A deep dive into digital marketing

AT&T + iPhone = Free Wifi

Posted by Chris under Apple, Broadband, Mobile, Technology, Travel, iPhone

That’s right, recently announced by AT&T and shared across twitter and the web, free AT&T Wifi for iPhone users at AT&T WiFi hotspots. So beyond just Starbuck, including any of the public AT&T Wifi hotspots, you’ll get free Wifi on your iPhone, can you tell I’m excited.

As AT&T says

AT&T knows Wi-Fi is hot, and FREE Wi-Fi is even hotter. Which is why FREE AT&T Wi-Fi access is now available for Apple iPhone at thousands of hotspots nationwide, including Starbucks*. Users can relax and access music, email and web browsing services with their favorite blend in hand from the comfort of their nearest location. For information visit www.att.com/attwifi.

Enjoy the experience of mobile Internet on Apple iPhone. Your iPhone now has free AT&T Wi-Fi access at thousands of hotspots nationwide, including Starbucks*. Visit www.att.com/attwifi for more information or find a Starbucks location near you. That’s all you need to get going – so go ahead, see what your iPhone can do!

And it’s pretty darn easy to activate, instuctions via AT&T are below.

iPhone users, get started with Wi-Fi

• Activate Wi-Fi from the settings icon on your iPhone
• Select “attwifi” from the list of available networks
• Enter your 10-digit mobile number and check the box to agree to the Acceptable Use Policy. Tap ‘continue’
• You will receive a text message from AT&T with a secure link to the AT&T Wi-Fi hotspot. You will not be charged for the text message.
• The SMS link will only be valid for 24 hours at the location it was requested. Another request must be submitted when using another hotspot location.
• Open the text message and tap on the link for 24-hour access to the AT&T Wi-Fi hotspot

I’m shocked (by my iphone power adaptor)

Posted by Chris under Apple, Technology, iPhone, online retail

Apple has just issues a safety recall for the new ultracompact Apple USB power adapter. According to the site they have “determined that under certain conditions the new ultracompact Apple USB power adapter’s metal prongs can break off and remain in a power outlet, creating a risk of electric shock.  We have received reports of detached blades involving a very small percentage of the adapters sold, but no injuries have been reported.”

The ultracompact USB power adapters were supplied with every iPhone 3G sold in the following countries, and may also have been purchased separately as an accessory:

Meanwhile they say only use the USB charger on your computer.

However help is on the way.

The Exchange Process

Replacement adapters will be available starting Friday, October 10, 2008.

There are two ways to exchange your current ultracompact Apple USB power adapter for a new, redesigned adapter.

• Order a replacement adapter via the web. These replacement adapters will ship within three weeks of your order, starting on Friday, October 10.
• Exchange your adapter at an Apple Retail Store starting on October 10.

Roaming with your iphone, better have lots of cash!

Posted by Chris under Apple, Mobile, Technology, Travel, iPhone

So I’m getting ready for a trip to Canada, which according to AT&T, may be our northern neighbor but your phone and data plan is US only. Which means get ready for some extra $$, especially around data usage.

Now I’m well used to paying high costs when traveling internationally for mobile phone calls. Of course paying for an international plan can lower the rate slightly or going full native and getting local pay as you go sim/phone can be one way to go. Or at the other end use Skype or tools like that for free skype to skype calls.

But it’s the data that will really get you. After all in my article on TalentZoo.com I wrote about how the iPhone was more computer then phone and I still stand by that.

So first a BIG thanks to AT&T for calling attention to the issue and for Felix Salmon over at Portfolio.com for pointing out even more.

International data roaming can get expensive quickly. In two weeks I’ve pushed almost 100MB to/from my iphone, which if I was international would be about a $2000 bill (based on pay-per-use international data rates of $.0195/KB). Or breaking it down a bit more uploading one photo to Flickr would be about $20-30. OUCH!

