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A deep dive into the insane market of absurd counterfeit Apple products [Video]
Ever wonder where most of the world’s knock-off Apple products and electronics come from? Recently, I took a trip to Shenzhen in China and got to check out the madness first hand. In Shenzhen, they’ll slap an Apple logo on just about anything and try to pass it off as legitimate. Needless to say, it makes for a very comical experience…
Ever heard of the iPhone 7 Bluetooth Headset? No? Where have you been? It’s all the craze in Shenzhen. How about an external battery pack that looks exactly like an iPhone 6s? There are a ton of crazy Apple-branded gadgets in China that definitely aren’t certified, but some of them sure do look legit, while others not so much.
I had a chance to visit the famous Shenzhen electronics market and pick up a handful of goofy gadgets, some of which are very sad and funny attempts at making anything an Apple product. The cool part, however, is each of the items I picked up was only around ¥200, which comes out to be about $30.
As an interesting note, Apple’s contract manufacturer in China is Foxconn, which has of course been the subject of a lot of scrutiny over the years. Foxconn is located in Shenzhen, the same city in which I saw the huge market for counterfeit Apple products, so it’s interesting to speculate that a lot of the fake goods originate from the same source as the real deal.
I put together a video of all the crazy electronics and obviously fake Apple products in the below video. It’s pretty funny stuff and really opens your eyes as to the insanely huge market for counterfeit Apple products there is. Check out the video below:
Filed under: Tech Industry Tagged: Apple, china, random, Shenzhen, tech
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Apple redesigns Mac in Business webpage, says it’s a ‘brand new day for business’
Apple today has given its Mac in Business website a major design overhaul, introducing a new tagline that says it’s “a brand new day for business.” The design refresh comes on the heels of Apple and IBM’s enterprise agreement hitting more than 100 apps across 14 industries and 65 professions earlier today.
“Organizations everywhere are realizing the potential that Mac brings to their employees by giving them the freedom to use the tools they already know and love,” Apple touts on the new webpage. The refreshed Mac in Business site replaces one that was seriously outdated, still referencing Yosemite and advertising the features from that release as brand new.
Regarding Apple’s partnership with IBM, the new Mac in Business webpage mentions specifically how successful the agreement has been. Apple brags that the Mac has surged within IBM, leading to reduced support costs within the company.
Furthermore, the webpage advertises the combination of performance and portability that Apple’s MacBook lineup offers compared to competing products on the market. The site also makes mention of features like Handoff, Continuity, and Personal Hotspot that allow seamless combinations of Macs, iPhones, and iPads.
Last week, Apple gave the Apple ID web portal and much-needed modern makeover, replacing the old and stale design that had blessed the page for so long. You can view the new Mac in Business site here. The redesign highlights Apple’s increased focus on the enterprise market this year. Tim Cook has conducted a variety of enterprise-focused interviews over the course of the year, appearing at BoxWorks with Aaron Levie, a Cisco product unveil, and at the WSJ.D live conference. Eddy Cue also appeared at the Dropbox Open conference.
Filed under: Mac Tagged: Apple, enterprise, Mac in Business, redesign
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How a Project Manager can get Better at Public Speaking
The fear for public speaking, also known as glossophobia, happens to be among one of the most common fears among people. This article shows different ways that a project manager can overcome the anxiety or fear to present a speech. It shows how a project manager can calm his or her jitters, enhance their delivery style, engage their listeners, as well as the manner in which to effectively read a speech.
Mindset for Public Speaking
According to Jeff Davenport, a highly acclaimed presentation coach, perspective is very important while giving presentations. He reminds managers that it is their job to convince others. For instance, to complete a sale, the key idea is to not only sell the idea, but get the audience believe it and get into action. Managers should only worry about the listeners and not the presentation slides.
Giving Data-Heavy Presentations
Nowadays, data-driven presentations should be regarded as a part of business life. In fact, data-based conclusions are more convincing. However, managers should be careful not to let numbers take over their presentation. According to Alexandra Samuel, an author and researcher, one should utilize data to tell a convincing story. Managers should also learn to utilize human examples to demonstrate points of significance as an occasional substitute for data presentations.
Reading Your Speech
Most people commonly view paper-reading of a speech to be a cardinal skin. That is not always the case. At time, it is OK to rely upon written notes during a presentation. Andrew Dlugan, an award-winning motivational speaker, describes what a successful speech involves. Mastering pauses in between words as well as between sentences, among other techniques, happen to be quite significant in making a speech successful. According to Dlugan, there are various advantages that come with reading a speech.
Focus on the Audience
Nancy Duarte, a presentation expert, after analyzing some speeches, concluded that perspective is a common mistake while making a speech rather than the technique. She advises managers against creating a speech out of their heroism as it might make listeners tune out. However, audience-centric content encourages them to act, and highlights their struggles. Putting the key idea as a means for the listener to overcome his/her obstacle encourages them to take action, that in-turn makes you more persuasive as a manager.
Conquer your Fear
It doesn’t matter how prepared you are, but worry during public speaking affects everyone. According to Leslie Belknap, re-framing your physical stress that you feel as something positive is a solution for dispelling your stress. Your mind is easily turned to enthusiasm when you say that you feel excitement rather than anxiety. Getting specific about your worries makes them powerless. This way, you can spare energy that can otherwise be spent on brainstorming potential solutions to put into place in case they come to pass. You can have your worries make you stronger rather than fearful and anxious.
The post How a Project Manager can get Better at Public Speaking appeared first on Project-Management.com.
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OS X 10.11.3 developer beta 1 hits the Mac App Store
In addition to iOS 9.2.1 beta 1, Apple has released OS X 10.11.3 developer beta 1 through the Mac App Store. The pre-release software doesn’t contain any release notes or focus areas, but likely includes further performance improvements and bug fixes. The first OS X 10.11.3 developer beta follows last week’s public release of OS X El Capitan 10.11.2 which had its own list of small fixes for the Mac operating system.
Filed under: iOS Devices
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Facebook Messenger now lets you call an Uber w/ friends, adds 3D Touch, more
Facebook today announced it’s rolling out a new feature for its Messenger chat app that will let users book a car through Uber. The feature, it said, expands on other “integrations” it’s added recently outside of the app’s core chat functionality, like the ability to send money or use the app for customer support.
Today, we’re expanding the services available to you with our launch of transportation on Messenger. With this new feature, you can request a ride from a car service without ever needing to download an extra app or leave a conversation. It’s super easy and doesn’t take you away from the plans that you’re making with your friends or family.
Here’s how it works. In the latest version of the Messenger mobile app, you’ll find a “Transportation” option under the menu in conversations. Alternatively, you can search for Uber, the company’s first and for now only partner for the feature, and tap the icon to request a car. You’ll be able to complete the entire process without using the Uber app.
