Mobile – Page 15 – ɔimoɈɒ

Ngmoco to target iPhone

From Gamasutra, Neil Young, former head of Electronic Arts (EA) Blueprint and Electronic Arts LA has jacked in the high profile job at EA in order to produce iPhone games at his new studio ‘Ngmoco‘. In the interview he describes the iPhone and App Store as a disruptive element in the ecosystem (my words) which … Continue reading “Ngmoco to target iPhone”

In the interview he describes the iPhone and App Store as a disruptive element in the ecosystem (my words) which involves several fundamental shifts from the way things have been done in the past.

…more than half the time the average iPhone is in use, it’s being used for something other than making a telephone call. If you think about that concept, that is a fundamental shift.

…from a performance standpoint, is pretty close to a PSP, but unlike the PSP, it’s got a touchscreen, accelerometers, a camera, it’s location-aware, it’s got all of your media on it, it’s awake with you, it’s always on, and it’s always connected to the network. So if you think about the types of games and entertainment experiences that you can build on a platform like that, it’s got to get pretty exciting pretty quickly.

…if you think about what Apple’s doing with the App Store, they’re really turning mobile on its ear. They allow you to control the pricing yourself. They’re taking a distribution fee for distributing your software, but they’re really allowing users to choose what to put on their phone and how they want to enhance their device. And that is a fundamental shift.

The company has three roles:

So commissioning, financing, and producing titles ourselves, that’s the first party. Then there’s the second party, which is looking to the independent developer community and asking ourselves, “What great ideas are out there that need to be funded and financed?”
And lastly, it’s a third party for people who don’t necessarily need our producing experience or our financing, but the opportunity to work with us within an ecosystem

As Ngmoco will be a publisher more than a developer, it allows them to spot interesting games that might want to move to other mobile platforms as they become available – migrating the software to Android or the new ‘open’ Symbian operating system when it appears. It’s all about spotting the intellectual property and getting it licensed and published in order to maximise return and providing their previous expertise in order to make the most of it. Potentially very profitable if iPhone sales estimates are to be believed (6 million iPhone 1.0 sold already, 14 million iPhone 3G predicted in latter half of 2008 and 24 million iPhone 3G predicted for 2009)

From what I can see, Ngmoco’s job will be mostly to introduce new developers to the cut-throat gaming market.

Stop trying to make an iPhone killer. Srsly.

Corvida from ReadWriteWeb writes: The launch of the 3G iPhone is a little over a week away. With all the promotion that Apple and AT&T are getting, other carriers and mobile handset developers have been releasing touchscreen phones like crazy. From Blackberry to LG, there are tons of touchscreen handsets that will hit the market … Continue reading “Stop trying to make an iPhone killer. Srsly.”

Corvida from ReadWriteWeb writes:

The launch of the 3G iPhone is a little over a week away. With all the promotion that Apple and AT&T are getting, other carriers and mobile handset developers have been releasing touchscreen phones like crazy. From Blackberry to LG, there are tons of touchscreen handsets that will hit the market this year in order to take ground from the iPhone. However, they’re missing something very important. It’s not about the touchscreen guys, it’s mainly about the mobile apps.

When the App Store launches, there will be a huge number of available applications and the rumour goes that more and more will be accepted over the next 6 months, due to an alleged backlog in processing of accounts which means there will be more and more new applications as time goes by.

Competitors are scrabbling to release ‘iPhone killers’ which is affording the iPhone a position of ascendancy already, despite having less than 10% of the smartphone market and a miniscule percentage of the mobile phone market as a whole. The lack of wisdom and foresight in the mobile manufacturer markets is turning to Apple’s favour just like the MP3 market did before them – competing on paper, in terms of technical specifications and not bringing anything new to the table is just foolish.

In terms of real competitors we have Windows Mobile and RIM’s BlackBerry. Both of them have a unified platform for application distribution and an installed base. Symbian, while having a massive installed base is somewhat hobbled by their manufacturers who have fragmented the code base by diverging into their own proprietary versions. Nokia’s recent acquisition of Symbian and creation of the Symbian Foundation highlight that Nokia and SonyEricsson are obviously aware of the issue there. Add Android into the mix (and possibly the obscure LiMo) and you’ve got a whole smorgasbord of activity happening in this space.

