Unfazed, FCC plods ahead with Broadband Plan, starts a flame war with Verizon
In a pair of blog posts since the DC Circuit Court of Appeals' finding Tuesday that the Federal Communications Commission lacked the statutory authority to tell Comcast how to manage traffic on its broadband network, the FCC demonstrated it had officially joined the Internet era by making the dispute into a flame war.
No, the Court did not revoke the FCC's natural authority to regulate the Internet industry, the Commission stated yesterday. However, it may have removed the FCC's epaulets and badge, along with its right to serve as what General Counsel Austin Schlick called "the cop-on-the-beat for 21st Century communications networks."
Apple shows developers the money
Earlier today, Apple unveiled its iAd advertising platform as part of iPhone OS 4. Over the next couple of days pundits will rail about Apple competing with Google in advertising. As I explain in the previous post, "Clash of the titans: Apple, Google battle for the open Web," there is a more fundamental, worldview war underway. Apple isn't trying to compete with Google so much as make its mobile platform more appealing. The right approach is simple: Make lots of people rich.
Apple is building out a mobile platform around iPhone OS and extended services. There are right ways to make a platform more appealing, and Apple did just that with today's announcement. Successful platforms share five common traits:
Clash of the titans: Apple, Google battle for the mobile Web
Today marks the beginning of the great Apple-Google war. Contrary to what some other people will write, it's not advertising competition but something more fundamental. This clash of the titans is about competing worldviews -- whether the future mobile Web will be about the browser or applications.
There have been skirmishes over these opposing worldviews, but Apple's iAd platform is finally a declaration of war -- not because it could compete with Google's search-based advertising platform but because it provides a better way for mobile applications to make money. Somebody has to pay for all those free mobile apps. Apple will offer developers the advertising platform and give them a 60-percent cut.
Apple's Game Center will catapult iPhone into video gaming big leagues
On Thursday, Apple unveiled a major update to the iPhone OS which is expected to reach iPhone 3G/3G S and second- and third-generation iPod users sometime this summer, and iPad users in the fall. While the banner feature of this release is its multitasking capability, the announcement that Apple will open a Web-based gaming network akin to Xbox Live and PlayStation Network has potential to be the biggest coup.
Game Center lets users invite friends to play games, start multiplayer games through matchmaking, track achievements, and compare their high scores on a Web-based game network. This is a huge addition to the iPhone ecosystem which puts it on par with the two major home consoles, and actually catapults it past both Nintendo's Wii and its DS.
The net neutrality roadblock: Now only Congress can act
Where do the new media of the Internet stop, and the government regulatory bodies created for old media begin? A decision in favor of Comcast on Tuesday by the DC Circuit Court of Appeals does not answer that question; on the contrary, it actually asks the question all over again, this time under closer scrutiny from both the courts and the general public.
Tuesday's overturning of a Federal Communications Commission order that Comcast stop throttling certain applications of its Internet traffic, is a blow to proponents of the net neutrality provisions recently outlined as official principles by FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski. "Official principles" are not laws, and thus cannot be regulated -- that's what the DC Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled.
Apple reinvents multitasking for the iPhone
Multitasking, the feature that has been the absolute top of every iPhone user's want list --which, by proxy became a major marketing point for both Android and webOS -- has made its way to iPhone OS 4.
"We figured out how to implement multitasking for third party apps and avoid those things [battery life and lag]. So that's what took so long," said Apple CEO Steve Jobs this morning.
Apple has sold 150,000 iPads since launch day
"The first day we sold 300,000 iPads, and I want to update you -- as of today we've sold about 450,000," said Apple CEO Steve Jobs at today's iPhone 4 OS presentation.
The first day sales numbers were about average for Apple when compared to all of the company's prior mobile device launches, and included all of the units pre-ordered between March 12 and April 3 (22 days). In the 4 days that have followed the device's launch, a further 150,000 iPads have sold.
