Hampton Hotels Santa Clarita - Apple’s iPhone Marketing Strategy Exposed

Source       - http://smallbusiness.yahoo.com/
By              - Fion McCormack
Category    - Hampton Hotels Santa Clarita
Posted By  - Hampton Inn Santa Clarita

Hampton Hotels Santa Clarita

Every ambitious business owner hopes to succeed and become a leader in their niche. The tough truth of the matter is that there is only room for one brand in the number one spot. And when you hit that spot you have to fight hard to keep it.

Most business owners recognise the value in investing in services like SEO, PPC, Social media as well as offline promotional methods like advertising on radio, TV, billboards etc. For many business it becomes a race and the winner is the brand who invests the most into these advertising mediums.

Although most of us think of ‘marketing’ as a must have ingredient for success, you may not have noticed how one of the world’s biggest and most successful brands has succeeded in marketing their products all the way to the top spot on little more than a shoe string marketing budget.

While most businesses try to out-do their competitors with sheer advertising brute-force, Apple have dared to be different and have reaped the rewards by becoming the top dog globally in the mobile phone niche.

Apple do not have a marketing budget. They never advertise their mobile phone products anywhere. That means no SEO, PPC, Social media, TV, Radio or print ads of any kind. They simply do not promote their iPhones what so ever.

If you think you have seen Apple advertising their iPhone products you are mistaken. What you have actually seen is some other company advertising Apple’s products for them. Apple are so clever that they have actually managed to get other companies (mainly mobile phone operators) to pay for, and execute advertising for them. Apple iPhone ads are in fact paid for by a network operators who want to advertise that they sell the iPhone. When operators want to tell the world that they sell the iPhones, not only do they pay the bill but Apple slaps a fat stack of strict branding restrictions on the operators that dictated how the ad must look and what information it can contain. Hence why all ads for Apple products look the same.

You might think that mobile operators are stupid for what is effectively paying for Apple’s advertising but what choice do the networks have? Apple is the bestselling smartphone year after year. If an operator wants to get a bigger slice of the ‘Apple’ pie, they need to advertise that they have it. And they can’t advertise Apple’s trademark without conforming to Apple’s branding guidelines.

If an operator breaks the rules, they pay the price. Operators that don’t play by the rules are not prioritised when it comes to stock distribution.

So while you are splashing your businesses cash on promotion why is it that Apple doesn’t have to? After all, we’ve all been told that you have to spend money to make money.

It’s not because the iPhone is the best phone on the market. The iPhone is a good product but in terms of spec most iterations of the iPhone have really struggled to match those of the equivalent high end devices by HTC or Samsung.

The secret to their success is in Apple’s marketing strategy. They use what is known as the Exclusivity Technique. You would have seen this technique used, or maybe even used it yourself before.

The Exclusivity Technique is typically executed with relative success by businesses giving a select subset of customers a special deal on goods or services. For example some companies make certain offers exclusively available to existing customers or Facebook fans. This is the Exclusivity Technique at its most basic form.

The exclusivity technique works by making the eligible subset of customers feel special. This creates a better customer business relationship and is proven to increase brand loyalty.

Apple have taken this technique and put their own spin on it to develop what has been one of the most successful, and probably low-cost marketing techniques of all time.

Instead of making a special offer exclusive, Apple made their entire iPhone product range exclusive. The cherry on top for Apple is that they orchestrated the Exclusivity Technique to make their mobile phone the world’s most popular, despite it supposedly being exclusive.

So what did Apple do differently with their iPhones? They deliberately restricted the flow of their iPhones to customers and mobile phone providers.

When the first iPhone model came out it was made exclusively available from just one mobile provider for its’ entire life span. When subsequent iPhones were released there were “stock problems”. iPhones’ were issued on a first come first serve basis. Those who wanted one had to cue and sometime camp outside an Apple store. This attracted media attention and generated free publicity for Apple.

For those who didn’t get and iPhone, stock shortages ensured they had to wait until the next batch was released, often weeks after the official launch date. These restrictions of stock generated tension between those who wanted one and those who had one. This tension was vocalised openly by anguished customers across the web. The desire was infectious. People who didn’t even care about an iPhone picked the desperation of those that expressed their want for one. It generated an increased demand because as more people talked about wanting one, the more people that thought “hey what’s all this fuss about? If this thing is so good, I want one too”. The device became a rare commodity, a must have gadget.

This year Apple not only released the usual limited number of iPhones but of those there were three colour variants of the iPhone 5s. The gold colour was extremely limited in supply making it a talking point and creating a demand even within the subset who were lucky enough to get an iPhone before they sold out. Furthermore, Apple restricted SIM free iPhone sales to themselves. So, as things stand, mobile providers in the UK are not allowed to sell PayG iPhones. This means that anyone on a SIM only contract or will need to visit their nearest Apple store if they want a new iPhone.

Apple’s version of the Exclusivity technique not only gave a feeling of specialness for those that got an iPhone but a feeling of jealousy in those that wanted one and couldn’t have one just yet. This made them even more determined to get an iPhone, almost as a means of compensating themselves for rejection on some psychological level.

There are of course a huge portion of people who don’t want an iPhone and are sickened by the thought that so many are fanatical about these mobile devices.

The beauty of Apple’s exclusivity technique is that it creates two opposing groups within society (those with an iPhone and those without) and it creates conflict. The conflict is verbalised through blogs, forums even in person.

