AT&T Sues Verizon For What It Considers Deceptive 3G Ads
My Clippings November 5th, 2009 by System
Automatically pulled from Google Starred
Want to get under AT&T's skin? Make fun of the company's 3G coverage. The wireless provider on Tuesday filed suit against Verizon Wireless for what AT&T considers to be false and misleading advertisements.
Verizon has been running a series of TV and print ads that compare Verizon's 3G coverage with AT&T's. AT&T claims Verizon violated false advertising and deceptive trade laws and filed suit in Georgia district court in an effort to get the judge to pull the ads.
In one of the ads (above), a Verizon customer wanders around a college campus watching videos on a smartphone, as a map of Verizon's 3G coverage area–which covers the U.S. almost in its entirety–follows behind. The camera then flashes to an AT&T 3G customer, and the ad says, "If you want to know why some people have spotty 3G coverage, there's a map for that." The AT&T 3G coverage map pops up, with large sections of the country blank.
Another ad features a group of Verizon customers getting together at a restaurant while another friend–an AT&T customer–sits on a bench, presumably having missed a call from the others. "If you want to know why your friend's 3G coverage keeps her out of touch, there's a map for that," the ad said as the AT&T 3G coverage map appeared again.
AT&T said it contacted Verizon about the ads on October 7 and asked the company to remove them or make them more accurate. Verizon responded by removing the "out of touch" line and putting a "voice and data services available outside 3G coverage areas" line in small font at the end of the TV ads, but AT&T was not appeased.
"Verizon's purported solution has done nothing to change the misleading message in its advertisements. By continuing to include the 3G coverage map in its advertisements, Verizon is still conveying a message that AT&T has no coverage in the white or blank space included in the maps, and thus AT&T customers cannot use their wireless devices in large portions of the United States," AT&T said in its lawsuit.
Verizon was not convinced.
“These ads are serving to inform customers where the coverage critical to operating a smart phone is available,” a Verizon spokesman said in an e-mail. “Considering their limited 3G coverage, our competitor should examine whether they are misleading customers with their fastest 3G network claim.”
Tags: advertising, flash, Google, IO, ma, man, php, Remove, video
Microsoft To Distribute Office 2010 Via Key Cards, Downloads
My Clippings October 8th, 2009 by System
Automatically pulled from Google Starred
Microsoft will offer its upcoming Office 2010 office suite in the form of a product key card for new purchases and a downloadable click-to-run offering for existing PCs.
Office 2010, the next iteration of the company’s popular office suite, is expected to be available in the first half of 2010. In July, Microsoft released a “technical preview” of the suite, and the company expects a “broad beta” of the product later this year.
When Office 2010 does hit retailers’ shelves, users buying new PCs will have access to a product key card that activates Office on computers that have been pre-loaded with the suite. “The product key card is a single license card (with no DVD media) that will be sold at major electronic retail outlets,” Takeshi Numoto, corporate vice president for Office at Microsoft, said in a blog post.
The card will be available for the three full versions of Office – Office Home & Student 2010, Office Home & Business 2010, and Office Professional 2010.
For new PC buyers who are not sure about also purchasing Office, new PCs will come equipped with Microsoft Office Starter 2010, a replacement for Microsoft Works.
This version has reduced-functionality and is advertising supported, Microsoft said.
“Office Starter 2010 will include Office Word Starter 2010 and Office Excel Starter 2010, with the basic functionality for creating, viewing and editing documents,” Numoto wrote.
It will include the option to upgrade to full-featured versions from within the product, but Starter 2010 does not expire and does not require you to upgrade.
Meanwhile, for those who already have a PC and want to upgrade to Office 2010, Microsoft will offer “click-to-run” downloads from Office.com.
“Click-to-Run uses virtualization technology so it allows customers to maintain multiple versions of Office,” Numoto said. “This enables them to try Office 2010 side-by-side with the existing version of Office.”
Tags: advertising, cli, Google, IO, ma, Microsoft, php, way, XP
iPhone Maps app now showing “sponsored links”
My Clippings October 6th, 2009 by System
Automatically pulled from Google Starred
Filed under: Business, Apple, Google
It’s no secret that Google’s in the ad business, but it looks like they’ve snuck ads into an unexpected place: the Maps app on the iPhone. Maps is powered by Google – for now, anyway, because Apple has purchased its own map company, PlaceBase – and so Google has the ability to drop “Sponsored Links” into the system. You might not see them everywhere, but you can test for yourself by searching for things like food, sushi, and diners in NYC. You’ll see some automatically highlighted results pop up, marked as sponsored.
