Tech Industry, Long Insulated, Feels a Slump - NYTimes.com

Tech Industry, Long Insulated, Feels a Slump - NYTimes.com: "The technology industry, which resisted the economy’s growing weakness over the last year as customers kept buying laptops and iPhones, has finally succumbed to the slowdown."

New York Times continues.

In the span of just a few weeks, orders for both business and consumer tech products have collapsed, and technology companies have begun laying off workers. The plunge is so severe that some executives are comparing it with the dot-com bust in 2000, when hundreds of companies disappeared and Silicon Valley lost nearly a fifth of its jobs.

October “was like turning a switch,” said Robert Barbera, chief economist at the Investment Technology Group, a research and trading firm. “Everything pretty much shut down.”

This week Nokia announced that there will not be a growth of mobile phones sales 2009. Nevertheless, the CEO Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo thinks Nokia will maintain its position as a market leader and its 40 per cent market share. The company has a big cash reserve to sustain the coming hard times. The product line has been updated. But the market is down. People are afraid to buy. We're not changing to new gadgets with the same frequency as before.

After industry leaders like Intel and Nokia warned of slowing sales this week, investors aggressively sold technology stocks. On Friday, the Nasdaq composite index, which is full of technology names, fell 5 percent. Advanced Micro Devices and eBay both dropped more than 10 percent.

Are consumer buying smart phones or low cost regulars?

InternetNews Realtime IT News – Google Sees Surge in Web Use on Hot Mobile Phones

InternetNews Realtime IT News – Google Sees Surge in Web Use on Hot Mobile Phones: "Google has seen increasing Internet activity among mobile phone users in recent months since the company introduced faster Web services on selected phone models, fueling confidence the mobile Internet era is at hand, the company said on Tuesday.

Helge: What are those models?

Early evidence showing sharp increases in Internet usage on phones, not just computers, has emerged from services Google has begun offering in recent months on Blackberry e-mail phones, Nokia devices for multimedia picture and video creators and business professionals and the Apple iPhone, the world's top Web search company said.

Helge: I see, it's Blackberry, Nokia, Apple iPhone.

'We have very much hit a watershed moment in terms of mobile Internet usage,' Matt Waddell, a product manager for Google Mobile, said in an interview. 'We are seeing that mobile Internet use is in fact accelerating.'

Helge: This also explains the gossips for a coming Google Phone.

The growing availability of flat-rate data plans from phone carriers instead of per-minute charges that previously discouraged Internet use, along with improved Web browsers on mobile phones as well as better-designed services from companies like Google are fueling the growth, Waddell argued."

Helge: The flat-rate data plans are very important.

"We are actually seeing a 20 percent increase in the number of searches by people," Waddell said.

Helge: The post-PC era is emerging.

Microsoft expects to have sold 20 million Windows Mobile devices by the end of its fiscal year in June, which together with Blackberry and Symbian-based phones represent upward of 85 percent of the Internet-ready smartphones sold in the world.

Helge: Microsoft is part of the game, sure. It has a bigger base than Apple. How about Motorola?

Users of phones based on software from Research in Motion, Nokia's Symbian-based phones and now Microsoft Windows Mobile can download the software at mobile.google.com.

SmartPhoneToday: News: Survey Says iPhone Tops Other Smartphones for Web Access

SmartPhoneToday: News: Survey Says iPhone Tops Other Smartphones for Web Access: "Webcast: Palm Developer Network Technical Series. The Webcast Series will cover technical topics designed to help you build, debug and market your applications. By James Alan Miller | March 18, 2008

For all its faults - and, yes, it does have a few - the iPhone delivers the best mobile Web experience on the market. So it should come as no surprise that, according to recent research by M:Metrics, iPhoners access the Web through the device's easy-to-use Safari application far more than users of other smartphones do through their browsers.

Helge: iPhone is here to stay. Apple does have just a few models. iPhone isn't for sale in Finland yet. Nokia sells a broad range of phones. The mobile giant is playing a very different game on a global scale. Apple is still a niche player. They are that in most segments - except in iPods.

