September 2007: Monthly Archive

Macrumors reports that the Apple iPhone outsold every other smartphone in July and grabbed 1.8% of the entire U.S. phone market.

“While iSuppli has not collected historical information on this topic, it’s likely that the speed of the iPhone’s rise to competitive dominance in its segment is unprecedented in the history of the mobile-handset market”

“The two models of the iPhone on the market sold more than Research in Motion’s Blackberry series, the entire Palm portfolio and any individual smartphone model from Motorola, Nokia or Samsung”

iSuppli surveyed 2 million people for the survey. The iPhone purchasers were split between men and women fairly evenly (52% and 48% respectively) and 57% of the purchasers were 35 or younger. 62% of purchasers had a 4 year college degree or better, and 25% of those surveyed switched to AT&T for it. [via]

iPhoneSIMfree.com chose CNN as their 2nd news outlet that got to verify their iPhone software unlock method. The good news is that CNN re-verified what Engadget already verified. So yeah, what we thought was true before? We were right. It looks like they’ve set the cost of the software unlock pretty low — $36 US each for each block of 50 licenses, and the price drops to $25 if you buy 5000+ licenses. The licenses are supposed to be available as of today, though all’s quiet on their website.

That’s right, they’re not going to sell to the end user. And since the price point is now available, end users won’t be willing to pay too much past that for the unlocking software. My guess is that they want to avoid that AT&T lawsuit, and their law-talkin’ guy thinks that this method will be their DMCA loophole. iPhoneSIMfree can distribute the software to other folks who then assume the legal risk of a lawsuit for distributing software that bypasses a security measure.

Engadget notes that due to the way this deal is set up, the best way to not distribute this software is to either

1. Send your iPhone in to be unlocked, or
2. buy a new iPhone that they’ve unlocked.

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Miles Flint, current CEO of Sony Ericsson, is leaving “to spend more time with his money,” the Register reports. Flint was responsible for reviving the Walkman brand for Sony’s mobiles, and also helped the Cyber-shot brand name cross over into phones. Sony Ericsson was also the #4 cell phone manufacturer last year. The new guy replacing him will be Sony Electronics Chairman of the Board Dick Komiyama. I’ll pretend that I’m Carnac here and make a prediction.

The number one thing for Komiyama’s to-do list will be to make a Walkman branded phone to compete with the iPhone. The number one thing on Flint’s to-do list will be to not worry about it.

What better way to start off your post-holiday work week than a strong dose of highly caffeinated unsubstantiated Apple rumors, courtesy of the Washington Post’s Sam Diaz, who claims to have received documents from one of Apple’s partners, proving the existence of new iPhones.

Speculation runs high among analysts and the press that an iPhone Nano-like device, smaller and less expensive than the original, is in the works and set for release sometime in Q4. Fact or fiction, the very thought of such a device has many fanboys sporting woodies.

Personally, I’m looking forward to Apple releasing a software update for the current model, integrating the long list of absent features demanded by users.

Read

Looks

like

the

Apple

&

NBC

iTunes

spat

is

heating

up. It was reported that NBC wasn’t going to renew their contract, due to expire in December. I reported this in the rejected story links thread in the forums. NBC released a press statement on Saturday to say that it wasn’t the bad guy to respond to the Apple press statement on Friday that said that NBC was the bad guy. I’m starting to think that this is just business as usual when dealing with the content providers.

Ambrosia Software has released iToner, a $15 shareware application that allows you to simply add ringtones to your iPhone. From their site:

“Drag, drop, and sync.

iToner enables you to quickly transfer custom ringtones for your iPhone – without modifying, hacking or having to reset your iPhone. Simply drag and drop your MP3 or AAC audio files on iToner’s window, click the Sync button, and you’re done. Even better, your ringtones will continue to work with future iPhone OS updates!

Your iPhone. Customized.

Your iPhone allows you to assign different ringtones for your different contacts. With iToner, now you can have a Barry White ringtone for when your girlfriend calls, Frank Zappa for when your college buddies ring you up, or the theme from Jaws for when your boss is calling.”