I think there’s reasonable evidence that Apple and Verizon really hate each other, especially in light of recent developments. If I’m right, this may dash hopes of some loyal Verizon customers wishing that Verizon and Apple would strike a deal to bring the iPhone to Verizon. Below are the pieces of the puzzle that suggest the two companies aren’t fond of one another:
- Apple united with AT&T over Verizon for the iPhone and signed into a long-term exclusive deal.
- Verizon has twice tried to launch an iPhone killer, failing miserably both times. The first was the Blackberry Storm which was the brainchild of Verizon and never took in the marketplace. The second was the Motorola Droid and the heavy “iDon’t” campaign.
- Verizon and AT&T continue to take swipes at one another in their advertisements and, obviously, Apple is heavily invested in AT&T’s success.
- Despite rumors that sounded credible before the iPad launch that it would be offered on Verizon, Apple again signed an exclusive deal with AT&T.
- Apple’s recent patent lawsuit against HTC is really targeted at HTC, Google and Verizon collectively. Why didn’t Apple file the lawsuit when the Nexus One was launched on T-Mobile? Are Apple’s lawyers really that slow? Probably not. The lawsuit was filed just prior to the launch of the Google/HTC Nexus One launch on Verizon (around the same time the FCC approved the CDMA version of the Nexus One) and Apple seeks to enjoin the sale of the Nexus One phone in the U.S. Perhaps this could actually speed up the launch of the Nexus One on Verizon, which is expected within the next few weeks, because it may benefit the defendants to have the phone in the market before there is a ruling on the injunction. BGR is reporting that Verizon employees are already being trained on the Nexus One.
The contract between Apple and AT&T regarding iPhone exclusivity is expected to be up for renewal this summer. Will Apple renew it? Most of the speculation I have read is that iPhone exclusivity in the U.S. will end; nonetheless, I have become increasingly doubtful that Verizon and Apple could ever become friendly with one another, especially in light of Apple v. HTC.
AdMob just released a report that analyzes various metrics to compare users of the following devices: iPhone, iPod Touch, Android and Palm’s WebOS (notably missing–RIM). The metrics are age, gender, app downloads, app purchases, and likelihood of recommending the device to a friend or colleague. CNN has a pretty good take on the report, along with charts. You can find it here: http://brainstormtech.blogs.fortune.cnn.com/2010/02/25/6-ways-iphone-and-android-users-differ/
There’s a slew of blog posts the past couple days about Apple’s decision not support Adobe Flash on it’s upcoming tablet, the iPad. Things got interesting today. Adobe employee, Lee Brimelow, fired back with a blog post that really shows off Adobe Flash… and it’s use on porn sites. Apparently, the blog post was short lived but below is a screenshot:
Apple has approved the first VOIP app for the iPhone which enables voice calls over a 3G data connection. iCall is the first VOIP app to be allowed into the App Store but expect a flood of new apps. Obviously, Skype for the iPhone will rank among the most popular of the VOIP apps.
Curiously, it is unclear whether the Google Voice app will ever be available on the iPhone. Google Voice currently uses traditional land lines to route calls. Apple has rejected it from the App Store claiming that duplicates the phone’s existing functionality and would confuse customers. Arguably, VOIP apps duplicate the phone’s functionality as well. I suggest that neither would actually confuse customers but would rip profits from AT&T. The Google Voice vs. Apple showdown is before the FCC now.
In the future, Google Voice may become a VOIP service. As I relayed back in November, Google acquired Gizmo5, a VOIP outfit, and will integrate Gizmo5 technology with Google Voice. When this happens, Apple may have no choice but to approve a Google Voice app. In the meantime, Google is coding around Apple’s restrictions and thumbing its nose at the App Store. Google Voice can be accessed via the iPhone browser at m.google.com/voice.
[First VOIP App Approved via Gizmodo]
The Google vs. Microsoft war received far more attention in 2009 (Google Web Search vs. Bing, Chrome Browser vs. Internet Explorer and Chrome OS vs. Windows) but Google is also waging a significant war with Apple. This will be the story of 2010. It is no wonder why Eric Schmidt, Google CEO, left Apple’s board of directors in early 2009. Below are five attacks Google has recently made on Apple:
Droid user jealous of your iPhone friends who pinch-zoom? Motorola Droid users can now (unofficially) upgrade their ROMs to add multi-touch. Many of the Android Google apps support multi-touch, including Google Maps, but the feature has been disabled in the U.S. because of a concern over an Apple U.S. patent. The European version of the Droid, unemcumbered by Apple’s U.S. patent, has multi-touch. The ROM is derived from that version of the phone which is marketed as the Motorola Milestone. Complete instructions and the download can be found here.
