Links for the 21st

This past week was a little light on the news, as everyone seemed to be taking a deep breath after the one-two punch of CES and the Verizon iPhone announcement over the previous two weeks.  Plus, we apparently have “big” announcements coming up in early February from HP, Dell and Sprint as well as MWC a week later and Q4 earnings announcements from Verizon and AT&T and coming next week.  All of that is a long way of saying that the links look a little light this week, so I expect each of you to click through every single one of these.

As we mentioned, HP is gearing up for hardware announcements on February 9^th.  Of course, anytime someone teases a product announcement, the rumor mill goes into overdrive and it looks like the good folks over at Engadget have some of the details on what we can expect from the artist-formerly-known-as-Palm.  Presuming the details are on point, these look pretty good – but launch timing is a key, since Motorola and Verizon are teaming-up to lead the Honeycomb onslaught, while RIM preps the “still great” Playbook and there might be another tablet out there that could sell a couple units or so.

Moving over to the data pipes that will presumably power all of these great tablets, we start with T-Mobile, where Philip Humm apparently was apparently in a John Huston mood (or maybe Mel Brooks?) and tells us they don’t need no stinkin’ LTE…at least not for a few years.  (yes, that was a huge stretch, just go with it).  However, if Team Magenta gets a few more of this 10%, they may be in a different boat.  In case you’re still in the dark about what everyone is talking about with 4G (and 3.5G and 3G etc) here is another great overview/primer on what’s what.  Incidentally, none of this data is free, and it appears to be getting more expensive, as Sprint subscribers are about to find out.

Let move to a few more quick hitters before we wrap things up this week

Quite a week for turnover at the top with two of the more influential companies in mobile today.  First, Steve takes another leave of absence and now sad robot has to make an appearance, as Eric Schmidt is stepping down.

Ever get that feeling that you’re looking for a phone and end up with a 4G carrier instead?  Maybe searching for WiMax and find yourself with a CyberShot?  Luckily, SonyEricsson is turning the wheels of the American justice system to ensure no one ever has to deal with this trauma again

Apple’s App Store is nearing its 10 billionth download (seriously, 10 billion – that’s a lot of folks playing Angry Birds) and they also have released a list of the top selling Apps of all time.  Common thread here?  Blue

For those of you excited to get a carrier-approved Symbian device in the US, umm…maybe this one (hint: use Google Translate, unless you can read Finnish) has a chance?

Looking to join the Android army but just aren’t sure what to buy?  Here’s a decent set of buying tips

Anytime you start thinking that Verizon or AT&T have a lot of subscribers, take a look at this number and think about how that compares with the US population

Finally – and don’t click this one if you have motion sickness – ever wonder what an arrow sees when it’s shot from a bow?  No?  Well, regardless, this guy did and now we all know

Stay warm and enjoy the weekend everyone!

Weekly Link Dump

For the zero readers here, a note.  I publish (internally) a weekly link-dump concerning the mobile space for those unlucky enough to work with me.  Since I need to fill space, the same is going to start happening here.  Enjoy

We know that many of you (read: almost none of you) have been going through link-withdrawal as the combination of a busy holiday season and the Consumer Electronics Show severely limited writing time, but fear not gentle readers, T&R is back and re-loaded with news and commentary from around the mobile world. 

For starters, a note on CES coverage – there was simply too much announced, both in the CE world and more specifically in the mobile world to do justice to here.  While we here at T&R are always happy to lend insight on specific areas that you might have questions on, we are going to wimp out on deep detail of last week and simply point you to a couple of nice roundup posts covering the “best of” for a review of who did what in Sin City last week.  If there are specific details you want to explore, feel free to hit us up.  With that out of the way, let’s move on to the news of this week.

So – anyone hear anything about a new phone launching soon?

As you might guess, the official confirmation of the worst kept secret in wireless was the newsmaker of the week (switching on the hyperbole engine, newsmaker of the year) and seemingly generated more column-inches than V-E Day.  Much of what has been written concerns the comparisons to the AT&T version, perceived shortcomings in the device, forecasted numbers and how it might impact the growth of Android.  As mentioned, there was a virtual flood of information written and opinions thrown around.  T&R is working on our own take on the topic, but for now, we will give you just a few of the more relevant articles.  For starters, the fascinating background story of how the phone came to be and how long the development cycle was.  The fact that the process was years-long should also serve notice that this device isn’t going to simply pop-up on other CDMA carriers quickly, regardless of what sort of exclusivity Verizon may or may not have.  A number of articles were written outlining why the author wasn’t planning on switching to the Verizon iPhone, most of which were simply warmed-over rehashes of the root differences between CDMA and GSM (EVDO and HSPA) but the gist of it is here while this article does a nice job breaking down just what Big Red is launching on the 10^th.  Finally, the revised numbers have started rolling out in terms of overall sales predictions for 2011.  Obviously, much is predicated on sales by Verizon (estimated to be between 9 and 10 million) as well as what gets launched during the annual refresh cycle this Summer, but the number is big, any way you look at it. 

One of the features touted by Verizon and Apple in their press conference was the launch of the mobile hotspot feature that has been rolled out in a number of Android devices already.  While Verizon has announced the availability (but not the pricing) the release of iOS 4.3 to the developer community allowed for confirmation that the capability was going to be open to all devices when the new software is launched in March.  Will your carrier of choice support it?  That’s not so clear.

What is clear though, is that Apple’s video calling feature, Face Time, will see continued growth during this year and next, with the number of capable devices predicted to hit 200 million by the end of ’12 (ignore, if you can, the creepy screenshot in the article)

Finally, no Apple news roundup would be complete without speculation on their next device – the iPad2 is widely expected to be available in the coming months and predictions are not hard to come by concerning exactly when and what the new features might be when it does launch. 

One of the things that CES showed us, if nothing else, was that Tablets were going to be a major focal point for tech in 2011.  In addition to the wide variety of Android-based tablets that were shown off at the show, we can now expect full details on HP’s upcoming webOS tablets next month.  Additionally, the launch of RIM’s Playbook continues to approach – though conflicting information (not the corrections at the bottom of the article)has been hitting the web, hinting at problems with the unit.  Regardless of which OS platform you prefer, the numbers don’t lie – none of the them are good news for the “other Steve” and his company’s PC software.  Things don’t appear particularly rosy on the mobile OS side either

RIM did make a bit of news this week – though probably not at their direction.  Specs and pictures of a number of new devices started to leak out, with the Dakota, Apollo and Torch2 all finding their way onto BGR for their first close ups.  While they look familiar and appear to be well-suited to slot into the RIM lineup, apparently none of them are designed to compete with the dual-core handsets launched at CES – at least not yet.

We, of course, couldn’t have a T&R without news from the robot front, as the slew of devices announced at CES and expected in the coming months looks to drive further growth from Mountain View’s favorite OS.  Canalys predicts a growth rate twice that of other competitors,  while Millenial’s ad research shows that Android ad impressions occupied almost half of the smartphone mix in December.  Growth like this (and the proliferation of 4G) are some of the driving factors behind these predictions for the highest of HTC’s high-end devices this year.   Speaking of high-end, more and more evidence (like this video) is pointing to the imminent release of the oft-rumored Android-powered PSP phone from Sony Ericsson.  The one pothole on the Android-growth-highway (yeah, that’s stretching) is the continued fragmentation of the platform.  Sad Robot points you to this chart and this breakdown of who is where and when updates are expected to get devices to Froyo (keep in mind that Froyo isn’t even the latest release – Gingerbread is already launched with the Nexus S)

And finally, for those of you monitoring such things, here is a handy chart and list of documents consulted, detailing the chosen fields of mad scientists over the years.  Interestingly, there doesn’t seem to be a “software/internet” category, so Google is in the clear for now.

Enjoy the weekend, everyone!

The Media

This one may come off as partisan rambling with more than a tinge of vitriol, but really, it’s born of a frustration with the 24-hour news cycle and the over-hype that it engenders.  Specifically, I'm talking about the reactions to the shootings in Arizona this weekend, but I could just as easily be talking about whatever snowstorm moves through a particular city (particularly if it’s someplace on the East Coast) or whatever sports story ESPN determines to be of particular import to god-only-knows-who.  I'm reality, the majority of what goes on does not impact me, or you, or anyone else – all news, like politics, is local. 

Are the shootings in Tucson tragic?  Hell yes they are and Jared Loughner needs to get the Tim McVeigh treatment as soon as possible – the world will be a better place when the lights dim in Terre Haute, IN or Marion, IL or whatever Federal Pen gets the honor of flipping the switch on the chair he is sitting in.  However, the fact that this nutcase did this should not be an indictment on the gun laws in this country, any particular political movement or viewpoint and it sure as hell shouldn’t be a reason to move a news broadcast (I'm looking at you, CBS, though I'm sure the others were there as well) to a live remote to add “gravitas” to the proceedings.  I know the fact a member of Congress was shot drives much of the sensationalism around this – but really, even the actions of a House Rep don’t carry much weight unless he or she happens to represent your district.

The need to fill a 24-hour news cycle with content is the reason we are cursed with Glen Beck and Nancy Grace – I would like to think that Murrow or Conkrite would have personally kicked both of their asses as soon as look at them (much less listen to them) but they are what we have become – blathering, screaming idiots that are supposed to “represent” a viewpoint held by a segment of the country and as such, are supposed to have intrinsic value.  And because people give these hacks the time of day, people like Brian Williams and Katie Couric (whatever your opinion of them may be as well) and their broadcasts have to stoop to “respond” in kind.

Don’t even get me started on the weather in NYC

[Deep Breath]