Posted
at September 7, 2010
We now have a date for the Verizon Fascinate, and it's so soon that it's practically here already. We knew it had to be soon because Best Buy had begun taking pre-orders, and it is soon: the last of the Galaxy S variants on the 4 major carriers is set to launch on Sept. 9, Thursday.
According to a joint Samsung / Verizon press release, pre-orders begin on Wednesday, Sept. 8th. Those who order on Wednesday will be able to get their Fascinates delivered by Thursday. of course, Verizon Wireless stores will have them in stock on Thursday, as well, but why wait in line?
The price, as expected, is $199 with a rebate. Only Sprint's version of the Samsung Galaxy S, the Epic 4G, is the only model priced different; with a hardware keyboard, it comes in at $50 more.
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Posted
at September 7, 2010
Apple usually doesn't take the time to spotlight the iPod touch, the iPhone's little brother. However, recent analysis by
asymco has determined that more than one in three iOS devices sold to date has been the phone-less iPhone.
asymco's results came from the following, admittedly a guesstimate: at Apple's September 1st event, the company announced that 120 million iOS devices were sold to date. SEC filings indicate that there were 59.6 million iPhones sold through June. Meanwhile, from Apple's own statements, we know that 3.2 million iPads have been sold.
The real guesstimate portion of the calculation comes from the numbers that asymco assumed for iPhones and iPads for July and August (8 million and 4 million, respectively). If that assumption is correct, the total number of iPod touch devices sold is 45.2 million.
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Posted
at September 7, 2010
Although Samsung recently introduced the Samsung Galaxy Tab at IFA in Berlin, the all-important "how much" question has still been unanswered, at least from Samsung. Some info has been batted around
indicating a high price in Europe, but a Korea Times interview seems to point to something more reasonable, depending on carrier subsidies.
Shin Jong-kyun, president of Samsung’s mobile division handling handsets
said that the price of Samsung's 7-inch Galaxy Tab will be between $300 and 400, depending on the carrier subsidy. Unlike the iPad, the Galaxy Tab is indeed a smartphone, though a speakerphone only (along with headset use).
He also added that 6- and 10-inch versions will be coming, with "advanced" AMOLED screens. We take that to mean Super AMOLED screens, as those are being used in the Galaxy S smartphones, and that was mentioned in the article as the type of screens that later tablets will move to.
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Posted
at September 7, 2010
The first of what will be many Windows Phone 7 ads has been released to the Web, and it promises that "The revolution is coming." That statement is strange because many feel that iOS was the smartphone platform that first revolutionized things in that industry.
The ad is very simple, and while it's
been reported that the ad won't air on television, we know it will be the first of many. Microsoft is reportedly
throwing tons of money at Windows Phone marketing and development.
Still, it's hard to see how revolutionary Windows Phone can be; iPhone and then webOS and Android have set the bar rather high. Microsoft isn't exactly starting off on a good note by excluding copy-and-paste and multitasking for third-party applications from the platform's first release.
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Posted
at September 7, 2010
The number of Americans under the sway of the text message has increased again, says the latest Pew Resarch study called "
Cell phones and American Adults." Still, as you might expect, adults still trail teens by a the considerable number.
The rise, year-over-year, is quite interesting. About 72 percent of adult cell phone users send and receive text messages; last year at the same time the number was 65 percent. Meanwhile, 87 percent of teen cell phone users text, but the percentage hides a much higher number: teens send and receive about 50 SMS messages per day, while adults send and receive five times less, or about 10.
Senior researcher Amanda Lenhart, who wrote the report, said the following: "We’ve reached a point where enough other people are texting that (adults) are drawn into using it because they can finally use it to communicate with a substantial number of their friends and family." In other words, we've reached critical mass as far as text messaging goes.
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