Tuesday, June 10, 2008

3G iPhone sucks

No, I'm not serious. It only sucks if you were the first one to buy the old one. Or if you accidentally bricked it. Or if you dropped it under a bus. Or if you live in Canada.

Steve Jobs has once again spun his magic (also known as his reality distortion field) and announced the next generation superfast, supercool and supersexy must-have gadget of the millenium, Apple's 3G iPhone. Or, more correctly, the Apple iPhone 3G. By any name, it's a neato piece of technology. And it's coming to Canada July 11th (yay!) Exclusively through Rogers (Not so yay.)

I got to talk with Ed Oswald of BetaNews.com, and he published the following article: WWDC: Dissecting the 3G iPhone.

I also chatted on the air with AM640 Toronto's Mike Stafford this morning (click here for show lineup.) There's something about live radio that reaches my soul. It's a very comforting and real medium. In related news, I've been settling into a regular routine with AM640 recently, airing on the John Downs Show as his regular tech guru-guest Friday evenings between 8:40 and 9:00 p.m. ET. There's a Listen Live link on the home page if you're around and want to hear it as it happens.

Last Friday, I spoke with BNN's Kim Parlee and Andrew Bell about new dual-mode UMA phones from Research In Motion and why this stuff matters to the rest of us. The interview was televised live. It was available here, but it seems to have expired. I'll keep hunting for a live link.

A few more recent media hits:

The National Post/The Financial Post (June 4/5). David George-Cosh published an update on the Canadian wireless spectrum auction, Rich auction may leave cellphone users poorer. Print version is available here, and it was also published under the alternate headline Wireless auction goes wild.
As bidding continues to increase, industry observers have noted that expensive wireless licences could potentially result in a similar situation that occurred after the 2000 United Kingdom 3G spectrum auction which saw £22.5-billion in revenue. While the auction blew past analysts' expectations, it vastly increased the amount of debt its winners, Vodafone, British Telecom, Orange, and One2One took on, and ultimately delayed the deployment of the country's 3G network.

"It raises the risk and the stakes for new entrants," said AR Communications Inc. consultant Carmi Levy. "It gives them a little less breathing room to launch their services. The more money you give to the government, the less money you have to build a network."
PC World Canada (June 2). Canadian tool computes impact of missing your meds. Byline Brian Jackson.

ITBusiness.ca/Computerworld Canada (June 2). Information workers would "love to bring" Yahoo Messenger 9.0 beta into the office. Byline Nestor Arellano. (For the record, I've always been pretty clear in my contention that this is a consumer-focused product.) Article also published in PC World and Computerworld UK.

Internetnews.com (byline Judy Mottl):
For the record, I won't be pitching my BlackBerry anytime soon. Two different markets, two different sets of strengths and weaknesses. For now. Over time, that'll change, too.

More to come, I'm sure. Exciting, isn't it?

6 comments:

twobuyfour said...

Oh, the shameless self-promotion! It must be nice to be so wanted by the media.

Do you ever get notoriety for your photography?

Anonymous said...

jeezum peets I need a new phone...too bad that I'm to broke to get something as nifty as the iPhone...or that my service doesn't carry it...Poo.

Just thought I would drop by and say hello.

Oh...an I got some new line work up.

carmilevy said...

Twobuyfour: Some people call it shameless self promotion. Others call it making a living. I'm a journalist. This is what journalists do.

And, yes, I shoot professionally. Weddings, commissions, whatever prospective clients want.

Mary Beth said...

I was trying to justify spending all that money on a phone that I never use (even now, my cell phone is still plugged in at home charging because I forgot it.) But then, I heard of the ITouch which is the IPhone minus the phone - this is much better. I don't need a new phone but a new gadget? That I can work with. I see one in my very near future:)

Anna said...

I love that you write this. It makes me even happier that I did not get the old one. My husband is getting me one for my birthday and I will be in my version of heaven!

Hope you are well there Carmi! I have been busy with photography work! YAY!

Have a good weekend coming up!

Anonymous said...

I was so happy to set up my iPhone the first time. I waited in line and thought that I would be leaving the AT&T store with an activated phone. I should have been able to buy it straight up without bugging it.
Anyway, I get home, hook it up and it will not work for the same reason that AT&T could not get it to. The server is too busy.
What a friggin joke. Don't you think that this would have come to someone at least in a dream.
I was extremely please the first time but this is a joke. Can I say that again? This is a joke.