This purposely incited speculation and bickering about iPhone is Apple’s method of generating free publicity. It is what keeps the spot light firmly on the iPhone and makes it a perpetually hot topic.

Word of mouth has been recognised as the most effective form of promotion for any product or service because of its honesty and non-commercial intent. Forums and blog comments have become this century’s extension of word of mouth. Apple recognised this and capitalised on it early on.

It costs Apple nothing for the world to bicker about whether iPhone is better than any of the Android, Blackberry or Windows flagship devices. Whether you love of hate iPhones, if you have ever contributed to any online debate about Apple, then you have unwittingly taken part in promoting selling iPhones to the next generation.

Hampton Hotels Santa Clarita - iPhone 5s Review: A Great Phone With Some More Forward Thinking Needed

Source       - http://gma.yahoo.com/
By             - JOANNA STERN
Category   - Hampton Hotels Santa Clarita
Posted By - Hampton Inn Santa Clarita

Hampton Hotels Santa Clarita

"Forward thinking." That's the tag line you'll find splattered across Apple's iPhone 5s billboards or commercials. "It's not just what's next. But what should be next," the company writes about its latest phone on its website. 

It's Apple marketing at its best -- flowery, affirmative, well-crafted phrases -- but on paper the phone is really just a set of updated specs from its previous iPhone 5. The iPhone 5s packs only three new noteworthy features: a faster 64-bit processor, an improved camera and flash, and a new fingerprint sensor. Oh, and, of course, there's that new gold color choice. 

But when those features are combined with the iPhone 5s' beautiful aluminum design and high-quality Retina display, does the phone really pave the way for the future of smartphones? Does it set a new bar for the hundreds of other phones that will be released this year? Or is it just an example of darn good marketing?

The Good Changes
I can tell the difference between my iPhone 5s review unit and my own iPhone 5 in two ways -- the gold, shimmering hue on the back and the golden ring around the home button of Apple's 5s. 

Yes, the phone has the same elegant design as the 5, though that shouldn't bother anyone. It is still one of the most beautiful gadgets ever created. The only phone this year to even try to overshadow the iPhone's design and craftsmanship has been the HTC One. Just that one phone out of an interminable number of Android and Windows phone devices even came close to matching Apple's design prowess.

But where the iPhone 5s begins to show its first signs of forward thinking is with the fingerprint sensor now embedded in its home button. Called TouchID, the technology works just as Apple promised. Register up to five fingerprints, tap on the button and you're logged on to the phone. No need to input a password or swipe to unlock.

It works extremely well, which is not something always said about fingerprint technology. Just try some of the ones on a Windows laptop, and you'll know that constant pop-ups and other malfunctions stand in the way of it being a seamless experience. That's not the case with Apple's solution, and it makes logging on to the phone much faster than entering a PIN or password.

The phone itself is also faster, or at least that's what Apple's 64-bit A7 chip promises. While some apps and games, including Infinity Blade 3 and Sing! Karaoke, have been built to take advantage of the processor, and the improvement over the iPhone 5 is clear when it comes to everyday activities such as launching apps or surfing the web, I haven't noticed a difference. Still, this is one fast phone; you'll be hard pressed to find lag, and it will give you the power you need in the years to come. Future thinking, indeed.

The Camera
Apple says more apps will be on the way to take advantage of the faster silicon, but its own camera app is already tapping into that speed, including the slow-mo and burst mode features. Both of the new features are really fun to play with and add a lot to the already top-notch camera experience.

And the improved camera sensor, which now captures more light, might be the biggest upgrade for most people. When it comes to performance in darker settings, especially in dimly lit restaurants, shots are noticeably better and clearer when taken with the 5s than with the iPhone 5 or 5c. Even photos I took on a bright sunny day seemed to look crisper.

The iPhone 5s' camera is one of the main reasons to buy this phone over any other out there. Yes, the Nokia Lumia 1020's 41-megapixel camera takes great shots, but it is a very chunky phone. And while the Galaxy S4 and HTC One take good shots, they do not capture photos as well balanced and crisp as the ones taken with the iPhone 5s. It's simply worth it for the better Instagrams alone.

The Non-Changes
All those aforementioned changes keep Apple's iPhone ahead of the pack in very crucial ways, but there are some other places where the case for the most forward-thinking phone hasn't been made.

The first is with battery life. Apple said users of the iPhone 5s should see a 25 percent bump in endurance, but I haven't experienced that. It could be some of the early iOS 7 battery problems, but I still have been getting a little less than a full day of juice -- about 10 hours or so. Some Android phones, such as the Moto X, seem to last at least 20 percent longer, although they are thicker and not as well-designed as the iPhone. We have come a long way since the first iPhone's five or so hours of battery life, but I haven't given up on a smartphone future that does away with ugly battery cases.

And then there is the screen. I'll be the first to admit that a 5.5-inch or 6.3-inch screen is overload for a smartphone, but there are times now when I feel the 4-inch display on the iPhone is too cramped. The Moto X's 4.7-inch display seems to be the ideal blend of screen real estate and manageability.

Lastly there is the software. Despite some people having problems adjusting to the change and some getting sick, iOS 7 is a very worthy upgrade, especially when it comes to the addition of such new features as Control Center. But as I said in my review of iOS 7, there are places where I wish Apple had gone further. Android's deep customization options and integration with Google Now provide software features that go beyond what we expect from our phones today.

