The iPhone as a Gaming Device: Part V

You know how in Super Mario where you have to push the button at the exact right moment in order to get Mario to jump and hit the block? That precise timing is not possible with the iPhone. Don't believe me? Try the web game Manga Snake on your iPhone. It is one of a dozen examples of iPhone web games that will frustrate you with their reliance on precise directional control.

I've made a big deal out of bringing native games to the iPhone, but it's becoming clear that there are big limitations in some areas. Games that don't require precise controls, like word and puzzle games (Bejeweled), can easily translate onto the device. Expect to see those games introduced in bunches after the SDK appears.

iPhone Predictions for 2008

1. UI will see major changes. In particular, users will be able to alter settings so that the "home" button moves the menu system one step backward, as opposed to just going to the home screen.
2. There will be over 300 Sudoku games via the SDK for the iPhone by the end of 2008.
3. Bluetooth wireless keyboard support will be added.
4. The iPhone will integrate with a new and improved Apple TV product, including the ability to use the iPhone as a remote control, utilizing the iPhone's quick and easy menu selection interface to quickly select from dozens of media files. Either this or a new Apple TV product will ship with (or offer as an upgrade) a touchscreen remote control.
5. Two new versions of the iPhone. The first will have the basic upgrades (memory, thinner, lighter, 3G, etc), the second in late '08 will feature major repositioning of buttons, including the home button moving to the side, allowing the iPhone to shrink in height.
6. The second iPhone update will also introduce iPhone colors.
7. There will be no iPhone Nano or tiered iPhone retail levels (eg Shuffle-Nano-Classic). Instead, there will be memory tiers again (16 gb and 8 gb).
   
8. WiFi synching with Macs, with the new Apple TV, and with a new in-dashboard product for cars from Apple to be introduced late '08.
   

The iPhone and the 700-Megahertz Spectrum

Interesting to note that not only has AT&T announced it will bid in the 700 mhz auction next year but also has acquired for $2.5 billion from Aloha Partners LP the largest swath of 700 mhz licences in the US. AT&T sems to be getting into this spectrum in a big way. If the spectrum provides a superior broadband experience, Apple's hand will be forced, and it will have to add connectivity to the network for the iPhone. A side effect is that Apple would also have to follow the spectrum's requirements for openness.

Bill Clinton Edition iPhone to Be Announced at MacWorld?

Nah, but he did autograph someone's iPhone. Link.

Does the iPhone Have Video Out?

Yes, it does. In fact, it pumps out a 480i widescreen picture. RoughlyDrafted's Daniel Dilger has a very thorough writeup of the iPhone and iPod's video-out capabilities, as well as a review of the new Apple composite and component cables that run around $40.

What's cool about the new cables is that they allow you to power the iPhone via a USB dock/wall plug while you are outputting video to your TV. To me, this has some very interesting uses that could be expanded in the future, since your iPhone can essentially be thought of as a DVD disc and DVD player combined, or even a multidisc DVD player, given more memory. Leave the cables plugged into your TV, synch a movie on your iPhone, connect it to your TV (or perhaps more interesting and useful, a friend or relative's), and watch the movie. A businessman could carry the cables and use his iPhone to give a video presentation without the need of toting along a laptop with video out.

I sometimes connect my MacBook to my TV to watch a movie, but unplugging the laptop, replugging it in next to the TV, etc., then having to unplug when I'm finished, etc, is a hassle. Synching my iPhone with a movie and connecting it to the cables already attached to my TV would be much less of a hassle, and cheaper than me also purchasing an Apple TV in addition to my iPhone.

iPhone to Get New Intel Silverthorne Chip?

AppleInsider is reporting that Apple is working closely with Intel to include Intel's "Silverthorne" chip in various new Apple mobile devices. The advantage of the chip is that it requires one tenth of the electric power of previous chips that have comparable processing power. AppleInsider is suggesting that Apple will use Silverthorn for an ultramobile computer, but I think Apple's first priority will be to stick the chip into an updated iPhone. Silverthorne is just as flexible as the current iPhone's Samsung chip in terms of compatibility with growing mobile technologies like 3G, WiFi, WiMax, etc. It seems clear that when Intel showed off its iPhone-like mock-up device, their intention was not to announce an Intel-branded phone, they were calling out to Apple to let them know they had a better chip for the iPhone.

Gruber Rips Fast Company a New One

John Gruber has an amazing post on his Daring Fireball site ripping apart the Fast Company article "All Eyes On Apple," an article so poorly fact checked and copy edited you know it was published for one reason, to put a hot topic like Apple on the cover, bash Steve Jobs, and sell a lot of magazines. Hey, if Reader's Digest can increase sales using Apple iconography, Fast Company can too. At least Fast Company actually mentions the topic featured on their cover.

I wrote about the Fast Company article on this site previously, but Gruber gives it a much more thorough going over.

