NEW YORK--Collins Osei, who had bought an iPhone 3G last year, came to the AT&T store Friday not to buy the latest-generation iPhone 3G S, but instead he wanted to downgrade to a less expensive Nokia phone.
Osei said his decision to go back to a basic-feature phone was all about cost. The iPhone and its service plan are simply too expensive, he said. Osei, who is in the middle of his two-year contract with AT&T, had his iPhone 3G stolen recently. But he said replacing it with a new one would cost too much. Instead, he picked up a Nokia 2600 for a mere $43.
But Osei's decision didn't hinge just on the upfront cost of the phone. He also said he was tired of paying the additional $30 a month data charge that is mandatory with the iPhone.
"The iPhone plan was just too expensive," he said. "They made me pay $30 extra a month for data, and I don't really need the Internet on my phone. So I went back to a regular phone. And now I'm on a plan that costs $39.99 a month."
Osei might not be the only consumer out there turned off by the high cost of the iPhone service fee. Unlike previous iPhone launch days, there was no line of people this morning waiting outside the AT&T Time Square store hoping to get the latest iPhone 3G S. In fact, it looked like more customers were leaving the store empty-handed or with other devices than those leaving with new iPhones.
The reason for this might be that the new-generation iPhone is only an incremental advance in terms of hardware over last year's model. The two main highlights of the new phone are its faster speed and larger memory. Or perhaps more consumers had their new iPhones shipped directly to their homes.
But the sparse crowds at the AT&T store might also have something to do with the slumping economy. With the national unemployment rate over 9 percent, some consumers are reconsidering buying expensive smartphones and pricey service plans. AT&T and Apple have worked hard to bring the entry cost of the iPhone down to an affordable level. The new iPhone 3G S starts at $199 with a two-year contract, and last year's 8GB iPhone 3G has been reduced to just $99. But customers are required to sign two-year contracts for these phones, which at a minimum will cost them $1,680 over the life of their service contracts.
Peter Pham, CEO of Billshrink.com, a Web site that helps consumers cut waste out of their monthly bills said that it sometimes takes consumers a little while before they realize the full impact of the service fees on their wallets.
"Most people don't realize how much they are paying for their service until they are about six to seven months into their two-year contracts," he said. "And then they start to realize that their bills are really high."
The majority of cell phone users in the U.S. don't use all the services that they pay for, Pham added. His company's Web site can analyze consumers' phone bills and help them figure the best plan for their usage patterns given where they live.
Meanwhile, smartphones, such as the iPhone, continue to sell well. Analysts are predicting a big launch weekend for the new iPhone 3G S. Apple and AT&T are expected to sell more than 500,000 units over the next few days. Apple sold out of its preorder phones well before launch day, and it looked like there were steady lines Friday morning at Apple stores throughout the country.
But as the smartphone market matures and if the economy worsens, it will be interesting to see if consumers start demanding less expensive data plans from their carriers. Or perhaps some, like Collins Osei, will simply go back to their basic cell phones.
Showing posts with label smartphone. Show all posts
Showing posts with label smartphone. Show all posts
Monday, June 22, 2009
T-Mobile announces second Google phone
Competition in the smartphone market is heating up this summer as one new hot smartphone after another hits the street. The latest is T-Mobile's next Google Android device, called the myTouch.
T-Mobile will announce the new smartphone Monday. It is the second smartphone the carrier has introduced that uses Google's open-source mobile operating system, Android. T-Mobile introduced the world's first Google Android phone, called the G1, last fall. And so far the company claims it has sold over 1 million devices.
The myTouch is manufactured by HTC and is essentially the same hardware design as the Google Ion, which is also known as the HTC Magic. The device was introduced at the GSMA Mobile World Congress in Barcelona in February and is now being sold by Vodafone in various markets around the world.
The Google Ion/HTC Magic has been described as thinner than the G1 and slightly smaller than Apple's iPhone. But it features a large 3.2-inch touch screen with a resolution of 320 x480 pixels and no physical keyboard. The phone offers network support for 3G and Wi-Fi.
Kent German, an editor for CNET Reviews, characterized the Google Ion/HTC Magic as having a "sleek, attractive design with a gorgeous display, tactile controls, and an easy-to-use interface. " German said that the phone was the Android device he had been waiting for.
CNET's German hasn't yet reviewed the new myTouch, which will come in new colors and have enhanced software capabilities specially designed for T-Mobile.
The myTouch comes with 512 Megabytes of internal memory and supports microSD for external storage. The device will ship with a 4GB microSD card, but customers can add more storage if they'd like.
