Voice & Phones Archives - Page 4 of 5

Google Crushes Its Complements

Posted on November 17, 2009January 29, 2018

: Image via CrunchBase

Just was reading about Google Maps, specifically their turn-by-turn, and its impact on the maps market.

As many people know, there are 2 main players in the map market: Tele Atlas and NavTeq. Google licensed both of them for Google Maps for years. While they licensed, they also sent cars all around the nation gathering their own data. These two guys, Tele Atlas and NavTeq, were the only game in town. TomTom, the leading portable GPS device maker, wanted to control their own destiny and agreed to buy Tele Atlas for US$2.7 billion. And Nokia, worried that they would lose access to the coveted map agreed to buy NavTeq for a cool $8.1 billion.

All was good until Google dropped a bomb. About six weeks ago, they went independent and didn’t rely on either for their map data. And then about a month ago they announced their own turn-by-turn navigation would be available in the Android OS. Now anybody from BMW to GM to Samsung can provide turn-by-turn by simply using Google’s OS.

The big losers here are RIM and iPhone. They either have to not allow that access or pay a large royalty. And Windows Mobile and Symbian are in an even more difficult situation as paying to embed this data could be more than the license fee they get from handset manufacturers. This all assumes, of course, that users really demand this feature. If they do, Google’s really in the catbird seat. lessthanfree

People will complain that this is incredibly anti-competitive. That Google is using it’s money making machine to unfairly compete in the map market. Well, the story is even worse than that. To get carriers to use Android, Google offers a cut on the search revenue that the phones produce. So not only is Android free but it’s actually paying providers to use it. Some people are calling it “less than free.” Google will go beyond cell phones with this strategy. Any netbook manufacturer (Dell, Sony, etc.) will get a cut of search revenue by building on Android or Chrome instead of Windows or Linux. It’s tough to compete with “less than free.”

It makes you think of the world of complements. Chris Dixon discusses Google and how its complement are the web browser and the OS. The best thing you can do as a company is drive your complements to become commodities. Well there’s no better way than driving their prices to be below zero. Kudos Google, I’m impressed.

I Want a Real Apple TV

Posted on August 27, 2009

Apple keep talking about a tablet to be released

sometime soon. What i really want is an AppleTV – and i don’t mean the box that attaches to the TV. I want an actual TV created by Apple that’s an LCD or Plasma that runs OSX.

appletv

The levels of convergence would be ridiculous. You could use it as a Time Machine device to back up all your machines in your house. It could have a built in cable modem and airport so it could broadcast wireless everywhere. You’re basically converging Time Machine, Airport Express, the AppleTV box and adding a device that has a screen and processing power. The different models will vary by harddrive size.

The experience would be sick. The TV would, of course, have an App Store so people could make living room applications. This could be anything from a Party Playlist to Pictionary, or Charades. The remote could be an iPod or an iPhone.

Apple tried to integrate iTunes into Motorola phones (such as the Rockr) and found it to be such a horrible experience that they just built the entire stack and worked with a service provider (AT&T) for the iPhone. They’ve been doing the same with television. They have the AppleTV which is an add-on and can never get into the experience.

There are so many possibilities. Come on Steve Jobs. Make it happen

Where’s the Android?

Posted on July 30, 2009

: Image via CrunchBase

Why no Android phones? I love Android as a concept but every time i hear about a new manufacturer releasing new handsets they are always on Windows Mobile. I went to Mobile World Congress this year and saw a ton of new phones from Samsung, Acer, Sony/Ericsson, LG and others. Every single one of them was using Windows Mobile. For an OS that seems inferior to Android and dramatically inferior to the iPhone, why is it getting so much traction? Why do device manufacturers keep choosing it. Please tell me?

If they keep choosing it, it means there will be more and more phones that are essentially useless to me in my handset selection and this is a bad bad thing.

The iPhone and the world of computers

Posted on June 17, 2009

I’m an iPhone users and i love it. It has transformed my mobile phone usage and dare i say, my life. With the internet at my fingertips, i no longer go more than 10 seconds without knowing the answer to a question. I have come to realize that the world of computers and the internet will always be with me, following me around and enriching my life. It also makes me realize that my relationship with my computer is going to change. Because i can Google, email, YouTube, Facebook, and check sports scores from my cell – my desire to have my computer near me is dwindling.

