Recent Comments:
Verizon's RemoSync brings Direct Push email to select handsets {Engadget Mobile}
Jun 11th 2008 10:36AM You can rent an exchange server account for as low as $5/mo for personal email from various providers, and many do. :-)
Verizon's Samsung i770 in production trim? {Engadget Mobile}
Jun 10th 2008 6:01PM Especially more Raphael... :-)
Verizon's RemoSync brings Direct Push email to select handsets {Engadget Mobile}
Jun 10th 2008 5:58PM "Any Apps" ring a bell?
Regardless, I expect the "small and medium sized businesses" that this is targeted at won't partake either. Just doesn't seem worth it to me, but only time will tell.
Lucky for Verizon though, I bet this /will/ be a big hit with suburban teens whose parents spend way too much money on them already anyway, and who just HAVE to get all their email as soon as possible (I work with high schools and have seen a scary number of kids with blackberries for this exact reason).
Verizon's RemoSync brings Direct Push email to select handsets {Engadget Mobile}
Jun 10th 2008 5:21PM I guess it offends me because it's one more step away from "openness"...which they claim to be trying to achieve.
There are a number of solutions to do this for free already. This is like VZ Navigator on a smartphone that already has GPS and Google Maps -- a useless feature with equal or better free alternatives...except for Verizon crippling the phone, locking down features, and using their own proprietary stuff that you have to pay more for.
Sure, this will work on not-so-smart phones, but the price point for most of those phones isn't far enough below a low end PDA phone to warrant $10/mo -- at least, so it seems to me without actually doing all the math.
And I disagree about losing Blackberry customers to this. For sheer device functionality, I can't picture anyone who has used a Blackberry being willing to go back a Razr or something. The interfaces just don't cut it.
Plus businesses, who have built IT and security infrastructures around RIM's offerings, most definitely won't give them up for this.
The iPhone 3G on AT&T: we ask the burning questions {Engadget Mobile}
Jun 10th 2008 12:59PM Typically the ineligible upgrade price is at least twice the contract price.
I personally would expect to have to shell out around $500 for an upgrade to an iPhone for existing customers.
Remember, AT&T's goal is to get you to sign that contract. If you're already on, there's no reason for them to care.
Now, if the contract termination fee is around $150, and you cancel and come back.... :-) (Disclaimer: I'm sure there's some contract clause about that.)
Verizon's RemoSync brings Direct Push email to select handsets {Engadget Mobile}
Jun 10th 2008 12:28PM This is kind of a sad.
This is a good feature, that works on a lot of phones that would have otherwise never seen anything resembling push email or any kind of useful contacts/calendar synchronization.
But once again, Verizon is taking a good feature and charging an arm and a leg for it.
I wonder how they do their pricing research? I bet at something like $4/month this thing would probably sell like hotcakes, but $10/month just seems...offensive.
The iPhone 3G on AT&T: we ask the burning questions {Engadget Mobile}
Jun 10th 2008 11:46AM That study was crap -- it found AT&T was the fastest in like 3 places, which was all they looked at.
AT&T's HSDPA is the fastest under ideal conditions, sure, but the 3G coverage leaves a lot to be desired, you just don't get those ideal conditions very often. There are lots of gaps even in "fully" covered areas, and even the most optimistic coverage maps only have 3G in and around large and medium-sized cities -- smaller cities and sprawling suburbs are typically out of luck, as are major highway and rail corridors, and often airports, which is a glaring omission.
Maybe the 3G upgrades for the new iPhone will change some of that, but I'll believe it when I see it. I think they're just adding new markets (more smaller cities, which is good), but not expanding existing markets.
To be truly mobile, "coverage with a moderate speed" trumps "blazingly fast in a handful of places" every time.
Verizon is evil, no doubt about it, but you can't beat their EVDO coverage in the U.S.
HP goes wild: 16 new business / consumer laptop models {Engadget}
Jun 10th 2008 11:19AM Nice job missing the point.
You think it's absurd to have a ton of posts about one segment of the market and pretending that it overshadows all others?
You're right.
Steve was just implying (well over your head, obviously) that it's absurd for Apple too.
Underlying point, for the slow among us: We don't need Apple-like posting for everything, we need everything-like posting for Apple.
Reign in the hype.
HP goes wild: 16 new business / consumer laptop models {Engadget}
Jun 10th 2008 11:07AM Well let's be fair, they have to cover all the important steps in an apple product release. You need a post for each one:
Apple Rumors about Product X
More Apple Rumors about Product X
Even More Apple Rumors about Product X
Confirmed Apple Rumors about Product X
Fuzzy Photos of Something that Might be Product X
Fuzzier Photos of Something that We Know Is Not Product X
Less Fuzzy Photos of What Really Is Product X
OMG!!! Apple Releases Product X! We Can't Believe it!!
Product X Has Innovative Usability!
Product X Has Feature 1
Product X Has Feature 2, and We Love It Anyway Even Though it Sucks
Product X Has Feature 3, and We Love It Anyway Even Though it Sucks
Product X Has Feature 4
Product X Has Feature 5, and We Love It Anyway Even Though it Sucks
Product X Has Feature 6
Product X Doesn't Have Feature A That Everyone Else Has, but We Love It Anyway
Product X Doesn't Have Feature B That Everyone Else Has, but We Love It Anyway
Product X Doesn't Work With Anything But Apple Stuff, but We Love It Anyway
Product X Has Lots of Previously Undisclosed Restrictions, but We Love It Anyway
Product X Is Way Overpriced, but We Love It Anyway
[ok, the above isn't true of the iPhone 3G, but is true of most Apple products]
Product X In Our Hands!
Product X From the Side!
Product X From the Front!
Product X Held By A Hot Chick!
Product X Powered Up!
Product X Powered down!
Product X's Main Screen!
Product X's Other Screens!
We Love Product X!
Product X after One Day
Product X after Two Days
Product X after Getting Beaten Up For Constantly Telling Everyone How Much We Love Product X!
Product X Has Bugs, Apple Won't Fix Them for Months, but We Love it Anyway
...
Apple Rumors About Product X2 -- Sorry, Product X Early Adopters!
More Apple Rumors About Product X2
...
And on, and on, and on, and on, and on....
Let's face it, Apple is the king hype, doesn't matter what the product is.
The simple fact that I took the time to type all that crap is evidence enough of their success in generating that hype. :)
HTC Touch Diamond boot video, for your eyes only {Engadget Mobile}
Jun 7th 2008 7:25PM Maybe, but from a productivity standpoint, I'm distinctly underwhelmed.
Don't get me wrong, it looks great, but it also seems borderline unusable; every function is some kind of sliding motion, there seemed to be very little simple taps that did anything useful, and its response time seems laggy.
I hope it's like Windows XP, with a checkbox that says "disable useless special effects that slow you down".
I also hope the Raphael / Touch Pro is more productivity-friendly out of the box.
