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More iOS 4.3 News: “Find My Friends,” New Device References

Charles Jade — Thu, 13 Jan 2011 18:00:33 +0000

Yesterday, we learned that iOS 4.3 will have new features including more multi-touch gestures, the ability to act as a Wi-Fi hotspot, and third-party support for AirPlay streaming. Today, more features continue to be revealed, and at least one previously removed option has been added back.

With the release of iOS 4.2, orientation locking became software-activated across iOS devices using the multitasking interface. The physical hardware switch on the side became a mute button, same as on the iPhone. Apparently, this resulted in a negative reaction strong enough to elicit a response from Steve Jobs, who said the change was permanent in an e-mail to one customer. Somewhat surprisingly then, under Settings in iOS 4.3 there’s now an option to use the slide switch to either mute sound or lock rotation. It’s nice to see Apple correct a mistake, especially after Steve Jobs declares it a feature.

From MacRumors, a new feature coming in iOS 4.3 is reported to be “Find My Friends.” Named similarly to “Find My iPhone,” “Find My Friends” is strongly reminiscent of a service like Google Latitude. That service shows the location of selected contacts on a map in proximity to the device owner. Unfortunately, “Find My Friends” appears to be linked to MobileMe (which isn’t yet free), which could severely limit its benefit, and that would be a big mistake. Hopefully, like “Find My iPhone,” Apple will ultimately open up this feature to everyone.

Finally, Engadget first reported that within the developer build of iOS 4.3 there are several new device identifiers: iPad2,1; iPad2,2; iPad2,3; iPhone4,1; and iPhone4,2. The first generation iPad is “iPad1,1″ and “iPhone 3,1″ refers to the iPhone 4, so the new numbers indicated next-generation devices. New models of iPads and iPhones are a given this year, and the best guess for these multiple identifiers would be Wi-Fi, GSM and CDMA versions of the same devices.

As interesting as these new features and devices are, the biggest change may not be in iOS 4.3 itself, but in how Apple approaches its mobile OS updates. Since iOS 4.1 we’ve seen major changes and feature additions, including AirPrint, AirPlay and Game Center; hardly what one expects in a point release. It appears Apple is moving away from seminal yearly releases and instead adding major features and improvements regularly. If so, Apple fans have Google to thank for increasing the competitive pressure in the handheld computing market.

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Will iPhone’s Personal Hotspot Make the 3G iPad Irrelevant?

Darrell Etherington — Thu, 13 Jan 2011 15:37:53 +0000

Verizon announced the iPhone’s ability to act as a personal hotspot Jan. 11, but yesterday’s release of the iOS 4.3 beta confirmed that the feature will eventually make its way out to all iPhones, minus legacy devices — carriers willing. With the hotspot enabled, you can share your data connection with multiple Wi-Fi devices, including the iPad, something which wasn’t possible through wired USB or Bluetooth tethering.

I realized immediately that not only do I no longer need a MiFi, as Kevin pointed out yesterday, but I no longer even need the 3G in my Wi-Fi + 3G iPad. I use the iPad’s cellular data connection sparingly as it is, and I’ve never run into a situation where I had my iPad but not my iPhone while on a trip or out and about. And not renewing my iPad data contract will save me at least $30 every month with my provider here in Canada.

Canadian providers don’t charge extra for tethering services, unlike in the U.S. But even when you are charged extra to enable personal hotspot features, which is a better proposition? An extra $30 for a shared connection that you can use with any device, including notebook computers or the iPod touch, or roughly the same amount of money for a whole other data plan locked to a single gadget?

AT&T may only be “evaluating” the feature at the moment, but eventually it’ll have to give in, just as it did with tethering, and I’m willing to bet it won’t take the company as long this time around. In fact, once Verizon announces its own pricing scheme for iPhone hotspots, or, failing that, once AT&T begins hemorrhaging customers and freeing up bandwidth on its data network, we’ll see the feature on both carriers.