The new iPhone 3GS makes me think about the landscape of the computers out there. If you don’t know it, there’s a new type of machine that’s becoming popular called The Netbook. It’s a $200-400 machine that is quite small and sometimes comes attached to a wireless contract so it can be connected at all times. In this regard, it is very similar to a cell phone purchase except in a bigger form factor. (click here to check out HP’s 200 dollar machine)

When i think about the machines out there, i think of this continuum:

One thing that is interesting is how Apple is has high priced machines in their Macbook Pro’s and Air devices and “lowend” machines in their iPhone. Whatever market you’re at, Apple will have the slickest machine. Microsoft, on the other hand, has less slick highend machines, and netbooks on the lowend. Personally, i like Apple’s direction more but it’d be even better if they had a tablet or smaller sized laptop that was an iPhone/laptop hybrid for $400. I think the regular PC starts to disappear and all sales are Netbook sales. Why would anyone pay $1000 when they can get a decently powerful machine for $200?

What will be great is the day day when all i have is my cell phone and i just plug it into monitors and keyboards when i want to work at a desk. My iPhone cradle gets a lot more functional and my need for a second machine disappears.

Nokia’s “Comes with Music” is slick

Posted on March 10, 2009January 29, 2018

A few weeks ago, I went to the Nokia booth at MWC last month and checked out their “comes with music” program. For those who are unfamiliar, here’s the deal:

When you buy a Nokia handset you get access to the Nokia Music Store which has deals with all 4 labels. For the 12 months after you purchase the phone you get unlimited downloads from the store. This isn’t a subscription, for one year the plan is for unlimited downloads for you to keep. They can live on both your PC and phone. Once a year is up, you keep all your downloads and you then have to purchase any additional tracks

Their new phones are all pretty slick and have smooth iPod functionality built in. One thing I especially liked was their Bluetooth headset which is also a sweet pair of headphones (see below)

This won’t be available in the states until layer this year and then only in the PC so it’ll be a while before we can fully check it out

One thing that always gets overlooked when peope talk about iPod’s dominance us the fact that it only dominated because it had BOTH the software on the computer and the hardware. Without iTunes, the iPod is nowhere. I was impressed to see the the Nokia software player I’d pretty nice. Not quite as simple as iTunes but still very slick. I haven’t seen any other handset makers making player software which will really hurt them if they try to compete.

iPhone Usage

Posted on March 5, 2009

: pescatello on Flickr

It was interesting to see in a report yesterday that the iPhone, even though it represents only 1.2% of the total mobile phone market, represents 66% of total mobile web traffic. That is astounding. But it’s not that remarkable if you look at the differences between the iPhone and other phones. On other phones it is quite painful to use the browser and to install and use applications. Both of these are enjoyable on the iPhone. It’s much more of a web device with mobile capabilities than a phone that has a browser.

My new friend Volker listed this report in his blog and talked about how the other players are catching up fast. This is interesting, but until we get a better look at their app stores and new OS (Windows Mobile 6.5) i can’t accurately gauge if they will be a true competitor. My guess is that only blackberry, nokia and android will be close and that Windows Mobile will never get close to competing.

Net Applications mobile browsing statistics: iPhone 66% share (jkontherun.com)
iPhone = Two-Thirds of All Mobile Web Traffic (pindebit.blogspot.com)
iPhone Dominates Market for Mobile Web Traffic (cultofmac.com)

Mobile World Congress wrapup

Posted on February 20, 2009

I spent the week at MWC in Barcelona this past week. I made my way to a bunch of booths and companies. It was a huge show.

Here are some thoughts:

