Apple jailbreaks itself
October 7, 2010 3:09 PM Subscribe

Apple Inc. is making a version of its iPhone that Verizon Wireless will sell early next year, according to people familiar with the matter, ending an exclusive deal with AT&T and sharpening the competition with Google Inc.-based phones.

Meanwhile:

Steven A. Ballmer, Microsoft’s chief executive, recently showed up with a small entourage of deputies at Adobe’s offices to hold a secret meeting with Adobe’s chief executive, Shantanu Narayen.

The meeting, which lasted over an hour, covered a number of topics, but one of the main thrusts of the discussion was Apple and its control of the mobile phone market and how the two companies could partner in the battle against Apple. A possible acquisition of Adobe by Microsoft were among the options.

posted by Joe Beese (99 comments total) 6 users marked this as a favorite

Too late for me! I gave up and purchased a Droid, great phone, integrates well with my google life (yeah, I know, I know, they're going to own me and sell me some day!).

And, Microsoft???? Really??? They can't get it right when they have a whole desktop computer to stuff little pieces into, how are they going to do it with a tiny little phone?
posted by HuronBob at 3:12 PM on October 7, 2010

This is good news. The AT&T exclusivity was one of the main reasons I switched to Android. Maybe at some point in the future I'll switch back. iOS, despite its limitations, is a very satisfying OS to use.
posted by The Winsome Parker Lewis at 3:13 PM on October 7, 2010

Microsoft buying Adobe? The feature bloat would run us off the continent.
posted by hippybear at 3:13 PM on October 7, 2010 [30 favorites]

I just want my god-damn iPhone </rant>*

----
*disgruntled Canadian on the low end of the supply chain
posted by mazola at 3:15 PM on October 7, 2010

The later link is the more interesting, though the big story that people are trying to spin out of it ("Microsoft to buy Adobe!") is most likely bollocks.

A Verizon iPhone? Yeah, we've been hearing about that for a while.
posted by Artw at 3:15 PM on October 7, 2010 [2 favorites]

What benefit would Adobe get from merging with Microsoft?
posted by nomadicink at 3:17 PM on October 7, 2010

Rumor: Is Apple diversifying the iPhone lineup to compete with Android?
posted by ericb at 3:17 PM on October 7, 2010 [2 favorites]

In related news: iOS Rises For Business, Android Expands Among Consumers.
posted by ericb at 3:19 PM on October 7, 2010 [1 favorite]

Did everyone just discover tech blogs today or something?
posted by Artw at 3:19 PM on October 7, 2010 [16 favorites]

A Verizon iPhone? Yeah, we've been hearing about that for a while.

But as opposed to say, Engadget, the Wall Street Journal has paying customers who expect them to get this kind of thing right. So maybe this is different.
posted by Joe Beese at 3:20 PM on October 7, 2010 [1 favorite]

Apple: overdue.

A possible acquisition of Adobe by Microsoft were among the options.

Ahh, Microsoft moving forward yet again. Here's more suggestions for Microsoft to improve their future phones: integrate AOL as the internet provider, Lycos as the search engine, Netscape as the browser, RealPlayer to run the music and video, Polaroid to run the camera. The phone will be $1400 running analog voice and come complete with it's own bag to carry it and health insurance policy for the brain cancer received due to its 400W power usage.
posted by Mister Fabulous at 3:20 PM on October 7, 2010 [12 favorites]

Yet another survey shows Android ahead of iPhone, BlackBerry.
posted by ericb at 3:20 PM on October 7, 2010 [2 favorites]

A Verizon iPhone? Yeah, we've been hearing about that for a while.

But as opposed to say, Engadget, the Wall Street Journal has paying customers who expect them to get this kind of thing right. So maybe this is different.

