In today's Remainders, the tablet-confirming Tweet from a German retailer that wasn't really from a German retailer, a video of the Air Force smushing faces with seven Gs, an iPhone app that keeps track of all those rumors, and more!
Markt Up
This morning, technology websites were buzzing with news that the Apple tablet's price had been leaked by a German retailer. The source: a Tweet from German electronics giant Media Markt which claimed the tablet would be available on March 1 for roughly $600 with a T-Mobile contract or $1000 without. This seemed fishy to us. Why would a German retailer be privy to all of this information on Apple's supersecret device? Well, a few hours later our skepticism was confirmed: a Media Markt representative confirmed that the Twitter account was not an official one. The real question here: who's getting their kicks pretending to be a big German electronics store on Twitter? [MacRumors]
Barf Bag
Today Wired dug up this little gem that reminded us why we didn't pursue our dreams of joining the Air Force. Though the video is nearly half a decade old, and thus not quite fresh enough to warrant a post, there is something truly timeless about watching men and women of all shapes and sizes contorted into entirely different shapes and sizes by the face-smushing, mind-melting, puke-inducing power of seven Gs. [Wired]
Scary Berry
If the unicorn is the iPhone's spirit animal in the great Gadgetverse, this monster is surely the Blackberry's. [iRumors
Love playing the rumors game but having trouble keeping track of them all? There's an app for that! David Weiss's Prediction was approved by Apple today and lets you to stay on top of all the latest speculation from the palm of your hand. Even better, it lets you log your take on each rumor so you can see how your gadget prescience plays out in the long run. If that's a little too high tech for you, Weiss put together a handy PDF of all of the prevailing Apple tablet rumors that you can print out and fill out before tomorrow's event. [Daring Fireball]
In today's Remainders, the tablet-confirming Tweet from a German retailer that wasn't really from a German retailer, a video of the Air Force smushing faces with seven Gs, an iPhone app that keeps track of all those rumors, and more!
Markt Up
This morning, technology websites were buzzing with news that the Apple tablet's price had been leaked by a German retailer. The source: a Tweet from German electronics giant Media Markt which claimed the tablet would be available on March 1 for roughly $600 with a T-Mobile contract or $1000 without. This seemed fishy to us. Why would a German retailer be privy to all of this information on Apple's supersecret device? Well, a few hours later our skepticism was confirmed: a Media Markt representative confirmed that the Twitter account was not an official one. The real question here: who's getting their kicks pretending to be a big German electronics store on Twitter? [MacRumors]
Barf Bag
Today Wired dug up this little gem that reminded us why we didn't pursue our dreams of joining the Air Force. Though the video is nearly half a decade old, and thus not quite fresh enough to warrant a post, there is something truly timeless about watching men and women of all shapes and sizes contorted into entirely different shapes and sizes by the face-smushing, mind-melting, puke-inducing power of seven Gs. [Wired]
Scary Berry
If the unicorn is the iPhone's spirit animal in the great Gadgetverse, this monster is surely the Blackberry's. [iRumors
Love playing the rumors game but having trouble keeping track of them all? There's an app for that! David Weiss's Prediction was approved by Apple today and lets you to stay on top of all the latest speculation from the palm of your hand. Even better, it lets you log your take on each rumor so you can see how your gadget prescience plays out in the long run. If that's a little too high tech for you, Weiss put together a handy PDF of all of the prevailing Apple tablet rumors that you can print out and fill out before tomorrow's event. [Daring Fireball]
10 A.M. PT, Wednesday, January 27, 2010. That's when Steve Jobs (or Phil Schiller) will step onstage and (probably) announce the Apple Tablet. But you, you should tune in early, because our liveblog is going to start first thing.
We'll have our usual pre-game countdown, with observations of the line, celebrity look-a-like sightings, angry rants about how cold it's going to be in SF, and photos of what people are wearing. Us? A tasteful Target and Walmart ensemble, naturally.
And if you're a developer or member of the press that will be at the event tomorrow, email Brian Lam (his email's in the masthead on the left <—) for info on a meetup tomorrow night. [Liveblog]
10 A.M. PT, Wednesday, January 27, 2010. That's when Steve Jobs (or Phil Schiller) will step onstage and (probably) announce the Apple Tablet. But you, you should tune in early, because our liveblog is going to start first thing.
