Apple Selling iPhones on Verizon May Be Good For Google

I was going to say that having the iPhone on Verizon is a good thing for Google largely.  Why would that be?  Would it not mean that there will be less Android phones like the Droid or the Galaxy devices sold to run on Verizon's network?

Here's why it's good but it could be turn bad really quickly.

Right now, some of Android devices being sold by Verizon are using Bing (including the Fascinate) as the default search engine.  Meanwhile, as far as we know, the iPhone's default search engine is still Google.  And while on the surface, Google wants Android sales to continue to go up or hold its own against the iPhone, there is no revenue going to Google if users are searching via Bing on Android.

So, selling less Android devices but more iPhones on Verizon might be a good thing for Google.

Unless one or more of the following happens.

Apple has a contract with Microsoft to use Bing as the default search engine for iPhones running on Verizon.  

Second, Apple plans to bypass mobile search and use Siri as the default search gateway for just about everything.  After all there was a reason why Apple spent $200 million to buy Siri to begin with.

And I wholeheartedly believe that Apple will try to disrupt traditional search in a big way.  And not just on mobile.

A third but much more unlikely scenario is that Microsoft pays Apple to rid the iPhone of Google entirely.  That, like Apple's Siri plan, would definitely hurt Google big time in the long run  And this may be something that Steve Jobs is quite open to if there are enough trucks in the world to move all that money to Cupertino from Redmond.

iPhone Pricing: 3GS Lower, Wonder If More Is In Store From Apple And Verizon Tomorrow

Just today, I learned that Apple has lowered the price of the 18 months old iPhone 3GS to $50.  So this begs the question why and what will fill the $100 price point.

We can easily speculate that the iPhone 3GS isn't sell well at $100 compared to the $200 iPhone 4 so lowering the price of the 3GS to $50 makes it more palpable for those looking for an iPhone but aren't willing to go into the $200 range.  And with a $150 gap between the iPhone 4 and the 3GS, it makes it an easier choice to make.

But what will sit at the $100 price point?  It is hard for me to fathom Apple leaving it wide open for Android or anyone else on the market.  And while Apple might see fit to lower the price of the 16GB iPhone 4 to $150 to reestablish the $100 gap between the 3GS and the iPhone 4, I doubt that will happen.

So, I am going to look into my transdimensional pool and travel into another universe where anything is possible.  

First, Apple lowers the price of the iPhone by $50.  Makes sense.  This will put a lot of pressure on its competitors.  And between the Samsung Galaxy S at $200 or an iPhone, its easy to go with the iPhone $50 cheaper.

Second, Apple lowers the price of the iPhone 4 by $100 to get the iPhone into the $100 price range.  This will hurt the market of its competitors big time. And I think this is a very likely scenario.  In any kind of contractual agreements, there are no longer exclusive agreements with Apple which may allow ATT to buy iPhones at a lower price.  

Between the $50 or $100 price drop scenario, I think the $100 is far likelier to happen.  

A third unlikely scenario is the launch of a new iPhone model sitting at the top.  Maybe Apple will surprise us with an LTE iPhone that commands a premium with 32 GB of storage, which would give Apple reason to lower the price of the iPhone 4 to $100 or $150.  Any number of new features would enable Apple to do make this move.  I can see folks willing to pay a premium for the fabled white iPhone or one with NFC capability.

What is more likely is that lowering the iPhone 3GS to $50 provides ATT with the coverage and competitive edge it needs to convince new users and some upgraders to stay with it using the 3GS as bait.  

However, Steve Jobs goes to NYC just to say "you can now buy the iPhone to run on Verizon" seems a bit much.  Perhaps he's there to clarify his previous statements disparaging the CDMA technology or unveil iPhone 4G.  

Disney's One Million Book Apps Proves Apple Needs iBook SDK

Disney reported that it has pushed out more than one million ebooks to iOS loving children.  And adults I'm sure.  I cannot underscore the significance of this enough.  In a previous post I published on December 29, 2010, I had suggested that perhaps, Apple should create release a SDK with a subset of tools for the iBooktore.

An iBookstore SDK.  This will provide a more enriching experience for writers and publishers for the readers.  After all, the iOS devices can do so much more than read books.  If you want to do just that, the Kindle or the Nook would suffice.  

And interestingly, these one million books are not ebooks.  Rather, they are iOS apps that are books that provide text and rich media like sounds, pictures, and video clips. The sales volume from Disney is a testament to this idea.  I created book using Shutterfly for my nephew last Christmas.  If there was a tool to easily create an interactive ebook, I have all the materials I need to do just that.  Heck, I might even be able to sell it on the app store if there was a easy way to create what I am talking about.

So, Apple.  Time for you to step up and seize this moment.  I have a suggestion how Apple can do this easily.  And there are two routes Apple can do this:

1. iWorks.  Pages has all that we need in terms of layouts.  And Keynote provides a page-by-page presentation.  The combination can be used to create an interactive ebook app.
2. iAds tool that Apple released for develops is a great opportunity for users to create apps running.  From what I understand, it is an even easy tool to use than the iOS SDK.

