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Apple is trying to sell loyal iPhone users on AI tools. Here's what Apple Intelligence can do

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Apple is trying to sell loyal iPhone users on AI tools. Here's what Apple Intelligence can do

Apple’s new artificial intelligence tools are here. Now the company is trying to help customers understand them.

The Cupertino, Calif.-based tech giant on Wednesday began offering 15-minute sessions for customers at its hundreds of U.S. retail stores on the company’s new suite of AI tools called Apple Intelligence, which can help iPhone users to compose emails faster, create new emojis and delete their exes out of photos.

Apple Intelligence is a key feature on Apple’s newest operating system, which the company hopes will propel more customers to upgrade and buy more devices. The new capabilities are featured prominently in ads for the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Pro that have aired lately, including during the World Series.

AI tools have been available to the broader public for a while now, but putting them directly in the hands of loyal Apple users could significantly accelerate the technology’s mainstream adoption. But the features will likely have a steep learning curve for some users, so Apple Store employees are tasked with walking customers through them.

The first set of new tools became available with the newest operating system update and works on iPhone 15 Pro, iPad A17 Pro or M1, Mac with M1 or newer models.

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“One of the problems with a new tool like Apple Intelligence is getting people to try it out in the first place,” said Rob Enderle, principal analyst with the advisory services firm Enderle Group. “We tend to be creatures of habit and particularly as we get older, we don’t mess around with stuff that’s new and different. So getting people to use the tool becomes an important part of actually validating [whether] the tools [are] any good.”

Here are some of the key features of Apple Intelligence that The Times demoed. The effort is part of the tech giant’s “Today at Apple” sessions that aim to help educate Apple customers on how to navigate their devices.

Assisting communication

New AI tools can assist iPhone, Mac and iPad users with proofreading and composing messages.

For example, an iPhone user planning a sushi gathering at her house can type a few blurbs describing the time and place of the event, and Apple Intelligence will help create a full invitation.

Apple Intelligence can help change the tone of the message — whether the user wants it to be more friendly or professional.

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The tech can also flag questions in an email that a user didn’t answer, summarize memos and prioritize notifying users on time-sensitive messages, such as when a delivery has arrived, so the note doesn’t get lost in their inbox.

Compiling memories, erasing exes

The AI tools can help users better find specific photos in their libraries and create short videos to relive memories based by typing in descriptions. For example, a mom can type in, “Hannah and her bunny over the years,” and the software will generate a slideshow compilation video from her photo library with music.

Apple Intelligence also has a photo editing tool inside the Photos app that lets users remove unwanted objects or people in their photos by tapping, brushing away or circling the image. People can delete selfie-sticks, photo bombers or even your ex-boyfriend or girlfriend from the picture.

A smarter Siri?

With the updated tools, Apple‘s voice-command system Siri will be able to better detect what a user is asking, even if they stumble over their words. Users can choose to speak or type questions to Siri.

For example, if someone tells Siri, “Set an alarm for — oh wait, no — set a timer for 10 minutes. Actually, I just thought about it, I can probably do it in five. Make it five minutes,” the software would, in theory, be able to figure out what the tongue-tied person meant to say.

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Emojis on demand

In December, Apple Intelligence will also allow users to create their own customized emojis to use as stickers or reactions in text messages. For example, users can type a description such as, “shrimp with a cowboy hat,” and will receive a corresponding emoji to use in communications or create ones based on photos of their friends and family.

Other December updates include the option to access ChatGPT through Siri.

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Overnight lines, mall fights and instant sellouts: Labubu toy mania comes to America

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Overnight lines, mall fights and instant sellouts: Labubu toy mania comes to America

Every few Fridays, in the middle of the night, a line forms outside the Pop Mart store at Westfield Century City.

It’s the same scene over at Glendale Galleria. And at South Coast Plaza. Victoria Gardens in Rancho Cucamonga, too.

They come by the hundreds, all vying for the latest Labubu, a furry toy character with rabbit-like ears and a nightmarish grin stretched wide over a row of serrated teeth. Labubu, her legion of fans will tell you, is female, the size of a cat and a tad mischievous. She belongs to a Nordic tribe of elves known as the Monsters. She is very soft. They insist her boyfriend is a look-alike figure named Zimomo, but Pop Mart denies the relationship.

