AT&T PR head mocks Verizon over iPhone
Although it is not even official yet, AT&T PR head Larry Solomon took a shot at Verizon’s upcoming iPhone.
Apple and Verizon are expected to unveil the CDMA version of the device on Tuesday, with sales starting in earl February.
Said Solomon: “The iPhone is built for speed, but that’s not what you get with a CDMA phone. I’m not sure iPhone users are ready for life in the slow lane.”
The claim is that AT&T’s GSM technology is faster than Verizon’s CDMA tech.
AT&T has been the exclusive American carrier for the iPhone since its inception in 2007. Analysts have warned that losing the exclusivity pact, and the strong growth driver that is the iPhone, may affect the company’s bottom line for some time. Other analysts have warned that frustrated AT&T iPhone owners may jump ship to Verizon, who is known to have the most reliable network of the major carriers.
It appears the carrier has fired the first shot in what will almost certainly be a “war” for iPhone customers.
Digg founder says iPad 2 announcement coming within the month
This weekend, Digg founder Kevin Rose added fuel to the iPad 2 rumor mill fire, claiming an introduction of the tablet is coming within a month.
Says Rose:
I have it on good authority that Apple will be announcing the iPad 2 in the next ‘3-4 weeks,’ possibly Tuesday February 1st. The iPad 2 will feature a retina display and front/back camera. If you’re thinking of buying an iPad, hold off for now.
Outside of the Retina Display and dual-cameras, other oft-posted rumors include the addition of a USB port, a larger, improved speaker and slimmer form factor.
From the retail side, Apple has kept most of its overstaffed holiday personnel employed, and limited vacation time for a three-week period from the end of January into February for all staff. Vacation time is always limited when a large product launch is in store, such as an updated iPhone.
Apple had been expected to begin selling the iPad 2 in April, a year after the launch of the first generation tablet.
CES: Verizon announces the HTC Thunderbolt with LTE
Verizon has announced the upcoming HTC Thunderbolt with LTE 4G support, a likely successor to the very popular HTC Incredible.
The smartphone has a large 4.3-inch Super LCD display, a 1GHz processor, and run on Android 2.2 with HTC Sense 2.0. The updated Sense has the new “Fast Boot” for quicker booting of the OS.
When connected to Verizon’s LTE 4G, the carrier says users should expect down speeds of 5-12Mbps and up speeds of 2-5Mbps.
The device has Mobile Hotspot capability for sharing the 4G connection with up to 8 Wi-Fi devices, as well.
Additionally, the smartphone has an 8MP standard camera and a 1.3MP front-side camera, along with Dolby and SRS surround sound.
Skype video conferencing is built right into Sense and the Thunderbolt has DLNA streaming multimedia support.
Reuters also claims CDMA iPhone coming on Tuesday
One day after the Wall Street Journal reported that a Verizon iPhone 4 was coming on Tuesday, sources speaking to Reuters have confirmed the claims.
Sales of the device are expected to launch in early February.
As with all prior reports, Apple and Verizon have not commented on the “speculation.”
AT&T has been the exclusive American carrier for the iPhone since its inception in 2007. Analysts have warned that losing the exclusivity pact, and the strong growth driver that is the iPhone, may affect the company’s bottom line for some time. Other analysts have warned that frustrated AT&T iPhone owners may jump ship to Verizon, who is known to have the most reliable network of the major carriers.
On the other hand, analysts also claim that a majority of AT&T’s iPhone owners are part of family plans, which are much harder to cancel as they involve, on average, three family members.
Furthermore, many are new upgraders or purchasers, and AT&T charges very heavy early termination fees.
Battery life remains critical issue on RIM PlayBook, says analyst
Kaufman Bros. analyst Shawn Wu says RIM is “making good progress” on the upcoming PlayBook tablet, however, the low battery life remains a critical issue.
Wu cites industry and supply chain sources, adding that the new QNX operating system is progressing strongly, as well.
Outside of the battery life, “app store monetization” is also an issue, notes the analyst.
Speaking about RIM’s decision to work on multiple operating systems (BlackBerry OS 6 and QNX), Wu added(via PCM):“Competitive pressures will likely step up as we are also hearing Microsoft courting developers pretty aggressively with its new Windows Phone 7 platform as it attempts to catch up.”
The battery life remains the main concern, which Wu claims is only “a few hours.” The iPad claims 10 hours while the Galaxy Tab has over 6.
“From our understanding, this could require a bit of re-engineering,” says Wu of the OS and battery life. “One possibility we are hearing is the likelihood of a larger battery which could add to the heft and weight of PlayBook.”
In its current form, the PlayBook is 0.9 pounds.