We'll have our usual pre-game countdown, with observations of the line, celebrity look-a-like sightings, angry rants about how cold it's going to be in SF, and photos of what people are wearing. Us? A tasteful Target and Walmart ensemble, naturally.
And if you're a developer, work in the industry or are a member of the press that will be at the event tomorrow, email Brian Lam (his email's in the masthead on the left <—) for info on a meetup tomorrow night. [Liveblog]
It's rumored by some that Apple will announce that the iPhone is becoming available from carriers other than AT&T on Wednesday. That would mean you could leave AT&T while staying with Apple, among other interesting things.
Price War
If you want an iPhone in the US, you're stuck with AT&T. If the iPhone becomes available on more carriers, people have a choice. And if the phones are equal across the carriers, people will be choosing based on rate plans and coverage instead of whichever carrier has the phone they want.
This would hopefully lead to lower prices, especially for services like text messages, data and voice. There's already a mini-price war going on between Verizon and AT&T, who have both dropped their unlimited calling plans to $70. If they're both fighting for iPhone customers, one expects this to only continue.
Tethering
AT&T still doesn't offer tethering for the iPhone, while Verizon is offering it on phones such as the Palm Pre Plus. If Verizon has tethering, how fast do you think AT&T would scramble to get it? Assuming it's a choice by AT&T, and not some other weird technical issue, we think it would happen pretty fast. These are the benefits of competition.
Coverage and Reception
AT&T's network might not be terrible, depending where you live, but one thing is for sure: it's stuck providing coverage for the biggest wireless data hog ever made. Verizon has a great network that really hasn't been challenged. On the one hand, Verizon might handle the iPhone with aplomb. On the other, AT&T aced our 3G test and still sucks when the iPhone is on it. Is it the network, or is it the phone?
As for the assumption that Verizon getting the iPhone would lighten the load on AT&T, well, it would be nice if half of the AT&T users just went over to VZ, but that's definitely not how networks—or businesses—work.
3G vs. 4G Wireless Data
If we don't get a Verizon iPhone this year, the general expectation is that we'll see an LTE iPhone on Verizon in 2011. (LTE is the 4G wireless protocol that both VZ and AT&T are supporting.)
But if Verizon gets it sooner, it might not have Apple breathing down its neck for a sturdy LTE network by next summer. That could be bad news for not just iPhone users, but anyone looking to get an LTE phone. Remember: 3G was available when the original iPhone was released, Apple was just too cautious to hop on board before it was ready.
GSM vs. CDMA
Verizon runs a CDMA network, which would require a CDMA iPhone. CDMA phones are more difficult to hack than GSM phones, which would be a hit for the thriving homebrew and jailbreaking scene that currently exists. Not that Verizon—or Apple—would care.
Furthermore, a CDMA iPhone wouldn't be able to travel outside of the US without a GSM radio, as most international carriers use GSM, just like AT&T. Many of Verizon's BlackBerry's offer CDMA phones with GSM radios for international roaming, so it's possible the iPhone could get it too.
It's rumored by some that Apple will announce that the iPhone is becoming available from carriers other than AT&T on Wednesday. That would mean you could leave AT&T while staying with Apple, among other interesting things.
Price War
If you want an iPhone in the US, you're stuck with AT&T. If the iPhone becomes available on more carriers, people have a choice. And if the phones are equal across the carriers, people will be choosing based on rate plans and coverage instead of whichever carrier has the phone they want.
This would hopefully lead to lower prices, especially for services like text messages, data and voice. There's already a mini-price war going on between Verizon and AT&T, who have both dropped their unlimited calling plans to $70. If they're both fighting for iPhone customers, one expects this to only continue.
Tethering
AT&T still doesn't offer tethering for the iPhone, while Verizon is offering it on phones such as the Palm Pre Plus. If Verizon has tethering, how fast do you think AT&T would scramble to get it? Assuming it's a choice by AT&T, and not some other weird technical issue, we think it would happen pretty fast. These are the benefits of competition.
