Apple COO Timothy Cook was recently quoted as saying the iPhone wouldn't have any problem selling because the populace at large feels that free cell phones are "worthless." Those are the cell phones you get with the $29.99 limited-minutes basic cell phone plan that the guy in the Verizon store is trained to talk you out of.

 

Now those phones don't have what the iPhone does. No cool touch display, no music or movie playing ability, no ability to easily sync with your email reader or your contact database, and darn sure no way to surf the Web. But is that what people who look at these plans are really seeking? I don't think so. I think all they want is a phone they can put in their pocket.

 

And what do these phones do nowadays--still more than a basic cell phone 10 years ago, that's what. Cell phone clarity is good, coverage is...well, let's say better than 10 years ago, and most of them have an internal contact database, advanced phone features like caller ID and call waiting. And some of the $49.99 jobs also have a camera, the ability to surf the cell provider's internal wireless data network (not the Web, but it's got stuff on it) and if you buy a third-party syncing program, you can even sync them to the calendar and contact software on your PC.

 

Frankly, that's quite a bit for $50. Now here comes the Apple iPhone and its competitors from companies like Motorola, Nokia, Samsung and more. All these phones sport way cool media features and PDA-style abilities. They also sport price tags from $199 to $499. And that's just the base phone. Add on an extra long-life battery, a car charger and hands-free set, a Bluetooth headset and a decent carrying case and you're up between $300 and $600.

 

So which would you choose. I'm a geek, so I'm naturally drawn to the data-type phone. But if I could suppress my nerd-like nature, I'd realize that the times I use my data phone for real data purposes are still fairly rare. And that if I actually use its media abilities for an hour or so I'd better have an extra battery in my pocket or I won't be talking to anybody.

 

So is that kind of reality going to catch up to the iPhone? I predict a wash. The Apple name will carry its sales in the short term, right after its release. But if it doesn't solve the battery problem and doesn't really offer anything that a $199 smart phone doesn't then it's going to have problems long-term.

 

Posted by Oliver  

Authors often fantasize about books that write themselves.  Apparently one author in the homeland of Linux creator Linus Torvalds  has realized the dream. Finnish author Hannu Luntiala has put together “Last Messages, “ a thriller novel  composed entirely of text messages sent on cell phones.

In the book,  a Finnish executive sends text messages from all over the world after suddenly leaving his  position.  The 332-page novel includes 1,000 replies to the text messages sent by the executive.  Like normal text messages, grammatical and spelling errors along with the abbreviations used in text messages are retained.

Luntiala reportedly is a government data base expert himself and has created numerous collections of data on the Finnish people. The very first text message ever sent originated in Finland in 1993,  and Finland prides itself in sending more text messages than any other country in the world. The Finns send out an average of 500 text messages per person annually, including one made famous recently that ended the romance of a government minister.

Must be an interesting collection of messages – IMHO.

Posted by Barbara.

A cell phone suspected of igniting a fire that critically burned a California man did not start the fire, Vallejo fire officials say.  The announcement came after Nokia engineers tested the cell phone in question, a Nokia 21251 and found that it was still functioning after the fire.

Fire officials say the blaze that burned a man over 50 percent of his body while he was sleeping in a lawn chair, probably originated elsewhere. A fire department spokesman says the source may include “the improper discarding of smoking materials, matches or a lighter - "an ignition source other than the phone and other than electricity in the house and other than a flammable liquid."

Until now, the model of the phone in question had not been released. The victim remains in critical condition in a Vallejo hospital.

Posted by Barbara.

Once upon a time, having a mobile telephone was a statement that you have arrived in the world. Now, it seems, cell phones are becoming a fashion statement. Being seen with an old-fashioned “functional” phone will soon be as gauche as being seen wearing a seal-fur jacket at a PETA event.

No longer will we choose between the likes of Verizon, Sprint and AT&T. Now we must choose between Dior, Gucci or Prada. In the years to come, the fashionable communicator will no longer be seen using a keyboard on her telephone.  Just a week after Steve Jobs set the standard for the fashion police at MacWorld with Apple’s forthcoming iPhone,  the mirrors at Korea’s LG Electronics say its KE850 is the “most beautiful of them all.”

Of course, the KE850 will carry the Prada name and a price tag of more than $700 US dollars.  Of course  you won’t be able to buy it in the US,  because it is limited to tri-band GSM 900/1800/1900 with EDGE data, a cellular technology not available here. It will, however, be available in Europe and Asia beginning next month,  long before iPhone sales are expected to ramp up in the fourth quarter.

The KE850 runs on Macromedia Flash and includes a video player, along with a built-in digital camera.  It does NOT come with matching shoes and handbag, however. 

Posted by Barbara. 

 

A California man was burned over half his body this weekend after his cell phone ignited within his pocket.  The resulting fire resulted in $75,000 in damages to the hotel room and its surroundings.  The incident in a Vallejo, California residential hotel has raised increasing speculation about the safety of cellular devices. 