Like the U.S. Droid, the Google Nexus One phone that is being “dogfooded” by Gogglers also does not support multi-touch functions. Let’s hope there’s a European version of the Nexus One in the works. :)
[via Redmond Pie]
Janus Friis and Niklas Zennstrom, founders of Kazaa and Skype, are privately beta testing their new streaming music venture, Rdio (with the eponymous ULR http://rd.io). Apparently, Rdio will offer unlimited, commercial-free streaming music on a subscription basis which is expected to be a few dollars per month. Many of the primary tech blogs are predicting the service to be dead-on-arrival but I’m not counting them out. They’ve made something out of nothing… twice.
The Apple App Store has approved the Rdio app but it is non-functional unless you have been invited to the private beta. Head over to Wired to see the app in action and some additional commentary.
Brent Dewar, a Vice President at Chevrolet, revealed at the L.A. Autoshow that iPhone and Blackberry apps would be launched for the Chevy Volt (the 230 mpg mostly electric car). One slide during Dewar’s presentation showed that the Volt’s battery could be monitored remotely through the apps. It is also expected that Onstar features will be available via the apps. These features could include door lock/unlock, remote start and vehicle location reporting. A real win for those who forget where they park!
[via Donald Melanson at Engadget]
In online debates between Pandora Internet Radio and Slacker Personal Radio, I had always (and ignorantly) sided with Pandora. Now, I believe I was sorely mistaken. Slacker has better features and a larger library of music than Pandora. Maybe I shouldn’t have been so anti-Slacker when Verizon pushed Slacker to all of its Blackberry customers. (I hate when the push anything to my phone.) In this post, I detail some of the features that make Slacker the clear winner.
This afternoon MacRumors posted credible information that the next generation iPhone is being field tested. The current iPhone 3GS identifies itself as an “iPhone2,1.” According to an app developer, the new, unreleased iPhone identifies itself as a “iPhone3,1.”
The iPhone 3GS was field tested approximately eight months prior to launch, which leads some to predict a mid-2010 launch for the next generation iPhone. The testing devices are located in the San Francisco Bay Area, the same location where the iPhone 3GS devices were field tested. Unfortunately, little else is known about the device other than its identifier.
[via MacRumors]
FourSquare is a location-based networking program which enables people to log their locations with their mobile phones. A user receives points for hitting various locations and for hanging out in the same location repeatedly. The person who frequents the same location the most is awarded “Mayor” of that location. Mayors of some locations receive special benefits like free icecream or drinks. Yes, even those kinds of drinks. Continue reading »
Priced just under $2.9 million, the iPhone 3GS Supreme by Stuart Hughes in London is the most expensive mobile phone in the world. It functions just as a normal 3GS would but is jeweled accessory that took 10 months to produce. Continue reading »
The relationship between Verizon and RIM, the Blackberry manufacturer, appears to have soured. Why? For the time being, Verizon is betting heavily on the Droid. Will that continue?
RFID Tag Used at a Store
Radio-Frequency Identification (“RFID”) tags have been common for years in store security. A product is tagged with a code like the one on the right which can trigger an alarm from a store security system that reads the RFID tag. Many have predicted that RFID readers would come to cellphones in 2010 and it looks like the iPhone could be first.
What are you writing about? I haven’t heard of Augmented Reality.
Wikipedia offers the following definition: ”Augmented reality (AR) is a term for a live direct or indirect view of a physical real-world environment whose elements are merged with (or augmented by) virtual computer-generated imagery – creating a mixed reality.” In other words, computer graphics are inserted into a view or image of the real world.
AR can best be understood by illustration. Consider this scenario. You are shopping for a home. In the un-augmented world, you might look for For Sale signs, knock on doors, call brokers and browse the web. With AR, however, you might just drive down the streets that interest you. Next, you would snap your cellphone camera at a house. It would process the image and report information back to you. The information would be overlaid on the image you see of the neighborhood either on your phone’s screen or with a pair of special glasses. You would know which houses are for sale. You might see the asking price of the home, pictures of the interior and maybe even a video virtual tour of the home. As you move down the street, you would learn about the next prospective house.
