iPhone: The Musical
For anyone who’s tired of hearing the same tired product-specific lines about the iPhone, the New York Times’ tech columnist David Pogue take on what is already an old topic.
Pogue encapsulates all the features and benefits of the iPhone in a pithy 3-minute video. Perhaps the best part of the video are the guest appearances by iPhone freaks who look like they had waited in line leading up to the launch day in New York City.
Anyways, check it out - Pogue turns an overhyped inanimate object into the subject of a hilarious video.
Dull Dell tries to spruce up flagging brand with ad campaign
Is anyone surprised Dell is struggling?
The computer maker has learned of late the price sword, which the personal computer maker wielded for years, cuts both ways.
Rivals such as Hewlett-Packard Co. and others have become price competitive since 2005 when customers again gravitated to stores to buy computers, negating the advantages of Dell’s direct sales model. Last year, Dell lost its status as the No. 1 seller of personal computers to H-P. Now Dell is looking to regain its edge.
Round Rock, Tex.-based Dell is set to launch a worldwide ad campaign this week in an effort to create a hipper image, according to the Wall St. Journal.
As the computer becomes a cheaper commodity, Dell has learned it needs more than a boring, cheap gray box to attract and retain customers. Apple, with its well-designed Macbooks, H-P and Sony (to a lesser degree) learned these lessons years ago.
While its on the self-improvement campaign, the company should spruce up its customer service department too.
I’ll never forget my first experience with Dell some 5 years ago (call me bitter). I paid $150 for shipping and still had to pick up my computer from a local Purolator courier.
Ensuing technical problems were dealt with by customer service representatives in India who I waited 45 minutes for on the phone.
Good luck Dell!
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB118402169686361431.html?mod=dist_smartbrief
Microsoft has 400,000 Office Live customers - take that Google! UPDATE
DENVER - Microsoft Corp. said this morning it has 400,000 Office Live customers, an attempt to show it still has a stranglehold on the desktop software market.
Kevin Turner, Microsoft’s chief operating officer, announced the goal at the software giant’s annual partner conference here this morning.
The prediction, not coincidentally, comes a day after nemesis Google Inc. said it will buy Postini, an Internet security software vendor for about US$625-million in cash.
Google’s free online version of Office was first meant for consumers. Lately, the search engine king has tried to sell Internet-oriented versions of its software but some businesses have resisted Google’s overtures because of security concerns. The Postini acquisition is meant to squash those fears.
Google’s entry into the business software market began after it added applications such as online calendars, a Web page publisher and embedded instant messaging to its Gmail e-mail service. Last year the company bought Writely, an online word processor, to enhance its Docs & Spreadsheets application, which lets users share information instantaneously.
Separately, Mr. Turner insisted Office will eventually become one of the Redmond, Wash.-based company’s top “two or three” applications over time.
Mr. Turner also insisted Microsoft will release new versions of Office and Vista in future, throwing a wet blanket on speculation the last versions of the popular desktop productivity software have been released.
The growing popularity of Web-based applications and the oft-delayed Vista launch had led to widespread industry speculation the operating system would be produced and marketed differently in future, even scrapped altogether.
ADDENDUM - According to the Washington Post, Google signs up 1,000 Google Apps customers daily.
Microsoft to partners - please poach 4-million Notes customers!
DENVER - Microsoft Corp. wants to steal 4-million Lotus Notes customers from IBM Corp. this fiscal year, an attempt to put distance between its nearest competitor in the market for e-mail and collaboration software.
Kevin Turner, Microsoft’s chief operating officer, announced the goal during a speech at the software giant’s annual partner conference here this morning.
Mr. Turner urged the company and its partners to convert Notes customers to the Exchange platform in an “honest and respectful manner.”
Microsoft has about 35% share of the e-mail and messaging software market - the software giant is expected to have about 40% of the market by 2009. IBM’s Lotus, the former heavyweight in the collaborative software space, is now second in the market.
The worldwide email market will grow from 1.5-billion mailboxes this year to about 2-billion mailboxes in 2009.
Anyone still use Notes or Novell’s Groupwise?
Sony cuts PS3 prices - finally!
Sony Computer Entertainment of America finally cut the price of its Playstation 3 system today, an acknowledgement it’s tail is getting kicked in the ultra-competitive game console market.
The Playstation will now cost US$500 in North America instead of US$600. No word on whether on Canadian retailers are going to cut prices accordingly.
http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/consumer_goods/article2046847.ece
Even with the price cut, Sony’s PS3 is still about US$20 more than Microsoft’s Xbox and is double the price of Nintendo’s Wii.
Sony, which pushed back the launch of the PS3 by six months last year, has already lost considerable ground to Microsoft and Nintendo.
The price cut was widely expected by equity analysts even though the company last week denied a price cut was forthcoming.
If Sony doesn’t have a lot of other levers to pull in its attempt to regain lost market share so expect the company to slash PS3 prices further if the latest round doesn’t work.
Microsoft had a one-year headstart on Sony and has killer exclusive titles for its console, such as Halo 3 and Ghosts of Recon, which are expected to drive more console sales. Meanwhile, Nintendo’s Wii has become the top-selling game system because of its low cost and interactive experience. Last week, Nintendo said it has sold 6-million Wii consoles.
