AT&T Forces Users To Go With All or Nothing Texting Plans – Desperation Shows As Billions In Revenue In Jeopardy

So, AT&T decides to screw its users by going with an all-or-nothing texting plan.  And yeah, they call it streamlining but those of who have been watching AT&T closing since 2007 when the iPhone went on sale call it “desperation”.  How are they desparate?

Simple.  The days of texting as a revenue are coming to an end and AT&T knows this.  According to Daring Fireball and Paris Lemon, it has to do with iMessage that will be on any device running iOS 5 and the Macs.  That’s tens of millions of users who will be moving beyond texting.

Personally, I’ve given it up a long while back.

What will the other carriers do?  Well, here’s the interesting part.  They may follow AT&T and do the same thing.  Furthermore, I think something else will happen.

Soon, carriers will need to bundle texting into their voice plans just to keep users.  If rumors about pre-paid iPhones are true, you can see the iPhone running on Virgin Mobile or MetroPCS.  Their prepaid plans generally include unlimited texting.

Not only will the major carriers have to compete with new iPhone carriers in the pre-paid market but they’ll have to contend with cheaper plans.  No way Verizon and AT&T can compete with $50 or $60 unlimited talk, texting, and wireless Internet access.

HP Will Abandon Web OS Development

Ouch...HP is having a really bad day on a generally bad day for the stock market.

HP trading was halted as news reports confirm that it was getting rid of its PC business via a spin-off.  And just now, HP announced it will cease Web OS development and find other means to optimize the $1.2 billion Palm buyout.

Can you say patents? HP's statement is that it will ""continue to explore options to optimize the value of webOS software going forward."

Any guess who will pick up the pieces?


Source: Marketwatch, Statement on WebOS (multiple sources)

HP To Spin Off PC Biz; What about Web OS?

Looks like HP is doing what IBM did a few years back when it sold its PC business to Lenovo.

While there is no word if Web OS will be part of the spin-off but I hope they're smart enough to keep it in the mother ship 

Source:  Bloomberg.

LTE (And 5G) iPhone Is Coming. But I Rather I Have Better Battery Life

We all know there is going to be an LTE iPhone some day.  A true 4G iPhone.  And we also know that there will be a 5G iPhone as well.  Of course, it’s a matter of when.

Recent posts from popular Apple sites have clues that points to LTE but they don’t tell us when that’ll be.

As someone who loves things go fast, it isn’t easy for me to say this.  I rather have Apple build the next iPhone to last.  By that, I mean I want it to have longer battery lives.  I want what I’m getting on the iPad on the next iPhone.

It will not be HSPA+ or LTE support that I care about.  Keep in mind that there are pockets of the US where they don’t have broadband.  And there is an even larger portion of the world without access to high-speed Internet.  So I think I can chug along on my CDMA 3G speed.

Plus, without unlimited access plans anymore, any increase in wireless speed only that you’ll reach your monthly limit faster.  After that, you either get throttled or be forced to pay more.

So, it won’t be LTE or 8MP camera or a bigger screen that will make me upgrade.  Those are nice to have.  But an iPad-like battery life is a must for this mobile warrior.

Mobile: Yes, Motorola Squeezed Google For $12.5 Billion, So Who Has A Better Set of Patents? What’s Next For Google?

Here's an interesting post on the continuing saga surrounding Monday's announcement of Google buying Motorola Mobility.  Forbes (via MacDailyNews) pointed out what we all know:  how Motorola put the squeeze on Google and forced Google to cough up $12.5 billion.

Honestly, $12.5 billion isn't a lot of money to the likes of Apple, Google, or Microsoft.  And these guys are the ones fighting the vast majority of the patent war.  

So, how did Motorola walk away with an over 60% markup to its market value?

Mac Sales Are Down. No! Mac Sales Are Up! We Shall See

In another he said, he said (or she said) scenario surrounding Apple, one institution has Apple having a poor back-to-school Mac sale while another sees the Macs doing very well despite rising living and educational costs.

So, who's right?

iPhone 5 - September 12th? Not Gonna Happen

While I love to be wrong about this, TechRadar UK is tipping the next iPhone to come out on September 12th.  And yesterday, the general consensus among Apple blogs is that the release date is actually October 7th.  So, who's right?

Well, this is one of those things I like to iCal can come back later and see just who's right and who's not.  Me? I'm sticking with the Apple blogs on this one.

And it goes to show that while general tech sites do sometimes receive rumors about Apple plans, they generally report them without knowing that they're mostly wrong.  I know it's a click-bait thing (kinda what I'm doing now?), but if they do a bit of a research, Apple almost never release a product in an early part of the week.

Now, TR could be almost right about one thing.  September 12th, which is a Monday, could be a good day for Apple to hold a media event to introduce the iPhone 5 and refreshing the iPod line.  Then again, I reckon it'll probably be a Tuesday or Wednesday rather than a Monday.

I'll let you go over the TechRadar to read how they came about this date.  I am putting very very little stock on this date though I hope they're right.