So while 58 percent of smartphone users connect to the Internet for news and information, a far larger percentage, 85 percent, of iPhone users do the same, M:Metrics reports. Only 13 percent of standard cell phone users access the Web from their mobile handsets.

It's not just the superiority of Safari that's made the iPhone such a much-used conduit to the Web. The mini applications known as Widgets that Apple bundles with the iPhone and AT&T's unlimted plan for data access are important too.

Helge: iPhone promised to sell 10 million units before the end of 2008. What can we expect in the future? Apple has been quiet for a while. What are they cooking?

The M.Metrics report continues...

"Our data shows that once the fear of surprise data charges is eliminated, mobile content consumption increases dramatically, regardless of device," said M:Metrics senior analyst Mark Donovan, while the "iPhone's widgets are an effective means to drive mobile content consumption"

"Two featured widgets, YouTube and Google Maps, are extremely popular among iPhone users: 30.4 percent accessed YouTube and 36 percent used Google Maps." By comparison, a mere one percent of all mobile subscribers overall accessed YouTube and only 2.6 percent used Google Maps.

Here are some additional things M:Metrics found out in its latest study:

• 74.1 percent of iPhone owners listen to mobile music, compared to 6.7 percent of the total mobile audience.
  
  
• Eighty four percent of iPhone owners who use an MP3 player use an iPod.
  
  
• 31 percent of iPhone users view mobile video or TV, to 14 percent of other smartphone users, and 4.6 percent of mobile phone users in general.
  
  
  
• 74 percent of iPhone owners listen to music on their device, to 28 percent of smartphone users, and a mere 6.7 everyday cell phone subscribers.
  
  

  "The iPhone has certainly delivered on its hype," observed Donovan. "Beyond a doubt, this device is compelling consumers to interact with the mobile Web, delivering off-the-charts usage from everything to text messaging to mobile video."

Helge: Steven Jobs proclaimed the start of post-PC era with the introduction of iPhone. There is some evidence for that.

Why is Apple Cute?

I wrote this post two years ago. Apple was the "media darling 2006". It was the iPod that made Apple appear as the innovator. The company also attracted more new Apple Computer and laptop users.

Why is Apple Cute?

"Apple’s been in the news quite a bit lately. Nowadays, Apple is a media darling. The critics like the company’s direction, and so does Wall Street. But it wasn’t always so. This summer marked the tenth anniversary of Apple’s lowest point–a time in 1996 when the company’s profits and products were hitting bottom. (Steve Jobs’s return to the company he founded was still a year away.)," Write's Pogue in his New York Times blog. Find more about the Apple blog here.

Helge 2008: A year ago apple announced the iPhone. The Apple Smart Phone was a huge success 2007 in USA. Not so big in Europe, but what Steven Jobs said about the post-PC era starting with the iPhone might be a statement that we need go back to in the coming yeas. I'm still a laptop man. I need a big screen and an ergonomic keyboard.

I can find parallels to the Apple Cinderella story here in Finland as well. Nokia wasn't the best of companies in the early 90's. Satama Interactive has been going through difficult times, but has received good publicity in the last weeks. Start-ups are very vulnerable in the early stages of development. We've been addicted with success stories and would like to read more and more about the good things. All companies go through good and bad times. All quarters aren't pure and linear growth in earnings, rising stock prices and new successful product launches. Companies need to live through the times they travel on the dark side of the moon.

Helge 2008: Nokia is the Finnish Cinderella. Or should I say "the mobile phone giant"? It's not fair to compare it to the Cinderella Apple making cute and elegantly designed high-end niche products. Nokia is an incredibly effective production and distribution machine. We're probably again this year seeing that Nokia's transition from traditional smart phones to smart and slick one's with bigger screens is going to take longer than for some of its competitors. Nokia has to do some catching up. What Apple started has been followed by Samsung and others. Texas Instrument is indicating that there is a change in the market. Nokia isn't selling as well as it used to? We don't know for sure, yet...

