Motorola Signals New Tablet War With Superbowl Ad

Check out Motorola's Superbowl XOOM commercial.

It's digging at Apple by referring to the 1984 ad.

Awesome! I love competition!!!



It's time for the tablet way to begin. We saw a bit of that when Samsung Tab and other Android tablets took on 25% of the tablet market. Let's be clear. It isn't as if it was stealing from Apple as the iPad sales racked up over 7 million iPads and billions in sales.

The market is wide wide open for newcomers as well as current players, Apple and Microsoft. Yeah, I'm including Microsoft in all this. And it makes sense.

The tablet war will soon be joined by the one-two punch of HP and Web OS as well as RIM and its hopes in Playbook.

There's going to be a lot of trash talking in the coming days. Apple had 95% of a market that no one knows anything about. This is a war that will last years if not decades. I am looking for Google to be a strong player with Apple fighting and biting to retain the top position.

What I see is a dark horse coming along and disrupt things along the way. I don't know who but pay attention folks, it's game on. And this Motorola commercial on Superbowl Sunday is just the start.

More at Android Guys.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPod touch

AT&T's "4G" Network Is Nothing To Write Home About

I inherited Mom's 3G iPad last week as she waits for iPad 2 with the better resolution and frontal camera so that she can conduct video chats for work and with friends. I have been using a Wi-Fi only version and more recently, bought an. iSpot for use with it to get the wireless Internet access.

And while ATT prides itself on having the fastest 3G network in the United States, I cannot be sure if that means much. And here is why.

In one day's use and based on past experiences with ATT in the past and with T-Mobile's own network and now Clearwire's WiMax service, I am in a good position to pass a long a few conclusions.

Today, WiMax is excellent if you can get it. It is wicked fast. I consistently get about 4.5 Mbps. When T-Mobile turned on their HPSA+ network last year, I went from about 1MBps on the Android G1 to about 3 Mbps. And my understanding is that things have vastly improved by quite a bit. We could be looking at speeds up to 20 Mbps by the end of 2011.

These two current scores are in contrast with an average of 2 Mbps that I am getting on the 3G iPad. There was about three bars.

However, all the speed on the world means nothing if you can't good signals. And while I might be able to see a couple of bars, I can't say that I am happy with the 3G speed from AT&T. On the iPad, I am still unable to get anything close to the WiFi signal through the iSpot or the G1 acting as a MiFI versus just the 3G on Ma Bell.

I still don't understand why that is the case. This is something that I'll probably need to get Dave the Mobile Warrior to chime in on this.

And this is a huge deal going forward. Presumably, the next iPad may have native wireless access to Verizon's CDMA network along side AT&T. Unless it is able to somehow shorten the latency time or flip a switch to boost signal, it will not matter if users cannot access AT&T's HSPA+ speed running 14-21 Mbps while the slower CDMA networking running 1-2 Mbps is accessible by users on the same area.

Trust me, Verizon will be going after potential iPhone switchers from AT&T. A side-by-side comparison of signal strength could be just what Verizon is eagerly waiting for.


-- Post From My iPad

Amazon Giving Prime Users Free Unlimited Streaming

If this is true, I'm back on being an Amazon Prime user. According to some reports, Amazon Prime users are seeing options to have Video On Demand streaming of movies for free.

While this isn't totally confirmed nor has Amazon made an official statement on this matter, there is a lot of benefits for Amazon in this regard. Obviously, users will get more bang for its dollars should Amazon continue its march into online content.

Could this be the beginning of a new arms race in online video streaming?

More at Greenjava.

Windows Phone 7 Should Be Free Like Android

It's do or die time and I think Microsoft should just do whatever it takes to get back into the mobile game. Even if that means giving it away for free.

I've had many opportunities to play with Windows Phone 7 and like three different devices sporting Microsoft's newest mobile OS. And it's quite good. Needs more work but it'll get there. But at this rate, even if it does "get there", it'll hardly matter if no mobile warrior is buy it or not many folks using it to make it.

This is where if Microsoft gives it away for free, it can really hit Google's Android in a place where it hurts and maybe even take the step after that to go after the iPhone.

First, by making it free, it negates the main advantage that Google's Android have - that it is free. I don't know how much Microsoft charges for it but I don't think it can be all that much. And given that so far only 2 million WP7 devices have shipped (not sold as Microsoft claims), it isn't much part of Microsoft's last quarter profit ($6.6 billion) if at all or a measurable amount of the $19 plus billion in revenue. So why not give it away?

Second, Microsoft can stipulate that if they take WP7 for free, they must use Bing as its search engine. This is something that Google cannot make Android device makers do because Google has said that Android would be open-sourced and free to use. Right now, some Android devices sold on Verizon Wireless are using Bing as their default search engine.

