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iPhone 5s first-person shopper report
Didn't get the experience of hauling yourself out of bed at an ungodly hour, only to go stand in a line with other enthusiasts waiting to buy your new iPhone? We caught up with two 5s buyers in New York City who did just that; iOS developer (NYC Bike Buddy) Brian Papa and friend Megu Kobayashi. The two queued up outside Grand Central Terminal starting around 7 AM; by the time they got into the store, the gold and white iPhone 5s handsets were sold out.
Google Shopper adds push notifications, new UI and more with 3.0 update
Google Shopper has just gotten the bump to version 3.0 with an update that brings a roster of fresh features, including a new UI with speedier navigation and larger images. In addition to the fresh coat of paint, the app sports a brand-new sales screen, image-focused search results and product ratings provided by GoodGuide. Page and Co. have also thrown in push notifications to keep users abreast of new features and content, and an area to showcase retail promotions. Itching to start penny pinching? Hit the source link below for the download.
Apple releases new iPhone Ad: "Shopper"
Following yesterday's "Concert" iPhone ad, Apple has released another ad called "Shopper." In "Concert," the ad featured a girl who was something of an impulse-buyer. The man in "Shopper" still likes to buy, but he's just got a little more self-control. The ad begins with a man using Safari to search ProductWiki for an espresso maker as a gift for his wife. After doing "a little research," the man sends a text message to his wife's sister asking which color espresso maker his wife would like. After a terse Steve Jobs-esque answer of "Red," the man uses RedLaser ($1.99 in the App Store) to check to see if the espresso machine is cheaper anywhere else. The ad ends with the man exclaiming he's "a much smarter and faster shopper with his iPhone." What have we learned? That shopping on the iPhone doesn't have to be all about the impulse buy.
Wakamaru robot to help / freak out UNIQLO SoHo shoppers
Shopping robots aren't totally unheard of from a global perspective, but we certainly haven't seen too many out and about in NY boutiques. Reportedly, that's about to change -- UNIQLO SoHo will soon be home to Mitsubishi's Wakamaru, a humanoid that can look you in the eye, communicate on a very basic level and somehow help you decide between this dress or that other one over there. Word on the street has it arriving sometime next week, so if any of you regulars happen to see it, let us know just how convincing it is / isn't.[Via TokyoMango]
HP's Retail Store Assistant: a wallet's worst enemy
Fellas, if you thought Ralph Lauren's literal window shopping contraption was your wallet's arch-rival, we've got some unfortunate news, and for the ladies (or guys) who just love to spend it up, HP's about to become your very best friend. The clever gurus at HP Labs have developed a marketer's dream tool that enables customers to enter a retail store, swipe a card, and instantly receive a printout (shown after the jump) that includes "a personalized shopping list, relevant coupons, notice of associated store discounts or sales, and even a map to where the items can be found in the store." The inaccurately named Retail Store Assistant (we were thinking more along the lines of Wallet Depleter) is currently in the "experimental" stage, and would include an in-store kiosk which customers could access via a loyalty card or by inputting their phone number. Of course, this isn't the first stab we've seen at retailers using previous history to target consumers, but the team behind this apparatus insists that it will be much more effective than the typical junk mail that barely graces our eyes before hitting the trash. Best Worst of all, the system will reportedly be available even on the web, meaning that those with an urge to shop can log on during the waning hours of the workday and plan out their shopping spree for maximum efficiency. Oh, the humanity.
Survey shows HDTV preferred over live Super Bowl experience
Unsurprisingly, surveys these days can often have very interesting results, which may not necessarily represent the general population in a factual manner, but nonetheless, if the "Big Game Survey" is to be believed, more people would rather watch the Super Bowl on an HDTV than actually going to the event in-person. Conducted on behalf of Circuit City, the survey found that 48-percent of all respondents would rather catch the big game from the comforts of their couch compared to just 26-percent who would rather cheer from the nosebleed seats. While it wasn't directly stated where the other 26-percent fell, we can only assume that those were the folks who'd rather pressure-wash their entire house than suffer through four hours of non-stop partying over a game of pigskin. Nevertheless, it's certainly not a surprise to find that sports offerings glue Americans to their couches like no other type of programming can, and the survey also found that around 60-percent of men (and 49-percent of women) were more likely to throw down for an HD set solely because of the Super Bowl (and hosting a subsequent party). While we'd probably have no qualms accepting an all-expenses-paid trip to see the biggest NFL game of the year, we have to assume that folks were taking total cost into account when answering the questions, and considering the dough you'd likely lay down just to get a seat for this primetime event, wouldn't you rather bring home a svelte HDTV instead?
