Copper Mobile's Blog
iPhone 4s is here
On the fourth of October of this year, Apple unveiled its iphone4s, a new upgrade to its iphone4. People, especially the top iphone developer companies along with many investors were expecting and hoping for the iphone5, but there was no word on when the iphone5 will actually come out.
The iphone4s is a faster and more powerful version of the iphone4. Its main features and upgrades include -
- an improved camera with a sensor that is more high resolution than the iphone4
- a faster processor
- the ability to use the phone worldwide with Verizon
Some iphone developer companies have already begun work on new apps based on the specs for the iphone5, a phone that would be dedicated to taking full advantage of the high speed networks of Verizon and AT&T. It is expected that Apple will reveal this much more radical improvement to its iphone series in less than a year.
The iphone4s did not have one feature that was expected of it, a chip that would be able to talk to payment terminals at stores, effectively creating a mobile wallet out of the iphone. The phone that came out today did not have that capability, and Apple did not comment on it.
However, one of the bigger improvements was a personal assistant function for the new iphone, called Siri. It takes advantage of the technology of speech recognition and takes it to a new level by actually answering questions posed by the owner of the phone.
The new iphone also contains the capability for syncing with content in a wireless fashion, when before it was impossible; the phone had to be plugged into a computer for some functions to take place.
This new announcement is the first Apple product announcement under the new management of Tim Cook, the CEO that took over for the charismatic Steve Jobs. Cook, it seems, attempted to channel Jobs with a more laid back look as he announced the new product. He also announced the new operating system for the iphone line will come out in about a week.
The new iphone will come in two colors, black and white. The cost will be US $199 for a 16 GB version, and US $299 for the 32 GB version. The 64 GB version will cost US $399 and will require a two year service agreement at that price. The phone will be made available through Sprint as well as the previous carriers of the phone, Verizon and AT&T. The phone will become fully available on October 14th, with stores taking preorders now.
The old version of the iphone received a bump down in price, and the 3G version of the iphone will now be given away with a two year service contract.
Investors seemed disappointed by the news, as the common stock of Apple fell 5% on the news of the new phone. This coincided with a late rally which left the Dow actually 1% up on the day; however, that late rally did not apply to Apple.
Post Categories: iPhone Developer
Post Tags: • apple, developer, iphone 4s, iphone4s
The Growth of Mobile
The world of business is moving towards mobile commerce at lightning speed. Both small business and enterprise level businesses are investing in mobile growth and incorporating the technologies that have already been properly vetted into their marketing plans. According to Forbes, every one of the Fortune 100 companies will be investing at least one quarter of their marketing budget into mobile marketing initiatives by the year 2012, and small business, as usual, were way ahead of this curve.
With the growth of the mobile consumer field comes new money into the mobile environment. The technically savvy among those in the field are investing heavily in mobile applications, both as stand alone investments and as investments in part of a bigger marketing plan. And though many people may think that there is a divide between the mobile applications for consumer and for business use, the consumer and business mobile app developer both play off of each other, spiking each other into further growth.
The consumer mobile app developer was the first to show the commercial potential of the app. With the rise of the iPhone and its open source app environment came the innovators – the programmers and hackers who beforehand only had an outlet for their passion through malicious software suddenly had a new platform that they could program for. And on top of that, if the app was good enough, they could actually make money!
However, although some people made money, there was a huge surge of free programs that were made simply for the purpose of making the app. These apps were made for all kinds of purposes, for improving upon existing platforms to gaming to various business applications. These selfless programmers led the way to showing what could be done on the mobile environment. As more and more people downloaded the apps and the statistics started to show that people were actually paying attention to this new technology, the corporate money soon followed.
Many of the apps that were free were commercialized, and an entirely new industry of business related apps started from nothing. Many tech companies created completely new divisions focused on mobile app creation. The mobile app industry just continued to grow from there.
Even with the media attention and the focus on new innovations within the mobile environment, the fact is that the smartphone really has yet to achieve real implementation into mainstream society. It is estimated that more than 70% of the population of the civilized world still does not have a smartphone, which means that the industry has incredible room to grow even further than it already has.
This definitely accounts for the Forbes 100 spending that was mentioned before. The mobile industry, as it continues to provide ever more opportunity for people to buy more quickly than they ever could before at the touch of a button, the mobile app industry will continue to grow.
Post Categories: Mobile App Development
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Can Microsoft Rule the Mobile World
While everyone was waiting with baited breath for the iPhone 5, September was a pretty interesting (non-Apple) month in the mobile technology world. While not exactly the first thing on everybody’s mind, the most important news for the long-term might just be the (relatively) low-key unveiling of the Windows 8 platform from Microsoft.
Every mobile app developer doing anything exciting should be anticipating a potential windfall of profit and prestige if Microsoft can pull off what Apple has so far failed to do: seamlessly integrate the PC with the tablet and smartphone world. If history is anything to go by, the next version of Windows will be just as popular as the current one. Despite what pundits and technology blogs tell you, almost everyone is still using Windows, and that is unlikely to change anytime soon. With an install base many times the size of Apple, a “Windows Store”, directly competing with Apple’s current monopoly and selling quality applications directly to all 3 of your home devices is a godsend to your average workaday mobile app developer.
This is not to say that Microsoft doesn’t have a battle ahead of them. The company has long since lost just about all the credibility and innovative panache it once had. In fact, Windows phone 7 enjoys a measly 1.5% market share among mobile operating systems. However, they have an advantage over anyone in the market. Windows is amazingly easy to code for. Existing API’s will no doubt be extended to all areas of Windows 8, and the sheer number of developers already familiar with them is staggering. Couple that with Apple’s notoriously picky and arcane approval process, and you’ve got a perfect storm: unhappy developers moving in droves to a more stable environment.
What about Android? That’s easy. Android is unsustainable in the long-term. It’s an operating system built for tech-geeks who love to tinker. After only a short time on the market, the OS is already fractured beyond belief. Consumers aren’t interested in the intricacies of “Ice-Cream Sandwich” or “Froyo”, served on a dizzying array of smartphones, they want quality and ease-of-use. Microsoft should take a page from Apple on this front and limit their licenses to just a few new, amazing smartphones and update them simultaneously.
The preview Microsoft has given of Windows 8 is exciting in a way that harkens back to the glory days of Windows 95. If they can manage to not screw it up this time, it could be even more revolutionary than the phantom iPhone 5.
Post Categories: Mobile Industry
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