Sprint to sell Android phone in October

Sprint said it plans to start selling the HTC Hero Android phone in October.

New York Times calls iPhone the ‘Hummer of cellphones’

Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, iPhone

Why? Because the iPhone sucks up network bandwidth on a rather massive scale. The article, available online, tells a story most iPhone users already know.

AT&T was unprepared for the massive assault on the 3G network from phones that stream audio and video, and surf the web at a rate far higher than other smartphones.

The piece quotes AT&T Wireless exec John Donovan saying "It's been a challenging year for us. Overnight we're seeing a radical shift in how people are using their phones... There's just no parallel for the demand."

That won't make AT&T customers any happier. A recent survey by Pricegrabber found that 34% of those that responded say they aren't buying an iPhone because it is on AT&T. Many current customers say they'd like to be anywhere but AT&T with their iPhone, but it's likely that a mass migration to Verizon or some other carrier might cause the same problems there.

One issue is that AT&T just isn't communicating very well with customers who are paying a boatload of money for data and text messaging. AT&T could easily (but not happily) drop rates a bit, or eliminate or reduce the high charges for texting. They could apologize to customers for the flood of dropped calls and lack of 3G service in big cities like New York or San Francisco.

Instead, there is stoic silence. No guidance on tethering or MMS release dates, nor communication of any kind really. AT&T already has a pretty big PR problem, and they seem determined to make it worse.

I contacted AT&T today about tethering and MMS, especially since the New York Times article says AT&T is 'postponing tethering.'

The response, from Michael Coe at AT&T, says they have never specified a date for tethering, and when I asked again about MMS there was simply no reply.

Is it any wonder people aren't happy?

New York Times calls iPhone the 'Hummer of cellphones' originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 03 Sep 2009 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

New York Times calls iPhone the 'Hummer of cellphones' originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 03 Sep 2009 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Rumors of iPhone OS 3.1 Appearing Next Week Alongside MMS from AT&T Based on Questionable Sources

Over the past few days, a number of sites have been reporting a rumor that AT&T may be preparing to launch MMS for its iPhone customers alongside iPhone OS 3.1 at next week's media event. In tracing the history of this rumor, however, MacRumors find...

Analyst: More smartphones than desktop PCs by 2011

Smartphone sales will surpass worldwide PC sales by the end of 2011, says a report by RBC analyst Mike Abramsky.

Could iPhone 3.1 surface at Apple event?

Next week's Apple event will likely focus on music, but that doesn't mean the iPhone won't butt its head in.

All is right with the world; iStat Menus 2.0 is here

Filed under: OS, Software, Odds and ends, Bad Apple, Developer, iPhone, App Store, Snow Leopard

The world was looking bleak and dreary after Snow Leopard arrived last week, for my little menu bar friend, iStat Menus for Mac, was incompatible with the new version of Mac OS X.

This morning, however, the sun is shining, the birds are singing, fluffy kittens are playing again (see image at right for proof), and all is right with the world! iStat Menus 2.0 has arrived, and now my CPU monitor, calendar, and clock are back in the menu bar where they're supposed to be. The new Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard compatible version is running just fine, and less than a week of darkness filled the hearts of all of those who love iStat Menus. You can download it for free, although a donation is requested.

While iStat's developer, iSlayer, has resolved this disturbance in The Force, there's still a dark and evil presence in the universe. Apple, taking on the role of Emperor Palpatine with gusto, recently forced all iPhone developers to remove or retool apps that use a Free Memory function to display memory usage and/or clear out wired or inactive memory. As a result, iStat for iPhone [App Store] version 1.1 was released with the Free Memory function removed. Bjango (the iPhone arm of iSlayer) has kindly posted instructions for how to use version 1.0 to keep the function intact, but we're all wondering why Apple decided to axe all apps that performed this useful function.

Since this latest kerfuffle has forced Bjango to release a feature-limited version of iStat for iPhone, the company has reduced the price to US$1.99. There's no word from Apple on why they chose to kill all of the Free Memory apps. When you're the Emperor, you don't have to give any reasons for stomping on kittens.

All is right with the world; iStat Menus 2.0 is here originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 03 Sep 2009 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

All is right with the world; iStat Menus 2.0 is here originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 03 Sep 2009 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Prowl-ling instead of Growl-ling: New push notices for Google Voice SMS and Twitter

Best non-IM use of iPhone 3.0’s push notifications yet: Prowl is a $3 app that pushes Growl notifications from your Mac to your phone. Growl’s a global notifier that plugs into everything from BitTorrent apps to iTunes to Mail. The possibilities really are endless: You can be pinged with a push notification when a torrent finishes [...]

iPhone App Store submission rejected…because of chat bubbles? Angry developer speaks out

In a profanity filled, not safe for work rant, developer Joe Stump said an update to his application Chess Wars was denied because the chat bubbles in the software were too similar to those in the official iPhone SMS application created by Apple. Stump said he was upset because of a lack of communication from Apple. [...]

Good news for the iPhone? Improved coverage by AT&T in various areas

AT&T, the exclusive provider of the iPhone in the U.S., announced this week that it has strengthened its 3G signal in the populous Tri-State Region, and that further nationwide network improvements are also planned. The wireless carrier said that it has deployed spectrum in the 850MHz across “large portions” of New York City, Long Island and [...]

Review: Flood-It Pro for iPhone

This tile-based puzzler is a fun, quick game that works great as a time-waster when you have two minutes to spare.

