Steve Jobs might want to look in his rearview mirror, because there’s a hulking eighteen-wheeler barreling down the highway, belching thick black smoke, and crushing every vehicle in its path.
The software giant is working with long time rival Adobe to bring Flash player Lite (yes, THAT Flash player) to Windows Mobile devices, while simultaneously incorporating support for its own SilverLight technology. The move will give Microsoft a leg up over Apple, making its mobile platform more web 2.0 friendly in supporting these ubiquitous web animation and runtime environments.
Apple has valid reasons for eschewing Flash lite, so it claims, like poor performance and a not-so-much like a desktop experience. Even if valid, it’s never a checkmark in your favor when competing products support features yours does not.
Wake up, Apple. You’re in Micrsoft’s crosshairs now.
Apple and RIM are on a collision course as the two companies go toe to toe vying for enterprise messaging market share. RIM has long held the corporate high ground with its dominant BlackBerry Enterprise Server technology and ubiquitous handsets. But Apple is sending iPhone to business school, adopting Microsoft Exchange support that is certain to give Apple the competitive advantage it needs to challenge RIM’s BlackBerry industrial complex.
This puts Apple in a unique position. Until now the company has narrowly focused its product strategy at consumers, not business. Apple and enterprise go together like Dairy Queen and Lactose intolerance, but iPhone has achieved the kind of sweeping success and brand awareness that makes it marketable to business customers, given the right pedigree of tools.
The combination of iPhone’s consumer appeal and business smarts could produce a perfect storm for Apple. Will it be enough to topple RIM?
First let me say that I am not one to laugh at someone else’s misfortune. Wait, who am I kidding? Of course I am. So it comes with certain self indulgence that I take this opportunity to point to a study that ranks Palm dead last in customer satisfaction among handset makers. So sad. But sadder still that a Palm employee posted a rebuttal in the comments of that story and cited a different study, commissioned by Palm no less, to dispute these negative results. Which is the equivalent of saying “No, really I am wonderful, just ask my Mom, she’ll tell you.”
Cheer up, Palm. When it comes to product stagnation and obsolete technology, you’re still number one in my book.
Agonizing abdominal pains are being felt across the globe today as the world laughs hysterically at Windows Mobile. According to a report posted by Net Applications, iPhone accounts for .09% of the overall browser market, leaving Windows Mobile choking on Apple’s dust with .06%. Not a bad record for a device that’s only been on the market for less than two consecutive sales quarters, and Windows Mobile is how many years old now? Oh the humiliation.
Cheer up, Windows fanboys. At least you beat out the T-Mobile Sidekick. And that’s something to be proud of, right? Bwahahaha!
Unless you’ve been pinned under a bus for the past 24 hours, you’ve no doubt witnessed the unfolding drama from yesterday’s announcement by Google about its upcoming open mobile platform, dubbed Android. Opinions range from Android’s arrival heralding the end of the wireless world as we know it, to “Oh my God…targeted ads on a mobile phone!” This story isn’t particularly relevant to iPhone enthusiasts, but its impact will affect the handset industry as a whole. And being the smarty pants, know-it-all, Smartphone expert, tech talkin guy that I am, I couldn’t let this topic pass by without weighing in.
Alas, poor Palm. You just can’t seem to get a break these days, can you? First came that whole embarrassing Foleo fiasco (or Foolio as I like to call it), an ordeal not to be repeated. Then your long overdue Palm OS replacement gets pushed back, twice, not to appear for another 18 months. Now comes this latest report, certain to deliver yet another vigorous blow to the nuts.
The bean counters at NPD Group, who watch consumer buying habits like the Chinese Secret Police, have determined that a very large percentage of early iPhone owners migrated from Smartphones, particularly the Palm Treo and T-Mobile Sidekick. In fact, the study shows that consumers were ten times more likely to have abandoned a Treo in favor of iPhone. Which totally has me laughing my ass off at the numbskulls who so adamantly asserted that iPhone will NEVER attract Smartphone users, in a vein effort to write off any threat. Fear the fruit, boys. Fear the fruit.
Four years ago the Treo represented the pinnacle of mobile computing design and innovation. Today, it’s the Amish horse and buggy of Smartphones. Carriers may just as well give them away as Christmas ornaments for subscribers to hang on their trees. Nobody wants one.
Folks, I have some news that will come as terrible blow to everyone. Verizon has just introduced what it claims to be a true no shit honest to goodness iPhone killer. Yes, I know… I’m in shock myself. Now, this is no ordinary iPhone killer. No siree, Bob. Nope, this revolutionary new phone from LG, dubbed Voyager, offers a set of features not found on anything else on the market; it has an HTML web browser (yes, real HTML, not that fake HTML found on other fones phones). It plays MP3 and WMA audio. It takes photos. And steal yourselves… it even has a MicroSD slot.
But pick yourselves off the floor for just a minute, because the news gets worse. In light of today’s news, Apple released a statement announcing plans to exit the handset business and shut down iPhone production, conceding the market to Verizon’s amazing new Voyager phone. Here’s the press release…
Team,
It is with great sadness that I must inform you that Verizon has upstaged us with the release of a new clone which completely and utterly mops the floor with iPhone. Rather than suffer the humiliation of trying to compete against such a product, I believe it is in the best interest for the company to abandon the phone market, and focus all our efforts on iPods and Mac sales. We had a great run while it lasted, but LG and Verizon have simply kicked our ass. Hope to see you all at the company Christmas party. BYOB.
