Apple, Google, Amazon, Microsoft All Tumble
MacBytes.com — ... (BusinessWeek.com, 9/24/08). Shares of Research In Motion ( RIMM ), maker of the BlackBerry wireless device, dropped more than 12%, to 61.73. That followed declines earlier in the month after RIM issued a forecast below analysts' estimates. RIM has lost 58% since reaching a 52-week high on June 19. Computer makers also came under fire. Analyst Doug Reid of Thomas Weisel Partners ( ...

Can INQ Cell Phones Whack iPhone in the Knees?
MacBytes.com — ... to slash the price of phones that let people surf the Net and tap social networking sites. The goal is to get more people to use the phones and let companies such as Hutchison profit from selling Net services. "We're tired of paying a fortune for phones that are unusable," says Meehan. The move may help lower the prices of advanced mobile phones for consumers and stiffen competition among phone makers. Phones that can surf the Web such as Apple's iPhone and Research In Motion's ( RIMM ) BlackBerry cost Americans an average of $174, says researcher NPD Group. INQ will sell its ...

Can INQ Cell Phones Whack iPhone in the Knees?
MacBytes.com — ... to slash the price of phones that let people surf the Net and tap social networking sites. The goal is to get more people to use the phones and let companies such as Hutchison profit from selling Net services. "We're tired of paying a fortune for phones that are unusable," says Meehan. The move may help lower the prices of advanced mobile phones for consumers and stiffen competition among phone makers. Phones that can surf the Web such as Apple's iPhone and Research In Motion's ( RIMM ) BlackBerry cost Americans an average of $174, says researcher NPD Group. INQ will sell its ...

More Good News for Apple on the Enterprise Front
Byte of the Apple - BusinessWeek — More Good News for Apple on the Enterprise Front Posted by: Arik Hesseldahl on December 10 Remember if you will from our cover story from earlier this year “ The Mac In The Gray Flannel Suit ,” some interesting research from the Yankee Group. At the time the firm found that among a survey group of some 250 businesses large and small some 87% had at least a few Macs in their offices, up from 48% two years prior. Well the analyst who ran that survey was Laura Didio, and she’s now with Information Technology Intelligence Corp. (ITIC) and Boston research and consulting firm. She called last night to give me a heads up on some new data she’s about to release based ...

Andy Grove On Web 2.0 And The Valley: Slackers
Silicon Alley Insider — ... Dressed in a gray sweater with a BlackBerry (RIMM) clipped to his belt, Grove greets me at the door of his small office above a travel agency in Los Altos. He launches directly into a diatribe against what he sees as the shortsightedness and shortage of ambition on the part of today's Valley-ites. He regrets that the U.S. ceded the market for computer batteries to Japan in the 1970s. Now it's way behind in the race to invent improved batteries for electric vehicles-something he thinks Silicon Valley companies should be working harder on. ...

The Eye of the (BlackBerry) Storm
MacBytes.com — ... indicates the cost of components and manufacturing for RIM ( RIMM ) is slightly less than $203. By comparison, those costs for Apple's iPhone 3G, the second iteration of the device, ...

The Eye of the (BlackBerry) Storm
MacBytes.com — ... indicates the cost of components and manufacturing for RIM ( RIMM ) is slightly less than $203. By comparison, those costs for Apple's iPhone 3G, the second iteration of the device, ...

Can Microsoft Catch Up in Mobile?
MacBytes.com — ... will take the stage at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona to announce a major overhaul of the company's mobile strategy. Some of the new initiatives are purely catch-up. Ballmer will unveil an online app store that lets users of Microsoft-powered phones download tools, games, and other apps. (Apple opened its own app store in July, and Research In Motion ( RIMM ), Nokia ( ...

Can Microsoft Catch Up in Mobile?
MacBytes.com — ... will take the stage at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona to announce a major overhaul of the company's mobile strategy. Some of the new initiatives are purely catch-up. Ballmer will unveil an online app store that lets users of Microsoft-powered phones download tools, games, and other apps. (Apple opened its own app store in July, and Research In Motion ( RIMM ), Nokia ( ...

