So, another year is ending and a new one is about to begin. You know what that means. I’m not talking about the parties, but the resolutions that come after. And IT support wants to help. Here are smartphone apps and New Years resolutions.
Well then, what are the three biggest New Years resolutions? They are: lose weight, quit smoking, and be a better person. There are apps for that. So let’s look at the 8 Fit app. Yes, it’s another fitness app, but I see some originality here. Not only does it have food monitoring, but it has yoga and tabata workouts. It’s even adding workouts for certain body parts, like arms and legs. It also offers diet/food plans for all foodies, whether you’re a vegan or carnivore.? This app costs $5 a month.
You want to quit smoking? Then try Cessation Nation. This free app offers a community of those fighting the cigarette. Encourage yourself by tracking on the money you save and health improvements, then give yourself reward badges. And when temptation comes back, this app gives you distractions and accountability to keep you on the straight and narrow.
You want to be a better person in general? Share the Meal can help. It helps hungry children in poverty. And it doesn’t take much. In fact, only 50 cents a day and/or $15 dollars a month can do the trick. With that amount, you do your part to feed hungry children in war torn Syria or hurricane torn Haiti, or other parts of the world. However, did you know 1 in 7 Americans go to bed hungry nightly? The Feeding America app helps you donate to that cause.
Smartphone Apps and New Years resolutions, whatever the resolution is, apps can help. If your resolution is to have those laptops fixed, then you know where you can reach us. We at Computer Geeks wish you all a safe and prosperous 2018. And if you are celebrating tonight, be careful out there and do it responsibly. What are your New Years resolutions?
So Apple finds itself in hot water. Because they have to apologize, in letter, for their battery issues. Apparently, they were not truthful enough about poor performance with older iPhones. Apple’s battery controversy: What will change?
So here’s one change. They admitted changes with old batteries slowed down iPhone speed. Then, they’re offering new batteries. If you have an older iPhone hit with a bad older battery, then Apple will replace it for $29. Though they did apologize for being forthright, IT support insiders saw this coming for years. Many of them screamed about older iPhones slowing down. But now, Apple has to learn the hard way.
In the apology letter, Apple says blames updates to a new operating system. They also blame bugs in iOS 11. Furthermore, Apple believes these issues led to the aging battery situation, which led to the slowdowns. Then, they went on to blame chemical ageing of batteries in certain iPhone brands, like older versions of iPhone 6 and 6S. But whatever the reasons, they’re trying to make it right. Yes, they’re reducing their battery price. However, the $29 deal is only for iPhone 6 users and will last between January-December 2018. They will also offer software updates that teaches Apple users about battery health.
Apple’s battery controversy isn’t just about batteries. It’s about trust. Some Apple consumers lost trust because of this. And once you lose trust, it’s hard to get it back. I don’t care how big of a company you are. In our computer service shop, we already heard several complaints about Apple’s battery controversy. Some vow never to use them again. I also now there are others who are strictly loyal to Apple, no matter what. But I hope they learned a lesson from this. Tell your consumers the truth, the whole truth, and only the truth. Don’t give them stuff they want to hear. What will change after this?
About a week from now, Black Friday, the biggest shopping day of the American year, will take place. But people may not be running to the stores this year. In fact, they may be running to their smartphones. Mobile Black Friday: Could 2017 set records?
I ask that because studies show mobile shopping will increase 45% from just 2015. They also expect mobile Black Friday sales to break records. Furthermore, they believe mobile sales will even beat desktop sales, for the first time in history. But here is my favorite statistic. Only 15% of time spent of apps will come from the top five shopping apps. Such shopping apps include Amazon, Ebay, and Etsy.
However, they expect ‘bricks and clicks’ apps to do even better. Ever hear of that term? Those are retailers that have major physical stores and strong apps. So think Walmart, Target, or Barnes & Nobles. These firms should expect to see a 30% growth on time spent on apps. And it’s not just the USA. In nations like UK and Japan, they’re turning to mobile shopping more than ever, and will do so this Christmas season. So if you need your laptops fixed or computer repair so you can do mobile shopping, call us at Computer Geeks.
Studies told us how mobile and online shopping will increase. But I wonder why? First of all, people of tired of Black Friday scenes like this. When I was a kid, it was a joy to go retail shopping on Black Friday. But now, it’s a matter of life and death. People nearly fought to the death over a $20 crock pot! Think about that! Who wants to endure that? And who wants to drag their kids into that? Also, more people have smartphones than ever before. These devices have more apps available than ever before. But what about you? Will you shop with your mobile device on Black Friday?
Everybody knows what ESPN is. Almost everybody knows what Shapchat is. But both try to expand their audience. So that’s why ESPN and Snapchat combine media skills.
