More on the iPhone
Even with all the problems, I guess I'm glad that I pulled the trigger last night - 9 to 5 Mac is reporting that new pre-orders are backing delivery up into July.
Technorati Tags: iPhone
iPhone as Mac Redux?
Some of the statistics make it look like the iPhone/Android battle may be shaping up to be a new version of the Mac/PC battle:
From May 2009 to May 2010, Quantcast finds, Apple's share of the mobile market slipped 8.1 percent. In that same time span, Android's market share jumped up by 12.2 percent. And remember: These numbers don't even take into account the HTC Droid Incredible or HTC EVO 4G, both of which have been selling like hotcakes, nor do they factor in piqued interest in older Android phones thanks to Google's new Android 2.2 upgrade.
There are significant differences though - Apple has the app store and a lot of good apps; the Android app situation is progressing, but it's not the same seamless experience - yet. I don't know that it's a sure bet that history will repeat, but if Apple doesn't pay attention - over the air updates, easing up on some of the sillier app store rules - they may paint themselves into a corner they can't escape from.
More XBox Rumors
Ahead of E3, lots of rumors are flying about what Microsoft will announce - there's been a story pulled from USA Today, alleging that Natal has been renamed Kinectic (does that mean that a release date for it is imminent?). This stuff sounds more based on reality:
But the other rumor circulating involves a diet-sized Xbox 360 (slim!) with a 250GB hard drive and integrated WiFi. Now that's something to get excited about. If it pans out, anyway.
Based on the pains I've been going through to get my XBox on the network in my exercise room, that sounds good :)
When the Sharks Move In
You can tell that a device has gotten popular when retail outlets start using strong arm tactics to upsell various add ons - like one chain in Australia is apparently doing:
Buyers complained about pressure to buy other add-ons such as covers, chargers, extended warranties and Telstra 3G SIM cards. They reported sales assistants said it was “company policy” or “Apple policy” to sell the devices only with accessories, or not at all.
This sort of tactic probably worked a lot better in the pre-internet era. Most iPad buyers are going to be savvy enough to whip out an iPhone and actually chek for evidence of such a policy, first.
Technorati Tags: iPad
Rock, Meet Hard Place
The new iPhone, along with the iPad, is set to put AT&T's network into a bad place:
Pity AT&T and their troubled data network. While previous iPhones' data usage was largely confined to static webpages, simple apps and maybe the occasional song streamed through Pandora, the just-announced iPhone 4's (available June 24) hunger can best be described in one word: video. In other words: If you thought the iPhone was a data-hog before, you ain't seen nothin' yet.
There's going to be an obvious disconnect between what you can do on the phone (stream HD from Netflix), and what AT&T is prepared to allow you to do. If Verizon didn't have motivation to get LTE rolled out before, they sure do now.
Ecosystems
I hadn't thought of Apple's mobile space this way, but mp3newswire has an interesting set of numbers:
In 1959 5,749,000 television sets were sold in the US, bringing the cumulative total of sets sold since 1950 to 63,542,128 units.
As of April this year Apple sold 75 million iPhone and iPod touch units, devices capable of delivering video via Wi-Fi and 3G connectivity. Add to that figure 2 million iPads and counting. By the end of the year Apple should have about 90 million smart mobile devices in the wild.
Now, combine that with the announced iAd platform, and you have a new media empire rising - and it's one for which Apple doesn't have to share the revenues as much as the networks had to...
The New ATT Data Plans: Out of Step With Reality
Unless you only stream video while you're on WiFi, the new data plans from AT&T are insane - Clicker did some basic math on it:
For example, if you download one episode of Mad Men (47min 41sec) from iTunes you’ll be using up 554MB for the standard video and a whopping 1.51GB for the episode in HD. That’s practically your whole data allotment.
AT&T has been explaining that the "average" iPhone user uses way less than 2GB of data per month, but: the iPhone is not the iPad. The iPad is a much better device for consuming video, and the usage patterns for it will differ from those of the iPhone.
If AT&T sticks to this plan, Apple will end up paying for it in very, very unhappy customers. Since Apple really, really doesn't like that, I expect this policy to change.
The Danger For Apple
Apple is riding high on their iPad sales right now, but I think Jason Snell is on to something. While showing off his iPad to a (non-techie) colleague, he ran into this:
The other day I was talking to a colleague, a bright guy who obviously works in the technology and media industries, but isn’t on the technical side. He’s what I’d call a moderately informed tech consumer, and I was showing him my new iPad. His response to me was shocking: He said that he had been interested in buying an iPad, but needed to read PDF files, and since Apple only supported its own formats, he couldn’t buy one.
Now of course, you can view PDF files on an iPad, and, load video and audio that didn't come from Apple. but - notice the assumptions. Apple is building up a reputation as a walled garden outfit. If that meme spreads, then their hardware sales will suffer.
Apple needs to open up the iPad and iphone enough to kill that growing meme - or the fall from grace they experienced during the rise of DOS and Windows will happen again.
Technorati Tags: apple, iPad, iPhone, walled garden
Internet Sharing, Mac to XBox
While I like the XBox, I was annoyed by this - I went off to exercise earlier (stationary bike), and took the XBox upstairs with me. I don't have the wifi adaptor for the XBox, and there's no wire in that room, but I figured that shouldn't be a problem - I fired up Mass Effect 2
Wrong
It requires a connection. No problem - I grabbed my Macbook, set up internet sharing, and hooked the wire up. Easy, right? Well.... no. It didn't work. I didn't have all day, so I just went back and played another game, but I Googled later, and came up with this:
- Start Internet Sharing
- Edit /etc/bootpd.plist as root: change reply_threshold_seconds to 0
- Reboot. Yes, you really do have to reboot. Don't start/stop Internet Sharing before rebooting because it will revert your change on you
Erf. Next time I give things a go, I'll try that. I've never had an issue sharing a connection from the Mac, either to other Macs or Windows PCs, so I'm kind of puzzled by this one...
Technorati Tags: games, xbox, console, mac, internet sharing
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