Should I be eating my Words? Did Steve make a Booboo? Sour Grapes?

Well let me start by giving due credit to the man who brought out the contrarian phone with no buttons – I have eulogized him earlier here

And he recently launched the “new” iPhone 4

Steve Jobs Introducing the iPhone 4

Well inspite the glitches, yes it is considerably a better phone…

Sharper Display - Check,

2 Balls - Check

1GHz A4 Chip - (What’s that? Anybody?)

Sleek Design – Check

but what else is new?

Nothing – Check! Here - All other features (and more) were available on competitors' products

So who really benefits from iPhone 4?

Mostly Apple… not the users…

Steve has rushed into creating this product to stave off growing competition from the Android OS based smartphone bonanza that’s sweeping the globe… 

And Apple’s not alone BlackBerry has gone retail (Read Unlocked, Officially Carrier Free), brought out entry level 8530, and launched the touchscreen based Storm series.

It seems the fruit have (or have I ?) gone sour…

End Note – I am inclined to agree Marty Cooper - the inventor of the mobile phone… and feel modern cellphones will go the way of the electronic typewriter (that were touted as the next biggest thing in the early 1980s) when the PC and word processing came along….

I feel the advent of a new paradigm is closing in… for better or worse


Watch out! While Google might not have Steve Job or Richard Branson Charisma> I'm betting on Google's platforms to make the most money for others  - I still think Buzz, Wave and The Gphone have yet to reveal their aces...

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Summary Notes -

1) Prior to the iPhone there was just Blackberry RIM in the Smartphone consideration set

2) the iPhone gave mass acceptance to no button smartphones

3) Like in the PCs space> Phones are now being bought based on components and OS

4) the Nexus One has been designed by Google Engineers (arguably the best in the world)

5) Android has taken charge in promoting Open Source Mobile OS (ref.> sample table below)

6) The iPhone 4 would not exist if Nexus One Had not been launched by Google

7) The iPhone 4 is NOT REVOLUTIONARY - It's Evolutionary - spurred by competition

Links in this post –

http://aseemseth.blogspot.com/2010/03/is-it-bird-is-it-plane-noooo-its.html

http://www.youtube-nocookie.com/watch?v=bmZkrdhOjeQ

http://www.apple.com/iphone/specs.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Android_(operating_system)

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/10259552.stm

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/click_online/8639590.stm


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                             Smartphone Owners TOP 5 EUNations (' 000)

                    April-2009     April-2010     % Change

Smartphone              41,224         56,974          38%

Symbian                 28,014         33,146          18%

Apple                    3,846         10,019         161%

Microsoft                6,719          7,268           8%

RIM                      2,456          4,594          87%

Google                      71          1,804        2429%

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“Google’s Android is most certainly the one to watch,” added Jeremy Copp. “It has gained about 1.7 million users in a very short period of time and now accounts for 3 percent of the European smartphone market. Crucially, Android user mobile media consumption is very high – slightly behind but comparable to that of Apple. 89 percent use mobile media, 78 percent applications and 83 percent browse the mobile internet. The Droids are coming and current demand for the iPhone 4 implies a titanic battle between Apple and Google is imminent.”