rebranding
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T-Mobile teasing "bright lights" for June 28
T-Mobile employees were greeted this week with a mysterious image in their inboxes promising "bright lights" coming on June 28. We really haven't the foggiest what that could mean, but it does line up nicely both with rumors that the company is getting ready for a branding realignment and also with the imminent release of the Magic / myTouch 3G, especially considering that all staff members are being required to complete some form of Google training by the 19th of this month. Any other juicy ideas?[Thanks, anonymous tipster]
EA Redwood Shores becomes Visceral Games, gets moody logo
EA Redwood Shores (aka EARS), an internal development studio within EA, was suffering a bit of an identity crisis. Known for making some of EA's best and brightest stuff -- including last year's Dead Space and the upcoming Dante's Inferno -- the studio just didn't feel right with such a ... less than descriptive name. That changed today, as its parent company EA announced a rebranding of the studio, now dubbed Visceral Games. And while the studio is still working on the aforementioned Dante's Inferno as well as the now Wii-ified spin-off of Dead Space, titled Dead Space: Extraction, it's also apparently working on "two other unannounced titles." Little did we know! The studio claims to be identifiable as one with a "focus on creating intense action-oriented intellectual properties," a claim that needs little substantiation considering its back catalog. Now, can we hear a little bit more about those two unannounced titles please?
Verizon rebranding: an April Fools' prank that should be real
When we came across this post at Brand New, it was pretty clear from the outset that it was fake (the "April Fools" in the headline didn't hurt). Still, it got all the editors at Engadget thinking, and talking, about how badly Verizon does need some kind of makeover. Across the board, it seems that the reaction to the big V's logo and branding is like-minded: it stinks. That cheap looking italicized Helvetica, the gaudy gradient on the check... the check itself. The whole thing looks like it was done by a first-year art student with a cracked copy of CorelDRAW. Meanwhile, in a few hours, the cats at BN managed to mock something up that not only looks clever and inviting, but almost totally washes away the bad taste the current logo leaves in our mouths.Look, we're not saying you should go the cloud direction here -- it might not be the right fit -- but maybe it's time to reconsider your drab, staid design, and start to paint yourself in a different light. There's one more pic after the break -- a device with the "new" logo... just imagine it.
Say Hello to the new TUAW
Almost four years ago, tuaw.com went live with a flurry of posts by future superblogger extraordinaire Barb Dybwad. Sporting our "default" theme at the time, The Unofficial Apple Weblog's design evolved into what you see today: a Mac-inspired theme with an upbeat, colorful logo. In the interim we've seen Apple bust out a few new product categories and drop the "computer" from the company moniker. It wasn't that long ago that the rainbow logo went out, and the sleeker monochrome logo came in. As Apple evolves, so does TUAW. I'm proud to announce something we've been working on (along with the iPhone-tuned i.tuaw.com) for a while now: the new TUAW.com design and logo. We hope this helps you, as readers, find what you're looking for quickly. Big stories will appear up top, plus our popular categories such as Mac 101 and our ongoing App Store coverage. There's even the no-iPhone page, where you may read TUAW 99%-free of any iPhone coverage, if that's the way you choose to roll. We've added breaking stories and featured stories to the right, so when releases appear in Software Update or we review new stuff, you'll see it after it moves off the front page. Our handy Tip of the Day keeps you informed, and our AAPL stock widget keeps you happily up-to-date with the markets (or sadly up-to-date, depending).Other features include our TUAW videos from WWDC and Macworld, courtesy of the Truveo widget (the videos are also reachable via the iPhone/iPod touch Truveo search app). Our TUAW Flickr pool is back, so tag any Apple-related posts "TUAW" (no quotes) to have them magically appear. We hope you enjoy our improved comment UI for iPhone use, and the re-appearance of our tag cloud and comment stats.Thanks for reading TUAW! We have no idea what the next four years hold in store for Apple, but we'll be among the first to report, analyze and dissect it.UPDATE: Former TUAWian Laurie Duncan points out TUAW's punk rock roots back when we were apple.weblogsinc.com. Indeed, thank you Laurie!
Sony Ericsson hooks up with Sagem for low-end lineup
We know that the cellphone makin' game can be rough, Sony Ericsson; we really do. Sometimes you've just gotta take a load off. Heck, your fellow European in the Big Five, Nokia, washed its hands of much of its CDMA responsibilities through a deal with Korea's Pantech, so we can totally understand wanting to offload your low-end R&D and manufacturing duties to SAFRAN Group's Sagem. Of course, Sagem is a little closer to home -- France, to be exact -- than those Korean folks, so you should have a pretty easy go of it keeping your rebranded stuff in check. In fact, you're so uptight about it that you've decided to open a new office right in Sagem's hometown of Cergy, France, dedicated to the low-end segment. We look forward to seeing what y'all come up with -- let's just try to make them a little more believable than the "Nokia" 6315i, mkay?
T-Mobile on the cusp of an image overhaul?
We're putting this story together piecemeal, but we've collected enough intelligence at this point to venture a guess that T-Mobile will be launching a moderate rebranding effort in the next month or so. Headlining the evidence is, of course, news that they'll be dropping (or significantly scaling back) use of Catherine Zeta-Jones as their spokesperson. Exhibit B, then, is the almost Skype-like font seen on the shot of T-Mobile's spec sheet for the upcoming Motorola V3t, which looks distinctly unlike anything they're presently using. Finally, we've heard rumblings that their well-known slogan, "Get More," will be getting the boot before too long. All this comes at a time when T-Mobile's stealing a good deal of the American carrier spotlight, what with their impending launch of the hotly-anticipated Dash and UMA service; that's all well and good, but more importantly, who's going to replace Catherine?