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May, 2009

5/28/09 - After several weeks on the road (and with more travel planned in a couple of weeks) I couldn't make it out to Google I/O or D7 or Sony Ericsson's product launch this week, so I'm following them remotely. I won't be at E3 next week, either, but my Digital Home analyst, Bruce McGregor, will be there for press conferences and meetings.

T-Mobile has finally started pushing out the Android 1.5 update. I've downloaded it to my G1 and will have analysis ready shortly.

In the meantime, I've been testing Verizon Wireless' HP netbook, an HTC Touch Diamond2, and the new Sidekick LX. I've actually been testing various netbooks since the original Asus EEE PC, and I wrote about netbooks in my 2007 and 2008 holiday gift guides. However, I had been waiting for a subsidized netbooks to be launched before writing a formal Current Analysis report. That report can be found below, along with updates on Palm's Pre pricing/availability and Nokia's E71x:

5/17/09

In addition to the report updates on Moto, Sony Ericsson, and RIM, we got a couple of new reports up last week:

I have an HP Mini 1151NR netbook in from Verizon Wireless, look for a report on it to go live on Monday.

Another Nokia phone showed up late last week, too: a U.S.-spec E75. The form factor on the E75 is pretty close to ideal - narrow for use as a phone, slideout QWERTY for messaging (where have I seen that before? Oh, right. Half of HTC's line). It's got 3G (for AT&T and/or Europe on this version), WiFi, GPS, and a 3.2 MP camera. The numeric and option keys are a bit small, making the lock/unlock process painful, but the QWERTY keyboard is terrific, and the metal case is classy. The final touches: a standard 3.5mm headphone jack (yay!), charging over microUSB (yay!), and a leather case stolen from the 8800 line - pulling the tab raises the phone out of the case (oooh!). But the real news is that Nokia finally has a decent Exchange client integrated into the E75's messaging. You can see enough of each message to know whether to read it or delete, and you can customize the display somewhat. There are only three problems:

1. This client is not available yet for the E71x - the QWERTY smartphone which actually has U.S. carrier distribution
2. I ran into consistent "out of memory errors." I still can't figure out what the issue is - it shows over 20 MB free - but I sure got frustrated trying to fix the problem. Without a dedicated "file manager" program, figuring out how to free up memory was difficult. Symbian S60 has memory viewing built into the menu structure, but you can only view from there, not move or delete stuff. There's another spot where you can manage media files, but not applications. There's a separate place to see and remove apps. This isn't Symbian's fault, either, it's Nokia's. 
3. The Exchange client has the least intuitive setup process of anything I've ever used. Configuring mail is fairly straightforward as long as you have your server and domain information. However, to find how (where) to set up synchronization of calendar and contacts, you'll need a Sherpa to guide you. It's really, really buried, and I believe that it may be impossible to find it during the initial email setup. Symbian S60 has always had the worst organizational structure of any mobile OS, but this is really getting ridiculous. Has anyone at Nokia ever used an iPhone or even Windows Mobile?

5/12/09

I've been working on updated Company Assessments on Motorola, Sony Ericsson, and RIM which should be posted late this week or early next week.

Nokia sure took its sweet time bringing the E71 to a U.S. carrier. The E71 is a terrific device; I had been using an early European model a long (long) time ago, and an AT&T-spec E71x finally showed up yesterday. The E71x supports AT&T's 3G frequencies and the default apps for ringtones, music, and navigation are now all AT&T-approved (you can still use Nokia or 3rd party options if you prefer). The big change is to the color scheme: it's black instead of silver. I had been worried, as the E71x looks just awful in photos, and part of the E71's charm was superb style. Fortunately, in real life, the E71x is actually nicer than the original. The glossy black paint on the metal case looks like a new car or premium kitchen appliance, not like black painted plastic. The E71x also appears to have Nokia's latest much improved email client. I'm taking the E71x with me on the road, and a full report will follow.

Not a new product, but a new price point: T-Mobile's Cameo photo frame has dropped dramatically in price. At $99 + $10/month it made no sense. At $39 + $2/month, it's pretty awesome. I've been using one to send my kids at home instant digital postcards from wherever I'm traveling.

Big props to ClickFree, which sent over a no-muss-no-fuss backup hard drive that worked out of the box with no muss and no fuss. (You'd be shocked at how infrequently that happens.) A similar product from a different company required three software updates, two computer reboots, and then in the end it didn't automatically back up email files. That product also doesn't appear to allow restoring data backed up from one computer onto another. In contrast, ClickFree started working within seconds of plugging in its USB cord, backed up email automatically, and had no problems restoring to a different PC. Joy!

I never did write the "Debunking Apple Rumors" report. Maybe later. In the meantime, clients are encouraged to set up inquiry calls any time you see sensationalist journalism masquerading as reporting and want to get your bearings in a world suddenly awash with Verizon Wireless Apple iPhones, mini-iPhones, Apple tablets, Microsoft "iPhone killers," and flying cars.

5/5/09

At Current Analysis we don't comment on rumors, but the Apple-Verizon Wireless-Microsoft tempest last week may be an exception. I'm tentatively starting a report, "People Close to the Matter: Debunking Stupid Apple Rumors." Speaking of Apple...

Apple's "There's an app for that" iPhone TV commercials are generally brilliant, but the one pushing Compass Go this week is a terrible mistake. The iPhone 3G doesn't have an internal magnetometer, so all compass-like applications use GPS (and require you to be outside and walk in a straight line), or solar position (look up at the angle of the sun to)... in short, they don't work. Compass Go is no different. We have recommended that Apple add an internal magnetometer and half expect that the next generation iPhone will have one next month, but why Apple would highlight a core hardware deficiency today is completely beyond me.

Recent reports: