Ranting Kenya

Jack Kapica wrote in the Globe and Mail an article concerning data rates in Canada and the iPhone.

Here’s my comments on the article and the situation.

Rogers, this is directed at you, and I’m not one of your customers. Cut your data rates. Get the iPhone ASAP. Apple is making a 3G iPhone right now, if it’s not done already. They’re not stupid. They won’t let their new baby, their new industry changing device languish on your GSM network. Get it now while you still can. Nobody is going to be interested in a GSM iPhone if another version is available.

Also, consider that this is the first revision of the iPhone. Your customers of your data plans are largely business clients. Do you really think Apple isn’t going to improve the business functionality of this device? It already has Microsoft Exchange Server compatibility, which if you remember, competes with Blackberry’s push email service.

When the 3G iPhone comes, and remember that it will, do you really think that both Bell and Telus are going to pass on this device? They’re going to see your weakness, your high data rates, and they’re going to cut theirs and leave you high and dry. I’m not in marketing, but I can already see the promotion: New iPhone with new low data rate, and a first in Canada. Compare that to your counter-campaign: Same Blackberry, and we’ll lower our rates too because we don’t care about you, but Bell and Telus are forcing our hand. Seriously, your rates are anti-consumer, and because of that Telus and Bell have made a killing too. Up until now, there’s been no real reason to change the rates since you’re all sleeping on hundred dollar bills, but the iPhone is the reason. It is the change that the entire Canadian wireless industry needs, and it will come to pass, with or without you. Most people aren’t willing to unlock and have firmware updates mess things up. They need a real solution, the one only you can give.

Seriously, Apple has given you the greatest gift you could ever ask for. The un-disputed hottest electronic device in years, hotter than the iPod, and you are the only one who can really bring it to Canada (for now).

Only, you’re saying, “No thanks.”

Well, it seems that the iPhone may come to Canada sooner than anyone previously thought, according to the Ottawa Citizen.

A mobile phone unlocking company called PureMobile will be offering the iPhone to Canadians in an unlocked version. They evidently announced a partnership with the 17 year old New Jersey kid who had received a lot of press the last few days for unlocking his iPhone.

Here are a couple screenshots of PureMobile’s website.

Has anybody been following the Google phone at all? Or the Google Linux distro? Well, apparently the Linux distro is dead.

Ok, fine. That’s a little upsetting but they can always change their minds. But maybe that rumour won’t go away because perhaps they’re developing a Linux mobile OS for their phone. Linux as a mobile phone OS gets a lot of attention lately.

Anyway, Gizmodo posted some more info on the Google phone. Seriously, it looks sick. I’ll buy it, that simple. You know it’ll have WiFi, GPS for Google maps, and all sorts of other great features that make the iPhone look like an expensive piece of “aluminum and glass”. Anyway, check out Gizmodo’s post.

There’s no question that the iPhone hype is as high as any product in the last decade. Everybody knows what it is, even if they’re not Apple fanboys, gadget aficionados, and mobile phone connoisseurs. And everybody knows the product is from Apple and AT&T.

So while Apple’s reputation continues to skyrocket to the stratosphere, the universal sore spot on the product is AT&T’s Edge network necessity. It’s the one thing that is truly holding the phone back.

But Apple’s not taking any heat for that, it’s solely on AT&T’s shoulders. So in the long run, will AT&T’s reputation will be hurt by iPhone exclusivity, or will it not matter? No doubt they will make a ton of money, but everyone is going to loathe network service. Will everyone forgive and forget, or will all the subscribers bail on AT&T as soon as a real 3G version is available? I think so.

I saw the data rates for the iPhone posted today. I did a quick search of the three major wireless carriers to see what their plans are like. I took the basic, most inexpensive plan available for each. Here’s the comparison:

First, everyone goto the iPhone guided tour and watch the 20 minute video demoing the iPhone.

Now let me state that up until now, I haven’t been super jazzed about the iPhone. I felt it was a superior phone (assuming the keypad and network are good, and the battery lasts long enough, and the interface is as snappy as the video portrays), but I haven’t really gotten excited about it. That’s probably good since it won’t come to Canada for a while yet anyway.

So what’s changed about my opinion of this device? A lot. Here are my thoughts as I watched the video:

1. I hope the screen looks that bright outside.
2. The UI gestures look really really good.
3. Are there only a handful of engineers in America (perhaps worldwide) that can make these “Apple-esque” products? Why is it that the Mac and iPod haven’t really been matched yet?
4. Following my previous point, why did the Motorola Rokr fall so far short of even just the music capability of the iPhone?
5. I hope the phone actually runs the internet that quickly.
6. Now that Apple’s released Safari for Windows, basically as a developer platform for the iPhone, will Safari’s standards compliance spill into more websites? Could the iPhone be the device that finally forces every designer and every company to be standards compliant? Will that carry to Microsoft and Internet Explorer (pretty pretty please)? Or conversely, will Microsoft get caught at a standstill (it’s starting to look that way)?
7. The iPhone touchscreen looks real nice. What’s Microsoft’s counter again (no PUN intended)? It’s a whole table? It’s functionality is based on a huge device recognition system that’s doesn’t exist yet? It costs ten thousand dollars?
   
