The author of this blog, James Robertson, passed away in April 2014. This blog is being maintained by David Buck (david@simberon.com).
Engadget Reports that we'll have to wait a bit longer for the iPad update we've wanted:
Many users of the Golden Master version of 4.2 reported that a WiFi connection could be established by their devices but, once made, they were unable to actually do anything on the 'net, and not being able to do anything on the 'net is what we like to call a Very Bad Thing.
That's a good reason to delay - the initial release had wifi issues that plagued my wife an a friend constantly.
The way we've done cellphone service in the US is kind of insane. For all the talk about how we "enabled competition" while in Europe they "stifled" it, just read this article about the realities of using an unlocked phone in the US (and contrast that with Europe). It looks like the regulation that fixed service bands over there created a space wide enough for real competition - while the variance in bandwidth usage here has created nothing but lock in. Another case of rent seeking, it seems to me...
Skyfire was providing an iPhone browser that promised Flash access yesterday:
Skyfire for iPhone promises to transcode Web-based Flash video on the fly to an iPhone-friendly format.
I suspect that the demand made Steve Jobs a bit unhappy:
Skyfire Labs was caught off guard by the demand for its services, and the company was forced to stop selling the Skyfire browser on iTunes just hours after the app debuted.
While I'm no fan of Flash, here's the thing - the iPad is a great device for watching streaming video, and all of the major TV sites - the network sites and Hulu being the ones I'm thinking of - use Flash. I'm somewhat surprised that the app got approved in the first place :)
GigaOM reports that Apple is trying to reduce the points of contact between iPhone users and the carriers to a minimum in Europe. I have to imagine that they would like to do so here as well - that would let them end the exclusive with AT&T, albeit only by adding in lesser carriers like t-mobile:
Sources inside European carriers have reported that Apple has been working with SIM-card manufacturer Gemalto to create a special SIM card that would allow consumers in Europe to buy a phone via the web or at the Apple Store and get the phones working using Apple’s App Store.
This is why I am still skeptical about a big Apple/Verizon deal. I just don't see Verizon cheerfully fading into the background that way...
Interesting - Apple has done a distribution deal for the WiFi only version of the iPad with Verizon - a bundle with Verizon's MiFi device:
Verizon Wireless and Apple® today announced that iPad™ will be available at over 2,000 Verizon Wireless Stores nationwide beginning Thursday, October 28. Verizon Wireless will offer three bundles, all featuring an iPad Wi-Fi model and a Verizon MiFi 2200 Intelligent Mobile Hotspot, for a suggested retail price of $629.99 for iPad Wi-Fi 16GB + MiFi, $729.99 for iPad Wi-Fi 32GB + MiFi and $829.99 for iPad Wi-Fi 64GB + MiFi. Verizon Wireless is offering a monthly access plan to iPad customers of up to 1GB of data for just $20 a month. In addition, Verizon Wireless will also offer all three iPad Wi-Fi models on a stand-alone basis.
So Apple and Verizon are working together on a limited basis at least. The question is, do all the Apple/Verizon rumors point back to this deal, or is there something real coming with the iPhone? I'm still skeptical based on the whole branding and CDMA thing, but we'll see.
Update: Apple is also getting iPads to AT&T, under what can only be described as more consumer friendly terms:
AT&T* and Apple® today announced that all three iPad™ Wi-Fi + 3G models will be available at more than 2,200 AT&T stores starting Thursday, October 28. AT&T will offer customers 3G Apple iPad Data Plans, complete with Apple's easy, on-device activation and management. All iPad data plans are available without a term contract and include unlimited access to AT&T's 23,000+ domestic Wi-Fi Hot Spots.
Apple must be feeling that Android heat - they have been opening things up a bit for app developers, and now it looks like Google Voice is cleared. TechCrunch reports:
we’ve gotten word that the official Google Voice application is on its way to the iPhone in the next few weeks. In fact, we’ve heard from a source close to Google that it’s already been approved — Google just needs to revamp the application to work with the iPhone 4 and iOS’s multitasking capabilities.
I bailed on Google voice because it didn't really work with the iPhone; I'll have to take another look if this pans out.
We're about to get a real world test of two very different approaches to phone OS use - Google's "throw it over the wall approach", and Microsoft's "create a standard" approach:
Each device must feature three standard hardware buttons, for example, and before they can ship with Windows Phone 7, they have to pass a series of tests directed by Microsoft. (As I mentioned in a feature story about Windows Phone 7, Microsoft has created new lab facilities containing robots and automated programs to test each handset to ensure that features work properly and consistently across multiple devices.)
The iPhone has had the consistency thing going for it all along; Microsoft is trying to create something similar across a broad range of hardware vendors. It might help them take the slot Google is in right now, or at least split it with them.
Technorati Tags: windows phone, android, iPhone
I don't think the Galaxy Tab is as primed for success as some people think it is - PC World notes an issue with the pricing model:
Users can get the Galaxy Tab without a contract, but with the price expected to be $650, it doesn't offer a very compelling challenge to the $499 16GB iPad, or even the contract-free 3G iPad at $629
It's cheaper with the contract, but unlike the 3g iPad, you have to sign a contract for 2 years. Maybe I'm wrong, but I think that will limit the appeal. Here's the real takeawy quote from the PC World piece:
People expect Apple products to cost a premium and it is just assumed that non-Apple products should be cheaper.
Technorati Tags: galaxy tab, iPad, tablet
Verizon explains how we don't really need simultaneous voice and data on our smart phones:
"I think there are fringe cases where something like that could be important," Mr. Higgins said. "For a vast majority of customers, I don't think it's a terribly important use case."
Sure - the fact that I use this all the time screams edge case to me. This all comes in the context of the supposed CDMA iPhone, which I'm still not sure is real. There's another issue (albeit, not for everyone) with a CDMA iPhone - it would be a brick outside the US....
The WSJ is reporting this one:
Apple Inc. plans to begin mass producing a new iPhone by the end of 2010 that would allow Verizon Wireless to sell the smartphone early next year, said people briefed by Apple. The new iPhone would be similar in design to the iPhone 4 currently sold by AT&T Inc. but would be based on an alternative wireless technology called CDMA used by Verizon, these people said.
Supposedly coming in 2011 - I still have doubts. CDMA doesn't allow for simultaneous voice and data (which would make a Verizon iPhone a downgrade from the current model). Then there's Verizon's VCast store, and their desire to brand everything on their network.
I could be wrong - maybe they've done a deal. If so, I'll bet that it doesn't involve CDMA (at least not exclusively). This story tells us that Verizon is rolling out LTE by the end of 2010 - which would line up nicely with a 2011 rollout.
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