Link.

Also, there's a CNBC video of the author talking about the article. Click below.

Open Season on Apple

Biggest iPhone Competitor? LG Voyager, Maybe.

It seems the LG Voyager is distancing itself from the other touchscreen iPhone clones and gaining a little buzz. I have to admit, I like the idea of the touchscreen exterior with the flip keyboard interior. However, the first question in any iPhone comparison is, is it a better music player than an iPod? Above all the other reasons, that is why I bought an iPhone. Of course, there are other reasons an iPhone is great, but if you're buying a phone to also listen to a lot of music, iTunes is the answer to your question.

One of the great things about following a topic as heavily covered as the iPhone is that you get to read a lot of really bad journalism. Check out this round by round comparison of the iPhone vs the LG Voyager. Link.

Illicit iPhone Parody Videos

A site called Illicit iPhone has several hilarious iPhone video parodies up. Link to my favorite, Chris.

Reader's Digest Puts iPhone on Cover, Fails to Mention It in Article

Reader's Digest put devil's horns on the iPhone and placed it on its cover. Inside is a feature article about the evils of technology, but the article has no mention of the iPhone itself. I guess the image of the iPhone is there simply to sell the magazine. Via Macenstein:

"But imagine my surprise when after reading through all 6 pages of the featured article “Get A Grip”, (a fluff article about the intrusiveness of technology in our lives) I found not ONE mention of the iPhone. Not even an iPod. I DID, however, count 5 mentions of the Blackberry, one of the Sidekick, and one more of the xBox."

I blame Google's Zeitgest.

Chinese iPhone Ripoff Video

Here's an infomercial from China selling an iPhone ripoff. There's no English translation, but it appears that among its selling points are an external speaker that can be heard 50 meters away and a replaceable battery. I wouldn't mind those two features on the iPhone. There is also a feature that requires you to shake the phone similar to a motion commonly made with the Nintendo Wii-mote. Upon shaking, the phone makes a silly noise and dials a number or advances to the next music track. However, the touchscreen interface looks awful. It looks like a thrown-together attempt at copying the iPhone OS. Ripping off the iPhone and the Wii in one device--you gotta love China's black market.

iPhone Used to Control ProTools Video

Here's an example of the endless possibilities of a touchscreen interface.

New NYC Apple Store's Staircase Is Da Bomb

Wow. Via Gothamist.

Revisiting Old Apple Articles

If you follow Apple news, you'll know one of the lamest bit of news going around is the speculation about what Apple should do with the $15 billion in cash it has. Some big names came up with insanely dumb ideas like buying Facebook or Nintendo. This story has been rehashed several times this year. An old article from Business Week probably delivers the best answer: use it to secure the supply chain for components like NAND flash memory.

"Apple's flash purchases are generally done in advance. Its 10K says it paid $1.25 billion up front for NAND supplies in 2006, and had used up $208 million worth of that during the fiscal year. And if you dig further through the 10K you find that $417 million worth of flash purchases are counted as part of "other assets" line item on the balance sheet, which totals $3.8 billion.

In a pinch, it can use its ability to pay large amounts of cash quickly in negotiating supply agreements on any important commodity component that runs the risk of running short: DRAM memory, LCD or touch screens, etc."

iMac Touchscreen Videos

Two videos. The first is a real demonstration of a touchscreen Leopard iMac. The second, a sexy touchscreen Mac concept commercial.

Unlocked iPhones Pulled From Shelves In S'pore. What's a S'pore?

Apparently, S’pore is a weird abbreviation for Singapore used by Reuters. Link to news story about Apple sending legal threats to Singapore retailers for selling unlocked iPhones.

Fortune Magazine: What's Apple Gonna Do With All That Cash?

First it was Wired Magazine playing personal shopper with Apple's $15 billion in cash, now Fortune Magazine is at it as well.

"If the past is any guide, Jobs & Co. could very well use some of the money to swallow smaller companies. In 2001 Apple bought education software company PowerSchool; in 2002 it went on a binge and snapped up audio production company Emagic, video effects company Nothing Real, and FireWire developer Zayante. (Apple’s acquisition record is mixed; it sold off PowerSchool last year and its FireWire technology has taken a backseat to USB 2.0, but audio and video software efforts have flourished.) It’s conceivable that Apple could use cash to buy its way into a new niche, like social networking or online collaboration."

Link to Fortune article.

Fast Company: Open Season on Apple

Fast Company’s lastest cover story paints a picture of Apple in 2008 as a company under attack by numerous enemies.

“In a way the company has never seen, the barbarians are massing at the gates. From hardware to software to services, major competitors with serious R&D and marketing budgets are laying siege to the House of Jobs. As Apple moves into new markets, it has made powerful new enemies, some working in concert.”

