Seasoned tech blogger. Host of the Tech Addicts podcast.
Gareth, Matt and James have a nice little chat about the recent mobile developements. Andy, in a pre-recorded interview, has a chat with Louis Gump of CNN Mobile about the new CNN iPhone application.
Matt, James and a cameo from Andy
Guest: Louis Gump
Show Notes
The US government has deemed that iPhone jailbreaking is not illegal therefore allowing it to be exempt from the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) contrary to Apple’s claim that such an act violates existing copyright laws. It was back in February 2009 when we first talked about the steps being made by the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) to officially legalize iPhone jailbreaking and exempt it from the (DMCA), and now, after more than a year of rigorous work, it has now finally paid in favor of the iPhone jailbreak community.
The group has also successfully renewed the existing exemption on carrier unlocking as well. Of course, this ruling doesn’t guarantee that we’ll soon see an end to Apple’s iPhone jailbreak-proofing attempts because that’s their prerogative, but at least now they can’t say that iPhone jailbreaking and unlocking is illegal.
HTC has just confirmed that they are making the move from AMOLED screens on the HTC Desire and Nexus One to a new type of screen technology called Super LCD which is made by Sony. Samsung, the makers of the AMOLED screens, have been having difficulty manufacturing the screens, so HTC are dropping AMOLED because of the shortages. HTC’s CEO Peter Chou has explained that the experience on the SLCD screens is “comparable” to AMOLED screens, yet offers better battery life.
This shot of the oft rumoured HTC Vision has slipped out with T-Mobile branding and an alleged 1GHz processor, spacious keyboard and 3.7-inch WVGA screen. Of course, we’d heard that the Vision would appear on T-Mobile before, and our worries are the same as then — there’s no telling whether the phone will actually land stateside, or if it’s destined for T-Mobile Europe instead. Engadget’s tipster tells them it could arrive with a different moniker: T-Mobile may call it the "G1 Blaze."
[Source Engadget]
Microsoft has always wanted a unified look to Windows Phone 7 ever since it was announced, but HTC has just said today that they will bring HTC Sense to all of their upcoming Windows Phone 7 devices. Drew Bamford from HTC told Forbes that Sense UI would still appear in HTC’s Windows Phone 7 devices, and he believes that it will live on in Android 3.0 as well. He also said that “We won’t be able to replace as much of the core Windows Phone experience, but we will augment it,” because “Microsoft has taken firmer control of the core experience.”
Windows Phone 7 is due to be launch around November with devices from Dell, Asus, LG, HTC, and Samsung.
For, what seems to be the best PR move in history, Samsung UK has been pleasing frustrated iPhone customers by giving away a free Galaxy S to owners of the iPhone 4 who have had reception issues. How are they doing this? Well, through their twitter account of course. You do not need to give them anything, execpt for your address, and then they will send you out a free Galaxy S phone!
Official Statment from Samsung:
Recently there has been a real increase in online activity from consumers dissatisfied with some of our competitors’ products. We decided to contact a cross section of individuals to offer them a free Samsung Galaxy S as a replacement, as we’re confident that once people have the phone in their hands, they’ll see how impressive it is for themselves.
It seems that Samsung have already given out quite a few of these Galaxy S devices. Sure beats a free bumper case.
Apple has just released a statement about the white iPhone and it is not good news. The white iPhone 4 is apparently much more difficult to manufacture than the black iPhone 4.
White models of Apple’s new iPhone 4 have continued to be more challenging to manufacture than we originally expected, and as a result they will not be available until later this year. The availability of the more popular iPhone 4 black models is not affected.
If you are still waiting for the white iPhone 4, you may be waiting a long time for this mythical device.
Microsoft’s Senior Product Manager, Greg Sullivan, confirmed who the Windows Phone 7 launch OEM’s would be in an interview with Pocket-lint. Dell, Asus, LG, HTC, and Samsung are all going to have Windows Phone 7 on some sort of device at around the time of the launch date but we do not know what these devices will be yet. Talking of the launch date, Microsoft is saying “Holdiay 2010,” so we should see some devices in time for Christmas. But, knowing Microsoft, they will release most of the devices in January and miss Christmas.
Asda is poised to launch its own phone shops in a bid to rival Tesco and Carphone Warehouse after its concessions deal with Orange collapsed last month.
The retail giant is planning to roll out in-store Asda mobile centres selling both prepaid and contract handsets on a range of networks. One Asda source told Mobile: ‘Rather than just offering Orange concessions, Asda wants to open mobile centres in store a bit like Carphone Warehouse stores which will include a number of operators, like Orange, T-Mobile, Vodafone, all within a mobile phone centre.’
The news comes just weeks after trials of two Orange concessions at Asda collapsed. Sources said the two concessions at Asda’s Manchester and Milton Keynes superstores delivered little additional footfall for Asda and poor returns for Orange. Staff at the Manchester Eastlands store told Mobile: ‘Orange just wasn¹t selling very much so the trial was stopped a month ago.’
One source at the Milton Keynes store added: ‘Orange and Asda failed to come to an agreement about reletting the concession space after our store refit was completed so the trial was ended.’ It is thought that the mobile centres will be placed in all 36 Asda supercentres first, with the possibility of a further roll out across its 320 smaller stores.
Industry sources said Asda’s move mirrors its supermarket rival Tesco’s mobile strategy. CCS Insight MD Shaun Collins said: ‘This does not surprise me. Walmart is big in the mobile sector in the US and this will be a competitive reaction to Tesco.’
‘Mobile is one of the fastest growing sectors in the marketplace and one which pulls people in store. It is strategically important to Asda as part of its non-grocer strategy.’ An Orange spokeswoman said: ‘Our pilot has been finalised and we are now reviewing how to strongly position our two brands in Asda.’
Sales of 12 month Sim-only deals are rocketing, according to analyst firm GfK. Latest figures from GfK’s retail and technology division show that take up of 12 month Sim-only contracts doubled from 11% to 22% between January and May this year.
GfK senior account manager Cedric Mertes said: ‘When we looked at the contract Sim segment, we saw amazing growth of the 12 months area – 11% in Jan to 22% in May – which shows that customers are obviously keen to commit for a shorter period of time.’
Mertes said the figures indicate that 12 month Sim-only contracts are attracting consumers who are happy to keep their existing phones rather than migrate at the end of their contracts to the latest handsets.
The rise is also partly due to operators attempting to retain customers who are reluctant to sign up to 24 month contracts, said Mertes.
‘Operators are pushing 24 month contracts as they look to keep customers on their networks for longer, but at the same time they don’t want to lose those customers who don’t want to be tied in for that long, or who aren’t as interested in the new handsets. So a lot of operators are now offering 12 month Sim-only deals.’
Mertes said iPhone users could also be driving the rise in the 12 month deals.
‘It is possible that operators have launched some 12 month Sim-only deals for iPhone users coming to the end of their 18 month contract who are happy to carry on using the model they have.’
Neil Mawston, analyst at Strategy Analytics, said he expects the rise in Sim-only deals to slow down.
‘Sim-only deals have been growing in the past couple of years. For operators they mean lower acquisition costs and subsidies but as they also increase the potential for churn, Sim-only can be a double edged sword.
However, I think it is coming close to its peak – there is only so much of the market that is going to take on these deals and then you will see operators encouraging their Sim-only customers onto 18 and 24 month deals – it’s cyclical.’
[Source]
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