Everyone rejoiced as the Verizon iPhone was announced earlier this week, especially Jon Stewart. While there is definitely room for celebration, there are some things that were not announced that will have an impact on current and future Verizon subscribers. Verizon will kill their New Every Two perk and is getting strict on early upgrades.
With the New Every Two perk, a longtime customer with a $100 credit could get the iPhone4 for $99.99 – half off its new-subscriber price of $199.99. When the program ends, new subscribers will no longer be eligible for those discounts. Existing customers will lose the perk when they renew their contracts (unless they renew before Jan. 16—but that date is well before iPhone orders will be taken). And with the end of the early upgrade program, customers who were previously eligible for discounted phones as early as 13 months into a two-year contract will now have to wait 20 months to get a new phone at the promotional new-customer price instead of retail (for the iPhone, that’s currently a difference of $400).
WSJ speculates that Verizon could be the catalyst for sweeping changes in how upgrades work across all carries. Consumers are hungry for the latest and greatest and Verizon, given their size and reputation, could get consumers to accept growing costs “without much of a fight.”
For those who may balk at rising costs at Verizon, there could be yet another iPhone game in tone. As we reported previously, the Verizon iPhone is a non-exclusive deal and uses the same CDMA technology as Sprint and other carriers. Coincidentally, Sprint has sent out invitations for a “splashy press event” in New York on February 7th.
According to the event invite, Sprint CEO Dan Hesse will act as MC. The invite also says that Sprint will show that “the impossible is possible.” Magician David Blaine will be on hand to do some slight of hand. Well see if Sprint can make iPhones disappear from the shelves as successfully at AT&T has.
Fan of David Blaine or not, Sprint customers across the nation will be cheering for him if he makes a Sprint iPhone appear from thin air.
On January 11th, 2011 we witnessed the return of The Game. The show was cancelled by CW back in 2009 and, after two years in syndication, was eventually picked up by BET. Its return saw the show as the #1 ad-supported sitcom telecast in cable TV history. 7.7 million total viewers tuned in with a 4.87 coverage rating according to the Nielsen Company. The premier also ranks as the #2 telecast in BET history, right behind the ‘09 BET Awards where celebs paid tribute to the late and great Michael Jackson.
“We are thrilled to see our audience respond so well to THE GAME and LET’S STAY TOGETHER,” said Debra L. Lee, Chairman and CEO of BET Networks. “It is clear these two shows are real game changers for the Network and the proven success of last night tells us that our viewers are not only passionate about the types of programming that we offer, but continue to crave on-air programming that reflects and respects our voices.”
Loretha Jones, President of Original Programming at BET Networks, said “as we look forward to our development pipeline, it’s clear scripted will continue to play an important role in our original programming slate to tell more of our stories that truly resonate with our audience.” Interestingly, much of that that audience seems to also be active in social media.
In addition to its incredible on-air performance,THE GAME had the highest amount of social media buzz of all other prime time television shows, according to Trendrr’s Prime Time Television Activity Chart for Tuesday, January 11. At one point, commenting on THE GAME Facebook page averaged 893 likes per minute, and 750 comments per minute, after the question “What did you think about tonight’s episode?” within the first 28 minutes after the post.THE GAME-related topics dominated Twitter with 9 out of the top 10 trending topics 30 minutes into the program.
That is a lot of Likes, Comments, and Tweets. One can’t help but wonder if there is some truth to this whole black people running Twitter, thing. I got hooked on The Game watching reruns and tried to keep up with #thegame on Twitter, but it was almost impossible to follow. I also noticed friends and family on Facebook asking questions about the show because they couldn’t figure out what everyone was talking about. It will be interesting to see if The Game will remain dominant in the social media space.
Microsoft has made moves to block Apple from trademarking the phrase “app store.” Apple filed for this patent on July 17, 2008 and Microsoft has motioned for a summary judgement to keep the phrase “app store” free for all to use.
“An ‘app store’ is an ‘app store.’ Like ‘shoe store’ or ‘toy store,’ it is a generic term that is commonly used by companies, governments, and individuals that offer apps,” said Microsoft’s Russell Pangborn, Associate General Counsel of Trademarks. “The term ‘app store’ should continue to be available for use by all without fear of reprisal by Apple.”
In their motion, Microsoft argues that “terms that combine the generic name of a product with the generic designator ‘store’ or ‘warehouse’ are generic and unregistrable for retail store services featuring the product. THE COMPUTER STORE, for example, was held generic for stores selling computers.”