Apple: All signs point to a more business friendly iPhone | Between the Lines | ZDNet.com

Apple: All signs point to a more business friendly iPhone | Between the Lines | ZDNet.com: "If iPhone is going to get to 10 million units it needs to at least allay enterprise worries by hooking into Microsoft Exchange easily and providing other features that IT managers want. Let’s face it; enterprises will have to deal with the iPhone because their C-level execs already have one. Meanwhile, employees with iPhones are bringing them to work. IT managers need some sort of iPhone plan. All Apple has to do is meet companies half way and the iPhone won’t be outright banned.

Helge: Enterprise friendly, hmm, they are progressing.

And Cook’s comments about being wedded to AT&T–a model he maintains made sense for the launch–also point to more business adopters in the future. Why? Not every company has AT&T as a provider. If an iPhone could work with whatever carrier a company chooses it’s much more likely to be accepted. Part of the reason the BlackBerry works is that it plays well with any carrier a company may have.

Helge: Whatever Carrier is the next step.

If this works out for Apple the company could find itself in a business sweet spot with the iPhone. As software as a service (SaaS) takes hold the iPhone looks pretty damn useful because of its ease of browsing. Simply put, Salesforce.com just operates better on an iPhone. It’s just like you get on the PC.

Helge: Salesforce!

Cook also noted that there are more than 1,000 Web 2.0 apps for the iPhone. As Web 2.0 morphs into enterprise 2.0 the iPhone becomes more of an option. “Putting the SDK out will broaden the apps even more,” said Cook.

Helge: That's important and sounds like Facebook.

NewsFactor Network | Linux-Based Android and LiMo Dominate Phone Show

NewsFactor Network | Linux-Based Android and LiMo Dominate Phone Show: "Linux-Based Android and LiMo Dominate Phone Show Linux-Based Android and LiMo Dominate Phone Show| By Barry Levine | February 12, 2008 2:26PM.

Helge: The Finnish perspective is very Nokia centric. People go to exhibitions with very different mindsets. I guess the Swedish press is writing all about Sony Ericsson's point of view.

Linux originates from Finland. Hmmm, I didn't mean to be nationalistic. We just don't have too many internationally known companies and that's why it comes natural to tell about those who are big and well known names.

Attention at the World Mobile Congress in Barcelona has focused on Linux-based mobile platforms, including Google's Android and LiMo. NEC promised to show the first LiMo mobile handset, and other vendors will also display products. But despite the publicity for LiMo, Android has a big advantage -- the Google name.

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Open-source Linux is coming of age for mobile phones. While Google's Android platform has attracted attention at the World Mobile Congress in Barcelona, Spain, so has LiMo, another Linux-based platform.

NEC Corporation announced Monday that it will show what it described as 'the first LiMo-compliant handsets' for the global market.

Morgan Gillis, executive director of the LiMo Foundation, said that, within a year, 'LiMo has secured powerful industry engagement, announced the on-schedule availability of the LiMo platform," and the first generation of handsets are appearing.

NTT DoCoMo, Motorola, Others

NTT DoCoMo also showed four LiMo handsets for the Japanese market. One of them, the FOMA N905i, features 3G/GSM international roaming, HSDPA, mobile TV, GPS location tracking, and credit payment services.

The Barcelona show is a big coming-out party for the LiMo Foundation, which describes itself as a "consortium of mobile-industry leaders" working to develop "an open and globally consistent handset software platform based on Mobile Linux." It was founded in January 2007 by Motorola, NEC, NTT DoCoMo, Panasonic Mobile Communications, Samsung Electronics, and Vodafone. LG is not officially a member, but it has shown a LiMo prototype. On Monday, telecommunications companies Orange and ACCESS said they would join.

Other handset makers are showing LiMo devices. Motorola has announced a Motorokr and Razr2, and Purple Labs, a supplier of embedded Linux solutions for mobile devices, announced an under-$100 LiMo feature phone. At least 18 LiMo-based handsets have been announced, including from Panasonic and Samsung.

The first release of the LiMo operating system is scheduled for March, and a software development kit is scheduled for the second half of this year.

