When news of the Facebook/WhatsApp deal broke, a lot of people gave me credit for being prescient: after all, I had just written 1,568 words on why messaging was mobile’s killer app. WhatsApp, though, was all but absent from the article, meriting but a single mention, and in parenthesis at that! Viber does have strong […]
Messaging: Mobile’s Killer App
Messaging is a completely new kind of social networking that is uniquely enabled by mobile.
Microsoft’s Mobile Muddle
Saying “Microsoft missed mobile” is a bit unfair; Windows Mobile came out way back in 2000, and the whole reason Google bought Android was the fear that Microsoft would dominate mobile the way they dominated the PC era. It turned out, though, that mobile devices, with their focus on touch, simplified interfaces, and ARM foundation, […]
Two Bears, Revisited
One of the more annoying aspects of the late great PC area was how review sites treated Macs: for all intents and purposes, they were just another PC. Consider this CNET review of the 2007 MacBook Pro:1 The good: Updated CPUs and graphics without an updated price; LED-backlit display for better battery life; 802.11n support. […]
Google’s Tasty Lemonade
It’s good to see one of the more tiresome myths of the last couple of years – that everyone is trying to be like Apple, just look at Google buying Motorola! – get put to bed once and for all. Earlier today Google sold the remains of Motorola Mobility to Lenovo for $2.91 billion,1 closing […]
The General-Purpose iPad and the Specialist Mac
I’ve written previously that the iPad was helping to unbundle the general-purpose PC: The iPad and the Disaggregation of Computing The Humpty Dumpty PC The (Alleged) 13-Inch iPad and the Triumph of Thin Clients From the Humpty Dumpty PC: The iPad and other appliance-like devices have actually had the opposite effect [as compared to the […]
Apple reportedly building two big screen iPhones
From the WSJ: Facing competition from rivals offering smartphones with bigger screens, Apple Inc. is planning larger displays on a pair of iPhones due for release this year, people familiar with the situation said. The people said Apple plans an iPhone model with a screen larger than 4½ inches measured diagonally, and a second version […]
The China Mobile iPhone is specific to China Mobile
The China Mobile iPhone deal is official. From Apple’s press release： Apple® and China Mobile today announced they have entered into a multi-year agreement to bring iPhone® to the world’s largest mobile network. As part of the agreement, iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c will be available from China Mobile’s expansive network of retail stores as […]
Misunderstood
Apple just posted their holiday iPhone commercial: This is what I’m talking about. It’s not about specs, it’s not about thinness, it’s about what those physical properties make possible for real people. Now please do the same for the iPad (which has always been harder to advertise). Previously: Whither Liberal Arts link The Magical iPad […]
Subsidization and Saturation
Thanks to AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson, subsidies are once again in the news: AT&T’s top executive says the era of big subsidies for devices is coming to an end, as wireless operators can no longer afford to fund a constant smartphone upgrade cycle. Speaking at an investor conference in New York City on Tuesday, AT&T […]