When looking at the fourth quarter U.S. smartphone numbers from comScore, Palm stands out with the largest percentage decline. Based on the data, Palm’s market share decreased 26.4% from the prior quarter. Of course, the current quarter ought to be a different story since upgraded webOS devices found their way to the Verizon network in late January. Couple the added availability with some webOS buy one, get one deals and it wouldn’t surprise me to see Palm’s momentum completely reverse when we look back at the first quarter of 2010. And now, there’s word that the Pre could be hitting another big carrier — combining logic with some FCC filings, PreCentral speculates that May will bring the Pre to AT&T.
Obviously, adding another line of availability for the Pre and/or Pixi should help Palm, but I’m wondering — how much? AT&T’s “money” phone is Apple’s iPhone — here in the U.S. the device is exclusive to the carrier, and could be for some time yet. Some folks might switch from iPhone to a webOS device, but probably not many. Why? Their investment in Apple’s ecosystem is likely the top reason. Folks that purchased non-transferrable iPhone apps or iTunes video content won’t want to leave them behind. And while I’ve found a very effective alternative to iTunes in DoubleTwist, the product isn’t a household name like iTunes is.
Aside from the ecosystem investment in Apple’s world, webOS devices have to compete with so many other handsets available on AT&T’s network. That means Palm will have to continue or further ramp up marketing for its handsets. Will AT&T help out with this effort or will they let Palm go it alone and invest their own money for marketing? We should see the answer to that if and when these devices do appear AT&T’s network — while it won’t totally kill of Palm’s potential for success with AT&T, it will be very telling to see how much marketing muscle AT&T provides.
On the plus side, Palm really doesn’t have to worry too much about competing with Android devices on AT&T. As of yet, there aren’t any to compete with and only five are expected in the first half of this year — Motorola, HTC and Dell are all named providers. In fact, if Palm could get on AT&T sooner than later, I think it would benefit them in this regard. Why not get your device out prior to other competing handsets on a different platform?
So what’s your take? Getting the current or updated webOS devices on another huge U.S. carrier has to help Palm. But how much? Are you expecting the current Palm Plus and Pixi Plus to hit AT&T or might Palm beef up the devices even more? Will you make a switch?
After browsing over around Laptop Magazine today, I realized something very odd — I’ve never read a Fujitsu netbook review. I suppose that’s because the first one only hit U.S. shores last summer, but it’s still odd. It’s a moot point now anyway since Laptop gave the MH380 a solid hands-on and awarded the device 3 out of 5 stars. On the plus side for this $449 model is a 1366 x 768 high resolution display, but bear in mind that like all of the other new Atom N450 netbooks, graphics are powered by the GMA 3150 from Intel. Laptop noticed video playback problems when watching Hulu in a full-screen mode. Note that this limitation is inherent in the processor platform, so nearly all netbooks — not just this Fujitsu model — face the same challenge. Also on the plus side is the battery life offered by this platform, with six-hours of run-time during Laptop’s test of continuously surfing over Wi-Fi. Based on the performance benchmarks, the MH380 didn’t really “wow” or disappoint as compared to category averages — notable deviations were fast disk transfer rates but a slow boot-time of 79 seconds to start up Microsoft Windows 7 Starter Edition.
At the end of the day, the device looks like your average netbook of today in terms of performance. But looks also means aesthetics and design. Overall, Laptop liked the package Fujitsu put together, with some minor caveats:
“Weighing 3.0 pounds and measuring 1.9 inches thick, the MH380 is one of the heaviest and chunkiest netbooks. The fact that the six-cell battery juts out from the bottom of the system doesn’t help matters, either. Still, this is one of the more attractive netbooks we’ve laid eyes on, thanks to the glossy ruby red lid and deck. This chassis also has modern rounded edges and a classy chrome treatment on the inner hinge.”
The keyboard looks top notch, but the size of it comes at what I think is too high a price. The mousepad is a scant 1.8 x 1.3 inches and the mouse buttons are, according to Laptop, the size of “tic tacs.” Although it’s easy enough to use a mouse through USB or Bluetooth, I wouldn’t want to be forced to use one. Performance and video issues aside, I think the track pad alone would keep me from buying the MH380. Then again, I’m spoiled when it comes to netbook trackpads.