Obviously, creating an iBookstore SDK that can publish to both the iBookstore and the app store would be idea.  And this would be a golden opportunity for Apple revolutionize the book industry and, more importantly, how contents are created and consumed.  Let text readers have their ereaders.  For anything else, there's the iOS devices.

More on Disney's 1 million book app sales at TUAW.

 

iPhone 2G - Legacy iPhone, What Do You Use It For?

I am writing this post on my Macbook but I am listening to the latest podcast from Maccast.  And Yesterday, while I was donating a couple of units of platelets, the nurse whipped out her iPhone.  Earlier in the week, there was another iPhone that was still being used.  Now, seeing iPhones in public isn't like seeing the white tiger but seeing the original iPhone still in use is.

And while I know a few other folks who still happen to be swiping and tapping away on their iPhone 2G, they are quickly giving way to the iPhone 4.  So I want to know what they will use it for once their uses give way to more and powerful models.  

For myself, there is limited use as the battery life in my 3+  years old iPhone begin to give and crap under years of charges.  There is a slight crap on the upper right corner of the glass though unless you're looking directly at it, you can't see it.

Still, it works well as an iPod.  And while I go on runs, I use the iTreadmill app that more or less give me a sense of just how I am doing.  Accuracy in the general sense.  It's also a good device for my nephews to practice on.  In particular, the 14 months old loves to play with the pond apps and stare at his fingers and hands wondering why they're not wet.  

My mom has graduated to the iPad 3G for her Internet and Web use and her iPhone still works as her main phone. But years of drops has her claiming that the volume is erratic and sometimes, she does not see incoming calls.  But when needed and near a Wi-Fi hotspot, she is still able to e-mail and use the camera function.  

I don't know what the nurse was doing on her 2G iPhone.  I thought about asking but she seemed very immersed in her experience.  But I reckon she could be chatting away on SMS or updating her Facebook status complain how her patient's veins were so freaking hard to find.  

Here are some points that I think the 2G iPhone still shows that its still got some fight left:

• Browsing is still a first rate experience.  So far, not even anything from Nokia, RIM, or Android's browsers come close.
• A rich library of apps in the hundreds of thousands still work on the iPhone 2G.
• Slow on the 2G but let's be honest, 3G use is still spotting while the 2G network, EDGE, still provides the widest coverage.
• For Facebook, Twitter, emails, SMS, it can handle all your social needs as well as anything else including the iPhone 4.
• Multi-touch.  Intuitive.  Only its iPhone cousins match its use.
• Ease of use and clean UI.  Again, this is the only area where the 2G iPhone is matched by other newer iPhones.  And while devices on other mobile OS like the Android might be able to do more, it does not mean it is easy to use.  The 2G holds itself well in most areas and still manages to exceed anything else on the market.
• 2MP camera.  Alright.  Not the 5 or 8MP that are on the iPhone or competing devices but for quite shots, it is still okay.  
• Jail-breakability.  It has gotten easier over the years.  This is me we're talking about and if I can do it, it doesn't get any simpler than that.
• I can go into specific tasks that the iPhone 2G can do but it would have been apparent that you can do them on other devices.  And these would have been tasks that 90% of the things you do on a PC anyway.  E-mails, todo lists, texting and IM, surfing the web, and other rudimentary tasks.  So yeah, the iPhone is still powerful for every day use.

Back to me.  There are a couple of main issues that is keeping me from using the 2G as I did in the past.

• The battery life, I've mentioned above, was not quite it was like before.  And it is one of the main reasons that has kept from me using it even as a phone.  
• The speed.  Having been on the iPad and the 4th generation iPod touch, I can say the slow response and using more of the sophisticated apps is maddening.  It's no fault of the iPhone.  Rather, it's largely due to the age of the device.  Once known for speed and the revolution features it sported, it has now been passed by the new iPhone editions.  It's the nature of things.  
• Limited features.  The iOS 4 was the OS where Apple took the iPhone and really showed the world what mobile computing and communications was meant to be.  Folders, multitasking, and push notifications are just some of the new features that allowed the iDevices to stand further ahead of competition.  The increase ease of use is also something that may never be matched by other mobile OS platforms.  Unfortunately, the iOS 4 cannot be installed on the 2G and is stuck in version 3.  This is also the nature of things but I really love having folders.

Having said all that, I am not about to give up on my original iPhone.  I bought it outright from ATT to keep me busy when my dad was in the hospital for cancer treatment.  And it has been so good to me over the years and while it has been relegated to a glorified iPod, it still provides quick access to weather, stocks, and even quick memo recording.  

And the design is still unmatched as far as I am concerned.  The aluminum back cover is just nothing that was not matched until the Gorilla glass back of the iPhone 4.  And forget about the competition, shall we?  They're still stuck on the cheap plastic covers that are easily scratched up.  