Pff. Engadget is probably their source.
posted by Artw at 3:24 PM on October 7, 2010 [12 favorites]

If anyone wants to know about the idea of Microsoft getting into the graphics space, do some research on their disasters: Alvy Ray Smith's Altamira Composer (which they ended up not being able to give away), the software they acquired which eventually became this, and Jeebus, there's a story about when they once got involved with these folks that's one of the most messed-up things that you've never heard about (Microsoft went to extremes to bury the whole situation, but I was there on the sidelines, it was an insane clusterfuck). Microsoft doing a Borg on Adobe would be a dark day, indeed.
posted by dbiedny at 3:25 PM on October 7, 2010 [2 favorites]

Again. in related news: Windows Phone 7 Will Flounder, Gartner Predicts.
posted by ericb at 3:26 PM on October 7, 2010 [2 favorites]

At least now the iPhone can add "makes and receives phone calls" to the bullet points.
posted by graventy at 3:28 PM on October 7, 2010 [9 favorites]

Huh. We wanted to sever our connection to the Big Two but they're the only ones who carried the iphone which the missus wanted dearly. We also switched to Android as a result (just a week ago!) and haven't looked back.
posted by Durn Bronzefist at 3:31 PM on October 7, 2010

The Impeccable Timing of the Verizon iPhone Rumors

tldr: I'll believe it when I see it. But I'll probably have an Android phone by then, assuming the G2 gets rooted.
posted by longdaysjourney at 3:37 PM on October 7, 2010 [5 favorites]

longdaysjourney beat me to it, but yeah.
posted by 2bucksplus at 3:42 PM on October 7, 2010

dbiedny - Expression is considered a disaster? What? I can assure you they push Blend like crazy.
posted by Artw at 3:48 PM on October 7, 2010

Microsoft + Adobe = Microbe.
posted by entropicamericana at 3:55 PM on October 7, 2010 [31 favorites]

I even heard that the Verizon iPhone is white!
posted by R. Mutt at 3:56 PM on October 7, 2010 [1 favorite]

Though Microsoft & Adobe deserve each other.
posted by R. Mutt at 3:58 PM on October 7, 2010 [2 favorites]

PED XING
posted by Burhanistan at 3:58 PM on October 7, 2010 [1 favorite]

I even heard that the Verizon iPhone is white!

Does it have the bigger GBs?
posted by Artw at 4:00 PM on October 7, 2010 [7 favorites]

I wonder if you can make phone calls on this one.

Zing!
posted by kbanas at 4:01 PM on October 7, 2010 [1 favorite]

i want the one with the wifi's.
posted by Justinian at 4:03 PM on October 7, 2010 [4 favorites]

If Microsoft and Adobe get together, it seems unlikely Silverlight and Flash could co-exist, along with a few other Adobe properties. Maybe Apple could call on the FTC to do an anti-trust investigation, like Adobe did.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 4:28 PM on October 7, 2010 [1 favorite]

I really don't understand the hate for Microsoft...yes, we all know Vista sucks. big time. ALMOST sucks worse than Windows ME

But quite honestly XP is easy to use...Windows 7 is even easier (and better) to use.

and saying they cant do it with a "whole box" = beyond stupid. i ran windows 7 beta and Windows 7 both on my Mini 9 netbook first gen...it screams on it. that was w/ 1 gig of ram -- and upgrading it to 2 gigs was even better.
posted by knockoutking at 4:34 PM on October 7, 2010 [1 favorite]

I never wanted an iphone. I just really like AT&T's exclusive call-blocking technology for smartphones.
posted by benzenedream at 4:35 PM on October 7, 2010

Anyway, I'm just scared about hearing that Civilization V will be coming to the Mac very soon, possibly within a week. I'm already getting the shakes.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 4:45 PM on October 7, 2010 [3 favorites]

knockoutking: "I really don't understand the hate for Microsoft..."

Hint: It's not so much their products as their business practices.
posted by brokkr at 4:46 PM on October 7, 2010 [3 favorites]

Well. This makes me glad I went with an Evo on Sprint instead of a Droid X on Verizon. The bloat of iPhone traffic already kills AT&T service in a lot of major cities.
posted by kafziel at 4:47 PM on October 7, 2010 [1 favorite]

Anyway, I'm just scared about hearing that Civilization V will be coming to the Mac very soon, possibly within a week. I'm already getting the shakes.

Embrace it. OD on it. Then you'll come out the other side.

