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Tag: apple

  • iPhone Big Carrot For AT&T


    Thirty per cent of US consumers who purchased Apple’s new iPhone 3G from June through August 2008 switched from other mobile carriers to join AT&T, according to a survey by the NPD Group.

    AT&T is the exclusive mobile carrier for the iPhone in the US.

    Nearly half (47%) of new AT&T iPhone customers that switched carriers switched from Verizon Wireless, another 24 per cent switched from T-Mobile, and 19 per cent switched from Sprint.

    Unsurprisingly, the new iPhone was the top selling smartphone between June-August, pipping RIM’s Blackberry Curve and Pearl to the top slot.

    The Apple device is now the second best-selling mobile phone handset among US consumers, after Motorola’s RAZR V3.

    Before the launch of the iPhone 3G, iPhone sales represented 11 per cent of the consumer market for smartphones (January through May 2008), according to NPD’s iPhone 3G Report.

    However, after the launch of iPhone 3G, Apple commanded 17 per cent of the smartphone market (January through August 2008).

    Ross Rubin, director of industry analysis for the NPD Group, said: “While the original iPhone also helped win customers for AT&T, the faster network speeds of the iPhone 3G has proven more appealing to customers that already had access to a 3G network.

    Rubin said that in general terms, the iPhone had boosted overall smartphone sales.

    “The launch of the lower-priced iPhone 3G was a boon to overall consumer smartphone sales,” he said.

    The average price of a smartphone sold between June and August 2008 was USD $174, down 26 per cent from USD $236 during the same period last year.

    During June through August 2008, the top four best-selling smartphones based on unit-sales to consumers were as follows:
    1. Apple iPhone 3G
    2. RIM Blackberry Curve
    3. RIM Blackberry Pearl
    4. Palm Centro

  • iTunes "Closure" Threat Passes as Royalties Unchanged


    Whether Apple would have carried out it’s threat to close down its iTunes Store rather than operate at a loss will never be known.

    Apple had raised the possibility of shutting iTunes if the US Copyright Royalty Board decided to increase the royalty fees paid to publishers and songwriters.

    But the CRB opted to keep rates the same for digital music stores late last week, so removing any need for Apple to make good its closure threat.

    The three-member CRB kept the royalty rate at 9.1 cents, and mandated a 24-cent rate for ringtones.

    The board has never before established mechanical rates for digital files.

    With that little problem behind them Apple can now focus on other threats to iTunes’ dominance of the music download scene – like the launch of Nokia’s Comes With Music program.

  • Nokia Unveils Music-loving Touchscreen Phone


    Nokia finally unveiled its touchscreen 5800 XpressMusic.

    Dubbed the “Tube” during its development the 5800 is the first device to run the Symbian S60 5th Edition platform – S60 Touch.

    Aimed at a mainstream market, the Finnish phone giant is hoping to attract users put off by the price of Apple’s iPhone.

    To coincide with the announcement of its the mid-range music-focussed phone Nokia launched its’ free music package Comes with Music.

    This is being seen as a challenge to Apple’s dominance of the digital music market.

    The 5800 comes with a 3.2-inch, 640 x 360 touchscreen to go along with its 3.2-megapixel autofocus cam, Carl Zeiss optics, dual LED flash, GPS, WiFi, 3.5mm jack, and a microSD slot with support for 16GB cards.

    Nokia said it will be available in three versions – European HSDPA, North American HSDPA, and GSM only.

    The first version will be priced at just under €279 (around USD $400) and it will be followed early next year by a slightly more expensive version bundled with Comes with Music.

    The battle for mobile music is increasingly crowded, with Sony Ericsson launching its music package this month in Sweden, while South Korea’s LG Electronics plans a service similar to Nokia’s.

    Nokia’s package differs from others on the market as users can keep all the music they have downloaded during a 12- month subscription period.

    There are no charges for tracks downloaded, since the cost is bundled to the phone price.

    The music package is being heralded as a genuine tool for fighting file-sharing as research has shown most consumers would be willing to pay for a service like Comes with Music.

    It is the prospect of users accessing millions of tracks for free that poses the biggest threat to Apple.

  • Copyright Ruling To Close iTunes?


    The future of Apple’s iTunes music store could be decided today if the Copyright Royalty Board backs a proposal to raise royalties.

    At least that’s what iTunes’ vice president, Eddy Cue, told the CRB.

    He has warned that Apple would close iTunes if the board agrees to the increased rates proposed by the National Music Publishers’ Association.