One of the challenges I’ve noticed on my Google Nexus One is the software keyboard. Obviously, I can use it since the device is my primary phone, but it’s not quite as good as the iPhone implementation. My speed is diminished just a tad and I occasionally revert to using voice-to-text for short bursts of input. That’s why I’m very interested in Swype — a new method for using that old QWERTY keyboard. Today, the company announced a product partnership with T-Mobile and the first fruit of that relationship is Swype on the myTouch 3G as of today. Swype isn’t just for Android handsets though — when the HD2 arrives for the T-Mobile network, it too will offer Swype as a companion to the native Windows Mobile software keyboard.
The video demo shows how quickly you can enter text, but like any other input method, there’s going to be an adjustment period. Luckily, there’s no new keyboard layout or any other barrier to adoption — you simply trace your words out, letter by letter, without lifting your finger. These days, I use two hands for data entry on handset keyboards, so Swype could free up a hand. While I haven’t tried the product yet, I’ve mimicked the method on my Nexus One and I think I can swipe text using just my thumb. I’ve just received the software a few minutes ago, so I’ll try it exclusively over the native input method for a few days and report back in.
I’ve tested WiMAX on the road and with good coverage, you can see some solid throughput. And of course you can replace your fixed landline broadband with WiMAX in the home. Wouldn’t it be nice to see the two worlds combined with a better antenna in the home? Motorola must think so because it just introduced a solution for both situations. The USBw 200 is a WiMAX adapter for mobile use — just plug it in to Microsoft Windows computer and the software to go mobile will automatically install. That’s your mobile solution. When you get home or to the office, the USBw 200 fits into a dock, which offers double the signal gain over the USB adapter alone.
Note that the docking station connects to a computer through a USB cable. So you’re not really untethered with the dock — it’s more of a fixed solution. However, you can take the dock out of the stand and place the unit on a window thanks to suction cups on the device. That flexibility could help increase signal gain if you’ve got a USB cable long enough to try it. Part of me sees the dock as bit of a missed opportunity though. Why have the limitation of a USB cord? With the right software and a support for Wi-Fi, this solution could create a WiMAX hotspot in the home for multiple users to share an Internet connection. And that kind of flexibility opens up device usage beyond Windows PCs — think Macs, mobile phones or a Nintendo DS.
Motorola is looking at the second quarter of 2010 for availability, but there’s no information on pricing just yet.
Opera is jumping into the iPhone App Store wars — or at the very least, plans to. The browser company out of Oslo today announced a sneak peek at Opera Mini for iPhone, which it will show off to select press attendees during next week’s Mobile World Congress. But having a working browser application and getting it into the iPhone App Store are two very different things. Some third-party browsers ran the gauntlet successfully, but I’m not certain that they’re still available. Quite often, Apple rejects software that replicates the native functions built into the iPhone OS. Clearly, a browser fits that rejection criteria from Apple’s point of view.
Opera has to know this, so I wonder why it’s even treading this path. Safari on the iPhone certainly isn’t perfect, but the browsing experience is obviously more than good enough for most. How else would the iPhone platform account for a highly disproportionate amount of web requests around the world when compare to sales figures? Jon von Tetzchner, the co-founder of Opera Software, justifies it this way:
“This is a unique opportunity to introduce the fast, feature-rich Opera Mini experience for the iPhone, and to showcase our latest beta releases of Opera Mobile and Opera Mini on other platforms and devices. Opera’s mission is to bring the Web to the world, and by making Opera Mini available on yet another platform, we are one step closer.”
Based on those statements, it’s all about bringing features to the iPhone — and getting the Opera browser on as many devices as possible. The “bring to the Web to the world” bit doesn’t quite wash, though. Possibly more than any other recent device, the iPhone has already brought the web to the world, no? The handset is oft purchased by those that have never used email on a mobile device, never saw the web on the small screen and have only just recently heard the term “smartphone.”
The Opera browsing platform does offer unique and useful features. I love the Turbo function, for example. Speed Dial, tabbed browsing and password management in Opera Mobile for Windows Mobile are also welcome features. Clearly, Opera offers a solid feature set. But even if Opera Mini for iPhone makes it to the App Store — and I’d bet against that — will tens of millions of iPhone owners give up on Safari to learn a new interface? Safari is practically the face of the iPhone for most. As much as I like choice and competition, I just don’t see it happening.
