iPhone to be sold by all top 3 telcos in Australia
Confirmation came through today that Optus will be selling the iPhone in conjunction with Telstra & Vodafone.
Still no word on whether or not the device is the 3G version, or pricing and availability, but the great news is that customers will have a choice from three different carriers in Australia.
Posted By Shane Williamson
Australian CNET’s new mobile home
CNET.com.au has created a great mobile portal for their site. It is well designed mobile site with lots of information on all things gadgety, IT & home entertainment.
Having CNET’s reviews in the palm of your hand means you can get direct access to info on the latest technology whilst you are out and about.
The check prices function is handy for that quick price check on your new technology purchase giving you enhanced haggling powers. You will save bucks here, especially with the reviews attached to the prices so you can verify if what you are purchasing stacks up especially with access to user reviews.
The main CNET.com.au website has setup up browser sniffing to redirect your mobile if you go directly to their site and the mobile variant uses the "m" standard for denoting a mobile site. This means you have the least text to enter via your mobile.
The m.cnet.com.au site is a great example of how to design a mobile site that compliments their main site extremely well.
Oh and click away on the ads as they go to mobile formatted sites too!
Posted By Shane Williamson
How Russians use Gmail…..
Since Russia has banned the use of Internet, the Russian Google Gmail team have developed a creative workaround….
Great to see so many Googleites being used cost effectively 🙂
Posted By Shane Williamson
Australian iPhone in June 2008?
An interesting leak on the Australian MacTalk forums state they have seen information sent to mobile resellers that the Apple iPhone is coming to Australia in June this year and is going to be available from more than 1 carrier.
No details on whether or not it is definitely a 3G version, but the news that it is not locked into just 1 carrier is a positive step forward.
Thanks to Chris Kettle of my247 http://my247.com.au/ for the pointer. 🙂
Posted By Shane Williamson
Augmented reality gaming – HP’s vision
HP has an interesting advert showing their vision of augmented reality gaming. Was released last year.
It’s called "Roku’s Reward"
HP ad – Roku’s reward
Posted By Shane Williamson
An iPhone debate with too many hopefuls…
The great Apple iPhone debate of "Hype or Hope?" at Mobile Monday Sydney last night still waged heavily into the evening way past our actual closing time. 🙂 The love/hate emotions the iPhone brings out in people from the mobile industry are yet again more evidence of the religious fervor that surrounds anything Apple. Unfortunately my team, "The Hype", lost out to "The Hope" team via a live audience vote using the very cool mobile voting system from Mobile Online Business (http://www.mobileonlinebusiness.com.au/). Huge thanks to Rob Manson for the great work in operating the system for the evening.
As for the debate, the Apple iPhone does deliver a wondrous mobile user experience and this encapsulating experience is a wake up call to the mobile industry as a whole that we need innovation like this to take mobile to the next levels. BUT, such innovation shouldn’t send the industry back ten years by locking that user experience into exclusive carrier relationships, or locking the device down and restricting what can and can’t be installed by 3rd party developers, or resurrecting the bad development of mobile web sites that are proprietary to a single device.
I was asked by some to reiterate my Hype debate comments on the Blog……
- Apple locks the iPhone user into 1 carrier per country.
- 40% of all iPhones are hacked – customer’s are sacrificing their warranties with Apple to gain choice of which carrier they want to use.
- Not open – the iPhone is locked down. You can only install what Apple or the carrier allow you to too.
- The iPhone Software Developer Kit (SDK) prevents access to music APIs.
- Apple uses anti consumer practices by preventing customers purchasing with cash or more than 2 devices.
- Forcing us back into a Mobile Web – iPhone sites are for iPhones. The Internet is about access to all devices via all connections. Not an iPhone mobile web vs everything else.
- No 3rd party applications allowed. We keep hearing it will be "open", but the current beta SDKs prove it will be restrictive in who they let onto the device.
Whether or not the iPhone is Hype or Hope, potential customers and businesses must assess the facts and choose according to their needs. A little research goes a long way 🙂
REUTERS – Quarter of Apple iPhones "unlocked": analyst
NEW YORK TIMES – IPhone Flaw Lets Hackers Take Over, Security Firm Says
APPLEINSIDER – racking down Apple’s missing 1.4m iPhones
NEWS.COM – Bring a credit card if you want an iPhone, and you only get two
NEWS.COM – Piper Jaffray: AT&T paying Apple $18 per iPhone, per month
INFORMATION WEEK – Apple Releases iPhone SDK Beta 2
Posted By Shane Williamson
Microsoft Surface surfaces!
