assistant service have slowed down considerably.

But, one enthusiast has done something cool with Siri again, coupling it with the ultra-tiny Raspberry Pi computer to have his garage door automatically open upon voice request.

While it can be argued that it would be quicker to simply press the garage door button, the whole point of this video is to show that SiriProxy — on the Raspberry Pi, in this instance — can do some interesting things. You can watch the video below and head over to the Raspberry Pi discussion forums for a fairly technical explanation of how the user DarkTherapy managed to pull this off.

Have you ever done anything interesting with Siri?

[Raspberry Pi via Hack a Day via TUAW via iDB]

Samsung Puts Holiday Spin on Provocative Galaxy S III Advertisement

Posted by Joe Rossignol at 12:45 pm

Samsung is back with its latest provocative ad, taking its older “Work Trip” TV advertisement and putting a holiday spin on it. The previous ad starts out with a man saying goodbye to his wife and two young daughters as he gets into a taxi. Both his wife and children share videos with him using S Beam before he leaves, although his wife in particular recommends that he not watch her video on the airplane, all while raising her eyebrow in a suggestive manner.

The new ad is identical to the former one, except it features Santa Claus saying goodbye to Mrs. Claus and his elves instead. Samsung is playing it risky with these types of ads, pushing the limits on what is acceptable in an attempt to have its commercials go viral. And it worked, as Samsung scored three out of the top four spots on the list of “The Top 10 Most Viral Tech Ads of 2012,” whereas Apple only had its iPhone 5 introduction commercial grab the sixth spot. Watch the new ad ahead. (more…)