The Wall Street Journal is reporting that in fact the iPhone is really real this time, although, of course, the name “iPhone” is taken. Cingular Wireless is expected to provide wireless service for a new phone device that Steve Jobs is expected to announce at tomorrow’s MacWorld.
Cingular was Apple’s partner on the ill-fated ROKR phone. The article isn’t clear exactly what Cingular’s role will be with Apple this go-around, but if Apple’s new phone is restricted to one carrier, the “billions” of dollars that the article suggest Apple could generate from its combined music player-phone seems unrealistic.
Posted by Cynthia Brumfield at 8:59 PM | Print | Comments (0)Yahoo! unveiled today at CES a revamped version of its Go Mobile initiative that the lagging Internet giant hopes will give it renewed steam as it grapples for growth. The new service is “truly the Internet in your pocket,” Marco Boerries, SVP of Connected Life said during a demo of the application he conducted during Motorola CEO Ed Zander’s keynote presentation.
Unlike other cell phone Internet applications, Yahoo! Mobile 2.0 goes beyond presenting a list of web sites by recognizing the search term’s intent and presenting relevant content — sports scores, for example, if a user searches for a particular team, maps to the stadium and so forth. It also has location-aware features that can pull up relevant local results, including such things as coupons for local restaurants, show times for movies at the theater down the street, etc., etc.
These advanced features are part of Yahoo!’s new mobile phone search technology called oneSearch.
Go Mobile 2.0 is available to any mobile phone user who downloads the application, although carriers are fully capable of blocking the application if Yahoo! doesn’t cut a favorable deal (which, according to this piece in the WSJ, the company is eager to do). Yahoo! has worked out relationships with a number of mobile companies, mostly overseas, with the major U.S. carriers seemingly still on the sideline.
Zander’s keynote, btw, was pretty good — the affable CEO maintained his energy (and surprise at the amazing new functions of products he has to already know like the back of his hand) through a series of demos related to Motorola products, most of which dealt with Internet mobility. “In this new world, the Internet will follow you, you will not follow the Internet,” he said. The mobile phone (or whatever we call these burgeoning devices) is key, of course. “It’s always on, it’s always with you, it knows who you are and where you are,” Zander said. “Nothing is as personal, nothing is as ubiquitous as this device.”
Update: Yahoo! also announced at CES a pact with Research in Motion to bring Go 2.0 to Blackberries.
Posted by Cynthia Brumfield at 5:07 PM | Print | Comments (0)This is one of those great stories that might not have emerged from the cacophony of CES but for the interest of a single important reporter. The New York Times’ Lorne Manly has this piece today about a new device, called Sat-Go, that satellite TV company DirecTV is unveiling at the trade show today.
It’s a 25-lb. portable satellite and TV system that subscribers can take with them on camping trips, to tailgate parties, or anywhere that multichannel video reception is not possible. Sat-Go will cost around $1,000 to $1,300 per unit (which, contrary to the article’s characterization, doesn’t strike me as that expensive compared to what the unit will do).
That’s not the interesting part, however. Sat-Go was the brainchild of a colorful, veteran TV show producer and TV junkie named Rick Rosner, who, when frustrated with having to take his DirecTV satellite dish with him to remote locations, harangued DirecTV into building the portable device. The headstrong guy, who actually sounds delightful, even became a pain to DirecTV engineers as they designed Sat-Go, pestering them with his deep interest in the unit’s design.
Sat-Go will be sold, at least initially, at Cabela’s, a hunting and fishing store, and via unusual marketing outlets, such as RV Magazine.
Posted by Cynthia Brumfield at 11:02 AM | Print | Comments (0)Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates kicked off the annual Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas last night, delivering the opening keynote presentation, just as he has for the past several years. As expected, Gates promoted the concept of home networking and interconnected devices, with a big plug for the video and integrated content capabilities of the software giant’s upcoming Vista operating system.
“As the magic of software makes it easier for people to be creators, publishers and consumers of digital content, it is expanding the way we think about community and entertainment,” Gates said. “From your living room to your car, we’re delivering a wave of new software products and services that make it easier for you to manage your day-to-day lives, express your ideas and share your interests.”
The revolution in technology has necessitated this broad view of connected communications. “Truly the digital decade is happening,” Gates said. “We see it everywhere we look.”
Despite the rapid rise in digital technology use and digital media consumption, the one thing missing from the profusion of applications, devices and divergent modes of content delivery is “connections,” Gates said. “People want to do things across multiple devices, working with many other people.”
Microsoft Product Manager Justin Hutchinson conducted a demo of Vista and its “central role,” in coordinating all kinds of communications and content. He debuted a new “experience” called Sports Lounge that will be made available on Vista. Sports Lounge enables viewing of sports-related content (Fox Sports, in the demo) along with integrated statistics, alerts and other interactive material.
Hutchinson also announced a couple of new content partners which will be featured on Vista, including cable networks Showtime and Starz!, as well as Starz! online movie service Vongo.
Microsoft Entertainment and Devices Division President Robbie Bach offered a sneak peak at a new feature of the company’s interactive TV platform for telcos, Microsoft IPTV. Microsoft IPTV will come embedded in the company’s popular gaming platform, Xbox 360. “The bringing together of IPTV and Xbox 360 is going to give me all the benefits of next-generation IPTV and Xbox,” he said, enabling viewers to not only access linearly delivered video content but also play games and download TV shows and movies through Xbox Live. Bach also announced a new content supplier for Xbox’s TV show and movie service, Lion’s Gate Entertainment.
Xbox’s popularity continues to grow, Bach said. The company has sold 10.4 million consoles worldwide. In the first eight weeks of its release, Microsoft’s Xbox game Gears of War sold 2.7 million copies and the network of people playing games on Xbox has reached five million. “Today on Xbox live we’ve seen about 3 billion hours of gaming and I’m excited to see where that goes when we bring Xbox Live to Windows,” Bach said.
Gates ended the keynote presentation with Microsoft’s latest foray into automotive computing. “Our ambition is to give you connected experiences 24 hours a day,” he said. “One area…that clearly demands special work is information in the car.”
Mark Fields, President of the Americas for Ford Motor Company, touted his company’s debut of Sync, an integrated in-car communications system powered by Microsoft software. Sync is a voice-activated system that supports the operation of a wide range of mobile electronic devices, including mobile phones, Flash and zip drives and portable music players.
“We’re going to roll it out quickly and affordably,” Fields said, with Sync to be made available on a dozen Ford motor products later this year.
(Reprinted from today’s IP Media Monitor.)
Posted by Cynthia Brumfield at 9:22 AM | Print | Comments (0)
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