Seems to make perfect sense. While many people think of Apple in relation to the phrase “app store,” it’s not universal. While Google and Microsoft chose to go with “Market” and “Marketplace” when naming their app stores (see? I just used it without referring to Apple), many other brands have kept it simple.
Jobs himself said in an interview, “Amazon, Verizon and Vodafone have all announced that they are creating their own app stores for Android. There will be at least four app stores on Android.” This quote is also included in Microsoft’s motion. Even Foursquare has an app store.
Apple has gotten some sweet patents over the years, but this one seems a little extreme. What do you think?
Formspring, the social website that has everyone saying “Ask me anything,” has just closed an $11.5 million round of funding. In addition, they’ve added a new “respond” feature for publishers. The website has blown up since becoming a sensation last year behind CEO/Founder Ade Olonoh.
Formspring currently has 20 million registered users posting 10 million responses every day. Since their launch last year, they’ve hit 2 billion responses. The $11.5 million in funding comes from a group of investors led by Redpoint Ventures.
The Respond feature is interesting, primarily because it doesn’t work as some expect:
To kick off the new year, and show a bit of what is ahead, we’re also releasing a new product today: the Formspring Respond button. The Respond button takes the natural & personal responses people are already sharing with friends on Formspring and extends this experience to the entire Web. This means any Formspring member can respond to any content online, whether it’s an article, a product or a photo.
Basically, you can attach a question to content you post online and readers can answer or respond to that question via Formspring. The weird bit is that responses only show up on that readers Formspring profile.
Rather than using the responses to build a discussion around the content itself, the idea seems to be to draw traffic to the content by leveraging each reader’s social graph. Your responses will show up on Formspring.me and optionally on Facebook, Twitter, and Myspace.
The moment you’ve been waiting for is here. Apple’s iPhone is finally available on a network other than AT&T. Not only that, but it’s coming to Verizon, “America’s most reliable network.” At a press event today at 11am EST, Verizon finally spilled the beans. You can already check out Verizon’s website for more info on how to get your very own Verizon iPhone.
The phone will be officially available early in February. If you’re already a Verizon customer, you can pre-order your iPhone 4 for February 3rd. The Verizon iPhone becomes available to everyone else on February 10th. You can get a 16GB for $199 with a 2yr contract and a 32GB for $299.
Verizon says they have been working with Apple for a long time on this. They have beefed up everything from their network to their inventory systems. It remains to be seen if Verizon can handle the demand for the iPhone and its data-hungry users. Verizon says they look forward to working with Apple in the future, which probably explains the “It Begins” wording on the pre-order site. Also we can probably expect a 4G LTE version some time in the future, but they refused to make an official comment on such a device.
Are you getting a Verizon iPhone?
Update: This is a CDMA device, so you cannot talk and surf the web at the same time just as with other CDMA devices. This is one of the points of attack we will probably see from AT&T as they battle it out with Verizon. On the same note, AppleInsider reports that this CDMA iPhone is a multi-year, non-exclusive device for Verizon. This means that Apple could offer it to other CDMA carriers. Sprint, for instance.
The Verizon iPhone is pretty much identical in features to the existing iPhone 4. The killer feature being pushed is the ability to use the phone as a WiFi hotspot to connect up to 5 devices.
A rumor is circulating across the web that Facebook is shutting down on March 15th. Apparently, Mark Zuckerberg “wants his old life back,” and desires to “put an end to all the madness.” Mashable was able to get in contact with the Facebook Director of Corporate Communications:
We have official confirmation from Facebook Director of Corporate Communications Larry Yu that the rumor is false. We asked him via e-mail if Facebook was shutting down on March 15, to which he responded, “The answer is no, so please help us put an end to this silliness.” He added, “We didn’t get the memo about shutting down and there’s lots to do, so we’ll just keep cranking away like always.”
It makes absolutely no sense for Facebook to shut down after just closing $500 million in funding from Goldman Sachs and Digital Sky Technologies. They’ve also been valued at $50 billion.
It’s amazing how quickly these rumors spread across the web, no matter how ridiculous they may be. Even if Mark Zuckerberg were to decide to throw in the towel, I doubt he’d be able to just shut off the lights and close the doors at Facebook without a fight.
Ford just unveiled the Focus Electric at CES 2011, making industry history by being the first major auto manufacturer to ever do so. It’s a cute looking little car that can be recharged on a 240 volt outlet in four hours or less. Ford says it has a range of 100 miles and an MPGe rating of the Volt and comparable to the Leaf.
The Focus Electric features the latest MyFord Touch interface on an 8-inch touchscreen in the center stack. It will be the first car to offer the MyFord Mobile integration, allowing you to monitor your car’s charging status and climate settings.
