AT&T Keeps iPhone Exclusivity through 2010 (Try Hosted Groupware for iPhone)
August 4, 2008 – 10:00 am“USA Today has an interview with AT&T head Randall Stephenson in which he discusses the success of the iPhone for the wireless carrier. He notes that in the original deal back on 2005 they were “betting on Jobs” — and it’s now clear that that bet paid off: “It’s everything we hoped it would be,” [...]
“USA Today has an interview with AT&T head Randall Stephenson in which he discusses the success of the iPhone for the wireless carrier. He notes that in the original deal back on 2005 they were “betting on Jobs” — and it’s now clear that that bet paid off: “It’s everything we hoped it would be,” according to Stephenson,” reports Mat Lu for TUAW.
“In fact the Apple/AT&T partnership is going so well that AT&T managed to wrangle another year of exclusivity out of Apple, extending its US monopoly on the iPhone at least until 2010. This extension is part of the iPhone 3G deal that eliminated revenue sharing with Apple, but has AT&T paying about $300 per phone up front. The numbers continue to look good for both parties, with the iPhone generating almost twice the revenue as the average AT&T wireless customer. Then again, it’s hardly a surprise. It’s not like betting on Steve Jobs’ tech business savvy is that much a risk these last few years,” Lu continues.
Additional thoughts: Great for AT&T (and Apple, kinda). Bad for everyone else.
An iTunes update has been released by Apple. The update is said to “improve stability and performance.” The update is available through your system’s software update. Use iTunes 7.7 to sync music, video, and more with iPhone 3G, and download applications from the iTunes Store exclusively designed for iPhone and iPod touch with software version 2.0 [...]
An iTunes update has been released by Apple. The update is said to “improve stability and performance.” The update is available through your system’s software update.
- Use iTunes 7.7 to sync music, video, and more with iPhone 3G, and download applications from the iTunes Store exclusively designed for iPhone and iPod touch with software version 2.0 or later. Also use the new Remote application for iPhone or iPod touch to control iTunes playback from anywhere in your home — a free download from the App Store.
iTunes 7.7.1 includes fixes to improve stability and performance.
via MacRumors
“Apple Inc. yanked an application yesterday from its online App Store that would have let iPhone owners share its cellular data connection with a notebook.” “Created by Canadian developer Nullriver Inc., the NetShare tethering application was posted for a short time Thursday on Apple’s App Store, the online mart for iPhone and iPod touch [...]
“Apple Inc. yanked an application yesterday from its online App Store that would have let iPhone owners share its cellular data connection with a notebook.”
“Created by Canadian developer Nullriver Inc., the NetShare tethering application was posted for a short time Thursday on Apple’s App Store, the online mart for iPhone and iPod touch applications. Within hours, however, it had been pulled from the store.” Reports ComputerWorld .
“As of this morning, searches on the App Store for NetShare returned empty results.”
“We’re not quite sure why Apple took down the NetShare application yet, we’ve received no communication from Apple thus far,” the company said in a statement posted to its Web site today. “NetShare did not violate any of the Developer or App Store agreements.”
“NetShare lets users access the Internet from a notebook by “tethering” it to an iPhone’s wireless data connection, essentially turning the smart phone into a movable wireless hot spot.”
“According to information published about NetShare, the application runs the iPhone as a proxy for the notebook. That allows the notebook to piggyback on the iPhone’s 3G or EDGE data network to connect to the Web and send e-mail even when outside the range of a traditional Wi-Fi signal.”
“Null River said it was trying to get an explanation out of Apple, which controls the App Store and determines which applications can be sold there. “We’re hoping we’ll get some feedback from Apple today. We’ll do our best to try to get the application back onto the App Store if at all possible,” the company said. “At the very least, we hope Apple will allow it to be used in countries where the provider does permit tethering.”
“AT&T Inc., the exclusive mobile operator for the iPhone in the U.S., does not officially allow tethering for Apple’s device. However, it provides the service for $30 extra per month to BlackBerry users.”
“Apple did not reply to questions about why NetShare was yanked from App Store.”
“Before it was pulled, Apple was selling the application for $9.99. By the agreements it strikes with developers, Apple keeps 30% of all sales.”
Update : It appears that NetShare has emerged back on the App Store following its strange disappearance. However, it will currently not show up on iTunes search and can only be accessed via a direct link .