I would argue that Apple is the one “massing at the gates.” Apple is seizing new territory from cell phone makers with its iPhone and gaining more ground in the computer market with its OSX and MacBooks. Nokia, Dell, and other companies in these matured markets have been forced into a defensive position. Take, for example, Nokia’s plan to release a touchscreen phone and Michael Dell’s recent promise to create “product lust,” an obvious attempt to copy Apple’s advertising savvy.

The only area in which Apple finds itself on the defensive is with the iPod. Its most deep-pocketed competitor, Microsoft, finally has a product that could seize ground in the contrarian market (people who will not buy an iPod no matter what), but Apple’s innovation has continued to outpace Microsoft and the rest of competition. Based on current product lines (including cell phones that play mp3s), there are no signs the iPod’s market size or market share will shrink in 2008.

In the near future, based on its current product profile, Apple seems unlikely to give ground in any of the markets it currently competes. In fact, Apple has plenty of market share to gain in two of its three core markets (OS/computers and cell phones). It also could be argued that the third market, mp3 players, will continue to grow in overall size as mp3 players begin to catch on in unsaturated markets globally (Asia).

For continued growth in 2008, Apple will need to focus on the affordability of its products and the openness and versatility of its products.

Google Codes No Evil (For the iPhone, At Least)

Google officially introduced an iPhone-optimized Google.com--just go to Google.com on your iPhone to see it (or just look at the picture on the right). The coolest feature is the auto-suggestion.

There aren’t many companies that would improve the functionality of a competing product, but Google continues to do that with the iPhone. Google is smart enough to know that people using mobile Google search is more important than the success of their Android mobile OS.

iPhone Smudge Parody

I can tell you that the iPhone's screen is perfectly visible even when it's all smudged up. Still, this video is pretty funny.

iPhone Commercial Parody

A young woman uses the iPhone's visual voicemail to skip over her mom's numerous voicemails and...uh..oh god no!

iPod Touch Mugging Commericial

Rehashing Last Quarter's iPhone Sales

Maybe because iPhone news is thin these days, Roughly Drafted is revisiting iPhone sales numbers from last quarter. Roughly Drafted's Daniel Dilger points out that of over 4 million smartphones sold in the previous quarter, iPhone sales represented over a million of those, giving the iPhone around 27% smartphone market share. He also points out that the overall smartphone market increased 180% from the previous quarter. From the article:

"A large chunk of the new growth in smartphones can be attributed to Apple. It’s hard to say whether that’s because the iPhone attracted a new audience to the smartphone market by offering an approachable product, or if Apple simply gobbled up a large portion of the existing demand that would otherwise have resorted to smartphones using software from Palm, Symbian, RIM, or Microsoft."

Using a percentage of the smartphone market share is totally useless because there isn't even a consistent definition of what a smartphone is. In a couple years, what now constitutes a smartphone will simply be known as a cell phone. Using the percentage of overall cell phone market share is much more telling.

"Overall, NPD counted 38 million mobiles sold in the US in the same quarter, which gave Apple almost 3% of all of the nation’s new phone sales in its first full quarter of sales. Incidentally, in just a day and a half of sales in June, Apple sold over 1% of the phones in the previous quarter."

As I've stated before, Apple's eventual matured share of the cell phone market will be determined by the direction they take with future versions of the iPhone. A $400 cell phone is not an affordable choice to most people and can't capture as large a portion of the market as the iPod has. Choice is an important word here because buyers can choose from a huge market of free cell phones. Choice, cost, and the cell phone industry's current business model are what really differentiates this market from the mp3 market, rendering iPod comparisons almost useless. Although it is important to note that the current cellular business model is likely to change dramatically if the open network model of the 700 mhz is successful.

This revisiting of past sales for future speculation is like estimating the iPod market's share based on the sales of the first version. But I, of all people, appreciate the need to give people something, anything, to read about the iPhone. Besides, Roughly Drafted is just a great site.

Google to Bid on 700 MHz

Google press release:

"We believe it's important to put our money where our principles are," said Eric Schmidt, Chairman and CEO, Google. "Consumers deserve more competition and innovation than they have in today's wireless world. No matter which bidder ultimately prevails, the real winners of this auction are American consumers who likely will see more choices than ever before in how they access the Internet."

Exactly what kind of effect adding this spectrum to world of broadband will have on the iPhone is unclear. It is possible that AT&T could end up with some of the spectrum, but then Apple would have to add hardware to a future version of the iPhone for it to access it. Seeing the iPhone access the 700 mhz spectrum anytime time soon, say withing two years, is extremely unlikely, as Apple usually waits for technology to mature before making it part of their portfolio.

Apple's Adoption (or Not) of Google's My Location

Google’s new My Location feature for mobile phones is useful and, best of all, free. It is also pretty low tech. It would be a cinch to implement it into the iPhone. But will Apple? And how soon? This could a good indicator for whether Apple’s iPhone team has flexibility in adding functionality to the phone, or if its following a predefined roadmap from headquarters. At first glance, there seems to be no good reason not to add this feature.