Best,
Steve
As a result of today’s announcement I will be shutting this site down and starting a new blog; The Verizon iPhone Wannabe Blog. Please visit me there, and thanks for your loyal support.
Apple’s closest rivals in the wireless handset business are taking full advantage of the company’s platform dictatorship, extolling the openness of their own software to application development. Highlighting a strategy of use me, abuse me, do what you want to me approach to software design, Microsoft and Symbian are quick to point out that their platforms aren’t surrounded by high voltage fences and men in guard towers with sniper rifles.
Earlier this week Nokia updated its homepage with a new message taunting Apple… “We believe the best devices have no limits. That’s why we’ve left the Nokia NSeries open. Open to applications. Open to Widgets. Open to anything.”. Yeah, open to anything except touchscreens and intuitively designed software, right Nokia? Guess you forgot to include that part.
Microsoft, for its part, had no shortage of words on the matter. Windows Mobile group leader Scott Rockfeld told reporters… “We think the best approach is to create a sound platform and allow partners to extend that platform.” Great philosophy, Scott. It’s a pity your company can’t design a decent mobile platform to empower those partners, instead of the death march of Windows Mobile mediocrity.
The really scrotum injuring aspect is the poignancy of these comments. Apple’s platform strategy, or lack thereof, is doing far more harm to itself than its competitors. The fun is done. iPhone is losing its sheen. The time has come for Apple to open the kimono to application development now!
In a rare candid interview, we sat down with Fake Ed Colligan, chief executive officer of Palm Computing. Ed graciously agreed to a conversation with us to discuss a number of relevant issues including Palm’s troubled past and market missteps in the handset industry. So let’s get to it.
TIB: Ed, first off I want to thank you for taking time out from your schedule to speak with us. I’m sure you’re a very busy guy these days, what with the board transition, the Elevation Partners deal, and shareholder approval.
Ed: Oh, not all. My pleasure. In fact I’m really not that busy these days.
Humor site BBspot threw down the oven mitt today, mocking Apple’s recent decision to credit early iPhone adopters. Editor Brian Briggs made a comical, if poignant, news blurb announcing that Apple is making a similar compensatory deal with previous owners of Apple’s long forgotten PC, the Lisa.
Insulting and entertaining at the same time. I love it.
Apple may have opened a can of worms by removing all but one reason for buying an iPhone. For starters, they’ve given the iPhone a vasectomy, freeing of its GSM radio and carrier entanglements, and re-branded it as a standalone product even identical in appearance to its cellular sibling. On paper that seems like a sound strategy for product growth, and it is…for iPod sales. Unfortunately it’s not going to do wonders for iPhone’s prospects. Many consumers who otherwise might have purchased iPhones will now be offered a choice that will almost certainly lead them to buy an iPod instead.
Apple has reason to celebrate today. According to a new report published by iSuppli, iPhone topped the charts during the month of July, outselling every Smartphone on the U.S. market, even rivaling the most popular feature phone sold; LG’s Chocolate.
I find this news particularly interesting because, since its launch, numerous Smartphone fansites have long contended that iPhone isn’t a Smartphone, but rather a luxury feature phone. And therefore doesn’t compete in the same market with Palm, Blackberry, Nokia, et al. Yet according to this report, iPhone managed to best every Smartphone vendor in sales, including Palm’s entire line of Treos. Even Blackberry was soundly trounced by iPhone in popularity and sales.
Not bad for an alleged feature phone, eh? Hey, whatever helps you Blackberry and Treo fanboys sleep at night night, go right on living in that fantasy world you’ve created.
iSuppli was particularly bullish about iPhone’s growth prospects, even projecting triple-digit growth over the next two years, topping out at 30 million units sold by 2011. Not surprisingly Apple stock is up nearly 4% at the time of this post.
Nokia held a gala press event earlier today, proudly showcasing its newest line of consumer handsets and high-end smartphones, all very common and sporting the usual design flair we’ve come to love, and lament. But the true highlight of the show came during a special promotional video demonstrating upcoming technology Nokia has cooking in its labs. wink wink
An amazed audience looked on in stunned disbelief as the video revealed a slim device with full sized touchscreen - demonstrating nearly every feature of iPhone. Right down to gesture navigation and motion acumen identical to iPhone’s patented MultiTouch interface and accelerometer-driven screen reorientation.
Apparently the phone maker from Finland has run out of ideas and now looks to its competitors for inspiration. Great work, guys! What will you rip-off think of next?
AppleInsider’s Daniel Eran Dilger put together a lengthy five page review comparing iPhone to Palm’s obsolete operating system, drawing comparisons to features, hardware, software design and usability. Guess who came out ahead? I’ll give you a hint; it wasn’t PalmOS.
Funny thing is, I was in the middle of writing an identical feature article for this site, some time ago, and gave up when I realized the entire topic was irrelevant because PalmOS (Garnet) is a dead, long forgotten platform that holds little interest for anyone these days. I would draw more interest by comparing iPhone to Mike Vick’s ego.
Overall it’s a good read, if you can spare 30 minutes of your lunch hour to digest it (the article, not your lunch). iPhone doesn’t come out of this shooting match unscathed I’m afraid. Daniel makes no appologies for iPhones various weaknesses and shortcomings, like its maligned Mail app.
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.
The iPhone Blog merged with the Phone different site in May of 2008. Both sites were founded on a premise that comes one from one of Apple's old slogans: Think different. The iPhone Blog: for people who dare to phone different.
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