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Android Sales Surpass iPhone Sales

gollum123 writes with this excerpt from VentureBeat: "Smartphones based on Google's Android mobile operating system outsold Apple's iPhone in the US during the first quarter of 2010, according to a report by research firm The NPD Group. The data places Android, with 28 percent of the smartphone market [last quarter], in second place behind RIM's Blackberry smartphone market share of 36 percent. Apple now sits in third place with 21 percent. NPD points to a Verizon buy-one-get-one-free promotion for all of its smartphones as a major factor in the first-quarter numbers. Verizon saw strong sales for the Motorola Droid and Droid Eris Android phones, as well as the Blackberry Curve, thanks to its promotional offer. Verizon launched a $100 million marketing campaign for the Droid when it hit the market in November 2009, which likely contributed to strong sales in the first quarter as well." Preston Gralla notes that it's not all bad news for Apple; this report could help their case in upcoming antitrust discussions.

668 comments

  1. Apple by sopssa · · Score: 0, Troll

    Apple now sits in third place with 21 percent.

    And even less worldwide with mobile phone sales - where the original innovators like Nokia dominate and Apple is far away from dominating the market. It's good to see theres some sense in the US too.

    I think this same thing will happen to iPad too. It will sell good at first, Jobs will make the claims that they cannot manufacture enough products for everyone to build up the hype, and then it will quickly fall down and die.

    That is how quick marketing works. Microsoft wouldn't had built the Windows brand if they just went for quick sales without thinking long term. There's a reason why Windows is still 95% desktop share, while Mac OSX is only 4%

    1. Re:Apple by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Informative

      There's a reason why Windows is still 95% desktop share, while Mac OSX is only 4%

      That reason has more to do with inviting CEOs and CIOs to important industry events (and social functions) far away from home in very sunny hotels.

    2. Re:Apple by WrongSizeGlass · · Score: 4, Informative

      There's a reason why Windows is still 95% desktop share, while Mac OSX is only 4%

      Investment in existing software plays a huge roll in that. Smartphones don't have that issue (though a very small percentage of people have spent a ton on app downloads).

    3. Re:Apple by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative

      Maemo?

    4. Re:Apple by turgid · · Score: 1

      Option 3: A smart phone that doesn't expect me to be a falsebook/twatter obsessive and just works as a smart phone with some computing & browsing (and farting if I choose) capabilities.

      Keep taking the pills.

    5. Re:Apple by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative

      I see. So it's because the Mac was built for quick sales; and Windows was built for long-term quality. Thanks for setting the record straight.

    6. Re:Apple by L3370 · · Score: 1

      Does anyone know the profitability of Android OS?

      How much money has Google made with having Android on all the phone platforms? How much money has been made by Apple Inc. selling all their iphone's?

    7. Re:Apple by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Option 3 would be the Nokia N900 running Maemo (or its successor), I would think Thought about it myself, but hate the keyboard and went with a rooted HTC Desire.

    8. Re:Apple by linhares · · Score: 1

      "If you see huge sales numbers, they blew it"

    9. Re:Apple by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

      How is it relevant ?
      The goodness of something doesn't rely on the amount of money you make out of it.

    10. Re:Apple by DarkKnightRadick · · Score: 1, Offtopic

      I see. So it's because the Mac was marketed for quick sales; and Windows was marketed for long-term sales. Thanks for setting the record straight.

      FTFY

      --
      "There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death." Proverbs 16:25 (NKJV)
    11. Re:Apple by Mascot · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Yeah, the iPhone was certainly a blip that faded into obscurity after a few months on the market....

      Seriously, 21% market share years after launch is hardly defined as "quickly fall down and die".

      Not saying the iPad will fare as well. The iPhone was a game changer when it was released. It filled a desperate need in the market (a smartphone that wasn't a freakin pain to use).

      The iPad however is trying to _create_ a market. That's a lot more difficult. Everybody immediately recognized the usability of the iPhone; hardly anybody has a clue what need in their life (beyond "oooh shiny!") the iPad might sate.

      Also, when the iPhone came out, it took a while for Android do show up and match it. Android's here now, and tablets running it are already starting to appear. Though I'm guessing it'll be another 6 months before any really good ones start appearing.

      Unless people have decided there's no market for these devices by then (in which case they'll all quietly vanish), I still suspect the iPad will do fine. It was first to the table, plugs into Apple's eco system, and has the app store.

    12. Re:Apple by BasilBrush · · Score: 2, Interesting

      hardly anybody has a clue what need in their life (beyond "oooh shiny!") the iPad might sate.

      1 million sales is the first month is far from "hardly anybody". Particularly as that figure is limited by supply - they had to delay launch in non-US territories because US sales were higher than predicted.

    13. Re:Apple by Optic7 · · Score: 1

      Your reply doesn't disprove the GP's point.

    14. Re:Apple by tverbeek · · Score: 4, Insightful

      It's important to note that the iPhone is in one of the low-sales points of its product cycle for these figures. Everybody who's paying attention *KNOWS* that Apple is going to introduce a new model of the iPhone next month, with greater capabilities and probably at the same price as the current model. Anyone who can wait until summer solstice to buy their first iPhone is waiting, and the oodles of people who bought an iPhone 3G in the second half of 2008 are waiting to become eligible for a subsidized upgrade 2 years later. Kind of like unemployment figures, iPhone sales figures need to be "seasonally adjusted" to be meaningful.

      --
      http://alternatives.rzero.com/
    15. Re:Apple by Mascot · · Score: 1

      It doesn't seem you read what you quoted and replied to.

    16. Re:Apple by BasilBrush · · Score: 1

      What part of 1 million != "hardly anybody" did you not understand?

    17. Re:Apple by L3370 · · Score: 1

      How is it relevant ? The goodness of something doesn't rely on the amount of money you make out of it.

      It does when you are COMPARING marketshare of two companies that are in the business of making money.

    18. Re:Apple by DdJ · · Score: 1

      How is it relevant ?

      Well, it's relevant in that if it turns out nobody is making any money off Android devices, a lot of companies will simply stop making Android devices, and switch to something they can make money from.

      Or: the goodness of something doesn't rely on the amount of money you make out of it, unless you are a business that only exists in order to make money. Then, it does.

    19. Re:Apple by Mascot · · Score: 1

      I'm sorry, but it's you that's not comprehending.

      The quote you replied to did not pertain to sales figures. It it had, it would have said "hardly anybody bought".

    20. Re:Apple by nomadic · · Score: 1

      hardly anybody has a clue what need in their life (beyond "oooh shiny!") the iPad might sate.

      The only thing I could think of is that it would be GREAT for traveling. Unfortunately I don't travel much, so I didn't get one, but I can easily see a heavy traveler picking one up.

    21. Re:Apple by God'sDuck · · Score: 1

      Option 3: A smart phone that doesn't expect me to be a falsebook/twatter obsessive and just works as a smart phone with some computing & browsing (and farting if I choose) capabilities.

      Congrats! Thanks to 2009, you have just described the starting state of every smartphone. You don't have to visit their 'markets' and install Facebook/Twitter/etc apps and choose to enter log-in info. Just because the TV ads say you can do everything doesn't mean you have to do anything.

    22. Re:Apple by w3woody · · Score: 3, Insightful

      BTW, Never underestimate the power of "oooh shiny!"

    23. Re:Apple by Optic7 · · Score: 1

      None. Though it seems that perhaps you misunderstood the sentence to which you replied. It said nothing about sales. It only allowed for the possibility (or likelyhood) that even many of the people buying the ipad might not know exactly what they need it for.

    24. Re:Apple by Dahamma · · Score: 3, Insightful

      I'm not sure if you are serious or being rhetorical, but since it's a good point either way, let's just state it:

      Google's Android revenue: 0.
      Apple's iPhone revenue: over $5B per quarter and growing.

      Summary: Apple could not care less about market share, as long as their total sales and revenue keeps growing at the insane rate they have been.

      And since the iPad is really just a giant iPhone/Touch (ie uses the same OS)... 1M units in 30 days is probably about $600M revenue for their latest product - in a month. Yikes.

    25. Re:Apple by Dragonslicer · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Well, it's relevant in that if it turns out nobody is making any money off Android devices, a lot of companies will simply stop making Android devices, and switch to something they can make money from.

      The manufacturers are probably making just as much money from sales of Android devices as they would from Windows Mobile or Symbian devices. A hardware sale is a hardware sale, regardless of what OS the hardware runs. The interesting question is if Google is turning a profit from all the resources they've invested.

    26. Re:Apple by Dahamma · · Score: 1

      Not saying the iPad will fare as well. The iPhone was a game changer when it was released. It filled a desperate need in the market (a smartphone that wasn't a freakin pain to use).

      The iPad however is trying to _create_ a market. That's a lot more difficult. Everybody immediately recognized the usability of the iPhone; hardly anybody has a clue what need in their life (beyond "oooh shiny!") the iPad might sate.

      Have you seen the numbers for the iPad? 1 million units in a month - and that's US sales only. At around $600 per unit average, that's $600M in revenue in one month. Given that sales are supply limited right now, and it's launching internationally next week, they could very well see $2B in revenue in ONE QUARTER for a brand new product. That's over 1/3 of the iPhone's *current* revenue for last quarter.

      They are not trying to create a market. They already created one. And they barely even had to pay for advertising, the media frenzy did that for them...

    27. Re:Apple by BasilBrush · · Score: 1

      It only allowed for the possibility (or likelyhood) that even many of the people buying the ipad might not know exactly what they need it for.

      It didn't "allow for the possibility". It stated it as fact. The poster was transferring his personal lack of compelling use for the iPad onto people in general.

    28. Re:Apple by jedidiah · · Score: 2, Insightful

      ...except an iphone is locked down.

      Sure, I can jailbreak it but that's something that is scary to a lot of people. It's probably even scarier to geeks that actually understand the implications if something goes wrong.

      So no. Not every smartphone starts out the same way.

      With Android you can install stuff from where ever and with Apple you either lump it or leave it.

      --
      A Pirate and a Puritan look the same on a balance sheet.
    29. Re:Apple by tverbeek · · Score: 1

      "It will sell good at first"

      You do realize that the Android sales figures are inflated by the same phenomenon? The Droid is new and hawt; that's a large part of how it and its OS buddies surpassed ye olde iPhone last quarter. What remains to be seen is whether it has legs, or will burn out and fade away. (I'm guessing it has legs.)

      "Microsoft wouldn't had built the Windows brand if they just went for quick sales without thinking long term."

      How old are you? Do you know anything about the history of Windows and Mac OS while their relative market shares were being established (i.e. the late 80s and early 90s)? Microsoft did a lot of things right in marketing Windows, and Apple made plenty of mistakes, but it had nothing at all to do with MS "thinking long term" vs Apple "going for quick sales".

      --
      http://alternatives.rzero.com/
    30. Re:Apple by BasilBrush · · Score: 0, Flamebait

      Never underestimate the ability of design illiterates to attribute the success of well designed products to "shininess".

    31. Re:Apple by vfrex · · Score: 1

      What are you talking about? There are plenty of companies making money off of selling Android devices. Google isn't one of them because Google doesn't manufacture phones or charge for Android. Consumers get the iPhone for the OS/interface. The underlying hardware is largely irrelevant. What this data tells us is that consumers are embracing a smartphone OS outside of the iPhone. Apple isn't capturing the same level of market/mind share domination as it had with the iPod. The space will get even more exciting when Microsoft releases what looks to be a solid OS in Windows Phone 7. Ultimately, this is a market that will be commoditized. Android is FREE and a viable competitor. Microsoft is a commoditizer and will charge peanuts for its plaform. If there's one thing that Microsoft does right, it is to claw its way back into a market people forgot about it in. The premium that Apple charges for its platform/phone will be eroded over the next few years.

    32. Re:Apple by sznupi · · Score: 4, Insightful

      The main thing of concern for Google is probably whether or not the ecosystem is open to their way of making a profit. Maybe they saw a problem looming, with the walled garden approach of Apple.
      Google wasn't really involved in activelly contributing to healthy mobile landscape when Blackberry was dominating in the US (still is actually) and Nokia globally (still is)

      --
      One that hath name thou can not otter
    33. Re:Apple by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Google's Android revenue: 0.
      Apple's iPhone revenue: over $5B per quarter and growing.

      This is a very misleading statement.

      Google does not get revenue directly from selling Android. However, they do indirectly get revenue from in-app advertisements, search advertisements, and app store purchases that are all tied to Android phones. I would be that if Google ever released numbers it would show a significant amount of revenue.

      Considering that they did not have to develop Android from scratch and does not make the hardware; I'd say this is a pretty good deal for Google.

    34. Re:Apple by jedidiah · · Score: 1, Insightful

      If you suddenly added 1 million people to the MacOS user base, no one would notice.

      It's like movies. Sure they come on strong. Then they quickly fade away.

      It's the long term sales and market share numbers that are ultimately relevant.

      Some of the web hit stats are also interesting too. Although the entire market there is still inconsequential.

      --
      A Pirate and a Puritan look the same on a balance sheet.
    35. Re:Apple by Low+Ranked+Craig · · Score: 1

      Yep. Apple is a hardware company and Microsoft is a software company...

      --
      I still cannot find the droids I am looking for...
    36. Re:Apple by cyber-dragon.net · · Score: 1

      Those numbers are about 6 years old... get new ones you want to make such a statement.

    37. Re:Apple by Anomalyst · · Score: 1

      Maybe we can use some naga jolokia peppers (> 1 million scoville) to seasonally adjust iPhone owners?
      I am thinking a quick rub where the turtleneck folds over might be apropos.

      --
      There is no right to feel safe thru security vaudeville at the expense of everyone's freedom, privacy and tax money.
    38. Re:Apple by Sinning · · Score: 2, Informative

      Couldn't this also be true of Android phones?

      Every day I read about a new Android phone that has better specs and features than anything previously released.

      I don't see how this thought is relevant.

    39. Re:Apple by cyber-dragon.net · · Score: 1

      To access an android phone you have to link it to a Google account... you download apps from the google app store... This is this different than linking to an iTunes account and downloading from the apple apps store how?

    40. Re:Apple by Skuld-Chan · · Score: 1

      Where do you get zero dollars? From what I understand Google makes deals with carriers and handset makers to make the Google search engine the default on the phone, and shares revenue from the ads delivered.

    41. Re:Apple by Skuld-Chan · · Score: 1

      Supplies were low? Hardly!

      What I don't get about this is every time I went by the local best buy they had hundreds of the things stacked up behind the counter in the computer area. Even on launch day - around noon I was able to just walk in and I could have bought one if I wanted - I even have photo proof of this.

      Something doesn't ad up if you ask me.

    42. Re:Apple by Gilmoure · · Score: 1

      I want one for around the house. I don't travel much but do spend time at home.

      --
      I drank what? -- Socrates
    43. Re:Apple by BZWingZero · · Score: 1

      While yes, you do have to link you Android phone to a Google account, you don't have to download apps from the Google app store. You can download and install apps from anywhere. All it takes is checking one box in the settings.

    44. Re:Apple by Gilmoure · · Score: 1

      Wait, Apple pricing their Macs and phones expensive was not a strategy for quick sales?

      --
      I drank what? -- Socrates
    45. Re:Apple by tholomyes · · Score: 1

      Because those ever-more awesome Android phones are always being released somewhere else with an approximate U.S. release date of "six months to never".

      --
      When did the future switch from being a promise to a threat? -C. Palahniuk
    46. Re:Apple by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative

      design illiterates...?

      so tell me, do you really think that the shiny web 2.0 icons that make up the interface for the iphone are sophisticated? have a look at them again...
      if its the shape of the phone that does it for you then have you never allowed yourself the luxury of some really nice jewelery?
      now you might think the glorious bright colour screen is lovely and who could take that away from you.

      but my friend, can you not consider that you might have been cleverly tricked into thinking that you're part of an elite, when this is not the case.

      it's not hostility that makes people like me want to let you know this kind of thing - it's just that you really ought to know how things might appear to others. and how this has nothing to do with having a developed or educated sense of what looks good or doesn't.

      apple is a very mean machine when it comes to marketing - they wouldn't deny they're the best in the business.

    47. Re:Apple by Mordok-DestroyerOfWo · · Score: 2, Insightful

      I'm sure you'll get modded down for your comment, but you are dead on. The fact of the matter is many people choose style over substance without ever knowing that they're buying a very restricted device.

      --
      "Never let your sense of morals prevent you from doing what is right" - Salvor Hardin
    48. Re:Apple by amRadioHed · · Score: 1

      No, I doubt it's true of Android phones. January was clearly a high point in their sales with the release of the Nexus One, and the Droid still only a few weeks old. I (and probably many others) were waiting for an Android phone to be released that had specs better that were better than the G1 and Dec/Jan is when that finally happened.

      --
      We hope your rules and wisdom choke you / Now we are one in everlasting peace
    49. Re:Apple by 517714 · · Score: 1

      One can't get "I am Rich" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Am_Rich for Android! What is one to do?

      --
      The US government have made it clear that we have no inalienable rights; any we do not defend vigorously will be taken.
    50. Re:Apple by JAlexoi · · Score: 1

      That's for the first quarter! Nobody knew about iPhone 4th reincarnation then. And yet, Android was on par in the 4Q2009 with iPhone.
      So I doubt that it's only because a new phone is coming out.

    51. Re:Apple by greencpu · · Score: 1

      well, just a contradictory personal story, I spent the last 2 weeks looking for one (for the office - not me). none to be found at local apple stores, mac stores ( a regional vendor I believe), or best buys (CDW had none either). We ended up purchasing one from apple online, which drop shipped from HK after one week.

      they may have had a lot at launch, but they have since sold them out, and have not been able to keep up with demand.

    52. Re:Apple by howlatthemoon · · Score: 1

      Perhaps, but there has not been major press on every news network about the secret android prototype as the next version of the Droid. Compare that with the press circus around the apple prototype. I have not seen android news pushing much beyond tech press.

      The new iPhone rumors began in January, and culminating in the massive leak last month. I think this had a big impact on sales. Since Apple does not do constant incremental upgrade like other manufacturers, I think it more likely to be subject issues of waiting and pent-up demand. And, unlike with many Apple products and update cycles, the general public is pretty well informed on the new iPhone to come.

      As you said, every day you read that is a slightly faster/better android phone, so some people might wait, but if upgrades are constant, it would argue for less seasonality. You buy when you need that new phone. That is not the case with the iPhone, there are big surges with the new models, which come yearly. That is seasonal adjustment that needs to be modeled into the time-series.

    53. Re:Apple by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Google has carrier status. Every time you use an android phone they know where you are, who you are and what you're doing.

    54. Re:Apple by scot4875 · · Score: 3, Insightful

      And never underestimate the ability of people who bought into hype to rationalize their decisions.

      --Jeremy

      --
      Jesus was a liberal
    55. Re:Apple by easyTree · · Score: 1

      Option 3: A smart phone that doesn't expect me to be a falsebook/twatter obsessive and just works as a smart phone with some computing & browsing (and farting if I choose) capabilities.

      Keep taking the pills.

      Try taking them orally - whatever you're doing with them seems to have left you with a fart fetish.

    56. Re:Apple by Dahamma · · Score: 1

      Sure, but there really isn't anything Android-specific about that. They do the same thing with Palm, RIM, and of course Apple. In fact, rumor is they paid Apple about $100M for that deal - hopefully they are getting more than that back in ad revenue from it...

    57. Re:Apple by tomhudson · · Score: 1

      One can't get "I am Rich" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Am_Rich for Android! What is one to do?

      That's the beauty of open source - you don't need Apple's approval to make your own.

    58. Re:Apple by darrylo · · Score: 1

      What this data tells us is that consumers are embracing a smartphone OS outside of the iPhone. Apple isn't capturing the same level of market/mind share domination as it had with the iPod. The space will get even more exciting when Microsoft releases what looks to be a solid OS in Windows Phone 7.

      I think a big reason for this is the iPhone's AT&T exclusivity. If the iPhone was available on Verizon and Sprint, I'd guess that the iPhone would be doing a lot better against Android. Carrier (i.e., cell phone service availability) is still a big issue in the US.

      Frankly, I'm amazed that Apple has stuck with AT&T so long. iPhone sales appear to be leveling off (maybe even decreasing), and opening up the iPhone to multiple carriers is a virtual sure-fire way of significantly increasing sales (in the US). (Yes, yes, I know about the 5-year contract but, as others have said, there are probably ways out of that. Apple must probably have gotten a really sweet deal with the iPad ....)

    59. Re:Apple by elewton · · Score: 1

      The interesting question is if Google is turning a profit from all the resources they've invested.

      I believe Microsoft is doing quite well from licensing the 100s of their patents in the Linux kernel.

    60. Re:Apple by Dahamma · · Score: 2, Informative

      Google does not get revenue directly from selling Android. However, they do indirectly get revenue from in-app advertisements, search advertisements, and app store purchases that are all tied to Android phones

      Actually, your statement is much more misleading, and in fact mostly untrue. Do your research next time.

      "Google denies a report that it is sharing advertising revenues derived from mobile applications on Android smartphones with carrier and handset partners. The search engine maintains the only revenue sharing it engages in is from paying carriers a cut of its search-related advertising sales."

      They only make money from good old search advertising revenue, which is really not Android specific anyway - they do the same thing on nearly every handset, including the iPhone.

      It's pretty much conventional wisdom in the industry that Google's goal right now is to get an open platform out there to compete with the closed ones like RIM and Apple. Which is very cool. But THEY aren't claiming to be making money on that project right now, so no need for you to pretend they are.

    61. Re:Apple by Skuld-Chan · · Score: 1

      Best Buy in Eugene Oregon - they had plenty over the weekend.

    62. Re:Apple by tomhudson · · Score: 1

      can you not consider that you might have been cleverly tricked into thinking that you're part of an elite, when this is not the case.

      ... and that's what's going to pull iPhone numbers down going forward - even high school kids can get an iPhone, and compared to the features on the next gen of android smartphones, the next gen iPhone is so "myspace".

    63. Re:Apple by BasilBrush · · Score: 0, Redundant

      so tell me, do you really think that the shiny web 2.0 icons that make up the interface for the iphone are sophisticated? have a look at them again...
      if its the shape of the phone that does it for you then have you never allowed yourself the luxury of some really nice jewelery?
      now you might think the glorious bright colour screen is lovely and who could take that away from you.

      Thank you for illustrating my point so well. design illiterates to attribute the success of well designed products to "shininess".>>

    64. Re:Apple by DJRumpy · · Score: 1

      Given that, according to the study, they were giving away a phone (buy 1 get one free), I don't think Apple has too much to worry about just yet. I'm sure they are concerned, but this is hardly the end of the world. iPhone sells from a single carrier here in the US and for a premium price. They have always gone for higher markup items and done very well. This reminds me of the XBox and the MS tactic of selling them below cost to get market saturation.

      From TFA: NPD points to a Verizon buy-one-get-one-free promotion for all of its smartphones as a major factor in the first quarter numbers. Verizon saw strong sales for the Motorola Droid and Droid Eris Android phones, as well as the Blackberry Curve, thanks to its promotional offer.

    65. Re:Apple by zuperduperman · · Score: 1

      This was actually a fairly well documented fact. I remember they walked the line of people lined up outside the Apple stores and a good number of them really didn't know what they were going to use it for. They just wanted it. There were articles published about this phenomenon at the time (here's the best I can google right now: http://modmyi.com/forums/ipad-news/704633-surveys-100-dont-know-what-ipads.html )

    66. Re:Apple by BasilBrush · · Score: 1, Flamebait

      Never underestimate the power of people who have hatred for certain products to think they know better that the purchasers of a product the reason for the purchase.

      Particularly when they are design illiterates. It's like someone who can't read thinking that people who buy books do so because the covers are colourful.

    67. Re:Apple by zuperduperman · · Score: 3, Insightful

      I had the same experience. I walked into Best Buy on launch day (this was in Boston) and they had a big display with 5 iPads. No lines, 3 of them were not even being used, so I wandered up and played with one for 10 minutes and only at the end did someone else come up behind me to try one out. I listened with amusement to the guy trying to avoid telling the elderly people who asked him how much RAM it had (he had a long explanation about how how a small amount of memory in an Apple device was like ten times as much in a windows computer, but couldn't bring himself to say the actual number).

      Perhaps it was just incredibly uncool for any Apple devotee to ever cross the threshold of Best Buy, but I couldn't observe *any* kind of shortage either on launch day or in the weeks thereafter.

    68. Re:Apple by Dragonslicer · · Score: 1

      Verizon was doing the buy-one-get-one-free deals. Were the manufacturers giving Verizon any kind of discounts, or is Verizon sucking up the loss in exchange for the service contract? HTC and Motorola may be getting as much per phone as Apple does, they just don't force the carriers to sell the phone at some "suggested" retail price.

    69. Re:Apple by BasilBrush · · Score: 1

      Wow, that was a particularly dumb article:

      A couple of new surveys released today highlight the confusion, with potential users saying different things about what they'd be most likely to use an iPad to do.

      So if you interview people buying PCs, and some say they want theirs for games, others say they want theirs for MS Office, and yet others say they want theirs for the internet, that represents "confusion" does it? What a stupid concept!

      News At Ten: Different people want a computing device for different reasons. Weather next.

    70. Re:Apple by zuperduperman · · Score: 4, Insightful

      It's nice during the short period when you're in transit, but it presents a dilemma once you get there because it is so deprived of basic capabilities that people do tend to want.

      For example I go on holiday, I want to take pictures. I need something easy to plug my camera into to download and quickly crop and edit pictures. The iPad is just horrendously horrible for this due to Steve's obsession with locking it down and removing all the standard ports from it. So you are confronted with the dilemma of bringing both the iPad AND the laptop and doubling up on a lot of capabilities or doing without a lot of the basic things most people *do* want to do when they are travelling.

    71. Re:Apple by shutdown+-p+now · · Score: 1

      "Google denies a report that it is sharing advertising revenues derived from mobile applications on Android smartphones with carrier and handset partners. The search engine maintains the only revenue sharing it engages in is from paying carriers a cut of its search-related advertising sales."

      They only make money from good old search advertising revenue, which is really not Android specific anyway - they do the same thing on nearly every handset, including the iPhone.

      What you quoted says the opposite - the only money that carriers get is part of search-related ads. Everything else - specifically including ads in apps - goes straight past the carriers and into Google's pockets (after app developer gets his cut, that is).

    72. Re:Apple by kevinmenzel · · Score: 1

      Option 3: A smart phone that doesn't expect me to be a falsebook/twatter obsessive and just works as a smart phone with some computing & browsing (and farting if I choose) capabilities.

      My blackberry works pretty well for that kind of stuff...

    73. Re:Apple by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You're right that creating a new market is more difficult than filling a gap in an already existing market. However, if one is able to successfully create a new market, the rewards are significantly higher.

      Look at the Blackberry vs the iPhone. While the iPhone has been very successful, its market share still pales somewhat compared to that of the Blackberry's. And again, while the iPhone has been very successful, its market isn't even close to that of the iPad, which is what? Around 100%? 90%? Whatever it is, it's freaking HIGH.

      Bigger risk, bigger reward.

    74. Re:Apple by Dahamma · · Score: 1

      Ok, I guess that wasn't clear/enough context. There is of course more to the article and to Google's quoted statements...

      http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Mobile-and-Wireless/Google-Denies-Revenue-Sharing-For-Android-Mobile-Apps-336067/

      Here's another key bit, and my point:

      "We share revenue on search, not on mobile applications. The same is true for non-Android devices that use Google as the default search engine."

      ie. yes, they get advertising revenue from apps, but it is NOT is Android-specific. App developers can use Google advertising on Blackberry or iPhone apps as well, and Google in fact has several native apps (Google Voice Search, Google Earth) in the iPhone, etc.

      In fact, they even have an AdSense developer kit for iPhone (as well as Android, of course!) I'm sure they'd be happy to support Palm's (HP's?) WebOS, etc if they ever became relevant.

      http://www.google.com/ads/mobileapps/

    75. Re:Apple by Daengbo · · Score: 1

      What can I say? You read wrong. Google is not sharing with carriers and handset partners. They do, indeed make money off of the Android market by sharing with developers:

      Transaction Fees
      For applications that you choose to sell in Android Market, the transaction fee is equivalent to 30% of the application price. For example, if you sell your application at a price of $10.00, the fee will be $3.00, and you will receive $7.00 in payment.[1]

    76. Re:Apple by RobertM1968 · · Score: 1

      Is this Android as in ALL android devices or just phones?

      I cant wait for option 3.

      Option 1: Locked down fisher price phone that wont let you fart without His Jobsiness's permission. (Iphone) Option 2: Much more open phone that comes with spying baggage that monitors every fart. (aNdroid) Option 3: A smart phone that doesn't expect me to be a falsebook/twatter obsessive and just works as a smart phone with some computing & browsing (and farting if I choose) capabilities.

      Dude, as much as you seem to have a fart fetish, I doubt you'd care about any of the options other than maybe #1. Just sayin...

    77. Re:Apple by antikristian · · Score: 1
      --
      A computer is a tool, but I am not. I use Linux
    78. Re:Apple by RobertM1968 · · Score: 1

      hardly anybody has a clue what need in their life (beyond "oooh shiny!") the iPad might sate.

      Yup... that sums up the needs in my life. :-)

      I think you drastically oversimplify. At least if the iPad owners I know are any indication. For them, the "oooh shiny!" aspect is simply an added bonus.

    79. Re:Apple by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Or, you know, buy the tiny USB adapter from apple.

    80. Re:Apple by JohnBailey · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Supplies were low? Hardly!

      What I don't get about this is every time I went by the local best buy they had hundreds of the things stacked up behind the counter in the computer area. Even on launch day - around noon I was able to just walk in and I could have bought one if I wanted - I even have photo proof of this.

      Something doesn't ad up if you ask me.

      No.. they were all sold units.

      Try looking at it in a slightly different way.. The inconvenient not believing PR releases way.

      Apple said 1 million units sold. And I'm sure they were telling the truth. As far as it goes.

      They didn't really emphasise very strongly that they were "sold" to retailers and Apple stores. And the iFanboys took it from there. Just like the "Apple biggest phone maker in US" story a few days ago, or "iPad killing netbooks" story yesterday.

      Which means all the iPads you saw on display, and the many more in the warehouse were all counted by Apple, as sold. Even though anybody could go in and buy them from Best Buy.

      So more accurately... 1 million units shipped to retail outlets.

      Not 1 million purchased by members of the public. Six months from now, the same units in that million could still be sitting on a shelf in some store.

      Running out of stock from Apple's end is easily done. Ship any surplus units to some low performing out of the way Apple store, delay the worldwide launch, or announce it too early, and not have a a hope of meeting it. And get more PR. Easy. Zero sales lost due to underestimating demand. Plenty of stock to go around shipped from Apple stores to the various outlets.. Job done.

      Microsoft quotes shipped figures as sold to retail licenses too, when it includes every copy in every shop, every bulk buy from OEMs. Every free upgrades from Vista, every shipped by default copy that gets erased and replaced with the company image. And naturally.. All the copies that get sent to volume license customers that are still using XP, and will for a year or two more.

      It's an old trick that keeps getting swallowed by the fanboys, and regurgitated over and over.

      --
      It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his job depends on not understanding it.
    81. Re:Apple by Miamicanes · · Score: 2, Insightful

      > To access an android phone you have to link it to a Google account... you download apps from the google app store...
      > This is this different than linking to an iTunes account and downloading from the apple apps store how?

      Android owners *can* download apps from Android Market... or we can download them from anywhere else, and install whatever we feel like installing without having to play "Mother, may I?" and get anybody's official blessing, first.

      iPhone owners officially have no choice. They *MUST* download apps from Apple's AppStore, and *only* from Apple's AppStore.

      Android owners bitch because we haven't quite achieved the ideal of end users being able to build our phone's OS from scratch independently of the handset makers, carriers, and Google. We throw public fits, blame HTC for violating the GPL, and eventually get a cookie thrown to us that brings us a step closer to our goal once we combine that cookie with the next rom image ripped from a related newer phone.

      Put another way, if Steve Jobs says the iPhone 4 (or an older iPhone) will not do something, it WILL NOT do it. Ever.

      If HTC or Sprint says the Hero won't do something, it's only a real limit until someone rips the rom from the next HTC phone, metaphorically bakes it into a new ROM, and everyone gets to have it anyway.

    82. Re:Apple by Dahamma · · Score: 1

      Ok, in theory, yes, the Google Android App Store *generates some Android-specific revenue*. But "make money"?

      In practice, I think a statistic I saw was that almost 60% of the apps on Google's Android app store are free, and it's estimated that they make about $60M a year (gross - that's $20M for Google). Contrast that to Apple's app store revenue that easily tops $2B a year.

      Not only that, but Android allows 3rd party apps stores - and there are now a bunch of them.

      Google probably has $20M stashed in a broom closet - they are just not not trying to leverage Android to make money on that market right now. It's probably below the cost to develop and run it.

      Which is again my point. I don't know why everyone wants to keep nitpicking the details... but the fact is phones are Apple's #1 business right now, and they are a (very interesting, but not very profitable) experiment for Google.

      Again, I'd love to see Android/Google take a chunk out of Apple's business. But these "market share" statistics from the article just don't mean that much right now...

    83. Re:Apple by bledri · · Score: 2, Informative

      The iPad is just horrendously horrible for this due to Steve's obsession with locking it down and removing all the standard ports from it.

      Apple iPad Camera Connection Kit: $29
      http://www.google.com/search?client=safari&rls=en&q=connect+camera+to+ipad: priceless

      --
      Some privacy policy Slashdot.
    84. Re:Apple by Teckla · · Score: 2, Interesting

      I walked into Best Buy on launch day (this was in Boston) and they had a big display with 5 iPads. No lines, 3 of them were not even being used, so I wandered up and played with one for 10 minutes and only at the end did someone else come up behind me to try one out.

      A week or two ago, I walked into Best Buy, and saw some iPads on display as well. One was available, and I wanted to toy around with it, but the greasy, oily fingerprints all over it made me want to vomit. I gazed at it wistfully and forlornly for a few moments, and then left.

      I'm not sure the iPad is for OCD types like me. :(

    85. Re:Apple by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      For example I go on holiday, I want to take pictures. I need something easy to plug my camera into to download and quickly crop and edit pictures. The iPad is just horrendously horrible for this due to Steve's obsession with locking it down and removing all the standard ports from it. So you are confronted with the dilemma of bringing both the iPad AND the laptop and doubling up on a lot of capabilities or doing without a lot of the basic things most people *do* want to do when they are travelling.

      Um, why wouldn't you just buy the camera connection kit? It includes a standard USB port. http://store.apple.com/us/product/MC531?mco=MTc0MjU1ODU

      I recently went on a business trip, I found that I could leave my laptop at the office, and was perfectly happy with the (much lighter, smaller, easier) iPad for all my other computing needs at the hotel and around the city.

      Same thing here at home. I'll take my iPad to the grocery store, pull it out to look up recipes on-demand (it's faster/easier to use than my phone's browser). I'd never do that with a laptop, or with a UI not so well tuned as a touch interface.

    86. Re:Apple by Draek · · Score: 3, Insightful

      In a world where over 90% of people are illiterate, yeah, that'd be a valid hypothesis.

      Face it, pretending a significant percentage of iPhone buyers did so out of appreciation for its design is as senseless as pretending that a significant percentage of Android buyers did so out of a desire to download its source-code and hack it. The overwhelming majority of the world's population can't program worth shit, and similarly the overwhelming majority of the world's population does not have a degree in industrial design.

      Admit it, both platforms are succeeding because of marketing. You know, the field whose entire purpose is to sway people to purchase a specific product? yeah. Not enlightenment or whatever.

      --
      No problem is insoluble in all conceivable circumstances.
    87. Re:Apple by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I listened with amusement to the guy trying to avoid telling the elderly people who asked him how much RAM it had (he had a long explanation about how how a small amount of memory in an Apple device was like ten times as much in a windows computer, but couldn't bring himself to say the actual number).

      Jobs was right! 64K is enough!

    88. Re:Apple by Daengbo · · Score: 1

      I'm not nitpicking the details: I'm saying that you were utterly wrong when you said that Google only gets revenue from search (with a irrelevant quote to try to back it up), desperately trying to support your claim that Google's revenue from Android was "0." Who wouldn't call you out when you fuck up like that? You certainly would if the shoe were on teh other foot, given that's exactly what you tried to do to the AC you responded to.

      Google makes money in the Android store, search, and who knows what else. They opened Android so that the could push toward an open mobile web, where they plan to dominate, but they aren't bleeding cash in order to do that.

    89. Re:Apple by 517714 · · Score: 1

      Make it oneself? $25.00? How declasse!

      --
      The US government have made it clear that we have no inalienable rights; any we do not defend vigorously will be taken.
    90. Re:Apple by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Well, given that I studied design as a subject to the level of a masters degree and have worked as a designer for the last 14 years I would question your assumption that I'm a design illiterate.

      I'm not going to get into the shininess issue because that wasn't what I was referring to when i made my comment.

