Why is AT&T Still Apple’s Only U.S. Carrier?
What’s going on with AT&T? First there’s the security breach relating to iPad customers, then there’s the crashed pre-order site for the iPhone 4. Not to mention, the decision to retract the all-you-can-eat data plan for the iPad 3G, going to an option that’ll cost power users even more money — apparently because almost no one was using their 5GB/month caps.
Wait, there’s more. Today there’s word of a breach with the iPhone 4 pre-order site showing the wrong addresses and credit card info to some people, right near the end of the pre-order process. Some people managed to catch the problem but who knows how many people didn’t? If you get a free iPhone 4 in the mail between now and July 14th, you’ll know why. (Just to be clear: it’s probably illegal if you keep the phone.) Not enough for you? AT&T has been canceling some completed iPhone 4 pre-orders, but they told Electronista it was because some customers ordered twice, having not received confirmation of the first completed order.
Wow, Apple. And you still want to have just one carrier in the USA? I mean sure there were 10 times the preorders of iPhone 4 than for 3GS last year, but what about all the security breaches in the matter of just a few weeks? The iPad breach goes beyond the release of contact info for 114,000 customers (including highly-placed politicians), and some experts say it might be worse than first thought, possibly allowing hackers to track the physical location of the devices.
If Apple has all the muscle it does, I’m surprised that CEO Steve Jobs has not met with AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson – the man who claims that his company will be number one in mobile broadband by 2015. Does that mean they’re not number one now? If not, they why have Apple partnered with them?
Options for Trading in Your Old Apple iPhone
Considering getting one of the hot new iPhone 4 models with tons of great features, not to mention open-standard video calling? Having grown up watching The Jetsons TV cartoon, I’d buy two iPhone 4s for the video calling feature alone (and intend to), but there’s the question of what to do with an existing iPhone. As a mobile developer, I intend to keep my 3GS model, but if you’re inclined to upgrade come Jun 24th (for the USA and eight other countries), you can get cash on your iPhone. Yahoo! News has a writeup about five of the more popular trade-in sites that’ll pay cash for an older iPhone — as much as $320. (There’s also a tip on how to wipe your personal data before selling the phone.)
Now, considering that the newer iPhone 3GS 8GB model (available soon in select countries) is only $99, why would anyone want to buy an older iPhone? Lots of reasons. Some countries don’t have locked carriers like in the USA with AT&T. There might also be buyers who want to jailbreak the phone, or simply use it just like an iPod Touch. In fact, a 3G or 3GS has more features than an iPod Touch, so interested buyers are motivated.
Avatron link: Air Display.
Avatron Air Display App: Your iPad as External Screen [Updated]
Not everyone needs multiple computers and screens like my setup, above, but if you do and also own an iPad, there’s a quick-fix option.
Despite my 5 screens (3 laptops, 1 Dell Zino mini-desktop), iPhone and iPad, my work sometimes has me wishing I had yet one more screen. That productivity is extremely high when you use multiple screens is an established fact — according to my own experience and to various studies I’ve not bothered to to get references for. If you doubt me, try it yourself. Two screens is better than one, three better than two, and so on. If there’s an upper limit where too many screens become a distraction, I haven’t reached it yet. But adding extra screens gets costly, and when you’re a bootstrapping mobile startup, that matters.
Fortunately, if you already own an iPad, there’s an inexpensive option that might do in a pinch: your iPad. Yes, you CAN use your iPad as an external screen to your computer. I have tried using VNC software, but that’s a remote desktop app, and not really what we need here. The answer? Avatron’s Air Display, which currently only supports Mac computers but will have a Windows solution in the future. Using a combo of an iPad and a server app on your laptop/ desktop, the iPad can be used as an external screen. (Expensive option, yes, unless you already own an iPad and don’t want/ are not ready for another external monitor.) [Update: Installation of the equivalent server application on your Mac requires that you have to restart your computer .]
Ars Technica already has a fairly lengthy review of Air Display, so I’m not going to review it too. I purchased the iPad-specific app from the Apple App Store on the basis of the review and like it for the most part. The only caveat I’ll mention has to do with the iPad WiFi-only model’s wireless connection quirkiness and its lack of connection persistence, if you haven’t used the device for several minutes, or if your wireless setup has fluctuations (my AT&T U-Verse setup does). When the wireless connection temporarily ceases, the app has to be reset all over again (from the Mac toolbar). This is irritating because any windows you have open in the iPad’s screen area gets shunted over to one of your other screens. You have to move them all back when you reset Air Display settings. Not exactly productive.
If not for this situation, Air Display is a killer app. I’m guessing that if you’re one of those rare people with two (or more) iPads, you could connect all of them and have quite the temporary display setup. Hopefully either Apple will hurry up the software fix for the connection problem or Avatron will upgrade the app to save state so that the problem is minimized. Ultimately, if you need something more permanent, you’re better off purchasing a real monitor. For suggestions on setup, read my detailed post at Performancing on multi-screen, multi-computer configuration options.
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Big News: Palm Finds a Buyer in HP
It happened a lot faster than maybe many of us thought but Palm has found a buyer in unexpected quarters: HP. At least, I’m surprised, because who’s really thinking HP would be a Palm suitor? Speculation fell to Lenovo, HTC, Dell, and even RIM. But HP could be exactly what Palm needs.