And dive straight back into minecraft.
posted by Durn Bronzefist at 4:50 PM on October 7, 2010 [3 favorites]

Perhaps this is about Flash. Silverlight must not be meeting expectations... Anyhow, few care about Flash in mobile, really. Both iPhonePad and Android are succeeding largely without it. Vector graphics and playing movies are solved problems.

The only company with a credible counter to Apple's iPhonePad is Google, and Microsoft can't afford to buy Google. I really can't imagine how you rationalize what would be the huge purchase cost of Adobe on the basis of 'battle against apple' in the 'mobile phone' market when Adobe brings so little to the table. ...

You can't buy the Internet Ballmer. It doesn't like you.
posted by Joe Beese at 4:50 PM on October 7, 2010

knockoutking: "I really don't understand the hate for Microsoft..."

Hint: It's not so much their products as their business practices.

Also, their products.
posted by dersins at 4:52 PM on October 7, 2010 [21 favorites]

A Verizon iPhone? Yeah, we've been hearing about that for a while.

Just another rumor to add to the general chatter: I was talking with a cell phone salesman in a Target a few weeks ago. He said some of the entries he was seeing in their catalog/inventory system suggested to him that the iPhone would be available on Verizon by February.

(I know, expert source, right? But I was actually impressed with his above average grasp of the market. Most retail drones can't even tell you much about their own products: GSM? CDMA? LTE? Bands? LOL Wut? But this guy seemed to know about competitors. I asked him about that. He said "to give you an idea of how long I've been doing this, I used to sell pagers.")

Apple's frustration with AT&T is well-known. It seems quite likely they would branch out.
posted by weston at 5:00 PM on October 7, 2010 [2 favorites]

The Impeccable Timing of the Verizon iPhone Rumors

I'm going to write a meta article theorizing that Techcrunch are responsible for the conspiracy only because they want to drive numbers to their own shitty dross on the sexy story of an Apple conspiracy.

My evidence? Well Techcrunch love to write about secret Apple plots a lot. I'm seeing some correlation being causation here folks!
posted by Talez at 5:20 PM on October 7, 2010

Everything I hear (as a curious layperson) says that Verizon really likes to put their stamp on phones on their network. That is not the Apple Way® and I was expecting the CMDA phone to go to TMobile, but the WSJ story sounds sorta like a purposeful Apple leak. Apple likes telling the WSJ (or New York Times) a few things to prime customers.

Android is dominating in terms of market share and media attention, but Apple is dominating in terms of profits. To keep those profits flowing, they need to expand in the U.S. Yet Verizon likes to put its stamp on its stamp on the phones on its network. And with Android taking off, they're in a much better position to bargain with Apple. And by bargain, I mean dictate terms. They don't need the iPhone, but they'd like it. But Apple needs Verizon to expand. So how much, if any, is Apple willing to give up a bit of control of the iPhone? I didn't think Apple would give on restricting developers so soon, but they did, so what's going to be the deal the Verizon iPhone?

and what about the iPad? Will that be on Verizon also?
posted by nomadicink at 5:21 PM on October 7, 2010 [1 favorite]

An iPhone crippled to the extent they cripple their feature phones would be a thing of horror.
posted by Artw at 5:24 PM on October 7, 2010 [1 favorite]

An iPhone crippled to the extent they cripple their feature phones would be a thing of horror.

I agree, but Verizon's going to want to do something with the iPhone 'cause that's how they roll and they've in a position to demand it. So what would Apple give to keep Verizon's paws off the phone? A large slice of profits? Something exclusive? First dibs on iPad 2? A vial of Steve's magical blood?
posted by nomadicink at 5:35 PM on October 7, 2010 [1 favorite]

I don't buy it. Apple doesn't believe in "there's more than one way to do it" - either Verizon switches to GSM, or they go without an iPhone. iPhones will be cropping up at T-Mobile stores, and unlocked for hipsters to hook up to cheap pay-as-you-go services (sim chips from a variety of service providers and refill cards available at your local Apple Store!).

