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Saturday, 19 May 2012 01:44
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As a way to get new car owners a bit more up to date with their new 2013 CTS, Cadillac plans to give every new owner an iPad full of directions that go over the car’s features. Cadillac’s head of customer experience Mark Harland said Cadillac plans to “be the leader in customer experience,” reported Wired, and it looks like the iPad will help them reach that status. The news was revealed at this year’s CTIA conference, which is taking place in New Orleans.
However, it is worth noting that Cadillac does not plan to actually integrate the iPad into the dashboard of the CTS, but it will rather come preloaded with manuals that teach the new owners all about the car. The manuals will especially come in handy with Cadillac’s new CUE infotainment system that is powered by an 8-inch touchscreen that has many smartphone-like apps pre-loaded on it. The inside of this ride looks very slick (image via Wired), but it may confuse some new owners after leaving the dealership:
The iPad given to customers at the Cadillac dealership will come pre-loaded with OnStar RemoteLink, MyCadillac, and a custom app made by the company that gives complete overviews of the 2013 CTS’ infotainment system.
It would have been cool if Cadillac took the Mercedes approach and actually adopted Apple’s technologies into the dashboard. Mercedes’ new A-class automobile is launching with Siri built-in, which allows drivers to make appointments, send text messages and emails, get weather information, and control their music through Siri’s voice commands. Buy a roughly $40,000 car… get an iPad!
       
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Saturday, 19 May 2012 01:44
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Facebook just announced that it is launching a new App Center—but it is not just for Facebook apps.
The HTML 5-based App Center will give Facebook users access to iOS, Android, web, mobile web, and desktop apps. Interestingly, Facebook reiterated that it is not competing directly with Apple or Google, because the App Center will send users to both the iOS and Android platforms. For example: If you are visiting Facebook’s App Center on an iPhone, and then enter Words with Friends, or one of the many Facebook-compatible games, you will soon beam to that app’s App Store page for installation. The same holds true for Android users.
“In the coming weeks, people will be able to access the App Center on the web and in the iOS and Android Facebook apps. All canvas, mobile and web apps that follow the guidelines can be listed. All developers should start preparing today to make sure their app is included for the launch,” explained Software Engineer Aaron Brady in a Facebook Developer’s blog post.
Facebook’s apps are going to be “personalized,” according to VentureBeat. The social network is also introducing free and paid apps, but it views in-app purchases as the primary way for developers to earn money for now. Facebook will even feature a new star-rating metric based on user feedback, and it will gather data on how often users visit, engage, and stay in an app. Those combined scores will determine an app’s total quality, which app developers can use to improve their product.
It is worth mentioning that Facebook has an existing app directory, but it pales in comparison to what the social network is unveiling today. The app directory released in 2009, but started to fade out nearly a year ago—probably to make room for the new App Center.
“For the over 900 million people that use Facebook, the App Center will become the new, central place to find great apps like Draw Something, Pinterest, Spotify, Battle Pirates, Viddy, and Bubble Witch Saga,” Brady added.
Brady also encouraged developers to visit the App Center’s Guidelines Developer page for more information on getting started with the App Center.
This article is cross-posted on 9to5Google.
Related articles
- TechCrunch: Facebook’s iPad app and Project Spartan “about to launch”
- Facebook planning ‘Project Spartan’ attack on Apple’s App Store?
       
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Saturday, 19 May 2012 01:44
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The big May 7 uncloaking that revealed Research in Motion is behind the seemingly anti-Apple “Wake Up” flash mob from last week occurred on schedule, but not too many people appeared to care as the steam from the confusing campaign already ran its quick course.
The “Wake Up. Be Bold” marketing scheme unveiled yesterday at wakeupbebold.com by BlackBerry Australia & New Zealand, and it included a Star Wars-like running script read aloud by a narrator prompting viewers and listeners to “Wake up.” Now, less than 24 hours after the brains behind the campaign came to light, RIM announced a newly appointed Chief Operating Officer and Chief Marketing Officer—Kristian Tear and Frank Boulben, respectively.
Tear joins RIM from Sony Mobile Communications, where he served as Executive Vice President, and Boulben is the former Executive Vice President of Strategy, Marketing, and Sales for LightSquared.
More information about the fledging company’s new executives is available in the presser [here].
Related articles
- It looks like RIM might be behind the ‘Wake Up’ campaign (9to5Mac.com)
       
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Saturday, 19 May 2012 01:44
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AT&T’s variant of the family data plan is on the horizon.
The company’s CEO of Mobile Business Ralph de la Vega told CNET on the sidelines of the CTIA Wireless trade show that the upcoming shared plan would allow consumers to buy one package of data to split among multiple devices, which is a forward-thinking step that could encourage tablet sales.
“I’m very comfortable with the plan that will be offered to our customers,” revealed de la Vega.
Just a few months ago, the executive seemed to doubt family plans due to IT, billing, and device subsidization issues. He even remarked his goal to “get it right”— instead of unveiling the strategy prematurely.
It appears de la Vega might finally have a change to get it right, because he claims to know how the family plan would be arranged; although, he refused to give additional details on timing or whether the company intends to be ahead of Verizon Wireless’ anticpated mid-year family plan roll out.
AT&T was one of the first carriers to introduce new ways of doling data. It first introduced a tiered data plan after thirsty consumers continued to bleed the data pipeline dry, and it applied caps on usage, and introduced throttling—the practice of slowing a connection once it brinks.
AT&T and Verizon are competing to launch the first family data plan for United States consumers, and while either outcome is not particularly ideal for the carriers, both situations are a light at the end of the tunnel for data-sucking iOS users.
Related articles
- AT&T CEO: iMessage disrupts our messaging revenue stream, unlimited data was a mistake
- AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson says that Google prevents updates to Android devices
Related articles
- AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson says that Google prevents updates to Android devices (9to5google.com)
       
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