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Ten Times the iPhone Traffic on AT&T Starting in June? How Come?

Posted by Harry McCracken on April 3, 2009 at 3:14 pm

att_header_logoAppleInsider is reporting that AT&T is rushing to get a “massive” upgrade to its wireless network to get ready for an iPhone upgrade in June that’s expected to result in a tenfold increase in traffic. The site says it’s installing powerful new Juniper routers and that their performance looks promising. Sounds good, if it’s true.

Oddly enough, AppleInsider doesn’t speculate on why new iPhones might lead to such a gigantic leap in traffic. It does say that the Junuper routers are optimized for streaming video, and it’s true that the recent Apple press event about the upcoming iPhone 3.0 software included the news that it offers new features to help apps deliver pleasing streaming video experiences. Current iPhones do some video streaming over AT&T’s network already–via the built-in YouTube app and the TV.com one, for instance–but maybe Apple and AT&T expect more compelling video content in higher quantities come summer. (What if Hulu was available on the iPhone? Or the rumors of Apple letting you stream video you’ve bought from the iTunes Store are true, and include the ability to do so to an iPhone?)

One other scenario that might lead to gigantic increases in iPhone data usage would be the arrival of a cheaper iPhone. Apple wouldn’t be selling iPhones in anywhere near the quantities it is if the phone still sold for its original starting price of $499–and if there were a true $99 iPhone in the wings,  you gotta think that iPhone sales would explode again. (Better still if AT&T were to cut the price of unlimited data below the current thirty bucks a month.)

Rumors about new cheapo iPhones are, appropriately, a dime a dozen, and most don’t sound very convincing. Working on nothing other then intuition, I still think the most likely upcoming cheap iPhone would be…the current iPhone 3G. Apple could bring cool new iPhones to market at the current $199 and $299 contract prices, then keep this existing models on the market at new low prices. There’s almost certainly enough profit margin built into iPhone 3G pricing to let the company sell an 8GB model for $99 without going broke. And that would be a heck of a lot more appealing than an undersized model that wasn’t capable of running iPhone apps.

Any other theories? Of course, as a selfish current iPhone owner, I’m less interested in AT&T building out its infrastructure to accommodate more iPhone users, and more interested in it doing so to provide better service to those of us who already have iPhones…

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More Live Search Name Drama!

Posted by Harry McCracken on April 3, 2009 at 1:49 pm

ZDnet’s Mary-Jo Foley is speculating that the new name for Microsoft’s Live Search might not be Kumo after all. Maybe it’ll be…Bing!

Bing

Of course, as Mary-Jo reminds us, rumor had it in the past that Microsoft was also considering a third new moniker, Hook. That could work, too…

Captain Hook

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Happy 20th Birthday, Game Boy!

Posted by Jared Newman on April 3, 2009 at 1:02 pm

gameboyThis month marks 20 years since the Game Boy’s release in Japan. Though the handheld’s actual birthday is April 21, and the US release followed in August, now seems as good a time for reflection as any.

After all, the US launch of Nintendo’s DSi handheld on Sunday will mark the true demise of the Game Boy moniker; by eliminating “Slot B” from the new device, Game Boy Advance games will no longer be playable. How’s that for an arbitrary factoid?

Anyway, the Game Boy family — if you include the Pocket, Light and Color editions — is currently the second-best-selling video game device of all time, trailing only the Playstation 2. Further, 1UP’s Jeremy Parish points out that the Game Boy brand was Nintendo’s “backbone” during trying times; the Nintendo 64 and Gamecube may have failed commercially, but handhelds always kept the company afloat.

Parish writes that the Game Boy subscribed to Nintendo’s “good enough” policy. Better technologies were available back in 1989, but somehow the handheld with the pea green screen took off, even as more technically impressive competitors, such as Sega’s Game Gear and Atari’s Lynx, languished. When Nintendo strays from that policy, Parish argues, the company fails.

I think that idea is not as true as it used to be. For the Game Boy family, slight modifications through the years — a slimmer figure, a little color, a boost in graphics — were good enough to keep the handheld in demand. Meanwhile, the Virtual Boy tanked, and experiments with connecting to Nintendo’s bigger consoles never took off.

By comparison, Nintendo’s current success is due to a change in philosophy, Now, we’re looking at “different enough,” with two products that were initially questioned for breaking the mold. Dual Screens? Motion Control? The industry doubted those ideas until they started steamrolling the competition. The focus is now on calculated risk, which I guess you could say is “good enough” for Nintendo.

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CWA Ratifies New AT&T Mobility Contract

Posted by Ed Oswald on April 3, 2009 at 11:30 am

att_header_logoI’ve noticed a lot of folks visiting us to discuss the AT&T/CWA contract negotiations. As a service to our readers, I wanted to give you all an update on where things stand. A strike has been averted, as the CWA announced Friday it has ratified a new contract.

The two sides came to a preliminary agreement on March 3, and from that point the deal was put to a vote by the members of the union. 73 percent voted in favor of the new contract.

“AT&T is pleased with the ratification of the new agreement – both in terms of the compensation and workplace opportunities it provides covered employees, and in the flexibility it allows the company to meet increasingly aggressive competition in the marketplace,” the carrier said in a statement.

According to CWA Executive Vice President Annie Hill, the contract is “groundbreaking” as it expands opportunities for career advancement and won important concessions on compensation.

Retail employees would see a pay increase of 8.8 percent over the four year period of the contract, along with a $500 bonus. As a result of this contract, 11,000 retail sales associates could be guaranteed at least $1,000 in comissions if sales goals are met.