Update x2 : NetShare has been removed from the iTunes App Store again. No explanation given from Apple.
- Nullriver explains the following on their blog: Apple has taken it down again, with no explanation yet again. Update: NetShare is now back up and available from the AppStore! We’re not quite sure why Apple took down the NetShare application yet, we’ve received no communication from Apple thus far. NetShare did not violate any of the Developer or AppStore agreements. We’re hoping we’ll get some feedback from Apple today. Sorry to all the folks that couldn’t get it in time. We’ll do our best to try to get the application back onto the AppStore if at all possible. At the very least, we hope Apple will allow it to be used in countries where the provider does permit tethering.
“Apple Inc. has pulled its security engineering team out of a planned public discussion on the company’s security practices, which had been set for next week’s Black Hat security conference in Las Vegas. The panel would have been a first for Apple, but the company pulled out of the discussion at the last minute, Black Hat [...]
“Apple Inc. has pulled its security engineering team out of a planned public discussion on the company’s security practices, which had been set for next week’s Black Hat security conference in Las Vegas.
The panel would have been a first for Apple, but the company pulled out of the discussion at the last minute, Black Hat Director Jeff Moss said in an interview Friday,” Robert McMillan reports for ComputerWorld.
“Marketing got wind of it, and nobody at Apple is ever allowed to speak publicly about anything without marketing approval,” Moss said.
“The panel would have been a highlight of the show, giving attendees an insider look at Apple’s security response team. Apple is notoriously secretive about its security policies, a stance that has made it a constant target of criticism in the security community. “It was them talking about security engineering and how they take security seriously,” Moss said. “It would have put Apple in a positive light.”
“Due to circumstances beyond my control, I regret that I will not be able to participate in Black Hat this year,” the panel’s organizer said in an e-mail to conference officials, read over the telephone by Moss on Friday. Moss declined to say who from Apple was scheduled to speak on the panel, saying that by naming them, he could put their jobs in jeopardy.”
“An Apple spokesman was unable to comment immediately for this story.”
Additional thoughts: Secrets secrets, are no fun. Secrets, secrets hurt someone.
Full article at ComputerWorld here
One of Disney CEO, Bob Iger’s strongest moves since taking office was the acquisition of Pixar, bringing the animation studio in-house. The biggest perk of the deal may not just have come through keeping the award winning firm under one roof, but rather keeping a close connection with former Ceo Steve Jobs. As the [...]
One of Disney CEO, Bob Iger’s strongest moves since taking office was the acquisition of Pixar, bringing the animation studio in-house.
The biggest perk of the deal may not just have come through keeping the award winning firm under one roof, but rather keeping a close connection with former Ceo Steve Jobs. As the largest shareholder of Pixar, as well as holding a seat on the Disney board, one would assume that he would have quite a sway over what is being said and done.
This may, however not be the case. While the connection is often displayed positively, for example, Disney’s ABC being the first network to sell TV shows on iTunes, there has been worrisome opposition in the past. There were beliefs that Jobs would somehow be able to overtake Iger and annex Disney into the Apple kingdom. Well, we certainly have not seen anything that closely resembles that type of behavior (yet? kidding). While Disney was on board to sell movies via iTunes, they were hesitant to allow rentals.
The following is taken from a transcript of Disney’s earnings call today, and shows that these questions are still being asked.
- Are your interests aligned with Apple CEO Steve Jobs, your single largest shareholder? Does he influence how you distribute content digitally?
Iger: Decisions how to distribute content and what to charge for it are made entirely by the management of Disney. Steve is not involved. Decisions of how we distribute content digitally are made by us. I happen to believe that in a world where more and more people are migrating online that the Disney company would be served well be having a strong presence in that environment. Since we decided to put movies in the iTunes platform we have sold 5 million movies. We believe it’s incremental business.
Our ability to monetize will become more evident. You are seeing an expansion of the marketplace and an increase in consumption. We’ve seen that at ABC where access of to TV programs has never been greater and the amount of consumption has never been greater. I think we’ve been driving incremental revenue.
We have no conflict of interest at all. Our decisions are all made for the shareholders of Disney.
via AlleyInsider.
