iPhone 4 – Hands On

It’s the fourth revision of Apple’s smartphone, and Apple says it’s the biggest set of changes we’ve seen since the original device was introduced three years ago. The first day’s pre-launch orders were over 600,000. That’s a staggering number for a device few consumers had even seen and even fewer had spent actual hands-on time with. As more users get to see the device up close and personal, I expect Apple is going to break previous sales records by a very wide margin, but does the latest revision of the iPhone stand up to the hype? My embargo is over so read on.

I took a first look at the device when Apple first announced it at their developers conference earlier this month. I’ve now spent some more time with a final production device and my experience largely matches Apple’s claims. Comparing the iPhone 4 with the original is like looking at an iPod touch next to the original—a lot of the heritage is there but it’s a very different and a much better experience. This is what next year’s technology will look like, except it’s at last year’s prices.

The first thing you notice is the design. Taking elements of the first and second generations of the device, Apple has come up with one of the most striking phone designs that has ever come to market. The glass and steel construction begs to be touched and there are few products that have ever come to market with this degree of caressability. Once you get over the design aesthetics it’s hard to miss what Apple calls the iPhone’s “Retina Display.” With a very high resolution and a pixel density well above 300 PPI, it’s going to be very hard for most users to see the individual pixels of the display. The result is the most paper-like display I’ve ever seen on a mobile device. Content that was just too hard to read with my 40+-year-old eyes without zoom is now easy to read without strain.

The second thing that leaps out is performance. Thanks to the A4 chip that powers it, the iPhone 4 feels noticeably snappier than prior devices. Combined with the new OS’s capabilities for multitasking (apps continue to get updated seemingly on an hourly basis) it feels like there’s less and less that this phone can’t handle in terms of tasks. (I personally can’t wait until we start seeing this OS on the iPad).
Third, there are the new features added with iOS 4 which address many of the minor issues that plagued the iPhone from day one. Things like a unified inbox view, the ability accept CAL DAV invites, and support for multiple Exchange accounts make for a much more refined usability experience. New applications like iMovie for iPhone show the powerful possibilities when both hardware and software are tightly integrated into one holistic experience.

Finally, the big show-stopper is FaceTime. Taking advantage of the iPhone 4′s front-facing camera, FaceTime is mobile video conferencing done right. Though it works iPhone 4-to-iPhone 4 only and is restricted to Wi-Fi for 2010, it is undeniably simple. There’s no setup, there’s no configuration, there’s no lag. Audio and video are fully in sync. In short it just works. We knew there might be this sort of capability from some of the leaks, but the truth is, until you see it in action, it’s hard to appreciate. Even cooler, it’s an open standard, so developers can easily add this functionality to their apps. Skype, are you listening? Apple isn’t the first to market with video conferencing on a phone but they’re the first to get it right. It’s not a feature unless the mass market uses it and I expect FaceTime will drive a lot of sales. That said, while I understand the need for Wi-Fi only at this time, it does detract somewhat from the experience to not have the feature everywhere. It also would have been nice to see some integration with the desktop (even at the expense of some added setup) or the ability to send video to non-iPhone 4 users. Hopefully, we’ll start seeing some FaceTime applications that adhere to the protocol for both the desktop and other platforms, solving this issue.

What’s missing? Well, a few things. First, iPhone 4 is still AT&T only here in the US and the new micro-sim makes it even harder to move your SIM from device to device. While Apple talked about the combination of form and function in the device’s new antenna system, I couldn’t see much of a difference in reception or call quality over the iPhone 3GS. Places where I had problems with AT&T were still just as problematic. As much as I like the iPhone, AT&T’s network still leaves lot to be desired. Rumors aside, I don’t expect to see another carrier anytime soon. I’d also like to see a 64GB SKU. In the past, Apple matched the prior year’s iPod touch capacity with iPhone. 32GB just feels a little too cramped for a phone with the capabilities iPhone 4 has. iOS is also starting to look a little dated. Rows of apps or folders feels very 2007. There’s no support for widgets or the kind of glanceable information that has become a standard UI enhancement on Android, Windows Phone 7, and Symbian. In an age of social ubiquity, iOS still treats social networks as discreet entities with little integration between applications such as Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn. While some users might prefer that silo approach, more users are looking for ways to integrate their social graph into a holistic view of their personal, business, and public networks.

