June 2007: Monthly Archive
Well, according to CNet, it’s more or less sleeping at the wheel. The article a bit fanboyish, though he has a decent point, even though he teases you with it instead of sticking you with it: that Microsoft is having problems competing with Apple in the post-PC device space. He doesn’t mention that the UI of Microsoft’s smartphones, powerful though they may be, is maddening. He chooses to talk instead of… Apple’s marketing (pro) and the iPhone battery life (con), as if he’s been using one for a while (as if!). Heck, Griffin Technology can’t even get their hands on one yet. Well, at any rate, Microsoft’s smartphone sales are clipping along nonetheless, and rest assured that Microsoft is still putting out Zunes, um, faster than you’ll buy them.
Some industrious haxor developer has created an interesting yet simple demo web application, highlighting what is possible via iPhone’s Safari browser. I still have very mixed feelings about this framework. Maybe I’ve been hanging around PDAs too long, but I prefer system-native applications as apposed to the Web 2.0 approach.
David Berlind asks the poignant question “Where the hell is Microsoft?”. A question I’ve often asked myself.
Where the heck is Microsoft? Earlier this year, Microsoft launched the newest version of Windows Mobile (version 6) and there’s a slew of devices built on the new mobile OS (we have video of them here) with more coming (like the new HTC touchscreen handset). But even with the new software and gear, the “if we build it, they will come” strategy is not a good one in the face of a foe like Apple. I was equally stymied by Microsoft’s inability to grasp the importance of image marketing with its Zune (see: To Win, Zune will need a Bono).
It’s true I am an Apple fanboy and I’m totally stoked over the iPhone, but I also happen to be passionate about technology…especially MOBILE technology. And truth be told I have a certain fondness for the Windows Mobile ecosystem. Needless to say I find Microsoft’s utter lack of response to iPhone both alarming and tragic.
Stop the presses! The Wall Street Journal is claiming that it heard from a source, who heard from a friend, who knows a guy that has a brother who was told by a street corner hooker, that Apple will require iPhone users to register an iTunes account in order to use the phone. Oh the humanity.
Ok, this isn’t as extreme as it might sound. Registration is free, and since I already have an iTunes account I won’t be screaming bloody murder.
Solutions Research Group has published an interesting study profiling the demographic of iPhone users most likely to be wasting their time in the waiting line outside Apple Stores on June 29. I know I’ll be standing in line to, so stay out of my way, cause I’m in it to win it!
If you were worried about the availability of a grocery shopping list for the iPhone, it looks like you’ll be safe.
This is pretty cool: a Javascript app that has the code for iPhone-like scrolling, built for digg.com. Check it out!
If you prefer to think of the glass as half-empty regarding AJAX apps for the iPhone, this article is for you.
Jibi from The Boy Genius Report expresses his doubts that iPhone can sustain long term growth due to inherent limitations like a lack of third party apps, limited corporate a adoption, etc. The usual complaints.
The Apple iPhone will have early success; Apple and AT&T have all but ensured this fact. It’s rare that Apple has failed with any product launch since the re-crowning of Steve Jobs and the first generation iMac. However, Apple has also been known to release rather faulty first generation products that tend to get better in the second and third and beyond generations - they never get it ‘right’ in the first go-round. Until the next generation iPhone is released, or until third-party application development and porting is opened up to allow integration within the messaging infrastructures of Corporate America, not web-based applications, do not expect to see long-term growth and sales figures to be anything to marvel about (although failed expectations may be mentioned in conversation).
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