Coverage and Reception
AT&T's network might not be terrible, depending where you live, but one thing is for sure: it's stuck providing coverage for the biggest wireless data hog ever made. Verizon has a great network that really hasn't been challenged. On the one hand, Verizon might handle the iPhone with aplomb. On the other, AT&T aced our 3G test and still sucks when the iPhone is on it. Is it the network, or is it the phone?
As for the assumption that Verizon getting the iPhone would lighten the load on AT&T, well, it would be nice if half of the AT&T users just went over to VZ, but that's definitely not how networks—or businesses—work.
3G vs. 4G Wireless Data
If we don't get a Verizon iPhone this year, the general expectation is that we'll see an LTE iPhone on Verizon in 2011. (LTE is the 4G wireless protocol that both VZ and AT&T are supporting.)
But if Verizon gets it sooner, it might not have Apple breathing down its neck for a sturdy LTE network by next summer. That could be bad news for not just iPhone users, but anyone looking to get an LTE phone. Remember: 3G was available when the original iPhone was released, Apple was just too cautious to hop on board before it was ready.
GSM vs. CDMA
Verizon runs a CDMA network, which would require a CDMA iPhone. CDMA phones are more difficult to hack than GSM phones, which would be a hit for the thriving homebrew and jailbreaking scene that currently exists. Not that Verizon—or Apple—would care.
Furthermore, a CDMA iPhone wouldn't be able to travel outside of the US without a GSM radio, as most international carriers use GSM, just like AT&T. Many of Verizon's BlackBerry's offer CDMA phones with GSM radios for international roaming, so it's possible the iPhone could get it too.
Well, this had to happen eventually: someone from an Apple's tablet partner—McGraw-Hill's Harold McGraw III, specifically—has confirmed that tomorrow's announcement is a tablet, that it'll run an iPhone-style OS instead of desktop OS X, and that it's "terrific."
MacRumors caught the slip during a CNBC segment, in which the anchor lobs generic softball about the tablet. Instead of deflecting, the guest just spilled the news all over the place:
Yeah, Very exciting. Yes, they'll make their announcement tomorrow on this one. We have worked with Apple for quite a while. And the Tablet is going to be based on the iPhone operating system and so it will be transferable. So what you are going to be able to do now is we have a consortium of e-books. And we have 95% of all our materials that are in e-book format. So now with the tablet you're going to open up the higher education market, the professional market. The tablet is going to be just really terrific.
Ha! Holy hell, guy. Now we know a few things about the tablet! It's real, it's going to have a wide media strategy that at the very least includes textbooks, and it may be exactly what we were hoping for, and apparently it doesn't suck, according to this man in a suit who is heavily invested in its success.
Don't worry, McGraw-Hill guy, and thanks for telling us—you'll still get a Christmas card from Steve this year. Just make sure to have it checked for anthrax. [MacRumors]
Well, this had to happen eventually: someone from an Apple tablet partner—McGraw-Hill's Harold McGraw III—has confirmed the tablet's coming tomorrow, that it'll run an iPhone-style OS, that it's "terrific", and that he'll probably never work with Apple again.
MacRumors caught the slip during a CNBC segment, in which the anchor lobs a softball closer question about the—excuse me, a—tablet, from Apple, maybe. Instead of deflecting, Mr. McGraw just started talking about it as if it'd already been announced:
Yeah, Very exciting. Yes, they'll make their announcement tomorrow on this one. We have worked with Apple for quite a while. And the Tablet is going to be based on the iPhone operating system and so it will be transferable. So what you are going to be able to do now is we have a consortium of e-books. And we have 95% of all our materials that are in e-book format. So now with the tablet you're going to open up the higher education market, the professional market. The tablet is going to be just really terrific.
Holy hell, guy. So, now we know a few things about the tablet! It's real, it's going to have a wide media strategy that at the very least includes textbooks, and it may be exactly what we predicted it will be, and apparently it doesn't suck, according to this man in a suit who is heavily invested in its success, or at least was, until he barfed up his NDA all over CNBC's anchor table. We reached out to the company regarding the slip, they're not calling back.
Don't worry, McGraw-Hill guy, you'll still get a Christmas card from Steve this year. Just make sure to have it checked for anthrax. [MacRumors]
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Well, this had to happen eventually: someone from an Apple's tablet partner—McGraw-Hill's