A global buying frenzy for all things Labubu erupted in April when Lisa, a member of the popular K-pop girl group Blackpink, posted a video on Instagram of her hugging a large Labubu plush doll. The 27-year-old megastar, who isn’t a brand spokesperson, further fueled the mania by accessorizing her luxury handbags with small Labubu pendants.

Since then, every new release and restock of the plush dolls has sold out within minutes in stores and within seconds online. Grown men and women — Labubu’s core customers are adults, not kids — have fought over her and police recently had to manage an unruly crowd at a Singapore toy show where Labubus were being sold. Last month, a family allegedly broke into a claw machine filled with boxes of Labubus and stole three of them. Fakes and resellers have flooded the market.

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It’s a sudden and astonishing ascent for an ugly-cute character that debuted nearly a decade ago, and fortuitous timing for Pop Mart as it makes a major push into the U.S.

Founded in 2010, the Chinese toy maker has seen enormous success overseas for its artist-designed collectibles, growing to around 500 retail shops and 2,500 toy vending machines in 30 countries. The company’s stock price has more than tripled this year, giving Pop Mart a market cap of $12.1 billion. It opened its first permanent U.S. store in September 2023 and has quickly expanded to 16 locations around the country, seven of them in California.

Pop Mart, which makes Labubu and other designer toys, is opening stores around the U.S. after seeing huge success overseas. The Chinese company reported record revenue of $638.5 million for the first half of 2024, a 62% year-over-year increase.

Opened in February, the Century City Pop Mart is a maximalist shrine of whimsical characters such as Skull Panda and Dimoo and their many, many related products: vinyl plush dolls in all sizes, action figures, keychains, stationery, purses and tote bags, cups, hair clips, smartphone and earphone cases, lamps and night lights.

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These days Labubu is the must-have character, with her merch universe ranging from an $8.99 fridge magnet to a “Mega 1000%” — a giant 31-inch plastic figurine that sells for $959.90.

Blind boxes are in high demand: The packages are sealed and contain a random product from a collection, injecting an element of surprise and tempting customers to buy boxes over and over until they get the exact figure they want. Similar to packs of baseball trading cards, a few lucky boxes contain rare “secret” figurines that are not part of the regular series.

“It’s a high and it’s excitement,” said Jon Shapiro, 48, who arrived at 2:30 a.m. to be first in line at a recent Pop Mart release in Century City. “You start buying sets and you’re like, ‘OK, well I need the whole collection.’ It’s like you have a mission.”

Shapiro, who owns a home inspection company, visited Pop Mart for the first time in January during a trip to Paris and “just got addicted.”

“It would blow your mind,” he said of the number of Pop Mart collectibles he has since acquired, which span “almost every collection” and fill his living room in downtown L.A. from floor to ceiling. “I would say I’ve probably spent minimum $10,000.”

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“I’m not a collector of anything else,” he said. “But for some reason, Pop Mart got me.”

On that Friday morning in late October, more than 100 superfans had gathered outside the Pop Mart store before 9 a.m., having learned about the product drop from the brand’s social media posts.

Up for grabs: 29 large Zimomo dolls, 30 six-box blind sets of Labubu pendants and 40 Labubu purses.

1 Labubu dolls on display at Pop Mart

2 The Century City Pop Mart store had only 40 Labubu purses for sale during an October launch. They sold out in less than an hour.

1. Labubu vinyl plush pendants on display. 2. The Century City Pop Mart store had only 40 Labubu purses for sale during an October launch. They sold out in less than an hour.

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A squabble had broken out a few hours earlier over line position, store manager Henry Nguyen said, and mall security stepped in to restore order. “There was an escalation,” he said. “It was chaotic.”

Just a few days before, an Australian TikTok user posted a video from a different Pop Mart that showed hordes of shoppers waiting for the store to open, some sleeping on the ground outside the shopping center’s sliding doors overnight.

“Everyone started screaming, shoving and rushing in, and people even got crushed at the sides of the doors,” Lawrence Yu said in the video, which has been viewed 1.2 million times. “There was a group of poor Asian aunties that had all got pushed to the floor. They grazed their knees and they also snapped a few nails, too.”

I’m not a collector of anything else. But for some reason, Pop Mart got me.

