ZDNet covers the news on the new Blackberry (Electron) which will include Intel Inside.
The gadget rumor mill seemed pretty interested in this new one. Looks like a nice update to the existing wider format Blackberry.
Unpeeling Apple’s Nano
I’ve certainly contributed more than my share to the bottom line in Cupertino, but I had no idea it was so lucrative.
Now that the Nano is on the market, attention has turned to more practical questions. Among them: How fat are Apple’s margins on it?
Market research firm iSuppli set out to satisfy the curiosity by buying the $199 2-gigabyte version of the Nano and tearing it apart. The verdict? It costs Apple $90.18 in materials to build the unit and $8 to assemble it, leaving a profit margin before marketing and distribution costs of about 50%. That’s consistent with the margins on earlier iPod versions and serves as a reminder of what a profit machine the iPod family of products has become for Apple since it was introduced in 2001. [Business Week]
Not quite broadband access…
After a quick mention of the integrated Dell Verizon deal, my network card arrived through IT. It’s far from broadband, but the Sony Ericsson GPRS / WiFi card I received seems to work well enough. I am connecting at about 56Kbps when I have a signal which is certainly respectable for basic email, RSS and a few web pages. It’s not too cool for attachments of any size or a sync of my outlook while on the go though. VPN has largely failed due to signal strength…
Maintaining a signal long enough on this inaugural run on Metro North to even post is quite brutal. Cellular connectivity in Westchester NY is not too stellar on the train route. I have yet to connect to my Exchange server as I cannot stay connected long enough, but I’ve been able to read a bunch of feeds through bloglines and even post a few items.
One thing that is oh so typical about the PC is how the network management works poorly. Aside from continuously annoying network status bubbles (disconnect / connected etc), installing a new device that replicates existing functionality caused all sorts of mayhem with existing wireless options. Not so sure if that is my non-Centrino Dell or whether regardless Windows would be playing as poorly.
I do like that the card automatically reconnects which is certainly a nice (and required) feature. Too bad my VPN times out in between attempts.
My BlackBerry politely connected btw and delivered mail through the whole trip – at least when there was a signal to report. There was no need to check for messages, they simply arrive.
Sirius Breaks 2 Million Subscribers
Orbitcast reports that Sirius hits 2 Million subs. I wonder if they count by radio, or by household. I’m a 2 radio home with one in the car. Not that I have any issue with Sirius, as I really like it….
Dell Will Install Verizon Wireless
Big news on the wireless front… Dell will be including EVDO as a built-in option which will give you WAN as well as Wi-Fi LAN access. Pretty cool stuff! I am waiting on an EVDO card for my older Dell work system… having it all built in would be even nicer.
But the service requires customers to purchase a separate wireless card to slide into a laptop. Beginning early next year, the technology will be built directly into some of a line of Dell portable computers called the Latitude series. The service also requires a monthly subscription and annual contract. Verizon Wireless is negotiating with other laptop makers and is expected to announce shortly a similar deal with Lenovo Group Ltd., the maker of ThinkPad-brand laptops, according to a person familiar with those talks. [WSJ.com]
NerdTV
Cringely has released NerdTV and I’ve been listening (I am at work) to the first show, an interview with Andy Hertzfeld which is really excellent. I look forward to the rest of the series as it develops.
Beyond just Picture in Picture
Images: Watch six TV shows at once with a new Dish Networks service…
This looks very cool and like something I would use frequently when surfing for something to watch or for a special event like the US Open or the Olympics.
Cablevision and TiVo
If they could just find a way to do this with an HDTV capable box, it would be quite a bit more compelling. What’s the point really otherwise?
Cablevision said today it will test market TiVo and a wireless router along with its “Optimum Triple Play” package to current satellite customers. The new combination will allow a broadband return without the need for a telephone line, Cablevision said.
The so-called triple play combines iO: Interactive Optimum digital cable, Optimum Online high-speed Internet access and Optimum Voice voice-over-cable service. The companies didn’t provide any other information about the agreement. [PVR Wire]
FIOS TV – Sounding good
While I am quite happy with my cable modem and HDTV Cable service, I would drop it immediately for this…
Based on a focus group, this guy reports on the order of 300 channels, 3X more HD channels than Cablevision, and, wildest of all, a DVR capable of recording 6 channels at once and doing multi-room streaming to other set tops. And all this at a price to be cheaper than cable. And a 1 September launch date in certain towns on Long Island. [Joseph Laszlo]
When the Verizon tech was here hooking our house up he was surprised I even asked about FIOS, but said it was not going to be here that soon. First they were rolling into below ground areas and tnen the above ground neighborhoods. He had no sense on real timing just that I should not expect to be making a switch in the next few months.