Even though T-Mobile's first Android phone hasn't even been out a year, T-Mobile is calling the myTouch its premier Android smartphone, said Andrew Sherrard, vice president at T-Mobile. The carrier will announce a few more Android devices later this year, but it will be focusing much of its marketing efforts promoting the myTouch. And while Sherrard said the G1 isn't going away anytime soon, he believes the myTouch will have an even better chance to pick up new customers who are looking for an easy to use smartphone.
T-Mobile plans to sell the myTouch for $199 with a two-year service contract, and it will be available to current T-Mobile customers starting July 8. Non-T-Mobile customers will be able to get the new phone in early August.
The myTouch is entering the market just as every major smartphone maker is also introducing its latest and greatest device. Three other smartphones makers have already started selling phones this summer. Palm's much anticipated Pre was introduced on Sprint Nextel's network two weeks ago. Nokia followed with its U.S. debut of the N97, touch-screen smartphone. And Apple started selling its faster and memory-enhanced iPhone 3G S on Friday.
Like the Palm Pre and Apple iPhone 3G S, the myTouch will be sold exclusively through a single wireless operator in the U.S. And as a result the $199 price tag is subsidized and requires consumers sign a two-year service contract with the carriers. By contrast, Nokia's N97 is not subsidized and is sold at full retail price without a service contract.
So how does T-Mobile expect the myTouch to stand out among all these other cool new phones? The key, Sherrard said, is personalization. While the basic hardware design of the myTouch is the same as the HTC Magic, T-Mobile has made enhancements to the device both in terms of hardware and software.
"No two myTouch devices will be alike," Sherrard said. "They will be as unique as the users that own them."
From a software perspective, consumers will have the opportunity to completely customize their myTouch device with various Android applications. In retail stores, T-Mobile sales representatives will help customers set up their own personalized device before they leave the store.
One example of an application that will make the phone more unique to a particular individual is called Sherpa, created by Geodelic. This application is a location-based service that uses GPS to help users find restaurants, movie theaters, and other businesses or points of interest that are nearby.
What differentiates this service from other location based services is that Sherpa learns where users have been and what they have searched for in the past, and the application is able to make recommendations. It might show some local businesses that it thinks a user might be interested in, such as the nearest dry cleaner. Or the application might highlight special events going on in that area. It also will tell users how far they are from whichever location they are trying to find.
The application, which is one of 5,000 applications available on the Android Marketplace, will be exclusive to T-Mobile, Sherrard said. The myTouch will also have special Google features baked in, such as easy picture uploading to Picasa and easy video loading to YouTube, both Web properties owned by Google.
Some other ways users will be able to customize their phones includes the ability to add widgets, music, a personal calendar, photos, and Web link shortcuts that can all be accessed with a single click.
"What we have found is that once consumers know how to customize a device and they add everything they want on it, they respond very well to having a phone that is specially designed for them," Sherrard said.
Still, the battle for the smartphone customer could get bloody. Even though Apple's iPhone 3G S offered only a modest hardware upgrade, it still flew off the shelves the first weekend it was on the market. Analysts said earlier they had expected Apple to sell 500,000 iPhone 3G S devices during the weekend, and it's likely that the company easily exceeded these expectations.
The Palm Pre also got off to a good start with devices selling out the first weekend it was on sale. And Research In Motion, one of the biggest smartphone makers on the market, expects to introduce the BlackBerry Tour and the next generation of its touch-screen BlackBerry phone, the Storm, later this year.
In the end, Sherrard believes consumers will seethe myTouch as more than just a phone.
"This is more than a product launch for us," Sherrard said. "We want consumers to view this as an experience that we are creating for them."
T-Mobile will announce the new smartphone Monday. It is the second smartphone the carrier has introduced that uses Google's open-source mobile operating system, Android. T-Mobile introduced the world's first Google Android phone, called the G1, last fall. And so far the company claims it has sold over 1 million devices.
The myTouch is manufactured by HTC and is essentially the same hardware design as the Google Ion, which is also known as the HTC Magic. The device was introduced at the GSMA Mobile World Congress in Barcelona in February and is now being sold by Vodafone in various markets around the world.
The Google Ion/HTC Magic has been described as thinner than the G1 and slightly smaller than Apple's iPhone. But it features a large 3.2-inch touch screen with a resolution of 320 x480 pixels and no physical keyboard. The phone offers network support for 3G and Wi-Fi.
Kent German, an editor for CNET Reviews, characterized the Google Ion/HTC Magic as having a "sleek, attractive design with a gorgeous display, tactile controls, and an easy-to-use interface. " German said that the phone was the Android device he had been waiting for.
CNET's German hasn't yet reviewed the new myTouch, which will come in new colors and have enhanced software capabilities specially designed for T-Mobile.
