Cell Geek

Apple fell just short of annalists predictions for the Fourth quarter.  Predictions were set for Apple to produce $8.3 Billion in profits for the fourth quarter.  As expected their stock price dropped to $600 per share on the announcement.  The demand for the iPhone 5 is promising to put Apple back on track for the first quarter, as the demand has been larger than expected, and they are having difficulty keeping up with production.  Apple has also recently won their Patent Violation lawsuit against Samsung in the United States.  The win should prove to put some distance between Apple and Samsung in the market place.  Samsung is currently heavily relying on the Android operating system to fuel their smart phone sales.  Putting one of the larger manufacturers are arms length can only serve to assist Apple in trying to increase their market share for IOS.

Via Wireless Week

According to BGR, their sources at Apple have indicated they are currently testing viability of IOS 6.1 for US based carriers.  The new update will include many miscellaneous bug fixes including problems with the camera flash not operating, cellular data not working, lock screen security fix, improved Wifi support, and a bug that caused horizontal lines to run across the screens.  There is currently no official release date.

Via BRG

The new release IOS is set to resolve issues with Tue iPhone 3G. The release will also enable HDR image capture, uploaded HD video via WIFI, Conduct video chat via the facetime with iPod touch users, and allow Apples TV programming rentals also.

There has been no secret that Apple and Adobe have been fighting like cats and dogs over the integration of Flash content into Apples devices.  Most notably the iPhone and iPad.  This week Apple has taken everything a step further by creating a new ruling in the developer agreement.  Section 3.3.1 of the iPhone developer agreement now prohibits the use of private or third-party API's.  Adobe has been working on Flash Professional CS5 for developers, and has committed to shipping the product but sees no hope for future investments in any product that targets the iPhone.  CEO Steve Jobs is defending the move in an email to a developer stating "Intermediate layers between the platform and the developer ultimately produces sub-standard apps and hinders the progress of the platform."


Adobe's primary goal with CS5 was to enable cross-platform compatibility, but Apple really wants to tie developers down to their platform.  Adobe made it very clear that they are working closely with Google to enable flash development on their platform.

Former iPhone customer and San Francisco woman Charlene Gallion is suing Apple claiming that their warranty is "ilusory".  Apple places (as does many companies) small litmus strips in their devices that change color with the presence of humidity over manufacturers specifications or liquid.  Gallion claims that she was denied servicing on her iPhone due to a false positive in the liquid indicators.  Gallion further claims that she was unable to verify Apple's claim of a positive indicator.

Adobe CEO Shantanu Narayen has issued a statement to Fox News that Flash 10.1 will become available for Android, WebOS, and Blackberry.   Based on the statement, the application support is expected to surface for these devices in the second half of 2010.  Apple still refuses to work with Adobe to bring flash enabled support to any of their devices including the newly released iPad.  Narayen touched briefly on Apple's lack of participation  mentioning that Apple is holding out on support for their devices not based of technology, but as a business decision that will hurt consumers.  He remains confident that consumers will vote for the experience that they prefer with their wallets.  

The 3G enabled iPad will ship to arrive at its destination by May 7th.  The 3G version of this awaited device will allow the use of wifi when its available, and At&t's 3G wireless network.  The 3G version will be significantly more expensive than the wifi only version of the device. The 64 GB version will sell for $829.  There have been plans reported from other wireless carriers to bundle the wifi version of the iPad with their personal hot spot aircard products such as the Mifi 2200 (Verizon and Sprint)  or the Overdrive (Sprint).  The combination of the personal hotspot unit, and the wifi iPad will allow other carriers to sell the iPad cheaper than At&t, and with their independent 3G or 4G experience.  The wifi iPad 64GB version will sell for $699.99.

At&t will offer a prepaid data plan starting at $14.99 for 250 Mb of data for casual users, and $29.99 for unlimited data for heavy users.

Nokia has officially filed lawsuits for patent infringement against Apple. Nokia claims that technology in the iPhone is breaking about 10 patents held by Nokia. Nokia already licenses these patents to 40 other manufacturers, and claims they are vital to the operation of a GSM based handset.

Last week the FCC required 3 companies to atone for what looks to be a tip-of-the iceburg investigation into the wireless industry. Apple, Google, and At&t were sent a list of questions to determine why the Google Voice Application was denied access to the iPhone App Store.
All three companies issued statements regarding this. The most interesting comes from Apple themselves claiming the Google Voice application was not denied, but instead under review.

"Contrary to published reports, Apple has not rejected the Google Voice application, and continues to study it," Apple said. "The application has not been approved because, as submitted for review, it appears to alter the iPhone's distinctive user experience by replacing the iPhone's core mobile telephone functionality and Apple user interface with its own user interface for telephone calls, text messaging and voicemail."

