July 30th, 2009

Crazy talk: Apple should ditch the Mac?

Posted by David Morgenstern @ 5:24 pm

Categories: AAPL, Consumer electronics, Mac OS, Smartphone, iPhone 3GS

Tags: Apple iPhone, Apple Macintosh, Margin, Apple Inc., Desktops, Smart Phones, Hardware, Consumer Electronics, Personal Technology, David Morgenstern

Industry observers point to the amazing margins of the iPhone and the declining margins for computers. So, of course, the logical course of action is for Apple to abandon the Macintosh? It’s crazy talk.

In a Thursday BNET Technology post, Erik Sherman pointed to some recent analyst figures on the iPhone margins. They are amazing.

You’ll have to read his piece for the details, but the short take is that the margin of the iPhone appears to be nearly 60 percent. That’s right, in the world of consumer electronics, Apple is making such a large margin than competitors would likely break out in tears in realization of what they are missing. But instead of simply pocketing the money, it uses the financial advantage to lower Mac prices so it can be more competitive in a cost-sensitive environment.

That raises the question of whether Apple plans a complete shift away from Macs. It needs them for now, but if it can bulk up enough on iPhones and the upcoming tablet, it may be that the Mac becomes an unnecessary endeavor.

The Mac is an “unnecessary endeavor?” Come on! This is crazy talk.

Is the success of the iPhone some kind of a sign that Apple should toss aside its computer hardware and software businesses and become a one-platform company again? A move that would make it totally dependent on the cycles of a single technology, again?

Read the rest of this entry »

May 28th, 2009

FTC cracks down on robocalls

Posted by Jason D. O'Grady @ 8:10 am

Categories: Mobile phone, Smartphone, iPhone

Tags: FTC, South Florida Sun Sentinel, Telemarketing, Advertising & Promotion, Marketing, Marketing Research, Jason D. O'Grady

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is cracking down on robocalls, those calls to our mobile and home lines that claim “Your car’s factory warranty is about to expire!” If you’re unfamiliar, consider yourself lucky, then listen to sample audio from some of the most egregious robocalls.

The Federal Trade Commission and attorneys general in 40 states are cracking down on the warranty providers, including two in South Florida, and the telemarketing firms they use. Complaints filed by the Federal Trade Commission in U.S. District Court in Illinois target the aggressive automated pitches, which trade officials say violate federal telemarketing laws, and the warranties, which officials charge are misleading.

I had a bad run of robocalls to my iPhone back in April, peaking at about five per week, but they since seem to have petered out almost entirely.

Hopefully the deceptive, automated calls will drop dramatically after 1 September 2009 when the final phase of changes to the federal telemarketing law goes into affect. After that date, only people who have given written consent in advance can be called by automated systems. Unfortunately you’re still likely to receive robocalls from organizations that are exempt from the regulations, including charities and political organizations.

The South Florida Sun Sentinel warns that consumers need to remain vigilant and should watch for ads and solicitations that try to trick you into signing something that will allow telemarketers to circumvent the new FTC rules.

If you’re receiving robocalls there are a few things that you can do:

1. Put your home and cell phones on both Federal and State Do Not Call registries for better coverage. The federal list is free. Call 888-382-1222 or go to www.donotcall.gov. State lists vary, Google your state’s name and “Do Not Call list.”
2. If you are on the Do Not Call list(s) and still receive solicitation calls, capturing the CallerID number and report telemarketing violations to state and federal regulators at the phone numbers or Web sites above.

What about you? Are you getting robocalls to your mobile?

Photo: Austin Chronicle

May 10th, 2009

Unannounced touchscreen Nokia outed in new 'Trek film

Posted by Jason D. O'Grady @ 10:24 pm

Categories: Mobile phone, Smartphone, iPhone Killer

Tags: Touch Screen, Phone, Nokia Corp., Movie, Telecom & Utilities, Jason D. O'Grady

A new all-touchscreen Nokia phone made its big screen debut in the new Star Trek movie that opened in the U.S. this weekend. The unannounced Nokia phone makes a cameo appearance as a product placement in the new Star Trek movie that all the kids are talking about. Remember when it seemed like everyone had that iconic Nokia ring tone (a.k.a. Grand Valse) on their phone?

The best part is this clip (embedded above) of a young James T. Kirk about to wreck his father’s antique Corvette off a cliff while a futuristic robocop on a hoverbike tries to pull him over. All to the tune of Beastie Boys Sabotage which is presumably considered to be classical music for the period.