What can you do to minimize your international data charges? Here’s where AT&T is very helpful.

1) Turn Data Roaming “OFF”: Be sure to download and install the latest version of iPhone software (version 2.0) from iTunes. By default, this setting for international data roaming will be in the “OFF” position.

To turn data roaming “ON/OFF” tap on: Settings>General>Network>Data Roaming

2) Utilize Wi-Fi instead of GPRS/EDGE/3G: Wi-Fi is available in many international airports, hotels and restaurants to browse the web or check email.

Turn Off Your Phone’s “Auto-Check” Function for Email: Data usage from email can accrue quickly. Check email manually using Wi-Fi instead of having email downloaded automatically to your iPhone. This way you can control the flow of data coming to your iPhone.

To turn off the Auto-Check functionality tap on: Settings>Fetch New Data and select manually

3) Consider Purchasing an International Data Package: Purchasing an international data package can significantly reduce the cost of using data abroad. AT&T now offers two discount international data packages.

$24.99 per month – 20 MB Data Global Plan (20 MB of usage in over 65 countries*. Overage is $.005/KB)

$59.99 per month – 50 MB Data Global Plan (50 MB of usage in over 65 countries*. Overage is $.005/KB)

*for a list of countries visit att.com/dataconnectglobal for current information

Reading Felix’s article he points out the issues of the Data Global Plan, one being that you have to keep it for multiple billing cycle. Otherwise if you cancel it upon your return and the charges haven’t come in yet you be charged the non-plan rate. -note my call to AT&T did confirm this as well but they also said there is no termination charge for the plan you can keep it as long/short as you like. They also did, to their credit, point out the same point that Felix made.

So what am I going to do? Well the plan is to get the 20MB plan so at least if I really need to use things like Google Maps (as in help I’ve wondered off and am lost) I won’t feel like my $ are flying away. But this is for “emergency” use only I’ll plan to use WiFi as much as I can.

I’ll let you know when I return how that all worked out. Oh and one last note I’ll be resetting the Usage Tracker to Zero when the plane touches down (in the general settings menu & select reset statistics.) This way I’ll rally know how much data usage I use. Unfortunately it doesn’t differentiate between WiFi and 3G/Edge.

Lastly, no comment on how crazy this feels having to plan my data usage, so much for the ubiqutous internet, I guess that’s just for the well heeled vertu crowd.

yellowpages.com optimized for iPhone

Posted by Chris under Apple, Browsers, Mobile, Safari, Search Engines, Technology, iPhone

That’s right, why pay the $.99 for the application when yellow pages has been optimized for the iphone. Not on an iPhone check it out here.

Otherwise open that Safari browser on your iPhone, go to www.yellowpages.com and the click on the +, select “add to home screen” (can do this for any web page) and you’ve got your quick link right to it.

Tap Tap Revenge and iPint – iPhone fun

Posted by Chris under Advertising, Apple, Mobile, Social Networking, Technology, iPhone

Tap Tap Revenge, a Guitar Hero-like game for the iPhone where the user taps colored dots in time with the beat of a song, is surging up the iPhone App Store rankings despite having launched a few days after most of the original apps.

It’s like Hansel of Zoolander, “so hot” and in the two player mode it’s beyond mildly addictive.

Oh did I mention it’s now the #1 unpaid app on iTunes

Also worth a check out iPint, from beer maker Carling, it’s a fun game and since we’re in the biz it’s worth a look for a nice unobtrusive form of advertising. And when you “win” each level you share a pint, yep your screen fills up and as you tip the phone (remember the accelorometer) the beer is drained. A great great example of a fun game, built from the brand connection and taking full advantage of the iPhone features.

Don’t have an iPhone well watch their video here and you’ll get the picture

What’s on my iPhone

Posted by Chris under Apple, Mobile, Technology, iPhone

Here’s the latest list of what’s rolling on my iPhone.