The Vallejo incident is the most recent in a series of fires traced to cell phones.  Vallejo’s fire chief says there have been several reports of cell phone fires around the country in recent years, including a similar case in Ontario, California two years ago.  “It's no different than any other fires involving mechanical or electrical items,” the chief says.

The victim was not helped by the fact that he was wearing flammable polyester and nylon clothes, fabrics that are petroleum-based.  The chief says the victim may have accidentally held down a button for a long period of time that caused the phone to overheat. 

The type of phone and its service provider has not been disclosed for obvious reasons.  The fire chief says it could have happened with a phone from almost any manufacturer.

Posted by Barbara.

There are still a few areas in the United States where cell phone service is spotty:

·          Somewhere  within the heights of Mount Rainier National Park
·          Backwater rivers, like the Georgia country where Deliverance was filmed.
·          Some neighborhoods in New York City

It will be quite a while yet before cell towers multiply in the backwoods and in national parks.  However, America’s biggest city is about to be scanned for areas where the guy from the carrier hears nothing when he asks “Can you hear me now?”  

Cell phone maker LM Ericsson has launched a project on behalf of “an undisclosed carrier” to pick out dead zones in New York by measuring signals within a device carried in the trunks of New York taxicabs. The city’s taxi commission has approved the tests that will begin shortly. Ericsson officials say taxicabs are being used because they travel around the city randomly and ultimately cover every inch of pavement in the urban area.  There are numerous challenges to cover 100 percent of the city with cell phone signals, including things like radio interference.

About 50 taxis will be used for the initial tests, Ericsson says, and deals are being worked out with other taxicab companies.  Taxi passengers will be unaware of the tests, the company says. 

Posted by Barbara

Is it worth $3 per month to find out if you have new friends today?

That’s what Cingular Wireless customers will pay to connect to their Myspace.com sites on their cell phones,  according to a new deal announced today.   The Cingular deal is part of a continuing effort by the social networking site to make the site more available to its members.  

Previously, MySpace.com has announced access deals with Earthlink and Helio, a South Korean cell service.   The deals permit members to access their Web pages, send email and download pictures from their cell phones.

MySpace  says the arrangement will allow some of its member bands to create ringtones for Cingular.   The bottom line:  Every time a Cingular phone rings, an independent band somewhere may earn a royalty check. 

Posted by Barbara.

 

PC Mag's cell phone guru is Sasha Segan. Smart guy, but you get used to him only reporting on the latest slick phone. However, he just did a great how-to article on unlocking your cell phone--provided you have one that can be unlocked. In case you don't know what that means, it refers simply to opening your cell phone so it can take advantage of any cell service provider.

 

Right now, you buy the phone from a provider moreso than a hardware manufacturer. So you buy your phone from T-Mobile, Sprint, Cingular, etc., and that phone will work only with that provider. Want a new phone? You've got to buy it from a new provider. Unlocking your phone means you can use it across any cell provider--take advantage of better pricing, coverage areas and new features.

 

Segan lets you know which phones can be unlocked, how to unlock those phones and what you get for the effort. Worth the read if you're a cell junkie.

 

 

 

If your life has reached a point where you spend most of your time indoors watching YouTube Videos, it’s time to step outside. 

Now you can, with Verizon’s new mobile YouTube to be offered as part of the cellular network’s VCast programming.  Verizon customers will be offered the opportunity to not only download from YouTube’s  “Most popular” or “most discussed” videos, but they will be able to upload videos from their own camera phones. 

The service is offered at  a flat rate of $15 per month,  or $3 per day.  Verizon officials say the service will be launched before the end of this year, although they have not yet determined the exact date. 

YouTube, nearly two-year-old technology has become the Barack Obama of the Internet this fall — named the invention of the year by Time Magazine and acquired by Google for a tidy $1.76 billion.  A spokesperson for the technology had no comment on whether the technology is considering a run for the White House. 

Posted by Barbara

Technology will soon make it easier to spend your money!

Just when you thought you weren’t spending fast enough, Sony and NXP Semiconductors are going to work on a  new generation “near-field communications” chip that will allow you pay for impulses hundreds of feet away from your cell phone.  Feel like a “no-whip, skinny mocha” at the coffee shop ahead?  Push a button on your cell phone and have it in process as you approach.  Want to download a clip from the game you just witnessed?  It will play on your cell phone in seconds. 

The technology has been slow in public acceptance because existing chips, such as those in use at some sports venues and at various facilities throughout Europe, tend toward proprietary vendors. 

The two companies say their technology will work in a number of platforms, including cell phones and mobile digital devices. 

Among the trials for the technology are a pay-by-cell phone  test at Phillips Center in Atlanta, and the Oyster smart card test in the London Underground.

Posted by Barbara 

“What this country needs is a good five-cent mobile telephone.” Maybe even a FREE mobile service?”

