COMPUTERWORLD: After a CES no-show, Verizon is teasing us with an iPhone-generated Tweet today on the eve of its press event where it is expected Verizon will at last introduce the iPhone, meaning US customers will now enjoy some choice of which network carries their iPhone. The move should also boost Apple in its battle with Android. So, what do we know?
The British Library has introduced its first ever smartphone app, providing access to many of the Library’s most precious titles to iOS (and Android) users.
The app (available in HD for iPad users) is called ‘Treasures’ and offers over 100 library items, including the first edition of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, the Codex Sinaiticus which is thought to be the oldest bible in the world, the battle plan written by Nelson before his victory at Trafalgar, and the original draft of Nicholas Nickleby handwritten by Charles Dickens.
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Hackers have finally managed to get Android 2.3 Gingerbread working on a jailbroken iPhone 3G — based on the iDroid project, you should be able to keep both iOS and Android in dual-boot configuration on your iPhone. more on this and a video (Flash, so we didn’t embed it here) over at Redmond Pie.
(Sony and Dell’s Android phones are still running Android 1.6!)
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COMPUTERWORLD: This is not the year the iPad meets its match. Analyst Michael Gartenberg doesn’t see anything to threaten Apple, even as AAPL moves beyond dominance of the tablet market — as its mind-share grows, iPad is making like the iPod and defining the tablet market.
Apple isn’t at CES once again this year and as per usual Cupertino’s shadow looms above the giant US trade show, where it seems competitors, including Microsoft, intend introducing their own iPad competitors, even as we learn that existing Android tablets may never get a software upgrade. Some highlights:
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Apple’s battle with Android continues with the latest Nielsen market share data revealing iOS remains the dominant smartphone OS, at least right now.
Android is picking up users: according to November data from The Nielsen Company, the popularity of the Android OS among those who purchased a smartphone in the last six months (40%) makes it the leading OS among recent acquirers.
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[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bMltvlqEM54&w=670&h=400]
Apple’s iOS has won a big thumbs-up from the Angry Birds themselves, who say that when it comes to mobile devices, Apple’s going to excel against the rest.
“Apple will be the number one platform for a long time from a developer perspective, they have gotten so many things right,” said Peter Vesterbacka, Angry Birds development lead.
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Perhaps you’ve been wondering if Apple will feel much impact once those Android and Chrome-powered tablets ship in 2011 — now a pair of reports suggest the magical iPad is set to maintain dominance for some time yet.
Report one tells us LG Display shipped 1.5 million iPad panels in November, while Samsung delivered 1.2 million units, suggesting Apple might have sold nearly three million iPads this month.
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Tran says that [Android] phones made from the BCM2157 chipset will retail for under $100 and may dip as low as $75. Those devices should debut in just 3-6 months (and we might hear about them next month at CES).
That means that popular pre-paid Android devices that currently can be found as low as $180 will drop by half in the next half year.
Apple’s low-end strategy so far has been to offer the last year’s model for $99 with a two year contract. That contract is at least worth $350 (AT&T’s ETF) which puts old retail iPhones at $450. Buying an iPhone 4 off contract costs $650.
What’s more important is that with Apple’s AT&T agreement, you have exactly one data plan option in the US (soon to grow). Even with Verizon and maybe even Sprint and T-Mobile, there isn’t going to be a $25/month data plan for the iPhone anytime soon. For the budget conscious, Android is the only smartphone game in town.
So how does Apple respond?
Ever get the feeling that these companies like to mess with us? After the reported Skype iPhone video conferencing ‘leaked help document’ Skype took the document offline. Today however, it is back up with some new company joining in the fun:
Verizon.
So there you have it: Skype, Verizon, iPhone. CES. Join us for coverage on Jan 6th.
Also, Skype is hyping an iPad only version of their software as well.