Jermaine Dupri Pops a Cap Off at Apple

Rap mogul Jermaine Dupri has an article on Huffington Post criticizing Apple for not selling Jay Z's album American Gangster on iTunes. The problem is that Jay Z wants to restrict sales to an entire album and not allow the purchase of single tracks as Apple requires. If Apple's behavior continues, Dupri wants to unite the record industry giants against Apple in a boycott in order to destroy iPod sales:

"Apple thinks that's never gonna happen. They think that we as the record industry will never stick together. But Universal sells one out of every three records. All it'll take is for Warner Music to say, "You know what, I'm with you," for us to shut 'em down. No more iPods! They won't have nothin' to play on their players! We can take back the power if we're willing to sacrifice some sales to make our point."

While I agree with Mr. Dupri's overall sentiment about siding with artists and also agree that Apple should just go ahead and sell the entire album, he needs to do a little homework on the history of mp3s if he thinks the boycotting of the iTunes Music Store would put a dent in iPod sales. In fact, an argument could be made that iPod sales would increase by such a move, as those who have reformed back to legal purchasing of music would soon discover how easy bittorrent is, more so than Napster in terms of downloading huge chunks of music. Want every great rap album from 2007? Click here, wait an hour, and enjoy.

Early SDK Access Means iPhone Apps at Launch

A few developers are getting early access to the SDK, according to sources who spoke with Electronista.

"A handful of companies are said to be getting rough versions of the tools to help code more advanced applications than would be possible with the current web-only solution. Exact details of what the kit allows are unknown, though it is confirmed that it produces native programs and somewhat resembles Google's OpenSocial in that it mediates between the programmer and the iPhone operating system."

Having a few apps to look at and buy during the February unveiling of the SDK will give iPhone users and the press something concrete to examine while waiting for the post-SDK wave of apps to arrive. It will also help Apple test out its system for selling the apps and for maintaining the security of the iPhone. One thing is for sure, the first apps had better not only be slick, but extremely useful, especially in light of Apple's failure so far to add user-relevant functionality to the phone. Of course, I have no problem with the iPhone as is.

Unlocked iPhones Sell Well in China

Wired has a fascinating article on the iPhone's popularity in China.

"Despite rampant rumors of a deal between Apple and China's largest cellphone carrier, no one knows when the iPhone is supposed to hit China officially. But that hasn't stopped Apple's popular smartphone, known in China as "Ai Feng" ("Love Craze"), from becoming a bona fide black-market hit."

Chinese cell phone carriers do not have to sign a deal with Apple to make money from the phone. Instead of giving a portion to Apple, China carriers get all the money from wireless plans. This makes the reasoning behind Apple's limit of 2 handsets per person policy a little more clearer.

This also sheds on a light on the importance of Apple's retail stores. The retail store's customer's service is one of the few ways that Apple can give its customers a superior experience over purchasing the iPhone off the black market and using it on an unauthorized carrier. Basic history of iPhone hacking shows that any update to the iPhone will be hacked and offered to jailbreakers, so that is not something which is keeping customers in Apple's walled garden.

Another positive for those hoping for an Apple-China Mobile deal is that unlocked iPhones offer a poor text messaging experience for Chinese language users. It involves switching between Apple's SMS app to a third-party app. Text messaging is of huge importance in China.

Ouch

 

 

Classic Apple Humor: Jim Cramer Smashes Zune

iPhone news is a little thin these days, so let's have some more classic video humor. Here's one from stock guru Jim Cramer. In this video from early January, Cramer predicts Apple will be one of the top growth stocks of the year and then proceeds to smash a Zune with a bat. I have tons of respect for Jim Cramer, but he also sometimes gets things wrong, especially on his Lightning Round. This time, he was big time right.

New Mad TV Skit Making Fun of iPod/iPhone

1 2 3 4, went down to the Apple store....

Revisiting Classic iPhone Humor

Another great fake Steve Jobs, albeit a bit creepy with a touch of David Copperfield. The crowd reactions are the best part. A classic.

Who Can Afford the iPhone in China?

Via AppleInsider:

“At (US)$400, the Apple handset also currently costs more than the average monthly salary in China.”

Speculation: Apple's China Revenue

From Silicon Valley Insider:

"China's mobile market is so huge that the revenue numbers are meaningful even if Apple only gets a tiny slice of the pie. Our annual revenue estimates range from:

• $600 million a year, at 1% penetration and a firesale $200 unit price (with no revenue share), to:
• $6 billion a year, at 5% penetration and a stable $400 price point (again, no revenue share)."

Check out the article for a more in-depth analysis.

