"Big" Apple announcement may involve Disney

PeterAlt

PeterAlt

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Apple is holding a press conference this afternoon to announce new products and other things. ABC News, a Disney subsidiary, has been given exclusive live access coverage for the event. Apple and ABC are saying some big announcement at the event is to be expected.

Over at AppleInsider.com, there's talk that such an announcement will involve Disney. One member there posted:

"ABC is owned by Disney... Laurene Powell Jobs (Steve's wife) is now a major stockholder in Disney... Disney has a long, close history with Apple... Apple may have given ABC 'behind-the-scenes' exclusive coverage and interviews which will later follow the announcement..."

"Good grief, this announcement is starting to sound absolutely massive. Apple has never said anything like 'historic' in any of their announcements...

"This has to go beyond the iWatch, beyond clothes with tech integration... (eyes bugging out)"

See the conversation here:

http://forums.appleinsider.com/t/182154/abc-news-teases-report-of-historic-apple-announcement
 
roj2323

roj2323

Well-Known Member
Word is the iPhone 6 will have Near field Communication (NFC) which is essentially the same tech Magic bands use. My personal thoughts are Disney will be accepting Payments for food an merchandise on WDW property as well as at Disney stores nationwide. (I have not heard anything about disneyland or other resorts worldwide) This is a win win for both sides. Apple gets a Major retailer to add to a list (which I'm sure is long) of retailers that will be accepting payments through this new payment system which is rumored to be very similar to Paypal. Disney on the other hand gets an additional payment option to offer their guests.
 
PeterAlt

PeterAlt

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
roj2323 said:
Word is the iPhone 6 will have Near field Communication (NFC) which is essentially the same tech Magic bands use. My personal thoughts are Disney will be accepting Payments for food an merchandise on WDW property as well as at Disney stores nationwide. (I have not heard anything about disneyland or other resorts worldwide) This is a win win for both sides. Apple gets a Major retailer to add to a list (which I'm sure is long) of retailers that will be accepting payments through this new payment system which is rumored to be very similar to Paypal. Disney on the other hand gets an additional payment option to offer their guests.
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Good assessment! My only question is why would they need to sign Disney up for this if (what I heard is true) they have all the major credit card companies signed up as well? I mean signing up the big retailers really isn't necessary if it goes through one of the credit card companies, right?
 
roj2323

roj2323

Well-Known Member
PeterAlt said:
Good assessment! My only question is why would they need to sign Disney up for this if (what I heard is true) they have all the major credit card companies signed up as well? I mean signing up the big retailers really isn't necessary if it goes through one of the credit card companies, right?
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Apple is rumored to be creating an online payment system much like Paypal. Keep in mind Paypal is essentially a bank in everything but name.
 
PeterAlt

PeterAlt

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
roj2323 said:
Apple is rumored to be creating an online payment system much like Paypal. Keep in mind Paypal is essentially a bank in everything but name.
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Yeah, I've been following that. The service is expected to pay reward points each time it's used.

Another possibility of what this announcement could be is maybe Disney and Apple are teaming up to buy Time Warner? That is more probable than speculation I've read on the Apple boards that Apple may buy Disney. In past announcements in recent years, Apple has been able to keep major leaks from happening. For example, last year they were able to keep secret that the iPhone 5S would have a 64 bit processor. That's a major secret they were able to prevent from leaking.

My point is anything is possible!
 
GhostHost1000

GhostHost1000

Premium Member
it's just marketing hype as apple has been losing it's "wow" factor over the years - plenty of rumors out there what is coming. While cool, it's not real earth shattering. Apple is or has been beginning to stall in some regards... most who want iPhones already have them and the new versions haven't been making everyone want to trade up...I'm not sure this will either but we'll see.
 
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xdan0920

xdan0920

Think for yourselfer
GhostHost0513 said:
it's just marketing hype as apple has been losing it's "wow" factor over the years - plenty of rumors out there what is coming. While cool, it's not real earth shattering. Apple is or has been beginning to stall in some regards... most who want iPhones already have them and the new versions haven't been making everyone want trade up...I'm not sure this will either but we'll see.
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I don't think "fancy" ways of giving away money is really a customer enhancement. It's surprising to me that companies like Apple and Disney think that this type of thing will drive sales.
 
BrerJon

BrerJon

Well-Known Member
PeterAlt said:
Good assessment! My only question is why would they need to sign Disney up for this if (what I heard is true) they have all the major credit card companies signed up as well? I mean signing up the big retailers really isn't necessary if it goes through one of the credit card companies, right?
Click to expand...

In the USA very few retailers have NFC readers built into their payment points, as even though most Android phones have had the technology for years, it takes someone like Apple to make it mainstream, and there are still many places you can't tap your phone to pay for things.

Disney, thanks to MyMagic+ (spit), has got a reader in every payment location, so they could announce from day one that you can use your NFC phone or watch to pay. It's a great way to demo the technology and get other retailers to sign up.

Now, Apple, can we have some money back as a thank you please? We kinda spent a billion bucks developing this thing you're now benefiting from!
 
FigmentFan3

FigmentFan3

Well-Known Member
Here's Macrumors' take on Disney involvement, suggesting that near field communication and iBeacon technologies are being added to Disney stores. http://www.macrumors.com/2014/09/07/updated-ibeacon-nfc-apple-disney-stores/
This would allow certain iPhones to act as an in store guide, using the iBeacons to display location based messages as you explore the store. Then using NFC, you could simply tap your iPhone 6 or probably your iWatch, to pay for your purchases much like a certain other wristband. Apple's event streams live at apple.com today at 1 PM Eastern.
 
Matt_Black

Matt_Black

Well-Known Member
GhostHost0513 said:
Apple is or has been beginning to stall in some regards... most who want iPhones already have them and the new versions haven't been making everyone want trade up...I'm not sure this will either but we'll see.
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Not unlike Microsoft Windows, in some regards. They make the best operating system on the market, everyone has it, so what's left for Windows 8? (The answer, as many know, is... meh.)
 
S

stuey222

Member
I would venture to guess this is going to be closer to something to deal with media offerings...like iTunes Match offering Disney movies/shows to watch or the like....something to compete with Amazon Prime/Netflix that goes hand in hand with their acquisition of Beats.
 
Kamikaze

Kamikaze

Well-Known Member
david10225 said:
I use my Nexus 5 frequently using touch to pay at 7/11 and Walgreens. Works through Google wallet which charges my credit card. I don't see what the big deal is though. I do have to say that every time I do it the clerks say they have never seen it before so it must be still pretty rare.
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Apple doing it will make it mainstream. Its really that simple.

PeterAlt said:
Good assessment! My only question is why would they need to sign Disney up for this if (what I heard is true) they have all the major credit card companies signed up as well? I mean signing up the big retailers really isn't necessary if it goes through one of the credit card companies, right?
Click to expand...

Correct. However, they DO need people to show it off onstage.
 
ScoutN

ScoutN

OV 104
Premium Member
xdan0920 said:
I don't think "fancy" ways of giving away money is really a customer enhancement. It's surprising to me that companies like Apple and Disney think that this type of thing will drive sales.
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Yepp, it has only caused me to be MUCH more conscious of what I am spending resulting in MUCH less being spent overall.
 
danv3

danv3

Well-Known Member
How is it more convenient to pull out your phone to pay than to pull out a card from your wallet? I use my phone to pay at Starbucks only because I don't always carry my Starbucks gold card. The same would never apply to credit card purchases. I always have my credit card with me in my wallet.

To tie this to Disney, magic bands are at least slightly more convenient than paying with a card. Phone payments don't seem to be an improvement over the status quo to me.
 

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