My personal opinions aside, I don’t see Opera Mini for iPhone as just a pure iPhone play. The goal here isn’t to solely get Opera Mini on more handets — it’s also to get Opera on more desktops. While many of the key Opera features stand strongly on their own, it’s the functionality between mobile browser and desktop browser that really add value. Opera Link synchronizes the Speed Dial and bookmarks between the two, for example. And if you don’t think that’s important, then you should tell the Mozilla folks to abandon their Weave project. Of course, this functionality overlaps a bit with the synchronization feature in Apple’s iTunes, adding another reason why Apple is unlikely to let this happen.
So I woke up this morning feeling just fine, but something was very different. I couldn’t place my finger on it. After receiving an email from Freescale a short while ago, I finally know what it is. I am apparently now a “pundit.” It’s not even a word I use in my everyday language, and yet I am one. A “pundit.” Hmmm…. this feels odd — almost like I need to put on a bathrobe and fire up a toy lightsaber. Who knows what the appropriate action is?
Anyway, there’s a list of other pundits too, but it’s not yet complete. Freescale created a list of 10 smart mobile device pundits, but it’s looking to double the list. I’m hoping as one of the initial pundits, I get to put the new ones through some sort of pundit initiation experience. I doubt that will happen, but humor me and help Freescale out. They’re taking nominations between now and February 18 to see who is your smart mobile device go-to guy or gal. There are plenty of great names that belong on this list — some far more worthy than me — so hop to it and share those names. While you do that, I’ll think about those initiation rites in case there’s a chance to put them to use during Pundit Pledge Week.
People have been buzzing about social networks more and more lately. Friends and family that I never thought I’d see on Facebook or Twitter are suddenly appearing in my friend lists. After several years of growing the social seeds, these networks are finally taking root outside the tech world. And Google is jumping in with both feet — today, the search giant introduced Google Buzz.
Obviously this first go around connects some of your Google services with Buzz automatically — Picasa, Google Reader and Gmail, for example. In fact, Buzz is integrated into Gmail in a similar fashion to Tasks or Calendars. But some non-Google bits are available as well — Flickr and Twitter jump out as notable exceptions, although I thought I heard Google representatives say that Twitter integration is one-way — in but not out.
One immediate issue I see is around the context of friends. Since Google Buzz is leveraging Gmail, that’s where your social circles will come from automatically — the Google Contacts that you most email or chat with on Google Talk. That’s very limiting for me and probably for quite a few others. I have very different groupings of friends in Gmail as opposed to Twitter and Facebook, for example. So it sounds like I’ll be melding these groups if I use Google Buzz, which isn’t a very appealing aspect right now. Out of the 700+ folks I follow on Twitter, I’d estimate that I only have 20% of them as Gmail contacts. And I haven’t synched over all of my Facebook contacts into Gmail either. These groups are just different for me.
Regardless of that potential challenge, there is a mobile aspect to Buzz. Browsers on the iPhone or Android platforms can point to buzz.google.com or sign-in to the Google Mobile web page for a Buzz layer. It wouldn’t surprise me if webOS devices could utilize the mobile-friendly version, but I don’t have my Palm Pre to verify that. I’ve already hit the mobile site on my Nexus One and it was easy to post a status update. I declined to tag the location of my update for now, simply because I was at home. It appears that location can easily be switched on or off and it can default to either. I do like the usage of voice updates and text-to-speech on Android phones that support it.
Aside from the mobile web client, Google is adding Buzz as a layer to Google Maps 4.0 in order to leverage the location-based nature of social networks. It makes me wonder if the Latitude layer will languish since Buzz will handle the same features and more. I updated the Maps application on my Nexus One and found the layer immediately available. Unfortunately, most of my Gmail contacts are far, far away so I’m only seeing comments from nearby Buzz users that I don’t know. Again, this speaks to how Google is using Gmail contacts to seed the friends list. I suppose it’s nice that somebody I don’t know is waiting for a snowstorm in Lancaster, but the value for me isn’t there.
It’s far too early to dismiss Google Buzz, however. I’ll play around a bit more and kick the tires. Not too much though — I heard that comments to what I post will appear in my Gmail Inbox, so I don’t miss them. The only thing I miss these days in my Inbox is “Inbox Zero” — meaning a fully cleaned out Inbox.