In recent experience with ‘new’ phones, the interface is still where they need to work the most. Working with the Nokia N95 8 GB and the SonyEricsson K960i – the UI is sluggish, the browser isn’t bad but it’s centuries behind the iPhone. And Samsung’s Instinct? Watch the videos – while it may be able to download the pages quickly enough, the responsiveness of the UI is just woeful. There’s a pregnant pause every time you launch an application which contrasts most roughly with the iPhone. And everything they’ve done to beat the iPhone will likely be defeated in 10 days time. Fantastic guys, way to move the industry forward!

This sluggishness is important. A phone is not like a desktop computer. It’s limited in resources in ways the desktop never is. Applications are not launched and left to run for days on end. Every application is started and quit several times a day in the life of a smartphone. And of course, during the 2008 WWDC Keynote a lot was made of the Windows method of managing performance.

Ridiculous no matter what way you look at it. And this is a third party application that costs $7.95. How’s that for value?

Stop trying to create an iPhone killer. Just try to make an insanely great phone. Seriously.

Data Plans…

From Gruber: Rogers Announces iPhone Rates in CanadaAnd â€” surprise, surprise â€” they suck. Stingy data limits and no unlimited data plan at any price. Rogers is being stupid here, but not for the reasons that you may think. Though I’ve had an Unlimited data plan for nearly a year, the thing that it brings … Continue reading “Data Plans…”

From Gruber:

Rogers Announces iPhone Rates in Canada
And â€” surprise, surprise â€” they suck. Stingy data limits and no unlimited data plan at any price.

Rogers is being stupid here, but not for the reasons that you may think.

Though I’ve had an Unlimited data plan for nearly a year, the thing that it brings is not peace of mind due to knowing I can download as much as I like, but peace of mind regarding not having to account for it. I don’t want itemised data. Rogers offers 4 data plans – 400 MB, 750 MB, 1 GB and 2 GB. Some people might think these are low but consider this…

I’ve had my iPhone since October 2007 – eight months – and anyone who knows me would know that I’d be a heavy user of my iPhone. I may have Wifi 90% of the time at weekends but only for maybe 40% of the time during the week. And I’ve only managed to use a gigabyte. So chill out. I mean, think about how long you’d have to have your iPhone downloading in order to get a gigabyte of data (presumably this is going to be quicker under 3G – rumours say speeds will be 1.4 Mbps)

Caps will also deter tethering – using your phone as a modem for your desktop computer – which isn’t really an issue on the iPhone anyway (and we’re pretty assured Apple will block any apps which enable it). They’ll deter using a bittorrent client. They’ll deter any sort of persistent data flow – which is probably a good thing.

Just as O2 is providing free access to all Cloud and BTOpenZone Wifi hotspots, all of the Canadian packages include unlimited access to Rogers and Fido Wi-Fi hotspots. Use them!

Now if Apple could do something about the cost of roaming…

Mixed messages from O2

Two reports from two unconnected O2 stores agree that they will not be dealing with existing iPhone customers looking to upgrade to iPhone 3G for an estimated two weeks. The stores will only be dealing with new signups. Both of them said (separately) that existing iPhone customers who expressed interest would be posted a new … Continue reading “Mixed messages from O2”

Two reports from two unconnected O2 stores agree that they will not be dealing with existing iPhone customers looking to upgrade to iPhone 3G for an estimated two weeks. The stores will only be dealing with new signups. Both of them said (separately) that existing iPhone customers who expressed interest would be posted a new iPhone after being called in early July and agreeing to a new 18 month contract. This means that existing iPhone customers would be very unlikely to receive the iPhone on day one.