Microsoft group shift confirms consumer-centric approach to Windows Phone 7
Windows Mobile was never just a consumer product; it was also a significant player in handheld terminals, in-vehicle systems, and ruggedized consoles for business and industry.
But that whole branch of business-oriented Windows Mobile devices used to be overseen by Microsoft's Mobile Communications Business group (MCB), the same group responsible for Windows Mobile-powered consumer devices, despite the fact that they were very different.
7 people who are returning their iPads
You could be among them, but don't delay.
Months of hype built up your expectations -- like one of those Internet romances. There's what you imagined the iPad to be, and now there is the reality. Can you annul this sorry relationship? Yes, within 14 days of purchase and by coughing up a 10-percent restocking fee.
Skyfire: BlackBerry development just not as good as Android
Popular third party mobile Web browser Skyfire posted an announcement last week that it would be opening up alpha testing for its forthcoming Webkit-based Android browser. Within one hour of making the announcement, over 3,000 people contacted Skyfire to get in on the test. The alpha team, unfortunately, is only going to be 30 testers.
So today, Skyfire's Jeff Glueck addressed the undoubtedly huge interest swelling around the new Skyfire product, and talked about why Android development has superseded development on the BlackBerry platform.
Windows 7 SP1 leaks, downloadable now
In March, the Windows team announced the upcoming release of Service Pack 1 for Windows 7, and Windows Server 2008 R2, but did not set a date of availability.
At the time, Microsoft's Brandon LeBlanc said, "For Windows 7, SP1 includes only minor updates, among which are previous updates that are already delivered through Windows Update. SP1 for Windows 7 will, however, deliver an updated Remote Desktop client that takes advantage of RemoteFX introduced in the server-side with SP1 for Windows Server 2008 R2."
Dropico lets you drag and drop photos between sites
Dropico is a new rich Web application that lets users manage their photo albums from Facebook, Twitter, Picasa, Flickr, Photobucket, Myspace, and Bebo all in one central location with a simple drag and drop interface.
Users pair their accounts from those sites with Dropico, and then they can pull photos off of one site, edit them, and pipe them down to another site quickly and easily. Additionally, users can pull photos from their friends or favorite profiles and move them to other sites. For example, if you follow the Library of Congress' Flickr stream and you discover something that you really like, you can drag it from the Flickr window over to the Twitter window and post it to your Twitter feed via yfrog, twitgoo, or twitpic.
UK ad board says Motorola Dext isn't the 'first phone with social skills'
The UK's Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) frequently cracks down on advertisements from consumer technology companies, asking companies to fix commercial claims that are confusing or misleading.
In 2008, the ASA requested that Apple remove or change iPhone 3G television advertisements because their claims that the device was "really fast" were exaggerated and misleading.
iPad Wi-Fi complaints echo those of Nexus One, iPod Touch
Since Apple's iPad launch just over two days ago, frustrated users have packed Apple's iPad support forum with complaints of weak and unreliable Wi-Fi connections. The problem has even affected two Betanews staffers who got iPads on the device's launch day.
Some users have speculated that Wi-Fi issues are related to chassis shielding, antenna placement, or software problems, but there has not yet been any concrete evidence to support any of those guesses.
Should Microsoft franchise its retail stores?
If you believe Mid-March job postings, Microsoft is preparing to launch two new retail stores, in Denver and San Diego, bringing the count to four. That's not exactly rapid expansion, given two other stores opened in October -- Mission Viejo, Calif. and Scottsdale, Arizona. Microsoft has to move more aggressively into retail, if it's going to rebuild its brand image and establish an appealing digital lifestyle for the twenty-tens.
The company has an image problem that smart marketing and savvy retailing can repair. Yesterday, at MSNBC, Bill Briggs called Apple "fresh" and Microsoft "frumpy". The nut graph: "Microsoft, to some, appears a tad flabby in the middle -- a Chrysler Town & Country driver with a 9 p.m. bedtime. Apple, in some eyes, looks sleeker and younger -- a hipster in ragtop Beemer packed with chic friends sporting mobile toys."
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