Although I’ve focused on my Google Nexus One for the past month, I have been swapping my SIM card into the evaluation Nokia N900 handset time and again. The device shows off a solid smartphone foundation for Nokia and I’m excited to see what Maemo 6 will bring in the second half of 2010. The browsing experience is outstanding, regardless of whether I use the native MicroB browser or the new Firefox Mobile client. I tend to stick with the native browser mainly because I see better performance and I can live without the extensibility of Firefox. Nokia also offers stellar contact integration with both VoIP and chat services in the N900 — other platforms could learn a thing or two here. But these are just my thoughts — other folks have excellent opinions of the N900 experience too.
Yesterday, I got to hear some of those opinions — as well as offer my own — in a roundtable podcast devoted solely to the Nokia N900. Jose Ortiz astutely moderated the TDL Mobile Show that hosted both myself and Lisa Gade. Lisa is a driving force behind a site I’ve followed for years — MobileTechReview. If you’re not already reading or subscribing via RSS, I think you’re missing out. Even if you’re not up to adding another site to your daily reading, I’d still check out Lisa’s detailed review of the Nokia N900 from mid-December.
In the roundtable, Jose, Lisa and I provide thoughts central to what anyone considering the N900 might want to know. From the out-of-box experience, to Maemo 5 as a platform to the pros and cons of the hardware, we hit it all during our discussion. I enjoyed the opportunity to participate in the podcast, and I hope you give it a listen to get varying viewpoints on Nokia’s latest and greatest smartphone.
Apple may have widespread interest with its iPad, but the Notion Ink Adam has geek juices flowing, too. We got our own hands-on demo with a prototype at last month’s Consumer Electronics Show, but if that wasn’t enough for you, check out the detailed video that SlashGear has put together.
In it, you get a far better idea of how the innovative display works quite well in various use cases without any backlighting. In that situation, the display component only uses 0.2 watts of juice. Less watts required means longer battery life and for mobile devices, that’s a key attribute. One thing I didn’t realize about the Notion Ink technology was that the display backlighting isn’t just an on or off feature. There’s a third mode that uses an ambient light sensor — when it detects that the light levels are too low, the backlighting kicks in as needed.
Aside from last month’s video, SlashGear offers some updated pictures of the Adam device. The video looks used a prototype, but the newest pictures show a more refined unit. And the Notion Ink folks even show a nice magazine mock-up of SlashGear, which I expect would look equally as nice on the iPad.
I have little doubt that purely from a specification and performance standpoint, the Adam competes well with the iPad. In the case of battery life and display technology, it probably exceeds Apple’s product. There isn’t enough information on Apple’s custom A4 chip to compare it with the next-generation Nvidia Tegra that powers the Adam. We should know more in about a week, however — Rohan Shravan from Notion Ink told us that Mobile World Congress will bring news about the company’s product line.
Marketing is obviously a big factor, but putting that aside for a second, the bigger question may come down to the operating system. Is Google’s Android platform perceived to be “as good, if not better” than Apple’s iPhone operating system? Clearly, Android is making huge gains as a smartphone driver, but Apple’s control of the overall experience and ecosystem is something that many mainstream consumers appreciate. We geeks like choice, control and customization, so the Adam might turn out to be the “iPad” that mobile tech enthusiasts adopt. Thoughts?
There’s no lack of smartphone market share numbers and usage statistics available for analysis. It feels like I’m reading a new set of quarterly numbers every few weeks, which sounds counter-intuitive, but it’s true. The latest data comes courtesy of comScore’s MobiLens product and the numbers show a continuing trend of new platforms eating away at the old guard. In the final quarter of 2009, Google and Apple continued their smartphone momentum, while Microsoft, Palm and Research In Motion all stumbled slightly.
The reported data looks at subscribed smartphone platforms by those aged 13 and up in the United States. That’s a different metric from what I’ve typically seen — often, firms try to measure the usage by platform, which is a challenge. After all, you can only measure the usage scenarios that you know of or are involved with. AdMob, recently bought by Google, is a perfect example of this method — its data only includes measurements from applications that use its mobile advertising platform. That’s not a bad way to measure, but it is a limited one.