The Battle of Mobile Software Apps
MacBytes.com — ... the congress, the wireless industry's largest gathering. "The 'wow' comes from the combination of the device with services." Rival Mobile Operating Systems The problem for people who write mobile software is that different handset brands use different operating systems each with its own requirements. Someone writing a program that, for example, tracks a user's favorite football teams has to do different versions for Apple ( AAPL ) phones, Nokia phones, or Research In Motion ( RIMM ) BlackBerrys. And there's no sign that the mobile industry is moving toward a ...

Setting the iPhone Free from AT&T;
MacBytes.com — ... , and Research In Motion ( RIMM ). Companies such as RIM also have their own online application stores tied to particular devices. Lots at Stake for AT&T While any ruling would affect many industry players, AT&T and Apple may have the highest stakes in the battle. The iPhone is the No. 1 seller at AT&T, and the iPhone has been key to driving AT&T Mobility subscriber growth as it gets harder for carriers to add new customers. About 40% of the 4.3 million AT&T customers who activated the device in the second half of 2008 were new to AT&T, according to the company's latest ...

Apple Raises Its iPhone Ante
MacBytes.com — ... million of these apps, which include everything from games like Tetris to software that helps diabetes patients manage insulin levels. The wide range of apps is a major reason the iPhone quickly jumped to No. 3 in the cutthroat smartphone market. Playing Catch-Up to Apple Apps The App Store is also a key reason why rivals will have such a hard time closing Apple's lead. In recent weeks companies including smartphone leader Nokia ( NOK ), BlackBerry maker Research In Motion ( RIMM ), and Microsoft ( MSFT ) have announced plans to open their own app stores. While ...

Can Apple Keep a Shine on the iPhone?
MacBytes.com — ... at consumer electronics researcher Rubicon Consulting. It's important that Apple keep improving hardware quality as rivals introduce their own smartphones amid an economic slump that's forcing consumers to reduce spending. Since the iPhone's introduction, manufacturers have released several comparable devices, some of them at lower prices than the Apple device, which starts at $200. T-Mobile's G1 phone sells for less than $100 on Amazon.com ( AMZN ). Research In Motion's ( RIMM ) BlackBerry Storm, which costs $200 through Verizon Wireless , has sold more than 2 ...

AT&T;'s iPhone Dilemma
MacBytes.com — ... on the device. In exchange, AT&T got a multiyear deal to be the exclusive network to carry the device. So far, that bet looks brilliant. Since the first iPhone came to market in mid-2007, AT&T has signed up more than 7 million subscribers who wanted the device more than 40% of them from other networks. In the quarter ended on Mar. 30, roughly 70% of AT&T's new wireless subscribers signed up to get an iPhone. And while AT&T's rivals sling high-end devices from Research In Motion ( RIMM ), Nokia ( ...

Companies Shed Initial Resistance to iPhone
MacBytes.com — ... ) officially released a version of iPhone software with beefed-up security and better support for corporate e-mail, Avaya gave employees the green light. Less than a year later, Avaya counts about 998 iPhone users out of about 9,800 who carry mobile devices. Loo caved a couple of weeks ago. Like Avaya, many U.S. corporations are embracing the iPhone after initial resistance. Research In Motion's ( RIMM ) BlackBerry is still the leading smartphone for U.S. corporations, but the iPhone is gaining ground. In a survey of 127 large and midsize companies conducted by consulting ...

Companies Shed Initial Resistance to iPhone
MacBytes.com — ... ) officially released a version of iPhone software with beefed-up security and better support for corporate e-mail, Avaya gave employees the green light. Less than a year later, Avaya counts about 998 iPhone users out of about 9,800 who carry mobile devices. Loo caved a couple of weeks ago. Like Avaya, many U.S. corporations are embracing the iPhone after initial resistance. Research In Motion's ( RIMM ) BlackBerry is still the leading smartphone for U.S. corporations, but the iPhone is gaining ground. In a survey of 127 large and midsize companies conducted by consulting ...

Smartphone Word Processing Has Arrived
MacBytes.com — ... There is a clever, if imperfect, workaround. If a colleague wants you to mark up a document, he or she can upload it to a folder on Apple's Web-based service, called MobileMe, and you can then retrieve it on the iPhone. Quickoffice could smooth this process further by supporting other Web-based services, such as Google Docs, Google's free Web-based word processor and spreadsheet. Spreadsheets Stand Out on BlackBerry Compared with Quickoffice, Documents To Go on the BlackBerry ( RIMM ) feels more like a traditional office suite. If you have a new BlackBerry Curve or Bold, ...