For a limited time, Uber is giving $20 free ride credits if you link your Uber account in Messenger.
The service is rolling out now but the company notes that it’s still in testing and available in select locations in the US only. But it plans to expand the service with more locations and car services in the near future.
And the Messenger app also gets an update today to version 52.0 with the addition of 3D Touch for iPhone 6s and 6s Plus users (pictured above), the ability to invite anyone with a phone number to chat, and, for the holidays, snowflakes “when you send or receive winter related emojis and stickers.”
Filed under: Apps Tagged: 3D Touch, App Store, chat, Facebook, iOS, transportation, Uber, update, version 52.0
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Apple, Google among streaming providers NFL is expecting to bid on Thursday Night Football
The NFL is said to be looking at Apple, Google, Amazon and Yahoo as platform partners for streaming its Thursday night football games according to SportsBusinessDaily:
The league also sent RFPs to several digital companies, like Google, Yahoo, Apple and Amazon, to stream the entire Thursday night schedule on a non-exclusive basis, sources said. The league’s initial plan would have the digital streams serve as a simulcast of the television production — with the same ads and in-game production features. The league expects bidding to start in the low $300M for the television package, with a nominal escalator in year two, sources said.
Yahoo, who is expected to bid, paid $15M to exclusively stream one game this season according to the report so the deal would be a big one. Because the streaming deal would be non-exclusive, the prices would be much lower on a per-game basis. More importantly, the deal would hopefully be the first step into the much larger goal of streaming the whole NFL Season.
Apple TV got the Game Pass service featuring live preseason football games on updated NFL app just four months ago, and now has tvOS as a platform to expand on that.
We know Tim Cook likes his Auburn football and SVP Eddy Cue is a big sports fan so…
Filed under: Apple TV Tagged: Amazon, Apple, Apple TV, Football, Google, NFL, Sports, Thursday Night Football, Yahoo
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Happy Hour Podcast 045 | Apple Watch 2 Details
This week, we discuss some new details on the Apple Watch 2, an upcoming Apple TV Siri Remote app, and all the new stuff released between now and the last episode! The Happy Hour podcast is available for download on iTunes and through our dedicated RSS feed.
New episodes of Happy Hour are available every Wednesday. As mentioned, you can download this podcast via iTunes or plug in our RSS feed link into your favorite podcasting app. Send an email to listenermail@9to5mac.com (or click here) and your question/comment may be featured in an upcoming episode of Happy Hour.
Note: iTunes (web interface and app) may still be propagating the new episode which could take up to 24 hours. Subscribing to the podcast feed will guarantee the latest episode is downloaded.
Hosts:
Here’s what we discussed in this episode:
- Apple releases $99 iPhone 6s Smart Battery Case, Apple’s first official battery pack iPhone case
- Apple plans March Apple Watch 2 event, 4-inch ‘iPhone 6c’ possible
- Opinion: How soon is too soon for an Apple Watch 2?
- tvOS 9.1 is now available on the new Apple TV, Siri now plays Apple Music + Remote app works
- Apple plans to bring Siri Remote features to the iOS Remote app in 2016
- Apple’s Tim Cook comments on iPhone 6/s battery case: It’s for overnight trips, not daily charging
- Official BBC iPlayer app launches on Apple TV for UK users
- Apple almost halves price of iPhone 5s in India as it seeks to accelerate growth
- How-To: Find and create Christmas stations + playlists with Apple Music
- Sonos rolling out Apple Music support in beta from today
If you missed our 44th episode last week, you can subscribe and find every episode or start off from the previous episode here.
Remember: Subscribe on iTunes to catch all of the episodes as they go live and send in your questions/comments to listenermail@9to5mac.com.
Filed under: Happy Hour Tagged: Apple, Apple TV, Apple Watch 2, Happy Hour, Podcast
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‘Steve Jobs’ film set to get digital, DVD, & Blu-ray release February 2
Universal Pictures has announced it’s set to give ‘Steve Jobs’, directed by Danny Boyle and starring Michael Fassbender, a release on digital services, Blu-ray, and DVD February 2.
Blu-ray and DVD bonuses include “Inside Jobs: The Making of Steve Jobs,” a documentary detailing the making of the film, as well as feature commentary by Danny Boyle, Aaron Sorkin, and editor Elliot Graham.
The film originally opened to mixed reviews from critics and was, according to reports, generally disliked by those close to Jobs. It eventually bombed nationwide following what were reportedly highest per-theatre earnings of the year on its opening weekend.
We’d expect the digital release to hit iTunes and other online video services, but for now Universal is only confirming there will be a “Digital HD UltraViolet” release alongside the Blu-ray and DVD on February 2.
Filed under: iOS Devices Tagged: Blu-ray, bonus, Danny Boyle, Digital, Documentary, DVD, extras, iTunes, Michael Fassbender, release, Steve Jobs, Universal
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Apple releases first iOS 9.2.1 beta for testing
Apple has released the first iOS 9.2.1 beta to developers for testing on iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch. The new software version features build number 13D11 which compares to last week’s iOS 9.2 release at 13C75. The update is available for registered developers currently through the iOS Dev Center.
The first iOS 9.2.1 update likely includes further bug fixes and performance improvements after last week’s public iOS 9.2 release. That new version included a long list of under-the-hood tweaks plus a few public facing features including more 3D Touch support in iBooks, better support for Classical music in Apple Music, Arabic Siri, and support for Apple’s Lightning to SD Card Reader adapters, both new and old.
We’ll check out the new iOS 9.2.1 beta and update with any notable changes. Public beta test versions typically follow after a day or so with first releases, but let us know if you’re a public beta tester and see the update.
Filed under: Developers, iOS Tagged: iOS, iOS 9, ios 9 beta, iOS 9.2.1, iPad, iPhone, IPod Touch
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9to5Toys Lunch Break: 13″ MacBook Air 256GB from $900, Beats Solo2 Wireless $190, Philips Hue Go $80, more
Keep up with the best gear and deals on the web by signing up for the 9to5Toys Newsletter. Also, be sure to check us out on: Twitter, RSS Feed, Facebook, Google+ and Safari push notifications.
TODAY’S CAN’T MISS DEALS:
Apple 13-inch MacBook Air 1.6GHz/4GB/256GB (newest version): $950 or $900 w/ .edu (Reg. $1,199)
Headphones: Beats by Dr. Dre Solo2 Wireless $190 (Reg. $220+), Audio-Technica Over-Ears + FiiO e6 amp $149, more
Get into smart lighting w/ the Philips Hue Go Portable LED System for $80 shipped (Reg. $100)
Philips Friends of Hue LightStrip Luminaire Starter Kit: $100 shipped (Reg. $200), more wp.me/p1xTlR-Lr5 https://t.co/BMf151BJc2
—
9to5Toys (@9to5toys) December 16, 2015
Gift Cards w/ Email Delivery: Sears $100 for $85, Cabela’s $50 for $40, Spotify $60 for $50, more
Apple Watch Sport $100 off at B&H Photo, prices start at $249 with tax only in NY
Best Buy’s latest Apple sale is your best chance to score iPad, Mac, & Watch deals before Christmas: iPad Air 2 $125 off, iPad Air $100 off, iPad mini 4 $100 off, much more!