Once personal hotspot capabilities make it out to all iPhones, the question quickly becomes: Why have a 3G-enabled iPad at all? Buying the Wi-Fi-only model will save you $130, which can be spent on the next model up in terms of storage capacity, while still saving $30.

Apple could still make the 3G iPad desirable to consumers by allowing it to act as a personal hotspot, but the iOS 4.3 beta shows no indication that Apple intends to go back on its current “no tethering policy” for the device. Even if the iPad were to gain hotspot abilities (which it might to keep feature parity with Android tablets), it still wouldn’t hold as much appeal as the iPhone, or any Android device with the same feature, since it’s far less portable and unlikely to be carried by most people during the course of a normal day.

My next iPad will be Wi-Fi only, provided Apple continues to offer a non-3G option in its next generation tablet. As Stacey foresaw more than a year ago, consumers will only need (and likely have budget for) one cellular network-connected device that can share to a variety of Wi-Fi hangers-on, and all indications point to that device being the iPhone for those operating in Apple’s mobile ecosystem, not the iPad.

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Switching to Verizon: It’s About the Coverage

Charles Jade — Tue, 11 Jan 2011 22:30:04 +0000

Analysts estimate sales of a Verizon iPhone to be from three to six million units per quarter, with a substantial number being sold to refugees from AT&T’s 3G network. Whether or not you want to flee AT&T will likely come down to coverage and cost, but that’s not all.

Coverage

The singular issue for iPhone users contemplating switching from AT&T to Verizon is network coverage and reliability. Survey after survey has shown AT&T lagging behind Verizon, most recently from Consumer Reports (via PC World). AT&T customers, half of them iPhone owners, rated AT&T as the worst in value and service. AT&T scored a dismal 60 out of 100, down six points from last year, and was rated worst in voice and data service, as well as customer support. Verizon was rated the second best carrier overall. As for coverage, the 3G maps don’t lie; Verizon wins.

Cost

Buying a new phone and terminating a contract is always expensive, but in switching from AT&T to Verizon there are a few caveats. Verizon iPhones start at $199, but that amount is easily recovered through the sale of a used AT&T iPhone on eBay. Regarding termination fees, for those who purchased an AT&T smartphone after June 1 2010, the early termination fee is $325, prorated at $10 per month of ownership. Those who bought phones before then pay $175, minus prorating, so iPhone 4 owners pay nearly twice as much as iPhone 3GS owners. However, in both cases there is, in my opinion, a hidden “fee” relating to network coverage.

As an AT&T customer, I don’t need to look at surveys or maps about coverage and reliability. All I need to do is try to make a phone call from home. Without an AT&T 3G MicroCell, I wouldn’t be able to. I had to pay $150 for that device, and there are additional fees for those wanting calling plans with it. In this case, coverage factors into switching cost, too.

Features

Features are really secondary to cost and coverage, but there are a few to consider. The biggest “loss” to switchers will be a lack of simultaneous voice and data. The question is how many people really use that. Unlike Dave, I can’t remember the last time I needed data access on a call. Likewise, not many people will probably use a Verizon iPhone with tethering capability for up to five devices, but for those who will, at least it’s there.

Button placement has shifted slightly on the Verizon iPhone, which may require the purchase of new accessories, especially cases, though the antenna redesign may make these less necessary. For data hogs, the Verizon iPhone could offer an unlimited data plan for $30 (unless they introduce iPhone-specific data pricing), just $5 more than the 2GB capped plan from AT&T. That would probably the best single Verizon-specific feature for prospective switchers besides coverage.

Within Reach

There’s always the choice to wait until June or July to switch and get the next generation of iPhone, too. If I were already on Verizon, that’s what I would do. However, for many suffering with AT&T, the question isn’t about hardware, but about putting up with the inferior coverage and reliability of AT&T’s network. That there’s an answer for that as of Feb. 10, and one that still represents the latest and greatest in smartphone tech that Apple has to offer, will be hard to pass up.

