Ads and appointments
However, it is not all doom and gloom for Apple, as Nissan reportedly said the results from its iAd campaign were ‘exceptional'. It was designed so iPhone users could shake their handset to change the colour of the car and Nissan has reported the adverts' click-through rate was five times as effective as a former non iAd campaign.
Apple previously said it has advertisers signed up for 2010 for $60m of business, yet some insiders have said Apple underestimated how hard it would be to break into the ad space with some ad agencies are unaware of the new technology's capabilities.
Other problems are said to include a rumoured lack of ‘developer kit' for agencies trying to get their heads around the concept, plus no choice for agencies to choose where the ad appears or allow them to embed their own measuring tags in the adverts to gauge customer feedback.
However, in a bid to advance its phone's technology further, Apple has hired a near field communications expert as a product manager for mobile commerce, according to Near Field Communications World.
Near field communications is a form of short range wireless technology that enables phones to be used for mobile payments, interactive advertising, scanning tickets and more.
Benjami Vigier is the man behind PayPal's mobile service plus Starbucks' barcode mobile payment tool, which he worked on while he was a product manager at mFoundry. He will now put the technology to good use for Apple.
Apple has put forward a handful of near field technology-based patent applications in recent months including an iPhone with an electronic wallet and payment system, with the new appointment fuelling rumours the firm is desperate to embed near field technology in its next generation products.
