iPhone Owners: Free Wi-Fi at ATT Hotspots Again

According to Gizmodo, folks with iPhone and still use ATT services (not T-Mobile) should be able to access ATT hotspots again, like at Starbucks.

This is terrific news.  And it's about time.  There have a Jekyll-And-Hyde thing going with ATT giving iPhone owners access to hotspots.

Let's hope this time, it sticks.

Also, if you're an iPod Touch owner, and you feel left out, Starbucks offers a couple of hours of free service if you buy coffee or use your Starbucks card.  And also, if you have DSL through ATT, you also get free access to ATT hotspots.

Things are looking good once again.

Via Gizmodo

Note:  G1 owners also get access to T-Mobile's hotspots for free.  Well, it's part of your service.

$99 iPhone - It's a Matter of When

It's traditional for cell phone makers to drop the price of their devices over time as costs come down.  For the iPhone, I think we'll see a $150 before $99.

But Apple has surprised me lately with moves I didn't think they had the DNA to formulate the behavioral characteristics to make.  Gone are the days of "my way or the highway" approach.  Sometimes.

Take the $200 drop on iPhone just this July for the iPhone 3G.  A younger Jobs might have stuck to his guns.  Now, it's Apple talks about sacrificing near term margins to leave no umbrella room for competitors.

But the impact of a $99 is mind-boggling.  If adoption rates increase 2-3 times, it truly leaves very little room for competitors to move.

Link:  Crunchgear

My only question is what happens to the iPod Touch.

Apple-Yahoo Partnership - Can It Work?

Here's a fun thought:  Apple buying Yahoo.  Here's the thing. Apple won't have to offer Yahoo the premium Microsoft was paying for.  After all, Apple stock has a better upside potential than Microsoft at this moment with the iPhone sales leading the way and Macbooks flying off the shelves.  Essentially, Apple would be saying to Yahoo, "we'll buy you with a small premium and you'll be very thankful for it later".

With Android now a competitor to Apple's mobile platform, despite bloggers love using products from both companies (myself included) who try to walk a fine line on that matter in their posts, Google and Apple are on a potential collision course for mobile supremacy.

Now, Yahoo doesn't want to go under Redmond's sphere of influence.  It'll tolerate Google.  But I think the ranks and files of Yahoo would be very excited about a change of leadership to Cupertino.  Of course, this is only a speculative scenario on my part.

However, if Apple wanted to pull the trigger on this, it has the resources to make this work.  Some stock exchange and cash from the $25 billion war-chest can make it happen (I think they're adding like $2 billion of cash a quarter).  So, say that happens, then what?

• Yahoo gains the Apple culture and innovative energy.  Yahoo never had a swagger but it'll get one.
• Yahoo has hundreds of millions of users.  Apple would love to introduce them to its brand and products.  The massive ecosystem for the iTunes and Apple's mobile products, iPhone and iPods, would allow Apple to solidify it's hold on the mobile market.
• Apple will gain search.  If relations between Google and Apple does sour, Apple will have an alternative route to go to.  

Here are some things that will prevent such a partnership from working out:

• Apple will have to work with competitors.  Yahoo's services are popular among mobile users but will have to compete on Nokia and Samsung phones with iPhone but work with them to get Yahoo's mobile services on their phone.
• Too much baggage.  
• This is something too big for Jobs and company to absorb.  Remember when Apple bought Jobs out to bring him back and after he became CEO?  Remember what happened to your Newton? 
• Apple's purchases are targeted.  Filling its needs and holes.  Apple might be interested in a small search outfit or mobile ad startup that meet its needs to compete with Google if needed but Yahoo has too much of what Apple doesn't need. 

However, if it does work out, can you imagine the awesome new power of an Apple-Yahoo?  Apple would be able to offer a complete life solution of hardware, software, and cloud computing all in your Mac, iPhone, or iPod.  That is exactly what Apple is trying to offer now with Mobile Me, except, you know, so far, they suck at it.  