China Unicom Also Says It's Interested in iPhone

Li Zhenmao, CEO of China Unicom:

"It seems that iPhone is hot in some markets. We are willing to discuss with Apple."

Did he say that while yawning? I'm gonna guess it's not China Unicom that ends up with the iPhone.

China Mobile and Its 350 Million Subscribers

From a Silicon Valley Insider article:

“At the end of September, China Mobile had about 350 million subscribers -- more than 5 times the size of AT&T, Apple's U.S. carrier partner -- and almost 1.5 times the size of the entire U.S. wireless industry. With another 155 million subscribers on China Unicom, Apple's market opportunity in China is twice as big as it is in the U.S.”

One company has a bigger subscription base than all of the US companies, combined.

That is a staggering number and gives China Mobile a big card to hold in negotiations. I always had the impression that luxury goods did not sell well in China, with it being a socialist society and all. But its recent move toward capitalism has given China has a growing thirst for luxury items. From a 2006 Boston Globe article:

“[China] is now the third-biggest consumer of luxury goods, accounting for 12 percent of sales worldwide, up from 1 percent just five years ago…”

Apple in Talks With China Mobile

China Mobile is in discussions with Apple over a possible iPhone release. The hangup is, of course, over revenue sharing. Maybe China's version of NBC wants a dollar for every iPhone sold.

I'm not sure how big of a market there is for a luxury goods like the iPhone in China, but with the profit Apple makes with every iPhone, even selling tens of thousands makes it worth the trouble. Let's hope they won't have to rat out a blogger.

Via Marketwatch.

No Multitouch for Android

Great read over at Crave about Android and java. From the article:

"[Android] supports touch-screen technology, but Horowitz declined to comment on support for multitouch, a notable iPhone ability that opens up user-interface possibilities, beyond saying multitouch support isn't in the first version of the Android SDK."

There will be no multi-touch pinching in Android, or at least, it's not built into the SDK. But it could be added later. Is multitouch really that important? Multitouch on the iPhone is used mostly for growing and shrinking the browser view, pictures, and maps. I rarely use the pinch or grow multitouch features on anything but Google maps. The biggest benefit of touchscreen technology is quick menu selection, and that only requires a single touch. The omission of multitouch from Android is probably to keep the hardware cheaper, and I wouldn't consider it a big deal. Multitouch seems like it'd be much more useful on a larger screen, for instance, on a MacBook Touch tablet.

SDK Quick Thought

Apple has a phone but won't have an SDK for a couple of months. Google doesn't have a phone but has an SDK. So really, it won't be until next summer until both are on level playing fields. What it may come down to is who attracts more and better developers. I hate to quote Steve Ballmer, but it's the developers, developers, developers.

A great core system is built by the giants like Microsoft, Apple, and Google. But the diversity--the catering to the long tail--is done by the developers.

Uh Oh, Spaghettios

I just finished watching Google's YouTube videos for Android. I'll write up a more in-depth analysis later, but for now, some quick thoughts.

First impressions are that Google's Android does not look like some crappy open source software. It looks slick. It looks flexible. You would not be able to tell the difference from a Nokia or Blackberry. In fact, it looks better than those device's OS's.

I'm thinking about the possibilities of Android, then looking at my iPhone, which doesn't yet have a version of Sudoku on it that I can play on my commute. It seems the iPhone has competition. Not HTC Touch competition, no, this is serious competition. I'm sure Steve Jobs will eventually respond--maybe he already has with the Apple SDK.

All I can say is, I'm waiting, Apple, and I've been waiting for 5 months now (see previous post). You got me for 1.5 more years. Show me what else your phone can do.

Why Update Your iPhone?

When the iPhone was released, Apple promised to improve its functionality over time with new applications. 5 months later, we have the Wi-Fi iTunes store, and that's it. And personally, I've found that my iPhone has become more unstable than it was at launch. So, as 9 to 5 Mac asks, what is the reason to upgrade again?

I'm sure Apple will eventually roll out a killer new application for the iPhone. But with the SDK and the release of third-party apps still several months away, there is little reason to not disconnect from Apple's "bug fixes" and jailbreak your phone.

iPhone 1.1.2 Still Not Released Via iTunes

As of Sunday evening, the 1.1.2 firmware update is still not accessible by iTunes, yet downloadable from various other sources. Strange.

HTC Touch vs iPhone Video

Clocking in at 25 minutes, this video from WMExperts is a very thorough comparison of the HTC Touch vs the iPhone. It's obvious to me the iPhone is a better overall device, but it's very interesting to see how some of the more detailed software design choices of the HTC Touch appear to a little more useful than the iPhone's, especially when it comes to the flexibility of the home screen.

The video is worth a watch for the perspective it gives on design and the choices that go into it. The amount of tweaking and improvement that lays ahead for the iPhone and other touchscreen devices keeps the future of this class of device very exciting.