The car also critiques your driving habits, using a rather novel approach: “the more butterflies there are, the greater the range” says Ford — and the happier the bunnies frolicing through the fields.
Very cute, possibly annoying, but at least it’s energy-efficient and helps save the environment. According to Ford, it also drives like a real car. The all-electric powertrain and single-speed transmission provides “immediate responsiveness and smooth acceleration” when putting the pedal to the metal, up to a blistering 84 mph.
“More than any other electric vehicle on the market, Focus Electric loses none of the dynamics and quality of driving a traditional car,” said Sherif Marakby, director of Ford’s electrification programs and engineering. “It shares many of the same premium components and features as its gasoline-powered counterpart, while delivering distinct efficiencies and a uniquely exciting driving experience.”
Never thought of getting an electric car, but this thing looks pretty slick. What do you think?
Quora is definitely growing at a fast pace. I know this because of the sudden deluge of follows I’m getting in my email. As Quora becomes more popular and gains users, the fear is that the quality of questions and answers on the service will decline.
The site depends on high-quality answers, and has deliberately kept things small in order to cultivate a knowledgeable community. But can it keep those virtues when membership is exploding and not everyone wants to play by the rules?
Quora is attempting to keep things clean by requiring real names for signups and allowing the community to police the site using the built-in ratings system. This has problems all its own.
On one hand, you’re getting access to insight from some very intelligent a prominent figures. Where else can you get answers to your questions from a Facebook co-founder, Foursquare’s head of business, and the Google Images product manager?
On the other, there is a lot of room for error here as the community grows. Lucretia Pruitt posted what amounts to a Quora etiquette guide which many voted up as useful. Others who took offense or disagreed felt attacked both by the post and the community as their “negative” responses were voted down.
Either the community will be able to keep some level of quality as the site grows, or they will completely alienate new users who want to participate. I remember a similar situation not too long ago with a site called FriendFeed and a guy named Michael Arrington, who felt he was attacked by an online mob.
At this stage, I find Quora very interesting. I like answering questions and learning from smart people. The site hasn’t yet been flooded with questions that begin “DO ANYBODY NO” (yes, with the caps), so it’s definitely still worth a look. Make sure you find me there.
The Mac App Store officially launched yesterday, giving you access to a bunch of Mac OS X applications for your Apple desktop or laptop. The Mac App Store makes it easy to find and install applications, but the implications of this new software distribution method are still unknown. Lifehacker tells us both why the Mac App Store sucks, and also why you might like it. Gizmodo reports that the Mac App Store has already been hacked. The crack hasn’t been released yet, but it will allow you to pirate any apps in the store. Someone has already figured out how to crack the Angry Birds application with a little cut and paste magic.
Skype Buys Qik
The most popular video and VoIP calling service in the world buys the real-time streaming video and recording service that comes pre-installed on most of the hottest new Android, iOS, Symbian, BlackBerry OS, and Windows Mobile smartphones. It seems like a match made in heaven. According to The Big Blog, Skype and Qik have entered into a “definitive deal” and Qik’s 200 employees will now move under Skype’s umbrella. Skype says “Qik will help to accelerate our leadership in video by adding recording, sharing and storing capabilities to our product portfolio.” They also say the acquisition will allow them to “take advantage of the engineering expertise that is behind Qik’s Smart Streaming technology, which optimizes video transmission over wireless networks.”
Skype CEO Talks About Qik Acquisition
Qik CEO Talks About Acquisition (Relax, Vijay)
LinkedIn To Go Public in 2011
Reuters reports that LinkedIn, the somewhat popular social network for business, plans to go public in 2011. Sources say that Bank of America and JPMorgan are among those who may be involved with the move by LinkedIn. LinkedIn has not confirmed this, but a spokesman said “An IPO is just one of many tactics that we could consider.” Other sources say that companies like LinkedIn and Zynga need to their IPO’s done ASAP because Facebook could render them all irrelevant:
“Some of these companies want to go public because they want to beat Facebook and others out,” said one of the sources. “If Facebook went public before Linkedin, do you think anyone would pay that much attention to Linkedin? You might want to surpass the beast.”
Facebook, with more than 500 million users worldwide, was just valued at $50 billion in a deal with Goldman Sachs. This means it’s technically worth more than eBay, Yahoo, and Time Warner. It’s possible they could be forced into IPO for exceeding the 499 investors limit and the SEC could be investigating this. That puts the pressure on other companies in this space to get the lead out. Trying to go public after a Facebook IPO would be like @ChrisBrown opening up for @razb2k.