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Could Chinese iClones be Android’s Secret Weapon?

Bobbie Johnson — Fri, 07 Jan 2011 20:31:17 +0000

It’s no secret that Google is desperate for its Android software to become the dominant platform for mobile phones. But while it’s making inroads both in the U.S. and worldwide, there’s still one area it’s lagging in: genuine, unbridled fan lust.

So it must be exciting for executives in Mountain View to see pictures like this one: a huge gaggle of people queuing excitedly for the new M9 handset from Chinese manufacturer Meizu. It’s the kind of image we usually associate with Apple launches and major console game releases.

So what secret sauce does the M9 have that’s causing such excitement? Well, it’s got lots of good features at a competitive price: just $409 for a 16GB SIM-free model. But the real selling point seems to be one that Google would be less pleased to trumpet: It’s unashamedly borrowing from the iPhone.

Despite the Android underpinnings, Meizu’s notorious for finding more than a little inspiration from Apple products, including interface elements that would seem eerily familiar to iPhone users. The similarities were even more obvious on its previous model, the M8, which was so closely modeled on the iPhone 3G many users would find it hard to tell the difference at a glance.

All this is a result of China’s huge “shanzhai” industry of pirated goods. Shanzhai companies, which specialize in mimicking elements seen on more expensive rivals, have an approach to manufacturing and design that’s both controversial and fascinating. I’ve been interested in the phenomenon for some time, and even spent a few weeks in China last summer exploring it for a piece on shanzhai in the UK edition of Wired magazine.

You can buy shanzhai handsets all over the developing world, but among Western consumers, they have a pretty poor reputation. They’re seen as unremarkable, derivative low-cost imitations. But is that a fair description? In some cases, yes, but Meizu proves it’s not always accurate.

There’s another element to remember: It’s not as if China has some special stranglehold on copycats. Some of the people I met in Shanghai, Beijing and Shenzhen argued that American and European companies were joking if they thought the piracy of ideas was purely a Chinese phenomenon. Just witness the plethora of lawsuits flying around the mobile industry in the Western world to see that.

Some go even further. One Chinese handset designer pointed out to me privately that these Western iPhone competitors weren’t only slow to market, but also poorly executed in an often-spectacular way. Take, for example, the much-derided BlackBerry Storm, which hit the market nearly 18 months after the iPhone but was slammed by reviewers.

Real shanzhai manufacturers, with their deep expertise and extremely rapid production cycles, would be embarrassed to ship a product that took so long and performed so badly. The market just wouldn’t bear their failures.

In some ways, it should be no surprise that companies like Meizu are creating a significant following inside China. If you’re the average urban Chinese smartphone buyer, the M9 has some obvious advantages over the iPhone. For a start, it’s more affordable, at around half the cost of the Apple equivalent. It also has more localized functions, and it’s being very aggressively marketed by a local company that knows which buttons to press.

Whether or not you agree with the way shanzhai companies build their business, it’s clear they can create good products that feed demand — and perhaps, given time, they may even be able graduate into genuine contenders. Manufacturers such as Huawei, MediaTek and ZTE have all made products that seem unoriginal but have turned into raging successes regardless.

So could it be that Android’s worldwide success could end up relying on high-quality iPhone clones? It would certainly seem ironic, but it doesn’t seem impossible.

Image courtesy of BBS.meizu.com

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Apple’s iPhone Gross Profit Double That of Motorola, RIM

Darrell Etherington — Fri, 17 Dec 2010 19:30:03 +0000

Apple’s gross profits on the iPhone add up to more than double those of Motorola and RIM combined, according to a new report by stock market analysis firm Trefis. The report’s estimates put Apple’s total iPhone-based gross profit at $14.8 billion for 2010. RIM’s mobile phone gross profit across all its models of BlackBerry devices was $5.1 billion, and Motorola took in only $2.2 billion.

