Apple's new iSomething

Remember this...



This September Apple will (probably) be releasing a new version of something. Lots of analyst have predicted it to be a tablet PC of some sort. Some have gone as far as saying it's going to be a 6-inch screen device and a second one with a larger screen (9to5mac). Others have guestimated the price at starting around $679 (BusinessWeek)There are even moc images of what the device will look like.

Some of those enthusiastic persons may be close to the whatever it is as some of them have been right in the past. But knowing how ultra secretive Apple is we all can only guess what what this new thingy will be.

We hope that's it's not going to be just a big-ass iPod Touch. And even if it were, it would still be friggin awesome. We're not expecting something revolutionary but something extraordinary (hopefully). While the earnings potential and and cult following of this device all hangs on what exactly it is, we're all anticipating something super cool. Look out for it. Apple's new iSomething, coming very soon.

Beginning of the end of AT&T iPhone exclusivity?

So you all know that I've hated the idea of the exclusivity deal between Apple and AT&T ... infact any exclusivity deal between cell phones and carriers. But Apple's deal with AT&T is especially upsetting to me for several reasons of which I will mention a couple.



First is the fact that AT&T service plans suck. Plain and simple. Customers are charged too much for services that other carriers are providing for much less. AT&T remains the longest running carrier in the US and one would think that at this point they would be able to offer such services at much more competitive prices. But no. An average iPhone bill, as understood, runs about $100 a month. The other carriers offer much better plans (many more minutes, more texts, more data....even unlimited in some cases) and they do it for much less. If they can do it, why can't AT&T?

Secondly, I think this exclusivity with AT&T is actually hurting Apple sales of the iPhone, and ultimately their profit margin. Had it been open to any carrier of course the maker of 'the Jesus phone' would have had a lot more sales. Why they chose to partner with AT&T and limit their sales numbers may have probably been to keep the phone an exclusive item, but that does not hold, totally. AT&T may have been the ones to bend the most to their demands and so they beat out the other potentials. Why else?!

But here comes the good news. Along comes war hero - John Kerry. Kerry, chairman of the Commerce Subcommitee on Communications, Technology and the Internet, along with Roger Wicker, Byron Dorgan and Amy Klouchar are taking up the case for consumers and questioning/challenging carrier-cell phone exclusivity deals. Hearings will be occurring soon to discuss such alliances and their harmful, anti-competitive nature.



Oh Happy Day

Not just yet. We still have to wait and ride the matter through...and we all know how long the political system takes. But of course ultimately this is great news for the millions of us who want to get the iPhones and/or Palm Pre's but can't because that would mean we would have to leave our current carriers to migrate to those who have exclusivity offers of those phones. Often such transfers involve an increase in our monthly bill alongside a reduction in actual service we receive.

But to be fair to the matter - we don't necessarily hate other carriers, we chose our current carriers because they offer what we want at prices we can afford. Tmobile service is not for all, Verizon service is not for all and likewise AT&T service is not for all. But they are for those they are for. We don't want to have to leave our current carriers and switch over to another when we don't want to because there is a particular phone that we really want. We just want to buy any phone we want, and we want an iPhone, and be able to use it with our current carrier. Plain and simple! Cell phone-Carrier exclusivity deals not very competitive and not consumer friendly. We deserve better.

Story posted on 9to5Mac. Read article here.

Thank you for taking this step John Kerry, Roger Wicker, Byron Dorgan and Amy Klobuchar. Let's get this going.

Update: 7/6/09
As reported by the Wall Street Journal, the Department of Justice has launched a review (not an investigation...Yet) into the exclusivity deals of telecoms. At this point the review is focusing on AT&T and Verizon.
[Read Article]

"The Department of Justice has begun an initial review to determine whether large U.S. telecom companies such as AT&T Inc. and Verizon Communications Inc. have abused the market power they've amassed in recent years, according to people familiar with the matter."

Let's hope the best comes out of this.

On a particular system

We as human beings seem bored with ourselves. We no longer seek the true pleasures of life and living in real harmony with each other, in love, and with our physical and natural environment. Rather we spend our time, efforts, and resources on just trying to get more and more for ourselves. And the very nature of our system, which reveals its failures from time to time, which some proponents discard as 'market failures', serve only to reinforce the self-perpetuating nature of that existence, whereby our every action and thought is directed by the need of gain in order to live...to survive...to remain 'relevant.'

"Man is born free and everywhere he is in chains." Self-betterment is fine, living a life simply to spend and acquire material possessions brought on / forced upon by a social system and all its many negative consequences, to me, is a deprived, incomplete and sad one. It seems we remain in chains even as we try to get out and attain some semblances of freedom.

I ask, am I too hard on capitalism? Maybe. Maybe not. But it's short-comings are what I protest against.

25 Years and counting ...

Virgin unveils next-gen broadband

In a story by the BBC News - Virgin unveils next-gen broadband we see the first step in higher speed broadband connection being brought to the consumer.

"Virgin Media has launched its new 50 Megabits per second (Mbps) domestic broadband service."

This has implications on the net neutrality issue, where we have already seen early backers of neutrality - Google, Miscrosoft, Amazon - back away from it and in favour of a more tiered system. Even the tech advisors to Obama who supported neutrality early on are gradually singing a new tune.

I like the idea of higher speed broadband connections and think that much of today's limited use and integration of the net at home has to do with the horribly slow speeds that cable and internet companies provide. Not any company specific speed but the general download/upload speed of the internet.

If a certain company who's name is that of a fruit, were to implement such a high speed broadband, utilizing it with its full range of products would be, well, truly wonderful. Not that it would limit content from others, but rather because of synergy with it's products and those meeting standard and similar specifications, means that such could flow at far higher speeds than delivered today, outside of Virgin.

Movie downloads/streams, game streams, large chunks of data between universities and other institutions of learning, specific b2b content....all can be done quicker and more secure.

Phone calls on your iPod Touch

As reported by the BBC "Wireless Turns iPod into a phone" and confirmed from the website, Truphone now has technology that allows 2nd Gen iPod Touch users to make calls to other iPod Touch users and Google Talk users over wi-fi - for FREE.



There's no phone bill or over the limit fees. Their aim is to make the software able to make calls to land lines, skype and other type of services within weeks. This could mean massive savings for persons who use their mobiles heavily and are constantly going over their limits. It could also mean huge savings if this software allows us to make international and long distance calls as well.

"There are a slew of new features we're rolling out for the iPod Touch that will let users call landlines, Skype users or send instant messages. We're talking weeks, not months, before these go live."



So no having to wait months for this. This would mean that this is just as good as having an actual iPhone. Well, with the one limitation that you need a wi-fi connection to be able to use this service. But it's impressive nonetheless. Though I have not tried it out yet, I think the question remains as to the quality of those calls. Is it just as good as making a regular call using the cell towers and other technology or is it choppy and bad like you would expect from most software of this type in their early stages? Let's see.

Truphone is software that you can download freely from their website and install on your mobile device which helps you save on calls by routing them over the internet. Similar to skype, let's wait to see if the voice quality is just as good. Amazing stuff. Another challenge to the phone companies. Now let's just wait for Apple to deleverage themselves from AT&T and we should be good. For now.

iTunes Free Open University

More Free Stuff on iTunes. Learning lessons for FREE!

Thanks to the guys at 9to5Mac for bringing this one to our attention. The iTunes store now has a free open university where you can go download amazing informational stuff. It's great. I checked it out and have downloaded a few myself, all within my first 5 minutes.

Linux on the iPhone

Linux has been installed on the iPhone. Check out the vid.