Samsung to release Galaxy media player to rival iPod Touch
Samsung will launch its first true rival to the market leading iPod Touch at the CES event next month, dubbing the device the Galaxy Player.
Just like the iPod Touch is almost identical to the iPhone (without the phone and 3G capabilities), the Galaxy Player will be based on the popular Galaxy S smartphone.
The Galaxy Player will run on Android 2.2, come in 8, 16 and 32GB models, and include a standard 3.2MP camera and a 1.3MP front-side camera.
There are no current media players running Android, so the Samsung player should have an advantage over those competitors right out of the gate, due to the Android Market and its 100,000 apps. Apple, on the other hand, will be no pushover.
Samsung lacks retail presence like Apple has, as well as a brand-loyal fanbase. Furthermore, Samsung lacks a music/movie store like iTunes so it is unclear what store will come built-in.
Anti-trust lawsuit against EA cleared for trial
A district judge has cleared a class action lawsuit against Electronic Arts this week, which means it should eventually become a jury trial.
The class action suit claims EA illegally increased the price of the Madden NFL series after it won exclusive rights to the NFL license, in 2005.
Any purchaser of a Madden game from 2005 until now is eligible to register as a plaintiff in the wide-ranging suit.
In 2004, Take-Two released NFL2K5 for just $19.95, taking on the behemoth Madden, which was forced to drop its prices to $29.95, down from the standard $49.99.
EA won the exclusive NFL license the next season and returned Madden prices to $50, and eventually $60 when the Xbox 360 and PS3 were launched.
Says plaintiff lawyer Steve Berman (via GI):
“Consumers now have a legal standing to demand that EA refund consumers millions of dollars it made from Madden NFL and other sports titles through what we contend was an illegal price-gouging scheme.
“We believe EA forced consumers to pay an artificial premium on Madden NFL videogames. We intend to prove that EA could inflate prices on their sports titles because these exclusive licenses restrained trade and competition for interactive sports software.”
CityVille now the most popular social game
Social gaming company Zynga’s latest hit “CityVille” is now the most popular social game in the world, with 67.4 million active users.
That figure far surpasses FarmVille, also by Zynga, which was formerly in the top spot at 57 million.
Stat-tracker AppData has been following the launch of CityVille, which Zynga released in early December.
The company says the game had 300,000 users in just its first 24 hours.
Overall, including FrontierVille, MafiaWars, FarmVille and others, Zynga now has 269 million active users playing their games on Facebook.
Zynga has 6 of the top 10 most used apps on Facebook.
Rovi purchases Sonic to increase digital holdings
Rovi has announced its acquisition of Sonic Solutions this week, taking over the company known for its DVD editing and burning software, digital movie downloads and for DivX, the digital video software and codec.
The company will pay $720 million in cash and stock just six months after Sonic purchased DivX for $323 million.
Rovi says the merger will help “Hollywood studio clients sell content in a fast-growing digital entertainment market.”
Because the content will be more centralized, consumers may be willing to pay a premium for it, adds the company.
The deal should close in the first half of 2011 and consolidation should help save them $15 million in expenses per year.
Google’s new $1.9 billion investment: An NYC building
Google has announced today the completion of their purchase of 111 Eighth Avenue in Chelsea, valuing the property at $1.9 billion.
The property is 2.9-million-square-feet and is the biggest deal in 2010 for a single building purchase in the U.S.
Google currently occupies 500,000 square feet in the building, and shares the space with Nike, Lifetime cable, WebMD and many telecoms.
The search giant is said to have won the contract because of its ability to close before the end of the year. The company has already put down a deposit in excess of $200 million.
111 used to be the headquarters for the Port Authority of NY and NJ.
Says Google of the deal:
Google New York started in a Starbucks on 86th Street with one person in 2000—a scrappy, highly-caffeinated sales “team.” After moving to a larger office in Times Square, in 2006 we relocated to our current home in Chelsea, at 111 Eighth Avenue—a former Port Authority building. In June of 2008, we took additional space in the Chelsea Market building at 75 Ninth Avenue. Now we have more than 2,000 Googlers working on a variety of projects in both sales and engineering—and we’re hiring across the board.
Today, we’re pleased to announce that we’ve closed a deal with the partnership of Taconic Investment Partners, Jamestown Properties and the New York State Common Retirement Fund to purchase 111 Eighth Avenue (also known as 76 Ninth Avenue). As part of the deal, we’ve retained Taconic Management Company to continue the leasing oversight services and management of the building on our behalf, providing the same level of customer service the building’s tenants have come to expect. We believe that this is a great real estate investment in a thriving neighborhood and a fantastic city.
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