Was Intel's x86 The "Gateway Drug" For Apple's ARM?
'Less is more,' the iPad paradox
Five Features The iPad Needs For Enterprise
Apple Details iPad's 'Breakthrough' Mobile Contract
The $20K iPad
Apple iPad Orders Drop Sharply
How To Make Your Own iPhone RFID Reader
How Do You Use Gmail on Your iPhone?
Why The iPad Will Cause Apple's Fall From The Top (Not?)
Instapaper Adds Email Functionality for Easy Article Saving
Smartphone Market "Reborn" in 4Q 2009, Says ABI Research



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Was Intel's x86 The "Gateway Drug" For Apple's ARM?

ZNet blogger Jason Perlow suggests that Apple's move to the x86 Intel architecture for the Macintosh in 2005 may have only been a temporary stop on the way to its logical end-state: the acquisition of PA Semi and the creation of ARM-based personal computers.

Jason acknowledges that this deduction is more than a bit of a reach, but says if you closely examine Apple's history you see time and time again the company making strategic choices that allow it to increasingly take control of its customers, its ecosystem and its intellectual property, the company's $278 million 2008 purchase PA Semi) in 2008 allowing Apple to redraft their transition/migration roadmap toward Multi-core ARM-based Macs and enabling a return to the completely closed system they essentially enjoyed in the 1980s and 1990s with Power PC but this tiime with ful top-to-bottom control.

For Jason Perlow's full commentary, see:
http://blogs.zdnet.com/perlow/?p=12323






'Less is more,' the iPad paradox

Computerworld's Mike Elgan notes that the "haters" say iPad lacks multitasking, a Webcam, Flash support, a USB port, massive storage, a removable battery, CD and DVD support, RAM upgradability, multiple OS support and other features, while the "lovers" are less clear about why they want one. So allow me to propose the same list as above, suggesting the paradoxical conclusion that the iPad is desirable for what it doesn't do - can't do - as much as for what it can do, and observing that many people don't buy consumer electronics for the quantity of features but for the quality of experience.

Consequently, while technical or power computer users will be frustrated and annoyed by the iPad's limitations,for a large proportion of other users, having more features degrades the experience due to information overload runaway gadget complexity along with many other nuances and elements of the growing overcomplexity of our lives in general.

Elgan astutely observes that relentless expectation of more and more features, combined with calls for backward compatibility may result is systems that do everything, but that are so feature-overloaded and complex that some people can't get them to do anything, and that minimalist simplification phenomena like Twitter are reactions to oppressive technological overkill, contending that the less-is-more world is here and we'd better get used to it.

For the full commentary visit here:
http://www.macworld.com/article/147090/2010/03/ipad_paradox.html?lsrc=rss_main






Five Features The iPad Needs For Enterprise

PC World's Tony Bradley notes that the iPad - Wi-Fi version at least - will soon be shipping, but it seems safe to assume that that early adopters are not looking to revolutionize business computing, suggesting that there are five features the iPad lacks that inhibit it as a better-rounded device for business use:

1. Expandable storage

2. USB ports

3. Video camera

4. Multitasking

5. Alternate browsers

For the full commentary visit here:
http://www.macworld.com/article/147098/2010/03/ipad_business.html






Apple Details iPad's 'Breakthrough' Mobile Contract

The Register's Bill Ray reports:

Apple's iPad will come with a monthly contract, a replacement option when the battery craps out and a button to stop the screen spinning round - and it'll even read bedtime stories to you....

Buyers of the 3G iPad will get a monthly contract in what Apple describes as a "breakthrough deal": paying $15 a month for 250MB of data or $30 for an unlimited plan, both of which are contract-free and can be picked up and dropped at will.

For the full report visit here:
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/03/15/ipad_more_details/






The $20K iPad

The Register's Rik Myslewski says:

If you're an Apple fanboi with $19,999 burning a hole in your pocket, why not spend it on The World's First Diamond iPad? - such as an iPad encrusted with 11.43 carats of South African diamonds.

You can check it out at:
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/03/15/diamond_ipad/






Apple iPad Orders Drop Sharply

Fortune's Philip Elmer-DeWitt reports:

After the initial burst of excitement on Friday that saw iPad pre-orders coming in at the rate of 25,000 per hour, there was a dramatic fall-off over the weekend.

According to Daniel Tello, the Venezuelan blogger-analyst who has been tracking order numbers submitted by volunteers at Investor Village's AAPL Sanity board, orders on Saturday and Sunday slowed to an estimated 1,000 per hour.

For the full report visit here:
http://brainstormtech.blogs.fortune.cnn.com/2010/03/15/apple-ipad-orders-drop-sharply/







How To Make Your Own iPhone RFID Reader

recombu.com's Andrew Lim says:

Imagine if you could open your front door using your mobile phone. It might sound like a futuristic idea but Apple has patented a system which allows the iPhone to communicate with external devices such as locks....

