Tag Archives | Smartphones

Death By Smartphone: Panasonic’s Jungle Gets the Axe

Posted by Jared Newman on March 3, 2011 at 4:39 pm

The skeptics were right to dismiss Panasonic’s Jungle, a handheld gaming device that surfaced in previews last October. With development cancelled and no launch in sight, the Jungle is down in the deadpool alongside Panasonic’s failed 3DO.

The Jungle was designed as a Linux-based handheld with a high-resolution display, a physical keyboard, touch pads and a niche focus on massive multiplayer online games. Battlestar Galactica Online was supposed to be a launch title.

Panasonic won’t say why it aborted the Jungle other than “changes in the market and in our own strategic direction,” but I can make an educated guess that smartphones — and to some extent tablets — are to blame.

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I’m Not So Sure About Twitter’s New iPhone App

Posted by Harry McCracken on March 3, 2011 at 12:36 pm

As I’ve periodically mentioned, I’ve been thoroughly impressed with Twitter for iPhone, the app formerly known as Tweetie. It’s not just a standout Twitter client and a wonder piece of iPhone software–I think that Loren Brichter, its creator, is one of the most gifted interface designers who’s ever worked in software for any device.

Today, Twitter rolled out an update to the app, and while the list of features makes it look like a meaty winner, I’ve been fumbling with it so far.

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Verizon's iPhone Honeymoon Ends: Tiered Data Plans This Summer

Posted by Ed Oswald on March 1, 2011 at 8:03 pm

As expected, Verizon will phase out the unlimited data plans currently available to iPhone customers, instead opting for a tiered data plan structure. The change will come around the time of the new iPhone on the carrier, expected this summer. The comments were made by Verizon chief financial officer Fran Shammo at a tech investor conference sponsored by Morgan Stanley.

Interestingly enough, Shammo did not mince words when she spoke about the introduction of a new iPhone model. Verizon fully expects a backlash from customers under contract with an iPhone model that was made obsolete within months of its release. In addition, the new iPhone wouldn’t be financially beneficial to the carrier: margins would be much less.

Call me crazy, but isn’t this a good reason why Verizon should have just waited a few months to prevent pissed-off customers? Then again, I guess they must have seen something in their customer base that told them the benefits of releasing the phone outweighed the negatives–and certainly what we’ve seen from actual numbers show that there was definitely a pent-up demand for Apple’s iconic device.

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The Chances are 14 Percent That You're Reading This on a Portable Device

Posted by Harry McCracken on March 1, 2011 at 10:40 am

Yesterday, TechCrunch’s MG Siegler reported on the operating systems  used by visitors to that site. It currently breaks down like this:

Windows: 53.84%

Mac: 27.64%

iPhone: 6.72%

iPad: 3.47%

Linux: 3.28%

Android: 3.06%

iPod: .62%

MG also included historical data, and his main point is that if the trend continues, the majority of TechCrunch visitors will visit the site using an Apple device–Mac, iPhone, iPod Touch, or iPad–within a couple of years.

As usual when I read numbers of these sorts, I rushed off and looked at equivalent stats for Technologizer. Here’s February 2011…

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Since When is One Million Phones Sold Bad? When You're Verizon

Posted by Ed Oswald on March 1, 2011 at 12:18 am

I’m amazed with some in the tech blogosphere who consistently harp on Verizon for its “poor” sales of the iPhone 4, even as the company disclosed over the weekend that over one million units had been sold. Quite a bit of bloviating occurred in the hours and days after the launch occurred, as the anticipated iLines never occurred.

Verizon Wireless chief Dan Mead noted that six in ten iPhones were preordered, a possible explanation for the light lines. Add to this that the iPhone 4 is now an aging device–eight months old–and the carrier’s numbers seem respectable.

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LifeProof: A Really, Really Protective iPhone Case

Posted by Harry McCracken on February 24, 2011 at 3:15 pm

The most memorable demo here at Launch was for a product category which you might not think could inspire a memorable demo: a new iPhone case. A guy in a magician-like tux strode on stage to the strains of classical music, took an iPhone that belonged to a judge, put it in a case from a startup called LifeProof, dropped it repeatedly, squirted it with ketchup and mustard, doused it in dirt, then dumped it into an aquarium. Thanks to the case, the phone appeared to take the licking and keep on ticking. The presentation also included a video clip shot by an iPhone 4–an iPhone 4 that was being used underwater.

Durable phone cases are nothing new–hello, OtterBox!–but I don’t know of another one which resists shock, water, and other hazards while looking pretty much like a nicely-designed-but-otherwise-garden-variety iPhone case. (The most noticeable signs that LifeProof atypical: There’s a little plug that protects the headphone jack, and a flip-down cover on the dock connector.) LifeProof is thin, weighs an ounce, and lets you use the iPhone without removing it from the case or otherwise going through a bit of hassle.

The company is also doing an iPad case and one for the iPhone 3G and 3GS, and says that it’s working on versions for Android and BlackBerry phones.

I like the LifeProof concept–I’m enough of a butterfingers that I’d consider using one simply to protect my phone from Diet Coke spills, tumbles onto the pavement outside my car, and other hazards of suburban life. The price, however, feels a tad steep: The iPhone 4 version goes for $69.95, or roughly $40 more than a plain-vanilla iPhone case. (Then again, I’ve spent $50 on protective computer cases that are nowhere near as protective as LifeProof.) Are you tempted?

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Room 77: Know Your Hotel Room Before It's Your Hotel Room

Posted by Harry McCracken on February 24, 2011 at 10:46 am

When I’m on the road and enter my hotel room for the first time, I turn on the light, survey my surroundings to mentally rate the quality of the accommodations for the price I paid, and then open the curtains so I can judge the view. So, I’ll bet, do you. But it always feels like a crapshoot–by the time I know much about the room, I’m in it and have agreed to pay for it.

Room 77–which was the first company to demo today at the Launch conference here in San Francisco–has a (potentially) better idea: It’s collecting and sharing information about individual rooms in specific hotels. It knows the features rooms have; it knows whether they’re corner rooms and how large they are; it uses Google Earth to generate simulated views as you’ll see them from specific rooms. If a particular hotel is in its database, you can judge its rooms from the comfort of home (or anywhere else–there’s an iPhone app).

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