None of the sources writing about this development seem to know whether Apple is getting a cut of the profit from these advertising placements, but Apple and Google have a complicated relationship. Although it’s tempting to think that Google is trying to be pesky to Apple on the iPhone because Apple rejected the iPhone version Google Voice, I suspect there’s something more going on. For now, though, we’ll have to wait for one of the companies to comment, and see what Apple does with PlaceBase.
[via The Apple Blog]
iPhone Maps app now showing “sponsored links” originally appeared on Download Squad on Mon, 05 Oct 2009 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Sponsored Topics:
iPhone – Google – Apple – Download Squad – Google Maps
Tags: advertising, Apple, cli, email, Food, Google, Inc., IO, ma, man, php, way, XP
10 Useful Usability Findings and Guidelines
My Clippings September 26th, 2009 by System
Automatically pulled from Google Starred
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Everyone would agree that usability is an important aspect of Web design. Whether you’re working on a portfolio website, online store or Web app, making your pages easy and enjoyable for your visitors to use is key. Many studies have been done over the years on various aspects of Web and interface design, and the findings are valuable in helping us improve our work. Here are 10 useful usability findings and guidelines that may help you improve the user experience on your websites.
Form Labels Work Best Above The Field
A study by UX Matters found that the ideal position for labels in forms is above the fields. On many forms, labels are put to the left of the fields, creating a two-column layout; while this looks good, it’s not the easiest layout to use. Why is that? Because forms are generally vertically oriented; i.e. users fill the form from top to bottom. Users scan the form downwards as they go along. And following the label to the field below is easier than finding the field to the right of the label.
Tumblr features a simple and elegant sign-up form that adheres to UX Matter’s recommendation.
Positioning labels on the left also poses another problem: do you left-align or right-align the labels? Left-aligning makes the form scannable but disconnects the labels from the fields, making it difficult to see which label applies to which field. Right-aligning does the reverses: it makes for a good-looking but less scannable form. Labels above fields work best in most circumstances. The study also found that labels should not be bold, although this recommendation is not conclusive.
Users Focus On Faces
People instinctively notice other people right away when they come into view. On Web pages, we tend to focus on people’s faces and eyes, which gives marketers a good technique for attracting attention. But our attraction to people’s faces and eyes is only the beginning; it turns out we actually glance in the direction the person in the image is looking in.
Eye-tracking heat map of a baby looking directly at us, from the UsableWorld study.
And now the baby is looking at the content. Notice the increase in people looking at the headline and text.
Tags: advertising, Apple, Build, cli, email, flash, Google, Guideline, Information, IO, ma, man, Microsoft, nano, php, quick, Shopping, video, way, XP
Vital Tips For Effective Logo Design
My Clippings August 27th, 2009 by System
Automatically pulled from My Clippings on NewsGator Online
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There have been numerous creative logo design showcases, logo design resources and logo design tutorials posted across the Web. While these help you to create a powerful toolbox for your logo designs, first you need to gain a solid understanding of what makes a logo design good and what you need to consider before starting using this toobox.
In this article, we’ll get down to the nitty gritty of what makes an effective logo design and we’ll also guide you through the principles and best practices of how to create an iconic brand identity.
You may be interested in the following related posts:
- 10 Common Mistakes In Logo Design
- Do You Want Fries With That Logo?
- 60 Logo Design Tutorials and Resources
- Drawing Inspiration From Creative Logos
What Is A Logo?
To understand what a logo is, we first must understand what the main purpose of logos is. The design process must aim to make the logo immediately recognizable, inspiring trust, admiration, loyalty and an implied superiority. The logo is one aspect of a company’s commercial brand or economic entity, and its shapes, colors, fonts, and images usually are strikingly different from other logo in the same market niche. Logos are used to identify.
Paul Rand, one of the world’s greatest designers states that “a logo is a flag, a signature, an escutcheon, a street sign. A logo does not sell (directly), it identifies. A logo is rarely a description of a business. A logo derives meaning from the quality of the thing it symbolizes, not the other way around. A logo is less important than the product it signifies; what it represents is more important than what it looks like. The subject matter of a logo can be almost anything.”
For more on Paul Rand, consider reading the book Design, Form & Chaos.
What Makes A Good Logo?
A good logo is distinctive, appropriate, practical, graphic and simple in form, and it conveys the owner’s intended message. A concept or “meaning” is usually behind an effective logo, and it communicates the intended message. A logo should be able to be printed at any size and, in most cases, be effective without color. A great logo essentially boils down to two things: great concept and great execution.
Tags: advertising, amazon, Apple, blockquote, Build, email, Food, Google, IO, ISO, Photo, php, Printing, script, way, XP