      I can't be bothered to go into the no true Scotsman fallacy or the Stockholm syndrome but you may have heard of them. I get the feeling they may be relevant, from the strength of your response. For example, to characterise my feelings about this as hatred is downright bizarre, especially when I stated that my position has nothing to do with hostility, and was just an attempt to show you that to not care particularly about the way a thing is designed (the iphone) does not imply that you would have to be a design illiterate.

      This is just my opinion, but I think it's a bit sad that you have to take things to such extremes to protect your position and perhaps your psyche; it does suggest that something else is at play here. I'm sorry to say this but the way things look to me I'd have to say that you may well have issues with self-esteem. I think this is a factor that is usually at play when it comes to extreme expressions of consumerism. Unfortunately, fetishism of this kind isn't usually helped by attaching more and more ill feeling to those that don't share your attachment or even by buying less of the products that fuel it. But good luck anyhow.

    91. Re:Apple by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      While it is true, that there is no built in USB-port, it does have the camera connection kit for $30. Also, not to sound like an Apple-ad. The connection kit does other stuff was well. It has USB keyboard support, USB headset support, and it will of course power low-power USB devices like those really cool speakers for when you need a little more decibel output then the not-incredibly-great built-in speaker.

    92. Re:Apple by schon · · Score: 1

      Apple could not care less about market share, as long as their total sales and revenue keeps growing at the insane rate they have been.

      Wow. Just WOW .

      Let's see that one more time, with appropriate emphasis.

      Apple could not care less about market share, as long as their total sales and revenue keeps growing at the insane rate they have been.

      So.. Apple doesn't care about the single biggest indicator of sales and revenue, because their sales and revenue are currently growing?

      I sincerely doubt that Apple is as stupid as you seem to think they are.

    93. Re:Apple by StuartHankins · · Score: 1

      Isn't the Apple camera adapter like $30? You need a better example.

    94. Re:Apple by MightyYar · · Score: 2, Insightful

      once we combine that cookie with the next rom image ripped from a related newer phone.

      You should come up with a catchy name for this process, like "jailbreaking". :)

      --
      W..w..W - Willy Waterloo washes Warren Wiggins who is washing Waldo Woo.
    95. Re:Apple by MightyYar · · Score: 1

      many people choose style over substance without ever knowing that they're buying a very restricted device.

      To use my mother as a case study, I don't think she sees her iPhone as "restricted". It lets her check her email and read and play little games. Yes, her old phone did that, too - but Verizon had it so locked down and the functions were so obtuse that she never bothered. To many people, the iPhone is quite open compared to their previous phone.

      I don't have one - they are too big for me, but they certainly were the nicest internet-browsing phone out there when they were introduced. Now there is more competition, but it certainly doesn't come from MS or RIM. You have to buy a phone from a company you've never heard of before in order to get a comparable experience to the iPhone. Apple is one of the most recognizable brands on the planet - HTC... not so much. Hell, I'm pretty damn geeky and I find the process of selecting a cell phone pretty damned daunting.

      Anyway, my point was that it's not necessarily people choosing "style over substance" - there is also usability and brand awareness at work here. Does my mom like having something pretty and shiny? Sure! But she also knows the name "Apple" as a trusted brand and everyone who has one of these things raves about it.

      --
      W..w..W - Willy Waterloo washes Warren Wiggins who is washing Waldo Woo.
    96. Re:Apple by tverbeek · · Score: 1

      *Everyone* knew about the gen4 iPhone in January.

      They didn't know what it would look like or do, but they knew it would be coming, and (roughly) when. Hell, even with the *first* upgrade (the 3G) in 2008, sales slacked off a couple months before it was announced, because Apple-watchers knew that the company usually operates on an annual refresh cycle. In 2009 the release of a new phone in June it was an open secret that only Apple employees pretended not to know, because they weren't allowed to comment. By 2010, the solstice upgrade pattern has become common knowledge.

      --
      http://alternatives.rzero.com/
    97. Re:Apple by Dahamma · · Score: 1

      So.. Apple doesn't care about the single biggest indicator of sales and revenue, because their sales and revenue are currently growing?

      That's a lot of sarcasm for such little point. Market share is a HORRIBLE indicator of sales and revenue in this market.

      Linux workstation OS market share is about, what, 1.5%? And yet revenue is almost zero.

      MacOS has maybe 5% market share, and yet Apple's profits were higher than Microsoft's, and their market cap is getting close.

      Sure, a lot of that profit was from the iPhone. But then again, this article is about how Android's sales is now better than Apple's, and yet they have made almost zero significant revenue (and clearly no real profit).

      Apple isn't stupid. They realized the key to ridiculous profits is high margin with a solid customer base, not trying to capture the entire market for FREE.

    98. Re:Apple by Dahamma · · Score: 1

      Sure - you are right, the terms were wrong.

      Replace every reference to "revenue" in this thread with "profit", since in fact that was the OP's original question that I misstated from the start.

      My point (that has now been beaten into oblivion by inaccurate statements refuted by my inaccurate responses) still stands - Android makes no *significant* money (revenue OR profit) for Google, the iPhone is Apple's largest profit center. Sales and market share are largely irrelevant if they don't end up generating revenue and profit. Wake me up when Android makes $1.5B+ a quarter in net profit with a supposed losing market share.

    99. Re:Apple by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Why have outlandish features like USB when you can make people pay extra for completely sensible non rip-off extras like the "Apple iPad Camera Connection Kit"?

    100. Re:Apple by Mascot · · Score: 1

      It's a Slashdot post, not a dissertation. Of course it doesn't cover all angles.

    101. Re:Apple by Mascot · · Score: 1

      I'm not. But "oooh shiny!" has quite a different market appeal and potential compared to "oooh useful, AND shiny!". I didn't think I'd have to spell out the obvious around here.

    102. Re:Apple by Mascot · · Score: 1

      I disagree. This market is still the "ooh, shiny, gotto have" market. Not saying that can't sustain a product, but it's quite different from the market the iPhone entered.

    103. Re:Apple by Mascot · · Score: 1

      I have yet to speak to a single owner, or see a single review, that bought the iPad for a specific use. Besides, precisely, "oooh, shiny".

      I've seen reviewers take the thing to the street and let a dozen people play with it. All go "ahh cool!", then answer the question "what would you use it for?" with a shrug and "dunno".

      One would imagine that if a clear purpose for the device had been discovered, it would've trickled out into public knowledge.

      As I've said elsewhere, "oooh shiny!" might carry a product long term. But its story cannot be compared to that of the iPhone.

    104. Re:Apple by fredmosby · · Score: 1

      Are you saying people can't enjoy good design without a degree in industrial design? That's like saying someone can't appreciate a reliable car unless they're an auto mechanic.

    105. Re:Apple by tsotha · · Score: 3, Interesting

      They say it's selling well, but I'll be damned if I can figure out what it's for. Anything with a backlit display won't be as good an ereader as a Kindle. Too big to fit in your pocket, and no keyboard for serious business use. What are people doing with it?

    106. Re:Apple by GORby_ · · Score: 1

      No you don't... You only need to link it to a google account if you want to use the google apps. If you use another mail provider and an alternative market, there's no need for a google account.

    107. Re:Apple by cerberusss · · Score: 1

      the greasy, oily fingerprints all over it made me want to vomit. I'm not sure the iPad is for OCD types like me. :(

      I'm not sure a girlfriend is for OCD types like you!

      Tip: if you're paranoid about this, carry sanitizing hand wipes (Purell).

      --
      8 of 13 people found this answer helpful. Did you?
    108. Re:Apple by iserlohn · · Score: 1

      I'm sorry to burst your bubble, but anybody following the smartphone market would tell you that manufactures (and carriers) strike deals with Google for the branding and also for development and customisation of Android for their phones. The fact that it's OSS doesn't mean that Google doesn't make money on it, and in fact not all of it is OSS. The default Google apps bundle is proprietary, and Google licenses it out. The Cyanogenmod cease and desist incident comes to mind.

    109. Re:Apple by BasilBrush · · Score: 1

      similarly the overwhelming majority of the world's population does not have a degree in industrial design.

      1) I never specified INDUSTRIAL design. Sure, Apple's products have the best industrial design in the business. But that's only one aspect of design that makes Apple products the best on the market. But then there's software design - how the software looks, yes, but more importantly who the software works.And also the design of the infrastructure - for example that content: apps, music, movies is 0,1,2 clicks away.

      2) You don't need any design education to appreciate well designed products. Good design makes products understandable, easy and pleasant to use, it strips away annoyances that are common in other products, it's innovative, it's unobtrusive, it's honest. etc. I mentioned design illiterates because there are people here, like you, who don't understand intellectually WHY certain products are attractive to people. But people don't need design literacy to be drawn to those products which have been well designed.

      3) All large companies do marketing. And by it's nature, it's obvious what marketing they do. Any other company could do the same things for marketing as Apple does. And they could do it right now - marketing can be developed in days. Apple's marketing could be emulated in days. They have no advantage here. The answer is that marketing can only work in the longer term when a company has desirable products to sell.

    110. Re:Apple by Quantumstate · · Score: 1

      "Google denies a report that it is sharing advertising revenues derived from mobile applications on Android smartphones with carrier and handset partners. The search engine maintains the only revenue sharing it engages in is from paying carriers a cut of its search-related advertising sales."

      You haven't read your own quote. The quote clearly says that it is about sharing advertising revenues. This actually implies that they are receiving revenue from these sources and are keeping it for themselves rather than paying some of it to the people who make the phones.

    111. Re:Apple by 21mhz · · Score: 1

      You are saying there is another doohickey that you need to carry with you, not attached to the phone most of the time (as it can break and besides, it makes the phone look less sexy), or else you will have to ask around for it or find a store and spend $29 every time you need it?

      --
      My exception safety is -fno-exceptions.
    112. Re:Apple by mdarksbane · · Score: 1

      The matter of the fact is if the cage is big enough, most people don't feel locked in.

      The average person is apparently fine not having tethering and the 5-10 other "must have" flavors of apps you can't get on the app store. Or at least, the UI niceties outweigh it in their estimation. I'd actually be really curious to see a number on what portion of android users are actually installing software that is not allowed on the app store.

      We need to get over this idea that most consumer give a shit whether something is "open" or not. They care about usability, features, price, and form factor, in some random ordering. Openness is only interesting so far as it impacts those four.

    113. Re:Apple by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I love products that nickel and dime you for things you should be able to do without paying more. Thats why I love apple. I can't wait to pay more for the next MacOS service Pack.

    114. Re:Apple by SiChemist · · Score: 1

      Motorola is a pretty well-known company. And my Droid beats the hell out of any iPhone (IMO).

    115. Re:Apple by david_thornley · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Thing is, a superb programming environment is interesting to maybe 5% of the population, while a superb design is interesting to many, many more people. You don't have to be able to design, or even intelligently criticize design, to appreciate it.

      Of course, you can't quantify great design, which is why it tends to be discounted in places like this, but it does exist.

      --
      "When you have eliminated the unacceptable, whatever is left, however improbable, must be the truthiness" - Holmes
    116. Re:Apple by Fahrvergnuugen · · Score: 1

      The dock connector on the bottom of every iPhone / iPad / iPod is USB2 - along with other things like power, video, audio, etc. The problem though, is the host / client nature of USB. When the iPad is connected to your computer for syncing, its the client. When you connect your camera to it to download pictures, its the host. The question is, is that connector simply a pin-out change, or is there actually circuitry in it that allows the iPad to act as a host?

      --
      Kiteboarding Gear Mention slashdot and get 10% off!
    117. Re:Apple by MikeBabcock · · Score: 1

      Hopefully they're being bought by geeks who want to hack with it.

      Unfortunately I think they're being purchased by people who won't want to use them in six months.

      Either way, I'd much rather have an Android tablet with pretty widgets and existing multi-resolution app infrastructure.

      --
      - Michael T. Babcock (Yes, I blog)
    118. Re:Apple by shilly · · Score: 1

      Well, when I get mine, I'm going to get a powered wall mount in my kitchen. I'll use it as an all-in-one e-calendar, music player, photo display, tube map, ordinary map, etc etc. I'd like to have that handy. It would be really nice if I could also get all my applicances' manuals on there as well, so that when the boiler or washing machine plays up, I don't have to hunt around for it. Of course, being detachable, it'll be great to read Alice in Wonderland and similar stories with my 1-year old daughter and enjoy this amazing new combination of words, graphics and interactivity that she can enjoy in a way that's completely inconceivable with a mouse or trackpad-driven device. Oh, and it'll be nice to have a recipe book that plays videos / shows multiple angles to show me the really tricky bits, compiles instant shopping lists and allows one-click purchasing from Waitrose, etc etc.

    119. Re:Apple by Simon+Brooke · · Score: 1

      Android owners bitch because we haven't quite achieved the ideal of end users being able to build our phone's OS from scratch independently of the handset makers, carriers, and Google.

      <obama>Yes we can.</obama>

      --
      I'm old enough to remember when discussions on Slashdot were well informed.
    120. Re:Apple by teeker · · Score: 1

      Oh come on, you edit your pictures while you're still on holiday? Really? You must be fun to travel with.

      Clearly, you are not the target market. It's OK, don't be mad over it, just don't get one. My wife (for example), IS the target market. She edits photos when she gets home on a home computer. She likes having a useful browser laying on the coffee table without hauling a laptop around the house. She enjoys reading interactive books with the kids. She likes it PRECISELY because it is NOT a computer. Companies have been making tablets like you claim to want for 15+ years now. I had one in 1989 that was a 386sx and ran "Windows 3.1 for Pen" (no joke). Instead of complaining that Apple isn't filling the niche you want, why don't you support a company that IS and buy one of their devices already?

      Really, people, if you don't want one, don't get one, that's cool. What is not cool is assuming everybody that buys one is a drooling idiot and only bought it because it's stylish. Some people would like to do a few basic computing tasks sometimes WITHOUT using a real computer.

      Why are people so angry that Apple doesn't make what they want? Why are the same people who DIDN'T buy the tablet of their dreams 5 years ago when HP was making them, now ANGRY that Apple is making money on a similar but different product?

      --
      teeker
    121. Re:Apple by farble1670 · · Score: 1

      Google's Android revenue: 0.

      wrong.

      almost* every android devices locks the user into google search, gmail, google cal, google maps, google news, etc etc. okay, it doesn't lock them into it, but it works really well with those and at least i have not been at all tempted to look for alternatives.

      even if the users aren't gettings ads on the phone, they will be driven to google services on the desktop, where they will get ads and put $ in google's pocket. android is already nicely turning a profit in that regard.

      not to mention devices that ship with google services pay a licensing fee to google.

    122. Re:Apple by farble1670 · · Score: 1

      google services on the phone drives users to google services on their desktop / laptop. that's where it pays for itself.

      They only make money from good old search advertising revenue, which is really not Android specific anyway - they do the same thing on nearly every handset, including the iPhone.

      except the iphone and blackberry have already or are soon switching to bing search. oops.

      i don't know the numbers, but common sense says this is huge. the % of searches coming from smart phones is increasing exponentially will continue to do so for the foreseeable future.

    123. Re:Apple by farble1670 · · Score: 1

      ipad keyboard connection kit: $?
      ipad external storage connection kit: $?
      ipad mouse connection kit: $?
      ipad video out connection kit: $? ... and so on ...

      it all adds up.

    124. Re:Apple by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      idiots who pay $29 for a glorified USB cable? Penniless.

    125. Re:Apple by godawful · · Score: 1

      I bought one as I just needed something simple for browsing the web, email at home, don't need a laptop, like the form factor and can see the potential neat software people will be able to write for it..
      Granted, it's not for everyone, not really a workhorse by any stretch of the imagination, and 500+ dollars isn't disposable income for a decent amount of the population.
      But, it works for me.

      --
      Live EVERY week... Like it's Shark Week
    126. Re:Apple by zeroshade · · Score: 1

      It's like someone who can't read thinking that people who buy books do so because the covers are colourful.

      *sniff sniff* But that cover was really colorful. It made me happy.

    127. Re:Apple by zeroshade · · Score: 1

      once we combine that cookie with the next rom image ripped from a related newer phone.

      You should come up with a catchy name for this process, like "jailbreaking". :)

      And contrary to jailbreaking, rooting an Android phone is not illegal. =)

    128. Re:Apple by Teckla · · Score: 1

      I'm not sure a girlfriend is for OCD types like you!

      That's probably for the best, as my wife would probably get pretty upset if I had a girlfriend!

      Tip: if you're paranoid about this, carry sanitizing hand wipes (Purell).

      If I had an iPad, I'd probably clean it regularly with wipes (or whatever), and I probably wouldn't share it (due to the greasy, oily fingerprints issue).

    129. Re:Apple by Achromatic1978 · · Score: 1
      Spin is awesome. "iPhone is great. Revolutionize. Take over the world. Twist and turn, say it is biggest seller in some kind of smartphone market segment."

      Someone is selling more? "Oh, if we sell too much, it ruins our grand plan. Really!"

    130. Re:Apple by hazydave · · Score: 1

      Also, Apple will get a large boost in sales due to iPhone upgrades. Quite a substantial number of upgrades are on the same cycle as the phone releases. So yeah, right now, the numbers are down, artificially low, as everyone knows the new iPhone announcement is coming in June or July. Once it's out, there's an almost guaranteed spike in iPhone sales, as all of those with expired 2G contracts rush out to buy the new phone. At least, that's expected... if it really sucks, maybe there's less of that, but I'd still bet on Android carrying 2Q2010, with iPhone probably back in the #2 or even #1 slot for 2H2010.

      And that's just dandy, and not an Android problem. I think the fact Android hit #2 this early, and in the USA rather than globally, was kind of a surprise, if not a downright anomaly. Apple's situation helped, but it's definitely a sign that Android is growing, and growing fast. My personal opinion is that, unless Google manages to do something stupid on an epic scale, the dominance of Android over iPhoneOS is only a matter of when, not it. But with folks like China Mobile embracing Android, while Apple's still weak in much of the world outside the USA, I really expected this to be a global win before it hit stateside. And I still think it's going to flip-flop from quarter to quarter for awhile. Android will be more consistent, simply because there's a "hot new thing" introduced in the Android ecosystem every few months. But this will also allow Apple's sales spikes to have it keep winning sales from time to time, even after Android dominance is assured.

      Given Apple's various policies, it's impossible they're not fully aware that they can't hold their current #2 position in the US forever. They probably don't care... selling high priced PCs hasn't been at all bad to Apple's bottom line. They're not going to change that policy anytime soon in the devices market... iPhones will continue to compete with the high-end of the Android and other smart phone markets, while the Android world will encompass an increasingly wide range of devices, getting to low price points Apple will never even bother with.

      And in fact, Apple can't bother with those lower-end markets. It's the same reason Mercedes and BMW only get so cheap... they have to protect their hard won position as high-end models. Apple's selling much the same thing in the PC, PMP, Smartphone, and Tablet market as everyone else, but at twice the price, give or take. They're not about to give that up for increased market share... why would they? From a techie point of view, lots of us are bothered by this... I've been a little bothered by Apple since the 80s, as I was designing computers with the same parts for Commodore, delivering more performance, and Apple was still considered "high-end", even with often inferior hardware designs out of Apple.

      But from a sales and marketing viewpoint, you have to love how successful they've been at maintaining this market perception... and for decades. This is the reason Apple's flush with cash, while many PC companies and cellphone companies alike have been struggling.

      --
      -Dave Haynie
    131. Re:Apple by hazydave · · Score: 1

      It's a cool toy. That's it. Some article last week claimed that demographically, the iPad was bought largely by older, rich men. In short... yeah, it's "oooh... shiny...." all over again. Just as when the iPhone first came out... it wasn't even a PDA at that point, just a cellphone with a PMP and Web browser built-in.

      Having viewed the dozen-or-so keyboardless tablets shown off at CES this year, as well as the iPad two weeks later, I have an idea of why I'd like something like this, and particularly why it's not the iPad. But I'll need a valid reason.

      Smartphones are a valid reason to buy such a device. Before my Droid, I had a Palm Treo. The big advantage of the smartphone is that it's really not a phone, it's an application processor, a PDA, something that replaces a dozen small electronic devices. My Droid is a phone, sure, and it's just dandy as a phone. It's actually more than that, since it supports pretty much every form of modern communication: Skype, Twitter, IM, SMS, Facebook, interactive blogs, etc. About all that's missing is a front-facing camera for videoconferencing... and those are coming in the newer phones. Next time an important new form of communications comes along, there's just a new app to download.

      It also replaces, and sometimes extends, the slew of small devices I'm likely to carry. It does the MP3 player/PMP thing, but does it better than any MP3 player or PMP I've had. First of all, a better-than-SD screen just rocks for video, and network access to YouTube and other sources make it more useful for video than, say, a plain old iPod. Same with music... the MP3 player function is dandy, but there fact of apps means you have better alternatives. On the Droid, I use Museek for listening to locally stored music... it adapts to my current mood. Or Pandora and other "internet radio" options... I recently drove from South Jersey to Boston and back, with Pandora running the whole way, perfectly glitch-free.

      Next is GPS.. this is a better GPS than many units I've owned, even if you never use the live satellite overlays. There may be issues if you lose the network, but that generally doesn't happen. It's also a functional pocket camera and camcorder. No, it's no replacement for my Canon EOS or Panasonic HMC40, but since I have it anyway, it's ok. Video on this device is actually better than on many consumery SD camcorders... sure, the audio is just as bad if not worse, but again, it's one more device function.

      I get more, via apps. I used to carry around one of those Sony mini-tape recorders, for writing ideas. I used voice notes on the Treo, these days I have both voice and text notes, and automatic, invisible sync to my PC via Evernote.. again, not just the old function, but an improved version of that old function. It's also a fully functional flashlight, a guitar tuner, a games machines, a ssh client, etc.

      Then, of course, email and web... the web browser is good enough that, for a simple "hey, I want to check that out" kind of use, I don't bother with a PC anymore... the phone's always here. I have email set up though my server to go to the phone and the PC, and of course, work email via the crufty Microsoft stuff works as well as anywhere, I guess.

      So... on to the tablet. I need a number of larger format devices replaced by the tablet, or I'm not interested. What could these devices be? Well, some of that's maybe basic laptop stuff.... if I'd take this tablet where I wouldn't take the laptop, but still get some needed functionality, I might find that useful. Doing CAD and Video, I'm always going to have a desktop, so for me, a functional enough tablet might replace the laptop entirely.

      First thing I might drag along -- portable video player. I have a portable DVD player, I might like a portable Blu-Ray player to replace it, but given enough function in a tablet, maybe that'll do the job. The big problem there is storage... most of these don't have a single Blu-Ray's worth of storage. But if you can use SDHC/SDXC cards or USB sticks/hard drives, op

      --
      -Dave Haynie
    132. Re:Apple by hazydave · · Score: 1

      Google didn't do Android to make a vast fortune selling smart phones. Their primary concern was to ensure their primary profit center, internet search, extended to small devices. Given that, prior to Android, every smart phone platform was proprietary and closed source (some, like Symbian, have gone open source since then), it was easy to believe that at least, default search could leave them out. In fact, that's just what happened ... RIM made a search deal with Microsoft, and overnight, Blackberries started using Bing! as their default search engine.

      Google is actually making money on Android, via search. In fact, depending on just how they package Android, some of the carriers are getting profit sharing from Google based on that income.

      Search will absolutely become increasingly important on mobile devices. Things like Google Goggles, the various tools for finding things in unfamiliar areas, other augmented reality toys, they all show pretty clearly that this is going to replace a great deal of the stuff people once did on the desktop. Google was smart enough to not only see this coming, but release Android in such a way that ensured it would eventually dominate the small device market.

      --
      -Dave Haynie
    133. Re:Apple by MightyYar · · Score: 1

      Motorola is new to the 'Droid game, and indeed I'd wager that their name is a big reason for the surge in Android device sales.

      --
      W..w..W - Willy Waterloo washes Warren Wiggins who is washing Waldo Woo.
  2. surprising? by bsDaemon · · Score: 2, Insightful

    I, for one, am shocked, that many products from several sources on various carriers have collectively outsold a single product available on a single carrier that doesn't even have the most market share. Utterly amazing, isn't it? /sarcasm

    1. Re:surprising? by calmofthestorm · · Score: 1

      Mindshare and pressshare are magical things.

      --
      93rd rule of Slashdot: No matter how obvious my sarcasm is, my comment will be taken seriously by someone.
    2. Re:surprising? by bsDaemon · · Score: 3, Insightful

      yeah, but I'm not switching to AT&T just to get an iPhone. No one I know but the two people with iPhones has AT&T, the coverage sucks most of the places I am most of the time, etc. Is the iPhone cool? Sure. Is it switch to AT&T cool? Hell no.

    3. Re:surprising? by jo42 · · Score: 1

      It's magical! It's Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious!!

      And none of those devices run Flash natively. Whaddafugdyaknow...

    4. Re:surprising? by ogm · · Score: 4, Insightful

      When a company makes a business decision to be sole manufacturer of a product, and not to license it to anybody, it is not a surprise that a relatively open product out-sells it. Even when that single product happens to have at least 10 similar yet different versions.

    5. Re:surprising? by Hognoxious · · Score: 2, Funny

      Mindshare and pressshare are magical things.

      They pale into insignificance compared to assshare.

      Three Ss in sucesssion? is that permisssible?

      --
      Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
    6. Re:surprising? by xaxa · · Score: 1, Funny

      Mindshare and pressshare are magical things.

      They pale into insignificance compared to assshare.

      Three Ss in sucesssion? is that permisssible?

      Sssh, you.

    7. Re:surprising? by rainmouse · · Score: 5, Funny

      Apple sales reps will be boycotting mobile phone shops dressed in grey hoodies advising people "These are not the droids you are looking for."

    8. Re:surprising? by Alien1024 · · Score: 2, Interesting

      I don't live in the US. Isn't it perfectly possible to buy an unlocked iPhone there and use it on whatever network the phone supports...? Wow

    9. Re:surprising? by KharmaWidow · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Seriously. One phone on one carrier has 21% of the market while, while a dozen other phones on several different carriers have 28% of the market... Many, they had to give away for free!

      I think Apple still wins. And definitely AT&T wins since it sells Apple, Android, and BlackBerry.

    10. Re:surprising? by steelfood · · Score: 2, Informative

      To be fair, AT&T has incredible 2G coverage. You might have trouble making calls in population centers, but they do cover as much of the remote and rural as Verizon.

      It's their 3G that's sorely lacking, which for smartphones is a problem, but not for phones under ordinary data-less plans.

      --
      "If a nation expects to be ignorant and free in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be."
    11. Re:surprising? by TooMuchToDo · · Score: 1

      THIS! I wanted an iPhone, but wouldn't touch AT&T so I got a Nexus One on T-Mobile (~17Mbps 3G uncongested network = Awesome). Now I'd like to get a 3G iPad, but again, only on AT&T (yes, yes, I know it's not locked and I can put a T-Mobile SIM in it, but I won't get 3G speeds). Instead, I'll wait for an Android tablet from Google.

    12. Re:surprising? by C_Kode · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Why sarcasm? Apple put themselves in this position. Just like Google put themselves in the same position with the Nexus One. Of course, Google didn' lock themselves out of other Smartphone markets the way Apple did. Greed can make you a lot of money, but it can also hamper you in the worst possible way.

      Apple wants complete and utter vendor lock-in. If it wants that, it will remain forever only a small niche market. Even if it produces great products.

    13. Re:surprising? by bkaul01 · · Score: 5, Interesting

      I dunno ... I have AT&T and I generally still have 1-2 bars of signal in places where my friends with iPhones drop coverage. I think it's more a sucky antenna issue than a bad coverage issue, at least around here.

    14. Re:surprising? by bsDaemon · · Score: 1

      There is somewhat of a problem with the whole AT&T being pretty much the only GSM carrier in the US. I think T-Mobile might also be GSM, but I'm not sure. T-Mobile is a totally ghetto carrier, and I'd go back to having a land line before switching to them. Everything else is on CDMA. I've heard rumblings that the 3GS is supposed to be dual-band CDMA/GSM, but whether or not its actually usable is another story. But, basically, for an unlocked iPhone to be of any use, it'd have to support 3G CDMA, like BlackBerry or Droid on Verizon

    15. Re:surprising? by alta · · Score: 1

      Yes, and considering that many android devices are going for 'free', yet people still are willing to pay a pretty penny to get into an iphone, I don't think apple's loosing out too much here.

      --
      Do not meddle in the affairs of sysadmins, for they are subtle, and quick to anger.
    16. Re:surprising? by L3370 · · Score: 0

      Yes...Great news hearing their android marketshare has increased. Now compare profitability... Has that changed any?

    17. Re:surprising? by Hadlock · · Score: 2, Insightful

      The problem, however, is that the vast majority of the population lives in urban centers. Also, the percentage of the population that can afford smartphones is larger in urban population centers than in rural areas. Which is a GREAT deal if you're of the tiny, tiny fraction of the population that both lives in remote rural areas, have good reception, and can afford an iPhone.
       
      My technophobe mother just bought a jailbroken iPhone off ebay to use with her tmobile account

      --
      moox. for a new generation.
    18. Re:surprising? by sznupi · · Score: 2, Informative

      By your logic, a mobile OS with, say, 98% of marketshare would "lose" to Apple if that 98% was uniformly distributed across 100 devices, and Apple had only 1%.

      --
      One that hath name thou can not otter
    19. Re:surprising? by sznupi · · Score: 1

      One would hope magical thinking would greadually fade away with time, in places where it's still present.

      --
      One that hath name thou can not otter
    20. Re:surprising? by masdog · · Score: 1

      But they're not really going "for free." You're paying for it, but you're paying for it over the life of the contract and data plan instead of a lump sum up front. I think the AT&T now uses this model with the newer iPhones as well, but not to the same extent as other carriers with other smartphones.

    21. Re:surprising? by fluffernutter · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Why would any customer care if it is profitable or not? The key question for the customer is if it is SUSTAINABLE and I think with Android it definitely is.

      --
      Laws are rules for the court, but merely a bottom bar to hit for life. Think beyond laws in your actions always.
    22. Re:surprising? by SchroedingersCat · · Score: 1

      Yeah, like WinMo and Palm from several sources on various carriers are outselling iPhone as well. But you are right, it is not surprising at all - majority of people do not like walled gardens after all.

    23. Re:surprising? by fermion · · Score: 1
      I am amazed that the iPhone does so well as the survey appears to be biased to a provider that does not even sell the iphone.

      Verizon buy-one-get-one-free promotion for all of its smartphones as a major factor in the first quarter numbers.

      NPD's data comes from self-reported online consumer surveys -- not actual sales numbers -- which means there's the potential for some difference.

      Given that everyone wants an iPhone, some may say they have one even if they never get closer than their daily visit to the ATT store. OTOH, since Verizon is giving smart phones away in an effort to inflate the non-Apple smart phone numbers, it it not surprising that the phones giving away for free are surpassing the fantasy phones that one has to pay for.

      --
      "She's a scientist and a lesbian. She's not going to let it slide." Orphan Black
    24. Re:surprising? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I use an unlocked Iphone without AT&T and am quite happy with it. I use Iwireless (T-mobile affiliate), but no 3G till this summer. Even ATT didn't have 3G in my area until recently.

    25. Re:surprising? by rev_sanchez · · Score: 1

      Apple chose to only sell under one carrier and while the iPhone is clearly a very successful product they risk losing developers to a platform with more customers and a less obnoxious development situation.

      --
      If you didn't come to party don't bother knocking on my door. Prince '1999'
    26. Re:surprising? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yes and no for the same reason you cannot buy the Google Nexus for TMobile and use it with full functionality on AT&T. Their 3G networks are on different frequencies and the devices only support the frequency for one carrier.

    27. Re:surprising? by Optic7 · · Score: 1

      T-Mobile is in fact GSM as well. Interesting that you would say they are ghetto though. I love their service and how they do business, and I believe they are supposed to be the carrier with the best customer satisfaction. Maybe the coverage is bad in your area?

    28. Re:surprising? by sznupi · · Score: 2, Insightful

      "I dislike a product that is ripping me off less", got it.

      --
      One that hath name thou can not otter
    29. Re:surprising? by cyfer2000 · · Score: 1

      Plus all the gizmodo.com effect.

      --
      There is a spark in every single flame bait point.
    30. Re:surprising? by badboy_tw2002 · · Score: 1

      I don't think whether you're using the data network matters or not. AT&Ts service is abysmal - what good is coverage if you can't use it? I almost always have a signal, yes, but I'll drop a call 3 times sometimes before I'm done. I honestly think the Iphone had something to do with this, as prior to the 3G iphone launch service was a lot better (and why I switched from Sprint in the first place). I'm guessing they took the money from all those new customers but didn't bother investing in upgrading the service. Anyways, just waiting for the first 4G/wimax rollouts to hit my area so I can kiss them goodbye for good.

    31. Re:surprising? by mcvos · · Score: 1

      The iPhone definitely has bad reception. My iPhone had no signal in areas where my Milestone with the same subscription has excellent reception.

    32. Re:surprising? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      No. If you buy an iPhone in the US you have to be on AT&T. The clue there is "buy in the US". Buy outside the US and it's unlocked, well I've heard it works but have never seen it.

    33. Re:surprising? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      When you say single product, are you referring to the iphone gen 1, 2, 3g, or 3gs?

    34. Re:surprising? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Don't forget this was reported during what should be the annual lull in iPhone sales. A couple of weeks ago a supposed iPhone 4g was found and reported by everybody, and at the end of June the iPhone 4g will likely be announced and/or released. Anybody who knows Apple at all is not in the market for an iPhone 3gs right now because even if they wanted a 3gs, when the 4g is officially announced, the 3gs will drop in price.

    35. Re:surprising? by LordVader717 · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Apple is also the market leader in PC sales by that standard. And Sony's beat the crap out of VHS manufacturers, after all they were the only ones who made Betamax recorders.

    36. Re:surprising? by alta · · Score: 1

      That's why I put "for free" in quotes... Yeah, it's considered the 'free phone' but you're going to pay for it regardless. But under almost all situations you would pay the same monthly even if you brought your own phone or you got their absolute cheapest piece of crap. Maybe you'd get out of a 2 year contract if your lucky.

      But the iphone doesn't have a "for free" version. The best they have is $99, still not free but half what it was for the first 2 years.

      Now, for full disclosure I have the FIRST iphone. It still runs the most current OS. I paid $$$ for mine, and it's jailbroken/unlocked. I am not/will not pay $30 for data. I'm not about to pay for internet access for the house, then again for my phone, and again for my wife, and again for an ipad...

      I hope eventually I'll be able to pay a decent price for all of those things to have internet, but right now $30 each isn't it. Why would I want to sit on my couch with my wife and have 4 different ways to access the internet (and 4 Bills to pay for it)

      --
      Do not meddle in the affairs of sysadmins, for they are subtle, and quick to anger.
    37. Re:surprising? by rfuilrez · · Score: 1

      You can use it on T-Mobile, but the 3G is a different frequency from ATT to TMobile, and thus not supported. So you'd only get 2G speeds with the internet. Which let's face it, thats the whole reason for a phone like these anyhow.

    38. Re:surprising? by jipn4 · · Score: 1

      Same here: Nokias get excellent reception in areas where iPhone doesn't. WiFi is also weird on the iPhone and iPad.

    39. Re:surprising? by dgatwood · · Score: 1

      Other way around. AT&T works well in population centers. It is terrible in rural areas compared with Verizon. My parents regularly travel a 30 mile stretch of major 4-lane highway in TN with solid Verizon coverage and no AT&T coverage whatsoever. Here in California, when you get up into the hills, Verizon works, AT&T doesn't. And so on. AT&T's 2G coverage is anything but incredible. Their 3G coverage is simply an abomination, so people are so shellshocked that the 2G coverage seems great by comparison....

      AT&T's 3G coverage works exclusively in major population centers; people have problems because AT&T's 3G coverage doesn't fail over to 2G very well. Disable 3G voice and you'll have many fewer dropped calls and a much better overall experience.

      --

      Check out my sci-fi/humor trilogy at PatriotsBooks.

    40. Re:surprising? by poetmatt · · Score: 1

      umm, smartphone marketshare has been significantly increasing lately. I don't even remember what the numbers are, but if I recall it was like 50% or 75% of phones nowadays?

      Plus, 4g is coming. By the time AT&T has good 3g coverage, well, won't happen. AT&T's spending is influenced by their profits. Since profits are a bit down, imagine how their spending in 3g and such is as far as priority.

    41. Re:surprising? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      By your logic the PC isn't kicking the ever loving crap out of Apple's marketshare.

      "OH MY, the PC market has to have thousands of different models on a half-dozen major manufacturers(Dell, HP, Sony, Acer, Asus, Lenovo) to beat Apple's 6 models!"

      Sorry, that logic is a load of crap. PC is ~92% of the market, Apple is ~5%

      Apple put themselves on one carrier by choice.

      I recently swapped from AT&T after 7 years as a customer because their service quality was utter junk. Dropped calls, email never coming in, websites that would take eons to load. I had a Razr, Blackberry 8800, Touch Pro, Touch Pro 2 on AT&T and they all suffered similarly in call quality and dropped calls. I would never even consider an iPhone until they move to another carrier

      I'm now on Verizon using a Droid Incredible and I couldn't be happier. The service is perfect, nary a dropped call and data is fast and reliable and call quality is fantastic.