Even though the iPhone application is fully compatible with the iPad, we’re still always striving to bring the best to our Skype users, which is why we’re developing a Skype application designed specifically for the iPad. Watch the website for further updates.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IVeKbsFL_tM&w=670&h=527]
While we wait for iTunes in the cloud, we may as well begin using an iTunes in the cloud service that isn’t from Apple, a free service for iPhones from mSpot, the app for which is now available via the iTunes App Store.
What’s it do? Essentially it is like a music locker service to which you upload your music in order to then enjoy streaming access to that music via your mSpot app.
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Here’s an iPad clone from China, a full 9.7-inch affair based on the Freescale iMX515 hardware. It is powered by a 800MHz ARM Cortex A8 processor, 512MB DDRII memory and 4GB Flash. Oh yes, and it is Android-powred with 3G, Wi-Fi and a camera. Cost? Around $277 (in China). See? Same Same
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COMPUTERWORLD: If you thought Apple had a busy year in 2010, expect even more in 2011, when at least one analyst is expecting significant acquisitions, a move into 3D, the introduction of its connected TV set and the emergence of multi-core processors in the iPhone and other mobile devices.
Look, we want the most awesome iPhone available to be on Verizon’s network ASAP. But the rumor today about the 4G iPhone waiting in stockpiles isn’t realistic at all.
Remember how Apple’s original iPhone was EDGE at a time when most new phones were coming out with the new 3G technology? The reasons: Cost, complexity, size, battery life and benefit to the user.
Every single one of those factors also applies to 4G. The chips aren’t mature, the network is just being rolled out, and the battery life will take a hit. Have you seen how long an EVO 4G battery lasts with 4G on? How big it is?
Besides, one of the big benefits of 4G is use as a hotspot, something no un-jailbroken iPhone can do yet.
So iPhone 4G? Yes! January? No.
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Asymco has an interesting report today in which analyst Horace Dediu argues that Verizon may need the iPhone more than its letting on, and suggests Google Android may not be as big a business as many think it to be.
To be fair, while Dediu makes a good argument for his points, critics are already pointing out that they are based on data which may not be 100 per cent accurate, and that Verizon’s best month was in August, two months after iPhone 4 shipped. (Though it was only a slightly better month on back of hype around new product from Samsung).
We’ve had an update from the sources of the orginal data, which is posted at the foot of this article:
It looks like Google is activating 300,000 Androids a day…at least according to Andy Rubin. That puts Android on par with iOS overall, including AppleTVs, iPads, iPod touches and of course, iPhones.
http://online.wsj.com/media/swf/VideoMicroPlayer.swf
According to the WSJ, Apple’s about face on 3rd party app development may have been due to pressure from the FCC:
The concession comes after the Federal Trade Commission launched an inquiry around June to determine whether Apple had violated antitrust laws with the earlier policy. It isn’t clear if Apple’s move Thursday was in response to the FTC’s investigation, but it will likely be carefully scrutinized by the regulatory agency, said people familiar with the situation.
They also speculate that other platforms may have been a factor:
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Computerworld: Apple is putting up a fight like we’ve never seen before. This is not a repeat of the Apple v. Microsoft battle of yesteryear. This is a new skirmish fought with different rules, in which only one of the combatants truly has a historic understanding of what the stakes are.
Seems they forgot that little bit of information last time around.
Samsung seems to be emerging as a leading Apple competitor, with its A4-style processor-powered Galaxy smartphone and tablet devices — now news it intends introducing an Android OS-powered range of television sets, even as Apple seems to be foundering slightly with its Apple TV “hobby“.
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Computerworld: The BBC confirms iPhone users watch TV on their devices, while Android users don’t. Is Google’s decision to support the Apple-rejected Adobe Flash video standard on Android phones going to limit the evolution of that company’s mobile OS? Is the implementation anti-‘choice’?
Facebook app developer, Joe Hewitt, famously lambasted Apple for being too controlling with its App Store review process — now he’s dissing Google, calling Android dev tools “hideous”.
In a series of hyper-critical Tweets he says, “Android tools are horrendous, OS is hideous…”
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