Monthly Archives: August 2010

Survey says!

Business, iPhone, Life, Mobile,

TechCrunch: “When AT&T’s monopoly on the iPhone ends in the U.S., it is not going to be pretty. With increasing evidence that Verizon is preparing to offer the iPhone 4 early next year, many people are waiting before buying one or upgrading. Many of those are existing AT&T customers who want the same phone on a better network. According to a new survey by market research firm Morpace, 34 percent of AT&T iPhone owners are waiting for the iPhone to be available on another carrier before upgrading, and a full 47 percent of current AT&T iPhone owners say they would consider switching to Verizon. So almost half of AT&T customers surveyed are not completely satisfied with AT&T’s network.”

If Verizon gets an iPhone, the jury is still out, this could be a really good thing for iPhone customers currently on AT&T. It may mean those that do not bail will have a much better network, especially if a whole bunch of them jump ship for Verizon. You know how polls are, you have to take them with a grain of salt, but this one does make for great “iPhone on Verizon” fodder.

You’d also need to take a look at the number of people that just upgraded to the iPhone 4. I’m fairly certain AT&T’s new, higher priced, penalty for canceling your contract will keep a lot of folks on their network for the next two years.

It’ll also be very interesting to see if the iPhone can make a dent in the Android juggernaut at Verizon. I’m not so confident it will. Android based phones are pretty darned nice and they come in all different shapes and sizes now, one to suit every need. Drop the iPhone in the mix and you may see some very aggressive pricing of Android phones on Verizon. Stir in an average person that wants a smart phone and you may see a lot more Android’s on the street. For some the iPhone has lost its’ luster, especially since you can get an Android phone that comes fairly close. Who knows, with the mystique surrounding the iPhone and Verizon customers clamoring for the device it may be a day one hit. Remember the “I don’t care” video, yeah, that phenomenon.

We’ll all have to wait and see.

Just make sure you get the one with the Bigger GB’s and the WiFi.

Google pulls App from Market

Google,

Aulia Masna“Just like Apple’s App Store, Google’s Android Market has policies. Any app that violates those policies or receives complaints from significant enough parties will be removed.”

This is pretty interesting. Google bowing to the demands of the wireless provider, sound familiar iPhone users? It would appear the “openness” of the Android is a bit of a fallacy. It’s obvious the carriers are in control of the devices, thus the Verizon/Google backed crusade to regulate wireless.

Don’t get me wrong, I’d love to have cheap wireless, with everything being equal, but the reality of it is this, these guys are in business to make money and they’re going to do what they have to to differentiate themselves from the other. Multi-tiered pay plans is one way to do it, not just based on the amount of data you can move per month, bit how fast that data moves and where.

Get used to the idea, it’s the American way!

Whoopsie

Business, iPhone,

9to5Mac: “After being rejected, taptaptap stealthily revealed that the rejected function can be enabled via a simple Mobile Safari URL. Many thought the app wouldn’t last long after this was revealed and tonight, it’s gone.”

This is a real shame. The VolumeSnap feature actually makes the camera usable. It is very apparent to me Steve Jobs has never taken a picture with his iPhone, he probably has an assistant doing it, because he couldn’t possibly be happy with the UX. I believe it makes the process error prone and touch isn’t the best UI for a camera. Pressing a button on the upper right of a camera is. This is one case where pushing the envelope doesn’t really work, it puts the photographer in an awkward position.

But, we do have to play by the store rules if we want to ship product, and as a developer I still believe in the App Store. It our simple app on the same footing as the big boys and provides an instant distribution channel.

That said I still believe Camera+ is a MUCH better camera than the default camera, and VolumeSnap is a much needed feature.

Let’s hope Apple will listen to tap tap tap’s request for a new “feature.” From their rejection blog post.

“Title: Provide a way to allow hardware volume controls to be used for other purposes
Summary: We’d like to be able to use the hardware volume controls to be used for things besides controlling volume. In particular, for our app, Camera+, we’d like to allow the buttons to be used to control the camera shutter for taking photos. We’ve gotten many, many feature requests for this and would like Apple to reconsider its policy of not allowing the hardware controls to be repurposed and provide developers with an official, supported mechanism to do so.

Apple Bug Reporter ID # 8288022”

Netflix making headway

Movies

LA Times: “In a deal that could transform the landscape for digital movie distribution, start-up pay-TV channel Epix is in serious negotiations to give Netflix exclusive online rights to films from its three equity partners — Paramount Pictures, Lionsgate and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.”

We’re getting closer and closer to being able to stream movies on DVD release day. If anyone can pull it off, it’s Netflix.

iPhone apps make money

Indie, iPhone

tap tap tap blog: “Well, I’m really happy to say that the second month far exceeded our expectations and actually earned a bit more than the first month, coming in at a total of just over $254,000…”

Like I said in an earlier tweet linking to this post, I wish I had that problem.

Oh, I almost forgot, to turn on VolumeSnap, which was rejected by Apple yesterday, all you need to is type “camplus://enablevolumesnap” in Safari’s address bar on your iPhone, and KERPOW, it’s enabled!

Apple rejects Camera+ VolumeSnap

Apple, iPhone,

Tap Tap Tap Blog: “Unfortunately, Apple decided to reject it. This doesn’t come as a complete surprise since it wasn’t our first time being rejected for that very feature. Their exact reason for the rejection is the following:”

Darn. I’ve been trying to convince my wife she needs this application. I thought I could sale her on the update because using the volume keys to snap a picture makes taking a picture more like using a camera. It’s a nice feature.

Book Retailers Dying?

Business, Life,

James Robertson: “A decade ago, my entire family looked forward to a trip to Borders or B&N. We’d easily drop a ton of money on books, and spend a happy hour or two browsing the aisles. We just don’t do that anymore. Why? Well, the Amazon store is the primary reason.”

Kim and I used to do this all the time. We’d troop down to our local Borders, walk around, collect a bunch of books, and make a large purchase. We haven’t done it in an eon, and I love book stores. I just love walking around them, looking at what’s new, sippin on a coffee. It’s an event, like going to the movies. Since I picked up a Kindle for Kim last year I can count on one hand the times we’ve been to a physical book store.

The other strange thing, in the same vein, is we’ve stopped visiting Blockbuster Video. I used to go by there at lunch on Tuesday’s to see the new releases. It’s another place I loved to stroll. I haven’t done that for a very long time, probably more than a year. Now it’s all about Netflix.

Things they are a changin’.

More iPhone on Verizon Rumors

Apple, iPhone

Mashable/Apple: “Evidence continues to mount to support expectations that Apple’s iPhone 4 will finally launch on Verizon this coming January. The latest: Sources close to Apple’s hardware suppliers say that Apple has ordered millions of CDMA chipsets from Qualcomm. CDMA is the wireless technology used by Verizon.”

I guess we’ll find out some time in 2011, but the article says Apple should receive CDMA chipsets in December in time for a January 2011 ship date. That doesn’t jibe. I can’t see them shipping mass quantities of iPhones in January if they receive chips in December. That’s not enough lead time in my humble opinion. But, hey, maybe their manufacturing is super efficient and ready to roll out large quantities of phones? Also, why CDMA? That seems like the wrong technology? I could buy an LTE based phone, or a CDMA/LTE phone, but a straight CDMA phone seems off.