Apple is about to dump one onerous telecoms deal it got the short end of - why on earth would they give up an ounce of power to Verizon? They're driving Motorola and Google nuts with their demands, and I don't see Steve anxious to get in on that action. Plus, why bother with two production lines for GSM and CDMA? If someone wants an iPhone, they'll switch.
posted by Slap*Happy at 5:43 PM on October 7, 2010 [3 favorites]

> I was expecting the CMDA phone to go to TMobile

If you were expecting CDMA to go to TMobile, you must not follow cell markets that closely. Tmobile is a GSM carrier, like AT&T, who in the US uses a different 3G frequency, so folks who have moved their iPhones to TMobile (via unlocking) still I believe are stuck using Edge. Apple could easily include their iPhone with TMobile much earlier by using a broader spectrum 3G GPRS chipset from last I heard.

If anything, the biggest reason why Verizon rejected Apple the first time around was the very fact that Apple would not let them touch the iPhone. It doesn't get a verizon sticker, it doesn't get pre bundled with adware or demos for games, etc. Verizon assumed that if they couldn't sell the phones they have always done, then they wouldn't make money, but it appears that doing it more Apple's way worked for AT&T.

Really, Verizon's entire marketing feature is "the iPhone, now not with AT&T" and they could price match AT&T rates and still get customers in droves.
posted by mrzarquon at 5:47 PM on October 7, 2010 [2 favorites]

I finally gave up waiting for a Verizon iPhone and got a Droid X to replace my horrid, horrid Blackberry Storm. The Droid X is just unbelievably great. I cannot imagine giving up that huge screen and brilliant, lightning-fast functionality to replace it with an iPhone. I cannot imagine going back to trying to browse and type on a smaller screen.
posted by The World Famous at 5:51 PM on October 7, 2010 [1 favorite]

> Apple doesn't believe in "there's more than one way to do it" - either Verizon switches to GSM, or they go without an iPhone

Except the single largest untapped market, China, is also mostly on CDMA as well.

If anything, I'd assume either Apple would have a CDMA chipset with GSM abilities (qualcomm supposedly is making this for them), so they can do an iPhone 4.5 that goes to either carrier.
posted by mrzarquon at 5:53 PM on October 7, 2010

I was wondering why this iPhone I found in a bar used the Verizon network.
posted by maxwelton at 5:56 PM on October 7, 2010 [9 favorites]

Flash as the dominant mobile platform is going to be Adobe's white whale. The idea that they're so concerned with Apple's share of the phone market that they'd consider a merger with MS is insane.
posted by aaronetc at 6:03 PM on October 7, 2010 [1 favorite]

Except the single largest untapped market, China, is also mostly on CDMA as well.

I assume you're talking about China Mobile because China Unicom has a perfectly good UMTS network.

China Mobile uses EDGE on the GSM side and their own TD-SCDMA which has about as much in common as run of the mill CDMA2000 as the WCDMA that UMTS uses.

If you think Apple are going to make a chipset for Verizon because it opens up China you're dead wrong.
posted by Talez at 6:03 PM on October 7, 2010 [2 favorites]

Maybe they were talking mail. Or maybe Steve was eviscerating them for not delivering a working version of Flash on Windows Phone 7.
posted by These Premises Are Alarmed at 6:06 PM on October 7, 2010

I know an electrical engineer who absolutely swears there will be dual CDMA/GSM iPhones. Apparently Apple already uses a combined CDMA/GSM radio chip, and it actually transmits a little bit on the CDMA band when it boots up (but there's no antenna so the signal doesn't go far). You heard it here first.

That would be much easier to believe if Infineon actually had a CDMA baseband product. But then again if you want to get *really* technical the only difference between WCDMA and CDMA is the letter "W".
posted by Talez at 6:09 PM on October 7, 2010

I cannot imagine giving up that huge screen and brilliant, lightning-fast functionality to replace it with an iPhone. I cannot imagine going back to trying to browse and type on a smaller screen.
posted by The World Famous

I tried the droid X and thought it was pretty mediocre. The larger screen was nice at times, but the iphone form factor hits the sweet spot for me. And the droid x is not lightning fast. It's a slower and clunkier experience than an iPhone.

But all that's just personal preference. It means little in this discussion. What isn't personal preference is that ATT sucks in many areas of the country, including some major cities. An iPhone that has great service in these markets is a major gain for apple.
posted by justgary at 6:14 PM on October 7, 2010

And the droid x is not lightning fast. It's a slower and clunkier experience than an iPhone.

