Recently in Apple Category

A Fortune blog cited by MacWorld claims that Apple will authorize mobile network operators to subsidize the iPhone, and move away from their strategy of a launch with a unique, exclusive operator.

IMHO (I told you so ;-), Apple is simply forced by its sales numbers to recognize that the GSM markets out there don't work at all like the American ones. GSM is, to be polite, poorly developed in the U.S. and there's is only one GSM operator in Canada (Rogers, who's at last got to terms with Apple to carry the iPhone). In Europe, exclusive deals with operators are the exception for devices such as the iPhone, and they are significantly subsidized to lower their acquisition price (many comparable high-end smartphones are way more expensive than the iPhone when not subsidized).

So, at last, I may be able to get an iPhone with my preferred operator rather than being forced to forget about it (since the Orange network is crappy at my place, not speaking of their uninteresting plans and prices).

Hint, even bigger hint with the current "We'll be back soon", plus it's Tuesday, looks like something's in the air for today ;-)

P.S. False hope, that's just a new iPhone and iPod Touch with more memory. Back to the wait for a laptop (I'm not a Macbook Air fan).

Has Nokia or Sony Ericsson ever bricked or refused service on an unlocked phone? Not that I’ve heard of, and if they did, they would have been quickly sued in several countries where consumer rights are more strongly protected.

Did Sony ever brick PSPs over homebrew software? Did Microsoft ever overwrite someone’s BIOS with garbage because they detected an illegitimate Windows installation?

In light of other things Apple has done lately, such as adding an encrypted hash to the iPod database to lock out non-Apple software and disabling TV-out on the iPod unless the 3rd party accessory you’re using has an Apple authentication chip, it’s evident that Apple is well on its way to become one of the most consumer hostile tech companies.

Jon Lech Johansen, Think Closed.

Interesting to see the BBC’s summary of the current iPhone update story: “Apple issues an update which damages iPhones that have been hacked by users”. I’m not sure that’s quite how Apple’s PR people would have put it, but it’s interesting to see that whoever writes those little summaries for the BBC website found it easiest to sum up the story in this way. This is being portrayed as Apple deliberately, strategically damaging the phones, rather than an update unintentionally causing problems with unlocked or modified phones.

Regardless of what the specific issue is here, and whether unmodified iPhones have also lost functionality because of some problem with the update, can’t we just strip out all this nonsense? How many people who wanted an iPhone also wanted to be locked in to AT&T or whatever the local carrier will be in each market? Anyone? Who wants to be locked in to anything? What a waste of technical effort, sweat and customer goodwill: it’s utterly pathetic.

Dan Lockton, Biting Apple.

The PR about the iPhone is turning sour by the hour. Locked platform, greedy arrogance, extracting (in lieu of adding) value from customers... We'll see if Steve Jobs continues to stick to his "Our customers have told us..." line in future iPhones announcements.

Me, I'm turning from "I want one now!" to "wait and see". And you can still call me an Apple fan.

O2 will carry the iPhone in the UK, with unlimited data plans and access to the wifi hotspots of The Cloud. Clever, except... they're not present in France, ah!

Methink that within six months of presence in Europe, Apple will have to go away with those exclusive deals, and adapt to the diverse network operators. It's both too complicated for them in a fragmented market and completely unappealing for consumers. Reminder: it's against the law in France to lock a device to an operator for more than six months.

Somehow my resistance to the urge of buying one when it comes in France is slowly building up into considering the iPod touch and waiting for the 3G version of the iPhone.

There’s a whole class of recent switchers who define “Apple fanboy” as “anyone who’s been an enthusiastic Mac user since before I switched to the Mac”.

John Gruber, making fun of new switcher Mark Cuban.

ROTFL :-))

I can attest to the fact that the technology road is bumpy. There is always change and improvement, and there is always someone who bought a product before a particular cutoff date and misses the new price or the new operating system or the new whatever. This is life in the technology lane. If you always wait for the next price cut or to buy the new improved model, you'll never buy any technology product because there is always something better and less expensive on the horizon.

Steve Jobs in an open letter to all iPhone owners, offering them $100 after cutting down the price of the 8 GB iPhone from $599 to $399 (-33%) just two months after introducing it.

I believe this makes room in the product roadmap for a 3G version, just in time for its European launch. Some analysts think so too. It would allow Apple to sell both versions everywhere, thus indifferenciating US and Europe models, as they do with iPods (in terms of hardware, firmware vary to accommodate local regulations and commercial agreements).

The iPod touch is exciting. I've got a chance to play with an iPhone and the UI is simply amazing. With the spread of free WiFi networks all over cities, the idea of having a usable internet device blended with the iPod in my pocket is appealing (much much more than the iTunes WiFi feature, I haven't bought anything on iTunes ever). Except for one obvious and frustrating thing: it's missing email! Considering how hackers reacted with the iPhone, you can bet the iPod touch will open a hacking fiesta that will eventually force Apple to open that platform to developers. How long before someone imports the mobile Mail client that's on the iPhone onto the iPod touch? Without the excuse of bogging some mobile operator network down, this is a damn good question.

Also, with an Apple internet device now starting at $299, expect the multiplication of "iPhone/iPod touch optimized" web sites (is your web site ready for the future?).

P.S. Ah ah: New iPod touch could do iPhone apps.

David Pogue's video review of the iPhone is really funny, especially his pokes at Apple.

Two days before the iPhone hits the streets in the US, John Dvorak bags a Godwin point with this stupid rant less than elegant analogy:

I am sick of it. It’s all anyone talks about. It dominates the news. It dominates the podcasts and videocasts and magazines. Hitler got less coverage when he invaded Poland.

Source: O'Reilly, iPhrenzy.

Secret iPhone Details Lost in a Sea of Hype and Hate, an excellent deconstruction of all the myths and disinformation published by various so-called “IT experts” about Apple's iPhone.

Also for your pleasure, the Onion's take on iPhone (“Comes with an iPhone hat, so people know you own an iPhone during the brief periods you're not using it”), and New High-Water Mark in iPhone Jackassery by John Gruber.

The european launch of Apple's iPhone looks difficult if I believe the iPhone Europe status report from MacWorld UK, as well as VNU Net's report about EU operators bemoaning Apple's iPhone arrogance (well, on that one, it's not as if they didn't know what arrogance is, it's a battle of sharks :D).

I do hope that we'll be able to buy it unlocked, so we can swap our own SIM card in and not worry about changing operator. Or, at a very minimum in France, that they'll strike a deal with the two major operators — SFR and Orange (I don't believe Bouygues Telecom and its clients, very small share and hooked on iMode, are an interesting target for this phone) — otherwise I don't predict a big success in a market where competition is fierce among both mobile operators and manufacturers and which is widely different from what Americans are used to. In fact, the American mobile phone market is often rated as "third world" compared to Europe's (I've heard it from many American friends), so it's clear that Apple will have far less merits in succeeding in the US than in Europe. It's easy to make a big impression when the bar is so low.

I bet the smartphone landscape will be very interesting to watch in a quarter, especially offers from Nokia and Sony Ericsson. I also bet that Apple will (sooner rather than later, I hope) come out with a 3G version, or a version 2 that's more competitive/interesting for Europe than its present US-only incarnation.