Tuesday, January 05, 2010

Google Launches iPhone Competitor - Nexus One

The iPhone has a new competitor with the announcement of the new phone released by Google. The Nexus One is available through Google's online store.

(Media-Newswire.com) - Major cell phone announcement about the new Google Nexus One phone that the company will be releasing next Tuesday. The much anticipated phone will be available through mobile phone provider T-Mobile.

The new Google Nexus One phone is set to be manufactured by HTC. The operating system will be a newer version of the popular Google OS Android with v2.1 to be installed on the new phones.

Besides purchasing from T-Mobile stores, Google also announced second way to get the new phone starting next week. Google will setup a new smartphone marketplace where phones can be bought along with service plans, phone support and information.

The cost of the phone will be $179 with an approved two year contract or an unlocked version for any provider at $529 which will be available for purchase directly from the Google smartphone marketplace.

The new phone will have special features including a 3.7-inch OLED 480-by-800 display which is less than the newly released Droid but superior with the OLED.

USATODAY
Google's Smartphone
(by Jefferson Graham)

Taking direct aim at Apple's iPhone, Google on Tuesday introduced its most advanced phone to date — the Nexus One — and opened an online store to sell it directly to consumers.

The phone, available at google.com/phone, costs $179 with a two-year contract from T-Mobile. Similar offers will be available from Verizon Wireless and British carrier Vodafone this year.

You can buy the phone without a contract for $529.

The Nexus One runs an updated version of Google's Android operating system. Built by HTC from Google's direct specifications, it has a touch-screen and a fast processor. It includes a 5-megapixel camera for video and photos, a Global Positioning System (GPS), and stereo Bluetooth connection for headphones.

Among gee-whiz features: speech dictation, which lets you speak and compose e-mail messages, Twitter tweets and Facebook posts without typing.

Google has lagged Apple in the mobile market. It has tried to be a major player with Android, which it offers free to manufacturers and wireless carriers. Some 20 Android phones are available, but few, with the exception of the Verizon Droid (by Motorola), have been big sellers.

The Nexus One could change that, says Charles Golvin, an analyst at Forrester Research: "It's the best Android to date."

Apple has sold nearly 30 million phones in 100 countries. Its U.S. carrier is AT&T. On Tuesday, it said iPhone and iPod Touch owners have downloaded 3 billion applications since it launched the App Store, a marketplace for 100,000 applications that do everything from play games to translate words.

There are around 10,000 apps for Android phones.

The message to consumers is that Nexus One is the flagship Google phone, and the others aren't as good, says Michael Gartenberg, an analyst at Interpret. "If I was a Droid customer who just bought the phone a month ago, I might not feel so good," he says. Google "made it clear that not all Android phones are created equal."

Google's Andy Rubin, who oversees Android, says with its own store, Google could potentially lower wireless plan costs, since it "won't have the built-in costs" of heavy advertising.

Golvin predicts Nexus One will result in sales of "a couple million" phones this year and bigger market share. But Google must push into more countries, and "that's going to take awhile."

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Monday, April 13, 2009

Utah First State to Offer iPhone App

Utah is first state in nation to offer government service through Apple iPhone Application

Press release

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah - Francine A. Giani, Executive Director of the Utah Department of Commerce announced today that Apple iPhone users can now search the Division of Occupational and Professional Licensing's online database thanks to a free Apple application which can be downloaded from iTunes.

The Department of Commerce is the first state agency to offer an iPhone service and Utah is the first state nationwide to offer an Apple application for a government service. For instance, iPhone users will be able to look up a contractors license from a job site, patients can verify a doctors license from a waiting room and homeowners can search for a licensed electrician from their backyard.

"Utah is known for being on the cutting edge of technology and innovation and ensuring access to government services. With this new iPhone service leading the way for other state agencies, Utah can now say, 'Yeah, we have an app for that!' " said Governor Jon M. Huntsman, Jr.

"We are thrilled to be the first to bring the convenience of iPhone applications to a state agency database", said Francine A. Giani, Executive Director of the Utah Department of Commerce, "Our Department looks forward to adding more Commerce services to iPhone users in the near future."

About the Utah Department of Commerce: The Department of Commerce contributes to the success of Utah businesses, professionals and consumers by creating a favorable economic environment. Our mission is to protect the public interest by ensuring fair commercial and professional practices. For more information about the Utah Department of Commerce log on to: www.commerce.utah.gov, or call (801) 530-6701.