Bottom line? Apple has raised the bar for both handset vendors and platform providers with the release of iPhone 4. The tight integration of hardware and software provides a unique experience that once again raises and sets the standard for the rest of the industry. With strong visible differentiation, iPhone 4 is going to capture the hearts and minds of both existing iPhone users and new users entering the purchase funnel for their next phone. Nevertheless, the gap between other vendors and Apple is not nearly as huge as it was as recently as a year ago. Later this year new versions of Android, Windows Phone, Blackberry and Symbian are all expected to come to market, and no vendor is prepared to cede this market to Apple. With a rate and pace of innovation never seen before, expect to see more challengers to the iPhone and vendors who will seek to raise the bar even further. It’s too early to judge how successful those efforts will be, however. For now, iPhone 4 is the gold standard other devices will be measured against.

Update – Special thanks to Bill Fisher for taking the time to edit properly :)

Apple becomes a company for “the rest of us”

My latest Macworld column explores how Apple has finally become a company “for the rest if us” not just the Apple faithful. I think that’s a positive trend, not everyone agrees.

Sadly, folks, it’s time to move on. Apple isn’t building products just for you, and Steve Jobs and Phil Schiller aren’t members of your family. I have no doubt Apple respects and even admires those of you in the tens of thousands who have been long-time supporters. I also know that Apple, like any company, would dump tens of thousands of die-hard fans for tens of millions of happy consumers any day of the week. So while you might bemoan the great unwashed masses who now use Apple products but can’t name five Apple employees beyond Steve Jobs, remember that if it wasn’t for them, that cool new Apple device might not have made it to to market and you just might be using a Windows 7 PC. In the end, that original tagline became a reality. Apple products truly are for “the rest of us,” and will continue to be so as long as Apple continues to deliver and raise the industry bar.

What does Generation Upload think of technology?

Get the answers directly from the demographic directly. Vendors and marketers should check out GenUpload

Times change. Is your IT department changing along with them?

My latest column for Computerworld explores the issue of Bring Your Own PC and whet it’s a good idea for businesses. What do you think? Should IT departments start approaching PCs as they do smartphones?

A well-organized BYOPC program can help IT make users happy, no small thing for a department in constant danger of reorganization and outsourcing. Properly done, it can be an easy way to make friends and win internal support. BYOPC programs generally subsidize laptops, with the policy being that users can also make personal use of the machine (which only makes sense, since we all know that users already commingle their business and personal information on their devices). If a lot of your users are now restricted to desktop machines, the change could provide a boost in productivity, since laptop users are more likely to work beyond business hours.

In the Aftermath of E3

Few things in the tech industry bring out the devoted fanbois enthusiasts like the console wars. From the early days of Atari 2600 vs. Intellivsion and Colecovision the debates go on endlessly. While I’m a gamer at heart, I share no allegiance to any one system (except perhaps a fondness for my Vectrex). That said, this weeks’ Engadget column provoked a lot of emotional responses and a lot of emails. (special thanks to those who emailed me their wishes to be fruitful and multiply, even if you didn’t use those words. In my view, Microsoft came out ahead, followed by Nintendo and Sony. But lurking in the shadows, I think there’s another player that might emerge over time.

Bottom line? It was a pretty impressive E3, arguably the most interesting show we’ve seen in years. Gamers have some really nice choices ahead of them, and all three major players have a chance to gain some ground over the holidays and pick up some new users. But there’s a wildcard here — Apple’s recently made some big moves into gaming with their iOS platform, which has taken mobile game marketshare from both Sony and Nintendo. Will iOS make it to the TV screen on a new Apple TV, and if it does games come with it? The gaming market might change dramatically if that happens.

Some advice for Android tablet vendors

In this week’s SlashGear column I take a look at some of the challenges facing vendors building Android tablets and offer some advice. It’s great to see that’s there’s going to be competition in this space but too many of the early efforts are missing the boat with some pretty obvious stuff. The biggest problem is Google isn’t supporting this form factor just yet and while Android is open and Google won’t stop you from building a device, they’re not getting behind most of these early efforts and that’s going to set things back for a bit. So, would you buy an Android based tablet at this point? Why or why not?

I think it’s good that we are seeing some heated competition in the tablet space. Apple’s iPad has set the bar and that functionality is now the table stakes for the industry. Vendors must build devices that at least equal the iPad experience, offer clear differentiation and features or exceed what Apple has delivered. Let’s see who will step up to the game and raise the bar.

