slash-sa writes “O3B Networks has been quietly preparing itself over the last 12 months for the moment last week when it announced that it was going to be offering cheap, low-latency satellite bandwidth that can cover any part of Africa by 2010. It has put in place early finance with Google, Liberty Global and HSBC. Here are more details from the entrepreneur behind the project, Greg Wyler.”
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slash-sa writes “O3B Networks has been quietly preparing itself over the last 12 months for the moment last week when it announced that it was going to be offering cheap, low-latency satellite bandwidth that can cover any part of Africa by 2010. It has put in place early finance with Google, Liberty Global and HSBC. Here are more details from the entrepreneur behind the project, Greg Wyler.”
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
the-s-dog writes writes to mention that while there have been many people wishing on a star for an iPhone nano, it seems that at least one UK news pub is confident that it will happen, and in time for this Christmas no less. Still completely unfounded rumor, but an interesting possibility. “Apple is about to launch a ‘nano’ version of the hugely successful iPhone. It is expected to be in the shops in time for Christmas. The product will be launched in the UK at up to £150 for pay-as-you-go customers by O2, the mobile phone group owned by Spain’s Telefonica. ‘This will be a big one,’ said an industry source.”
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Galen Gruman submitted infoworld’s summary of Apple’s grand strategy for the iPhone. He points out that the real important part of the new iPhone is the software not the hardware. He talks about what the new SDK stuff, the ad-hoc app distribution and other stuff. It’s a reasonable read if you have been ignoring the iPhone and want to know what the hype is about over this release, but doesn’t break any new ground if you’ve been paying attention.
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Many of us have been watching Apple’s WWDC 2008 keynote unfold live. There are many exciting tidbits, but most of all is the announcement of the 3G iPhone. Featuring an even thinner profile, black plastic back, metal buttons, flush headphone jack, improved audio, GPS support, and improved battery life, this is bound to make quite a few people stand up and take notice. Update 18:54 GMT by SM: Best of all it looks like they really took the price point to heart, 8GB iPhones are now $199 and a 16GB model will be available for $299, coming to an Apple store riot near you on July 11,2008.
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Ian Lamont writes “In the runup to Apple’s WWDC 2008, Chris Tompkins thinks that the iPhone’s gaming potential ‘might finally put the lackluster Java-based cell phone gaming market to death.’ He cites the iPhone’s use of Core Animation adapted for ARM processors, which he says allows for the advanced effects of OS X and now OpenGL-accelerated 3D games, as well as the importance of an on-demand store and Internet connection. Tompkins says that while certain genres lend themselves to the iPhone’s touch controls, such as real-time strategy games (think StarCraft) the lack of physical controls will force developers to creatively approach the multitouch and accelerometer on the iPhone. His advice to Apple — make a compelling overture to independent game designers, and treat them like rock stars. Tompkins, incidentally, is one of several people who have recently pointed to Apple’s mobile gaming potential.”
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Achromatic1978 writes “The NYT has a story on the next revision of the iPhone, and discusses what will become of the iPhone, now that the hype is starting to slow (Jobs goal for 2008 was ten million iPhones sold — as of the first quarter, only 1.7 million have left the shelves). The WWDC is the rumored release date for a next version, and Jobs has promised that this year will see a 3G iPhone released.”
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Ian Lamont writes “Apple has filed a patent for IM on portable devices, which could mean that it’s getting ready to launch an IM client for the iPhone. The filing is titled ‘Portable Electronic Device for Instant Messaging’, and covers methods for sending, receiving, and viewing ongoing conversations. The proposed GUI is similar to Apple’s current interface for SMS. As for why iChat wasn’t enabled for the iPhone earlier, there’s some interesting background and analysis here, which also includes a discussion of AIM for the iPhone. IM also came up in the discussions last year about the most-wanted features in iPhone 2.0.”
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Tech Dirt is reporting that recently announced numbers by Apple and AT&T suggest that there is a large gap (1.7 million) between the number of iPhones being sold and those being activated. Taking into account factors like the iPhone launching outside the US and a 20% estimate of people buying the iPhone just for the purposes of unlocking, there are still 700,000 iPhones unaccounted for. “[…] suggesting that they’re sitting on store shelves, piling up as unsold inventory. That number suggests at least some gap between perceived demand and actual demand — while also raising questions about how much effort it will take to eat through that inventory.”
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In looking back at 2007, CNet views the smash entrance of Google and Apple onto the telecom scene as a major formative factor for 2008’s tech scene. Google in particular is going to be a huge factor in the much-anticipated wireless auction. “Google was instrumental in getting the FCC to adopt auction rules that would ultimately give consumers more choice in the devices they use on these new networks. And in November, Google CEO Eric Schmidt committed the company to bidding in the auction, promising to spend at least $4.6 billion on licenses. Exactly what Google plans to do with the spectrum if it wins licenses is still unknown. But its participation raises the stakes, especially for traditional telephony players.”
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