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Tuesday 23 February 2010

My opinion about the iPad

iPad_Presentation

"The most eagerly awaited tablet since Moses delivered the Ten Commandments". This is how Michael Gartenberg, a technology journalist, analyst and blogger described the iPad before his launch. Few hours after Steve jobs revealed "the most important thing he ever made", two categories of blogers/people have emerged, the pros and cons of the iPad. As usual with a new Apple product, debates are passionate about knowing weither yes or not the iPad is a must have.

While Apple has just anounced the official release date of the iPad (beginning of April), I can not help myself to imagine how the iPad will continue the revolution introduced by the iPhone. After the mouse, the multi-touch technology has become the brandnew Graphic User Interface paradigm. Though I did not even tried the thing (like 99,99% of the basher-blogers who posted the first series of negative reviews), I am already seduced by all the possibilities offer by this new hype device which inspire me the following statements :

First, Apple has just created the perfect device for people who do not feel familiar or confident with computers. I think about old people, children, technophobics, etc.

Second, thanks to iPhone OS, the iPad is not a finished product. Each software update will bring new features and will make the thing closer to perfection as Apple did with the iPhone.

Third, People and the IT industry as well, are ready (or even eager) to significantly change the way the interact with computers. They are not afraid to explore new possiblities with such a device if the latter improve or make easier the way they enjoy music, videos, books, internet and the way they work or study.

Fourth, nobody knows what will happen as nobody could expect that Apple would sell more than 50 millions iPhone in less than 3 years, will revolution the mobile internet ecosystem, and will meet with such a success with the Appstore (more than 140000 applications today).

Simple, connected, mobile and powerful! These are the 4 main qualities of the iPad in my opinion. My only disappointments are about the lack of a webcam, and the fact that the iPad can not be used without a real computer. I would prefer a more independent device. However I am not in a rush so I will patiently wait for the iPad revision B. and be sure that early or late, I will buy this amazing object... What do you think dear readers ?

Saturday 9 January 2010

Why Apple could conquer emerging markets with the iPhone?

MTN

While everyone is expecting Apple releases this month a new revolutionary device, I can help myself thinking that the iPhone success is far from getting is culminate point. Apple has already sold 40 millions iPhone across the world. Whereas the Steve jobs’ company managed to get “only” 8% of the global Smartphone market, it cumulates 40% of the whole industry profit.

Unfortunately for Apple competitors, this outrageous successful trend does not seem to be temporary; Apple has clearly built a unique and powerful business model – not only based on the iPhone, but the Appstore and iTunes - which will be very difficult to equalize. Apple is going ahead as the leader (in terms of innovation, profitability, customer satisfaction, graphic user interface) of the Smartphone market. Speaking of Market share, RIM is still first, however all the other cellular phone manufacturers are seen as followers nowadays.

But when I claimed that Apple is able to progress so much more, I meant more than getting a bigger market share in the western market. In fact, I think that Apple has everything to make affordable a special version of the iPhone addressed to the emerging countries. I think that the iPhone is the simpliest and most powerful IT device to access wirelessly to voice and data services (internet). The legendary easy-to-use GUI of the iPhone can work miracles in some emerging markets. Many (maybe all of them) iPhone users can testify that the iPhone can be used by anyone from your grandmother to your 3-year-old daughter or sister. The iPhone is probably the first high tech smartphone which can be used by people who had never use this kind of device before. The iconographic system is so efficient that you can even do many things without being able to read or write.

Continue reading...

Saturday 7 November 2009

Apple Store Carroussel du Louvre, inauguration Day : I was there!

Apple store 2

Like thousand of other brave Apple fans, I was this morning among the first customers of the first Apple store opened in France. I was so exciting by this inauguration that I decided on the fly to go to Paris from Brussels... in carpooling, for the first time (thanks Maya).

Finally, I was not disappointed... this opening was just impressive : 1,5 km of people standing in a queue, around 5000-6000 people waiting for discovering this brand new Apple store at 10 o'clock, 150 employees for supporting or advicing customers, 5000 collector t-shirts (in a magnificent - pyramid - package) for the first customers, some french famous people (Yvan Attal, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Luc Besson, Vincent Cassel) in a sumptuous area... the Carroussel du Louvre.

Tonight I am the happy owner of a brand new Apple remote in aluminium, a beautiful collector T-shirt and many photos of this "historic" event. I will post more items as soon as possible, but for the moment I need to rest in order to recover from 3 hours of standing in line, in a quite cold weather. Anyway, this Apple store is a very charming and pleasant place and will surely succeed in attracting many visitors and customers.

APPLESTORE_050.JPG

If you want to see more photos, check out the blog of my friend Nathalie : www.theparisienne.fr

Continue reading...