Smartphone Word Processing Has Arrived
MacBytes.com — ... There is a clever, if imperfect, workaround. If a colleague wants you to mark up a document, he or she can upload it to a folder on Apple's Web-based service, called MobileMe, and you can then retrieve it on the iPhone. Quickoffice could smooth this process further by supporting other Web-based services, such as Google Docs, Google's free Web-based word processor and spreadsheet. Spreadsheets Stand Out on BlackBerry Compared with Quickoffice, Documents To Go on the BlackBerry ( RIMM ) feels more like a traditional office suite. If you have a new BlackBerry Curve or Bold, ...

Mobile Apps' Brush with Greatness
MacBytes.com — ... ) Android operating system get their applications from the Android Market. BlackBerry maker Research In Motion ( RIMM ) has since Apr. 1 operated its own application store known as App World, and Finland's Nokia ( ...

Smartphone Roulette for App Makers
MacBytes.com — ... When Pyxis Mobile began selling business software for mobile phones in 2004, there were only a couple of major alternatives to choose from: Research In Motion's ( RIMM ) BlackBerry and devices running Microsoft's ( ...

Apple-AT&T;: Hints of Strain
MacBytes.com — ... ) Treo, Research In Motion's ( RIMM ) BlackBerry, and scores of other devices for years. Slides presented by Forstall at the conference showed that while 22 carriers in 42 countries will support tethering on the iPhone right away, AT&T will not. More laughter at AT&T's expense. Later, after introducing the iPhone's video capabilities, Schiller teased at the MMS issue again. "If my carrier supports it, I can send a video clip in an MMS as well," Schiller told the audience, which got the message that this is one more feature you won't immediately get from AT&T loud and clear. ...

The iPhone's Wary New Rivals
MacBytes.com — ... )-led coalition; and Verizon Wireless and Sprint, like AT&T, continue to sell versions of Research In Motion's ( RIMM ) BlackBerry.

The 3G S iPhone: Apple's Force to Be Reckoned With
MacBytes.com — ... ) dominance will take a hit. And over time, new security features added to the iPhone could chip away at BlackBerry's ( RIMM ) lock on the corporate market. But Apple's ambitions and the impact of the iPhone go far beyond the handset business. For example, Apple now allows users to download apps that provide turn-by-turn directions while you drive, and the iPhone's big screen makes it an ...

Apple iPhone Software: Developers See Green
MacBytes.com — ... work in installments instead of in their entirety. For the software makers who pocket 70% of the revenue generated by the applications they sell for Apple's devices, the appeal of in-app purchasing is obvious. Apple benefits not only from gains in the 30% of revenue it keeps, but also because the tool gives developers added reason to keep writing software for its devices. Competition in mobile software is heating up, as companies including Nokia ( NOK ), Research In Motion ( RIMM ), and Palm ( PALM ) ramp up their own efforts to attract developers. For many ...

Google, Apple: Two Mobile Software Visions
MacBytes.com — ... ) Android Marketplace, the company built a customized Web site so users of many different devices could use the software via their phones' browsers without downloading anything. Tailoring software for the five big mobile-phone platforms iPhone, Android, BlackBerry ( RIMM ), ...

Inside the App Economy
MacBytes.com — ... ) apps let managers check inventory or get a snapshot of a business unit's performance. The computing that people used to do at their desks increasingly can be done on devices they can carry anywhere. Early Days Apps will help determine technology's next big winners. The success of Apple's iPhone is due in large part to the fact that the company can offer customers more software choices than any rival. Research In Motion ( RIMM ), maker of the business-oriented BlackBerry, has scrambled to catch up and has made progress. But established giants such as Nokia ( ...

Do-It-Yourself iPhone Apps
MacBytes.com — ... games, travel guides, quizzes, and blog feeds thanks to sites like AppBreeder.com, GameSalad.com, and MyAppBuilder.com. Often all it takes is plugging specs into online templates. As it gets easier for non-techies to make apps, the already swiftly expanding market for these downloadable tools is likely to grow at a faster pace. That means even fuller shelves at online shops such as the Apple App Store, Google's ( GOOG ) Android Market, Research In Motion's ( RIMM ) BlackBerry App World, and Microsoft's ( MSFT ) Windows Marketplace for Mobile. The number ...