Maybe there's variation between phones. Because I've used all generations of iPhone and my Droid X is neither slower nor clunkier. When I got it, I thought I was settling for something short of what I really wanted - an iPhone. But it has really grown on me. Typing on the huge screen is the biggest deal - it is so easy to type fast in landscape. And I really like how thin the phone is. I thought the size would bug me, but the thinness totally makes up for the screen size.
posted by The World Famous at 6:21 PM on October 7, 2010 [1 favorite]

I just wonder how Verizon's new network is going to affect this picture. One would think that a Verizon iPhone would be built to take advantage of the new network, but would also have to be compatible with the current CDMA infrastructure for the next several years.
posted by Mister_A at 6:22 PM on October 7, 2010

If Microsoft and Adobe get together, it seems unlikely Silverlight and Flash could co-exist, along with a few other Adobe properties.

Maybe they'll dump Dreamweaver and bring back FrontPage. That would be sweet.
posted by kirkaracha at 6:25 PM on October 7, 2010 [4 favorites]

Three years ago I might have gone for an iPhone if it was on Verizon but after a year with my Droid, I'm too sold on the Android platform to change. Plus, I uninstalled iTunes last year and have so little interest in installing that buggy piece of crap again.
posted by octothorpe at 6:43 PM on October 7, 2010 [2 favorites]

I was that guy always waiting for Apple to use a different provider. 3 weeks ago I made the switch and went to AT&T. I'm kicking myself for not doing it sooner, because the horror stories I heard haven't matched up to reality, and I've already travelled down the midwest with it. I even bought new iphones for my company.
posted by l2p at 6:48 PM on October 7, 2010 [3 favorites]

The phone will be $1400 running analog voice

Is this snark on XDA II? If it is, you might want to think about how much an iPhone costs without telecom subsidies. It's S$1048 here in Singapore.

Expression is considered a disaster? What? I can assure you they push Blend like crazy.

Yup, that or I've gone through a black-hole to an alternate world where black is spelled white. Blend is a disaster? When did that happen? I'll be the first person to admit that he hasn't seen the other UX-focussed IDE's out there, but Blend is simply fantastic. I don't know if it'll be the future, but Model-View-ViewModel is certainly my present.
posted by the cydonian at 7:35 PM on October 7, 2010

I was expecting the CMDA phone to go to TMobile

That would be kind of hard with T-Mobile running GSM. In fact, people already run jailbroken iPhones on it.
posted by delmoi at 7:51 PM on October 7, 2010

Adobe and Microsoft discussing a possible merger reminds of of a Fake Steve Jobs column from a couple years ago. Choice bits:

It’s like taking the two guys who finished second and third in a 100-yard dash and tying their legs together and asking for a rematch, believing that now they’ll run faster.

Here’s the weird thing: I first heard that line about the 100-yard dash from Ballmer himself, maybe a decade ago.

....and....

Back when Microsoft was riding high I was talking to Ballmer at some conference — I have no idea where or when, but I’m sure he remembers exactly which conference this was and what day of the week it was and the number of the hotel room he stayed in — and on that day somebody had just announced some huge anti-Borg merger, and all the idiots in the press were saying this was going to kill Microsoft, and Ballmer was just laughing. Laughing. Laughing his ass off.

Ballmer said he loved when his rivals merged, because whenever the also-rans in any market start teaming up they might as well be waving a white flag. Because it’s over. You’ve beaten them. You’ve driven them to despair. They haven’t been able to beat you on their own; there’s no way they’ll do it together. Then he told me that line about the hundred-yard dash.

I’ll never forget it. But I guess he has.

Somewhere Real Steve Jobs is laughing his ass off.
posted by Scoo at 8:05 PM on October 7, 2010 [1 favorite]

I was expecting the CMDA phone to go to TMobile

Thx for the correction.
posted by nomadicink at 8:09 PM on October 7, 2010

I just want my god-damn iPhone *

----
*disgruntled Canadian on the low end of the supply chain

Hmm. Yeah, must be horrible living in a country where, if having your choice of FOUR legitimate, Apple-"blessed" carriers on which you can get your iPhone isn't enough, you can always just buy it factory-unlocked from the Apple Store, free and clear, and 100% supported by Apple.