Wednesday 29 October 2008

iPhone Tech Talks World Tour (Paris)

iPhone tech talks world tour Given I applied to the iPhone development program, I was able to attend to the iPhone Tech Talks in Paris. So I did it, and it was very interesting... but I can not say more. Indeed, this event was under the Non disclosure Agreement that iPhone developers have to respect. Sorry dear friends. However, I promise you to let you know more about my future first iPhone application as soon as possible. Stay tuned!

Thursday 27 March 2008

US Students like Apple!

Students and their Macs

According to a recent higher-education survey, from the investment bank Morgan Stanley, 40% of college students think that their next computer will be a Mac. 40%! Yes sir! Once they end their studies and start working they will contribute to increase the market shares of Apple and its “influence” advocating the brand in their entourage. Apple, which in February 2008 became the first laptop supplier in the very lucrative education Market, has for the first time surpassed Dell in terms of laptop sales and this is clearly a sign that Apple is definitely back in the race. Furthermore, Apple has managed to build a cool image, become a strong and powerful brand and create a big community of loyal customers, the so called Mac users. They started with the iPod phenomenon and its “halo” effect*, then the iPhone and finally it managed to convert a lot of “switchers” who were previously PC users and who now could not imagine going back. As the proverb says, “When you go Mac, you never go back”!

Morgan Stanley: 40% of college students plan to buy Macs

Sunday 9 March 2008

Who can stop Apple?

iphone_dev_plateform

For those who don't know this week's most important news surrounding Apple, let me quickly sum it up. Apple announced on thursday, march 6th the forthcoming availability of the Software Development Kit (SDK) for their famous and revolutionary iPhone. Planned to be released this summer (in june 2008), this very awaited breakthrough has seriously shaken not only developpers and the Apple fan community, but also all the entire computer industry and beyond...

Ineed what Apple has anounced sounds like a Mascletá during the fallas in Valencia:-) They have just dropped a bomb which is going to make the iPhone a new and successful development platform, such is the enthusiasm which has aroused this announcement. But they also created a lot of anxiety at their principal competitors (RIM (Blackberry), Microsoft (Windows Mobile), Sony-Ericsson and Nokia) and they even managed to find new rivals like Nintendo for example.

First and foremost the Apple SDK seems very simple, quick and easy to understand for a developer I mean :-) It seems so simple that even I would like to learn how to code just to create my own software for the iPhone. Most of the developers who had the opportunity to work with this SDK have claimed that it is possible to create a game or a pretty good software within a few days.



Secondly, with more than 4 millioN iPhoneS sold in hardly one year and 24% of the share market on the US smartphone market, just behind the Blackberry (41%), the iPhone is already a seductive platform for the developers ; indeed the number of potential customers is now already significant. So Apple doesn't have to conviNCE the developpers, they are already convinced and were expecting the opening of this new market. Thus, since thursday a lot of big softwares and video gamE companies have annouced that they are working on brand new softs for the iPhone. Among them are SEGA, Electronic Arts (Fifa, Need for Speed), Sun, AOL, etc. Futhermore for the first time, Apple has publicly used the expression "video games console" for describing one of its products. So they have now officialy entered on the mobile video game console market ; I'm not sure Nintendo appreciate that.

Thirdly, thanks to the next firmware update, Apple is finally going to implement in their amazing smartphone all the professional features (like the push email) which the iPhone missed up to now and which stopS the "Jesus phone" being a real blackberry killer. They even bought a Activesync licence from...Microsoft! Times are changing... I already know that a lot of executives were waiting for that to get their iPhone. Now Apple has granted their wishes.

Apple has just opened the door to an unlimited number of possibilities, that is the most exciting thing about this SDK : everything becomeS theoretically possible with the iPhone now. Besides It's not exaggerated to consider the SDK announcement as a new beginning or even as a rebirth for the iPhone. And you should know that not only the SDK uses almost the same roots and the same basis as Mac OS X, but to use it you have to install it on a Mac... this is again a good strategy to spread the Apple technology and develop the Mac development to its full potential. Obviously, Apple is definitely different from the rest of the computer industry, the only one which can engender so much expectation and desire. Thanks Apple :-)

Tuesday 15 January 2008

The Macbook Air : my probable new laptop

The Macbook Air

The rumor said the thruth. Apple has officialy launched today the world's thinnest notebook, the well named "Macbook Air". As you can read it on the website of Apple this new laptop is "ultrathin, ultraportable, and ultra unlike anything else". To be honest, I'm a little bit disapointed. Ok, this super thin computer is awesome (except its unapropriate black keyboard) and will be surely able to seduce many people just like the iPhone did there is few months. But the limited number of connections, the apparent slowness of the hard drive disk and the lack of an internal optical drive disturb me. So, I'm waiting for the first reviews about this new amazing Apple device. Then we will see...

PS : Notice how Apple manage to impose questionable compromises (1 USB port, optional external optical drive) to the market and their customers where most computer companies are so severely criticised when they did the same. That's the magic of Apple, I guess...