Gizmodo MacBook Touch Mockup Contest

1.1.2

Several sites are reporting the 1.1.2 firmware upgrade drops tomorrow (Nov 9), with no new features for us Americans except bug fixes. For some reason it bugs me that Apple never says what's being fixed.

Valleywag Google Phone Screenshots

Valleywag is claiming to have exclusive first screenshots of a Google Phone app. The app appears to something called WhatsOpen.com that combines search terms with your geo location (which you apparently won't have to input manually) to tell you what businesses are open around you along with other useful information (address, telephone, etc).

My first thought is, that's pretty awesome. However, privacy issues aside, the one big immediate flaw might be the local information supplied by Google (I'm assuming that's what Google has in mind in terms of making $). Google Maps on the iPhone has been a huge let down for me in the past. It couldn't tell me the correct closest Starbucks in downtown Chicago. From my experience, Google's local information is incomplete and inaccurate. However, that could easily change if local businesses have enough motivation to supply Google with updated information.

iPhone Thought of the Day

What really needs to be iPhone optimized? Fantasy sports.

Reader for iPhone Gets Updated

It's nice to know Google employees are taking the time to improve the iPhone and not just writing phone OS's to compete with it. Google employee Dolapo Falola announces he's used his 20% creative time to improve Google Reader for the iPhone. Reader is my #1 iPhone web app, so I'm glad to hear it. For his efforts, Dolapo got hired onto the Google Reader team.

Am I the only one who thinks that if Steve Ballmer got wind of a Microsoft employee improving the functionality of the iPhone, that employee would be f-i-r-e-d? Maybe that's why Microsoft is losing equity like crazy. D-e-s-p-e-r-a-t-e for growth, I guess.

The Dream

One thing is for sure, people hate vague intellectual concepts. That is why so many are still searching for a Google phone instead of salivating over the Android OS concept. Well, Engadget always delivers in terms of photoshopped mock-ups or glossy marketing photos. This time, they're showing pictures of the HTC Omni as the possible Google Dream phone. If this is it, the iPhone has nothing to worry about. Where exactly is the touchscreen anyways? And, where is the phone part? Looks like the same clunky interface that Steve Jobs wants to replace, except with more glossy black glass.

My favorite Google phone photo is still the one below. It looks simple, cheap, and all about function over gloss, kind of like Google's search engine.

Quick Thought on Google's Android Phone

Many major news outlets are wondering, why would someone buy an Android OS phone over a Symbian, Blackberry, Windows Mobile, etc? Here’s one example, and you can extrapolate from there:

The ability to play any mp3 as a ringtone…for free.

Rubin Is the Google Phone Guy?

Another great article from The New York Times about Google's Andy Rubin, the man who is probably leading the Google Phone team.

Rubin's big invention was the Sidekick, an average smart phone that gained a cult status by catering to the youth culture (Paris Hilton had one when she was still, eh, "hot"). I doubt the Google phone's hardware or software will be anything we haven't seen before (unles it's as sexy as the picture on the right). People will probably be disappointed. The revolutionary part should come from how cheap the phones will be to use and the huge spectrum of third-party apps the phones will eventually have. My prediction is that the available functionality (through third party apps) of a Google OS phone will be ten times any other phone (including the iPhone) two years from now. Whether it will work as well as the iPhone is another story.

SNL Skit: iPhone--The Affair

Link to video.

Also, Gizmodo noted the iPhone used in the sketch had been jailbroken.

1.1.2

1.1.2 gives our British friends free access to The Cloud, a wifi broadband service. I'm jealous.

Two iPhone Dogs

Who knew dogs love the iPhone so much?

Are Japanese Cell Phones Better?

Interesting perspective on US vs Japanese cell phones on Kotaku.com.

For years people have been telling me that the cell phones over in Japan are years ahead of the US and Europe. They spoke as if there was some kind of breakthrough technology that existed nowhere but in Japan. If you'd ask for specifics, they couldn't say, they just knew that it was so, like magic being done in a land far, far away. Turns out, the kind of things they were talking about are the ability to watch live television, faster data networks, and the ability to pay for things with your cell phone. The faster data network is something to be envious about, but the rest are hardly enviable.

I've always been in love with the Japanese aesthetic, as most fans of technology are. The love for novelty combined with discovery of a foreign aesthetic tends to drive these kinds of attitudes.

MadCatz iPhone Earphones

Another pair of iPhone earphones have been announced (but are not available yet, of course), the MadCatz Air Drives, complete with microphone and one-touch music-to-call control. This pair is a bit unusual as it is not sound isolating. Instead, the headphones feature technology that allows you to better hear your surroundings with your music. I thought every pair of cheap non-isolating headphones did that.

Who's Afraid of Apple and Google?

Apparently, not Symbian. I think they should be at least worried about their growth. Another interesting piece by GigaOM.