Talking Tech podcast
Another week, another Talking Tech podcast.
My podcast partner Mark Evans was kind enough to let me “gush” about the iPhone given my purchase of the much-ballyhooed device at an Apple store in a suburban Detroit mall last weekend. My early verdict on the device is that it lives up to the hype even though I have yet to make a phone call. Right now, it’s a really expensive Wi-Fi enabled iPod.
We also think Google’s acquisition of Grand Central pushes the search engine closer to a telecom service provider model given the fact it already has dark fibre strung throughout North America.
Finally, we talked about the $52-billion acquisition of Bell Canada by private equity investors following a much-criticized auction process.
You can listen to our podcast by clicking on the Talking Tech link in my blogroll (left-hand column).
Minister Flaherty gives thumbs up to Teachers takeover of Bell Canada
Apparently, the $52-billion pension fund led buyout of Bell Canada is good for the Canadian economy if the company continues to invest in infrastructure as well as research and development.
That’s the scenario laid out by Jim Flaherty, Canada’s finance minister the other day in an exclusive story by the National Post’s Paul Vieira.
http://www.canada.com/nationalpost/financialpost/story.html?id=fe5e12d3-783f
-4bf4-abf9-f74872bdd744&k=22160
Mr. Flaherty’s statement is based on the hope the organized chaos to ensue if and when the Teachers-led consortium takes over Bell settles down sooner rather than later.
The Finance Minister should be more concerned. Any hopes Bell will quickly ramp up cap ex programs represents nothing more than wishful thinking as everything will be on hold until the new owners have a chance to review operations.
There are already well-founded fears the federal government will lose up to $1-billion of tax revenue assuming Bell is privatized. The proposed transaction will be funded by debt - the interest is tax deductible which means potential lost revenue for the government.
There will be no sacred cows - Teachers is known for generating quick ROI on investments. A widespread fiber to the home program, though long overdue and necessary, like other proposed investments is by no means guaranteed under any new Bell Canada ownership regime.
iPhone adventure - mission accomplished!
Pssst!!
Over here fellow Canadian gadget geek!
Wanna know how to buy an iPhone in the U.S. of A.?
Ya I know - I’m sure you can find a border town as well as I can, probably better.
Let me tell you what to do once you’re south of the border. The answer is simple - go to an Apple store!
Each Apple store has, or had, plenty of iPhones. The AT&T stores sold out on Friday night and likely won’t have many to spare for months to come.
Apples stores, in contrast, were each shipped over 1,000 iPhones. That was the feedback given to me by Apple store representatives I talked to at the Somerset Collection mall in Troy, Michigan. (The map to the store is pictured above).
Luckily my partner Danielle and I happened upon the Apple store in the suburban Detroit mall - we had originally hoped to buy one from the Cingular/AT&T store on the third level. AT&T, for those who have lived in a cave for the past six months, is the exclusive carrier partner of Apple.
Much to my surprise, the Apple store had a number of iPhones available on Sunday - two days after the release. Apple, we were told by the customer service reps, stores are shipped more iPhones than AT&T though Steve Jobs didn’t advertise that fact leading up to iDay last week. Sure there are more AT&T stores and thus less phones available for each individual store, but Apple has priority over iPhone supply we were told.
Not five minutes after I walked into the store, I was able to buy a 4GB iPhone (for US$528 or so after Michigan state tax was applied - gulp).
As there is no unlock code for the iPhone despite feverish, round-the-clock efforts by software hackers/developers everywhere, I’m reserving judgment on the phone.
If I have to wait more than a month, I may sell the thing on eBay. For now, I’m happy with my overpriced Wi-Fi-enabled iPod!
allofmp3.com kaput
Allofmp3.com, the Russian Web site that says it offers legal music downloads for as little as US10 cents a song has been shut down, a victory for the beleaguered music industry.
The Russian government apparently shut down the site, which I admittedly bought music from any a time, earlier this week with hopes of changing perceptions that it is aiding and abetting music and video piracy. Complaints from the United States government, not coincidentally, about the site and the Russian government’s apparent apathy had grown much louder in recent months.
Amen.
This site should have been shut down years ago.
While allofmp3.com may have been a great way to experiment with music, there’s no way it was legitimate. AllOfMP3 sold music to more than 5.5 million users who were able to buy songs for between 10c and 20c each, compared with the 99c that Apple charges through iTunes. There’s a reason Apple charges those types of prices and it’s not because Steve Jobs needs more turtlenecks. Music is expensive to produce.
MediaServices, the hosting company for AllOfMP3.com and mp3Sparks.com, has always claimed that it has up-to-date licences from an organisation known as the Russian Licensing Societies.
The closure of allofmp3.com by the Russian government is a smart move if it wants to gain the confidence of trading partners and if it wants the 12-year bilateral agreement it has with the United States government to remain intact. It should also shut down mp3sparks.com, the allofmp3.com alternative set up by its founders, if it wants to keep trading partners happy.
There - I’m off my soapbox now.
Music listeners looking for new types of tunes should listen to try internet streaming services such as kexp.org or last.fm.
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