Zynga to Acquire Flock
Flock was the first social browser and has been around since 2005. Five years later, it still hasn’t captured a significant number of users, but the company is still well-respected for their engineering talent. Both Google and Twitter were also bidding. What does this mean for Zynga and Flock? Why would Flock want a browser? It will be interesting to see how this acquisition plays out. Zynga could be interested more in the talent behind Flock than the browser itself. On the flip side, they could be looking to control the browser in order to better integrate their games and keep players engaged.
Our team will help Zynga in achieving their goal of building the most fun, social games available to anyone, anytime – on any platform.
While their actual number of users is debatable, there is no question that Quora is hot stuff. The site focuses on allowing anyone to ask everyone anything, the difference from other sites is that you may actually get an answer from someone who knows what they’re talking about.
Relying on a requirement for real names, the site allows anyone to pretty much edit everything. A rating system allows the community to control the spam and unhelpful answers. I witnessed someone post a DO ANYBODY NO question as a joke that was almost immediately removed. Quora won’t discuss how they plan to make money or how they will keep the site from turning into another Yahoo Answers, but the service is definitely enjoying some time in the spotlight. The question of whether they will receive applause or be dragged off the stage by a tap dancing Sandman has yet to be answered.
Square Valued at $200 Million
Surely you’ve heard of Square and already signed up for your free card reader, right? To review, Square allows you to accept credit card payments on your mobile phone using a tiny card reader that plugs into your phone’s headset jack. This allows you to take payments for anything wherever you might be, a feature that could mean big money for your business, no matter what the size. It definitely means big money for Square, who are rumored to have just closed a large round of funding which values them at about $200 million. They are processing millions of dollars a week and closing in on a million a day. How much of that is yours?
Unveiled at CES 2011, the Motorola Atrix is the most powerful smartphone on the market. It sports a dual-core Cortex-A9, NVIDIA Tegra 2 processor with a 960×540 screen. It has a gig of RAM (probably more than your mom’s PC), 16GB of storage, a MicroSD slot (up to 32GB), and a fingerprint reader. The hardware is definitely top-notch, but that’s not the only reason this device is turning heads. According to PC Magazine:
The Motorola Atrix is the craziest, most radical smartphone at CES. The more I think about it, the more I think it may be the single most interesting product at CES. The Atrix is an entirely new approach to mobile computing, and it’s the first smartphone to take on both the iPad and the netbook market.
How can it do that? Well, it certainly has the power under the hood, but the secret is in it’s use of dual operating systems. The Atrix runs Google’s Android 2.2 alongside a customized Motorola version of Linux. This gives it the ability to transform from a simple smartphone into a netbook or desktop.
Motorola facilitates this transformation with two different docks. One allows the phone to connect to a large LCD and full keyboard like a desktop computer. The second is a laptop form factor with a panel to sit the phone in that is shaped almost like a Macbook Air.
The custom Linux boots in just a few seconds and allows you to run three apps: Firefox 3.6.13, a file manager, and Android-in-a-window. It’s a very interesting mix of mobile and desktop computing, but is still limited mostly to web applications. Flash is also supported.
Today, Apple’s Mac App Store is open for business and boasts about 1,000 free and paid applications for your Apple computer. It Mac App Store brings the power of the App Store to your desktop or laptop, allowing you to download free and paid apps using your iTunes account.
“With more than 1,000 apps, the Mac App Store is off to a great start,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “We think users are going to love this innovative new way to discover and buy their favorite apps.”
In addition to new apps, all the usual suspects are available. iPhoto, iMovie and GarageBand apps from Apple’s iLife ‘11 suite are available individually in the Mac App Store for $14.99 each. Pages, Keynote, and Numbers apps from iWork will run you $19.99 each. Aperture 3, Apple’s powerful photo editing and management software, is available for $79.99.
To get the Mac App Store now, download the Mac OS X v10.6.6 Software Update or visit www.apple.com/mac/app-store. If you’re a developer and want to find out more about developing for the Mac App Store visit developer.apple.com/programs/mac.
At CES 2011 yesterday, Motorola and Verizon unveiled what they are calling “the first device on Google’s new Android 3.0 Honeycomb operating system,” which they say is designed from the ground up for tablets. Honeycomb improves on Android’s popular features like widgets, multi-tasking, browsing, notifications and customization.
The tablet hardware boasts a dual core processor (each core running at 1 GHz) delivering up to two GHz of processing power. The 10.1 inch screen supports 1080p HD video and provides “console-like” gaming performance at 1280×800. There are dual cameras, a front-facing 2-megapixel camera for video chats over Wi-Fi or 3G/4G LTE and a rear-facing 5-megapixel camera that captures video in 720p HD. Yes, there is Adobe Flash.