The Bottom Line
The iPhone 5s is a great phone, especially if you are upgrading from the iPhone 4 or 4s, but it's not as compelling if you have the iPhone 5 or even some competing Android handsets. When it comes to camera performance, the security convenience provided by the fingerprint reader, general design and app selection and quality, the iPhone 5s is at the top of the heap and does set the bar in the crowded smartphone market.

But while the iPhone 5s is the most forward thinking iPhone and one of the best phones to have in your pocket or bag, some of those various non-changes sure do indicate that there is plenty more forward thinking Apple can do.

Hampton Hotels Santa Clarita - Yes, There’s a New iPhone. But That’s Not The Big News

Source      - http://pogue.blogs.nytimes.com/
By            - Press Release
Category   - Hampton Hotels Santa Clarita
Posted By - Hampton Inn Santa Clarita

 

Hampton Hotels Santa Clarita

The big Apple news this week might seem to be the new iPhones. But truth be told, the bigger news is iOS 7.

This is the free software update for iPhones (iPhone 4 and later), iPads (iPad 2 and later) and iPod Touches (fifth generation). It’s a radical, huge redesign. Its master architect was Jonathan Ive, the Apple designer who has brought us astonishing hardware designs for many years; now, for the first time, he’s been put in charge of a whole software universe.

The look of iOS 7 is sparse, white — almost plain in spots. No more fake leather, fake woodgrain, fake green felt, fake yellow note paper. It’s all blue Helvetica Neue against white. 

The complete absence of graphic embellishments makes it especially utilitarian — in both senses of the word. That’s good, because whatever button or function you need is easier to find; it’s bad, because, well, it can look a little boring. 

Then again, the new look is primarily visible at the Home screen, where a jarringly different color palette greets you on the Apple app icons, and on the options screen. The rest of the time, you’ll be using your regular apps, many of which will look no different than before.

The look of iOS 7 may grab you or not. But once the fuss about the visuals dies down, something even more important comes into focus: the work that’s been done on making iOS better. The longer you spend with the new OS, the more you’re grateful for the fixing and de-annoyifying on display.

For example, you no longer have to burrow into infinitely nested Settings screens to adjust your control panels. Now you can just speak what you want, using Siri: “Open Wi-Fi settings,” for example, or “Open brightness settings.”

Or, when speaking to your phone isn’t socially appropriate, you can swipe upward from the bottom of the screen to open the Control Center: a compact, visual palette of controls for the settings and functions you’re most likely to need: brightness, volume, Bluetooth, WiFi, Airplane Mode, Play/Pause Music, calculator, camera, and — my favorite — Flashlight. This panel slides in over whatever app you’re using, so you don’t lose your place.

This idea — swiping in from the margins of the phone — also plays out in the new Back gesture. The iPhone doesn’t have a Back button, as Android phones do. But now you can swipe in from the left margin of the phone to go back one screen. It works in Mail, Settings, Notes, Messages, Safari, Facebook and some other apps. It’d be great if worked in every app.

The iPhone has never had a system-wide Search button, either, but here again, Apple has made some strides. The Search screen is no longer off to the left of the Home screens; now it’s above them — all of them. From any Home screen, you can swipe downward from the phone’s top margin to open the Spotlight search screen. 

Reducing steps seems to be a running theme in this release.

To turn on Private Browsing in Safari, for example, you used to have to open the Settings app, burrow around, find the on-off switch, then return to the browser. Now the Private button is right in Safari, where it belongs.

The Camera app has gained a better design. Now you swipe across the preview screen to switch among modes: Video, Slow-motion video (on the iPhone 5s), still photos, Square photos with Instagram-type filters, and Panorama. It’s easy to learn and use, but it does mean that it’s harder to open a photo you’ve just taken for inspection. (Swiping to the right used to make it appear; now you have to tap the tiny thumbnail button in the corner.)

There was supposed to be a password- and credit-card memorizing feature that would make it much easier to buy stuff and fill in forms on the Web, like the LastPass, 1Password or Dashlane apps. And this information would sync across all your Apple gadgets. But it mysteriously disappeared in the release version; Apple says it will reappear in a few weeks, at about the same time as OS X “Mavericks.”

The new iTunes Radio is here, though, and it’s very good. The idea is exactly like Pandora; you choose a “seed” song, performer or musical genre, and it plays nonstop songs in that style. But it’s not as sophisticated as Pandora, and not nearly as powerful as Spotify; on iTunes Radio, you can’t explicitly request a certain song or album by name.

Still, having it built in is nice. For example, you can say, “Play Soft Guitar radio,” or whatever you’ve named your “seed”-based station, to start it up.

As with Pandora, the free version subjects you to a brief audio ad every now and then; also as with Pandora, you can pay for an ad-free version. It’s $25 a year — part of Apple’s existing iTunes Match service.

Siri, over all, is much better. The voice sounds more natural, and you have a choice of male or female. Apple did a lot of work “on the back end,” so that Siri responds much faster to commands. The Siri screens are redesigned to look nicer. And Siri can do more things.

More stuff:

• Internet phone calls. Now free, high-quality voice calls (to other Apple phones, tablets and Macs) are built right in. Apple calls it Audio-Only FaceTime. 

• Carpenter’s Level. The Compass app now has a three-dimensional level in it!

• Auto-app updates. You can opt to have new versions of your apps downloaded and installed automatically, in the background. The App Store app keeps a list of everything you’ve received.

