July 2007 Archives

I spent Thursday in the Big Apple at Nasdaq Studios, observing the festivities as Synchronoss Technologies—the company whose software is used by AT&T to handle behind-the-scenes nitty-gritty associated with activating an iPhone—celebrated its first anniversary as a public company. Synchronoss officials were also in a jovial mood over the company's recently signed multi-year deal with AT&T to provide ongoing operational support of the Apple iPhone and its Monday unveiling of a similar deal with broadband Internet service provider Clearwire.

 

The day dawned a misty, muggy one; waiting for my Metro North train into the city from Westchester, I observed to myself that while it wasn't raining the air was nonetheless positively wet. It was also a day when some people's commutes were disrupted somewhat; as we rolled into Grand Central Terminal, a conductor announced over the PA system that some subways might not be running.

iPhone is still in its infancy (not even a month old yet), and already rumors are flying that it could soon have a younger sibling. A Reuters report on Monday said that Taiwan-based JP Morgan analyst Kevin Chung has connections in the supply channel who claim an iPhone based on the iPod Nano is already in the works.

 

Chung apparently issued a report on July 8 in which he cited both his supply channel contacts, and a patent application filed July 5 with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, as evidence that the iPhone Nano is in utero.

If you’re like me—someone who’s used to the speed and ease of email—faxing documents can seem like an unbearable hassle. Create document. Print document. Look up phone number.

Yesterday, to celebrate Independence Day, I engaged in a very American activity: shopping. While I was at the mall, I stopped by the Apple Store to check out iPhone firsthand. Yes, I actually got a chance to play around with the new, cool phone that everyone is talking about.

 

Overall, my conclusion is wow—finally a consumer-grade rather than business-focused smartphone. iPhone was pretty comfortable to hold, and I found its features for the most part impressive.

 

At first, I admit I was a bit concerned about the usability of the touch-screen keyboard that pops up whenever you set out to complete a task requiring typing.

iPhone isn’t even a week old yet, and already it’s apparent that accessory manufacturers and software developers have been busy for months gearing up for the release of Apple’s cell phone. One example is software company Innovative Solutions, which today announced a software package that helps users transport movies from DVDs to the iPhone.

 

The software, DVD to iPhone, makes it possible to “put full length DVDs, downloaded movies and other video on the iPhone.”

 

DVD to iPhone is a Windows program, for XP/Vista. According to Innovative Solutions, it can handle any DVD source including pre-recorded and recordable DVDs. Also transportable: video file formats including AVI and MPEG.

So, this morning I got curious: how well did iPhone sell over the weekend? I figured I might be able to get an idea by calling some of the larger Apple Stores around the country. I went to http://www.apple.com/retail and grabbed phone numbers for five stores: one each in Los Angeles, CA; Dallas, TX; New York City; Tampa, FL; and Lyndhurst, OH (near Cleveland).

 

Then, bracing for the time-consuming task of navigating phone menu systems, I hit the phone. Since I was calling mid-morning Eastern Time, I started with stores on the East Coast.