The Steve Jobs' keynote (Macworld 2008)

Sunday 16 December 2007

A awesome concept car...for your iPhone

land-rover-lrx

I don't know what you think about it, but to my mind, this concept car made by Range Rover looks very awesome. More than beautiful, it is also eco-friendly since thanks to "its more compact size, lighter weight and sustainability-focused technologies" the LRX's fuel consumption is untill 25% less than the other Land Rover 4x4s and it also means reduced CO2 emissions.

But one of the most surprising thing I noticed about this nice car is inside. Indeed the LRX concept on board two touchscreens and one of which permit to "control the LRX's iPhone facility". In fact, the LRX seems to have one of the most practical iPhone docking station you can find in a car, according to the website Engadget. And it would be possible to switch on the car from the iPhone touch screen... That sounds really interesting.

If you want to know more and see this sexy 4x4 in real you should go to the Detroit Auto Show in January 2008.

Land Rover LRX concept using iPhone for more than just audio

iPhone integral part of Land Rover LRX concept

Land Rover LRX unveiled, courtesy of Auto Motor und Sport

Thursday 13 December 2007

Business man of the year 2007 : Steve Jobs

Steve Jobs_Homme de l'année 2007

According to the Fortune magazine, the most important and influent personality of this year is... the Apple's CEO, and I really think they right. 2007 was clearly a historical year for Apple which get a so hudge and deserved success. If someone can be proud of this rebirth, it's clearly the charismatic co-founder of the firm, Steve Jobs. Because it's obviously the new strategy implemented by Jobs when he came back to Apple in 1997, which allowed Apple to become again a profit-making company, which now worth more than Dell in matter of stock-exchange value. After bringing a different way to think computer, "changed the dynamics of consumer electronics with the iPod, and persuaded the music industry, the television networks, and Hollywood to distribute their wares with the iTunes Music Store", this year he shattered the so concentrated and so predictive cellular telephone business with the incontrovertible iPhone.

So It seems indisputable that Steve jobs deserves to be considered as the most powerful people in business of the year 2007.

The power of Steve Jobs

Mac is good, but Mac has bugs too...

Apple has a really good communication policy. They know how to sell seductive products in a persuasive way. As you were surely able to notice it, the iPhone and iPod success has showed it well. For that matter, I'm sure that many competitors must be really envious... However sometimes the so successful marketing machine plays some wrong note. But the charismatic Steve Jobs always knows how to take it easy when some embarassing troubles disturb the famous Apple keynotes conferences...

Wednesday 5 December 2007

The iPhone Revolution

Say Hello to iPhone

The following text is taken from some comments I recently made (in french) about the iPhone lauching. As you can see on the original version, I gave my opinion on this amazing phone on July 17th and finally, I think I was right. The Apple iPhone really represents a revolution in the mobile phone and electronic device market, and you can trust me, this is just the beginning...

''The extensive media coverage on the first Apple Phone is so impressive that everyone in the USA (and soon in France) have at least already heard something about it. Although the price may seem off putting for most people, the very smart and efficient campaign run by Steve jobs (The Apple's CEO) gave the iPhone fame and visibility equal to a product targeting the mass market, like a video game console or a hollywood blockbuster.

Futhermore don't forget when the first Ipod has been released, it seemed really expensive, however today it's a classic mass market product as popular as the legendary Sony's Walkman.

Get the exclusive distribution contract linked to the iPhone would be a significative advantage for the french provider who win the deal. Not only financially speaking, but also in matter of image. Such an opportunity would be able to strengthen or confirm the leader or challenger status of the winner and attract a large number of new customers, mainly thanks to the quicker and more efficient process of number portability.

Given the keen interest / craze of the developpers and media distributors for the iPhone platform, there is no doubt that the internet services development it just starts to begin. Moreover the costs decrease in the telecommunications sector is going to allow a better experience in the use of internet with mobile devices, and the unlimited access to internet related to / delivered with the iPhone is clearly the best way to do it.''

La révolution iPhone sera bien au rendez-vous

Thursday 29 November 2007

Bienvenue en France!

Apple iPhone

It's done! The iPhone is officially available in France since yesterday Thursday, November 28th 2007! Almost three weeks after the British and the Germans, the French can now also enjoy their "Jesus Phone". Contrary to the disapointing launch in United Kingdom (with the provider O2), France welcomed the very seductive Apple iPhone with great enthusiasm. In one day, Orange has announced that 2000 iPhones have been sold , and in twelve lucky cities including Lille or Bordeaux, several hundred people waited in the cold to be the very first to buy this amazing phone which had already shattered the telephony market. We will see if Apple and Orange will manage to keep up the buzz untill the end of December. I'm not worried for them...

boutique Orange des Champs-Élysées_Crédits photo_AFP