But if Mobile Me does get better by the end of the year as Jobs promised, Apple would still have an incomplete solution to compete with Google if relations break down between the two (no search engine of their own being the most important component).  Maybe there won't be war between Apple and Google.  However, an Apple-Yahoo done right could be Google and Microsoft's worst nightmares.

Anyway, it's fun to consider on a Friday.

Note:  At the financial call, Jobs did say Apple could be using its massive cash to hire every talented engineer in the Silicon Valley.  So, the statement kind of stuck with me all week.  I can't shake the feeling that the dude was dropping a hint and, yet, was laughing how we have no idea what Apple has up its sleeves.

Nvidia 9400M Rocks!

For those of you joining us from Onxo, welcome to these benchmark intepretations.  Previously, we talked about Apple's new benchmark numbers and we have been eagerly waiting for independent ones from Macworld.  Here's here.

Macworld is kind enough to bring us additional gaming numbers for the new Macbook.  But in general, it speaks to the wise move Apple made in going with Nvidia.  So, anyone who says Apple don't care about gaming, Steve Jobs appreciate a little apology.

Here goes.  I've eliminated some numbers such as the iMac and new Macbook Pro's 9400M because they were essentially the same as the Macbook's own 9400M numbers.

• How does the Macbook stack up against the MBP with 8600GT?  Pretty much along the same line as what Jobs said.  The 9400M numbers came in about 62% of the 8600GT.  This is a huge improvement over the X3100, and certain the X4500 had Apple gone with it instead.  
• How is the Macbook 9400M compared to the new Macbook with X3100?  It did very very well. The 9400M was able to provide 5X more FPS than the x3100.  It would come out roughly 2-3 times more than the X4500. 
• I'm a Call of Duty guy and I think we're got a winner with a playable number of 28.4 FPS at 1280x800 and 35.7FPS at 1072x728.  I don't need more than that, thank you.
• How is the 9600M GT stacked up against the 8600GT?  This is great news for folks who have the older Macbook Pro.  the 9600M GT is averaged only 11% faster than the 8600GT.  It's a good improvement but folks with the older models can go into the weekend feeling good about their earlier purchases.  

There you have it.  But I want to impress upon you the advantages of new models and notes about the early-2008 models

• New build.  Very sexy and brings the all the Macs into 2008 looks with the new keyboards and with LED screens.
• The new MBP is ready for Snow Leopard.
• The new MB has LED screens now.  And better suited for gaming because of the new Nvidia chipset.  Also ready for Snow Leopard.
• If you bought an earlier model, even 2007 ones, you're still in the game.  If you got a Macbook, your X3100 graphic processor is still in use and you've got a lot of milage left on those Macs.  For day to day work, you're going to be stuck with these elegant workhorses for a long time to come.  That's the thing about Macs, they last.
• If you bought one of the previous editions of Macbook Pros, you are safe when it comes to graphics and gaming.  You're also likely safe as far as Snow Leopard's GPU feature is concerned. We'll likely hear more about it at Macworld and definitely throughout next year until the Worldwide Developer Conference in June of 2009.

So, I encourage you to head on over the Macworld for the latest numbers.  

Note: Barefeats as additional benchmarks waiting you.

Blackberry rocks! But...

RIM sold 5.4 million phones.  Valued at $2.1 billion.  Their best quarter.  This comes out to $389 per handset.  That's very good.

But Apple sold 6.9 million iPhones valuing at $4.6 billion.  I'll let you do the math...no wonder RIM is getting killed.  As good as the Storm is, Blackberries have not been able to hold serve since the iPhone 3G came out.  

One more thing...Apple stock was about to tank when the guidance looked bad but then Jobs show up during the financial call and stock jumped 10%...ended the extended session up 13%.  

Look at the analysts who commented on the iPhone  before it came out.

Also of note for Apple fans:

• Wired reported the Android Marketplace, which I found virtually abandoned yesteryday and today, should be stock up with 50 apps by tomorrow.  the iTunes app store came ready with 500 at launch.   
• The iPhone app store has ballooned 11X from when it debuted back in June.  Stands at 5,500 apps.
• The 200 millionth app will be downloaded by tomorrow.
  