    The NMPA wants to raise the royalties paid to its members on songs purchased from digital music stores like iTunes.

    The NMPA wants to levy a 66 per cent increase – raising the charge from nine cents a track to 15 cents.

    Apple, the US’s largest music retailer, postures that it would rather shut iTunes than pay the higher rate.

    “If the [iTunes music store] was forced to absorb any increase in the … royalty rate, the result would be to significantly increase the likelihood of the store operating at a financial loss–which is no alternative at all,” Cue wrote in a statement submitted to the CRB last year.

    “Apple has repeatedly made it clear that it is in this business to make money, and most likely would not continue to operate [the iTunes music store] if it were no longer possible to do so profitably.”

    With revenues estimated at USD $1.9 billion in revenue last year there would seem to be some slack for absorbing the 6-cents-a-track royalty increase.

    Or maybe they could just pass it on to consumers and blame the NMPA!

  • Nokia Touch-screen Smartphone Expected Today


    An announcement is expected from Nokia today about the launch of a touch-screen device.

    Dubbed the “Tube”, the handset could be unveiled at a media and analyst event in London.

    It would be Nokia’s first touch-screen since Apple launched the iPhone last year.

    IMS Research recently published a report saying the current steady growth in sales of touchscreen-equipped mobile handsets will become even stronger.

    It forecasts that while fewer than 30 million touchscreen phones were sold in 2007, this will surge to over 230 million by 2012.

    Nokia wouldn’t comment on an unannounced product.

    Reports suggest the device will be closely tied to Nokia’s Comes With Music service, which will first be released in the United Kingdom and compete with iTunes and other music services.

    On September 2, Nokia announced that Carphone Warehouse will be the exclusive UK prepaid channel for the Nokia 5310 XpressMusic edition.

  • Microsoft Delays Windows Mobile 7


    Microsoft is not expected to complete a final build of its Windows Mobile 7 operating system until the second half of 2009.

    ZD Net Asia said the software maker has informed some of its partners that it has had to delay the much anticipated update to its cell phone operating system.

    The report describes the delay is a significant blow for Microsoft, which has been counting on the next version of WinMo to enable devices that better rival Apple’s iPhone.

    It points out that the delay also comes as competition steps up in the smartphone market.

    Google is preparing to launch the G1, first phone running its Android operating system, while Apple has its updated iPhone 3G, and new models are also debuting from BlackBerry maker Research In Motion.

    While no major update to its core operating system is expected ahead of Windows Mobile 7 other improvements are likely to take place before then, including an improved browser that brings the rendering engine of Internet Explorer 6 onto Windows Mobile.

    That update should allow Windows Mobile phones to display rich Web pages, including those that are home to Flash content and Ajax applications.

  • Web Sites Must Adapt For Mobile Access


    The rising popularity of smartphones and their increasing use to access the internet means web sites must be prepared for effective handheld viewing.

    With the launch of new phones from the likes of Apple, RIM and now HTC, with Google’s Android-based G1, that trend is set to accelerate.

    Chuck Sacco, CEO of mobile marketing experts PhindMe.net, said the G1 represented another step toward complete Web access for people on the go.

    “What we’ve seen with the BlackBerry and the iPhone is a shift away from cell phones to smart phones and the G1 is going to further spur that shift,” he said.

    “With Google’s Android technology also available to other cell phone manufacturers who want to develop smart phones, we anticipate a spike in the number of people using handhelds for the kind of online information they used to access while tethered to the home or office computer.”

    Sacco said most businesses had yet to investigate whether their Web site was accessible to handheld users.

    But an M:Metrics survey showed that 85 per cent of iPhone users accessed the Web for information and were 10 times more likely to search the mobile Web than cell phone owners.

    Jon Cooper, CMO of PhindMe.net, said companies spentd a lot of resources on intricate Web sites that simply didn’t translate to the small screen.

    He said that with the market transitioning toward smart phones, businesses were missing an important opportunity if they didn’t create streamlined versions of their sites that were both accessible to handheld phones and provided information that people on-the-go actually need.

    “Someone looking for lunch isn’t going to care about the history of your restaurant –they need timely information such as where you are and how to get there, what’s on your menu and what’s on special,” he said.

    “You should make that information accessible on their phone to maximize your marketing opportunities.”

  • Apple Clamps Down On Rejected iPhone Apps


    Apple is to block developers’ abilities to distribute iPhone applications outside of its iTunes App Store.

    Developers were previously allowed to distribute apps directly to users by binding the software to the serial number of their iPhone.

