The really stupid thing regarding Blackberrys is their dependence on RIM to route the services through their data centers. The service is the single point of failure(spof), which incidentally the iPhone doesn’t have, since you can use pretty much use any email service(IMPA, POP3 and through the browser). You could say that the iPhone’s SPOF is the AT&T network, but then again, it has WiFi.
Blackberry owners: MIGRATE!
(Via Valleywag.)
At the beginning cellphone were huge. I remeber that they were considered weapons and not allowed into high profile soccer matches. Innovation only came from new smaller form factors. After a couple of years of smaller and smaller ridiculous phone people stopped being impressed. In the early 2000 camera phone came out as means of innovation. But still phone features were limited by carriers and not but consumers.
When the iPhone came out it was more than a device, it was more of a wake of call to consumers. They could actually own something that was worth using. An easy to use, cool phone (that can withstand falls….I’ve dropped mine several times) and was a pleasure to use.
I do admit it has small flaws, but it’s a new platform and a true game changer. As Fred Vogelstein from Wired put it:
The iPhone cracked open the carrier-centric structure of the wireless industry and unlocked a host of benefits for consumers, developers, manufacturers — and potentially the carriers themselves.
The iPhone has changed the wireless industry and now manufacturers are willing to take risks with true innovation and not just two faced phones like 2007 CES.
(Via Max Sez.)
With less than two weeks to go, here is what we got flying around:
iTunes:UPDATE: Two rumors merging -> Apple TV + Blue-ray
Om Malik reviews the Nokia N81:
Unless this is an especially buggy device, N81 has to be one of the worst Nokia phones I have ever used and would be loathe to recommend it to anyone.
Still it looks kind of cool looking (ohh wait…it’s just like the LG Chocolate! lol)
Finally the rumors on the gPhone finally become true…sort of. The Open Handset Alliance backed by Google is introducing a new linux based mobile platform called Android. So there is no actual iPhone direct competitor, just an OS and an SDK for now. The first phones using it will come out in the second half of 2008 and manufactured by HTC.
With information still sparse on details, it seems as this is more of a sudo-vaporware long term strategy rather than go to market technology. Google is all about the open now a days: OpenSocial and now this.
It’s pretty cool to have an “open” strategy, but at some point in time shareholders are going to start wondering where the profits will come from. Sure you can extend Adsense to OpenSocial apps and subsides the phone’s software dev with a little advertising….but how much? And since the phone is open, what would prevent a phone manufacturer from changing the default search engine from google to yahoo?
Handset sales are far outpacing PC sales, thus creating a big market for mobile advertising. How this is going to affect usability in a small screen is yet to be seen. The one phrase that stuck in my mind was in the Open Handset Alliance Android page:
For example, Android enables developers to obtain the location of the device, and allow devices to communicate with one another enabling rich peer-to-peer social applications.
Location relevant advertising is the next big thing. New in an area and want a quick sushi hit? Just power up your android and type: sushi. No need to know the zip code or city name. Plus you’ll have access to yelp reviews through Open Social. So you’ll instantly know where to go and if it is any good. Sounds like a dream come true. Now let’s hope it doesn’t become vaporware.
Interesting read on what we can expect for the iPhone SDK.
(Via Daring Fireball.)
People wonder what’s the big deal with this iPhone/iPod software development kit geared towards developers. If developers are making money now with an approximate installed base of around 20-30 million users for the Mac, imagine the possibilities with a 100 million plus installed base like the iPod currently has. OS X’s growth rate will outpace Mac OS X and could reach mind boggling numbers in the next few years. Apple’s projections are to sell 10 million iPhones in the first year. I think its time to start re-reading Aaron Hillegass Cocoa Programming book.
So the news is out. The people at Businessweek as well as Glenn Fleishman were right(although Businesweek had a lot of errors). Apple is releasing an SDK for the iPhone and iPod Touch by February(which is an obvious move). Before I couldn’t wait 9 days to see Leopard, now a new wait for Apple goodies has started. This is definitely good news! Job’s reason for delay:
It will take until February to release an SDK because we’re trying to do two diametrically opposed things at once—provide an advanced and open platform to developers while at the same time protect iPhone users from viruses, malware, privacy attacks, etc.
This just shows you how important customer voices are in modern business.
Now, about those locked iPhones…..
“Real Writers” need to be a bit more careful on what they write for a mayr magazine. As I was reading this Busineesweek article by Arik Hesseldahl and Olga Kharif I could not believe how many factual errors I found. The basically go around what’s been said over and over on how Apple is holding back on an SDK as they wait for Leopard to stabilize. Here are some of the point I though were misinformed:
Those familiar with the process of hacking an iPhone and installing unauthorized applications say doing so requires obtaining “root” access to the device’s underlying software code. In the world of computers that run on Unix-based operating systems—which includes Apple’s Macintosh computers and the iPhone—users with root access have no limitations as to which files and features they can tinker with. In theory this means that root access on an iPhone could be exploited for malicious purposes, such as hijacking a user’s contact list, eavesdropping on calls, or worse.
Ok, I have root access to my Mac, and I don’t pose a security risk to myself, my network or internet. Both machines are networked and shouldn’t be treated differently. Oh…or somebody is going eavesdrop my email account since developers have root access or something?
Similarly, iPhone programming tools might be distributed via the iTunes store, which Apple already uses to distribute simple games that run on the iPod.
The programming tools? WTF? I though only the games were distributed through iTunes, the programming tools come from Xcode!
It’s rumored that some major players already have been given the iPhone development kit. The list is said to include gaming software maker Electronic Arts (ERTS) and Google (GOOG), which has already built versions of Google Maps and its YouTube video site for the iPhone.
NOOOOTTT! Jobs said at All things D “We are pretty decent at making apps, we took their back-end and built it ourselves” (not exact words).
So there you have it. Don’t believe every word these idiots say!!!
So according to an article Fortune’s Tech Daily section, Google is getting to release 50,000 gPhone manufactured by HTC. Apparently they will be targeted towards developers(SDK…anyone, anyone?). Everybody has had their say on this gPhone and details are still sparse, but apparently something is going to materialize on Oct 24/07. If this new set of rumors is correct, it shows you that Google has their priorities straight, unlike some fruit company I know. This is probably not going to be an iPhone killer, but rather a Palm OS and Windows Mobile eliminator. Everyone is speculating Google is going to be betting real hard on their Adsense platform to deliver the revenue.
(Via Fortunet.)