Wired or tired? Tired I think

In this week’s Engadget column, I take a look at the state of magazines on the iPad. Feels way too much like CD ROMs of the 90s and way overpriced.

Even worse, the price point is hard to swallow. Charging the full cover price for a digital magazine makes no sense when I can subscribe to the paper edition of Wired for a year at a much lower cost per issue — especially given that there’s no paper, ink, shipping or distribution charges. Given the lack of flexibility, I’d assume there would at least be some incentive to get me to make the digital purchase, and even more so in light of the fact that the bulk of the content is already available online at Wired’s website for free. It’s ironic that Editor-in-chief Chris Anderson famously wrote a book called “Free” — the Wired iPad app is the perfect case to try out some of those business models.

iOS and life beyond the PC

There were quite a few numbers tossed out this week at Apple’s developer con fence but perhaps the most important one was 100 million, the total number of iPhone OS devices in the market as of this month. In fact, Apple renamed iPhone OS to simply iOS. This week’s SlashGear column looks at this in depth and how Apple is taking the platform battle beyond the PC.

“While Microsoft talks about multiple connected screens, Windows is a PC platform and Windows Phone a smartphone platform. There’s no unified model, architecture or evangelism to tie those products and services together just yet. Google on the other hand has articulated a similar strategy for Android, a platform for phones, tablets, TVs, netbooks and every other non-PC device. Expect to see more clashes in the months ahead between Cupertino and Mountain View and more companies to look to Microsoft as the new Switzerland for alliances and partnerships (Apple in fact did announce a Microsoft partnership at WWDC and the Bing search engine is now an option on iOS and Safari) I think we’re seeing a bold strategy in play. A recognition that the PC vs. Mac is a battle for the last century not this one. By marginalizing the personal computer, including Macintosh, Apple sets the stage for where the real battle of the future is and what life might look like in a post-PC world.”

Apple Introduces iPhone 4 and iOS 4 – First Take

It’s been a busy morning for Apple with lots of iPhone news and what’s now called iOS news. Lots of important stuff so let’s break it all down. First, Apple announced that the app store now has 225,000 apps with 5 billion downloads. That’s all in just under two years. I can’t quantify this for certain but that would make Apple’s mobile platform the fastest growing platform in history. Period. In a market driven by the value add of third party apps, that’s extremely important. What’s more important isn’t the number. I don’t need 225,000 apps. You likely don’t either. What you do get are the subset of apps that are right for you and that’s why the overall number is more important than you might think. Apple also shared that it’s now taking 28 percent of the US smartphone market, somewhat behind RIM but well ahead of Android’s 9 percent but again, perhaps more importantly, 58 percent of the mobile browsing market. Considering that three years ago iPhone wasn’t even on the market yet, that’s a major and important accomplishment. The big news thought was the launch of iPhone 4. Apple’s latest effort in the smartphone space. Apple talks about seven core features of the device and I’ll go into them here as well as what they mean.

1. Design. The new phone is nothing short of stunning. I know you think you might already know what the device looks like but trust me, it’s not even close to seeing the device up close and in person. It’s super thin at 9.3mm which is a shrink down of 24 percent. It’s got a solid feel and heft and the metal trim (which are also the antennas) gives it a very elegant look. You’ll know immediately it’s an iPhone but this is Apple’s best effort in design yet.

2. Retina Display. Again, this has to be seen to be appreciated. Apple has upped the ante on the phone display market with a new design that’s now 4x greater in terms of pixels than previous iPhones. That means that text and graphics take on a stunning new clarity. At 326 pixels per inch, Apple has now hit the magic threshold above 300 where the retina simply can’t see the individual pixels anymore. Web pages, email, photos all have a stunning new clarity. Using the same screen tech as the iPad, it’s far superior to AMOLED in terms of use in bright sunlight and has a very nice wide viewing angle. This is now the new benchmark for all devices to follow. Despite the smaller screen size, iPhone now has 78 percent of the pixels of the iPad. For me, this alone would be worth the price of admission. Because Apple uses a full multiplier, older apps will scale very well to the new format and will not be pixelated, in addition apps that use text or Apple controls will see scale automatically. Apple’s own apps are now Retina enabled and I expect most developers to take advantage of the new screen immediately.

3. It’s running an A4. Just like big brother iPad. Suffice to say performance is excellent. There’s a degree of fluidity that’s fantastic across the board. Apple’s also added some fun stuff like a larger battery for the best claimed battery life of an iPhone, 7 hours of 3G talk time, HSDPA/HSUPA and 80211.n. Apple’s also tossed in a set of dual mikes for noise cancellation.