    The move is certain to add to the growing disquiet from application developers unhappy with Apple’s unclear and seemingly arbitrary approvals policy.

    A number of apps, including Podcaster, NetShare, Murderdrome and MailWrangler, have received rejection letters from Apple despite following official guidelines.

    Among those affected by the latest decision is Almerica, the creator of a podcast download and playback tool known as Podcaster.

    It was initially rejected by Apple because the application duplicated the functionality of the Podcast section of iTunes.

    So it began using a method that created ad hoc licenses for the utility as an impromptu distribution tactic, an approach that left out the App Store entirely and consequently left Apple out of its 30 per cent revenue from each sale.

    The new restriction is being seen as a risky precedent and one that could lead to legal activity if Apple’s attempts to control any and all sales channels of software to iPhone and iPod touch owners falls foul of monopoly legislation.

    Apple is also trying to prevent developers whose applications are rejected from discussing the reasons by issuing a non-disclosure agreement with the refusal notice.

    The situation is in stark contrast to T-Mobile’s G1, which as the first official Google Android phone operates an open source policy for applications and OS development/modification.

  • Smartphones Fuelling Mobile Search Growth


    The increasing numbers of smartphones on flat-rate data plans, coupled with ever-improving handsets, is leading to a surge in mobile search, according to comScore.

    It has published the results of a survey which show that searching the internet from a mobile phone is gaining in popularity in the United States and Western Europe.

    In June, 20.8 million US wireless customers and 4.5 million European subscribers searched from their mobile handset – an increase of 68 per cent and 38 per cent from the year before.

    comScore said Google was the dominant mobile search provider, with an estimated 60 per cent share in all countries measured.
    Recognising the potential yields from mobile searching, Google has attempted to build up its presence in cell phones.

    As a result, the search company is the default search provider for Sprint handsets, the iPhone, and is reportedly in talks to provide mobile search and advertising for Verizon Wireless.

    With the first smartphone using Android, the company’s mobile OS, due to be launched shortly, Google’s share of mobile search revenue is certain to increase.

    In the US, Yahoo has around 35 per cent of the market and is second to Google in most countries.

    The UK tops the penetration rate table for mobile subscribers using search, with 9.5 per cent, followed by the US at 9.2 per cent.
    Industry analysts expect penetration to grow in all markets, particularly with US subscribers.

    Alistair Hill, a comScore analyst, said that as the number of mobile search users increased so did the frequency of activity.

    “The number of people accessing mobile search at least once a week grew 50 per cent in Europe, with France and Spain leading at a rate of 69 and 63 per cent, respectively,” he said.

    “Meanwhile, the number of US users accessing mobile search has more than doubled as a result of expanded 3G penetration and smartphone adoption, as well as the proliferation of flat-rate data plans.”

    Hill said there had also been a substantial improvement to the mobile search offerings in the US market.

    "The number of US users accessing mobile search has more than doubled as a result of expanded 3G penetration and smartphone adoption, as well as the proliferation of flat-rate data plans," he said.

    "We have also seen a substantial improvement to the mobile search offerings in the U.S. market."

  • Launch Date Set for First Android-based Smartphone

    Android launch will heighten competition in a market increasingly dominated by Apple’s iPhone and RIM’s BlackBerries

    Touted as Google’s answer to the iPhone, the first cell phone powered by the feverishly anticipated Android software is to be unveiled on 23 September.

    T-Mobile has announced a press conference in New York to demonstrate the touchscreen, 3G phone next week – but the handset isn’t expected to go on sale until October.

    As has been widely reported, the phone – possibly called the Dream – will be made by Taiwanese manufacturer HTC and will be the first to use the open-source mobile-phone operating system.

    Android is expected to make it easier and more enticing to surf the Internet on a handset.

    Details about the phone’s pricing have not been released but T-Mobile is expected to subsidise part of the phone’s cost for buyers who agree to subscribe to the carrier’s mobile service.

    Google is anticipating higher advertising revenues from use of the software because of increased use of its Internet search engine and other services while they are away from the office or home.

    The iPhone is currently Google’s biggest source of mobile traffic but the search giant expects hundreds of different mobile devices to run on the Android system.

    The Open Handset Alliance, a group that includes Google, T-Mobile, HTC, Qualcomm and Motorola, is billing Android as the first truly open and comprehensive platform for mobile devices.

    Handset manufacturers and wireless carriers are expected to be allowed to customise the platform, possibly introducing new services, internet applications and user-friendly interfaces.

    Sprint is also planning to produce an Android phone but that is not expected to launch until early next year.