Anker USB Power Deals: Astro E7 26,800mAh Power Bank $40 (Reg. $60), Braided Nylon MFi Lightning Cables from $8, more
MORE NEW GEAR FROM TODAY:
USB Chargers w/ Prime shipping: Imneed 10,000mah Slim power bank $12, Nylon Braided Lightning Cable $8, more
- Games/Apps: Batman Arkham Knight from $20, Xbox One 1TB GTA V Bundle $350
- Daily Deals: ZAGGfolio Bluetooth Keyboard Case for iPad Air 2 $40, Jabra Solemate $50
- Audio up to 60% Off: Bluetooth speakers $12, In-ear headphones from $5
- Bluetooth Speakers: Inateck MercuryBox Aluminum $30, Aukey Rugged $15
MORE DEALS STILL ALIVE:
iPhone 6/s/Plus Accessories: Sport Armbands from $6, cases in a variety of colors/styles from $3 shipped, more
Bose Holiday Savings: SoundLink Color Bluetooth Speaker $99 (Reg. $129), QC25 Headphones $269 (Reg. $299)
- Toca Nature is now available for free on the App Store (Reg. $3)
- Networking: TP-LINK OnHub 802.11ac Router + Google Chromecast $179
- Buy a new Chromecast, receive a $20 Google Play credit plus more offers
- Google is offering a free $20 Best Buy Gift Card when you use Android Pay
- LG Optimus Exceed 2 (Verizon Prepaid) Android Smartphone $12 (Reg. $50+)
- Media: iTunes HD Movie $10 Sale, Blu-rays from $4, more
- Pencil by FiftyThree smart iPad stylus from $30 Prime shipped (Orig. $50)
- USB Hubs: ORICO Aluminum 7-port $30 (Reg. $40), more
- Get half off a replacement Apple MagSafe 2 Power Adapter: $40 (Orig. $79)
- Capture the action this Christmas with GoPro’s HERO+ LCD camera for $240 (Reg. $300)
- Affinity Photo is Apple’s Mac App of the Year, download it now for $40 (Reg. $50)
- App Store Free App of the Week: Cut the Rope 2 goes free for the first time ($1 value)
- The Room for iOS goes free for the first time in two years (Reg. $1), more
- Download Josh Groban’s latest album Stages for free ($11 value)
- The Wonderful Wizard of Oz free Kindle download and audiobook (Reg. $9+)
- Mophie iPhone 6/s Juice Pack Air: $75 (Reg. $100)
- Buy select movies from Google Play and get a second copy to gift to a friend for free
- 1-month free Marvel Unlimited comic subscription
- Home Recording: PreSonus AudioBox Studio bundle $150 shipped (Reg. $200+)
- ChugPlug adds 4 hours of battery life to your Macbook: $25 (Orig. $130)
- Mpow Grip Magic Air Vent iPhone 6/s Car Mount $5 Prime shipped
NEW PRODUCTS & MORE:
YoCam tops GoPro’s tiny action camera in features, but does it matter?
Justin’s Holiday Gift Guide: speakers, Lightning mics, storage, pocket synths & more to up your home recording set-up
Trevor’s Holiday Gift Guide: The perfect accessories for travel – backpacks, cord management, more
Dan’s Holiday Gift Guide: rare Apple collectibles & swag for the techie who has everything
Skip the holiday blues with these practical stocking stuffers
Top 10 holiday movies you can stream right now on Netflix
- This limited edition Rolls Royce cocktail kit is a must see for car and James Bond fans alike
- LEGO Architecture teases upcoming Skyline series featuring the world’s most famous cities
- De’Longhi launches new PrimaDonna Elite coffeemaker w/ iOS connectivity
- Pine64 aims to knock off Raspberry Pi with its low-price 4K-capable microcomputer
- Amazon names the best-selling books of 2015, snag one as a surefire holiday gift
Filed under: Tips and Tricks Tagged: 13-inch macbook air, 9to5Toys, Amazon, Amazon Gold Box, Amazon Prime, Apple, Beats by Dr. Dre, Beats by Dr. Dre Solo2 Wireless, Best Buy Deal of the Day, coupon code, Daily Deals, Deals, discounted gift cards, eBay Daily Deals, free, free apps, free shipping, itunes deals, New Toy of the Day, Philips hue, smart home
For more information about Apple, Tips and Tricks, and 9to5Toys continue reading at 9to5Mac.
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Emails Looking Funny in Outlook? Try These 7 Tricks for Making Them More Presentable
If you experience both pain and relief when reading the title of this post, you’re in the right place.
As marketers, there’s a story that we know all too well. It starts with a meticulously planned email campaign, a carefully selected group of recipients, and a beloved email template to deliver your content exactly as you intended.
You do seemingly everything in your power to make sure every aspect of the email checks out okay, but when you send it to your boss for approval, you immediately receive a fiery response.
Unbeknownst to you, Outlook has managed to change your entire email. The HTML masterpiece that you slaved over has now been whitewashed — photos are missing, text-alignment is jumbled, and everything is 11-point Calibri.
What happened? How can you stop your other emails from following the same fate? Will anyone notice if you shed a few tears into an afternoon glass of wine at your desk?
This may be the part in the story when desperation kicks in, but don’t let it. Outlook doesn’t have to be the antagonist in our marketing stories. To help you better prepare your next email for Outlook, we’ve outlined a list of helpful tips below.
Protect Your Corkboard
Before we dive in, let’s start with an analogy …
Think of your email like a corkboard. Your corkboard has been beautifully crafted to hold all of your compelling photos (content), which are going to attract the eyes of many viewers.
How are you going to adhere those photos to your corkboard? Will you use nice stickers, embellishments, and decorative tacks (CSS & Styling) to keep all of the elements in place?
If you follow this plan, you will only realize that this corkboard won’t look the same on everyone’s wall. On Outlook’s wall, your content is stripped of its pins, tape, or sticky substances used to keep all of your pieces of content in place. You are instead left with a scattered pile of images, text with no styling, and a missed deadline. (For further clarification, Litmus has an extensive guide explaining these rendering differences.)
Alas, there is a solution to the madness. With the guidance of HubSpot’s Support Engineers, here is a list of tips and tricks to help prepare your emails for Outlook so you can “protect your corkboard.”