      Bottom line is, Apple is locked in with AT&T by choice and they've really hit the saturation point. Everyone who wants an iPhone, pretty much has one by this point.

      Android is a rapidly maturing platform with a lot of options. You have various form factors, screen sizes, keyboards or just touchscreen, various power devices from near feature phone to superphones like the Droid Incredible or Sprint Evo. There is probably an Android device that suits everyone's needs in hardware / software. Its the massive number of choices that i think lead more customers down the android path. HTC's YOU campaign is spot on.

    42. Re:surprising? by w3woody · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Y'all know a jailbroken iPhone on T-Mobile will only run EDGE, not 3G, right? So debates about how bad AT&T's 3G service is, so I'm going to use my iPhone on T-Mobile are a bit silly, right?

      (Not saying that Hadlock is saying this; just making the observation.)

    43. Re:surprising? by jeffmeden · · Score: 1

      It's a good thing you are being sarcastic, if you were serious you would sound pretty stupid. The iPhone has been sold in three completely different hardware generations in its three and a half year history (all of which are still in use) and has had a dozen or so flavors with varying sizes of onboard memory. Meanwhile (in more recent history), Android has been available for about a year and a half, almost all sales of which were on four hardware revisions from two makers on two carriers, and yet its footprint has eclipsed Apple who had a two year head start.

      It sure is an apples to apples comparison! /sarcasm

    44. Re:surprising? by h4rr4r · · Score: 1

      Huge parts of the country do not have good coverage with T-mobile. I wanted to move to them but lack of good coverage and no android 2.0 phones meant I was sticking with verizon.

    45. Re:surprising? by h4rr4r · · Score: 1

      Everyone wants an iPhone?
      Really?

      I am very happy with my droid and would not take an iPhone if you paid me.

    46. Re:surprising? by L3370 · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Customers may not care, but I'm sure Google itself cares. Google is a money making business, so sooner or later Android has to make money for them or they will need to drop it. If Google can't prove its a profitable platform, then cell phone manufacturers will have less desire to build products for Android, as they too are in the business of making money.

      Customers may love Android (and they do) but it has to be a proven moneymaker for it to continue.

    47. Re:surprising? by Alien1024 · · Score: 1

      2G speeds with the internet. Which let's face it, thats the whole reason for a phone like these anyhow.

      By "a phone like these" do you mean the iPhone, or smart phones in general?

      More to the point, how well does Google Maps turn-by-turn navigation work on 2G speeds? Here it works like a charm on 3G, even with the fancy satellite view enabled, but I cringe at the idea of trying that on 2G.

    48. Re:surprising? by babyrat · · Score: 1

      Other way around. AT&T works well in population centers.

      Unless that population center is Phoenix...I just switched back to Verizon after 2 years of AT&T...what a difference.

      And the Incredible vs iPhone? No contest...Incredible wins by a long shot (but to be expected comparing it to a year old iPhone)

    49. Re:surprising? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      How do you DARE to mention that any part of the iPhone sucks!!? Every iAntenna on iPhones is iHandcrafted by Jobs himslef, made of over 9000% unobtanium and hypetanium alloys, every iAntenna is then cured 7 moolight nights in the virgin pubic zone of a 20yo liberal arts college student. Are you telling me any other phone can match those specification, thats crazy talk.

      Even then, one signal bar on an iPhone it's all thats is required to elevate the SETI detection capabilities by ten fold. iPhone users actually have found ET life but were still debating how to told the news to you unwashed masses of non iProduct users.

      Here, my iPhone pooped something.. it's a Nokia N900, take it!

    50. Re:surprising? by babyrat · · Score: 4, Insightful

      OTOH, since Verizon is giving smart phones away in an effort to inflate the non-Apple smart phone numbers,

      Verizon is giving away phones to get more 2 year, $70/month contracts

    51. Re:surprising? by h4rr4r · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Google also wants to protect itself from an iphone only world. Sometimes products need not make money directly.

    52. Re:surprising? by KharmaWidow · · Score: 0

      Well, you make a very good point. Although, there is a difference from the VHS/Betamax 'war' which is all the smart phone makers are following Apple's design as well as their business strategy. The VHS strategy was 180-degrees from Betamax.

      Nor is there a significant difference in the content available to smart phones. Cost and availability of content is what defined the VHS/Betamax war - as well as the Blu-ray/HD war. Hardware and carrier costs are not radically different with smart phones when they have comparable features.

    53. Re:surprising? by ElNotto · · Score: 1

      Three Ss in sucesssion? is that permisssible?

      Actually, the way you spelled it has four Ss ;)

    54. Re:surprising? by Yvanhoe · · Score: 1

      Apple will win exactly in the same way as the Mac won vs the PC.

      --
      The Wise adapts himself to the world. The Fool adapts the world to himself. Therefore, all progress depends on the Fool.
    55. Re:surprising? by dave562 · · Score: 1

      I was an AT&T customer long before the iPhone showed up and their call quality sucked back then. The only thing that the iPhone arrival changed was that their data service fell to the save levels of suckitude as their voice service. When EDGE was the best wireless data solution available, AT&T was actually better than Verizon (in Los Angeles, CA).

    56. Re:surprising? by KharmaWidow · · Score: 0

      Also, my statement "Apple still wins" refers to one company has 21% of the revenue pie, while the others are dividing 28% in to smaller pieces.

      Revenue is what the game is all about.

    57. Re:surprising? by jo_ham · · Score: 1

      I don;t have a Droid (I have an iPhone) but from what I understand from looking (I may be in the market soon) the google app caches the data it needs for the whole route when it has a decent connection, so unless you alter the route or set it when out of a wifi hotspot, it could be pretty sluggish. As long as it can retrieve data more quickly than you can drive, I assume it would be fine - better hope you get caught in traffic.

    58. Re:surprising? by Namarrgon · · Score: 1

      Surprising? No, though catching up to Apple's commanding lead in little more than a year is noteworthy.

      But yeah, that an open platform should lead to a greater choice of hardware and carriers and thus greater sales than a closed platform, is hardly a shock.

      --
      Why would anyone engrave "Elbereth"?
    59. Re:surprising? by nurb432 · · Score: 1

      Ya, but the average guy wont understand that and think its something special.

      and 2 for 1 didnt hurt either..

      --
      ---- Booth was a patriot ----
    60. Re:surprising? by rogabean · · Score: 1

      I can't speak of Google Maps turn by turn, but I have other turn by turn navigation software that works just fine on my iPhone with T-Mobile's 2G speed. Honestly I went from getting 3G on an Android phone to 2G on the iPhone and haven't missed the extra speed at all unless I'm downloading a really large file. In which case I just wait till I find a WiFi connection. *disclaimer I am comparing T-Mobiles 3G (~1000kbps) to 2G (~200kbps). I can't speak for ATT's 3G. It seems T-Mobile has a cap on their 3G.

      --
      "why don't you just slip into something more comfortable...like a coma!"
    61. Re:surprising? by Mordok-DestroyerOfWo · · Score: 1

      I've been surprisingly happy with T-Mobile. I get 3G in even the more rural areas of Northern Nevada and don't have the number of dropped calls my iPhone friends have. I can roam on AT&T's network if need be since they're both GSM. The only issue I've ever had was the Highway 95 corridor from Vegas to Fallon where I had almost no coverage the entire way.

      --
      "Never let your sense of morals prevent you from doing what is right" - Salvor Hardin
    62. Re:surprising? by KZigurs · · Score: 1

      Take a look at actual revenues made, I suspect you'll find those numbers revealing ;)

    63. Re:surprising? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      According to your logic, Linux should be dominating the personal computer market. Yet, it isn't. Time will tell if the various versions of Android out there will remain sustainable. OS and application upgrades in general have to deal with all the different hardware available, and their quirks.

    64. Re:surprising? by Mordok-DestroyerOfWo · · Score: 2, Insightful

      I'm not entirely sure that Apple wants ubiquity in the marketplace. They sell a premium product. Could Porsche lower their prices so that more people could afford them? Of course they could, but they sell style along with a premium automobile. It's the same with Apple. Personally I choose functionality over style every time which is why I own a G1 and will upgrade to another Android phone soon.

      --
      "Never let your sense of morals prevent you from doing what is right" - Salvor Hardin
    65. Re:surprising? by L3370 · · Score: 1

      True. There is much more at stake than just cash for google.

      I only harp on this because Google is notorious for developing/funding great products and services that fail to monetize. For now, thats completely fine as their advertising business creates enough cash to keep their business going. It gives them the freedom to take risks, experiment and innovate..and be nice. But they can't continue like this forever. Eventually another competitor will sneak in on Google's territory. When that happens Google will need other *proven* revenue streams.

      Currently, Android OS is somewhat a benevolent project here to spread "goodness" to all. Hopefully that can translate into profit for such an amazing company before they must resort to "evil" money hungry tactics to survive.

    66. Re:surprising? by MobyDisk · · Score: 3, Interesting

      The phone definitely matters. Just yesterday I noticed that an iPhone 3GS gets 3 bars in my house and an iPhone 3G gets 0 - 1.

    67. Re:surprising? by sznupi · · Score: 1

      Now even close:

      Overall, 45.4 million people in the U.S. owned smartphones at the end of February, up 21% from the previous three months. Smartphones are the fastest growing segment of the mobile phone market, which comprised 234 million subscribers in the U.S. at the end of February, ComScore said.

      Around 20% now probably. Perhaps many "enthusiasts" not realising this is one of the reasons why they think Apple (with 20-something %...of 20%) is so big in mobile phone market. That's even more true worldwide (where I would be surpised if smartphones are even 10%; and where Apple enjoys much smaller part of that 10%)
      Also probably a reason for not realising how big Nokia (37% of all mobile phones, half of global smartphones), Samsung (20% of total) or LG (10%) really are...

      --
      One that hath name thou can not otter
    68. Re:surprising? by Alien1024 · · Score: 1

      On my modest HTC Tattoo (Android 1.6) data and routes are downloaded pretty quickly on 3G. When you alter the route it recalculates it in a breeze. It's almost as fast as good offline navigators such as Tomtom or Copilot.

    69. Re:surprising? by svtdragon · · Score: 2, Insightful

      I believe so, as the alternative, "asshare," is read by my internal monologue as "ass-hare" which, while it sounds like "ass hair," is spelled like a cousin of "ass rabbit" and that just seems to me like a couple steps up from a gerbil, and neither of those is something I want to contemplate in the context of smartphones.

      Am I the only one imagining 3G gerbils now?

    70. Re:surprising? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Why would any customer care if it is profitable or not?

      Because paying at least twice the markup for the i's vs anything else make it feel special ;)

    71. Re:surprising? by devjj · · Score: 1

      Not to mention you have to consider which Android people are actually getting. Lots of brand new devices are sold _today_ that still have 1.5 and 1.6 (read: Sprint's Android phones). Those devices don't have any of the latest built-in features, and apps targeting the newer SDKs don't work. This is another reason why Flash coming to Android won't mean the end of Adobe's problems. If Flash only works on 2.1+ devices, and most existing devices are 2.0 and lower with no upgrade path in sight, Adobe has to wait for an entire generation of existing users to upgrade. If Apple adds a Verizon iPhone, it's pretty much game over for Flash. I'm willing to bet - although it's entirely conjecture - that many current Verizon Android users will jump ship should iPhone become an option.

    72. Re:surprising? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

      Funny joke, but I think you mean picketing. To boycott is to personally avoid patronizing the store. To picket is to stand outside the store demonstrating, especially to ask others to boycott the store.

    73. Re:surprising? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      This is in the UK but my housemate can't get coverage indoors on the iphone when everyone else can on theirs ironically leading to greater use of the landline!

    74. Re:surprising? by amRadioHed · · Score: 1

      Ghetto is almost entirely unlike how I would describe T-Mobile, unless you consider free tethering, reasonably priced plans, and unlocked phones to be ghetto.

      --
      We hope your rules and wisdom choke you / Now we are one in everlasting peace
    75. Re:surprising? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The only reason Apple is tied to AT&T is because they were the only ones who would agree to work with Apple. You think Apple wants to be stuck with one carrier? Then why did they go with GSM and why haven't they restricted carriers more often internationally?

    76. Re:surprising? by EXrider · · Score: 3, Informative

      but they do cover as much of the remote and rural as Verizon.

      I don't know what rural areas you're basing your observations on. But I've personally observed Verzon > AT&T in rural OH, IN, KY, WV, and TN in every instance.

      --
      grep -iw skynet /etc/services
    77. Re:surprising? by c_forq · · Score: 1

      I think you are a little bit off target. They don't want to be a luxury brand, but they want to sell to people with disposable income. They want someone who is willing to buy midgrade fuel and a fuel additive every know and then. I think the problem is there is an overlap of the affluent and trendsetters/fashion, and the iPhone's success is at appearing premium is due to these people - not due to Apple (if you are looking to stand out or have a phone out of reach to the average plebe the N900 would be a better choice).

      --
      Computers allow humans to make mistakes at the fastest speeds known, with the possible exception of tequila and handguns
    78. Re:surprising? by b4k3d+b34nz · · Score: 1

      Verizon has excellent 3G coverage, and I am in a remote rural area. Sure, I may be a rarity but if I had an iPhone it would be unusable for data except in my house over wifi.

      --
      Grammar Lesson: you're is a contraction of "you are"; your means you possess something; yore means days gone by.
    79. Re:surprising? by shmlco · · Score: 1

      'Course, they could win the same way they won in the MP3 player market....

      Time will tell.

      --
      Any sect, cult, or religion will legislate its creed into law if it acquires the political power to do so.
    80. Re:surprising? by scot4875 · · Score: 1

      The funny thing is that Porsche at least sells a vehicle that (could) drive fast, if speed limit laws didn't prevent it.

      Apple sells the same crap, assembled by the same Chinese laborers, in the same Chinese factories, as everyone else does. They just make sure to have a "Designed by Apple in California" as the first thing seen when their customers open their boxes to help them buy into the idea that the device with no replaceable battery and severe lack of standard ports is a "premium" device.

      I mean, it's got rounded corners and a brushed aluminum case -- it has to be good, right?

      (Disclaimer: I own a 17" i5 MacBook Pro. My employer bought it for me. It's no better than any other 17" quad-core notebook on the market, but it is 300% more expensive.)

      --
      Jesus was a liberal
    81. Re:surprising? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I don't live in the US. Isn't it perfectly possible to buy an unlocked iPhone there and use it on whatever network the phone supports...? Wow

      Because of the retarded way the mobile phone industry is run here, the only carrier that could possibly work with the iPhone is T-Mobile -- but then only with EDGE instead of 3G since they use different frequencies for that.

      Since good internet connectivity is one of the selling points of the iPhone, no, you could buy an unlocked iPhone and then use it on... AT&T.

    82. Re:surprising? by ebuck · · Score: 1

      Problems with coverage in population centers shouldn't be discounted, because it's the population that uses the phones.

    83. Re:surprising? by kavanpdx · · Score: 1

      Err? It's about the openness and the software quality of the Android platform that made the difference.

    84. Re:surprising? by tomhudson · · Score: 1

      The two statistics aren't inconsistent - more than 75% of all phones sold now are smartphones - but it's going to take 3-4 years to clear out the installed base of ordinary cell phones. Of course, this presupposes that you'll even be able to buy a non-smartphone a couple of years from now without paying extra for that "feature".

    85. Re:surprising? by tomhudson · · Score: 2, Funny

      I believe so, as the alternative, "asshare," is read by my internal monologue as "ass-hare" which, while it sounds like "ass hair," is spelled like a cousin of "ass rabbit" and that just seems to me like a couple steps up from a gerbil, and neither of those is something I want to contemplate in the context of smartphones.

      Come on, you mean to say that you've never been tempted to tell someone to shove their iPhone up their iAss?

      And for extra goodness, then say "Can you hear me now?"

    86. Re:surprising? by b4k3d+b34nz · · Score: 1

      I've observed that it downloads the route, and from there uses GPS only, except for when you change the zoom level or go to top-level view instead of 3/4th view. 2G speeds are not that bad for such small amounts of data though, especially if you only need 1 or 2 images a minute.

      --
      Grammar Lesson: you're is a contraction of "you are"; your means you possess something; yore means days gone by.
    87. Re:surprising? by tomhudson · · Score: 1

      Apple will win exactly in the same way as the Mac won vs the PC.

      iPhone: "Hi, I'm and iPhone. Who are you?"

      Android: "DROID."

      iPhone: "What are you doing here?"

      Android: "Prepare to die, C3PO clone."

      iPhone: "There's no need to be rude, you know."

      Android: "All your user base are belong to us."

      Android: ZAPP!

      Android: "The Jobs Star has been destroyed!"

    88. Re:surprising? by tomhudson · · Score: 0, Flamebait

      ... which is why they don't sell to teenaged kids ... oh wait, they do. The iPhone has gone from "Premium Niche Product" to mass-marketed ho-hum under-performing crap quicker than any other product in history. And the iPhone 4g that's coming out is WAY behind the Evo 4g. Within the year, Apple will be seen as behind the times.

    89. Re:surprising? by Bill_the_Engineer · · Score: 1

      The key question for the customer is if it is SUSTAINABLE and I think with Android it definitely is.

      Definitely? Sustainable for WHO? Sure being open-source makes it sustainable after Google drops it for the next big thing at Google.

      Does being open source benefit the average consumer? I think it does.

      Will this continued development be easily accessible to the average consumer? Maybe not.

      Does it matter? Absolutely not.

      Why? The consumer will change phones and will use the OS that comes with it.

      The phone market is not the same as the computer market. When you buy a computer you think about what OS it will run and if it will run your current programs. When the average consumer buys a phone they think about if the phone call quality is good, and how connected that phone is. Unlike traditional computers the activities performed on a phone is not usually tied to a specific OS.

      So the IMPORTANT question is what can the consumer do with their phone during their 2 year contract period and how easy is it to use with the computer they have at home. Android is still not there yet... Maybe when they purchase their next phone, Android will be ready... Until then, Apple holds the definite advantage, and I'm speaking as an Android user.

      Then again something better may come from Apple and HP because no matter how hard you wish. These corporations are not resting on their laurels and just raking in the money. They have a greater than hobbyist reason to continue to garner market share. So they too will improve their phones.

      At the same time Google will do what benefits Google, and may deemphasize Android in favor of Chrome OS which tightly integrates into their cloud computing strategy. Not saying Android doesn't also fit within their strategy, but Chrome *seems* more tied with online content. And while Apple, HP, and Microsoft continue to concentrate on a single mobile OS, Google will have to decide if it's worth investing into both Android and Chrome OS.

      --
      These comments are my own and do not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of my employer or colleagues...
    90. Re:surprising? by gander666 · · Score: 1

      Yup. I was a satisfied T-Mobile user until my employer made me switch to AT&T (corporate discounts and all). T-Mobile had great customer service, and seemed to care about me and fixed any issues I had pronto.

      However, their coverage is mediocre, and they leverage a lot of AT&T's cell sites for their coverage, so you get the same shitty performance as AT&T where they are oversubscribed...

      Perhaps they have gotten better, but I suspect that is still true today

      --
      Suppose you were an idiot and suppose you were a member of Congress ... but I repeat myself. - Mark T
    91. Re:surprising? by curunir · · Score: 1

      Not to mention that it also fails to account for the Apple product release cycle. Apple seems to be releasing a new iPhone model once per year in June. When they do that, sales spike as people rush to get their hands on the latest/greatest must-have from Apple. Meanwhile, Android phones are released more often and with less regularity. The introduction of popular models is likely to cause some sales increases, but nothing like when Apple releases an iPhone update.

      So Android outsold the iPhone during the lull before the new iPhone is released...who cares. When Android outsells the iPhone over the course of a calendar year, that may be news. When the number of Android phones being actively used exceeds the number of iPhones being actively used, that may be news. But neither of those have happened yet.

      --
      "Don't blame me, I voted for Kodos!"
    92. Re:surprising? by shutdown+-p+now · · Score: 2, Insightful

      The "product" in this case isn't Android, it's the phone. A complete hardware+software solution.

      Similarly, the "product" in case of Windows isn't Windows - it's a PC. Again, a complete hardware+software solution.

      Historically, the main reason why Microsoft has dominated Apple early on was that Apple computers were only assembled by Apple, while "IBM PC compatibles" were assembled by everyone, and MS would sell OEM DOS/Windows license to them all.

    93. Re:surprising? by zuperduperman · · Score: 2

      Actually, Android being open source means it doesn't really matter if Google does drop it or turn evil. It would certainly cause a hit and slow things down, but I think at this point it already has enough critical mass that it would continue on it's own. That's one of the beauties of the open source model, and it's also why a diverse range of device manufacturers are willing to buy into it - because unlike the iPhone, they always have the option to take it their own way if the OS maker betrays them.

    94. Re:surprising? by zuperduperman · · Score: 1

      > Revenue is what the game is all about.

      Not really, at least, not early on. Everyone knows that the future ongoing revenue from "owning" the majority smart phone platform will dwarf the numbers from even the whole first decade of this race. The important thing is mindshare - in the consumer's mind and especially in the mind of businesses. Android is clearly making impressive gains though I hesitate to believe that it has actually reached anything like the brand recognition of the iPhone yet.

    95. Re:surprising? by c_forq · · Score: 1

      They don't sell to teenagers. They sell to teenager's parents and let them set up monthly limits on purchases from the iTunes store. I still think until someone makes something similar to iTunes it will be a while before the iPhone is way behind (not in the least because users don't update on their own - unless you push updates like Palm or nag users when they sync like Apple your average Joe will not flash his/her device to the latest Android version).

      --
      Computers allow humans to make mistakes at the fastest speeds known, with the possible exception of tequila and handguns
    96. Re:surprising? by dzfoo · · Score: 1

      The phone market is not the same as the computer market. When you buy a computer you think about what OS it will run and if it will run your current programs. When the average consumer buys a phone they think about if the phone call quality is good, and how connected that phone is. Unlike traditional computers the activities performed on a phone is not usually tied to a specific OS.

      You seem to misunderstand how people use their iPhones--and any smartphone--nowadays. And I'm talking about regular consumers, not geeks. If they have invested in their dozens of $1.99 apps, and purchased their music through iTunes Music Store, and gotten used to syncing the device with iTunes, they will certainly consider all of this when their two-year contract is up and they are contemplating buying a new phone. Should I throw away all my favorite, paid for apps and games? Does it even connect to my iTunes to sync my playlists? Or should I get the new iPhone model with even more shiny goodness?

      In this regard, the choice of smartphone is very much like the choice of personal computers.

                -dZ.

      --
      Carol vs. Ghost
      ...Can you save Christmas?
    97. Re:surprising? by dzfoo · · Score: 1

      Right, because Microsoft stranglehold on the industry is unwavering, and still controls every single aspect of the personal computer experience. This is precisely why Microsoft has continued to control all standards, such as media delivery, online content, online search, and even smartphones and tablets. And all the while, little Apple keeps on getting closer to the brink of imminent death, without being able to make a single cent from their overpriced toys. And because of this, Apple--with its tiny market share--has absolutely no say in developing technologies and standards, and will never be able to set trends in the industry.

      Thanks, I'm convinced!

            -dZ.

      --
      Carol vs. Ghost
      ...Can you save Christmas?
    98. Re:surprising? by sznupi · · Score: 1

      (my previous post should have started with "not even close"...)

      It wasn't about "phones sold", but marketshare, supposedly... Besides, the former is also certainly inconsistent, not the least because smartphone sales are still growing rapidly and with great room to grow - that wouldn't be possible if they were already at 75%...you would hear "smartphones are close to saturating the sales!"

      Isn't the turnover time pretty much 2 years? (yeah, some people keep mobile phones longer...and some change them every few months; I suspect those two groups mostly cancel each other out in a way that makes them insignificant)
      If there are 234 million mobile phones in the US, that would mean an average sales of 10 million monthly; 30 million per quarter. And that's probably way too cautious, considering that in Q2 2008 (a long time ago...and outside holiday season) 42 million were sold. So, it's safe to assume that during last holiday season...50 million were sold?

      And...
      http://gigaom.com/2010/03/27/when-it-comes-to-apps-feature-phones-are-the-new-black/

      those passé, non-OS handsets that account for a whopping 83 percent of the overall U.S. handset market

      ^that was a three-month average ending in December; pretty much representing pre-holiday numbers. If between that period, and data from the end of February (showing feature phones at around 80%), probably up to 50 million phones was sold...then most of them certainly were not smarpthones (because smartphones were owned by only 45 million people at the end! And that represents a growth of 21% from pre-holiday season!) Not even close to half. The change in overall smartphone marketshare would have been way bigger.

      Or...remember that global shipments of Symbian handsets in 2009 were only 80 million units...even though it has 47% of global sales (and barely anything in the US)
      Also global shipments for iPhone were 25 million units (global!); now, with 50 million mobile phones shipped in the US in that quarter above - for smartphones in the US to have even 50% of sales (and considering US iPhone share of them), there would be really no iPhones left for the rest of the world. Not to mention if that would be 75%...

      For perspective, keep in mind that Nokia sells half a billion phones annually. That's an order of magnitude more than total number of iPhones made, ever.

      --
      One that hath name thou can not otter
    99. Re:surprising? by Draek · · Score: 1

      Yeah, but as Apple itself has shown with OSX, you don't need to be the most profitable, you just need to make more than you spent to stay in the market. And if Google can't turn their share into a profit by this point, they've got far more serious issues than just their penetration rates.

      --
      No problem is insoluble in all conceivable circumstances.
    100. Re:surprising? by tomhudson · · Score: 1

      They don't sell to teenagers. They sell to teenager's parents and let them set up monthly limits on purchases from the iTunes store.

      Sure they do. 18-year-olds and 19-year-olds are still teenagers, and can sign contracts without anyone else's permission. They can vote, drink, screw, hold down a job, and do pretty much anything else - they're adults. (Except in some backward parts of the world).

    101. Re:surprising? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Damn you my Panasonic beta machine was a fake?

    102. Re:surprising? by Daengbo · · Score: 1

      Apple customer take great pride in making Apple more profitable. They brag about the profit share all the time, as if buying an Apple product made them a major shareholder in the company. I used to see Microsofties act the same way in the 90s -- they were proud to have made BG the richest business owner in the world.

      This is not a slam on Apple or its followers; it's just an observation. I find the phenomenon quite interesting and a measure of the success of the company that customers want to tie their wagons to it.

    103. Re:surprising? by Daengbo · · Score: 1

      The fee for the Android Market is 30%. If Android gets big enough, Google will be making a lot of money off of that and a great incentive to keep development up.

    104. Re:surprising? by Daengbo · · Score: 1

      Windows loses to OS X. Yay! ;)

    105. Re:surprising? by Bill_the_Engineer · · Score: 1

      You seem to misunderstand how people use their iPhones--and any smartphone--nowadays. And I'm talking about regular consumers, not geeks. If they have invested in their dozens of $1.99 apps, and purchased their music through iTunes Music Store, and gotten used to syncing the device with iTunes, they will certainly consider all of this when their two-year contract is up and they are contemplating buying a new phone. Should I throw away all my favorite, paid for apps and games? Does it even connect to my iTunes to sync my playlists? Or should I get the new iPhone model with even more shiny goodness?

      In this regard, the choice of smartphone is very much like the choice of personal computers.

      You are correct about iPhone users and their investment. But I wouldn't call the number of iPhone users as being enough to be called an average smartphone user yet.

      The majority of the phone use still appears to be email, twitter, sms, and browsing the web. Not to mention music from iTunes is not longer DRM and consequently not locked to the iPhone.

      Also, Rhapsody, Amazon, Walmart and others do provide similar services and other handset manufactures are still able to make it easier for the consumer to use these competitors and offset any advantage iTunes may have.

      --
      These comments are my own and do not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of my employer or colleagues...
    106. Re:surprising? by sbeckstead · · Score: 1

      I haven't actually found a good solid T-Mobile coverage area in Los Angeles.

    107. Re:surprising? by Daengbo · · Score: 1

      A huge number of devices will get OTA upgrades to 2.0 or 2.1 by fall.

    108. Re:surprising? by Daengbo · · Score: 1

      Apple dominates the MP3 player market in the U.S., and I'm pretty sure they like it that way. (They don't seem to be trying to become more exclusive.) I'm sure they would do the same for the iPhone, the iPad, and the Mac if they could.

    109. Re:surprising? by boxwood · · Score: 1

      Uh yeah you will be able to get a non-smartphone a couple of years from now. Maybe not in the US, but outside the US simple phones that offer basic voice and SMS will continue to outsell smartphones for the next five years.

    110. Re:surprising? by spintriae · · Score: 1

      Yep. Even when Apple loses, they win. Please pass the Kool-Aid.

    111. Re:surprising? by Mr2001 · · Score: 1

      Lots of brand new devices are sold _today_ that still have 1.5 and 1.6 (read: Sprint's Android phones). [...] If Flash only works on 2.1+ devices, and most existing devices are 2.0 and lower with no upgrade path in sight, Adobe has to wait for an entire generation of existing users to upgrade.

      There's an upgrade path in sight, although it's taken longer than expected. Word on the street is the HTC Hero will get 2.1 in less than two weeks.

      --
      Visual IRC: Fast. Powerful. Free.
    112. Re:surprising? by Mr2001 · · Score: 1

      ... which is why they don't sell to teenaged kids ... oh wait, they do.

      He said "they want to sell to people with disposable income". Teenagers may not have much total income, but nearly all of it is disposable: that's why they're the ones buying all the ringtones and ringback tones. As a bonus, teenagers are also motivated by fashion and trendiness, which makes it even easier to sell them flashy, expensive Apple products.

      --
      Visual IRC: Fast. Powerful. Free.
    113. Re:surprising? by mabhatter654 · · Score: 1

      not to mention these are 1-2 month old phones that will be "unsupported" in another 6 months if the current experience keeps going.... iPhone OS4 and iPhone refresh should be in late June/July time frame so if you're following at all, NOW is not the time to get an iPhone if you're paying attention at all.

    114. Re:surprising? by tomhudson · · Score: 1

      "which makes it even easier to sell them non-flashy, expensive Apple products."

      There, fixed that for you. If you want flash, you need to buy something other than an iPhone or iPad :-)

    115. Re:surprising? by DigiShaman · · Score: 1

      Correct, the phone definitely matters. Don't let the scare mongering get to you, but the phones with the best reception also have the highest level of radiation. Those are the phones I personally look for. Nothing is more aggravating than using a cheap POS which drops the most calls.

      No wonder the Droid and BB 8330s have good reception. =)

      --
      Life is not for the lazy.
    116. Re:surprising? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I use a black magic marker on mine, so it always gets 5 bars. (I'm just pointing out that the bars are arbitrary and the 3Gs cou)

    117. Re:surprising? by rfuilrez · · Score: 1

      By "a phone like these" do you mean the iPhone, or smart phones in general?

      I mean iPhones, Android phones, etc. Anything with large/touch screens. Yeah, some people use them for work...but the vast majority buy them for entertainment. (Blackberries I guess would be a major exception because of all the business use.)

    118. Re:surprising? by dudpixel · · Score: 1

      whoa, i must've overslept...when did that happen?

      --
      This seemed like a reasonable sig at the time.
    119. Re:surprising? by dudpixel · · Score: 1

      MOST new android phones now run Android 2.1 (all of HTC & motorola's latest offerings for example).

      Either way, most apps are still designed for 1.5 even if some are targeting 2.0+. Those that are built for a later version wont show on Android Market if you use an older phone so its not like you'll be trying to download apps that wont run. I had no problems with apps on my HTC Magic (1.6).

      This article is about android sales over the past quarter - I would suggest a large percentage of those android phones are indeed running 2.1.

      Also why do you think Apple is bigger than flash? Right now flash has wider marketshare than Apple. A lot of the web relies on flash. Will everyone rewrite the web just for the iphone? no. If that were true it would've happened by now.

      When websites dont work on the iPad, will people blame the website or the iPad? Time will tell.

      --
      This seemed like a reasonable sig at the time.
    120. Re:surprising? by dudpixel · · Score: 1

      If the customers love it then it will continue.

      Google's motivation is to get the web onto more devices. More people on the web means more people viewing their ads and using their services.

      I'd say it is very profitable in the sense that it is already achieving this goal.

      --
      This seemed like a reasonable sig at the time.
    121. Re:surprising? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You know, if you knew half as much about consumer tastes and business as Jobs and the rest of the Mactards, wouldn't you, oh, I dunno, own some property instead of getting into petty spats with the person you rent from?

    122. Re:surprising? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Android has been available for about a year and a half, almost all sales of which were on four hardware revisions from two makers on two carriers, and yet its footprint has eclipsed Apple who had a two year head start.

      Market share is not installed base, you dumbass. The best total sales numbers I found on iPhone and Android is about 40 million and 10 million sold, respectively.

      In light of that, the fact that number of Android sales surpassed the number of iPhone sales in one three-month period doesn't mean shit. You Android fanbois look like a bunch of tools, practically dancing around and singing "Ding Dong, the Witch is Dead" at this news.

      Apple typically has a slower post-holiday quarter, and is known to refresh the iPhone hardware in June. In other words, people interested in the iPhone mainly fall into two camps at this time of year: People who just got an iPhone during the holidays, and people who are holding out until June to get the new version that they know is coming. That means that this huge victory of yours will probably repeat in 2Q (try not to cream your jeans, okay?), but then the 4G iPhone will be released and iPhone sales will spike for the remainder of the year.

    123. Re:surprising? by MtViewGuy · · Score: 1

      In fact, it's now turned into almost a perfect repeat of the Beta versus VHS format wars of 1978-1990. Sony was almost the sole supplier of Beta-format VCR's, while Matsushita Electric (as Panasonic Corporation was known back then) offered very generous licensing terms for the VHS format. Fast forward (pun not intended!) to 2010: Apple sells its iPhone with its unique OS all by itself, while Google has licensed Android to all the major cellphone manufacturers, especially the best-known brands: LG, Motorola, Nokia, Samsung and Sony Ericsson. As such, by the end of 2010 all the cellphone manufacturers I've mentioned will offer cellphones based on Android 2.2 (code-named FroYo), and these combined will probably outsell the iPhone by almost two to one.

    124. Re:surprising? by Hognoxious · · Score: 1

      Until now I'd just ass[s]umed people were on a train when they said they lost the signal inside a tunnel...

      --
      Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
    125. Re:surprising? by Yvanhoe · · Score: 1

      Irony was used.

      --
      The Wise adapts himself to the world. The Fool adapts the world to himself. Therefore, all progress depends on the Fool.
    126. Re:surprising? by L4t3r4lu5 · · Score: 1

      Well technically that would put the iPhone in the closest proximity to their head, so it's pretty good advice.

      --
      Finally had enough. Come see us over at https://soylentnews.org/
    127. Re:surprising? by L4t3r4lu5 · · Score: 1

      Don't be stupid! An Apple rep would never be caught in anything not a pastel shade.

      --
      Finally had enough. Come see us over at https://soylentnews.org/
    128. Re:surprising? by dzfoo · · Score: 1

      You are correct about iPhone users and their investment. But I wouldn't call the number of iPhone users as being enough to be called an average smartphone user yet.

      Irrelevant. I mentioned "any smartphone", for most offer nowadays the same type of lock-in with regards to apps, and proprietary interfaces. Notice that I am not including here "phone-ish" phones, just "smart" phones.

      The majority of the phone use still appears to be email, twitter, sms, and browsing the web. Not to mention music from iTunes is not longer DRM and consequently not locked to the iPhone.

      True for the regular-phone crowd. Again, we're talking about smart-phone users, which I admit is a much smaller market share. Smart-phone users, by contrast, use and download a large share of apps, free and paid-for. By the way, the point about DRM is irrelevant: you may not be locked-into the AAC file format, but most users won't bother transcoding, nor know what it is. Furthermore, I was talking about a user feeling comfortable and getting used to iTunes as a music library manager and syncing vehicle. Someone who knows and likes iTunes may not automatically switch to a different media player in order to sync with their new phone. I know geeks like to think this is common, but it is not.

      Also, Rhapsody, Amazon, Walmart and others do provide similar services and other handset manufactures are still able to make it easier for the consumer to use these competitors and offset any advantage iTunes may have.

      This may be true, but it still falls under my general point: those other services you mentioned will entrench their users within them, in exactly the same way that I suggest for iPhones.

      In any case, it is again irrelevant. It is for the very same reasons that people get entrenched in their "Mac vs. PC" lifestyles: a financial, emotional, and personal investment in the platform, which makes it a large effort to switch. iTunes may not be the best tool, but I seriously doubt that any user who is accustomed to it will just decide to switch away from it, especially when it means forfeiting its deep integration with the Apple ecosystem. Likewise with Android Marketplace, or any other smart-phone integrated ecosystem.

      The larger point I'm trying to make is regarding "smart-phones" in general, not just iPhones. I am saying that people will pick their smart-phone platforms and stick to them, in the same way they do for personal computers.