— Jon Shapiro, 48, a Pop Mart superfan

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The phenomenon has forced staff at each Pop Mart store to devise their own crowd control plans on the fly. To get the line in Century City moving, Nguyen decided to open an hour early, reminding customers that they were limited to one Zimomo doll ($289.99) or one complete Labubu blind set ($131.94).

Once they made it through the doors, elated shoppers grabbed blind boxes and vigorously shook them to try to discern what was inside. A mother and daughter from Inglewood filmed an unboxing video for TikTok as soon as they finished paying. The store has several Instagram group chats filled with hundreds of customers, and those on the scene posted real-time updates to let others know how many items were left.

It was all over in about an hour, with people toward the back of the line dispersing once it became clear they wouldn’t make the cutoff. Some grumbled about resellers, who sell their Labubu hauls at exorbitant markups, being among those who had swarmed the release.

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Shoppers wait in line outside of Pop Mart.

Shoppers wait in line outside the Century City store in October. Some arrived as early as 2:30 a.m.

Shopping online is just as disheartening, they lamented, because of bots programmed to hoover up products the instant they’re available. The night before, the Zimomo plush sold out in less than a minute on Pop Mart’s website and TikTok Shop.

“We’re not trying to manufacture” scarcity, said Emily Brough, head of licensing for Pop Mart North America, which is headquartered in Glendale.

“It’s not like we’re just sending 12 to the store so that there’s this craze and nobody gets what they want,” she said. “We want people to get what they want, and we do try to stock up for the demand.”

Brough attributed the limited quantities to the Beijing-based company’s supply chain timeline — Pop Mart places its orders months in advance, sometimes before a particular toy has taken off. The company said it is working on strategies to make things more fair and to better manage the masses at its U.S. stores on product launch days.

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Pop Mart reported record revenue of $638.5 million for the first half of 2024, a 62% increase over the same period a year earlier. Sales in its burgeoning North America segment totaled $24.9 million; more than three-fourths of its revenue comes from Southeast Asia and East Asia.

Plush toys, a hot category in the toy industry, did monster numbers: Pop Mart said revenue skyrocketed nearly 1,000% in the first half of the year, to $62.5 million. The company declined to discuss Labubu-specific sales figures or to comment on whether it was ramping up production.

Creating a viral hit is the dream for toy makers, and there is no “exact formula,” Brough said. “This is the first time that we’ve seen anything like this in North America.”

Pop Mart has benefited from some right-place-right-time luck: Its Labubu pendants double as bag charms, which have been a huge trend in the fashion world. “Kidults” — adults who are big consumers of products traditionally made for children — have been on the rise. And the organic social media love from Lisa and other celebrities was also invaluable.

1

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An employee rings up a Labubu handbag.

2 The Zimomo "Angel in Clouds" vinyl plush doll

1. An employee rings up a Labubu purse for a customer. 2. The most coveted item during a recent Pop Mart launch was a large Zimomo doll for $289.99.

But more than anything, Pop Mart has mastered the hype playbook.

Collectors say they became hooked by the psychological thrill of the blind-box chase and the satisfaction of completing a set; the steady release of special collaborations and seasonal collections (a recent Halloween-themed Labubu had the elf wearing a pumpkin outfit); and the feeling of desperation that comes with wanting something in short supply.

There are also surprise, midday product drops in stores and online. That unpredictability has led people to compulsively check the stores’ Instagram Stories for news of spontaneous restocks.

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Whenever one is posted, customers within quick driving or running distance descend upon the store, as they did last Thursday afternoon after the Century City Pop Mart used red siren emojis to announce it had 83 Labubus for sale: “Hot restock announcement… sales start right now.” A shopper who rushed over said everything was gone in less than 20 minutes.

They’re very limited, so that’s why you want it. You kind of crave it.

— Justine Cristobal, 34, a Labubu collector from Pico Rivera

The challenge will be to keep it going.

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“The biggest problem with the industry is these things are really popular when they’re popular, and then they’re just not relevant anymore,” said Jaime Katz, an equity analyst at Morningstar. “You have to change the storyline, you have to evolve what you’re selling, you have to think about what would get consumers to make that next purchase.”

Pop Mart began as a general merchandise retailer selling third-party toys and other products. Over time, it pivoted to making designer toys, working closely with independent artists via licensing deals. The toys, which are mainly manufactured in China, found a broad audience among Gen Z.

Shoppers wait in line outside of Pop Mart,

Mega Space Molly figurines line Pop Mart’s window display in Century City. The company is known for its artist-designed collectible toys.

Hong Kong-born artist Kasing Lung is the creator of Labubu and the other Monsters creatures, which first appeared in 2015 in a series of picture books; Pop Mart began selling Labubu merchandise four years later.

Lung told The Times that he incorporated elements of his own personality into Labubu’s narrative, such as her “naughtiness,” which he believed made the character more compelling.

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He realized the impish elf had become a runaway success when “one day my parents asked me for a Labubu doll,” he said. “That was the specific moment for me.”

Now, obsessed fans are showcasing them in acrylic display cases in their homes, clipping them onto their backpacks and purses, and customizing them with fake eyelashes, tiny clothes and braces.

Justine Cristobal and her partner, Marivene Del Rosario, began buying Labubu in September. In two months, they’ve spent $2,500 on 28 small plushes and three large ones, driving to Pop Marts all over Southern California twice a week and meeting other collectors in coffee shops and at their homes to swap figurines.

“Sometimes we go to different Pop Marts just to check out what they have in the same day,” said 34-year-old Cristobal, a nurse from Pico Rivera.

But the secret chestnut-cocoa Labubu — there’s only one in every 72 boxes — has eluded them.

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“It’s a reason for us to buy more and then we’ll just trade the ones that we already have,” she said. “They’re very limited, so that’s why you want it. You kind of crave it.”

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FTC lawsuit accuses L.A. cash app Dave of charging hidden fees

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FTC lawsuit accuses L.A. cash app Dave of charging hidden fees

The Federal Trade Commission has accused Los Angeles cash app Dave Inc. of misleading its financially vulnerable customers about fees it charges and the amount of money it gives out.

In a federal lawsuit filed Tuesday in Los Angeles, the agency alleges that although Dave advertises it offers $500 advances “instantly,” only a “miniscule” number of customers receive close to that amount. It also says customers are unaware they must pay a fee to get immediate cash, or else wait several days, and that the app charges a default “tip” of 15% that many customers don’t know they are paying.

The lawsuit, which includes additional allegations of wrongdoing, seeks a permanent injunction to prevent future violations of FTC regulations and a 2010 law that regulates online commerce.

“Dave lured in consumers living paycheck-to-paycheck with false claims of big-dollar advances, then reached into their pockets to give itself a so-called ‘tip,’” Samuel Levine, director of the agency’s Bureau of Consumer Protection, said in a statement.

Dave founder and Chief Executive Jason Wilk declined to comment, but the company issued a statement disputing the allegations. It said it intended to “vigorously defend” itself and that none of the allegations in the lawsuit, if proved, would prevent the app from charging the fees or “optional tips,” but instead were about issues around “consumer disclosures and consent.”

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The lawsuit was approved by a bipartisan 4-1 vote of the FTC, with Republican Commissioner Andrew Ferguson joining Chair Lina Khan and the two other Democrats on the board voting in its favor. Khan is widely expected to be replaced under the new Trump administration.

Khan, who has pursued an aggressive antitrust agenda, has been a divisive figure among politicians and business elites. Among critics calling for her ouster was billionaire Mark Cuban, an early Dave investor, who feared Khan might break up big Silicon Valley tech companies. He later pulled back some of those comments.

Consumer advocates have worried that a second Trump administration would give short shrift to financial protection laws. During Trump’s first term, another federal body, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, weakened proposed regulations targeting payday lenders.

Lauren Saunders, associate director of the National Consumer Law Center, said the future work of the CFPB would be dictated by a new administrator under Trump; but because the FTC is governed by commissioners with staggered seven-year terms, change could come slowly.

“They will be able to appoint the chair and appoint new members, but it might take a little time,” she said.

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The lawsuit was the first time the agency has targeted the practice of “tipping,” which other cash advance apps such as MoneyLion also employ.

However, it filed two similar lawsuits against the cash apps Brigit and FloatMe, accusing them of promising large advances for free and then charging fees for immediate access to the money. Both companies settled with the agency, agreeing to change their practices and refund customers.