Both of these stores were likely O2 franchises and not necessarily O2 corporate or O2 retail. So I rang O2’s specialist iPhone support line.
I was told:

I would have to wait til the end of my existing contract (October) to get an iPhone 3G. She was quite pushy and talked over me as I tried to explain that she was contradicting the web site.
When I’d endured a couple of minutes on hold while she read the web site, she confirmed that O2 would ‘give me a bell’ sometime in late July and tell me what the process would be.
She then suggested I call 2302 from my handset to get more information. I explained quietly that I’d called 2302 and had been directed to her. I just gave up then. Said goodbye in a nice way.
When she said goodbye she was late in putting the phone down where I heard someone say “Are they going to call them?” to which she says “Says so on the web site.”

Overwhelmed I am not. It’s evident that the people on the front lines don’t have a clue – they’ve been kept completely in the dark. This is something that annoys me about big companies. After 12 years of doing tech support, I think it’s absolutely vital to inform the people on the helpdesks of the situation as soon as you know. It stops them from getting frustrated and then in turn, frustrating your customers. Remember that for any company, your customers are your most important asset. (Apple, of course, breaks the mould here because their customers enjoy speculating about new Apple products more than they actually like buying them.)

I understand it’s two weeks now until the iPhone release and if rumours on the Internet are to believed, the new firmware for the iPhone may have just hit final release which means Apple will be working hard to get it in place for download to phones by the 11th July.

O2 will be doing well out of me. We have two iPhones in this household and both will be upgrading to iPhone 3G and handing the old phones to family members to use – effectively doubling O2’s penetration. This is not to be ignored. The early adopters will also be the most effective marketing platform for O2.

I’m left a little frustrated about being an early adopter and not having any answers. About being told the opposite of what I’d read on the web site. About the company’s apparent interest in new customers rather than existing customers.

iPhone PAYG pricing for 02

From O2 The new 3G 8GB iPhone for Pay & Go will be available for Â£299.99 and 16GB for Â£359.99. This also includes unlimited browsing and Wi-Fi for the first 6 months after you activate your iPhone. At the end of the six months you can continue to receive unlimited browsing and Wi-Fi for just … Continue reading “iPhone PAYG pricing for 02”

From O2

The new 3G 8GB iPhone for Pay & Go will be available for Â£299.99 and 16GB for Â£359.99. This also includes unlimited browsing and Wi-Fi for the first 6 months after you activate your iPhone. At the end of the six months you can continue to receive unlimited browsing and Wi-Fi for just Â£10 per month. Weâ€™ll notify you at the end of the six month period by text and you can easily unsubscribe if you choose to do so. You’ll also be able to choose one of our standard Pay & Go tariffs to use with your iPhone. The more you top-up each month, the more free minutes or texts you’ll receive.

BlackBerry forsees problems in next quarter?

Shares in RIM, the BlackBerry firm, fell nearly 8% after they announced earnings of $482 million, up from $223 million from the year-ago period on revenue of $2.24 billion. However this is not news. Look at RIMM over the course of a full year and you see the trend is unmistakeably upward (much like AAPL … Continue reading “BlackBerry forsees problems in next quarter?”

Shares in RIM, the BlackBerry firm, fell nearly 8% after they announced earnings of $482 million, up from $223 million from the year-ago period on revenue of $2.24 billion. However this is not news. Look at RIMM over the course of a full year and you see the trend is unmistakeably upward (much like AAPL if you ignore that big drop in February/March.) So you have to ask – if their profits doubled then what’s the problem.

The problem is the next three months.

RIMM expect revenue to increase slightly over last quarter but they expect profit to be down (by around 1%). We’re still talking about margins in excess of 50% here but the most telling part, for me, is near the end of the Earnings Call transcript.

Jeffery Kvaal – Lehman Brothers
…to what extent are there other variables about pricing that we should be considering? Are you worried about overlap with the Apple customer base as well?
James L. Balsillie
I think the second half of your question doesnâ€™t have particular relevance to our thinking…
Jeffery Kvaal – Lehman Brothers
Okay, so thanks. That sounds like you arenâ€™t seeing too much of an overlap then, Jim, with the iPhone customer base in particular.
James L. Balsillie
No.

I don’t think they believe him.