• Today screen. As on Android, there’s a single screen that lists everything that’s happening today: your next appointment, today’s weather, reminders due, whose birthday it is and so on. (Right now, mine says: “It looks busy right now. There are 8 events scheduled, and the first one starts at 8:30 am.”) 

• Smarter Wi-Fi network alerts. If you’re driving, iOS 7 on the new iPhone 5s no longer keeps announcing that it’s discovered new Wi-Fi networks. Obviously, you’re moving too fast to hop onto any of them, so this is a smart little tweak.

• Photos. The app that displays all your photos used to be a single endless scroll of tiny thumbnails. Navigationally speaking, it was really pretty useless. Now it self-assembles into clusters by year, by month and by occasion (based on time and location data). Sooooo much better.

• Maps. Apple still has work to do before its Maps app has anywhere near the quality of Google’s Maps app. Apple’s Maps still can’t give you directions using public transportation, but at least it now has walking directions. And when you’re driving at night, Maps automatically enters Night Mode, in which the map itself is dark gray instead of very bright.

• Global Type Size control. For the first time, there’s a slider that controls the font size in all your apps. Well, all of them that have been rewritten to hook into this feature, anyway. So far, it’s mostly just Apple’s built-in apps.

• Activation Lock. Brilliant, brilliant, brilliant. If some thug steals your phone, it’s worthless to him unless he enters your Apple password. Even if he tries to erase it, even if he jailbreaks it, even if he force-reinstalls the operating system. Thousands of iPhones will not be stolen now, because thieves will learn that they’ll be “bricked” without your password. (To make this work, you have to turn on the “Find My iPhone” feature. Which you should do anyway.) 

There are a zillion other nips and tucks, many of which make you smack your forehead and say, “Yes! Why didn’t they think of this sooner?”

The software is available to download on your existing iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch tomorrow, Sept. 18. 

If you decide to install iOS 7, as you learn your way around the new system you’ll stumble across all kinds of handy features and techniques. But without any further delay, at least make these two features part of your new routine: Control Center (swipe upward from below the screen) and Siri’s new settings-changing commands. 

I think you should install it. The structure, layout and features represent some of Apple’s best work. The look of iOS 7 — well, that judgment is up to you.

Hampton Hotels Santa Clarita - Don't Worry, You Can Yell At Your PS4 If You Want To

Source       - http://www.forbes.com/
By             - Paul Tassi
Category   - Hampton Hotels Santa Clarita
Posted By  - Hampton Inn Santa Clarita

 

Hampton Hotels Santa Clarita

Microsoft MSFT -0.45%‘s big job over the next few months is going to be convincing players that the added functionality of the Xbox One is worth $100 more up front than the PS4. The bulk of that price and feature differential is for the Kinect, and so far, Microsoft is proving me wrong by not offering a Kinect-less bundle for $100 less, which would level the playing field between the two consoles once and for all.

People often forget that Sony SNE -1.09% does have a device that’s similar to the Kinect, the PlayStation Eye Camera. It too can peer into your living room and track you as you wave your limbs around. Now, they’re taking things a step further and giving the Eye camera one more power to compete with Kinect: voice-control. A Sony rep confirmed as much to Polygon:

“Sony Computer Entertainment can confirm that PlayStation Camera allows for voice recognition and we will look forward to sharing more details in the lead up to the launch of PlayStation 4 on November 29.”

To remind everyone, the PlayStation Eye camera is NOT packaged with the PlayStation 4, and costs $59 extra. And for as much hate as the Kinect gets, the Eye is empirically just not as advanced as a motion control system. Voice control could influence a few enthusiasts to pick up the device however, and not feel like they’re missing out on a feature the One has that the PS4 doesn’t.

Voice control has yet to really explode across any technology sector however, gaming included. Yes, you can yell at Siri to direct you to the nearest fast food joint. Yes, you can yell at your car to play a song over your iPhone wirelessly. And yes, you can yell at your Xbox to make your squadmates find cover in Mass Effect. But for the most part, voice control still faces a number of issues and is hardly the mainstream. Perhaps that will change and Sony wants to be on board, but I have a hunch this isn’t going to be a must-have feature for a while.

Microsoft is, however, investing a lot into the “coolness factor” of being able to say things like “Xbox On!” and “Xbox TV!” instead of say, hitting a button on your controller or TV remote. Indeed there may be some vague sense of Star Trek about it, but until it becomes more convenient to actually speak these commands instead of hitting that one button (which works every time), it’s not really going to catch on.

It’s not necessarily a bad idea for Sony to add something like this, but I’m not sure how many PS4 owners will be adopting the new Eye camera for their system. I’ve seen very little from the system that uses the Eye that actually looks worthwhile, and voice commands, unless they’re absolutely flawless, don’t seem like they’ll be the tipping point that will inspire a purchase.

Update: I am indeed aware that the EyeToy existed before the Kinect, though in this case, it is a well-known Kinect feature being emulated. Though I am not accusing Sony of “copycatting” when they’re simply trying to compete with their rival, a logical decision and natural progression of the technology.

Hampton Hotels Santa Clarita - Turning To Your Phone For a Better Night’s Sleep

Source            - http://www.nytimes.com/
By                   - KIT EATON
Category        - Hampton Hotels Santa Clarita
Posted By       - Hampton Inn Santa Clarita

Hampton Hotels Santa Clarita

I’m terrible at sleeping. Over the years, I have tried various remedies and tricks, and they haven’t helped. I figured there wasn’t much I could do about my problem until I discovered sleep-aid smartphone apps. 