Report: iPhone MMS delay down to AT&T’s network

iPhone users in the U.S. have been awaiting AT&T's support for MMS and tethering since Apple announced the capabilities in June. But that delay may be indicative of a larger problem with the wireless providers network.

The Competition: Chin-less HTC Hero Android Invading Sprint

It’s official — the HTC Hero, currently the most drool-inducing handset the Android platform has to offer, hits Sprint October 11. Sibling site AndroidCentral has all the details, and PreCentral.net has the concern that Spring might be loving the Palm Pre just a tad less when the droid everyone’s looking for hits the Now (and then) Network.

So how competitive will the Sense UI on Sprint at $179.99 be with the iPhone 3GS on AT&T at $199? (We’ll leave the iPhone 3G at $99 off the table for now). As functionality gets closer and closer, Android apps picks up, and ease of use improves, it will likely be the network that’s the deciding factor — who gets more bars in the most places they need to be. [Note: the video above shows the Sense UI, but the form factor above is the original Hero, not Sprint' chinless version]

Oh, oh…

Jokes aside, we’ve seen Nokia N900 upping their UI game, and Microsoft Windows Mobile 6.5 distressingly still not, should Apple be most worried about the increasingly competitive Google and its increasing army of droideka?

Or is this really — and mostly — just a problem for Palm right? Apple’s enemy’s enemy’s carrier enemy is… what now?

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

The Competition: Chin-less HTC Hero Android Invading Sprint

Apple Begins Seeding Mac OS X 10.6.1 for Testing

AppleInsider reports that Apple began seeding Mac OS X 10.6.1, the first maintenance update to Snow Leopard, earlier this week to a select group of developers. MacRumors can confirm that it received similar word earlier this week that Apple had open...

Konami releases Krazy Kart Racers for iPhone

Konami Digital Entertainment has released a new go kart racing game for the iPhone and iPod touch featuring Konami characters.

UK iPhone users suffer further data outages

UK iPhone users were left without any data access for several hours over the weekend, according to various user and news reports.

Aliph’s Jawbone Prime Unboxing

Although the first generation iPhone supported Bluetooth headsets in 2007, I feel that the technology is only now making its way into the mainstream market.A lot of factors have contributed to the acceptance of these hands-free devices, among the reasons, the most probably are: 1) it's against the law to ...

Qik Finally Available in the iTunes AppStore - Albeit Crippled

Qik has unofficially been available on the iPhone since the 1st generation iPhone debuted in July 2007. Fast forward two years and the app is now "official," but crippled in the sense that live streaming has been disabled.One of the reasons live streaming has been disabled is because AT&T's Terms ...

Snow Leopard Installation Downgrades Flash Player to Vulnerable Version

Antivirus firm Sophos reports that Mac OS X Snow Leopard ships with an outdated version of Flash Player that contains several security vulnerabilities patched in the most recent version of Flash Player that was released by Adobe on July 30th. Import...

AT&T iPhone MMS and Tethering Delayed Due to Bandwidth Concerns?

Has AT&T been delaying the US launch of iPhone 3.0’s MMS and tethering services due to concerns about their network being able to handle it? Um, yeah, that would have been our guess… The New York Times, however, states it as fact:

[AT&T] has also delayed bandwidth-heavy features like multimedia messaging, or text messages containing pictures, audio or video. It is also postponing “tethering,” which allows the iPhone to share its Internet connection with a computer, a standard feature on many rival smartphones. AT&T says it has no intention of capping how much data iPhone owners use.

How big is the concern? AT&T claims they’ve diverted $18 billion to upgrade and expand their 3G network to handle the load, but that getting local approval to build towers takes time, as does upgrading existing infrastructure.

Analysts quoted seem to agree with TiPb readers that AT&T may just have been hit first and hardest by the iPhone, but other networks will face the same problem if/when they start to see iPhone class devices hitting their towers in the same numbers.

So, is AT&T doing the right thing delaying MMS and tethering until, you know, they’ll actually work, or do you just want your features and want them now? Or do you just not buy this whole “data usage conspiracy” at all?

Should AT&T launch MMS and tethering even if the network suffers?(polls)

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

AT&T iPhone MMS and Tethering Delayed Due to Bandwidth Concerns?

Napster Will Not Be Appearing in the App Store Anytime Soon

Lars Ulrich rejoice, Napster will NOT be heading into Apple’s coveted App Store any time soon. Strange considering they once toyed with our emotions by mentioning an iPhone app was in the works? Sadly, unlike Spotify, it is just not going to happen anytime in the near future. Did Apple reject it? No, so do not go ditching your iPhone for a Android or RIM device just yet — Napster have scrapped apps for those devices as well.

One of the most common questions Napster receives is, “When will you offer an iPhone app?” Well, Napster has created an iPhone application that allows subscribers to stream music on-demand to their iPhone—including personal playlists, albums and radio stations. You can imagine the company is also looking at streaming applications for several other mobile platforms as well (Blackberry, Android). However, due to the high licensing fees for streaming to a mobile phone, Napster has not yet submitted the iPhone app to Apple for approval or attempted to bring the application to market.

Now let’s think about this for a moment, they put their iPhone application on hold due to “high licensing fees”. If Spotify and Rhapsody can pull it off why can’t Napster? Maybe it’s due to the fact those companies charge $10.00 more a month for their service perhaps.

Whatever the case may be, would you be willing for fork over some extra cash to get Napster on your iPhone?

[Via MediaMemo]

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

Napster Will Not Be Appearing in the App Store Anytime Soon