NEWS: Verizon and AT&T May Both Get Apple Tablet

It'd be trivial to drop a CDMA/LTE radio into an iPhone. Apple wouldn't even have to do any of the work, the vendors of the chips would be falling all over each other to work with the contract manufacturers to create prototypes and then to help get it into production.

It's all up to Apple to decide if the benefit of selling another 10 to

15 million iPhones to Verizon customers is worth it, or should they cede that market to Android, Blackberry, etc. until the whole world is LTE in 2015 or so.

Once people get used to one OS on a smart phone it's hard to get them to switch to a different OS. Apple's benefiting from this now, but it could hurt them in the future as Android continues to take market share from them.

Sales of smartphones using Google's Android operating system have overtaken Microsoft's Windows mobile phones for the first time according to figures published yesterday.

Sales of Android phones, which include Google's own Nexus One and Motorola's Droid, accounted for just under 10 per cent of all smartphones sold globally in the first quarter of 2010, up from just 1.6 per cent last year, according to figures from Gartner, the technology research group.

In contrast, Microsoft, whose Windows Mobile operating system has been available since 2003, saw a sharp drop in market share, from 10.2 per cent a year ago to 6.8 per cent in the first three months of this year.

Android phone sales have also overtaken Apple's iPhone in the North American market, accounting for 26.6 per cent of units sold, compared with 22.1 per cent for the iPhone.

...

Nokia's Symbian smartphones and Research In Motion's BlackBerry also saw their market shares eroded. Nokia fell from 48.8 per cent of smartphone sales to 44.3 per cent, and RIM dipped from 20.6 to 19.6 per cent.

Nokia has been hurt by launch delays of a series of smartphones this year.

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Wal-Mart, the world's largest retailer, plans to slash the price of Apple's 16GB 3GS iPhone to $97 beginning Tuesday.

Apple (AAPL, Fortune 500) is widely expected to unveil a brand-new iPhone next month, and could be working with retailers to clear out its remaining inventory of the about-to-be-outdated model.

At the new price, customers will save $100 on Apple's smart phone, which currently sells for $199. The deal requires that the phone be purchased with a two-year contract from AT&T, the iPhone's exclusive service provider.

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Russia's Yota network, which connects 300,000 people over WiMAX technology, is switching to LTE as the tide firmly turns in favour of the latter technology.

...

Even if Clearwire hangs onto its WiMAX network for a while, and WiMAX continues to be used for fixed broadband in some markets, the future of mobility is LTE and Yota's decision only underlines that fact.

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MY COMMENT: Bad news for Sprint!

One reason Steve Jobs went ballistic over the infamous iPhone-left-in-a-bar escapade may have been that the lost stolen peripatetic prototype was not the one he planned to introduce from the Worldwide Developers Conference keynote stage on June 7.

In a Wednesday wrap-up of iPhone 4G rumors, DigiTimes analyst Ming-Chi Kuo ? he of the recent 24 million iPhone forecast ? noted that the Gizmodophone bore a tag that read "N90", an iPhone 4G internal codename.

No big deal there. But he also noted that his sources have told him that there is another iPhone prototype in the works with the codename of "N91." This one, apparently, is less advanced than the N90. "[The N91] is a parallel product to back up the N90 in case there are major delays due to significant modifications in casing, display resolution, digital camera support, and so forth."

If Kuo is correct ? and if there had still been uncertainty in Cupertino whether the N90 or the N91 would share the stage with Apple's CEO on June 7 ? the loss of the N90 prototype made that decision for them. Now that the world assumes, for example, that the next-generation iPhone will have a front-facing camera, it would be egg-on-face time for Steve Jobs if he had to introduce a less-capable model.

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COMMENT: The term "vaporware" comes to mind. ;)

Apple could be under examination by the Department of Justice for its deals with music labels to distribute songs and albums online, according to a May 25 report in the New York Times, which quoted unnamed sources. Reportedly, the Justice Department is interested in whether Apple used its position as the country?s largest digital-music seller to strike exclusive deals and put other retailers, including Amazon.com, at a disadvantage. Apple is also reportedly facing a potential antitrust inquiry over its developer agreement for the recently unveiled iPhone OS 4.

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Apple's iPhone came out on top in terms of customer satisfaction compared with other smartphones, according to a survey of 1,009 consumers who bought smartphones in the past six months. But Motorola phones running the Android operating system, including the Motorola Droid, came in a close second in the survey conducted by ChangeWave Research.

77% of iPhone customers polled said they were very satisfied with their purchase, ahead of owners of Motorola smartphones, with 64%. Motorola's second-place finish puts it well above the industry average for recent purchasers, ChangeWave said Wednesday. In terms of mobile operating systems, the iPhone also finished on top, with 71% saying they were very satisfied customers. The Android was a close second, with 67% very satisfied. The Palm Web OS came in third, with 57% of Palm users saying they were very satisfied. Research In Motion's operating system for the BlackBerry finished "well behind the three industry leaders," at 37%, but ahead of Windows Mobile, which was 24%, ChangeWave wrote.