About Utah.gov Utah.gov is the State of Utah's official Web portal (www.Utah.gov). It was ranked first in the 2008 Digital States Survey by the Center for Digital Government and also ranked first in the nation in the Center for Digital Government's 2007 Best of the Web competition. It is managed and operated without tax funds through a public-private partnership between the state and Utah Interactive, the Salt Lake City- based official eGovernment partner for the state of Utah. Utah Interactive is a subsidiary of eGovernment firm NIC (NASDAQ: EGOV)

About NIC NIC is the nation's leading provider of official government portals, online services, and secure payment processing solutions. The company's innovative eGovernment services help reduce costs and increase efficiencies for government agencies, citizens, and businesses across the country. NIC provides eGovernment solutions for 2,900 federal, state, and local agencies that serve more than 70 million people in the United States.

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Thursday, April 02, 2009

Learn how to build iPhone apps

Stanford is planning a new course to teach students how to build iPhone apps, reported by TechCrunch. The course will be available as a podcast through iTunes. This should be a great addition to the Stanford on iTunes U offerings. No matter where you are you can still get benefits of Stanford lectures, courses and interviews.

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Tuesday, March 31, 2009

i.TV is the Best Free iPhone App - Review

Review of i.TV (in the news)
"i.TV » This app for the TV lover by entrepreneur and movie producer Brad Pelo is the best available. Not only does it provide an onscreen television grid for listings, but it also has movie listings for local theaters, movie trailers, previews for TV series, episode clips, entertainment news and connectivity to Netflix so users can instantly add DVDs to their rental queue while on the go.

Best of all, there are full episodes of many series, including "Star Trek," "Desperate Housewives," "All in the Family" and scores more. And in some cases, there are dozens of episodes of a single series available for streaming. It also works with 3G.
It's an app that does a lot of things and most of them well. (Free)"
Thanks for the great feedback!

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Thursday, March 19, 2009

Buy an iPhone without a Contract

NEW YORK - AT&T Inc. is going to start selling iPhones without requiring a two-year contract, but they will cost $400 more than those sold with contracts.

Spokesman Michael Coe says AT&T will start selling the phones next Thursday for $599 and $699 depending on the memory capacity. The two models cost $199 and $299 under contract.

The phone company had said in July, when the latest version of the iPhone was launched, that it would sell contract-free phones in the U.S. Such phones are sold in some other countries.

http://tech.yahoo.com/news/ap/20090319/ap_on_hi_te/tec_at_t_iphone_1

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Tuesday, December 02, 2008

i.TV - #3 Free Entertainment iPhone App in 2008.

Apple just released their Top 10 lists for 2008. Our i.TV app is #3 in the top free entertainment downloads for the year. i.TV has only been out since October 7th, and to be in the top 10 for the year (so far) is really great. Hope everyone is on the lookout for our next release - coming soon, and very very cool!

Get the full lists at http://www.mobilecrunch.com/2008/12/02/apple-announces-top-10-iphone-app-downloads-of-2008/

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Monday, November 24, 2008

Walmart to Sell iPhones

Wal-Mart plans to offer the iPhone 3G in select stores three days after Christmas, according to Boy Genius Report.

An internal document, sent to sales associates to prepare them for execution on Dec. 28th, confirmed the rumor.

About 2,500 Wal-Mart locations will carry the iPhone 3G, and 69 Sam's Club locations — subsidiaries of Wal-Mart — will offer the iPhone on the 28th. (Sam's Club kiosks in the larger stores will not sell the handset because they use Radio Shack's ordering system.) Pricing has yet to be announced.

Though Steve Jobs has emphasized the importance of competitive pricing, it would be "hard to imagine" Apple giving a significant discount for Wal-Mart customers, CNET writes. And considering the timing of the deal, Apple is unlikely to reveal its post-Christmas price point to avoid slowing handset sales during the prime shopping season.

The move is counterintuitive for the retailer, which profits exceptionally from pre-holiday shopping. However, it isn't the first such action Wal-Mart has made so far this season. Last week Wal-Mart sent legal notices to Black Friday websites, demanding that they remove leaked Wal-Mart offers for the day after Thanksgiving. Last year the retailer enjoyed significant sales from discounts disseminated across such sites.

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Monday, November 10, 2008

i.TV - Movie and TV Guide for the iPhone

Things are going well at i.TV. Quickly rising to number 1 for free apps through the iTunes App store, i.TV has had great response from users across the U.S. and Canada. Check out the i.TV Blog for more details.

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Sunday, August 10, 2008

i.TV

So I'm now VP of Content and Community at i.TV -- we are building a really cool iPhone application which should launch in the next few weeks -- our site isn't up yet, but we're working on that as well. I've been too busy to blog much, but I'm looking forward to blogging again. It seems that time goes by too fast, and my summer is almost over -- but without any vacations. Dang it! I guess I'll have to make more effort to fit in playing very soon. :)

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