Yeah, you really have it tough up there. You must really envy us in the (self-proclaimed) Land of the Free (TM) to your south, where we'll take AT&T (and its pursuant warrantless wiretapping) and like it!
posted by CommonSense at 8:29 PM on October 7, 2010 [2 favorites]

Steven A. Ballmer, Microsoft’s chief executive, recently showed up with a small entourage of deputies at Adobe’s offices to hold a secret meeting with Adobe’s chief executive, Shantanu Narayen.

Ballmer has just been an unmitigated disaster as CEO. Admittedly, following on from Gates would be a tall order for anyone, but jeeze, what a mess they guy's made.
posted by rodgerd at 8:37 PM on October 7, 2010

If Microsoft and Adobe get together, it seems unlikely Silverlight and Flash could co-exist, along with a few other Adobe properties.

If an Adobe/Microsoft merger will kill off Flash and Reader once and for all, I am down for that shit. Merge the Flash dev team into the Sliverlight team, then take the Reader team out back and fucking liquidate them. Twice. I would dance a happy dance on their graves.
posted by tracert at 8:41 PM on October 7, 2010 [1 favorite]

Google is the 90s Microsoft of the upcoming decade - aggressive, arrogant, ubiquitous, and delivered to end-users by commodity hardware; Microsoft is the 90s Apple - a sclerotic shadow of what it was in its heyday of the previous decade, but entrenched in certain areas and still potent; and Apple itself is like IBM of the 1970s, a vertically-integrated software/hardware juggernaut whose products define their product categories, and define them so completely that competitors are are forever on the defensive, scrambling to build "work-alikes" which only occasionally turn out to be more compelling than the Apple products they're modeled on.

I don't entirely agree with this analysis. Google may partly be the 90s Microsoft. But it's also partly Ma Bell. Google (and other web sites) have pretty much killed off the yellow pages and other directory services. A fair number of researchers have migrated from Bell Labs to one of the Google offices (eg Rob Pike, Ken Thompson, Peter Weinberger and Brian Kernighan). Honestly, it wouldn't surprise me if Google ends up buying a wireless carrier eventually, maybe Sprint or possibly T-Mobile. Anyway, Google's base is search and advertising. If Android ends up being profitable or at least popular (which is pretty much guaranteed at this point), Google will be more powerful than Microsoft ever was. Not that this is a bad thing necessarily. Its CEO and founders seem more level headed to me than Bill Gates or certainly Steve Ballmer were. Also, Android is really a lovely system. It's not as sleek as the iphone, but in terms of usability it gives the iphone far more competition than Windows 3.1 did to the Mac in the early 90's.

Also, speaking as a developer who recently spent 3 months porting an iPhone app to Android, I was generally happier developing for Android than for the iPhone. Apple provides some nice libraries for Objective C and a reasonably good UI tool in Interface Builder, but Android also provides some nice libraries, and of course with Java I didn't have to worry about memory management.

As for Apple, I see little except maybe iTunes to differentiate it from its previous incarnation in the 1980s. Not that that's a bad thing in any way. The iPhone has inspired people today just as much as the Macintosh did many years ago. It would be very interesting if Apple develops enough humility to let Verizon use the iPhone, both to see what the terms of the deal are and how it affects Android.

As for Microsoft, I think it has far more power still than Apple did in the 90's. I think Microsoft has come full circle and turned into IBM in the 1980s. It still has power in an old platform (PCs for Microsoft of the present, servers for IBM of the 1980s) but despite a valiant effort (Windows Mobile for Microsoft, OS/2 for IBM) it pretty much has no relevance on the platform everyone is migrating to.

If all these analogies hold, then I expect Apple to continue to lose its grip on mobile devices to Google, Microsoft to fade into obscurity but continue making money in the business world, and for Google to be prosecuted under antitrust law and maybe broken up, many years in the future.
posted by A dead Quaker at 8:47 PM on October 7, 2010 [1 favorite]

Google TV and (Android apps for your television) and Android phone is going to trump Apple TV and iPhone. And I say that as an Apple fanboy and Mac owner since the Mac Plus. (Sorry Apple).
posted by spock at 8:53 PM on October 7, 2010

Everything I hear (as a curious layperson) says that Verizon really likes to put their stamp on phones on their network.