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Newtonian affair grows cold By Rik Myslewski in San Francisco

As the iPad goes on sale in the UK (and eight other countries), I've had my own "magical and revolutionary" Apple tablet for exactly 56 days. And I'm using it less and less each day.

My fading relationship with my iPad reminds me of a long-ago college fling with a young lovely. High anticipation, fervent consummation, growing familiarization, decreasing fascination, and the inevitable: "No, hon, it's not you. It's me."

Which is the line you use even when you're pretty damn sure that it is indeed her.

Full disclosure: I write this as a fervent fanboi who has used Macs since literally the first day that the original Macintosh 128k became available in 1984. I've partnered with and enjoyed PowerBooks, Quadras, Performas, iMacs, Power Macs, MacBooks, Mac Pros, and iPhones ? even a Newton.

But of all of those Apple products, it's my whirlwind affair with the Newton that most reminds me of my first 56 days with my iPad.

With the Newton, as with the iPad, I eagerly anticipated its release, and bagged one as soon as I could. I took it on business trips for note-taking and email, had no problems with its much-maligned handwriting recognition, and even played the occasional game on it.

But after the first blush of novelty wore off, the Newton's flaws asserted themselves: small display, unpocketable bulk, non-standard file system, and so on. I found myself spending less and less time with it, and soon returned to my previous partner, my trusty PowerBook 170.

So it has been with the iPad. ...

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John Navas quoting Rik Myslewski:

Who are these fanbois? I want the name(s) of the fanboi(s) who forced Rik to buy an iPad. If he forced _himself_ to buy one sight-unseen then he is a fool. I bought mine after trying someone else's for a day. The more I use my iPad, the more I like it--especially on those excursions where I don't require the kind of heavy-duty image processing or the multi-gigagbyte astronomical databases that my MacBook Pro's provide.

Mr. Myslewski flatters himself to think that anyone cares whether he likes the iPad.

E-bay will be his consolation.

The iPhone, also, needs no excuses. You try it, you talk to others who have one, you learn what it can do and what it can't do, you decide you want it or you don't want it. I don't see that as being terribly complicated. The iPhone has many capable competitors, something for every taste and budget. That's pretty much the way I do most of my shopping. Impulse buying can be very expensive, indeed.

Independent market analysts, i.e., those not affiliated with or hired by Apple, Inc., credit the success of the iPhone and iPad to reports of an overwhelmingly positive user experience, news of which is spread by word of mouth--and not by so-called fanbois. "Non-standard file system?" It is to laugh. The users who describe an overwhelmingly positive experience are not aware that these devices _have_ a file system. If they needed to be aware of that, these spectacularly successful devices would not have failed miserably in the market.

It is true that millions have bought the iPad sight-unseen because they have learned from experience that, if it comes from Apple, it will be elegant and it will work right. The vast majority of these people (Mr. Myslewski notwithstanding) have not been disappointed.

Davoud

Apparently Navas cares.

Maybe the two of them can go into a cozy corner together and snuggle.

Verizon confirmed the existence of a new Motorola-made Android phone called the Droid X on Thursday. A newly launched section of Verizon's Web site teases the device, showing an image of the phone along with the caption: "The Next Generation of Does: Droid Does."

Verizon's site says the Droid X has a 4.3-inch display, HDMI output, and the ability to capture 720-pixel video. (The site originally said "720p screen" but was later changed, presumably as a clarification, to say "captures 720p.")

The new info falls in line with a Verizon Wireless media event scheduled for next Wednesday, June 23 -- yes, the day before that other high-profile smartphone will be released. Executives from Verizon, Google, Motorola, and Adobe are all slated to speak at the invitation-only affair, entitled "Unleashing the Next Generation of Droid."

Officially, that's all we know. Unofficially, there's a whole other world of information.

Verizon's Droid X: The Rumors MORE:

Vendors are adding cheaper and simpler Android-based phones to their portfolios, in an effort to put smartphones in the hands of more users. The products will also help close the gap between Android and Apple's iPhone, according to analysts.

On Tuesday, Samsung Electronics launched the Galaxy 3 and Galaxy 5. On Wednesday, Sony Ericsson announced the Xperia X8, which will start shipping in the third quarter and cost less than ?200 (US$250) before subsidies, according to a blog post. The Xperia X8 comes with a 3-inch display, a 3.2-megapixel camera and navigation using A-GPS (Assisted-GPS).

The new price point will help attract a new audience for Android-based smartphones, Sony Ericsson said.

Sales of Android smartphones have exceeded those of the iPhone in North America, but globally the iPhone was still ahead of Android by more than

3 million units during the first quarter, according to market research company Gartner.

However, the arrival of smartphones like the Galaxy 3, Galaxy 5 and the Xperia X8 will help drive sales volume and give Google an edge in the smartphone OS war with Apple.