              -dZ.

      --
      Carol vs. Ghost
      ...Can you save Christmas?
    129. Re:surprising? by Phoghat · · Score: 1

      My son has an iPhone and he tells me that he gets dropped calls all the time. Once the same call was dropped 4 times and this is in NY City, cell phone towers everywhere. In fact that was the precise reason I didn't buy one.

      --
      Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.
    130. Re:surprising? by Phoghat · · Score: 1

      Go MOM! FTW!

      --
      Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.
    131. Re:surprising? by Inda · · Score: 1

      I would like to play this silly game.

      I couldn't even tell you where the bars on my phone are placed. OK, that's a lie, I remember looking at 1 bar in the underground car park the other day. I also remember it showing 2 bars when I stepped off the plane in Spain last year. The text message telling me that roaming was working drew my attention to it.

      Cheap phone. No contract; not even a rolling 30 day contract.

      You all suck.

      --
      This post contains benzene, nitrosamines, formaldehyde and hydrogen cyanide.
    132. Re:surprising? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Clearly not in the northern Panhandle of WV. AT&T coverage in the Weirton area kicks ass compared to Verizon. I guess that isn't really rural though.

    133. Re:surprising? by jonadab · · Score: 1

      > The problem, however, is that the vast majority of the population lives in urban centers.

      It depends what you count as an "urban center".

      The urban-versus-rural stats you get for the US from things like the census can be misleading, because they consider all municipalities to be urban, no matter how small the town is. So for instance people who live in Mount Gilead, Ohio, are counted as "urban", even though the high school has "drive your tractor to school day" every year, if you know what I'm talking about. If you live in a municipality, you're "urban", on paper.

      Most of the population of the US lives in small and medium-sized cities, with populations ranging from a few hundred to fifty thousand or so. (Most of the *rest* live in big cities and/or suburbs thereof. A small percentage live outside any municipality.)

      --
      Cut that out, or I will ship you to Norilsk in a box.
    134. Re:surprising? by tomhudson · · Score: 1

      You know, if you knew half as much about consumer tastes and business as Jobs and the rest of the Mactards, wouldn't you, oh, I dunno, own some property instead of getting into petty spats with the person you rent from?

      Ha ha. I sold my house at the peak during a previous bubble. 46% gain in 4 years. That taught me several lessons:

      1. Timing is everything - even more important than "location, location, location"
      2. Property that goes up will go down - and even if it only remains the same price, inflation and the costs of "holding your position" will eat at your imaginary "gains".
      3. I no longer have to worry about the jerk who lived next door and was a real PITA.
      4. Not mowing the lawn every week, and not shoveling the snow in the winter, works for me..
      5. I can't believe how much time some of my relatives put into home maintenance and "improvements". And the arguments that go with it ...

      Look, I'm single. I've got 3 bedrooms - one for me to sleep in, one for my office, and one for miscellaneous stuff (plus a storage room and indoor garage). If I had kept my original house, I'd have TWO bedrooms for miscellaneous stuff instead of one. What would be the point?

      Sure, if I weren't single, it would be nice to own a house again - because I need *my* space, but until then ...

    135. Re:surprising? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Damn you slashdot, lately.

      First, I have to put up with the goddamn Apple shit more than any other single topic, which is just getting fucking old.

      Then I can't figure out if the fanboys are really that fucking stupid or if people are just mocking them everywhere...

    136. Re:surprising? by MikeBabcock · · Score: 1

      I think you'd find if you did your research that Linux is actually dominating a lot of things because of its openness. From elevators to super computers, from Internet servers to render farms, and even those video lottery terminals and digital picture frames. One of the great advantages of Linux is not even needing to know its there when the device works properly.

      --
      - Michael T. Babcock (Yes, I blog)
    137. Re:surprising? by farble1670 · · Score: 1

      almost* every android devices locks the user into google search, gmail, google cal, google maps, google news, etc etc. okay, it doesn't lock them into it, but it works really well with those and at least i have not been at all tempted to look for alternatives.

      even if the users aren't gettings ads on the phone, they will be driven to google services on the desktop, where they will get ads and put $ in google's pocket. android is already nicely turning a profit in that regard.

      not to mention devices that ship with google services pay a licensing fee to google.

    138. Re:surprising? by Skuld-Chan · · Score: 1

      What is this afford stuff? You know you can get a smart phone for free with the contract right? I see just as many smart phones out here on the rural coast of Oregon as I do in the valley.

    139. Re:surprising? by Lord+Kano · · Score: 1

      Come on, you mean to say that you've never been tempted to tell someone to shove their iPhone up their iAss?

      That presupposes that they still have any iRoom left there.

      LK

      --
      "Hi. This is my friend, Jack Shit, and you don't know him." - Lord Kano
    140. Re:surprising? by horza · · Score: 1

      Google makes money and needs to protect its core assets. Apple are a threat to this by their iPhone walled garden. For instance Apple have banned Google Voice apps from the iPhone. They won't allow any 3rd party browsers (a brief respite for Opera but that can be revoked any time) which means they control the default search page. On a whim, any other Google apps such as Google Maps, a Wave client, or their next innovation, can be ejected. Google is cash rich and it is in their interests to push an open environment that allows them entry to that market. If Google fail to make a profit through Android it's irrelevant to cell phone manufacturers, they are taking advantage for free! Either in vanilla form or like HTC with its Sense UI.

      Android does not have to be a proven money maker to continue, only to cost less to license than rival products. Free is pretty hard to beat.

      Phillip.

    141. Re:surprising? by Alien1024 · · Score: 1

      iPhone != Mac

    142. Re:surprising? by david_thornley · · Score: 1

      The main reason Microsoft dominated Apple was that Microsoft was able to cut the exact right deal with IBM, who steamrollered all competitors in the marketplace and bestowed a mantle of business legitimacy on its computers. Coming four years or so after the original PC, with little business legitimacy, the Mac never had a chance to dominate.

      --
      "When you have eliminated the unacceptable, whatever is left, however improbable, must be the truthiness" - Holmes
    143. Re:surprising? by LordVader717 · · Score: 1

      The VHS strategy was 180-degrees from Betamax.

      I don't see why. Both were very similar technologies.
      Only difference is that Sony required licensing, whereas VHS was an open standard. And VHS had bigger tapes.

      Cost and availability of content is what defined the VHS/Betamax war

      Content only became available later and merely confirmed consumer preference. It took a while though.

      as well as the Blu-ray/HD war.

      Definitely no. That "war" wasn't decided by consumers in the first place.

      Hardware and carrier costs are not radically different with smart phones when they have comparable features.

      I don't know what you're talking about. Looking at the selection of smart-phones available, most are significantly cheaper than the effective price of an iPhone, can be purchased without a contract and have more features than the iPhone. And at least in Europe I have a selection of a variety of different carriers which have more choice than the iPhone plans. That's how competition works.

    144. Re:surprising? by saleenS281 · · Score: 1

      Add MN, WI, SD, ND, PA, IA and FL to that list. Assuming you meant Verizon > AT&T.

    145. Re:surprising? by KharmaWidow · · Score: 1

      You don't see why Betamax lost to VHS? Look at the business model. Sony sold the players at a high price and kept the the player technology to themselved. Beta movies in that format sold for a much higher price than VHS as well. The VHS format licenced its technology so that the players were cheaper as well as the videos were cheaper. Sony Betamax - quality. VHS - quantity.

      You clearly need to research the past more. And study business concepts.

    146. Re:surprising? by hazydave · · Score: 1

      Not only that, but while AT&T has good 3G coverage in cities, only about 1/5 of their network, by area, is 3G. So when you get rural coverage, it's much less likely to be fast. By it's nature, ever Verizon cell is 3G... you only drop back to EDGE speeds when you're too far from a cell to support 3G. As with all radio, this can vary by conditions... I get 3G on my Droid in my house about 80% of the time; it's occasionally dropping back to 2G speeds, but that's pretty rare. I'm in a rural area (eg, internet and TV only by satellite...).

      --
      -Dave Haynie
    147. Re:surprising? by LordVader717 · · Score: 1

      You don't see why Betamax lost to VHS?

      I don't see your point how VHS was supposedly so different from Betamax and smartphones are so similar. Why Betamax lost is pretty clear.

      Sony Betamax - quality. VHS - quantity.

      Now that is a myth. Even on modern screen, 250 vs 240 lines of horizontal resolution would be pretty much indistinguishable. On a 1970s TV with an RF modulated signal? Not a chance.

    148. Re:surprising? by Daniel+Phillips · · Score: 1

      I, for one, am shocked, that many products from several sources on various carriers have collectively outsold a single product available on a single carrier that doesn't even have the most market share. Utterly amazing, isn't it?

      What do you mean, "many products"? It's all Lilnux.

      --
      Have you got your LWN subscription yet?
  3. Unpossible! by denzacar · · Score: 4, Funny

    Or should that be iMpossible?

    --
    Mit der Dummheit kämpfen Götter selbst vergebens
    1. Re:Unpossible! by CannonballHead · · Score: 1

      in light of the recent slashdot story.... vimpossible!

    2. Re:Unpossible! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Apple wants you to switch... over to newspeak. doubleplus unpossible.

    3. Re:Unpossible! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Steve Jobs can choke on Google's fat throbbing cock.

    4. Re:Unpossible! by WML+MUNSON · · Score: 1

      That's KIMpossible!

  4. I bet iPhone will be back on top this quarter by CyberBill · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Apple is getting ready to release a new iPhone in the next few months. I'm sure this kind of regular product cycle makes consumers not want to upgrade for the quarter before a new release. I know I'm going to skip the 3GS and wait for the "4" or whatever the new one is called.

    --
    -Bill
    1. Re:I bet iPhone will be back on top this quarter by WrongSizeGlass · · Score: 1

      Apple is getting ready to release a new iPhone in the next few months.

      After having seen the next version "leak" I'm certainly holding off replacing my 3G until it's available.

    2. Re:I bet iPhone will be back on top this quarter by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      And you know this for certain ... because you're a huge Apple fanboi.

    3. Re:I bet iPhone will be back on top this quarter by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Iphone HD

    4. Re:I bet iPhone will be back on top this quarter by nomadic · · Score: 1

      After having seen the next version "leak" I'm certainly holding off replacing my 3G until it's available.

      Why? It looked dull and unimpressive.

    5. Re:I bet iPhone will be back on top this quarter by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Why? It looked dull and unimpressive.

      Sounds perfect for him.

    6. Re:I bet iPhone will be back on top this quarter by bennomatic · · Score: 3, Funny

      I heard that the 5g, slated for next year, will be like those sponge toys. Put it in water and it'll turn into an iPad. Need the phone factor again? Put it in your oven for 45 minutes.

      --
      The CB App. What's your 20?
    7. Re:I bet iPhone will be back on top this quarter by jedidiah · · Score: 1

      > Iphone HD

      While it's a nice idea, HD video eats up storage like crazy and iPhones don't have much.

      OTOH, that also means that there is less need to alter video in ways that tend to take all day to compute.

      An iphone that can take pretty much any h264 content you could throw at it would help usability.

      Converting a container, or the audio is pretty fast compared to an HD h264 transcode.

      --
      A Pirate and a Puritan look the same on a balance sheet.
    8. Re:I bet iPhone will be back on top this quarter by nurb432 · · Score: 1

      I honestly don't think most consumers think that far ahead. " i want that shiny object, now "

      --
      ---- Booth was a patriot ----
    9. Re:I bet iPhone will be back on top this quarter by whosaidanythingabout · · Score: 1

      Exactly correct... but wrong at the same time. People skipped the iphone and were waiting for the upgrade aka Android. Well it is here and now the preferred option that the majority of consumers will purchase. If I was a betting man I would raise your bet and go with Android to dominate the market.

    10. Re:I bet iPhone will be back on top this quarter by dudpixel · · Score: 1

      this may well be true, but HTC will be first to the party with the Evo 4G - to be released the day before the iPhone 4G.

      the new iphone will create a lot of hype as usual, but then that will die down and things will return to normal - whatever that is...

      the best thing about the new iphone is that the older ones will be upgraded to the new OS.

      --
      This seemed like a reasonable sig at the time.
    11. Re:I bet iPhone will be back on top this quarter by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Hmm.. that puts a new slant on the idea of the specs being leaked out.

    12. Re:I bet iPhone will be back on top this quarter by farble1670 · · Score: 1

      and that's a problem for apple ... as there are shiny new cutting edge android phones every quarter at least. what you are seeing now is going to happen over and over again, as apple's latest iphone is trumped technology wise by more frequently released android devices.

      3-6 months after the iphone 4, there will be an android phone that beats it technology-wise ... if it's not already beaten by the HTC incredible that will be released around the same time.

      sure there are apple loyals that will always wait for the next iXXX, but a majority of people just want their new phone now.

  5. doesnt mean anything by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    it only means people are buying more androids iphone is still the better phone tho...

    1. Re:doesnt mean anything by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      what are you saying tho.....

  6. This has nothing to do with by BondGamer · · Score: 1

    Waiting for the next iPhone coming in a month which everyone knows about due to the leak.

    1. Re:This has nothing to do with by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yeah.. great bit of fake/viral marketing there eh. Its about time for all those with a 3GS to find some
      way to make an insurance claim to upgrade isnt it? I think I read somewhere about a 40% increase in claims
      whenever a new model is released.

    2. Re:This has nothing to do with by zuperduperman · · Score: 1

      Yes, a leak that happened *after* the first quarter ended is definitely responsible for a drop in first quarter sales. Brilliant logic!

  7. I TOLD YOU SO! by ElectricTurtle · · Score: 0, Flamebait

    AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Who's laughing now all you Apple fanbois! Oh yeah, Google's growth isn't sustainable. Sustain this , bitches!

    (Sits back and waits for the karma burn.)

    --
    I support the Slashcott and will not be reading or commenting from 2/10/14 to 2/17/14. Beta is steaming pile of dog shit
    1. Re:I TOLD YOU SO! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

      > (Sits back and waits for the karma burn.)

      Yes, that karma burn is going to have nothing to do with your statement objectively actually being flamebait. It adds nothing at all to the discussion. Even people that agree with you that it was unavoidable that Android phones were going to surpass iPhones can at most ignore your post. There's nothing interesting, informative or insightful about it.

      Maybe just don't post shit next time.

    2. Re:I TOLD YOU SO! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Who are you replying to? /me looks around inquisitively again.

    3. Re:I TOLD YOU SO! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Nah, Apple fanboys are eager to mod up other fanboys and mod down their critics. Here's someone pointing back to one of the usual idiots claiming that the iPhone sells more than all the Android phones combined -- posted just two weeks ago, and modded up for it, as it's the usual apologist drivel -- and he's promptly modded down for it. Others, desperately trying to argue that everyone's really holding out for the next gen iPhone, are modded up, despite there being absolutely no evidence that they're right.

    4. Re:I TOLD YOU SO! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "Fanboi" has never, ever been used in a way that means anything other than "someone who likes something more than I do". Not once.

    5. Re:I TOLD YOU SO! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      node 3 is probably the biggest Apple fanboi on slashdot. Take his comments with a grain of salt.

      He is the biggest Apple fanboi on Slashdot. His head is perma-wedged up Job's ass

    6. Re:I TOLD YOU SO! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      And yet here you are, caring, while saying you don't. Quite funny. Oh, and posting as AC, just to annoy you a little bit more.

    7. Re:I TOLD YOU SO! by ElectricTurtle · · Score: 0, Flamebait

      Another dumbass who fails at logic. The context of the statement you're trying to turn into irony through your ignorance is 'I have [...] karma' -therefore- 'I don't fucking care' (about being modded down). Because you possess the IQ of a lobotomized gibbon you read this as 'I don't care about what you say' which would violate the context of the sentence as it talks about karma, which is about moderation, not responses, which are in fact exclusive.

      I should troll more often. It's fun to insult idiots.

      --
      I support the Slashcott and will not be reading or commenting from 2/10/14 to 2/17/14. Beta is steaming pile of dog shit
  8. Good news! by Bearwhale · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I for one have an iPhone and I cannot tell you how much I wish it were an Android. Hopefully, the 'Droid can come out with a version that beats Apple's 4G series that are approaching the market.

    1. Re:Good news! by amicusNYCL · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Hopefully, the 'Droid can come out with a version that beats Apple's 4G series that are approaching the market.

      Indeed. It's also a wifi hotspot for 8 devices, and can stream HD video out of an HDMI port on the phone, in case you're one of those people who likes to watch videos on something other than your phone.

      --
      "Our two-party system is like a bowl of shit looking at itself in a mirror." - Lewis Black
    2. Re:Good news! by MistrBlank · · Score: 1

      Damn shame that Sprint sucks EVERYWHERE.

    3. Re:Good news! by h4rr4r · · Score: 1

      So install android on it.

  9. Anti-trust by Fallen+Kell · · Score: 2, Insightful

    this report could help their case in upcoming antitrust discussions.

    Or just as easily hurt it. As the report shows a big part of the sales was on Verizon network, which is a market Apple does not exist on. A large portion of those sales "might" have been for Apple's product had it be available on the Verizon network.

    --
    We were all warned a long time ago that MS products sucked, remember the Magic 8 Ball said, "Outlook not so good"
    1. Re:Anti-trust by ducomputergeek · · Score: 1, Insightful

      How is it Apple's fault when Verizon is deploying a network technology that virtually none of the rest of the world uses (CDMA)? GSM is in more places world wide and the two GSM carriers in the US are T-Mobile and AT&T. And between the two AT&T has better coverage.

      --
      "The problem with socialism is eventually you run out of other people's money" - Thatcher.
    2. Re:Anti-trust by contrapunctus · · Score: 1

      Also, AT&T and T-Mobile use different 3G frequencies so you can't just switch between the two and keep 3G on the same phone (Edge will work fine though).

    3. Re:Anti-trust by Princeofcups · · Score: 1

      this report could help their case in upcoming antitrust discussions.

      Or just as easily hurt it. As the report shows a big part of the sales was on Verizon network, which is a market Apple does not exist on. A large portion of those sales "might" have been for Apple's product had it be available on the Verizon network.

      Why is everyone obsessed with a couple percent in sales numbers. How much profit does Apple make per phone sold with its exclusive deal with AT&T? A lot more than they would make if selling to all carriers. I'm sure Apple is quite happy with its numbers.

      --
      The only thing worse than a Democrat is a Republican.
  10. Cool, but .. by Weezul · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Android phones are not as open as Maemo/MeeGo phones. Andoird could have been way cooler if Google have picked up Maemo instead of starting from scratch using Java. That said, I don't mind that all the mobile games targeted for Android should eventually run on Maemo.

    (Random text inserted at the end of the message to allow mouse chicks on text in Shashdot's edit window on Safari)

    --
    The Christian religion has been and still is the principal enemy of moral progress in the world. -- Bertrand Russell
    1. Re:Cool, but .. by WrongSizeGlass · · Score: 1

      (Random text inserted at the end of the message to allow mouse chicks on text in Shashdot's edit window on Safari)

      Yeah, that's a problem ... all you need to do is resize your window. Once your textarea has been resized you should be able to get to the end of the line of text and continue editing.

    2. Re:Cool, but .. by Skuld-Chan · · Score: 3, Interesting

      To be fair it wasn't until the N900 that Maemo was even on a phone... which was 2009? Their previous devices were wi-fi tablets only. Android pre-dates that quite a bit. Android Inc was around at least before 2006.

      Nokia really never has treated the platform with any respect - instead shipping crap phones with S60 on them. Even their latest phone - the N8 is Symbian^3.

    3. Re:Cool, but .. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      (Random text inserted at the end of the message to allow mouse chicks on text in Shashdot's edit window on Safari)

      That is the worst random-text generator I've cheen.

    4. Re:Cool, but .. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      (Random text inserted at the end of the message to allow mouse chicks on text in Shashdot's edit window on Safari)

      It's not completely random, but it is close. I am sure a lot of biologists would be interested in finding mouse chicks while on safari, while I prefer relaxing with a nice bowl of shashdot after a hard day of work.

      (Random text inserted for to no reason that.)

    5. Re:Cool, but .. by Weezul · · Score: 1

      Ahh, thanks!

      --
      The Christian religion has been and still is the principal enemy of moral progress in the world. -- Bertrand Russell
    6. Re:Cool, but .. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      ...mouse chicks...? Really? I don't see such an option in my Safari window.

    7. Re:Cool, but .. by owlstead · · Score: 1

      Dunno. That Java machine certainly got a very Java-ish interface including a Java security infrastructure - something that is much harder to do with other languages. Especially for less used app, it's nice to know a tiny game does not send all your personal details to some random site. And don't forget that there are many many Java programmers - many more than Objective C programmers and certainly more than Linux/Unix programmers. It probably also helps that the IDE is based on Eclipse, which can of course also be used for C/C++ but it's base target still is Java.

    8. Re:Cool, but .. by JAlexoi · · Score: 1

      Just FYI: They already got committed to Android in July 2005, while Maemo was released in November 2005.
      And on another note, Maemo on Nokia 770 was horrible on the finger input.

    9. Re:Cool, but .. by sznupi · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Well, S60 allowed those "crap" phones to be smartphones in first place - cheapest S60(v3) smartphones aren't much more expensive than 100 bucks...without contract. Generally they seem to be doing something right if Symbian has half of the market.

      Plus Symbian^3 (and text ones) seems to be going in the good direction; with UI and development based on Qt there won't be that much of a difference from Maemo...

      --
      One that hath name thou can not otter
    10. Re:Cool, but .. by sznupi · · Score: 1

      There's always sandboxing, etc.

      And...what do you mean, "there are many many Java programmers - many more than Objective C programmers and certainly more than Linux/Unix programmers"? With Maemo (and Qt) you can use...pretty much any language you want. And that includes Qt Jambi, official Java bindings.

      --
      One that hath name thou can not otter
    11. Re:Cool, but .. by Skuld-Chan · · Score: 0, Troll

      After an N95 and N97 - I could never buy another Nokia anything. They totally lost my trust. N95 was ok, just a bit dated when it came out - N97 was utter crap.

    12. Re:Cool, but .. by sznupi · · Score: 1

      "Dated"? It came out at the beginning of 2007, being a full smartphone and with great camera for the time. That's over a year before iPhone has become a smartphone at all.

      And sure, one model might have been crap. A model after first major overhaul of S60. I've heard it's mostly fixed. And iPhone was crap for a year, too...

      --
      One that hath name thou can not otter
    13. Re:Cool, but .. by mirix · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Because S60 sells. Nokia has something like 40% of the global phone market. That's huge. Apple can't even dream of having a tenth of that.

      Fast processors and lots of RAM in a phone (eg, N900) are always going to be niche. Most people, world wide, just don't have that sort of money.

      Symbian just got open sourced too.

      --
      Sent from my PDP-11
    14. Re:Cool, but .. by Drew+M. · · Score: 1

      You do know why Google picked Dalvik/Java right? It should be pretty obvious. Not getting yourself locked into a specific processor arch is actually a HUGE plus.

      Take it from the example of Windows Mobile which had to be natively compiled for a ton of different architectures.... MIPS, PPC, SH3, SH4, x86, leading abandoned code to just not work on certain platforms. And without the source code for each and every application, they couldn't be ported.

      Currently Iphone, WIndows Mobile, Maemo, and any other non-VM based platform will soon also feel this hurt when the smartphone world switches processor architectures away from ARM to the new hotness just like it has done in the past.

      Google just engineered it to be smarter.

    15. Re:Cool, but .. by shutdown+-p+now · · Score: 1

      With Maemo (and Qt) you can use...pretty much any language you want. And that includes Qt Jambi, official Java bindings.

      Qt discontinued support for Jambi after 4.5, though.

    16. Re:Cool, but .. by Skuld-Chan · · Score: 1

      N95 was rock solid - don't get me wrong. It just needed a sliding keyboard - would have made it absolutely perfect and I'd still be using it right now. What made it kinda suck as a smart phone - input issues :/.

      Even with the latest firmware - the N97 is still a pos, and has tons of usability issues. Good example of this: browser loads a website, uses up too much ram (which happens more often than not) - one of three things happens - it closes, crashes the entire phone or just stops displaying content randomly - never mind you can't even use the touch interface until the entire site is loaded. Another one - Ovi Maps comes out - wow its wonderful. Oh it only installs to c:\ - which has like 45 megs free from the factory... I had to remove libraries it shipped with just to install it. 32 gigs of ram for storage/programs and none of the tools Nokia makes install on it.

      If you think its so great - I actually really do have one in my possession I'd like to sell ;).

    17. Re:Cool, but .. by owlstead · · Score: 1

      There is a difference in having a Java based environment build up from the ground - including a tweaked VM, development community, IDE etc. etc. etc. - to having native bindings to Qt. I'm sure I don't have to go into details.

    18. Re:Cool, but .. by sznupi · · Score: 1

      Sliding-out qwerty keyboard isn't that popular where key Nokia markets are.

      Well, and you know...on Nokia you can actually install different browsers, relying on different (and local) engine. Plus I could certainly install apps to memory card in my S60v3 phone, are you sure you can't on yours?...

      --
      One that hath name thou can not otter
    19. Re:Cool, but .. by sznupi · · Score: 1

      Oh, but you do have to go into details. For example that Android can also run native apps, not going through the VM.

      --
      One that hath name thou can not otter
    20. Re:Cool, but .. by sznupi · · Score: 1

      Oh well, perhaps there isn't that much of a willing (as opposed to, "mostly forced") community as the other poster thinks...

      --
      One that hath name thou can not otter
    21. Re:Cool, but .. by Skuld-Chan · · Score: 1

      Well, and you know...on Nokia you can actually install different browsers, relying on different (and local) engine. Plus I could certainly install apps to memory card in my S60v3 phone, are you sure you can't on yours?...

      I switched to an Android phone and it really is like I joined the 21st century of smart phones - so I kinda gave up on fixing issues with the n97 - its going to a new home on eBay. On browsers while I tried opera, for some reason it was just as clunky, and in many cases rendered sites worse than the webkit one it comes with. The default browser on a flagship phone should work no questions asked.

      And on installation - I can install most apps anywhere - just not anything Nokia sends down. Have you tried to install the latest free Ovi Maps to anything but C:\? It never even gives you the option where to install. They even released a patch to help clear up space on C: to address this specific issue (which barely helps) - its all over their forums.

      90% of these problems are from the thing having 128 megs of core memory (of which 40 megs is free?)... something they fixed in the N97 mini - so obviously it was a known problem.

    22. Re:Cool, but .. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      (Random text inserted at the end of the message to allow mouse chicks on text in Shashdot's edit window on Safari)

      Can you explain? I take it you meant "mouse clicks" and "Slashdot" but I don't get why you need to insert random text?

    23. Re:Cool, but .. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      When you say "not as open", what do you mean? I have heard that statement before, but I have failed to find any facts that that is actually true. The only closed source part I have found while building my own Android, are various graphic drivers. What are you referring to? That they don't check in daily on gitorous?

      I'm curious..

    24. Re:Cool, but .. by Rennt · · Score: 1

      Android is Apache licensed - how much more open do you want?

    25. Re:Cool, but .. by farble1670 · · Score: 1

      if it didn't use java or some other VM-based language for apps, they'd need to be re-compiled for each device. that's be a fatal hinderance to app development.

      (java is for apps only: the OS is of course C).

    26. Re:Cool, but .. by MikeBabcock · · Score: 1

      Android doesn't run Java.

      Next FUD please.

      --
      - Michael T. Babcock (Yes, I blog)
    27. Re:Cool, but .. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Good luck running the open source version of Symbian! There aren't any drivers for it, they're still bootstrapping on the OpenMoko Freerunner.

      And S60 is eye-bleeding horror to develop for.

  11. Forgive me if I'm wrong... by Chicken_Kickers · · Score: 2, Insightful

    but companies could face anti-trust action even if they don't own a monopoly over a product or service. (Confirm/Deny?) I am also smirking over the reaction of Apple supporters over this news. Previously, it was "we are the champions, no time for losers" now it is "hey, told you we're not evil because we are the underdogs, support the underdogs!" Not trolling by the way.

    1. Re:Forgive me if I'm wrong... by linhares · · Score: 2, Funny

      John Gruber has already started. Gotta love that guy.

    2. Re:Forgive me if I'm wrong... by 99BottlesOfBeerInMyF · · Score: 1

      but companies could face anti-trust action even if they don't own a monopoly over a product or service. (Confirm/Deny?)

      In order for antitrust law to apply a company or cartel of companies needs to have sufficiently large influence in a given market. Now there are some other competition laws that apply to smaller market share, but for the most part, no you have to be dominant in a market (usually 70% is considered a guideline) for antitrust laws to apply. Several legal experts chimed in with the same when the whole issue hit the news and they were quoted by the business news, but since it was not entertaining enough they were quickly drowned out by the speculation of the clueless in the tech news.

  12. Does the droid and iPhone do this?! by irreverant · · Score: 0

    Support remote desktop? I work in an enterprise environment and have found the feature very useful when away from my desk. When I'm on the production floor troubleshooting an issue and need to do a novell password reset; I just unlock my phone, enable remote desktop connection, log into my work machine and reset the password without ever having to leave the machine i'm trouble shooting. This saves me time; otherwise I would have to walk back to my terminal just to reset a password and then walk back to the client machine and continue troubleshooting. Any takers?

    --
    Of all the things I've lost; I miss my mind the most. - Mark Twain
    1. Re:Does the droid and iPhone do this?! by dingen · · Score: 4, Informative

      There are RDP and VNC clients for both iPhone and Android.

      --
      Pretty good is actually pretty bad.
    2. Re:Does the droid and iPhone do this?! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      www.logmein.com has an iphone app that works great for that usage. logmein is a pretty good service as well.

    3. Re:Does the droid and iPhone do this?! by TooMuchToDo · · Score: 1

      My Nexus One does both, although we wrote the app that allows for talking to our power/network API for rebooting equipment and changing VLANs via the phone when you're in the datacenter.

    4. Re:Does the droid and iPhone do this?! by stickytar · · Score: 1

      Yes, you can RDP on Android. Not sure about iPhone.

      --
      believing the big bang requires a certain amount of supernatural faith
    5. Re:Does the droid and iPhone do this?! by BarryJacobsen · · Score: 1

      Support remote desktop? I work in an enterprise environment and have found the feature very useful when away from my desk. When I'm on the production floor troubleshooting an issue and need to do a novell password reset; I just unlock my phone, enable remote desktop connection, log into my work machine and reset the password without ever having to leave the machine i'm trouble shooting. This saves me time; otherwise I would have to walk back to my terminal just to reset a password and then walk back to the client machine and continue troubleshooting. Any takers?

      There are VNC and RDP clients for iPhone and iPad. Not sure about android.

    6. Re:Does the droid and iPhone do this?! by ircmaxell · · Score: 2, Informative

      Support remote desktop?

      Yes it does. There's an app (it's not free, maybe a few $$$) called "Remote RDP" that connects to both Windows RDP machines, and any Linux box running XRDP. It may work with VNC, but I've never tried it. I also have an app called "Connect Bot" installed which manages ssh connections. It supports full public key authentication and port forwarding.

      --
      If a man isn't willing to take some risk for his opinions, either his opinions are no good or he's no good
    7. Re:Does the droid and iPhone do this?! by Graham+J+-+XVI · · Score: 1

      Yep, on iPhone check out Jaadu (now called iTeleport I think) - VNC or RDP versions.

    8. Re:Does the droid and iPhone do this?! by TrancePhreak · · Score: 1

      As others mentioned, they exist on iPhone and Android. In my experience, however, it runs better on Android for 2 reasons: higher resolution displays and a hardware input to mimic the mouse (in some cases the keyboard also).

      --

      -]Phreak Out[-
    9. Re:Does the droid and iPhone do this?! by Xtifr · · Score: 1

      Android has an ssh client--first thing I installed when I got mine. No idea about that other one, since I have zero interest in it.

    10. Re:Does the droid and iPhone do this?! by masdog · · Score: 1
    11. Re:Does the droid and iPhone do this?! by jpcarter · · Score: 1

      Android has an ssh client--first thing I installed when I got mine. No idea about that other one, since I have zero interest in it.

      iPhone does, too. If you jailbreak it.

      (See previous conversations about iPhone not being designed for power users & IT admins.)

    12. Re:Does the droid and iPhone do this?! by irreverant · · Score: 1

      Seems like a powerful tool to have; i use the hd2 and enjoy the platform. Unfortunately, it seems that I would need a mix of the services available on this tool, I don't need everything Professional offers but need more than basic; For now however, I am satisfied using rdp with my phone, most my tools I need are on my computer and can access them from my phone. However, it is interesting to find out that these features are supported on both the android and iPhone, I think I will test the Android out first before deploying on the network; since I don't need to jail-break the Android to use ssh, vnc, and rdp.

      --
      Of all the things I've lost; I miss my mind the most. - Mark Twain
    13. Re:Does the droid and iPhone do this?! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      There are lots of ssh *clients* for the iPhone in the App Store. There's no need to jail break it in order to use them.

    14. Re:Does the droid and iPhone do this?! by toadlife · · Score: 1

      WinMo FTW! ;)

      (I'm gonna miss it)

      --
      I don't always use unix-like operating systems; but when I do, I prefer FreeBSD.
    15. Re:Does the droid and iPhone do this?! by toadlife · · Score: 1

      Do you run a custom ROM on your HD2?

      My wife has the HD2, and there are some stability issues with her phone that I don't have with my Touch Pro 2.

      I make my own ROMs for my touch pro 2, but don't want to mess with trying to cook up something for her phone as she wouldn't be happy not having it for long periods of time. I'd rather just flash a third party custom ROM on her phone.

      --
      I don't always use unix-like operating systems; but when I do, I prefer FreeBSD.
    16. Re:Does the droid and iPhone do this?! by toadlife · · Score: 1

      That's fuckin' awesome, but I have to question the real value in it.

      --
      I don't always use unix-like operating systems; but when I do, I prefer FreeBSD.
    17. Re:Does the droid and iPhone do this?! by h4rr4r · · Score: 1

      Of course there are.

    18. Re:Does the droid and iPhone do this?! by h4rr4r · · Score: 1

      Looks like they are, no android app.

    19. Re:Does the droid and iPhone do this?! by irreverant · · Score: 1

      Well if you don't want to play with the rom, try this shell, I run and enjoy it, it doesn't have the same issues you'll find with the htc sense, although some features are different from the htc sense configuration, I feel she will enjoy it as much if not better, it also has a droidish flavor to it. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kW62zRLns3w

      --
      Of all the things I've lost; I miss my mind the most. - Mark Twain
    20. Re:Does the droid and iPhone do this?! by MistrBlank · · Score: 1

      Depends on your app. Just because you found one on the android first doesn't mean the iPhone doesn't do it.

    21. Re:Does the droid and iPhone do this?! by irreverant · · Score: 1

      Sorry, that's the sPb Mobile Shell 3.5.3

      --
      Of all the things I've lost; I miss my mind the most. - Mark Twain
    22. Re:Does the droid and iPhone do this?! by MistrBlank · · Score: 1

      You really fail. I have 5 remote apps and I know I don't have even close to all of the ones available.

      All so I can cover: VNC, NX, SSH, RDP and the myriad of combinations in between and through various OSes and my iPhone has NEVER been jailbroken.

      The one I use the most is iSSH since it does raw VNC or tunneled through SSH and because I can write my own macros for the SSH terminal (which is handy for quick administration of services at home).

      I also heavily use LogMeIn with my Mac at home.

    23. Re:Does the droid and iPhone do this?! by dracocat · · Score: 1

      As others stated RDP and VNC. Personally I love the logmein app. Works through all the little firewall issues in most locations.

    24. Re:Does the droid and iPhone do this?! by masdog · · Score: 1

      I was surprised to see that as well, but I am sure there is an Android equivalent to this somewhere out there. I wouldn't be surprised if Rove ported the application to Android.

    25. Re:Does the droid and iPhone do this?! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It's nice to see that SOMEONE will miss it. If you'll note from all the replies to the parent, most won't.

    26. Re:Does the droid and iPhone do this?! by nurb432 · · Score: 1

      But not free ones that will tunnel thru SSH :(

      --
      ---- Booth was a patriot ----
    27. Re:Does the droid and iPhone do this?! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Use connectbot to create an ssh tunnel for vnc, then use a vnc viewer to connect to the local port. Both are free and work fine on Andriod

    28. Re:Does the droid and iPhone do this?! by jpcarter · · Score: 1

      My bad for spreading misinformation again.

      Yes, RDP on the iPhone has saved my ass a number of times.

    29. Re:Does the droid and iPhone do this?! by toadlife · · Score: 1

      Thanks. I'm aware of SPB, but actually like Sense/Manilla myself. I don't know what she would think of SPB.

      She had a Motorola Cliq before and she liked the Android interface, but the phone was horribly buggy (10x worse that the issues she has with the HD2) so we mailed it back to t-Mobile.

      I might have her try SPB.

      --
      I don't always use unix-like operating systems; but when I do, I prefer FreeBSD.
    30. Re:Does the droid and iPhone do this?! by toadlife · · Score: 1

      If you'll note from all the replies to the parent, most won't.