This is becoming less true over time. My last three phones on Verizon had either no or hardly any changes: a Windows Mobile 6.x phone had one disabled feature, and the Droid Eris and Droid have no changes other than a logo on the phone.
posted by me & my monkey at 8:55 PM on October 7, 2010

I just rubber band an iPod touch and a Nokie e72 together, with the iPod wifi tethered to my T-Mobile unlimited data plan on the Nokia. Cuz that's a phat phucking iPhone right there. Covers the camera on the Nokia, but whatever. It's for shit anyway. It feels hefty in my jacket pocket, like a gun. A warm gun. The Nokia gets signal where no iPod can go, is utterly unbreakable, and the battery lasts half a week before I have to charge it even with heavy data throughput.

Wave of the future, I tell you.
posted by fourcheesemac at 9:13 PM on October 7, 2010 [3 favorites]

Google TV and (Android apps for your television) and Android phone is going to trump Apple TV and iPhone.

Not if Google TV doesn't allow Hulu, and right now, they don't.
posted by hippybear at 9:20 PM on October 7, 2010

Not if Google TV doesn't allow Hulu, and right now, they don't.

You have that backwards...
posted by wildcrdj at 9:50 PM on October 7, 2010

Yeah, um... I think I'm just kinda gonna blink at this one a few times and then sit back and see what actually happens.

Microsoft buying Adobe... to fight Apple? I can imagine it happening, I guess, but it really doesn't compute.
posted by zoogleplex at 10:58 PM on October 7, 2010

Pfff. The real news is that HP just announced new WebOS phones are coming! Hooray!!!

Guys? The party's over here, guys... Guys??...
posted by backseatpilot at 5:20 AM on October 8, 2010

A possible acquisition of Adobe by Microsoft were among the options.

Being that Adobe Flash and Reader are the bane of any IT professional, I'm seeing this as a very good thing. Means we'll FINALLY have a patch managment solution via windows updates instead of having to deal with Adobe's horrible distribution model. (let's hope!)
posted by samsara at 6:28 AM on October 8, 2010

Is this Apple/Microsoft dichotomy still a thing? I haven't considered them direct competitors for years.
posted by rocket88 at 7:05 AM on October 8, 2010

'iPhone 5' Teased In WSJ Report: What Will It Look Like?
posted by ericb at 7:23 AM on October 8, 2010

Verizon's new network

Ouch. Akron, Ohio and Athens, GA are "major metropolitan areas" but nothing in Michigan is? Here I was getting all drooly over iPhone coming to my network, but if Verizon are going to be db's over bringing best service or best equipment to MI while including Akron on its list, hmmmmm, I just dunno. Maybe none of these network providers actually care about me.
posted by beelzbubba at 7:40 AM on October 8, 2010

No, they do care. I was talking with Joe Verizon the other day, and he was really worried about you, beelzbubba. He said to tell you it's da socialism that's keeping the LTE network out of Mich, for now.
posted by Mister_A at 8:03 AM on October 8, 2010

Adobe merging with Microsoft would mean that I'd never see another version of Photoshop on my Mac. Well, I'd get a version, but it would come out a year after the Windows version, would have half the features, would have a shitty interface and the suite of software would only include three or four of the twelve programs that came with the Windows suite, for the same price.

It would eventually get better, but only at the expense of an intermediary version that sucks so badly people refuse to upgrade and all the existing plug-ins stop working and need to be re-coded.
posted by caution live frogs at 8:37 AM on October 8, 2010

My dream iPhone can connect to any major cell network in the world.

/pipe dream
posted by reductiondesign at 9:02 AM on October 8, 2010

then take the Reader team out back and fucking liquidate them. Twice. I would dance a happy dance on their graves.

At this point it would be a mosh pit over their graves. How did they take a relatively stable, static document format (which was supposed to allay the worry about macro viruses in MS Office formats) and then turn that same document format into the largest security hole on most OS'es?