"Android is undoubtedly growing in strength, and I think if you look at the momentum that Android has now ... it looks set to next year really start pushing Apple in terms of volumes, and in a two year time frame become the second largest platform behind Symbian," said Geoff Blaber, analyst at CCS Insight.

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"Google Voice: A Guide to Getting Started":

The tension between Apple and Adobe just got a little stronger.

Adobe Systems, Inc. on Tuesday announced its release of its Flash Player

10.1 to Android.

"Flash Player 10.1 will be available as a final production release for smart phones and tablets once users are able to upgrade to Android 2.2 'Froyo,'" a June 22 Adobe press release said. "Devices supporting 'Froyo' and Flash Player 10.1 are expected to include the Dell Streak, Google Nexus One, HTC Evo, HTC Desire, HTC Incredible, DROID by Motorola, Motorola Milestone, Samsung Galaxy S and others."

Launching a Flash player on an Android phone will allow users to access websites and online games and videos that operate using Adobe Flash. Consumers have criticized Apple CEO Steve Jobs for excluding Flash from Apple's devices. Currently, when an iPad, iPhone, or iPod Touch user visits a site supported by Flash, they receive this error message:

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British scientists who conducted the largest study yet into cell phone masts and childhood cancers say that living close to a mast does not increase the risk of a pregnant woman's baby developing cancer.

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Appcelerator has published the results of its most recent app developer survey. The survey--which includes responses from more than 2,700 developers--shows Android in the lead in a handful of categories, but the iPhone OS, or IOS4, is crushing all competitors in every category that counts for businesses and developers.

It seems eerily parallel to the Windows v. OS2, or VHS v. Betamax wars. Like OS2 and Betamax, Android seems to hold a respectable lead in certain categories that indicate it is a technically superior platform. For example, developers responding to the survey put Android ahead in "Has the most capabilities as an OS", "the most 'open' platform on the market", and "This OS has the best long-term outlook".

Those are admirable kudos. It's not too shabby being the OS with the most capabilities and the best long-term outlook. However, with the exception of the question of open platform--which nobody could suggest IOS is with a straight face--Android is only marginally ahead of IOS. The question of capabilities and long-term outlook could easily shift based on an innovative hardware or software release, or new IOS-based device platform from Apple.

Apple, on the other hand, leads in survey categories like "Has the biggest market for my consumer apps", and "Has the biggest market for my business apps", and "Offers the most 'discoverability' for my apps", and "I see the platform as being most secure". These are the survey questions that will dictate where developers are spending time creating apps, and which platform businesses are most likely to embrace.

The survey categories where Apple is in the lead show IOS crushing competitors--like 85 percent to 10 percent, or 65 percent to 11 percent. Aside from the question of most open platform, the areas where Android is leading are much narrower-- 55 percent to 39 percent for OS capabilities and 54 percent to 40 percent for best long-term outlook. Compared against each other, the Android survey results seem like a consolation prize akin to saying someone has a "nice personality" because you can't think of anything else nice to say.

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News Analysis: Motorola and Verizon may make the iPhone irrelevant through the Droid X. For the iPhone, it's 1984 in America again and Apple has failed to learn the lessons about open systems and buyers' demand for choice. Apple's products are once again on the road to marginalization.

Imagine if you will that it's 1984, and Apple's Sledgehammer Gal has just faded away. Then the Macintosh was Apple Computer's big promise for the future. It would change everything.

Now flash forward to some incidents that are less memorable in their visual impact, but perhaps more important to today's computing environment. Steve Jobs introducing the iPhone 4, and then today, Motorola and Verizon announcing the Droid X.

When Verizon Vice President John Stratton showed the Droid X in a New York press conference (which the rest of us got to see in streaming video), he also showed why Apple hasn't learned the lessons of the decades that followed 1984.

What Apple should have learned is that open systems work; people don't want someone else putting limits on them, and that they want choice. The reason the Macintosh never got much above 10 percent market share (and subsequently sank below that) is that Apple didn't offer a choice. You did things Apple's way, or you didn't do them at all.

Now, we're 26 years later and it's the iPhone that has all of the attention, and once again the lessons of the past haven't been learned. As was the case with the Macintosh, the iPhone provides a choice between doing things Apple's way or not doing them at all. You have one source of applications, one choice of carrier. You can't even write your own software, which you could at least do in the Mac.

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John Navas wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com:

I know you are just reposting press releases etc. But since you've done some many about the Android OS over the past several weeks I'm hoping maybe you have some first hand experience with it.

Have you been able to establish a successful VPN connection with a WRT54G running DD-WRT? Since both a derived from BusyBox Linux one would think that a VPN between them would be a no brainer. Yet when I can get a successful connect it will freeze within seconds. I'm currently on Android

2.2.

I do, currently T-Mobile myTouch 3G (HTC Magic, later 3.5mm Jack version).

I've never tried.

'Fraid I can't help.