Oh yeah, the video clip also shows a few frames of the new Nokia handset too.

I’m assuming that the new Nokia gadget will be another in a long series of “iPhone killers?” We’ll see about that. Symbian Freak isn’t sure whether the outed phone is fact a real device or a concept designed for the movie. Nokia’s mum on the topic.

More hype for the film is available on the official Movie site, IMDB and on the Apple trailers site, natch. I didn’t see it yet, so feel free to give us your review (of the movie or the phone) in TalkBack below.

Source: Symbian-Freak via Engadget.

February 12th, 2009

Garmin nuvifone G60 details trickle out

Posted by Jason D. O'Grady @ 8:50 am

Categories: GPS, Mobile phone, Smartphone, iPhone Killer

Tags: Garmin Ltd., Garmin Nuvifone, GPS, Handhelds, Consumer Electronics, Personal Technology, Hardware, Jason D. O'Grady

Engadget reports that it has been a year since Garmin announced the nuvifone and that we still don’t have a price or ETA on the highly-anticipated device.

What we do have is a few more nuggets on what the nuvifone G60 will pack:

• 3.55-inch display
• HSDPA
• the same Ciao! buddy-finding software found in the Asus M20
• 3 megapixel autofocus camera with geotagging
• WiFi
• preloaded maps for either North American or Eastern and Western Europe
• “Where am I?” feature from the current nuvi automotive GPS receivers

Whether or not the nuvifone will be an “iPhone killer” remains to be seen, but one thing’s for sure: Garmin’s GPS software and UI is the one to beat.

Hopefully the nuvifone will light a fire under Apple to release/allow true turn-by-turn GPS navigation for the iPhone.

Read more.

January 30th, 2009

Dell to launch Android and Windows Mobile phones

Posted by Jason D. O'Grady @ 10:07 am

Categories: Android, Microsoft, Mobile phone, Smartphone, Windows Mobile, iPhone, iPhone Killer

Tags: Dell Computer Corp., Phone, Microsoft Windows Mobile, Mobile, Microsoft Windows, Smart Phones, Keyboards, Advertising & Promotion, Cellular Phones, Handhelds

New reports indicate that PC Giant Dell will be rolling out not one, but (count ‘em) two new smartphone handsets in the short term – as soon as next month. Now here’s the weird part, Dell is said to be preparing handsets for both the Android and Windows Mobile operating systems. Talk about hedging your bet.

Following rumors going back as far as July 2007, the Wall Street Journal announced this morning that Dell will introduce in February at the Mobile World Conference in Barcelona two new mobile phones, set to go head to head with market leaders Apple and Research In Motion.

The MePhone (hopefully, that’s just a code name) will come in all-touchscreen and slide-out keyboard versions, but what’s not clear is which model will run which OS or if they’re interchangeable. The phone is due to ship in September and carrier partners have not been announced.

Hopefully the latest competition to the iPhone will motivate Apple to continue to innovate and bring new features to market a little faster (nudge, nudge). It’s been a while since anyone has trotted out the tired “iPhone killer” phrase, and I don’t think that the MePhone will earn the distinction. Anyone remember Dell’s DJ Ditty music player?

Update: I hope that it doesn’t come out looking like the Alien Android concept pictured above.

What’s your take? Can Dell get the smartphone right?

January 20th, 2009

BlackBerry Application Storefront to challenge App Store

Posted by Jason D. O'Grady @ 9:36 am

Categories: Android, Android Market, Blackberry, Blackberry Storefront, Google, Mobile phone, Smartphone, Software

Tags: Google Inc., Palm Inc., Storefront, RIM BlackBerry, Handhelds, Hardware, Jason D. O'Grady

BlackBerry’s eagerly-anticipated Application Storefront is now accepting submissions from software developers looking to distribute their wares on its platform.

The storefront will be an ideal spot for developers to bring their applications—whether they are consumer-focused or targeted to business users¹.

The footnote states that “Applications must be downloaded wirelessly to the user’s BlackBerry smartphone, and must be usable without requiring customization or integration services. Other restrictions may apply.”

Storefront, as it is being called, is the third real challenger to Apple’s App Store and will take a page out of its playbook, allowing only certified applications entry. Applications must adhere to the Application Storefront Vendor Guidelines in order to be considered for inclusion.

Google’s Android Market take a completely different and open source approach to software distribution, allowing entry to anyone with $25 and a Google checkout account. The Palm App Catalog will be distributed via its new webOS and details are still be fleshed out, the SDK is only in private pre-release at the moment. Stay tuned to the Palm Developer Center and Developer Blog for more details.