I’ve consolidated the comScore data into this chart for ease of reading and it’s evident to see who grew and who lost from the third quarter to the fourth of last year.
Palm shows both the largest nominal and percentage decrease — it wouldn’t surprise me at all if Google leapfrogs Palm by mid-2010. Android’s momentum is picking up steam with more handsets and more frequent updates than Palm is offering. Having webOS devices on a single carrier in the U.S. didn’t help Palm either. Although the Pre Plus and Pixi Plus are now available on Verizon Wireless, that didn’t happen until the first month of 2010. These numbers won’t reflect the wider availability and buy one, get one free deals on webOS devices that Verizon offered. The next quarter’s numbers ought to show a positive impact for Palm, but the question is — how much of an impact will that be?
The BlackBerry platform still holds the top spot, but this is one of the first scenarios I can remember that BlackBerry numbers are in decline. While Research In Motion has made a very successful expansion from enterprise to consumer over the last few years, the new handsets seem like the older ones evolved and not as revolutionary as people are looking for. A great keyboard will take you far — think Lenovo and the ThinkPad notebooks — but there’s more to a solid overall product than one hardware attribute. Besides, some of the hottest phones today don’t even offer a hardware keyboard. Research In Motion has done well, but needs to step up their game lest the trend continue.
Microsoft lost ground as well, but I think that’s to be expected given that Windows Mobile 6.5 was also more evolutionary than revolutionary. The latest update, v.6.5.3 is probably what 6.5 should have been and shows promise. Unfortunately, it arrived after the comScore reporting period, so any positive effects from that release won’t appear until this quarter or the next. Of course, Window Mobile 7 is expected to cure many ills as well, so the second half of 2010 into 2011 will be worth watching from a Microsoft point of view.
The chart above isn’t too bone-jarring — the actual change doesn’t really focus on the rates of growth or decline, which I’d loosely equate to momentum. I took the same comScore numbers from the third and fourth quarters of 2009 and charted the percentage of each platform’s positive or negative change. The picture takes on a whole new meaning.
Here you can clearly see the momentum of growth for Google’s Android platform — and Palm’s going in reverse. But Palm ought to be on the positive side once the Verizon webOS sales hit. The same for Microsoft although I don’t expect to see them on the plus side for at least two or three quarters. Amazingly, Apple continues its march forward with no new handset models since last summer and not even that many feature-filled upgrades. And Research In Motion shows negative momentum, even with new handsets and their App World. What’s it going to take to slow Apple and Google down?
Is anyone else’s wallet getting chunky and unwieldy with too many cards to carry? When I put all of my credit cards, gift cards and store club cards in mine, I’m reminded of a Seinfeld episode. In it, George Costanza’s wallet was nearly as thick as a phone book and you can see below that it eventually explodes due to all of the bulk. Any time I can go digital instead of stuffing more data in my wallet, I do it. And today, Target just gave me a good reason to stop carrying their gift cards, even though I’ll still be using them.
The retailer today introduced Mobile GiftCards as a way to carry the gift card account information on any mobile phone with Internet capabilities. Using a secure PIN of your choice, you simply register Target gift cards online — you can add a nickname to any card and use the account number and access code printed on the card for registration.
Once registered, you’re able to check the balance through your phone or use the phone to pay for Target purchases in the checkout line. Each gift card appears with a scannable barcode that appears on your phone’s display — just hand the phone over to your cashier where the barcode is scanned and your purchase is paid for. Easy to use and no need to worry about exploding wallets — that’s a win-win in my book. It’s way too late for George, but not too late for you and your phone.
Folks waiting to get their hands and eyes on a Barnes & Noble Nook needn’t wait much longer. The bookseller today announced in-store availability of the eInk device starting mid-week. The Nook is also listed as “in stock” for online orders, so it appears that production has either caught up to demand or the company has increased production. The official press release says that Barnes & Noble has “ramped up production and is shipping stock to the majority of its stores.” Economics aside, this opens up the market for potential buyers to try the $259 device, and even walk away with one from a brick-and-mortar store, if they want to. Starting on February 10, you can check local in-store availability on the Nook website.
Coinciding with the increased device availability is a firmware upgrade for all Nook devices. Version 1.2 just arrived and will appear as automatic, over-the-air install for Nook owners. Folks that prefer to manually upgrade their Nook, can find the installation files and instructions on the Nook support site. Matt Miller has already updated his Nook and shows off the latest features in a video demo at The Mobile Gadgeteer.