So, this is what I plan on doing to prolong the life of my 16 GB 2G iPhone.  

• I'm planning on sending it in to have the battery changed later in the year.
• Having the front glass plate changed.  The crack I mentioned does not impede use but if I'm gonna get the battery changed, I may as well have that changed as well.  Or should I keep it and have it serve as a scar from the mobile experience?  

So, if you're still on the 2G, you still have one of the best mobile devices out in use.  In my opinion, this was the start of the mobile revolution we are currently going through.  It was upon the 2G iPhone that the current crop of iPhones and competing devices was built on.  And the future owes itself to this social-changing device from Apple.

And I owe it to prolong its use.  

Excited About the iPhone On Verizon? Yes? So Are These Folks At CES

While I am hoping for an LTE version of the iPhone, I think we're a little too early for that. But nevertheless, I am happy about the prospect that in 6 months or so when the iPhone 5 or iPhone 4G comes out, I will have a choice of network providers.

Here's a video WSJ provided. They interviewed a few folks about it. Yeah, they're excited. Too bad T-Mobile has not made an announcement of a special event where Steve Jobs might possibly show too.



Notice there was quite a bit of ATT trashing. Come on, Apple. T-Mobile's HPSA+ network is sooo ready for the iPhone too. Maybe June?

Source: MacDailyNews.

Mobile War – Gaming Front and How Pivotal It is

For folks who don’t use their iPhones or Droids for gaming, that’s fine. You’re a Facebook, Foursquare kind of dude or gal. For the rest of us do are in this for more than casual gaming, having a wide selection of top tier games is important and gaming itself is a very big deal to those companies that provide the mobile platforms.

It’s important to Apple, Google, and anyone else who want to topple them. It’s why Microsoft is pushing the games they’ve got and what Windows Phone 7 can offer in terms of gaming. Don’t’ think that there isn’t a special Halo version coming to Windows Phone 7. Yours truly will be the first in line to get one.

And now, gaming will become instrumental to even app stores. Just this weekend, Amazon opened up their own Android app store. JB knows that there’s a lot of bucks in selling those 99 cent apps. And even more importantly, some app stores, in order to stand out, will likely request exclusives.

Earlier in the year when Angry Birds became available on the Android platform, it was available exclusively to GetJar and no one else. Not even Google’s own Marketplace that sits on every Android smartphone. How’s that for a coup?

Oh, and the wireless carriers have their own app stores in case you’re wondering. And soon, just about every hardware maker, if don’t they already have one, will have their own flavor of app store. Dell, LG, Samsung, Sony already has a vibrant PSP store that it'll likely channel over once their Android-based PSP phone is ready, HTC, and many others.

And who started all this? Apple. But there were app stores even before Apple came along and created a market for the iOS. That’s another matter entirely.

Back to gaming. This year at CES, the headline seemed to be about tablets and which one would dethrone the iPad.

Unfortunately, there’s was something just as important but it got lost in the media blitz. Nvidia’s dual core CPU, Tegra 2, that just about every Android tablet worth buying is running on and a few new mobile devices running on it.

Soon, hardware for WP7 will also sport the same Tegra 2 chip or similar ones.

And Apple is probably readying and itching to unleash their next generation hardware running on newer chips that I reckon will rival anything Nvidia has to offer.

All that graphics muscles and what for? Games. What else could be for? To run Flash? Puuuleaze.

When Steve Jobs gets onto the stage in a couple of months to introduce the iPad 2, he’s not going to demo how cool 3D mapping is. He’s gonna have an army of guys from EA, Sega, and others demo what the iOS platform has to offer in terms of next generation mobile gaming for hard core gamers. And bloggers will drool all over themselves reporting it.

And that could make the difference in the mobile war.

Going forward, I continue to believe that exclusives will be offered on one platform or another just like what’s going on now in the console war. And that will be just as pivotal as the processing power and the sheer numbers of gaming apps.

So, look around. As pretty as some of the UI coming out of RIM or Web OS is going to be on their smartphones and tablets, without games and apps in general, the 18-35 year old demographics are gonna avoid them like the plague.

And while the majority of millions of mobile warriors, who were good in 2010 and found themselves rewarded with iPads underneath their trees this Christmas, probably aren't hardcore gamers, having more gaming apps than what they know to do with is is better than having none at all.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPod touch

Special Verizon Event Next Tuesday

Verizon Wireless is planning a special media event next Tuesday in new York.

Speculation is that this is the fabled iPhone with CDMA support and the venue looks like it might be true.

What does this say?

First, this is a CDMA phone, not an LTE version. And second, Verizon is just another carrier and nothing beyond that will be shared with the public.

Still, for any other company, this would be fantastic news. However, this is Apple no less. Gaining an extra eight to ten million new users just isn't "special" enough for a full on Cupertino treatment.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPod touch