Text to blurry? This is a list of all the 3rd party Apple (NSDQ: AAPL) iPhone applications, the applications that used to work, the applications that people who loved the iPhone and realized how powerful it was to have a computer in your pocket created in their spare time. This is a list of everyone who Apple basically shunned. I have to quote Russell Beattie on this:
“And if you’re a hacker wasting your time unlocking closed Apple devices? Get a clue and use your effort in a community that appreciates your work, rather than one that can’t wait to hammer it on the next firmware update.”
Thoughtfix just shot me an IM, he has been reading the FCC documents for the next generation Internet Tablet and has found a really wicked page. “Slide closed” and “Slide open,” what could that mean? We recently found out it has GPS and now with a keyboard I’m sooo buying this.
I want Nokia (NYSE: NOK)’s N-Gage effort to succeed, I really do. Game developers have to struggle with getting a publisher who then has to struggle with operator negotiations with the small hope that their game will give them some money to put bread on the table. For now we know that N-Gage will work on Nseries devices, what about devices using S60 from Nokia’s Enterprise and Mobile Phones division? Take that one step further, what about on devices made by the other phone manufactures using S60?
Why not make S60 more attractive to other people building mobile phones by offering them a chunk of the revenues that the services under the Ovi brand will generate?
I’m sure this question will not be answered, but if I can make people inside NOK talk then I’ve succeed.
Nokia (NYSE: NOK) is doing an absolutely fantastic job using the power of the internet to promote their products. I’ve had the pleasure of partying it up with their word of mouth marketing team in London at the Go Play event, having a few beers with the Multimedia eMarketing Manager here in Helsinki and more recently I’ve been reading about the adventures and shenanigans that happened in Los Angeles a few days ago at a bloggers only event.
Something that got me thinking was the fact that the bloggers, in either public on their site or in private with me, have said they were disappointed that no new products were released even though there are rumors circulating on the net about the N82 and the next generation Internet Tablet. How you can be disappointed after being flown to an event in LA and get boozed up on Nokia’s coin is beyond me, but I can (barely) see their point. Why did Nokia bring them there?
Nokia wanted to say thank you to the people on the edge of the internet, the people who blog and evangelize Nokia products, but I challenge Nokia to take their efforts one step higher. Forget about an official press release, forget about a public event, why not invite these very same people who champion your products here to Finland. Get them in a room with a device and a few of the people who worked on it and let the bloggers break the news for you.
When rumors that Dell would release a Tablet PC leaked onto the net, guess what they did? Dell got the product manager of the yet-to-be-released computer to make a video and then post it on the official Dell blog. If that isn’t adopting social media, I don’t know what is. I challenge Nokia to do the same thing.
We all know a raft of Nokia products will be announced at both CES and 3GSM, the official press is going to be at both of these events. Why not let the bloggers get the scoop, let CEO Olli Pekka Kallasvuo stand on stage and introduce the products to the official press and then quote what we, the bloggers, had to say about it.
It may be unorthodox, but then again you forget that I’m nuts. I moved to Finland to make it my mission to connect the people who make Nokia products with the people who love (and hate) using them and are consistently expressing their views on the net.
[image is of Seth Godin talking about his "Flipping the Funnel" concept which you can read about here and download his free eBook on the topic here]
My one and only beef with the wickedly awesome Office 2007 suite is the fact that none of my friends can open the new file formats. None of the smartphones on the market can tackle these files either. Office 6.1 for Mobile just came out and with it the ability to let you open and edited your 2007 files. Enjoy it, here.
HTC, known for innovative form factors, is going to release the successor of the S710 really soon and it will be called the S730. Rumored specifications included a doubling of processer frequency to 400 MHz, a second camera for video calling and GPS. She is one sexy looking device too:
Before the iPhone it was considered ridiculous for the mainstream American consumer to purchase a cellphone for more than $100 or $200. Operators would provide heavy subsides on devices with the catch that you had to remain a subscriber for at least 2 years. The iPhone changed all that. It became acceptable to shell out over half a grand (now only $400 vs $600 initially) for a device that could play music, videos, browse the internet, send and receive text messages and phone calls.
Then one day the iPhone was hacked and America’s most popular feature phone became America’s most popular smartphone. Applications could be installed, functionality could be added, your iPhone became more than an iPod connected to the cellular network. Your iPhone became a computer that was always connected and always in your pocket.
Recently Apple (NSDQ: AAPL) updated the iPhone’s firmware and those users who once enjoyed applications that let them play Nintendo games, chat with their friends over IM, upload images straight to Flickr, were now confronted with a dead device. Punished for exploring their curiosity, punished for thinking differently, the company who once stood for creating technology that enhanced your life turned into the company that wanted to control the end user experience.
Gizmodo recently came to the realization that the iPhone isn’t the holiest of holy devices, something I’ve been saying since before the damn thing came out, and I’m glad that the backlash is starting to happen. If there was ever a time for cellphone manufactures and operators to innovate in the states, than this is it. With Sprint (NYSE: S) saying their WiMAX network will be used for non subsided hardware and Nokia (NYSE: NOK) printing ads in the Times proclaiming how free their devics are, who will be the creator of a new device that gets as much hype as the iPhone did, yet deliver more to the consumer than the iPhone ever could?
The iPhone really is the best thing to ever happen to the American smartphone industry. Expect to see S60, Windows Mobile and Palm (NSDQ: PALM) steal the best ideas Apple developed, compounded with the philosophy that users want to expand their devices functionality, and unleash a wave of devices that are easier to use and sexier than ever imagined.
Monday is less than 24 hours away and we at IntoMobile loathe that day more than you can imagine. Here is something that should put a smile on your face; all warnings about foul language and sexual innuendo apply, do not watch if you’re a child, etc, etc.
So it looks like Verizon (NYSE: VZ) Wireless is really trying to heat things up. They must still be feeling rather bitter about not jumping on the iPhone bandwagon when they had their chance. With the iPhone still selling like Twinkies at a Fat Camp, and AT&T (NYSE: T) slated to launch some other cool devices, we can imagine that Verizon is scrambling to keep up.
In order from left to right, Verizon Wireless will be launching the Samsung Juke, BlackBerry (NSDQ: RIMM) Pearl, LG VX8800 Venus and LG VX10000 Voyager all at the same time, in a couple of weeks. The Samsung Juke is the Samsung U470 swiveling musicphone that we showed you earlier. We’re expecting 2GB of storage and a 1.3 megapixel camera. The new BlackBerry Pearl will be sporting a 2 megapixel camera, A2DP Bluetooth and a 3.5mm headphone jack. LG will be throwing down with the LG VX8800 Venus and LG VX10000 Voyager. The LG Venus is a dual-screen slider with haptic feedback (vibrating touchscreen), 2 megapixel camera, and A2DP Bluetooth. Bigger brother LG Voyager comes packing the big guns – like a huge external touchscreen and internal display with a vertical clamshell setup that reveals a full QWERTY keyboard. As the successor to Verizon’s LG VX9900, the LG Voyager will sport a full-HTML browser and stereo speakers.
For Verizon Wireless’s sake, we hope their new lineup does well. If the success of the LG VX9900 with the younger demographic holds up for the LG VX10000 Voyager, Verizon will have at least one hit on their hands. Not to mention the Motorola Z6tv that’s slated to launch around the same time. Although, we’d rather sign a new contract and give AT&T our money for the AT&T Tilt.
