By Cédric Pierre-Louis on Wednesday 9 June 2010, 01:18
After the Google I/O conference in early may 2010 (Android "Froyo" 2.2
release) and the Gizmodo case, some people were quite skeptical about how Apple
could once again cause a stir. Finally, as they claimed it themselves, Apple
has just changed everything again with its new iPhone 4. The new piece of
jewellery designed in Cupertino comes with very impressive innovations (retina
display, ultra slim design, pentaband connectivity, front camera, HD video
recording, powerful processor) which should reinforce Apple leadership. Except
some technical issues, the Steve jobs keynote was totally successful and has
reached its goals, making the iPhone 4 the new "must have" of the highly
competitive smartphone market.
By Cédric Pierre-Louis on Wednesday 31 March 2010, 15:13
Yesterday, the "Musée de l'Informatique"* (Computers Museum), located inside
the roof of the famous Grande Arche (Paris, La Défense), hosted a captivating
conference about the way Apple considers design and how they manage to conceive
so attractive products. The "keynote" was animated by Guillaume Gete, an Apple
expert, also known as an author, trainer, independent consultant and blogger
passionate by the Steve Job's company. This event was held for ending the
successful exposition "les 25 ans du mac", which celebrated the Macintosh
birth, 25 years ago. As Philippe NIEUWBOURG, director of the museum, said
himself, this exhibition has attracted about 200 000 people in 6 months.
Initially it was supposed to last 3 months...
During about one hour, Mr Gete gave us a presentation both funny and very
professionnal. Some samples of very rare Apple products was introduced to the
audience, and I had the chance to touch some legendary device like the Newton,
for the first time. Amazing feeling. Obviously, the majority of the people
which attended the conference were mac users or Apple fans; a very compelling
audience as you can easily imaginate.
By Cédric Pierre-Louis on Tuesday 23 February 2010, 00:15
"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 its 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 :
By Cédric Pierre-Louis on Saturday 9 January 2010, 01:51
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. However, when I claimed that Apple is able to progress so much more,
I was thinking about the fact that Steve Jobs' company could get a much bigger
market share outside the western market.
By Cédric Pierre-Louis on Saturday 7 November 2009, 18:43
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.
If you want to see more photos, check out the blog of my friend
Nathalie : www.theparisienne.fr
By Cédric Pierre-Louis on Wednesday 29 October 2008, 00:10
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!
By Cédric Pierre-Louis on Thursday 27 March 2008, 11:29
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”!
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 :-)
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...
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.
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.
By Cédric Pierre-Louis on Thursday 13 December 2007, 01:13
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...
By Cédric Pierre-Louis on Wednesday 5 December 2007, 21:29
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 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 delivered with the iPhone is
clearly the best way to do it.''
By Cédric Pierre-Louis on Thursday 29 November 2007, 01:09
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...
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!