That’s not the meanderings of a customer who just roamed his way to bankruptcy, but an increasingly important voice in online advertising. Google CEO Eric Schmidt says advertising may ultimately eliminate your cell phone bill.  

Schmidt confesses that he has no word of any cell carriers who are inclined to offer an advertising-based service model, but he believes it could be the wave of the future.  "Your mobile phone should be free," Schmidt told the Reuters News Service in an interview, "It just makes sense that subsidies should increase" as advertising rises on mobile phones.

Schmidt compared cell phones to newspapers, which rely heavily on advertising revenue, rather than subscriber fees.  He noted that newspapers still charge subscribers, but not at the level they might charge if advertising did not exist. 

Some of us are old enough to fondly recall a five-cent pay phone call. 

You DO remember pay phones, don’t you?

Posted by Barbara

You're traveling through another dimension, a device created not only for the delivery of sound, but a three-inch vision of entertainment.  A journey of two-dimensional imagination, and flat-screen drama.  Why turn off your cell phone in a movie theater if the movie in hand is better than the one behind the curtain? There’s a credit up ahead — your next stop is The Global Short Film Project…

Can Robert Redford and the Sundance Institute succeed where bigger names have failed? Stay tuned for next Spring’s 3GSM World Congress in Barcelona, where some decorated directors join with some hopeful techies to produce short films specifically for cell phones.

Redford

, the founder and leader of the Sundance Institute (and its famed film festival) says there is an audience for short films on “the fourth screen.”  Until now,  there has not been a rush to create specific films for this tiny platform.  But then, it’s been only a couple of decades since films ventured outside the big screen. 

 

Posted by Barbara

Review on the latest contestant in the anorexic cell phone competition: The $80 Sanyo Katana, sold at the moment only through Sprint. Very thing, big-time RAZR competitor. All the basics: nice keyboard for a clamshell, backlighting, a bright and useful display, etc. etc. Also has a Web browser and texting, but you'll need to read the review for more specifics.

 

(via UberGizmo)

This isn't exactly new, but given the start of Monday Night Football, it may have new life. Seems LG Electronics recently came out with their LG 4100 cell phone. All the usual clam shell features, with a little safe-drinking twist: The thing has a breathalyzer built-in. Pretty nifty when your team just got stomped and mayhap you downed one brewskie too many in a fit of depression.

 

(via Gizmodo)

For those of us with new smartphones (or PDAs that can surf the Web via WiFi), it's always a battle to look at a regular Web site on a screen that's half the size of your average coaster. There are some few Web sites who have enough smarts to know what kind of device you're surfing from and provide a site optimized for a smaller screen--or at least give you the option to get such a view manually. Mail2Web is one such. But most sites, just don't care.

 

Enter Greenlight Wireless, which announed its Skweezer technology some time ago. The site acts as a middleman between your smartphone/PDA and the Web; enter a site and Skweezer simply optimizes everything for a smaller screen and (usually) slower pipe. But for many sites, Skweezer also requires support from the Web site in question. So Greenlight is busy making deals. They've got quite a few already and the newest one will be Bloglines.

 

Wish they'd do Spaces, because the Mobile Spaces client just bites the hardest cheese.

 

(via Techie Diva)

The Mvox Duo may be slimming down the cell phone look, but not everyone's going that way. Nokia, for example, is taking the bad reviews it got on its N91 music phone and simply making it bigger--memory-wise that is. The N91 originally came out with 4GB worth of music storage, but Nokia just announced it's bumping that to 8GB. Good, but as long as they were doing that they should have addressed some of the original critiques as well--like adding support for Bluetooth stereo and tighter deals with some music services. Ah well, if you want all that guess you'll have to look at the N95.

 

(via Engadget)

The DEMOFall 06 convention going on right now has a number of interesting things being shown, but this one looks cool because it hearkaens where cell phone technology is headed. Since tech is getting smaller, there's little reason to keep cell phones the same size as they are now. So many makers are experimenting.

 

The Mvox Duo is one such trial. It looks like a slightly chunky Bluetooth headset--like the kind that Verizon sold me that doesn't quite work. But this one is not only a Bluetooth headset, it's also the entire phone. Next to that, it's got a speakerphone, which I suppose is useful; and it's got the ability to run VoIP applications, apparently including Skype.

 

The thing costs $200, but you've got to ask yourself whether this is really the form factor you want for a phone. Smartphones can handle addresses and calendars--this thing can't. No camera, no games. I suppose eventually it could be an MP3 player, but then you'd have to deal with the stereo thing.

 

All in all, while it looks cool, I don't think it's got long term legs except as a niche.

 

(via Gearlog)

Mobile Tech Review just took a look Cingular's new 3125 smartphone. And apparently they love it. The thing is a Windows-based smartphone and part of Cingular's Star Trek family, but adds loads more battery capacity (useful if you're doubling it as an MP3 player) as well as quad-band reception, EDGE data connectivity and a 1.3 megapixel camera. Sounds pretty good.