It should be noted that Apple and At&t have an arrangement to prevent any applications that would break the user agreement on At&t's network. Applications for such things as Slingbox have been denied for this very reason. At&t prohibits redirecting a television signal to any mobile device on their network. Apple and At&t both seemed very rattled by the implication of Google's "call routing" technology. The largest concern from the statements seems to be the fact that users would gain the ability to replace the core operating components within the iPhone. In other words, Apple really does not want anyone to be able to customize their device at all.

At&t has absolved themselves of any responsibility for the dealings with the App store. This was also echoed by Apple in their response.

"Apple alone makes the final decisions to approve or not approve iPhone applications"

It shoud be noted that Google filed for confidential treatment for the response to the question "What explanation was given (if any) for Apple's rejection of the Google Voice application (and for any other Google applications for iPhone that have been rejected, such as google Lattitude)?

While the FCC continues to probe the situation iPhone users can still take advantage of some of the features available from the invitation only service by logging into the Google Voice mobile portal.

RIM is named the manufacturer of the top selling smart phone for the first quarter of 2009. The familier Blackberry Curve soared past even the newest iPhone unseating Apple as the king of smart phones. According to a research study conducted by NPD Group, RIM's market share in the consumer sector rose 15% from the previous quarter. RIM is currently also holding the lions share of the consumer smart phone segment with a 50% penetration rate. Apple and Palm both watched their market share shrink by 10%.

Smart Phones now account for 23% of the overall handset sales in the United States. Even in this downed economy customers are looking for more information right at the tip of their fingers. Here are the top 5 selling handsets for the first quarter.

1. RIM – Blackberry Curve (all 8300 series models)

2. Apple – iPhone 3G (all models)

3. RIM – Blackberry Storm

4. Blackberry Pearl (all models except Flip)

5. T-Mobile G1

Many have been expecting a new iPhone to be released at Apples World Wide Developer Conference, but Apple decided to let the cat out of the bag a little early. The new iPhone announced today, will support many improved features including improved battery life, and faster performance. The new breed of iPhone will support the 7.2 Mbps HSDPA network, include a digital compass, hardward encryption, and a 3.2 MP camera. The camera includes a new feature called touch-to-focus. This feature will allow users to touch the screen where they want the camera to focus. The 3GS will be available in a 32GB and 16GB flavors, and go on sale June 19th. The prices will be $299.99 and $199.99 respectively. The iPhone 3G will also price drop to $99.99 effective immediatly.

Despite releases last week regarding Adobe working on a solution for the iPhone, experts don't believe that the device will be ready very soon. Adobe has already mentioned that the production of this application has been a challenge. Steve Jobs mentioned that a large amount of internet based videos are not available for the iPhone because the standard flash players just run too slow. Steve also went on to mention that the flash player functions very well on larger devices like laptop computers, but the iPhone is going to need something special to fit the bill.

Yesterday Apple released Firmware version 2.2 for the iPhone. The 2.2 upgrade will allow users access to new features in the iPhone. Google maps now includes street view, public transit, and walking directions. The update also fixes problems with HTML formatting in their email. Safari is now stabalized, and improvements to nessecities like voice quality, and decreased call failures. Podcasting is also now available for download with iTunes. This update was realeased free.

A Representative from Adobe at the recent Flash on the Beach conference let slip that Adobe's Flash technology would be making an appearance for the iPhone relatively soon.

There is a rumor starting to circulate around the Internet very quickly that Verizon will be getting a version of Apple's popular iPhone. For a significant amount of time industry professionals have believed this would not happen. Concerns over CDMA being a minority technology seem to cast doubt into this rumor, however this time the rumor comes prepared. On Apples website they are looking for engineers that have experience with CDMA and EVDO devices. Why would then need CDMA and EVDO engineers for GSM and UMTS technologies? Verizon was Apple's original first pick for the iPhone, but disagreements between the two companies made this impossible at the time. No public documents have ever been release by either At&t or Apple stating the term for the iPhones exclusivity in the United States. Carriers are gravitating toward an open network reach as we get closer and closer to 4G data. LTE will not start rolling out until 2009, and the new iPhone is rumored to be announced at Macworld 09. The release of the iPhone 3G on multiple networks across the world show possibility that Apple wants to diversify its hand in the cellular market place. Could this be a move to help it compete agains Android? We are certainly not getting any answers about the legitimacy of this rumor, but with the support it is carrying in terms of information to back the claim, it was certainly worthy of notice. We will follow what happens over the next several months, while we try to confirm details. I don't believe that Apple would release an iPhone stricly CDMA/EVDO with the worlds market being so small. I do see Apple maybe trying to make the iPhone a more all in one device for any network. The new "iPhone 4G" could be CDMA, EVDO, HSDPA, and GSM. Maybe we will see a little thicker device with radios allowing the device to be used with any carrier? You buy from Apple, and activate with the service of your choice. Time will tell. Leave your take in the comments.