Ads follow recent iPad spots, showcase various apps

Like a pair of recent iPad advertisements, Apple has unveiled two new iPhone apps that feature a crowd shouting keywords and showcasing various Apple and third-party apps. Each ad (known as "Discover" and "Brilliant") make various connections between the shouted keyword and the highlighted applications, with rewards for attentive viewing. Unlike the most recent such ad that appeared during the Oscars, neither ad has a particular theme beyond the discovery and promotion of apps for the iPhone.

In the ad known as "Discover," the first keyword is "Rock" and shows off a guitar app, an interactive textbook on geology (featuring a tellurium rock), a catalog app showing a hip plastic rocking chair, and an Apple Maps flyover view of Alcatraz, which was known as "the rock." The keyword "sharp" produces a quick demo of Infinity Blade II, a catalog showcasing a tuxedo, a picture in iPhoto (presumably of a sharp-skinned hawk, known as a "sharpie") and a guitar-tuning app "listening to a string being adjusted from E-flat to to C-sharp.

The third keyword in the ad is "discover," which leads to a rapid tour of the middle portion of the solar system, a swiping gesture showing the changing of a dinosaur from bones to skin in an e-text, Yelp's augmented reality feature that places business labels on stores seen through the iPhone's camera, and a brief visual tutorial on how to use the music-identification app Shazam, featuring a drawn speaker that the iPhone is pointed to before being turned to reveal that it has identified the song.

The second ad, "Brilliant," starts off with the keyword "sweet" which brings up the Crave recipe app, Apple's own Cards application (which sends actual postcards designed by the user through US mail), a clip from the early portion of the movie Up by Pixar, and a bit of skateboard prowess from a virtual skateboarding app. The second keyword is "rise," which shows a user swiping to move time forward in an clip, causing a sunrise; Apple's Passbook app being used to show a Starbucks loyalty card on-screen, which is then turned to face a laser reader to read a transaction; a Keynote slide with an animated chart showing increases in energy efficiency among different modes of transportation, and the iPhone being used as the controller for a Bluetooth-connected flying model helicopter.

For the last keyword, "brilliant," an e-book is shown about Albert Einstein, a "Rubik's Cube" game app, the app MyScript Calculator that reads handwritten mathematical equations and answers them, and an app that controls the Philips "Hue" bulbs, which can change color on demand using the iPhone. Like the rest of the series, the adds spotlight both hardware features and applications that go beyond just what's on the screen and demonstrate real-world applications for the device.

by MacNN Staff