4. There’s a gyroscope. Yep, the iPhone now does pitch/roll/yaw. Add in the accelerometer and there’s now six axis support. I don’t have to explain what this will mean for next generation games and other apps. It’s not a killer feature by itself but it’s going to allow a lot of cool stuff to happen.

5. There’s a new camera. It’s now a 5mp lens, with LED flash and 5x zoom. There’s also updated video to 720p with full editing and sharing. Even cooler, there’s now a full version of iMovie for iPhone 4. Themes, transitions, movies are all here. It’s an extra $4.99 but looks like it’s easily worth it. It’s really a small movie studio that goes in your pocket. Super cool.

6. As mentioned, Apple has consolidated the platform for iPhone, iPod touch and iPad under one name. It’s now called iOS. Apple says it’s on track to ship the 100 millionth iOS device this month. This is extremely important as the battle in mobility isn’t just about phones. With an Apple platform of connected screens at 100 million there’s huge incentive for developers to further embrace the platform. This is the classic positive feedback loop that Microsoft so successfully exploited at the desktop level. I’ve talked about most of the iOS 4 features in the past so I won’t go into more depth here except for one thing. iOS now supports Microsoft’s Bing as a search option. No, it’s not the default… yet. One, however, can clearly see how the competition between Apple and Google is leading to strange alliances. I’ve questioned Google’s approach in the past about creating a rift with Apple (and Google’s recent language at i/o made it clear who they are taking shots at). There’s an important message being sent today. Keep your eye out for what comes next.
iBooks.

7. Some more detail about iBooks for iOS 4. There’s sync across devices and like other Apple content, books can be downloaded any number of times to any number of devices. That’s nice change from some of the restrictions of the KIndle platform and how many times books can be downloaded. Apple now boasts 150 million accounts and credit cards making one of, if not the largest commerce sites. Overall the combined three stores have seen 16 billion downloads which shows how strong Apple is relative to the competitive landscape.

One more thing. It’s been awhile since Steve said those words and today it’s all about FaceTime. Taking advantage of the iPhone 4′s front facing camera, FaceTime is mobile video conference done right. It works iPhone 4 to iPhone 4 and it’s WiFi only for 2010. What it is though is simple. There’s no setup, there’s no configuration. There’s no lag. Audio and video are fully in sync. In short it just works. We knew there might be this sort of capability from some of the leaks but the truth is, until you see it in action, it’s hard to appreciate. Even cooler, it’s all open so developers can easily add this functionality to their apps. Skype, are you listening? Apple isn’t the first to market with video conferencing on a phone but they’re the first to get it right. It’s not a feature unless the mass market uses it and I expect FaceTIme will drive a lot of sales.

The new devices hit on June 24th and iOS will drop just before that. Good news is iOS 4 is a free upgrade for both iPhone and iPod touch users. Memory configs will match last years 3Gs devices at the same price point. The 3Gs drops to the old 3G slot as an entry level $99 device.

Bottom line? Apple has raised the bar for the phone market once again. With a combination of new hardware and software features, iPhone sets the standard for what the state of the art smartphone experience is. While 3Gs users can console themselves that they can take advantage of core features in iOS 4, I expect many will want to upgrade. Look for a full hands on in the near future when it’s released on the 24th.

On Market Caps

In this week’s Engadget column, I take a look at what’s going on in the world of Microsoft’s E & D group. The same week that Apple’s market cap surpassed that of Microsoft was also the same week that saw some high level departures from the Entertainment and Devices division. It was an interesting set of actions but I don’t think they were as important as some people did.

“I believe Microsoft will and must continue to stay in the consumer market. I also believe that Microsoft has the fundamental core ingredients needed for success in these spaces. What the company needs is the will to execute and the belief in its own convictions to drive new initiatives forward. To do this, it’s going to require a break from known to the unknown. Even as Microsoft has learned that mobile devices shouldn’t have little task bars and Start menus to make them look like Windows, Microsoft needs to go beyond the idea that everything needs to be tied to Windows — or worse, built on Windows. The leaked and ultimately abandoned Courier project showed great promise because it did not look like a Windows device — it looked like something that was designed and optimized for the tablet form factor. Xbox succeeded because it wasn’t a just another PC with a splashy UI on top of a Windows core.”