BlackBerry has some stiff competition ahead when both the iPhone 3G shipa (in two weeks) and the Android phones begin to ship (speculating year-end). They’ll still do well because they already have a huge installed base and large corporations are not simply going to swap everything over based on these releases. But one of the hardest things on your laurels is resting on them.

I’m not a fan of the BlackBerry and this is based on having to support BlackBerry users when I was in Mac-Sys. I didn’t find the device a pleasure to use and that makes such a difference to me – and I think the realisation that computers don’t have to be awful is being realised by others as well.

The thing that made BlackBerry so compelling in the late 90s is being eroded by modern phones. Even the crappy Nokia I had for a loan phone had email and not enough people see the virtue in a push email system for it to be compelling by itself. And, as Apple and Microsoft have shown, push email is not something exclusive to BlackBerry.

Should RIMM be worried about AAPL?

Yes.

On April 2nd this year, RIMM announced the number of BlackBerry subscribers had passed 14 million – the BlackBerry has been on sale since 1997. To put this in perspective, Apple sold 6 million iPhones in far fewer countries in less than a year and they’re about to sell more than 10 million more.

In the Earnings transcript, James L. Balsillie said:

…once you decide to become a BlackBerry user, you kind of stay there for life.

Considering the 14 million, that’s kinda disappointing.

Nokia open sourcing Symbian?

[From SMSTextNews] I didn’t see this one coming Espoo, Finland – Nokia today announced it has launched a cash offer to acquire all of the shares of Symbian Limited that Nokia does not already own, at a price of EUR 3.647 per share. The net cash outlay from Nokia to purchase the approximately 52% of … Continue reading “Nokia open sourcing Symbian?”

[From SMSTextNews]

I didn’t see this one coming

Espoo, Finland – Nokia today announced it has launched a cash offer to acquire all of the shares of Symbian Limited that Nokia does not already own, at a price of EUR 3.647 per share. The net cash outlay from Nokia to purchase the approximately 52% of Symbian Limited shares it does not already own will be approximately EUR 264 million

or this

London, UK – Nokia, Sony Ericsson, Motorola and NTT DOCOMO announced today their intent to unite Symbian OS(TM), S60, UIQ and MOAP(S) to create one open mobile software platform. Together with AT&T, LG Electronics, Samsung Electronics, STMicroelectronics, Texas Instruments and Vodafone they plan to establish the Symbian Foundation to extend the appeal of this unified software platform.
…
Contributions from Foundation members through open collaboration will be integrated to further enhance the platform. The Foundation will make selected components available as open source at launch. It will then work to establish the most complete mobile software offering available in open source. This will be made available over the next two years and is intended to be released under Eclipse Public License (EPL) 1.0.

This tells me two things.

The providers are rattled by Apple’s iPhone and they want to have more control over the OS they run on their phones. Symbian has, for a long time, been derided as an also-ran in the embedded operating system market and damaged by the friction between licensees and their fracturing of the code base and interfaces.
The providers are not convinced by Google’s Android. Android handsets were meant to be shipping in the second half of 2008 and we’re seeing maybe one or two providers that seem to be getting there. We’ve seen very little other than technology demos and it’s my gut feeling that there was a large amount of overpromise and underdeliver. As Android still doesn’t look as polished as iPhone did 6 months before introduction, we’re going to have to wait even longer.

Is making Symbian open source going to be enough? Over the last year, Apple has sold 6 million iPhones and a couple of million touch iPods. And they’re probably going to double that number over the summer. Nokia ships that many phones in a week. It’s a small percentage of the overall mobile market but like in the computer and MP3 player market, Apple is not going for the bargain basement Â£25 Pay-As-You-Go market but rather the market for premium phones.

It’s estimated that 1 billion phones will ship in 2008 and around 10% of them (100 million) will be smartphones. For Q4 2007, Symbian had 65% of the Smartphone market measured by operating system. Windows mobile was 12%, RIM 11 % and Apple a mere 7% (which, from nothing, is impressive). It’s expected that these figures will differ slightly by year end.