The Google Phone.

The news world is taking the Google phone seriously. With rumors of a Monday launch, the blog world is in a flutter. There is nothing but rumors to work from, so everyone is speculative. One of the more interesting quotes is from a post on GigaOm. Om Malik quotes Hamid Akhavan, CEO of T-Mobile International and CTO of Deutsche Telecom:

"When AT&T and Apple partner on the iPhone or T-Mobile partners with Google on mobile advertising, these new arrangements force the question: “Who pays whom and when?” Billing, payment and content management for broadcast, advertising, search and music all are significantly different. Carriers are having to develop new business models that are compatible with the changing business models of the other key players in the ecosystem. The business models have to be as interoperable as the technologies."

Essentially, there are several new revenue streams both going into and out of cell phone companies. Google wants to make it easier to share the wealth of a big one, advertising. Why share? Because it gives Google a bigger slice of the global search pie. Cell phone search introduces Google to people who can afford a free wireless phone, but not a thousand dollar computer.

However, how and where Google will find the space to display those ads without hampering usability, or even improving usability (like the iPhone does), is beyond me. And it's maybe why they feel the need to create an open cell phone OS.

Wired.com: Apple's $15 Billion In Cash

Interesting article from Wired.com on Apple's $15 billion in cash reserves.

"If analysts agree on anything, it is that the company will not be making any major acquisitions. It's simply not in Apple's DNA."

I think DNA is really a poor choice of words. Was running Windows part of Apple's DNA? Was switching to Intel processors? Was making a cell phone? As the article states, Apple spent over a billion to lock up flash memory for its iPods, there's no reason it couldn't spend a billion or two on infrastructure like dark fiber or wireless networks or even on software companies that deal with creativity like Adobe (although that'd cost more tha a few billion). Or how about the company that makes the Big Red One camera? Wouldn't you like to see that with an Apple logo?

New iPod Touch Song Was in Zune Commercial

The song in the new iPod Touch commercial, "Music Is My Hot Hot Sex" by CSS, was used in a Zune commercial.

Contrasting NBC's Approach to Apple With AT&T's

NBC’s Jeff Zucker via Variety:

“Apple sold millions of dollars worth of hardware off the back of our content and made a lot of money. They did not want to share in what they were making off the hardware or allow us to adjust pricing.”

Now, contrast that point of view with AT&T paying Apple an estimated $18 per iPhone. Then check out AT&T’s last financial quarter. My idea is that NBC pay Apple $19 per iPod, and Apple will offer their shows for free on iTunes with advertising.

Gruber: Apple Never Said There Would Be Synching

John Gruber at DaringFireball.net points out that Apple never said there would be synching between Leopard's notes and the iPhone. Before it was removed, the text on Apple's website said that iPhone users would be able to "...access [notes] from your iPhone." As Gruber points out, you can view notes as email via IMAP.

"I think Apple changed the text of this web page because people like Chartier were confused about what they were referring to, not because they’ve removed a feature they previously promised."

I disagree with Gruber there, as I think Apple removed it because synching wasn't ready, and they will eventually add note synching to the iPhone. There is solid evidence the synching feature is coming. A warning pops up Leopard's notes when you try to change fonts. It warns the note will be changed into rich text format and that "rich text notes may not be editable on iPhone and other devices."

Extended Fake Steve Jobs Interview video

Wallstrip's extremely cute Lindsay Campbell interviews Fake Steve Jobs.

iPhone II Threatened? Fake Steve Jobs Poisoned

Fake Steve Jobs is claiming he was poisoned while giving a speech at the Microsoft Campus. Hopefully, plans for the next iPhone have been smuggled out of his brain into a MacBook in case he doesn't make it.

1997 Time Magazine Interview of Steve Jobs

Lengthy article on Steve Jobs from Time Magazine, 1997.

9 to 5 Mac Blasts Analysts

A relative newcomer to the Apple blogosphere, 9 to 5 Mac is quickly becoming one of the definitive Apple intel sites. Today, 9 to 5 Mac displayed a bit of hubris by rightfully ripping into Apple analysts, then offering themselves as a more accurate source of information. The thing is, 9 to 5 is completely right. I have to admit, I had come to trust analyst Shaw Wu. But 9 to 5 shows us some startling facts: Wu's information is correct only about 15% of the time. I'm not sure what made me trust him in the first place. Maybe it was because his information tended to be positive, and I wanted to hear positive info. People tend to believe what they want to hear.

Scott Bourne, Controversial Figure

Scott Bourne from the Apple Phone Show:

“For months, I have been saying that AT&T is paying Apple a share of the monthly subscription revenue from the iPhone. For months I have been getting hate mail from haters who can’t stand hearing that news.”

This guy gets more hate mail for the dumbest things than I’ve ever seen.