Apple WWDC coverage

I’ll be Twittering live tomorrow starting at 10am PDT. Feel free to follow the action on twitter.com/gartenberg I’ll also be available post keynote for any press media looking for comment. Feel free to email or give me a call at 201.862.0443.

OLPC or OTPC it still isn’t a good idea

My latest SlashGear column looks at the latest news from the OLPC folks, the promised $75 tabelt due at CES. We can debate whether you think the whole concept is a good idea or not. At this point though the OLPC folks have shown little capability to do what they set out to do. It’s classic over promise and under deliver.

It’s hard not to appreciate what the OLPC folks are trying to do. It’s aspirational. It’s inspirational. It’s noble. They’re not in this for fortune, fame or glory but the desire to help people. It’s hard to criticize that. It is, however, perhaps time to realize that this is turning into a tremendous waste of time and resources that could be better spent elsewhere. I’m tired of the press reporting on one more initiative and program reboot as if there was something of substance. Perhaps I’m wrong and we’ll see come January, but as far as I’m concerned it’s time for the OLPC organization to be quiet for a change. When you’ve really got something real to deliver, let’s talk. Until then, this is just more hype and vapor of the worst kind.

Is Google TV Web TV part II?

The topic of Google TV is the subject of my latest Engadget column. While I agree TVs need an overhaul and there’s an evolution of that screen that is indeed happening, I’m not convinced that Google’s approach is the correct one. If you need to invoke an IR blaster to make it work, that’s probably a good sign you’re moving in the wrong direction. It’s also hard to see what’s in this that isn’t already for the most part in other platforms such as TiVi Premiere or Media Center PCs. One can’t ignore a Google effort, if for not other reason than it’s Google, but this doesn’t feel on target to me.

I get why the TV is important to Google — it’s a great opportunity for even more ad revenue. But the TV is not a phone or a PC. Consumers are looking for a different type of connected experience in their living rooms, and it’s one that so far has defied every attempt to merge the TV and PC. GoogleTV just feels like the latest in a long line of niche products more likely to appeal to the enthusiast than to the mass market. An old joke has a consumer lamenting for a phone or PC that’s as easy to use as a TV. Google can’t succeed making the TV as complex as your other devices.

Consumer education has been a key to Apple success

Back in 1984, the first magazine devoted to Apple Macintosh came to the market. Macworld has been a must read for me ever since. I’m therefore pleased to now be writing a monthly column on Apple for Macworld and my thanks to Jason Snell for allowing me this opportunity to offer my insight and analysis to Macworld readers. My inaugural column deals with what I believe is one of the key to Apple’s success over the last decade. Education. Apple 101 if you will. Few vendors have taken the time to explain to the market just what their products do and why consumers should purchase them. Fewer have spent the time and effort at retail (or the classroom) to let users come and learn about Apple products.

Education is the magic that’s behind much of Apple’s current success, but it’s been a decade-long process of determination, patience and keeping one’s own counsel in the face of market critiques. The question is, can Apple’s competitors get school in session and get consumers to enroll, or is the consumer going to be faithful to their alma mater?

A few thoughts on Apple and the DOJ

Today’s news has been a lot of conversation about Apple and the DOJ. Short version, the DOJ is apprarently investigating Apple’s iTunes business and if it somehow has violated antitrust issues. A good summary is this Bloomberg article. First and foremost, I’m not an anti-trust lawyer (much to my parent’s chagrin) so this is hardly legal analysis. Nevertheless, here’s how this looks to me.

1. Apple is no longer the scrappy underdog. With Apple’s position in the market (and a stone’s throw from exceeding Microsoft’s market cap) there’s going to come a lot more scrutiny about Apple’s business and their practices. That’s a fact of life when you hit a certain measure of success.

2. Apple has no monopoly on music, legal or not. There are legal monopolies and illegal ones. Hard to see how Apple has either. As a consumer, there are plenty of places I can go to get music without ever dealing with Cupertino. There’s no issue of DRM or lock in as there’s no DRM on iTunes music. Someone want to explain this to me?

3. One core issue seems to be Apple not willing to promote content that’s been given exclusivity elsewhere. Again, I must be missing something. If you give my competition exclusive rights on content why on earth would I invest dollars promoting it myself. I suspect I’d promote the content that was my exclusive. It’s one thing if there’s a single dominant store that says if you stock my competitors store, I’ll stop buying from you. That’s not what’s happening here.

