All Ping

If you are a toy geek and want to make up a good collection then this is something definitely for you. There are many RC cars out there in market but this particular Hot-Wheels iNitro speeder got the attention towards Apple family. Well if your are thinking that you might get your hands over this RC iNitro via your iPhone, iPod or iPad then you are certainly right. This little Mustang GT named iNitro Speeder from Mattel gives you the opportunity to drive by your iPhone in various styles.

The little car is not much sophisticated but it is truly a great thing which kids would like. If you turn over the car you could see the turn on/off button with a little port that actually docks in your dual slider controller with the help of a wire that come out of the remote and it charges the little Mustang GT. The car body is made up of relatively cheap plastic and the remote controller is also of a satisfactory plastic made material.

Now comes the interesting part, ofcourse you will not be spending you money to buy this tiny toy to play it with its user build remote. Along side the remote there is an iPhone adapter that does the job. Now it actually plugs in at your Headphone port and on operating the Hot-Wheel iNitro app you come up in action mode. Here there are five ways by which you can control your mini car. Probably not the best driving i have seen on RC but still it is good enough to give it a try. The pre-defined routes don’t lag that much but the custom made route for mini Mustang troubles her in movement.

iPad mini sales open today at US (but just in black colour for now). Despite a couple of weeks behind schedule, Apple is expecting a big warm welcome for iPad mini in market. As per the statement of Gene Munster at Piper Jaffray, the expected sale figure would be around 1.5 million units for the new 7.85″ slate. Well we can never expect less from Apple, but what astonishes us is the time span he stated. According to his projection he believe that Apple is going to hit 1.5 Million sales of iPad mini before the weekend is over.

Moreover he also adds that the compact style is still a relatively new concept to Apple fans. According to him

“Consumers will gradually realize the benefits of the smaller form factor, which will drive adoption, although it may not take form in lines for tomorrow’s launch.”

For all those who don’t know the prices yet. iPad mini costs $329 for 16Gb, $429 and $529 for 32Gb and 64Gb respectively. The WiFi plus cellular models starts at $459 for 16Gb. Lets see how much sale Apple brings out at the end of weekend.

The only concern for the South Korean company was the launch of Apple’s next device i.e iPhone 5. Many consumers were holding fire to buy the new phone, as they wanted to see the offering of Apple. Upon the unveiling of iPhone 5, there was a mixed response.While iPhone 5 did sell in numbers, there was a major shift over of many consumers towards Samsung.

Now despite the big success, Samsung made $7.4 Billion profit whereas Apple made $8.2 Billion net profit during the same time.This seems strange as Samsung has a larger market share and has apparently shipped more devices than Apple but it is all explained by the fact that Apple’s per device margin is way higher.

Samsung Galaxy S3 is still expected to sell more in holiday season. Moreover, the latest Galaxy Note 2 will give Samsung a big boost in market and as far as we can see it will definitely set new records for Samsung!

Not only has Apple replaced Coca-Cola as first among the 100 most valuable brands based on criteria that include financial performance, this is the first time that the soft drink known for slogans like “It’s the real thing” has not been No. 1.

Apple’s arrival in the top spot was perhaps “a matter of time,” Jez Frampton, global chief executive at Interbrand, said in a recent interview. Apple was No. 2 last year, climbing from No. 8 in the 2011 report.

“What is it they say, ‘Long live the king’?” Mr. Frampton asked. “This year, the king is Apple.”

The 2013 report begins: “Every so often, a company changes our lives, not just with its products, but with its ethos. This is why, following Coca-Cola’s 13-year run at the top of Best Global Brands, Interbrand has a new No. 1 — Apple.”

The report estimates the value of the Apple brand at $98.3 billion, up 28 percent from the 2012 report. The value of the Coca-Cola brand also rose, by 2 percent to $79.2 billion, but that was not sufficient to give Coca-Cola a 14th year as Interbrand’s most valuable brand.

Although “Coca-Cola is an efficient, outstanding brand marketer, no doubt about it,” Mr. Frampton said, Apple and other leading technology brands have become “very much the poster child of the marketing community.”

That is underscored by the brand in second place in the new report: Google, which rose from fourth place last year. In fact, of the top 10 Best Global Brands for 2013, five are in technology: Apple; Google; Microsoft, No. 5, unchanged from last year; Samsung, 8, compared with 9 last year; and Intel, 9, compared with 8 last year.

Samsung’s ascent followed the company’s adoption of a new brand strategy called the Brand Ideal, which includes “a greater focus on social purpose,” Sue Shim, executive vice president and chief marketing officer at Samsung, said by e-mail. That reflected research indicating American consumers would switch brands to “one that was associated with improving people’s lives,” she added.

I.B.M. — No. 4 in 2013, down a notch from 2012 — is ranked as a business services brand. Otherwise, technology would account for six of the top 10.

“Brands like Apple and Google and Samsung are changing our behavior: how we buy, how we communicate with each other, even whether we speak with each other,” Mr. Frampton said. “They have literally changed the way we live our lives.”

Among other transformative technology brands that performed well in the new report was Facebook, which climbed to 52 from 69 last year, its first year on the list.

However, not all technology brands fared well. BlackBerry, which tumbled last year to 93 from 56 in 2011, has disappeared from the list. And Nokia, which dropped to 19 from 14 in 2011, finished this year in 57th place — “the biggest faller” among the 100, Mr. Frampton said.

Among nontechnology brands, a notable addition to the list was Chevrolet, at 89, the first General Motors brand to rank among the Best Global Brands.

“It feels good to hit the list for the first time,” Alan Batey, global head of Chevrolet at G.M., said in a telephone interview. “It’s a great first step, but we’ve got a long way to go. There are a lot of big brands in front of us.”

The milestone reflects how General Motors has been “making a conscious effort to globalize Chevrolet,” Mr. Batey said, selling the brand in 140 countries in ads that play up attributes like “value for money and designs that move hearts and minds.”

Commonwealth, the creative agency for Chevrolet, “played a key role” in helping the brand make the list, he added. Commonwealth is part of the McCann Worldgroup division of the Interpublic Group of Companies.

Last year, when Coca-Cola finished atop the Best Global Brands list for the 13th consecutive time, an executive at the Coca-Cola Company acknowledged the streak but noted that “nothing lasts forever.”

A year later, the executive, Joseph V. Tripodi, executive vice president and chief marketing and commercial leadership officer, had this reaction: “Of course, we would like to remain on top of the list forever. That said, we are honored to continue to be included among such an esteemed group of global brands, and we congratulate Apple and Google, both valued partners of ours.”

“We’ve seen the value of technology brands rise as they create new ways for people to stay connected virtually,” Mr. Tripodi said by e-mail. “We understand this, as the lasting power of our brand is built on the social moment of sharing a Coca-Cola with friends and family.”

“Creating these simple moments and delivering on our brand promise each and every day remains our focus,” he added, “as we continue to grow the value of brand Coca-Cola for decades to come.”

If it is consolation, Coca-Cola remains far ahead of Apple and Google in likes on Facebook fan pages. Coca-Cola has 73.2 million, compared with 9.8 million for Apple and 15.1 million for Google.