My favorite is Sleep Cycle, a $2 iOS app. Although this app doesn’t help get you to sleep, it does help you learn about your sleep habits. It’s also designed to wake you at just the right point in your sleep cycle, when you’re sleeping lightly, so you won’t feel that familiar sinking sensation after your alarm clock jerks you awake. 

The app is meant to work with your phone set on your mattress. It uses the iPhone’s sensors to monitor movements, recording when you were in different phases of sleep — from light to deep. In the morning, you get a time graph showing how well you managed to stay in deep sleep. 

There’s a notes section for each night’s data, so you can track if drinking a cup of tea upsets your sleep or if your sleep patterns are related to stress. If you’re really interested in detailed analysis of your sleep habits you can export the data to an Excel spreadsheet. 

The app’s instructions are easy to follow, and the interface is easy to use. I’ve found it usually wakes me when I’m feeling well rested. It does take a while to get used to this, because it means you’re awakened in a window around your chosen alarm time instead of, say, at 7:30 a.m. sharp. Perhaps my only criticism is the app’s array of soothing alarm sounds can get tiresome, but you can also set it to use your downloaded music.

A very similar free app on Android is Sleepbot. It also uses your device’s motion sensors to track your sleep patterns, and can wake you gently when you’re in light sleep. Its interface isn’t quite as polished nor as easy to use as Sleep Cycle’s, but this app is more powerful. 

You can set target sleep times and see over several days if you have a sleep deficit, and you can set a reminder to go to bed. It also has a sound-monitoring function so you can see if there are noises that disturb your sleep, or how your sleep correlates to quiet environments. 

Another way apps can help you sleep is by playing soothing sounds for a time and then quietly shutting off.

One of my favorite sleep apps is Simply Rain, a $1 iOS app that plays soothing rain sounds. Its interface has a large slider to control the sound volume and a small slider to adjust the intensity of the rain. 

You can choose to have different intensities of thunder sounds in the mix, and set the app to oscillate the volume to simulate the variation in a real rain shower. There’s also a simple sleep timer. I find I fall asleep easily to this sort of white noise, but it may not suit you. 

For alternative sleep sounds try Sleep Pillow Sounds, a $2 iOS app with sounds like rain on water, crackling fires or lapping waves on the shore. You can even layer these sounds on top of one another. 

The app has a cute, graphic-heavy interface and a sleep timer, but the timer has a maximum setting of only 75 minutes. It’s also possible to notice patterns in the sounds, and that may bother you. 

On Android, Relax and Sleep is a similar app. It has an impressive array of sounds, like wolf cries and a rocking chair. 

You can layer multiple sounds, setting each sound at a desired intensity. The repetitive nature of some of the sounds seemed more irritating than relaxing, but your mileage may vary. 

Finally, I’ve learned listening to audiobooks can help me sleep — it’s like being read a bedtime story. Audiobooks from Audible (free on iOS, Android and Windows Phone) are my sleep weapon of choice because of the huge selection of titles and the sleep timer function. I also use it with a sleep-monitoring app. 

Audible’s one downside is that the price of some of the audiobooks may surprise you: The first Game of Thrones book is nearly $32, unless you sign up for one of the app’s monthly membership options. 

Quick Call

Microsoft has released a suite of Bing-related apps for Windows Phone 8 devices that bring real-time news alerts on finance, news, sports and weather. These apps are free.

Hampton Hotels Santa Clarita - Move Over iPad Mini -- New Nexus 7 Is Current Small Tablet Champ

Source - http://www.forbes.com/
By - Larry Magid
Category - Hampton Hotels Santa Clarita
Posted By - Hampton Inn Santa Clarita

 

Hampton Hotels Santa Clarita

I’ve been using the new Nexus 7 since it was announced last week and, frankly, my iPad mini is starting to look a little weak by comparison.

Unlike the mini, which doesn’t use the higher resolution Retina display like the latest version of its full-sized iPad and latest iPhones, the Nexus 7 has a high definition display (1920×1200/323 pixel compared to mini’s 1024 x 768/163 pixel) screen and is capable of showing 1080p HD video. The difference is noticeable when you read or watch HD video but, I have to admit, that iPad mini is still pretty good when it comes to resolution.   I used both to read parts of a book using Amazon’s Kindle app and, while both were quite clear, I could see that the text was somewhat sharper on the Nexus’ higher resolution screen.

Both have a 1.2 megapixel front and a 5 megapixel rear facing cameras.  Here are the full specifications for the new Nexus 7 and here are the iPad mini specs.

As per price, the 16 GB Nexus 7 costs $229 while the mini starts at $329. That’s a $100 difference for pretty similar hardware configurations.  Google also doesn’t ding you as much for extra storage. A 32GB Nexus (WiFi only) costs $269, while Apple charges $429 for its 32 GB model.

Lighter and narrower but a bit thicker

Bottom line — because it’s not as wide,the Nexus 7, it  not only fits well in the hand but takes up a bit less space in handbags and pockets. It fits pretty easily into the front pockets of my Docker khaki slacks. Of course you could argue that the mini’s extra screen real estate is a bonus compared to the Nexus more petite form factor.

