Newsweek has an article on Apple and Google’s move to wrestle control away from wireless carriers which commoditizes the network. Verizon started the battle discussing the 3G network with videos like this.
ATT fires back with Apple’s help.
But, how many people really like being locked into one carrier for 2 years? Did all this advertising really work or did it just piss off people more as they knew their networks didn’t work as well as advertised. Apple and Google are changing the game by having users buy devices, and the network is a lower priority. How many users who bought iPhones really wanted to be on the AT&T network? We’ll see if Google’s strategy to be on all the networks works vs. Apple.
Buh-Bye, Wireless Guys
How Silicon Valley conquered the carriers.
TECHNOLOGY
Handheld History
Remember life without your iPhone, Blackberry or Treo? From the Apple Newton to the newest Palm Pre, here's a look at the evolution of the personal digital assistant.
The Best of Apple's Innovations
By Daniel Lyons | NEWSWEEK
Published Feb 4, 2010
From the magazine issue dated Feb 15, 2010
I like to imagine that it happened this way: One day the computer guys in Silicon Valley looked over at the mobile-phone industry and realized those carriers have figured out the ultimate racket. They sell you a phone, lock you into a two-year contract, and anything you want to buy for the phone—accessories, ringtones, games—you have to buy from them. They control the whole thing, from top to bottom, and instead of getting a one-time sale, they get a recurring revenue stream. "Wow!" the computer guys said. "Why aren't we doing that? "
Well, now they are. Slowly but surely, companies like Apple and Google are wresting control away from the mobile carriers. Instead of a world where the companies that make the phones are just dumb hardware makers—silent partners who never get to touch the customer—Google and Apple are using the transition to smart phones as a way to flip the mobile-phone business model on its head.
But, as the article mentions this is just changing customer behavior from wireless carrier to device maker.
Eventually, this means that we'll all be able to buy a phone and run it on any network we want, which is what we should have been able to do all along. There's a risk, however, that we're fleeing one cage only to run straight into another, and the only thing that will change is the name of our jailer.
Part of the reason why Apple and Google have been able to do this is how well their device works with data centers that the company owns to provider a richer experience that consumers want.
RIM made the same mistake Windows Moblie did in having a browser that sucked. Windows Mobile 7 will fix this problem, and RIM is joining as well.
The latest info we’ve heard has the browser being completely re-developed from the ground up and based on Webkit — a far cry from the POS Java relic BB’s currently run. RIM is gunning to take it even further than “just a webkit” browser however. Previously leaked documents and other claims from various sources have RIM tightly integrating their BIS/BES services and server side technology into the mix (which any Opera Mini users should know…) greatly speeds up browsing speeds, rending accuracy, and manages to drastically cut down on bandwidth.