The myTouch comes with 512 Megabytes of internal memory and supports microSD for external storage. The device will ship with a 4GB microSD card, but customers can add more storage if they'd like.
Even though T-Mobile's first Android phone hasn't even been out a year, T-Mobile is calling the myTouch its premier Android smartphone, said Andrew Sherrard, vice president at T-Mobile. The carrier will announce a few more Android devices later this year, but it will be focusing much of its marketing efforts promoting the myTouch. And while Sherrard said the G1 isn't going away anytime soon, he believes the myTouch will have an even better chance to pick up new customers who are looking for an easy to use smartphone.
T-Mobile plans to sell the myTouch for $199 with a two-year service contract, and it will be available to current T-Mobile customers starting July 8. Non-T-Mobile customers will be able to get the new phone in early August.
The myTouch is entering the market just as every major smartphone maker is also introducing its latest and greatest device. Three other smartphones makers have already started selling phones this summer. Palm's much anticipated Pre was introduced on Sprint Nextel's network two weeks ago. Nokia followed with its U.S. debut of the N97, touch-screen smartphone. And Apple started selling its faster and memory-enhanced iPhone 3G S on Friday.
Like the Palm Pre and Apple iPhone 3G S, the myTouch will be sold exclusively through a single wireless operator in the U.S. And as a result the $199 price tag is subsidized and requires consumers sign a two-year service contract with the carriers. By contrast, Nokia's N97 is not subsidized and is sold at full retail price without a service contract.
So how does T-Mobile expect the myTouch to stand out among all these other cool new phones? The key, Sherrard said, is personalization. While the basic hardware design of the myTouch is the same as the HTC Magic, T-Mobile has made enhancements to the device both in terms of hardware and software.
"No two myTouch devices will be alike," Sherrard said. "They will be as unique as the users that own them."
From a software perspective, consumers will have the opportunity to completely customize their myTouch device with various Android applications. In retail stores, T-Mobile sales representatives will help customers set up their own personalized device before they leave the store.
One example of an application that will make the phone more unique to a particular individual is called Sherpa, created by Geodelic. This application is a location-based service that uses GPS to help users find restaurants, movie theaters, and other businesses or points of interest that are nearby.
What differentiates this service from other location based services is that Sherpa learns where users have been and what they have searched for in the past, and the application is able to make recommendations. It might show some local businesses that it thinks a user might be interested in, such as the nearest dry cleaner. Or the application might highlight special events going on in that area. It also will tell users how far they are from whichever location they are trying to find.
The application, which is one of 5,000 applications available on the Android Marketplace, will be exclusive to T-Mobile, Sherrard said. The myTouch will also have special Google features baked in, such as easy picture uploading to Picasa and easy video loading to YouTube, both Web properties owned by Google.
Some other ways users will be able to customize their phones includes the ability to add widgets, music, a personal calendar, photos, and Web link shortcuts that can all be accessed with a single click.
"What we have found is that once consumers know how to customize a device and they add everything they want on it, they respond very well to having a phone that is specially designed for them," Sherrard said.
Still, the battle for the smartphone customer could get bloody. Even though Apple's iPhone 3G S offered only a modest hardware upgrade, it still flew off the shelves the first weekend it was on the market. Analysts said earlier they had expected Apple to sell 500,000 iPhone 3G S devices during the weekend, and it's likely that the company easily exceeded these expectations.
The Palm Pre also got off to a good start with devices selling out the first weekend it was on sale. And Research In Motion, one of the biggest smartphone makers on the market, expects to introduce the BlackBerry Tour and the next generation of its touch-screen BlackBerry phone, the Storm, later this year.
In the end, Sherrard believes consumers will seethe myTouch as more than just a phone.
"This is more than a product launch for us," Sherrard said. "We want consumers to view this as an experience that we are creating for them."
Sunday, June 14, 2009
APPLE IPHONE 3GS 32GB Product Description
Meet the fastest, most powerful iPhone yet. iPhone 3G S features video recording, Voice Control, up to 32GB of storage, and more.
The Fastest iPhone Ever:
The first thing you’ll notice about iPhone 3G S is how quickly you can launch applications. Web pages render in a fraction of the time, and you can view email attachments faster. Improved performance and updated 3D graphics deliver an incredible gaming experience, too. In fact, everything you do on iPhone 3G S is up to 2x faster and more responsive than iPhone 3G.Video:
Now you can shoot video, edit it, and share it — all on your iPhone 3G S. Shoot high-quality VGA video in portrait or landscape. Trim your footage by adjusting start and end points. Then share your video in an email, post it to your MobileMe gallery, publish it on YouTube, or sync it back to your Mac or PC using iTunes.