It was easy to make an analogy with the general computing market. Symbian was the big presence in the market, Apple was Apple as usual and the upstart Google was going to be the ‘Linux’ of the story. The lines, however, have been redrawn and Symbian being open source should benefit considerably from the media attention.

The mobile phone operating system war just got really interesting.

Those of you who remotely care…

…will be happy to know that my iPhone has shipped back from the repair centre. I called the O2 store to check and the nice man there was friendly though non-committal about the arrival time. It’s true. It could arrive back today. Or tomorrow. And then I could stop using Nokia products! Woohoo! Related posts: … Continue reading “Those of you who remotely care…”

…will be happy to know that my iPhone has shipped back from the repair centre. I called the O2 store to check and the nice man there was friendly though non-committal about the arrival time.

It’s true. It could arrive back today. Or tomorrow. And then I could stop using Nokia products! Woohoo!

Firefox Mobile Concept

Via GeeksAreSexy we are shown a potential demo for Firefox mobile. ( Original Page here including embedded video) I like it. It’s learned something from Safari mobile and yet has extended beyond it. It brings us well into the realm of ‘gesture based computing’. This has been around for ages but always with contextual clock … Continue reading “Firefox Mobile Concept”

Via GeeksAreSexy we are shown a potential demo for Firefox mobile. ( Original Page here including embedded video)

I like it. It’s learned something from Safari mobile and yet has extended beyond it. It brings us well into the realm of ‘gesture based computing’. This has been around for ages but always with contextual clock wheels rather than attempting virtual manipulation of itiems. Firefox mobile’s ‘throw the page’ actions are the same muscle memory as turning pages in a book (and should have been on the Kindle rather than any other platform.

Thumbs up!

When marketing a new product

Telling everyone how good you are compared to a competitor is not a good way to start. This is why Venture Capitalists roll their eyes when people claim their new project is going to be “[FaceBook|Google|Office] but better!” The Samsung Instinct adverts are all about “Instinct versus iPhone”. This tells you two things: The Samsung … Continue reading “When marketing a new product”

Telling everyone how good you are compared to a competitor is not a good way to start.

This is why Venture Capitalists roll their eyes when people claim their new project is going to be “[FaceBook|Google|Office] but better!”

The Samsung Instinct adverts are all about “Instinct versus iPhone”. This tells you two things:

The Samsung Instinct team are more worried about iPhone than any other phone. Even phones which already have 3G and GPS. That tells us they think other smartphones running Blackberry, Windows Mobile and Symbian are irrelevant. And did you notice the wait in this video while they wait for the Instinct to catch up with the Maps application on iPhone? That delay is going to be part of your day, every day, every minute you use that phone. There’s probably a reason why they don’t show the web browser launching in this Internet speed test video
The Samsung Instinct team are not very clever. Apple has added these touted features. It’s great to have the technical superiority for a few weeks while you launch a new phone but seriously – iPhone has been out for a year and this is the best you can do? I am actually looking forward to seeing an Samsung Instinct in the ‘plastic’.

I jumped on this train because frankly, AndroidGuys jumped on it first. It’s not an Android phone but that doesn’t matter. Come on guys! What’s te point in telling us all about closed has-been platforms where the only thing innovative is the advert????

What else do you need to know about the Instinct?

It has a 2 GB MicroSD memory card included. You can upgrade this to 8 GB for more money and there’s only one memory slot so you have to juggle your media. I love doing that. (the iPhone starts at 8 GB built-in and goes to 16GB, all built in).
Screen resolution is 240×432 pixels. It’ll be great for the movies and TV you can get on it. (iPhone is 480Ã—320. That’s a big difference.)
It has the same 2 Megapixel camera as the iPhone (which means you’ll need to carry another phone unless just snapping drunken pictures of mates.)
There is no information on the OS powering it or the availability of third party apps. (Even Bushmen of the Kalahari know about the iPhone and the App Store).

There you go. It beats the iPhone (June 2007) in the two areas that the iPhone (July 2008) will just fix. That’s fabulous. Well done to Samsung for pulling this out of a hat.

Apple really has gotten the mobile phone manufacturers in a tizzy. You have to laugh.