New iPhone Ads: File Sharing and Travel Unite!

Apple has aired two new iPhone ads: “Share” and “Travel.” The two commercials are in the familiar “There’s an app for that” format, featuring iPhone apps for file sharing and navigation. Videos and our take after the break!“Share” presents Mover and Bump – two free apps that can be used to transfer files as well as contacts between iPhones via Wi-Fi or a 3G connection. The 30-second ad also demonstrates two users playing playing Scrabble from different iPhones, which is made possible either by using Wi-Fi or through the Facebook app.

“Travel” starts out with the question: “so how does the iPhone make traveling easier? It then presents Rick Steves’ Historic Paris Walk ($4.99), which guides users through the city and provides bonus information in the form of text, audio, and video. Playing on the Paris theme, the commercial demonstrates the Paris Metro 09 app  ($4.99) – used to help navigate the city’s public transit systems. The ad concludes with the very useful Postman app: it provides the user with the ability to create virtual postcards and send them to anyone s/he desires.

These ads continue to demonstrate the wealth of apps available for the iPhone and iPod ecosystem. Considering recent App Store developments, however, Apple should be careful not to alienate users or developers. I get asked about the “Google Voice app debacle” even when I’m around non-geeks, illustrating that the matter is not only of importance to technology fanatics. That said, I hope that Apple realizes the potential opportunity it has in an App Store for the Mac platform.

Share

Travel

Posted in Advertising, App Store, Apple, Mac, Marketing, iPhone, iPod Touch, iTunes