The estimates made by Trefis are based on the gross profit margins for the mobile phone divisions of each company. They don’t take into account research and development or promotional costs that went into developing the handsets sold by each company. It’s entirely possible that Apple spends more on iPhone R&D than the other two phone makers spend on their devices, but it’s unlikely the discrepancy would be considerable enough to make much difference to the final picture.

How does Apple manage to stay so far ahead of the competition in terms of profit margins? According to the report, it hinges on how much more Apple can charge for its products, compared to the competition. Trefis estimates the average price paid for an iPhone to be around $606, while Motorola handsets only command around $214 on average, and BlackBerry devices take in roughly $305 per unit.

While market share gets a lot of attention when it comes to the smartphone industry, Apple’s commanding lead in terms of gross profits is a much better indicator of success from an investment perspective. Apple’s growth over the past few years is impressive, but what’s even more impressive is that even as it reaches a broader audience, it’s still able to ask consumers to pay more for its products than they would for the competition.

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Apple iBookstore Adding More Picture Books, Canadian Content

Darrell Etherington — Wed, 15 Dec 2010 15:04:56 +0000

Apple’s iBookstore for iOS devices is getting an influx of new content. There’s a major injection of illustrated titles set to arrive today, Dec. 15, according to the New York Times, and the Canadian government has just given Apple the green light to sell Canadian content through the digital bookstore.

Apple’s plans for expanding its picture book selection includes adding over 100 such titles to the iBookstore sometime today. The NYT cites Apple itself as the source of the information, and publisher Simon & Schuster confirms its titles will be among those available. Children’s books, photography books and cookbooks make up the bulk of the new selections.

Specific titles include the Olivia series of children’s books; In the National Parks, a photo book by Ansel Adams; and Beginnings by Anne Geddes (you know, the babies-as-other-things woman). Some titles are exclusive to Apple, and some have unique features –like uninterrupted, two-page layouts — that no other e-book store will be able to offer.

The iBookstore has been around since April 2010, so why are these books only coming now to the platform? Apparently, converting picture-rich titles to e-book format isn’t easy. Authors of illustrated books are more picky about what the finished product looks like, and creating a faithful representation that satisfies everyone involved has been difficult for publishers.

In other iBookstore news, the Canadian government granted Apple the right to operate iBookstore Canada yesterday. The Canadian Heritage and Official Languages ministry has to review and approve new businesses that could potentially have an impact on Canadian culture. Amazon went through the same process very recently when it wanted to expand its operations north of the border. Apple successfully assured the government that it would use iBookstore Canada to promote Canadian authors, publishers and content.

Until now, the iBookstore was available to Canadian users, without Canadian works. Now, if you happen to have access to a Canadian iTunes account, you’ll notice that the iBookstore landing page is virtually flooded with all things great white north.

Apple’s presence in the e-book market is much stronger as a hardware-maker than as a seller of content. Many authors note that they don’t have nearly as many sales through iBooks as they do through Amazon’s Kindle store, and even through the much less popular Barnes & Noble and Sony e-book marketplaces. Broader content libraries will help Apple be more competitive, especially if that content emphasizes Apple’s device advantage. Apple needs to stand out in an increasingly crowded e-book storefront market, and being the best at picture books is one way to do that.

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10 Things on the iPhone 5 Wish List

Liam Cassidy — Mon, 13 Dec 2010 22:00:59 +0000

We’ve come an awfully long way since the first iPhone was released in 2007. The last three and a half years have seen dramatic improvements in both the hardware and software of Apple’s smartphone. So what more could you ask for? A lot, it turns out.

Well, I have a few modest suggestions. And in the spirit of the holiday season, I’m offering this wish list (along with the one I already compiled for iOS 5) to Santa in the hope that he can put in a good word with Steve Jobs. You never know; it might work.

