With just a few days to go until the iPhone lunacy kicks off in the UK, Carphone Warehouse is already rubbing its hands in a Fagan-like way, predicting that up to 10,000 of the stylish handsets could be flogged in the first day.
When I say ‘day’ though, I mean a really short day as the phones will go on sale at the company’s stores on Friday evening at 6pm for four hours until the doors shut at 10pm.
According to Reuters, Darren Gardner, head of wireless UK at Carphone Warehouse, said they are hoping 10,000 will fly out the doors on Day One from its 800 nationwide stores.
"We will hope to represent a big share of what is sold."
So, is 10,000 ambitious or conservative?-Martin Lynch
[Reuters]
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Recently there’s been a lot a talk about Google launching an iPhone rival, comically referred to as the gPhone [above] – well, it’s not true.
The truth is that Google has launched Android, a free open development platform for mobile phones that’s backed by 34 top companies in the mobile phone arena. Android comprises an operating system, user-interface and applications. It doesn’t sound as a cool as a gPhone, but in reality it’s a lot cooler, since it has the potential to really shake up the mobile phone as we know it.
The new Open Handset Alliance (OHA) includes companies like T-Mobile, HTC, Qualcomm, Motorola, Samsung, LG and others, and devices based on Android are due out in the second half of 2008. No Nokia and Sony Ericcson, though.
The thinking behind Android is that the mobile experience on-the-move – especially Internet experience- on mobile phones is hindered by proprietary phone operating systems, so let’s make it a lot better by offering the development community a free platform to develop innovative new applications. Obviously, this is going to alarm the makers of the leading mobile platforms like Microsoft, Symbian, Research in Motion and Palm, all of whom charge a licence fee.
“This partnership will help unleash the potential of mobile technology for billions of users around the world. A fresh approach to fostering innovation in the mobile industry will help shape a new computing environment that will change the way people access and share information in the future," said Google Chairman and CEO Eric Schmidt. "Today's announcement is more ambitious than any single 'Google Phone' that the press has been speculating about over the past few weeks. Our vision is that the powerful platform we're unveiling will power thousands of different phone models."
Whether Android succeeds or not, it’s likely that consumers are going to see some benefits in the coming years through cheaper handsets and better applications from existing players. This can only be good.
Google will launch the first SDK (software development kit) next week.-Martin Lynch
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That was the goal of the latest report by big US consumer product testing outfit, Consumer Reports.
And the winners are: LCD and plasma displays, with the underdog rear projection TVs (RPTVs) dragging home third. The report found that LCD and plasma TVs require few repairs in the first three years of use compared to RPTVs.
Unlike many surveys, this one was big, looking at a total of 93,000 TVs bought between 2004 and 2007. On average, LCD and plasmas had a 3% repair rate, but RPTVs had a whopping 18% repair rate. According to Consumer Reports:
Among LCDs, Dell (which recently stopped selling its own brand of TVs) and Hitachi were among the less reliable brands, as were Philips plasma TVs. Aside from Panasonic, other brands with low repair rates include Sony, Sharp, Samsung, Toshiba and JVC in LCDs. For plasma sets, Panasonic, Pioneer and Samsung also had low repair rates.
Among the tiny percentage of sets with problems, most repairs were free, presumably because they were covered by the manufacturer's standard warranty.
For rear-projection TV sets, the Consumer Reports looked at the frequency-of-repair charts covering microdisplay sets using DLP and LCD rear-projection technologies. Toshiba and RCA DLP sets stood out as the most repair-prone. Hitachi LCD-based sets were more repair-prone than Sony and Panasonic sets of this type.
The moral though, according to Consumer Reports, is that if you are buying a branded LCD or plasma TV, do not be conned into buying an expensive extended warranty since you probably won’t need it.-Martin Lynch
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According to the latest stats from the Mobile Data Association (MDA), UK phone users are sending more than 1.2 billion texts every week – that’s more than all the text messages sent in 1999.
For September, text messages in the UK topped 4.8 billion, a 25% jump over the same period in 2006. The MDA has now revised its yearly prediction for texts sent to 52 billion, up from 48 billion. Mike Short, Chairman, the Mobile Data Association, said:
“The continued growth of text volumes remains a source of fascination for us all at the MDA. We have been central in helping to promote the technology from our initial campaigns back in 1998. Today text messaging remains important but as part of a much larger and more complex mobile communications industry.
The UK text volumes show no real signs of abating and the UK sits within the top six of the global league of countries sending text messages.”
Now prepare yourselves for the September Stat Smackdown after the jump.-Martin Lynch
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Editor and Contributor | Martin Lynch
Contributor | Tamlin Magee
