AT&T (well, Cingular at the time) and Apple entered into a very peculiar marriage of convenience to bring the original iPhone to American airwaves whereby AT&T shelled out cash to Cupertino each and every month for iPhone subscribers on its network (the exact terms were never publicized). Very simply, Apple had something good; they knew it and leveraged it to the very maximum of their ability, dangling the tantalizing prospect of endless publicity and droves of new customers in exchange for the deal. That same logic left Apple struggling to find partners in Europe, though, ultimately deploying the 2.5G model in just five markets there under AT&T-like terms.

Fast forward to July 2008 and the iPhone 3G, and the picture has changed just a bit. At least 70 countries will see the updated version before the year's out, but why the sudden change of heart by the world's carriers? Turns out the answer might lie in a revamped sales model that more closely mirrors the deals carriers set up with other manufacturers. AT&T has gone on the record saying that it'll take a huge revenue hit -- 10 to 12 cents per share both this year and next before finally planning on profitability in 2010 -- in order to deeply subsidize the phone on its own accord, taking Apple and its precious monthly kickbacks out of the picture. This is presumably the same kind of setup Apple is offering to carriers around the globe, a setup that they're already well acquainted with that provides a clear path to black ink (or so they would hope, anyway).

What does this mean for Apple, then? There's some chatter that the move away from a monthly revenue model will "force" Apple into charging for firmware updates much the way it does for the iPod touch, but that's not really a valid train of thought. We already know that Apple's committed to updating iPhones at no charge, something it can do by virtue of its accounting model where it recognizes revenue from the sales of devices over time. That accounting model was chosen precisely because it looked best on paper while Apple was continuing to churn out fee-free upgrades, not because of the original revenue model in place with AT&T. For what it's worth, they're still going to be rolling in the dough; carriers, on the other hand, are going to be waiting a while to dig out of that deep subsidy hole.

As always, Apple is busy at the patent office this week, with two recently uncovered filings to make life just a little bit easier for Mr. Joe Person Man. The first of these is a system to track how far away you are from a cell tower, and to warn you via your phone when you're about to drop your call -- with similar applications for GPS and WiFi devices. The other patent is a Bluetooth-based system to track down lost objects like keys or your Bluetooth headset via the age old method of "you're getting hotter" and you're getting colder." Sure, Apple's version might have a fancy readout on the phone display, but it's the same basic principle -- no triangulation going on here. Of course, Apple patents all sorts of crazy stuff that never makes it to market, but at least these two have a semblance of possibility.

[Thanks, Mark]

Hold everything -- did you have any idea surging cellphone use was putting a damper on landline utilization? Oh, right, common knowledge. Anywho, a recent study conducted here in America found that three in ten households actually relied solely or primarily on their mobile to communicate. In the latter half of 2007, it was discovered that 16-percent of domiciles didn't even have a landline, while 13-percent had one but took all (or nearly all) of their calls via cell. Just to put things in perspective, only 5-percent of US homes were cellphone-only in 2004, while 1.082-percent had not yet surrendered their can-and-string. If you're one of those number lovers, hold your head up high and hit the read link for lots more data about this totally engrossing topic.

[Image courtesy of Preston LNO]

Sony just revealed a bit more about AT&T's Mobile TV service launching in May. We now know that one of the two exclusive AT&T channels will be called PIX, Sony's new feature film channel for cellphones. The service is a first of its kind in the US... for good reason. Oh, it's not that we have anything against the roster of films including "Ghostbusters," "Philadelphia" and "Karate Kid." It's more the prospect of sitting in front of that tiny mobile screen to watch a full-length film without the ability to pause, fast forward or rewind. This is live broadcast folks. Nevertheless, Sony Pictures claims to understand the risk. According to Eric Berger, VP Mobile Entertainment at Sony Pictures Television, "We recognize that people are on the go with their mobile phone and coming and going. This isn't for people looking to view a movie for the first time. It's OK to miss the beginning." Films will run on PIX for a month with new additions added weakly weekly.

About this time last year, the cab drivers of New York City were taking a stand against GPS installations. This year, they've taken to the streets of downtown Manhattan in order to rally for the right to use cellphones while on duty. For those unaware, NYC cabbies are currently disallowed from using hands-free apparatuses while on the clock, and those in the profession are arguing that having one would enable them to feel safer and more connected to the outside world. Unfortunately, the New York City Taxi and Limousine Commission doesn't seem ready to budge, as it reportedly replied to the lobbying by stating that "cellphone abuse has resulted in many instances of drivers leaving their passengers feeling improperly served and downright unsafe." What's a cab driver got to do to get his / her Snake on, huh?

[Via textually]

On the same day that Texas Instruments chose to showcase a new chip that would enable HD recording capabilities on cellphones, On2 Technologies is taking a moment from its hectic day in Barcelona to trumpet an all new 1080p hardware RTL video decoder. The Hantro 8190 reportedly supports Adobe Flash along with H.263, H.264, MPEG-2, MPEG-4, VC-1, Sorenson Spark and VP6 video formats, and it can even handle JPEG images up to 16-megapixels. According to On2, the device was created to be easily integrated with ARM, MIPS and "other embedded CPU and DSP cores," and can supposedly decode 1080p H.264 video at 30 frames-per-second using a clock frequency of just 165MHz. As it stands, the Hantro 8190 is currently available for licensing, but only time will tell who's going to bite.

Anyone looking to fight the Android machine is likely going to need to roll in the heavy artillery, and that's exactly the kind of momentum the LiMo Foundation is looking to build with an announcement today that they've added five -- count 'em, five new members to their merry band. Most notable of the bunch are Huawei, the Chinese hardware firm just now making inroads into the American market, and Trolltech, the company possibly best known for its now-discontinued Greenphone Linux candybar that develops and maintains the Qtopia platform. Existing members include NTT DoCoMo, Panasonic, Motorola, NEC, Samsung, and Vodafone, giving these guys some serious firepower in founder NTT's ongoing effort to establish a consistent Linux-based platform across its handsets. Of course, the Japanese megacarrier is a member of the Open Handset Alliance, too, so maybe everyone can end up playing nice in the name of open source success after all.

There appears to be some speculation floating around that Dell is about to cannonball itself into the mobile pool, big time. According to whispered rumors from dark hallways (AKA Forbes), the company is putting together a smartphone / multimedia device which might be rearing its head sometime early in 2008. The device -- being developed with the help of Taiwanese company Quanta -- will sport video and audio playback, as well as internet functionality. The rumors are strengthened by the company's addition of former Motorola cell phone executive vice president Ron Garriques, and with the dropping of its PDA and DAP products, there's certainly a gaping void left open for a new device. Of course, it also doesn't hurt that Dell's recent acquisition of Zing and trademarking of the "Zingspot" moniker suggests the company is getting into content distribution -- perfect for a shiny new convergence device. Only time will tell if the PC powerhouse can get into the very-crowded smartphone game, too.

[Via InformationWeek]

Details are pretty light on this one, but Reuters is now reporting that Skype and UK cellphone operator 3 are currently working on a new handset that promises to "make Internet calls mobile." According to Reuters, the phone is expected to "work in the normal way," but also include an option to let users bypass all those hefty cellphone charges and contact other Skype users directly in order to save a few bucks. We assume that means Skype will operate over 3G data, although that's yet to be confirmed by either party. We should know more soon enough, however, as the handset is apparently on track to be released before the end of the year.