500 customer service workers would receive job upgrades and raises, and 50-70 wireless technicians would see similar enhancements.

The new contract goes into effect immediately.

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UK Village Takes On Google Street View Car

Posted by Ed Oswald on April 3, 2009 at 9:49 am

Google LogoHere’s a way to let Google know you aren’t happy with their efforts to photograph your property: you try to stop them in their tracks. That’s what a bunch of residents in Broughton, Buckinghamshire, England did when they spotting one of Google’s trucks entering their neighboorhood.

According to press reports from both the BBC and Sky News among other outlets, Broughton has been troubled by a spat of burglaries in recent months, so residents have banded together to watch for suspicious vehicles.

The argument is the images taken by Google Street View cameras are an invasion of privacy, and could be used by potential burglars to scope out homes without actually having to enter the neighborhood.

Police were called to the scene, however during that time the Google employee apparently backed off and did not photograph the community. There has been no word whether Google will attempt to photograph the area again in the future.

However, the company mantains it was not breaking the law, and said it does provide a method in which concerned citizens can have themselves or their property removed and/or blurred out in Street View searches.

Click here for a BBC interview with Paul Jacobs, the resident who apparently was the first to take on the Street View car driver. What do you think?

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Arriving Shortly: Quickoffice, a Real Office Suite for the iPhone

Posted by Harry McCracken on April 2, 2009 at 6:41 pm

QuickofficeThere may be rumors flying around an official Microsoft Office for the iPhone, but here’s a fact: Quickoffice, the venerable, Office-compatible suite for handhelds, has submitted its iPhone version to Apple for approval. (I first wrote about it back in September.) The company expects for the suite to show up in the App Store by mid-April or so, which should make it the first full-blown suite for iPhones. (Quickoffice has been selling an early version under the name MobileFiles for awhile, but it didn’t include a word processor; archrival DataViz is working on Documents to Go for the iPhone, but it isn’t out yet.)

I got a peek at Quickoffice for the iPhone at CTIA Wireless yesterday, and judging from what I saw, it’ll be a welcome addition to my own personal iPhone. Quickoffice includes editing and viewing of richly-formatted Word and Excel documents, plus a utility for shuttling documents between the phone and a Mac or PC (via MobileMe’s iDisk or Wi-Fi) and additional file viewers.

Continue Reading →

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First Blog From Major Record Label Emerges. Seriously.

Posted by Jared Newman on April 2, 2009 at 6:39 pm

theinsoundfromwayoutThe music industry is notoriously slow on the Internet uptake. To drive that point home even further, EMI Australia’s new blog, “The In Sound From Way Out,” is apparently the first ever from a major record label. It’s appropriate, then, that the title is borrowed from a 13 year-old Beastie Boys album.

Posts began unceremoniously in late February with a few Pet Shop Boys videos (kudos to Wired for picking up on this now) and continues along at a post or two per day, with sporadic days off. On its face, the blog looks like any other site dedicated to the latest music happenings. There are announcements regarding a variety of groups — the text doesn’t explicitly mention that they’re all EMI bands, but they are — and embedded links to music videos. Today, there’s a post on a really interesting demo package that showed up at the A&R office.

The bloggers seem open to hearing about unsigned bands, too; a box at the top of the screen encourages readers to send tips, and promises to sign groups that the staff really enjoys.

Scanning a couple pages, I quite like the relaxed and open feel of the blog, and that seems to be the point. “As far as we can tell, we are the only major label with this level of openness about who we are and what we do,” the blog’s About page reads. “We hope you respond to that with openness of your own.”

Indeed, the music industry is often stigmatized as a bunch of cold, careless suits. Whether or not music industry blogs such as this can translate into sales is up for debate, but the young, smiling faces of the In Sounds staff are, at minimum, great PR.

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We Have Some Winners!

Posted by Harry McCracken on April 2, 2009 at 4:43 pm

Technologizer's Digital Media CentralAs you may know, the HP MediaSmart Server has been the exclusive sponsor of Technologizer’s Digital Media Central section. HP has been presenting “What Are Your 3?,” a feature which lets people upload and embed their favorite photos, videos, and songs, as well as vote on other folks’ media. And to make contributing more tempting, HP decided to give away MediaSmart Servers to participants whose media were top-rated by other visitors.

The contest is over, and I’m happy to announce the winners. Here they are (click on their names to see the stuff they submitted):

Jesse Tobler
Dennis Pasley
Jerad Heffner
Josh Martin

Congratulations to all four–and thanks to everybody who contributed.

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Coming Soon: a Zune TV?

Posted by David Worthington on April 2, 2009 at 4:31 pm

Zune LogoDespite a recent organizational shake up, help-wanted ads indicate that Microsoft may be taking its Zune brand into the living room, and expanding into new international markets.

Today, blogger Long Zheng’s watchful eye took notice of a job listing on Microsoft’s Web site seeking a software engineer to help its Zune team, “deliver great digital entertainment features into the living room, including on demand music and video.”

The job requires an engineer with experience developing user interfaces to deliver “rich online media experience delivering music and video from the cloud.”

The listing is dated just days after the company announced that it was restructuring the Zune product group into distinct software and hardware divisions. Microsoft’s goal may be to bring Zune services to third-party devices, CNET reported.

A separate job listing is seeking a database programmer to help Microsoft open Zune stories for other countries or regions.

The company has already made inroads into the living room with its Xbox console. Windows Media Center Edition has failed to make much of an impact. It would make sense for Microsoft to offer a Zune store through a future edition of the Xbox that would serve as a digital media hub. If nothing else, it would help the company compete in the living room with Apple TV, which analysts have projected could sell as many as 6 million units this year.

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