Matt likes the larger navigation buttons on the color display and I can see why — you can’t miss those up and down buttons now. His content from bookstores other than Barnes & Noble now show the correct titles and book information. There’s also a new “Lend Me” icon indicating if a book can be loaned out and personal documents or other content is sortable by author or title. Barnes & Noble mentions additional enhancements like page numbers for bookmarks, easier navigation of daily subscription issues and an improved in-store connectivity experience. Make sure you watch to the end of Matt’s video — he has one other “feature” on his Nook that you just can’t buy in any store.
With more people using smartphones to record video and create other shareable content, mobile upload speeds are gaining prominence. That’s a shift because when consumers talk about mobile broadband speeds, they’ve historically focused on the download side. Yet I’ve heard that more data was created in 2009 than in all prior years combined. Most of that data is media-driven or enterprise content, but a growing proportion comes from everyday folks like you and me. That’s why upload speeds will continue to gain interest and might have something to do with Broadcom’s newest mobile chip.
Broadcom’s news release is focusing more on the wireless capabilities than anything else, but the chip is more than just a radio platform. The BCM21553 is built on an ARM11 processor, contains a 3G graphics core with support for OpenGL ES 2, can drive an HVGA display and 8 megapixel camera, plus encode or decode H.264 video at 30 frames per second. Based upon the specifications, the chip looks comparable to the ones in the Apple iPhone 3GS or HTC Hero. The chip can handle Windows Mobile or Android, says Broadcom, so the company just needs a handset maker to choose the solution.
If anywhere, I see the BCM21553 fitting in smartphones for the masses — what I’d call low to mid-end devices in the subsidized $99 to $149 range. Higher-end “superphones” are already capable of the faster HSUPA speeds and run on a newer version of the ARM architecture. But there’s still a place for chips like this. Not every customer needs — or wants to pay for — a more capable high-end processor for their smartphone tasks. But with all of the video and other content we’re creating, faster upload features are becoming more important on a daily basis. Check out NewTeeVee’s two-part overview of online video this past decade and the trend should be abundantly clear — you might not be uploading much today, but mobile chip makers like Broadcom are betting that you will in the future.
We all know that Google’s Nexus One isn’t hitting Verizon Wireless until this spring. Wouldn’t it be incredible if a comparable Android handset — if not, perhaps a better one — offered Verizon customers another option? The evidence on PocketNow seems to support that theory and shows what I think you’ll see quite often this year: more handsets stepping up to the newest ARM processors.
The HTC Incredible takes several styling cues from the Nexus One, which shouldn’t surprise since HTC builds both models. It allegedly runs a Qualcomm Snapdragon CPU, and based on a brief video demonstration, I think that’s a safe bet.
The user interface is no less fluid on the Incredible than on my Nexus One, as shown here. Note that this video spends more time looking at the floor than the phone, but it’s the best I’ve found so far. Also, if the video won’t play here, just click it to see it directly on Photobucket — just be prepared to evaluate that flooring.
Android 2.1 is seen on the phone, but fans of the Sense UI will be happy because the Incredible is running Sense. The custom interface adds an intuitive skin on top of Android, from the home screen to navigation to the notification icons.
Other differences from the Nexus One reportedly include two LED flashes near the camera sensor, half the RAM at 256 MB and what appears to be an optical pointer in lieu of the trackball. And although the camera lens sticks out on the Incredible, just like on the Nexus One, HTC modified the back cover to handle the protrusion differently. It even looks like the external speaker grill is bigger as a result, so hands-free calls could potentially be louder.
Since the Sense interface rides on top of Android, I wouldn’t expect Google to be selling this phone directly, like they do with the Nexus One. In fact, I’d anticipate that HTC has added more than just the Sense UI — it wouldn’t surprise me to see full support for Microsoft Exchange features with the Incredible.
So how about it Verizon Wireless customers? Based on the limited information, does this phone look more “incredible” to you than the Nexus One that’s coming soon?