I was only thinking about FIOS as a data service (even with PPPOE / enhanced DSL) but thinking about the IPTV side and the potential for seriously enhanced services on that front make it even more exciting than 15MB /2MB data connections.
MobiTV coming soon to Treo
Not sure when or if I’ll be back on a Treo (without swapping my SIM card of course), but MobiTVis finally coming to the Treo platform.
Podcast AV
I would imagine as this gets easier PodCasting will begin to take a more enhanced form which will only lead to more interesting uses of the technology.
Podcast AV lets you enhance your podcasts by adding links and pictures to them. These podcasts can then be viewed in iTunes 4.9 or on an iPod with a color screen. [Old Jewel Software]
Technorati Tags: Podcasting
Next Gen TiVo’s to support CableCard
Not really new news, but confirmation of what was announced at CES which is at least a good thing. Cablecard will be a nice option regardless…
Next Gen TiVo’s to support CableCard | PVRblog PVRBlog posts about a job description at TiVo promising the applicant will gain experience in open standards such as CableCARD.
What the wife won’t understand…
Waiting at least a month until the TV you want is even available, let alone the time for your installation and configuration… This is no small deal and to do it right requires the patience to get it done. Instead, she (can’t just be my wife) wants it to be done now – with no understanding of the quality that will be well worth the wait for the ultimate — at least for now… 😉
Garmin GPSMAP 376C has XM satellite weather and radio support
Engadget notes the announcement of the Garmin GPSMAP 376C portable GPS with XM built in! WOW WOW!
Unfortunately though I’d like it to do Sirius which is the service to which I currently subscribe. Still totally cool and a great way to add 2 services to any car or location you happen to be.
Plays for (almost) sure
The problem was that even though it had the Plays for Sure logo, it wouldn’t work with subscription content. It only took me a few minutes to figure out why. A closer look at the Plays for Sure logo indicated this device would work with downloaded content but not subscription content. Oops. No biggie. Problem was with me or as we used to say in technical support PEBKAC (problem exists between keyboard and chair). I’m actually in good company, last summer when I was at MSFT, one of the Sr. Execs made the same mistake in front of a whole room of snickering analysts and reporters. [Michael Gartenberg]
Michael Garternberg is a smart guy, but I think he’s being way too forgiving on how things get packaged and sold. The MS Plays for Sure and Music Services in general are too complex. There’s a reason why the iPod / iTunes combo works so well… it just works.
Content is content to an end user and the collective industries need to understand that we consumers (even advanced consumers) would prefer to think less about what it is they have (codec, file format, download or subscription) and more about just enjoying what we are being asked to pay for.
Microsoft Might License Xbox Software
Microsoft Might License Xbox Software and man is that something to think about…
Sony and Toshiba are goiing to enable CE devices with Cell processors to make an end-game around the PC as the center of the living room and now MS is potentially pushing a lite version of Xbox 360’s software – clearly as a media connector (to me anyway).
This has to be a way for Redmond to get more PCs in the home through an eventual upgrade to MCE, the more optimal way to view content in home.
May the best product (ahem marketing) win!
At this point it’s way to early to even figure out what will work out on a mass level. PC usage is pretty different globally and many users in non-US markets will be more likely to want a CE device controlling things rather than a PC initially given cost and space issues in homes. Homem size and space is considerably smaller outside the US…
Perhaps an Xbox or PS3 is the path… Microsoft wants to sell 10 million units next year from what I’ve read and moving beyond games is a good way to get a much broader market.
Sony has yet to be public with their plan on how this stuff really works beyond games. Connect will clearly be their premium cocntent path, but that probably won’t be revealed until close to the end of this year – after MS and Xbox have had some time to build.
Apple Special Event this week…
Digital Media Thoughts is reporting on a scheduled Apple special event for this coming week…
It’s unlikely that a special event would be only for iTunes 4.9 and is likely for a new generation iPod. If it is (and that’d be cool) I hope it supports video, yet retains the same dock connector so all my accessories will still work.
If it has nothing to do with iPod, I’ll settle with something totally new!
Apple to Podcast Sundance through iTunes
“Apple and the Sundance Channel have signed a deal (free subscription required) that will make content from the network available as a podcast via the upcoming release of iTunes, version 4.9, due sometime next month. [Digital Media Thoughts]
Dell has a proprietary power connector?
I was stunned to learn a few things about my work issued Dell laptop recently…
First, it’s quite sensitive to the type of power adapter you connect. The initial one I received was not quite strong enough and was actually incapable of charging the battery to the point where the battery would die. I am on my 3rd and 4th batteries now.
Second, I purchased an iGo since I am doing quite a bit of travel and thought it would be nice to consolidate things to a single charging system for land, plane and even car if I want to. The Dell (Latitude D600) laptop was not part of the standard kit of tips since it uses a unique connector. At purchase they did offer a tip for the system, but it clearly came after the thing was developed and the best part is that you CANNOT charge the battery at all. It ONLY offers DC to the system. What the hell is that??? What’s the point of such a thing? If I only wanted to use a system that ran off a power cord, I would have requested a desktop.
I still like the iGo and am hopeful that an eventual upgrade to my system will change this, but until then aigh… Dell what’s up?
Technorati Tags: Dell
Thoughts on Intel
I’ve been moving at a pretty good personal clip lately and in combination with an exhaustive work schedule have not had a chance to put my thoughts down regarding the move to Intel. In short, I think it rocks!
I bought the previous lines from various keynotes on the benefits of RISC over CISC and saw the bottleneck demonstrations, the burning bunnyman etc. All that was great and yet even with the reality distortion effect in full effect, I was still left wanting more. Clearly my desire was not alone as the Apple shift to Intel hardware will enable a much greater capability within existing hardware and allow for some amazing developments – some that were probably cooking, but on back burner while waiting for IBM.
Intel is about much more than the CPU… If you are just an average joe consumer, you probably have no idea, but Intel has been developing a pretty deep platform strategy that takes the various silicon sets they manufacture and enable things to work together.
The Mobility, Digital Home and Enterprise platforms are all the same places Apple has been sighting and yet been unable to break through from a mass perspective. Windows is clearly a big obstacle to mass adoption, but the hardware is bigger in my view, given the relative eco-system of products that end up getting designed to work together (below the OS level). The work that Intel has championed on the Centrino certification program for example is astonishing. You may recall they were actually quite late to the WiFi game initially, but you only hear about Centrino and Pentium-M today, not really much about Apple’s Airport – other than it’s just in there. Centrino actually goes quite a bit beyond the WiFI and is actually a set of chipsets designed to enable longer power, wireless and multimedia. These are things my Powerbook needs today. Sure it does wireless (B/G) and can handle multimedia (2-channel), but Centrino can actually bang out quite a bit more and can most likely add hours to the life of the system. If Apple offered an Intel based Powerbook today, I would immediately upgrade – well OK perhaps after I settle on the house.
On the Digital Home front, Intel is pushing and pushing hard. The AOpen device, was designed by Intel, yet is being produced by an OEM who has been able to get the benefits of several billion in R&D. That mini-clone device can bang out much more than the current mini can – all thanks to Intel’s thinking. If you combine the Mac OS, some very capable Intel hardware and of course the Apple Magic sauce – product design and marketing – and well, I think the living room will become very enabled. In fact this is the area in which I am most interested in witnessing the change. I like the mini and it can do some nice stuff. Even without an Apple 10 foot UI to make it all slick from the couch, the mini really needs more power for basic media center functions. I want more ports (check), better integrated audio (check) and video (check) and HD capabilities (check!). If this can be done today what can be coming for us within the year?
All in all, I am clearly excited at the prospect of this change. Reports from WWDC are confirming the keynote info on the ease in which applications can be ported. I can’t see the Cringely effect, with Intel acquiring Apple to fully beat the doors off of Microsoft, but I do see a very dynamic partnership. BSD, the core of OSX, has been running on Intel for more than a few years and can apparently run circles around Windows on similar platforms. MacWorld January will certainly bring some very cool announcements – especially keeping the normal Apple delivery schedule in mind to keep things on track per the WWDC Stevenote.