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February 2025 saw Roblox unveil the first graduate collection from its Digital Fashion Program, developed in collaboration with Tokyo's Bunka Fashion College and Dentsu Group. Students' virtual fashion creations were exhibited in a Roblox experience where visitors can try on, vote for and purchase outfits for their avatars. As part of the course, designers were tasked with creating digital fashion items based on a 'My Brand' theme using Roblox Studio, as well as accompanying physical pieces. The initiative expands on a previous partnership with Parsons School of Design. Roblox also plans to exhibit student works in galleries across Japan and globally, while expanding the digital fashion program in the coming years.As consumers spend more time in digital worlds, more value and significance are ascribed to their digital personas. Consumers see their virtual avatars as an extension of themselves, a canvas to represent their identity, tastes and preferences. Roblox found that 56% of Gen Z users on the platform consider their avatars' digital style more important than their style in the physical world. And they're backing this sentiment with action the platform earned USD 1.1 billion from in-game spending in Q3 2024, much of it from the purchase of virtual items, with 82% of adult gamers on Roblox having spent money in games. The Digital Fashion Program is the latest step towards establishing a well-rounded economy around virtual products. It is time to consider how your brand might play in the space. How might you create products, not just for your consumers' IRL selves, but also for their digital twins?
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Marketing and Advertising
Utah has once again passed a bill that attempts to place new limits on childrens ability to access social media and other apps. The state legislature passed a bill that requires app store makers to verify the ages of users and get parental consent for the downloading of apps. Should the governor sign the bill into law, it would be (as The Verge points out) the first such measure in the country. The Beehive State has previously attempted to restrict how children can use social media. The state passed two laws in 2023 that imposed age verification and parental permission requirements onto social media companies. Those laws were later revised amid legal challenges, and a Utah judge blocked them from taking effect last fall. The App Store Accountability Act takes a different approach. It puts the burden on app stores (namely, Apple and Google) to conduct age verification and parental permission rather than individual social media platforms. Unsurprisingly, Meta and other social media companies have long preferred the app store-centric approach to age verification. On Wednesday, Meta, Snap and X issued a rare joint statement praising the Utah measure. Parents want a one-stop shop to verify their childs age and grant permission for them to download apps in a privacy-preserving way, the companies said. The app store is the best place for it, and more than a quarter of states have introduced bills recognizing the central role app stores play. We applaud Utah for putting parents in charge with its landmark legislation and urge Congress to follow suit. Apple and Google so far havent publicly weighed in on Utahs bill, though weve reached out to both for comment. Given the controversy surrounding previous attempts to impose age verification requirements on platforms, the Utah bill will likely face legal challenges if and when its signed into law. Even so, other states are likely to follow Utahs lead on this issue. At least eight more states are considering similar measures.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/utah-is-poised-to-pass-an-age-verification-law-for-app-stores-000542476.html?src=rss
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Marketing and Advertising
Apple used to treat every public-facing announcement like an event. Even its keynotes ostensibly for investors and press were well-orchestrated circuses. If there's any conclusion to be drawn from the sheer number of new products the company's launched without any kind of event since the iPhone 16 series was introduced six months ago, the time for hanging on Apple's every word has passed. Some of it can be chalked up to the company's new preference for recorded, highly-edited video presentations rather than live shows. Some of it might also have to do with the fact that since Apple started making the chips that power its smartphones, tablets and computers, most of the "new" things it introduces amount to spec bumps. Apple's managed to announce eight new products since the iPhone 16, nine if you count a new chip that debuted in one of the company's updated desktop computers. Here's a look at all of that new hardware, from Apple's most recent releases to the new computers it used to close out 2024. M4 MacBook Air Apple The MacBook Air is one of Apple's most popular laptops, so it's only natural it should get the latest M4 chip. Luckily, that extra power didn't come at the cost of a more expensive computer. A 13-inch MacBook Air now starts at $999, with the 15-inch model coming in at $1,199, down from the $1,099 you used to have to pay to get an M3 MacBook Air. The new laptops also come with an improved 12MP Center Stage webcam, and a new metallic color option Apple's dubbed "Sky Blue." It's not the most exciting announcement, but a new laptop that's twice as powerful as Apple's M1 computers for a lower price is welcome all the same. Mac Studio Apple Apple's update to the Mac Studio, announced alongside the MacBook Air, is even more of a pure spec bump. No cosmetic changes were made to the Studio: The short and stout computer still has USB ports and an SD card reader on the front, with even more I/O options available on the back. What's different are the chips powering the Mac Studio on the inside. Apple offers either an M4 Max with a 16-core CPU and 40-core GPU or new M3 Ultra chip, which gives the Studio enough wiggle room to handle most professional creative workloads. With the M4 Max you can get up to 128GB of unified memory but if you opt for the M3 Ultra, that can go all the way up to 512GB. All of that power will cost you, though. The Mac Studio with the M4 Max starts at $1,999, while the M3 Ultra version starts at $3,999. M3 Ultra Apple The M3 Ultra is the truly novel part of the Mac Studio update. The late-arriving chip fills the top spot in Apple's M3 lineup, with a 32-core CPU (24 of which are performance cores), up to a 80-core GPU and a 32-core Neural Engine. Apple claims the M3 Ultra is over two times as powerful as the M1 Ultra, likely because it's technically two M3 Max chips connected together with the company's "Ultrafusion" architecture. The new chip also supports Thunderbolt 5 for faster connectivity and specced with up to 512GB of unified memory. Currently, the M3 Ultra is only available on the Mac Studio, which oddly leaves the Mac Pro out of the loop. It's possible Apple's most expensive Mac will be updated soon, or maybe there's an even more powerful chip waiting in the wings. M3 iPad Air Apple The same week Apple updated the MacBook Air and Mac Studio, it also tweaked the iPad Air, giving the 11- or 13-inch tablet a new M3 chip, and an updated version of the Magic Keyboard with a function row and a slightly larger trackpad. The iPad Air was already capable of Apple Intelligence and plenty fast with the M2 chip it received in 2024, so Apple's announcement mainly keeps it competitive, unless you're interested in ray-tracing, which admittedly is offered in some console games that have been ported to the iPad. The new iPad Air starts at $599, while the new Magic Keyboard starts at $260, and strangely, only comes in white. iPad
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Marketing and Advertising
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