Other Possible iPhone Security Risks

I posted yesterday on Wire.com's article concerning potential iPhone security risks. I find the idea of creative reporting to be fascinating. So, I thought I'd dream up some potential iPhone security risks too. Hackers could:

1. Have pizza delivered to you and your friend's homes.
2. Download Reo Speedwagon songs onto your phone while you're at Starbucks.
3. Have flowers sent to your wife.
4. Convince your boss to give you a raise.
5. Text message in a vote for American Idol contestant.
6. Try out the dozen or so Sudoku web apps for the iPhone.
   

Notes Feature, iPhone, & Synching With Leopard

Apple pulled a little magic trick and made the synching of notes with the iPhone disappear from their website. They did the same trick with the Leopard feature that would allow us to use Airport disk with Time Machine. What's strange to me is not the loss of features, but that they don't explain what is going on. Could it be the case they have a policy not to comment on negative activity, as in, they need more time to get the features to work?

Wired.com's Silly iPhone Security Article.

Wired.com has a problem with the iPhone: it runs on root. From the article:

 

“With the limited bandwidth of the iPhone, malicious code would be unlikely to slow portions of the internet. But malware could wreak creative havoc of a different kind. It might, for example, cause a phone to call numbers without the user's knowledge, seize text messages and a list of received and sent calls, turn the phone into a listening device, track the user's location through nearby WiFi access points, or instruct the phone to snap photos of the user's surroundings -- including any companions who may be in view of the camera lens.”

 

I’d like to see any one of those “for examples” actually carried out in everyday conditions. The “track a user’s location through nearby WiFi” is completely ridiculous. I guess if a mythical omnipotent being knew the name and geographical location of every WiFi point in the world, it could be possible.

Analysts Ponder iPhone Earnings, Raise Apple Price Estimates

From Seeking Alpha: analysts advise investors to "start looking at cash earnings rather than traditional income statement earnings" when trying to figure out Apple's profit from the deferred revenue. There's also a slew of new stock price estimates from analysts--all over $200.

I've been trying to figure out how high Apple could go. If they captured 20% share of the computer market, that'd be 3 to 4 times what they have now (~5%). With Macs representing 62% of their last quarter's revenue ($3.8 billion), that's a potential $15.2 billion for just one quarter ($3.8 bil x 4). Numbers like that combined with growing iPod and iPhone sales would exceed Microsoft's revenue. To match Microsoft's market cap, Apple's stock price would need to be around $330. That's an 80% increase from Apple's current stock price of $185. All potential factored in, Apple could double their stock price in a couple years.

Apple Gets $18 per Month for Each iPhone From AT&T

According to their analysis of Apple’s earnings, Piper Jaffray is estimating that Apple gets $18 per month per iPhone. That is a staggering number. Silicon Alley Insider has interesting commentary on Piper Jaffray’s findings.

 

“Apple would record $832 in revenue over two years per phone. Research firm iSuppli estimated in July that it costs Apple $265 to build an 8-gig iPhone. So Apple's gross profit looks more like $565 per phone over two years, up 125% from our previous estimate of $250 per phone. At Apple's current U.S. run rate of about 1.8 million iPhones per quarter, that's about $1 billion in gross profit per quarter (which will be recorded over two years).”

 

The only sad thing about this comes from a consumer perspective. It means that Apple is very interested in what people do with their phones after they have purchased them. It’d be like a car salesman who gets payments from the toll roads their cars drive on—they’d want to make sure you drove on those roads. Well, Apple, toward that regard, I say, “Roads? Where we’re going, we don’t need roads.” Google and others are working on a way to free consumers from this kind of tyranny. By the time the infrastructure is built to compete with the current system, maybe Apple’s contract with AT&T will have expired.

 

At least let’s hope this also means that Apple will go to extremes to keep their phone’s running via incredible customer service.

 

 

The iPhone and Salesforce.com: Follow-up

It was indeed an analyst, Shannon Cross from Cross Research, who baited Apple’s COO Timothy Cook into mentioning Salesforce.com. Please note Cook’s terse reply—from the earnings transcript:

Shannon Cross: Are you working with Salesforce.com on their initiative to modify their software for the iPhone?

Timothy Cook: Yes.

Shannon Cross: Okay, great. Thanks.

I wonder if she checked Salesforce.com’s stock price the next day?

The $100 Million iBrick Industry

There were around one hundred million reasons why we’ve heard so many complaints from unlockers about  the 1.1.1 upgrade: they heard the sound of their profit from reselling $100 million in unlocked iPhones going down the drain. Finally, some perspective. Most of these complainers didn’t give a fig about consumer rights or even consumer satisfaction. I wouldn’t put all unlockers in this category, but you can bet that a large amount was, and remains, in the reselling business. Keep this is mind when you hear complaints about Apple’s SDK in the future, you’ll know the true motivation behind them: greed.