ESPN will premiere a mini Sports Center. The premiere should happen at 5pm Eastern time today. Then they will have the show twice a day, 5 in the morning and 5 in the evening. This ESPN and Snapchat version will only last around five minutes. It will have sports news, game highlights (and not so highlights, hopefully) and debates. They’ll also have ESPN staff like Katie Nolan (who just came from FS1) and Jason Fritz. So basically, it will be like Sports Center, just five minutes long.
But why do ESPN and Snapchat agree to this? Because both step out of their zone. Snapchat usually caters to teen and twenty somethings. However, with this mini-ESPN show, they can reach the older, more sophisticated audience they crave. Of course, the older audience has more money to buy their sponsors’ products. Then there’s ESPN. Their most popular demographic is men between 30-60 years old. They would love to make lifelong viewers among the teen and college kids. Also, they’re trying to get into the social media age. Yes, there is obviously the ESPN app. But going forward in 2018 and beyond, just having an app isn’t going to cut it.
Certainly not for a major TV channel trying to integrate IT services with sports and entertainment. Others are doing it as well. CNN and NBC News already have five minute news reports on Snapchat. It’s safe to see this is to get a younger audience interested in news. With political, social and global tensions today, that won’t be a problem. The mega sports channel ESPN is a huge conversation piece in our computer service shop. But will this ESPN and Snapchat combination work?
They say politics is a contact sport. Apparently, so is computer repair and smartphone service. Because I saw a scathing ad by Samsung, attacking Apple’s 10 year iPhone reign. Samsung mocks Apple: Tenth anniversary joke.
If you ask many anti-Apple folks, they’ll tell you the joke. Many say Apple gets the innovation credit for all things smartphone. But they’ll point out it was Android or other companies that came up with most of the new features. Over the years, these features include waterproof phones, better cameras, better screens, and so forth.? ?This argument is nothing new, but the new commercials puts it’s own spin on it.
So the commercial begins in 2007. A young man notices a long line to get the hyped up iPhone. He gets one himself. Then it fast-forwards to 2010. His iPhone camera doesn’t work. Then it goes to 2013.? Now, Samsung has a note pen to write phone numbers withe ease; the iPhone owner struggles with his dialpad. In 2016, he destroys his iPhone while falling in the water. But his girlfriend’s Samsung is waterproof. Furthermore, he struggles with Apple’s wireless jack. Finally, in 2017, he puts his Apple aside and gets a Samsung. He passes by an Apple store and feels sorry for the lost souls in line.
I notice something else as well. That last scene, the new Samsung user passes by the Apple store promoting iPhone X. That’s no coincidence. This commercial is not only an attack on the brand, but their new product. You know, the product that requires facial recognition just for daily usage. But Samsung doesn’t have their hands clean, either. Within the last year, they had the biggest smartphone flop in history. Thankfully, nobody in our computer service shop brought one of those.? Then came the legal woes and scandals. Now Samsung mocks Apple. Is it too early for Samsung to play this card? Or is Apple getting what they deserve?
Some probably think the USA sales and consumes more smartphones than any nation in the world. But they are wrong. In fact, we’re not even second…anymore. Because recent numbers put India second in smartphone sales…beating the USA.
In Q3 2017, India sold over 40 million smartphones. Furthermore, in that quarter alone, smartphone sales went up 23%. This is enough to surpass the USA as second in the world in smartphone sales. But it’s still not enough to be China, which leads the world in this area. So what kind of smartphones India buying? Samsung is leading the way. However, Chinese phone maker Xiaomi is closing in.
Also, some in the US may take this as a, “We’re slacking off again,” moment. Don’t be so hard on yourselves. Keep in mind India has over 1.3 billion people. China’s population has over 1.35 billion people. Then you have the USA’s population, which only has 323 million people. So population numbers alone have a lot to do with this IT service trend. Believe or not, smartphone companies are happy with this trend. Many worried India wouldn’t make it to second in smartphone consumption. Issues like poor GDP, poor online quality, censorship issues, high taxes and wealth inequality could have stopped the process. It may have slowed it some, but not stopped it.
This puts India second in smartphone shipping. Will India take China’s spot as #1 in smartphone sales? I doubt it will happen anytime soon. Because in Q3 2017, China outsold India by over 110 million smart devices. But then again, China seems to be headed to for an economic downtown. For instance, people complain of the US jobs heading for China. But now, China is getting too expensive for some companies; note most of these are American companies (aren’t you glad we’re a local computer repair firm?). So now, they’re losing some jobs. Now those who lost jobs probably won’t be able to buy that new smartphone. Could this be India’s opportunity to steal the #1 spot?