A new patent application may be hinting at Apple’s interest in supporting iPod and iPhone add-on accessories capable of streaming audio and video. Attaching directly to a device, the accessory will be able to receive transmitted signals including AM,FM,HD or satellite radio, TV standards such as cable, satellite, over-the-air or IPTV. via iPodNN. The add-ons have been [...]
A new patent application may be hinting at Apple’s interest in supporting iPod and iPhone add-on accessories capable of streaming audio and video.
Attaching directly to a device, the accessory will be able to receive transmitted signals including AM,FM,HD or satellite radio, TV standards such as cable, satellite, over-the-air or IPTV. via iPodNN.
The add-ons have been reported to come in several possible forms, ranging from a simple portable plug-in to more complex options like a dock, stereo or all out computer. The key technology that Apple is describing in the patent is the concept of a “tag” button, that would allow users to pull metadata on whatever it is that they are receiving, be it an artist or track for a song, or title, episode or actor for a TV show…etc. This information can even utilize GPS support to supply location-based information.
When “tags” are synced to a device, the add-on accessory could then supply information that could be used in other circumstances, say for online shopping or to generate personalized web pages.
“Apple’s hardware concept bears some resemblance to an upcoming PacketVideo product called the PV, which should be able to attach to the iPhone and iPod touch to deliver TV by converting WiMAX TV broadcasts into regular Wi-Fi signals.”
Dailymail.co.uk (a site out of the UK) reports to have spoken with an industry source, who is claiming that Apple will unveil an “iPhone nano” in time for the holiday shopping season. “Apple is about to launch a ‘nano’ version of the hugely successful iPhone. It is expected to be in the shops in time for [...]
Dailymail.co.uk (a site out of the UK) reports to have spoken with an industry source, who is claiming that Apple will unveil an “iPhone nano” in time for the holiday shopping season.
- “Apple is about to launch a ‘nano’ version of the hugely successful iPhone. It is expected to be in the shops in time for Christmas. The product will be launched in the UK at up to £150 for pay-as-you-go customers by O2, the mobile phone group owned by Spain’s Telefonica. ‘This will be a big one,’ said an industry source,” Simon Fluendy writes for dailymail.co.uk.
Not many details have been released about the supposed iPhone nano. However, Apple has clearly made it a goal to get the iPhone into as many people around the world’s hands as possible. Our iPhone World Map shows all the countries, carriers, rates and iPhone prices around the world.
The iPhone nano is expected to be targeted at the pay-as-you-go market, giving everyone the opportunity to enjoy the revolutionary user experience the iPhone delivers. “‘The iPhone 3G has been the fastest-selling phone ever in the UK, but it is too expensive to be a realistic proposition in the pay-as-you-go market,” reports Fluendy. Because the pay-as-you-go mobile market does not get subsidized iPhone prices, the release of a genuinely less-expensive device could generate even more staggering sales numbers for Apple.
No details regarding the iPhone nano’s storage capabilities, the inclusion of GPS, 3G, or any other technology that is used in the current iPhone have been given. Although we’d expect the iPhone nano to at least match the current 4GB/8GB storage options the current iPod nano’s offer. Additionally, the inclusion of wi-fi makes much more sense than the GPS chip we now have in the iPhone 3G. And seeing as how global penetration has made it to the top of Apple’s priority list, the iPhone nano would be expected to run on 3G networks. If rumors prove true, it will be interesting to see how Apple markets the new lower-end device.
One expert claims the iPhone nano “would have a touch wheel on the back and display on the front so that numbers would be dialed from behind.”
Although the release of both the original iPhone and the iPhone 3G have proven major successes, Apple’s product diversification can become rather tricky with cannibalization (think iPhone taking sales away from the iPod touch). The iPhone nano could prove to be another major success by directly appealing to a completely different market. A large part of Microsoft’s successful monopoly approach, is their ability to globally get their products into as many people’s hands as possible. With lower-end products such as this rumored iPhone nano, Apple may be well on its way to achieving the same market share success.
Original article here
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Apple has recently seeded tools for developers to begin scripting applications capable of receiving data via the internet, even when they are not running. Sound interesting? You betcha. Developers have been clamoring about what is often referred to as background applications, primarily because the iPhone is prevented from running multiple applications simultaneously. For example, [...]
Apple has recently seeded tools for developers to begin scripting applications capable of receiving data via the internet, even when they are not running.