7 Tips & Tricks to Prepare Your Email for Outlook
1) Use tables.
For all of those familiar with code, you may have cringed as your eyes glazed over this paragraph. Hear me out: In the world of Outlook, tables are single-handedly the most important instrument in your toolbox. Using tables will ensure your email will render across email clients consistently from editor to inbox.
Outlook strips styles, such as positioning. Tables provide order and allow you to be more in control of your email’s layout. Are your pictures floating all over the place? Are they drifting above headers and below paragraphs of text? Putting your images and text in a table will tack those items in place and ensure they don’t float at their own will.
Email without table:
Email with table:
Make sure to specify the width of your table data (<td>), which shouldn’t collectively exceed the max-width of your overall email. An example of this in the source code would read, “<table style=”width: 400px;”>.”
We suggest avoiding lists and utilizing tables instead, as lists can be interpreted differently across clients. This way, you can achieve a similar visual while maintaining more consistent results.
Tables are also great when you see text pushed up against an image or another line of text. Because Outlook doesn’t always render spacing, inserting empty cells can act similarly to padding. You can utilize these cells and/or rows to achieve spacing vertically or horizontally.
What this looks like in the source code:
The highlighted code below is the empty cell between “Table” and “Test 1.”
The highlighted code below is the empty row between “Table” and “Test 2.”
HubSpot Customers: When inserting a table from the toolbar, simply insert an extra cell or row of cells and specify the width/height to achieve this spacing.
2) Specify line-height, font, font size, and color.
If you do not define line-height, font, font size, and text color, it is safe to assume that Outlook will make this decision for you and apply its default styling.
Define now or forever hold your peace.
Use your automated email service toolbar to define these elements. Once defined, the appropriate styling will be added to the source code and will look something like this:
Versus this:
HubSpot Customers: Highlight text and use the toolbar to specify line-height, font, text size, and color.
3) “Break” your text.
Text doesn’t wrap automatically in Outlook, so you should add styling to your “table” tag: <table style=”word-break: break-all;”>. This will achieve the break in text and prevent any text from extending past the recommended email width of 600px. If you don’t implement word wrapping for your content, it would “break” your email and impact its responsive design.
Text without break:
Text with break:
What this looks like in the source code:
4) Add ALT text to images.
Since Outlook is a known culprit of image blocking for HTML emails, it is important to include ALT text (alternative text), as this renders in place of the image. This is an attribute added to the “image” tag within the source code.
What this looks like in the source code:
All Outlook clients (including 2000 for Mac) display images from trusted senders. If your subscribers add your email address to their address book, images will display automatically. You can also have recipients add your email domain to the safe senders list in Outlook settings.
5) Use center tags.
Since Outlook doesn’t honor alignment that is written as an attribute of a tag (align=””), it will need to be specified in a style=””. To combat this, you will need to utilize “center” tags around the content you want centered or by adding this bit of HTML to the tag you are targeting: style=”text-align: center;”
What this looks like in the source code:
HubSpot Customers: Use the toolbar to “Align left,” “Align center,” or “Align right” for content used in your rich text modules.
6) Beware of background-images, padding, floats, and forms.
Outlook removes background-images, padding, floats, and forms.
Background-image
We suggest avoiding background images for emails. Instead, try utilizing a background color and incorporating your email’s images in other ways.
Padding and Floats
As a workaround for incorporating proper spacing and padding, you can either use the table method above or use vspace (vertical space) and hspace (horizontal space). This styling will serve as an attribute to the “image” tag and will add equal spacing on the sides of your images. Additionally, you can use table cells to define spacing, if preferred.
HubSpot Customers: Click here for detailed instructions from within the tool to apply vspace or hspace.
Forms
It is not a typically best practice to include a form within an email. Instead, a CTA button is helpful for bringing your viewer to a landing page with the correlated form. However, if you know your contacts are predominantly using Outlook and they have not added your email domain to their safe senders list, it is possible that your CTAs are being blocked when opened in Outlook.
Since CTA buttons are, in essence, an image, they would fall victim to Outlook’s notorious legacy of image blocking. To avoid this, you can use styled text that would create the same look and feel of a CTA button.
Below, you will find a snippet of example code that you are free to copy and use in your own emails. You’re free to change the font, size, or color of the text. You can also adjust the button color by replacing the background-color hex code. (And don’t forget to link it to your landing page!)
<center><table style=”height: 33px; background-color: #031b35 transparent;” width=”132″ cellspacing=”0″ cellpadding=”0″><tbody><tr><td style=”border-radius: 15px; text-align: center; background-color: #F89406; color: #ffffff; font-size: 20px; line-height: 30px;”>Click Here</td></tr></tbody></table></center><br><center><a style=”text-decoration: none; color: #ffffff;” href=”http://”>Click</a></center>
7) Preview and test emails.
It is vital that before pushing the final send, you preview your email in other inboxes. With whatever email marketing tool you’re using, it would be best to preview your email in the clients and on the devices you know your audience is using. It’s also recommended to do a test send to your own accounts — just make sure to remove other recipients from the list first.
HubSpot Customers: From within HubSpot you can preview emails from other clients/devices and do a test send.
Ready to Hit Send?
In the world of email marketing, not everything you see is what you get. Pins get pulled loose, text falls out of place, and images can disappear altogether. However, if you take the necessary steps to protect your corkboard, you can build something that can withstand anyone’s wall.
9to5Mac Holiday Gift Guide: Jeremy’s top 10 last-minute Apple gift picks
With Hanukkah over and Christmas only a week away, there’s a pretty good chance that you’ve already completed most of your holiday shopping. But just in case you haven’t, I wanted to share a handful of last-minute gift picks that are great for Apple lovers, reasonably priced, and guaranteed to be in stock as of the time of posting.
These picks are all recent — 2015 releases — and hand-selected to be particularly worthwhile. Read on for the details…
1. Apple Watch. Thanks to new colors, new software, and lower prices, it’s no surprise that the Apple Watch has become one of the season’s most popular gifts. I still wear mine every day, and at today’s heavily discounted ($100 off) B&H pricing, with no tax outside NY State, any model you choose is a much better value. As a $249 gift for a wife or girlfriend, the 38mm Apple Watch Sport comes in two gold colors, silver, or gray, each with your preferred band color. The larger 42mm Sport model is better-suited to mens’ wrists, and sells for $299.
2. An Apple Watch Band. Getting the right band for your wrist takes the Apple Watch from “pretty good” to “must wear.” I was less than fully enthusiastic about the rubbery Sport Band that shipped with my Watch, but the moment I added Apple’s Milanese Band, I fell in love — it’s the best watch band I’ve ever owned, and should be for $150. JETech sells a virtually identical knock-off for under $30, and if you don’t mind slight imperfections in the links, consider it. Otherwise, look to this collection of top-rated alternatives, which cover many different styles.
