On The Turning Away

Ever since iDay, we’ve trained our eyes on the street for that much coveted gadget du jour. Sad to say our straw poll isn’t very encouraging as we’ve only spotted one iPhone on 8th Avenue the other day.

Given media’s hype over the jesus phone and AT&T’s purported activation crunch, you’d think by now the coolest fashion accessory would become ubiquitous among the city sophisticates. Or perhaps those iPhone owners discreetly pack their sleek toy away on their summer holidays? After all, those “early adopters” tend to obsess over existential dread of “where do you summer?”

Or the iPhone phenomenon perhaps took place…in the media? The latest results from its carrier, AT&T, gives a clue. It turns out the wireless operator only activated 146,000 iPhones - against Wall Street’s expectation of 500,000 - during the first weekend the jesus phone was on sale. Apple reported sold close to 200,000 units.
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Rumor mill has been in overdrive since the Jesusphone iPhone hit the market couple weeks ago. Depending on whom you believe, either a cheaper iPhone is “inevitable” or “the next iPhone will be 3G and remain a high-priced, non-subsidized model”.

Earlier:

With millions still salivating at the sight of Jesusphone iPhone, market is abuzz with rumors that Apple “is developing a cheaper device aimed at younger customers”. Come to think of it, iPod didn’t hit critical mass until Mini came along in a kaleidescope of 70’s psychedelic pastel packaging. Before long, sleek Nano took the market by storm.

Analysts speculate that a “Nano phone” that sells for half the price of regular iPhones “could be just the ticket to” iPod sort of success for Apple. If so, we’re likely to see more of the merging of look and feel of the iPhone and the iPod.

If you, like us, have been looking to hear from the Jesusphone iPhone users (not media types who helped fuel the buzz), Gizmodo has put out a review that goes into excruciatingly exhaustive details on the features, functions, and whatnot.

The verdict: “only a douchebag would tackle the iPhone for lacking esoteric tricks” but your best bet maybe to hold out for iPhone 2.0. Meanwhile, if you’re one of those Spring customers who’s looking to wangle your way out of the contract, there’s light at the end of the tunnel - that is, your persistent whining may finally pay off.

Spring Nextel has reportedly “started sending service termination letters on June 25″ to “1,000 to 1,200 customers who had called the company about 40,000 times a month in total”.
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Hoping to capitalize on the buzz around the June 29 release of Apple’s much-anticipated iPhone, rival companies are racing to hit the market with mobile music services.

Ominfone, a U.K. mobile music company, started a MusicStation service that allows users to download unlimited music to their wireless handsets for a weekly fee. The company said it has entered into partnerships with 30 mobile operators with networks in Euope and Asia-Pacific, including UK, France, Germany, Russia, Australia, and China (Hong Kong).

Meanwhile, Gracenote, starts offering a new mobile service on Sony Ericsson handsets that will let users search online for artists, buy songs and ring tones, and view album art.
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In a further sign that the next big thing in video-sharing and social-networking services is delivering such content on mobile phones, Nokia - the world’s No. 1 cell phone maker - has put its financial arm around Kyte, a video-sharing startup.

Kyte.tv allows Internet users to create their own TV channel and broadcast it on Web sites, blogs, social networks, and mobile phones. You can share Kyte channels with others or have them add their own content, voting, and chatting live with other viewers.

Nokia, for its part, has long jumped on the video-sharing bandwagon. The Nokia Video Center program allows users to find, view, and store video on Nokia N-series smartphones.

BusinessWeek is mulling a business YouTube as an online video hub for wannabe moguls to post short pitch videos for new ventures. The service will be user-driven - participants would rate each proposal and ultimately vote on the winner, who would receive VC funding to implement the proposed business plan.

Is BusinessWeek concerned about losing audience? The YouTube style platform will certainly help widen its reach to non-business readers but whether the “broadcast yourself” idea will rub off on the existing users is an open question. No matter, the name of the game today is “deepen the audience experience” with content.

Vivendi is to take on YouTube and MySpace by launching a paid content portal this fall. Vivendi Mobile Entertainment has been created to roll out the service, including music, video or games on computers, television and mobile phones.

For those with elephant memory, Vizzavi portal, designed as a gateway for PC and interactive TV content, suffered an ignominious death five years ago. It can only hope second time is a charm.

Hot on the heels of AT&T’s confirmation that Apple’s much-awaited iPhone is on schedule to hit the U.S. market by its wireless unit at the end of June came a healthy stir to the equally anticipated Google phone “launch“.

Gadget enthusiasts worldwide are not just obsessed with the potential revolutionary impact on the mobile phone industry of Apple’s iPhone but also keeping tabs on Google’s rumored development of an “even lower-cost phone”, cited as a mass market device aimed at bringing Google to users who don’t have a PC.

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Palm ducked questions about whether the company would be acquired but assured the markets yesterday that it will exploit growth in the smartphone sector that’s forecast to reach $36 billion by 2009 to thrive. One of the developments is an operating systems based on Linux kernel. However, MacNews offered such scathing verdict: Palm is “scrambling, sent desperately reeling and floundering about by Apple’s iPhone. Foisting clunky, dated, plastic-buttoned mediocrity on the market for years comes with a heavy price.”

Ouch.
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