      Why would I care what a a bunch of random people on the internet think? These are same fools that think Linux makes for a good desktop OS.

      --
      I don't always use unix-like operating systems; but when I do, I prefer FreeBSD.
    31. Re:Does the droid and iPhone do this?! by shutdown+-p+now · · Score: 1

      For Android, there is an RDP client for $10 which does that (or a $20 "enterprise" version which has SSL support).

      Works pretty well in my experience, especially on Android phones with a trackball (all of them? at least all HTC ones, so far as I know), because that gives you precise control over mouse cursor - Windows UI, especially on such a small screen, is hard to work with in touch mode without a stylus, unless scaled up significantly.

      Actually, I always wonder how they do it on iPhone. I know there are RDP clients there, but they only have touch to simulate mouse, which must be a pain.

    32. Re:Does the droid and iPhone do this?! by zuperduperman · · Score: 1

      > There are VNC and RDP clients for iPhone and iPad. Not sure about android.

      FUD much?

      Here's my go: Android handles email really well and definitely doesn't corrupt and delete all your files regularly. Not sure about iPhones.

    33. Re:Does the droid and iPhone do this?! by beakerMeep · · Score: 1
      --
      meep
    34. Re:Does the droid and iPhone do this?! by zuperduperman · · Score: 1

      Pre-emptively replying to myself - I misread which post yours was replying to. No FUD in your post, just information - apologies!

    35. Re:Does the droid and iPhone do this?! by TrancePhreak · · Score: 1

      Depends on your app. Just because you found one on the android first doesn't mean the iPhone doesn't do it.

      I don't think apps can add hardware to the iPhone. Also, re-read what I said, I found apps to do this on both. I just prefer it on one because of the available HARDWARE.

      --

      -]Phreak Out[-
    36. Re:Does the droid and iPhone do this?! by owlstead · · Score: 1

      He was talking about the hardware used for android devices (e.g. high res screen and - in my case rollerball on the Hero). This of course for high end android devices.

    37. Re:Does the droid and iPhone do this?! by mjwx · · Score: 1

      Support remote desktop? I work in an enterprise environment and have found the feature very useful when away from my desk.

      I'm in the same position (networking/support) in an SME. I have a Motorola Milestone (Droid for you yanks) which performs the task admirably. RDP Lite performs well even over VPN on 3G (for the most part, as always its dependent on your 3G signal), the full version is only 10 of your US dollars. Android also has VPN, which the Iphone lacks, granted it's only for PPTP/L2TP/IPSec VPN's as Cisco and Nortel haven't made clients for them. Tested on Server 2003 64 and 2008 32/64.

      I bought a HTC Dream in February last year because I spend so much time working at other peoples desks and the boss started to complain that I took hours to answer his emails.

      --
      Calling someone a "hater" only means you can not rationally rebut their argument.
    38. Re:Does the droid and iPhone do this?! by quacking+duck · · Score: 1

      Perhaps a valid point for VNC, but doesn't RDP use encryption out-of-the-box?

    39. Re:Does the droid and iPhone do this?! by phillymjs · · Score: 1

      Android also has VPN, which the Iphone lacks

      Err, what? My iPhone has PPTP, L2TP and IPSec VPN support, and iPhone OS 4.0 will add support for SSL VPN applications from Juniper Networks and Cisco.

      ~Philly

    40. Re:Does the droid and iPhone do this?! by RobbieCrash · · Score: 1

      But will you be able to connect over 3G?

      I was never able to get my iPhone to connect to any VPNs when I was on 3G with Rogers, in Canada. Now that I've purchased a Milestone, my VPN connections work without issue.

      Can I say for certain that this was an issue with my iPhone, not that Rogers decided to switch their policies. No. But I'm pretty sure that Steve Jobs was personally disallowing it. Think about it... It just makes sense.

      --
      Keep on knockin'
      https://robbiecrash.me
    41. Re:Does the droid and iPhone do this?! by dingen · · Score: 1

      So you pay a few dollars, who cares?

      --
      Pretty good is actually pretty bad.
    42. Re:Does the droid and iPhone do this?! by dingen · · Score: 1

      However, it is interesting to find out that these features are supported on both the android and iPhone, I think I will test the Android out first before deploying on the network; since I don't need to jail-break the Android to use ssh, vnc, and rdp.

      You don't need to jailbreak the iPhone as well to use those features. All you need is a RDP/VNC client. There are a few available from the App Store.

      --
      Pretty good is actually pretty bad.
    43. Re:Does the droid and iPhone do this?! by phillymjs · · Score: 1

      I can't say I use it that often, but every time I have, it has worked without issue.

    44. Re:Does the droid and iPhone do this?! by irreverant · · Score: 1

      I get modded down as over-rated, makes me wonder of the people that didn't contribute to this string might not now how or don't use these great tools on either of the mobile platforms, I have gained a lot of great information from your posts and my next phone may very well be a droid or an iPhone, more than likely a droid. Thanks for your great input.

      --
      Of all the things I've lost; I miss my mind the most. - Mark Twain
  13. Effect on app market? by thepike · · Score: 1

    I'm curious to see what effect this will have on the app markets. Like, will more people start developing for Android now because of the increased market share? Will that increase the Android market size to the point that it can catch up to the head start the iPhone had? Will that have any effect on the iTunes policies?

    Perhaps not, but it's something to think about.

    1. Re:Effect on app market? by Mordok-DestroyerOfWo · · Score: 1

      I wish you were correct but from my experience (and as always YMMV) the iPhone users that I know are far more willing to shell out the cash for apps than the more tech-savvy Android people. Increased marketshare doesn't necessarily mean increased revenue for application writers. I truly hope I'm wrong because if Apple's vertical lock-in model becomes standard practice and accepted by the public it will be a dark future for hobbyists and tinkerers.

      --
      "Never let your sense of morals prevent you from doing what is right" - Salvor Hardin
    2. Re:Effect on app market? by farble1670 · · Score: 1

      android doesn't lack for apps, although you might only find 100 note pads apps, as opposed to 10,000 on the apple app store.

      the exception is high-end games. android still has catching up to do in that area.

  14. Antitrust? by 99BottlesOfBeerInMyF · · Score: 1

    So Apple having 20% of the market and being behind RIM and Android is different from an antitrust perspective than Apple having 20% of the market behind RIM and a bunch of other companies that share an OS? Do the people making these comments even think they make any sense? Apple can argue it isn't dominant if it's #3 for phones sold with a given OS (having little to do with the markets that define antitrust law) and it can't argue it isn't dominant if it is #2 in the market for smartphone sales? Insanity!

    1. Re:Antitrust? by mjwx · · Score: 1

      So Apple having 20% of the market and being behind RIM and Android is different from an antitrust perspective than Apple having 20% of the market behind RIM and a bunch of other companies that share an OS?

      The Anti-trust issue is with Apples abusive business practices. The Monopoly part is Apples stranglehold on the MP3 player and digital music distribution services.

      By your reasoning I can conclude that Microsoft is not a monopoly because the Zune and Bing have tiny market shares in their respective markets.

      --
      Calling someone a "hater" only means you can not rationally rebut their argument.
    2. Re:Antitrust? by 99BottlesOfBeerInMyF · · Score: 1

      The Anti-trust issue is with Apples abusive business practices. The Monopoly part is Apples stranglehold on the MP3 player and digital music distribution services.

      Apple doesn't seem to have monopoly influence on mp3 players, especially due to the convergence of the mp3 player and cell phone markets. Apple might have monopoly influence on digital music distribution, but it is borderline and untested in court. For it to be an antitrust issue, however, Apple needs to be leveraging that market share in some illegal way and I sure don't see how Flash on the iPhone figures in.

      By your reasoning I can conclude that Microsoft is not a monopoly because the Zune and Bing have tiny market shares in their respective markets.

      Are you being obtuse? I spoke only about antitrust abuse, not monopoly status. Trying to claim that I said Apple does not have monopoly influence in any market is disingenuous or just incorrect. How, exactly, does anyone think Apple is leveraging monopoly influence in a market, what market, and how does it matter if Android phones have more market share with regard to whether or not Apple's actions are legal. Please be specific, none of this vague insinuation.

    3. Re:Antitrust? by mjwx · · Score: 1

      Are you being obtuse? I spoke only about antitrust abuse, not monopoly status.

      In your original post you said.

      So Apple having 20% of the market and being behind RIM

      You were talking about monopoly status in relation to anti-trust. If you cant see how that makes it relevant you should give up now.

      Now the anti-trust investigations are into Apple's abusive market practices, the ones that come to mind immediately are banning an application just because it mentions a competitor or changing the established rules to block the release of an application (must originally be written in etc.. to block Adobe from releasing a product which follows the rules at the time). These are the actions of an abusive company, the fact that they have such great influence over Digital Media Players and media distribution means that they should be investigated.

      If you bothered to actually read my post instead of posting a knee-jerk Apple defence you would have figured that one out.

      Apple have given enough evidence that they are actively tying to use the Itunes store against other competitors, this is an abuse of a dominant market position.

      --
      Calling someone a "hater" only means you can not rationally rebut their argument.
    4. Re:Antitrust? by 99BottlesOfBeerInMyF · · Score: 1

      Now the anti-trust investigations are into Apple's abusive market practices, the ones that come to mind immediately are banning an application just because it mentions a competitor or changing the established rules to block the release of an application

      Umm, and what antitrust law do you think this is violating?

      These are the actions of an abusive company, the fact that they have such great influence over Digital Media Players and media distribution means that they should be investigated.

      Do you have any idea what you're talking about? By analogy, a man is stopped for loitering. Records show he used to own a firearm, even though none is found on him. Should he be investigated for the crime of carrying a concealed weapon? Just because someone may or may not have a power that comes with legal responsibility does not mean they should be investigated for unrelated actions. Antitrust law prohibits a company from leveraging overwhelming market share, but if that market is not involved, they have no legal responsibility.

      If you bothered to actually read my post instead of posting a knee-jerk Apple defence you would have figured that one out.

      I read you post, but it seems to be assertions from a person who doesn't actually know what they're talking about. I asked for specifics in my last post. Here's what you need for a coherent argument that Apple is violating antitrust law:

      • Market monopolized
      • How that marekt is illegally being leveraged
      • How Android market share for mobile OS's effects this

      Please no more vague claims of some unnamed crime. Put up or shut up.

  15. Great news by Alien1024 · · Score: 1

    Great news for developers... Let iDevices fade into oblivion with their closed operating system and their watchdog policy on App Store. Though nothing is as open as Maemo. HTC hardware running maemo, now that would be one kick ass phone.

  16. This has all happened before and it will all ... by nilbog · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Apple is committed to making the same mistakes it made in the 80's. It amazes me how they think they can break the natural laws of the market and make their business model work. In five years the iPhone's market share will pale in comparison to Android and it will be for the sole reason that Apple cares more about its vision than its customers. Android is the Windows of the mobile world.

    --
    or else!
  17. Now, the true app experiment begins. by DdJ · · Score: 4, Interesting

    There's been anecdotal evidence that there isn't as much money to be made writing Android apps as there is to be made writing iPhone apps.

    One theory has gone "that's because the user base isn't there yet; when the users show up, the developers will come".

    Well. It looks like the users are showing up in numbers that are becoming difficult to ignore. So now it's time to keep a close eye on app developers, and see what happens! Is Android more like the XBox 360 (where a lot of third-party developers make a lot of money), or more like the Wii (where almost nobody but Nintendo ends up making much money)?

    It's all going to be very interesting to watch. Yay competition!

    1. Re:Now, the true app experiment begins. by painandgreed · · Score: 1

      There's been anecdotal evidence that there isn't as much money to be made writing Android apps as there is to be made writing iPhone apps.

      One theory has gone "that's because the user base isn't there yet; when the users show up, the developers will come".

      Well. It looks like the users are showing up in numbers that are becoming difficult to ignore. So now it's time to keep a close eye on app developers, and see what happens!

      Except I don't think it is that simple. Just because there are that many android devices out there, does not mean they are all one market. From my understanding, they are essentially multiple versions of the hardware and software out there and each one must be effectively tailored to fit one particular model. You do not program for Android OS, but rather for the Droid or the G1 phones with whatever version of the Android OS they are running. Different screen sizes, phone features, OS versions, and controlling companies effectively make it impossible to make on app that could go everywhere. There may be more total Android OS phones out there but at any given time you can only develop software for one small selection of them.

    2. Re:Now, the true app experiment begins. by Vintermann · · Score: 0, Flamebait

      There's been anecdotal evidence that there isn't as much money to be made writing Android apps as there is to be made writing iPhone apps.

      There's been rumors. Extremely useful rumors for Apple, I might add.

      --
      xkcd is not in the sudoers file. This incident will be reported.
    3. Re:Now, the true app experiment begins. by Archangel+Michael · · Score: 0, Flamebait

      What good is developing an Application if nobody can find it?

      One thing Apple has, and nobody else does, is the ITMS (one stop shopping).

      To be honest, I don't trust iWhateverApp from Nicolai the Russian, available for download from whatever shady-fly-by-night.com address, and I don't care what it does.

      I don't want my customers to trust it either.

      I have pen

      --
      Agent K: A *person* is smart. People are dumb, stupid, panicky animals, and you know it.
    4. Re:Now, the true app experiment begins. by h4rr4r · · Score: 2, Insightful

      You are totally wrong.
      Many apps work on the whole range of phones. Yes, you do need to be able to deal with both keyboard and not, yes you do need to deal with variable screen size, these are all solvable problems, easy ones at that.

      This would be like saying you program for the iphone vs the iphone 3Gs.

    5. Re:Now, the true app experiment begins. by DdJ · · Score: 4, Interesting

      You are totally wrong

      My own research (which involves poking at the dev environment and talking with Android developers, but not actually doing Android development yet) leads me to believe that both you and the person you're responding to are partially right.

      You can write very portable apps if you want to. You can write very locked-in apps if you want to. For some developers it's not a problem, and for other developers they're finding that they have to (at least) change the way they think about a lot of stuff.

      There is a (weak) analogy to J2ME here. There was a common subset of J2ME, and if you stuck to it, your apps could run on a wide variety of handsets... but they sucked, since that common subset sucked. The best J2ME apps were written for individual handsets.

      Nothing I've seen indicates that the Android marketplace is that bad. But it's also not "write once, run everywhere, even without putting any design effort into making that come to pass, regardless of the kind of app you're writing".

      For some apps (especially some games), the developers have it stuck in their heads that they must have the background of their main view be based on a pre-rendered bitmap image that's got exactly the same number of pixels as the display it's rendering on. If those folks insist on continuing to think that way, they'll have an awful lot of work to do...

      This would be like saying you program for the iphone vs the iphone 3Gs.

      You know there are cases where you essentially do, right? It's not common for most apps yet, but if you use the newer OpenGL features on the 3Gs, the app won't run on a 3G or 2G. The iPad takes this to an even greater extreme.

    6. Re:Now, the true app experiment begins. by h4rr4r · · Score: 1

      Some developers are dumb, I never contested that fact, but the cries of android fragmentation are a bit much.

      I realize some phone do not support some features, that's life. The old iphone did not have GPS either, nor a magnetic compass.

    7. Re:Now, the true app experiment begins. by mqduck · · Score: 1

      Personally, I'd be perfectly happy if Android gets an ecosystem where people expect their apps to be high-quality hobbyist/enthusiast/ideologue-made programs distributed for free (and often open source). There's a reason so few commercial products are ported to (desktop) Linux, and it's not just the relatively few number of users. Nobody, including me, likes that a lack of some choices result from it, but it's a reflection of Linux's strength.

      Anyway, that's *my* dream future for the Android operating system. Nothing wrong with yours.

      --
      Property is theft.
    8. Re:Now, the true app experiment begins. by mqduck · · Score: 1

      Anyway, that's *my* dream future for the Android operating system. Nothing wrong with yours.

      ADDENDUM: My dream future also includes Firaxis porting their iPhone version of Civilization Revolution to Android. I might even pay for it.

      --
      Property is theft.
    9. Re:Now, the true app experiment begins. by shutdown+-p+now · · Score: 1

      One thing Apple has, and nobody else does, is the ITMS (one stop shopping).

      Um, what do you think Android Market is?

      Yeah, the implementation pretty much sucks so far - especially the lack of decent filtering (no, I do not want to browse all the crappy themes and porn when listing new apps!!!) - but it's "one stop" as they go.

    10. Re:Now, the true app experiment begins. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "I have penguins loose in my basement, biting on the network cables"?

      You must be a linux user.

    11. Re:Now, the true app experiment begins. by tpgp · · Score: 5, Informative

      One thing Apple has, and nobody else does, is the ITMS (one stop shopping).

      And android has the Android Market. The only difference is that you're not forced to sell your app through google if you don't wish to.

      --
      My pics.
    12. Re:Now, the true app experiment begins. by mjwx · · Score: 1

      There's been anecdotal evidence that there isn't as much money to be made writing Android apps as there is to be made writing iPhone apps.

      Anecdotal evidence is an oxymoron.

      The simple fact is that if you've got a good idea, that people want to pay for (a wee bit of marketing may be involved) and manage to turn that idea into a reasonable applications ("perfect" has no advantage over "good enough" in the real world) then you will earn money on that idea. Whether you make a profit is dependent on the market and your costs. This is true for any platform.

      Now the difference between Android and Iphone is that it is much easier to publish on the Android Marketplace. With Apple tightening the screws on Itunes most people would have an easier time with Android knowing that their application is guaranteed to be released.

      --
      Calling someone a "hater" only means you can not rationally rebut their argument.
    13. Re:Now, the true app experiment begins. by MikeyO · · Score: 1

      It seems there are different expectations on the two platforms. It seems like people with an iPhone EXPECT to pay for even pedestrian apps. Whereas android users expect apps to be there for free.

      When I look at lists of "Our top picks for *must have* iPhone apps". It is a list of mostly for-pay apps, and apps with the same functionality are available for free in the android market.

    14. Re:Now, the true app experiment begins. by JohnG · · Score: 1

      I have two apps on both markets (more on iPhone). I make more on iPhone for sure, even though I charge a dollar more for one of the apps on the Android. I don't think price affects sales too much as people love the app on iPhone and I think would have been willing to pay the extra dollar had I not undercut myself. There are A LOT of things wrong with the Android market though that reduce sales. Many things. First, a ton of phones still use 1.5, which doesn't have any screenshots. You can't even tell what TYPE of game you are getting at times without screenshots. Second, the entire description is limited to something like 325 characters. It just doesn't allow for much of a sales pitch, or even a detailed description of the app. Also, since there are no keywords associated with the app, like with Apple, you have to try to cram your keywords into that 325 description, making it even harder to say something meaningful. Another really annoying feature is the 24 hour return window. My best app has a return ratio of about 90%, the second one is around 66%. The kicker is that the second app has a demo available. Free demos seem to be meaningless on the Android. I don't mind a return policy, I have bought apps for my iPhone that I really wish I hadn't. But 24 hours is quite a bit of time. It completely disallows for ebooks, and quick to beat games. There is no reason for the customer to pay for it. Finally, the Android market doesn't have the common sense to wait for 5 reviews before they give an average. My first review for one app was a 4 star review, the next was a 1 star review. Once my average hit 2.5 sales almost completely stopped. Google has NO experience in creating this type of product, and the utter lack of polish in the Android market shows. Until these issues are fixed, market share is going to mean diddley for sales.

    15. Re:Now, the true app experiment begins. by KagakuNinja · · Score: 2, Informative

      As an experienced J2ME developer... The real pain was not "writing apps for individual handsets", it was dealing with all the undocumented bugs and "novel" interpretations of the J2ME spec. A game coded perfectly to the J2ME spec might run great on one family of handsets, and crash mysteriously on others, or even fail to launch.

      Other major nightmares included: undocumented (and radically different) threading models, sound (which was not a part of the original J2ME spec), memory management and networking. And then you had to squeeze everything into a tiny JAR limit for the crappiest phones (64K when I started, later upped to 100K).

      Did I mention that each phone (of which there were hundreds) was potentially different, and almost completely undocumented?

    16. Re:Now, the true app experiment begins. by dudpixel · · Score: 1

      There's been anecdotal evidence that there isn't as much money to be made writing Android apps as there is to be made writing iPhone apps.

      One theory has gone "that's because the user base isn't there yet; when the users show up, the developers will come".

      Well. It looks like the users are showing up in numbers that are becoming difficult to ignore. So now it's time to keep a close eye on app developers, and see what happens!

      Except I don't think it is that simple. Just because there are that many android devices out there, does not mean they are all one market. From my understanding, they are essentially multiple versions of the hardware and software out there and each one must be effectively tailored to fit one particular model. You do not program for Android OS, but rather for the Droid or the G1 phones with whatever version of the Android OS they are running. Different screen sizes, phone features, OS versions, and controlling companies effectively make it impossible to make on app that could go everywhere. There may be more total Android OS phones out there but at any given time you can only develop software for one small selection of them.

      WRONG. You program for the "API level" - which at the moment means either Android 1.5, 1.6 or 2.1. 1.5 and 1.6 are very similar, so lets simplify it and say that you'll program for 1.5, or if your app requires newer features then use 2.0.
      If you need newer android features, then your app isn't interesting to phones with an older version - so no problem there. If you dont need newer features, then target Android 1.5 and then all current androids can run your app without any problem.

      The UI is designed to scale/stretch around any different screen size. If it looks wrong on different size screens, then it is the app developer's fault for hard-coding specifically for one size. Compare the development of windows GUI's to toolkits like Qt and GTK which use auto-sizing features.

      So next time someone complains about the million different versions of Android out there - for a developer, there are only 2. One for the 1st generation of android phones, and one for the newer ones. Pretty soon the older ones will be superceded or upgraded anyway.

      --
      This seemed like a reasonable sig at the time.
    17. Re:Now, the true app experiment begins. by dudpixel · · Score: 1

      I agree. if your phone doesn't have GPS for example, why would you want to run an app that relies on it? either the user needs a new phone or just dont use the app.

      the developer can check for it in advance and disable certain features anyway. this is a different issue to programming for API levels.

      If you have a phone running android 1.5, apps made for later versions wont show up on android market - meaning you wont even know they exist...so there is never any incompatibility issue.

      --
      This seemed like a reasonable sig at the time.
    18. Re:Now, the true app experiment begins. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I just went to that link to see what apps they had... And I come to the conclusion that developers are either making lots of use of the option not to sell their apps through Google or the Android Market is about as lively as Wallstreet last year.

      Both the paid and the free apps were pretty sparse, but the free ones are particularly lacking. Oh wait I should rephrase that to put them in better light, how about their free apps are _retro_.

    19. Re:Now, the true app experiment begins. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      As an owner of both a Nexus One and the iPhone 3G I have to say I'm extremely disappointed with the Android Market, for the simple reason that I'm not able to purchase paid apps. They simply don't show up.

      I'm in China and to get a "fill" appstore on the iPhone I just have to use a US or EU credit card. Things will work regardless of my location.

      On Nexus.. I haven't figured it out yet. I'm using a US credit card and VPN'ing (on the phone) my way into the US, but things still don't show up. Seems taking the Nexus to China turns it into a brickphone, whereas my iPhone is still a smartphone. I admit my use-case may be rare, but Google's approach really is a step down from Apple's.

      Oh, and before anyone yells 'censorship': the market works fine otherwise. It shows *all* unpaid apps and 'illegal' (by Chinese law) apps are blocked selectively by the GFW.

    20. Re:Now, the true app experiment begins. by Xest · · Score: 1

      The only time you face fragmentation with Android is where you start using niche features that aren't available on all handsets, but things like touch screen, accelerometer, GPS and so forth are basically standard. Stick to the standard features across phones and it's easy.

      "You can write very portable apps if you want to. You can write very locked-in apps if you want to. For some developers it's not a problem, and for other developers they're finding that they have to (at least) change the way they think about a lot of stuff."

      I'm not sure what developers you're referring to, but any developer worth their salt should understand how to develop abstraction layers to handle differences in interchangeable components their software is dependent on. Even web developers face this issue in that their data model should be abstracted away from any specific persistent storage mechanism to make it easy to switch between database servers, or even switch from say flat file to SQL, or vice versa, or something different altogether. That's not to say it's always the case that abstraction is required of course, but it's something every developer should understand, and know how to use when it's needed. Any developer that needs to change the way they think about things to deal with different cases is either not a professional developer, or if they are, they are outright incompetent and are not fit for the role because you can be rest assured, the code they've written will be a major problem one day in that everything that's been hard coded to a specific interchangeable component, is going to need to be untangled, rather than simply have a new implementation for an abstract class or interface written or whatever to support the new component.

      Effectively there's nothing in Android that acts as a block for writing portable software to someone who is a professional developer other than as I say, the afformentioned case where the software being developed intentionally targets a few niche features, but again, that's the same for any platform.

      "Nothing I've seen indicates that the Android marketplace is that bad. But it's also not "write once, run everywhere, even without putting any design effort into making that come to pass, regardless of the kind of app you're writing"."

      I'm not entirely sure what you're saying here, but it sounds like you're either complaining that an application has to be planned to cater to hardware differences, or you can't ever write write once, run everywhere Android software. If it's the former then well, no shit, software development takes skill and planning, just as an architect can't build a fancy new building without planning it and simply hope it wont then fall down. If it's the latter, then you're simply wrong. In the fact majority of cases there will be no issue writing write once run everywhere software, because even features like GPS are I believe standard in every Android handset- there's very few features people would want to use in the majority of apps that are niche features. About the only common difference is screen resolution, but again, that's something developers have been dealing with for decades, and with the various iPhone incarnations including the 4G and the iPad as well it's something even iPhone developers will have to deal with. It's just not something that should phase any professional developer- even HTML jockeys who don't even know much about real software development tend to understand their site might not look the same in every resolution and have to cater to that.

      Going beyond Android good software should easily be portable- there's a reason you see some apps on every platform under the sun, and it's because they're written in such a manner where certain components can be swapped out, but the main core stays the same. Most classes in an Android app for example will be reusable in any Java app, you might have to write a new implementation for your abstraction layers again on the new platform, or replace the UI modules, but it'll still be portable.

      Or simply put, dealing with hardware/software differences is a long solved problem and one any developer worthy of the title should know how to deal with by now.

    21. Re:Now, the true app experiment begins. by farble1670 · · Score: 1

      From my understanding, they are essentially multiple versions of the hardware and software out there and each one must be effectively tailored to fit one particular model. You do not program for Android OS, but rather for the Droid or the G1 phones with whatever version of the Android OS they are running

      yeah that's just not true. almost of apps are written generically with no screen size, OS version, etc. awareness whatsoever. in the 5% that do require such awareness, the android SDK easily allows you to code for that. sure, there are some bugs where certain OS versions act differently, but it's the exception not the rule.

    22. Re:Now, the true app experiment begins. by MikeBabcock · · Score: 1

      The apps available from that link is not exhaustive. They are 'most popular' only, as the titles imply.

      See this graph for a better view of the numbers.

      --
      - Michael T. Babcock (Yes, I blog)
    23. Re:Now, the true app experiment begins. by MikeBabcock · · Score: 1

      Quite a few of the better app developers also have their own website-based payment options to unlock their apps via a code. Documents2Go comes to mind immediately, as I had the same problem here in Canada until paid apps were unlocked very recently.

      --
      - Michael T. Babcock (Yes, I blog)
    24. Re:Now, the true app experiment begins. by hazydave · · Score: 1

      This is true... for now. Android developers don't make as much money as iPhone developers... unless you're one of the iPhone developers who's app doesn't match Apple's whims that month.

      There are reasons for this, some of which are inherently temporary. Yes, Android device sales beat iPhone sales 1Q2010, and they probably will this quarter too. But there's a vast installed base for iPhoneOS apps... that's where your sales materialize.

      The other thing is that paid apps are an evolving thing on the Android Marketplace. Still much of the world can't buy applications yet. This has not only lead to fewer sales, but a better selection of free software, as developers want to get their feet wet in the Android market, even if they had to do it free. Presumably, Google will get their act together on international sales, just as Apple ultimately did.

      --
      -Dave Haynie
  18. Android did not exceed "iPhone OS" sales by diamondsw · · Score: 3, Insightful

    It exceeded iPhone sales, not iPhone OS, as iPhone OS includes the iPod Touch and iPad. The sales of the iPod Touch are far from insubstantial.

    Meanwhile, iPhone sales are down because new ones are due in June, as they have been the last three years. People know this (and if they don't, they ask a geek friend who does), and sales drop. Just watch, they'll skyrocket in June/July, just as they have the last couple years.

    --
    I don't know what kind of crack I was on, but I suspect it was decaf.
    1. Re:Android did not exceed "iPhone OS" sales by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Who cares? An iPad and iPod are not a smartphone, or a smartphone substitute. They're in a completely different market.

    2. Re:Android did not exceed "iPhone OS" sales by painandgreed · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Who cares? An iPad and iPod are not a smartphone, or a smartphone substitute. They're in a completely different market.

      They're only in a different market if you are a telco. If you are a developer trying to make money by making applications for these devices, 'phone' is just another feature like GPS. What really matters would be the total number of devices that your app can be bought for. If one of the OSs has the developers for the most and best apps, it gives it an advantage over the other phones. Given that the Android developer market currently seems to be split up between different versions of OS and hardware, Apple has a little bit more weight to its cause when not talking strictly phones.

    3. Re:Android did not exceed "iPhone OS" sales by mqduck · · Score: 1

      I don't know what kind of crack I was on, but I suspect it was decaf.

      You mean "decoc"?

      --
      Property is theft.
    4. Re:Android did not exceed "iPhone OS" sales by dudpixel · · Score: 1

      It exceeded iPhone sales, not iPhone OS, as iPhone OS includes the iPod Touch and iPad. The sales of the iPod Touch are far from insubstantial.

      Meanwhile, iPhone sales are down because new ones are due in June, as they have been the last three years. People know this (and if they don't, they ask a geek friend who does), and sales drop. Just watch, they'll skyrocket in June/July, just as they have the last couple years.

      Well, how many iPod Touch's get sold these days...?

      Either way, you can definitely include the iPad in there because Android sales were ahead by 6 million and I dont think the iPad has hit 6 million yet...

      iPhone sales will more than likely skyrocket in June/July - but I fail to see how that has any bearing on this article right now. The fact remains, android DID smash iphone sales last quarter - and is the first new platform to do so since the iphone was launched. This is big news, no matter which side of the fence you're on. Have a look at how quickly Android has lept to the forefront...Apple needs to get this next iphone right. They probably will too...but this game wont be over for a long time...

      --
      This seemed like a reasonable sig at the time.
    5. Re:Android did not exceed "iPhone OS" sales by dbcad7 · · Score: 1

      And it also didn't include all the other Android gizmo's that are not smart phones.

      --
      waiting for ad.doubleclick.net
    6. Re:Android did not exceed "iPhone OS" sales by dudpixel · · Score: 1

      oops my bad - I meant 6% not 6 million. I'd imagine 6% is a LOT more than 6 million and therefore could indeed make the android sales total greater than all iPhone OS sales from the last quarter

      --
      This seemed like a reasonable sig at the time.
    7. Re:Android did not exceed "iPhone OS" sales by farble1670 · · Score: 1

      Just watch, they'll skyrocket in June/July, just as they have the last couple years.

      and watch them fall again when three months later the latest shiny, cutting edge android phone is released ... and watch that repeat every three months until the iphone 5g is released. apple can't keep up with the multitude of manufacturers releasing new android devices.

      i am sure there are a good number of apple loyals that will wait a year until the next iphone, but many people just want their new phone now and want to know they are purchasing the latest technology.

    8. Re:Android did not exceed "iPhone OS" sales by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Where did you see that iphone sales are down? I have not seen any such reports.

  19. Re:Hipster Douchebags On Suicide Watch by binarylarry · · Score: 0, Troll

    We can only hope.

    --
    Mod me down, my New Earth Global Warmingist friends!
  20. That's damn cold by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Android is the Windows of the mobile world.

    YOU TAKE THAT BACK!

  21. Re:LOL, Fanboy Spin by masdog · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Or that the iPhone is an inferior product in the Enterprise market. Or that people don't like dealing with the AT&T network. There could be a million different reasons for this.

  22. Re:This has all happened before and it will all .. by 2obvious4u · · Score: 0, Redundant

    Android is the Windows of the mobile world.

    Really? Windows? Are you sure? I don't recall paying $200 for my Andriod 2.1 OS license.

  23. Does anyone know if android does OpenVPN? by fluffernutter · · Score: 1

    .. because I have OVPN in my home and my iPod Touch is a no go / f*ck you on OpenVPN even if jailbroken.

    --
    Laws are rules for the court, but merely a bottom bar to hit for life. Think beyond laws in your actions always.
    1. Re:Does anyone know if android does OpenVPN? by Spad · · Score: 1

      Yes, it supports it out of the box.

    2. Re:Does anyone know if android does OpenVPN? by h4rr4r · · Score: 1

      It does. Both client and server.

    3. Re:Does anyone know if android does OpenVPN? by babyrat · · Score: 1

      So I typed Droid ovpn into google, and the first hit was:

      http://www.droidforums.net/forum/droid-hacks/10796-got-openvpn-running-2-1-a.html

    4. Re:Does anyone know if android does OpenVPN? by PipsqueakOnAP133 · · Score: 1

      Your Google-fu needs training.

      http://chandraonline.net/blog/?p=22

      There's a jailbroken iPhone using OpenVPN.

  24. Re:This has all happened before and it will all .. by diamondsw · · Score: 0, Redundant

    Yup, just like the failure of the iPod that idiots predicted was inevitable for years. Now they've moved on to the iPhone - great, more shlock.

    That said, Android is a far better alternative model than the iPod competitors were, but dragging out the tired, old, and inaccurate "Mac vs PC in the 80's" model is just tiresome and worthless. There are so many variances (probably the biggest being price - the iPhone isn't more expensive than its competitors) that it's just a stupid comparison to make, generally only made by PC trolls.

    --
    I don't know what kind of crack I was on, but I suspect it was decaf.
  25. This will be..... by mr_lizard13 · · Score: 1

    ...the year of Linux on the desktop, uh I mean phone.

    --
    "We live in a global world" - Harvey Pitt, former Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman
  26. Re:This has all happened before and it will all .. by Yvan256 · · Score: 3, Funny

    Android is the Windows of the mobile world.

    It's going to crash a lot and get a lot of viruses? /duck

  27. Droid Does Porn by strangeattraction · · Score: 5, Funny

    Verizon's droid does porn advertising campaign is what really hooked me into my purchase. If Jobs hadn't pointed it out to me I probably would have just bought an iPhone.

  28. Re:This has all happened before and it will all .. by e2d2 · · Score: 2, Informative

    They have their work cut out for them. I understand the model they want, it's close to the model used by game console manufacturers to ensure quality on their consoles and also to reap the rewards of complete control. But what I've never heard of is a restriction on using a particular language that compiles to a native format using a published API. They're gonna have a hard time selling that one as something that offers value to the customer given they already have a fairly intense filtering process for their app store. Even console manufacturers don't dictate what code you compile in, as long as it compiles to a proper native image and meets all the checks and balances.

  29. Re:Proof that being more open = more sales by gilesjuk · · Score: 1

    Hardly. If Apple licenced the iPhone OS to OEMs I'm sure there would be loads more phones around.

    Android phones are available in lots of different form factors, some people insist on hardware keyboards.

  30. Re:Proof that being more open = more sales by pastafazou · · Score: 5, Funny

    yes, being more open will always result in more sales. That's how Linux was able to surpass Windows so quickly.

  31. Re:Proof that being more open = more sales by poetmatt · · Score: 1

    hahahahaha, what?

    you think apple will ever license the iphone os? are you joking? Maybe you are wondering what the psystar case is about, for example?

    Mac by design basically will never license anything mac to non apple products. That's both a flaw and a feature.

    meanwhile, it shows something more significant: apple interest is not raising anywhere near the interest that android is and has now.

  32. Re:Moron by DdJ · · Score: 1

    Where the FUCK did you come up with that garbage?

    From watching NPD numbers, paying attention to the gaming industry press, stuff like that.

    Did you follow how "Dead Space Extraction" did on the Wii compared to "Dead Space" on the XB360?

    Heck, just compare this list:

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_best-selling_video_games#Wii

    to this one:

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_best-selling_video_games#Xbox_360

    and this one:

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_best-selling_video_games#PlayStation_3

    How many non-Nintendo titles on the Wii list? How many different companies are represented? How many non-Microsoft titles on the XB360 list? How many different companies are represented? What about the PS3 list?

    Presumably you find fault with the argument. I'd be more than happy to look at any data you've got that contradicts it, hints at other explanations for the same data, whatever. Got a handy cite?

  33. Do you own a passport? by Weezul · · Score: 1

    Verizon fanboys should stop trotting out this dead horse. AT&T and T-mobile are the only major mobile phone carriers in the U.S. that support GSM. Almost all non-GSM phones become useless bricks outside the U.S., kinda pointless if you travel.

