Posts Tagged ‘Apple iPhone’
How does Blackberry Storm stack up against the Apple iPhone?
The CIO magazine has done a very interesting comparision between the Apple iPhone and the RIM Blackberry Storm. Instead of arguing for one over the other, they have put up reasons in two separate articles outlining the strengths of each phone and letting the readers decide. Though these articles do not break new ground, as one reader mentions, they just help someone, who has already made up their mind about one or the other, articulate the reasons why one is better than other. For reasons why Blackberry Storm is better than Apple iPhone, click here. For reasons why Apple iPhone is better than Blackberry Storm, click here.
In summary, here are the reasons in reverse order, why Storm is better than iPhone:
- Stereo Bluetooth capability
- Removable battery
- Expandable memory
- Video recording
- Works as a tethered modem
- Tactile feedback
- Copy and paste
- Multitasking
And, here are the reasons, again in reverse order, why Apple iPhone is better than the Blackberry Storm:
- It’s now second-generation
- Built-in memory
- iTunes App Store
- iTunes integration
- Full QWERY (virtual) keyboard
- Wi-Fi support
- iPod media player
- Safari browser
I have to disagree with the CIO magazine on one point. According to them, the Apple’s virtual full QWERTY keyboard which is available in both landscape and potrait modes, is one reason in favor of the iPhone. However, I feel that for use with touch, it is difficult to type on a full QWERTY keyboard in potrait mode. There can be numerous errors due to small keys in potrait mode and a new user would not fare any better than using the SureType keyboard found on the Blackberry Storm.
Reuters: Apple making headway in corporate market
Reuters is reporting today that Apple’s iPhone is making headway into the corporate market. At this point in time, it appears to be a grassroots movement that is happening in small and mid-sized companies, which has led to Apple garnering 10-15% of enterprise market according to various analysts. However, Apple is still having challenges in the large enterprise market even though some big companies have announced that they will support it on their network. The finance, healthcare and government markets will be a tough sell for Apple until it improves its security and device management features.
Why RIM needs Blackberry Storm to succeed.
RIM is busy working on its highly anticipated launch of the Blackberry Storm next month. There are high expectations of this phone from not only Verizon Wireless and early adopters, but also from analysts. I would expect RIM has a lot riding on this too. Let’s take a look why:
– Expectations: RIM had indicated when it released the Q2 financial statements, that it expects Q3 revenue to be between $2.9-$3.1 billion. That was with the assumption that it would launch the Blackberry Bold early in the quarter and follow it up with the Blackberry Storm release. With delayed release of the Blackberry Bold, it has a lot of ground to make up in the last month to meet those expectations.
– Competition: Apple has been eating RIM’s lunch since it launched its iPhone 3G, as evidenced by the stellar performance at both Apple and AT&T (even with the high cost of iPhone). Also, Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple has clearly indicated that he has RIM in his crosshair. RIM has to respond to this challenge. With iPhone 3G, Apple has tried to move into RIM’s enterprise turf. RIM is countering that with its Blackberry Bold (when it launches) and is hoping to fight the battle on Apple’s prosumer turf with the launch of Blackberry Storm. In addition, Google’s Android and Microsoft’s Windows Mobile based touchscreen phones are also going to give RIM a headache.
– Economic Condition: Given the current economic climate, RIM has a lot to worry as enterprise customers, which make up almost 40% of its revenue, try to reduce spending. RIM is hoping that Blackberry Storm, Curve, Pearl and other prosumer targeted devices with touchscreen that it plans on releasing next year will help it offset the losses in the enterprise market.
– Investor Pressure: RIM management will be on short leash here given the economic jitters and constant bearish sentiment from the analysts. If the Blackberry Storm does not succeed, investors might push the co-CEOs out or worse look to sell it. The co-CEOs own 12% of the company and as such might not be easily pushed out, but they will have incredible pressure from institutional investors to change course. Also, the constant rumor of Microsoft being interested in buying RIM has to play a role in this. Note that when the rumor surfaced around October 13th, it was said that Microsoft had a standing offer to buy RIM at $50 a share. At that time, RIM’s stock price was at $61. Today, it is at $44. So, does that offer look good or what? However, I think it might be a smart move for Apple to make an offer. Steve Jobs wants to be successful in the enterprise market and if the iPhone starts losing its lustre, Apple will start looking like a one-trick pony, which I am sure Jobs and company will want to avoid. Also it would seriously challenge Microsoft in the mobile market. Though, from a cultural sense, I don’t know if RIM and Apple would be a good fit.
For all these reasons and more, RIM needs Blackberry Storm to succeed. It is doing everything it can to make it happen. Last few days has seen a flurry of activity including release of Blackberry Web Signals Technology and Blackberry Application Store; Blackberry Developer Conference and subsequent courting of the developer community; and massive marketing with Verizon Wireless and Vodafone. Now, like the US electorate, all RIM can do is wait for November and let the market decide.
Apple announces firmware upgrade for iPhones
Apple is hosting the Let’s Rock event here in the bay area today talking about iTunes, iPod, and Touch. They announced new version 8 of iTunes with Genius bar that suggest songs based on what is being played and one-touch playlist generator. It also announced new iPods and Touch devices However, as part of the program they also announce an upgrade to the iPhone firmware which fixes a lot of bugs, addresses drop calls, longer battery life enhancements, faster backups and no more crashes with App Store. The firmware will be available for free to all iPhone owners starting Friday.
iPhones having data access issues today
There are several reports on the net that iPhones are having data access issues on the AT&T network all along the eastern seaboard of US. The only way right now for iPhones to access data is via Wi-Fi as neither 2G nor 3G data access is working. At this time it appears to be affecting only the iPhones, no other handsets. AT&T is aware of the issue and is working on it.
Will there be an Apple iPhone Nano this Christmas?
The UK-based Daily Mail is reporting that Apple might be working on an Apple iPhone Nano to be released in time for the holiday season 2008. The idea is to make an iPhone available for the pay-as-you-go market which is currently a hole in Apple’s portfolio. It will be released in the UK for £150 by O2. No indication whether it will come to the US market. Let’s see what Santa brings for Christmas 🙂
How Haptic Touchscreen works
HowStuffWorks has an interesting articIle about how Haptic technology works and various systems that use this technology. As part of this article, it covers a new phone from Samsung called Haptic Anycall and it puts the Apple iPhone to shame. In addition to the standard response to touch, this phone gives the user 22 different type of feedback, including clicks, vibrations and other tactile inputs.
Some Sparkling Phones to drool on
Knalihs Athem, a Swiss luxury designer and jewellry maker, has made limited edition, diamond encrusted iPhones and Nokia 8800 Sapphire Arte. These are great eye-candy, take a look at the images below. The iPhone is encrusted with 400 brilliant cut diamonds, while the Nokia has 1000 such diamonds. If you are interested in buying this, run not walk to their site www.athem.ch as there are only 20 phones of each phone created worldwide. But, keep in mind, all this luxury will be at price ($20,000 per phone).
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