Remote, v1.0
Pandora Radio, v1.0
Google Mobile App, v0.1.337
Light, v1
Local Picks by TripAdvisor
Facebook, v1.0
WeatherBug, v1.0,
Pownce, v0.01
AOL Radio, v1.0
NYTimes, v1.01
Jott for iPhone, v1.01
Evernote, v1.0
Yelp, v1.0
WHERE, v1.0
Tap Tap Revenge, v1.0
iPint, v1.0
Tips, v1.0
Crash Bandicoot Nitro Kart 3D, v0.7.4
NetNewsWire, v1.0
Evernote
Loopt, v1.0
AIM, v1.0
SmugShot, v1.0.0
ShoZu – Share. Blog. Connect., v4.1.18
Twitterrific Premium, v1.0

What am I missing out on, any reccomendations?

Got one! iPhone 3g that is

Posted by Chris under Apple, Mobile, iPhone

Friday
Oak Brook mall Apple Store 6:45AM, looked like well over 300 people in line. Decided to come back on the weekend

Sunday
Oak Brook Mall Apple Store 9:45am (store opens at 11), long line but probably only about 150. Three hours later they are out of 16GB Black. One hour later, very low on 8GB black. Now it’s 3:15, woohoo next in line. Sign us up for two white 16GB iPhones (wife and me), 20 min later, walking out

Rest of night spent downloading apps, recommend you do this through itunes on your computer for now, and playing around.

Yes it was worth the wait. ohh and we were one of only a few people who brought chairs, smart us.

iPhone, back and better than ever

Posted by Chris under Apple, GPS, Social Networking, Technology, iPhone

Think yesterday was a big day for Apple with all of the WWDC announcements. It certainly was but perhaps it was a bigger day on the blogosphere and the web. Why, well let’s start with taking a look at Google and see what we get, as of this morning:

iPhone 2.0 10,500,000
iPhone 2.0 applications 41,900,00

And that’s just Google. The webchatter was at a froth on sites like MacRumors and of course fanboy sites like Gizmodo and Engadget kept their head to head competition going via their WWDC reporting.

But lost in some of this is a deeper look at the applications and some of the features. I for one am really excited about GPS for the iPhone. Having been using a blackberry curve for a while I love the GPS and applications like FindMe, NeoSistec’s CarFinder and of course the driving app like TeleAtlas. I’m expecting this to go to the next level with the iPhone.

For example it’s rumored that TomTom is ready to roll their software on the new iPhone (via Engadget Mobile). Being a huge fan of TomTom, since my Father-in-law got one in the UK years ago, that to me is a great indication of good things to come on the iPhone. Like better location based social networking, as if BrightKite wasn’t sort of weird enough.

More to come I’m sure.

WWDC a day for connections

Posted by Chris under Apple, Social Networking, Technology, Twitter, iPhone

The anticipation is ________ me. So today’s the day for the Apple faithful, it’s WWDC and this one is going to be a special one, or so the rumors say. But one change from when I went to WWDC in years past is the numerous ways you can stay on top of the announcements.

Right, I know you want to find out first about the 3G iPhone, OSX 10.6 and maybe more or maybe none of those things. You just don’t know at a show by Steve.

But what I do know is that twitter is already preparing for an overload and has shut down some key functions. I’m still following folks on Twitter but we’ll see if it can stay live during the whole event.

So what’s a Mac fanboy to do.

Well there’s always summize, which searches Twitter in real time (but again relying on twitter). There is the threat/promise of people using Plurk which actually would work very well for an event. The timeline making it easy to follow the flow.

And of course the old and new media outlets will be posting on blogs and even live video, see the links below.

Social networking connects us beyond the what I’m doing into the what I’m interested in now. Connections will be made today, I’m sure I might find a twitterati I don’t follow who does a great succient capture of the presentation today. And well, that’s what this space is all about.

cnet
mac rumors
digital lifestyle

Got some great places/people to catch the announcements let me know and post them in the comments