8. Windows Mobile Smartphone 5 and 6 look pretty sad now. Forget the touchscreen functionality, OS X blows it out of the water.
9. The earphones have a mic built-in. Sweetness (maybe this is the standard, I’m not sure).
10. Looks like the iPhone can stay in my pocket while listening to music and answering calls. Nice! And I don’t have to rely on vibrate or a super loud ringer to realize that someone’s calling me while I’m on the bus.
11. I hope the iPhone camera takes photos that look that good.

Now I’m kinda looking forward to ending my current cell contract. Maybe I’ll catch the second revision of the iPhone. You know, the one that will work with EVDO, in Canada.

On a total sidenote: Why is there no Canadian traffic data available in realtime? Is no company planning on doing this in Canada?

Telus Corp. has entered the auction for Bell Canada Inc., making its move on the assumption it can convince competition regulators to allow it to retain the wireless operations of both companies if its bid is successful.

…Telus would instantly become the leading contender for Bell because
of the cost savings it could achieve by combining the two phone
companies.

Industry observers have estimated the companies could
save $800 million to $1 billion in annual costs by merging their
traditional wireline businesses.

Telus has long been seen by some
at the top levels of Bell Canada (the new name of the company formerly
known as BCE Inc.) as the preferred partner in any merger or
acquisition deal given the fit between the two operating companies.

…A Telus bid would be seen to have complications, as its wireless
business together with Bell’s would have more than a 60 per cent market
share across the country and leave Canada with just two wireless
service providers, along with Rogers Communications Inc. — at least,
until the impending auction of wireless spectrum by Ottawa.

Telus joins bidding for Bell

This is the exact opposite of what I actually want to happen. If anything, I’d like it if Bell and Telus were broken up, to spur competition. Right now you basically have no choice when it comes to wireless providers. You get Bell, Telus, and Rogers. Well Bell and Telus are practically the same already. All the data plans are highway robbery.

Just a quick note with my continued use of Deepfish on my Moto Q.

I’ve noticed that one feature that I haven’t seen touted anywhere is that webpages render WAY faster. In Pocket IE I’ve probably waited 30 seconds or more for a page to load. In Deepfish, I don’t think I’ve had one run longer than 10 seconds. That alone is awesome.

My only reservation so far has been the zoom interface. The box accelerates quite quickly. I’m getting the hang of it, so this issue is becoming less of one every day. It is a beta, I’m reasonably certain this will be tweaked before the final version. Perhaps they’ll allow you to adjust the rate of acceleration in the future.

Still loving Deepfish though.

For all you smartphone users that are forced to use Pocket IE (like me), this is a product to check out. I’ve tried installing minimoz, with no luck, and I don’t want to pay for Opera’s mobile browser. So I’ve been using Pocket IE exclusively for the last year. It’s pretty… meh..

Microsoft Deepfish however is another story. For those of your all excited iPhone’s web browsing ability, you should check out Deepfish. I remember seeing the video on the web for Deepfish before the iPhone announcment. So I don’t know if Apple or Microsoft came up with the idea for the method of web browsing.

Basically, rather than needing to load the whole page, and scroll left and right, up and down, it loads the entire web page in a zoomed-out view. Seems the rendering engine is FAR superior to pocket IE’s. The pages look like they should most of the time.

In the zoomed out view, you can then move a box around the page, and that is the area that you can zoom in on. Images look good, pages basically stream to you, but you save so much time not scrolling around trying to figure out where Pocket IE put the link you needed.

I’ve only been using it for a short time, but so far I’d give it a thumbs up. I’ll post again with further impressions in the near future.

My Q has been having a problem since last weekend. Virtually everytime I picked it up after not using it for a few minutes, I frequently found it turned off.

I consulted some message boards and even the Motorola website to try to figure out the problem. Most posts I found suggested taking the smartphone back to retailer (within 14 days of purchase) and getting a new one.

Well I’ve had mine for months now, so that was out of the question.

Around the same time, I noticed my battery performance had suddenly been cut nearly in half (and about 1/4 of it’s initial performance months ago). Lithium ion batteries only have so many charge cycles and then they basically lose all performance.

Since my Q came with a second battery, I decided before I totally freak out about warranties etc. I’d charge up the other unused battery and see if it was a battery performance issue.

Well today was my first day with the new battery, and so far (fingers crossed) the problem seems to be solved. Maybe all those other Moto Q users (and likely other smartphones) who are having this same issue can save themselves some time and the hassle of a loaner phone by trying this out too.