Advanced Capacitive Touchscreen

This is something I forget about in the summer months, but now that snow is falling, I resent having to take my gloves off to use my iPhone. (Have you ever tried answering your iPhone with the tip of your nose? Far from dignified…) Certain exotic gloves are available that make it possible to use a capacitive touchscreen while keeping one’s digits warm, but they’re often expensive or gimmicky. It might sound too good to be true, but a report last month on Patently Apple suggested just such a technology might be on its way.

Thinner, Lighter, Stronger

Forget glass. Yeah, it looks great but I don’t care if it is made from the same stuff used in helicopter windscreens. Can liquid metal provide us with a super thin, super-strong chassis? Failing that, I don’t mind a carbon fibre composite (which is likely a better material than metal anyway, since it won’t interfere with the iPhone’s many radios.)

Capacitive Charging

This one’s a long shot. The trouble with capacitive charging is that it’s molasses-slow and expensive to implement. But there’s still something alluring about the concept of simply resting my phone on a minimal Apple-branded surface and watching it get charged. A liquid-metal body (see above) would, by the way, make this much easier to implement.

More Sensors! More!

Adding temperature, pressure, humidity and EMF sensors might sound insane, but imagine the apps that would appear to exploit such tech! Incidentally, with a metal chassis, a future iPhone might feasibly contain a heart-rate sensor of the kind commonly found in treadmills and workout equipment. A heart rate monitor in Nike+ would be a great addition to that service… as would a pedometer. Bottom line here – the more sensors we can get in the iPhone, the more versatile it will become.

Impossibly Long-Lived Battery

This is a tough one. See, it’s hard to ask for all these new sensors and next-generation capacitive touch screens and still say I want a longer-lasting, high-performance battery. But still, I’m asking for it anyway. This is a wish list after all. And even if delivering a “miracle battery” means breaking the very laws of physics, well, I’m sure Apple can do it.

Automatic Owner Recognition

If you use your iPhone for every little thing, you probably use the passcode lock to keep your personal data safe. For the curious, the current four digit passcode software lock offers 1,048,576 possible combinations. That’s probably good-enough for most people already accustomed to having to memorize PINs for their credit and debit cards, but I’d like to see this taken much further. A combination of facial recognition, bioelectrical impedance analysis and voice print identification could make an iPhone far more secure than it is today. It would certainly help sell to government customers after the WikiLeaks fiasco.

Multicore Processors

The just-released Infinity Blade is an impressive achievement on the iPhones 3GS and 4, given that they use single-core processors. Imagine what might be possible with dual or quad-core processors in a future device.

Touch Sensitive Bezel

There’s a (sort of) joke shared amongst the Apple faithful that if Steve Jobs could do-away with the iPhone’s single button, he would. Well, he can. In fact, should. The Home button’s functionality could be replaced with capacitive gesture input built into the iPhone’s bottom-bezel which could remain large, but nowhere near as large as it must be to accommodate the hardware button. What’s more, gestures could be added (or edited) at any time to allow for even more functionality, like instant access to the device’s camera.

High Definition Sound

Forget that tinny, crackling mono voice that you hear when you use the iPhone as an actual phone. HD voice calls are amazing and, a bit like HD TV, must be experienced to be believed. This isn’t entirely an iPhone-only thing though – carriers must provide support for wideband audio (as it is more properly known), and precious few have shown much interest in doing so. In the UK, for instance, only one carrier has launched HD voice support, and that was just a few months ago. Good luck convincing AT&T that it should be a priority.

So there you have it: my ten wishes for the iPhone 5. The list surely goes on. I’d love to know what you most want in next year’s inevitable hardware update; share your ideas in the comments below.

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Rumor Has It: Verizon to Pay for iPhone Semi-Exclusivity

Darrell Etherington — Mon, 06 Dec 2010 16:00:01 +0000

Verizon seems poised to get the iPhone, but that might be where the buck stops, according to a new Kaufman Bros. analyst note from Shaw Wu to investors posted Monday (via AppleInsider). Wu says Verizon is going to pay extra to make sure that it and AT&T remain the only U.S. iPhone carriers for now.