Also, let me save my damn form data rather than force me to kill trees.
posted by benzenedream at 10:27 AM on October 8, 2010

beelzbubba: Actually, Verizon said they are working on installing LTE in the Detroit market but they won't flip the switch until they can figure out "cross-border interference issues" with Canada. I think they still use 700MHz for television broadcasting there?

I really do wonder whether the new iPhone will be CDMA-only or CDMA/LTE. If the latter, I will be highly tempted.
posted by Juffo-Wup at 11:57 AM on October 8, 2010

then turn that same document format into the largest security hole on most OS'es?

You forgot about Flash! The worlds most ubiqutous software platform, installed on 99% of all computers in the world and riddled with security flaws. Awesome job, Adobe. High five.

Actually there is a good article on Ars Technica about this today. The author makes an interesting point: Microsoft has enough money that they can purchase Adobe for cash whether they like it or not. I find this fact to be highly amusing. Why merge when you can takeover?
posted by tracert at 12:00 PM on October 8, 2010

"Adobe merging with Microsoft would mean that I'd never see another version of Photoshop on my Mac."

In an attempt to allay your fears about this, I would like to say "Final Cut Pro."
posted by zoogleplex at 12:23 PM on October 8, 2010

Is this Apple/Microsoft dichotomy still a thing? I haven't considered them direct competitors for years.

I consider them direct competitors whenever anyone asks anyone, for any reason, what operating system they're running.
posted by The World Famous at 12:30 PM on October 8, 2010

Adobe merging with Microsoft would mean that I'd never see another version of Photoshop on my Mac.

That would be a great way for Microsoft to end up back in front of an antitrust judge. I wouldn't be too worried.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 2:07 PM on October 8, 2010

Adobe merging with Microsoft would mean that I'd never see another version of Photoshop on my Mac.

I am curious to see what an Apple made page layout program would look like
posted by nomadicink at 2:17 PM on October 8, 2010

I am curious to see what an Apple made page layout program would look like

You don't have to look very far.
posted by hippybear at 3:58 PM on October 8, 2010

I just want my god-damn iPhone *
----
*disgruntled Canadian on the low end of the supply chain
Hmm. Yeah, must be horrible living in a country where, if having your choice of FOUR legitimate, Apple-"blessed" carriers on which you can get your iPhone isn't enough, you can always just buy it factory-unlocked from the Apple Store, free and clear, and 100% supported by Apple.
Yeah, I tried to remember this when I had to wait three weeks for stocks to arrive at my choice of the five 'official' carriers here (Australia) and when I had to wait a week to get a replacement when it didn't work. Even in iPhone land, there is always someone worse off than you, no matter how bad you think you have it.
posted by dg at 5:09 AM on October 9, 2010

Now that's damn weird: Apple Fanboy Stephen Fry Praises Windows Phone 7
posted by Artw at 3:05 PM on October 11, 2010

Microsoft's Really ad is a pretty funny jab at non-Windows users, even if MS will never sell any of their phones.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 3:39 AM on October 12, 2010 [1 favorite]

Lots of interesting Apple patents, including more of Steve Job's war on sex.
posted by Artw at 4:55 PM on October 13, 2010

Gah. Apostrophe fail.
posted by Artw at 5:16 PM on October 13, 2010

Lots of interesting Apple patents

I'm surprised Apple was awarded a patent for pinch-zoom, or at least it seems like a prior art argument could be made. But the devil is in the details, as the link points out.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 3:05 PM on October 14, 2010

From what i could make out from that its pinch-zoom then a pause and pinch-zoom-again, but the pause is indeterminate. I really can;t tell the practical implications of that... Do Apple have a patent that means users of other browsers can only resize a page once? Or am I missing something and is there some kind of caching or something involved?
posted by Artw at 3:15 PM on October 14, 2010

Jedicus might know.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 8:05 PM on October 14, 2010

Don't know if anyone is still watching this and it's kind of old news, but this seems relevant.
posted by TedW at 4:59 PM on October 17, 2010

Apple's new netbook
posted by Artw at 3:53 PM on October 20, 2010

$999 for an Apple netbook? Whew. But I'd be lying if I said I wouldn't want one.
posted by beelzbubba at 10:36 PM on October 20, 2010

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