3. Nomad Stand for Apple Watch. I reviewed this stand half a year ago and it’s still my top pick, the rare Apple Watch stand that looks and feels worth the $60 asking price. My guide to the best Apple Watch stands and docks has many other options, but if I had to choose just one, Nomad Stand would be it.
4. Spigen’s Air Vent Magnetic Car Mount System For iPhones. I’ve tried dashboard mounts, air vent clips, and all sorts of wacky things that stick out of cup holders and charging outlets. The best and easiest solution I’ve ever tested, hands-down, is Spigen’s $8 set, which bundles two metal plates with a circular, air vent-mounted magnet. You choose one metal plate to put into your iPhone case, then just touch your case to the magnet to mount your iPhone in the car. I use mine every time I get into the car, and love it.
5. Anker’s Ultra-Slim Extended Battery Case For iPhones. With last week’s release of the $99 iPhone 6s Smart Battery Case, Apple effectively conceded that the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6s can benefit from some assistance in the battery department. Save yourself nearly $60 and get Anker’s Ultra-Slim Extended Battery Case for iPhones, the top pick from our guide to the Best iPhone 6 Battery Cases, which offers superior power for only $40.
6. Eye-Fi Mobi / Mobi Pro For Photographers With iPhones or iPads. If you’re still using a standalone camera in addition to the one built into your iPhone, you’ve probably wished you could share the camera’s pictures immediately after taking them, rather than returning home and putting them on your computer for processing. My strongly preferred solution is Eye-Fi’s Mobi and Mobi Pro SD cards, which wirelessly send shots directly to your iPhone (or iPad, or Mac). They range from $30 to $80, and the sweet spot is the $45 16GB Mobi.
7. An iPad Stylus – Apple Pencil for iPad Pro, or Adonit’s Jot Dash for other iPads. After years of ambivalence, Apple finally embraced iOS styluses with the $99 Apple Pencil for iPad Pro, which is fantastic — but still almost impossible to find in stores (unless you’re willing to pay a premium). Adonit’s Jot Dash is a great pick for every iPad except the Pro, and readily available in your choice of colors for only $40.
8. An iPad Stand-Case. A stand is the single most conspicuous feature every iPad is missing, and the best way to add one is to incorporate it into a case. The iPad Pro’s best option is Urban Armor Gear’s $80 Composite Case, still in stock in your choice of blue or red, while iPad Airs and iPad minis are best fit with ZeroChroma’s Folio-Slide (above), which goes for $35-$50 depending on the model.
9. A Backup or Video/Photo/Music Storage Drive For Your Mac. If you’re going to buy a hard drive for backups or storing important files, your best option is G-Technology’s G-Drive USB, the ultra-reliable, fast, and professional-class desktop drive I use and highly recommend. For on-the-road convenience in much smaller packages, Seagate’s ultra-thin Seven (shown above) can be had for under $100, and OWC’s tiny Envoy Pro SSDs start at $120.
10. Bluetooth Speakers or Headphones. Any Apple device — Mac, iPad, iPhone, iPod, Apple TV or Apple Watch — sounds better when you pair it with either Bluetooth speakers or headphones. You can currently grab Apple’s first Bluetooth speaker, the just-released Beats Pill+, for a discounted price of under $185, or its regularly $380 Beats Studio Wireless headphones for only $250.
More From This Author
Check out more of my reviews, How-To guides and editorials for 9to5Mac here! I’ve published a lot of different topics of interest to Mac, iPad, iPhone, iPod, Apple TV, and Apple Watch users, as well as a great holiday gift guide for iPhone users, a detailed holiday gift guide for Mac users, and a separate holiday gift guide for Apple photographers.
Filed under: Buying Guides, iOS, iOS Devices, Mac Tagged: 9to5Mac Holiday Gift Guide, gift guide
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Google Analytics: 5 pasos para medir tus Campañas de Email Marketing con Analytics
Seguro que has enviado más de una campaña de email marketing. Y seguro también que has visto muchas veces tus datos de Google Analytics.
Pero ¿sabes cómo sacarle el máximo partido a esos datos? ¿Sabes cómo cruzar los datos de tus campañas de email con Google Analytics y cuáles debes tener en cuenta?
Google Analytics puede darte datos que no verás dentro de tu gestor de campañas de email marketing.
Los datos más comunes que se pueden encontrar en estos gestores son:
- Emails enviados
- Emails entregados
- Emails no entregados
- Emails abiertos
- Emails abiertos con clic
- Emails reenviados
- Bajas en suscripciones
De hecho, te dejo un post en el que verás cuáles son las 8 métricas de email marketing imprescindibles que debes conocer desde el punto de vista de los gestores de email.
En cambio, pocas plataformas centran los datos de un envío de emailing masivo en lo que realidad importa: ¿esto cuánto dinero me ha dado?
Y debemos entender dinero como transacciones o como consecución de objetivos que nos pueden llevar a dichas transacciones.
Por ejemplo:
- ¿Sabes cuántos usuarios han comprado en tu tienda online a través de una campaña de emailing?
- ¿Sabes qué porcentaje de contribución tiene el canal email dentro de las compras de tu site
- ¿Sabrías situar el email dentro del customer journey de tus clientes?
Todas estas dudas las puedes despejar fácilmente con Google Analytics.
Y estos son los pasos que debes seguir: lo primero, taggear las campañas.
# 1. Etiqueta las campañas de email en Google Analytics
Sin tener las campañas bien etiquetadas, no iremos a ningún lado. Y para eso necesitamos, o bien que nuestra herramienta de email marketing esté conectada/integrada con Google Analytics a través de un plugin o addon, o bien taggear todas las URLs del email a mano.
Te dejo una imagen de Acumbamail, que es la herramienta de email marketing que yo utilizo y en la que es muy sencillo relacionar las campañas con Google Analytics.
Lo único que tienes que hacer es configurarla introduciendo los siguientes campos:
La manera correcta de hacerlo es a través de los tags UTM que ofrece Google Analytics y que pueden definirse desde esta URL (creador de URLs).
En esta estructura de URL que crees debes reflejar:
- URL del sitio web (en nuestro ejemplo, “midominio.com”)
- Fuente de la campaña (en nuestro ejemplo, “boletin004”)
- Medio de la campaña (en nuestro ejemplo, “emailing”)
- Nombre de la campaña (en nuestro ejemplo, “descuentoBlackFriday”)
- Y dos campos más no obligatorios: término de la campaña y contenido de la campaña
La URL final sería algo así:
http://ift.tt/1Jc1HPk
Y dicha URL conseguirá que cada clic se registre, en tu Google Analytics, dentro de este informe:
“adquisición > campañas > todas las campañas” y, dentro de los resultados, aparecerá la campaña “boletin004”.