Third, Microsoft can try to reclaim lost revenue of giving WP7 away for free by typing more of the OS to other more profitable ventures like Windows 7, Xbox initatives, and Office. Plus, Microsoft is investing a lot in cloud services. If Redmond can create a coherent ecosystem, it stands to gain a lot. Plus, it will be able to put a hurt on Google.

The next step, Microsoft should work on its own hardware just like Google did with Nexus One and is doing with Nexus S.

This is my prediction. Microsoft will continue to upgrade Windows Phone with more features to catch up to Android and iOS. And it can do so quickly. But by that time, it might not matter. So I think Microsoft will let WP7 loose. Microsoft will handle all the development and recoup the costs and one day make money through ads and services linked to other Microsoft products.

I don't think it has any other choices if it wants to stay relevant in the mobile market.

If You Want a Verizon iPhone, I Don't Think You Should Wait

Can you believe it has been almost three weeks since Apple and Verizon Wireless (VZW) announced the availability of the iPhone on America's largest (maybe second largest - VZW is disputing reports in the media that AT&T is now number one) wireless carrier and on its CDMA network.

And we are less than a week from current VZW customers getting first crack at ordering it. And the week after that, it'll be the general public's turn.

And while I am trying to stay strong and wait a bit longer, I wonder if Apple and VZW are underestimating the demands.

So far, all the folks I have spoken to are very excited about the iPhone on VZW and seemed ready to pull the trigger on it. And all surveys back in late 2010 as well as recent blog polls suggests an iPhone rout in the mobile market.

Not convinced? Let's take both Ma Bell and VZW's earrings this week. Both reported less new subscribers than Wall Street estimated. The conventional wisdom for this is that many mobile warriors held back purchases or upgrades, despite being the Holidays, and waited on faith, because we didn't know if the iPhone really was coming to VZW, that they can get the iPhone on VZW.

So the pended up demands is there. While we don't know just how much, I think we can safely say that there are going to be long lines again.

This time, however, the lines will all be outside the Apple stores and VZW stores. AT&T guys can just take it easy. At least, until June.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPod touch



- Posted using BlogPress from my iPod touch

Nokia Embracing Android (Or Windows Phone 7) Would Be Bad For Mobile Users

Nokia is making money but it's not an investor or media favorite for obvious reasons. Though still the biggest cell phone marker in the world, it's market-share is eroding and being chipped away by more nimble and innovative companies and platforms.

There has been a lot of talk about Nokia embracing Android. Then Windows Phone 7. No one really knows but it does sound like it is about to do that. And that is bad for mobile warriors like us.

Here's why.

The mobile market is huge. There are seven billion humans on the planet and a majority of that do no use smartphones or mobile devices. That means there is a lot of growth. I'm not putting it in terms of potential. The growth is real. It'll be a decade or so before smartphones saturate the market.

That also means there is plenty of room for a lot of mobile players and the size of the market can support multiple platforms.

But with Nokia going away from Symbian or Meego and taking the easy way out by using Android and/or WP7, we lose out a top tier tech company embracing tech without the innovative efforts it would have otherwise needed to sustain its own mobile platform.

Effectively, Nokia becomes another HTC, Samsung, or an drone for someone else's mobile effort.

Look at Samsung. Yes, it has found success with Android selling over ten million Galaxy S devices and over two million Galaxy Tabs. However, it is also trying to foster its own platform. I am sure Nokia will do the same with Symbian or Meego. So, ask Samsung how well its Bada OS is doing?

I'll bet you most mobile warriors have not heard of it unless he or she is a mobile enthusiast like myself. And the same thing will happen to Nokia's other mobile efforts.

I know the executives at Nokia are under a lot of pressure to perform. However, if its true that Nokia is about to jump into bed with Google or Microsoft over its own mobile OS, any short-term gain from this effort will be the first step down the road towards its demise.

Contrast this with HP and Palm. HP will spend multi-years developing and fostering Web OS and I'm betting they will find greater success than anyone else is giving them credit for. Nokia ought to look at what HP is doing and find inspiration there.

Frankly, we have enough Android and Windows Phone devices out there. Nokia has to create its own digital and mobile vision and follow through on it. It's doable and there's a lot of time left.

We need more platforms competing on the market. Not less.

Sony Release Next Generation Portable Gaming - Yes, A Game Changer

In my family, I have always had respect for much of what Sony delivered in terms of electronics and innovation. And yes, the PSP was innovative. And with NGP, next-generation portable, Sony has once again showed that it is alive and well, and ready to kick sand in the eyes of Nintendo, Apple, and anyone else who says that its better days in mobile gaming was in the past.

Here's a rundown of the specs that is already rocking mobile gaming. You're going to get blown away big time.