Mobile Tech Today

App Stores: Microsoft, Google Follow Apple

Fri, 05 Sep 2008 13:06:43 -0500

When Apple opened its iTunes App Store in July, the idea of a mass-market Web site that sells downloadable games, tools, and other applications for cell phones was a rarity. Handset owners could buy apps from their carriers or the occasional niche site. But these days, the app store concept is becoming commonplace. The question is, does the world need a warren of wireless app stores?

In the coming six months, at least four would-be rivals of Apple will probably open their own online bazaars where developers of all stripes will sell downloadable software applications to make cell phones more fun and useful. Google has already announced its plans, while Microsoft, Symbian, and T-Mobile USA are in the likely-to camp.

The appeal of an app store is undeniable. Since the App Store debut, users of Apple's iPhone and iPod Touch have downloaded more than 60 million applications, sampling the more than 3,000 games, calendars, and fitness applications on offer for as much as $10 a pop, though some are available at no charge. Sales averaged $1 million a day in the first month.

Microsoft's Skymarket Is Coming

Microsoft and other owners of competing operating systems want to ensure Apple's popularity doesn't take a toll on their own market share. "People are chasing the iPhone," says Van Baker, an analyst at consultancy Gartner. Microsoft's plans to launch a store were laid bare by job descriptions posted Sept. 2 on job board computerjobs.com. The mobile applications marketplace, to be called Skymarket, may launch in tandem with the next version of Microsoft's cell-phone software, Windows Mobile 7, expected in 2009.

While he wouldn't confirm or deny plans for Skymarket, Scott Rockfeld, group product manager for Microsoft's mobile communications business, says the company ultimately wants to provide a resource, akin to CBS's CNET, which...

iPhone Gets EA's Spore Origins, More Mobile Titles

Fri, 05 Sep 2008 13:53:04 -0500

If you can't manage to occupy yourself Web surfing, e-mailing or listening to tunes on your iPhone, EA Mobile has just announced a raft of games for the iPod touch and the iPhone. Phone games have become a real phenomenon as more and more mobile devices have enough screen real estate and processing power to become a viable game platform. The EA announcement Friday focused on the release of Spore Origins for the Apple mobile market, but the company also released details of nine other upcoming mobile game titles.

Mobile Spore Origins

It's not the full-blown evolutionary strategy game you'll find on the PC and Mac, but EA's Spore Origins gives iPhone users a taste of "survival of the fittest" by incorporating two modes of play in the mobile version. In evolution mode, players create, edit, tweak and customize their creatures and explore strange worlds. In survival mode, players are prey and predator, advancing through 35 levels of eat-or-be-eaten action.

According to EA Mobile, the game incorporates the motion-sensing capabilities of the iPhone, so gamers can navigate creatures by tilting and moving the handset (as if talking aloud on a wireless headset didn't make you look odd enough). No word on whether the mobile version incorporates any of the more sexually explicit features of the main Spore game.

In a statement released by the company, Travis Boatman, vice president of worldwide studios at EA Mobile, said, "We're really excited to bring Spore Origins to the iPhone and iPod touch. By leveraging the unique capabilities of these devices, players can customize their own creatures and shape their destiny in an exciting evolutionary journey."

In contrast, EA's full-blown Spore allows for nearly total customization of the worlds and creatures that inhabit them, providing ample opportunity to tweak environment and evolutionary features. Supposedly...

Online TV Viewing Approaches the Mainstream

Fri, 05 Sep 2008 13:53:38 -0500

Nearly 20 percent of American households are tuning into TV over the Internet. That's twice the number from 2006, according to new research from The Conference Board Consumer Research Center and market-research firm TNS. The most popular destinations for online broadcasts? The official TV channel home page and YouTube.com.

The growing movement toward watching TV online is attributable, in part, to schedule-bucking viewers who want to watch the shows they want to watch when they want to watch them. Other reasons for the rise in online TV viewing include portability and the ability to skip commercials.

"Most consumers are pressed for time and require flexibility in their daily schedules and TV viewing habits," said Lynn Franco, director of The Conference Board Consumer Research Center. "Being able to watch broadcasts on their own time and at their convenience are clearly reasons why we are seeing a greater number turning to the Internet. And, it is the reason why we would expect to see this trend continue."