    I hear talk about how T-mobile's coverage is even weaker than AT&T's, but honestly it's fine for places you'd ever make a phone call, like any town that has an airport. AT&T and T-mobile's higher end phones all inherently offer world wide coverage, plus you can always just drop a local sim into your GSM phone.

    I'm sure some people are inexperienced enough with the wilderness that enough extra coverage might save their life while hiking, but I personally know how one uses an old fashioned map and compass, and I like being offline when hiking.. and I kinda doubt Verizon's coverage is *that* great. ;) In fact, I've only ever used my mobile phone's data plan while hiking in Europe.

    --
    The Christian religion has been and still is the principal enemy of moral progress in the world. -- Bertrand Russell
    1. Re:Do you own a passport? by h4rr4r · · Score: 1

      As a verizon customer who regularly travels outside the US, I just use a prepaid phone. AT&T and T-mobiles coverage suck. I wanted to switch to T-mobile, I wanted to get an N900. Instead I got a motorola droid. I had to do this since t-mobile coverage was not good enough. This is not GSM vs CDMA, this is a simple reality of a lack of regulation. Since all the operators of cell networks make sure they are not inter-operable, see AT&T vs T-mobile 3G, coverage is not as good as it could be and customers are left making crappy decisions like this.

    2. Re:Do you own a passport? by droopycom · · Score: 1

      AT&T and T-mobile's higher end phones all inherently offer world wide coverage, plus you can always just drop a local sim into your GSM phone.

      Ahem... most GSM phones are still sold locked to your carrier, so you cant really just "drop" your foreign SIM in them... especially the iPhone. Unlock was fairly easy on basic Nokia or Moto phones, not so easy or safe on iPhones and smartphones.

      Also, most people dont travel internationally very frequently, so its not likely to be a big incentive for them. Those people who do travel frequently are likely to have an extra phone and plan where they do most of their travel, or if they are on verizon, they are likely to have a world phone that also has GSM, with an international plan paid by their company. Verizon also has (or used to have) loaner GSM phones for the occasional international traveller.

      Also, with the price of international roaming being what it is, my GSM phone is "just in case" when I'm not in the US.

      GSM is one of the reason I started with Cingular, having a GSM phone was a lifesaver, worth the expensive calls in a couple of situations, but I dont think its going to be a decisive factor for most people.

    3. Re:Do you own a passport? by Mr2001 · · Score: 1

      Almost all non-GSM phones become useless bricks outside the U.S., kinda pointless if you travel.

      If you travel to Europe, yes.

      If you travel to Asia, no: in fact, Asia has more CDMA subscribers than the US. There's some CDMA coverage in Japan, but no GSM coverage. My family and coworkers have also used their Verizon phones in China with no problem.

      --
      Visual IRC: Fast. Powerful. Free.
    4. Re:Do you own a passport? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Japan has very good GSM coverage from three large GSM providers.

    5. Re:Do you own a passport? by Mr2001 · · Score: 1

      Japan has very good GSM coverage from three large GSM providers.

      Not quite. They have UMTS 2100, which is not the same as GSM, but is supported by many GSM 3G phones.

      --
      Visual IRC: Fast. Powerful. Free.
    6. Re:Do you own a passport? by droopycom · · Score: 1

      Just to confirm my thought:

      78% of americans own a cell phone:
      http://www.itfacts.biz/78-of-americans-own-cell-phones/11802

      28% of american population own a passport
      http://www.gyford.com/phil/writing/2003/01/31/how_many_america.php
      (according to the 2008 GAO report)

  34. Antitrust != Anti-Monoploy by slaingod · · Score: 1

    The final comment of the summary indicates it might help Apple with its antitrust inquiry.

    I think people misunderstand that 'antitrust' law really is another name for 'competition' law, and that any anti-competitive behavior may be regulated whether there is a monopoly or not.

    --
    http://blog.slaingod.com
    1. Re:Antitrust != Anti-Monoploy by 99BottlesOfBeerInMyF · · Score: 1

      I think people misunderstand that 'antitrust' law really is another name for 'competition' law, and that any anti-competitive behavior may be regulated whether there is a monopoly or not.

      Competition law is an area of law that encompasses more than antitrust law. Antitrust law is a term mostly used in the US (and lumped into competition law in Europe), but which applies to any sort of cartel or individual company with overwhelming dominance in a market. Not much antitrust law can really apply to Apple's rules for iPhone developers as noted by several lawyers expert on the subject after the news reported Adobe was filing a complaint. See antitrust expert Hillard Sterling's comments, as an example.

    2. Re:Antitrust != Anti-Monoploy by slaingod · · Score: 1

      Exactly, which is why either Wikipedia has it wrong (that antitrust and competition are interchangeable in common usage), or people are misreporting what it is that Adobe is claiming and what the inquiry means.

      I'm pretty sure Adobe (and other 3rd party toolkit devs/users) don't care what the semantics of the term is, other than Apple could be construed as acting in an anti-competitive way by saying you can only compile code in Objective C/Xcode, and that is what this inquiry will investigate.

      Price fixing, tying, refusal to deal, dumping, etc. are all anti-competitive activities that can and are regulated without the perpetrator being a monopolist.

      --
      http://blog.slaingod.com
    3. Re:Antitrust != Anti-Monoploy by 99BottlesOfBeerInMyF · · Score: 1

      Price fixing, tying, refusal to deal, dumping, etc. are all anti-competitive activities that can and are regulated without the perpetrator being a monopolist.

      That's sort of true, depending upon if you consider a cartel of companies to be a monopoly. Price fixing and tying are terms that requires either monopoly influence (e.g. Microsoft) or the collusion of a cartel (e.g. RIAA) in a market. You can't do the former without it and the latter is not problematic if you don't have dominance in a market. Refusal to deal is the same case in the US, but not in all countries. Dumping on the other hand does not require monopoly influence in the US and varies widely in countries around the world (and is an issue for the WTO as well). I don't think any of these apply in this case however; certainly not in the US which is why lawyers, economists and pundits are all wondering what the deal is.

    4. Re:Antitrust != Anti-Monoploy by slaingod · · Score: 1

      And at the end of the day, just because it isn't illegal doesn't mean it is good. The fact is that if Microsoft was doing some of the things Apple was doing, people would be up in arms and having fits. While they technically may not be illegal for Apple to do, it doesn't mean they are ok or good for consumers, or even good for Apple in the long term.

      The point of a lot of this is to make very clear to Apple the bridges it is burning with this, with the loss of developer good will, and making specious arguments about HTML5 which aren't true (it is the FUTURE...but the future is not now).

      Again, this isn't about Flash. It is about Apple dictating what language the code is written in. What if the SDK said 'All code must be written in English. All variable names and comments in English'? That is effectively what they are doing though, by forcing Objective C as the only language, a preparser that allowed a non-English speaker to code in their native language/character set but converted the code to Objective C as part of the compilation process would not be allowed.

      Apple could have banned just Flash, or relegated 3rd party toolkits to a separate section of the AppStore, or made big warnings before running/installing, or actually banned apps on merit rather than the tools used.

      --
      http://blog.slaingod.com
    5. Re:Antitrust != Anti-Monoploy by 99BottlesOfBeerInMyF · · Score: 1

      And at the end of the day, just because it isn't illegal doesn't mean it is good.

      No, but neither does it mean it is bad. There are reasons why we write our laws the way we do. Firing a gun into a target is usually legal while firing a gun into your postal worker is not. This isn't an arbitrary distinction and saying "just because shooting a gun into a target isn't illegal doesn't mean it is good" does not really advance a cogent argument as to whether or not it should be.

      The fact is that if Microsoft was doing some of the things Apple was doing, people would be up in arms and having fits.

      Maybe, maybe not, but then most people don't understand why we have antitrust laws or how they protect our economy and benefit citizenry.

      While they technically may not be illegal for Apple to do, it doesn't mean they are ok or good for consumers, or even good for Apple in the long term.

      No, but we have competition in the market to sort that out. Antitrust is about making sure that competition can work and is not undermined. Apple choosing not to allow Flash on their phones, may be one of the factors driving the growth of Android phones, or maybe not. Either way, the market is deciding so it's fine in my book.

      The point of a lot of this is to make very clear to Apple the bridges it is burning with this, with the loss of developer good will, and making specious arguments about HTML5 which aren't true (it is the FUTURE...but the future is not now).

      Maybe so, and maybe it will drive developers Apple wants/needs away. Or maybe not. We'll see eventually.

      Again, this isn't about Flash. It is about Apple dictating what language the code is written in.

      I think you've wandered a long ways away from the antitrust topic I mentioned as well as the main point of the article being Android sales.

      Apple could have banned just Flash, or relegated 3rd party toolkits to a separate section of the AppStore, or made big warnings before running/installing, or actually banned apps on merit rather than the tools used.

      Not more than a month ago people were complaining most vocally that Apple did not make clear enough to developers what apps would and would not be accepted until the developers had already invested in making them. Maybe Apple listened and wrote these guidelines to be strict so that problem would be mitigated. But Apple wants to do more than ban bad apps. They want to make sure apps don't stagnate and fail to take advantage of whatever cool features Apple adds because the developers are reliant upon a third party to implement them in the toolkit first. How can Apple out compete a rival phone maker if developers are all using a cross platform toolkit that does not allow them to use whatever Apple adds to the iPhone until most other phones implement the same?

    6. Re:Antitrust != Anti-Monoploy by slaingod · · Score: 1

      Yes, my mistake in discussing with a lawyer/lawyer-esque. :)

      I am categorically stating that in my opinion, it is not good, for consumers, developers, and quite possibly Apple, in case that wasn't clear in my previous post. I am saying that I believe it is anti-competitive, regardless of any legal finding supportive a legal definition of that designation. When you rewrite the rules halfway through the game in the way Apple has, then there is a sense of fairness that is violated, and it will be up to the investigators to determine if that violation of fairness rises to the level requiring further action.

      I was furthermore saying, whether it in fact turns out to be found as illegal or not, that shining the light through the inquiry may have benefits regardless of the outcome, by raising awareness, bad publicity, etc.

      We have the antitrust laws we do because it is the very least (literally the absolute least) that the lawmakers could do to avert the most egregious of the excesses and anti-competitive behavior from the last century. I doubt many educated people actually subscribe to the idea that we have 'too much antitrust' regulation, besides a pro-forma lip service as paid spokespeople to the industries most likely to be found monopolistic.

      I agree that I wandered from the antitrust topic somewhat, because I was interested in explaining why I found their actions anti-competitive, at least in the colloquial sense. Thinking that competition will somehow always get to the 'right' or a 'good' solution when artificial barriers are being placed in its path, assumes that we are actually in a free market, and that information exchange is perfect. The reality tends to fall short however. People might not notice that their choices have been reduced. They may not think they care due to a lack of a nuanced understanding of the issues. People perhaps should not be expected to have to know these details in depth, truthfully, which is why it has been so loudly debated to make an otherwise minority view accessible.

      If Ford were to say: "Only English speakers can drive in our cars." Whether or not it is even anti-competitive, there is a real sense of outrage at the arbitrary discrimination involved, and the reduction of our (my) ability to freely express ourselves (myself).

      As far as your last paragraph: There are many ways that Apple could have done that besides an outright ban (which I mentioned previously). When Jobs is demoing one of those crappy 3rd party toolkit apps as part of the iPad launch demo, there is a certain amount of hypocrisy. When one of the leading developers of Lua (an interpreted language) game toolkits, is saying they doubt that the SDK language will apply to them, there is some double-dealing going on. When educational apps that teach children how to program are being banned because they too closely resemble an interpreted language. If the toolkits suck then the apps suck, and people will not buy the apps that suck...that is what competition is.

      How can an AppStore 'Market' be called anything like truly competitive? The competition question doesn't end at the point of sale of the device. It happens at the level of all transactions.

      --
      http://blog.slaingod.com
    7. Re:Antitrust != Anti-Monoploy by 99BottlesOfBeerInMyF · · Score: 1

      So what we're moving towards a more general discussion of antitrust law and what it should or should not restrict. Personally, I think capitalism is an incredibly powerful and useful way to harness self interest and real world motivations to benefit society. Abusing a dominant position in a market to gain in another market, undermines this process. When a monopoly is not being leveraged, however, the market does a good job of solving the problem on it's own.

      You argue that what Apple is doing is anti-competitive, but I see it as very competitive. People choose to buy an iPhone or a Droid or a Blackberry or one of many other options. Apple's actions with what they install on their phone in the way of application support frameworks; are a determining factor for consumers. While that factor is bundled together with all the other aspects of their phone, I don't think bundling when one of the markets is not monopolized undermines the process, and most economists and the people who wrote our antitrust law have the same opinion. There's certainly a case to be made that it does undermine free trade, but I haven't been convinced and I don't now how we'd address such a vague topic legally in any case. Feel free to present any argument as to why you think it does.

      Yes, my mistake in discussing with a lawyer/lawyer-esque. :)

      I'm not a lawyer, just read to much.

      When you rewrite the rules halfway through the game in the way Apple has, then there is a sense of fairness that is violated, and it will be up to the investigators to determine if that violation of fairness rises to the level requiring further action.

      Companies rewrite the rules all the time, for services they offer. For investigators to get involved there has to be a crime. We are a country that has rule by law, rather than rule by the arbitrary decisions of those in power. I just don't see what law anyone thinks Apple violated. This is a separate argument from whether or not Apple's actions should be illegal. I don't think anyone favors allowing the government to implement and retroactively punish people for things that were not crimes when they were committed.

      I was furthermore saying, whether it in fact turns out to be found as illegal or not, that shining the light through the inquiry may have benefits regardless of the outcome, by raising awareness, bad publicity, etc.

      I don't think this is the government's job either. I don't support the government going after pornographers not breaking the law in order to bring bad PR and the same applies in this case. If it isn't illegal the government could work to making it so, or leave it alone.

      I doubt many educated people actually subscribe to the idea that we have 'too much antitrust' regulation, besides a pro-forma lip service as paid spokespeople to the industries most likely to be found monopolistic.

      Actually, I think our antitrust law is just fine the way it is. Our problem is we don't actually enforce the laws and let companies get away with breaking the law. Microsoft, for example, has not been prosecuted in the US for obvious violations of antitrust law, including ones they have been convicted of in other countries with very similar laws.

      Thinking that competition will somehow always get to the 'right' or a 'good' solution when artificial barriers are being placed in its path, assumes that we are actually in a free market, and that information exchange is perfect.

      This is a bit hyperbolic. The free market does not need to be perfect, just functioning. You can't just say that there are artificial barriers preventing competition in this case. You have to call them out and show how they're preventing competition. Why do you think Apple's decision to not include Flash on iPhones will not effect whether or not customers buy iPhones and why do you think that is created by an artificial barrier rather

    8. Re:Antitrust != Anti-Monoploy by slaingod · · Score: 1

      Personally, I think capitalism is an incredibly powerful and useful way to harness self interest and real world motivations to benefit society.

      Again, capitalism can mean many different things, and what we have now is far from the textbook ideal. It generally refers to commodities...interchangeable goods and services in this ideal scenario (at least when you talk about the market forces leading to particular outcome). But Apple is creating artificial barriers to interchangeability. I will return to this below. (I am not saying capitalism is just about supply & demand, just that the supply and demand portion is generally referring to comodoities.)

      Companies rewrite the rules all the time, for services they offer. For investigators to get involved there has to be a crime. We are a country that has rule by law, rather than rule by the arbitrary decisions of those in power. I just don't see what law anyone thinks Apple violated. This is a separate argument from whether or not Apple's actions should be illegal. I don't think anyone favors allowing the government to implement and retroactively punish people for things that were not crimes when they were committed.

      Legality/illegality is besides the point. Avoiding criminality is not the bar we should aim for in our dealings with others. (Hence my argument that the antitrust laws we have do the absolute least they could...) Something doesn't have to be illegal to be regulated. Things become illegal as codified regulations are put into place. But the EPA can certainly investigate the safety of a new chemical. Or the SEC can investigate a particular type of new security.

      That is the issue. This action by Apple is pretty new in the history of things: Never has a large computer maker said that you have to use its own dev tools, and that no other dev tools can be used in the process, even if you do use their tools. Especially not after they had established a market.

      And again, if it is not in fact illegal, then the only option is to try and educate and provide information to people so they at least have the full knowledge that their choices are being artificially restricted at Apple's whims, and what that might potentially mean for them down the road. Maybe all cell phones should have warning labels on them explaining the various ways that by purchasing this product you are limiting your choices, and that a particular market maker can at any time decide to close the market further (either by completely getting rid of the market/app store/whatever, or by applying some other artificial requirement on market participants. If there is a market change, consumers should be entitled to a refund perhaps and a get out of contract free clause.

      I don't think this is the government's job either. I don't support the government going after pornographers not breaking the law in order to bring bad PR and the same applies in this case. If it isn't illegal the government could work to making it so, or leave it alone.

      Except, that this analogy is opposite. You are conflating government restrictions on freedom expression, with the government investigating impediments to freedom of expression. I can agree on one being wrong, not the other. And no, I don't not feel that the government should value Apple's freedom of expression equally given the relative individual imbalance of power in the relationship between consumers and producers.

      Actually, I think our antitrust law is just fine the way it is. Our problem is we don't actually enforce the laws and let companies get away with breaking the law.

      If enforcing the laws is the problem, then I would say that is a problem with the laws. Allowing various other parties to initiate or perform independent analysis, etc. to provide for a more robust enforcement activity. Splitting hairs, I realize. Potato/potato.

      This is a bit hyperbolic. The free market does not n

      --
      http://blog.slaingod.com
    9. Re:Antitrust != Anti-Monoploy by 99BottlesOfBeerInMyF · · Score: 1

      Again, capitalism can mean many different things, and what we have now is far from the textbook ideal.

      I didn't realize there is a textbook ideal capitalism. Isn't that sort of like textbook ideal temperature? Economics recognizes capitalism as one of several elements vital to a stable, modern economy. So I'm not sure what you mean by ideal capitalism. Perhaps you're referring to what might be called "extreme" capitalism, where capitalism is unchecked by socialism and the economy is unstable and collapsing?

      But Apple is creating artificial barriers to interchangeability.

      So what? So does Bic with their razors. So does Nintendo with their video games. Why do you think those barriers are uncompetitive when people have several other choices of smart phones, including ones with larger shares of the market?

      Legality/illegality is besides the point. Avoiding criminality is not the bar we should aim for in our dealings with others. (Hence my argument that the antitrust laws we have do the absolute least they could...) Something doesn't have to be illegal to be regulated.

      I disagree. The government 's job is to follow the law and prevent illegal actions. Unless they are specifically granted the legal authority to regulate something, they have no business spending my tax dollars on it. Avoiding criminality should be all it takes to keep the government from interfering with your business operations. Especially in this day and age where the government is not even doing that much with regard to many, many large companies that are routinely violating the law.

      That is the issue. This action by Apple is pretty new in the history of things: Never has a large computer maker said that you have to use its own dev tools, and that no other dev tools can be used in the process, even if you do use their tools.

      What are you talking about? Large computer appliance makers have done this for ages for software they offer through a service to end users. Ever tried shipping a DS game that didn't use Nintendo's tools? If Apple is the one suppling the application store, they have every legal right to place whatever criteria they want on those making applications (with a few specific exceptions).

      And again, if it is not in fact illegal, then the only option is to try and educate and provide information to people so they at least have the full knowledge that their choices are being artificially restricted at Apple's whims, and what that might potentially mean for them down the road.

      Not the government's job!!! Certainly not with my tax dollars.

      Except, that this analogy is opposite. You are conflating government restrictions on freedom expression, with the government investigating impediments to freedom of expression.

      I don't think you understand freedom of expression. It applies only to the government not to private companies. A publisher deciding not to publish your book is not a barrier to freedom of expression. You're free to express, Apple is free to express only what they want. You have no right to express yourself via any private venue forcibly taking the resources to do so from another.

      What you missed in my comment was the commonality, that of the government going after and harassing companies for doing things people in the government did not like, despite those actions being perfectly legal. That is a direct threat to the principal of rule by law.

      And no, I don't not feel that the government should value Apple's freedom of expression equally given the relative individual imbalance of power in the relationship between consumers and producers.

      So using the same principals you think publishers should be forced to publish any crap book someone wants them to? And book stores should have to carry them because book publishers and stores have more power than authors? Is t

    10. Re:Antitrust != Anti-Monoploy by slaingod · · Score: 1

      I didn't realize there is a textbook ideal capitalism. Isn't that sort of like textbook ideal temperature? Economics recognizes capitalism as one of several elements vital to a stable, modern economy. So I'm not sure what you mean by ideal capitalism. Perhaps you're referring to what might be called "extreme" capitalism, where capitalism is unchecked by socialism and the economy is unstable and collapsing?

      Obviously we have reached the point of the discussion where no common ground can be found and we need to argue the meaning of 'is'. My point is that I think it is naive to think that in this day and age that market forces are the sole arbiter to bring about optimal result when there are bad actors. That seemed to be what you were implying, but it doesn't matter.

      So what? So does Bic with their razors. So does Nintendo with their video games. Why do you think those barriers are uncompetitive when people have several other choices of smart phones, including ones with larger shares of the market?

      If it isn't clear by now why I think that is the case, then no amount of discussion will get any further, after having made my points about the lack of perfect markets, hidden externalities, lock-in, etc. Comparing the relative investment in a Bic razor handle versus the investment in a computing ecosystem...if you can't see that there are additional barriers to easily switching to a competitor, no wonder Microsoft is still where it is.

      I disagree. The government 's job is to follow the law and prevent illegal actions. Unless they are specifically granted the legal authority to regulate something, they have no business spending my tax dollars on it.

      I would say that the government's role is to MAKE and enforce any laws necessary to ensure the basic freedoms we hold dear. The whole point of this is that it is up for debate as to whether there is in fact something Apple has done that might run afoul of regulations.

      What are you talking about? Large computer appliance makers have done this for ages for software they offer through a service to end users. Ever tried shipping a DS game that didn't use Nintendo's tools? If Apple is the one suppling the application store, they have every legal right to place whatever criteria they want on those making applications (with a few specific exceptions).

      You are missing the subtlety. You can code your DS game in any language you want, using any toolkit that works with the given APIs. Plenty of DS games are written in various languages, with shared game engines and toolkits that are not provided by Nintendo.

      We will have to agree to disagree on the 'they can do anything they want' argument, in so far as whether they should be *allowed* to do anything they want, especially given the various additional lock-ins, exclusivity, etc. that prevent (read excessively increase the economic cost of) the ease of switching.

      Not the government's job!!! Certainly not with my tax dollars.

      Somewhere this has gone off the rails. Arguing for arguments sake gets us no where. Haven't you heard? Taxes are the lowest they have been in 60 years: http://www.usatoday.com/money/perfi/taxes/2010-05-10-taxes_N.htm

      I don't think you understand freedom of expression. It applies only to the government not to private companies. A publisher deciding not to publish your book is not a barrier to freedom of expression. You're free to express, Apple is free to express only what they want. You have no right to express yourself via any private venue forcibly taking the resources to do so from another.

      You are making a false analogy again. Apple in this new scenario is Barnes & Noble or Borders or Amazon...not the publisher. And I do think there is a categorical difference between expression, and expression predo

      --
      http://blog.slaingod.com
  35. Android isn't one platform by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

    As far as I can tell, there are about 5 flavours of Android (1.5, 1.6, 2.1 etc), and your ability to switch between them depends entirely on your network operator. I'm not even sure whether apps are compatible across all the flavours?

    I suspect that Android will end up with a similar rep to Windows - too many hardware platforms and compatibility issues.

    1. Re:Android isn't one platform by h4rr4r · · Score: 1

      Most apps are portable across them. You can flash your phone, the network operators do handle this for the normal users though.

      I suspect that you are an apple fanboi.

    2. Re:Android isn't one platform by cheesybagel · · Score: 1

      There is more than one iPhone OS version as well. The thing is Apple does forced upgrades and has a more limited hardware selection. Oh and good luck upgrading your original iPhone.

    3. Re:Android isn't one platform by shutdown+-p+now · · Score: 2, Insightful

      If you target e.g. 1.5, and don't do any hacks, your app will work on any newer version.

    4. Re:Android isn't one platform by mjwx · · Score: 2, Insightful

      I suspect that Android will end up with a similar rep to Windows - too many hardware platforms and compatibility issues.

      And no-one develops software for Windows because it's too hard and 90% of the world runs Apple because it's simple.

      Awaken from your dreamy state, the fragmentation in Windows isn't an issue and neither is it in Android. As with Windows you can expect a lot of third party development tools that will deal with the testing issues. In fact, you don't even need a phone in order to test a simple application, you can do that with the Virtual Machines provided in the Android SDK, which is free and runs on Windows, Linux and Mac.

      A quick Google has turned up that Motorola has already released a toolkit to help Android developers with Motorola handsets.

      --
      Calling someone a "hater" only means you can not rationally rebut their argument.
    5. Re:Android isn't one platform by dudpixel · · Score: 1

      thats only 3. and yes that is the only 3 versions that should exist in the wild right now...

      Apps written for any version will work on all later versions. This isn't an issue.

      1.5 and 1.6 are very similar so most apps should target 1.5 if they want to target the most users.

      Apps written for 2.0 or 2.1 will not appear on Android Market for older phones. So users of older phones wont even know these apps exist, and there will be no incompatibility issues.

      I laugh when people say it will end up like windows - may as well admit it will take over almost 90% of the market...i never had hardware/compatibility issues developing software for windows either.

      --
      This seemed like a reasonable sig at the time.
    6. Re:Android isn't one platform by unixcrab · · Score: 1

      You say you're not even sure about compatibility and then say there are too many compatibility issues? Sounds like you don't even own an Android device. I have encountered no such issues and apps are not restricted to Android versions. I have written a couple of apps on a 1st gen Android 1.5 phone and they all worked flawlessly on my new HTC Desire (2.1) when I loaded them from the market place. No rebuild necessary, they all work on 1.5, 1.6, 2.0 and 2.1

  36. Bullshit. by BitZtream · · Score: 0, Redundant

    I simply call bullshit.

    I've seen one Android phone in the last month ... owned by a Google employee.

    I can't count the number of iPhones I've seen in the last 2 days.

    The fact that I myself have been waitting since January to replaces my 3G with a broken screen for the new one that will be here in a month or so probably has a little to do with it too.

    Warping statistics to suit your agenda isn't impressive.

    Narrow the scope enough and pick the right time period and you can show just about any product beating out any other product.

    --
    Persistent Volume manager for Kubernetes - https://github.com/dwimsey/openshift-pvmanager
    1. Re:Bullshit. by Spad · · Score: 1

      iPhones are easy to spot, they all look the same.

    2. Re:Bullshit. by MistrBlank · · Score: 1

      I buy it, but then again we're in May... how many people wanted an iPad instead? How many people are holding out for the next model of iPhone?

      Slow iPhone sales don't baffle me, what does baffle me are the poor use of statistics against the fact that Android runs on dozens of models of phones and iPhone still only runs on less than a a dozen.

    3. Re:Bullshit. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

      Just one quick thought: could it be that you, as a giant douchebag idiot fanboy, are much more prone to spotting the brand you support than the brands of rivals.

    4. Re:Bullshit. by babyrat · · Score: 1

      So did you even read the f'ing article? Silly question.

      They mention people waiting to buy the new iPhone. They mention verizon's marketing push, including buy one get one free. They mention that this was not from sales figures, but from consumer surveys.

      I'm not sure where you've been but the four quarters of the year labeled coincidentally, 1Q, 2Q, 3Q and 4Q, are pretty standard reporting periods.

      Warping statistics to suit your agenda isn't impressive and that is really all your post is attempting to do.

    5. Re:Bullshit. by Skuld-Chan · · Score: 1

      I've seen dozens of Android phones on the college campus I work on. Many people who bought into it switched from an iPhone to Sprint or Verizon because the network worked better.

    6. Re:Bullshit. by Mordok-DestroyerOfWo · · Score: 5, Interesting

      I guess it depends on where you live. I see just as many Android phones as iPhones nowadays. Hell at a boardgame party Saturday night (I am that lame) we even whipped 'em all out to compare. 3 iPhones, 3 flavors of Android phones (including my G1) and 1 Palm Pre. The most amazing thing is that a lot of the Android phones that I see are being used by non-tech people and they seem to be as happy with the experience as the iPhone users.

      I never noticed motorcyclists on the road until I started riding.

      --
      "Never let your sense of morals prevent you from doing what is right" - Salvor Hardin
    7. Re:Bullshit. by Hojima · · Score: 1

      WOW! You've seen seen an Android? That's gotta be like 50% of all the Androids out there! Also, the fact that you waited for so long to replaces your iPhone could also be due to their shitty customer service etc.

    8. Re:Bullshit. by sznupi · · Score: 1

      "Poor"? That's simply a choice Apple makes. What, are you suggesting other manufacturers should limit themselves artificially?

      Would it be still "poor use of statistics" if Anroid had 98% of smartphone OS market, uniformly distributed across 200 devices, and iPhone 1% with two devices? Hey, iPhones would be higher per device...

      --
      One that hath name thou can not otter
    9. Re:Bullshit. by droopycom · · Score: 1

      What you see is Market Share.

      The report is about Sales (of new phones).

      Nobody claim that Android phones have more market share than iPhones (which have been selling for almost 3 years now)...

    10. Re:Bullshit. by Kitkoan · · Score: 1

      I guess it depends on where you live.

      I'm not so sure. I live in a tourist town so I see people from all sorts of places in the world. Its quite rare to see an iPhone, Androids aren't that often either (but are seen more often then iPhones), Blackberries are quite common but cheap flip phones are the normal.

      --
      Attention... all grammer nazi"s! Is they're anything; wrong with: my post,
    11. Re:Bullshit. by VisceralLogic · · Score: 4, Funny

      Hell at a boardgame party Saturday night (I am that lame) we even whipped 'em all out to compare.

      TMI, dude... TMI... ;)

      --
      Stop! Dremel time!
    12. Re:Bullshit. by socrplayr813 · · Score: 1

      In my office (small company - 50ish employees in our building). We have three Android phones... the VP has a Moto Droid, the IT guy has an HTC Eris, and I have an Eris. There is a Blackberry or two and everyone else has a dumbphone. I think of all people everywhere, I know one single person with an iPhone.

      This is not exactly a high income area, which I think has a lot to do with it. The smallish number of us who make enough money and have the technical know-how and/or need for a fancier phone went with Android phones for a few reasons:
      1. The network (Verizon) has better coverage (yes, I know it's generally considered inferior technology...)
      2. They were cheaper (deals through Verizon)
      3. The phones are damn impressive, especially to non-tech folks.
      4. (This one only applies to me). It's Linux.
      5. (Also only applies to me). I can't stand Apple's propaganda machine and the false image it portrays.

      The Blackberry folks had them before Android was out and either don't know or don't care to switch. I'm not sure what they would pick if they got new phones now.

      --
      The confidence of ignorance will always overcome the indecision of knowledge.
  37. Re:Proof that being more open = more sales by Shatrat · · Score: 2, Informative

    It has amongst educated consumers i.e. server admins, researchers, and the top500.
    Also, the Android platform is based on Java running on Linux. Where were the wince phones on this list again?

    --
    09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C0
  38. iPhone 4G is barely catching up by jipn4 · · Score: 2, Insightful

    The leaked iPhone 4G looks like Apple is just trying to catch up with the Nexus One, and not even succeeding at that. People who already have iPhones will go for it, for others, it won't make a big difference.

    1. Re:iPhone 4G is barely catching up by Bill_the_Engineer · · Score: 2, Interesting

      The leaked iPhone 4G looks like Apple is just trying to catch up with the Nexus One, and not even succeeding at that.

      Wishful thinking? Or do you have a 4G now?

      The big question is when "multitasking" is no longer the major difference between platforms what will be the next Android marketing slogan?

      I have an Android phone, and I can't wait for Google to catch up with Apple. I don't call bringing out a much larger phone with a faster CPU to make up for the poor performance of Google's bastardized Java language anything to cheer about much less as being ahead of Apple. As if that mattered.. What matters is Android approaching the performance levels of Apple iPhone OS on similar hardware.

      I don't care how the latest fastest CPU Android phone measure up against Apple's iPhone. What I do care about is how Android is progressing and operating in phones that I would like to carry with me and in my pocket.

      Believe it or not, some people don't buy a smartphone to compensate for some shortcomings or care about the world versus Apple. However, if Apple is the benchmark that everyone measures themselves against then I need to ask myself why am I sticking with a phone that is similar to an iPhone when I can easily just go get an actual iPhone?

      --
      These comments are my own and do not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of my employer or colleagues...
    2. Re:iPhone 4G is barely catching up by Mr2001 · · Score: 5, Insightful

      The big question is when "multitasking" is no longer the major difference between platforms

      Well, that won't happen any time soon.

      You do realize that the upcoming iPhone OS update doesn't add multitasking, right? What it adds is a limited set of background services that apps can ask the OS to perform. It will take some wind out of Android proponents' sails, because those background services are tailored to a handful of popular applications for multitasking -- playing internet radio, finishing downloads, etc. -- but while Android developers will be able to keep developing new uses for background code, iPhone developers will be stuck with the limited set of background operations that Apple has pre-approved.

      what will be the next Android marketing slogan?

      The ongoing circus that is the App Store approval process should provide plenty of slogans to come. How about "Android: the phone that doesn't block Pulitzer-winning cartoonists"? (OK, it needs a little polishing...)

      --
      Visual IRC: Fast. Powerful. Free.
    3. Re:iPhone 4G is barely catching up by dudpixel · · Score: 1

      java is slow now? thats a new one.

      The CPUs used in android phones have hardware acceleration for java. The apps themselves are tiny and they use barely any memory. Java may have been slow a few years ago, and some java apps you may have used might be badly written, but I think you need to adjust your prejudices. In any case, Android itself isn't written in java, and any java calls into the API will run native code. I doubt this has much impact (if any) on the performance of the OS. Android 2.2 will feature a JIT which will make it even faster, so maybe we need to revisit in a few weeks and see how slow this java thing is again...

      I think you should've said "perceived" shortcomings because you didn't mention any area where android needs to catch up. It does everything the iphone does + more. It is now the iphone that needs to catch up - and I agree the 4G will do that. but with several top-brand manufacturers making quality android phones now, apple will need to bring something really special in order to not be overtaken again in 6 months time...

      --
      This seemed like a reasonable sig at the time.
    4. Re:iPhone 4G is barely catching up by Bill_the_Engineer · · Score: 1

      The CPUs used in android phones have hardware acceleration for java. The apps themselves are tiny and they use barely any memory. Java may have been slow a few years ago, and some java apps you may have used might be badly written, but I think you need to adjust your prejudices. In any case, Android itself isn't written in java, and any java calls into the API will run native code. I doubt this has much impact (if any) on the performance of the OS. Android 2.2 will feature a JIT which will make it even faster, so maybe we need to revisit in a few weeks and see how slow this java thing is again...

      Actually my main problem with Android is that it uses Dalvik as its VM and not actual Java. Sure it is registered based instead of stack based and this is suppose to be designed more for the limited resources of the phone. Too bad it doesn't have JIT compiler like real Java does. Good thing we have that hardware accelerator that speeds up the interpretation, otherwise imagine how slow this thing could be.

      I think you should've said "perceived" shortcomings because you didn't mention any area where android needs to catch up. It does everything the iphone does + more. It is now the iphone that needs to catch up - and I agree the 4G will do that.

      Actually I can say observed shortcomings. I own a T-Mobile MyTouch 3G, I have a colleague with an iPhone. My phone runs at 528Mhz with 192 MB RAM, his iPhone runs (underclocked) at 412Mhz with 128 MB RAM. I currently using cupcake 1.6 and not the Cyanogen port.

      Our phones are of similar age. His phone is more responsive. His virtual keyboard works better than mine. His selection of apps dwarf mine, and one more cool thing about iTunes is that all of the apps he can buy are listed in US dollars, where my Google market has multiple currencies... Yen and Euros really? Google couldn't even offer to convert to US dollars?

      The only thing that my phone excelled at, and it proved to be the most important, my phone was unlocked by T-Mobile and I was able to use a standard GSM SIM Vodaphone prepaid card to avoid roaming charges during my almost 3 month stay abroad... He does not have that luxury.

      He just paid $40 for a nice slide phone with $40 credit to use... Which only shows how much the phone companies overcharge for headsets in the US.

      --
      These comments are my own and do not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of my employer or colleagues...
    5. Re:iPhone 4G is barely catching up by dudpixel · · Score: 1

      As I said earlier - Android 2.2 will include a JIT (apparently) so that should speed things up.
      However I'm not sure that the responsiveness issue is a java issue. I'd say the iPhone gives the UI a higher priority and throws more CPU cycles at it. I dont think the underlying language is relevant.

      I also appreciate the example you gave. I wasn't saying there were no shortcomings - just that you said there were without mentioning any at all.

      I appreciate your comments too - I find the same regarding responsiveness between the HTC Magic (mytouch - same thing) that I have and the iPhone. However, despite the large number of apps for the iphone, I find that its not as easy to search through them. I find the Android Market much easier to locate free software, and the search (being powered by google) is better as well.