Software

The biggest difference between the two tablets is Android vs iOS.  This is where both reasonable and unreasonable people can argue depending on personal preference. For many of us, the best interface is the one we know so if you’re already an iOS user you’re likely to prefer the familiar iPad interface. Many Android users will likely feel the same about their operating system.

Although it’s hard to argue against Apple’s elegant U.I. and there may be even more to love about  iOS 7 that comes out this fall, I have to give Google credit for — over time — improving and fine tuning Android into an excellent platform for both phones and tablets. One thing I like about the new 4.3 (which comes on the Nexus 7) is that you can create restricted accounts, which makes it a lot more family friendly for parents who want to let their kids use their tablets without being able to buy apps or make in-app purchases or visit naughty websites.

Hampton Hotels Santa Clarita - Instagram Launches Embed Feature For Videos, Photos. Start Sharing!

Source - http://www.latimes.com/
By - Jessica Guynn
Category - Hampton Hotels Santa Clarita
Posted By - Hampton Inn Santa Clarita 

Hampton Hotels Santa Clarita

Last month when Instagram launched video to compete with Twitter's Vine, there was a collective groan. It lacked a key feature: the ability to embed videos elsewhere on the Web.

So, just to make their visual moments much more visible, crafty people came up with all kinds of complicated workarounds that were not supported by Instagram and could, of course, break at any time.

Instagram says it heard time and again impassioned pleas from users who didn't want to train as software engineers to embed their photos and videos. So starting Wednesday, you can share your favorite Instagram moments with the world as easily as with YouTube or other digitally forward services.

A new share button will let you embed your Instagram videos and photos anywhere (except Twitter, naturally). And, of course, marketers can use this handy new button, too, a key selling point as Instagram looks to conquer the world of visual social sharing and start building a moneymaking business.

How it works: When you visit an Instagram photo or video page on your desktop Web browser, you'll see a new share button on the right side of your photo (just under the comments button). Click the button to see the embed code. Copy the block of text it gives you and paste it into your blog, website or article. When you hit publish, the photo or video will appear. 

 

Instagram also says please don't worry: "As always, you own your photos and videos, and we want to make sure that's understood no matter where your content appears." (That's now a standard line in every Instagram announcement after this happened.)

The embedded photo or video appears with your Instagram user name. If people click on the Instagram logo, they'll be whisked to your Instagram page. And never fear, no one is going to be able to embed those photos or videos that you really should have done on Snapchat in the first place. Embedding works only for photos and videos that are public, not for private ones, Instagram says.

This kind of worldwide Web distribution should make it a lot easier for Justin Bieber to take over the rest of the known digital universe and for Paris Hilton to get even more people to gush over videos of her puppies.

It's also part of a major effort from Facebook not just to be in the moment but to capture the moment.

Whether it's the Boston Marathon bombings or the Oscars, Instagram is well positioned to do just that with images that can be quickly blasted across the Web and universally understood across all borders and language barriers.

Twitter has ruled the world of real time with its short messages that have telegraph breaking news as it happens, but it looks like Instagram could pose a serious threat to its real-time rule.

Hampton Hotels Santa Clarita - Weight Loss No Help For Heart In Diabetes

Source - http://www.medpagetoday.com/
By - Charlene Laino
Category - Hampton Hotels Santa Clarita
Posted By - Hampton Inn Santa Clarita

Hampton Hotels Santa Clarita

An intensive lifestyle intervention focusing on weight loss did not reduce the rate of cardiovascular events in overweight or obese adults with type 2 diabetes, according to final results of the randomized controlled Look AHEAD trial.

The study was halted in September on the basis of a futility analysis that showed no significant differences in the composite primary outcome of death from cardiovascular causes, nonfatal myocardial infarction, nonfatal stroke, or hospitalization for angina between those who had the intervention and those who only received support: 1.83 versus 1.92 events per 100 person-years, respectively (P=0.51).

Rena Wing, PhD, of Brown University, and colleagues reported their findings simultaneously online in the New England Journal of Medicine and at the American Diabetes Association meeting here.

Nonetheless, people in the intervention group benefited in terms of a host of other ways, Mary Evans, PhD, director of Look AHEAD at the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, told The Gupta Guide.

"They sustained 6% weight loss over 10 years. They had clinically meaningful improvements in glycated hemoglobin levels and less diabetes and less retinopathy. There were also improvements in quality of life and reduction in depression," she said.

Evans said explanations for the lack of benefit among people in the intervention group include greater use of medications in the control group. "The drugs, particularly statins, could have lowered their risk of cardiovascular disease.

"Or perhaps people in the intervention group didn't achieve enough weight loss," she said.

The Look AHEAD (Action for Health in Diabetes) trial enrolled 5,145 overweight or obese patients with type 2 diabetes at 16 centers in the U.S.

Patients were randomized to either an intensive lifestyle intervention that focused on cutting calories and increasing physical activity or to a control group that only received diabetes support and education.

When the trial was stopped in September 2012, the median follow-up time was 9.6 years.

Weight loss was greater in the intervention group than in the control group throughout the study (8.6% versus 0.7% at 1 year; 6.0% versus 3.5% at study end).

The intense lifestyle change also produced greater initial improvements in fitness and cardiovascular risk factors, except for LDL cholesterol. But the between-group differences diminished over time.

As for adverse events, the rate of self-reported fractures was significantly higher in the intervention group: 2.51 versus 2.16 per 100 person-years in the control group (P=0.01). However, there was no significant difference in the rate of adjudicated fractures (1.66 and 1.64 per 100 person-years, respectively).