The Google Name Advantage

Several LiMo backers also support Google's Open Handset Alliance (OHA) -- Motorola, NTT DoCoMo, and Samsung. In all, 34 companies back OHA, which was first announced in November. Texas Instruments, ARM Holdings, Qualcomm, NEC, Marvell, ST Microelectronics and others are showing or have announced Android prototypes. Deutsche Telecom's T-Mobile, HTC and others have said they expect to sell Android-based phones this year.

LiMo has "been in this game" longer than Android, giving its supporters more time to develop handsets, said IDC analyst Chris Hazelton. But he added that virtually no one will buy a mobile device simply because it is based on Linux.

The key competitive advantages will be, as always, price and features, but Android has an ace -- the Google name. Hazelton predicted that the first Android phones on the market, even if they are not literally branded "Google phones," will be known for their Google lineage. "One way or another," he said, these phones will be associated with the Google name.

Helge: I've written about the Google Phone in my Finnish language blogs. It takes time before the GP is out on the market. What new did Apple iPhone present? My understanding is that the mobile phone content race is still an emerging market. There has been much more talk about future networks in Barcelona.

reason #132 why the iphone is awesome at my life, my pace

reason #132 why the iphone is awesome at my life, my pace: ...And, of course, I can’t find them because most mainstream stores don’t carry a wide selection of tennis shoes since all their space is taken up by basketball and running shoes.

So I go to another shoe store, which has several different tennis shoes to choose from, just not the ones I was looking for.

At this point, I decided that I’d better settle for something else besides the ones I had in the interest of not going insane from going on a pointless shoe hunt. But how to choose when I knew nothing about these shoes?

Well, that’s why the iPhone is awesome. All I had to do was whip it out, open up Safari and look up reviews of all the shoes that I saw in the store. As I was sitting there doing that, an employee actually came by and asked me if I needed help.

Helge: Personal shopping assistant.

I really wanted to say, “No thanks. There’s nothing that you can tell me that my iPhone can’t.” Which is true, by the way since employees tend to know nothing about what they’re selling (they’re simply not paid enough to care).

But I didn’t want to make him think I was a snooty iPhone owner, so I stuck with the simple, “No thanks.” Minutes later, I had my answer.

Helge: Self-service in your pocket.

I can in all honesty say I would have been screwed without my iPhone. There’s no way to efficiently look up random things like that on a regular phone, or even a smartphone (”efficiently” being the key word here…my husband’s Treo is capable of some surfing, but it’s a pain to use and most websites don’t work on it).

Sure, I could have just made a random choice, but then I could have been stuck giving my brother something that sucked. So yeah, that’s why I love and can’t live without my iPhone.

NewsFactor Network | What Will Apple Release in 2008?

NewsFactor Network | What Will Apple Release in 2008?: "A new report from investment bank Goldman Sachs predicts that Apple's 2008 releases will include a 3G iPhone and a modified Apple TV. According to AppleInsider, the research report was written by Goldman Sachs analyst David Bailey and was based on information obtained from component suppliers in Asia.

The impact of the iPhone's highly successful U.S. launch in June, and the iPod's position as the leading portable media player, has reignited media curiosity about what Apple has coming up in the year ahead. Several news agencies have reported that Apple will introduce an ultraportable, 12-inch Mac laptop with flash memory instead of a hard drive.

Apple CEO Steve Jobs and AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson have indicated that a 3G iPhone is planned for release next year, although there has been no formal announcement. The second-generation iPhone is currently being designed, the Goldman Sachs report said, and will have a form factor similar to the current model."

What will be the Next big Thing in Mobile Phone's?

This was Apple ten months ago. The iPhone is on the market and Apple's stock value is high.

The market seems to be happy with the "not so 3G phone".

Apple took the US market by storm last summer.

Europe has not been as excited. I guess we have to wait for a 3G version.

The Apple and Google moves have also opened doors for Nokia in US.

Motorola has a new CEO after Zander. There are no big news in the pipe-line.

The market is still digesting all the Mobile news from 2007.

Addictive Chronocide Disorder: Victim 001: We need to talk...