AT&T has announced on their site that they will be the first to deploy the cool new Microsoft technology in some of their stores in the US and it is being utilised to sell mobiles no less.
Starting April 17th, customers visiting AT&T stores in New York city, Atlanta, San Antonio and San Francisco can use the system to "learn about the growing universe of mobile applications and devices in a very personal and unique way".
Microsoft Surface uses sensors underneath the touch surface to recognise objects placed on it. Users can then learn and interact with the information presented to them about the object on the surface.
Mobile convergence is a key aspect of the user experience moving forward. The ability for mobiles to interact seamlessly with other input and output devices is paramount to extend the devices usability.
Microsoft Surface is just one way in how mobile convergence is becoming a reality.
The Microsoft Surface site is here
Thanks to Intomobile for the link
Posted by Shane Williamson
Software licensing in the cloud
I don’t purchase downloadable games where you have the option to purchase it as a full packaged product, as I like to resell the product once I’m finished with it. Well it’s obvious that those days are numbered as "in the cloud" software licensing is becoming more prevalent.
Recently I purchased the full packaged product of Valve’s Orange Box for the PC. On installing one of the games in the package and entering it’s license code, a message appeared stating that it had registered the software and locked the license to my online Valve Steam account (Steam is Valve’s excellent online software distribution service). Which means the lovely packaged box & DVD are now useless as there is no ability to resell the product. All the software on the DVDs is available as purchasable download via Steam.
Instant access to software via download purchase is fantastic, except for Australian’s as games are usually multiple Gigabytes in size and with our poor broadband infrastructure downloading two games can end your monthly allowance.
Licensing in the cloud is not new, but the practice is now becoming more mainstream. Some innovative companies such as TDC in Denmark are thinking outside the box in using in the cloud licensing for mobiles.
TDC in Denmark have announced a new bundled music download service called PLAY, that is locked to the user’s subscription with the carrier. When the user leaves the carrier they loose the license & the ability to play the music. Whilst the whole notion of supplying a large supply of free music to the customer is one thing, using in the cloud licensing is allowing these users to use the same music on their PC and mobile device is a brilliant strategy.
The brilliance of the new service is that TDC are implementing a Telco As A Service model, not just a provider of disparate carriage products. Telecommunications companies need to migrate to Telco As A Service and provide customers with converged services across their carriage end points. This model includes partnering with entertainment & business applications companies such as TDC have done.
For more information about TDC’s PLAY service head over to their press release.
Posted by Shane Williamson
Apple controlling access to 3rd party iPhone applications
Some heat is arising around how Apple may be restricting application development on the iPhone, particularly around music applications. Frankly, this is more a moral high ground then a legal issue one as some would have it. So what, if Apple refuses some applications that may compete with theirs? Apple’s track record shows this is status quo. It’s not the only device in the market is it? You’d think so the way some mobile developers are crying foul.
Just because Apple chooses not to open the device fully to the mobile developer community doesn’t mean it’s the end of the world. Remember that Apple has constantly demonstrated to their developer community that it’s Apple’s way or the highway if you want to play ball on their platforms. Why should their iPhone be any different?
The Apple iPhone’s outstanding user experience comes at a cost, that cost is a restrictive controlled development environment. Whilst to date, that control has been draconian in that they haven’t allowed any 3rd party applications. The pressure is mounting for them to open the platform, albeit damn slowly.
The Apple iPhone SDK has been released and there will be an application store on the device in the not to distant future. So whilst these initiatives are heading in the right direction, mobile developers should take heed that Apple will not allow 3rd parties to threaten their cash cows, especially their all singing all dancing ones. 🙂
Posted By Shane Williamson
Australian mobile phone revenues
AustralianIT’s has an article on Australian mobile phone revenues that includes some interesting stats, but still some issues around reporting overall subscriber numbers. Whilst we hear "market saturation" comments nearly every year by analysts, 1 mobile doesn’t equal 1 SIM and 1 person. Whilst we have 1 incumbent carrier that dominates the Australian market, companies like 3 that introduced 3G into Australia are disruptive enough to move users into owning multiple SIMS to take advantage of specific pricing.
The top mobile carriers in Australia are
- Telstra
- Optus
- Vodafone
- 3
Australian’s are following trends we see in both Europe and Asia whereby users are purchasing new mobile technology faster to replace existing devices inside their carrier service contract terms, versus waiting 1 to 2 years to do so.
When the iPhone is launched in Australia we should see some interesting stats as people rush to be the first to have the device, not necessarily the carrier service wrapped around it.
Posted By Shane Williamson
Universal Convergence 