I’m writing from Phoenix, where a trip home met an abrupt end today. After one canceled flight from San Francisco to Philadelphia, I hopped over to the Valley of the Sun in hopes of a different flight home, but Mother Nature had other ideas. Since so many travelers are in a similar bind, all flights home are booked through Monday. I’ll be attempting a trip to JFK tomorrow and will mostly likely miss the first Super Bowl of my adult life. What the heck does that all that have to do with Google’s Nexus One? Well, this travel challenge has offered me a great way to test the recent 3G fix in a number of T-Mobile coverage areas. As bad as my travel woes are, the radio in my Nexus One just might be worse off than me.
Not long after the Nexus One first arrived in early January, users reported 3G issues here in the U.S. Since the phone only supports T-Mobile’s frequencies here, AT&T’s network was a non-factor in the situation. I had my phone shipped to me in Las Vegas since I was there for the Consumer Electronics Show and really didn’t notice any issues. And when I returned home to Philadelphia, all was well at first. In fact, I was testing the 3G immediately after we landed — as we were taxing to the gate, I saw 2.1 Mbps down and 1.2 Mbps up. But once I recovered from the CES and started looking closer at the Nexus One, I saw issues. In the same location, an evaluation Nokia N900 handset with my T-Mobile SIM card offered speeds similar to my first test. But after a quick SIM swap to the Nexus One, the best my Android handset could do was lowly EDGE speeds. Clearly, something appeared to be wrong.
I upgraded my handset firmware just prior to my current travel excursion. I was more enamored by the multitouch features and didn’t pay too much attention to my 3G signal, even though I live in a T-Mobile data coverage area. So while waiting for my flight to San Francisco, I refocused my attention on the radio issue. What a perfect time and place to do just that, I thought. After all, Philadelphia International Airport is where I first saw fast bandwidth speeds on the phone. Too bad, I never saw them again in that very location. I ran various speed tests over the course of three hours, but never even saw half of the throughput I had seen a few weeks prior in the same place.
While there are a number of factors that affect 3G performance — location, other users, backhaul — the results weren’t sitting right with me. On Twitter, I asked if anyone else was still having problems. A few minutes later Michael Gartenberg, a Technology Analyst at Insight and columnist at Engdget, replied via Twitter: “yep. 3g actually worse. I used to get 3g at home. No more. But I do have multi touch.” Again, data throughput testing isn’t an exact science, but I can’t think of a single reason why Michael couldn’t get 3G at home using the same phone — especially after the software update.
So over the span of the last three days, I’ve been testing my handset using the SpeedTest application from Xtreme Labs — available for free in the Android Market — and also watching the data indicator on the phone. Aside from testing in Philadelphia, I’ve also tested in various San Francisco neighborhoods and in Phoenix. Every single testing location used was squarely in a solid T-Mobile 3G coverage area — no fringe areas, for example.
And in every location, I saw either miserable 3G speeds, signals bouncing between 3G and EDGE, or — even worse –both. I’m calling the last situation “worse” for a specific reason — signal bouncing like that can hit your handset battery hard. In fact, I barely used my Nexus One this morning in San Francisco and in the three hours I waited for my flight, the Nexus One battery dropped from 100% to 65%. I’d expect that kind of drain in three hours when actually using the phone, but not when it was basically dormant. The bouncing back-and-forth is really maddening. Sitting with the GigaOm team yesterday, for example, the phone was stationary but showed every possible combination of bars and signals. I saw GPRS, EDGE and 3G plus everything from no bars of service to four full bars, and everything in between. This was over the course of two hours in the exact same location.
Since my travel woes have stranded me in a Phoenix hotel, I now have some time to check in on the very same Google Nexus One support forum that I originally used to track the issue. As of now, there are 977 posts in the thread, spanning 25 pages. While I don’t know the location and coverage specifics for each individual user, there’s a fair number of posts indicating that handset owners are still seeing the same issues I am, even after the firmware update. There are some that say the issue is fixed for them, which is great. But either my testing is bad in three different cities, or there’s still an issue for quite a few people.
Is it hardware or software? Perhaps it’s both, or maybe there are some coverage issues that are affecting results. It’s to the point that I don’t really know. It could be any and all of the above. But what I do know is that something is still wrong with the 3G signal on my Nexus One — and I’m not alone.