We are hearing that (Verizon) does not want iPhone, the hottest selling smartphone, available on T-Mobile USA and/or Sprint and may be willing to pay for exclusivity to itself and AT&T. For these reasons, (Verizon) could be more willing to give in to Apple’s terms.

According to Wu, Apple’s success with the iPhone, which sold 14.1 million last quarter, is what is giving the Mac maker the leverage to negotiate favorable terms with Verizon. It doesn’t hurt that the shine has also reportedly gone off of the Android apple at the company, and that it also doesn’t have very high hopes for the future of BlackBerry, Wu said in his note.

If Wu is correct and Verizon negotiates such a deal, T-Mobile and Sprint will have to wait longer still to get on board the iPhone train. Though AT&T gains a competitor in selling Apple’s smartphone, it only gets one, and Verizon picks up the tab for making sure it only has to fight this battle on a single front. No word on how long the new deal could keep the iPhone out of the hands of T-Mobile and Sprint.

The U.S. remains one of the only major markets in which the iPhone still retains its exclusivity, besides China. In Canada and in some countries in Europe, the iPhone is available through every major carrier selling wireless network service. I won’t guess what AT&T originally paid for its U.S. exclusivity, or what Verizon is willing to fork over to keep the field somewhat limited. The price tag for keeping the competitor pool closed probably isn’t anywhere near what AT&T originally paid, since T-Mobile and Sprint together represent fewer subscribers than either AT&T or Verizon alone.

Of course, Apple is keeping silent on all things related to future products, and Verizon had no comment when contacted. What do you think? Are AT&T and Verizon enough, or would you rather just see Apple open things up to everyone the way it’s done elsewhere in the world?

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Save Up to $175 on iPhone at RadioShack

Darrell Etherington — Fri, 03 Dec 2010 22:30:08 +0000

Is an iPhone 4 on your holiday wish list? If yes, RadioShack has an attractive deal starting Saturday, Dec. 4. You instantly save $50 on the iPhone 4 and 3GS, but with trade-ins on your old device, that could climb as high as $175.

The deal, which RadioShack made us aware of via email, only lasts until next Saturday, Dec. 11, so you don’t have much time to make up your mind, but it’s not a bad deal even considering that the iPhone is already halfway through its upgrade cycle. Because it’s so much easier than writing it out, here’s what The Shack is offering in convenient table form:

There are, as you might expect, a few caveats. Phones obviously have to be purchased on a new two-year contract with AT&T, and that means you have to either be a new customer or eligible for upgrade pricing. For the trade-in to apply, your old phone has to be in pretty much pristine working and cosmetic condition. You can see if your old iPhone qualifies either at your nearest RadioShack store, or using the company’s online appraisal tool.

Speaking of that trade-in, you’re probably better off trying to sell your old device on eBay or craigslist first. That $125 discount on the 3GS could translate into around $300 in your pocket if you sell the device second-hand yourself, which would make the iPhone 4 basically free (barring applicable taxes) with the automatic $50 discount.

A $50 discount may not seem like much when you’re spending nearly $300 anyways, but it’s likely the steepest price cut you’ll see on the iPhone 4 this holiday. If you’d rather not wait for the iPhone 5, and you’re eligible for upgrade, it’s not going to get much better than this.

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Infographic: iPhone’s Role in Holiday Shopping

Darrell Etherington — Fri, 03 Dec 2010 02:30:33 +0000

This year, the iPhone and mobile shopping apps are playing a big role in holiday shopping. How big? Mobile advertising network Mobclix breaks down the key stats in its December monthly infographic, based on information gathered from its ad network as well as the company’s survey of 600 smartphone owners. The most impressive number? iPhone shopping app usage in November 2010 increased 249 percent over 2009, although the number of shopping apps only increased 52 percent in roughly the same time period.

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