Y finalmente no te olvides de activar Google Analytics cuando vayas a enviar una campaña.
# 2. Define objetivos
¿Visitar una URL? ¿Transaccionar? ¿Pedir información…?
Antes de nada, debes definir el objetivo que vamos a medir.
En el caso que te enseñaré, estamos hablando de un eCommerce (soy consultor de eCommerce, ¿qué esperabas?), que tiene como objetivos:
- Vender
- Vender
- Vender
- Conseguir contactos de clientes
En este caso nos centraremos en las transacciones, que es lo que nos hace facturar.
Una vez tienes claros los dos puntos anteriores, vamos a ver ahora, pues, cuáles son esos datos imprescindibles.
# 3. Los datos detrás de las campañas…
Voy a mostrártelo, pues, a partir de un ejemplo real.
Vamos a comenzar por un dato básico: ¿qué campaña ha vendido más?
a. Comparativa de campañas
Esa es fácil. Podemos ver a mano derecha que el resultado número 2 es la que más ha vendido, pero tienes que preguntarte otra cosa: ¿qué relación hay entre el interés despertado y lo facturado? Eso lo verás en el “porcentaje de conversiones de comercio electrónico”.
La ganadora es la campaña número 4.
Pero estos datos son muy básicos. Vamos a complicar la cosa un poco más: ¿qué productos se venden más desde los emails?
b. Productos más vendidos desde los emails
Los productos más vendidos desde los emails que has enviado podrías verlo desde este informe:
Conversiones > Comercio electrónico > Rendimiento del producto
Pero ¿cómo filtrar los datos de cada campaña de email?
c. Filtra los datos de las campañas de email
El reporte inicial nos da los datos de todos los pedidos, pero queremos filtrar los de emails. Para poderlo filtrar bien, es esencial tener bien resuelto el etiquetado con una estructura que nos pueda “chivar” en una agrupación de dónde viene esa visita.
Por ejemplo, optaríamos por una estructura de etiquetado como esta:
- Mail número 1 http://ift.tt/1QMHyFQ
- Mail número 2 http://ift.tt/1Jc1Gec
- Mail número 3 http://ift.tt/1QMHyFU
De esta manera, el utm_medium siempre es “emailing”, por lo que podrás aislar dentro de los resultados ese medio haciendo clic en la dimensión secundaria:
De este modo, tenemos estos datos:
¿Y para qué quiero saber esto? Pues porque, aunque nos parezca raro, hay productos que se venden más por email que otros.
¿Qué tipo de productos? Dependiendo de tu negocio, serán unos u otros pero, por ejemplo, cualquier producto impulsivo o reservas de hoteles, restaurantes… son productos clásicos de compra desde email porque suelen ser ofertas con un acelerador (el clásico: “Hay X unidades, ¡corre que se acaban!”).
# 4. Los datos de atribución
Más allá de los datos que acabamos de ver, que son de venta directa (el consumidor ve el email, hace clic y compra), nos interesan mucho también los datos de atribución.
¿Qué significa esto? Los datos de atribución nos sitúan el canal de adquisición dentro del camino a la compra. ¿El email que enviamos en nuestra campaña es el primer contacto del cliente? ¿Es el último? ¿Está en medio?
Vayamos a verlo en el informe Conversiones > Embudos multicanal > Rutas de conversión.
Encontrarás algo como esto:
Esto nos sitúa las combinaciones de canales de tráfico que más ventas (no directas) nos están trayendo.
En este caso, el correo electrónico participa poco en el cómputo final, pero ¿cuál es el comportamiento de los usuarios que compran y usan los emails?
Filtremos y veámoslo:
Como puedes ver, hay muchos usuarios que ven el email dos veces o tres y visitan la página para acabar comprando, pero más interesante que eso es la combinación de tráfico directo + email y de tráfico orgánico + email.
Lo que nos dicen esos datos es que hay ventas por contribución de gente que ve los emails y después entra directamente en el site y compra, y que existe otro patrón de customer journey que es: “reciben el email > entran en la web + nos buscan por orgánico y compran”.
Una buena combinación de canales, por tanto, que se debería potenciar.
# 5. Cross-device o cruce de dispositivos
Para rematar el post, una de las métricas más interesantes que puedes utilizar si quieres ver el comportamiento de tus usuarios a la hora de recibir emails es el cross-device, es decir, qué tipos de dispositivos usa un mismo receptor que interactúa con tus emails y cruzarlo con el que es el canal en el que se acaba realizando la conversión.
Para poder ver este reporte debes tener activado el tracking por User-ID. De esta manera podrás ver reportes como:
- Superposición de dispositivos (dispositivos que utiliza un mismo usuario).
- Rutas de dispositivos (rutas que sigue un usuario, por ejemplo: Mobile > Desktop > Tablet).
- Dispositivo de adquisición (el primer dispositivo por el que te descubre un usuario).
Esto te resultará muy útil para determinar qué dispositivos de interacción utilizan tus usuarios con tus emails.
Para ver dichos datos, dirígete al reporte de superposición de dispositivos, que es algo así:
Y le aplicas un segmento personalizado donde el “medio” de adquisición sea tu palabra clave comentada anteriormente: emailing.
De esta forma, podrás ver la superposición de dispositivos para detectar qué dispositivos utilizan los usuarios de tus emails hasta que acaban convirtiendo.
Esto te permitirá hacerte preguntas y sacar conclusiones como:
- ¿Vale la pena hacer emails responsive?
- ¿Vale la pena hacer una versión de los emails mobile first?
- Ídem para el site.
- ¿Hay diferencia de comportamiento cuando se abre un email desde móvil o desde escritorio o tableta?
- ¿Vale la pena enviar emails diferentes para los usuarios que siempre abren los correos desde el móvil?
- ¿Y otro diferente para los de escritorio o tableta?
- ¿Hay mucho rebote de los emails responsive al site?
- De ser así, ¿vale la pena buscar micro objetivos desde Mobile (registros, rellenar lista de deseos…) en vez de macro objetivos (transacciones)?
Conclusión
Como puedes ver, si el email marketing es importante en tus campañas, medir qué sucede en torno a ellas y cómo se comportan los usuarios puede llegar a serlo incluso más, pues los datos que obtengas te permitirán plantearte cuánto te interesa y hacia dónde dirigir los esfuerzos.
¿Qué te han parecido estas métricas avanzadas de Analytics? ¿Las conocías o las utilizas en tus campañas de email marketing? ¿Sueles relacionar Google Analytics con tu herramienta de Email Marketing? ¡Cuéntamelo en los comentarios y resolvamos cualquier duda!
Imagen principal: Shutterstock.