The purchase price, in cash, is based on $5.70, which is an approximately 23% premium on the common stock share price of $4.64, listed at end of day Wed, Apr 28, 2010. Total purchase price is ~US$1.2B. Both companies boards of directors have approved the sale. Palm CEO Jon Rubenstein is expected to stay on. Elevation Partners (who have rock star Bono of U2 as an investor) is said to have taken a hit on the sale, which should close by Jul 31, 2010 — HP’s fiscal Q3 end.
The official statement from HP does not say if the Palm brand name will be retained, but it appears that at least webOS is something they want. In fact, MobileBeat suggested something that I was also speculating on: webOS for a tablet computing device. That’s definitely something I would buy, as I love webOS’ multitasking and card system. Speculation by Wired Gadget Lab is that webOS devices might gain enterprise use. While I initially thought that, would companies choose webOS over MS Windows devices, which HP currently has for their tablet computers? Regardless, HP is bound to benefit if they can leverage the 1,500+ patents owned by Palm.
If you own a Palm webOS phone, however, you might have to talk to your carrier as HP is likely to have to renegotiate plans in that regard. I’m crossing my fingers that my Mobile Hotspot option through Verizon isn’t taken away, as that’s what’s powering my Apple iPad WiFi device when I’m on the go.
T-Mobile Allowing Unlimited Mobile Broadband
T-Mobile is to trying to promote it’s super-fast HSPA+ mobile broadband network by changing the pricing on overages for their two cellular data plans. According to GigaOm, T-Mobile customers with the 200Mb/month plan will have overage fees cut in half. Those who have the 5GB/month plan will no longer pay overage charges, though download speeds will apparently slow after exceeding 5GB in a given month.
Recently, Verizon dropped the cost of the Mobile Hotspot option available for the Palm Pre Plus and Pixi phones, which allows for the tethering of up to 5 WiFi-enabled devices. The cost went from $40/month to free. The move was timed just before the debut of the Apple iPad WiFi-only edition, so it’s possible that Verizon intended to capture that market.
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Report: Motorola Rules Android, iPhone 3G/3GS Rules iPhone
AdMob, a mobile ad platform company that Google is waiting for permission to acquire, released some interesting results about Android and iPhone in their Mar 2010 mobile metrics report.
The gist of the report on the Android segment is that handset maker HTC went from dominating Android phone-based web traffic to being second, now slightly behind Motorola’s Android phones. As for web traffic from iPhone OS devices, the AdMob report shows that 3G and 3GS phones dominate collectively, though the 2nd gen iPod touch is actually used more for web browsing than then 3G.
Via MobileCrunch.
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More Proof of Video Chat for Next-Gen iPhones
Recently during a big Apple event, Steve Jobs announced details of the new iPhone OS 4.0 but left out what some bloggers feel is a big detail: the next-gen iPhone devices will have video chat. At least, more hidden details have been uncovered that suggest this will be the case.
For example, MacRumors shows a snippet of code that quite clearly includes the words “video chat” in a variety of application status messages for iPhone OS 4. Why have that in a brand new OS if it’s not going to be used. Not too long ago, TUAW found a process named iChatAgent in the OS 4 SDK that was installed onto an iPhone for testing.
Of course, to achieve video chat on an iPhone, it’ll need to have a front-facing camera. But given that there are also countless apps that rely on the existing back-facing camera, my guess is that the next-gen iPhone –which rumors suggest will be announced in June — will have two cameras. For the best video chat experience, its also going to need a higher resolution screen, which is more than possible for Apple given that several of their competitors already offer phones with more screen real estate than the iPhone’s 320×480. Now whether or not the iPad will eventually have video chat remains to be seen, though there’s already speculation that future generations of the device will have a front-facing camera.
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South Korea iPad Ban Lifted
It’s not just Israel that had a ban on Apple iPads but also South Korea, which has also now been lifted. This was the result of the Minister of Culture, Tourism and Sports being unaware of the ban and using an iPad at a news conference in early April. According to the Wall Street Journal, the minister’s news conference was to announce a $50M fund for electronic book publishing, so it’s not surprising he used the iPad “as a prop.” Apparently the news of the Korean Communications Commission’s ban had not reached minister.
The issue as with Israel was to whether the iPad met local wireless standards. The ban on iPads in South Korea has been lifted for personal use and for “companies that are using it for research and development of products.” Not sure what that leaves or why any other use would be a violation, but that’s way things stand there right now.
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Google Buys Apps Maker LabPixies
This is the type of news I don’t like to hear: that Google bought up the maker of one of my favorite iPhone apps, LabPixies. Their Lineup/ Lineup Pro app is like a variation of the old favorite Tetris, but even more addictive. Aside from the fact that Google is now spreading out into gaming, I’m wondering if Apple might decide not to allow LabPixies games in their Apps Store.
While I wish the company well, in my opinion, LabPixies made a mistake in allowing themselves to be purchased by Google, even at $25M, since this action could potentially reduce their visibility to gamers, not increase it. Zynga or any other gaming company would have been a better choice, though I’m not sure they would have any interest. Let’s hope Apple doesn’t hold it against LabPixies that Google now owns them.
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Mobile Blog Boy Genius Report Acquired
Mobile topics blog Boy Genius Report has just been purchased by Mail.com owner Jay Penske, who has previously bought other single-person run blogs. According to All Things Digital, the BGR site will change domain names from Boygeniusreport.com to bgr.com, and ad sales will be handled by Penske’s team. Congratulations to Jonathan Geller, who managed to keep his name anonymous the whole time. He’ll apparently be staying on to run BGR for Penske.
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