I guess I'll hold off purchasing Solar Baster until tomorrow.  Maybe I'll just get to be the lucky 200 millionth served.

New Macbook Benchmarks From Macworld and Other News

Macworld has been busy.  I didn't think they would be this fast but they've got benchmarks up for the new Macbooks.  It's ready for your consumption.

I just want to point out some things about the benchmark as it relates to the new Mac portables.

• The 2.4Ghz MB more than held its own against the Macbook Pro.  Of the nine tests, it won four of them.  Adobe PS Suite, MPEG encoding, iTunes, and zip archive. With it's dedicated Nvidia 9600 GPU and larger cache, the new MBP won the Speedmark 5, unzip archive, and, obviously, the Quake 4 frame rate with 59 FPS.
• The 2.4Ghz MB achieve a wonderful 39 FPS in the Quake 4 test, coming at 67% of the MBP number.
  
• The 2.4Ghz MB with 39 FPS in the Quake 4 test is more than 5X the early 2008 Macbook.  The new 2.0Ghz MB also bested the early 2008 Macbook more than 5X.
  
• The new white Macbook bested the 2Ghz Macbook in 4 of the 9 tests, likely because of the higher clock rate.

Personally, I'm still leaning towards the 2.4Ghz Macbook over the 2.0Ghz version but for folks who are debating between the 2.0Ghz and the new white MB, it's more difficult.  On one hand, the new white Macbooks have a faster chip and firewire while the 2.0Ghz Macbook has an LED screen and new body form.  

So, there you go.  This provides us a good reference and starting point for comparison.  Macworld promises more results soon.

Also, Microsoft is looking to deploy Silverlight on the iPhone and G1 to head off Adobe.  Getting it to work on Android is more likely to happen than on the iPhone.  Adobe has been talking about it for months, most recently in September, but nothing has come of it.  Wouldn't hold my breath there.

Source:  Macworld Benchmarks, Macworld Silverlight

Note:  This weekend, I'll be looking into those leftover Macbooks and Pro ones.  There is a lot of value in there.  Right now, I'm torn between an early 2008 Macbook Pro ($1444, $1645) Amazon versus the 2.4Ghz Macbook. 

Macbooks Pull Double Duties

In keeping the white Macbook, we'll call it WMB, Apple has effectively created two lines of Macbooks along with the Aluminum Macbook, AMB.

Why the two?  This is simply beyond making Macbooks more affordable for the general public.  In fact, Apple may now finally have a corporate strategy, if only based on looks.

You may not well go into a client meeting with a WMB but going in there looking fresh with an AMB is definitely a plus.  Furthermore, corporations has already begin to realize the benefits of using Macs in their environment.  But Jobs did something brilliant in going after the corporate market.

How?  Steve Jobs said in the Macbook event, you can buy into the aluminum case, LED screen, and much improved graphics experience for $700 less for the low-end AMB and $400 less for the high-end AMB.  Just like Jobs is asking a lot of the boardroom-friendly Macbook Air, he is doing the same with the AMB.

On the other hand, the WMB will still appeal to consumers and educational buyers.  But let's make no mistake.  the WMB is no slouch.  One is still one of the top laptops on the market.  Apple will sell tons of those.

Apple will continue to push into the educational market.  Apple will still be competing with Dell using the best technology Intel can ship but not with the initial cost of the overhead.  The millions of the WMB Apple has turn out will also allow Apple to lower costs while avoiding sacrificing margins.

It's not the $800 some folks in the Internet thought it was realistic enough to pass around.  And $900 didn't happen either.  But with a lot of online stores offering rebates and bundles, we can be looking to pick up a WMB for closer to $950.

Note:  I am somewhat disappointed Apple has not made wireless broadband connectivity an option.  Perhaps when we see WiMax deployed, we'll see something then.