Learn more about video recording
3-Megapixel Camera:
The new 3-megapixel camera takes great still photos, too, thanks to built-in autofocus and a handy new feature that lets you tap the display to focus on anything (or anyone) you want.Voice Control:
Voice Control recognizes the names in your Contacts and knows the music on your iPod. So if you want to place a call or play a song, all you have to do is ask.Compass:
With a built-in digital compass, iPhone 3G S can point the way. Use the new Compass app, or watch as it automatically reorients maps to match the direction you’re facing.Cut, Copy & Paste:
Cut, copy, and paste words and photos, even between applications. Copy and paste images and content from the web, too.
Landscape Keyboard:
Want more room to type on the intelligent software keyboard? Rotate iPhone to landscape to use a larger keyboard in Mail, Messages, Notes, and Safari.Messages:
Send messages with text, video, photos, audio, locations, and contact information. You can even forward one or more messages to others.MMS support from AT&T coming in late summer.
Search:
Find what you’re looking for across your iPhone, all from one convenient place. Spotlight searches all your contacts, email, calendars, and notes, as well as everything in your iPod.Accessibility:
iPhone 3G S offers accessibility features to assist users who are visually or hearing impaired. These features include the VoiceOver screen reader, a Zoom feature, White on Black display options, Mono Audio, and more.Internet Tethering:
Surf the web from practically anywhere. Now you can share the 3G connection on your iPhone with your Mac notebook or PC laptop.Tethering is not currently offered in the U.S. and some other countries. See your carrier for availability.
Voice Memos:
Capture and share a thought, a memo, a meeting, or any audio recording on the go with the new Voice Memos application.YouTube:
Watch YouTube videos wherever you are. Log in to your YouTube account to save and sync bookmarks and rate your favorites.
Size and weight:
Height: 4.5 inches (115.5 mm)
Width: 2.4 inches (62.1 mm)
Depth: 0.48 inch (12.3 mm)
Weight: 4.8 ounces (135 grams)
Cellular and wireless :
UMTS/HSDPA (850, 1900, 2100 MHz)
GSM/EDGE (850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz)
Wi-Fi (802.11b/g)
Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR
Location :
Assisted GPS
Digital compass2
Wi-Fi
Cellular
Power and battery :
Built-in rechargeable lithium-ion batteryCharging via USB to computer system or power adapter
Talk time:
Up to 12 hours on 2G
Up to 5 hours on 3G
Standby time: Up to 300 hours
Internet use:
Up to 5 hours on 3GUp to 9 hours on Wi-Fi
Video playback: Up to 10 hours
Audio playback: Up to 30 hours
Mac system requirements:
Mac computer with USB 2.0 portMac OS X v10.4.11 or later
iTunes 8.2 or later (free download from www.downloads.bloggeradda.net)
iTunes Store account
Internet access
Windows system requirements:
PC with USB 2.0 portWindows Vista; or Windows XP Home or Professional with Service Pack 2 or later
iTunes 8.2 or later (free download from www.downloads.bloggeradda.net)
iTunes Store account
Internet access
Environmental requirements:
Operating temperature: 32° to 95° F(0° to 35° C)
Nonoperating temperature: -4° to 113° F(-20° to 45° C)
Relative humidity: 5% to 95% noncondensing
Maximum operating altitude: 10,000 feet (3000 m)
Capacity: 16GB or 32GB flash drive
Color: Black or White
Display:
3.5-inch (diagonal) widescreen Multi-Touch display480-by-320-pixel resolution at 163 ppi
Fingerprint-resistant oleophobic coating
Support for display of multiple languages and characters simultaneously
Audio playback:
Frequency response: 20Hz to 20,000HzAudio formats supported: AAC, Protected AAC, MP3, MP3 VBR, Audible (formats 2, 3, and 4), Apple Lossless, AIFF, and WAV
User-configurable maximum volume limit
Video playback:
Video formats supported: H.264 video, up to 1.5 Mbps, 640 by 480 pixels, 30 frames per second, Low-Complexity version of the H.264 Baseline Profile with AAC-LC audio up to 160 Kbps, 48kHz, stereo audio in .m4v, .mp4, and .mov file formats; H.264 video, up to 2.5 Mbps, 640 by 480 pixels, 30 frames per second, Baseline Profile up to Level 3.0 with AAC-LC audio up to 160 Kbps, 48kHz, stereo audio in .m4v, .mp4, and .mov file formats; MPEG-4 video, up to 2.5 Mbps, 640 by 480 pixels, 30 frames per second, Simple Profile with AAC-LC audio up to 160 Kbps, 48kHz, stereo audio in .m4v, .mp4, and .mov file formats
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