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Adobe Lightroom for iOS updated with 3D Touch, Split View, iPad Pro support, more
Adobe today released a new version of Photoshop Lightroom for iOS with new features for the latest iPhones and iPads. iPhone 6s and 6s Plus users can now enjoy new 3D Touch Quick Actions from the Lightroom icon, and the latest version has been optimized for iPad Pro and enhanced to support iOS 9 multitasking features. The update also introduces a Notification Center widget plus new editing tools as well.
Deep pressing on the updated Lightroom iOS app icon now reveals a new 3D Touch Quick Action to launch right into the camera for taking a fresh shot. Adobe has also added Peek and Pop interactions on 3D Touch iPhones that let you preview and open photos when viewing them from the grid. Press a thumbnail firmly to preview it, then press a bit harder to open it all the way.
The iPad version of Lightroom for iOS has been optimized for the new iPad Pro‘s 12.9″ Retina display to leverage the power and size of Apple’s latest tablet. And with those optimizations come support for iOS 9’s multitasking features including Split View and Slide Over.
That means you can run Lightroom next to other updated Adobe apps including Sketch which works with Apple Pencil,Comp, or any other Split View apps. Slide Over lets you peek into Lightroom from any iPad app. Both features allow you to create new workflows using the app on iOS.
The update also includes a Notification Center widget and new photo editing features that Lightroom users will enjoy as well:
• New: Shoot-through Presets. Apply one of five new, specially formulated presets while capturing a photo from the Adobe in-app camera. Preview how the presets will be applied to your photo before you capture, and enjoy the freedom of adjusting settings after capture with full non-destructive capabilities. Shoot-through presets are available for 64-bit devices only, such as iPhone 5s and later and iPad Air and later.
• Enhanced: Tone Curve – Point Curve Mode. Now, take color control to the next level with a full function Tone Curve tool, enabling access to RGB as well as individual red, green and blue color channels in your photo.
• New: Split Tone adjustments. Create a distinctive look to your photos by applying a color tone to the highlights or shadows, or to replicate the look of a split-toned black and white photo.
• New: Notification Center widget. Get instant access to the Adobe in-app camera by enabling the Lightroom for mobile Notification Center widget. Automatically launch the in-app camera with a single swipe down.
• Enhanced: Usability improvements throughout the app. Add photos to multiple collections easier, import photos faster, improved gesture support, and more, get you quickly organizing, creating, and sharing amazing images anywhere you are.
You can grab Lightroom for iOS 2.1 for free on the App Store and try a 30-day trial to test it out.
Filed under: Apps Tagged: 3D Touch, Adobe, iPad Pro, Lightroom, Photoshop, Photoshop Lightroom, Split View
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Apple Music hypes The Force Awakens with new Star Wars featured station
Take a break from all the Christmas music and check out another new featured station from Apple Music’s Radio section today: Star Wars.
The stellar movie-themed station features tracks picked from the soundtrack of each film in the collection (even the prequels) so you can get hyped for The Force Awakens opening this week.
Need to catch up on the series before the 7th film’s release? You can buy all six movies bundled on Amazon or iTunes in HD for $89.99, $30 off the price of buying each film separately. While Apple is featuring a special Star Wars radio station, Google has been going all out to celebrate the 7th film’s release with full service takeovers and free Star Wars-themed Cardboard VR kits.
While the iTunes release of The Force Awakens is still light years away, you can pre-order the original soundtrack to the new film on iTunes now ahead of its release on Friday. In the meantime, find the Star Wars station under the Featured Stations section in Radio in iTunes on the Mac or PC and Music on the iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, and Apple TV.
No spoilers, presumably, even though the folks at iTunes say they’ve seen the special premier earlier this week:
Filed under: Apple Music Tagged: iTunes, itunes radio, Music, radio, soundtrack, Star Wars, The Force Awakens
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Apple extending iconic Hong Kong store to a third floor, new space opening soon
While Apple may be rolling out new stores in mainland China at a rapid rate, it isn’t neglecting Hong Kong. Some five months after opening its fourth Apple Store on the island, it is now expanding its very first store there.
The store at the International Finance Center is suspended above a major road in the city, and AppleInsider obtained a photo of a hoarding on the third floor stating that the new level would “open soon.”
Filed under: AAPL Company Tagged: Apple Retail Store, Apple Store, china, Hong Kong
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Apple/IBM partnership hits landmark of 100+ apps across 14 industries and 65 professions
The enterprise apps partnership between Apple and IBM has reached the goal the two companies set of bringing 100+ MobileFirst apps to the business and professional sectors, reports eWeek. Many enterprise customers of course use these in conjunction with existing consumer apps.
Apple and IBM today announced the release of a new wave of IBM MobileFirst for iOS apps, increasing the number of apps in the portfolio to more than 100 and expanding it to more industries and professions.
Since partnering in 2014, the Apple and IBM collaboration has yielded a slew of made-for-business apps – nearly 50 in the last month alone — that transform work across 14 industries and 65 professions.
The companies plan to make future apps even more powerful …
IBM said it will integrate many future MobileFirst for iOS apps with the capability of its Watson cognitive computing system, enabling the apps to continuously learn about the needs of employees and customers over time — effectively building on data with more use.
Among the companies using the apps are Air Canada, AXA, Bosch, Coca-Cola Amatil, Japan Post, Rimac, SAS Airlines and Vodafone. As examples, Bosch equips field engineers with an app designed to enable them to more quickly diagnose issues with home appliances, while SAS gives flight attendants and app that provides “a 360-degree view of each passenger’s past preferences, interests and purchasing decisions to deliver a more personalized flying experience.”
The site reports that one of the latest apps added to the portfolio is one aimed at wealth advisors in banks.
Among the new banking apps announced today is the Discover Needs app, which gives wealth advisors access to all necessary information, including meeting schedules and customer profiles, portfolios and goals, so they can maximize the time their time in the field with customers. Open Account, another new banking app in the MobileFirst for iOS portfolio, simplifies the process for opening a bank account — reducing the time it takes for bank employees to assist customers.
IBM is, of course, working on apps for the iPad Pro, including ones that use the Apple Pencil for tasks as diverse as room designs and annotating maintenance logs.
The partnership was extended back in the summer to include IBM distributing and supporting enterprise Macs for other companies. IBM employees were also offered the option of Macs for the first time earlier in the year.
Image: Bidness etc
Filed under: AAPL Company Tagged: Apple and enterprise, Apple Inc, enterprise, Enterprise apps, IBM, IBM partnership, mobilefirst
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24 Clever 404 Error Pages From Real Websites
Website uptime — the amount of time a business’ website is up and functioning — is an important metrics for marketers and IT professionals to track. But no matter how many resources you put into ensuring your website never, ever, ever goes down … there’s always the looming possibility that it might.
It’s a bummer, but a fact of life. And the reaction of visitors when they land on your temporarily unavailable website can run the gamut — from “taking it in stride” to “totally losing their minds.”