“Light, powerful and fundamentally different than anything else on the market, Motorola XOOM leverages the very best technology available today to redefine what a tablet experience can be,” said Bill Ogle, chief marketing officer of Motorola Mobility. “The first device to feature software designed specifically for tablets, Motorola XOOM goes everywhere you do and delivers everything you need.”
One curious piece of the puzzle is that the device does not come 4G LTE ready. It will initially launch as a 3G/Wi-Fi-enabled device in Q1 2011. Starting in Q2 2011, you can upgrade your existing device to 4G LTE and it will officially be a 4G LTE/Wi-Fi- enabled device.
Dexim showed up at CES 2011 with a very interesting case design. The case was created for the iPad 2 and allows for a bluetooth keyboard to be magnetically attached to the front cover of the sleeve, giving you a laptop-style setup. There is also an option for those who want to keep things light and forget the keyboard.
While there have already been reports about cases surfacing for the iPad 2, this one is most interesting because it actually contained an iPad 2. Well, a machined mockup of an iPad 2. Close enough, right? Ok, not really.
The mockup is a bit slimmer than the original iPad with a taper towards the edges like an iPod Touch. It also mirrored the cutouts on the case, hinting at front and back cameras and a huge speaker. While we may not know exactly what the iPad 2 will bring, the case and mockup definitely give us a couple of big clues.
Well, there’s certainly a consistent iPad 2 make that these Chinese manufacturers seem to be designing against, and while there’s always the off chance that their info is wrong, it seems odd they’d go so far as to actually make the cases if they were unsure about their sources.
Are you looking forward to the iPad 2? More photos of this case and mockup at Engadget.
At the 2011 International Consumer Electronics Show (CES), OnStar and Verizon have joined forces to demonstrate the “future of in-vehicle entertainment.” By their powers combined, they’ve shown what could be possible by dropping a high-speed Internet connection into a car:
Vehicle Monitoring – Parked in a bad neighborhood? Monitor what’s going on with your ride from your smartphone or PC.
Impact Detection – You’re in the club and someone just hit your car in the parking lot. You know this because your car sent you a video of the offender.
Voice Portal – Call up YouTube, Twitter, Wikipedia, and music via Verizon VCAST on your in-vehicle display. Watch the road, though.
Home monitoring and control – Forgot to turn off the AC? No need to turn around, do it from your car. Check the security cameras when away as well.
Video chat – Oh, you thought you were doing it big using your car as a bluetooth headset? Wait until you can do video. Watch the road!
“The true broadband speed of the Verizon Wireless 4G LTE network gives our engineers the freedom to re-imagine the world of connected in-vehicle services of the future,” said OnStar President Chris Preuss. “While we haven’t decided yet which of these demonstration features OnStar will offer, or when, these prototype applications show just some of what’s possible when we combine our 15 years experience in developing safe secure and leading edge connected mobility solutions with the speed and agility of Verizon Wireless’s 4G LTE network. Any new future services OnStar might offer will meet our high standards for safety – making sure that drivers’ hands are on the wheel and their eyes are on the road.”
Catch OnStar’s Buick LaCrosse research vehicle from Jan 6th through the 9th in Verizon Wireless’ CES booth (#35216 in the South Hall of the Las Vegas Convention Center). Check out the video below for a sneak peek.
Amazon has had their own Android app store brewing for a while now. They have just opened the store up to developers and you may wonder what the point is. How many app stores does one mobile platform need?
Currently, the Google Marketplace is the default, but the nature of Android allows for a lot of freedoms. There is no real screening process, so the user has to be careful what they install and rely mostly on ratings and comments.
Amazon is taking an approach that is more in line with Apple’s. Developers who wish to appear on Amazon’s store have to get approval (Amazon says that the process is currently taking about a week). And Amazon is going to have slightly more stringent guidelines: your application has to work properly (i.e. it can’t crash right off the bat) and it has to do what you say it does. It also has to be safe. Android Market has many of these same requirements, but the difference here is that Amazon checks apps before they’re deployed to its store, while Google does so after problematic applications are reported.
Sounds like a good deal for Android users. This becomes more apparent when you talk about app pricing. With Google’s marketplace, developers set the price. With Amazon, developers are only guaranteed 20% of the List Price they set if Amazon drastically discounts an app or offers it for free. Otherwise, developers get 70%.
Android is an open platform and this will open the door for competition. Verizon also has an app store in the works. The question is, what effects will this have on users and developers?
