Old blog

Sure, today was a “big deal” for the iPhone, as Apple announced the release of the the faster, (emphasis on faster), faster, and more faster iPhone 3Gs. The device’s hardware updates were limited: speed and a new camera.

On Saturday, Palm released it’s first viable competing phone in the marketplace since the Treo Centro. The Palm Pre had huge buzz going since CES ‘09 back in February. Since I was in Las Vegas at the time, I was present for people’s first reactions. Several folks interupted non-phone related sessions at Wordcamp to applaud the Pre in all its touch-screen-slash-keyboard-combo glory.

The Apple WWDC (worldwide developers’ conference) keynote this afternoon brought forth the major controversy surrounding the iPhone — it’s lackluster network. AT&T was being trashed left and right by both the audience and off-had comments by even Phil Schiller himself as reported by gdgt.com:

11:52AM – Scrub and edit the video “just with the tap of your finger.” Applause. “Share it right here from your iPhone. If your carrier supports it, send an MMS.” Ha, ouch. AT&T, c’mon.

Not only is AT&T behind with MMS (sending pictures and video via text messaging), it was left out of a list of international carriers who support ‘tethering’ which allows customers to connect their Mac or PC to the iPhone internet data plan. Blackberry customers have convenient access to this feature by way of 3rd-party apps such as TetherBerry.

On a local level (here in Lincoln, Nebraska) AT&T has an uphill battle for reliable network coverage. Alltel Wireless, recently acquired by Verizon, has historically had the best in-town and rural coverage for southeast Nebraska. However, consumers love to hate Alltel, as their customer service is extremely lacking. Sprint is a close second in coverage (from my experience) and has the same woeful customer care as Alltel. But both companies are far superior to AT&T in terms of coverage, with AT&T’s lack of MMS notwithstanding.

Nationally, however, Apple’s decision to continue selling the current iteration of the iPhone (iPhone 3G) at the reduce price of $99 may be a very smart move. During the keynote, Apple mentioned the growth of the iPhone, which continues to accelearate. Bringing the pricepoint down to $99 is sure going to help new customers overlook the $180 chunk of change they’ll be dropping every month from now until eternity.

iPhone has some definite competition from Palm & Sprint. The list of 1-ups is pretty long:

• Touch-screen with Built-in Keyboard
• Ability to run multiple apps at once
• Sprint’s “Everything” Plan is only $99 per month
• MMS messaging available now (and years past, by the way)
• 4G network speed on the horizon

However the Pre has some challenges to overcome, many of which aren’t going to happen quickly:

• Apps on the Pre’s marketplace: a couple dozen vs. iPhone’s tens of thousands
• Unproven hardware durability vs. iPhone’s 4th generation proven design
• No on-screen keyboard, forcing users to open the 1-directional keyboard to enter text
• Market penetration has iPhone far in the lead

My opinion is mixed. If you live in Lincoln and you have to have coverage, go with the Palm Pre. If you live in Lincoln and want an up-to-date phone with the ability to download almost unlimited apps, and you know you have good coverage where you live and work, the iPhone will suit you just fine.

Here’s a good overview of the Palm Pre from cnet: