iPhone Savior

Best Buy Holiday Ad Features 13-Year-Old Instagram Photographer

 

There is no question that one of the new holiday ads from Best Buy entitled “Gifts That Do: Instagram” — is an inspiring piece featuring an uber-talented 13-year-old photographer named Claire Jantzen.

But I unwittingly stumbled upon some interesting details lurking under the surface of this smartphone ad that caused me to take a much closer look.

While the heartbeat of this story focuses on Claire's amazing Instagram photos that came about because her Mom gifted the young artist a smartphone — it was the Motorola handset featured on screen that made me suspicious of the ad.

Since every picture tells a story, I dug into this young photographer's online Instagram website and noticed the very first images posted dated back to November 2011 — iPhone 4S launched in October of 2011. Instagram didn't become available on Android devices until some five months later on April 3, 2012.

In fact, Instagram coming to Android was pretty huge news for non-iPhone users who were finally able to join a community that was exclusive to iPhone since the iOS app originally launched in October 2010.

Suspecting that Best Buy might be taking some “artistic liberties” in this ad, I reached out to Claire Jantzen myself via email and inquired about her smartphone of choice and asked exactly how she captures her exceptional photographs.

An extremely nagging question I had to get answered since she's shown in the commercial several times shooting with what looks like a new Motorola Razor — leading viewers to an obvious conclusion.

Apple Pimps Noise-Canceling In New iPhone 5 Ad

Actor Jeff Daniels returns as the voice in a new iPhone 5 ad "Orchestra" — where Apple has begun pimping their noise-canceling microphone on the rear of their latest smartphone.

The clever use of a micro-orchestra as both the subject and soundtrack simultaneously puts a nice spin on this unique advert.

“Even when the world gets noisy, iPhone 5 with noise canceling lets you have a better phone call.”

Apple has also released another new ad showcasing iPhone 5's photo sharing capabilities at Thanksgiving dinner — of course they called it “Turkey”. Gobble, Gobble!

Apple Pimps Panorama Camera In "Cheesy" New iPhone 5 Ad

In the new iPhone TV commercial "Cheese" — Apple turns a big eye onto the Panorama camera feature that's been tossed into their iOS 6 upgrade (Mmm... cheese!).

Both the music and narrator are fresh picks for Apple who chose to use cute kids in a Halloween inspired ad enticing stay-at-home Dads to shoot and print panoramic images as if they all had white seamless backdrops to snap photos in front of.

The familiar voice you're hearing in this advert is "Dumb & Dumber" co-star Jeff Daniels, who narrates all four freshly baked iPhone 5 TV spots including "Thumb", "Physics" and "Ears". Nice work if you can get it bro.

Watch all the new iPhone 5 ads on Apple's YouTube Channel — brought to you by Google. Yes! I said Google. Now that's cheesy.

 

Apple's New iPod Ad Maximizes The Funness

 

Show me a bouncy iPod and I'll follow you anywhere. With all the iPhone 5 hype today it's easy to forget that Apple just launched an impressive line of iPods — featured in an energized video ad that merges the pastel flavored devices in a synchronized dance party of another kind.

The blistering soundtrack driving this commercial is a new single "Yeah Yeah" by Willy Moon. Willy only has three tracks on iTunes and Yeah Yeah is by far the best of them.

Check out the entire 2012 lineup of fresh iPods and technical specs at Apple.com

via Cult of Mac

Quirky Girl Zooey Deschanel Does iPhone Siri Ad

In Apple's latest iPhone 4S advert "Rainy Day" — Siri helps quirky girl Zooey Deschanel transform a wet afternoon into the perfect day.

The lovely star of "New Girl" airing on FOX — appears in the second celebrity powered iPhone ad for Apple that also included a ho hum Samuel L. Jackson in the first commercial of the series entitled "Date Night".

The official New Girl Companion App is available for iPhone and iPad as a free download that interacts with the television broadcast when it airs each week.

Apple is definitely taking their Siri push in the right direction by featuring celebs barking commands at iPhone 4S like a virtual butler. I tried suggesting to Siri to have tomato soup delivered like Zooey did and the results were actually spot on as advertised.

Check out her awkward dance at the end of the ad... it's simply adorkable!

 

[Apple on YouTube]

Watch Instagram CEO Kevin Systrom In Best Buy's Innovator TV Spot

 

With just a two-year-old startup, Instagram CEO Kevin Systrom is expected to net approximately $400 million from the $1 billion sale of his little photo-sharing juggernaut to Facebook — according to an exclusive report by Wired.