Instead of waiting for this magical technology to appear on the next iPhone though, a research assistant at CASA/University College London has managed to build his own RFID iPhone accessory. Benjamin Blundell's iPhone RFID solution is explained in great depth on his blog. Blundell's solution reads RFID data but can't write it yet, which means it can't be used to open doors at the moment but it does demo how the iPhone could interact with external objects.

You can check it out at:
http://recombu.com/news/how-to-make-your-own-iphone-rfid-reader_M11544.html






How Do You Use Gmail on Your iPhone?

tipb.com's Rene Ritchie says:

Gmail may only be the 3rd most popular email service on the planet (behind Yahoo! and Hotmail) but it ranks first in the hearts of geeks everywhere and can be used in a variety of ways on the iPhone.....

For the full report visit here:
http://www.tipb.com/2010/03/15/gmail-iphone/






Why The iPad Will Cause Apple's Fall From The Top (Not?)

Mac360's Bambi Brannan says that there seem to be two schools of thought on Apple's iPad. It's either, "I want one because it'll change the world." Or, "the iPad will be a big flop and Apple is doomed," noting that one school which hasn't weighed in on the iPad divide yet is actual iPad customers, but predicting that according to some at least Apple's string of successes is about to come to an end and the company is doomed.

"Apple sits on top of the mountain," says Brennan. "Steve Jobs has a golden touch. Apple products are hip, chic, trendy, and highly profitable. What could possibly go wrong?"

Plenty, according to some analysts, although Brennan isn't buying the crepe-hanging.

You can check it out at:
http://bit.ly/dij3Aw






Instapaper Adds Email Functionality for Easy Article Saving

Lifehacker's Kevin Purdy says:

Instapaper does a bang-up job of saving, organizing, and stripping down articles for your reading pleasure through its web bookmarklet and its iPhone app. If you're on another platform and want to stash some reading away for later, you can now send it to a personalized email address, listed near the bottom of the "Extras" link when you're signed into Instapaper's webapp. It's a great feature for non-Apple smartphones and for those whose email is closer at hand than bookmarklets.

You can check it out at:
http://bit.ly/aWuT9t






Smartphone Market "Reborn" in 4Q 2009, Says ABI Research

[Press Release]

Fourth quarter mobile handset sales almost always outpace the performance seen in the rest of a year. But according to the latest market data from ABI Research, the final quarter of 2009 was remarkable for the strength of smartphone shipment growth compared to the rather lackluster preceding nine months.

"Vendors view success there as a springboard to success in the rest of the world."

"4Q 2009 saw 25% more smartphones shipped than 3Q," says analyst Michael Morgan. "Granted, the fourth quarter is usually better than the third, but 3Q saw only a 3.6% growth over the second quarter. The robust strength of this market's recovery is very encouraging indeed."

Individual vendors had plenty to be pleased about. Apple had its best smartphone quarter on record. Nokia did extremely well, shipping 21 million smartphones compared to its usual 15-16 million. BlackBerry had a strong showing as well.

The good performance was driven in part by falling smartphone prices and the introduction of entry-level smartphones generating greater appeal for new buyers. Nokia effectively used its best weapon, economies of scale. The iPhone maintained its "cool factor" leverage, and, says Morgan, there were some under-reported over-achievers such as the BlackBerry Curve, which has actually out-sold the iPhone in some markets. Both companies benefited from expansion beyond their traditional North American market, increasingly gaining traction in Western Europe and East Asia: Asia-Pacific iPhone sales increased about 500% year-over-year in 2009.

While all regions performed well, North America – helped by mobile operators' subsidies – led the pack in smartphone market growth at 30%, with Western Europe and APAC following considerably behind. Africa, the Middle East and Latin America all showed growth in the mid-high 20 percents, although of course they were starting from very low baselines.

"The United States is now the leading market for smartphone 'mindshare'," notes Morgan. "Vendors view success there as a springboard to success in the rest of the world."

ABI Research's "Smartphone Quarterly Forecast and Features" ( http://www.abiresearch.com/research/1005268 ) market data product quarterly and annual data including global and regional details for smartphone operating systems, ASPs, vendor market shares, revenues, air interface protocols and technology attach rates.

It is part of the Smartphones & Mobile Devices Research Service ( http://www.abiresearch.com/products/service/Mobile_Devices_Research_Service ), which also includes other Market Data releases, Research Reports, Research Briefs, ABI Insights, ABI Vendor Matrices, and analyst inquiry support.

ABI Research provides in-depth analysis and quantitative forecasting of trends in global connectivity and other emerging technologies. From offices in North America, Europe and Asia, ABI Research's worldwide team of experts advise thousands of decision makers through 28 research and advisory services. Est. 1990. For more information visit:
http://www.abiresearch.com

or call +1.516.624.2500.