Sound interesting? You betcha. Developers have been clamoring about what is often referred to as background applications, primarily because the iPhone is prevented from running multiple applications simultaneously. For example, if you are involved in an instant message conversation using AOL’s iPhone app and you receive a call, the IM conversation would shut down for the duration of the call and will not receive any new messages until relaunched.
Apple has encouraged that it has been in the best interest of the user to be free of background applications, as they are often flawed and lead users to believe that they have quit, when they are still running and effectively draining battery life, which as we know, is rather sub-par on the power hungry 3G.
“To solve this problem, Forstall said Apple was developing an alternative to background applications known as a “Push Notification Service” that developers could tap through a series of APIs, or easy to use programming functions, beginning in September. Instead of allowing potentially dozens of third party services to simultaneously access an iPhone directly, the push service would funnel all transmissions from developers’ servers through a central Apple server, which would then relay the data to iPhones through a single persistent and well-managed background connection.” via AI.
Utilizing this technique, developers can push badges to icons, such as the email count on the mail icon, sound notifications, or pop-up text alerts. This system was developed to easily scale to larger applications.
A second beta of the iPhone 2.1 software was released last night to a select few and includes rough implementation of the push services API. “This is the second beta of the iPhone SDK targeting iPhone OS 2.1, including bug fixes to iPhone OS as well as an early implementation of the Apple Push Notification Service API,” Apple said. “This API is not yet integrated with a live push server.”
Apple had tremendously grand plans for the launch of Mobile Me. However, being a little too ambitious is not something the company considers a fault. Until now. “I have no kind words for .Mac, Apple’s online service that had its identity erased and replaced with the MobileMe brand on July 11. The .Mac service never worked [...]
Apple had tremendously grand plans for the launch of Mobile Me. However, being a little too ambitious is not something the company considers a fault. Until now.
“I have no kind words for .Mac, Apple’s online service that had its identity erased and replaced with the MobileMe brand on July 11. The .Mac service never worked quite right for me, and I was looking forward to its successor,” Glenn Fleisman reports for the Seattle Times.
So were we.
“MobileMe offers a reduced set of services for the same $99 per year but promised Microsoft Exchange-like synchronization for contacts, e-mail and events, as well as snappy and modern Web applications for a far better experience when away from your desktop or iPhone/iPod touch applications.” Fleisman continues to explain that “Instead of a clean launch, I and reportedly hundreds of thousands of .Mac subscribers had days of problems. And even when resolved, the problems left what Apple describes as 1 percent of its e-mail users adrift from e-mail for 10 days.”
Fleisman isn’t the only one who’s dealt with these disastrous issues. The non-official Apple slogan “It Just Works” simply can’t be applied to this past July 9th. Launching the App Store, iPhone 3G, Mobile Me and the iPhone 2.0 Software might have just been a little too much for the company to handle.
Fleisman continues to corrolate last year’s Leopard launch to this year’s shotty launch, claiming that Apple is simply too busy to focus on any one thing. “Leopard wasn’t the only stutter. In February, the company released its Time Capsule backup and Wi-Fi gateway appliance that works directly with Leopard’s Time Machine backup system. The bugs in that first release had to be patched through a massive set of updates three weeks later, indicating the device was released prematurely.”
While this may seem true and easy to believe, Apple’ closed and secretive environment denies them the ability to ask partners for help, (think Google ladies and gentlemen).
“The .Mac Web site was nearly or completely unusable from the night of July 9 until the early morning of July 12, although most independent parts, like iDisk disk sharing, kept functioning. Existing iPhone owners who upgraded to the 2.0 software and new iPhone 3G purchasers all needed to authorize the new software through Apple servers. Despite predictions that AT&T would have problems with this, Apple was the one that buckled. Some users found their old or new phones unusable for several hours July 11.”
“Apple said a few days ago in an e-mail to its MobileMe members — e-mail that 1 percent of members couldn’t receive, of course — that nearly all trial and paid subscriptions as of mid-July would have 30 days tacked on to their expiration to make up in part for the glitches. But for a company that has been long focused on what its customers need, Apple needs to take a long, hard look at how hard it’s pushing its employees — and how little polish seems to be left on the company’s image right now.”
I would definitely like to end this post with a sentence like, “Don’t worry, they’ll work it out.” However, as days pass, I am beginning to wonder when the magical solution or avalanche of bug fixes is going to be released.
Full article here.
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