Competition will be good for the App Store and all iPhone owners should welcome the new competition from Google, Blackberry and Palm.

What do the newcomers bring to the table? Can anyone stop Apple’s first mover advantage? Chime in in the TalkBack.

November 21st, 2008

Gallery: Blackberry Storm user interface

Posted by Jason D. O'Grady @ 9:30 am

Categories: Gallery, Mobile phone, Smartphone

Tags: RIM BlackBerry, Photograph, Handhelds, Hardware, Jason D. O'Grady

I’ve posted a quickee photo gallery of the new Blackberry Storm (9530) user interface. Click through for 30 shots of the iPhone’s latest competitor. Sorry about the lack of captions, look for an update this afternoon.

November 18th, 2008

Sneak Peek: BlackBerry Storm

Posted by Jason D. O'Grady @ 10:35 am

Categories: Gadget, Smartphone, iPhone, iPhone Killer

Tags: Touch Screen, Apple iPhone, RIM BlackBerry, Keyboards, Monitors & Displays, Handhelds, Hardware, Peripherals, Components, Jason D. O'Grady

Apple ignited a firestorm of competition when it announced the iPhone in January of 2007. Since then the touchscreen smartphone segment has been ablaze with competition from all the major OEMs and carriers, including Nokia (Tube), RIM (Thunder/Storm), LG (Voyager), Samsung (Instinct), Sony Ericsson (X1), HTC (G1) and yes, even Motorola (Krave ZN4).

The term “iPhone killer” has become so overused that it has almost become a liability for handset manufacturers, using it is akin to admitting defeat to the almighty and ever-powerful iPhone. We all need to take a step back and realize that they’re just touchscreen phones and that there will be many more like them to come in the future. (Insert tool analogy here). Why do we get so wound up and emotional over the shiny, wireless devices anyway?

That said, one of the most highly-anticipated of the lot is the upcoming Blackberry Storm (a.k.a. 9530) from RIM and Verizon Wireless. It’s going to be one of the most closely observed iPhone competitors because: a) Verizon’s network is the best, hands down and, b) it’s the first touchscreen Blackberry, evar.

I spent a couple of hours yesterday with the Storm and created a few short videos of some of its features and the overall user interface.

I tested copy and paste, YouTube, the media application, 3.2MP camera (with flash, auto focus, image stabilization and video recording), rear panel with removable battery, memory card and SIM slots, hardware buttons, accelerometer, hybrid capacitive/resistive touchscreen, Web browser and the enhanced visual voicemail with archive and forward functionality.

It was far from a complete review, but rather a little peek under the Kimono of what may be the hottest gadget of the year.

 Loading ...

November 18th, 2008

YouTube on the Blackberry Storm

Posted by Jason D. O'Grady @ 9:20 am

Categories: Mobile phone, Smartphone, Video, iPhone, iPhone Killer

Tags: YouTube Inc., Video, RIM BlackBerry, Corporate Communications, Handhelds, Marketing, Hardware, Jason D. O'Grady

While the new Blackberry Storm (a.k.a. 9530) from RIM and Verizon Wireless doesn’t have a pre-installed YouTube client – like those available on Apple, Nokia and Sony Ericsson – you can easily view YouTube videos by navigating to their mobile Web site (m.youtube.com) from the Storm’s Web browser. In this video (01:12) you’ll see how to view YouTube content on the Storm. No word on if/when a YouTube app is coming.Funny Mobile YouTube warning:

YouTube Mobile is a data intensive application. We highly recommend that you upgrade to an unlimited data plan with your mobile service provider to avoid additional charges.

Don’t forget to also watch my Blackberry Storm overview and copy and paste videos.

November 18th, 2008

Copy and paste on the Blackberry Storm

Posted by Jason D. O'Grady @ 8:33 am

Categories: Mobile phone, Smartphone, Video, iPhone, iPhone Killer

Tags: Video, RIM BlackBerry, Corporate Communications, Handhelds, Marketing, Hardware, Jason D. O'Grady

In this video (00:50) you’ll see how the copy and paste function works on the new Blackberry Storm smartphone from RIM and Verizon Wireless.

It works like this: select a range of text with two fingers, press the Blackberry menu key, select copy, then launch the destination application, press the Blackberry menu key again, then select paste. It works very well and doesn’t exactly seem like rocket science.

Don’t forget to watch my Blackberry Storm overview and YouTube videos.