Addictive Chronocide Disorder: Victim 001: We need to talk...: "We need to talk... As time progresses, it is becoming more and more obvious that Apple is not entertaining our tireless efforts to do what we should be allowed to do in the first place: install 3rd party applications on the iPhone.

Helge: Third party applications want to become a part of iPhone success...

If we sit here and allow the iPhone to become a closed platform, we will inevitably get what we're waiting for instead of the outcome we want. If there is one thing that common sense will tell you, it's that a business is supported by its loyal customers.

Helge: Business supported by loyal customers...

Well, it seems that Jobs has forgotten where his interests are. He seems to care a hell of a lot more about how many iPhones/iPods/iMacs he sells daily than about us, the ones who were waiting in line on launch day, the ones who take every opportunity to sing the benefits of a mac to a family member or friend, the ones who pushed Apple from the edge of death to the unprecedented success it takes for granted right now.

Helge: The loyal consumer is getting frustrated...

He is going to close the iPhone with this next firmware update, and for what? To stop people from unlocking it? Fine, Steve, you can do that. I understand he is contractually obligated to do it with at&t. But why, oh why, would Apple decide to come down on the iPhone Dev Community like we did something wrong?"

Helge: The end of the development community...

» Medical records on an iPhone? | ZDNet Healthcare | ZDNet.com

»Medical records on an iPhone? | ZDNet Healthcare | ZDNet.com: "With dozens of electronic health record outfits struggling for market share, you need a gimmick to get attention. Life Record has just such a gimmick. Put your health records on your iPhone.

This is obviously a gimmick because there are not yet many iPhones out there, and AT&T charges out the wazoo for data transfers. But the deal does let Life Record talk about its concept of Web-based health records, which is a worthy subject of discussion.

The solution was announced back in July, and Life Record now has a key customer to offer. It’s a doctor. But doctors aren’t the point of sale on EMR technology. Hospitals are."

Gmail - The Latest from TechCrunch

Gmail - The Latest from TechCrunch: "The iPhone will be launched in France November 29th at 300 euros, first picture Posted: 16 Sep 2007 08:29 PM CDT We just covered the news on TechCrunch France.

The iPhone will be launched in France with Orange at the price of 300 euros. It will be on the market the 29th of November and announced on the 24th of September during the Apple Expo in Paris.

There won’t be any unlimited data plan and against all rumours it won’t have 3G capabilities. Here is a first picture of the iPhone provided by Orange with a French menu (operated in roaming mode though). Crunchgear has more"

T-Mobile bietet exklusiv das iPhone an

T-Mobile bietet exklusiv das iPhone an: "T-Mobile bietet exklusiv das iPhone an (Link zum Artikel: http://www.entwickler.de/zonen/portale/psecom,id,99,news,38094.html)

T-Mobile wird das Apple iPhone exklusiv in Deutschland anbieten. Zudem soll die Telekom den Zuschlag auch für Österreich, die Niederlande, Ungarn und Kroatien erhalten haben, berichtet die Financial Times Deutschland (FTD).

In Großbritannien soll das Multimediahandy von O2 und in Frankreich von Orange angeboten werden. Einen Kommentar wollte die Deutsche Telekom der Zeitung nicht geben. Apple hat allerdings für Dienstag eine Pressekonferenz in Großbritannien angekündigt.

Im Laufe der Woche soll bekanntgegeben werden, welcher Netzbetreiber die Exklusivrechte erhält. Die Deutsche Telekom hat für Mittwoch eine Pressekonferenz angekündigt. Der Verkauf soll rechtzeitig zum Weihnachtgeschäft anlaufen.

Für 399 Euro (550 US-Dollar) soll das iPhone in Deutschland zu haben sein, berichtet Reuters. Damit verfolgt Apple auch hierzulande eine Hochpreisstrategie. In den USA wurde der Verkaufspreis allerdings nach kurzer Zeit von 600 auf 400 US-Dollar gesenkt.

Ein Schritt, der Apple viel Kritik einbrachte. Der Konzern steuerte mit einer Gutschrift von 100 US-Dollar für Early Adopter gegen, wir berichteten."


