- Samsung is acknowledging lost ground to Apple in the high-end market, and will look to re-claim lost ground in China: Samsung has capitulated: It launched two phones last night, the Galaxy A3 and A5, which are both “mid-range” devices with metal bodies. They look a bit like iPhones, but they’ll probably be priced cheaper. It’s the price that is key: Samsung is basically saying it cannot compete against iPhone on high-end prices with top-flight models, so it must compete instead against cheaper low-end Android manufacturers like China’s Xiaomi by offering quality devices at reasonable prices. The Galaxy A3 and A5 are seen by analysts as Samsung's first counter-strike. Initially launching in China in November, they will be Samsung's first devices to feature fully metallic bodies and its thinnest smartphones to date. In size, the A3 and A5 are comparable to those of the top-of-the-line Galaxy S5, though of lesser screen resolution quality. Meanwhile, Sony will retreat from the Chinese smartphone market, where it has had little success.
- Now, a selfie-makeover app with a clear monetization model: Photox (pronounced like Botox) allows users to submit candid photos to a team of editors who will give it a touch up — or overhaul — depending on what changes the subject wants to see made. The edits can range from minor tweaks, such as teeth whitening or eye color correction, to near-surgical changes, including breast and butt enhancements, full-body weight loss and bald spot coverup. Once a user uploads his or her photo to the app, they are presented with more than 30 editing options. Each edit requires a certain number of credits, and each credit costs 99 cents. Removing a tattoo or scar requires one credit, or 99 cents. Erasing the photo’s background runs nine credits, or $8.91. “We have a lot of people using a photo from their family vacation as a LinkedIn headshot and you would never know it was taken at a restaurant or on the beach,” Imperiale said. If you haven’t been hitting the gym lately, Photox can add six-pack abs ($3.96), give you skinny legs ($3.96) or bulk-up your arms ($2.97). If it’s a dermatologist you desire, the app can also minimize wrinkles ($2.97), lighten skin ($3.96) and remove acne (99 cents).
- LinkedIn could be an excellent B2B marketing tool, and in fact may already be setting up for a clash with SalesForce: Here’s a hypothetical scenario: What if you included some JavaScript from LinkedIn on your company’s website so that whenever a signed-in LinkedIn user visited your site, you could see who they were in LinkedIn Sales Navigator? Since the overwhelming majority of potential leads just browse and don’t fill in your forms, this would give you insight into a whole new population of potential customers that your Marketo and Salesforce systems can’t track. If LinkedIn offered a more sales or marketing automation-style interface, you could select, group or filter those web visitors and send them educational LinkedIn InMails or purchase targeted advertising on LinkedIn or in their LinkedIn email digests. Marketers and salespeople could eventually use LinkedIn to reach new prospects who haven’t yet visited their sites. LinkedIn would know which types of users find your company interesting – especially if the company worked itself down the funnel towards Salesforce’s territory to offer CRM functions. By knowing the history of your leads (i.e. which ones end up converting to customers), LinkedIn could help you pinpoint your hottest prospects even before they hit one of your landing pages or contact forms.