A limitation of the study is that patients who were motivated to lose weight were recruited, so the findings may not generalize to all patients, the researchers said.

In an accompanying editorial, Hertzel Gerstein, MD, of the University of Hamilton in Ontario in Canada, wrote, "Even with no clear evidence of cardiovascular benefit, the Look AHEAD investigators have shown that attention to activity and diet can safely reduce the burden of diabetes and have reaffirmed the importance of lifestyle approaches as one of the foundations of modern diabetes care."

Hampton Hotels Santa Clarita - Dollar Still In Firing Line Ahead Of U.S. Jobs Report

Source - http://www.reuters.com/
By - Sophie Knight and Ian Chua
Category - Hampton Hotels Santa Clarita
Posted By - Hampton Inn Santa Clarita

Hampton Hotels Santa Clarita

After falling as much as 3 percent to a seven-week trough of 95.90 yen on Thursday, the greenback was trading at 96.65. That was 0.4 percent lower than late U.S. levels, with dealers citing selling from Japanese exporters on concerns that it could take time for the dollar to recoup its losses.

Traders said while there was no concrete trigger for the vicious selloff in the greenback overnight, the move has helped flush out some long USD positions ahead of the non-farm payrolls report due at 1230 GMT (8.30 a.m. EDT).

Just last month, investors had turned bullish on the dollar on the belief that upbeat data would prompt the U.S. Federal Reserve to roll back its $85 billion per month bond-buying program.

However, some traders have cut their dollar-longs after recent data raised concerns that Friday's jobs data will disappoint.

"It appears that markets are positioning for a weaker number," said Barclays Capital analysts.

Barclays Capital is, however, forecasting a 175,000 rise in employment, above the 170,000 expected by economists polled by Reuters.

"We think that an outturn close to our forecast could lead to broad USD strength, especially versus low-carry currencies."

The dollar index .DXY remained sluggish on Thursday, dropping 0.1 percent to 81.637 after slumping 1.3 percent to three-month lows on Thursday.

Against the euro, the greenback steadied after losing 1.2 percent on Thursday to a three-month low of $1.3306. It was last at $1.3251, little changed from late New York levels.

Market participants said the euro's move was more driven by the dollar's weakness against the yen than the European Central Bank (ECB)'s widely expected decision to leave its benchmark rate at a record low 0.5 percent.

Indeed, the resurgence of the yen left the euro down 0.5 percent at 127.76 yen, close to the five-week low of 127.53 it plumbed on Thursday.

The recent rise in the yen threatens to undermine the Bank of Japan's stimulus efforts, which have weakened the Japanese currency, helping exporters' overseas revenues up.

"Japanese exporters weren't selling forwards outright before because they expected too much; they wanted to see a higher (dollar) level above 100, like 105," said the director of a research firm who asked not to be identified.

"But the Ministry of Finance don't care about the level so much. They talked it up to 95 and then it got to 100, he said, adding the ministry would happy enough if the dollar remained above 90.

Japanese government officials said they were concerned about the sharpness of the yen's move but did not express any overt worries about the level of the currency.

"We are watching these moves, but this is not about intervention and I don't think we have to respond immediately," Finance Minister Taro Aso told a news conference.

The yen gained 1.7 percent against the Australian dollar to 91.40, after rising as high as 91.20, a level not seen since January 9.

The Aussie also resumed its recent slide after the U.S. dollar's broad weakness plucked it off a 20-month low of $0.9435 on Thursday. It lost 0.7 percent compared to late U.S. levels to $0.9500, within reach of its 2011 trough of $0.9388.

Hampton Hotels Santa Clarita - Galaxy S4 Fastest-Selling Android Phone Ever

Source - http://www.smh.com.au/
By - James W. Manning
Category - Hampton Hotels Santa Clarita
Posted By - Hampton Inn Santa Clarita

 

Hampton Hotels Santa Clarita

Samsung's Galaxy S4 smartphone has sold more than 10 million units around the world less than one month after being released, making it the fastest-selling Android phone in history.

The new flagship smartphone, launched globally on April 27, is estimated to have sold at a rate of four units per second, according to the company, and has sold at twice the rate its rival, the HTC One.

The S4's predecessor, the Galaxy S3, previously held the title for the fast-selling Android smartphone after reaching the 10 million mark after 50 days on sale in 2012. Before that, the Galaxy S2 and Galaxy S took five and seven months respectively to reach the same goal.

"On behalf of Samsung, I would like to thank the millions of customers around the world who have chosen the Samsung GALAXY S4," said J.K. Shin, chief executive and president of IT and mobile communications at Samsung. "At Samsung we'll continue to pursue innovation inspired by and for people."

An anonymous Samsung executive told South Korean newspaper The Chosun Ilbo last week that sales had surpassed six million in the first two weeks after launch.

Meanwhile, an unnamed HTC executive told The Wall Street Journal that the HTC One, seen by industry commentators as a rival to Samsung's S4, has sold five million units since its launch, which occurred about the same time as the S4, meaning Samsung has doubled the sales of its HTC rival.

Both Samsung and HTC have confirmed they will release a version of their new

smartphones running the default version of Google's Android mobile operating system, rather than the ones currently customised with Samsung or HTC apps built in.

