Today's Top Stories
The rumor of a CDMA version of the iPhone continues to live on. The Wall Street Journal reports that Apple will begin producing a CDMA version of the iPhone--giving way to its appearance on networks such as Verizon Wireless and Sprint Nextel.
The report, citing unnamed sources who were briefed by Apple, said Apple's contract manufacturer Pegatron Technology will commence mass producing the CDMA version this September, but it's unclear when the device will come to market. Whether Apple would enter the CDMA market has been questionable given CDMA operators' moves to Long Term Evolution (LTE) next-generation technology.
But expanding the iPhone to the CDMA market would increase Apple's addressable market in the United States and China, another major CDMA market.
In addition to the CDMA version, Apple is reportedly preparing to release the latest upgrade to the GSM iPhone this summer, keeping in accordance with its practice of releasing a new version in the summer. The upgrade is likely to be thinner and have a faster processor, the report said.
An AT&T spokesman told the Journal, "There has been lots of incorrect speculation on CDMA iPhones for a long time. We haven't seen one yet, and only Apple knows when that might occur."
Indeed, rumors continually circulate of such a device. When Apple introduced the iPad in January, speculation ran rampant that a CDMA version of the iPhone would come to market too.
Back in October, Verizon Communications Chairman and CEO Ivan Seidenberg finally put aside the company's long-standing coyness about when it might entertain an iPhone on its network. He told analysts during the company's third-quarter conference call that the company would be happy to have the iPhone, but that the decision "is exclusively in Apple's court."
"We would obviously be interested at any point if they thought of us as a partner," he said of Apple.
For more:
- see this WSJ article (sub. req.)
- see this Engadget post
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Verizon Wireless introduced a push-to-talk service for the BlackBerry Tour.
Beginning March 30, subscribers had the ability to add the service to their existing plans and download an application. Verizon is also offering a 90-day promotion for free push-to-talk service when customers activate a qualifying voice plan and BlackBerry data plan. The service is normally $5 per month on top of a voice and data plan.
The BlackBerry service includes the ability to make group calls with up to 50 participants. It enables presence and availability features for push-to-talk calls and allows subscribers to manage push-to-talk contacts online.
A Verizon spokeswoman told FierceWireless that the Tour is the only BlackBerry for which Verizon is offering the service right now, and declined to discuss whether it will be made available for other BlackBerry models.
Last week, Motorola and Sprint Nextel unveiled plans to launch the ruggedized Motorola i1 push-to-talk smartphone based on Google's Android 1.5 operating system for the Nextel iDEN network.
For more:
- see this release
- read this FierceWireless article
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HTC Chief Executive Peter Chou declared that the Google Nexus One--which HTC makes--is a success, despite it lagging sales performance since the device was introduced in January.
Rather than dwelling on slow sales, which aren't a surprise given Google's lack of marketing and web-only sales, Chou said the device can be leveraged to show that HTC is a top Android brand. Sales of the Nexus One reached 135,000 units after 74 days, according to analytics firm Flurry. The Motorola Droid and iPhone sold more than 1 million units in a similar time frame, the firm said.
"Google's goal with the Nexus One was to show what Android is capable of," Chou told Forbes. "In that regard I think it has been an achievement. We can quickly leverage that credit to show that we are the top Android brand."
Chou is referring to the HTC Desire, which launches in the UK this week with nearly identical features to the Nexus One, with the exception of HTC's Sense user interface overlay to the Android 2.1 OS an optical track ball, physical buttons and more RAM. It features a 1 GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon processor, a 3.7-inch AMOLED touch screen, five megapixel camera with 480p video and WiFi, just like the Nexus One. HTC hasn't made any announcements yet on the device's debut in the United States.
Chou also called the Nexus One a "halo" product designed to drive more business to Google's Android partners and aid in their development of Android products.
For more:
- see this ITPro article
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Google is looking to put a stop to the fragmented use of its Android mobile platform, according to the blog Engadget, which cited unnamed sources. A plethora of Android-based devices are coming to market and are running as many as four different versions of the platform, making application development more complicated.
Engadget reports that Google plans to address the issue by making Android's core applications and components available to consumers for download and upgrade through the Android Market application store. This plan is expected to be phased in during the next two Android software upgrades. Secondly, Google is working to slow down the pace of its software development for Android in general, to allow the platform to mature.
According to the research firm Canalys, Android made up nearly 10 percent of the U.S. smartphone market last year, and is expected to grow to nearly 19 percent of the market in 2010.
For more:
- see this Engadget post
- see this GigaOM post
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GE announced the first U.S. smart-grid pilot program that will incorporate WiMAX technology with Consumers Energy in Michigan.
Using WiMAX and GE smart meters, the goal of the pilot is to demonstrate how real-time wireless communications between meters in the home and the utility's network management and control systems can improve efficiency and reliability of electricity transmission.
"This infrastructure solution could be significant in its ability to provide far more real-time information and updates to distributed intelligent metering devices over utility equipment lifespans," Wayne Longcore, director of enterprise architecture and standards for Consumers Energy, said in a release.
GE said the pilot is especially timely given the FCC's recently introduced National Broadband Plan, which spelled out the need for improving communications infrastructure to modernize the electric grid. GE teamed with Intel to develop a WiMAX chip that is embedded in its smart meters.
"GE's pilot falls directly in line with the plan's call for a potent, clearly defined reliable and integrated infrastructure to strengthen America's energy future and enable the promise of the smart grid to become reality," the company said.
Other U.S. utilities have voiced interest in WiMAX. CenterPoint Energy in Texas wants to install smart meters for its 2.4 million customers in Houston using a self-contained WiMAX network. National Grid, the country's second-largest utility, is establishing a proof-of-concept solution using Alvarion's WiMAX gear as part of a test bed for potential pilot projects in New York, Massachusetts and Rhode Island.
For more:
- see this release
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