The T-Mobile is going to have a press conference on Wendsday...

Apple's iPhone Causing Flash Shortage?

NewsFactor Network | Apple's iPhone Causing Flash Shortage?: "Apple's new red-hot iPhone and the company's line of iPod media players are expected to use a much as 25 percent of the world's NAND flash memory production in the current quarter of this year, according to new data from research firm DRAMexchange." Writes Newsfactory Network.

Scripting News: 7/4/2007

Scripting News: 7/4/2007: "If Apple had *really* wanted to be revolutionary Permanent link to this item in the archive. They would have made a wifi-only cell phone.

I wrote about this earlier this year. As I talk with people from home on my iPhone it seems so silly. The place is saturated with wifi bandwidth, and the device uses it, for everything but telephone calls.

6/15/07: 'You gotta wonder why Apple went with such old, expensive, customer-hostile and likely obsolete technology.'

And then I read this article by David Pogue in today's Times saying that T-Mobile introduced a phone last week, in the middle of all the iPhone euphoria, that routes phone calls over wifi if a signal is present. Seems the iPhone should be doing that."

Dave Winer, 52, pioneered the development of weblogs, syndication (RSS), podcasting, outlining, and web content management software; former contributing editor at Wired Magazine, research fellow at Harvard Law School, entrepreneur, and investor in web media companies. A native New Yorker, he received a Master's in Computer Science from the University of Wisconsin, a Bachelor's in Mathematics from Tulane University and currently lives in Berkeley, California.

Helge: I agree. There are people in this country thinking that VOIP is the future of mobility as well. Why not go for Wi-Fi? We should be digging more into this. Is T-Mobile doing the right thing?

iPhone review - Engadget

iPhone review - Engadget: "The first solid info anyone heard about the iPhone was in December of 2004, when news started to trickle out that Apple had been working on a phone device with Motorola as its manufacturing partner.

About ten months later, under the shadow of the best-selling iPod nano, that ballyhooed device debuted -- the ROKR E1 -- a bastard product that Apple never put any weight behind, and that Motorola was quick to forget. The relationship between Apple and Motorola soon dissolved, in turn feeding the tech rumor mill with visions of a 'true iPhone' being built by Apple behind the scenes.

After years of rumor and speculation, last January that device was finally announced at Macworld 2007 -- and here we are, just over six months later -- the iPhone, perhaps the most hyped consumer electronics device ever created, has finally landed. And this is the only review of it you're going to need."

Helge: Today we know what the iPod looks like and what it has been eating. European's will not learn about the advantages and some added features until christmas. Will the hype and buzz continue in Europe and Asia?

What makes Apple Tick in the Media?

Apple gets a lot of attention. What is the explanation for Apple's success? The image has never been so strong and glorified.

1. The idea that Apple is innovative
2. The iPod changed a lot
3. Apple has learned how to approach and embrace the consumers
4. The company has learned to co-create and innovate with the media
5. The media darling knows how to build the hype
6. Community building: rock star fun club metaphor
7. Fundamentalist followers and supporters
8. The Apple Store's are retail innovations as well
9. The company has optimized the supply chain
10. How open is Apple?
11. They know how to use secrecy
12. iPhone is a big test of the company's ability to grasp $10 billion dollar opportunities
13. The pre-sales and advance information buzz is stronger than for any other ICT company
14. The message gets through to the consumers
15. The press and media is doing a big part of the job for free
16. Apple and Jobs are big news like Paris Hilton or rock stars

Zune is coming

New phone's are coming out. Nokia is going to release a new communicator and Microsoft is most probably coming out from the box with a Zune.

CrunchGear’s Matt Hickey has been tracking rumors about a Zune phone for the last week. What began as a reliable tip is now a solid story: Last Monday Microsoft filed an application with the FCC for an enigmatic wireless device that could be used to talk over the Internet.

We’re waiting for a “consumer broadband access and networking device.” Zune is going to use “OFDM as its communications protocol, not WiFi or Bluetooth.” Sprint/Nextel may be the carrier, since they are building out a 4G network that will work with the OFDM standard.