Content on Demand Is King

News, drama, sitcom/comedy, reality shows and sports are the top five types of shows viewed online. User-generated content followed close behind.

Specifically, 43 percent of online TV viewers tune into the news, 39 percent watch drama shows, 34 percent view sitcom/comedy shows, 23 percent watch reality shows, 16 percent view sports, and 15 percent view user-generated content. Previews, additional content from favorite shows, soap operas and advertisements are also gaining the attention of online TV viewers.

Despite citing portability as a reason for watching TV online, almost 90 percent of viewers said they watch online broadcasts at home. About 15 percent said they watch Internet broadcasts in the office, and six percent watch from other locations, including the library or a friend's house.

"The shift from appointment TV to content on demand is well under...

Dell Is Considering Selling Its Factories

Fri, 05 Sep 2008 14:25:40 -0500

Dell is tightening its belt by another notch. As part of its continuing effort to cut costs and increase its competitiveness, the computer maker is reportedly considering selling its factories.

An article in Friday's Wall Street Journal reported that, according to unnamed sources, Dell has been approaching contract computer manufacturers in recent months "with offers to sell its plants." One source told the newspaper that the Round Rock, Texas-based company expects to sell most, if not all, of its factories "within the next 18 months."

Unsold factories would simply close, and Dell would get its computers made by contract manufacturers. The Journal report noted that ex-Dell factories could be first in line for contracts to continue making machines for Dell -- an obvious sweetener to any possible deal.

Shares Drop 18 Percent

For more than a year, Dell has been trying to find ways to reduce its expenses and expand its distribution. The reported move toward additional cost-cutting comes as Dell struggles to regain its financial footing and competitive position. Last week, it reported quarterly profits that led to shares dropping more than 18 percent.

The move to close its factories is an indication of how seriously this cost-cutting has become, as Dell once prided itself on highly efficient, build-on-demand PC manufacturing tailored to customer requirements. In ads and publicity, Dell touted that a customer's computer was built after the order had been placed -- often within hours of the order. This just-in-time approach minimized any unsold inventory.

And, by not having to deal with retail channels, Dell also was able to maximize channel efficiency. But, for laptops and other computer products, a number of customers prefer to buy in a brick-and-mortar store, where they can see the product, talk to a real person, and return it if there is a problem. As a...

Vodafone To Resell Dell's Inspiron Mini 9 Netbook

Fri, 05 Sep 2008 09:14:10 -0500

Just one day after Dell announced it was moving into the market of netbooks by introducing its new Inspiron Mini 9, which weighs less than 2.3 pounds and has an 8.9-inch LED display, the company said it is partnering with Vodafone to resell the Mini 9 in Europe.

The two companies said Friday that the Mini 9 would be sold with a Vodafone built-in mobile broadband connection, which supports High-Speed Packet Access (HSPA). Sales will be exclusively through Vodafone stores and online, and directly from Dell, later this month in key markets in Europe.

"Dell and Vodafone have teamed up to offer 3G/mobile broadband support in the Inspiron Mini -- a device that is built for Internet connectivity on the go," said Anne Camden, a spokesperson for Dell, in an e-mail. "Dell and Vodafone initially teamed up in 2006 to offer integrated HSPA support across Dell's commercial and consumer laptops and continue to do so today."

"Vodafone will also offer the Inspiron Mini through its retail outlets, which fits our retail strategy: develop the right products that will appeal to our retail partners' customers, and expose Dell products to customers we may not have typically reached in the past," Camden added.

Dell's other retail partners in Europe include Carrefour, Tesco and DSGi.

Round Rock, Texas-based Dell and Vodafone would not disclose in exactly which markets the Mini 9 would be available or how much it will cost. "Details around specific market availability will follow in the next few weeks," Camden said.

Key Features

The Vodafone-equipped netbook will allow owners to surf the Web, share photos on social-networking sites, and connect any place and any time, according to Dell and Vodafone. Features include an solid-state drive that holds up to 16GB compared to a traditional laptop hard drive.

"The recent acceleration in the...