4. This appears to be preliminary look. No one has said Apple has done anything wrong. Early reports are the music industry is driving the complaint. Having invested in Apple’s iTunes experiment early on, it paid off big time but also created a new player with a lot of power in the marketplace. If I’m the music industry, I’d probably prefer to see more digital stores and services compete with Apple. I’m not sure complaints to the government will achieve what market forces failed to achieve.

Bottom line? The world is a different place and Apple is going to be viewed as a very different company going forward. As more vanquished competitors cry foul, expect to see more of these types of stories going forward. As Apple success continues to grow, Cupertino will learn that it’s now playing by a different set of rules and expectations.

FroYo is quite tasty

My latest SlashGear column takes a closer look at Android 2.2 or FroYo. It’s a solid update and makes using Android 2.1 downright painful for me. If you use a Nexus One it’s a total no brainer to update.

Overall, I’ve been pretty impressed by this release. Google continues to refine the Android experience, making it more usable and more useful. If you have a Nexus One or other 2010 stock Android device, it’s a no-brainer upgrade. If you’re using an older device or have a device with heavy vendor customization, it’s likely to take some time for this release to get to you and I’d probably wait to see how well older devices handle the updated platform. Google’s rate and pace of OS updates has been impressive and there’s no sign it’s slowing down. Next stop, Gingerbread, but we’ll have at least a few months before we get to sample Google’s next dessert.

Android isn’t summer camp for handset vendors, not everyone gets a trophy

The subject of the possible fragmentation of the Android platform has been a concern from day one. I recently spent some talking about this issue with the “father” of Android, Google’s Andy Rubin and cam away with an interesting view of the Android market. Is Android fragmented or are we just seeing a new rate and pace of innovation unlike anything we’ve ever seen before with the velocity of mobile. Does it even matter. These are the topics of my latest Engadget column. So what do you think? Innovation or fragmentation?

Android isn’t summer camp for handset vendors and not everyone gets get a trophy for showing up. Google is treating partners equally, but will not slow the rate of innovation so weaker players can keep up. By constantly raising the bar, both in terms of reference devices and software, Google aims to keep innovating and drive that innovation as a differentiator. Google wasn’t looking for volume sales with the Nexus One, it was looking to raise the hardware bar — and arguably the best way to do that is to do it yourself.

Flash goes mobile with Android

I’ve spent the last few days running a pre-release version of Flash 10.1 on Android 2.1. The results are the topic of my latest SlashGear column

At the end of the day, developers will be a key factor. With ten mobile platforms vying for attention and ten not a sustainable number long term, many developers may look at Flash as a way of leveraging their code and IP to a larger number of platforms without making a strategic bet on the success of any one of them. After weeks of rhetoric, Adobe has answered the mobile Flash challenge with a solid demonstration on the technology viability on mobile, notably Android. Developers and users now will make the final call about whether Flash is important enough for them as they make their development and purchase decisions.

Two weeks with Kin – the view from GenUpload

Latest Chaim Gartenberg column on SlashGear is an update directly from GenUpload after two weeks of Kin use. Must read if you’re interested in Kin from the demographic it’s aimed for,

Overall, the KIN isn’t perfect. But it does get a lot of things right, especially in regard to teenagers. And, with a few tweaks – particularly in regard to the refresh rate on the Loop and a lower data price – it could well be the perfect phone for teens.

Can RIM make the transition from enterprise to consumer?

RIM’s role in making the transition from enterprise to consumer is the topic of this month’s column in Computerworld. I’m a long time Blackberry user going back to the first devices ever made but I wonder if RIM can really make it in the consumer space. I recently tried to update to the newest version of the BB Facebook app and the experience was a disaster. It refused to let me sync to my contacts. A little investigation revealed that my BB once connected to a BES and therefore needed a policy adjustment. Of course, I no longer connect to that server which made it impossible. The command line fix, backup and restore to make it all work was hardly consumer friendly. RIM’s a great friend to the enterprise IT manager but less so to the consumer. A lot will depend on what RIM does with Blackberry Six. While there’s a lot of momentum at RIM’s back, the question is how well they can do long term in an increasingly consumer driven market.