Is Apple late? The story goes that, “this device may be available in May, a month before the iPhone. Microsoft is hitting back. Are we going to see download speeds of up to 2Mbps.

Mat Hickey writes that we can expect more news from “Redmond around March 17, 2007, St. Patrick’s Day, at which time we should learn the name of the device… and the Zune Phone will hit the streets sometime in May, a full month before the iPhone.”

The giants figth about about who is going to be the future master of the mobile world is heating up. New strategical positionings of PR and sales troops, and mobile gear is new entering the final rumor state. The information about the new tools will soon be out. We can see clandestine photos and more information will come soon. Nokia is going to build more Nokia stores.

About the iPhone in Helsinki

We had a meeting at the Helsinki Airport. The expert was a little late. I was reading e-mails and blog posts. “Some of the smaller details make the iPhone more impressive,” someone wrote. “The 3.5" wide screen ratio screen with the highest resolution yet for an iPod. It has wireless and EDGE for Internet, using a fully-featured Safari.” I read and scratch my head. “Is that going to be enough?” I find myself thinking.

“From partnership with Yahoo it uses Yahoo search and Yahoo IMAP email. From a partnership with Google, it uses Google search and Google Maps (with built-in GPS).” The report informs.

• It supports Widgets. “What is / are Widgets?” I asked myself.
  
  
• It has an accelerometer to orientate the screen as portrait or landscape. “What is that good for?”
  
  
• It has a sensor that knows when you put the phone up to your ear to turn off the screen and any music you are playing to take a call. “I guess that is a cute little feature.”
  
  
• The phone capabilities, like voice mail and conferencing, have an interface to make it easy to use--skip to your fifth voice mail without listening to the others. “Voice mail is a new world. It’s very important to have the ability scan the voice mails.”
  
  
• The battery has five hours of battery life, stretched to 16 hours for music. “OK, I get it. Big screen and four hours of battery life when phoning and 16 hours for music. Not bad. It means half a working day. I need to get it plugged before lunch. But I don’t call people all the time. The battery will last for one or two days. Maybe a week.”

"Hello," he said. "Sorry for being late. There were some problems at the airport in Paris."

I said, "No problem, I'd some time to look at the iPod features. It will be interesting to get your opinions." We were walking to the parking area.

As we got into the car he started talking about the new design features available for future phones. "What do you think about LG Prada mobile," he asked me. "It will be available in Europe before iPhone."

"I know, the high-end designer phones are going to change the market. First the phone's got slimmer and slimmer, smaller and smaller. Now the race is changing. The YouTube generation wants phones that are good for viewing."

"You're so right!" He said. "We tend to think that a phone is used for phoning. Yes, that's true to some extent. The multimedia aspect is so new that we can't grasp it yet. People on the move have time to listen. Here the iPod feature comes into the picture."

"We have been thinking along the same routes." I responded. "Bloggers will not have to write their blogs in the future. I think we will make photoblogs and videoblogs. We can send videoreports to our partners. Complex things can be described with short video clips."

"Yeah, that's a good point." He said. "Mobile workers can write the things they need to write when returning to the hotel or to the office."

"Another thing," I said. "Maybe we will see a renaissance of the secretaries. We can send podcasts to call centres where they are typed and edited. We get professional report writers. They can be located anywhere on the globe," I concluded.

Expensive iPhone

Steve Ballmer laughs off the iPhone as the "most expensive" in the marketplace. Microsoft doesn't want to give credit to the attention that the iPhone presentation attracted. I think, "We have to wait and see what June brings with it."

This YouTube paints a picture that there are three mobile phone players in US: Motorola, Apple and Microsoft. I do listen to what US isn't talking about. Nokia isn't a big player in US yet. But I guess Olli-Pekka is determined to take out a bigger slice of that market as well. A lot of new product development will be seen before the summer. Apple is most probably not going to be alone in the public space when iPhone is presented. Let's see what the future brings. Have a dingle ding mobile day