      I would like my phone to be more responsive but I'm not about to pay for an iphone just because of that.

      I'm also running cyanogen on my HTC Magic - v5.0.7 test3 (Android 2.1) - it is LOTS quicker than 1.6 and everything works great!

      --
      This seemed like a reasonable sig at the time.
    6. Re:iPhone 4G is barely catching up by Bill_the_Engineer · · Score: 1

      I'm also running cyanogen on my HTC Magic - v5.0.7 test3 (Android 2.1) - it is LOTS quicker than 1.6 and everything works great!

      I plan on giving that a try when I return to the states this weekend. I hope I have the same luck.

      --
      These comments are my own and do not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of my employer or colleagues...
    7. Re:iPhone 4G is barely catching up by mcvos · · Score: 1

      The big question is when "multitasking" is no longer the major difference between platforms what will be the next Android marketing slogan?

      There's also screen resolution. All the high-end Android phones have about twice the resolution of the iPhone. It's an easy fix of course: just make a new iPhone with a better screen (I don't think the screen has seen any improvement at all since the original iPhone, has it?).

      Also, Android's way of showing notifications is (in my opinion at least) far superior to the iPhone's. (Unless they've changed that in the mean time.)

    8. Re:iPhone 4G is barely catching up by jipn4 · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Wishful thinking? Or do you have a 4G now?

      You don't have to guess at all; Apple has told us what the 4G has:

      http://www.apple.com/iphone/preview-iphone-os/

      And the hardware specs on the 4G are pretty clear from Apple's device. It's premium hardware, but likely at a premium price.

      What matters is Android approaching the performance levels of Apple iPhone OS on similar hardware.

      The reason iPhone OS is fast is because it is limited and old technology: C-based programming language, 20 year old kernel, little application integration, little componentization, limited multitasking. Android is a better, more powerful software architecture with many more features, and that naturally requires a more powerful CPU. Android is never going to be as efficient as iPhone OS because you need to make a tradeoff between features and efficiency. But the iPhone speed advantage is diminishing over time. Android today is about the same speed as a first and second generation iPhone. One more generation of hardware, and it's going to be so fast that it doesn't make a difference anymore even to picky users.

      I have an Android phone, and I can't wait for Google to catch up with Apple

      Apple needs to catch up with Google, not the other way around. Apple focused on efficiency and simplicity early on, but that matters less and less as hardware is getting more powerful. But software architecture and ease of development are going to matter more and more.

      It's the same thing that happened with the original Mac: Apple squeezed every drop of efficiency out of the original hardware in their rush to bring an affordable GUI-based machine to market, they made it look good, but they botched the software architecture in the process. It's what Jobs does.

      Believe it or not, some people don't buy a smartphone to compensate for some shortcomings

      Seems to me that's exactly what iPhone buyers do.

    9. Re:iPhone 4G is barely catching up by jipn4 · · Score: 1

      Actually my main problem with Android is that it uses Dalvik as its VM and not actual Java.

      Yes, that does make it slower. But it also has advantages over Apple's use of native code. The differences are going to become unnoticeable as Android gets a JIT and as hardware gets faster.

      Our phones are of similar age. His phone is more responsive.

      All true, but not a practically relevant difference. In one or two generations, hardware is going to be so fast that this is going to be unnoticeable.

      His virtual keyboard works better than mine.

      It's faster, but whether it's more usable is debatable. And for Android, you can get third party keyboards, while with iPhone, you're stuck with Apple's fast-but-substandard virtual keyboard.

      His selection of apps dwarf mine,

      Yes, but many of the iPhone apps are poor clones of each other. And there are entire categories of apps missing from the iPhone store because Apple doesn't approve them.

      and one more cool thing about iTunes is that all of the apps he can buy are listed in US dollars,

      Yeah, but there are also lots of uncool things about iTunes, like the fact that some things, you simply can't do on the phone without plugging it into iTunes, and then there are the endless "Backing up" messages.

      iPhone is like the original Mac: Jobs cut a lot of corners and messed up the architecture, but made it look pretty nonetheless. This time, however, we have a real, technically superior alternative.

    10. Re:iPhone 4G is barely catching up by jipn4 · · Score: 1

      I think the iPhone 4G is going to have 960x640, which is twice the linear resolution of the original iPhone and matches the iFrame video format. Of course, the likely reason is that many iPhone apps aren't resolution independent and Apple wants a simple way of scaling up their existing apps. In that regard, iPhone is catching up with Android (nominally, surpassing it, but whether 960x640 is better than 800x480 on a 3" screen is debatable).

      No, notifications haven't changed (I have both). There are lots of other UI problems on the iPhone. But the biggest differences are architecturally: Android makes it much easier to integrate apps. Android apps have barely scratched the surface, but you already see that in things like barcode readers and Facebook uploaders that are automatically consistent between multiple apps.

    11. Re:iPhone 4G is barely catching up by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Wow are you delusional. You begin by saying the iphone is faster, more efficient and has premium hardware, you finish by saying apple need to catch up to google and somehow insulting apple for efficiently using their hardware.

      The kernel for the iphone is BSD based and the android phones are linux based. Their is no significant different in the multitasking or other user impacting efficiencies or core OS limitations between the two.

    12. Re:iPhone 4G is barely catching up by david_thornley · · Score: 1

      You seem to assume that more than, say, 2% of the population cares about multitasking, and you're wrong. What 98% of the population wants to do is listen to Pandora while checking their mail, or downloading something while playing some throwaway game, or something like that. There's a profound difference between those desires, believe it or not.

      Apple is ignoring technical generality, with the intent of providing what at least 95% of people want in a smartphone in a more limited fashion. It looks to me like the iPhone OS 4.0 is going to do just that, providing APIs to allow the more important use cases of multitasking.

      The critical point here is that computers are complicated and intimidating to 95% of the population. You know, the 95% of people a lot of Slashdotters think shouldn't be trusted with computers on the Net? They do make up a market far larger than the computer geek market. A lot of them are interested in a closed system that somebody else is going to run, where they don't have to worry about leaving a port open or getting the right antivirus on their phone. They really aren't interested in running a server in their pocket, and would probably pay money not to think about it.

      The way to sell to them is to emphasize what they can do in practical terms, and if they do go comparative to avoid anything technical. "Droid does" is a slogan I've seen, and it's a good one. "Droid - it multitasks!" would be about as effective to 95% of the market as "Droid - it fibendoens!".

      --
      "When you have eliminated the unacceptable, whatever is left, however improbable, must be the truthiness" - Holmes
    13. Re:iPhone 4G is barely catching up by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I totally agree with you. I watched a 20 minute preview of OS4 beta 3 on Youtube, and all the new "features" consisted of Apple playing catch-up

      "Multi-tasking",threaded email, changeable background, folders, unified email inbox, option to switch off data, integrated web search / wikipedia search, the list goes on. All the new features were Apple playing catch-up

    14. Re:iPhone 4G is barely catching up by Mr2001 · · Score: 1

      You seem to assume that more than, say, 2% of the population cares about multitasking

      Not at all. Developers care about it, but users care about what they can do with their phone.

      It's true that the iPhone OS update will enable many of the applications for which multitasking has been used so far -- but not all of them, and none of the applications that Apple hasn't anticipated. So when a hot new Android app comes out that uses multitasking for something that can't be faked by one of Apple's hand-picked background operations, iPhone users will be left to hope that iPhone 4.1 will add it.

      Thus, even though users may not care about "multitasking" per se, the savvier users will be able to think ahead about what multitasking means for them. Kind of like selling a truck with 4 wheel drive: no one really cares how many wheels their truck uses to drive, they care about whether it'll get stuck in mud and snow. But savvy customers realize that trucks with 4 wheel drive are less likely to get stuck, so 4 wheel drive is a selling point in itself.

      --
      Visual IRC: Fast. Powerful. Free.
  39. How does that hurt? by SuperKendall · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Or just as easily hurt it. As the report shows a big part of the sales was on Verizon network, which is a market Apple does not exist on.

    So to summarize what you are saying, is that because Apple is only only a single network instead of several, that makes it MORE LIKLEY they will be found to be violating antitrust because they are LESS ubiquitous than they might be?

    --
    "There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
    1. Re:How does that hurt? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Or just as easily hurt it. As the report shows a big part of the sales was on Verizon network, which is a market Apple does not exist on.

      So to summarize what you are saying, is that because Apple is only only a single network instead of several, that makes it MORE LIKLEY they will be found to be violating antitrust because they are LESS ubiquitous than they might be?

      It won't affect them at all. The anti-trust issues less to do with the market saturation their device has (as long as it's on the charts) and more to do with them using their position as a popular device in general to force consumer behaviour.

    2. Re:How does that hurt? by SuperKendall · · Score: 1

      It won't affect them at all. The anti-trust issues less to do with the market saturation their device has (as long as it's on the charts) and more to do with them using their position as a popular device in general to force consumer behaviour.

      My god, I can tell not only are you NAL (not a lawyer) but you have no freaking clue what criteria companies have to meet to fall under anti-trust regulation.

      "using their position as a popular device in general" - you mean, like if they controlled a majority of the market? Oh wait, once again, that's not actually the case at all!

      --
      "There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
  40. Re:Moron by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Hey, dipshit, how about some fake Xbox fanboy sales numbers from vgchartz.com while your'e at it?

  41. Re:LOL, Fanboy Spin by BondGamer · · Score: 1

    Apple has released an updated iPhone model every summer for the past 3 years. The recent leak was all over the prime time news, morning talk shows, everywhere. Even Joe Smo knows that a new model is coming out in a month. There is likely a dramatic drop off in iPhone sales after the leak announcement, which tanked the quarter sales.

    The only fanboys around are the ones who point out everything terrible about the iPhone/iPad every time it is discussed.

  42. Lets try this again by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    ... How many different models of phones run Android? How many different models run Apple OS.

    All this proves is we're finally in an age where cell phone development has a handful of REALLY good platforms to develop for.

    Now the lazy providers need to catch up in services and prices.

    1. Re:Lets try this again by h4rr4r · · Score: 1

      Lots for both?
      There are what 3 Iphones even?
      iphone, iphone 3G, iphone 3GS.

  43. Re:Proof that being more open = more sales by jedidiah · · Score: 0, Flamebait

    > yes, being more open will always result in more sales. That's how Linux was able to surpass Windows so quickly.

    Windows had a 10+ year head start on Linux.

    OTOH, MS-DOS was more open than Macintosh and dominated it in a humiliating fashion.

    You had an entire industry versus one company.

    --
    A Pirate and a Puritan look the same on a balance sheet.
  44. Re:This has all happened before and it will all .. by MistrBlank · · Score: 0

    They didn't make mistakes in the 80s, they made mistakes in the late 80's through most of the 90's... you know, when Job's WASNT THERE LEADING THE WAY.

  45. Re:This has all happened before and it will all .. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Have you seen Apple's stock price, how much do they have in cash (billions)? And you say their business model does not work...

  46. Re:This has all happened before and it will all .. by BearRanger · · Score: 3, Interesting

    That's one perspective. But I think you're misreading Apple. Apple doesn't care, and has never cared, about being the largest vendor in any particular space. They only care about being the "best" -- where they get to define what "best" means. Remember when they launched the iPhone and they claimed to want 1% of the smartphone space, which at the time represented perhaps 10% of the mobile phone market? They achieved that goal and then some. Other vendors had to respond to Apple and what Apple was doing. They still are. So success for Apple is to have the lead in mindshare and to make money hand over fist. They're doing that without dominating the market and I suspect they will continue in spite of Android's sales win for this quarter.

    If Apple ends up with a minority share of the market they won't care one bit as long as their share is the most profitable portion of that market.

  47. Re:This has all happened before and it will all .. by Skuld-Chan · · Score: 1

    I'm surprised this was modded troll - he's actually got a very good point.

  48. Re:Proof that being more open = more sales by MistrBlank · · Score: 2, Insightful

    He didn't say they should or would do that, just that if it happened, there would be devices with it everywhere. And he's right.

    What he also doesn't say is that the device quality control would KILL the OS as people ran from it in droves when it was shoved down on sub par hardware and the apps that were designed for it made the device look sub standard.

    I've held enough Android phones to realize it's mediocre, not because of the OS, because everyone is trying to capitalize on it instead of make it good.

  49. Re:Moron by DdJ · · Score: 1

    Okay, so you'd rather stamp your feet and swear than participate in a conversation. Did you have a rough day, sweetie? I do hope tomorrow goes better for you.

    I also hope you feel better after venting like that. But be aware that it gets boring to read pretty quickly.

  50. Re:Proof that being more open = more sales by Gilmoure · · Score: 1

    Yup! In 6 months, Android has surpassed Apple's 3 year head start.

    --
    I drank what? -- Socrates
  51. Re:Proof that being more open = more sales by cyber-dragon.net · · Score: 1

    Or proof that being a new phone gets you attention. They don't tell you most andriod phones were sold last quarter. Once they are both six months old see what happens.

    Google fanboys will buy android the minute it comes out same as apple fanboys will buy iPhones.

  52. Apples and Oranges by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Rather like saying Windows sales exceed Mac Sales. One is an operating system that is used by a variety of vendors (Android/Windows) and the other is a complete solution offered by one vendor (Apple Macintosh/iPhone). Like with Windows, Android will never offer the smooth integration of hardware and software. Windows and Android are Kludges. Enjoy hacking them. For getting real work done I like a tool that works and lets me do my job.

    1. Re:Apples and Oranges by sznupi · · Score: 1

      So, where is the integration of iPhoneOS with my microSD memory cards or with other Bluetooth devices, for file transfer and usage as access point?

      --
      One that hath name thou can not otter
  53. Good news for once by Requiem18th · · Score: 1

    Seriously, this is the first really good Apple and Google related news I remember since long ago.

    --
    But... the future refused to change.
  54. Spin... spin.. spin by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Putting Blackberry aside, the headline to this article is actually... Apple individually sells more smart phones than most all other companies put together. :)

    1. Re:Spin... spin.. spin by Raseri · · Score: 1

      Putting Blackberry aside

      Why would you put Blackberry aside? It's a sizable chunk of the smartphone market.

      Apple individually sells more smart phones than most all other companies put together.

      Oh, okay. Spin, indeed.

      --
      Writhe your naked ass to the mindless groove.
  55. Re:This has all happened before and it will all .. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Are you suggesting that Apple's strategy should be more like Kaypro's in the '80's?
    Or perhaps more like IBM?
    Commodore?
    Atari?
    Coleco?
    Compaq?
    Packard Bell?

    Apple's business strategy seems to work very well. They make a lot of money and they have stayed in business for 40+ years.

    Name some companies that were designing, building, and selling personal computers successfully in the '80's and are still doing so today. Now, which of those should Apple imitate?

  56. Re:Proof that being more open = more sales by ihxo · · Score: 0

    First android phone was released some time in 2008.

    iPhone had a year head start.

    1 Manufacturer 1 Phone/year
    VS
    multiple Manufacturer multiple phones/month.

    it took them almost 2 years to catchup. That is surprisingly SLOW.

  57. No Mention of Windows Mobile . . . by NicknamesAreStupid · · Score: 2, Insightful

    . . not in the article, press release, or NPD's site. At one time, it was the leader. Can anyone recall seeing anything else of Microsoft going from such a top position to nowhere (Bob doesn't count)?

  58. ? tag? by COMON$ · · Score: 1

    Where is the damn, ooo shiny tag in slashdot when you need it?

    --
    CS: It is all sink or swim...oh and did I mention there are sharks in that water?
  59. Mod Parent Up! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Best comment of the day! And right on!

    Have to hand it to apple fanbois - they groupthink like no other group.

  60. Re:This has all happened before and it will all .. by Mordok-DestroyerOfWo · · Score: 1

    Android is the Windows of the mobile world.

    It's going to crash a lot and get a lot of viruses? /duck

    Goose!

    --
    "Never let your sense of morals prevent you from doing what is right" - Salvor Hardin
  61. Re:Proof that being more open = more sales by gyrogeerloose · · Score: 1, Insightful

    They also fail to mention that most of those Android phones were distributed by Verizon for free as an attempt to wrest away some of AT&T's iPhone advantage. If Apple ever starts allowing other U.S. carriers to offer the iPhone, I'll bet Android sales number will make a big u-turn in a hurry.

    --
    This ain't rocket surgery.
  62. Re:This has all happened before and it will all .. by RyuuzakiTetsuya · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Actually, if Google goes ahead with implementing Flash in their browser, that's actually pretty likely...

    --
    Non impediti ratione cogitationus.
  63. Re:LOL, Fanboy Spin by masdog · · Score: 2, Insightful

    The leak was last month. Sales have fallen off since Q4 2009...well before the leak started. Face it, the iPhone has fallen behind it's competitors.

  64. This assumes Apple wants to be No. 1 in sales by jtcampbell · · Score: 2, Interesting

    This all rather presumes that Apple simply wants to sell as many iPhones (or iPhoneOS devices) as possible.

    Apple want to be No. 1 in the top 50 or 25% of the market. That's where the profit margins are.

    You can now buy phones running Android for £100. The hardware sucks. The margins must be pretty thin.

    That isn't a game Apple wants to be in.

    The key to Apples success is selling aspirational products. Sure their hardware is more expensive, but it also *feels* more expensive.

    1. Re:This assumes Apple wants to be No. 1 in sales by sznupi · · Score: 1

      ...and yet it's all made in the same kind of Chinese sweatshops.

      Actually, that isn't really the case for few mobile manufacturers, who not only own all their manufacturing facilities, but also keep them largely out of China. It is for Apple though.

      --
      One that hath name thou can not otter
  65. Comment removed by account_deleted · · Score: 1, Interesting

    Comment removed based on user account deletion

  66. Comment removed by account_deleted · · Score: 1

    Comment removed based on user account deletion

  67. Competition drives creativity by daggre · · Score: 3, Informative

    This is great news for both Apple and Android users. This is just the sort of news Apple needs to hear to make them tired of their single-carrier approach in the US. As with many AT&T users, their lack of supporting tethering on the iPhone and the inconsistent network coverage (although when it does work their 3G is MUCH faster than Verizon's) has made me long for another carrier to be available to iPhone users who don't want to jailbreak their iPhones. However we shouldn't forget that there are two MAJOR problems with Verizon on all their phones that make me not want to switch to Verizon even if they did have the iPhone: 1. Verizon's 3G network is NOT capable of voice and data at the same time. Once you're on the phone, all data connections are closed until you hang up. Not so great when you're trying to use maps and someone calls you, or while on the phone you try to find a nearby restaurant to meet the caller. As Verizon callers know, "I'll have to check that and call you back" is not an uncommon thing to say. In an age of Bluetooth headsets being the norm, we should be able to use our phone's data channel while we're on the phone. Verizon's 3G network is very 2G in this instance (and LTE, Verizon's 4G network will fix this but launch is not until mid-2011 at least) 2. Verizon only gives their 3G data users 5GB of use before they start levying HUGE overage charges (http://www.boston.com/business/articles/2010/04/30/family_provider_far_apart_over_nearly_18000_phone_bill/). I personally have no intention of going over 5GB but I also don't want to WORRY about a limit at all. Again, very backward thinking by Verizon here, reminiscent of Compuserve and AOL charging hourly for Internet access back in the 1980s. Charge a fair price for unlimited data (I think $30 is fair but let the market decide) and then you'll have a shot at my business. In short, I'd love to see Verizon get the iPhone but not in an exclusive deal, not with 5GB data caps, and not unless they can support data and voice at the same time on their 3G network (which has excellent coverage).

    1. Re:Competition drives creativity by IamTheRealMike · · Score: 1

      FWIW here in Switzerland I have a 1G cap. I have exceeded this only once, when I installed a beta Android app that used ridiculous quantities of bandwidth in the background. I listen to internet radio on my phone all the time and my peak usage is something like 800M in a month. Seriously, if you're using more than a gig a month on a phone and you aren't tethering, there's something wrong ... if you are tethering, well, ignore my advice :)

  68. Well, Duh! by Terranaut · · Score: 1

    Is it any wonder that iPhone sales are falling behind Android sales?

    1) There is more than one phone using the Android OS compared to the iPhone's offering of two storage options (Reaches more pockets)
    2) In the US, most Android phones are on networks other than AT&T (Not the most favored of cellphone networks in the US)
    3) There is a new iPhone due out in the next few months (anyone who's in the know will be holding off until June 17th?)

    I'm not saying that the iPhone is better than the Droid, but now might not be the right time to be judging it's popularity

  69. Re:This has all happened before and it will all .. by owlstead · · Score: 4, Insightful

    The difference is that a smart phone is basically an application platform like the PC. The iPOD is not, it's basically a souped up media player. And don't forget that although these kind of markets are highly volatile, it may take a long time before a relatively good product like the iPOD is taken over by its competitors.

  70. Wow Haters Are On Message Today! by KharmaWidow · · Score: 1

    What a hate filled post you wrote. Seek some counseling or something.

    There is nothing fanatical about understanding statics that show one company has 21% of the revenue, while several other companies have to divide 28%...

    In regards to user-base, its a significant difference if the product is paid for or given away. That's lost revenue. It effects the sharholders.

  71. Re:This has all happened before and it will all .. by narcc · · Score: 1

    Apple's business strategy seems to work very well. They make a lot of money and they have stayed in business for 40+ years.

    You're either incredibly bad at math or a time traveler.

  72. gtk and X Windows suck. Go Android! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I for one am glad to see that Google has finally made a userland for Linux that does away with the complicated X11, and the Gimp derived gtk toolkit. To a Linux userland that does not require the complicated X Windows and gtk!

  73. Re:This has all happened before and it will all .. by rolfwind · · Score: 2, Insightful

    This isn't an OS war. Microsoft got/gets paid for each and every computer that gets shipped out. I'm not sure Google is in such a position to demand/get such a royalty. OTOH, Apple gets $$$ for ever iPhone shipped.

    Also, desktop is upgradeable (generally) and you want to want multiple parts from multiple companies in multiple variations playing with each other nicely, perhaps with a driver install.

    A phone, otoh, is an appliance. No added ram, nothing. It gets upgraded every 2 years by most people. The experience of the hardware/software will be pinned on the maker. Apple offering the iPhone OS to other makers will give away Apple's edge for little added benefit and lots of aggravation ensuring backwards compatibility and that apps work on a slew of phones.

    This is not the PC war. The best things Apple can do is wholly outside of licensing out iPhone OS and that is offering the phone unlocked and on multiple carriers. This other shit is irrelevant.

  74. Re:Proof that being more open = more sales by tomhudson · · Score: 3, Informative

    They also fail to mention that most of those Android phones were distributed by Verizon for free as an attempt to wrest away some of AT&T's iPhone advantage.

    Since when is "buy one, get one free - but you still need to sign them both up to a multi-year contract" free? Just like those $100 iPhones aren't really $100 once you look at the contract.

    If Apple ever starts allowing other U.S. carriers to offer the iPhone, I'll bet Android sales number will make a big u-turn in a hurry.

    Check out the Evo 4g and try to say that with a straight face - it's kit like that which will kill both the iPhone and iPad. Bigger, easier-to-read display than the upcoming iPhone 4g, much more portable than an iPad ... it's the face of the next generation of smartphone computing devices that people will actually be able to type on half-way decently.

  75. Obvious Troll Is Obvious by meehawl · · Score: 1

    Why is AT&T astroturfing here?

    --

    Da Blog
  76. Cloud based phones by DrYak · · Score: 1

    Just because the TV ads say you can do everything doesn't mean you have to do anything.

    Some phone like Palm Pre are designed so their software (Synergy, in WebOs) counts on cloud-based storage to import your contacts. It's designed to work this way. And if you don't want to, then the only alternative to Google/Facebook/LinkedIn/etc. is to manually type-in everyone of your contacts.

    (And as its an US-American company, their Bluetooth is crippled and doesn't support a decent Obex, so no "just copy the whole address book over BT" like with Ericsson/Nokia/etc.)
    (And for some reason, Palm decided to drop BlueZ and use some weird proprietary Bluetooth stack. Thus no decent 3rd party homebrew BT support either).

    --
    "Sufficiently advanced satire is indistinguishable from reality." - [Tips: 1DrYakQDKCQ6y52z6QbnkxHXAocMZJE61o ]
  77. In other news PS3 sales outgrow Wii sales... by lindseyp · · Score: 1

    Cos, y'know... what's the point in buying one if you've already got one?

    --
    j'ai découvert une démonstration vraiment admirable (de ce théorème général) que cette si
  78. Re:This has all happened before and it will all .. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative

    I keep hearing this from Apple Fan Boys. "Apple does not want to be the dominent player". This is typical Apple style, tell people the exact opposite of what your really doing. There is good reason not to be to dominent, (DOJ anti-trust issues that Apple are defiantly breaking and would be in trouble for if considered a monopoly)
    But looking at their online audio and video moves. They defiantly want to be as big as they can be without triggering anti-trust. Thats is what they are DOING. And if you have any brains, you listen to what people DO before what they say. (Usually what they say is the opposite to what they do. A big reason Google has so much trust. They have been aligning with what they say and do.. well most of the time and in the sight of consumers..)

    Dominance of the media gateway is dominance of the media platform. Apples knows this..

    I personally think there should be government laws that say you cannot own the gateway and the media platform and the companies have to be independent. Open competition using open standards.

    Its like most countries in that the Telco owns the back haul and the retail. History of abuse and inflated prices. The UK forced their telco apart to break this strangle hold. Here in Australia, the government is in a death match with Telstra.. trying to break this model..

    Its just bad for consumers. No company or individual should have or even need this responsibility.

  79. Free Verizon roaming with Sprint by manekineko2 · · Score: 1

    I dunno where the definition of everywhere is, but Sprint is second only to Verizon in New York city coverage. Maintained Internet radio streaming without any trouble all the way on a drive between NYC and Boston.

    Furthermore, all modern Sprint plans come with free roaming, which means you effectively get Sprint + Verizon's coverage.

    I haven't had any problems with Sprint coverage.

  80. Re:This has all happened before and it will all .. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I worry that heavy Android adoption will limit innovation on phones. If the OS is the same then you can only compete on hardware, and you can't innovate because the OS doesnt facilitate the new bit of hardware you've added.

    Also on my doid there are some fundamental flaws. like no ability to kill applications that are killing you download limit like email applications e.t.c (I know you can get this facility 3rd party)

  81. Correction by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Your larger point is correct, but a correction -- they originally said they wanted to capture 1% of the overall mobile market, or 10 million phones of the 100 million expected to sell in 2008. They didn't target the smartphone segment in particular.
    They sold 13.7 million phones in 2008.

    1. Re:Correction by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      And of course, my math needs its own correction. 10 million phones is 1% of 1 billion.

  82. Not even Nokia seems to believe in Maemo/MeeGo by manekineko2 · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Maemo/MeeGo seems awesome, but I think it's just a sad case of too little, too late.

    There's only one phone that runs Maemo, the Nokia N900, and none that run its successor MeeGo. Nokia's recently announced new flagship phones are all running Symbian.

    I really like the concept of a truly open OS on a smartphone, but I haven't even ever seen one in person.

    At this point I'd rather take and lend my support to something that is 80% as good (Android arguably) that actually has a shot at success in the marketplace rather than hold out for something perfect that is way too late to the party.

  83. Re:This has all happened before and it will all .. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    There has already been remote hacks on Android devices - same goes for iPhones. No one is safe from this kind of stuff. Although, I'm interested in knowing exactly what Google plans to do with ChromeOS. They're touting its security. Show me the chickens.

  84. I for one by $0.02 · · Score: 1

    welcome our android overlord.

    --
    If enithin kan gow rong it whil. (Murfey)
  85. Re:This has all happened before and it will all .. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    You mean the "mistake" that they make more money selling phones than almost any other company in the world? You're retarded.

  86. Here's another non-story by Whuffo · · Score: 1

    When comparing Apples and Oranges, it's all fruit.

  87. It is like comparing Apples to Operating Systems by mini+me · · Score: 1

    Android is an operating system that runs on multiple devices. iPhone OS is an operating system that runs on multiple devices. So why are they comparing Android on all devices to one device running iPhone OS?

    Include iPod touch and iPad sales and Android is not outselling iPhone OS.

  88. Re:This has all happened before and it will all .. by cheesybagel · · Score: 1

    IMO the iPod will eventually lose market share. The mid/higher end models will be replaced by smartphones. They low end models will not be enough to justify the investment into R&D. The iTunes store on the other hand...

  89. not exactly informative by dynamo · · Score: 1

    Considering the way they've been giving away 2 phones for the price of one, this isn't a useful measure. How about comparing how many actual sales were made?

  90. Vertical monopolies by twidarkling · · Score: 1

    Market share has absolutely nothing to do with vertical monopolies, which is what Apple has. That's where you control each step of production along the way. Apple doesn't have a total vertical monopoly, since they don't make the individual components, but they've got a stranglehold on the consumer's end, and that's what they should be nailed on if an anti-monopoly investigation goes through.

    --
    Canada: The US's more awesome sibling.
    1. Re:Vertical monopolies by 99BottlesOfBeerInMyF · · Score: 1

      Market share has absolutely nothing to do with vertical monopolies, which is what Apple has.

      I think you're misusing the term. "Vertical monopoly" is a legal term which refers to a company that has gained dominant market share in a given market through the use of vertical integration. Apple is a vertical integrator at this point, not a vertical monopoly.

      ... that's what they should be nailed on if an anti-monopoly investigation goes through.

      You probably need to research antitrust law more thoroughly. Being a monopoly, for example, is not illegal. Abusing a monopoly in certain ways is illegal. So far, no one has even proposed a credible theory as to what they think Apple is doing that is illegal, and several expert on the subject have been asking.

  91. Re:This has all happened before and it will all .. by shutdown+-p+now · · Score: 1

    Google gets a "royalty" from Android in form of 1) ad views in Android apps, and 2) new users for GMail, Picasa, Buzz etc, which means more personal data for mining.

  92. Who's buying all these Blackberry's? by simpz · · Score: 2, Insightful

    I own a work BB Curve and a personal Android phone. I'm also a BES admin. The only thing I can see that Blackberry's have going for them is decent admin control on the BES (remote wipe etc) and good reliable email push, most of which you can get on other devices pretty well with a few apps. By any other measure the Android phone and iPhones totally outclass them. Android has many more apps, BB apps tend to be more expensive and very dully business orientated (financial tickers etc).

    The newer BB next gen devices aren't very exciting and the Storm 2 is especially poor. I'd say the BB is a (very) good business email device and that's about it. They were very late to the 3G show, they still sell curves etc without 3G which to me looks very penny pinching and crappy now.

    So who's making RIM number one, it surely can't be all just business sales. I wouldn't thank you for one as a personal device, but you do see it. Do people just like the full keyboards for social networking or something?

    Or will this RIM advantage disappear as the market for smartphone grows overall and dwarfs the business sales that have put RIM where they are?

    1. Re:Who's buying all these Blackberry's? by ratboy666 · · Score: 2, Informative

      Let's see. BB Bold vs.iPhone 3G (the two I have, carrier is the same)

      BB better phone reception
      BB keyboard better for email and im
      BB expandable memory
      BB camera flash
      BB plays AVIs without conversion
      BB simple USB memory interface, no need for "iTunes"
      BB records movies
      BB synchronizes with Evolution (important for me) and Google calendar
      BB doesn't NEED a base computer, it works as a stand-alone phone.

      (3G may also synch with Google, but I don't know how)

      3G display is better, but gets filthy.
      3G has better games.
      3G you can shake the phone to change mp3s

      So, for me, BB is better. YMMV. My wife uses a 3G -- my mother-in-law and I use the BB...

      --
      Just another "Cubible(sic) Joe" 2 17 3061
    2. Re:Who's buying all these Blackberry's? by simpz · · Score: 1

      Didn't realise the iPhone lacked some of these still. Oh well.

      The features you mention of the BB though are all present on Android however (except the keyboard is device dependant of course).

  93. Re:It is like comparing Apples to Operating System by ClosedSource · · Score: 1

    Perhaps because almost all Android devices are currently phones like the iPhone, and not like the iPod touch or the iPad.

    I have a router that runs a version of Linux just as the Android devices do. Should it be counted too?

  94. Re:LOL, Fanboy Spin by Bill_the_Engineer · · Score: 1

    Face it, the iPhone has fallen behind it's competitors.

    So does that mean we now have a another clear leader in the smart phone market? Or are people including yourself going to continue to measure other smart phones to the iPhone?

    To me as long as everyone is comparing their wares to the iPhone, the iPhone is still the one to beat...

    Apple will start worrying when people no longer feel the need to measure up to the iPhone or better yet when iPhone versus some other phone no longer generate large number of web traffic.

    --
    These comments are my own and do not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of my employer or colleagues...
  95. Like the death of Mark Twain by ClosedSource · · Score: 1

    On the other hand the boomers are getting older and their eyesight is getting weaker, so expect to see a lot of growth in geezer-phones like jitterbug.

    So I'd say the predictions of the death of non-smartphones is greatly exaggerated.

    1. Re:Like the death of Mark Twain by tomhudson · · Score: 1

      The jitterbug has got to be one of the stupidest rip-offs going. Overpriced crap phones on overpriced crap calling plans. What older people want is larger easier-to-read displays, not dumbed-down phones. If they've been using email, they don't suddenly change their needs when they hit 55+. They don't suddenly not like the idea of having a road map or gps in their phone. Or a camera. Or a music player. Or a video player. Or a todo list. Or the web.

      They're the ones who, when they get old and crotchety, WANT a baby-shaker app. Apple is clearly discriminating against old geezers!

      Seriously, they want larger, easier-to-read screens like the Motorola Droid/Milestone or the Evo 4g. And we all know baby boomers will scream and kick and complain until they get what they want.

    2. Re:Like the death of Mark Twain by ClosedSource · · Score: 1

      What makes you think that boomers are sending a lot of emails from their phones today? Or own a music player?

      I'm a boomer and the reason I have a Droid is because I got it for free for attending an Android seminar online. The display is a nice size for dialing, but nothing else is really optimized for image-impaired folks.

    3. Re:Like the death of Mark Twain by tomhudson · · Score: 1

      "Old geezers" aren't necessarily "image-impaired" to the extent you think - they just want larger letters and numbers for easier reading as they get older - something that a smartphone does.

      I just checked my carrier - they sell a couple dozen smartphones, half-a-dozen "classic phones" - if by "classic" you mean mp3/media/web-browsing, etc. The only phone they have that doesn't do that is a bag phone. You remember those - from the 1980s? Big-assed suckers that needed a bag for the battery.

      Pretty much everyone who owns a cell phone has one that is also a music and video player. the ability to send and receive emails and text, and a video camera. They may not use them as often, but they still use them. Car accident? Make a video. Not sure which product to buy? Take a picture and compare at home. Want to say "Happy birthday" but it's too early (or late) to call? Send a text.

      Doesn't mean they have to behave like a 15-year-old textaholic.

  96. Re:Proof that being more open = more sales by blackraven14250 · · Score: 1

    Good thing every consumer is educated.

  97. These are Q1 results, dear fanboy. by mjwx · · Score: 1

    [This has nothing to do with] Waiting for the next iPhone coming in a month which everyone knows about due to the leak.

    Didn't Apple just report Q1 2010 as their best quarter ever. with x million Iphones sold? Now the results in the article are for Q1 2010, which means Android outsold Apple during its best quarter ever. This is not just in the states, in Europe Android has always been strong, in Australia every telco now carries an Android phone and the Desire (on Telstra) is selling well. In China there are over a dozen handsets running Android.

    I expect the Q2 results to follow the Q1 results, especially as business look at June to get rid of old assets and buy new ones (last ditch depreciation/tax benifits) but then again Apple is a consumer electronics company and not really a part of this market. Q3 when the predictable Iphone 4 is released is when Iphone sales will pick up, Android sales will not drop off so much as Android tends to be taking market share from everyone (WinMo, RIM, Iphone and Nokia).

    --
    Calling someone a "hater" only means you can not rationally rebut their argument.
  98. The IPhone is doomed by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    just as the ipad has doomed the netbook.

  99. How did this crud gets modded up is beyond me. by mjwx · · Score: 3, Informative

    What good is developing an Application if nobody can find it?

    Perhaps you've heard of the Android marketplace.

    It's not locked down like the Itunes store. You can browse it here, here and here. Androlib even has QR codes that you can scan with your Android phone that will take you directly to application in the Android Marketplace.

    To be honest, I don't trust iWhateverApp

    Because no phishing applications made it past the ever watchful censors at Apple?

    NoThankYou.jpg to gateway only security. I'd rather have on-device security which informs me which services (API's, but in simple terms like "can send SMS", "accesses your contacts/personal data" or "can write and delete from the SD card"). Even third party APK's do this (because it's part of Android, not the thrid party software).

    So stop spreading FUD and others stop modding up FUD.

    --
    Calling someone a "hater" only means you can not rationally rebut their argument.
  100. Anal-ology by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Mixing...
    Android is to Apple as Windows is to Apple. Apple will end up with a similar market share.

  101. Re:Proof that being more open = more sales by Miamicanes · · Score: 1

    > Where were the wince phones on this list again?