BlackBerry is still a hugely popular platform. For many business users and IT departments, it’s the only choice. In fact, an alien who landed on Earth and boarded the Acela train from New York to Washington would assume each earthling not only wore a blue suit but also owned a small oracle with a keyboard they were constantly consulting. RIM’s problem is that much of its success depends on inertia — it’s a snapshot in time. But with the enterprise market saturated, RIM must find ways to evolve its platform to be more competitive with changing user needs. While recent acquisitions show that RIM is slowly picking up some of the parts that it needs, such as a new kernel and better Web technology, it will need to accelerate the process of integrating those features into a new operating system — as well as a more coherent marketing campaign to better explain RIM’s offerings. (Some of RIM’s recent commercials have been so arcane, I didn’t even realize they were for the BlackBerry.)

Thirty Three Screens and a Cloud

My latest Engadget column explores the idea of glanceable information and why three screens and a cloud are just archetypes. Forget three screens, it’s much more like thirty three screens.

Glanceable information is key. I love the idea of glanceable content. Microsoft attempted to do much of what is key to Dash with its SPOT initiative (although with a very different approach). Information should be easily accessible and viewable. I don’t even need to make an argument here, really — glanceable devices are all around us. Look at that watch on your wrist or your clock radio. Both are designed to quickly convey one bit of information: the time of day. The dashboard on your car conveys key information such as speed and fuel consumption. At the moment, no one’s quite gotten how to extend richer views of information to those glanceable screens, but the Dash begins to do this. For example, when I wake up in the morning, I want to know the time as well as the weather.

Meet H/Pre

My view on the HP and Palm merger is the subject of my current column on Engadget. I’m pretty bullish on what’s happening here but there’s a lot that needs to be done to make this a success.

It’s H/Pre that will ultimately have to prove itself in a fast moving market place. The core ingredients are there, but it’s time to execute the recipe and sell the dish.

Two weeks on the road, Ten iPad lessons

I recently spent two weeks on the road for business travel sans laptop. My main device was the iPad. The ten lessons i’ve learned are the topic of
my column this week on SlashGear.

Overall, I’ve been pleased with the experience and find that there’s enough functionality to make the iPad useful for not only content consumption but content creation. So why not just use a netbook? Easy, while netbooks offer much of the functionality I lack on the iPad, it comes at too high a price. Lower screen resolutions, slower than my laptop performance and cramped keyboards are too many tradeoffs for me. The instant on capabilities, fast performance combined with a full XGA screen make the iPad experience unique, not quite a laptop but certainly more than just a large iPod touch. For me, it’s now a valuable travel companion.

On Apples and Androids and Blackberrys

Interesting news today from NPD on Android passing iPhone in US marketshare. Some quick thoughts.

1. It’s an Apples to Androids comparison. Android (to Google’s credit) is on multiple devices on multiple carriers. Combine that with buy one, get one free offers and it’s no surprise that Android and RIM are in the number one and two positions. Given RIM’s been around longer, makes even more sense.

2. It shows Microsoft needs some work here. Windows Mobile has been around longer than Android and Android doing better. For now.

3. This is a fast moving market and what we’re seeing is a snapshot in time that’s not likely relevant long term. Microsoft is introducing Windows Phone 7 later this year, Palm is now a part of HP. Google, Apple and RIM are all working on OS and platform refreshes so for the moment, there are a lot of players here who will shuffle for position over time.

What I do see interesting is how well Apple has done with a single device (for the most part) on a single carrier in the US. That’s an interesting lesson that should not be missed by the competition.

Data doesn’t prove iPad affecting netbook sales

Stories like this are getting a lot of press with the assertion that netbooks are somehow being killed by the iPad. Except for one thing, the data doesn’t say that at all. In fact, if you look at the chart, you can see netbook declines started in October, well before there was even an iPad announcement. Don’t get me wrong, I think the netbook is essentially a dead idea. In fact, I wrote about it some time ago. It’s just that not everything happens because of Apple. The iPad may well be having an impact on netbook purchases now, I know I’d buy and iPad sooner than a netbook but there’s absolutely no causation shown here.

This is a reverse case of “post hoc, ergo propter hoc“. That’s Latin for “after it, therefore because of it”. It means that if one thing follows another, one thing also causes another. (it’s also the title of one of my favorite episodes of the West Wing of all time. but I digress)

The problem is that type of causal relationship is almost never true. It’s a common mistake that’s often made and in this case it’s clear to me that one thing has not proven to have led to another. It’s quite possible iPad is affecting netbooks sales. it’s also possible consumers don’t want tiny, underpowered laptops running XP or low end versions of Windows 7. The netbook success was the result of an imperfect storm, that storm has passed so not surprised to see the decline.