Verizon Droid Resistance Is Futile

Verizon is making a big bet on Motorola’s Droid. Verizon is spending millions of dollars on advertising and Motorola is going “all in” on Google’s Android platform. It seems everyone in the mobile industry is suffering from iPhone envy. All the major carriers are struggling to compete with the iPhone and Google is stepping up to give them an answer.

This has to be salt in the wounds of Microsoft, who has had suffered several missteps and has seen the mythical Windows Mobile 7 get dealayed over 2 years. Windows Mobile 6.5 launched earlier this month to little fan fair. People are not considering Windows Mobile 6.5 a real competitor to the iPhone. Microsoft is not really in the converation now and Google has to be celebrating. Motorola’s Droid is certainly going head to head with the iPhone.

Palm Pre Will Change Things

People have been buzzing about the Palm Pre ever since its debut at CES. Before Palm’s announcement many people thought the company was going to be joining the dead pool. But now the whole blogosphere is talking about Palm’s rebirth. Google’s search engine is not returning any results and Apple’s Tim Cook is threatening litigation for anyone who copies the Apple iPhone. The whole mobile industry seems to be up in arms about the Palm Pre.

Palm packed a lot in this device and seemed to really exploit the flaws of the iPhone. Namely, the Palm Pre includes a removable battery, QWERTY keyboard, and it even has a copy paste feature. It also shows off a lot of innovation around gesturing and the way the UI is built. What is is remarkable about all of this is Palm was on the verge of going out of business and in less than a year came out with a device to rival the iPhone. It looks like Palm finally got its mojo back. And if Palm can get these devices to market quickly, word on the street is some time in February, then they could become a major player again in the mobile industry.

Motorola Phone Business Continues Nosedive

When Dr. Sanjay Jha took over Motorola’s handset division he made some quick decisions to standardize on fewer platforms. One platform he took a huge bet on was Google’s Android operating system. Sales have been declining and Motorola continues to lose share in the market. They have failed to have a real blockbuster product for several years. PhoneScoop reported that they expect Motorola handset business to announce a massive layoff soon. This could mean bad news for Microsoft and Windows Mobile. The rumor is Motorola might bet everything on Google’s Android. This would be a really desperate measure especially since Motorola has yet to release an Android phone. Mr. Jha is motivated by pure greed. If he succeeds in rebuilding the mobile business for Motorola, he gets about $100 million over three years and 3 percent of the independent handset business. If he fails — he walks away with about $30 million.

Lenovo iPhone Killer

Lenovo has been busy finalizing their new smartphone code named the “OPhone”. Compared to the iPhone it looks to be a killer device. Some Chinese bloggers got their hands on one and did a comparision against the iPhone. The dimensions closely mirror Apple’s iPhone but there are some surprises like a 5MP camera with a flash and a 16GB micro SD slot.

Early in December photos leaked on the OPhone and it was rumored to be built on Google’s Android platform. This would be a big step up from Google’s G1 device in many ways. Lenovo and China Mobile could have a legitimate iPhone killer on their hands. Time will tell but if this is build on Android, Google is quickly closing the gap on Apple.

Samsung Pixon 8MP Cameraphone

The race to bring a 8MP cameraphone to market is heating up. Sony Ericsson was rumored to be working on an 8MP cameraphone for the US. But it seems Samsung’s effort are in full swing with the recent FCC filings for the Samsung Pixon.  The recent specs reveal its targeted to hit the At&t network. This phone is packed with features and resembles the Samsung Omnia.

But the most interesting thing is how these types of devices are blurring the lines for multimedia experiences. With a 8MP camera on board it becomes a compelling multi purpose device. Now I only need to bring one device out with me.

The Samsung Pixon offers a compelling replacement to my point and shoot camera. I can now take high quality photos that are not just good enough to post on Facebook but can be printed and shared with family and friends.

Microsoft Launches First iPhone App Seadragon

Microsoft’s Live Labs group launched Seadragon Mobile on the Apple iPhone. Its available through the iTunes app marketplace. Seadragon Mobile enables you to view gigapixel images from any device.  Microsoft calls the technique of viewing large images “deep zoom” and its a key technology in their Photosynth product.

What is interesting about this move is Microsoft is making Seadragon Mobile available on Apple’s iPhone even before you can get it on the Windows Mobile platform. Is this a change of heart for Microsoft? Probably not. Seadragon Mobile uses graphics accelerated hardware and there are not many devices on the market today that take advantage of those capabilities. Microsoft is probably using this as an opportunity to test some technology early and also doing a little bit of hedging.

Google’s Android Party Gets Bigger

Today Google’s Android party got a lot bigger. Fourteen of the world’s largest mobile phone and chip makers, including Sony Ericsson, Vodafone Group, and ARM Holdings joined the Open Handset Alliance and pledged support for Google’s Android platform. Almost all of these members had existing Linux platforms they supported. Its not surprising that they are interested in using a common Linux platform that is more standardized and easier to support. Not to mention the big G is backing it.

Apple to Sell $99 iPhone at Walmart

According to BGR Apple(AAPL) is planning on selling a $99 iPhone at Walmart(WMT). If this is true, everyone in the mobile business should get a little scared. This means that Apple has hit a very important price point. Most of the 1.2 billion phones sold every year are below $100 price point. This will make sales of iPhone sky rocket at levels not seen since iPod. Now it seems Apple has the largest retailer on the planet behind them and Walmart and Apple are primed to sell 10’s of millions of units. Engadget even has pictures of at&t manuals with Walmart logo on them. Looks real to me.

Nokia who owns over 40% of the phone market should start getting a little worried. They sold over 430M units last year and their bread and butter segment was at price point below $100 for low end feature phones. This move by Apple can be a real game changer if it proves to be true.

There is No Money in iPhone Apps

Apple has created the new shareware marketplace with iPhone Apps. In August Steve Jobs was standing on his soap box and beating his chest because he claimed sales of iPhone Apps hit $30 million in the first 30 days. Jobs claimed that iPhone apps would be a billion dollar business.

Now 10K apps later the #1 “paid” app on iTunes is Koi Pond. This is a joke. Gizmodo gives an entire breakdown of the apps by category. The iPhone app marketplace has really blossomed into a freeware marketplace. The only really successful apps that will be high volume will be free. There is no money in building small little consumer apps.

The only reason Apple got 10K people to build apps was the hope it would lead to getting users. iPhone will create a concentrated set of users using a common platform. But similar to Facebook apps no one really looks at Facebook as a real application platform. It’s just a way to get access to a 120 million people that are all socially connected. And the only reason established companies will build apps is to stay relevant to iPhone users.

Developers are also constrained by Apple’s closed system approach. Similar to Chinese capitalism it looks and smells like a open marketplace but its not really open. I can’t wait until 2009 where Pong will be the #1 “paid” iPhone app.

Nokia Unveils N97 Phone

The countdown is finally over, we finally know what was behind the Nokia teaser Web site. The Nokia N97. Scoble calls it the ultimate Facebook device. Its packed with features including a 5 mega pixel camera, a large high resolution 16:9 screen, a touch interface with a QWERTY keyboard, 32GB of memory, Nokia is calling it the world’s most advanced mobile computer. Nokia is calling it the world’s most advanced mobile computer. The N97 will launch with a retail price set at around €550 ($693) excluding subsidies and taxes, phone to ship in H1 2009. Engadget posted an exclusive video.

Nokia seems to have created a lot of buzz or has really bad infrastructure. When I went back to the teaser site it crashed and gave me a server error. Nokia seems to have fixed the problem. The site now just redirects you to the Nokia World Web site where the keynote is being webcasted.

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