Samsung also confirmed that the Galaxy S4 will be made available in four new colours later this year: red, blue, purple and brown. The smartphone was available in black and white at launch.
 

Hampton Hotels Santa Clarita - GLOBAL MARKETS-Asian Shares Pause After Rally, Yen At 4-yr Low vs Dollar

Source - http://www.reuters.com/
By - Chikako Mogi
Category - Hampton Hotels Santa Clarita
Posted By - Hampton Inn Santa Clarita

Hampton Hotels Santa Clarita

The U.S. currency was buoyed as worries about soft patches in the economy faded after Thursday's weekly U.S. data showed initial jobless claims fell to the lowest level in more than five years, following last week's much stronger-than-expected monthly nonfarm payrolls report for April.

"It's global buying of the U.S., with more investors feeling comfortable buying the dollar. U.S. stocks are stabilizing four years after the Lehman collapse. It's a good sign for markets when funds target the U.S., where investors are willing to take on risk," said Goro Ohwada, president and CEO at Japan-based fund of hedge funds Aino Investment Corp.

Signs of a steady U.S. recovery could refuel speculation over the Federal Reserve scaling back its aggressive quantitative easing to push up U.S. yields, attracting funds from lower-yielding countries such as Japan.

Capital flows data showed Japanese investors were net buyers of foreign bonds in the last two weeks, reversing their relentless net selling since late January. They repatriated a total of 9.33 trillion yen in January-April. <JP/CAP>

The dollar extended its gains from Thursday to rise to a fresh four-year high of 101.20 yen, having stalled for a month after reaching a high of 99.95 yen in early April. The dollar was last at 100.92 yen, while the euro rose to 131.91 yen, its highest since January 2010.

"The market is returning to where it should be, to buying the dollar, mainly driven by the notion that the U.S. economy is on a positive track as seen by the jobs reports," said Hiroshi Maeba, head of FX trading Japan for UBS in Tokyo.

"The dollar buying after the initial jobless claims may have been a factor, but failed attempts to break the 100 yen had lightened positions and cleared the way for such a move. The euro's break below $1.3050 also helped remove a cap on the dollar," he said.

Maeba added that the dollar may see a near-term correction to the downside, but the 99 yen level will now signal a buying opportunity and markets may test 102-103 yen in coming weeks.

The yen's resumed downtrend is a boon for Japanese exporters and expectations of robust earnings drove the Nikkei stock average .N225 up 3 percent to its highest since January 2008. The index is up 6.5 percent so far this week, on track for its biggest weekly gain since December 2009 when it jumped 10.4 percent. .T

The currency moves had diverging impacts on Asian shares.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS shed 0.6 percent, after climbing to its highest since July 2011 on Thursday. For the week, the index is set for a gain of 1 percent.

U.S. stocks slipped from record highs on Thursday while the pan-European FTSEurofirst .FTEU3 closed flat to stay near five-year highs.

Australian shares .AXJO rose 0.3 percent after hitting a fresh five-year high earlier, as strong gains in the banking sector and companies with a strong exposure in the U.S. market rallied on the back of the dollar's gain against the yen. The Australian dollar hit a 10-month low of $1.0046 overnight.

"Whenever the U.S. dollar gains this much against the Australian dollar, then companies that make most of their earnings in U.S. returns will always look more attractive," said Stan Shamu, market strategist at IG.

But the yen's decline hurt South Korean shares .KS11, which fell 1 percent, dragged lower by exporters on concerns that a weaker yen would curb their competitiveness against their Japanese counterparts, although the dollar's rise pushed the South Korean won sharply down to a one-week low.

Chinese shares were subdued, with Hong Kong .HSI down 0.2 percent while Shanghai .SSEC inched up 0.1 percent.

A firm dollar capped prices of dollar-based commodities.

London copper eased 0.1 percent to $7,344 a ton while spot gold added 0.2 percent to $1,460.81 an ounce.

U.S. crude futures fell 0.3 percent to $96.12 a barrel and Brent eased 0.2 percent to $104.29. <O/R>

Analysts said the dollar's direction against the yen from here largely depends on U.S. economic indicators, with a strong outlook for the world's largest economy likely to spur investment flows out of Japan, which is taking aggressive reflationary policies and depressing yields.

"The USD strength may prove short-lived unless backed by incoming April U.S. cyclical activity data showing a pickup in growth momentum from the softer tone in March. A series of key U.S. economic data next week, especially retail sales on Monday, will be critical from this perspective," Barclays Capital said in a research note.

Hampton Hotels Santa Clarita - NYC's Met To Return 2 10th-Century Stone Statues

Source - http://abcnews.go.com
By - Press Release
Category - Hampton Hotels Santa Clarita
Posted By - Hampton Inn Santa Clarita

Hampton Hotels Santa Clarita

Two ancient stone statues that have been on display in a New York City museum for nearly 20 years are being returned to Cambodia.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art said Friday the 10th-century Koh Ker stone statues are being returned after researchers discovered new evidence about how they were acquired.

The statues are called "Kneeling Attendants." The Met says the decision to return them was made after a recent meeting between museum officials and representatives of the Cambodian government in their country's capital, Phnom Penh (puh-NAHM' pehn).

The Met says it received the statues in pieces from different donors between 1987 and 1992.

A 1993 Cambodian law prohibited the removal of cultural artifacts without government permission.

Cambodian officials have claimed a similar statue was looted from a temple in Koh Ker, a remote region in the north.