Apple Hints at Changes Ahead for iPods

Fri, 05 Sep 2008 07:11:19 -0500

Apple is expected to unveil new iPod music players -- and possibly price cuts -- at a media event next Tuesday but may not offer a long-awaited update to its MacBook laptops until a later date.

Apple, which also makes the iPhone mobile devices, e-mailed reporters an invitation to a Sept. 9 event titled "Let's Rock" that has an image of a man jumping in the air while listening to an iPod with the words "playing soon."

No further details were available from the company, which often sends provocative invitations to events that end up being product launches. Creating an allure around its brand has only helped drive Apple's market capitalization above Google's, despite fears about the weak U.S. economy, which is slowing consumer purchases.

"It's got to be new iPods. That's 100 percent certain," a Needham & Co analyst, Charles Wolf, said. "The only question I cannot answer is whether they will also do new MacBooks."

Apple shares fell $3.34, or 2 percent, Tuesday to $166.19.

Andrew Hargreaves, an analyst at Pacific Crest Securities, said the stock's fall was probably due to broad bearish sentiment rather than any disappointment related to the invitation. He said he expected any changes to the iPod to be incremental, however.

"I'm not expecting anything revolutionary," he said.

Apple's iPod line needs to be refreshed, and the price of its iPod Touch models needs to be cut because they have a higher starting price than its iPhone, which includes a mobile phone and other features not included in the device, said Shaw Wu, an analyst at American Technology Research.

The Internet-ready iPod Touch starts at $299 in the United States, compared with $199 for the iPhone.

"Pricing needs to be adjusted downward toward market conditions," Wu said. "We are in a tougher economy. That's what makes most sense."

Analysts said they still expect Apple,...

EU Preparing Sharp Cuts in Fees for Text Messages

Fri, 05 Sep 2008 07:12:49 -0500

The European Union's telecommunications minister plans to propose a new set of price controls that would sharply cut the roaming fees charged by mobile operators to send short text messages while also reducing the cost of surfing the Internet on a cell phone.

Details of the proposal, obtained by the International Herald Tribune on Wednesday, show that the minister, Viviane Reding, will seek to cap retail roaming fees for short text messages, or SMS, within the European Union at 11 euro cents, or 16 U.S. cents, a message.

That would be a 62 percent reduction from the current average of 29 cents, according to the European Commission, the executive arm of the EU.

Reding also intends to recommend a cap on the wholesale cost of using mobile phones to access the Internet -- the fees operators charge each other -- that would halve the average cost to euro 1 a megabyte from euro 2.

SMS roaming prices range from 6 cents in Estonia to 80 cents in Belgium, according to the European Regulators Group, a panel of the European Union's 27 national telecommunications regulators.

"SMS prices are really too high so bringing them down is best thing that can happen for consumers," said Monique Goyens, the director general of the European Consumers' Organization, a Brussels group representing 41 consumer organizations in Europe.

In 2007, Europeans spent euro 800 million in SMS roaming charges and euro 560 million on data roaming services, according to the commission. They also spent euro 5.2 billion in voice roaming charges that year. Over all, euro 300 billion was spent on telecommunications in Europe, the European Information Technology Observatory said.

Reding devised the EU's limits on charges for voice roaming, which took effect a year ago and have, according to her, saved European consumers an average of 60 percent for the service.

Her new...

Treo Pro Is Nice, But Software Could Be Better

Fri, 05 Sep 2008 07:13:30 -0500

Funny how quickly perceptions change. Rivals used to chase after Palm and its Treo smartphones. Now it seems Palm is the one doing the chasing.

Consider the new $549 Treo Pro smartphone I've been testing. The business-focused device is Palm's latest attempt to lure customers wooed by Apple's iPhone, Research In Motion's BlackBerry and others.

There's no knocking the thin and attractive new Treo Pro hardware -- it's the best-looking Treo to date. I can't say the same for Microsoft's cranky and not overly intuitive Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional software, which Palm tweaked with its own shortcuts.

In making its pitch, Palm hopes the techies in your company's IT department will appreciate Treo Pro's enterprise-grade security. And, of course, it can more than handle other business functions, notably "push" e-mail from your employer's Microsoft Exchange servers. Mobile versions of Microsoft Office are onboard.