For the record:

1:23 p.m. Nov. 6, 2024An earlier version of this story said that DailyPay, a paycheck advance app, charges tips. It does not.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has targeted tips charged by companies that typically partner with employers to give workers access to money prior to payday. Earlier this year it proposed a regulation that would include certain tips and expedited delivery fees in the total disclosed finance charges on such advances.

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Dave, in a July news release, said it would not be subject to the new rules given how its advances are structured. The National Consumer Law Center has called on the CFPB to broaden the proposed regulations to include all forms of cash advances made by direct-to-consumer financial technology companies.

The lawsuit against Dave accuses the company of charging “express fees” of $3 to $25 and misleading customers into giving the default tip of 15% through a deceptive interface on the app that links tips to “healthy meals” for children in need — when only a fraction of the tips goes to charity.

It also accuses the company of charging a $1 monthly fee and making it extremely difficult for customers to stop the charge.

The Dave statement said the company was in the midst of “good-faith negotiations” over the allegations when the agency decided to instead file the lawsuit.

The company, which went public in 2022, has seen sales grow from $205 million that year to $259 million last year. It said Tuesday that it expects third-quarter revenue to hit $92.5 million, a 41% increase over the same period last year, while turning a small profit.

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Shares of Dave, which have risen more than 700% since last year, rose 22% to $45.87 on Wednesday.

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Ref needs glasses? Not anymore. Lasik company offers free procedures for referees

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Ref needs glasses? Not anymore. Lasik company offers free procedures for referees

The officials missed not one, but two apparent penalties on one key play late in the Cincinnati Bengals-Baltimore Ravens showdown Thursday night that could have cost Joe Burrow and Co. the game.

That came just two weeks after the officials appeared to have missed another crucial call at the end of the “Thursday Night Football” game between the Minnesota Vikings and the Rams that could have altered the outcome.

Can anything be done about all these referees who appear unable to see what’s happening right in front of them?

The folks at Lasik.com, seeing a golden opportunity to promote their services, have stepped forward to help. The company is offering free corrective eye surgery for NFL officials as well as for anyone who is in such a capacity for a number of other U.S. sports leagues.

Are professional referees upset about the Lasik promotion? A representative for the union representing NFL referees did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

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The program is called “Better Vision, Better Calls.” And, yes, it’s legit.

“Yeah, it is real,” Eddy Gilfilen, a marketing director for Lasik.com, told The Times. “It is completely complimentary as long as they are an official referee across the NFL, NHL, NBA, MLB, USNT, WNBA, MLS and NWSL, so really just the top major women’s and men’s professional leagues.

“If a referee is deemed a safe candidate, they are absolutely, fully covered, including drops and any other extra charges they might have.”

Gilfilen said the company’s network of providers have already treated numerous referees across multiple leagues through the promotion.

But, that’s not all: Anybody who nominates an official whose eyes seem to need fixing will receive $1,000 off their own Lasik procedure.

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“We’ve had hundreds of nominations over the last couple weeks,” Gilfilen said.

The program was launched in May, but it didn’t receive much attention until after the Vikings-Rams game Oct. 24 at SoFi Stadium.

With less than two minutes left in the game, Minnesota quarterback Sam Darnold was tackled in the end zone for a safety, giving L.A. the ball and a two-score lead. Replays showed that Rams linebacker Byron Young had illegally grabbed Darnold’s facemask in making the play, but the play couldn’t be reviewed and the Rams went on to a claim a 30-20 win.

Later that night, Lasik.com took to X and posted a photo of the play, with the caption “Better Vision. Better Calls” and a link to the offer in the comments.

Suddenly, people noticed.

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“Really the first kind of lift that we saw was from that Rams game,” Gilfilen said. “That was the first campaign where it really kind of took off and we’re like, OK, we gotta figure out a way to keep the momentum going.”

That opportunity came Thursday night, after the Bengals pulled to within 35-34 with 38 seconds left in the game and opted to go for a two-point conversion and the likely win. But Burrow’s pass to receiver Tanner Hudson fell incomplete and sealed the Ravens’ win, as the officials did not throw flags on the apparent pass interference and roughing the passer penalties against Baltimore.

Afterward, Lasik.com posted a video of the missed interference call, along with a friendly reminder: “Obviously, we’re still offering NFL refs free LASIK.”

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