Phone Operating Systems
- There were many new phones released at the show. LG announced 50 phones, Samsung had 22 more, Sony/Ericcson announced a new suite of walkman phones, and even Acer announced new phones. Which each new announcement, you saw that they are all using Windows Mobile. Windows mobile is EVERYWHERE. Regardless what you think about it, you can’t deny its traction in the marketplace. It seems again that Apple will be the better device but Windows will be on more.
- Windows Mobile is not a good OS for the phone. It’s bloated and has way too many menus but there aren’t alot of options. For this reason, i’m hopeful for Android. Even the new 6.5 still uses 8-bit graphics.
- There were barely any Android phones at the show and almost no coverage about it – if it’s the new phone of the future, you wouldn’t know it by this show. It seems that very few handset manufacturers are planning on using it. I was surprised
- Nobody wanted to say it, but the iPhone still kicks the crap out of almost every phone at the show. Only Blackberry is close. Nokia is getting there too.
Microsoft – I went to their booth to check out Live, Windows Mobile 6.5 and My Phone:
- Microsoft Live – i aksked their expert to give me the demo and explain to me why i should care. He showed me MSN messenger, Hotmail, their photo tool and i kept asking, “why should i care?” and he could never give me an answer. There is nothing special here. I think this suite is a good metaphor for the company itself. Internet 1.0
- Windows 6.5 – It is an improvement over 6.1 but it’s still worse than iPhone. They tried hard to make it like the iPhone but worked just as hard to make it not exactly like it. Instead of a grid of applications, it’s a honeycomb layout. My big disappointment is that 6.5 isn’t released until mid 2009. That’s exactly 2 years after the iPhone launch and it’s still inferior. I don’t think they’ll ever get it together.
- The App Store – i was equally excited about this but the big problem is that this isn’t even scheduled to be ready untl late 2009. They didn’t even have screenshots of it. Even the MS rep joked that it was typical Microsoft vaporware.
- My Phone – this is the one thing that i liked from Miscrosoft. It sends all your information from your phone up to the cloud. You can access it online (numbers, calendar, messages). You can even search your text messages online. That’s cool. Of course it’s not tied into Live (see above) because that would make too much sense.
Yahoo!
- they have an app for Blackberry and iPhone. The app has a “Pulse” which can connect to other social networks and list your friends’ status and activity. Very much like Plaxo Pulse – even the same name (although nobody in the Yahoo booth had heard of Plaxo). it’s pretty cool but nothing revolutionary.
- Remember the days when Yahoo was competing with Google? They are now so far behind that it’s not even funny – especially on mobile. Google has an mobile OS, location-aware apps, Maps on every device, and mobile sites for mail, docs, and tasks. Yahoo! on the other hand has a huge booth to announce that they now have an application that displays news, mail and RSS feeds. I’m not impressed.
Some other companies i saw:
- ARM – this is a British company that makes processors. They compete with Intel but on small devices like cell phones and mp3 players. Among their typical devices, they also looking to get the chips into laptops. Not as a replacement processor but as an addition. The idea is that if you are only going to be surfing the web, you can switch to the ARM processor and get around 19 hours of power. Whoa
- Omnifone – this is a Rhapsody type service specifically for mobile phones. They have worldwide liceses from the labels and is working on all Sony/Ericcson phones. They claim to have a US service at the end of ’09. I was also amazed how uninformed they were about Rhapsody.
- TruPhone – a great skype-like app. It’s an app that that lets you make international calls from your phone over the internet to get low rates. It’s a good integration in that if you call someone’s TruPhone app, it rings your regular phone and if both people have the app, it’s completely free. It’s like Skype but made specifically for phones rather than desktops.
- Samsung. They have a Blue Earth phone which is a very cool environment friendly phone. It has solar panels on its back and is made out of recyleable materials. I was excited to see it but was pretty disappointed to find that it was only a prototype and they haven’t actually made any of these phones.

Mobile World Congress: What If the iPhone Didn’t Exist? (technologizer.com)
App stores abound at Mobile World Congress (reviews.cnet.com)
Going mobile in Barcelona (bbc.co.uk)
Yahoo rolls up mobile products into single service (news.cnet.com)
Microsoft readies smartphone assault on Apple (cnn.com)

Blogging from iPhone

Posted on July 22, 2008

I just downloaded the WordPress iPhone application. I’m pretty excited because now I can do some blogging from the road. I’m not exactly how it’ll work. I’m thinking I’ll send the text up from the phone and then add photos once I get back to the computer

Actually I just took a photo for the post and it worked pretty easily. I think this could dramatically increase my blogging

iPhone will take down Blackberry eventually

Posted on October 24, 2007

I had a Blackberry Pearl and loved it. I was planning to keep it – until i saw a friend’s iPhone. It was just so frackin’ slick that i couldn’t stay away. Does Blackberry do email better? Yes. Does Blackberry have some better/smaller sizes that are better for a cell phone? Yes, definitely. But is it as cool or fun to use an iPhone? Not even close.

However, i always hear about people going back to their Blackberry’s b/c of the email capability. I can understand that. I don’t use my iPhone email for work everyday and it is harder to type. But the other advantages heavily outweigh this one feature.

I then read this blog post by Tim O’Reilly about “Why the iPhone Will Beat the Blackberry.” He write that Blackberry users are cell phone power users and:

power users are a minority, and while they point the way to the future, they tend to be disappointed when the rest of the market catches up with an inferior product that has a lower barrier to new users. So, my prediction: the Blackberry will become more like the iPhone, or the iPhone and its imitators will eventually eat its lunch, relegating it to a niche player. The iPhone is now the communications device to beat.

I couldn’t agree more. The iPhone is only getting better going at email and the Blackberry will never come close to the iPhone in slickness of features – including the iPod. It’s only a matter of time before Blackberry goes down.

I heard a rumor that Microsoft was going to purchase Blackberry. I don’t hear it anymore, but i think that’d be a great move for both companies.

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Category: Voice & Phones