    They would have been near the top, except just about everyone who owned a WinMo5/6 phone 2 years ago now owns an Android phone. Legacy PalmOS faded away over the span of 5 years in a slow, dignified sunset. Windows Mobile, by comparison, symbolically committed mass suicide and practically vanished from the earth overnight. The last straw was Microsoft's treatment of Touch HD owners -- thanking them for their loyalty and support by telling them they wouldn't be allowed to have the next version of Windows because their phones had two buttons too many. They could hardly have driven more of their last supporters away by paying HTC to port Android to the Touch HD and emailing the download URL to buyers. As it stands, by the end of this year, the Touch HD will have the honor of being one of the finest Android phones you can buy today ;-)

  102. Didn't Apple just have it's best quarter ever by mjwx · · Score: 1

    It's important to note that the iPhone is in one of the low-sales points of its product cycle for these figures

    Ahem, these are for Q1 2010. Didn't apple just state that Q1 2010 was its best quarter ever?

    You cant have it both ways, either Android outsold Apple whilst it was doing well or Apple is lying.

    --
    Calling someone a "hater" only means you can not rationally rebut their argument.
    1. Re:Didn't Apple just have it's best quarter ever by tverbeek · · Score: 1

      I'm pretty sure Apple sells more than just iPhones.

      --
      http://alternatives.rzero.com/
    2. Re:Didn't Apple just have it's best quarter ever by mjwx · · Score: 1

      I'm pretty sure Apple sells more than just iPhones.

      I'm fairly certain that Apple is centred around the Iphone, with x million sold and up x percent from 12 months ago being bandied around a lot when Apple made the announcement.

      Like I said, you cant have it both ways, either Android outsold Iphone in one of it's best quarters or Apple is lying.

      --
      Calling someone a "hater" only means you can not rationally rebut their argument.
  103. Re:Proof that being more open = more sales by Lars+T. · · Score: 1

    Windows had a 10+ year head start on Linux.

    OTOH, MS-DOS was more open than Macintosh and dominated it in a humiliating fashion.

    You had an entire industry versus one company.

    But including CP/M, of which it was a mere copy, it had a 10+ year head start.

    --

    Lars T.

    To the guy who modded me down from perfect to terrible Karma - Apple haters still suck

  104. Because nobody gives a shit about them... by phillymjs · · Score: 3, Insightful

    ...in the mobile OS space anymore. They don't really have a dog in the fight right now. I've used WM6.5, and it is awful. I think it is actually worse for them having tried to ape some iPhone features.

    They are already basically relegated to the sliver of the mobile OS marketshare pie chart labeled "Other." By the time they get WM7 into devices and on store shelves, Apple will have iPhone OS 4 out and be working on improving it, and Google isn't standing still with Android, either. Microsoft is going to be playing an endless game of catch-up, and they can't use their old tactics anymore to chase their competitors out of the market. Windows Mobile now has to compete on merit alone.

    They laughed at the iPhone and basically ignored Android, let their own product languish, and now they're paying the price.

    ~Philly

  105. Re:LOL, Fanboy Spin by dudpixel · · Score: 1

    The leak was last month. Sales have fallen off since Q4 2009...well before the leak started. Face it, the iPhone has fallen behind it's competitors.

    no no that cant be true. it just cant be. here - drink some of this...

    --
    This seemed like a reasonable sig at the time.
  106. Re:This has all happened before and it will all .. by dudpixel · · Score: 1

    No virus issues yet (that I know of).

    Crashes... most certainly. Several a day, but thankfully not system-wide.

    Bugs aplenty spread across apps.

    Feels a lot like the early days of Windows, actually.

    Time to "unroot" your phone I think.

    If your apps are crashing every day, use different apps. The rating system is there to be used...use it.

    would you rather Google implemented Android Market the Apple way? it'd certainly improve the quality of the apps...but at the cost of your (and developer's) freedom...you cant have it both ways. the rating system should suffice for most of us...

    --
    This seemed like a reasonable sig at the time.
  107. Re:It is like comparing Apples to Operating System by mini+me · · Score: 1

    Almost all OS X systems are sold in aluminum enclosures. Are you suggesting that when comparing OS X to Windows, we should only count the number of Windows systems sold in aluminum cases?

    Platform numbers are interesting because they give some idea about how large the market is for third-party development. Last time I checked, the iPhone SDK does not even allow access to the phone equipment found in the iPhone. Therefore, developers certainly do not care if the host system is a phone any more than Windows developers care that the host system is made of aluminum.

    I have a router that runs a version of Linux just as the Android devices do. Should it be counted too.

    No. Not because it is not a phone, but because it does not run Android. Both the N900 and the Pre run Linux as well, but they were not considered Android devices in this survey.

    If you are actually running Android and capable of running software designed for the Android on your router, then yes, it should be counted.

  108. Uh... did someone forget about the ipad? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    the ipad just sold a million in a month. That's more than the adoption rate of the iphone it's first moth. It seems pretty plausible this cannibalized a lot of iphone sales.

  109. Re:This has all happened before and it will all .. by MightyYar · · Score: 1

    Android is the Windows of the mobile world.

    You mean they want an Apple but it costs too much money :)

    You raise a good point, but I don't think that Apple's flat stock price of the 90s is simply because they failed to license their OS a decade earlier. Besides, recently, Apple's closed model has spanked MS's open model. Look at the 10-year chart... if you had bough MS 10 years ago - well, at least you wouldn't have lost any money. Apple would have returned 20x your money.

    But anyway, what is it they say about past results not indicating future performance :)

    --
    W..w..W - Willy Waterloo washes Warren Wiggins who is washing Waldo Woo.
  110. Re:Proof that being more open = more sales by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I cannot believe that you're the only post I see mentioning the Sprint HTC Evo 4G. That phone is gonna be the true meaning of incredible!

    And Sprint already has 32 cities lit with 4G, with a LOT more coming on hot and heavy. But the phone will be awesome even with only 3G.

    The next month is gonna be fun.

  111. Re:Proof that being more open = more sales by Schnoogs · · Score: 0, Funny

    I use Windows...I guess I'm not an educated consumer (throws away Masters in CS)

  112. Close enough for all practical purposes by SuperKendall · · Score: 1

    You do realize that the upcoming iPhone OS update doesn't add multitasking, right?

    A mathematician and a physicist agree to a psychological experiment.
    The mathematician is put in a chair in a large empty room and a
    beautiful naked woman is placed on a bed at the other end of the room.
    The psychologist explains, "You are to remain in your chair. Every
    five minutes, I will move your chair to a position halfway between its
    current location and the woman on the bed." The mathematician looks
    at the psychologist in disgust. "What? I'm not going to go through
    this. You know I'll never reach the bed!" And he gets up and storms
    out. The psychologist makes a note on his clipboard and ushers the
    physicist in. He explains the situation, and the physicist's eyes
    light up and he starts drooling. The psychologist is a bit confused.
    "Don't you realize that you'll never reach her?" The physicist smiles
    and replied, "Of course! But I'll get close enough for all practical
    purposes!"

    Go back and look at the complaints about lack of multitasking, and what people would run.

    Pretty much, Pandora and some kind of chat.

    No consumer is going to understand the nuance of what multitasking is allowed. They are just going to know they can listen to Pandora, or go between apps more quickly.

    --
    "There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
    1. Re:Close enough for all practical purposes by jipn4 · · Score: 2, Interesting

      You're making the assumption that it actually is "close enough for practical purposes". I don't think it is. Of course, I don't think the multitasking restrictions are technical in nature anyway; Apple is likely doing this to have yet another way of excluding apps they don't like. For example, with true multitasking, I could run things like a webdav server or metadata server in the background that would give users a better way of organizing and exchanging data between applications than Apple is providing. Apple would kill such an app simply because they don't want someone else providing such functionality.

    2. Re:Close enough for all practical purposes by SuperKendall · · Score: 1

      Of course, I don't think the multitasking restrictions are technical in nature anyway

      Of course they are not, a number of the apps on the phone already run in the background. It's all about battery preservation and helping the user not have to manage tasks. It's about design, not technical ability.

      For example, with true multitasking, I could run things like a webdav server or metadata server in the background that would give users a better way of organizing and exchanging data between applications than Apple is providing.

      But you can do that with a real server. Or (in the case of the WebDav idea) you could simply use the existing pasteboard, which supports rich types. It's not like other apps would not have to change some code to make use of your new system.

      In fact you could simply write a very nice pasteboard app that would hold onto data and use the task switching to go back and forth from it quickly.

      Also, those examples are pretty fiddly and I doubt would really be that widely adopted... again the iPhone OS multitasking changes are about making 90%+ of desired multitasking uses possible.

      --
      "There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
    3. Re:Close enough for all practical purposes by jipn4 · · Score: 1

      Of course they are not, a number of the apps on the phone already run in the background. It's all about battery preservation and helping the user not have to manage tasks. It's about design, not technical ability.

      Android is multi-tasking and there is nothing to "manage"; you switch to applications by tapping on their icons and they behave as if they are always running. Behind the scenes, the OS stops inactive tasks. And on Android, it's easy to see where the battery is going, and it is not multitasking, it's the screen and wireless. Furthermore, the iPhone doesn't get better battery life than other 3G smartphones.

      In different words, Apple and Jobs are lying through their teeth.

      Also, those examples are pretty fiddly

      There's nothing "fiddly" about being able to sync music wirelessly to any server you want, or being able to share all your on-device files wirelessly with your laptop.

      again the iPhone OS multitasking changes are about making 90%+ of desired multitasking uses possible

      They're only "90%+" because iPhone users are so controlled by Apple that they don't even know what a smartphone should be able to do.

    4. Re:Close enough for all practical purposes by Mr2001 · · Score: 1

      It's all about battery preservation and helping the user not have to manage tasks.

      If that's true, then isn't it interesting that Android doesn't have a problem with battery preservation or task management? Android devices have comparable battery life to the iPhone, and tasks are managed automatically and transparently.

      Apple would like you to think that allowing developers to run their own code in the background would lead to problems like this. But either there's a unique problem with multitasking on the iPhone OS, or they're just not telling the truth.

      It's about design, not technical ability.

      Now you might be on to something. iPhone applications were written with the assumption that they'd either be running in the foreground or not running at all. Now Apple faces the same sort of legacy problems that Microsoft has faced for years: they have to keep supporting those old apps, even though the underlying design is past its expiration date and really should be changed. It seems they've chosen to load the old design up with patches instead of biting the bullet, writing a compatibility layer, and moving on to a new, better design.

      --
      Visual IRC: Fast. Powerful. Free.
    5. Re:Close enough for all practical purposes by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      They're only "90%+" because iPhone users are so controlled by Apple that they don't even know what a smartphone should be able to do.

      You are a piece of work. Just because someone makes a choice that is different from yours does not make their choice incorrect, nor does it in any way imply that they are under the influence of some kind of mind control.

      If your ideas are all that and a bag of chips, STFU and build me a decent phone already, you lazy piece of S**T.

    6. Re:Close enough for all practical purposes by Bill_the_Engineer · · Score: 1

      If that's true, then isn't it interesting that Android doesn't have a problem with battery preservation or task management? Android devices have comparable battery life to the iPhone, and tasks are managed automatically and transparently.

      What? You can say that with a straight face?

      With each Android update Google has been trying to improve battery life by allowing the user to monitor application battery use and manually kill the applications that uses the most power.

      I found that downloading a 3rd party utility named "Task Manager" has improved my battery life by allowing me to kill all my applications that insist on being in the background even though I'm not using them.

      Another handy widget is "Power Control" that allows me to turn of the GPS, WiFi, and Bluetooth when I'm not using them without having to traverse the Android settings menu.

      Before I found these very handy apps, my battery would last about a day. Now I can get about 2.5 days.

      If Android actually managed these applications "automatically and transparently" for me, I wouldn't need these applications to save battery life.

      --
      These comments are my own and do not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of my employer or colleagues...
    7. Re:Close enough for all practical purposes by SuperKendall · · Score: 1

      iPhone applications were written with the assumption that they'd either be running in the foreground or not running at all. Now Apple faces the same sort of legacy problems that Microsoft has faced for years: they have to keep supporting those old apps, even though the underlying design is past its expiration date and really should be changed

      Actually this is not true. Legacy applications with no knowledge of the framework will simply be sitting there in memory, unless the memory is needed - then they will be closed down as normal.

      With minimal work, you can do extra memory cleanup in the suspend state.

      Since there are no legacy apps that actually run in the background, that API was in no way limited by existing applications at all, and was designed to maximize battery life while still providing for 90%+ of the cases most people would use multitasking for.

      --
      "There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
    8. Re:Close enough for all practical purposes by Mr2001 · · Score: 1

      Since there are no legacy apps that actually run in the background, that API was in no way limited by existing applications at all

      That's incorrect. Legacy apps lack the capability to run in the background, and that is what limits the API.

      App lifecycle management that maximizes battery life and saves memory in a true multitasking environment would require apps to be divided up into separate parts that the OS can disable individually (as is done on Android). Since the fundamental design of iPhone apps is that they're not divided up that way, true multitasking cannot be achieved without a fundamental redesign, which would have required a compatibility layer for old apps.

      and was designed to maximize battery life while still providing for 90%+ of the cases most people would use multitasking for.

      Within the constraints imposed by the legacy API, this may have been a sensible compromise. But a real solution would have maximized battery life while providing for 100% of the cases people use multitasking for, whether they've been invented yet or not.

      --
      Visual IRC: Fast. Powerful. Free.
    9. Re:Close enough for all practical purposes by Mr2001 · · Score: 1

      I found that downloading a 3rd party utility named "Task Manager" has improved my battery life by allowing me to kill all my applications that insist on being in the background even though I'm not using them.

      Yes, there are third party task managers, but they're essentially just placebos for people who feel the need to micromanage what their phone is doing. The OS will kill processes that are no longer needed when it needs to free up some memory. Killing tasks manually has little effect, other than introducing a small delay the next time you start those tasks.

      I think you'll find that if you stop using the task killer, your battery life won't go down. What you see as "applications that insist on being the background" are almost certainly apps that have been stopped but not yet killed: they're using zero CPU, and the OS will kill them when it needs to reclaim their memory. Reclaiming it early doesn't help; this isn't a desktop system where extra RAM is used for disk caching.

      The only time when a task killer actually helps is when you have a poorly written application that goes out of its way to keep running in the background even though you aren't using it. And in that case, it's better to just uninstall the bug-ridden app and replace it with something that works.

      --
      Visual IRC: Fast. Powerful. Free.
    10. Re:Close enough for all practical purposes by SuperKendall · · Score: 1

      That's incorrect. Legacy apps lack the capability to run in the background, and that is what limits the API.

      That's totally wrong if you simply do a thought exercise. All applications written today assume they cannot run in the background, so the API is not limiting what they already do not do.

      What the new feature does do however, is grant all legacy apps automatic state restoration on wake as long as it is kept in memory - something an app had to manage itself before.

      So the API imposes no limits on legacy apps, and provides some benefits as well.

      Updates to apps can take advantage of the new API to do some kinds of background processing, but again there was nothing in the way legacy apps worked that would in any way affect or limit the design of the multitasking API, since there was no multitasking being done before.

      App lifecycle management that maximizes battery life and saves memory in a true multitasking environment would require apps to be divided up into separate parts that the OS can disable individually

      The iPhone already does this today (the memory part) with notifications, and view unloading. The new API allows apps to also conserve processor when running in the background.

      Within the constraints imposed by the legacy API,

      Did not multitask = no legacy API.

      --
      "There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
    11. Re:Close enough for all practical purposes by Mr2001 · · Score: 1

      That's totally wrong if you simply do a thought exercise. All applications written today assume they cannot run in the background, so the API is not limiting what they already do not do.

      What a strange thing to say. By that logic, there's no such thing as a legacy compatibility issue, because old software was never designed to use features that didn't exist yet!

      In reality, legacy issues exist precisely because of the thing you brought up: old code makes certain assumptions that were true at the time, and the old code breaks when new platform features cause those assumptions to become false.

      The monolithic-app assumption under which legacy iPhone apps have been (and still are being) developed is not conducive to proper lifecycle management in a mobile environment.

      Whether legacy apps were capable of multitasking is actually beside the point, in a way. Desktop applications use the same monolithic-app assumption even though they multitask, because they run in a very different environment: desktop OSes don't need to kill unused programs to save memory or CPU time. That's one reason why those OSes are unsuitable for smartphones.

      In a smartphone environment, to enable multitasking while still allowing the OS to manage app lifecycle to conserve memory and battery, applications have to be built differently.

      It's funny that I'm arguing that Apple was forced into this position by their legacy apps and you're arguing that they weren't. Because if they weren't, that means they deliberately chose a half-assed implementation when they could have done better. Is that really what you want to believe?

      The iPhone already does this today (the memory part) with notifications, and view unloading.

      I don't think so. Notifications are a way for the OS to reload a stopped application in response to an event; they don't change the fundamental structure of the app.

      --
      Visual IRC: Fast. Powerful. Free.
    12. Re:Close enough for all practical purposes by SuperKendall · · Score: 1

      In reality, legacy issues exist precisely because of the thing you brought up: old code makes certain assumptions that were true at the time, and the old code breaks when new platform features cause those assumptions to become false.

      Since all the old assumptions are fine, there is nothing that can break!

      YOU are saying that old code can break because some totally new feature is added - like saying that if an API came out to interface with a car, all legacy code could break, even though the old cod neither knew nor card about cars whatsoever. You are the one with the exceedingly odd position of saying that ANY CODE AT ALL will break under the new multitasking API.

      The truth is, nothing will break because to old code nothing has changed. The truth is, that the API could have been designed any way they like, because code doesn't know about the API until you program against it.

      To put it another way, you are saying code will break because of an API the code never knew about or linked against...

      Once an API is in place - then you lose some flexibility in design. Then the potential to break clients exists But before that point, you have a green field with a brand new API to do what you like exactly because there are no worries about any existing code using your API.

      So please inform us all just how code that never linked against a new API can possibly be broken by it.

      --
      "There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
    13. Re:Close enough for all practical purposes by Mr2001 · · Score: 1

      You are the one with the exceedingly odd position of saying that ANY CODE AT ALL will break under the new multitasking API.

      Actually, no, that's not what I'm saying. I'm saying old code would have broken if Apple had restructured the API to allow for true multitasking. The need to support that old code, combined with their unwillingness to write a compatibility layer, may be why the iPhone is getting half-assed pseudo-multitasking instead.

      The truth is, that the API could have been designed any way they like, because code doesn't know about the API until you program against it.

      Programs are already written against an API, and the assumptions on which that API is founded would change.

      So please inform us all just how code that never linked against a new API can possibly be broken by it.

      No problem, although I suspect you're the only one who needs this explained to you.

      Imagine a platform where programs interface with cars. A simple program might look like this:

      void main()
      {
              CONNECTION conn = Connect();
              InflateTire(conn, 0);
              InflateTire(conn, 1);
              InflateTire(conn, 2);
              InflateTire(conn, 3);
              Disconnect(conn);
      }

      Now imagine that a year later, the platform is expanded to handle airplanes as well. The "new API" consists of a function CheckVehicleType() to distinguish between cars and planes, as well as a bunch of plane-specific functions.

      Do you see how that would break the code above? It never linked against the new API, it doesn't know anything about the new API, and that's the problem. The old API had no facility for checking vehicle types, and old programs could assume that if they were running at all, then a car was connected. But that assumption is no longer true under the new API. The program will happily run even when a plane is connected, then crash when it tries to inflate a tire that isn't there.

      The issues with breaking the monolithic-app assumption are a little more subtle, but not much. An app that only expected to run in certain situations would now find itself running in unexpected new situations.

      --
      Visual IRC: Fast. Powerful. Free.
  113. Well you obviously don't understand design by SuperKendall · · Score: 1

    similarly the overwhelming majority of the world's population does not have a degree in industrial design.

    The whole point of really good industrial design is that the user does not HVAE to understand how something is designed - it's intuitive to use.

    Just like I don't need to know how to service a jet engine to fly across the ocean.

    People understand good design instinctively. That's why good design is as much art as science, because to do it right you have to understand what makes humans tick.

    History has shown that devices the rest only on marketing are fads that don't last. People move on. The fact is Apple has a lot of products now where people have not moved on, and the user base is growing substantially. To claim that's not because of design is at this point willful ignorance - the inability to learn because you are trying hard to keep your preconceptions intact as long as possible.

    --
    "There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
  114. Re:Proof that being more open = more sales by luther349 · · Score: 0

    they destroyed windows in the server world. its a different ballgame in the desktop world being the avg joe cares less what hes running as long as it does everything he whats it to do. if you have him a linux box he would use it until it didn't do something he wanted it to do or didn't run his favorite app/game. and thats where the problem lies. wile in 90% of the cases linux has its own style of the app he whats its not the one he wanted. and well for games thats due to devs glued to directx rather then using opengl.

  115. Question Re: net connection by cyclomedia · · Score: 1

    OK, so Android and iPhone are battling it out with their swish special effects laden smart phones but i have a question, do they need an always on net connection to be any use? Some of us have internet at home and work and a wifi enabled phone for some of the times in between and can manage a bus/train ride without having to check myface and dont see the need to fork over a monthly fee just to use our phone. I'm not trying to sound like a grumpy old man, i happily tweet via sms but if i dont want to use the net connection for anything in particular then i turn it off. actually i turn it on, check email, weather, news, twitter, turn it off. I'm happy for the connect/disconnect to be transparent but i dont want it sat there constantly updating a weather applet and checking everyone's facebook status while i'm asleep.

    --
    If you don't risk failure you don't risk success.
  116. Re:This has all happened before and it will all .. by mcvos · · Score: 1

    It's going to crash a lot and get a lot of viruses? /duck

    No viruses that I know of, but the stability of my Milestone is a bit disappointing. It's completely awesome in every other respect, but stability is definitely an issue.

    It doesn't crash every day or even every week, but I've had one day where it kept crashing dozens of times in a row, and I was completely unable to use it. The next day everything was fine again.

  117. ACK by FreeUser · · Score: 1

    Forgive me if I'm wrong ... but companies could face anti-trust action even if they don't own a monopoly over a product or service. (Confirm/Deny?)

    ACK

    --
    The Future of Human Evolution: Autonomy
  118. Java security infrastructure by Weezul · · Score: 1

    I'd say the Java security infrastructure sounds like the most legitimate reason, well Maemo can't even keep applications off / in /opt. :( I don't buy the programmer supply issue however.

    I'd imagine that developing from the ground up forces real development, while Nokia has clearly expected unrealistic help from the Maemo community, but they would not have taken that approach.

    Ideally, we'll eventually get a solid MeeGo phone that runs all the open source software, while also providing an Android JIT, API, etc. for small applications.

    --
    The Christian religion has been and still is the principal enemy of moral progress in the world. -- Bertrand Russell
  119. alpine white teeth whitening by mrencey · · Score: 1

    Sprint has an HTC Android phone too called the HTC Hero. So does Verizon with the HTC Droid Eris. alpine white teeth whitening

  120. There's enough room for a few platforms by GORby_ · · Score: 2, Insightful

    I don't understand all the people that want one platform to be the other one's 'killer'. I dont want one platform to kill the other, no matter what the platform is... The market is probably large enough to support 3 or 4 (maybe even 5) large platforms.
    My (non-expert) opinion is that:
    - there's still some headroom for Apple (after the 5 year exclusive)
    - there's some headroom for Android.
    - HP's (supposed) commitment to WebOS can also make for some very interesting devices
    - Symbian will probably become less important, unless Nokia changes it considerably
    - I don't know what to think of Windows Phone 7, but it might be too little too late
    - Maemo and Co will remain a niche platform for some time, either to wither away or grow to 5 - 10%

    I would really like Apple, Android and WebOS to continue competing for market share in the coming years, since that will get us more features (or better implementations of current features), and more choice, which is rarely a bad thing...

    1. Re:There's enough room for a few platforms by GORby_ · · Score: 1

      There you have it... I forgot RIM, which will probably also remain a strong player for years to come, since it's so entrenched in the corporate world.

  121. Cue the counter-/fanbois. ^^ by Hurricane78 · · Score: 1

    What you are about to see in the comments to this story:
    - ”explanations”
    - excuses
    - denial
    - hate
    - ignorance
    - delusions

    Then when they get some point right, cue the:
    - counter-”explanations”
    - counter-excuses
    - counter-denial
    - counter-hate
    - counter-ignorance
    - counter-delusions

    Oh, and:
    - a lot of fun for the whole family! ;)

    Basically you can mod every comment “Troll” or “Flamebait”, and always be right. ;)

    --
    Any sufficiently advanced intelligence is indistinguishable from stupidity.
    1. Re:Cue the counter-/fanbois. ^^ by brkello · · Score: 1

      Hmm, so you are saying people should mod you Troll or Flamebait...interesting!

      --
      Support a great indie game: http://www.abaddon360.com
  122. Re:This has all happened before and it will all .. by RocketRabbit · · Score: 1

    For most people, the lack of flash is a blessing and not a curse.

    I am not alone when I consider flash to be the most annoying aspect of the whole web browsing experience.

  123. Here in the EU iPhones are becoming uncool.. by delire · · Score: 1

    or at least it seems..

    Rather than stylish and in-the-know people buying iPhones plumbers, social workers and truck drivers have iPhones here. This is due to the offerings by telcos such that iPhones are practically free with a fairly tenable contract. iPhones are becoming not just middle-class but traversing further down the so-called classes. A few of my very self-conscious dyed-in-the-wool Mac using friends (France, Germany, Austria) have mentioned a desire to escape this ubiquity, in their lifelong quest for edginess.

    Here the uniformity of iPhones, the sheer lack of definition in their outward appearance has become a problem. Differentiation - in the quest for affirming individual identity - is much easier with other brands. The Android market will start making a lot of sense to the snobbish and the trend-setters. The Apple brand is less and less the 'BMW' or 'Mercedes' within the market.

  124. The Fanbois Should Be Pleased About This... by pandrijeczko · · Score: 1

    ...because it's definitive proof that they're maintaining their elitist minority status and still capable of sneering down their noses at the rest of the great unwashed masses.

    --
    Gentoo Linux - another day, another USE flag.
  125. Re:This has all happened before and it will all .. by RyuuzakiTetsuya · · Score: 1

    I'm under the impression that that the current slate of Flash 10 based attacks may not *compromise* the Android browser, given the binary incompatibility between Windows and Android, however, I'm still imagining it's going to crash still.

    --
    Non impediti ratione cogitationus.
  126. Wake me up when this is relevant by teshuvah · · Score: 1

    So all the Android OS devices combined (how many are there now, a dozen or so?) sold more phones than the one phone that runs iPhone OS, which pretty much everyone that wants one already has it, in the quarter right before a new model is coming out. This is news? Wake me up when something relevant happens, like a single device getting anywhere near the market penetration as the iPhone. I have a feeling I will be sleeping for a loooooooooooooooooong time.

  127. Apples and oranges anyone? by xulfer · · Score: 1

    Android is an operating system / mobile platform. An iphone is... a phone. This reeks of fanboyism to me. A slew of phones outsold a single phone, but that's really exciting because they all have the same OS! That's like saying IOS outsold a specific series of Juniper, or Redhat outsold a Dell 2950.

  128. Re:Proof that being more open = more sales by RogerWilco · · Score: 1

    Linux has become a great server OS, basically replacing the traditional offerings like HP-UX, IRIX, Solaris, VMS and others to a large extent.

    It hasn't yet shown to be a credible contender in the Desktop arena. We've been hearing that this year is the year of Linux on the Desktop for over 10 years now.
    There are plenty of reasons which I will not enumerate here now.

    --
    RogerWilco the Adventurous Janitor
  129. Re:Proof that being more open = more sales by tomhudson · · Score: 1

    I wasn't in the market for a smartphone until I saw the specs on the Evo 4g. This is really a game-changer. a 4.3" screen is going to make so many baby boomers go "I don't need bi-fuck-alls to see this!".

    For the video crowd, being able to shoot in 720p from a smartphone is going to float their boat. The HDMI out is another "don't need a laptop to transfer the files to watch on the big screen" changer.

    People are going to latch on these, shove big micro-sd cards into them, and ditch their net-tops. Why tether your laptop when you can carry everything you need in a pocket or purse?

  130. Re:LOL, Fanboy Spin by swabeui · · Score: 1

    Our company is in the process of telling everyone that we will be dropping AT&T. We simply can't afford international travel, at least not with an iPhone. When you call them they seem smug in their prices, almost like "Well, what do you expect. You have an iPhone, paying ridiculous amounts of money is part of the deal".

    Quotes for Android phones from Sprint and Verizon range from 1/5th to 1/4th of the AT&T costs for the same phones but with unlimited data. Eventually the 'new' wears off everything and you have to evaluate what it is really costing you.

  131. Re:Proof that being more open = more sales by MikeBabcock · · Score: 1

    Actually if you think about it, Windows is open in the same way that Android is as far as applications go, where the iPhone is closed.

    That is to say, I can install any software I want on my Android phone (one checkbox in the settings to turn off 'android market only'), and any software I want on a Windows machine too. This ability to run random crapware as well as freely available good software helped propel Windows, along with a fairly complete API. To annoy my fellow Linux geeks, Android is more like Windows in that regard :)

    --
    - Michael T. Babcock (Yes, I blog)
  132. Yeah sure. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The grapes are never ripe in Apple's vine.

    That worked wonders before the comeback of Jobs.

    Make no mistake, when Jobs is not there Apple will lose the little vision they have just to be brought down by the obvious inadequacies of their offerings.

  133. Wow! Paying for standard features. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Some people (aka fanboys) are so brainwashed that they think this is a good thing, worth crowing about....

  134. Re:Proof that being more open = more sales by frederickroyceperez · · Score: 1

    The Evo 4g may stall a bit with that nine hundred dollar bump .

  135. Re:This has all happened before and it will all .. by farble1670 · · Score: 1

    Crashes... most certainly. Several a day, but thankfully not system-wide.

    interesting. my nexus one is up for weeks. there is some bug that causes the touch screen to go haywire every so often. that's the only problem i've had.

    to be fair, my wife's iphone 3g is up for 5x that long.

  136. Re:This has all happened before and it will all .. by teeker · · Score: 1

    You hit the nail on the head, and I'm not even sure you noticed. That's the philosophical difference between the iphone and Android phones. One is much more open, with all the good and bad that comes with it...you can really get at the insides and bend it to your will, and write any sort of app you want, for better or worse. The price you pay for openness like that is the potential for huge instability, but the rating system will hopefully help with that over time. For some technically oriented people and some others, this trade is very worthwhile. The openness is worth those possible inconveniences, and we understand and accept it. I mean, it's not like the user experience is BAD or anything, it's just sometimes things don't work as perfectly as you'd like.

    Meanwhile, you have the opposite approach, which is very much the Apple way of doing things. Very closed, very restricted from a developer's standpoint. The benefit of this approach is that the user experience is very controlled and streamlined. Not that they never experience crashes, but generally speaking, the overall experience is a lot more sanitized, clean, and consistent. Few crashes, familiar overall look and feel. It's "the Apple Way" or the highway, but you can see they try to make "the Apple Way" pretty darn nice, if not open.

    When people ask me if they should get an iphone or something else, I tell them for most people, your 2 best bets are an Android phone and an iphone. The way they should decide is by thinking about what they expect out of their cell phone. If they only want a few apps they saw on TV and don't want to fuck with it too much and just want a really nice capable phone, then iphone. If they want to do all sorts of additional interesting things, they should definitely get an Android, but recognize that with those abilities comes complexity, and be sure you want a device like your cell phone to *be* that complex.

    It all depends on what you want out of a phone, and it's different for everybody. I don't really get why people get so angry about it.

    --
    teeker
  137. Re:Proof that being more open = more sales by tomhudson · · Score: 1

    The Evo 4g may stall a bit with that nine hundred dollar bump .

    While the price hasn't been finalized, here's some info: http://www.phonedog.com/2010/05/07/htc-evo-4g-documentation-spotted-at-radio-shack/

    $200 on contract, $600 cash. In other words, this puts it in line with other smartphones. (go check the price on an iPhone without a plan - if you can find one. Apple won't sell it to you without a contract in the US - in Canada the 16GS is $$700 without a contract, the 32GS is $800 without a contract - with a contract the 16GS is $199, the 32GS is $299). So expect the Evo 4g to be $200 - $300 with a contract.

  138. Re:LOL, Fanboy Spin by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I work for a fortune 50 company.
    Iphone and blackberry are support platforms.
    Android is not.

    iPhone works great in our enterprise.

  139. Apple and Market Share ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Do you guys really think Steve Jobs is concerned that Android sells MORE phones than the iPhone???
    Windows still easily outsells OS X ... Have you seen Apple's market cap and profits lately?!?!

    Apple sells the WHOLE package; hardware, software, etc. Integration is the key.

  140. Re:Proof that being more open = more sales by frederickroyceperez · · Score: 1

    At an earlier point it was possible to purchase an unsubsidised iPhone . The unsubsidised price was right in line with the Evo 4g's current price . I think I recall it being Seven Hundred bucks . If memory serves you could accept the iPhone deal , then drop the service for a penalty of around six hundred bucks . That brings it right up to eight , nine hundred dollar bump with your original costs (I think I am reasonably close to the correct amount) .
    I hope Evo 4g is a great phone deal . I was responding to your optimism while contrasting that with the only price I could find for it . I am not speculating , or able to compare these products other than they seem comparable . More phone than I need , my wife is interested though .

  141. Re:Proof that being more open = more sales by pboyd2004 · · Score: 1

    Destroying? Really? Not according to this: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/02/26/idc_q4_2009_servers/

  142. Re:LOL, Fanboy Spin by vakuona · · Score: 1

    Behind which competitor? All different Android phones? All models of Blackberry? Or all other smartphones put together? Apple has one product in the samrtphone space. Do you know how much it's competitors would kill to have 21% of the market with exactly one model of phone?

  143. This is news? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I'm not surprised. Verizon is bigger than AT&T. The cost of the phone itself does not really matter. VZW makes money hand over fist on the data plan. 30-45$ a month for something that may cost 10% of the cost to do, probably 1% given the amount of customers VZW has. I really don't think they care much about 250$ per person for a phone, as they get it back in the first 6 months of the contract. Not including things like minutes and text messages. So does Google? They make the same amount of money no matter what the phone costs. HTC? They get paid by VZW, they really care. Apple does, and why they care is they have 3 iphone OS products out there, two of which aren't smart phones, tho the one does have a cellular internet option. They're also exclusive with AT&T which buys them very little, except headache. So AT&T pays apple a bit more than VZW pays HTC, but since VZW sells more units, HTC likely gets more.

    I honestly think if Apple really wants to "fix" this they need to emulate HTC and do two things, kill their exclusivity with AT&T and allow the devices to be sold as loss leaders, even more so than now.

    You can look at one reason why the iPhone has the share it does is that until recently it was one of the least expensive units on the front end out there. Now there are others, and honestly I'd have been shocked if android wasn't outselling the iPhone for the above reasons.

  144. Re:Proof that being more open = more sales by hazydave · · Score: 1

    Also, I don't think it's a matter of Apple allowing other carries in the US. It was originally a matter of AT&T not allowing them... Apple had to give AT&T exclusivity in order to get them to carry the iPhone. By all accounts that's over, but the real question is, can anyone else deal with Apple. Verizon and Apple have apparently had serious talks at least three times now, and so far, no iPhone on Verizon. The story as I hear it is that Verizon has been interested, at least in the past, and were willing to deal with Apple much as they dealt with every other vendor. Apple, on the other hand, wanted the same kind of special treatment, like profit sharing, they got from AT&T.

    Going forward, though, I think it's more of a longshot. The fact is, Verizon is doing very nicely with Android now. But it's not just that... they can only offer so many phones that do basically the same thing before it's just not worth their carrying the phones. As they have in the past, Verizon likes to brand the models they carrry. It's not that big of a deal to most people.. the Verizon Droid is essentially just a CDMA2000 Motorola Milestone. But when you say "Droid", it's automatically Verizon. All their other Android phones are marketed under the "Droid" name.

    Look at the Google Nexus One deal... supposedly, Verizon was set to carry the Nexus One. Only problem... that was going in with Google primary branding, not the secondary branding you get with the Droid (being a "Google Experience" phone, the Droid is just as untouched by Verizon as the N1 would have been, but the Google logo's on the back, it says "Motorola" and "Verizon" on the front). Put an iPhone into Verizon, and it's still an iPhone, still Apple branded, with maybe a tiny "Verizon" on the back. I'm not sure they want that.

    And if you can't have Verizon, that's at least currently 30% of the smart phones sold in the USA, and growing much faster than AT&T. So Apple would have to tag both T-Mobile and Sprint for the same coverage. And really, are they interested? Would Apple do a special CDMA2000 + WiMax phone for Sprint... that's probably what they'll be requiring for their high-end phones, like the EVO 4G, from now on. Given that AT&T and Verizon are both going LTE at 700MHz, this is probably a non-starter for Apple. So that leaves T-Mobile. Well, they're already GSM/HSPA, just on different 3G channels. But they're also the smallest carrier.

    --
    -Dave Haynie