While there’s nothing you can do about the latter, you can make your website downtime a little less of a pain by having a creative error 404 message. This can do wonders to make your website visitors crack a smile in an otherwise frustrating situation.
To get your design juices flowing, this post will display some of our favorite website error pages. Hopefully you’ll be able to take away a few ideas to snazz up your own 404 message.
Click here to download 50 examples of beautiful website design for even more web design inspiration.
What is a 404 Error?
A 404 error is a standard HTTP error message code that means the website you were trying to reach couldn’t be found on the server. It’s a client-side error, meaning either the webpage was removed or moved and the URL wasn’t changed accordingly, or the person just typed in the URL incorrectly.
For the most part, you can configure your web server to create a customized 404 error page. (If you’re a HubSpot customer, click here to learn how to customize your 404 page in HubSpot.)
Some customized 404 error pages include a hero image, witty description, site map, search form, or basic contact information. Check out 24 of the most creative 404 error pages we’ve seen that are sure to delight anyone who comes across them.
Page Not Found: 24 Creative 404 Error Pages
1) Bluegg
If laughter is the best medicine, then Bluegg’s 404 error page might be the cure. It includes — on autoplay, and with sound — an embedded video of one of those goats that screams like a human. (You probably recognize them from these viral videos.) Let’s be honest … it never gets old.
2) Spotify
Every year, Spotify releases their “A Year in Music” microsite. The site allows visitors to browse the most popular music of the year from around the globe. But there’s a great Easter egg in there: The microsite’s 404 page is a nod to Justin Bieber’s 2015 hit song “Sorry,” making it both timely and hilarious.
3) Cloud Sigma
Check it out: Cloud Sigma’s letting us in on some behind-the-scenes action. Their 404 error page cleverly pretends to be a “junior developer’s homepage” — that junior developer being, well … a cat.
4) CSS Tricks
Ever ripped away a website’s wrapping to see what’s underneath? That’s the concept CSS Tricks was going for in their 404 error page. This is both clever and reminiscent of what their brand is all about: CSS.
5) Good Old Games (GOG)
For other websites, you unwrap and there’s … the galaxy. That’s actually a clever reference to GOG Galaxy, which is GOG’s native video game client. Thankfully, a little video game character is there to give visitors a place to go report an error if they want.
6) Magnt
In this funny error message, Magnt pokes fun at the fact that, yes, they could’ve broken something — or, you just can’t type. The visual serves as a quick way to illustrate their point for those unwilling to read the description.
7) Bitly
Remember Twitter’s fail whale? Similarly, Bitly integrates their mascot — the pufferfish — into their error message. The poor little guy is left floating belly-up.
8) Daniel Karcher Film Design Studios
When your business is film, why not make your 404 error page into something resembling a short movie? The folks at Daniel Karcher did a great job with the animation on this page, including clever references to things like the television series LOST. The ticker at the top flips to say “Please proceed to main level,” and when you click it, you’re taken back to the homepage.
9) NPR
Stylistically, NPR’s error page is nothing special. But keep reading and you’ll see how they cleverly link to some of their great stories about lost people, places, and things, like a piece on Amelia Earhart and one on Waldo. Hopefully this makes lost users feel a little less alone.
10) Blizzard Entertainment
Here’s a simple idea that ends up looking really cool: Blizzard Entertainment’s 404 page is a “broken” version of their regular homepage. The copy pokes fun at the user: “Grats. You broke it” followed by “This page doesn’t exist or some other horrible error has occurred.”
11) Tin Sanity
We couldn’t stop chuckling at the at the animation on Tin Sanity’s 404 page, which features an animated cup with bloodshot eyes yelling and “running” back and forth across the screen. The whole thing is set to an intense bass track, making it even funnier. Like many other 404 pages on this list, this brand is poking fun at the fact that getting a 404 error isn’t that big a deal.
12) OrangeCoat
If you’re going to give an error message, why not entertain the user for a few seconds while you help them out? Following a friendly greeting (“Dear happy internet traveler”), OrangeCoat offers a cool flowchart that actually helps users figure out why they reached an error page.
13) Astuteo
There’s no rhyme or reason for why web design and digital marketing firm Astuteo chose a Casablanca theme for their 404 page. But given the film’s popularity, it’s sure to resonate with and delight many of the users who end up reaching that page.
14) BrandCrowd
Not only is the illustration on this error page cool, the copy is clever, too. We love the reference to the Semisonic song “Closing Time”: “You can click anywhere else, but you can’t click here.”
15) Cooklet
Cooklet’s error page is simple and delightful in design and copy. Shoot, I wanted a piece!
16) GitHub
The line “These aren’t the droids you’re looking for,” refers to Obi-Wan Kenobi’s Jedi mind trick on Stormtroopers in Star Wars Episode IV — and it’s become a well-known phrase used to tell someone they’re pursuing the wrong course of action. GitHub plays on this famous line in their 404 error message.
17) Grant Burke
Freelance graphic designer Grant Burke shows off his design skills even on his 404 page. The graphic is simple and the concept — a missing link on a milk carton — is fun and clever.
18) Moveline
As if the graphic on Moveline’s 404 error page wasn’t cute enough, we love the copy below it even more. They empathize with users who might be stressed out by an error message when they’re already stressed out about moving. To ease their concerns, Moveline includes their contact information.
19) LEGO
No copy needed on LEGO’s 404 error page: They let their characters do the talking. Come on buddy, plug it back in!
20) Hoppermagic
Hoppermagic’s error page is similar to LEGO’s by showing a fictional reason for why the page is broken. This time, it’s rabbits nibbling the cables — a nod to their rabbit logo.
21) IconFinder
Don’t you hate it when webpages get lost in space? IconFinder’s error page is simple, but delightful. The animated emoji wearing a spacesuit appears to be catapulted further and further into space the longer you stay on the page.
22) Hot Dot Productions
Hot Dot’s error page stays true to their tagline, “the intersection of new technologies and design.” The page is animated by hundreds of tiny dots that change direction in response to where you move your cursor. It’s mesmerizing, cool, and a great showcase of their design capabilities.
23) HomeStarRunner.com
HomeStarRunner.com, home to a Flash-animated cartoon series, has had a series of hilarious 404 error pages over the years. The most recent features characters from the cartoon series in a scene that could’ve come straight out of one of their episodes. If you turn the sound on when you load the page, you’ll hear their character Strong Bad — known for yelling phrases out loud — saying, “404’d!”
24) HubSpot
It happens to us, too! This is the message we put up to tell our site visitors that there are some website issues. Our goal was to stay true to HubSpot’s brand voice by being as lovable, empathetic, and helpful as possible.
What other creative 404 error messages have you seen from companies? Share with us in the comments.