The report cites that Systrom holds a 40 percent stake in Instagram which amounts to $725,000 per day for the 28-year-old CEO since the Instagram app launched in the iTunes App Store on October 6, 2010.

While many committed Instgram users are still contemplating if they will to stick with the photo sharing app now that Zuckerberg and company are taking control of the data, Systrom has assured his roughly 32 million faithful followers that the Instagram they know and love is not going away.

"It’s important to be clear that Instagram is not going away. We’ll be working with Facebook to evolve Instagram and build the network. We’ll continue to add new features to the product and find new ways to create a better mobile photos experience." Systrom wrote on his company's blog.

Many who watched Super Bowl XLVI this year may remember an innovator series produced by Best Buy — which included Kevin Systrom among their list of Silicon Valley innovators. In light of the big news today I've posted the mobile innovator segment featuring Kevin along with the original spot also included below.

Watch New Siri Ads "Rock God" and "Road Trip"

 

There's no doubt that miss Siri rocks hard, but in Apple's new ad entitled "Rock God", the company takes steady aim at emerging young rockers and even includes a garage band scene that offers a gentle nod to their software of the same name.

"Siri knows all kinds of things — even your nickname". Very clever.

In the second new Siri-centric commercial, it's all about getting directions and locating petrol in "Road Trip". Siri can easily "help you get from A to B like never before". Especially when you're driving from New York to Santa Cruz with some chick you just met at a Super Bowl party. Score!

Both TV spots take Siri off into useful new directions, but there's something about quickly finding a Bm 9th chord that should resonate with parents who might have been holding off on upgrading Jonny to an iPhone 4S. Isn't Siri wonderful?

For those about to rock — we salute you.

"I don't even own a Galaxy Note and I've already misplaced the pen"

 

Although Samsung's Galaxy Note Super Bowl commercial was designed to mock Apple hipsters waiting in line for the newest iPhone, it was the company's emphasis on their revolutionary "stylus" that caused a huge Twitter backlash on Monday. 

You know the chatter on Twitter has hit critical mass when the attention begins to focus on losing the pen rather than the stuff that truly matters like the large 5.3-inch HD Super AMOLED touchsceen with 1280×800 resolution. My favorite Tweet from the lot is a hysterical one from Paul Madsen.

"I don't even own a Samsung Galaxy Note yet and I've already misplaced the pen" said Paul Madsen.

Samsung has become the butt end of its own joke amongst Twitter followers who've pointed out that showcasing technology of the 90's is not exactly "the next big thing". They just got "Samsunged" in the worst way — because the pummeling was self-inflicted. 

Even though the Galaxy Note is not dependant upon a stylus, the extra PalmPilot-like appendage showcased in the new commercial is definitely not pointing to technology of the future. 

"It's got a pen? This is awesome," a character in the ad says at one point. 

Nope. Not awesome at all. Is it just me — or does the room have a desperate smell to it?

Ars Technica writer Jon Brodkin, summed up my own feelings for Samsung's new phone-tablet hybrid quite nicely in his sarcastic Tweet.

"Pre-ordering my Galaxy Note today. Gonna throw the Note out. I just want the pen." said Jon Brodkin

 

[Mashable]

Steve Jobs Inspires Best Buy 2012 Super Bowl Ad

 

When Steve Jobs passed away on October 5th, Best Buy’s U.S. marketing chief, Drew Panayiotou decided to turn the spotlight on Silicon Valley phone innovators who he considers to be the stars of today.

Instead of featuring metal head Ozzy Osbourne and teen idol Justin Bieber, you'll see Instagram creator Kevin Systrom (at top) and Philippe Kahn, who developed one of the first camera phones. Those are just a few featured in Best Buy's 2012 "Phone Innovators" Super Bowl commercial. (after the jump)

Watch Siri Help Santa Deliver Christmas On Time

 

In Apple's new iPhone 4S holiday commercial entitled "Santa", you'll find the jolly fat man himself relying on last minute help from iPhone assistant Siri to get his Christmas gifts delivered on time.

Just like Apple has done with their store windows again this year, the magic of Christmas is placed in the hands of the most iconic spokesman the season has to offer. No matter if you've been naughty or nice Siri is there to assist you every one of your 3.7 billion appointments. I asked Santa for an iPhone 5 and I'm ho,ho, hopeful he might just deliver.

The bonus here is that now we all know how to get to Charlie Grant's house in Twin Falls, Idaho. One more clue in this new ad is that Santa always makes Tacoma, Washington his first stop of the night. Good to know.

[Apple]