All Articles Tagged News

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.

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The brain trust of Burton Group put their heads together to debate iPhone’s viability as a component to corporate mobile computing. In a media briefing titled iPhone for the Enterprise – you’d think a firm with such smart people would come up with more creative names for these events, Burton concluded iPhone isn’t quite ready, but holds a world of opportunity and untapped potential. Thank God for Burton’s timely, hard hitting, analysis. I’m sure CTOs in every fortune 500 had thousands of pending iPhone orders.

Citing issues such as lacking features, missing manageability for large enterprise needs, and no built-in foot massager, as reasons why iPhone won’t be wearing pinstriped suits, Burton later goes on to concede that iPhone is in fact a consumer device, not targeted at enterprise customers. Uh…ok, so why the hell did you guys hold this briefing? For ten minutes and $25 I could have presented the same conclusion in a single paragraph.

Next week the Wharton School of Business will be holding a roundtable discussion questioning the viability of Pink Tutus in the workplace, titled Ballet Attire, the New Business Casual?.

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Psst! Hey buddy, over here. Yeah, you – the one in front of the keyboard. You looking to buy a notebook or iPhone, real cheap? I know where you can get a “hot” bargain. These here just ahem fell off the truck, as they say.

My supplies are rather limited, at least until another “shipment” arrives. Heheh.

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A website called iPhone-SIM-Free is claiming that it will release to the world a fully software based SIM unlocking solution for iPhone, within the next 48 hours. That’s a pretty bold claim, so either its is legit or a shameless grab for traffic. We’ll know in just 48…no…make that 47, no wait. I think 45 hours? Whatever, just bookmark this website and keep checking back.

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Holy bug fix, Batman! Apple has quietly rolled out another dot release – the second, if you’re keeping track. Per Apple this is a bug fix, not a major software release…sorry fanboys.

I’m downloading the update right now and haven’t yet installed it, so I’ll keep everyone posted should I discover hidden treasure. Frankly my hopes will be more than satiated if Apple resolved the numerous issues I’ve had with Mail.

Happy installing.

[UPDATE] Knock on wood alert: I think Apple may have nailed the Mail issues. So far it is behaving as it did prior to the first update, so thing may be looking up. Back to testing…

Analyst Ben Reitzes of UBS says, based on AT&T store surveys, iPhone demand remains strong long after Apple’s hype machine winds down. The firm’s target expectation for iPhone shipments in the fourth quarter is 800,000 units, and Reitzes believes Apple is on track to beat its set goal of 1 million iPhone shipments.

Today’s published study by UBS yields some interesting factoids. One being that, despite all the naysaying, iPhone has a low return rate. Many skeptics had predicted iPhone returns en masse by frustrated consumers.

Another takeaway is iPhone, at least so far, hasn’t suffered a loss in sales momentum. That surprises even myself, as I expected a sharp drop in sales within the first eight weeks of launch, as hype died down and the early adopter market had quelled.

But the report wasn’t all flattering. UBS cautions that iPhone is in desperate need of critical feature integration. Among the list of must haves are the following…

So, all around the news looks pretty good for iPhone. Sales are solid with good momentum, despite tapering hype. And Apple is set to beat its sales projections. Let’s pray for all our sake that Apple listens to the rising chorus of critics and answers those feature requests, ASAP.

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Here is a grim reminder to all of us that certain situations require our complete attention.

Picture this. A guy texting away with his eyes glued to a cell phone (no, it wasn’t an iPhone) heedlessly wanders in the path of an oncoming train. The dude narrowly avoids being struck, turns directions and goes back to texting, then walks straight in front of a second oncoming train. This time he’s not so lucky.

Unfortunately this very tragic scene happened earlier today to an unnamed Cincinnati Ohio man. Police have not yet released his identity, or disclosed his injuries, but he at least survived his brush with death and is undergoing medical care.

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Andrew Neff, an analyst well known for his Nostradamic prognostications of doom and gloom in the PC sector which largely came true, is now casting his crystal ball on iPhone. He sees iPhone gaining backdoor corporate adoption by way of individual innovative. In Lehman’s terms, people who work in large companies will buy their own iPhones and carry them to work. A sound rationale, but I don’t consider that corporate adoption anymore than my wearing Levi’s 501 jeans to work as corporate adoption of denim.

But the more iPhones that enter the workplace, the greater its chance for enterprise support.

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User Centric, Inc., a usability consultancy research group, has published a study finding that iPhone’s virtual keyboard is nearly twice as slow to enter text compared with devices that have fixed hardware buttons.

The study gave iPhones to 20 participants who were asked to send text messages and emails using the device, while UC searchers monitored their actions. Hilarity ensued. The group found texting on devices with fixed keys to be fast and accurate. On the iPhone – slow and clumsy.

Now, I am in no way a statistician, but there are a number of flaws in this study. For starters, none of the particiants in the study own iPhones…but all owned QWERTY devices, which skews results dramatically. These users were already accustomed to fixed QWERTY keyboards, giving those devices an unfair advantage in the study.

Second, as I have already mentioned numerous times, you become increasing acclimated to iPhone’s virtual keyboard with usage. After one month you’ll find text input on iPhone to be every bit as credible as a fixed keyboard. Even faster. I make just as many input errors on iPhone as I do my Treo – the difference is iPhone’s spelling correction covers my errors, which speeds input dramatically.

As with all studies, take these findings with a grain of salt and a shot of Bourbon.

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28 year old Thomas Martel of Bonnie Brae, Colorado, found manipulating his iPhone to be difficult thanks to his big fat thumbs always getting in the way. His options were to upgrade to a device with larger buttons, or chop off his thumbs. The choice was obvious – chop off the thumbs, of course. Well not quite.

Martel underwent a relatively new procedure, called “Whittling”, that involves filing down bone and reconstructing muscles and fingertip, creating leaner thumbs that are less bulbous in form.

“From my old Treo, to my Blackberry, to this new iPhone, I had a hard time hitting the right buttons, and I always lost those little styluses. Sure, the procedure was expensive, but when I think of all the time I save by being able to use modern handhelds so much faster, I really think the surgery will pay for itself in ten to fifteen years. And what it’s saving me in frustration – that’s priceless.”

No, that’s crazy. My legs are too long for my car, bunching up under the steering wheel, but I don’t plan on having two inches of Femur removed to improve my driving.

Who says technology should adapt to us?

[UPDATE:]North Denver News has posted a clarification/retraction to this story, stating that it clearly was an innocent hoax. Here’s a tip…leave the art of parody to the pros, mkay? Thanks.

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