Treo Pro has other things going for it, including Wi-Fi, GPS, Bluetooth stereo and MMS, or multimedia messaging service. I've been impressed by its generous battery life and voice quality, even on calls from Germany to the USA. GPS worked well with applications such as Google Maps and TeleNav (you get a free trial). Here's more:

*Design. The Treo Pro experience starts with handsome packaging, something out of Apple's playbook. The phone was designed by former Apple executive Jon Rubinstein, a key iPod creator and now a bigwig at Palm. The Treo Pro is black, but its spirit is apparently "green." It comes with a postage-paid mailing label to recycle an older mobile phone, whether from Palm or other manufacturers.

An installation CD for Microsoft ActiveSync software is no longer supplied. You just connect the Treo via USB cable to your computer to install the program and synchronize contacts, calendar entries and so on. The USB also charges the device.

With its smooth casing,...

The Mystery of Microsoft's Own App Store

Fri, 05 Sep 2008 07:33:05 -0500

Perhaps Microsoft wanted to make a splash with its announcement for a manager to run Microsoft's own version of Apple's App Store, according to Internetnews on Wednesday. However, the job posting has been withdrawn, and Microsoft won't comment.

The advertisement was found at ComputerJobs.com and described a services for Windows Mobile called SkyMarket. The lead item in the job posting said it was looking for someone to provide, "Definition of the product offering, pricing, business model and policies that will make the Windows Mobile marketplace 'the place to be' for developers wishing to distribute and monetize their Windows Mobile application."

Microsoft declined to comment on the posting, according to Andy Patrizio, but Microsoft's Scott Rockfield, group product manager for Windows Mobile did say: "Microsoft is always innovating on Windows Mobile and as such we're always working on future versions and projects, however we have nothing to announce today."

Gartner Analyst Van Baker told Internetnews that he would be very surprised if the carriers would let Microsoft take their online software sales away from them.

"A lot of us were astounded that AT&T let Apple have the App Store," Mr. Baker said. "That's a valuable customer link between carriers and customers and a good touch point, a good way to get information on the customer, and carriers will be reticent to give that up."

According to a related story at InformationWeek, Windows Mobile 7 isn't scheduled for release until some time in 2009, and SkyMarket would depend on that release first. The timing puts Microsoft, apparently jealous of Apple's App Store, considerably behind both Google and Apple, according to IW's Eric Zeman.

Demand Grows for Used Apple iPhones

Fri, 05 Sep 2008 07:34:10 -0500

As the head of a company that sells used consumer electronics, David Chen follows sales of the iPhone with the precision of a mathematician. At the outset, the price of the first version of Apple's music-playing wireless device behaved as expected: When the newer iPhone 3G hit store shelves, demand for the earlier iteration plummeted. Then the unexpected happened.

Within days of the iPhone 3G launch, demand for used, older iPhone models began rising, and prices began a steady climb. "We've been raising our prices over the past few weeks," says Chen, who runs NextWorth.com, a Web site that buys and resells used iPhones and iPods. "It's an anomaly, but there's still a lot of demand for the first-generation [device]." As of Aug. 26, NextWorth Solutions was paying $200 and $300 respectively for gently-used, 8-Gigabyte and 16-GB original iPhone models. That's up $50 from what his company paid a month earlier -- and at the high end, on par with the price of a new 16-GB version of iPhone 3G -- for the latest iteration of the iPhone, with more features and faster download speeds.

The used devices fetch an even higher price, of course, when they're sold to a consumer. On e-commerce site eBay, where NextWorth peddles many of its wares, a 16-GB version of the first-generation iPhone goes for about $600, and an 8-GB model in good condition commands $500. When it was new, the 16-GB phone sold for $499; the 8-GB model went for $399. Today, AT&T's most expensive iPhone 3G model sells for $300 with a two-year service contract. "The old iPhone [in mint condition] is very hard to find," says Shawn Zade, who sells mobile phones through New York-based WirelessImports.com. "There's a lot of demand."

Bustling Competition

Why pay a premium for an older, less advanced model? Some users...