If you have a Nexus One and use a T-Mobile SIM, I invite you to chime in on the comments, but more importantly, to participate in a poll. I’d like to see how isolated or widespread this is, for starters. And it just might help bring more attention to whatever the issue is. When I return home, I’ll do some additional testing. If I still see the issue, I’ll be testing the support channels for my Google Nexus One.
If the gadget paparazzi at the FCC were hoping for photos of something unique on the netbook front, the LG X20 isn’t quite it. Luckily, our undaunted government testers don’t let yet another netbook model get them down, so we’ve got information on the new device, courtesy of Liliputing.
The X20 offers the same internals as most new WinTel netbooks these days: a 1.66 GHz N450 Atom, 1 or 2 GB of memory, a standard 2.5″ hard drive and your basic connectivity plus an optional 3G radio. One standout is the 10.1″ display due to its higher-than-average 1366 x 768 resolution. I’d like to see this res become a netbook standard on the 10-inch devices — at this point, 1024 x 600 seems very 2006-ish. I also noticed mention of multitouch trackpad gestures on some models, as well as 4- and 6-cell battery options. The chiclet keys look more rectangular than square in the only pic I’ve seen, so I’d probably want to use that keyboard before considering a purchase. But there’s plenty of time to figure out purchase decisions — LG hasn’t officially announced the netbook model, pricing or availability just yet.
Here’s a topic we’ve been kicking around since the first netbooks arrived — which device classes have a chance for success and which don’t? That’s actually a difficult question to answer because it’s going to vary based on your definition of success. And just because a device doesn’t see millions of sales doesn’t mean it won’t meet your individual needs.
Laptop Magazine’s Mark Spoonauer pinged me to share a handy chart that summarizes MIDs, media tablets, and smartbooks. Aside from the definition and characteristics of each, Mark also lists pros, cons and the chance of success. It’s a useful grouping of data, although I’d probably amend the pricing of media tablets. Mark lists them between $300 and $600, and includes Apple’s iPad in the category. With 3G and 64 GB of storage, you’ll pay $829 for a loaded iPad. And ironically, even though Mark’s definition wouldn’t consider the iPad to be a smartbook, I think that Apple cornered the smartbook market before it even took off. Even with a keyboard, smartbooks are sure to be compared to the iPad by consumers.
I’d consider adding another factor to the mix as well — how “mobile” is the device class. In my mind, a MID (or high-end smartphone) is more mobile than an iPad or a netbook-sized smartbook. This can make a difference because consumers could opt for a smaller device over a large one when leaving home.
Otherwise, I like what Mark put together as a reference. And I’m general agreement with his “chance of success” rates too. MIDs — and UMPCs with full desktop systems — are still fairly niche products and I’d expect the low rate of success they were given. How about you? Do you think Mark is a good odds maker for mobile device success rates?
Good news for fans of Slacker, the service that streams music to both computers and handsets. The software is officially supported on webOS and available in the Palm App Catalog for Pre and Pixi devices. The webOS version joins Android, BlackBerry and iPhone handsets. Although I got a sneak peek at CES, here’s a feature list in case you missed it.
High-quality stereo playback from any available wireless connection
Create custom artist stations based on artists or songs
Over 120 professionally programmed and customizable genre stations
View artist biographies and photos
View album art and read reviews
“Peek Ahead” artist and album preview
Rate songs as favorites
Ban songs and artists from stations
I’d provide my own impressions since Slacker is now installed on my Palm Pre, except for one small, but key detail — I don’t have my Palm Pre. I loaned it to Dave Zatz for a few weeks and he gave Slacker the old once over.
“Of course Slacker rocks. And the app functions much like you’d expect it to. Although, as a webOS n00b, I’ve had to get used to finger swiping in lieu of tapping a back button. Otherwise, it’s quite comparable to their other mobile apps – a wide variety of “radio” stations and the option of upgrading to a paid subscription (~$50/yr) to display song lyrics, provide unlimited skips, and do away with all advertising.”
I’d don’t see any mention of offline song caching in either the press release or in Dave’s overview, so that’s something I’d like to see added in a future release. Last I heard, that functionality — which originally was specific to BlackBerry devices — is now in the iPhone and Android apps. Since I’m a “turn off the juice when not in use” kind of guy, I’m all for some Airplane Mode with Slacker tunes.
MoTR 197 is 33:05 minutes long and is a 30.1 MB file in MP3 format.
