November 26 - 9:35am EST   A second TV ad for the iPhone has been banned from British TV, the region's Advertising Standards Authority has announced. The ASA says it received 17 complaints about the ad, which depicts a person switching from the Times Online website to Google Maps, and finally the phone's Mail client. The problem with the ad is said to be the speed depicted for the phone's 3G connection, which the ad claims is "really fast," but which the ASA says is shown as completing actions in "a fraction of a second." [full story]

November 4 - 11:45am EST   Apple has posted a new TV ad online, simply referred to as "Dilemmas." The ad promotes use of the iPhone in "solving life's dilemmas," mainly through the help of the various apps sold on the App Store. The commercial specifically highlights Wanderspot's Urbanspoon app, which uses GPS tracking to locate nearby restaurants, and the iPhone's motion sensor to allow random selection through shaking. The app is a free download, but outside of the United States has a limited database of major cities. [full story]

October 20 - 4:45pm EDT   The iPhone appears to be providing a significant boost to related mobile industries, involved parties claim. Andrew Fisher -- CEO of the company behind Shazam, an app which lets users identify songs through an iPhone's microphone -- notes that although his outfit is over four years old, prior to the iPhone 3G, people would only use earlier versions of Shazam three to five times per phone. The iPhone version of Shazam has been downloaded over 1.5 million times in 10 weeks, and has made over 20 million requests from Shazam's servers, equivalent to two or three song look-ups per person, per week. [full story]

October 20 - 9:25am EDT   Apple has released new "Get a Mac" TV ads in an attempt to counter recent Microsoft efforts at boosting the public image of Windows. In the first of the ads, which are now available online, PC (John Hodgman) is shown setting aside a large portion of money for advertising, and a tiny portion on fixing Windows Vista. When Mac (Justin Long) points out that the Vista money is not enough, PC admits this and shifts it all over to the advertising pile. [full story]

September 23 - 11:45pm EDT   Another lawsuit against Apple and AT&T is hitting the courts, with New York resident Jai Sen crying foul over both companies' advertising of the iPhone 3G, software problems, and cracks in the device's chassis. The lawsuit comes through the US District Court for the Eastern district of New York, and encompasses a class-action perspective, with other plaintiffs simply referred to as "others similarly situated." [full story]

September 17 - 10:40pm EDT   Microsoft has unveiled the next phase of its mysterious multi-stage $300 million advertising campaign, opting to embrace the PC character, played by John Hodges in Apple's ads. The New York Times reports that advertising giant Crispin Porter & Bogusky is soon rolling out the new ads, which Microsoft hopes will allow them to redefine the PC's 'personality'. Microsoft cries foul on Apple's presumptuousness, claiming the ads speak on behalf of the Redmond-based Windows maker, misconstruing what its intentions are with its products. [full story]

September 10 - 3:25pm EDT   Apple has posted an online copy of the first TV ad for the second-generation iPod touch. The ad concentrates primarily on the gaming capabilities of the Touch, and highlights titles currently sold through the App Store, such as Super Monkey Ball and a variety of racing and puzzle titles. The spot concludes with a user going back to music, and Apple's new marketing slogan for the device, "The funnest iPod ever." [full story]

September 9 - 10:40am EDT  A new web-based "Get a Mac" ad from Apple is being circulated online, through sites such as TIME.com. The ad relies on two separate banners, each with video; the focus is on the right one, where "PC" (John Hodgman) drags in an op-ed article, entitled "Stop Switching to Mac." PC claims that people are switching to Macs at an "alarming rate," and that the public needs to know about the crisis. [full story]

September 5 - 4:30pm EDT   A buyer is being sought for the complete collection of artwork from the Swedish Mac SE ad campaign, according to myoldmac.net. The art was originally part of a poster campaign from 1987, painted by Swedish artist Erik Saxen, mostly in oil and some mixed media. The paintings reflect different artistic themes, all containing a Mac SE within the scene. The aim is to sell as much of the collection together as possible, but the site claims that if no buyer is found, the paintings will simply be auctioned off through houses like Christie's or Sotheby's. [full story]

July 22 - 3:50pm EDT   TiVo on Tuesday announced it has teamed up with Amazon to offer buyers the opportunity to buy items associated with the shows they're watching via their TiVo remote. The new Product Purchase feature gives television advertisers to promote products sold on Amazon.com via in-show pop-ups that are related to mainstream TV shows. The feature would not only allow the possibility of viewers purchasing products featured on shows, such as a new album or book of a guest on a talk show such as Oprah. [full story]